An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

It is amazing how one evening can put a smile on your face.  This past week was nothing but a stressful, anxiety-ridden ride through work where no one in my office is sure whether we’ll be laid-off or not.  I’ve been stressed out, nervous, and, quite frankly in a pissy mood for at least two weeks.

This past Friday my mood was no better and I was just watching the clock inch towards 6:00pm so I could go home, have dinner and attempt to relax.  Around 5:45pm, I received an email from Sean saying “Had a bad week, going to PS7.”  Well now, that sounded like an excellent idea!  So after braving a torrential downpour which soaked everything below the waist, I soon found myself at PS7 enjoying a drink.

The Bar at PS7

I know Sean and I have written about PS7 before, but it bears repeating that we love this place.  Chef Peter Smith consistently puts out some of the best food in the city.  Gina Chersevani has some of the most interesting and tastiest cocktails around.  The rest of the staff are great and I always feel welcome and comfortable.  Quite possibly, PS7 is my version of “Cheers.”

I had heard that there was a “Chef’s Burger” that wasn’t on the menu but available if you asked.  Of course, I was starving and about 2 cocktails in so I asked Gina about the chef’s burger.  She replied that there were two versions!  One was “bacon, egg, & cheese” that had gouda, a fried egg and pork belly.  The other was a reuben burger which was topped with pastrami, russian dressing and slaw (it may have been sauerkraut . . . )  Sean ordered the reuben and I ordered the bacon, egg & cheese and we split them.

Oh.  My.  God.  These burgers were decadent.  They also hit the spot perfectly.  Peter came by and asked what we thought.  He genuinely wants people to enjoy his food.  Again, this is an awesome place.

Anyway, a while later our friend Roy came downtown to have a few drinks with us and hang out.  He also ended up with a chef’s burger.  It was devoured in the blink of an eye.

Now, having had some great drinks and food my mood had improved considerably.  I was happy.  My concerns were a distant memory and I was enjoying the moment.  We started talking about cameras and photography and I showed my camera to Roy.  There were a few pictures on it, including my Kentucky Derby party and my flaming mai tai.

I showed the mai tai photo to Gina.  Her reaction was, “Why didn’t you make me a mai tai?  I want a mai tai!  Make me a flaming mai tai.”  She then invited me behind the stick to make her a mai tai!  My first time behind a professional bar.  <gasp> <swoon>

So, away I go!  Gina gratiously offers to be my bar-back.  Actually, it was probably to make sure I didn’t screw anything up or mess with her station. 

Gina and I

Carefully measuring . . .

Giving it a good shake!

The strain!

Lighting of the lime shell.

The Flaming Mai Tai!

Gina and I

Roy, Me, Sean

Here is the recipe for the Mai Tai as I made it:

1oz Cruzan Single Barrel
1oz Ron Zacappa 12yr Old
.5oz lime juice
.5oz orgeat syrup
.5oz curacao

-Shake and strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.
-Float a dark rum on top.  Goslings Black Seal or Cruzan Blackstrap would be preferred, we used Mt. Gay Extra Old at PS7.
-Invert the spent lime half and clean off the pulp.  Pour 151 proof rum in and light on fire.
-Enjoy.

As I said, the night was wonderful.  Everything was great and I even got to step on the other side of the bar for the first time.  There were a few more surprises Friday night, but I’m going to hold off on them until later in the week.

Cheers!

To see all the photos from Friday Night at PS7, click here!

Thanks to SeanMike for taking the photos!

I know things have been a little slow here at the Den, but unfortunately life has gotten in the way of fun. I’m hoping things get back to an even kiel sooner rather than later. Just hang in there, things will improve.

I also wanted to thank all the people who submitted recipes for the Templeton Rye contest. Thanks!!! I’ll begin judging tomorrow and hope to have an announcement just after Memorial Day. I’ll email the winners before posting anything so keep your eyes peeled.

Finally, THE BEST DAMNED HICCUP CURE EVER!!!! (Hyperbole, never!)

We’ve all experienced hiccups at some point. Maybe it was because we ate too much or imbibed too much. Maybe it was because of too much citrus, sweets or richness. Honestly, I don’t know why we get hiccups, but I know I hate them and always had a hard time getting rid of them quickly.

I saw this cure on TV sometime. I think it was the episode of “Three Sheets” where Zane Lampry is at the Angostura facility. It seemed so simple. Could it really work? Could it get rid of my historically difficult hiccups? There was only one way to be sure.

First, cut a fresh lemon wedge. Dredge both sides of the wedge in sugar. White table sugar seems to work best. I think because of the relatively small granule size. At home, the only white sugar I have is for vanilla sugar, so that’s what I use.

So now you have the sugar dredged lemon wedge. Get out your bottle of Angostura bitters. I don’t know if other bitters will work because I haven’t tested alternatives. I don’t want to mess with perfection. Now, saturate the sugared lemon wedge with Angostura. Cover both sides.

Now, eat the flesh of the Angostura soaked sugar-dredged lemon wedge.

That’s it. Your hiccups should be gone. If not, repeat the process. I’ve had to eat two or three wedges before to get rid of my notoriously bad hiccups. You’re mileage may vary. But the end result has been the same for me – bye-bye hiccups.

I’ve shared this with several people and they’ve all been amazed. Sean has had the same reaction from those he has shared this with.

Why does it work? I don’t know and I don’t care. It just does.

Cheers!

I’ve been lucky enough to get samples of a few different tequilas recently and I decided it was time to do something about it.

No, not drink them! Wait…yes, drink them, taste them, mix with them, see what happens with them.

One thing is not like the other…

…yes, one of these is a mini. Partida only sent a mini of their tequila, while the other three (inocente, Jose Cuervo Silver, and Tequila Ocho) sent fifths. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn’t experiment as much as I’d like with Partida, but you take what you can. (And keep that in mind – if you want cocktail bloggers to actually make COCKTAILS with your liquor, you need to provide enough for us to work with, and odds are, you won’t send enough in minis.)

I went with my usual way of experimenting with new liquors – smell, straight without ice, straight with ice, and in a mixed drink. Obviously, given Tiare’s post, the liquor, and the fact that tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, I had to go with the margarita as my drink!

Ahhh, my UVA glasses…wahoowah.

I’d tried the Tequila Ocho once or twice in the past, and Gina down at PS7 had hooked me up with tastes of the inocente. The Cuervo had yet to be cracked, though I like their Tradicional (but note this was the only one that wasn’t advertised as 100% blue agave), and I couldn’t recall having tried the Partida before. So it was time to sniff.

First off, look at the colors, if you can see them there. The Partida is by far the most yellow, the color of straw, and the inocent had a slight hint of yellow as well. The others were blanco – white.

Sniffing them, the Partida seemed very smooth. The Ocho I wanted to say was more floral, definitely more complex, but a bit more of an alcohol smell on it. The Jose Cuervo Silver – uh, do not smell this one at length. The inocente is complex, not as floral as the Ocho but a bit more earthy maybe.

Then to taste. I used to always shoot tequila but I had a girlfriend for a while that was from Texas and she managed to switch me to enjoying it on its own. I looked forward to this part most of all.

Partida is smooth, very smooth, just a slight burn on it. I’d have no problem recommending it.

The Ocho had no real burn at all, slightly floral taste. It was also quite good and I’d recommend trying it this way.

The Cuervo – no. In fact, to quote my notes: “no no no no no no”.

The inocente was more complex than even the Ocho, with a hint of floral and an earthy taste. To be honest, for me, leaving out the Cuervo, it was a toss-up between which is the best. Like most straight liquors, it depends on what you like.

Next I added a single ice cube to each of them. I let it sit for a minute – often times the water/ice combination changes the flavor of the liquor.

The Partida, in fact, seemed to me to show even more complexity with a bit of water in it. I also noticed a bit more burn on the first taste of it, but not on the second, so that might’ve been just a bit of a fluke. It’s a throw up which I’d prefer.

The Ocho was lighter than it had been before but still good – you could taste the floral in it but it wasn’t overwhelming. I’d prefer it without the ice, myself.

Then we were onto the Cuervo again.

[21:10] SeanMike: oh dear god now it’s time for the jose cuervo again
[21:10] my friend: hahaha

Yes, I was a bit biased going into it but let me quote my notes again:

* Jose Cuervo Silver – no – gasoline – yuck

It was advertised a shooting tequila and – yeah. Don’t linger on this one.

The inocente, with the ice, seemed to retain its complexity with the ice and did have a bit more burn. Like the Ocho, I’d go without the ice, myself.

Finally, it was time for margaritas. Unfortunately for the Partida, which I’d be interersted to see how it tastes, I was out of it – so it was just the other three. I used the recipe from Gary Regan’s The Joy of Mixology.

Margarita
1 1/2 ounces white tequila
1 ounce triple sec
1/2 ounce lime juice

I used Cointreau for the triple sec and squeezed fresh limes.

Made with the Ocho, it made for a good, if not anything inspiring. It was good, but nothing I’d jump up and down about it. I dunno. Maybe I was spoiled by the mezcal margaritas from Marshall‘s recipe on Friday night…

The Cuervo – I initially wanted not to like it. But the more I tried it, the more I’d say “it’s not bad” – it had more personality, perhaps, than the Ocho, but it also had more of a “off” taste to me in addition. So – yeah – 50-50 – more taste, but also more bad taste to it. Not bad, but not great. I’m betting if you added something more to it – maybe some orange bitters, for instance – it wouldn’t be half-bad. (And if you’re one of those heathens using the HFCS-infused neon-green mixtures, well, it won’t matter so much.)

The inocente won out overall. It has a bit of complexity that sticks out through the lime juice and Cointreau, while not overwhelmed by the problems of the Cuervo.

Overall results: The Cuervo was advertised a shooter tequila and was the only one not made from 100% blue agave (according to the bottles). It, perhaps predictably, also fared the worst in taste, and really didn’t have much to recommend it. If I can find something to make with it, I’ll suggest it, but it might be something more complex than a margarita.

The Partida wasn’t bad, especially over ice. For a sipping tequila, I’d recommend it if you wanted it over ice, but I’m still interested how it’d do in a margarita.

Between the Ocho and the inocente, it depends on what you prefer, personally, but I think overall I have to go with the inocente if you wanted to also make margaritas with it.