Obesello Absinthe Vert

A while back, We got an e-mail from a representative of Obesello Absinthe asking us if we would be interested in being sent a bottle to try out. Why, yes -- Yes we would. Like most other Americans, Absinthe is new to us due to its recently legal status 'round these parts, so getting our hands on yet another bottle to add to those which we have had so far was a-ok with us. Ed isn't actually much of an anise fan, so it was left up to me to give this stuff a whirl. My life? It is so hard.

I first tried it neat -- The anise was huge (as one might expect) , with a lingering, sweet follow up. Past the anise punch were hints of mint and vanilla. Not surprisingly, sans water it's a big punch of heat and flavor -- Definitely asking for a little bit of water to open it up. With the water, there is a beautiful opalescent louche. Opened up, the botanicals come out to play with the anise -- The flavors cling to the tongue like I used to cling to my He-Man action figure.

I also wanted to give the Obesello a whirl in a cocktail to see how it would mix. My first thought was to try it in one of my favorites, the Sazerac. I decided that it might be more fun to try it out in something different, just for kicks. I ran on over to the always handy Cocktail DB and came across the Yellow Daisy. I had encountered this drink before and thought it would be a good one to take the Obesello for a ride.

Yellow Daisy
1.5 oz. Gin
.5 oz. Dry Vermouth
.25 oz. Grand Marnier
.25 oz. Obesello

The Gin and Absinthe were quite dominant, and it seemed to me that .25 oz. of Absinthe called for is a bit much. However, as the drink had time to rest, a bit more balance developed. The notes of the Grand Marnier asserted themselvs a bit more, and I feel the rounding out effects of the vermouth.

Overall, I like this entry into the Absinthe market. I still fall into the camp of 'if you can only have one Absinthe' choose St. George, but as people begin to take advantige of of the Absinthe craze, and churn out crap, Obesello is a well crafted, worhty entry to the market. Well worth giving a try if you get the chance.

SF Cocktail Week

It's down to the wire, but I just done got to let y'all know that San Francisco Cocktail Week is just around the corner. I made it to a few of the events last year, and had a damn fine time at each.

One of the things I'm particularly excited about is the USBG cocktail competition. I've been to a few similar events in the past, and they're a fun way to see a real breadth of drinks being made by the best bartenders around.

The thing I'm really digging for this year is the day of bar school classes that are going on around various parts of the city. All the classes look to be gangbusters, but there are a couple that I particularly wish I could attend.

Cane, grape & cactus -- I probably shouldn't admit this, but Latin spirits are a bit of a weakness in by booze knowledge. I know the basics, sure, but the intricacies of the wide selection of southern continental potables are far from my forte. While it's true that Duggan has been known to dress so snazzy as to cause severe bouts of vertigo, and Jordan will smash you with friendliness (tell him, "not in the face!") -- This is a great opportunity to learn from two of the most knowledgeable folks in the city.

Gentleman's Companion -- I've said many times that I believe Slanted Door is running one of the best cocktail programs that isn't talked about in San Francisco. The man behind that program is also the man behind the program at the recently opened second Charles Phan project Heavens Dog. Erik Atkins is that man, and on my first visit to "The Dog", his passion for the drinks from Charles H. Baker's book was infectious. To see one of the best bartenders, talking about one of his favorite drink manuals will be treat indeed. Also, if you ask him nicely, he may show you how he is able to turn ice blocks into any number of shapes using nothing but the power of his mind.

I'm biased to be sure, but any and all cocktail week events you can make, you should get your fine bodies to. You won't regret it.

Tokyo Fog

Not too long ago, Rob posted on Twitter that he was about to work on a "Tokyo Fog" based beer. I was pretty sure I was the only person who knew exactly what he was talking about, and quite certain I was the only one who cried out in delight.

Long ago, in the before time known as college, Rob and I had a mutual friend (hi Eric!) who one day showed up at our local coffee shop with a grand announcement. Earlier in the day he had gone to the annual book sale of our hamlet's library, and one of the tomes he had picked up was a cookbook published in the 50's which was geared toward men. What this meant, it seemed, was that the chapter with vegetables had been omitted so that the author could put in more meat dishes. Dishes which contained a preponderance of butter or cream -- Often times both. Of course, there was also a healthy chapter on drinks. It was from this book that Eric became fascinated with the Manhattan, and eventually perfected his personal recipe -- The one which planted the seed in me that would later bloom fully decades later in New York.

But that's not what this is about. No, this missive is about far less sophisticated, dangerous drink which also emanated from that grand work. The infamous Tokyo Fog.

We first heard about this drink as part of the enticement to attend a BBQ Eric was throwing at his house. It was far from needed, as it was generally difficult to keep us away from functions at Eric's place, but it was a welcome tantalization in the midst of a classic Oregon heat wave. So what is this Tokyo Fog you are probably wondering? It's a simple compound consisting of equal parts Bourbon, coffee, and vanilla ice cream. It's mixed into a slurry, and stored in the freezer overnight to reconstitute into what can only be described as sort of a milkshake consistency.

We were well into the consumption of many grilled items when Eric finally brought out the bowl. The sort of milkshake consistency wasn't the most appetizing of looks for a beverage, but how can one go wrong with a combination of three delicious things? Indeed it was delicious, tasting almost exactly like a coffee milkshake -- With no hint of the Bourbon. It was a perfect drink for the day, as the heat would continue to pound us well into the evening. Some of us (ahem) gravitated to it more than others, and we soon found out that just because one couldn't taste the Bourbon didn't mean it wasn't very much there. Just ask the guy who drank the sausage beer. The less said about that the better.

As I've learned more about cocktails, I've found that there are some drinks that shouldn't exist, and some drinks that are best suited to a particular place and time. The Tokyo Fog -- rough, and inelegant -- is a drink in the latter category. I've recommended it as a batch drink for BBQs, though personally, on a really hot day I'd mostly prefer a Dark N' Stormy, or a Daiquiri. Then again, in a backyard filled with friends, and an embarrassment of girllable riches, a big cup (red SOLO please) of Tokyo Fog would be a welcome sight indeed.

As to the naked ambition of capturing those flavors in a beer brewed by one of those with whom I shared that first taste, and memories? Fuck yeah.

Look out, he's got a bar spoon!

For those cocktail geeks who aren't (or haven't been) in the industry, I imagine that an interest in being behind a for reals bar, whipping up beverages for strangers, begins to bubble up towards the conscience mind like swamp gas. That bubbling exploded in me many months ago, when I asked a friend of mine if he would be willing to let me stage with him at his bar. Like most of my random, great ideas that's about as far as it went. Until I got laid off in December. As I found myself sitting around my house sending out resumes to no avail, watching the Dow plunge to fear inducing levels, and slowly going insane, it seemed like as good a time as ever to bug my friend about it some more. Finally, he relented and got the consent from his boss to let me back behind the bar.

The fool!

There is a great difference between making drinks for yourself, and friends at your home bar. A good drink is a good drink, but there is so much more to being in a service position. It sounds trite, but when you are tending bar you are a host, and the customers are your guests. They may want drinks you despise, or they may be annoying to no end, but your job is to make them happy. There is also a particular procedure to being behind a bar that can flummox any non-industry folk who think they know everything. That was why I wanted to take a shot behind the bar.

I started with pouring beer, and discovered the fucked up intricacies of pouring beer from a tap. I can hear Rob screaming as he reads that, as he has
tried for many years to teach me the basics of pouring a beer, but in a bar each tap has its own life. A life that is full of gassy baggage, and when each mistake is a pour cost, one can get a little freaked out. as the day wore on I was finally called upon to make a cocktail. A Sazerac -- One of my favorite cocktails, and one that I thought I would slam dunk. Yet under pressure to make one for a random guy who had shuffled into the bar, I might as well have been asked to make a battleship from scratch. My stirring technique was criticized. My sloppy methodology of assembling all the components of the drink was pointed out to me. I was made to feel like I had no business behind a bar at all -- And it felt fantastic. There is a strange delight to learning that I had forgotten, and was glad to find again.

Just as my shift was ending, I began to feel the slightest hints of a groove. I was having fun interacting with customers. I had gotten the hang of pouring a good beer, and I even got show my shaker face to a lucky few folks.

I've got a lot more shifts ahead of me before I'm anywhere close to being a bartender, but I'm looking forward to it. The nervous feeling when I'm asked to make a drink. The fucking up, and feeling like an idiot. Making folks feel welcome at the bar, and seeing people leave after having a good time.

Bartending is a tough job, and one I might not be cut out for in the long run, but as a cocktail geek, I'm happy as a monkey in a peanut machine. Maybe I'll even let y'all know where I'm working someday, and you can come on by and I'll make you the best Old Fasioned in San Francisco.

Repeal Day II: The 'Recon Crew -- Part 2

Cantina

In a twist most nefarious,the folks at
Cantina teamed up with John Walker for a Repeal Day extravaganza. They put together a special menu for the evening of $1 cocktails. As you might imagine, by the time Ed and I got there, the joint was jumping, but we were undaunted. Duggan McDonnell was manning the hosting position, while behind the bar upstairs co-owner Aaron Prentice, and Jordan Mackay were churning out the drinks. We both started with an Oriental (Sazerac Rye, Sweet Vermouth, Creole Shrub, and lime juice) -- This is a great cocktail that I'm surprised doesn't get more air time. As we were enjoying our drinks, and trying to stay out of the way, Jordan popped over to say hi, and introduce us to a friend of his, Marcia "Tablehopper" Gagliardi with whom we had a fine time chatting with for a while (she's fabulous!). For our second drink, we went for the Yellow Daisy -- A pleasant mix of Gin, Dry Vermouth, and Grand Marnier. We decided to drift downstairs to the satellite bar, where Dominic Venegas was working his magic which, it turned out, consisted of making Ed and I break our "no shots" rule. As we were chatting with some of the other folks who were about, I noticed Dominic pull out a couple of silver mugs from under the bar. It was early in the evening, but it seemed that it was time for a Blue Blazer. The lights were dimmed, and with deft hands Dominic tossed flaming whiskey from mug to mug. It was a glorious display that was cut short by Ed being called into an emergency run to Elixir, and with that we were off once again.

Elixir

The run to Elixir was quick. A crowd was gathering, and we had other places we needed to be. As long as we were there, and had broken our shot rule, we decided to indulge in a quick shot of the sweet, sweet Jameson. As we left, we began to talk of our next stop. We decided to head out to Beretta or NOPA. As I was eager to try a little something they were serving up for the occasion at NOPA, I used my massive charm to lure Ed NOPA ways.

NOPA

The reason I wanted to go to NOPA was because they were celebrating Repeal Day by unleashing their Red Headed Rye. I had tried some a while ago thanks to persons which shall remain nameless, and was eager to have some more. When we arrived, the bar was crowded, as we had feared. Ed decided we should push through and see if we got lucky. His intuition proved genius, as two stools opened up right in front of us only moments after we situated ourselves behind the bar. As we seated ourselves, we were greeted by the delightful Kent Howard. I had met him randomly several weeks before, and was glad to see him again on our Repeal journey. Ed and I were both on the same page when it came to what we wanted to put that Rye to, and ordered Manhattans. It was a beautiful construction, with all the lively kick a Rye lover could want. We thought about sticking around for another, but it was getting late, and we wanted to make another stop.

Alembic

As we walked in, we saw the benevolent face of the great Daniel Hyatt behind the bar. We were also still on the same page, looking to end our evening with another of our favorite classics -- The Sazerac. Some time ago this became one of my favorite cocktails, and it seemed to be the best way to end our evening. It was one last cheers, and several sips before Ed and I parted ways to our respective homes.

It was a grand (long) night, and a grand way to spend Repeal Day. As I sat at home drinking an enormous glass of water, I began to wonder how we might top it next year.

I'm guessing a booze pool.

Repeal Day II: The 'Recon Crew -- Part One

If Jeffery Morgenthaler didn't have enough to do what with keeping the fine folks of Eugene well supplied with excellent drinks, he's also the original champion of the greatest holiday in the world ever -- Repeal day. This grand celebratory occasion first came to my attention last year, and while I like to think I did an ok job at celebrating it, I felt I could do better. With Ed not having to work this time around, I knew we could put together something that would be much more appropriate for the day. We decided that a cocktail crawl, one of epic scope, would be just the ticket. The ticket to where we neither knew nor cared.

Slanted Door

As I was heading up towards the Ferry Building, I got a text from Ed indicating that he was running late. It seemed wrong for me to have my first Repeal Day drink sans Ed, but really, my hands were tied. Scanning the list was an exercise in excess -- There were just too many delectable looking drinks to choose from. I kept getting drawn towards the Agricole Rhum Punch (Rhum Agricole, lime, cane syrup, Pimento Dram, and Angostura) and decided to give it a go.

Damn my eyes if this wasn't a great drink. It managed to be both earthy and light, with a neigh on miraculous balance between sweet and sour. Sitting at the far end of the bar, sipping this cocktail while watching freighters drift into view was an excellent way to start the day. It didn't take long before I stopped checking the clock to see how much longer I would have to wait for Ed to show up. It also soothed the pain of the conversation that sparked up next to me about drinks, and why there's no reason to go to Slanted Door for drinks, because one can get a drink anywhere. But I digress.

Eventually Ed arrived, but by that time there were no seats at the bar, and that simply would not do, so we decided to move on. Fortunately for Ed and his thirst problem, our next stop was just down the block.

Boulevard

Ed and I have met lead Boulevard barman Steve on several occasions, but had never had an opportunity to get down there to give his concoctions a whirl. Fortunately, it was but a brief amble away from Slanted Door. Steve had yet to show up as his shift was still impending, but that is not such a thing to stop us, so we snatched up a menu and took a look. Having not been able to scope out their drink menu on-line I wasn't sure what to expect, but we found a fine looking selection. I went for the Rye Smile (Old Overholt, Luxardo, lemon juice, peach bitters topped off with ginger beer) as I'm a sucker for Rye, Luxardo, and ginger beer. Also, I'm a sucker for pretty much anything. Some say it's a problem, I say it's a solution. Ed had a bit tougher time choosing his drink, but finally settled on the Black Briar -- An interesting concoction made simply of blackberry and pasilla puree, and Woodford with a twist.

The woman who made our drinks (whose name we didn't get because we are terrible people) was deft of hand, and soon delivered unto us two tasty looking libations. The Rye Smile was quite good, with the spice of the Rye and ginger beer working nicely with the sweetness of the Luxardo. Ed's drink very nice as well -- The blackberry was a great foil for the spice from the pepper, but wasn't so much as to overwhelm the notes from the bourbon. Steve showed up as we were finishing off our drinks, and it would have been just plain rude were we to not have more drinks.

As I was scanning the menu, Steve offered to whip Ed up something all off the menu, and the business. Smart man that he is, Ed acquiesced and was soon proffered a New Amsterdam (Bols Genever, apricot liqueur, Amontillado Sherry, Velvet Falernum, and Regan's Orange Bitters). This was an interesting one -- The malt from the Genever hit strong at first, then faded quickly leaving a nutty finish from the Amontillado. It wasn't thrilling me, but after having some time to rest in the glass, those main flavor profiles began to blend into a more pleasing shape. I couldn't bring myself to leave the menu, and went for the Man From Athens, Maker's Mark, Carpano Antica, orange juice, and caramelized peach syrup. I liked this expression of the "West Coast" drink trend of bartenders raiding the kitchen. The syrup added a really nice burnt/sweet note to the overall drink.

We could have stuck around for another, but we had a holiday to celebrate.

Clock Bar

It would have been extremely bad form for us to have left the always ebullient Marco Dionysus out in the cold during our festivities. So it was that we headed up to the Clock Bar. When we arrived, we were feeling very much in the mood for some classics. Ed gravitated to his favorite, the Hemingway Daiquiri (Rum, grapefruit juice, Maraschino, and lime juice),and I sated my need for a Last Word (Gin, Green Chartreuse, lime juice, and Maraschino) lust. Both were exactly what we were looking for. For round two, Ed went for a Wibble -- A heady combination of Plymouth Sloe Gin, Gin, grapefruit, lemon juice, and Creme de Mure -- This has been one of our favorites on the menu for some time. It may be a bit of an obvious statement, but there is something magical about the combination of Gin and Sloe, and the Creme de Mure deepens the mixed fruit flavors of the Sloe. I went for a Pegu (Gin, Curacao, lime juice, Angostura and orange bitters) as a nod to the drink that made the magic happen for me.

I didn't take any photos, and blame Marco's rendition of Shakespeare in the guise of Bugs Bunny. It was a magical performance.

Unfortunately we couldn't stay for the whole performance, as we had to move on to the chaos that was sure to be Cantina.

Helper Monkey

So, um, yeah. The picture isn't that great, but there are a lot of glasses there. Who knew the phrase, "Yeah, fuck it, I'm excited now." could lead to so much delicious chaos.

If you're planning on hitting up Cantina for their Repeal Day festivities tomorrow (Ed and I will be everywhere), and were wondering what the offerings might be like, I'll go ahead and give them the thumbs up.

Comments always welcome or feel free to e-mail us at drinkaweek [at] gmail [dot] com.