My Life On The Rocks

So I was doing a little surfing this morning and came across this very cool blog by one of Oregon Culinary’s baking and pastry students. It documents her time in the baking and pastry program (for the record, while I consider myself an excellent cook, I’m a rank amateur at best when it comes to pastry).  Anyway, the blog is well written, has some good photography and documents what the student experience is like at OCI.  Its definitely worth a look and the student projects look amazing. Check it out at www.journeythroughoci.blogspot.com

he panel of five nationally acclaimed industry mentors – Top mixologist Allen Katz of Southern Wine & Spirits, Spirits and Cocktails Geek Gary Regan of ArdentSpirits.com, Dushan Zaric, of Employees Only & Macao Trading Co., Tad Carducci from Tippling Brothers and Phil Ward, from the award-winning cocktail bars Death & Co. and Mayahuel will score all submissions prior to selecting the top 6 recipes to move on to the final round. Finalists will mix off at a private event for media and industry heavyweights on September 20^th in New York City for the grand prize of….

An all-expense paid trip for two to Oktoberfest 2010 in Munich, Germany and $1,000 in cash to sweeten the pot. Additionally, all guests of this event will be asked to cast their vote for best cocktail and the audience favorite will take home a check for $1,000.

To enter the competition, visit www.barenjagerhoney.com and complete the online registration form by August 23, 2010. Must be at least 21 years of age to enter. No purchase necessary. The official rules and regulations can also be found on this site.

Full release:

BÄRENJÄGER HONEY LIQUEUR ANNOUCES FIRST-ANNUAL NATIONAL BÄRENJAGER BÄRTENDER COMPETITION

Fighting for Their Honey, American Bartenders Face Off

New Rochelle, NY. –– For the second year in a row, Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur is kicking off the brand’s annual bartender competition. While last year, Bärenjäger initiated a contest that focused on New York area bar talent, this year’s contest invites national* bartenders as well as amateurs to submit innovative cocktails using Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur. With an A-list lineup of celebrity judges and a grand prize, which includes a trip for two to Oktoberfest, contestants are encouraged to fight for their honey using bar-smarts and creativity.

The panel of judges includes five nationally acclaimed industry mentors. Top mixologist Allen Katz of Southern Wine & Spirits, Spirits and Cocktails Geek Gary Regan of ArdentSpirits.com, both return as judges for the second year in a row.  Joining the group are famed bar talents – Dushan Zaric, of Employees Only & Macao Trading Co., Tad Carducci from Tippling Brothers and Phil Ward, from the award-winning cocktail bars Death & Co. and Mayahuel.

These esteemed judges will score all submissions prior to selecting the top 6 recipes to move on to the final round. Finalists will mix off at a private event for media and industry heavyweights on September 20^th in New York City for the grand prize of an all-expense paid trip for two to Oktoberfest 2010 in Munich, Germany and $1,000 in cash to sweeten the pot. Additionally, all guests of this event will be asked to cast their vote for best cocktail and the audience favorite will take home a check for $1,000.

In the forests of medieval Europe – during the 15^th century, the Eastern Prussian bear trap company, Teucke & König, introduced Bärenjäger, a honey liqueur which translates to “Bear Hunter.” In an effort to end the struggle between man and bear, this sweet concoction was the first professionally produced Meschkinnes – mead-like moonshine made from honey by beekeepers and farmers – and was formulated to aid hunters in attracting bears and to lure them from their dwellings. Made in Germany, this 70 proof honey liqueur is made with premium quality honey from the Mexican province of Yucatan. Each liter bottle contains 300 grams of natural honey and a mixture of botanicals resulting in a subtly sweet, spicy and herb edged taste profile.

“If you want to get in on this year’s Bärenjäger competition, you’d better do some serious thinking—last year’s finalists were just superb,” says returning judge, gaz regan.“This year we anticipate even more cocktailian mastery from our contestants.  I’m looking forward to another doozy of a competition.”

To enter the competition, visit www.barenjagerhoney.com and complete the online registration form by August 23, 2010. Must be at least 21 years of age to enter. No purchase necessary. The official rules and regulations can also be found on this site.

Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur is available in the United States in the liter, 750ml, 375ml, and 50ml sizes.

*Contest is not open to residents of Texas, Washington, California, Tennessee, Alaska and Hawaii.

Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur 35% Alc. /Vol. Imported exclusively by Sidney Frank Importing Company, Inc., New Rochelle, NY www.barenjagerhoney.com

DRINK RESPONSIBLY

So for those of you who don’t know, I’ve made a bit of a career change recently. While I’m lucky enough to have the chance to write (especially for About.com), I’ve been in transition with my career for a little over a year now. A few weeks ago, I started what is literally my dream job. I’m now an instructor at Oregon Culinary Institute. Its been everything I’ve hoped for and more. I’m grateful to have the opportunity and I’m loving every minute of being there. The chefs are great, the students are really fantastic and most of all its a good school that offers a great education in a field that I’m passionate about.

Be sure to follow the OCI blog and come in to see me for lunch or dinner soon. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Today before work I swung by the first annual Northwest Spirits and Mixology Show held at the very cool Jupiter Hotel. While it was blazing hot, a number of great spirits (and one or two not-so-great) were pouring samples under a tent. This was easily the best organized and nicest spirits event in the Pacific Northwest, probably due to Luxe Event Productions putting on the event. While this year was great, I’m already looking forward to 2011’s edition of this event.

Some quick highlights from my time at the show;

1. Dry Fly and the wonderful Courtney Clark were stuck in the blazing sun, but, as usual, Dry Fly’s gin, vodka and whiskey were all world class.
2. I got a chance to taste Seven Tiki rum, a new spiced rum on the market here in Oregon. I’ll admit, I don’t like flavored rums of any sort, but Seven Tiki wasn’t overtly sweet and had a nice, natural Madagascar vanilla note to it that seemed like it would make it a perfect summertime mixer with Coke.
3. Superfly vodka out of Brookings Oregon makes an unfiltered potato vodka out of Oregon russets. I was expecting the usual ngs crap that gets foisted off as craft product and I was pleasantly surprised by how flavorful Superfly really was. Nice stuff and I say that as a non-vodka drinker.
4. Some guy tried to bullshit me about how his whiskey “only” needs 90 days in barrel because they use the heart cuts. Next time you want to blow smoke up someone’s ass, perhaps don’t do it to a whiskey writer. And the whiskey in question sucks btw.
5. One of my absolute favorite people in the biz, Seattle’s Rocky Yeh let me taste some of his stash of great rums. One of the things I like about Rocky is his enthusiasm for and knowledge of good rum. I always learn something from him and he is one of the true gentlemen in the liquor world.
6. Old Forester Signature. Why don’t I have a bottle of this at home? Good stuff. I can’t say enough about Old Forester. One of the greatest names in bourbon going.
7. Chambord has a vodka out. It isn’t for my palate, but I see them moving a lot of product soon. It should be in every nightclub in America soon.
8. Is it me or is Antiguo tequila one of the great values in spirits today? High quality at a very reasonable price point.
9. Did someone seriously try to sell me a system where I buy liquor when its on sale? I need to pay money to figure that out?

There are a few changes happening both with this blog and also in my life. The one constant to expect is that I’ll continue my writing for About.com. I’ve been serving as the Contributing Writer for whiskey and now I’m also adding professional bartending as a second beat. I’m happy to have a change of pace, and picking this up will let me keep up on the latest trends in bartending. I’m pretty excited and my first piece on whether to attend bartending school is already up.

Next up, after a far too brief run, I’m no longer at Urban Farmer. Its a bittersweet parting, as I really enjoyed my time there, and I especially enjoyed working with the talented group of bartenders behind the bar at the Farm. That said, I was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime and couldn’t say no. As of Monday, I’ll be an instructor at the finest culinary school on the West Coast. For those of you who don’t know, I was a back of house person before I got my culinary degree and then I made the change to front of house. Its going to be exciting, and I’m sure the learning curve will be relatively steep. Just because I understand the craft of hospitality doesn’t mean that I understand how to teach. This will be a new craft to master, one I’m eager to take on and learn.  Somehow, a life of teaching and writing seems absolutely perfect to me and I’m grateful beyond belief to have this opportunity.

So what changes can you expect from MyLifeontheRocks? Well, its pretty simple. Expect more frequent posts, more beer and wine posts, more food posts and cookbook reviews and excerpts. While I may be best known for spirits and cocktails, my interests in the culinary world are far wider than that and I’m eager to share my knowledge of other areas. Coming up soon, I’ve got reviews of the incredible Recipes from an Italian Summer cookbook from Phaidon, some cool blanco tequila reviews, some reviews and recommendations for summertime wines and beer news. Sounds like a lot huh? Thanks again for reading and I’m thankful for everything thats come my way.

Off to the Mississippi Street Fair and then Zane Lamprey tonight. Does life get better?

Ok, so those of you who know me know that I pretty much hate vodka. Or at least I used to. Sure, I’m not likely to be seen drinking vodka anytime soon, I’m a whisky/gin/tequila guy. That said, vodka is the dominant distilled spirit in the US market and if nothing more than that, I should have some decent vodkas to recommend. Recently, two craft (real craft, not bullshit, we’re adding water, filtering it and selling it to you as artisan product vodkas) vodkas have really impressed me. Dry Fly’s vodka out of Washington state, is pretty damn amazing. As my boss at Urban Farmer said when I tasted it with her, “Of course you like this vodka Lance, it actually has flavor”. And thats the thing, it does have flavor. Wonderful flavor, the kind of flavor that should be in a vodka martini or even a vodka cranberry. Its smooth, elegant and everything that so many vodkas aren’t, which is tasty. I don’t keep vodka in my liquor cabinet (ok, I admit, I do keep some down in the basement for guests if they really won’t drink anything else), but Dry Fly vodka has changed that. Its now going to be the house vodka at Casa De Mayhew. Ask me for a vodka martini next time you are over and instead of me glaring at you and cursing you under my breath as I trudge unwillingly down to the basement, I’ll happily change your life by pulling the Dry Fly out of my liquor cabinet and showing you just how delicious a real vodka martini can be. If you live on the West Coast and don’t have a bottle of Dry Fly in the house, change that as soon as you can.

The other craft vodka thats rocking my world right now comes from the brilliant minds at Finger Lakes Distilling. The pride of New York, I don’t think Finger Lakes has ever made anything I haven’t fallen in love with (check About.com for my feelings about their whiskies).  Their Vintners Vodka is made from 100% NY state grapes, giving it a wonderful character and mouthfeel. This is one sexy vodka, and I wish it was available here but if you are on the East Coast, grab some asap.

Dry Fly and Finger Lakes Vintners vodkas may be the craft distilling world’s Tupac and Biggie Smalls, both trailblazers in a market full of pretenders to the throne. Each is distinctive, exceptional and true to its roots. West Coast vs East Coast and yet if you have a bottle of both you are in for a damn entertaining evening.

Strangely enough, the other vodka that I’ve been having fun with has been Absolut Brooklyn. While I generally have to struggle to restrain the involuntary twitch I get when someone asks me which flavored vodkas I carry, I do appreciate the flavor profile of Absolut Brooklyn. Recently things have gone off the rails with products like bacon and smoked salmon flavored vodkas. Really? Does the world really need salmon flavored vodka? What am I going to do, give it to my  cat? Do cats even drink vodka? But I digress. Absolut Brooklyn is an apple ginger flavored vodka. The apple is a pure, clean flavor and the ginger just adds a touch of background zing. What can I  say? Its nice. Try it with some cloudy apple juice, a few dashes of Angostura bitters and a big slug of Absolut Brooklyn and you’ve got an easy, fun summertime sipper perfect for barbecues, block parties or just sitting on the stoop of your Brooklyn brownstone. Its pretty clear that Absolut is having fun with this one and the packaging is cool. They took the stern looking Swedish guy on the label and gave him a Spike Lee makeover. When I brought the bottle in and put it on the back bar, people kept asking me about it so  its definitely eye catching.

So there you have it. I’m rescinding my hatred for vodka. I’ve seen the light, just don’t ask me to drink any bullshit vodka and we’ll all get along just fine. But if you offer me a Dry Fly or Finger Lakes martini, I’ll happily drain that bottle with a smile on my face. And if we meet at a barbecue, break out the Absolut Brooklyn and I’ll whip up some nice cocktails for us all.

First off, I’m buried on reviews for About.com so this site will take a backseat for a bit. I DO have some good tequila reviews coming and some other items of note. One thing that I should make abundantly clear with the 4th of July approaching. On July 4, I will only be drinking and recommending American products. It is the 4th. Mom, apple pie, bourbon and fireworks. I will not be drinking sake no matter what any press releases say. Perhaps on the 5th but definitely not on the 4th.

1- Dear God, why hasn’t Jim Beam released a barrel strength edition of their white label? I’ve tasted JB white directly from the barrel and its amazing.

2- I don’t care what the folks at YeYo tequila try to tell you what YeYo means. You can’t just change the definition. Yeyo is cocaine for those not in the know. You ask me as a bartender for yeyo and I’m chucking your ass out of my bar. I’m actually a little upset that the TTB would approve of such a name and its a damn shame because I’ve tasted YeYo and its a decent tequila. Still, I’ll never serve it or recommend it simply because of its stupid name.

3- Speaking of stupid names, Bu-Tay vodka? Really? Who is actually going to walk up to a bar and ask for a glass of Bu-Tay? Not me. Another stupid name that will relegate this brand to the garbage heap of history soon.

4- Today I was offered a sample of protein infused vodka. I can’t understand why anyone would want vodka infused with casein protein unless it makes Red Bull taste exceptionally better.

5- I like Veev acai spirit. It comes in at 60 proof though, and part of me thinks that it would be amazing if there were a drier, higher proof option as well (maybe 90 proof?).

6- I think we’ve hit the Rococo period in American bartending. Not every bartender (or drinks blogger for that matter) can actually craft intricate cocktails without creating muddy, flat flavors. Its a red flag to me when I walk into a bar and see 9 ingredient drinks made with esoteric ingredients. Generally, they just aren’t any good. I’d rather see bartenders focus on 4 ingredient cocktails that are balanced and well crafted than trying to blow smoke up everyones ass.

7-  I just got Kim Haasrud’s newest offering, 101 Blender Drinks. I think its time for bartenders to reclaim both blended drinks and cream drinks as styles of drinks worth creating and serving. I’m happy to see this book show up and I’m looking forward to reading it.

8- I’ve been asked by the fine folks at Drambuie to rethink the Rusty Nail for a panel session at Tales of the Cocktail. I’ll be writing up my experiments over at About.com, be sure to check them out. Unfortunately, as usual, I won’t be at Tales. This time its the impending birth of my daughter.

9- I’m SO excited to be checking out the cocktail scene in Edinburgh and Aberdeen next week. I’d especially like the thank Adam Elmegirab for his help in pointing me in the right direction. Now if I can just jump behind the bar for an hour or two I’ll be in heaven.

10- I don’t get NGS craft vodkas. I  really don’t. A recent visit to Dry Fly up in Spokane showed me just how easy it is to mash your own grain for vodka. Is something purchased in bulk and repackaged really artisan?

Rep. Bill Delahunt (D, Mass) has introduced some of the most idiotic legislation I’ve ever seen. Under H.R. 5034, individual states could actually set their own formulas, bottling and labeling standards for what constitutes bourbon. This means Oregon could have entirely different standards as to what bourbon is than, say, Kentucky. Of course, since 95% of the bourbon produced in the U.S. is in Kentucky, this could have a devastating effect on that states economy. Consumers and enthusiasts need the current standards to stay in place so that when someone buys bourbon, they actually get to enjoy bourbon, not some half assed spirit that a bunch of politicians decided to let their state make. What really bothers me is that this bill has 98 cosponsors. Call or email Rep. Delahunt and your local Congressman (mine’s Earl Blumenauer) and let them know that you are opposed to H.R. 5034. I’m attaching the press release from DISCUS below, and this link to find your Congressman’s email address. We need to write, call and do everything we can to stop this legislation from destroying our national spirit, Bourbon.

KENTUCKY DISTILLERS WARN CONGRESS

H.R. 5034 COULD DESTROY BOURBON INDUSTRY

Bill could “wipe out centuries of Kentucky craftsmanship, quality and heritage”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA), a Kentucky-based trade group representing world renowned Bourbon brands, today sent a letter to the Congressional Bourbon Caucus and every member of Kentucky’s Congressional Delegation, urging strong opposition to wholesaler-crafted legislation that would significantly damage Kentucky’s signature Bourbon industry.

KDA President Eric Gregory highlighted the legislation’s “many far-reaching and negative consequences” noting that under the bill individual states could establish their own formulas, labeling and bottling standards for Bourbon, overriding uniform federal requirements as now prescribed by the U.S. Treasury Department.

“For more than 200 years, Kentucky’s legendary distilleries have crafted the world’s finest Bourbons, using a time-honored process that today is regulated by strict federal ‘standards of identity’…Allowing individual states to concoct a whiskey and call it ‘Bourbon,’ based on their own definition, would destroy the industry as we know it today,” Gregory wrote. “On behalf of Kentucky’s signature Bourbon and distilled spirits industry, I strongly urge you to oppose H.R. 5034 and ask that you make your colleagues aware of its potentially disastrous repercussions.”

H. R. 5034 strips away the protections of the Commerce Clause and effectively exempts state alcohol laws from all federal laws, such as the federal antitrust statutes, the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and other important laws that provide critical consumer protections and prohibit price-fixing and other anti-competitive behavior.

And here is the letter to Congress.

May 24, 2010

The Honorable Brett Guthrie

U.S. House of Representatives

Kentucky, 2nd District

510 Cannon Building

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Guthrie:

A bill recently introduced in Congress could significantly damage Kentucky’s signature Bourbon industry. I am writing today to ask you to oppose H.R. 5034 on behalf of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association and our member distilleries.

H.R. 5034 has many far-reaching and negative consequences for all sectors of the beverage alcohol industry. Its proponents claim that it is needed to protect state-based alcohol regulation – yet it goes much farther than that.

Here is a direct example of its potential impact to our distilling industry:

For more than 200 years, Kentucky’s legendary distilleries have crafted the world’s finest Bourbons, using a time-honored process that today is regulated by strict federal “standards of identity.”

But under H.R. 5034, individual states could establish their own formulas, labeling and bottling standards for Bourbon, overriding the uniform federal requirements as now prescribed by the U.S. Treasury Department.

As a result, any state could then create its own competing definition of Bourbon that would wipe out centuries of Kentucky craftsmanship, quality and heritage.

Allowing individual states to concoct a whiskey and call it “Bourbon,” based on their own definition, would destroy the industry as we know it today.

The resulting chaos would undermine one of the Commonwealth’s most important economic and tourism industries and a thriving global export. As you know, Kentucky produces 95 percent of the world’s Bourbon, and its impact in the Bluegrass is staggering:

• 10,000 good-paying jobs
• $125 million each year in tax revenue
• $100 million in current capital investment
• Nearly 500,000 annual visits to the famous Kentucky Bourbon Trail®
• More than $750 million in U.S. exports

Kentucky is proud to be the birthplace of Bourbon, and the only place in the world where visitors can enjoy the true Bourbon experience. H.R. 5034 threatens that tradition and jeopardizes a growing, successful industry that is hailed around the world.

On behalf of Kentucky’s signature Bourbon and distilled spirits industry, I strongly urge you to oppose H.R. 5034 and ask that you make your colleagues aware of its potentially disastrous repercussions.

Sincerely,

Eric Gregory

President

Kentucky Distillers’ Association

Congress screws us enough. Lets stand up to them and protect the bourbon industry.