Absinthe was one of the most intriguing spirits to grace a cocktail for a good part of the 19th century, and even well into the 20th century you’d see cocktail recipes popping up that called for the spirit’s distinctive flavor. Now that absinthe is again legally available in the U.S., it’s high time to rediscover what absinthe can bring to a cocktail.

Last summer at Tales of the Cocktail, I spoke about the history of absinthe as a cocktail ingredient as part of a panel that also included Gwydion Stone, founder of the Wormwood Society and creator of Absinthe Marteau, and Jim Meehan, bartender extraordinaire from PDT in New York. The discussion apparently went over well with some in the crowd, so much so that Gwydion and I have been asked to reprise our presentations this Sunday, January 25, from 2-5 pm at an event sponsored by the Washington State Bartender’s Guild (Jim, however, has the misfortune of living 3,000 miles away, so he sadly won’t be joining us for this round). In addition to having the opportunity to hear Gwydion and I blather away about absinthe for a good long time while sipping a Monkey Gland or other absinthe cocktail, attendees can sample and learn about absinthes including Marteau, Pacifique, Lucid, Pernod, Leopold Brothers, St. George, Taboo and Trillium.

Tickets are available, but are extremely limited, so best to get yours right away; they can be purchased from your friendly local bartenders at Liberty, Tini Bigs, Vessel, Barrio and Sun Liquor. Price for the event is $25 a head, or $99 for admission plus a one-year membership in the WSBG (that’s a $25 savings). Already a WSBG member? Then hot damn, you get in free. The event takes place in Seattle’s lovely SoDo neighborhood; further details are available once you shell out for a ticket. Check-in starts at 2:00, the event gets rolling at 2:30.

Hope to see you there–

Tags: General by Paul
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It’s not even three weeks into the new year, and here I am already breaking my “don’t blog” resolution by finally putting up a drink post (that Jan. 1st thing was more an announcement, so don’t bug me with the details). What’s prompted me to break my long blogging drought? Mixology Monday, what else, this round hosted by A Mixed Dram, and focusing on “New Horizons” — in short, mixing with stuff you don’t usually use.

I’m perhaps more prone to habit than most, and as a result my liquor closet is literally overflowing with the predictables — rum, rye, gin, assorted liqueurs — and rather slim on spirits I rarely use, such as vodka, pisco and cachaca (though the good folks who market Leblon, Boca Loca, Cabana and probably someone else I’m forgetting have made sure I have plenty around should the mood hit). Shamefully, one of the spirits that rarely makes its way into my mixing glass is scotch whiskey. I suppose I have some excuse — as agreeable as scotch can be on its own, it has a predisposition to surliness when forced to room with other ingredients — but still, for a spirit that has such a wide flavor profile and so many appealing characteristics, it’s one I rarely use (not that I dislike it in a cocktail, though — drinks such as the Blood & Sand or the Cameron’s Kick are in my permanent repertoire).

Here’s a relevant cocktail that I’ve had scribbled in my notebook for a while, but until tonight have yet to put together: the Penicillin Cocktail. Created by Sam Ross of Milk & Honey in New York, the Penicillin is not only made with a base of blended scotch — which tends to have a gentle, mellow flavor that typically makes it more versatile as a cocktail ingredient than single malts — but it’s served with a float of Islay scotch, a style of the spirit so bristlingly potent in aroma and flavor that it takes the blend’s twin descriptors of “gentle” and “mellow” and smashes their little heads together in its burly grasp. Easing the meeting of the two is a good dose of ginger-honey syrup, along with a bit of lemon, which helps everything balance out.

Penicillin Cocktail

• 2 ounces blended scotch (I used Famous Grouse)
• 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 ounce ginger-honey syrup
• 1/4 ounce Islay scotch (I used Laphroaig)

Combine blended scotch, lemon juice and syrup in a shaker, fill with ice and shake well. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and float Islay scotch on top.

For ginger-honey syrup (my recipe; chime in if you use something different): combine 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk until well combined. Add an ounce or so of peeled, sliced fresh ginger and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely; strain.

Wow — between the ginger and the lemon, the whisky’s assertive tendencies are kept well in check. Not that they’re suppressed — Laphroaig’s trademark smokiness fills the glass, but the drink is balanced, enticing and, dare I say it, gentle.

That’s my mix for this round of Mixology Monday; head on over to A Mixed Dram to see the roundup of all participants’ posts.

Tags: Drinks, Mixology Monday, Scotch by Paul
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After keeping up this blog for 3 1/2 years and writing about booze for publications around the country, the first day of 2009 brought me a little hometown love with this piece in today’s Seattle Post-Intelligencer: “The old drinks are here with him in spirits”.

Written by Mike Lewis — who helped me damage a number of Keith‘s cocktails at Barrio last weekend — the article is part of Mike’s “Under the Needle” series, which in other cities would sound like a column devoted to people struggling against IV drug addiction, but in Seattle simply refers to the defining element in the city’s skyline. Mike does a nice job of touching on the city’s growing cocktail scene, while offering sometimes uncomfortable observations about me (“balding”? C’mon, man, I’m still in denial about that, y’ don’t have to put it in the paper!). While in the depth of our lightly boozy conversation a detail or two may have come out mangled, I’m appreciative of the piece, and only regret that I wasn’t able to make sure folks like Casey Robison at Barrio, Jim Romdall and Zane Harris at Vessel and Andrew Friedman at Liberty received their fair share of my respect and appreciation in the story (and thanks to Andrew for letting us disrupt his bar for the photo shoot) — though I should also point out how hilarious I find it that Seattle’s most notorious drink-slinging self-professed media whore manages to hog the spotlight in stories that aren’t even about him.

Anyway, it’s a good start to the new year. If you’re new to the blog and have come over from the P-I, then welcome and please take a look around; even better, visit a few of the establishments mentioned in the piece and witness what Seattle’s finest bartenders are up to yourself.

Happy new year, all–

Tags: General by Paul
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