For most bartenders sherry is pretty much a historical footnote in the drink timeline or a girl you met last night. Sure, your grandma may still enjoy a glass of sherry now and then, and when you toured Spain it seemed popular, but its just not popular in North America. Just think of the ubiquitous bottle of Harveys Bristol Cream sitting behind every bar collecting dust. Does sherry even have a place in modern mixology? Sure it does, but we have to look to the past to figure out where this forgotten spirit works best. Browsing through vintage cocktail books for drinks seems fashionable, so this is a perfect opportunity to enjoy a sherry cocktail, which believe it or not was once a popular ingredient. Since the holiday season is upon us, why not try something eggnog like and make a Cream Sherry Flip.

It seems a post from the past (April 2004) has jumped to the forefront again and has brought with it more interesting comments, courtesy of Fark. The post was about an article published in the San Francisco Chronicle, about drinks bartenders hate to make. I basically responded to the article (Five Drinks Bartenders Hate to Make) in a way that seems to irritate some bartenders, and occasionally it generates some surly replies, similar to the “Fan Mail” diatribe posted a while ago. Today there are an additional 20, or so, responses. This time there are some good community counter arguments, which I like. But most of them are still at the troglodyte level.

Last Friday (November 16) I headed down to Toronto for the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo with Paul from the Booze News. We arrived around 6PM and picked up our media badges and then headed straight into the action. For the most part this show was all about wine with a a number of gourmet food booths. I would have preferred more spirits, but there were a few that kept me interested. Also, there were a good number of breweries in attendance so it wasn't completely wine. There were a few highlights, which I've noted below.

What is it about High Fructose Corn Syrup that makes it different from other sugars, like common table sugar? Obviously, the sugars come from two different plants corn and sugar cane / sugar beets. But the key factor, and the one that causes the most discussion, is that the sugars produced from corn are a products of a multi-stage enzymatic process that breaks down corn starch into simple sugars. For sugar cane, and sugar beets, the simple sugar (sucrose) is already present, so it is a matter of extracting, or refining the plants pulp to a point of relative purity. Many people deem the process to make HFCS to be “unnatural”, but on a basic chemistry level is it any worse than refined cane sugar? Does it really affect the flavour of beverages significantly?

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is all the rage these days. Actually, its more likely to cause opinionated rage, at least on the Internet. In the summer of 2006 I was going to discuss this topic but got distracted by all the boozy goodness. Then Scott, at Scott’s Rum Pages, brought up the point about HFCS in the Rum and Coke post. This reminded me that I was going to write something about this to clear up some misinformation. For cocktail creators, the key things is flavour and does HFCS mess with that. For the imbibers, I’ll look at the perceived health issues that pop up every now and then. Hopefully I can help demystify some of this.

It is another Mixology Monday and this months topic is Gin, which is being hosted by Jay at Oh Gosh! I’ve stated it before, and I must do so again, that gin is not one of my favorite spirits to work with. Statements like that will probably get my cocktail guru card revoked, but at least I’m honest. Sure, it is a great spirit in the cocktail world, and it makes tonic, an otherwise lame carbonated beverage, a heavenly summer thirst quencher. But, I haven’t been able to fully wrap my head, and palate, around gin yet. Maybe once I’m through my brown spirit stage. Anyway, even though it is not high on my list, I’m always game for trying a new cocktail, even if it is gin based. Today’s drink is the Harlem Cocktail. 

Many people have opinions on what makes the best rum and Coke. Some people swear by Bacardi white rum, others pick a true Cuban rum and even others want a well aged, vintage, rum like Mount Gay Extra Old. But what do you do for the people that just ask for a rum and Coke? What type of rum, white or amber, makes the better drink? Does a moderately priced vintage rum make a noticeable difference in taste? And from the stand point of a bar or restaurant, which rum will make people enjoy their stay more, without offending them when the bill comes around.

The Internet is quickly becoming the place for highbrow cocktail culture. As a group, discussions on the use of rare ingredients, that most bartenders have never heard of, or the nuances of a cocktail created in 1933 is not uncommon and may actually be the norm. So, very rarely are discussions of basic drinks brought up. Part of the goal of the Art of Drink is to improve bartending, and drinks, as a whole, not just at the elite level. This requires that I tackle some of the most basic topics that, theoretically, shouldn’t even require discussion. But these basic topics do need discussion, because when I go into a bar and order a rum and coke, I really, really shouldn’t leave disappointed. It’s not like I asked for a Ramos Gin Fizz.

The term almond syrup is a catch-all term for any syrup made from almonds, water and sugar which includes orgeat, orzata, horchata or orxata. These syrups are often used in cocktails, but they probably originated as coffee syrups or as “Italian soda” type drinks. But these almond syrups seem to work wonderfully well in cocktails and a prime example of this is the Mai Tai cocktail. The original Mai Tai called for the finest ingredients and that included the finest French orgeat, but the brand was never specified (aside from the self promoting Trader Vic brand which came later). So what makes a good almond syrup and is there really a difference between brands? Let us see.