An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

Yes, I’m looking at you, Mr. Jeffrey “I’m pretty certain he doesn’t read my blog so I feel safe posting this” Morgenthaler.

What do we know Mr. Morgenthaler for?  Well, there’s his blog, which I’ve already linked to twice so I won’t do again.  There are his videos which I’m too lazy to look up right now, and there’s his near-infamous infatuation with the Monteleone’s pool.

So a drink named after him needed a couple of things:

1. Something he likes and/or shills
2. To remind people of suntan lotion
3. Swimming pool-esque look

Ta-da!

Don't you want to dive in?

The Morgenthaler
2 ounces Boca Loca cachaca
2 ounces coconut water
1 ounce blue curacao
1 drop – 1 dash sake (depending on how vinegar it is)
Stir with ice and strain into a glass.

I have to thank Ms. Sergi for the sake idea; I bought some today for another cocktail (heheheheh) and she suggested it to help bring it together.  The one I’m using (Fudo Myoo junmai gingjo sake) is rather soft, so I used a dash, but a harder one might want only a drop.

Jeffrey, I couldn’t resist.  See you in two weeks.

[Eighteenth in a series of drinks named after bloggers, mixologists, and random others who'll hopefully be at Tales. The first post in the series is here.]

Two things you may or may not know about today: today is International Cachaca Day, and one month and one day from now Adam Bernbach will be taking over at Proof - good news to people who were going to miss him after he left Bar Pilar.

Cachaca is a sugar cane based liquor from Brazil.  It’s most commonly associatd with a drink known as a Caipirinha, which I can’t pronounce worth a damn, but it’s finding its way into more and more drinks these days.

I knew I wanted to make a cachaca drink for today but couldn’t decide who to associate it with.  When I got further ideas about what to make with it, taking inspiration from the Pisco Sour, I remembered how Adam likes to work with rhum agricole, and in my humble and probably wrong opinion, there are some similarities there.

Not that it really matters, ’cause I’m making the drinks, and thus the rules, up as I go!

So, anyways, taking inspiration from last night’s TDN (Muddle!), and the Pisco Sour, I present The Bernbach.

The Bernbach
2 ounces cachaca (Boca Loca)
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 jalapeno pepper
1 egg white
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 star anise
Cut up the pepper and remove the white ribs and the seeds – leave a bit in if you like a bit of heat.  Put into a mixing glass and add the cachaca, lemon juice, and simple syrup.  Muddle the pepper, then add the egg white and dry shake for 30 seconds.  Add ice and shake for another 1-2 minutes.  Double strain into a glass and garnish by drizzling the Angostura bitters on the top then adding the star anise.

That's a decorative pattern, I didn't just "drizzle", heathens.

As soon as I cracked the shaker I knew this drink would be good – the aroma of the jalapeno just drifted out of there.  I did a good job cleaning out the ribs and the seeds, so there was very little heat in the drink whatsoever.

There you have it – The Bernbach.  I hope Adam likes this drink as much as I do!

[Fifth in a series of drinks named after bloggers, mixologists, and random others who'll hopefully be at Tales.  The first post in the series is here.]

1.  So Rick from Kaiser Penguin showed up in town this weekend.  He and his friend Char joined us at Bourbon Friday night, and then we met him and Matt from A Jigger of Blog over at The Gibson.  Good times were had by all and once again we had the pleasure of having Tiff as our bartender there.

As I’ve mentioned before – you’ve got to give The Gibson a shot if you haven’t yet.

We tried to go to Bar Pilar afterwards but it was just packed; we got to speak with Adam briefly but then hailed a cab and headed back to Virginia for pizza and relaxation.

One of my favorite moments of the weekend came Friday night, however.  Owen was showing off some really cool liquors and cocktails all night, but at one point Chris (and I’ll explain about this in about a week or so) had Marshall and I buy a drink.  He got his favorite, the cocktail a la louisiane, and I got a Sazerac.  Chris had never had a Sazerac so he tried one and absolutely loved it.  It’s always great to see someone try a new drink and see their eyes light up like that!

2.  Repeal Day is up to $90 for a ticket and coming up soon – December 5th.  Hope to see y’all there, I’m really excited about it.

3.  Phil Greene asked us to post an announcement about the Holiday Cocktails seminar at Bourbon on December 9th.  It is presented by the Museum of the American Cocktail and will feature the dynamic trio of Derek Brown (The Gibson), Justin Guthrie (Central Michel Richard), and Owen Thompson (Bourbon) as well as Phil Greene.  $35 in advance, $40 at the door, and that includes light appetizers and sample sizes of the cocktails.  I know Marshall will be there!

You can register here.

4.  TDN – sponsored by Leblon Cachaca – was a heck of a time!  There were a lot of good drinks made and while we wait for the recap (AHEM) I thought I’d share one of the drinks I came up with that people seemed to like.

The Braziliagroni
1 ounce Leblon cachaca
1 ounce Carpano Antica
1 ounce Aperol
2 dashes Fee’s Rhubarb Bitters
Shake over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

I have to admit that I wasn’t a big cachaca fan before Thursday night but I’ve definitely learned to enjoy some of the complexities of the spirit.  Check out the TDN round up when it’s posted and look also for my Brazilian Frog – it’s an orange flavored drink that needs a bit of tweaking but I think turned out pretty well also.

5.  A friend invited my brother and I over to watch football yesterday and asked that I bring some “tasty drinks”.  I pieced something together and made it which ended up being a big hit.  It was fairly improvised, but the basic recipe is here and we’ll be making both cold and hot versions of this for our Christmas party (we only made cold ones yesterday).

Apple Cider Heaven
2 ounces applejack
1 ounce Jameson’s
1/2 ounce St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram
2 dashes Fee’s aromatic bitters
4 ounces apple cider
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.  Alternatively, build over ice in a collins or pint glass using 50% more of each ingredient and stir, then serve.

That’s about enough for now, I think.  This week is Thanksgiving so everybody think of what you want to give thanks for and have a good time with your friends and family!  Remember: don’t drink and drive.  Which means – don’t drive.

…and I just can’t hide it…

Sorry.  I’ll try to distract y’all away from the horrors of my singing.

Tonight is Thursday Drink Night (TDN) at the Mixoloseum – and for the first time, it’s sponsored, this time by Leblon cachaca.  I’m very excited about some stuff with that!

I’ve not experimented a lot with cachaca but I’ve got some real ideas in store.  And speaking of “in store”, I still need to go to the store.  I also need to get a haircut, but that’s for something special that we’ll tell you about soon enough.

It’s also almost the weekend.  We’ve got trips to Bourbon and The Gibson planned, so obviously, that should be a lot of fun.  If you see us out, say hi!  Then it’s Thanksgiving, and I’m thinking of something to take home with me, and then there’s Repeal Day…not to mention my brother and his fiancee’ want me to come up with cocktails just for them for their wedding…

I’ll be putting up some of the drink ideas we come up with using cachaca after TDN.  Not necessarily tomorrow, that’ll be dependent on hangover, I guess…