Negroni

I am a Campari nut. Lately, I've been drinking it mixed with Perrier, a splash of Cointreau, and a nice, big sqeeze of lime. It's my own personal summer drink, this year. (Feel free to try it at home!)

Given that, I am excited to share this classic cocktail, the Negroni, with The Liquid Muse community! I'm especially happy that this recipe comes from San Francisco- based Mixologist, Jacques Bezuidenhout (who also designed Urbana's cocktail menu).

(Aside: I plan to interview Jacques in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for his profile here, soon!)

From Jacques:

Negroni
1 1/4 oz. Gin
1 1/4 oz. Campari
1 1/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth

Pour all ingredients over ice into a mixing glass. STIR the drink and strain into a cocktail glass. This drink is also widely served on the rocks. If so, then stir and strain over fresh ice into an Old-fashioned glass.

Garnish: Orange Twist. Orange works really well with Campari and really finishes off the drink. Lemon does not do the drink justice.

Tasting Notes: A classic full-bodied Aperitif. The addition of Gin adds a nice kick to this classic. The story goes that in the 1930’s Count Camillo Negroni haunted the Café’s of Florence asking for his Americano with an extra kick. He asked the bartenders to leave out the soda and add some gin. The cocktail became known as the Negroni.

Jacques says, "In my opinion this is one the best Aperitif cocktails. It is wonderful before a big dinner. It relaxes you from the day’s stresses and readies you for the wonderful meal ahead. This is not a drink to recommend for first time Campari drinkers or the faint of heart."

Harry Denton’s Starlight Lounge

A San Francisco Legend

An infamous den of cocktailian lore, Harry Denton’s Starlight Room (atop the Sir Francis Drake Hotel) has attracted such acclaimed Mixologists as Tony Abou-Ganim and Jacques Bezuidenhout to leave a lingering libational imprint. The vibe is swanky and glammy with a hint of kitschy Vegas glitz. In other words, it’s the kind of place I love to have a cocktail with friends, warming up for a fabulous night, or ending one…

It has been on my list for ages, and I was very excited to finally get up there and try Abou-Ganim’s Cable Car. Of course, I had to pose in one of the famed plush red-velvet booths with said drink. (What can I say – I was a starry-eyed cocktail tourist!) I did not try one of Bezuidenhout's Million-Dollar Cocktails (which actually cost a few hundred per glass...) but I guess I'll put that on my "I've Been A Good Girl Santa" scroll.

I love that the swishy waitresses wear elegant long, black dresses (with a sexy side slit)… however, I would have felt slightly warmer toward mine had she given my friend Claire and I as timely and efficient service that she gave the table of men, nearby. Between waiting for our drinks to be ordered, then delivered, then having to finally bring our payment up to the cashier as we sat for 10, 15, 20 minutes waiting to pay… well, we wasted far too much valuable Cocktail Week tasting time!

On our way out, we learned a bit about Tom Sweeny, the hotel’s infamous and heroic bellman. About 15 year ago, the 30-year veteran bellman, chased down purse-snatchers who had nabbed a female guest’s bag. As a reward, the hotel sent him on a vacation to Mexico, where he saved a child from drowning.

He has since been featured in TV shows and movies, a part of Union Square history. (Who says all the celebrities are in LA!)

*Photos courtesy of Claire Barrett Photography

LA Bartenders Unite!

So, finally, something that I’ve been hoping to see come to fruition is a reality.

I started The Liquid Muse Cocktail Club’s Cocktail of the Week, last summer. I highlighted a cocktail from a different LA restaurant in each mailing. (Its currently called The Liquid Muse Mixology Museletter because I just can't do it once a week. Its more-or-less monthly. Sign up for it here.) I was hoping that by highlighting the few quality cocktails I could scrounge up in this town that Angelenos would take note, then seek out and demand better drinks.

Then something wonderful happened. I met some fantastic LA-based bartenders at Tales of the Cocktail, last year, who felt the same way I did. Why are cities like San Fran and NYC (not to mention Seattle, Chicago, Boston and DC) respected for their fine drinks – while LA lags behind as land of the “vodka redbull” or even less appetizing, “Skinny Bitch (rum and diet coke)?” Especially when there are some talented and creative bartenders out here, with a passion for “the craft of the cocktail.” (to reference the grand Dale DeGroff)

Marcos Tello recently launched The Sporting Life (with a little help from his friend and business partner Damian Windsor ... who apparently loves Partida, judging by this photo...). It’s a Los Angeles-based bartender club, of sorts. And, cocktail bloggers are included. (We are all cocktail geeks together, after all…)

The first meeting comprised about 10 people and Joe Keeper (of Bar Keeper fame) lent the cozy back patio behind his store. Marcos sprung for the booze himself, and greeted everyone with sparkling cocktails.

The second meeting was this past weekend at Mozza – a great score considering it’s a tough place to get a reservation to PAY to drink there. This time, the fellas brought on a liquor sponsor. (Hello… if anyone can actually get a liquor sponsor it’s those of us who work with, sell and create new cocktails with their products!)

And – it was a good one! I’ve been a fan of Partida Tequila since I first blogged about it back in the summer of 2006. One of my favorites – and owned by a woman. How much more cool does it get?

The boys whipped up some awesome drinks on Sunday. One with Campari. One with cucumber foam. And, another sort of Tequila Old fashioned. It was the perfect way to kick off a Sunday afternoon, to be sure.

This time the crowd was about double what it was last time, and we had a surprise guest. Jacques Bezuidenhout who reps Partida came down from San Fran with his girlfriend, for the meeting. (Who says No-Cal and So-Cal don’t get along?)

Also in attendance were four cocktail bloggers – including me. Chuck Taggart from Gumbo Pages, Ted Haigh from Dr. Cocktail and Marleigh Riggins from Sloshed were all in one corner together. (Elitist snobs.) Just kidding. I was joyful to be in the real live company of other people who sit in front of a computer blathering on about cocktails for little to no pay. Just for the pure love of it. (Crazy people stick together, ya know!) And, Ted gave a presentation on bitters.

The bartenders came from all sorts of respected hot spots around town: Seven Grand, Doheny, Comme Ca, Bar Marmont, Villa, El Carmen, Fatfish – and more I’m surely forgetting right now (sorry guys).

And, of course, our host Chris Ojeda, the barman at Mozza, gave us a fascinating rundown of the incredible collection of Amaro behind Mozza’s bar. It’s got to be the biggest collection of Amaro in LA. Most bottles have never been opened. The bar menu features several drinks made with Amaro, which is ridiculously cool. Try the Montenegro Fizz, Meletti Smash or The Bitter End to see what I’m talking about…

In the coming weeks and months you will be seeing these talented folks featured here on The Liquid Muse Blog and in The Bartender Diaries. After all, birds of a feather drink together! I raise a glass to Marcos for getting this underway. And, here’s to The Sporting Life!

B.A.R. Comes to LA, Tequila Flows

In addition to being some of the coolest cats in the biz, the B.A.R. team is also one of the most knowledgeable assemblies of spirits aficionados imaginable. So, the excitement among the 40 attendees at an all day tequila immersion at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica, sponsored by Partida Tequila, was palpable. Some of us have already taken the B.A.R. course and had an idea of what to expect. The uninitiated seemed unaware of just how much we would learn over the next 8-hours.

After mingling over a continental breakfast, Steve Olsen began the journey through tequila history, Mexican tequila-growing regions’ topography and geography. He ran through types of agave plants (there are literally hundreds) and showed photos of burros laden with 6 – 8 agave “pinas” sometimes weighing 200 kilos (over 400 pounds) each. Steve ran through methods of distillation and aging, and Paul Pacult also likened tequila to wine in that its “terroire” and the altitude at which the plants grow directly affects the final flavor of the product.

We launched into the tasting, starting with the unaged or “blanco” tequilas first. Words such as “green pepper,” “cilantro” and “lime rind” were used as adjectives. As we moved through the next 7 blancos and into the 8 reposados, descriptors such as “creamy,” “white pepper,” “earthy,” “licorice,” and “rosemary” came into play. When we hit a bad tequila (the team threw in a couple so that we could pick one out of a line up) aromas such as “plastic,” “medicinal” and “methanol” were descriptors.

Once we ran through 16 blancos and reposados, out came three spicy sangritas. The one they called “traditional” was made with pomegranate juice, orange juice, lime juice and habanero sauce. The next blended Cholula sauce, lime, grapefruit, tomato and orange juices, slat and jalapeno. Finally the Green Sangrita (from Green & Red in London) was my favorite of the three, made with pineapple, mint, coriander, lime juice, cane sugar syrup and sea salt.

David Wondrich and His Highness Dale DeGroff ran through some historic tequila cocktails and how to make them. The old-school and new-school Tequila Daisies (or traditional margarita) and the original Tequila Sunrise, which in a fancy Tijuana resort made popular during prohibition touted the drink as the “sure cure for colds.” After all that, well, we had lunch.

If you haven’t already had lunch at Whist, you should know that you’re missing out. And, in this case, the 4-course, tequila cocktail pairing lunch blows the 1950’s style 3-martini lunch out of the proverbial water:

Luscious scallops were paired with the Spicy Abbey (Partida Reposado, Lillet, fresh OJ, angostura orange bitters and pepper jelly). The St. Rosemary (Partida Blanco, St. Germain, apple and lime juice and fresh rosemary) was perfect alongside zucchini blossom with bellwether ricotta and charred tomatoes. The braised leg of duck with artisan chocolate mole and corn tamale came alongside a Holy Mole (Partida Anejo, Aperol, Madeira, crème de cocoa, barrel aged bitters with a Gentleman Jack rinse with a flamed orange peel.) Dessert featured a crisp plantain with chipotle ice cream and caramel.

How do you top a lunch like that? You go back in to the conference room and taste about 16 more tequilas. Only this time anejos and extra anejos. To be anejo, the tequila is aged in wood for 1-2 years. The “extra anejo” category kicks in after 2 years and lasts until 5 years in the barrel. It seems a crime to sip-and-spit them but, lets face it, if we drank them all, we’d have died from alcohol poisoning. And, that would mean we’d never get to enjoy another tequila cocktail again. That would be a shame.

Andy Seymour, Willy Shine, Aisha Sharpe, Leo DeGroff, Jacques Bezuidenhout and Damian Windsor prepared and demo'd cocktails for the group, as well. Even Gary Shansby, the President of Partida tequila was on-hand to share enthusiasm about the tequila category, in general. It was an amazing array of old-and-new-school talent, and we were all damn lucky to have been part of a wonderful and educational day. B.A.R. may be the most prestigious spirits training in the U.S. but one thing is for sure. These guys know how to have a good time.

And, isn’t that what cocktails are all about?

Will I See You in San Francisco?

Don't forget about Tuesday's Square Off at the Ferry Building in San Francisco! This exciting cocktail competition is brought to you by Om Organics, Square One Organic Vodka and Chow Magazine. Judges include Jacques Bezuidenhout, The Liquid Muse, and Editor from Chow and an audience member to be selected at the event.

This is gonna be a fantastic event - hope to raise a glass to the winner with YOU!

San Francisco Cocktail Week 2008

The second annual San Francisco Cocktail Week just wrapped up – and if you missed it, you will be sorry! I journeyed up the coast, last year, to cover the very first SF Cocktail Week 2007 and was impressed with what the boys from the Bay Area are doing to rally the tippling troops, so I had to show my solidarity again. (Gosh, darn, twist my arm.)

Starlight and Cable Cars

The first event kicked off last Tuesday (May 13) at Harry Denton’s Starlight Room, where Tony Abou-Ganim was honored. With decades of mixology under his belt, and boundless passion behind the stick, Tony’s nod was well deserved. The crowd toasted him with the now legendary Cable Car cocktails, which Tony created years ago while working at the Starlight Room, atop the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. The famous drink is proudly still served by today’s barmen.

Another well-respected mixologist, Jacques Bezuidenhout also worked at the Starlight Room and I was excited to share a Cable Car with him, as well, while interviewing him on-camera for an upcoming video for The Liquid Muse Cocktail Show!

Save the Sazerac!

Elixir Saloon stirred up support for Tales of the Cocktail - what a preview of what's to come in New Orleans! H. Joseph Ehrmann owns the historic saloon (which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year!) and is one of the three founders of San Francisco Cocktail Week.

He, along with Jeff Hollinger (GM of Absinthe and author of Art of the Bar) and Duggan McDonnel (of Cantina fame), decided to organize the citywide event with an eye toward unifying San Francisco’s finest bartenders. H told me that San Francisco was the first to organize a whole week around World Cocktail Day.

Proceeds from Friday’s ‘Save the Sazerac’ event at Elixir raised awareness and money for our brethren in New Orleans, and support for Tales of the Cocktail. The Grand Dame of the Crescent City herself, Ann R. Tunnerman, flew in for the party and energized the crowd for the upcoming biggest cocktailian love-fest of the year, Tales of the Cocktail, which runs July 16-20. (Be there or be a sad little puppy!)

H also prepared his version of the Sazerac, the Shirazerac, and the crowd around the bar was no fewer than 5 deep at any given moment. Jeff Hollinger jumped behind the bar to help out, and even with the boys mixing 10 drinks at a time, everyone had to elbow our way in to secure a drink, and still wait at least half an hour between rounds!

Shirazerac (by H of Elixir)

1 barspoon of Shiraz syrup*
2oz of Sazerac Rye
1/2 barspoon Pastis Herbsaint
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
1 Star Anise
1 quarter size round of lemon rind

Fill an Old Fashioned glass with ice and set aside to chill. Cut the lemon rind to a circle about the size of a quarter, without pith. Stick a toothpick through the star anise and into the lemon rind until only a small bit of the toothpick shows from the top, breaking off the extra beneath the lemon. Set garnish aside. In a separate glass, put shiraz syrup at the bottom of the glass and cover with the rye whiskey and the bitters. Stir to dissolve the syrup. Stir briefly. Empty the chilled glass and add the Absinthe substitute to it, swirling around to coat it and leaving a small pool of what is left at the bottom. Strain the cocktail into that glass and add the Star Anise as a floating garnish.

New (Cool) Kid in Town: Beretta

I also made a point of getting down to the very new, hip and PACKED Beretta for drinks and pizza fired to crisp perfection. The risotto kicks serious bootie, too, and the cocktails…

Well, with SF Chapter President of the USBG Jon Santer shaking and stirring, would you expect less than outstanding drinks? He created an apple and cherry drink especially for cocktail week. It was de-li-cious!

A mass exodus from Bourbon & Branch has lured several of the city’s finest bartenders to enjoy flocks of thirsty San Franciscans at their new home at Beretta. All’s fair in love and mixology, I suppose.

A Tribute to a Founding Father in Cocktail History

Saturday started off with an amazing surprise. Diego Loret de Mola (most known to us as the Barsol Pisco king) organized a very special trek out to Cypress Lawn Cemetery. We were on a mission to honor Duncan Nicol, who ran the Bank Exchange bar in the early 20th Century and created the Pisco Punch.

John Burton and David Wondrich aided Diego in digging up history on the Nicol, who lays to rest in a magnificent setting. Diego also presented John Burton with a special plaque as recognition for his deep knowledge of cocktail lore and contributions to our field.

Next, Diego took our busload to Fresca, a Peruvian-style ceviche bar for tastes of his native food and more cocktails! In addition to delicious raw fish delights, we tried Coca Pisco cocktails, garnished with coca leaves. (Don’t you just love uppers and downers in one easy sip?) The day was a treat and I definitely felt privileged to be part of the excursion.

Booze and Books

San Francisco magazine’s Scott Hocker moderated a panel of several knowledgeable cocktail history experts including David Wondrich, John Burton, Jim Jarvis and Jordan Mackay just off the lobby of Hotel Rex. Keeping in the Pisco ‘spirit,’ Duggan McDonnel treated the audience to glasses of Pisco Punch. (Now that’s the kind of lecture I can get behind!) The after-party continued at Cantina, where Mr. Mojito stepped behind the bar to shake up more fun.

Final Call at Absinthe

Once again, SF Cocktail Week had its closing party at Absinthe, hosted by Jeff Hollinger. I left town the day before so I don’t have pix from there but if it was anything like last year, I’m sure it was a who’s who of mixology enthusiasts from up and down the West Coast.

So, it was a successful sophomore year for SF Cocktail Week, and With World Cocktail Week wrapped up, all eyes are on New Orleans for an even bigger cocktail extravaganza. See you at Tales in July!

Just Say “No” To The Cosmo!

Ladies, this is a plea to you. The Cosmo is dead. Done. Buried. Forget it. Sex in the City has been in reruns for like, four years or so. It is time to pick up your Manolos, and move on. There is a whole exciting world of libations to explore! (And, to the guys who actually order Cosmos in public, which is alarming unto itself… just stop. Don’t believe me? Maybe the Modern Drunkard will convince you.)

Being a “girl” is not always easy when it comes to ordering drinks. Seriously. I come across an enormous amount of kickin’ cool cocktails and for some reason, at the moment I find myself in front of a fully stocked bar – hundreds of bottles and combinations at my disposal, sometimes, I choke. Freeze. Go blank. I have actually heard myself stammer, “A… a… Cosmo?” (Ok, truthfully, I haven’t actually ordered a Cosmo for a couple of years - but you get my point.)

My default drink these days in the Negroni, which I highly recommend. It is both classic and rejuvenatedly swank. I make it at home mostly because, unfortunately, many bartenders have no f-ing clue how to make a good one. (I was severely disappointed with the sludge served at LA’s Formosa Café, normally a place I like. It, too, is a classic. But, that bartender had no business making a Negroni. They need to either teach the staff the art of that drink, or take it off the menu!)

To try a Negroni at home, check out this LM post featuring San Fran Mixologist, Jacques Bezuidenhout’s recipe. Another Negroni-phile is the Modern Mixologist himself, Tony Abou Ganim. (My profile on Tony is coming soon…)

There are a zillion cool cocktails to discover so I am going to make a point of sharing more on The Liquid Muse. Drinks using gin, bourbon, whiskey and tequila are often overlooked by us, ladies. My theory is that we don’t order them because we are not generally exposed to “manly” drinks. And, I’m about to change all that…

I’ve been planning to implement Liquid Muse Events for a while now. Among those events, will be liquor presentations, especially for women, called Booze for Broads (tm). These educational (and fun!) seminars will take place on both coasts, and often feature guest mixologists.

I’ll post them here, of course, but if you want to be “in the know” please send me an email and I’ll add you to my mailing list. (btw – I will never share your addresses. I hate being spammed, too.)

In the meantime, try a little experiment. When you’re out this weekend, think of something your dad drinks, and order that. Chances are it is in fashion now, anyway. Let me know how it went, and I’ll post it here. (Especially if you have pix!)