Bartender Journey - Cocktails. Spirits. Bartending Culture. Libations for your Ears.

By Brian Weber is a Professional Bartender and Cocktail & Spirit Enthusiast.Arts Food

Bartender Journey - Cocktails. Spirits. Bartending Culture. Libations for your Ears. episodes

December 02, 2015 Repeal Day Party Send Off
Its a short podcast this week, as we head off to Tampa Florida for the U.S. Bartender Guild's Repeal Day Party.
The Tampa Chapter of the USBG hosts an event with seminars, tastings and of course parties to celebrate December 5, 1933, the day that Prohibition ended! This is a traditional day for bartenders to celebrate!
5 min
November 25, 2015 Pisco Academy
On
Bartender Journey Podcast # 138 we learn all about the South American
made Spirit Pisco, mix up some Pisco Sour Cocktails, and talk about
using Egg Whites in Cocktails.Listen with the player on below, on bartenderjourney.net or subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher Radio.
·
Pisco is the native spirit of Peru and
Chile. It is made from grapes, so can be considered a Brandy. It is
usually, but not always, a clear (un-aged) spirit.
·
We will learn all about it with Kappa Pisco
Brand Ambasador Anne-Louise Marquis. We spoke to Anne-Louise in episode
#121 about Grand Marnier.
·
Cocktail of the week is Pisco
sour. I followed the recipe on kappapisco.com:
o
2 oz Kappa Pisco
o
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice, (I used 1 1/4
oz)
o
1 oz Simple Syrup, (I used 3/4 oz)
o
1 Egg White
o
Shake vigorously with ice
o
Strain into a chilled coup glass (or
they suggest a champagne flute).
o
Top with a few drops of Angostura
bitters for decoration (and taste).
•
Book of the Week: Food & Wine Cocktails 2015 Edition.
This is a great book that comes out every year from the editors of Food &
Wine Magazine. They collect cocktail recipes from top bartenders all
around the U.S. and mix in some classics as well. There are great innovative
recipes in this book and beautiful photos. It will be a great addition to your cocktail book collection
or a great gift! (Buy Now on Amazon).

For much more information about this episode and especially using Egg Whites in Cocktails, please visit the show notes on BartenderJourney.net
41 min
November 19, 2015 Pour A Better Pint & Do Inventory Faster
Pour A Better Pint & Do Inventory Faster
Bartender Journey Podcast # 137
Listen with the player below, or subscribe on iTunes
or Stitcher Radio.
·
At the 2015 Hotel Experience Show at the Javitz
convention center in Manhattan we got a chance to speak with 2 very interesting
people:
o   Greg
Elliott of the Chill Rite 32 company
o   Vanessa
De Caria from Bevinco
·
The Chill Rite company makes draft beer systems
that deliver beer to the tap at 32 degrees (or whatever temp you like),
regardless of the temperature of the keg. This system promises zero waste. We talk to Greg about a lot of issues
regarding draft beer. They also make the Frost Rail. The frost rail is a frozen rail built into the bar surface,
which the guest sits their drink on and it keeps it cold!
·
We also speak with Vanessa from Bevinco - a
company that has a system for liquor inventory for bars & restaurants that
is very fast and accurate. We’ll
learn a lot about doing inventory, (which is such a dreadful task!)
·
Book of the Week: Cuban Cocktails 100 Classic
and Modern Drinks. This is a
great book from the Manhattan bar Cienfuegos. There are classic cocktails from
Cuba, plus lots of modern original recipes. It’s a really fun book with beautiful photos from Cuba.
·
Cocktail of the Week is the El Presidente
o   ¾
oz Aged Rum
o   ¾
oz Silver Rum
o   ¾
oz Dry Vermouth
o   ¼
oz Orange Curacao, (I used Grand Marnier)
o   1
Barspoon Grenadine, (I used Jack Rudy)
o   Stir
with ice, strain into chilled couple. Lemon twist.
·
Toast of the Week:
“Here’s to the nights we’ll never
remember, with the friends we’ll never forget”.
31 min
November 11, 2015 Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky - Made in South Africa
Bartender Journey Podcast # 136

·
Guest this week is Andy Watts Master Distiller of Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky from
South Africa.
·
Bains is made from 100% corn (or maize as it is called it in South
Africa). It is double matured in
first fill Bourbon barrels.
·
In South Africa, Whisky is spelled without the “e”, as it is in
Scotland, Canada and many other countries. American Whiskey is always spelled with the “e”.
·
Cocktail of the Week - Cape Mountain Boulevardier:
o
1 ½ oz Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky
o
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
o
1 oz Campari
o
6 drops Sea Salt Saline Solution: (1 teaspoon Sea Salt - Himalayan Sea
Salt preferred) dissolved in 1 oz very hot water)
o
Stir in mixing cup with ice.
Strain into Old Fashioned glass with one large ice cube
o
Express oil from a lemon twist into glass
o
Add twist as garnish
·
A Boulevardier is a Negroni but made with Whiskey (traditionally,
Rye Whisky), instead of Gin. I
used the Bain’s Whisky and changed the ratio from the 1:1:1 used in a classic
Negroni, and did 1.5 oz Whisky, 1oz sweet vermouth and 1oz Campri.
·
If you are not able to acquire Bain’s Whisky try a high-wheat
Bourbon such as Larcany (a great bargain), or W.L. Weller, (more expensive, but
still a great bargain for such a high quality Bourbon). The Bains is a very
soft, mellow whisky, not spicy like a Bourbon that has a lot of rye (like
Bulleit, or Basil Hayden). Even though I personally love high rye Bourbons, these
have a much different flavor profile than Bain’s.
·
There are very few Bourbons made with 100% corn. There's a great
article about this subject in the New York Times.
·
Book of the week: Discovering The New York Craft Spirits Boom
by Heather Dolland.
You don’t have to be from NY to appreciate this book. Its all about Craft Distilleries of
course and there is a lot of knowledge about how spirits are produced in the
book. Heather traveled all
throughout NY interviewing distillers.

·
Bartender Journey will be traveling to Tampa in December 2015! The
Tampa chapter of the US Bartenders Guild has a 4 day Repeal Day party. Repeal
Day – December 5 1933 is the day alcohol became legal again in the US after
Prohibition…a traditional anniversary for bartenders to celebrate! But the Tampa Repeal Day Party is not
all just about celebration - there
are seminars and educational opportunities too. If you are interested in attending the event or just finding
out more about it, its repealdayparty.com
·
Toast of the Week:
"Remember
friends... The glass is neither half empty, nor half full... It just needs to
be topped off!"
30 min
November 05, 2015 Liquid Bar Tools
On Bartender Journey Podcast # 135 we talk with “Flavorist” Jamie Beurklian from Bar 40 Bitters.

·      The Bar 40 Bitters are very unique –they come in 4 varieties:
   Sweet, Salt, Sour and Umami (or "savory").

·
A few drops can really change the flavor of your cocktail. Jamie tells
us how the Bar 40 Bitters were originally designed to “fix a problem”
with a cocktail.

·      Bar40Bitters.com
says their bitters are “based on the five gustatory taste receptors.
Each flavor includes the compulsory bitter component and is paired with
either sweet, sour, salty or umami (savory) flavor profiles”. This
allows the cocktail creator to “chose the specific taste profile of
their liking for their personalized cocktail creations”.

·
So we’ll make our cocktails of the week during the interview – we do a
Manhattan & a Negroni (my 2 favorite cocktails btw!) We make the
Manhattan first with Umami bitters and then add the Sour bitters.

·      Cocktails of the week, provided by Jamie Beruklian:

Manhattan – Recipe #1:
·      1oz rye
·      1oz sweet vermouth
·      0.5 pinch (6-8 drops) of Bar40 Umami
·      stir with ice to desired dilution.
Notes:
This
recipe will give you an ultra smooth experience, the harshness or
"burn" of the alcohol just goes away with the strong aromatics of the
Umami. I A/B tested it with a standard Manhattan with Angostura. They
are Apples and Oranges... Angostura Bitters adds spices notes, which I
like, but can be slightly harsh. Bar40 Umami just smooths it right out.
It is reminiscent of a hardy winter's meal. Very easy to drink.

Manhattan – Recipe #2 (adding sour):
·      1oz rye
·      1oz sweet vermouth
·      0.5 pinch (6-8 drops) of Bar40 Umami
·      0.5 pinch (6-8 drops) of Bar40 Sour
·      stir with ice to desired dilution.
·      Orange peel twist for aromatics
Notes:
·
Garnishing with an orange peel is great. It adds a beautiful orange
aroma to it, which is very bright in the nose and makes the drink very
desirable. but it just doesn't get enough acid in the drink to brighten
it up for the tongue. So if you or who you are serving to wants
something more bright, poppy and complex, adding Bar40 Sour just makes
it more lively as it reacts with the vermouth. It beings out a beautiful
complexity to it. A thinking persons drink.
Its easy to A/B the two recipes as you're building it and you can notice the difference yourself.
Negroni – Recipe #1:
·      1oz Gin
·      1oz sweet vermouth
·      0.5 - 1oz Campari
·      12-16 drops Bar40 Salt
Notes:
·
Negroni's are classically bitter cocktails. Campari is a wonderful
spirit to my tongue. this cocktails bitter complexity makes for an
excellent amuse bouche or aperitivo, kickstarting one’s tongue into gear
for better tasting your meal. However, many people find the bitterness
overpowering. I have had many people refuse a Negroni because they don't
like the bitterness. I've realized most North American tongues aren't
sensitized to bitterness on their palate. So to help this, adding Bar40
Salt to a Negroni will cut down bitterness of the Campari and let the
citrus, grapefruit notes shine. it makes for a wonderful complex drink.

Negroni – Recipe #1:
·      1oz Gin
·      1oz sweet vermouth
·      0.5 - 1oz Campari
·      12-16 drops Bar40 Salt
·      6-8 drops Bar40 Sweet
Notes:
In
this cocktail, I made the Campari a variable. Because the Bar40 Salt
will not totally kill ALL the bitterness in the drink (Bar40 Bitters
still has bitter in them) yet you still want some bitterness which makes
it a Negroni, so you can adjust the volume of Campari to the right
level of taste based on your palate. However, Sweet perception is
another taste that will help suppress bitterness. So to further add
complexity to our drink, adding Bar40 Sweet will also help cut the
Campari down. This opens up a bouquet of scents and tastes and makes for
a truly complex and wonderful drink that wets your appetite and gets
you in the mood to appreciate further food or cocktails.

·      Book of the week: Well, I was planning to make the book of the week 901 Very Good Cocktails - A Practical Guide, but much to my surprise, it is sold out and only available on Amazon used for $360.05
(plus $3.99 shipping)! We have a short interview with the author Stew
Ellington recorded at Tales Of The Cocktail 2014. The book is also available as an app for iOS for $3.99.

·      Toast of the week:

A toast is a boast or other compost

To a guest or the host or one we love most;

To a wink or or a girl that is pretty in pink --

Or any old thing, only for a chance to drink.
28 min
October 29, 2015 Mezcal with Misty Kolkofen
Mezcal with Misty Kolkofen
This week on Bartender Journey Podcast # 134 we
talk with Misty Kolkofen from Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal about this
intriguing, yet sometimes misunderstood, spirit.
Take a listen the show with the player below or
subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher Radio. Misty shares a plethora of Mezcal
knowledge and education, (and we share some copitas
of Del Maguey)!
Sales of Mezcal in the United States and around the
world are growing quickly (up 72% in a decade according this
article on thespiritsbusiness.com). Mezcal has been made in Mexico for many
generations, often with recipes and methods being handed down through family
lines. Mezcal is made from the
heart of the agave plant, called the Pina. Agave plants can take 7-12 to even 30 years in some cases,
to reach maturity before they can be harvested, roasted (or steamed), and then
turned into Mezcal.
Tequila is a “sub-set” of Mezcal. While Tequila can only be made from
Blue Weber Agave, Mezcal can be made from a variety of Agave types.
Cocktail of the Week, (From Del Meguay’s web site)
Valentina

Created by Lucas Paya: SLS
Hotel and Wyatt Peabody, BonSavant.com,
LA

2 oz. Del Maguey San Luis del Rio
Mezcal (I used Minero)
1 oz. Blood orange - fresh squeezed
(I used a ‘standard’ orange, sprinkled it with turbinado sugar, and broiled it
before juicing).
1/2 oz. Lime juice - fresh squeezed
3/4 oz. Agave syrup
1/4 oz. Campari
3 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
1 Luxardo Cherry -soaked in Mezcal –
I used a Jack Rudy Cherry
1 Orange wheel.
Pour first six ingredients in a mixing
glass; add ice, shake, strain into old-fashioned glass with fresh ice. Garnish with orange wheel and Marasche
cherry.
For good measure, a copita of Del Maguey Mezcal should be
served on the side (cherry optional). Enjoy.
40 min
October 22, 2015 Sazerac
Join us for a Sazerac and
learn about the history of this iconic New Orleans Cocktail!

The
Official Sazerac Cocktail
Ingredients:

·      1 cube
sugar
·      1½ ounces
(35ml) Sazerac Rye Whiskey or Buffalo Trace Bourbon
·      ¼ ounce
Herbsaint
·      3 dashes
Peychaud's Bitters
·      Lemon
peel

Method:
•
Pack an Old-Fashioned glass with ice
•
In a second Old-Fashioned glass place the sugar
cube and add the Peychaud's Bitters to it, then crush the sugar cube
•
Add the Sazerac Rye Whiskey or Buffalo Trace
Bourbon to the second glass containing the Peychaud's Bitters and sugar
•
Empty the ice from the first glass and coat the
glass with the Herbsaint, then discard the remaining Herbsaint
•
Empty the whiskey/bitters/sugar mixture from the
second glass into the first glass and garnish with lemon peel

The Bar Institute will be going on tour next year - hitting six
key cities across the US.
•       Austin,
TX in February 2016
•       Baltimore,
MD in April 2016
•       Phoenix,
AZ in May 2016
•       Miami, FL
in August 2016
•       Portland,
OR in September 2016
•       And finally...
New York in October 2016
•       http://barinstitute.org

Tips for making a great toast: Don't get ahead of yourself! When Queen
Louise of Prussia met the conquering Napoleon she drank to him:
“To the health and kindness of
Napoleon the Great. He has taken our states, and soon will return them to
us." Napoleon bowed and replied, "Do not drink it all, Madame."

40 min
October 16, 2015 Authentic Caribbean Rum
Authentic
Caribbean Rum
Bartender
Journey Podcast # 131
·
This week we attend the ACR Authentic Caribbean Rum event in Brooklyn.
·
The ACR is a distiller’s association. A group of distillers from the Caribbean Islands plus Belize
in Central America and Guyana and Suriname in South America got together and
decided that they wanted to set up some standards and a have a seal of quality
and integrity. And also they of
course they promote their rums and rum education.
·
Jason Cousins was the presenter. I did a little interview with Jason
after the event.
·
We are also talk to Washington DC Bartender and listener of Bartender
Journey Walter Raubeson. Walt is
also a member of the DC Craft
Bartenders Guild
·
BarSmarts Advanced is coming to San
Diego on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 and Minneapolis on Wednesday, November 11,
2015. BarSmarts Advanced is a full-day of instruction, education, hands-on
mixology, testing and certification that takes place in select cities each year.
Hosted by Pernod Ricard USA, and BAR, LLC, these events are a day of challenge,
learning, and fun.
·
Book of the week: The Dead Rabbit
Drinks Manual: Secret Recipes and Barroom Tales from Two Belfast Boys Who
Conquered the Cocktail World. It was just released on 10/13/15. Using the Amazon links on the bartenderjourney.net
web site help support the podcast and does not cost you any extra.
·
Please visit our Tip
cup page to help support the show and/or leave
a review on iTunes. Bartender Journey needs your support!
·
Cocktail of the week is an autumn drink with hard apple cider: Orchard
Flowers

·
Orchard Flowers
•
3/4 oz. Gin
•
3/4 oz Elderflower Liqueur
•
Splash Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice
•
5 oz. Hard Apple Cider
Preparation:
Shake Gin, Elderflower & Lime
Juice. Add cider. Strain into Chilled Cocktail
Glass. Garnish with Lime.

·
“Take aways” from the ACR rum seminar.
·
Rum is made in many different countries and even in this one particular
region – the Caribbean – there is a large spectrum of cultures and even
languages. And as a result, the
rums are quite diverse. There are
many things of course that effect the outcome of the final product, but
probably the biggest influences are:
o Whether it was distilled
from Sugar Cane Juice or Molasses
o Distilled in Pot still or
Column still
o Aging / Wood
o Blending
·
Interestingly where the sugar cane is grown does not seem to have much
influence.
·
In very general terms, Rums made from Sugar Cane Juice will be a little
lighter (or delicate?) and Molasses rums will be richer (and to me tastier!)
·
On future episodes of Bartender Journey - interviews with:
o Martin, who is a bartender
and podcast listener from England
o Misty who is Brand
Ambassador for Del Maguey Mezcal
o Andy Watts who makes an the amazing
Bain’s Whisky in South Africa
·
Toast of the week: To friends: as long as we are able, To lift our
glasses from the table.
42 min
October 08, 2015 Craft vs. Mass Produced Spirits
130
Craft vs. Mass Produced Spirits
Bartender Journey Podcast number 130
·
Can you really taste the difference between mass
produced and craft spirits? I tend
to think that in many cases you can…most especially in Gin and Rye
Whiskey. We’ll talk with Nick
Yoder from Journeyman Distillery in Michigan.
·
MGP Ingredients, in Lawrenceburg, Indiana is a
commercial distillery which since 1941 has been offering alcohol for wholesale
purchase. Some brands purchase
spirits from MGP and bottle it under their own brand name, (sometimes barrel
aging &/or other additional processes before bottling).
·
A Chicago man successfully
filed a class-action lawsuit against Templeton Prohibition Era Rye Whiskey
for deceptive practices.
·
Book of the Week: The Negroni, Drinking to La Dolce Vita, with Recipes & Lore by Gary ‘gaz’ Regan
·
Cocktail of the Week: Rosemary Salted Negroni:
o   Toast
fresh Rosemary and Sea Salt in a pan until the Rosemary releases it fragrance. Discard Rosemary.
o   Using
a sliver of Grapefruit, moisten the rim of an Old Fashioned glass. Dip glass into prepared Rosemary Salt
to rim the glass.
o   Add
ice to glass, (ideally one large hand cut ice cube).
o   In
a mixing glass add:
§
1 ¼ oz Gin, (I used Journeyman Distillery’s
Bilberry Black Heart Gin)
§
1 oz Sweet Vermouth, (I used Martinez Lacuesta
from Spain
§
1 oz Campari
§
Ice
o   Stir
and strain into prepared glass
·
On the subject of Craft, during Tales 2015 distiller
Chip Tate said during one of the seminars “I love Craft. What is it??!” He talks about how it started with beer
and the eat local movements. He
talked about his barrels and how he checks each & every one personally when
it arrives and he says he “learns things from his barrels”.

·
We also have audio from Tales Of The Cocktail
2015 – we chat with Marco Montefiori, US Market Manager for Amaro Montenegro.   Recipes from Amaro Montenegro’s
event at Tales of the Cocktail 2015:

·      Monte
Manhattan
-
2 oz.
Amaro Montenegro
-
1 oz.
Sweet Vermouth
-
2 oz.
Prosecco
-
1 oz.
Gin
-
Orange
Bitters
-
Orange
Peel

·
Montenegroni
-        1.5
oz. Amaro Montenegro
-
1.5
oz. Rye Whiskey
-
A
Splash of Maraschino Liqueur
-
Garnish
with 3 Brandied Cherries
The Monte Mule
-
2 oz.
Amaro Montenegro
-
1 oz.
Lime Juice
-
1.5 oz.
Vodka
-
.25
oz. Peach Liqueur
-
3 oz.
Ginger Beer
-        Mint Sprig

·
Toast of
the Week: Here’s to alcohol,
the rose colored glasses of life. —F. Scott Fitzgerald

31 min
September 30, 2015 Not So Simple Cocktail Syrups
·
This week we talk to Joe Raya, owner of the Gin
Joint in Charleston, South Carolina.
He & his wife also make delicious syrups for bartenders called Tippleman’s. There are 6 varieties and they are all awesome:
o   Burnt
Sugar
o   Island
Orxata
o   Falernum
o   Ginger
Honey
o   Lemon
Oleo Saccharum
o   Barrel
Smoked Maple
·
Its Bartender Journey Podcast # 129 !
·
First lets do a cocktail of the week! Its a Bourbon/Maple Old Fashioned using
the Tippleman’s Barrel Smoked Maple syrup. The syrup is made using barrels from Willett Distillery. I
used about ½ oz. I happened to
have a lovely bottle of Willet Pot Still Reserve Bourbon, so I figured lets use
that in our Old Fashioned! It’s a
pretty incredible Bourbon and it’s tempting to just drink it neat or with one
ice cube, but I used it anyway -- 2 oz of Willet Bourbon in my quite decedent
Old Fashioned. I used Basement
Bitters from Tuttletown distillery.
These are the guys that make the great Hudson Whiskey among other things
and their bitters are great!
·
If you don’t have any Tippleman’s syrups yet, consider
ordering some at tipplemans.com. But meanwhile, try experimenting with a
good quality maple syrup in your old fashioned. Grade B is what is recommended for using in cocktails. You might consider mixing it with a
little hot water to make it easier to mix into your cocktail. And if you don’t have the Basement
Bitters, try substituting other aromatic bitters – Angostura is of course an
awesome choice and widely available, but perhaps try experimenting with a few
other brands too!
·
To make an Old Fashioned – mix the sugar (or
syrup in this case) with the bitters in the bottom of your Old Fashioned or rocks
glass. Add the whiskey and some
ice – ideally one big hand-cut ice cube and a twist. Usually it would be an orange twist in an Old Fashioned,
especially if it were a Rye Old Fashioned, but I used lemon in this case. A little extra citrus “zing” from the
limon goes better with the Bourbon and maple flavors.
·
Book of the week is Its All About The Guest by Steve Difillippo.
·
The subtitle of this book is Exceeding
Expectations in Busines and in Life The Davio’s Way.
·
Steve is a great businessman. In his book he has lots of great
lessons for us, including: “every decision you make: is this going to make
things better for the guest?”
·
There will always be demanding guests who are
ready to get upset about nothing.
They will require a lot of attention, but you can’t let that distract
you from the other guests.
·
Figure out how much it costs to make what you
are selling, otherwise you may be loosing money without even knowing it.
·
Its not just WHAT you do, its how people
PERCEIVE what you do.
·
Our Toast this week: ‘tis better to spend money
like there's no tomorrow  than to spend tonight like there's no money!

32 min

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About Bartender Journey - Cocktails. Spirits. Bartending Culture. Libations for your Ears.