Paul Clarke, Special to The Chronicle
Friday, January 9, 2009
Decisions can be difficult: aisle or window? Scallops or chicken? Go to law school and buy a condo or join a nomadic tribe of goatherds and wander the distant plains? When ordering a drink, the decision is usually straightforward: beer or a cocktail (we'll conveniently ignore wine for now) but in a number of bars and restaurants, the decision is getting easier as bartenders blur the lines between beer and spirits by serving drinks that combine the two.
i emailed Mr. Clarke today by way of follow up to this article. i mentioned that his timing was interesting as i have been experimenting with what i am calling "Dry-Hopped Bourbon Bitters". i have infused a strong bourbon with Chinook hop pellets, making it bitter and very hoppy. it can be used like Angostura's and a Manhattan made with my new bitters is called a Mad Hatter.
my two cents.
Hi Alex,
I must have missed that e-mail somewhere (if you saw how I interpret "organization", you wouldn't be surprised), but the bitters sound pretty intriguing. In his Bittermens Grapefruit Bitters, Avery Glasser incorporates hops into the mix; the effect is spectacular, giving the bitters not only the initial grapefruit burst, but a long, lingering floral bitterness that really elevates them as an ingredient.
At Tales of the Cocktail last year, Eben Freeman also served a drink using a gin (Tanqueray, I believe) that had been infused with Cascade hops. The drink was one of the most memorably bitter things I've ever had, but it was pretty damn interesting.
And finally on the topic of hops, the whiskey made by Charbay Distillery in California is distilled from pilsner beer, and some of the most notable aromas and flavors from this whiskey come from the hops -- there's a really delicate floral nose, and a long, bitter finish that is absolutely wonderful; a whiskey that in many ways tastes like what beer aspires to become.
All of this is to say, thanks for sharing the info, I think hops are worthy of further exploration, and I wish you best of luck with your bitters experiments.
funny... in my email to you i also mentioned the Charbay whiskey - which was the inspiration for my hops experiments btw. i quickly learned that when infusing a spirit with hops such as you mention with the gin above, it is easy to overdo it and cause the spirit to become too bitter (hence my new bourbon bitters ;-)
i am thinking maybe one pellet of Chinook for a "goodly" amount of fine bourbon for my next experiment to make a pleasantly (and subtly) hoppy sipping spirit a la Charbay's very tasty (and expensive) creation.
I like Beaumont's Green Devil mentioned in Paul's artcile a lot, though the choice of gin is very important - Martin Miller's is ideal, didn't work with Junipero though.
Oh and the idea to infuse the gin with hops - i need to try it: we have quite a few hops left overs after the beer brewing,
Yesterday i tried the Strange Brew: with Plymouth instead of Tanqueray 10, with Green Flash IPA. What a great drink - bitter, not sweet and higtly aromatic. I'd like to experiement with different IPAs.
Hi Guys!
I found the initial post here quite interesting as I have recently judged a cocktail competition in Australia where the winning drink was a sublime combination of beer and whisky.
This competition was a national whisky cocktail competition run by Diageo as part of their global WorldClass Bartender program, and saw some incredibly interesting concoctions and serves.
A gentleman by the name of Chris Hystead from Black Pearl In Melbourne came up with the winning drink - Garvey's Dream. See the recipe and photo below. The combination of Porter with Talisker,cacao and hazelnut was sublime. Unfortunately the colour of the drink was the only thing letting it down, so Chris ingeniously served it in a beer bottle with the bottom frozen to keep the drink cold, and a specially designed label reflecting the recipe and story behind the drink. His efforts won him a tailored Suit, and a coveted spot in the Australian final of the WorldClass competition, to be held in June of this year.
Check the drink Below!
Garvey's Dream
60 ml Talisker
15 ml Walnut Liqueur
10 ml Dark Cacao
45 ml James Squire Porter
Build, Stir, and top with Porter. Serve in a chilled Beer Bottle
That mixture sounds interesting! I might try it with some european porter or stout (for I don't know how to get that australian Porter)
Btw, Guy Garvey said in an interview he was slightly disappointed that this cocktail had to renamed from "Grounds for Divorce" to a more "happy" name...
summertime and the Weissbier is freezing (Guy Garvey)
We had good luck for a Mixology Monday replacing champagne with Heineken Light with great success in 2 drinks, medium on 1, and fail on 1 (didn't work well with the lime in an Airmail):
http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2009/02/beer-cocktails.html
Otherwise, in the last two weeks, I have had good experiences with stouts and dark rums (one mixed, and one as a beer float) -- the richness of the stout really pairs well with dark rums like Old Monk.
Cocktail Virgin blog