Lately cocktails have been in a renaissance period. There has also been an increased interest in making them a culinary equal. Molecular mixology is one of those trends that is being mirrored from the kitchen because molecular gastronomy is the food equivalent. The basic idea, about both of these techniques, is to apply scientific analysis and techniques to cooking and mixing. On the kitchen side, it is creating unique food combination's and on the bar front there hasn't been a lot done yet, mostly working with foams and gels to create unique drink textures and flavours.
Continue reading An Introduction to Molecular Mixology.
The idea of working for tips is a strange concept, basically it is a “for hire†type job where you show up and you make however much you can based on your service. That’s if you are a lone wolf bartender who runs his own bar or has a section of the “wood†that’s exclusively yours. It gets really interesting when you throw group dynamics into the mix. Money causes wars, money is the number one thing married couples fight about and money is addictive, people always want more. This combination of variables tends to cause friction, mistrust and greed. So how do tips work in a group environment and what can you do?
The history of pastis in France is relatively short (1920) but is a direct decedent of the green fairy spirit called Absinthe (1797) and the much older anise based spirits like anisette, sambuca, ouzo and arak. Anise flavoured drinks have been around for thousands of years and upon the discovery of distillation, was probably one of the first flavoured liqueurs. When absinthe was banned in France in (1916), pastis was its replacement. At the time of the switch over, some producers tried to stay close to the absinthe recipe, while others decided to create something different. Henri Bardouin is referred to as a genuine ‘old style pastis’ and tries to stay pretty close to the original absinthe.
Originally, I was going to make something like a Chocolate Monkey but decided that was a little too basic. So I figured a banana split with liqueur topping might be better, then I decided to mix the liqueur into the ice cream and that's when the Pousse Glace came about. Most people know what a pousse cafe is, and for those that don't, it's a layered drink with five or more liqueurs in a tall cylindrical glass or a pousse cafe glass. Being a bartender, that drink provided the inspiration to make this dessert for "Sugar High Friday". But instead of layering liqueurs, I decided that to make a great dessert, using the layering technique found in the pousse cafe, I would mix those liqueurs with ice cream and then layer them.
When you work behind a bar, there are many things that the customers / guest don't get to see or don't understand. Sometimes we don't want you to see things, it is part of the magic, other times we would like to let you know about something. Here's one of those things that everyone should know. When you come to a restaurant and you are waiting in the lounge area until your tables is ready, don't ask to transfer a tab to the restaurant without leaving a small gratuity to your bartender. Bartenders work for minimum wage. When you have a large group of people, lets say 12, and you ask the bartender for special service because it's someone's birthday, and that bartender provides great service and orders your appetizers and does a great job, don't stiff them by asking to transferring the tab to the restaurant and not tipping. Even if you tip the server the full 15% for the total bill, there is no way any of that money will make it back to the bartender. Sadly, sharing isn't a quality most people in the service industry have. There are a handful of great servers out there that will pass you some change, but the majority don't.
If anyone else follows some of the Food Blogs, you may have come across the blogging event called “Sugar High Fridayâ€. Well this Friday is liquor or liqueur day, and the topic is to make a dessert using booze. As a bartender that has a great appreciation for food, desserts especially, I figured there had to be something I could contribute. After a little thought I came up with a interesting idea that spans cocktails and desserts. My contribution will be known this Friday, but it did require me to pick up a liqueur that had a green colour. Melon or Mindori was a little too obvious, and the Apple Sour stuff is way to fake for me, but anything that’s bright green is probably going to taste synthetic. Anyway, there is a product produced by Corby that has hit the market called Uphoria (not spelled euphoria), and it is bright green. So, since I purchased a bottle, I figured I should review it.
Hands down, my favourite beer. Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate many beers but there is something about Steam Whistle that makes me loyal. The company does things right. They focus on making one great product, and if you are saying that one products can't make a successful company, just look at Heineken. They have a great image and brand. It reflects a more simple time period and doesn't depend on the tried and true scantily clad girls to make their product popular with guy's. Then there is the beer. It's clean and crisp with flavour, it's not a watered down mess, nor is it a strong and overly hoped beer, just for the sake of it. It has balance.
The ball has started rolling on a weblog community initiative. Paul over at 
Sometimes described as "white lightning", tequila has developed a reputation of being a spirit that's harsh and unsophisticated. Maybe many years ago the production standards were not what they are today, or maybe the really good tequila just didn't get past the local population. If you had a source of great tequila, would you share it? Luckily times have changed and many great tequila's are making there way into new markets. These crafted tequila's are a far cry from the "white lightning" of days gone buy. As a matter of fact, these tequila's can rival any spirit in quality and taste. Such is the case with Don Eduardo silver tequila. This tequila has a lot to offer and luckily I had a chance to try it.
The second edition of Mixologist: The Journal of the American Cocktail will be published on May 13, 2006 with eleven new articles. In this issue I have written an article on sweet and sour mix (The Definative Guide to Sweet and Sour). It is a detailed article explaining the interaction of sugars with acid and how they combine to create a flavourful taste experience. The article provides some background info on sources of acid (lemons and limes). Also, the article will introduce you to the Plonk Cocktail, a drink I created to demonstrate how sweet and sour balance each other out in wine, which is a perfect parallel to a balanced cocktail. Other contributing authors include Christine Sismondo, Robert Hess, Gary Regan, LeNell Smothers, Gwydion Stone, Audrey Saunders, Dale DeGroff, Ryan Magarian, Jared Brown, and Anistatia Miller.
The house of Johnnie Walker has been a mainstay in the scotch market for many years. For good or bad they have created whisky branding that is easily for the average consumer to identify and define the quality of the spirit in the bottle. Obviously I'm talking about the Red, Black, Green and Blue labels. But, there is more to Johnnie Walker than coloured labels, they do have other products like Swing. For those who are not familiar with this Johnnie Walker product, it was created in the 1932 and has a convex base that causes it to rock back and forth when pushed. On ships, the action of the waves would cause the bottle to rock. The bottle is interesting, but what is inside the bottle is even more interesting.
