An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

People often ask me, “What’s it like to work here?”

I am a bartender at Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington DC and this bar houses over 1,500 bottles of whiskey. Yes you are reading this correctly, over 1,500 bottles of American bourbon, rye, single malt scotch, Irish whiskey, Canadian whisky, Japanese whisky and many more international whiskeys. Name a bottle of whiskey you love and odds are we have it, plus many more options you probably have never heard of. To give you an idea of the vastness of the collection I work with, we have over fifteen different types of Macallans to offer.

It’s incredible! So, have I always loved whiskey? Where did my knowledge come from? How did I “stumble” upon this job which is geared around recommending this fabulous libation?

The truth is I did not always love whisky. It all began as I delved deeper into learning how to be more creative with all types of spirits, liqueurs, spices, juices, syrups, etc. What differentiates a good bartender from a great one is their ability to create a cocktail on demand that is a reflection of whatever the customer‘s whim or wish may be. My journey to falling in love with whiskey began with making cocktails for customers, including a great deal of whiskey. The more cocktails I made, the more my taste palate developed. I began to understand the small and large nuances between whiskies in terms of the entire tasting experience. This includes starting and lingering tasting notes, smells, textures, and overall mouth feel.

I quickly became obsessed with trying as many whiskies as possible, as I wanted to understand how each one could affect an entire cocktail’s flavor profile. What better place than to expand my knowledge than at Jack Rose Dining Saloon. As every bartender’s dream with so many options available to create with, this place became my playground. I fell in love with whiskey pretty quickly and there is no turning back.

For only being 26 years old, my taste palate is that of an old man or a middle-aged man, but I do not despair. I want to share my passion for whiskey with you. If you don’t understand, it’s time to sit down and have a flight of whisky. Item number one: TASTE.

I often use music as a metaphor to whiskey. I try to entice new beginners who are apprehensive about trying whiskey by pointing out that one cannot say they hate all music. There must be one song out there you love? The same goes for exploring the world of whiskey. What people too often fail to realize is that the world of whiskey is so vast and has so many options for you to try. Many people do not realize what is available to them. What are you waiting for?

My tip for enjoying whiskey:: Keep tasting as many as possible because the options are endless.

FIRST OFF: If you haven’t heard by now, legendary bar man Murray Stenson (left, photo courtesy John Keatley) is having heart issues. You can go to MurrayAID.org to find out more information. Locally, the Passenger will be having a benefit for him on November 5th, 5 PM to close. 10% of revenues and 100% of all tips will go towards his medical bills as Murray, like many folks in the industry, does not have health insurance.

I’ll leave the political comments off of the blog, but I will say one thing: the next day is the election, so you can go to the Passenger, booze it up, go to work late the next day and tell your boss “I was voting”. I can’t do that, because I voted early, but if you also vote early, you’ll have the sticker to prove it!

I’m just saying.

(And a special hint: both Brown brothers are supposed to be behind the bar, along with JP Featherston and Alex Bookless, so really, get your butt in there and drink yo’ face off. IT’S FOR CHARITY!)

Second, in the spirit of giving, the Passenger hosted our five year anniversary party a couple of weeks ago. We raised a couple of hundred bucks for our charities (the Museum of the American Cocktail and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) and had an overall great time. Many thanks to our sponsors: The Passenger, Chartreuse and Edinburgh Gin, Whisked Bakery, Diep 9 genever, Catoctin Creek, and Chairman’s Reserve Rum.

Now my drink came in second to Marshall’s in voting, but since Hurricane Sandy is about to give our area a punch to the nose, it seems appropriately named and timed for me to give you my drink.

Dark Storms Travelling Slowly
2 ounces Chairman’s Reserve Rum (gold)
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/4 ounce allspice dram
2 dashes Bittermens Hellfire Habanero Shrub
Shake ingredients together and pour into a highball glass unstrained. Top with two parts ginger beer, one part soda water. Garnish with a wheel of lime.

(Also see this news article for the origins of the acronym I used.)

Yes, it says “whiskey” here but they insist it’s “whisky”.

Third, also in the spirit of giving, thanks to Joe at Taylor Strategy I was sent a sample of George Dickel rye whisky. (No “e”! Except on the sample bottle. Oops!)

The aroma out of the bottle was nice. Kind of sweet. I poured some into a glass and tried it straight.

It’s … different than a lot of ryes I’ve had. My very first taste, I liked it at first, then the after taste I did not care for. However, my second and third tastes I liked a lot better, and got the impression it has a different over all “build” to the taste than a lot of ryes have. I haven’t played with it in a cocktail yet but I’ll probably make a Manhattan and/or a Sazerac at some point this weekend OH MY GOODNESS I FORGOT TO STOCK UP ON VERMOUTH BEFORE THE FRANKENSTORM I HOPE THERE IS STILL SOME TOMORROW AT THE STORE!

(Any rumors that I might have also done a “Gangnam Style” tasting, dancing around in my house with no pants on and listening to the song while drinking Dickel rye out of the sample bottle, may be completely and utterly true.)

So I’m off to finish preparing for Sandy’s vengeful wrath upon DC. Have a great weekend everyone! And hopefully see you November 5th!

Happy July 5th! If you’re like me (and who wouldn’t want to be!) you really wish someone in the government would make today a National Holiday too. I mean, who couldn’t use the day after Independence Day to recuperate, amiright?

This Independence Day, at least here in the Washington, DC area, has been marked with a record setting heat wave and levels of humidity that almost necessitate a scuba tank. It’s seriously hot around here!

So while lounging around the Den yesterday watching Jaws & Independence Day, I, of course, whipped up a few refreshing beverages that really beat the heat. The names are less than desirable, but my brain was like fudge.

One thing about drinking when it is this hot out, I want ice & lots of it. So I tend to drink tiki drinks and long drinks in chimney glasses that will keep the heat at bay for a little while. These drinks definitely fit that mold.

For the first drink I wanted to utilize some of the great looking peaches I got at the market. And when I think about peaches and summer drinks my mind instinctively goes to whiskey. So this is what I came up with.

Peach-Whiskey Cooler
Muddle 1/4 of a fresh peach with .75oz simple syrup.
Add:
1oz fresh lemon juice
1oz Bonded Applejack
1.5oz Rye whiskey
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Fee Brother’s Peach Bitters

Shake and double strain into an ice filled chimney glass. Add soda water to fill and gently stir. Garnish with mint, a slice of peach and/or some lemon peel.

This drink fit the bill perfectly. You may think that the whiskey & applejack make this a heavier drink but in reality it is very light. The peach, lemon & soda mixture make this incredibly refreshing and the rye and applejack give just enough body to let you know you’re enjoying a potant potable.

The next drink I came up because I wanted to have a little English gin during my Independence Day celebration. I had a pink grapefruit hanging around and knew that some of the fresh rosemary we have growing on the balcony would be a great tasting mix.

Grapefruit-Rosemary Cooler
Muddle a 4 inch strip of grapefruit peel, a 2 inch stalk of rosemary and 1 oz simple syrup.

Add to that:
1.25 oz fresh grapefruit juice
2 oz gin (I used Beefeater 24)
2 dashes Bittermen’s Burlesque Bitters

Shake & double strain into an ice filled chimney glass. Top with soda water to fill and gently stir to combine. Garnish with some grapefruit peel & rosemary.

This was great! Light and citrusy without being cloyingly sweet. I could drink these all day during this heat wave.

So what kind of drinks do you make to beat the heat? Leave us your suggestions in the comments.

Cheers!

Sad story #1: Last night was a Ron de Jeremy rum event with Ron Jeremy. I had it written down as tonight because I am dumb.

Sigh.

Sad story #2: Last year I was ambush marketed! No, really!

You see, I went to this tasting on “Irish whiskey”. It was supposed to cover the depth and breadth of Irish whiskeys.

And it did! If they were Pernod Ricard products. Bushmill’s, Connemara, John L. Sullivan, others – they didn’t exist.

Didn’t expect to get hit by marketing like that!

Of course, that was an OFFICIAL Tales event, so I guess it wasn’t ambush marketing. We were just the clay pigeons in a skeet shooting competition.