Saturday, February 27, 2010

My new Vermouth obsession

I don't know what it is lately, but with the introduction of Jeff Morganthalers' Sangaree cocktail at Clyde, and the rise of the availability of good vermouth, my palate is heading in the direction of lighter, more wine driven drinks.  With the amount of European Vermouth's' that have arrived in the Oregon Market in the last two years, a whole world of vermouth has opened up for me.  We've seen really deep Vermouth's' like Punt e Mes which are rich herbal and bitter, to light Blanc Vermouth's, that have little to no color, but glow with sweet herbs, and mineral.  It seems none of these can come close to the sweet vermouth Carpano Antica Formula, which is full of rich caramel flavors, baking spices and a subtle herbs.  Lately, I've just drinking alot of vermouth on the rocks.   I needed to understand how I had gone this long as a bartender, and not jumped headlong into one of the worlds oldest drinks.
Traditionaly vermouth had been cut into two categories.  French Vermouth aka Dry Vermouth.  And Italian Vermouth aka Sweet Vermouth.  You see the division lines less these days with French Vermouth's such as Dolin releasing lines of a Dry, Blanc, and Rouge.  and Italian Vermouth's like Cinzano releasing a Rosso, Blanc, and Extra Dry.  The flavors of these products very slightly, and until you have spent some time discovering these products for your self, I feel like there is a huge part of the bartending experience you are missing out on. 

One of my most recent concoctions was created with a real heavy hand of Vermouth.  I reach for Dolin Blanc these days like bartenders reached for vodka in the late 90's.  I was inspired by my love for mixing with cognac, and my new found adoration for Vermouth. 

The French Connection
2oz Dolin Blanc
3/4 oz Cognac
1/2 Cointreau
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Stir and serve with a lemon peel.

The lemon is a nice juxtaposition and is a tip of the hat to one of my all time favorite cocktails, the side car.  Which blends, cognac, cointreau and fresh lemon juice.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

One Dry Month

The month of January was extremely busy for myself, and the Oregon Bartenders Guild.  Looking back at it now, I think it may have been one of the most unexpected, and successful months the guild has ever had.  We had a total of 7 events/tastings/fundraisers/parties.  That's a whole lot of free drinking to do.

I celebrated my 34th birthday last week (Jan 30), and spent the weekend sans kids in Oregon Wine country tasting wines at Domaine Drouhin, Domaine Serene, De Ponte, Archery Summit, and Sokol Blosser.  And that was just the beginning.  Later on, we journeyed into McMinnville where we were treated to the delctible cooking of my friend Paul Willenberg.  We opened 6 more bottles of wine that night.  Needless to say, the next day I felt like one giant fermented grape. 

The very next day was the OBG's 2nd birthday party at Bluehour, which hosted over 100 bartenders/bar managers, and service employees.  Moet-Hennessy sponsored the event, and the booze was flowing.  I meandered home around 1am, and cursing the dreaded hangover that I would be facing the next day.

That was it!!!  I was tired of feeling pickled all the time!  That day I committed to a dry month of February. I'm so glad it's the shortest month of the year.