Entrance sign

So, I’d originally meant to post about how meds and drinking were going, but got distracted over…uh…a couple of months.

Shot Glass (DON’T STEAL THEM THEY’RE ONLY $5) and Tiki Mug (also DO NOT STEAL)

Well, in the meantime Hogo reopened!

Tom Brown’s tiki nuevo bar, formerly further down 7th St two doors down from the old Passenger, reopened in the upstairs of the new Passenger at 1539 7th St NW tonight.

Mug & Menu

Like the original, it’ll be open Tuesday through Saturday 5 PM until close (2 AM-ish). There’s a full menu of tiki related food stuffs and a number of drinks, including four tiki drinks on tap.

Food Menu

I got to try the pork bun, which I enjoyed quite a bit, and the pimento macaroni salad which rocked my world. I also had a couple of tiki drinks (my limit these days with the old blood sugar plus fun with citric acid), the first thanks to Left Door’s Mick Perrigo (who is there this week only) who helped with the menu.

It’s a smaller place than their old one – at least, it feels smaller – but very cool, if you’ve been upstairs before. I can’t wait to work my way through more of both menus.

So last week Marshall, Anthony, and I ventured down to Hogo for their one year anniversary party.

If you haven’t been to Hogo, you should definitely come visit. The theme is “tiki nuevo” and they not only have great tiki drinks but also a good menu. There were some specials going on that night:

I didn’t warn Katie I was taking a picture.

If you have been to Hogo, you might remember Tom’s Rum Punch as one of the original drinks on the menu. It was always one of my favorites, too. The whiskey painkiller was also quite tasty.

Tom mans the DJ booth

Speaking of Tom, he was working the DJ booth. While we got there a bit early it was already jumping, and by the time it was supposed to really kick off (around 10) the joint was packed.

She put up with my repeated attempts to coerce my phone into taking a picture.

Dani was shaking up drinks like crazy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the bar that busy — fortunately, I managed to get a good picture (after about three attempts) while she wasn’t quite as slammed.

Cameron had her back

Fortunately, she also had help — Cameron was there, too, and knocking out the drinks.

As the night went on, more and more folks we knew showed up. I managed to get a little bit of food in me, mostly enough to avoid having Marshall kick me in the balls, and stole Mick’s seat to eat it.

A delicious crawfish pupusa

To be honest, I should’ve ordered more than one, but still it was very tasty.

Mick used the time out of his seat well, however. He broke out the remote controlled inflatable shark blimp/helicopter thingamabob (that’s an engineering term) and flew it over the crowd. Marshall took the time to get this video of it, which I uploaded to YouTube — so break out the speakers.

Flying Shark video

All in all it was a great time! Let’s hear it for another good year for Hogo!

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!

Bourbon…brownest of the brown liquors…so tempting…

First a disclaimer: IANAL – I Am Not A Lawyer.

I mean, I’m freakin’ SURROUNDED by them around here in the DC area, folks like…my brother. My co-blogger. Friends. Coworkers. Cocktailians.

But that doesn’t mean I know anything.

However, I shall go on anyways, because that’s what we bloggers do. And hey, a little controversy never hurt anyone, did it? (It did? Oh.)

There were three events that caused me to want to write this post. First, a certain small start-up syrups company had to change their name. Second, a bar in New York was forced to change their name (and see if you can see the thematic similarity between the two!). Third, while visiting a local bar with a solid cocktail program, a short conversation between a tourist and the bartender forced me to rethink my opinions on this topic.

INCIDENT ONE: TRADER TIKI SYRUPS BECOMES B. G. REYNOLDS’ EXOTIC SYRUPS.

On June 8th, Blair “Trader Tiki” Reynolds announced that he was changing the name of his company to B. G. Reynolds’ Exotic Syrups – and he changed the URL of his site as well. There wasn’t a huge online uproar about this.

Google results for "tiki trader"

Quick disclaimer: I’ve known Blair for quite a while and consider him a friend.

He wouldn’t say who caused this to happen, though for some of us it was pretty to easy to figure out. Heck, start doing a Google Instant search for “tiki trader” and look at what you get – or look to the side here and see what I got.

If you know anything about these kind of things, you know that brands have to protect themselves. If they fail to go after people with similar names, they can lose the protection on their name. Therefore, when a company with a very similar name is also selling syrups, you know they’re going to want to protect themselves. From my understanding, there were discussions on it, but it’s just a question a lot of times of who has deeper pockets.

According to Rumdood, Blair was “neither bitter nor angry” at what happened. On the other hand, he points out that they haven’t (as far as one can tell) gone after Disney for having “Trader Sam’s Tiki Bar” and theorizes it’s because Disney has a bigger law budget.

I’m sure that doesn’t hurt, but there’s something else, too: as far as I can tell online, it’s not selling syrups online. Therefore, Trader Sam’s becomes advertising for Trader Vic’s and not competition.

Let me put this straight out there though: I own all of the B. G. Reynolds’ syrups, save one, and they’re all fantastic. Yes, Blair is a friend of mine, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone. I’ve even bought a number of extra bottles for friends and relatives! Go out there and buy some!

TRUST THIS MAN

Besides, how can you not trust that smiling face?

GIVE HIM ?YOUR MONEYS!

Ahem, sorry about that. Let’s look at incident number the second.

INCIDENT TWO: DUE TO LAWSUIT, PAINKILLER BAR IN NYC BECOMES PKNY.

PKNY

Disclaimer: I don’t know anybody, really, from PKNY, except over Facebook, and haven’t been to their bar.

From what I understand and have read, this is what happened in a chronological order starting back in 1971. From Off The Presses, according to Beachbum Berry, the Painkiller was created in a bar in 1971 called the Soggy Dollar. Back then, it used Cruzan and Mount Gay rums.

In 1979, Pusser’s Rum was founded. From the founder’s statement, he got permission from the owner of the Soggy Dollar bar to trademark the Painkiller approximately 25 years ago. Approximately 8 years ago, they started work on a ready-to-drink Painkiller and have trademarks on both an alcoholic and non-alcoholic version.

Around a year ago, the bar then known as Painkiller opened in NYC. The owner of Pusser’s claim he contacted them “more than 10 times”. They didn’t respond, and so he sued, claiming they were causing irreparable harm to his brand. The court upheld that and PKNY lost their name and domain.

This caused a huge uproar amongst bartenders, cocktailians, tiki fanatics, and various other folks.

INCIDENT THREE: A TOURIST DESIRES A GIANT FROZEN DAIQUIRI.

Giant Daiquiri from Hard Rock Hotel

Recently I was up at Liberty Tavern in Clarendon (a neighborhood here in Arlington). Liberty has a good cocktail program – I wouldn’t say it’s the most innovative, but they have a good liquor variety and make solid versions of classic cocktails.

While chatting with my bartender (who is also a friend of mine) a tourist wandered up to the bar. He was curious if they sold giant frozen daiquiris, like you get in certain places – often infused with lots of cheap juice and/or high fructose corn syrup, rum (if you’re lucky) or even just grain alcohol (if you’re on Bourbon Street), these are usually fruity, extremely sweet concoctions that bear almost no relation to the classic daiquiri.

The bartender offered him a classic daiquiri so he inquired after a frozen margarita. After she politely pointed out that they don’t make any frozen drinks, he agreed to try a classic margarita – a drink that he couldn’t drink at all.

I had a realization: he thought he knew what he wanted. He wanted what he’d gotten in a number of places before. Meanwhile, the bartenders and I knew what those drinks SHOULD be. Sure, it was partly that he came into the wrong bar to order a drink like that, and the bartender did redirect him to one that would help him better (and didn’t charge him for the margarita); however, because anyone can make a drink and call it a “daiquiri”, a “margarita”, or a “martini” (to add that one in there) we’ve come to a point where people don’t know what they’re ordering.

ANALYZING WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS.

You might not realize it, but analysis is a combination of various words that basically mean “pulling lies out of your ass”.

Well, maybe not, but remember: IANAL. These are my opinions.

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine commented on the “Classic Cocktails” menu at a restaurant I’d visited, most of which involved “martini” or “margarita” variants. I distractedly responded that “well, it’s more of a beer joint” and he pointed out: “It’s just that terming these ‘Classic Cocktails’ is what we are fighting against.”

At first, I thought, “Fighting against? What am I fighting against? I just want folks to enjoy good drinks!”

And then incident three happened.

And I started thinking.

So…MY THOUGHTS:

A tradermark, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, nor is defending it.

I can’t be mad at Trader Vic’s for forcing the name change. They had a trademark and they had to defend it. I’m not privy as to HOW they went about that, what was claimed, etc., so I can’t say, but from an outsider’s point of view, I feel bad for Blair, but life is going on.

However, that’s more of a brand name, and not a cocktail. Let’s look at cocktails.

The trademarking of a cocktail is intended to protect the consumer – to make sure that when they order the drink, it will taste the way they expect.

This is Pusser’s argument. I think that is important in a cocktail, it should taste as you expect. However, I’m going to break this down a bit more.

If you did not create the cocktail, you should not trademark it.

Period. I don’t care that they have permission. Gosling’s gets away with it on the Dark & Stormy because supposedly it was created by them, but that not only points out the fact that Pusser’s recommended violating their trademark by using Pusser’s in a Dark & Stormy, but also my next point. Basically, in my opinion, there is no reason or excuse why Pusser’s should have that trademark.

A trademarked cocktail should not use specific brands. It should be trademarked by an individual.

This is a bit hazy, I will concede. Some specifics you can’t avoid – say, like Benedictine, or Chartreuse. However, when using rums, or whiskeys, or what have you, yes, there are slight differences, but the recipe should be generalized. It is not a religion. Recipes do not specify what brand of sugar or meat you should use.

If you’re serving a trademarked cocktail, you should give credit.

Honestly, in my opinion, if you know the origin of a cocktail, it should be credited. If you change it, it should be listed. “This is a variant of Mister Smith’s XYZ drink, but we use rum instead of poison.”

You should defend your trademark – when it is being abused.

Trader Vic’s probably does not sue Disney for Trader Sam’s because, in essence, they are advertising for them. Pusser’s should not have sued PKNY because, honestly, they were advertising the drink! If someone went home from PKNY and said “Man, I want a Painkiller now,” they’re going to look it up online or in a book. If you own the trademark on it, it should show up with your brand in it.

You should be clear and upfront with the public when defending ?your trademark.

You should be engaged in the social media game. At worst, you should just make sure your statement is public: “We do not want to have to pursue legal action, but we are defending our trademark because of X, Y, and Z reasons.” Being silent until it’s all over just makes you the bad guy automatically.

You should only trademark when you can prove no one did it before you. You should only get mad if you can prove no one came up with it independently.

It can be very easy or very hard to come up with a recipe based off watching someone make a drink. A single idea, especially if it’s to a mass audience, can cause a number of people to have the same thoughts on creating a new drink.

If you want to trademark your drink, and you’ve found that no one has made it before, that is the only time you should be able to do so – and it should be done PROMPTLY. In my opinion, that means in this day and age in VERY LITTLE TIME – like weeks, or less. And you should check with cocktail historians (at the BARE MINIMUM, check their books) and search the Internet for similar drinks.

If you DO trademark your drink (or even if you don’t, you’re just very proud of it) you should NOT get mad at someone for having a similar or even same drink unless you can without a doubt prove that they are purposely stealing it from you. It’s easy to come up with a drink that uses similar ingredients, even if you’re doing some infusing or making something custom – especially if you’re basing it off the same inspiration. Perhaps I’m being a bit naive, but I think it’s better to talk to the other folks involved and find out the genesis of their drink.

I kind of feel like I’m talking in circles by this point so I’m going to lay off. Basically, what I think is: you should only trademark if a drink is definitely yours, but at the same time, that trademark can protect the customers. The power that a trademark gives you should only be used sanely and carefully however.

What do you think?

Oh, what the heck:

On Thursday, September 16, the Museum of the American Cocktail will present the next of its monthly seminars, featuring the world-renowned Tiki and cocktail historian, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. Please register here:

http://www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org/Events/Default.aspx#Seminar55

Details:

The Suffering Bastard: Joe Scialom, International Barman of Mystery
Presented By: Jeff “Beachbum” Berry
$45.00 per person pre-register
The ‘at-the-door’ fee will be $50.00.
Thursday, September 16 2010, 7:00 – 8:30
Occidental Grill & Seafood
1475 Pennsylvania Avenue , N.W.
Washington, DC 20004-1076
Washington DC, Cairo, Havana, London, Paris, Rome, Istanbul, New York — from the 1930s through the 1960s, legendary mixologist ?Joe The Bartender? was everywhere and nowhere, always one step ahead of governments who suspected him of espionage because he served so many heads of state, generals, and journalists. This seminar reveals the untold story of the trained chemist who spoke eight languages and survived two revolutions, imprisonment, and exile to create such infamous exotic drinks as the Suffering Bastard. Presented by Jeff ?Beachbum? Berry, who spent two years tracking down his elusive subject. Enjoy delicious sample cocktails and wonderful cuisine from the Occidental’s acclaimed chef.

Thanks! Hope to see you there,

Phil

Philip J. Greene

Treasurer and Legal Counsel
www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a trip solely to introduce myself to the food and drink delights that San Francisco has to offer; I was going out there for work, which meant I was there with a few coworkers and got to spend a week working while here in DC a snowstorm shut down the Federal government for four days straight.? I was lucky in terms of flights – not so much as a delay, despite leaving from Reagan National Airport.

I knew I had three places I definitely wanted to visit.? I heard a lot of good things about Alembic and Bourbon & Branch.? I’d also had a chance to meet Martin Cate at Tales of the Cocktail last year and I knew he’d just recently opened a new tiki-themed place called Smuggler’s Cove.? Having talked to a Facebook friend out there, I decided to try to hit Alembic Tuesday night and then Smuggler’s Cove Wednesday night.? Bourbon & Branch I’d save for Thursday night.

Tuesday my coworkers wanted to join me so we piled into a cab and went to Alembic.? We got there just a bit before 5 PM, which is when their lunch menu switches to a dinner menu.? However, they were having a Stone beer dinner that night, thus we could still order off the lunch menu if we wanted.? Two of my coworkers got rockfish sandwiches, which surprised them with how good they are, and another got the banh mi – again, he was surprised at how good it was.? I got the jerked duck hearts and some peppers that were fried and covered with smoked salt and loved them.

Most of the time I was asked to order.? For one guy who I know likes proper martinis, I ordered a Gilded Lily – Plymouth gin, yellow Chartreuse, orange flower water, topped with sparkling demi-sec and gold flake.? That was definitely a hit drink while I enjoyed a Vasco de Gama (Buffalo Trace bourbon, garam masala spiced apple syrup, Islay scotch).

The Vow of Silence had rye, Benedictine (always a good combination), creme de griotte (which is cherry), and Angostura bitters.? It reminded me a bit of a De La Louisiane without the absinthe.? Camper English via text suggested the Blue Steel, a drink whose Zoolander reference I’d missed, which was Appleton rum, creme de cassis, dashes of absinthe and Angostura, a splash of rye, and garnished with a sprig of cilantro and a twist of lemon.? A very interesting drink and the cilantro definitely was a different garnish, but yet it added something to it that I couldn’t quite pick out.

I felt a bit bitter that night thanks to [SECTION REDACTED DUE TO OBSCENITY]ore and so I asked for a bartenders choice with something of his choice, but bitter.? I saw Cynar, bourbon, Benedictine and Angostura, and definitely missed something else – it was an interesting change of pace.? I couldn’t resist tasting the Southern Exposure – Junipero from Anchor, mint, lime, sugar, and celery juice – however you juice celery, I guess.? It was a nice change of pace from the previous drink.

We finished up with a Negroni which was made just the way I like it – Beefeater gin, Punt e Mes, and Campari in equal proportions.? Yummy.

The next night my coworkers headed out for dinner; it didn’t really sink in until I got there (despite having been on the website that day) that Smuggler’s Cove doesn’t serve food, but hey, that’s okay, fruit juice is like food.? I met Jennifer and hung out with the bartender.? She sipped rum and told me about the rum programs there and at Forbidden Island; he told me about his trip to Dubai.? Martin wasn’t there, unfortunately, so I left a note for him, and started with the drink that was always my favorite at Trader Vic’s in Atlanta – a Navy Grog.

Reza, the bartender, said that the “Three Dots and a Dash” was the best drink on the menu so of course I had to try it.? Camper told me to try a Jet Pilot if I dared, so of course I did, and I had to get a Rum Barrel so that I could get, well, a rum barrel tiki mug.? While there one of my coworkers joined me and fell in love with the place.? He (and the next night the other coworker confirmed it) how much better they liked the bartenders at the Cove than at Alembic.? Reza was the epitome of the gracious, talented and knowledgeable bartender, patient with all of his customers and more than happy to help you out and give you his thoughts and opinions when asked for them.? Our bartender at Alembic wasn’t rude, but definitely had the “if I don’t see you I can relax, even if I’m right in front of you and your glass is empty” attitude you get sometimes.

How could you blame him?? The decor is great, vintage tiki.? It’s a small place, with three levels – you walk in on the second level right to a bar, and there’s one below.? The upper level is just seating and there’s no table service.? We sat on the middle level bar and hung out, and I have to admit, I did read the entire “Yo ho ho” poem on the wall of the men’s room.

You’ll note that I didn’t write down the ingredients here.? I’m going to be honest with you – it’s too much of a pain in the butt to do that with tiki drinks on a Palm Centro!? Just go buy some tiki books, why doncha.

Thursday I planned on going to Bourbon and Branch but ran into two problems.

First, I didn’t realize how important it was to get reservations.? I hadn’t, and there was no room at the inn, as it were.? There were possibilities but I was feeling a bit daunted at that point.

Second, after training was over, I passed out for an hour.? I didn’t mean to, but I sat down on the bed and WHAM, out.? That put me running a bit behind.? I went down to the hotel-ish sports bar and got some happy hour nachos, a beer or two, and some Fernet to wash it down, which showed one of the nice things about SF – Fernet even at crappy hotel sports bars!? YAY!

When I got back ahold of my coworkers from their foray to Chinatown they wanted to go back to the Cove, so away we went!? This time Martin was there and it was good to be able to say hi to him again.? He’s an amazingly nice guy and runs a heck of a shop at Smuggler’s Cove.? I tried a few different drinks and ended the night with a delicious Painkiller (3).? Yummy.

Next time I go to San Francisco I will definitely need to try to make reservations for Bourbon & Branch – but I can’t wait to go back to the Cove.

Why, Trader Tiki, that’s why.

I asked a couple of people what makes a drink tiki and no one really had a good answer.? If you have one, leave it in the comments.? But what I think of is rum and fruit juices, really.

However, there’s something else with tiki – I think of the British.? That might sound weird, but I think about the British influence especially on the high seas.? I really wonder if we’d truly have “tiki” these days without the influence of the British.

Not to mention the East Indian Trading Company even – and we’re talking about someone named TRADER TIKI.

So I did some thinking, some experimenting, and here’s what I ended up with.

The Trader Tiki
1 ounce Lemon Hart 151
1 ounce Plymouth Gin
1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
1 1/2 ounces passionfruit juice
1 ounce tamarind juice
1/2 ounce allspice dram
2 dashes Trader Tiki’s Aged Falernum Bitters
1/4 (or so) ounces grenadine
club soda
Pour the first eight ingredients over ice into a mixing tin.? Shake, and pour – unstrained – into a tiki mug.? Top with club soda.? Garnish with a long swizzle with a piece of pineapple, a lime wedge, and a mint leaf on it.

No, I don’t have a picture for it tonight.? Sorry guys.? But I’m sipping on one and it’s actually pretty tasty – kind of smokey, but Blair’s a bartender so I’m going to assume he’s usually pretty smokey, too.

And with that unfortunate verbiage behind me, I’m going to go back to watching TV.? Until tomorrow night, suckas!

[Second 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.]

It’s not that I haven’t had tiki drinks before.? At Trader Vic’s in Atlanta I’d had plenty of them, and occasionally at other random places or made by other people.? I never quite understood the tiki obsession that some bloggers have, but mostly, that was an excuse to make fun of them.

The big thing was, really, my perpetual lack of ice.? I lived in a house with a single ice cube tray – it was hard enough to have to make a few cocktails, much less drinks requiring lots of shaved ice or the such.

Also, while I have a variety of rums, I’m nowhere near as knowledgable about rums as I am about other spirits.? Couple that with a lack of tiki-focused recipe books (all of which I’d bought have gone to friends as presents) and, well, there we are.

So I was sitting at home in my new place and I realized something – I have plenty of ice now!? I have juices!? I have lots of rum!? I can make a tiki drink or two!

But…what to make?

There be the question.

I thumbed through a couple of books and saw one I wanted to try – but then I realized I didn’t have any passionfruit syrup.? Sigh.? I continued to look and saw one I hadn’t seen mentioned before but it sounded tasty so I pulled out the ingredients for the Doctor Funk #2, as listed in the Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide.

Doctor Funk #2
1 1/2 ounce dark rum (La Favorite Vieux rhum agricole)
1/2 ounce falernum (Velvet Falernum)
1/2 ounce grenadine (homemade)
3/4 ounce lime juice
1 dash absinthe (Lucid)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Club soda (Fever Tree)
Shake first six ingredients with ice and strain into a hurricane glass.? Top with club soda and garnish with a lime wedge.

As you can see, I used a rhum agricole for the dark rum.? As I sipped on this drink I found that I absolutely loved it, for one thing, and for the other that I, well, I understood. There’s something about sipping a nice, tall tiki drink that was relaxing.

Also, for any type of fluids, I tend to drink a lot and want something around.? The Doctor Funk #2 gave me a nice tall drink that I could sip on and maybe it didn’t last as long as a beer (because it was goshdarn delicious, that’s why!) but it definitely lasted longer than a lot of cocktails do for me.

I wanted to try something else and since Marshall had made a mai tai the past weekend I decided I’d give that a shot.? I’m still a bit fuzzy about the differences between gold and dark and aged rums, so I just kind of guessed.

Yes, I stuck with the rhum agricoles.

Mai Tai
1 ounce light rum (I used Neisson Rhum Agricole Blanc)
1 ounce gold rum (Scarlet Ibis)
1/2 ounce orange curacao (Creole Shrubb)
1/2 ounce orgeat (Fee’s)
1/2 ounce lime juice
1 ounce dark rum (La Favorite Vieux rhum agricole)
Shake all but the dark rum and strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass.? Top with the dark rum.? Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

I’ve been lazy and haven’t gotten around to making a new batch of maraschino cherries, natch.

This one wasn’t as good as the one Marshall made but it wasn’t bad, especially as the ice melted a bit (I added ice to both drinks) and the flavors integrated a bit more – i.e. I swizzled the dark rum into the drink with a swizzle stick.

Still, what I need to get is more rhum agricole so I can make the “Ed Hamilton” version that uses all three types of rhum agricole.? And also maybe better orgeat.? I’m quite lazy about making that though.

Thus, my first foray into tiki drinks.? They were quite good.? In fact, I’m getting thirsty just thinking about them – I might have to make another Dr. Funk, but before I do I should go out and get some passionfruit syrup…

But AYE!  It be yet another Mixology Monday hosted by the esteemed Trader Tiki.  The poison this Cap’n of the High Seas has chosen is that nectar of Aphrodite, that elixir that keeps a Scofflaw’s tongue whetted . . . RUM.

Alright, so a full post in pirate talk would be a bit much and I’m about ready to kick my own ass if I keep this up much longer. 

I love rum.  There isn’t any other way to say it as clearly as that.  I love it.  This has also been a pretty hectic weekend for me and unfortunately I’m afraid it is going to have to infringe on my MxMo day.  But I don’t want to make a bunch of excuse, lest you make me walk the plank.

When I started thinking of what to write, I decided to first take stock of what rum I had in this Scofflaw’s Bar.

From left to right I have:

Ron Zacapa 15yr
Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole
Dogfish Head Honey Brown Rum
El Dorado 12 yr Demerara Rum
Mt. Gay Rum
Cruzan Black Strap Rum
The Scarlet Ibis Rum
Dogfish Head Wit Spiced Rum
Neisson Rhum Agricole Blanc

After I took stock, I felt completely overwhelmed.  I guess I should take a perverted sense of pride in this feeling.  Most folks probably has a bottle of rum . . . maybe two.   I also wasn’t sure of what to do for a cocktail for you good folks.  Should I go tried and true tiki?  I love me some tiki (as I have said over and over), but think a lot of folks will do traditional tiki drinks.  One I idea I had, and will do eventually, is a tasting of Rum Collins – try each of my rums with a squeeze of lime and some tonic water.  Sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon if you ask me.

So I turned to the books.  Again, tons of rum drinks and none that really grabbed my attention.  Maybe it was the feeling of rushing around and I was trying to force something . . . not allowing the spirits (heh!) of those by-gone Pirates flow through me and give me inspiration when I needed.  I needed the spirit of William Dampier to infuse my soul with a yearning to find something new. 

So when all else fails, pick something at random!!!

I chose the Tahiti Club from Gary Regan’s Bartender’s Bible.  It goes something like this:

Tahiti Club
1 oz light rum
1 oz dark rum
1 oz pineapple juice
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz lemon juice
1 tsp maraschino liqueur

Shake, strain over fresh ice cubes in a rocks glass.

As you can see from the picture, I used the Depaz and the El Dorado.  Just a quick note to say that I really love the Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole.  It smells of sweet grass, fresh sugarcane and has almost a whiskey/bourbon undertone as well.   It is also one of the few (maybe the only one?) rums to receive the Appellation d’Origine Controlee from the French Government. 

The cocktail was good – but very tart!  For my tastes, I think the tartness hid some of the nuances of the Depaz and the El Dorado.  I think a dash of rich simple syrup would really bring the inherent flavors of the rums from behind the juices.  The maraschino liqueur lent an interesting funkiness to the nose of the drink, but worked very well with the fruit juice flavors.

Hmmm . . . now that my whistle was whetted, I wanted to do a little concoctioneering.  Actually, I was going to use this space for a drink I came up with while over at Sean’s Friday night, but he beat me to it and posted it here.  That scurvy bastard . . .     So check out his post for an extra-special-hey-look-there-is-an-extra-chest-of-booty-type rum drink from your’s truly.

So yeah, concoctioneering.  I had some coconut milk left over from some coconut sticky rice I made a few days ago.  I decided to try and use that in a drink.  This isn’t the pre-sweetned Coco Lopez stuff, rather it is what you find in the Asian section of your market.  For help using it, I turned to some notes I had written one afternoon playing with some coconut water.  The water is the clear juice that is inside the coconut right when you open one up.  One of the recipes I had tinkered with was the following:

2 oz rum
2 oz coconut water
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz falernum
.25 oz grapefruit juice
.25 oz raspberry syrup
1 dash maraschino
1 dash absinthe

I really liked this mix.  It was boozy, sweet and had flavors and aromas coming out of the waa-zoo.  For me, definitely a keeper.  But at some point I’ll need to name it . . . .  But this was the launching pad to use the coconut milk.  What I came up with was this:

2 oz rum
1.5 oz coconut milk
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz falernum
.25 oz Aperol –> I ran out of grapefruit juice and wanted a substitute for the bitterness in grapefruit.
.25 oz raspberry syrup
.25 oz grenadine
1 dash maraschino
1 dash absinthe

Now to be honest, the drink came out looking kind of funky.  It was a creamy dark pink color.  Not unappetizing by any stretch, but just not a color that I normally associate with drinks.  It kind of looked like the pinkish hue you find on seashells.  Hmmm . . .

The taste was also something I wasn’t expecting.  It was much more tart than anticipated.  It was creamy, sweet and tart.  The rum gave it a good backbone (I used the Mt. Gay) and the Aperol tamed the sweetness of the syrups.  (If anyone out there tries their hand an making this, please, please let me know what you think . . . any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated!)

Alright, I think it’s time for me to bring my MxMo post to an end.  Again, I want to thank Mr. Blair Reynold’s, aka Trader Tiki for allowing us on deck for this rum soaked episode of Mixology Monday!

Cheers!  

Just kidding.  I’d be shocked – shocked, I tell you, shocked! – if you actually had the opportunity to read this before you show up tonight.

They say a good salesman can see a sucker coming a mile off, and in my case, that is perhaps not inaccurate.  (I definitely don’t not love me some double negatives, too.)  Or maybe it’s just that I’m special but not the kind of special that necessarily requires a helmet.

I had a very specific goal in going down to visit Ace Beverage again today.  One of my best friends, the quiet-as-of-late

dan_oz

, is in town and will be coming by my place later tonight.  His birthday was the other week so I needed to procure him a present.

I wanted to get him something that he couldn’t get down in smelly ole North Carostinkylina.  Given the fact that he’s a huge rum nut (rummy?  Rumsfeld?  rumoholic?) I thought that a good gift would be a bottle of the Scarlet Ibis rum.

Having that in mind, I also decided that I would like to get myself a bottle of the La Favorite Rhum Agricole Vieux.  That’s the whisky and bourbon barrel aged rum that I tasted at Bourbon a few weeks ago.  Given that I got a couple of the rum barrel aged cigars this week I really wanted to make a ti’ punch with it.

This is what I ended up with when I got home today:

We have, from top to bottom: a fifth of Maker’s Mark and a bottle of Drambuie (both bought at VA ABC), a bottle of Petite Canne Traditional Martinique Sugar Cane Syrup, the Scarlet Ibis, Bloodys by Buz Full Flavor Original Bloody Mary mix, Green Chartreuse, Damrak gin, the La Favorite Rhum Agricole Vieux, and a bottle of Black Bottle five year old blended Scotch (that Master Shake is attempting to taste).

Let’s go over each.

Maker’s Mark – my standard mixing bourbon, especially for the always popular bourbon and cokes and for mint juleps.  My brother Matt wiped out my bottle recently so it was time to replace it.  I thought about going for the liter bottle but the price point per liter in Virginia is almost the same between the fifth and the liter.

Drambuie – I thought that it was the same price in Virginia as it was at Ace.  Unfortunately, it was $5 more.  I was already stuck though with either getting it in Virginia or going back out, and I didn’t feel like doing the latter, so here we are.  I first tasted Drambuie a few weeks ago after kickball one night and I quite enjoyed it.  Given the Scotch, I wanted to try a Rusty Nail at some point as well.  In general, I feel like you can’t have too many liqueurs of this sort because they’re really quite very tasty especially after dinner while smoking a cigar.

Petite Canne Traditional Martinique Sugar Cane Syrup – whew!  When I mentioned to Joe that I was going to make a ti’ punch with the rum, he asked me if I was going to use sugar cane syrup.  Slightly befuddled, I responded that I usually use rich simple syrup.  He poured me a taste of this stuff, adding that it made him think of pancakes, and it was “BIFF BAM BOOM!” right to my head.  Damn good stuff.  It’s simple syrup on crack.  (Actually, I think Joe said “simple syrup on steroids” but that makes me think of Jose Canseco making simple syrup and my brain cries a little bit.)

The Scarlet Ibis – this is the rum formulated specifically for Death & Company in NYC.  I haven’t opened my bottle yet but everyone seems to rave about how good it is and thus I figure Dan will get a big kick out of it.

Bloodys by Buz Full Flavor Original Bloody Mary Mix - According to my mom, I make really good bloody marys.  My granddad agreed.  However, mom always insists on using Clamato, and seriously, clam juice and tomato juice is just not a combination that makes me a happy camper.  I thought about buying a bottle of clam juice so she could just bring regular tomato juice, or maybe juicing my own clams (JUST KIDDING) but both thoughts made me unhappy.  Joe had highly recommended this mix, and, well, you know what, I just looked at it and saw that it had clam juice in it, so maybe it’ll make mom happy.

And maybe I should be careful about adding horseradish infused vodka to it.  Ingredient List: Tomato Puree, Water, Horseradish, Clam Juice, Sugar-based non caloric Sweetner, White Distilled Vinegar, Mustard Seed, Anchovies, Tamarind Extract, Buz’s Full Flavor Original Spice Mix, Sodium Benzonate, Potassium Sorbate added for freshness.  I bet it’s the Sodium Benzonate that really makes it sing!

Green Chartreuse – Chartreuse is one of those expensive liqueurs that’s needed in so many drinks.  Ace had a good price on it so I went ahead and pulled the trigger on some.  They only had green, however, so I’ll still need to find yellow somewhere.

Damrak Gin -

tmfiii

was over last night and between beers, an unexpectedly shaken Sazerac that I made (oops), and the very very good Padron Anniversary Edition cigar I smoked (did I mention very good?), I found that I couldn’t stop thinking about his bottle of Damrak Gin.  Seriously.  I’m a little disturbed by how fixated I was on it.  I didn’t mention it to him because, I don’t know, it might seem creepy or something, but there it is.  And now here it is.

In honor of last night, here’s a recipe Marshall pulled out of the air:
Marshall’s Randomass Tiki Drink
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 1/2 oz. gold rum
1/4 oz. brandy (he used the E&J brandy I had that is slightly infused with apricot)
1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur
5 solid dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
1 dash Angostura
1 big dash rich simple syrup (my bottle, she is very big, and pours quickly)

(Master) Shake with ice.

Strain and drink and pontificate.

La Favorite Rhum Agricole Vieux – Obviously, I’ve talked a good bit about this one already.  Is it time for me to go outside and drink it?  Maybe if I can just shut up on here!

Black Bottle Five Year Old Blended Scotch – Just as I was about to leave I asked Joe about a good mixing Scotch.  I’d tried Pinch before and it had seemed to work but I trust other people’s impressions.  The thing is that you can always mix with single malts, but, I’ve found, they’re so different in tastes between bottles that it can take a lot of guess work in how something will work with one versus another.  This was a good deal so I had no problems giving it a shot.  It appears to be the same company that also makes/distributes Deanston, Bunnahabhain, Ledaig, and Tobermory Scotch.

So that was my unexpectedly expensive liquor run for today.  If you’ll excuse me, I’m finding that sobriety is become more and more of a chore on this lazy Saturday afternoon, so in the words of a wise man: “Screw you guys, I’m going home.”