On my final full day in San Francisco, I again was on my own until later that evening. After eating some breakfast I wondered around for a while before heading to my first planned stop, somewhere many people said I had to visit if nothing else to walk around, but if possible to eat lunch. So with these voices in my mind I headed out to the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace.

As I approached the Ferry Building, there were a bunch of tents set up in the park. I thought this was the Farmers Market, but instead it was for artists and artisans to sell their various crafts to those visiting the Ferry Building.

My first task was to walk through the Farmer’s Market outside of the Ferry Building. The first thing that caught my eye was the various fruits available. It’s amazing to see what different things are available on the west coast versus the east coast. The second that that caught my eye was that it wasn’t that big. If you’re familiar with the U St. farmers market in DC or the Courthouse farmers market in Arlington, VA they are both the same size or slightly larger than what was at the Ferry Building the day I was there. The one thing here that you don’t see too often in DC markets is the food vendors set up. Certainly a feature I’d love to see imported over here!

I then ventured inside the marketplace. Wow! There are restaurants, wine shops, fresh meat purveyors, cheese mongers, tea shops, candy and bakery stores and kitchen stores just to name a few categories. I could spend a few hundred bucks and several hours handpicking things to bring home with me. I would also need several additional suitcases!

With all these choices, how is one to decide what to eat for lunch? Luckily, I had a secret weapon in my pocket! I pulled out my handy-dandy phone and texted friend, local San Franciscan and impeccable food and beverage maven Anita from Married . . . with Dinner. My text was straight-forward; “Help! At Ferry Building, overwhelmed by choices! Best lunch option?” Anita replied almost right away and suggested I check to see if Hapa Ramen was set up out front. She said that they were delicious and her favorite vender at the Ferry Building. With a recommendation like that I had to check them out.

Sure enough the Hapa Ramen team were set up and slinging fresh noodles and locally sourced meats and veggies in a miso spiked broth. Their special for the day was a “Big Daddy Ramen Bowl” which had sliced slow-cooked pork, fried chicken, vegetables and a slow-cooked egg. I got a little container of spicy chili oil to add to the ramen and I’m happy to say that it was delicious!

After my lunch, I went back into the Marketplace and got a New Orleans iced coffee from Blue Bottle Coffee and went behind the Ferry Building to set on a bench on the water and take in the view. It was glorious!

After a casual walk back to our hotel, a shower and nap it was time to get ready for my next trip out. This was going to be one of the highlights of my trip because I have wanted to visit this place since it first opened. My fellow Scofflaw SeanMike has visited this bar and I’ve known the proprietor for several years and have the highest regard for him, his knowledge and hospitality. It was time to head to Smuggler’s Cove!

Of course, I’m too excited to take a photo of the signage when I get there! But once I get in, I see proprietor Martin Cate and give him my regards. I belly up to the bar and my first drink is a Dead Reckoning. This tasty libation was made with rum, pineapple, lime, vanilla liqueur, maple, tawny port and angostura bitters. It was both familiar and new at the same time. A perfect drink to get started with.

As I looked through my pictures when I got home from my trip I noticed that I really didn’t take that many photos while at Smuggler’s Cove. One reason I wasn’t as focused on pictures was that I finally got to meet Dinah Sanders. I’ve followed Dinah on Twitter and in the cocktail blog-o-sphere where she writes Bibulo.us. I love meeting folks I’m friends with online and getting to know that they are just as wonderful in real life as they are online. I knew Dinah was working on a second book, this one on cocktails, but I didn’t know too many details. I learned that it was a book on low-proof cocktails and titled “The Art of the Shim: Low-Alcohol Cocktails To Keep You Level.” I was incredibly lucky that she brought an electronic copy of her book and let me look at the fantastic photographs and recipes. I’m happy to say that her book is being released September 2013 in both hardcopy and ebook format. You can find out more information and where to purchase here.

If you’ve never been to Smuggler’s Cove, let me tell you about the decor. It is decked out, literally floor to ceiling, in Tiki kitsch, nautical baubles and island decor. Check out a few photos below to get a sense of the place.

This is the ceiling!

Thankfully, my lovely wife met me at Smuggler’s Cove. We were able to share a round of drinks and I could introduce her to Martin Cate. I love introducing my wife to my friends in the industry. It lets her put a face to a name of all the people I talk about constantly.

One thing about Smuggler’s Cove that you should be aware of if you go. They don’t have a kitchen and don’t serve any food. Eat a good base before going because you will be drinking lots of rum. If you wait until after drinking there are several good restaurants in the neighborhood and the bartenders are more than happy to make some suggestions.

After Sylvie and I had dinner we jumped in a cab to take us back to the hotel. Throughout this trip Sylvie had been stuck in her conference and unable to see much of the city. The one thing she really wanted to see was the Golden Gate bridge so we asked our cab driver to make a detour on the way to the hotel. Well, it may not have really been on the way to the hotel but she got to see the Golden Gate Bridge light up at night and we got this great picture.

Thanks to everyone I met in San Francisco for making it a memorable trip! I can’t wait to come back for more!

?Everybody knows the Martinez, right?? asks Dave Wondrich before his demonstration. Open before him is one-time Esquire Magazine drinks writer, David Laskin?s, Wine and Liquor Handbook published in 1984.

?Gin. Vermouth. Stirred. A little splash of liqueur. A very elegant drink. The beginning of the martini, et cetera,? he says.

Jeff ?Beachbum? Berry listens intently. Wondrich looks down at Laskin?s recipe very closely and begins building it.

?First, we put into the blender cracked ice…?

The seminar, Dark Ages: Mixology, 1967-1988, is one of the last for this year?s Tales of the Cocktail (TOTC) event in New Orleans. And for a week filled with deliciously sophisticated cocktails this particular discussion is a delightfully sharp turn backwards.

Wondrich, who also writes for Esquire, hammers home his point as he dumps some cura?ao into the blender.

?I?ll call that three dashes each right there… who gives a shit,? he says. This is Wondrich?s interpretation of the prevailing attitude towards cocktails around that time.

For Berry, the seminar was a slight return to the fern bar topic he?d covered with Smuggler?s Cove owner Martin Cate in 2010.

Since, according to the tiki expert, these bars were more about mingling with the opposite sex, the craft and attention to detail suffered.

?The reason why the drinks were so irrelevant was everyone was doing other drugs,? says Berry. ?Cocktails were basically what your parents drank – they were for squares.?

The seminar takes a jaunt through the worst of the worst and the best of the worst. Wondrich quotes Hunter S. Thompson?s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as well as Heywood Gould?s movie (and novel) Cocktail to show just how bad mixed drinks got.

?Right now we?re kind of having a little bit of backlash against the more precious edges of mixology but it?s worthwhile remembering that, you know, we don?t maybe want to go all the way back,? he says, ?You?re treating people poorly and there?s no excuse for that.?

Berry rifles through a series of hysterical photographs. Many provide only a glimpse of menus coming out of this era?s popular bars. Other images display the Three?s Company-style decor and fashion that filled those places.

?Vodka over gin. Vodka over whiskey. White rum over dark. Lighter over richer. Fruity over herbal. The rise of schnapps,? Wondrich says, ?Each one of those products in and of themselves are fine but when they take over the whole ecosystem you?re losing a lot of flavor, you?re losing a lot of richness, you?re losing a lot of interest in the drinks.?

The seminar culminates with a discussion of the legendary Harvey Wallbanger cocktail, which according to the speakers, was invented by a bartender named Donato ?Duke? Antone.

Harvey Wallbanger

3 parts vodka
1 part Galliano
6 parts orange juice
Add vodka and orange juice into a highball glass with ice. Float Galliano on top. Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry.

TOTC volunteers not only provided samples of Galliano?s most famous cocktail but also distributed swag for attendees to wear donned with the infamous drink name printed on them.

Berry and Wondrich finish off the event with a recitation of the ?The Last Barman Poet? from the lampooned?Cocktail,?posted here for your viewing pleasure:

I am the world’s last barman poet.

I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make.
Americans getting stinky on something I stir or shake.

The sex on the beach.
The schnapps made from peach.
The velvet hammer.
The Alabama slammer.

I make things with juice and froth.
The pink squirrel.
The three-toed sloth.

I make drinks so sweet and snazzy.
The iced tea.
The kamikaze.
The orgasm.
The death spasm.
The Singapore sling.
The ding-a-ling.

America you’re just devoted to every flavor I got.
But if you want to get loaded.
Why don’t you just order a shot?

Bar is open.

Of special note to cocktail fans is the “Cupid’s Not Stupid” cocktail competition on Friday featuring Rachel Sergi, Gina Chersevani, Ben Wiley, Youssef, and Dennis Burns, along with Dan Searing signing his new book (which I recommend!) The Punch Bowl.

Check out a hint of what Rachel will be doing in this video clip:

International Wine and Food Festival Comes to DC: MyFoxDC.com

Annnnnnndddddddd . . . we have a winner!? The rules were pretty simple.? Tell me how you started down the cocktail path, the catalyst if you will, and tell me your favorite cocktail.

And the winner is Helena Tiare Olson from Stockholm, Sweden.? Tiare is also the writer of A Mountain of Crushed Ice.? And without further ado, here it Tiare’s story:

For me it started with a tiny mini bottle of El Dorado 15 year old demerara rum.

It’s a bit odd, I know but that?s what happened. I got that bottle from God knows where and drank a little bit of the rum and discovered that liked it, no – I mean really liked it. Its not the first alcoholic thing I had of course but it was the first alcoholic beverage that really opened my eyes and led me to discover the world of cocktails and this evolved to be where I am today.

This happened a couple of years ago.

So I tasted some of that rum neat and then I took the rest and mixed a ?tropical drink? having not much clue how to mix a proper cocktail – even though I had some vague idea still after my years in the restaurant business. But I threw together some fresh fruit juices, a little simple syrup and the rum with plenty of crushed ice and made some kind of elaborate fruit garnish. All happily served in a hurricane glass!

After that I got myself a big bottle of El Dorado and now I started to experiment more seriously.

I searched the net which eventually led me to tiki drinks,The Ministry of Rum and some of the cocktail blogs where I was a lurker for quite a while, without commenting – I didn?t dare to…but reading and absorbing everything I came over that interested me. I kept experimenting at home with cocktail mixing and ingredient making and garnishing. Eventually the whole thing grew to a lifestyle and I became a cocktail geek.

Then one day (a year ago) I started to write my blog, and the rest is as we say ? history.

Today I’m much more into learning the classics, so i have started in a bit of an odd way, otherwise i believe tiki drinks is maybe not usually the first type of drinks you start with.

I will never abandon my first love ? the Mai Tai, it will always be my favorite cocktail, but only if its made the way it should be and with good rum. The recipe I use is Trader Vic`s and I use either Appleton Extra, Havana Club 7, St James Hors d?age, Clem?nt VSOP and various demerara rums.

Why do I love cocktails? Oh – its the craft, the art, the culinary and experimental aspect, and of course the aroma and taste ? and then, they do look so beautiful! And a well crafted cocktail really is something very special.

When I think back I`m quite amazed myself how it all started with a tiny mini-bottle of El Dorado.

Mai Tai
1 oz dark Jamaican rum
1 oz Martinique rum
1 oz fresh lime juice (one lime)
0.5 oz orange curacao (or Cointreau)
0.25 oz each of orgeat and simple syrup

Mix all ingredients and shake with ice.Strain into a double old fashioned glass over crushed ice.Garnish with lime shell and a sprig of mint.Serve with 2 short straws placed near the mint.

Great story Tiare.? Congrats on your win and I hope you enjoy the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail Recipe Book!

Cheers!

Then I started thinking, why do other people love cocktails?? Is it based on the same reasons I give?? Is it simply that cocktails seem more mature to drink than PBR and a shot of Jack?? Is it following a fad?? Inquiring minds want to know!

Well, at least I do!? So here is the deal, I want to hear your story.? How did you come to enjoy cocktails?? Was there one particular cocktail that gave you that enlightenment moment?? Was there one particular bar or bartender that showed you the path?? What cocktail is your version of cocktail nirvana?

What you do!? (aka The Rules)
1) Email me your story.? Include your favorite cocktail along with a recipe and a picture.
2) Please keep your story to 500 words or less.
3) The contest is open to anyone.
4) The deadline is midnight, August 31st.

What I do!? (aka The Judging)
1) Which ever story I like the best will win.
2) I will be the only judge using a wholly unscientific analysis.

What you get! (aka The Prize)
1) The winner will have their story, photo and recipe published on Scofflaw’s Den.? AND
2) Will receive a copy of the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail Official Recipe Book.

The recipe book is really neat.? It is about 600 recipes from all of the participants from Tales 2009.? Yours truly has a recipe published within, along with recipes from the best bartenders and cocktail writers on the planet.? Many of the recipes were created for Tales and you won’t find them any where else.? Truly a unique book!

There you have it.? A simple contest with an awesome prize.? If you have any questions, feel free to ask either in the comments or via direct email.? I can’t wait to hear/read your stories.

Cheers!

I looked around the kitchen at my sundry bottles and decided I wanted to use two homemade ingredients – one that everyone should have in their repetois and one that is more esoteric.? The two chosen made from scratch ingredients?? Grenadine and Swedish Punsch!

Let’s begin with the grenadine.? If you are used to Rose’s Grenadine, then you aren’t using grenadine.? What you have there is red-dye-number-5-colored-high-fructose-corn-syrup, most likely with some sort of artificial cherry flavoring.? Real, honest to goodness grenadine is pomegranate syrup.? Further, homemade grenadine is one of the easiest bar staples anyone can make.? There are tons of recipes for making homemade grenadine.? Don’t believe me?? Go ahead, google it.? I’ll wait.

See?!?!? A vertiable cornocopia of recipes.? To me though, everything can be distilled down to two basic methods – cold and hot.? The cold method is straight forward.? Equal parts pomegranate juice and sugar; shaken until the sugar dissolves.? That’s it.? Simple.? You get the fresh tart flavor of the pomegranate and the sweetening power of the sugar.

The second method, the hot method, is a little more complicated.? At its most basic level, you heat the pomegranate juice and sugar and stir to dissolve.? Some recipes tell you to reduce this down by a certain amount to make it thick and even more syrupy.? Some have you add orange flower water after everything is reduced and cooled.? The only thing I can tell you is to try out different recipes and find one you like.? The last recipe I used came from Food & Wine’s 2008 Cocktail Book.

This particular recipe says to simmer two cups of pomegranate juice with one cup plus two tablespoons of sugar until thick enough to coat a spoon.? Then add 1/8 teaspoon of orange flower water.? Bottle and refrigerate for up to two weeks.? I also add about an ounce of 100 proof vodka to the final, cooled, syrup to help with shelf life.? And I’ll tell you, this is some tasty grenadine.? Damn tasty!

The second “made from scratch” ingredient I wanted to highlight was swedish punsch.? If you aren’t familiar with this ingredient, don’t be surprised.? It comes up most often in old cocktail books and recipes usually dating prior to Prohibition.? After reading through several old cocktail books and online discussions (especially on eGullet) I turned to the recipe used by Erik over at Underhill-Lounge.? I won’t recreate Erik’s recipe here, but here is a link to his site.

The swedish punsch is some tasty stuff and personally, I hope I find more things to use it in.? Everytime I see a recipe, I copy it down, but unfortunately, tend to forget about it until I find my bottle of punsch in the cabinet.? Shame on me!? The mixture of tea, arrack, rum and lemon is fragrant, pungent and completely enrapturing.

Now to find a cocktail that uses both of these ingredients.? Whipping out my trusty Iphone, I started searching the Cocktails app for drinks contains swedish punsch.? As an aside, if you have an Iphone and are a cocktail geek, you really should have this on your phone.? It is by far one of the top three apps I have and worth way more than it cost.? Seriously, buy it.? DO IT!!!

Anyway, I found a drink that I had never tried before that used both grenadine and swedish punsch – C.F.H. Cocktail.? The app tells me it is from page 43 of Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book, circa 1930.? So that is where I turned.

C.F.H. Cocktail
1/6 grenadine
1/6 Swedish Punch
1/6 Calvados
1/6 lemon juice
1/3 Burrough’s Beefeater Gin

That is the recipe – no instructions given in the Savoy.? Luckily the Cocktails app instructs to shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.? The other problem is the ratios – why can’t these guys use a standard measure?!?!? Sheesh!? Well, looking at the recipe we can see that each ingredient, except the gin, is exactly one-half of the measure of the gin (1/6 v. 1/3).? Knowing this, and not wanting to drink a humongous cocktail (at least not yet), I used one ounce of gin.? This provided the following drink:

.5oz grenadine (homemade)
.5oz Swedish Punsch (homemade)
.5oz Calvados (Clear Creek Distillery’s Eau-de-vie-de-Pomme)
.5oz fresh lemon juice
1oz gin

This is one tasty beverage.? Seriously, I was kind of surprised, but WOW!? It is just sweet enough and everything plays so nicely in the glass.? For the first one I made (and yes I made more than one!), I used Plymouth gin.? The second one I made, I used Aviation gin.? I was a little worried that the extra oomph of the Aviation would throw the drink out of whack.? I was wrong.? It adds an extra layer of flavor and really highlights the calvados and the punsch.? This is certainly a cocktail that requires a little bit of experimenting with using various gins.? Something I plan to do in spades!

I want to thank Doug at The Pegu Blog again for hosting this month.? This should be a great theme that will keep plenty of people in the kitchen for a bit.

Cheers!

runoknows

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If you’re not familiar with the book, it’s the story of a bartender in NYC and his experiences, including his claims to being responsible for the Cosmopolitan (thus the name).  It’s very much in the vein of Kitchen Confidential though I don’t feel it’s as well pulled-off.

The short version: go buy it right away!

Coming up hopefully within a day or two will also be The Joy of Mixology.

I hit the liquor store today, basically for random reasons.  I picked up a bottle of Benedictine, despite the fact that it’s about $6 more in Virginia than it would be in DC (but I won’t have to hour Metro both ways to get it).  I also got a bottle of Pimm’s No. 1, since I tried that over at the Elephant and Castle this weekend and really enjoyed it.

(Currently I’m drinking a Pimm’s No. 1 and diet 7-Up.  It’s good, but I don’t think diet 7-Up does it justice.  Stupid diet!  I might make one more with more Pimm’s and less 7-Up.)

I also got a bottle of Kopper Kettle Virginia bourbon, distilled in nearby Culpepper, VA, at Belmont Farms (the distillery you see signs for on route 29 in that region if you’re so inclined – I keep meaning to stop by there).  I’ve had their Copper Fox before, and it wasn’t bad, so I figured I’d give it a shot (and that’s Yet Another Bourbon so that Mr. Macbeth can stop giving me a hard time about not having much bourbon!).

Finally, I forgot to list one bottle last time – in our freezer we have a bottle of Ketel One Citroen, untouched since the last time mom was in town and we made Cosmopolitans (which also made my brother sick somehow, he claims), but it had a good review on the book – so hey, next time I need citrus vodka, I guess…