The famous wine writer (and importer) of the 50s through the 80s, Alexis Lichine once said about learning wine "buy yourself a corkscrew and use it." The message clearly, taste, taste and taste again. I translated this idea with spirits into a visit at the Urban Grape South End the other day where I decided to purchase a bottle I'd never heard of, and, well, taste. As Ben Bouton (of UG and beer buyer) said to me "...either way trying something new is worth it. At worst, if you don't like it, you know you never have to try it again." Words to live by.

I picked Riga Black Balsam, an herbal liqueur from Latvia, created in 1752 to help heal the empress of Russia. Like so many old spirits, began in this medicinal way and today is sipped after dinner or maybe added to coffee or tea. What's in it? Secret recipe of course, but they do admit to birch bud, valerian root, raspberry, ginger, nutmeg, black peppercorn, peppermint and other herbs and blossoms.
It's kind of like Fernet Branca or other Amaros with the addition of berry sweetness (almost, but not quite, cough syrup-esque). Pretty rough and tumble though, trust me, a lot goes a long way, and at 90 proof you don't want to be drinking shots of this all night. So, what do you do with it? Here's what I tried, kind of a Riga Julep:
1.5 oz rye, .5 oz Riga Black Balsam, .25 oz simple syrup, mint, .5 lemon, ginger beer. Pretty tasty and surprisingly light.
Go out and try something new, you just never know.
Riga Black Balsam 375ml available at the Urban Grape, $18.

A cordial license is a funny thing in Boston, it seems there is no clear definition of what it is. Except a grey area. From what I can tell it means you're allowed to sell any liqueur with 2.5% sugar by weight along with beer and wine. In the early 90s this came about at the request of North End restauranteurs who wanted to offer their customers an after dinner Sambucca or Amaro. Anyway, apparently this can include a lot, including Pisco, Grappa, flavored vodkas, flavored bourbons and even Green Chartreusse which clocks in at a whopping 110 proof- or 55% alcohol. I'm not really sure what's going on here.

What all this does mean, however, is that at a great place like the Salty Pig in Boston's Back Bay/South End, Erin Murtagh and team have to get creative with drinks, which they do. I was in the other evening, and had The Greener Side, featuring Lillet, Galliano, Cucumber, Basil, lemon and Erin's celery bitters. Refreshing and delicious, basil mirroring the anise in Gallliano, sweet citrus from Lillet, a well balanced (dare I say) liquid salad for grown-ups? Now just pass me some more of that charcuterie and cheese, I'm not worried about licenses and regulations any more.

Sam's on the waterfront epitomizes everything I love about going out. Esti, Drew and Jon Parsons are the consummate hosts and restaurant professionals always putting friendly, professional customer service first (little things like they offer spare sunglasses if you forget yours). The menu shows a tight, well thought out wine list with great beers and above all a terrific menu. Chef Asia Mei may be Boston's hidden best chef- dinner there the other night was extraordinary- beet terrine, salad of boar bresaola and haricot vert, cod over snap peas- you've simply got to try her food.

Jon's cocktails are equally refined and can be enjoyed on maybe the best patio around, over looking the water and downtown Boston. We tried The Red Wedding (which for you Game of Thrones fans was "formerly called spoiler alert") with blanco Tequila, grapefruit liqueur, sparkling wine, lime juice and hibiscus syrup. It strikes a perfect balance between bitter and bright citrus, floral sweetness and bracing clean young Tequila. Next up, the Clyde, features Pisco and elderflower, lemon, blood orange juice and grapefruit bitters. I like the theme here- a clean spirit with bittersweet floral and citrus, just delicious.

The hits keep coming with new Summer drinks in the works; I'm telling you, there is no time like the present to visit Sam's.

Following up a few posts ago, Eastern Standard has unintentionally upped my ante on Rosè and cocktails. Their Marco Polo features house-made rhubarb vermouth (email me for the recipe if you are adventurous enough to try on your own), sparkling rosè and Aperol. Sipping this is even more fun than playing "Marco Polo" in the water as a kid- all things I love together, the vermouth works with the rhubarb and strawberry in the Aperol, rounded out by cherry, more strawberry and acid in the wine. Yes, please- join me on the ES patio sooner than later, it's like a dip in the pool.

A good cocktail certainly does not need to have any alcohol in it. My two girls prove that all the time by making a variety of beverages. It's getting warmer, so Emily penned the following:

By Emily Childs

Hi, I’m Emily Childs, Josh’s oldest daughter. I will be going into the sixth grade this September and planning to spend long days lounging around during the summer. So, I decided to make a sweet and sour mocktail for your lounging around!

Emily’s Lip-Smackin’ Lavender-Basil Lemonade

This lemonade calls for some simple syrup, so let me explain how to make it (get help from a grown-up).

Ingredients for the Simple Syrup
2 oz dried lavender (Christina’s in Cambridge has the best)
10-15 good-sized basil leaves (any supermarket)
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups sugar

Put water into a pot and heat on stove for a minute. Then, add the sugar. Stir sugar around until dissolved and put lavender and basil in. Push it down with a spoon so it’s wet, then you let it heat to a boil. Once it boils, turn burner off and cover with the top of the pot. Let it cool until room temperature.

Ingredients for the drink
1 ½ oz lavender-basil simple syrup
1 oz lemon juice
1 ½ oz water
Basil leaf garnish

Hirsch Canadian Rye is sourced for the Anchor Distilling Company from Glenora Distillery located on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Double distilled (second in pot stills), aged in oak and bottled by hand this is serious stuff, true to older Canadian Whisky roots. The style is more subtle, lighter with fruit and honey flavors than American versions, but there is still spice from the 100% rye and 3 years in oak. Think of this selection's weight more akin to a lowland Scotch, where say the American Bulleit Rye would be like the much bigger Islay whiskies. Now I've confused myself.

Enjoy this with a couple of ice cubes, but really it shines in cocktails, particularly lighter Collins-style drinks. I've recently been re-making a variation I came up with last Summer:

Check the Rhyme
1.5 oz Hirsch Canadian Rye
.75 oz Cocci Americano (an Italian aperitif- like the French Lillet)
.75 oz thyme simple syrup
.5 oz lemon
Serve as a Collins- on ice with a splash of soda if desired. Garnish with thyme sprig.
Make simple syrup 1 to 1 water to sugar. Heat until sugar is dissolved, then simmer with thyme (a cup should work) for 15 minutes. Turn off heat, cover until cool and strain out the thyme.

Hirsch Canadian Rye, 86 proof, about $30.
Find it at:
Bin Ends Braintree
Blanchard's West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain
Boston Wine Exchange Downtown

Rebecca Jane Millette and Phil Naslund have been concocting. I better leave this up to Becca to explain.

By Rebecca Jane Millette

Things I've learned in the past few months: asking for your tab at the bar actually means "I'll have a High Life" and when Josh Childs asks you to do something, you probably can't say no. I'm Rebecca, the girl who had to drink Negronis and photograph them for Josh's post during Negroni Week. I know, you feel awful for me. 

I was celebrating Aperitivo Day at Trina's Starlite Lounge a couple weeks back and I looked up (from Instagram, most likely) and there was suddenly Aperol being poured into a High Life bottle for our friend Phil. Wait, what? I was intrigued and ordered one myself. The orange color of the Aperol turned the bottle a light rose color and there it was, The Rosé of Beers. A little sweet, a lot cold, and even more delicious. 

Be sure to stop by Starlite, high five Phil for having this genius idea, and order one as your nightcap. 
I do, however, also recommend stopping by to visit my friends at Urban Grape and stocking up on actual Rosé for patio drinking on a warm summer night. 

The Algonquin Hotel in New York City was built in 1902, and although technically dry in the early years, held court to a group of poets, editors, actors, playwrights and humorists; most notably Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley during the 1920s (they were called the Vicious Circle). One of Ms. Parker's most famous quotes "I like to have a martini, two at the very most, after three I'm under the table, after four I'm under the host" leads me to believe that's what they were drinking, not the hotel's namesake cocktail. Of course no one may have been allowed to drink in the hotel during prohibition at all- but I think they probably were, right?

So, anyway, it's uncertain (and unlikely) if any of them drank Algonquin cocktails in the Algonquin. But I do know that Algonquin peak is the second tallest mountain (5,115 ft) in the Adriondack High Peaks of upstate New York, just below its neighbor Mt. Marcy. That's where I was over Memorial Day weekend, so we had to make the cocktail- why not drink an Algonquin looking at Algonquin? As the lovely and talented bartender Emma Hollander would say: "I mean, obvi."

Algonquin Cocktail
1.5 oz Rittenhouse Rye
.75 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
.75 oz Pineapple juice
Lemon peel garnish if desired.

The drink is pretty easy quaffing, maybe not as complex as the Vicious Circle, but probably goes down a whole lot easier.

A visual cure for a heatwave:

I think Martha Reeves would agree, don't you?

Hailing from Cartagena, Spain, Liquor 43 is a versatile sweet liqueur with vanilla, citrus and orange blossom- think Summer in the Mediterranean. A couple of Mondays ago, a great group of bartenders fought it out using it as a base at Moksa in Cambridge. The competitors in the ring: Josh Taylor Westbridge, Oronde Popplewell Moksa, Sam Gabrielli Russell House, Jason Kilgore Catalyst, Taso Papatsoris Casa B and Amber Schumaker Eastern Standard.

Judges Fred Yarm, Heather Kleinman and Jerry Knight picked the winner, Josh Taylor.

Here's the drink, like a grown up strawberry-rhubarb pie, ready for hot weather imbibing:

The Backyard Cocktail
1.5 oz Licor 43
.75 oz Rhubarb Shrub
.5 oz Strawberry Juice
.5 oz Lime Juice
Soda

Gaspare Campari (yes that Campari) invented the famous bitters in his bar sometime in the 1860s. The herbal liqueur was most famously mixed with vermouth and soda, called the Milano-Torino. (Campari is made in Milan and Cinzano Vermouth hails from Turin). Somewhere around 1910, American tourists seemed to have an insatiable thirst for the drink and it became better known as the Americano. Was this an homage to Americans or perhaps that Americans couldn't pronounce Milano-Torino?

The drink continued it's transformation in the 1920s when in his local in Florence, Count Camilo Negroni asked for his favorite drink to be fortified even more by adding gin instead of soda water and an orange peel rather than lemon to visually distinguish the two. Boom, cocktail.

So famous the drink that Imbibe Magazine is encouraging National Negroni Week this week, so let's follow suit and order one out! While I don't know of any bars specifically celebrating, I roped social media guru and bon vivant Rebecca Jane Millette to sample a few and send me photos back (pictured below).

Negroni 1 oz Gin, 1 oz Sweet Vermouth, 1 oz Campari, straight up/rocks, orange garnish.

This is Straight Up's 100th post, and to be completely honest, I never thought I'd make it so far. Hopefully I'm batting .500 (maybe half are pretty good), but I'm just a bartender after all and you, of course, are the judge. Actually, some of my favorites have been deftly written by friends and colleauges- so maybe I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 90. Regardless, I celebrated 100 with, appropriately, a sparkling cocktail other than a Miller High Life.

Joanne Chang launched her second cookbook, Flour, too, this week, and it's not often that one can sip a cocktail in Flour Back Bay- perfect timing. Peter Juusola made punch versions of their house-made sodas, and Nicholas Orpik and Courtney Moy poured away. A Raspberry Fizz with Vodka, raspberry syrup, lime, soda and a Cantaloupe Juelp with Bourbon, cantaloupe puree, mint, soda. Needless to say, I had a private cheers to 100 posts.

The best part is you can get non-alcoholic versions of these in the bakery, and the food is superb. From the roast lamb sandwich to (my favorite) oatmeal raisin cookies, I couldn't stop snacking. And Joanne could not be a more gracious, lovely host- she is a real gem in this business, one of the nicest people who deserves every bit of her success.

Straight up posts may not always satisfy, but make sure you get into Flour soon, it will certainly hit the spot. Cheers, and hoping for 100 more.

I imagine Cuba of another era, heightened by imagery I've seen from black and white sepia toned photographs; and I'm sipping daiquiris at the famous La Floridita in Havana. The namesake cocktail is a slight variation on the classic- it adds wonderful depth with the addition of Maraschino liqueur.

Daiquiri La Floridita
2 oz White Rum (try the local Privateer)
.75 lime
.5 simple syrup
.25 Luxardo Maraschino liqueur

Hemingway himself varied it further, added grapefruit, removed the simple syrup. Rumor has it he would order a double which got the name Papa Doble. Order either version (or make it on your patio) as the warm weather hits and you don't have to pretend, you'll be sipping a taste from another time that holds up just as well today.

1955 Ernest Hemingway Collection, JFK Library, Boston, permission by public domain

This post is going a little off-road, I'm not even going to really talk about cocktails. Instead? Service, service, service. I've always preached that mantra, and thought I was pretty good at putting the customer first. Until Wednesday evening.

After the Boston Bites Back event at Fenway, I stopped into Eastern Standard. Consider this analogy- I'm running a very good race on the track of "service," but the staff at ES has already finished, showered and talked to their adoring fans.

I walked into a packed house, ever graciously greeted by GM Andrew Holden, who took time to catch up even though he had 20 things to do. Next, I turned around, Naomi Levy had come around the bar to greet me with a hug while adeptly not leaving any customers lacking. Bar guru Kevin Martin, after I showed him a photo of the event at Fenway on my phone, had discreetly noticed I only had 20% charge left - "may I plug your phone in for you?" He's like a Ninja. Amber Schumaker, handled a large group of us with aplomb while also working the service bar, which means she was also handling most of the drinks going to the dining room. The point is, although the cocktails are as good as anywhere (if not arguably the best), the food and wine exceptional, they take care of their guests first and foremost, and have been doing so at a very high level for years.

When I grow up I want to be as good as this crew, except that doesn't really work, they're all at least 15 years younger than me.

Harvard Square may have always had crowds and packed bars and restaurants, but a venue like The Sinclair is helping bring the area to a whole new level. Music, a beautiful modern space, patio, great drinks and food? Check, check, check and check.
I picked the following off of Dave Werthman's cocktail menu:

Quality of Life: Wire Works Gin, Bitterman's Amere Nouvelle (their version of Amer Picon), Dubonnet Rouge, Grapefruit, Orange Bitters.
Bittersweet and refreshing, rounded out by the wine-based Dubonnet, enjoy this on the patio on a warm afternoon.

Amaro, Italian for "bitter,” refers to an herbal liqueur category, usually consumed as an after-dinner digestif. With an alcohol content between 16% and 43%, they are bitter-sweet and range in syrupy viscosity. Similar products are available throughout Europe, but tradition and focus here in Boston, Italy sets the standard, and that brings us to
Fernet Branca.

When you see a group of bartenders, with the bar customers six deep, stop everything their doing at 11:00pm on a Friday night, and do a shot, I’ll bet 5 to 1 it’s Fernet- although it’s really meant to be a stomach ailment panacea. It has developed far beyond an industry cult following, can be seen everywhere, locally behind every cocktail bar. On the higher end of the alcohol spectrum, it clocks in at 43%, is bracingly bitter, mint and licorice flavors dominating. Italians really only take it as a sip or two after dinner; I remember being in Rome a few years ago and doing a shot at a cafe in the afternoon to stares that said "that American is crazy."

The history of Fernet Branca revolution in Boston can be pretty much traced to two men. Before the tremendous success of Eastern Standard, ICOB, The Hawthorne and soon to be Row 34, Garrett Harker worked in San Francisco, where he and fellow restaurant workers maybe took sips of Fernet out of espresso cups before service. Traditions tend to follow us, some more than others, and while at No. 9 Park he and Tom Mastricola, then bartender, would come visit me on a nightly basis (we were all a lot younger then). "Josh, could you get us a bottle of Fernet? We'll drink it." I had no idea what they were talking about, but of course ordered a single bottle the next day. A single bottle. In 1998, we were pouring a case a week (12 bottles), and while that didn't touch the present volume of ES, Citizen (Joy has it on tap) or even JM Curley down the street, the fire had been started.

What makes this business rewarding is what comes around goes around, and Kitty Amann, our local Fernet rep to the stars, brought Count Eduardo Branca down for an event at Silvertone this week. What an honor to have the sixth generation of the famous family in the room, I just hoped I wouldn't get in the way. Tremendously gracious and unassuming, he also showcased their other brands, the spectacular Carpano Antica and Punt e Mes vermouths. Time to make some cocktails.

John Nugent (Silvertone, Citizen, Brick & Mortar, Franklin) poured his crowd pleasing Home Wrecker cocktail: 1.5 oz Rye, .5 oz Punt e Mes, .5 oz St. Germain, .5 oz lemon. The drink is delicious, spicy from the rye and vermouth, lechee sweetness from St. Germain, and finishes with the bright lemon and orange flavors. Vermouth works surprisingly well with citrus, so with that in mind comes my version of a classic. My daughters call me Papa, so obviously I poured Papa's Americano, 1 oz Carpano Antica, 1 oz Aperol, .5 oz lime, soda. Perfect for a sunny patio, or at least I think so.

Legendary musician, dj, bartender Brother Cleve pulled an on-the-fly recipe from 1909 out of his vast repertoire, the Fernet Cocktail. 2 oz Carpano Antica, 1 oz Fernet, bar spoon Orange Curacao, orange oil. A full bodied precursor to the Americano, maybe its grandfather.

As we toasted with Fernet Branca to Fernet and the Branca family, things had indeed come full circle. Garrett Harker raised his glass in the center of the room with Eduardo, just as he had showed me the way 16 years earlier.

I'm bad at keeping secrets, so here it goes. Westbridge is great on a Sunday. Smaller crowds, Josh Taylor on the bar and a wonderful patio where guests sip rosè and watch the sunset. I stopped by for a refreshing warm weather drink and, go figure, he hits a home run. Distant flavors of cherry coke, lemon, bittersweet and delicious, it's like I'm drinking Summer memories; this guy is good.

Summer Sublet by Josh Taylor
Rittenhouse rye, Pimm's, lemon, cherry-sassfras syrup, soda.

Cinco de Mayo, the fifth of May, ironically is not a big holiday in Mexico. Here in the states it has become a celebration of Mexican culture, and also a quintessentially American excuse to have a more than a few Margaritas. Technically the day commemorates the Mexican army's 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War, but I must confess I had to look up those details.

So what to do? Well, I for one am heading to Allston's Lone Star Taco Bar for some killer Mexican food and cocktails. Legendary bartender Cousin Dave Cagle always has an ace up his sleeve; in this case a delicious take on a Sazerac "named after Clint Eastwood's character in the old Enio Morricone spaghetti westerns."

Hombre sin Nombre
2 oz blanco tequila
1/2 oz agave syrup (equal parts agave nectar and water)
6 dashes Peychauds bitters
2 dashes molé bitters
Stir and strain into a chilled old fashioned glass the has been rinsed with green Chartreuse
squeeze the oil from a big piece of lime peel into the cocktail and drink!

You can find Lou Saban behind Oak Long Bar at the Copley Plaza Hotel. Lucky for all of us recently he found himself abroad, and penned the following piece.

By Lou Saban:

Bartending is a real mixed bag.
When all is said and done, it’s pretty nice holding the keys to the stuff that most adults use to make themselves feel better about their spot on the planet. Unfortunately, for every generous tip or compliment on a well-balanced cocktail, sometimes you also have to answer the question, “So, what’s your real job?” In my head I respond, "when I am not doing this, I’m the CEO of a non-profit organization that provides neurosurgery for puppies."
Still, it’s a gig with a lot of cool benefits. In my mind, the greatest perk is the sense of community with your fellow barkeeps. If you do this job long enough, you start to recognize the people who also make their living pouring things into glasses. You always love to see these people sitting at your barstool because they tip well, are low maintenance, and can always relate to the condescending sneers that you may have received that day. Camaraderie is a beautiful thing.
What’s even better is that this bond doesn’t just stop at the nation’s borders. I am lucky enough to work for a hotel chain that has many locations around the world. When I noticed that there was one in London, I was interested. When I noticed that it was
The Savoy, I was elated.

Most bars worth their salt will have an old copy of the Savoy Cocktail Book somewhere on their shelf. It was written in 1930 by an American named Harry Craddock. Craddock flew the coop from the prohibition-afflicted United States in 1920, and became the head bartender at the American Bar at The Savoy in London. He spread the joys of the American cocktail to Europe and used his cocktail book to preserve recipes that may have otherwise been lost to antiquity. Despite a few renovations, the American Bar is still there, and it is really something.

When you first walk in, you notice the beautiful black and white sign that looks like it could have been there in 1920 as Craddock walked in for the first time. Immediately to your left, there is a small museum (you heard me right, this bar is so cool it has its own museum) full of old placards and menus from its many decades of existence. There are also telegraphs for Charlie Chaplin and Georges Clemenceau, bills for Sir Lawrence Olivier, and countless pictures of Vivien Leigh, John Wayne, Winston Churchill, and essentially anyone who was anyone in the last century.

All of that is well and good, but the real stunner is the case of vintage booze. Inside this treasure chest contains Gordon’s Gin, Pernod, Luxardo, and Carpano Antica from the 1950s; Van der Hum from the 1940’s; and a Jourd Cordial-Medoc from 1933. The crown jewel of the whole collection is this: a bottle of Sazerac de Forge Cognac from 1858. I wasn’t even aware that something like this existed, but there it was right before my very eyes. This bottle is pre-Civil War. Its nine years older than Canada! More notably, it’s a time capsule of what French grapes tasted like before they were nearly destroyed by the Phylloxera parasite in the late 19th century. It’s so beautiful that it even makes even its neighboring bottle of Moet Chandon from 1884 pale in comparison.

Once your head stops spinning, you proceed into the bar for a dozen or so of London’s finest cocktails. The bar consists mostly of a large lounge with a piano player to your immediate right. The bar itself is very small; only four seats with no standing room allowed. There is one man on service bar, and the friendly and knowledgeable Tom Walker for the rail. The small setting ensures that the drinks are made at a deliberate pace to ensure that nary a step is missed in both the creation of the drink and the presentation. The result is a simply wonderful libation.

The menu is a mixture of Savoy originals from the White Lady, to contemporaries such as the Green Park, to the totally outrageous. Remember that cognac that I mentioned earlier? They use it to make an original Sazerac cocktail along with the Pernod from the 1950s and Peychaud’s Bitters from the early 1900s. Its 5,000 GBP. Depending on the exchange rate, that’s about $8000 USD. For one cocktail. Once I picked myself up off the floor, I decided this cocktail was only for people who have absolutely no idea what to do with their money. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “It takes all kinds of people to fill up a world.”

All in all, it was a privilege to sit at this piece of living history and share a few drinks with Tom Walker and his more than capable colleagues. The international brotherhood of bartenders may not be out there splitting atoms or making contributions to string theory (or puppy neurosurgery), but we know how to take care of the people who do. More importantly, we know how to take care of each other, which makes it all worth it. And yes, this is my only job. Cut me a break, will ya?

As I left Tavern Road the other night I said to Louis Dibicarri that his spot is the kind of place I wish I'd opened up- but I'm not jealous, his team could not be more deserving. Led by the tandem of Chef Louis and brother GM Michael Dibicarri, both come with formidable backgrounds at Sel del la Terre and Eastern Standard. You'd think that would be enough, but add Ryan Mcgrale of No. 9 Park and Flatiron Lounge in New York to the mix and you've got the restaurant equivalent of the 2008 Celtics trifecta. Visually beautiful with a great open room highlighted on one side by the kitchen, the other, the bar. Built for success and fun.

I must confess that most of our drinking was a delicious bottle of Domaine Peyrassol rose, but we did start with cocktails. I had to get 'Straight to Hell,' not only because it's one of my favorite Clash songs, but features Scotch, Aperol, Amaro and lemon bitters- all things I like. Citrus (orange, lemon), rhubarb, spice and a little smokiness- an ideal aperitif! Nicole's 'Perfect Bamboo' was a perfect Manhattan without the whiskey, in its place, a cool twist- the nutty caramel of sherry. Judging by an already packed bar by 7:00, many people are also enjoying these libations.

Service and friendliness really sum up Tavern Road, exemplified by great bartender Andrea Novak who was pleased to make a terrific raspberry lemonade for my daughter Emily and checked to make sure she was enjoying it. Further, Mara Ratiu could not have been a more gracious server if we were visiting her own home. A terrific evening, I will be writing more about this crew again soon I'm sure. Oh, and one more thing, Louis has a guilty pleasure drink I've made him for years- but you will have to ask him what the acronym means.

Louis' POA by Louis Dibicarri
2 oz Maker's Mark Bourbon
.75 oz Lazzaroni Amaretto
Rocks, Luxardo Maraschino cherry

Beer cocktails are not easy, but when they succeed, well, everyone's happy, including me. Chris Balchum pouring the other night at Park in Harvard Square is doing just that with:

Tom Terrific by Daren Swisher
1 ¾ oz. Hayman’s Old Tom Gin (slightly sweeter style than London dry)
½ oz. Cherry Heering (Brandy based cherry liqueur)
½ oz. Demerara Syrup (richer simple syrup made with sugar in the raw- named after a formerly colonized area of Guyana)
½ oz. Lemon Juice
2 oz. Great Divide Titan IPA

Combine ingredients over ice. Shake and strain over fresh ice in a Collins glass.
Top with 2 oz. IPA; roll back and forth in a shaker tin.
Garnish with an orange and cherry flag. Sweet, sour, pleasantly bitter hops, perfectly balanced and ready for Spring refreshment.

Absinthe has it all, mystery, mystique, danger even. Once illegal, on Monday April 22nd get to the south shore, Alma Nove, Chef Paul Wahlberg's waterfront Italian restaurant in Hingham for some answers.

Mixologist Chris Lincoln will be pouring free cocktail samples straight from the restaurant's authentic Absinthe Fountain as well as discussing Absinthe history and debunking some of the many myths. There will also be complimentary small tastings from Chef Wahlberg's Italian Mediterranean menu.

Monday April 22, 8:00. Free tastes of Absinthe cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Full drinks $10. Alma Nove, 22 Shipyard Drive, Hingham, MA.

It started for me in South Station the other day, but really years earlier.
Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon, elusive to say the least, equivalent to the cult cabernet fandom of Napa Valley's Screaming Eagle or Bordeaux's Chateau Petrus in the wine world. So, I began a voyage to Mecca of sorts, in Providence, RI, and Matt Jennings' stellar restaurant Farmstead. The Pilgrims with me: Ryan Sosti (Ruby Wines), TJ Douglas (Urban Grape and organizer of the trip), Chef Michael Scelfo (Russell House Tavern and soon to be Alden & Harlow).

It was also a trip down memory lane, my first bar shift ever was over two decades ago on South Main Street- maybe you can go home again? A sunny afternoon, I remembered one of my old haunts, The Hot Club, which was the same as ever; perfect, sitting on the deck enjoying a beer, there is a reason this place has been here so long. We met up with an old buddy of Ryan's who cringed (and affably took it in stride) when he regaled us with the story of his nickname- Vodka Bill. As if I didn't already know I was in for a long night? Then, on to Farmstead on the East Side (driven by Vodka Bill in an Escalade), for dinner, and of course, Pappy. Ushered in to a warm welcome from our gracious host and Chef Matt, we were quickly handed a cocktail.

The Kentucky Flower
1.5 oz W.L. Weller Bourbon, .5 oz St. Germain, .5 oz lemon juice, cranberry, egg white.
Light, frothy and delicious, be careful you could probably drink many of these- thank goodness we were in the process of being seated and greeted by the man himself- Julian Van Winkle III.

Matt Jennings had a tough task, to pair big, spicy, high proof whiskey with food. He performed with aplomb. Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 year Lot "B" is the lightest of the whiskeys we tried at only 90 proof- but this is by no means a simple spirit, delicious, rich vanilla and spice. Best part is you might even be able to get your hands on a bottle. Matt served a pungent and very tasty smoked cod rillette which held its own.

Next up was TJ's favorite, the Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 15 year, 107 proof. This is booming stuff- fig, vanilla, tobacco- spicy and tannic which paired with chicken terrine, vegetables, chicharrones and bourbon mustard. This was, indeed, bourbon lovers heaven- particularly after a couple of eyedrops of water to lower the proof (Julian's suggestion by the way).

Mr. Van Winkle introduced the main course with a nod to his grandfather who started working for the W.L. Weller distillery at the age of 18 in 1893. "I like to refer to this as butter bourbon, smooth and delicious." He continued with a wry smile, "I'm so glad you like our family's bourbon but in your enthusiasm you've created your own competition."
Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 20 year, absolutely my favorite with molasses, toffee and round vanilla creaminess. Chef Scelfo, across from me, thought this pairing was Chef Jennings' best- slow roasted pork shoulder and loin, turnip puree and golden raisins, fiddlehead ferns and pickled oysters. "Perfect along side the bourbon, not trying to go at it, you know? Let's the whiskey shine."

Ryan is a self-proclaimed dessert guy, so he was eagerly waiting on the final pairing, which beyond delivered. Pineapple upside down cake with candied ginger and bourbon ice cream along side Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 23 year? Wow, I don't know how I got past security but I'm glad I did. The spice and proof of this spirit married very well with sweetness and showed of the whiskey's honeyed character. As if this wasn't enough, Julian's southern gentlemanly nature treated us to a special surprise. From Kentucky earlier that day he grabbed 2 bottles of a bourbon his father made in 1970 and bottled in 1984, then sat in his garage for almost 30 years. It was 14 year Pappy that drank like a mellower 15 year- what a way to end the evening.

We found the terrific new bar (only a couple months) called The Eddy, on Eddy street downtown on the way back to the train. Perfectly made cocktails with a tight, well thought out beer and wine menu- check it out when you're in town.

A train ride home, full and a only little buzzed (thank goodness the pours were small), swirling thoughts of bourbons I may not try again- this was a legendary boys night out.

I received a wonderful email from Nancy Usiak a few days ago asking if she got the Apple Blossom drink from me (Spiced rum, St. Germain, maple syrup, Angry Orchard cider); which sounds delicious but I can not take credit. She continued, referring to modern cocktails: "new edge is not a current concept here in Tallahassee, FL, I'm a Waltham transplant here for retirement." Her drink of the moment? A classic warm weather sipper with an added surprise- cheers from the south!

Beady Eyes by Nancy Usiak
2 oz Beefeater, 4 oz tonic, dual olive and lime garnish.

The best boss I have ever had was Nelse Clark. Rewind to 1993, West Street Grille, downtown Boston- we were just a few blocks from the combat zone, The Naked Eye strip club was still there, adjacent to an old "adult" theatre. Playland Cafe was around the corner, a few steps away from what is a Starbucks now. But only a few blocks further North, the venerable Locke Ober Cafe was still packed.

Nelse was the face of West Street, a great front man always with a smile, you wanted to know him and hang out at his spot- I was lucky to work the bar. It does not surprise me at all that he is working with Andrew Cabot now creating a unique American Rum which can hold a place of honor in the deep New England distilling history. When I walked into the Privateer warehouse outside of Ipswich the other day, his friendliness made me feel like I was walking into his bar years ago- he's still the consummate host.

Andrew Cabot (1750-1791) was a merchant and rum distiller who became one of the most successful American privateers. He deployed a fleet of ships including Pilgrim, Revolution and True American for which this Rum is named. He was said to be uncommonly clever and an astute judge of men and situations. Whether smuggling molasses past British patrols or prizing British ships, Cabot was a true American. -Andrew Cabot, 2011

Of course I was there to taste the spirits, and also meet Maggie Campbell, Privateer's terrifically talented head distiller. The warehouse itself is impressive (Nelse mentions "you definitely get more space up here in Ipswich"), with thousands of square feet dedicated to racking barrel space, fermenters, still, and true to form, a bar. After a taste of cane sugar and wonderful fig-nuanced molasses, Maggie walked me first to the NSI Canadian fermenter where sugar cane and/or molasses will sit at 72 degrees for a slow 7 day process closer to what they do in Cognac as opposed to the islands for rum. This makes sense, as one of her mentors is Hubert Germain-Robin of the famous California brandy house. Distillation in a pot still and short column still for as Maggie says, "polish."

Privateer white rum is Agricole style, meaning it is distilled entirely from sugar cane, while the amber is from both cane and molasses. Maggie is constantly tasting and refining the spirit in the process, nothing is added or filtered out. "For me it comes down to marrying alchemy and science to make the best spirit I can," and even though young, she does mentoring of her own with recent visits from aspiring distillers from Sicily and Israel. As if her job wasn't enough, she's also studying for Master of Wine certification- no wonder her spirits are so good.

Don't just listen to me, the legendary Paul Picault, gave both the silver and amber 4 stars, superb and highly recommended. This is a big deal. He raves of the amber, "slightly bittersweet, and even slightly sherried; mid palate is delicate, honeyed, gently sweet, spicy, cocoa-like." Sounds like time for a sip with an ice cube, or better yet, a cocktail. I was honored to jump behind the bar and make a-

Privateer rum old fashioned:
.5 bar spoon cane sugar, drop off water to make a syrup in the glass, 1.5 oz Privateer Amber, 2 dashes Angustura orange bitters, stirred with ice, orange peel oil and garnish.

Nelse swept in to my left and fixed what he calls a-

Mexican Garden Party:
1.5 oz Privateer Silver, .75 oz fresh lime juice, .5 oz simple syrup or agave, small handful of fresh cilantro,1/3 of a Jelepeno pepper, muddle ingredients, add ice, shake and strain.

During distillation, the first off the still is called the "heads" which is imperfection heavy, then the "heart" (desired part for finished product) and finally the "tails," which are discarded. Maggie's art is defining the cut, and her comment, I'm taking and using as a metaphor for life: "when things get tail-y it gets messy." Thank goodness we have her to watch over the process.

Privateer rums can be found at the Urban Grape, Silver $25, Amber $36.

I think twitter and instgram have eliminated anyone's desire to send me a cocktail (c'mon... a quick photo and recipe to straightupjc@gmail.com- it can really be anything!).
So... I'll submit one we made this weekend: a variation of a classic.

Nicole's Blood Orange Blood and Sand

.75 oz Chivas 18yr Scotch
.75 oz Dolin sweet vermouth
.75 oz Luxardo Cherry liqueur
.75 oz blood orange juice
Luxardo cherry garnish

Smokey malt, sweet ripe cherry balanced with tart blood orange- but not too bitter or sweet. A little commitment to get the bottles which can be found (or easy substitutions) at liquor stores, and a bag of blood oranges is around $4 at supermarkets. Worth the effort!