Part of recalling that I have a blog is remembering all the stuff I forgot to post over the past few months. Well, I’ll probably forget to post about some (hopefully not all) of these events in the weeks to come, but I’ll get at least a brief mention out of the way at the beginning of the month: here are a few events taking place in December.

• Most notable for readers of this blog, Mixology Monday is scheduled to take place on Monday, December 14. I know, we missed November — this is due to a mix of technical problems, miscommunication and suddenly realizing the month was almost over — but now it seems like we’re ready to go for December’s event. This round of MxMo will be hosted by Kevin Langmack at Beers in the Shower, and Kevin has chosen as his theme “Money Drinks”, which means — well, I’ll let Kevin explain it in his announcement post, but suffice it to say this should be an appropriate theme for the holidays.
• If it’s December that also means it’s time for Repeal Day. For those not in the loop, here’s a little background: way back when, a bunch of people (usually distinguished by their pinched expressions and dreary personalities) decided that matters of personal liberty be damned, nobody in the U.S. of A. should be allowed to drink alcoholic beverages. Somehow, inexplicably, this became the law of the land in 1919, and for the next 13 years people absolutely drank like fish. By 1933, however, it was clear that the whole ordeal was a stooooopid idea, and on December 5 of that year, Utah — yes, Utah — ratified the 21st amendment, giving the repeal effort a 3/4s majority and sending Prohibition the way of the passenger pigeon. Now, on December 5, we remember the end of that long unpleasantness by, of course, hoisting a few. Those of you in the DC area should check out the 2nd Annual Repeal Day Ball, hosted by the DC Craft Bartenders Guild, while locals here around Seattle should head down to the Repeal Day party at Vessel and make sure Keith gets no peace at all.
• If you do celebrate Repeal Day at Vessel or any other fine Seattle establishment, be sure to leave some space in your liver for Drinking Lessons at the Sorrento Hotel, on December 7, when the guest bartenders are Zane Harris and Anu Apte from Rob Roy. I finally got around to attending a recent Drinking Lesson with Alex Day from Death & Co. and Toby Cecchini of the now defunct Passerby (more on this later), and if Zane & Anu put on an event anything near the caliber of what these guys did, it’ll be a lesson for the ages.
• How is this next one connected? Not entirely sure , but as a PSA for readers who like a smoke with their scotch, I’ll mention that Partiga Cigar is holding several “Benji Menendez Socials” in cities around the country to introduce the Benji Menendez Partagas Master Series Majestuoso. I’ll admit I’m mostly a cigar neophyte, but somewhat curious, so when the event organizers asked if I’d offer passwords to my blog’s readers who might be interested in attending one of the socials, I thought, “What the hell, why not.” (And the disclaimer: I’m being paid bupkus for mentioning this event, and considering that I haven’t consumed a tobacco product in close to ten years, the sample stogie that may or may not be on its way has little power to sway my judgement. The organizers just caught me at an uncharacteristically generous moment.) Anyway, the socials are in LA on December 1; Las Vegas on December 3; Chicago on December 8; and NYC on December 15. If you’re interested drop me a line (let me know which event you’re hoping to attend) and I’ll give you the password.

And probably a whole bunch of other stuff that I’m missing along the way. Anyway, keep an eye out for the MxMo post, head to Vessel (or DC) on the 5th, the Sorrento on the 7th, and around the country all month, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.

Tags: Events by Paul
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‘Twas the night before — okay, it was the night before Tuesday, and still a respectable way before Thanksgiving nevermind Christmas (and come to think of it, not much in that house was quiet at all),  but all mangled holiday story preambles aside, on Monday, November 16, the Washington State Bartender’s Guild organized a Yuletide-themed party that put everyone in Seattle in a holiday mood (at least, those 60 or so who braved the rain and wind and had invites to the event).

As I mentioned in a pre-event announcement a while back, this Evening of Holiday Drinks, hosted at Barrio, on Capitol Hill, was the WSBG’s kickoff for the holiday season. Why hold such an event in mid-November? Quite simply, because there are a god-awful number of horrendous holiday drinks out there (a Horny Ho Ho Mojito, anyone?), and it’s time to push a few good ones into the spotlight they deserve.

The event was sponsored by Maker’s Mark, Cruzan, Laird & Co. and Martin Miller’s Gin, and over the course of the evening guests were served samples of six punches and cocktails — some classic, some contemporary — that shared one common element: they did not suck.

Almost all of the drinks served that evening have appeared on this blog before; one notable exception is the Palin’s Christmas Punch; the recipe for this is listed below.

Here are the drinks we served at the event:

• Tom & Jerry – a classic winter warmer, prepared at this event with Maker’s Mark and Cruzan Estate Single Barrel rum.
• Northern Spy – a contemporary Laird’s Apple Brandy-based cocktail created by Josey Packard, now at Drink in Boston, that’s excellent in the late autumn / early winter.
• Palin’s Christmas Punch – created by Milk & Honey bartender Sam Ross, this punch won last year’s Martin Miller’s Masters competition, and with good reason. Ignore or embrace the inspiration behind the name, depending on your personal politics, but do not ignore this drink — it was the clear favorite at the WSBG event, and one of the few (only?) holiday drinks that uses gin as a base.
• Reveillon Cocktail – from my good friend Chuck Taggart, this apple brandy-based drink has become a holiday standard at my house, and hopefully many more after its appearance at the WSBG event.
• Christmas Rum Punch – Rum! Fire! What’s not to like? Simple yet flashy, and tasty to boot.
• Goodnight, Irene – Strictly speaking not a holiday drink, but between the bourbon & Branca Menta this original cocktail from Audrey Saunders tastes like Christmas to me.

Thanks to all who came out for the event, and for those who wish to play along at home, here’s the recipe for Palin’s Christmas Punch:

Palin’s Christmas Punch

• 12 ounces Martin Miller’s Westbourne-Strength gin
• 12 ounces lemon juice
• 10 ounce demerara date syrup*
• 14 ounces Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur
• 1/2 ounce Regan’s Orange Bitters #6
• 1 1/2 ounces absinthe
• 1 750-ml bottle dry champagne

Muddle the peel of two lemons in a pitcher with around one ounce of superfine sugar in a large pitcher until the mixture is an aromatic paste. Add everything except the champagne and stir briefly with ice; strain into a punch bowl filled with lemon ice** and add chilled champagne. Stir, serve in punch cups, garnish with absinthe-drizzled dates***.

* Demerara date syrup: Make a syrup by combining 2 cups of demerara sugar with one cup water in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking until completely dissolved. Let cool, then add to a container with a cheesecloth bag filled with 1 cup of crushed dates; let sit for three days. Strain to remove sediment before use.

** Lemon ice: Using small molds (I used a muffin tin), place a thin slice of lemon in each compartment and fill with water. Freeze overnight before using.

*** Absinthe-drizzled dates: Spear a date on a cocktail pick (ideally a twig of pine or Douglas fir) and drizzle with several drops of absinthe.

Tags: Drinks, Events, Gin by Paul
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I’ve always hated it when stores put up their Christmas displays right after Halloween, and cities start hanging wreaths and ribbons on everything in sight while everyone is still getting accustomed to the idea of autumn. I know I have good company in this, but this year I’m thinking about the holidays a little bit early myself, for one basic reason: There are free drinks involved.

OK, now that I have your attention, the details: this coming Monday, November 16, the Washington State Bartender’s Guild (WSBG) has organized An Evening of Holiday Drinks to take place at Barrio (1420 12th Avenue, on Capitol Hill in Seattle) starting at 8:00 PM. Whether you’re a working bartender, a drinks-industry type, food & beverage media or just a dedicated craft-cocktail devotee (the WSBG offers associate memberships to folks like these, such as me), you’re invited to come sample a few drinks appropriate for Thanksgiving and the winter holidays (whichever one you happen to celebrate at that time of year), and learn a little bit more about them from the guest speaker — me.

Why me? Aside from the obvious reason — because Robert Hess is out of town next week — it also happens that I’m a sucker for holiday drinks, but god help me if I have to choke down another half-assed cranberry punch or cream-bloated eggnog this season. Instead, I’ll be talking about a few holiday-appropriate cocktails, along with a few punches both classic and contemporary, and best of all we’ll be pouring samples for all attendees, so you can get some ideas for your own holiday events and parties.

As I may have suggested, the event is free, but since space is limited you must RSVP — to do so, e-mail info@wsbg.org or send a text message to 206-579-2491.

And it goes without saying that organizing this event would would be impossible without the generous financial and product support provided by Maker’s Mark, Cruzan Rum, Laird & Company, Martin Miller’s Gin and Fratelli Branca.

So if you’re going to be anywhere in the Seattle area this Monday, November 16, please drop a line and we’ll save you a seat — I hope to see you there.

Tags: Events by Paul
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As I mentioned last month, the good folks at Oregon Bounty organized a creatively titled Cuisinternship Contest that would pair selected winners (who entered by submitting a short video and even shorter Twitter-length essay) with some of the state’s culinary luminaries for a one-week, all-expenses-paid internship. The deadline has now passed — too bad, procrastinators — and the entries are in (here’s a link to see all of the entries).

Also as I mentioned, one of these internships is with Bend Distillery, where the winner will spend a week making gin and vodka and doing — well, I don’t know what exactly, but it’ll be whatever distiller Jim Bendis is doing at the time, so it’s probably going to be really cool. Anyway, there were eight entries for the distillery internship; I kinda expected more, but it looks like the idea of making beer or chocolate & cheese was just too appealing for many people, because those categories had entries out the wazoo.

I’m one of the judges for the distillery category, and the way it works is this: the contest organizers reviewed all entries and sent me their top five picks, and then I scored each of those entries across several categories and sent my top three picks on to the distillery, which will choose the winner, to be announced next week. I’m not going to reveal any of the semifinalists or finalists — I wasn’t selected for Skull & Bones and I passed on a career with the CIA, so I’ve gotta take my secretive cloak & dagger opportunities as they come — but I wanted to give each participant the opportunity to have their entries seen by you, the booze-loving blog-readers of the world.

Here are all of the eight distillery entries, in no particular order. I’ve already completed and sent in my scores for the finalists, so any comments or e-mails won’t affect the outcome of the contest, but I’m curious to hear who you think would be a good pick for the distillery internship. Let me know in the comments (but please, be nice — while you can salt the comments section at YouTube with any disapproving notes you like, I’d rather not have any participants insulted in the comments section of my blog — after all, this ain’t Congress).

And with that, here they are: the entries for the Oregon Bounty Cuisinternship Contest, distillery category.

Tags: Events by Paul
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No, I didn’t make up that word — the good folks at Travel Oregon did, as part of a contest they’re running that is offering seven lucky winners all-expenses paid* one-week internships with some of Oregon’s top culinary craftspeople. (Get it now? “Cuisine” plus “internship”? Cuisintern — okay, you got it.)

So why am I breaking my now-customary post-Tales, late-summer blog silence to bug you with this linguistic oddity? For one simple reason: one of the internships is related to booze**. While other contest winners are making chocolate or cheese or herding cattle or toiling away as a chef’s kitchen slave, one winner will be spending a week with Jim Bendis at Bendistillery in Bend, Oregon. During that week the winner will gain some hands-on knowledge about the art of distillation, tasting the spirit as it comes off the still and helping with the bottling, as well as doing a bunch of other stuff that happens around the distillery.

Here are the details from the folks at Travel Oregon (emphasis mine, so you don’t miss any important info):

To enter the Oregon Bounty Cuisinternship Contest, applicants must submit a short video, along with a statement containing no more than 140 characters, describing why they are the best candidate at www.TravelOregon.com/Bounty. Seven winners will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Oregon to shadow their mentor for one week. Entries must be submitted between Aug. 24 and Sept. 18. A panel of judges, including the Cuisinternship mentors, will select winners which will be announced beginning Sept. 28.

And what’s it to me? Well, for the distillery Cuisinternship, I’m on the panel of judges, and I can’t wait to see some of the posts and videos for this contest (though I’m sure that in hindsight, there will be at least one video entry that I’ll wish I could un-see). If you’re reading this blog then you’re an excellent candidate for this internship — so go ahead and submit your entry, and keep an eye out for the announcement of the contest winner starting in late September.

* by “all expenses paid” they mean they cover airfare, lodging and $1,000 meal stipend. If you’d like to dig into the details some more, here are the official rules.

** Okay, I suppose three of the seven internships are alcohol related — in addition to the distillery internship, there’s another one at Penner-Ash Winery and one more at Full Sail Brewing. But c’mon, how many chances do you get to spend a week at a distillery?

Tags: Events by Paul
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