black friars

50% Gin (1 1/2 oz GrandTen Wire Works)
25% Dry Vermouth (3/4 oz Noilly Prat)
10% Benedictine (2 tsp or 1/3 oz)
10% Curaçao (2 tsp or 1/3 oz Pierre Ferrand)
5% Brandy (1 tsp or 1/6 oz Foret)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a cherry.

For cocktails a few Wednesdays ago, we began the evening with the Black Friars from the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild's Approved Cocktails book. The drink bears similarity to my Black Friar that I created for a Plymouth Gin contest. It also shares a likeness to the classic Caprice as well as Eastern Standard's King's Yellow and the old Latin Quarter's Joan Blondell.
The Black Friars' dry vermouth worked well with the Curaçao's orange and the Angostura's spice on the nose. The white wine and orange sip led into gin, Benedictine, and Angostura flavors on the swallow. Overall, it was a bit more orange than a Caprice but still in the same neighborhood.

penn

1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur
1/4 oz Avèze Gentiane Liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

The drink that Andrea had at Brick & Mortar was off of their supplementary Ivy League Cocktails menu. Some of that list were classics or modifications thereof, but some of the drinks, like the Penn and Dartmouth, needed to be crafted. There was also an addition to the eight drinks of a shot of Dr. McGillicuddy's for the up-and-coming Ivy, Bunker Hill Community College. The Penn utilized Rittenhouse Rye from Pennsylvania for theme and balanced its heat with some sweet, fruity, and nutty elements.
The Punt e Mes and Avèze's bitter herbal elements came through on the nose. The rye's malt worked well with the Punt e Mes' grape on the sip, and the rest of the rye shined through on the swallow. In addition, the Punt e Mes' bitter notes merged with the Nux Alpina walnut flavors on the swallow, and the drink finished with a lingering gentian herbalness.

in vida veritas

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
3/4 oz Nux Alpina
3/4 oz Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur
1/2 oz Benedictine
1 dash Fee's Whiskey Barrel-aged Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist an orange peel over the top.

A few Tuesdays ago, we stopped in at Brick & Mortar after dinner for a nightcap. The drink I asked Kenny Belanger for was a new menu item, the In Vida Veritas. Obviously a pun on the classic "in wine [there is the] truth" which is appropriate given Misty Kalkofen's adoration of Vida and other mezcals.
The In Vida Veritas offered an orange and herbal aroma to me and an orange, walnut, and mezcal aroma to Andrea. The sip's caramel notes were followed by mezcal, pine, and herbal flavors on the swallow and a cinnamon-tinged finish.Furthermore, as the drink warmed up, the finish gained a mint accent from the Benedictine. Overall, I was impressed at how well the Zirbenz and mezcal paired, and they seemed to complement the other's prickly edges such that there was a stone pine and agave synergy.

yellow glow

1/3 Dry Gin (3/4 oz GrandTen's Wire Works)
1/3 Yellow Chartreuse (3/4 oz)
1/3 Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Cocchi)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail. Garnish with a stuffed olive (omitted).

A few Mondays ago for the cocktail hour, I flipped through the 1940 The How And When cocktail book and spotted the Yellow Glow. I was curious for it seemed like a Bijou with Yellow Chartreuse instead of the Green Chartreuse and orange bitters.
The Yellow Glow greeted my nose with a savory herbal aroma from the Yellow Chartreuse. The sweet grape sip was followed by gin and Yellow Chartreuse flavors colored by more grape notes on the swallow. Overall, it was less bristly than a Bijou and reminded me a little of the Strega and dry vermouth Berkeley Hotel Cocktail but with more grape flavors.

burning ice

1 1/2 oz Laphroaig 10 Year Scotch
3/4 oz Pedro Ximenez Sherry
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Swedish Punsch
1 barspoon Kübler Absinthe
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

While I was drinking my Front Street at No. 9 Park, bartender Ted Kilpatrick was working the restaurant floor. He came by and mentioned his frustrations of serving drinks at the Whisky Live event and how many of the people there did not get his cocktail. Some of the guests had two problems with his drink, the Burning Ice. The first I could see, since not everyone likes fennel-anise flavors. The second was more absurd when they complained about the smoke notes given that it was at a Scotch event after all. While he made the drink at the event with Ardbeg, they were making it at No. 9 with Laphroaig. With Scotch, lemon, Swedish Punsch, and absinthe, the drink reminded me the Modern Cocktail. So when it was time for my second drink, I asked bartender Sam Olivari for the Burning Ice.
The Scotch's smoke greeted my nose along with the absinthe's anise and hints of the sherry's grape. The lemon-grape sip had a thicker mouthfeel than I expected perhaps from the sherry's fullness. And the swallow was a combination of the smokey Scotch and rich sherry that was punctuated by light herbal notes from the absinthe and Peychaud's Bitters.

front street

2 oz Sazerac 6 Year Rye
3/4 oz S. Maria al Monte Amaro
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
2 dash Bitter Science Mole Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Flame an orange twist over the top.
A few Sundays ago, I stopped into No. 9 Park when bartender Sam Olivari was at the stick. For a first drink, Sam suggested a Toronto variation named after one of the Toronto neighborhoods called Front Street. The drink's orange twist's oils joined the cinnamon on the aroma along with an herbal note from the amaro at the end of the sniff. The sip was rich with caramel and chocolate notes, and the swallow presented the rye and an interesting collision of cinnamon and S. Maria al Monte flavors. With this amaro-cinnamon combination, I was reminded of Russell House Tavern's Wigglesworth which is also a Toronto variation but with Fernet Branca and apple-cinnamon syrup.

:: best moments of the boston cocktail summit ::

After each Tales of the Cocktail, I make a highlights post about the event. Usually, I compose these thoughts over the week as well as write an outline at the airport or on the flight. With the event not requiring more than a 10 minute bus ride down the street and only being a few days long, I took the past few days to reflect instead. In this post, I also included events that were planned around the Boston Cocktail Summit including the Origin spirits tasting and Speed Rack events on Wednesday and The Thing formal on Thursday. Here they are in semi-random order:

• Most Sentimental Moment - At The Thing charity event at Locke-Ober, Deep Ellum's Max Toste was wearing the bow tie that he used to wear as a bus boy working at Locke-Ober as a young teenager. In fact, the man who trained and supervised him was at the restaurant that night.
• Best Long-Time-No-See - Lauren Clark of DrinkBoston fame is back in town! I spotted her at the Origin tasting event and saw her throughout the week. Lucky for us, she is back on the Right Coast.
• Most Symbolic Drink - Drinking Boston's symbolic drink, the Ward Eight, at Locke-Ober where it was created 114 years ago. I had three Ward Eights that day, and the one that John Gertsen made us at the downtown Boston talk actually tasted the best (John's theory is that orange juice and whiskey are a poor combination).
• Punch - I had the honor of drinking bowls of punch made by Dave Wondrich on two occasions. They were not the fanciest of punches, but it did feel like it was being crafted by an artist.
• Distillers - There was a stronger than average showing of distillers who I met at talks, events, and tasting rooms. Of the local ones, I met the distillers from Privateer, Turkey Shore, Ryan & Wood, and Whistlepig. I may take some of them up on the offers to visit the distilleries.
• Most Absurd - Fernet Branca Menta luge?
• Best Thing Out of Gary Regan's Mouth - At the rebuttal section of the Gaz Regan roast, Gaz held up a large stick and asked if we knew what it was. "This [stick] will be auctioned later with proceeds going to the Museum of the American Cocktail. It was pulled out of Paul Pacult's ass." However, Pacult might have gotten the better of him that night.
• Best Tour of Boston - Given by writer Warren Bobrow while we were on the shuttle bus going from Cambridge to Boston. He started telling us about his crazy college years in Boston during the early-mid 1980s. He also asked many of the luminaries to pose with his 80-plus year old German drinking gnome statue. See Klaus the Soused Gnome's Facebook fan page for pics.
• Best Event Setting - Well the Locke-Ober for being the Locke-Ober, but the Bacardi event at the Sonesta impressed me for they decorated the entry to the terrace to look like the side of an airplane replete with stewardesses. The waitresses inside with cute Cuban-inspired outfits and the lady handrolling cigars were also nice touches. Above is Sam Treadway competing in their competition (which he won) and Ran Duan is in the picture (who placed second).
• Books - I'm excited that I bought or traded for two great new books. Stephanie Schorow's Drinking Boston (out November 1st, but available at the Boston Shaker now), and Joseph Carlin's Cocktails: A Global History.
• Best Costume - This has to go to Drink's own Will Thompson who wore a strangely surreal walrus mask at times during The Thing when he was not doing bartending shifts. I guess a "salty attire" formal can be interpreted as salty sea mammal as well.

:: whiskeys and the bar ::

On Friday morning, I went to hear David Wondrich and Wayne Curtis talk about New England Rum in a talk entitled "Medford Gold." Instead of a summary, I will behoove you to read Wayne's And a Bottle of Rum book. And if you want supplemental learning materials, go taste the Old Ipswich, Privateer, and Berkshire Mountain rums like we did. Wayne and David's conclusion was that the new style of New England rum has the consensus flavor of molasses notes and a dry tang at the end. There was even a suggestion that New England rum should fight to get its designation back and join the ranks of Bourbon again.

The middle talk of the day was held at the Citizen Public House which hosts one of the larger whisk(e)y collections in town. This made the perfect setting for the session entitled "Whiskey and the Bar" given by Sean Frederick, Chad Arnholt, and John Gertsen. While we did taste six whiskeys, the true meat of the talk revolved on how to teach customers about whiskeys. Indeed, it was a bartenders' take on the spirit and not the distillers' story.

Selling whiskey can be broken down into 4 points:

1. Confidence - The right attitude and approach is needed for salesmanship.
• Genuine enthusiasm and honesty.
• Need to stand behind the products you love.
• Learning needs to be incremental.
• Optimistic mindset: there is a whiskey for everyone.

2. Product Knowledge - Knowing what sets each spirit apart.
• How is the whiskey made including what grains are used, pot vs. column stilled, all malted or grain neutral spirits mixed in, filtered or not, age in barrel, barrel type.
• Knowing the profile: sweeter, spicier, peated, hot/high proof.
• Understanding terroir especially with Scotch.
• Do not think about whiskey in one or two dimensions. Think three: mash bill (sweet to spicy), proof, and barrel. There are also intangibles like locale.

3. Be a Good Shepherd - Keeping people close to their comfort zones.
• Know which are good gateway products such as those with lower proof, lighter, more grain & less barrel. Often Irish works well here.
• Educate but do not be overly aggressive.
• Take your own tastes out of the equation.
• Just because a person drinks it, does not mean they want to learn about it.
• Do not leave them with a headache: quantity, strength, and the amount of food they have had that night should be taken into consideration.
• Thread your selections so one whiskey order will lead into the next logically. i.e.: connecting wheated Bourbons into a flight or succession. 
• Ask the customer if they are here for one whiskey or for four. Knowing the path length is important.
• You cannot go backwards in whiskey profiles, so as Misty Kalkofen says about spirits tasting, "Don't blow your wad." Leave yourself room to navigate.

4. Communication
• Know your blind spots and do not bullshit guests.
• Do not just ask what they like, but why they like it.
• Know your mass market brands -- you need to know the basics before the esoterics.
• Ubiquity does not necessarily mean poor quality.
• Do not be a whiskey hipster -- just because a lot of people like it does not mean it isn't worth drinking.
• Getting the bottle on the bar is your friend. Let them read the label, take photos to put on Twitter/Facebook, use Google on their phones to learn more. This will allow you to help other guests as they make their decision or drink their glass of whiskey.

:: gaz regan's tales ::

After the talk at Silvertone on Thursday, I made my way over to Storyville with bartender Ian Strickland who will soon be working at Pigalle. The title of the talk was supposed to be "Tales from Behind the Stick," but Gary Regan decided to do a talk about a period when he was not a bartender but a bar manager. During 1988-92, he was the manager at the North Star Pub frequented by the businessmen of Wall Street and the tourists of the South Street Seaport. The new title was, "Of Mushy Peas, Men as Tall as Trees, and Singing Spies in the South Street Seaport." As for Gaz's commentary on being a manager instead of a bartender, it was less money and more responsibility, so don't do it. The focus was not making drinks, but instead how to promote events and extend hospitality to bring in more business as well as to make the guests' experience more memorable.

Devon, the owner of this British pub, loved to hold outrageous events to get press. The first one in the talk's title was mushy peas. Stuffy, one of the bartenders, taunted the North Star Pub's chef that they could not be a true British pub if they did not have mushy peas on the menu. The chef agreed and decided to make them. Devon and Gary got into the act by making this into a major media production. In the guest list was every food and drink writer they could come up with to introduce them to this British comfort food. However, the production value was deceiving. Since the silver serving covered bowl did not reach the rental minimum, they also rented a pair of large silver candelabras to place on either side of it. When it came time to pass out samples after much Scotch and food, it was served in absurdly small demitasse cups with small spoons. Just as the media was figuring out that they might have just been tricked, Gary told them that the blandness was the mark of authenticity. I guess the above sentiment reminds me of the Sex Pistols' John Lydon quote, "Have you ever had the feeling that you've been had?" especially since Gaz played Sid Vicious' rendition of Sinatra's "My Way" as we had our cocktails before the talk began.

Speaking of cocktails, midway through the talk, Gary informed the room that he was in need of a Negroni. Luckily, Storyville bartender Ryan McGrale saved the day.  As I later learned during Gaz's roast, this was nothing new.

There were plenty of other stories that Gaz spun about the years at the pub including the singing spy story about promoting a World War II-themed night to give the guests the feel of London during the bombing raids (replete with hiding underneath the tables with their drinks after the air raid siren went off). And the steak and kidney pie day is a good one that also appears in his The Bartender's Gin Compendium as well as on his website. But the one that touched me the most was about promoting a miniskirt competition of all things. Regan needed a host but had no budget. He had learned that one of his heroes was now living in New York City, and he decided to find him in the white pages and give him a call.

That person was Quentin Crisp. Quentin was a flamboyant gay man who in London during the 1920s used to dress up in women's clothing, go out, get beat up, return home to fix up his makeup, and hit the streets again since no one could tell him who he was. Quentin described his life during that time in his Naked Civil Servant mémoires. Gary got through on the phone to Quentin who was then in his eighties and eventually convinced him to do the gig for a car ride over to the pub, dinner, and drinks. Quentin lived next to the Hells Angels club on 12th Street and told Gary to tell the driver to look for guys as tall as trees and twice as shady.

A lot of Regan's stories factored into his mindful bartending philosophies even though he was not being a bartender during this period. However, making the customer, the press, or the flamboyantly gay man in your establishment feel special was all the same art. With a low budget, the promotion of the absurd made the event differ from the every day. I was reminded of the cocktail parties we used to throw and how the themes had to be unusual. A surrealist New Years replete with surrealist games, strange piles of objects, and the like, a Groundhog's Day cocktail party, a Johnny Appleseed's birthday punch event, and the infamous International Migratory Bird Day gala that ended up in DrinkBoston. None of these themes cost that much more to do over a regular party, but the guests felt like there was something extra in the experience when the theme was that unusual.