/drinkmemag_issue17 by Drink Me Magazine

LIFESTYLE BEYOND THE GLASS

[Earth, booze, AIR & fire]

#17 DEC 2011/JAN 2012 DrinkMeMag.com DrinkMeMag.com

LIFESTYLE BEYOND THE GLASS

FCi

IFCii

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Because that's the way of the world. . . Earth, booze, air & fire

Ingredients

ISSUE 17

Note from the Editor 9 Design: You can handle it 10 Holiday Gift Guide 12 Anatomy Class DrinkMeMag.com

The modern grapevine by Victoria Gutierrez

Like Water For Beer

The most important ingredient By Brian Yaeger

Terroir and Whiskey

Drinking off the land by WhiskeyWall

27 Libation Laureate by Ale Gasso 28 New

30 Hot

Booze

Bodegas Grant 'La Garrocha' Fino Sherry by Amy Murray of Cask

And Steamy

Anchor Steam's historic roots and delicious future by Sam Devine

36 Better

42 Hey

With Bubbles

America's carbonation obsession by Ford Mixology Lab

There, Hot Stuff

Hot drinks, and excuses to set stuff on fire by Kara Newman

to Drink to 46 Eat Your Booze: Rum Panna Cotta

by Denise Sakaki

Japan's Distilled Beverage

by Yoko Kumano

Reviews of beer's two newest books

54 Swallow

Your Words

56 Seasonal

Drinks

60 Featured

Recipes

What to drink for the holidays by Courtney Harrell

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45 Websites

48 Shochu:

Note from the Editor

lementarily speaking, this issue comes down to the basics. The ingredients for life are also the ingredients for the water of life. On a recent trip to a distillery in Japan, I got off the train (not the bullet train unfortunately) and was given a bottle of water to hydrate myself before the tasting began. Turns out that the water is the same that is used to make the whiskey — and the distillery bottles and sells it because it’s some of the freshest, cleanest and most pure H2O that you can find in the prefecture. It’s no surprise that good water makes good whiskey and beer and quality sunlight and soil is a big part of your your finest Bordeaux. Booze making is a compound of farming and the harnessing of pure, raw chemistry.

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Indulge with us as we take a nature stroll through some of the best stories and anecdotes about the elements. We’re covering Earth: terroir and the grape plant, Air: everything bubbly, Water: the main ingredient in your beer, and Fire: hot drinks and flames . . . all here just in time before the world ends in 2012. We wish you and yours a Happy Holidays and a riveting, Champagnefilled New Years.

Ho Ho Ho, Daniel Yaffe

www.drinkmemag.com

Origin: 1842 Bohemia; Czech Plzeňský Prazdroj; Josef Groll created the world’s

We invite you to discover how legendary quality and meticulous dedication to brewing process taste.

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first true golden pilsner. Its distinctive taste and color sparked a brewing

revolution that has yet to be outdone, inspiring all pilsners that followed.

LIFESTYLE BEYOND THE GLASS

This is a QR code. You can scan it with your smart phone and link directly to us. Want to find out more? Check out RedLaser.com

Editor In Chief: Daniel Yaffe Associate Editor: Victoria Gutierrez TRAVEL Editor: Paul Ross Art DIrector: Lance Jackson Web Developer: Aman Ahuja Account Executive: Emily Brunts

Advisory Board: Jeremy Cowan, H. Ehrmann, Cornelius Geary, Hondo Lewis, David Nepove, Debbie Rizzo, Genevieve Robertson, Carrie Steinberg, Gus Vahlkamp, Dominic Venegas contributOrs: Sam Devine, Ale Gasso, Library of Congress, Ford Mixology Lab, Victoria Gutierrez, Courtney Harrell, Lance Jackson, Cover by Harris Johnson (Freeharrisjohnson.com), Yoko Kumano, Bill C Martin, (spiritus-events.co.uk), Amy Murray, Kara Newman, Samir Osman, Carsten Tolkmit (flickr.com/photos/laenulfean), Paul Ross, Brian Yaeger, Washi Washino, Amy Widdowson, Sierra Zimei Thank you: Sangita Devaskar, Stephanie Henry, Sitar Mody, Skylar Werde Publisher: Open Content www.opencontent.tv Eriq Wities & Daniel Yaffe

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recycle me

Drink Me magazine is printed on 20% recycled (10% postconsumer waste) paper using only soy based inks. Our printer meets or exceeds all Federal Resource Conservation Act (RCRA) standards and is a certified member of the Forest Stewardship Council.

More than 75,000 people read Drink Me Interested in advertising? ads@drinkmemag.com In the last issue, we marked St. George's spirits labels incorrectly on the TTB and Labeling article. Indeed, the monkey banging on the skull was the label that was not approved by the TTB, and the monkey hitting the cowbell is the approved and actual label. Drink Me regrets this error.

Twitter: drinkmemag Check out our facebook page, too!

Please drink responsibly

Design: Tap Handles

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For more information 415.362.1116 www.sfbartending.com

You Can Handle It By Bailey Richardson at UGallery.com Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a beer by its tap handle. These are wise words that are hard to abide by. Why? Well, because an iconic tap handle is marketing gold. Every bartender in the country will tell you that draughts with the biggest, brightest, quirkiest handles get the most pours. But where do these handles come from? After the end of prohibition, bars commonly advertised one beer but were sneaky and poured customers lower-quality brew. The government caught wind of the trick and passed a law requiring barkeeps to identify the beers they serve. Voila! The “ball knob” tap marker was born. Now highly collectible, you can buy an old school nob online for a couple hundred bucks.

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Tap handles really got inventive in the 1990s with the the craft beer boom. Without the massive advertising budgets of big brewers, craft brewers turned to unusual tap handles to attract attention. Artisanal handle crafters such as Tap Handles in Renton, Washington, employ artisanal designers and charge anywhere from $15 to a couple hundred dollars to create personalized handles. The company, which launched in 1999, was behind Alaskan Brewing's famous Summer Pale Ale orca. Another favorite of ours is North Coast Brewing's PranQster jester's hat designed by Colored Horse Studios.

Holiday g We know you’ve worked hard for your paycheck. Stop buying gifts that are going to end up re-gifted next year or donated to the thrift store next to our office. We know what the people in your life really want.

For your sugardaddy: The Macallan 60 Years Old in Lalique For just $20,000, say thank you

to that special spender in your life with one of 400 limited edition, Lalique-designed bottles of The Macallan’s 60 year old Speyside singlemalt. This is the secondoldest whiskey the distillery has ever released, and the spendy crystal decanters are meant to be an homage to the secret behind The Macallan — their curiously small stills (and your curiously large budget).

For your father-in-law:

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Cirrus Ice Ball Press

The man loves his Scotch and has everything, but we can pretty much guarantee he doesn’t have perfectly spherical ice cubes that minimize melting and ensure optimal whiskey enjoyment. It’s a technology that originated in Japan, but now you can get your press from Cirrus, made in the good old US of A. We promise, he’ll be impressed. $429 for the 2” press

For your neighbor you never have time to see: Anchor Distilling Old Potrero Whiskey We all have that warm hearted neighbor, but we can never track them down when we need them. Give them the gift of a spirit that is delicious, but just as hard to find as they are. One taste of the Old Potrero, and maybe they’ll make sure to be around the next time you need to borrow a cup of sugar. $76.99

gift guide For the recent college grad: Ekke Shot Glasses If they insist on taking shots, at least get them to take shots in style. Chill these soapstone glasses in the freezer for a stylish, ice-cold vessel. The glasses are so cool (pun intended), you just might convince that co-ed to start sipping their spirits for a change. $40 for 4 Teroforma.com/Ekke-Shot-Glasses.html

For your child’s science teacher: Bev Shots Scarf

Bevshots.com/ neck-scarf.html

Maker’s Mark 46 A special version of the original Maker’s Mark, the 46 spends some time aging in French Oak in addition to the usual American Oak barrels. It’s bolder and stronger than the original, just like you’re bolder, stronger, and deserving of that promotion (we've got you covered). $46.99

For your tastemaker cousin: Don Amado Mezcal Añejo Mezcal hasn’t quite hit the mainstream yet, so it’s a favorite of bartenders and tastemakers alike. Don Amado’s version is bright and full of citrus flavors, while still holding on to the rough, smoky edges that make mezcal unique. $59.99

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Geek meets bar chic. Available in eleven ‘flavors,’ these scarves’ patterns are actually different beverages as viewed under microscope. Whether she’s a red wine woman or a margarita mama, you can cross this gift off the list. $48

For your boss:

Anatomy

Class

Bugs, Dirt, and Clones: The Modern Grape Vine By Victoria Gutierrez & photos by Donald Gruener

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Grapevines are among the most finicky of crops. Not content to just be sensitive to whims of weather, grapes even resist the best intentions of modern civilization. The establishment of trade routes between the Americas and Europe irreversibly changed not only the fortunes of many now-defunct wine chateaux, but it also forever changed the way that a vineyard is planted. Genetic (and marketing) research now makes it possible to grow just about any type of grape in any type of vineyard given the proper vine clones. The specter of climate change (if you happen to believe in “science”) is already wreaking havoc in established wine regions and making new ones as we speak. Before any of this factors in, it all begins with dirt.

iticulturists and soil go together like cats and catnip. They need to feel it, grind it up, smell it, taste it, and analyze it endlessly. And they have good reason: while no one has been able to prove it chemically, try convincing yourself that you can’t taste the white chalk in Champagne from the limestone vineyards, the volcanic rocks in a Sicilian wine, the big rocks in Chateauneufdu-Pape, the dollar bills in a Napa Cabernet. Chemistry, poetry, and cynicism aside, the structure of the soil is the most important factor in whether or not a grapevine is going to be successful. And when we talk structure in soil, we’re

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talking about water retention. A layer of clay will keep rain close to the surface. Sandy and loosely packed soil does the opposite, channeling the water away quickly and forcing rootstock to reach thirty feet down. Slate or limestone stress the vines by forcing roots to break cracks in them in search of water. Yes, you want stress — that’s what gets the most concentrated flavor out of grapes. Don’t like your dirt? Some folks try tilling, adding limestone, even blasting with dynamite, all in an effort to tailor the soil’s characteristics.

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fter tackling the soil, it’s time to plant some roots. Not intact vines, but just roots — all thanks to a six-legged pest called Phylloxera. In the 1860’s, some crazy Frenchman decided he wanted to experiment with a few American grapevines in France. Unfortunately, some of the bugs joined him for the ride over the Atlantic. Over the next twenty years, Europe saw most of its vineyards die a slow death of yellow, shriveled vines. Concurrently, American winemakers experimenting with French vines (which produce wines far superior to their native American vine brethren) also saw their vines die. It wasn’t until the end of the nineteenth century that they figured out the problem: Phylloxera likes to eat the roots of grapevines, but American grape species are immune. Ironically, Europe learned to cope with the foreign pests by grafting their own vines (Vitis vinifera) onto American roots (Vitis rupestris, known as St. George). This solution also allowed for American winemakers to successfully grow French grape varieties in the US. Fun fact: geneticists in the eighties created a rootstock called AxR1 that had one American parent and one Vitis vinifera parent and convinced most of California, Washington, and Oregon

to plant vineyards with it. Billions of dollars were lost when they realized that the rootstock, even as a hybrid of the two species, was not resistant to these nasty little buggers. Once a vineyard owner has decided on the (hopefully) phylloxera-resistant rootstock, it’s time to pick a grape variety. The vine will be grafted onto the chosen rootstock; if the vineyard is

grape that will work best in the vineyard. Grape species are very susceptible to mutation, resulting in countless different varieties, and variations of those varieties. Labs such as the one at UC Davis have been successful in isolating this mutation phenomenon, cataloguing the variations, and making clones of the most desirable variations available to grape growers. These clones come with

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just being planted, this will be done in the nursery. If the grape grower wants to leave the roots and get new vines, then â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;field graftingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; can be done by taping the new vines to the old rootstock. Just getting to the point of grafting takes an exercise in research, chemistry, history and voodoo: one must assess the soil and microclimate to pick a variety of grapeâ&#x20AC;Ś and then the perfect lab clone of said

creative names like 337 and UDC4. At this point you have your vineyard, your dirt, rootstock, and vines. Now the fun begins.

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he anatomy of the grapevine presents even more dilemmas over the course of a vintage. It’s important to train the vines right away by arranging the shoots, leaves and grape clusters for the best sun exposure and protection from the elements. Over the course of a few years, some vines will start to look like gnarly old bushes, neat and orderly hedges tied to stakes and wires, or swamp monsters. Another way to combat the sun, wind, and even rain is through proper canopy management (a backyard gardener would call it pruning). Leave too many leaves and the grapes may not ripen, but get too aggressive and there won’t be enough left to perform photosynthesis and ripen the grapes. Pruning can also limit the number of chutes that spring up at the beginning of

the season, determining how much fruit you’ll have at the end of the year. If I could stop the article here, I would... but then we would miss out on the factors that ultimately shape what ends up in the bottle. We’ve discussed all the things that a grape grower can do to carefully control and choose the exact grapes to grow in order to create a specific style of wine. Unfortunately, disaster seems to strike wine country with a rather high frequency. The plagues of Phylloxera, nematodes, glassy-winged sharpshooters, and moths can take down an entire region in one vintage. Even fire presents issues for a vineyard. In 2008, massive wildfires in Northern California blew smoke over a large portion of Sonoma’s Pinot Noir vineyards. ‘Smoke taint’ became an immediate issue, with a lot of the area’s prized pinots tasting like the burnt acres surrounding them. After trying chemical wizardry to extract the eau de campfire, a lot of Sonoma wineries

just ‘declassified’ their wines, putting them into lesser labels and selling them off at a discount.

rom bottom to top, the anatomy of the modern grapevine is affected by soil, roots, vine clones, and disaster avoidance. The laundry list of things that can go wrong reads like a list of biblical plagues … and to think that we’ve brought a lot of them upon ourselves with experimentation, replanting, and environmental impact. The next time you’re talking to a winemaker or visiting a tasting room, just ask for their opinion of this year’s vintage, or whether or not their Cabernet Sauvignon is clone 337; not only will you sound like a smart-ass, but you’ll be opening up a can of worms.

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Rain can also break a vintage. Rains early in the spring help to wake up the vines and convince them to bud and flower. However, rains in the middle of the summer can cause vineyards to turn into a moldy, rotten mess. Rain during harvest plumps up the grapes, making watery wines or, worse yet, splitting the grapes and introducing bugs and bacteria. Wind seems like a natural fix for all that ails a rain-drenched vineyard, but too much blows blossoms and clusters off the vines and rips vines from their training (vineyards in Australia utilize huge eucalyptus trees as windbreaks). Hail, common in Northern Italy and parts of France, can sweep through a week before harvest and literally bring down the entire crop. It would seem that sun is all good for vineyards, but that’s not the case. Grapes and leaves can sunburn, turning unripe grapes into

shriveled green berries. The 2010 vintage in Northern California was a prime example: the cool vintage forced grape growers to prune away a lot of the leafy canopy to maximize sun exposure for the grapes, and an intensely sunny heat wave in August reduced the exposed fruit to a sunburned waste of California raisins that no one wanted to eat. No one was dancing.

Like Water

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BrianYaeger

er for Beer By Brian Yaeger

The most important ingredient The human body is almost 62% water, and we can all agree that people are pretty important. The Earth’s surface is 75% water, and clearly, the planet is very important. Beer is roughly 93% water, so you might say it must be the most important thing in the world.

iven my inscrutable reasoning, it pains me to say that there is one thing more important than beer, and that is water itself — which, given the amount of various compounds it contains, is roughly 99.985% H2O. Because of this remaining 0.015% , not all water is the same, and I don’t mean to sound bigoted, but some waters are better than others. Various brewing styles around the world weren’t initially dictated by marketing campaigns but rather by a region’s respective natural water supply. The differences in the beers are often black and white, or in brewing terms, black and light.

In the case of the famous Dry Irish Stout, we have Dublin’s limestone deposits to thank for the hard water. In the chapter on pH balancing in John Palmer’s 'How to Brew' (I’ll spare you some of the technical aspects), Palmer notes: “The water of Ireland … has a fair amount of calcium… This results in hard, alkaline water… The high alkalinity of the water makes it difficult to produce light pale beers that are not harsh tasting,” because if the same lighter malts were used, the water would “extract harsh phenolic and tannin compounds from the grain husks.” Basically, hard water and light malt will produce a harsh, unpleasantly bitter beer. Palmer concludes by saying, “The highly roasted black malts used to make Guinness add acidity to the mash,” and this matching of acidity makes for a harmonious brew.

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For example, it was destined that Guinness, a dark stout, would originate in Dublin while Pilsner Urquell, a light lager, first appeared in Plzen, or Pilsen, in what is today the Czech Republic. Their water sources necessitated it. It comes down to hard or soft. Hard water is full of calcium and magnesium, and will react with

beer’s other components in a distinct way. Less mineral-laden soft water will react completely differently.

By comparison, Bohemian well water is far lower in minerals and the low alkalinity of their soft water perfectly marries with the low acidity of pale lager malts, providing a welcome solution for the spicy, noble Saaz hops abundant in the Czech lands, resulting in the beer that made Pilsen famous: Pilsner Urquell. I once conducted a blind taste test comprised of Czech and American pilsners and, over 150 years after its debut, a panel deemed this Pilsen-native still the best.

owadays, brewing science not only takes water’s mineral content into account, it compensates for it practically all the time. Heck, I’m not that great a homebrewer but even I have the easy option of dosing my brewing water with gypsum (calcium sulfate) to replicate the hardness of Burton-onTrent’s water that perfectly produces Bass and other pale ales in England. Rare is the craft brewer who doesn’t “Burtonize” (or “Burtonise” to keep it properly British) their water when making an IPA since the high level of sulfates allows for assertively hoppy ales.

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No matter if you’re brewing in Vienna or Portland, water picks up or sheds compounds along its journey from rains and rivers through aquifers and soils. Good luck finding truly pure water (and you can’t brew with distilled water because it’s the very ions and minerals that dictate how hard or alkaline your water may be). When using tap water, beware of the chlorine that many metro sources contain, because its off flavors become exacerbated in the brew. Luckily, there are ways to counter this additive.

“With modern technology, water is water,” says Bill Coors, former chairman of the Adolph Coors Co. (predecessor to today’s MillerCoors) in a Denver Post story. “Anything in the water you

don’t want, it is easy to get that out and put in what you do want.” The truth is, he is right. From fairly dark Munich Oktoberfests to actually dark London porters, the styles of every great beer region are dictated by their natural water supplies, creating a true sense of provenance. When it comes to American brewing, the same rings historically true, even if brewers have found ways to approximate the makeup of any given water. So, when it comes down to it, is the water used for brewing actually that important? You bet your wet bottom it is! Take this poetry from Rob Mullin, brewmaster at Grand Teton Brewing in Victor, ID: Teton Valley is blessed with abundant water, the result of massive annual snowpack and millennia-old glaciers. The water we use to brew our beers is pristine glacial run-off filtered over hundreds of years through Teton Mountain granite and limestone before it bubbles to the surface at a spring just down the road from the brewery. But this isn’t bucolic 19th century Pilsen, or even Golden. Mullin can’t very well fill pails at the stream to make up that 93% of the beer he brews. At first he says, “We refuse to treat our water. Many breweries filter their water. Some remove all minerals — and flavor — through reverse osmosis, then add back the minerals they desire for brewing.” Then he admits the fact that the brewery uses “Victor city water,” which is sourced down the road from the brewery. Unlike most metro water, which is 7 parts per million chlorine, Victor’s is 2 ppm, sometimes actually zero. So is it really untreated? Yes, says Mullin, “except for that minimal chlorine dose by the city.” But that’s not something Dubliner Arthur Guinness ever worried about.

Drinking Off of the Land:

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Terroir &

Whiskey By Chris Jew And Nate Nicoll from WhiskeyWall

Terroir is a winemaking term. Understandably, some might find the application of the term to whiskey inappropriate and pretentious. But then, some might find people who pepper their language with accented French terminology to be pretentious regardless of their drinking preference. In any event, terroir is the idea that the local environment affects the flavors of the wine produced. The raw materials and environment impart certain unique flavors, for better or worse, that are specific to the region. So how does this French winemaking term relate to our beloved water of life?

n the surface, the impact of terroir on whiskey appears to be more than a drinker’s whiskey-addled epiphany. The traditional segregation of Scotch into distinct whiskey-producing regions screams of terroir. Each region is distinguished from the other by unique flavor profiles, not just geographic

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location. The Lowlands are famous for their light and floral flavors while Campbeltown whiskies are known for their ruddy, big bodied flavors. Highland whiskies are fruity and fresh and Speyside whiskies are appreciated for their dark fruit and spice notes. Island whiskies that are associated with salty ocean air have wisps of smoke, and finally, the Islay whiskies are exalted for their bold peaty and smoky flavors.

eems straightforward, however, the concept of terroir, as limited to its original winemaking etymology, does not quite fit the modern mold of whiskey making. Whereas a classic winery will produce wine from local grapes, a distillery does not necessarily use locally grown grains. So often the grain and soil have little relationship to a distillery’s locale. As such, the fundamental component of whiskey — malted barley, is a free agent owing little loyalty (or flavor) to a particular distillery. Rare is the distillery that sources their barley locally, let alone grows it. The vast majority of the barley used in Scotch is imported from outside of Scotland. So for many whiskies, the flavors that are imparted by barley have little to do with terroir.

Then there is the barrel, the foreign mercenary that is brought in as a major influencer of any whiskey’s flavor profile. Needless to say, the Spanish sherry butts (used wooden casks), the American bourbon barrels, and the port pipes have no relation to the terroir of a whiskey no matter how broadly one applies the term. While it is still possible to find Scotch aged in local Scottish oak, and bourbon in American oak, these are the exceptions to the rule. But in all fairness, terroir in the classical sense is a statement of the local environs’ influence and not of the nature of the barrel used. As such, it is fair to reason that terroir, even when used in whiskey circles, refers to non-barrel elements. One would think that the door was shut on the terroir concept as applied to whiskey. Alas, there are still the water and air elements of the whiskey-making process. Many distilleries are vocal about the virtues of their local water and the characteristics it gives their whiskey. As any local water source draws its balance and mineral content from the nearby soil and rock, it is well within the traditional bounds of terroir and its application to whiskey. In fact, a test by Mike Miyamoto, Master Distiller at Suntory’s Yamazaki distillery in Japan, proved the importance of water’s affect on whiskey. Suntory has two malt whiskey distilleries: Yamazaki and Hakushu. Each distillery produces a distinctly different whiskey in different

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In times past, one could certainly rely on the peating of whiskies as an example of their terroir pedigree. The burning of decomposed vegetation — peat — to dry malted barley was more of a necessity than an additive to impart smoky flavor. Alas, while peat certainly accounts for the ‘terra’ (“earth” in Latin) in terroir, it is no longer the signature flavor of distilleries that happen to be situated near a one-time peat bog. It’s not uncommon for distillers to peat whiskies with soil from distinctly different regions. Even more perverse is the fact that peat is no longer the exclusive dominion of

Islay Scotch. Highland, Speyside, and even Japanese distilleries now offer an array of peated whiskies. At a risk of making it more confusing, there are also non-peated whiskies from distilleries that traditionally use a heavy peat hand. Peating whiskey is now a deliberate choice (a very trendy one) that is decidedly not a happenstance of the environment.

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regions of Japan. Water was taken from the Yamazaki distillery and transported several hundred miles away to the Hakushu distillery where it was used to produce whiskey. The resulting whiskey actually took on the flavor profile of Yamazaki even though it was distilled at Hakushu. A reverse experiment was also performed and again, the flavors of the whiskies aligned with their respective water source.

erhaps even more important is the climate and related geography of a distillery. As whiskies mature in their barrels, the alcohol slowly evaporates as the angels take their share and the depleted whiskey is naturally replaced by local air. Thus, coastal

distilleries are likely to have the local atmosphere impart a salty, sometimes briny characteristic to their whiskey. In the same vein, you are much less likely to get a salty profile from a Highland whiskey, aged in airs far from the sea. It’s fair to say that whiskey profiling is not entirely void of a traditional sense of terroir. Perhaps a more accurate term (lacking the winemaking baggage and ire) could be employed but we’ll leave that to Scottish linguists. If you find yourself drinking in circles frequented by pedantic purists who wince while you take a few liberties with language and appropriate the word “terroir,” perhaps it’s time to drink a little more and care a little less.

Libation Laureate

Drinking Keeps Me Close to the Sea By Ale Gasso

I take it seriously this clearing of bottles destined to house the most fragile ships itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a steady chop all the way down too much for even the biggest fish to swallow without a breach.

New Booze: Sherry

Bodegas Grant “La Garrocha” Fino Sherry By Amy Murray of Cask, SF

As the writer of a ‘New Booze’ column, I never thought I’d be able to talk about sherry, but here we are: Bodegas Grant is the newest sherry producer imported to the US, and just in time for a resurgence in popularity of this previously obscured wine. Sherry has been produced for centuries and plays an integral role in the aging of spirits, as sherry casks add unique flavor to a variety of spirits, but there has been very little rhetoric surrounding it in the modern cocktail community until recently. There is a romance and an unmatched mystique to this wine, but many bodegas outside of Jerez (sherry’s production region in Spain) have been shuttered due to the world’s waned enthusiasm. An import from a new, boutique sherry producer is both exciting and relieving.

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Bodegas Grant is located in El Puerto de Santa Maria, southwest of Jerez on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. El Puerto is best known for its Fino and Amontillado sherries, as a coastal town is ideal for producing these fresh and delicatelyprofiled wines. A bodega’s vicinity to water creates a heartier flor — a layer of flowerlike yeast on the top of the wine — within the barrel to protect the wine from oxidization, maintaining the wine’s intended delicacies.

Grant’s fino, called “La Garrocha,” is distinctly floral, with bright meyer lemon and sea air on the nose. The palate grows in fresh fruit character for just a moment, before turning dry and briny with just a touch of peach blossom to finish. It shows amazing balance between freshness, acidity and oxidation; its delicate playfulness makes me wonder if that’s why it is named after the dance La Garrocha.

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HotS

First came the steam engine, then refrig and then lager beerâ&#x20AC;Ś and lager beer bec damn popular. Shortly after the Californ Gold Rush, the pioneers gave the world beer. You see, lager beer is aged briefly, â&#x20AC;&#x153;laggedâ&#x20AC;? at cold temperatures. But ther refrigeration yet in San Francisco in the and all those thirsty miners wanted lage

Steamy So

By Sam Devine Photos by Amy Widdowson

the brewers tried making lager beer without refrigeration — at ale temperatures. At first it was a total flop. By the time the hot brew of hops and barley cooled, wild yeasts and other buggers had gotten in and spoiled the batch before the lager-style yeasts could be added. Some nameless, innovative brewer came up with “cool ships": long shallow pans into which the beer was poured, allowing the wort (unfermented beer) to cool much more rapidly. Once the temperature had dropped to where the lager yeasts could survive, they were added to the mix and went about their

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geration, came nia steam , or re was no 1850s, er.

Anchor Steam’s historic roots and delicious future

This beer, made with lager yeasts and fermented at ale temperatures, came to be called steam beer. Some said watching the beer ferment in cool ships was like watching steam, or that the vats could be seen steaming as they cooled in the cold San Francisco air. But the most widely accepted story is that the beer earned its title due to its copious carbonation. Published in 1902, Wahl and Heinus’ 'American Handy Book of Malting and Brewing' says, “The beer is largely consumed throughout the state of California. It is called steam beer on account of its highly effervescing properties and the amount of pressure it has in the trade packages.” California had its steam beer, which has turned out to be one of few styles of beer invented in America, and now is technically classified as “California common beer.” There were maybe fifty breweries churning out beer at the time, including Golden City Brewery. Owned

by German brewmaster Gottlieb Brekle, it was sold in 1896 to Ernst F. Baruth and his son-in-law Otto Schinkel Jr. and the business was renamed Anchor Brewing. The miners, pioneers, and sailors drank beer and the breweries made money, until two evils befell the world of beer: prohibition and industrialization. Prohibition wiped out a rich tradition of brewing across America. Distributors went bankrupt, and the passage of knowledge between brewmasters nearly ceased, eradicating refined recipes and techniques. No one is sure how Anchor Brewing survived these dark times — at least no one’s talking. It is possible they produced root beer and other soda-pops. More likely, in a city famous for its indomitable lawlessness, they were able to turn a trade on the black market.

little microbial lives creating alcohol.

At any rate, Anchor got back to brewing steam beer in 1933 after the repeal of prohibition only to face the scourge of industrialization a few years later, furthered by the massive production

efforts of the World Wars. America had gotten very much in the habit of making thousands and thousands of the same thing, whether that was tanks, or jeeps, or boots, or Spam, or beer. And thus, adjunct American lagers swept the land, overtaking many a small brewery.

Brewing was saved by money made from one of these industrialized products. The Maytag Corporation prospered selling washing machines — providing quite a few of those mass-produced things that everybody wanted. And so it came to be in 1965 that a young Fritz Maytag, greatgrandson of company founder Frederick Maytag, was sitting at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, enjoying an Anchor steam beer when he was told that it would be the last one he would ever have. The brewery was closing.

onically, Anchor

Fritz headed down to the brewery and ended up using some of his inheritance to purchase a controlling share in the failing brewery. The young Stanford graduate then went about learning everything he could about brewing beer. He took an

interest in reviving the older styles of steam beer. “The only hope we had to get traction was to be more traditional.” says Maytag today, sitting in Anchor’s Potrero Hill brewery, “To be more real, more oldfashioned.” And by being more old-fashioned, Anchor spearheaded the revival of craft brewing in America. Sadly, between sugary sweet soda and the cost-reducing production tactics of corporate America, the USA had come to expect massproduced lager beers. There was a whole other world of beer that was being sorely neglected. Anchor’s beers helped reawaken American taste buds. “Normal people now want beer like that,” says Maytag of their hoppy, flavorful brews. “In those days that was just unheard of. Why would you drink a beer like that? What’s wrong with it? It looks like it’s dark.” “We were not doing anything goofy,” says Maytag. “We were trying to go back to the most solid, old-fashioned, traditional beers imaginable. And nowadays to make a stir you have to do something… you

he Truth About Lagers And Ales The difference between a lager and an ale comes down to just one thing: yeast. Ale yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae if you’re feeling fancy, is called top fermenting yeast as it does all of its work at the top of the fermentation tank. It performs best at a balmy 75°F, meaning that as the wort cools, an ale starts fermenting sooner. The sooner fermentation starts, the

less of a chance icky bacteria have at setting up shop in your beer. Lager yeast, Saccharomyces carlsbergensis, works at fermentation at the bottom of the tank, and needs much cooler temperatures in order to operate. If a brewery doesn’t have the means to cool the wort quickly before lager yeast can work its magic, that’s where problems start.

& &

But they didn’t stop there. Dan Mitchell, who’s worked at Anchor Brewing for over twenty-five years, says Fritz Maytag would walk up to him on the production floor and simply say, “You know, nobody makes the original American whisky.” And then just walk away.

A m

erica’s original whisky was rye whisky. Heck, the original recipe for a Manhattan calls for rye, but prohibition was the death of rye. Americans had become accustomed to the smooth flavor of blended whiskies from Canada and Ireland, smuggled across the borders. Or they grew to favor the toasty backwoods, bootleg bourbons of Kentucky.

An d in the same way that Anchor helped resurrect steam beer and craft brewing, they were among the first to begin distilling rye. Made from a single copper pot still, Anchor’s Old Potrero Rye (Straight and Colonial styles), and Old Potrero Hotaling’s Whisky (named for the whisky warehouse that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire), are made in limited batches and are hard to find, even in San Francisco. But that may be changing. Last year, Fritz Maytag sold the brewery to the Griffin Group of Novoto, known for their work in the spirits world, most notably with Skyy Vodka (later selling their share to Gruppo Campari). Liquor marketers Berry Brothers and Rudd of London are also partial owners. Through these transactions, Anchor has gone from a small maker of craft beer and whisky to a company with an importing arm boasting over fifty brands from around the globe.

have a chocolate-strawberry stout. In those days there was not a porter in all of England when we launched Anchor Porter and it was the only real dark beer in America… We didn’t use coloring, it was made with dark and black malt.”

“Fritz had come to the point where he was ready to move on,” says Keith Greggor of Griffin Group, late one afternoon in the brewery’s taproom. “And we thought, what a great synergy to put the two businesses together. That would enable us to strengthen the spirits that are made here — Junipero Gin and Old Potrero Whisky — which were not really getting their fair shake out in the industry because this is a beer focused company. But we could use our spirit distribution network to help those.” After the sale, a murmur arose from beer aficionados around the world, wondering: “Will Anchor now start cutting corporate corners? Will it become another mass-produced American beer?” “One of the things with Fritz was, you know, you had to pass a test,” says Greggor. “You had to be approved. And it took a while to get to know Fritz and to really convince him that the

very values that he had put together in this company were something that we believed in.” And one of the first new releases that came from Anchor Brewers and Distillers confirmed this. Much like Maytag had revived a late nineteenth century beer recipe and a whiskey recipe from the late eighteenth, Berry Bros and Rudd’s No.3 London Dry Gin chose to emulate what gin may have been like at the end of the seventeenth century. “I wanted to create the gin we would have made 250 years ago,” said David King, creator of the gin, between sips of his preferred cocktail, the classic Negroni. During San Francisco Beer Week last year, Anchor released Brekle’s Brown, a brown ale named in homage to the breweries original founder, George Brekle. And so things come full circle, and Anchor’s tradition of honoring those that came before continues full steam ahead.

& &

Bet Bu by Ford Mixology Lab, New York

“Tiny bubbles in the wine make me happy make me feel fine.”

tter with Bubbles Americans are enamored with carbonation. From our overindulgence in soda, to our affinity for sparkling wine, to our recent interest in adding bubbles to cocktails. Yes, bubbles existed in cocktails in the form of sparkling water long ago—a classic recipe for a Gin Rickey calls for bubbly water with gin and lime. But there seems to be a new-found desire to insert bubbles in drinks that were once still. Sparkling Negroni? Effervescent Manhattan? Fizzy Martini? Why are we so charmed by the fanfare of carbon dioxide inside our glass?

hy do we become giddy at the tingle of fizz on our tongue? Whether in a vodka soda or a gin-and-champagne French 75, people like the texture of bubbles. Why do we feel that everything’s better with bubbles? Simply put, it’s the way they make us feel.

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“Tiny bubbles make me warm all over with a feeling that I’m gonna love you ‘til the end of time.” “Sparkling, still or tap?” is a question servers often use to greet their tables in regards to their water preference. It seems that a glass filled with effervescence transforms into something different, something instantly more fun and more refined: an upgrade. Tap water is free, but sparkling bottled water seems so luxurious; a frivolous expense that, when ordered, becomes affluence. Opting for the sparkling variety seems like throwing dollar bills in the air and makin’ it rain. Why is it that bubbles seem like a status symbol? It all goes back to royalty and religion...

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e won’t get into the chemistry behind bubbles and carbon dioxide, because unless you are a budding chemist, you’d probably stop reading. But we will give you a few quick facts. Benedictine monks may have created the first sparkling wine years before Champagne was made by

accident. That’s right, Champagne was a happy accident. Later, it became a staple in the liquid diets of European royalty due to its association with French Kings. In more modern times, the middle class adopted Champagne as a way to celebrate rites of passage under a cloak of affluence. By drinking the bubbly stuff, we were climbing the rungs of an invisible social ladder.

“So here’s to the golden moon and here’s to the silver sea and mostly here’s a toast to you and me.” Carbonation is no new concept, but creating your own seltzer has become more accessible. Go into any kitchen supply store, and you can find all sorts of contraptions for the home carbonation enthusiast. If you’re so inclined, you can purchase everything from a hand-held iSi Seltzer soda siphon, to a Twist ‘n Sparkle chamber that carbonates any liquid (both featured on the title page of this article), to a large penguin-shaped counter unit by SodaStream. Some bars keep CO2 tanks outfitted with

pressurizing nozzles handy to carbonate juices and transform them into “housemade sodas.” At this past year’s Tales of the Cocktail, we had the opportunity to try out a device called the Perlini. In super laymans terms (we’re not scientists) the Perlini serves as a cocktail shaker that carbonates its contents while the bartender shakes. Instant carbonated cocktail. For a bar program that we recently consulted on, the management was adamant about adding a carbonated cocktail as an up-charge on the original. They thought that people would pay 10-15% more for air. And you know what? They’re probably right.

Carbonation is fancy — something extra. Who wants the outdated original when you can have bubbles for a few bucks more? In today’s economic climate, we encourage anything that makes you feel celebratory. So indulge in those tiny bubbles, raise a glass, and feel fine. You deserve it.

“So here’s to the ginger lei I give you today and here’s a kiss that will not fade away.” -”Tiny Bubbles,” as sung by Don Ho

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Two Sisters Bar and Books $$

579 Hayes Street (at Laguna) The Olsen Twins? Pfft! The Fannings? Get out! There’s a new set of sibling stars on the rise in Hayes Valley: Mikha Diaz and Mary Elliott of Two Sisters Bar and Books. It’s arguable the combination of books + booze already had a rooted footprint near Civic Center (Ever been to the main library on Larkin? Brown bags for days!), but Two Sisters’ narrow, tucked-up interior resembles a relic from the Barbary Coast era, ripe for a scholarly, brimmed-hat hang. Throw in some vintage wallpaper, an entire wall of mind-expanding literature with a take-one-leave-one policy, and touches of 19th century craftsmanship throughout... and you’ve got a sophisticated, East Coast-style drinkery any laureate would enjoy. Sip:

Nibble:

Port of SF: Maderia, lime, ginger, pilsner.

Mary’s Chicken Meatballs: Spinach, pancetta, white wine, pesto, grana padano.

Goat Town NYC: Cardamaro, Carpano Antica, lemon, simple syrup, red wine. Headless Horseman: Chardonnay, Dolin Blanc, two bitters, club soda. Vibe: Keane L says, “I can only hope that, while I imbibe, osmosis occurs between myself and the many books so that I might leave feeling a little more knowledgeable.”

Beef Jerky: Housemade. Deviled Eggs: Ancho, prosciutto. Hours: Tu-Th 4pm-11pm; Fr 4pm-12am; Sa 1pm-12am; Su 12pm-8pm. Happy Hour: Tu-Fr 4pm-6pm; Sa 1pm-4pm Alcohol: Beer + Wine (for now... come on ABC!) Ambiance: Intimate

Alexis B says, “It’s a locals/neighborhood joint that emphasizes all the right elements of a European café meeting a DIY Brooklyn bar.”

For more reviews of Two Sisters Bar and Books, as well as hundreds of other bars, restaurants, and any other business you’re looking to connect to, shimmy on over to www.yelp.com, or download the Yelp mobile app today!

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WATER IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE. AND THATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOW WE TREAT IT. For people mindful of their health and that of the planet, water is a critical concern. At MAVEA, we use only BPA-free plastics. All our filters are 100% recyclable. And our designs integrate detail after detail to make sustainable water use as delicious and enjoyable as possible.

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HEY THERE, HOT STUFF Great hot drinks, and excuses to set stuff on fire By Kara Newman

“Have you ever considered how often we set stuff on fire?” the bartender asked as he set my Manhattan down. As if to illustrate his point, he deftly flexed an orange peel over the drink, sparking the citrus oil into flames with a match struck on the edge of the bar.

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t’s true, when you think about it. Everyone has a hazy memory of sucking down flaming shots of one kind or another. For me, it was ouzo. Some like to set absinthe on fire as part of an elaborate (and completely inauthentic) drinking ritual; this practice was developed in order to make Czech absinthe palatable, but most distillers I’ve met frown on having their product cooked. I once watched author Wayne Curtis use a charcoal starter to ignite overproof rum-soaked gunpowder — WHOOSH! — to demonstrate how alcoholic content was tested prior to the invention of the hydrometer (scan the QR

code to watch). A glass container used to measure the specific gravity of a liquid, the hydrometer is certainly a safer and more accurate means of alcohol testing, but not nearly as fun. And just as some have made a career of setting booze on fire, others have seen their careers nearly go up in flames as a result. Consider, for example, New York bar impresario Albert Trummer, who pled guilty earlier this year to disorderly conduct following charges that he drizzled various alcoholic beverages along the bartop at Apothéke and ignited them, producing a trail of flame six feet wide and three feet tall. Of course, flames aren’t only for show — fire has distinct utility

See the video

Photo by Bill C Martin

in cocktails. As demonstrated by the bartender with the orange peel, flaming citrus can add a pleasant caramelized flavor. Fire is also useful in warming drinks for consumption. In fact, hot drinks are among the most historic — and some would say, among the most beloved, especially this frosty time of year. And why not? They warm us, body and soul…and give us an excuse to play with red-hot pokers and blowtorches. Here are three hot drinks through history, and some modern incarnations.

The Hot Buttered Rum

THEN: This may be the oldest of all the hot winter drinks, with antecedents in drinks from the English Middle Ages, such as Posset, Syllabub and Caudle — drinks that featured hot beer, eggs, cream, spices and, occasionally, butter, in various

combinations.

NOW: These days, one need not butter rum — bartenders are also buttering up brandy, mezcal, aged tequila, and all manner of whiskeys. Although simplified recipes are increasingly common, in which warmed drinks are ‘finished’ with unsalted butter, most Hot Buttered Rum recipes call for concocting an elaborate batter, mixing butter, spices, and sugar. A dollop of this batter then is administered to boiling water and spirits.

The Flip

THEN: Like Buttered Rum, the Flip likely shares DNA with some Middle Ages drinks as well. Syllabub, for example, made with rum, warm milk and spices, is just steps removed from both the Hot Buttered Rum and the Flip. In his book “And A Bottle of Rum,”

author Wayne Curtis offers this reconstructed 18th century recipe: “Mix one cup of beer [a stout like Guinness works best], two tablespoons of molasses, and one ounce Jamaican-style rum into mug or tankard. Heat loggerhead to red hot in an open fire [a fireplace poker knocked clean of ashes will do], then thrust into drink. Keep loggerhead in place until foaming and sputtering ceases. Drink hot.” The flip’s popularity “bordered on a mania,” Curtis says, even though plunging a red-hot poker into this beerrum-and-molasses concoction created “an alcoholic porridge,” with a “bitter, slightly burned taste.” But the New England colonists loved it, and it provided sustenance as well as warmth. There were as many variations on the flip as there were taverns. One in particular stands out: adding beaten eggs to the pokerstirred potion changed the name to “Yard of Flannel,” referring to the wooly, rough texture of cooked eggs. Appetizing, no?

NOW: The flip still exists, and still includes an egg, but now it’s served icy

cold. For those with access to a fireplace, I dare you to try reviving the pokercooked version.

The Blue Blazer THEN:

Of all the hot drinks, the Blue Blazer is the pyromaniac’s dream. It’s also the signature cocktail of Jerry Thomas, the mid-1800s “father of American mixology.” Essentially, it’s a toddy set ablaze: cask-strength Scotch with raw sugar and lemon peel, set on fire and sifted between two metal pint mugs. With each pour, the distance between the two mugs grows wider and wider — eventually creating a long, thin blue streak of flame that is “tossed” between the two mugs.

NOW: The Professor’s drink has enjoyed a comeback among bartenders given to both classic cocktails and dramatic showmanship. In 2007, the drink was showcased at a “Blue Blazer MixOff ” at New York’s Pegu Club. Pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini and molecular gastronomy whiz Dave Arnold even used a blowtorch to aid their entry.

Come on baby, light my fire! Texas Tequila Toddy

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In Texas, tequila is the tipple of choice. If you’ve only ever had tequila in a Margarita, you’re in for a treat: here, Austin’s Bill Norris showcases the rich honey-caramel tones of añejo tequila in a most warming way.

1 1.5 oz. 1 oz. .5 oz.

cardamom pod, cracked añejo tequila (7 Leguas) fresh key lime juice agave nectar

6 oz. 1

boiling water Pinch fresh grated Mexican cinnamon

Garnish: vanilla bean or cinnamon stick Crack cardamom pod with the flat side of a knife. Place in heat safe mug. Add tequila, lime and agave nectar. Fill with hot water. Grate cinnamon over glass and gently stir. Slit a vanilla bean lengthwise and use as stir stick in glass.

Kara Newman is the author of Spice & Ice: 60 tongue-tingling cocktails.

Websites to Drink to

Worship the Goddess

Drinkify.org

he result of a twenty-four hour hack-a-thon and lots of gin and juice, Drinkify is a website that is the cocktail list to your playlist. Just type in the name of a music artist, and out pops a surprisingly pertinent potable. While we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t vouch for all of the drinks suggested, the culturally relevant suggestions are pretty entertaining.

walks into a bar... A parasite walks into a bar. The bartender says "we don't serve your kind in here." The parasite says "well you're not a very good host."

NINKASIBREWING.COM

Eat Your Booze

Rum Panna Cotta By Denise Sakaki

anna cotta is a classic Italian dessert, using cream, milk, sugar, and gelatin to create a creamy custard-like pudding. It’s traditionally served chilled, often topped with fruit. To make this into a cocktailthemed dessert, a little spiced rum is incorporated, lending its rich flavors of oak and vanilla to the velvety finish of the dessert. It’s topped with a rich caramel sauce and pomegranate seeds soaked in spiced rum, which adds a sweet and tart balance. Make sure to use a well-balanced spiced rum; a good one should have detectable notes of vanilla, but also some depth with a little oak, and the molasses

richness to round out the spirit’s overall experience. I personally like Chairman’s Reserve, but use whatever spiced rum you like best. It’s a fairly simple dessert to make, and good for holiday parties as the panna cotta can be prepared the night before. The caramel sauce can be made ahead as well, and gently warmed before spooning over each pudding during serving. The rum soaked pomegranate seeds give the desserts a bright, jeweled finish. Save the rum used to soak the pomegranate seeds to drizzle over the desserts of those wanting an extra kick of flavor.

Spiced Rum Panna Cotta with Caramel Sauce and Drunken Pomegranate Seeds

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(makes 6-8 servings)

Ingredients for the panna cotta 2 cups heavy cream at room temperature 2 cups whole milk 1 cup sugar 1 cup spiced rum 4 tsp unflavored gelatin powder (2 quarter-ounce envelopes) 1 whole vanilla bean, split lengthwise

The panna cotta should be made the night before; otherwise, allow up to at least 3 to 4 hours of refrigeration time prior to serving. Let the dried pomegranate seeds soak in the rum a few hours or overnight.

Ingredients for the caramel sauce 1 cup sugar 1 cup whipping cream at room temperature 1 cup of butter, cubed 1 tbsp light corn syrup

Take a medium sized saucepan and place over medium high heat. Carefully add the rum,bring to a boil, and reduce by half to burn off most of the alcohol. Lower the heat to medium, and add the milk and sugar, whisking constantly until the sugar is fully dissolved. Take your split vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the milk, rum and sugar mixture. You can put the whole bean in to steep the flavor, but just remember to remove it.

For garnish (can soak dried fruit overnight) 1 cup dried pomegranate seeds or cranberries 1 cup spiced rum to soak dried fruit

To make the panna cotta, sprinkle the gelatin powder over the cream, so that it can soften. Set aside.

Lower the heat to medium-low, and carefully add the cream and gelatin mix, whisking constantly. The gelatin will have started to form soft blobs, but keep whisking, as the gentle heat from the stove will help melt it down. Whisk mixture for another 2-3 minutes, until it feels like no large chunks of the gelatin remain. Before pouring the mixture into the serving glasses, use a metal sieve and strain it into another bowl or large measuring cup, to remove any large gelatin pieces and the vanilla bean. Let the mixture cool slightly before carefully pouring it into the final dessert glasses, leaving enough room for the caramel topping when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s served. Cover each glass with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to set.

using it to top the panna cotta. When serving the dish, remove the chilled panna cotta glasses from the refrigerator and let them stand to take some of the chill off. Carefully pour the warm caramel sauce over each panna cotta, letting it create an even layer over the surface. You can drizzle some of the reserved spiced rum from the soaked pomegranate seeds to add, if you want a heavier rum flavor. Sprinkle the rumsoaked pomegranate seeds over the caramel before serving.

The caramel sauce can be made an hour or two before serving. Place a high-sided saucepan over medium-low heat, and add the sugar, corn syrup and water. Use a wooden spoon to mix constantly, until the sugar is fully dissolved. As the mixture is stirred, if you see a buildup of sugar crystals start to form along the inner walls of the pot, use a pastry brush with water to brush the sugar down. Once the mixture is smooth, bring up the heat to mediumhigh and remove the spoon. Let the mixture come to a boil and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stir, just let the sugar start to caramelize, until you see it turn a golden brown before removing it from the heat.

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Carefully add the cream and butter to this mixture. Adding these will cause the caramel to bubble and foam. Place the pot onto the stove to medium low, continuing to stir until the bits of caramel melt down and the texture becomes smooth. Allow the sauce to cool before

Shochu: Japan’s

Distilled Beverage O

By Yoko Kumano with Washi Washino, Shochu Advisor

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ne of my most vivid alcohol-related memories is going to Kyoto in the summer of 2003 and trying my first shochu drink. I was visiting Japan’s former capital with my dad’s new wife, Sachiyo. Sachiyo is but a memory, but the impact she left on me the moment she casually ordered an oolong-hi (shochu iced tea) for me would last forever. Sitting on the tatami mats in an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) overlooking the Kamo River in Kyoto, our feet were finally free from the confines of our shoes and our throats were parched from a long day of sightseeing in the scorching humidity. Seeing that tall glass of shochu with oolong tea, glistening in the glare of the setting sun, touching down on our wooden table was seductive.

he first sip shuttled me back to childhood, when I would come home from school and my mom would pour mugi-cha (cold, unsweetened barley tea) out of her retro Tupperware pitcher into matching Tupperware cups. The second sip revealed shochu’s earthy aroma colliding with the sweetness of the oolong tea — this was an iced tea for adults. And the third sip made me a die-hard oolong-hi fan. I soon discovered that canned oolong-hi’s were available in every convenient store, and izakayas across Japan were mixing shochu with all types of teas including oolong, green and even earl grey. I knew I loved this mixed drink called “oolong-hi” but I became more and more curious about its main ingredient — shochu. How come I had never heard of it before? Wasn’t sake the drink of Japan? Why were so many people abandoning their tokkuris (sake flasks) for the sound of ice crackling to the pouring of shochu? Two years after my trip to Kyoto, I moved from California to Tokyo and I clearly landed in a country that was in the midst of a burgeoning trend. All of my Japanese friends were drinking shochu and when I would walk home from work every night, I would see peoples’ recycling crates filled to the brim with shochu bottles and beer cans. The diet-conscious nation was thrilled by shochu’s low-calorie content. And shochu’s agreeable nature could also place it beside virtually any dish — steak, smoked cheese, grilled chicken — dishes which typically do not pair well with sake.

Simply put, shochu is a distilled beverage

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Japan was experiencing a shochu craze during the 2000s. Nearly 10 years after the shochu boom in Japan, shochu is hardly known in the U.S. and is still most often mistaken for Korea’s distilled beverage, soju. So what is shochu?

native to Japan. Scotland has its Scotch, Russia has its vodka, Mexico has its tequila, and Japan has Shochu.

S DrinkMeMag.com

hochu has always been consumed regularly in southern Japan. Since shochuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birth in the 1500s, the default drink choice for men and women in Kyushu and Okinawa has been shochu over sake. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t until the 2000s (roughly 500 years later) when the rest of Japan caught onto shochu. Today, it is the most popular drink in terms of sales, leaving sake and beer in the dust since 2003.

Shochu is one of the few distilled drinks that is made from a wide variety of raw ingredients. The most common ingredients are barley (mugi), sweet potato (imo), short grain rice (kome) and long grain rice (awamori). The list goes on to include Kagoshima brown sugar (kokuto), carrot, buckwheat, sesame, chesnut and others. First-time drinkers are often surprised by the earthy aroma of shochu that is

sometimes described as wild or rooty. The typical alcohol percentage of shochu is 20-25% which puts it well below your usual gin or other hard alcohol. All shochu can be grouped into two categories: honkaku and kourui. Honkaku shochus in Japan are enjoyed in a fashion similar to a premium whisky. Honkaku shochus are single distilled and are considered to be premium shochus. Just like a good whisky or mezcal, the most common way to drink honkaku shochu is neat or with a water element. The Japanese drink their honkaku shochu with ice, cold water or hot water. On a humid, hot summer day, salarymen unwind to shochu over blocks of ice. During the cold winter months, it is common to see the young and old curling up to a mug of imo shochu diluted with hot water. Oolong tea is also used as a mixer during the warmer seasons to create my oolong-hi. Kourui shochus are multiply distilled and due to their less characteristic nature, they

Shochu options Variation

ABV

Distiller/ Origin

Characteristics

ENMA

Mugi (barley)

25%

Oimatsu Shuzo/ Oita

Aged in white oak barrels, ENMA evokes words such as “smooth, “ “caramel” and “whisky.” A shochu that is often enjoyed after a meal. Recommended for whisky drinkers.

YAMA NO MORI

Mugi (barley)

25%

Yama No Mori Shuzojo/ Nagazaki

YAMA NO MORI captures barley’s inherent toastiness and presents the drinker with a sweet and lasting aftertaste. Recommended for beer enthusiasts.

TOMI NO HOZAN

Imo (sweet potato)

25%

NIshi Shuzo/ Kagoshima

This is a great shochu for beginners because it is smooth, clear and mild. Its fruity aroma carries hints of rosemary.

SATOH

Imo (sweet potato)

25%

Satoh Shuzo/ Kagoshima

The sweetness of potato and floral aroma expands throughout the mouth. This rich shochu is a perfect match for grilled chicken and fried fish cake (satsuma-age).

TORI KAI

Kome (rice)

25%

Torikai Shuzojo/ Kumamoto

TORI KAI is Princess Masako’s favorite drink. Fruity aroma and velvety texture. TORI KAI is available at BevMo.

TOYONAGA

Kome (rice)

25%

Toyonaga Shuzo/ Toyonaga

TOYONAGA has the sweet scent of rice, with a hint of tanginess. Pairs well with grilled vegetables.

YAEYAMA SEIFUKU

Awamori (Long Grain Rice)

30%

Seifuku Shuzosho/ Okinawa

Many of the awamori that are imported to the U.S. have an ABV lower than 30%. YAEYAMA SEIFUKU AWAMORI is one of the few available in the U.S. that hits the 30% mark and exhibits the brightness that is characteristic of awamori.

LENTO

Kokuto (brown sugar)

25%

Amami Oshima Kaiun Shuzo/ Kagoshima

Fruity fragrance and light on the palate. Recommended for people who don’t drink often. Comes in a clear aquamarine bottle.

UNKAI

Soba (buckwheat)

25%

Unkai/ Miyazaki

Fresh aroma and flavor. Suprisingly easy to drink for a buckwheat shochu, which can sometimes have a bitter fragrance. Easy on the wallet.

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Name

work well with sugary mixers. Canned chu-hi's are available in convenience stores and all-you-can-drink karaoke boxes across Japan. Chu-hi cocktails consist of one part shochu, two parts soda water and a splash of juice. Chuhis are reminiscent of a vodka press or greyhound. Think of kourui shochu as the shochu you would find in the well, whereas honkaku would be considered â&#x20AC;&#x153;top shelf.â&#x20AC;?

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Mugi (Barley)

Perhaps because we are used to other drinks that are made from barley, mugi (barley) shochu is in most cases the easiest entry for people who want to explore the world of shochu. Mugi shochu echoes the mild sweetness of whiskey and is considered to have a less earthy aroma than imo (sweet potato). Mugi shochu is clear in color, except for the aged varieties which are a light brown and can taste like a light Scotch. Mugi shochu can be described as having a chocolatey, round aroma and can be enjoyed on the rocks or neat.

Imo (Sweet Potato) Imo shochu spearheaded the shochu boom of the early 2000s in Japan. It smells like baked sweet potato which distinguishes itself from other variations of shochu. Imo shochu lovers enhance the aroma by adding hot water to fully enjoy the characteristics of the drink. Imo shochu is clear in color in most cases and is often described as sweet, but full of character. Imo shochu is a fitting recommendation for alcohol enthusiasts, adventurous eaters and seasoned shochu drinkers.

Kome (Short Grain Rice)

The obvious parallel to mention here is that kome shochu shares the same main ingredient as sake (nihonshu), so it is no coincidence that it exhibits the same sweet and light aroma of sake. But the comparison ends here as the process of distilling greatly deviates kome shochu from the taste of sake. Kome is lighter and crisper than barley and imo shochus making it easy to pair with virtually any type of food, raw or cooked.

Awamori Made from long grain rice, awamori is a shochu variation exclusively produced in Okinawa, due to a mold spore native to the Okinawa islands. With an average ABV of 30%, awamori is much stronger than other variations of shochus, which hover around 20-25%. Awamori is categorized into two groups; shinshu (new) and koshu (aged). Shinshu awamori is clear in color and has a more pronounced boldness than koshu. Koshu awamori is aged for at least three years and is smoother than shinshu awamori. Due to its high alcohol content, grassy brightness and birthplace in a warm climate, blanco tequila-lovers may find an interest in shinshu awamori. A curious cocktail I’ve had with awamori looks like a mojito, but is actually awamori on the rocks with a dab of freshly grated

Uncovering Spirits By Victoria Gutierrez

wasabi and minced shiso leaves. The shiso, like mint in a mojito, provides a refreshing kick to the grassy awamori and the wasabi lends spice.

o truly understand how shochu has become a staple in Japan’s drinking culture, one only needs to peer inside an izakaya and see a wall of bottles with tags hanging off of them. Each one with the name of a regular customer who comes by to drink it daily — a practice called “bottle keeping" in Japan. My husband and I always “bottle keep” Kurokirishima (imo) at our favorite izakaya in Shimokitazawa. Like a mirage in the middle of the desert, the image of our very own bottle kept me going during those stressful days at work, providing a sense of home admidst the busy streets of Tokyo.

Black Bull 12 Year Old

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One look at the sinister bull on this label, and you expect something just as robust in the bottle. Black Bull is a powerful blend of 50% malt whisky and 50% grain whisky, first sold in the States in 1938 and clocking in at 100 proof. Aging in old sherry casks brings plenty of sweetness, and a sip brings to mind raisins and ripe pear, with a finish of chocolate and vanilla. We suggest sipping this on the rocks so you can fully appreciate its complexity. This bull kicks with full cask strength, though, so don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Swallow Your Words: Book Review

CRAFT BEER BAR MITZVAH By Mario Rubio

Author: Jeremy Cowan with James Sullivan Subject: An autobiographical journey from beer lover to beer maker

Synposis & Review: Cowan brings the reader along for the story of how he got into the beer business. Far from a “How To” guide on opening a brewery, “Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah” gives the reader insight into how things were done in the craft beer business as small, independent beer makers blazed their own trail through regulation and an industry controlled by industrial breweries. With few examples of “how it’s done” to rely on, Cowan does it his own way, acknowledging his failures and celebrating his successes along the way.

Why We Recommend It: “Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah” reads as if you’re sitting across the bar from Cowan with each chapter a brief pause to buy another round. The story stops for all the appropriate asides that you’d expect from a great pub tale and includes plenty of humor to keep you flipping through the pages.

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About the Author: Tell your mother he’s a nice Jewish boy who graduated from Stanford. She may be less interested to know that his brewery has been around for over 15 years and was included in RateBeer.com’s Top 100 Breweries of 2011.

The Craft of Stone Brewing Co. Liquid lore, epic recipes, and unabashed arrogance By Victoria Gutierrez

Authors: Greg Koch and Steve Wagner with Randy Clemens

Subject: Craft beer and the history and lore of Stone Brewing Co.

Synopsis and Review: These guys make a beer called ‘Arrogant Bastard,’ so it’s no surprise that there is a good dose of arrogance going on in this book (well meaning, I’m sure). It tries to be a book for everyone out there: in addition to a history of Stone, quick write-ups of all the Stone beers, and recipes for home-brewing your own Stone concoctions, there is a very lengthy and very basic introduction to the properties of beer, along with a primer for homebrewing. While it’s all very comprehensive and helpful, you’ve got to wonder if the average buyer of a book about Stone Brewing Co. really needs to be told what hops and barley are. That being said, advanced readers of the book can still glean grains of knowledge from the very well written ‘Nature Of Beer’ selection (I dog-eared the pages with charts explaining all the different malt and hops varieties). Why We Recommend It: Arrogance aside, it’s a gorgeous book, and the history of the brewery is told in a warm, entertaining way. The story of the Arrogant Bastard Ale is revealed in all of its serendipitous glory, though the recipe for it is a conspicuous omission from Part Three. Profiles and descriptions for every one of their beers are included, from that first Stone Pale Ale through every last collaboration beer. Not to be outdone by similarly arrogant wine tomes, there are also nineteen recipes for dishes that pair perfectly with the beer. At $25 and 208 pages, this book is a perfect gift for the beer lover on your list. As founder Greg Koch says, even if they don’t read it, it still makes “a badass coffee table decoration.” About the Authors: Greg Koch and Steve Wagner founded Stone Brewing over ten years ago and have grown it into the biggest brewery in Southern California and a beacon in the craft beer movement throughout the country. Need I say more? They’ve written it with Randy Clemens who is a BJCP Recognized Beer Judge, established beer writer and PR coordinator for the brewery.

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Seasons Ch By Courtney Harrell

So Should your

Christmahannukwanzaa and N It’s hard to believe it’s that time of the year, already. Winter. The quick change in season has blown in the nippy air and soon twinkling Christmas lights and oversized plastic Santas will overtake your neighborhood. While below zero temperatures might make you long to stay inside and cozy up in front of the fireplace, at some point you’ll escape your home for colder pastures. When you venture out to your holiday parties, soothe your taste buds with holiday libations in the spirit of the season and make sure to wear your ugliest sweater (it’ll get you invited to more parties).

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BEER

When the first snow has fallen, you start thinking about cruising down the freshly powdered mountain. In the lodge at the end of the day, thawing out your fingers and toes, what would better to quench your thirst than an ice-cold winter brew. The malty, rich body of a winter beer is heartwarming and their tendency to have higher alcohol content will ease your recovery. Many of these ales, stouts, IPA’s and bocks are infused with festive seasonal flavors: cloves, cinnamon, maple syrup, chocolate or even coffee. Try Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (10% ABV) for a smooth, creamy and bittersweet chocolate mouthful or a Jubelale (6.7% ABV) from Deschutes Brewery for something a bit spicier.

angeâ&#x20AC;Ś Drinks

New Years Treats

WINE & CHAMPAGNE

Your winter wines need to be bold enough to stand up to the heavy dishes you serve. Grab a Petite Sirah with your next meal. This robust red wine boasts flavors of dark chocolate and coffee and compliments those slow cooked stews, reindeer steaks, and portabella mushroom meals. For the dessert course try an ice wine â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a concentrated, very sweet wine, produced from grapes that are frozen on the vine. And with New Years around the corner, be prepared to pop your bottle of bubbly on New Years to ring in the end of the world. For an easy and impressive cocktail treat, try mixing liqueur such as limoncello or St. Germain elderflower liqueur with that Brut champagne.

COCKTAILS When most of us think of the cold season there are a few traditional drinks that we all know well: Irish coffees, hot toddies and eggnogs. Hop into your favorite bar, pull off your mittens and scarves so you can cheers away your wintry ailments. This year, venture away from your standard hot drinks because rye whiskies, bourbons and scotch drinks will warm your body too, and even tequila may bring out your fiery inferno. Pick your poison and allow your bartender to craft your cocktail with the seasonal staples of nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice, orange zest or perhaps some peppermint. Cocktails muddled with in season fruits such as lemons, dates, currants, tangerines, grapefruit and kiwi can bring a refreshing new twist to your usual drink of choice.

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YOU’VE NEVER HAD EFFEN N LIKE THIS BEFORE.

? e m a d N a n n a i , s s e ' t ori ! a h m e W Taste, M e Sales Mor

Creating cocktails can be

fun, exciting, and borderline torture trying to perfect the spirited combination. At the end of all the trial and error the bartender then gets the joy of naming their new creation. For some, this can be harder than coming up with the actual cocktail, while others have a system for monogramming their masterpieces.

Ainsley, Here is your Meadow By Anu Apte of Rob Roy and Swig Well (SwigWell.com) 1.5oz Islay Single Malt (I use Laphroig 10) 1 oz Drambuie .75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice 1 egg white Shake with ice and double strain into cocktail glass. Top with 1 oz Fever Tree Bitter Lemon Soda. Garnish with a strand of Saffron and a clove.

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As Chief Mixologist at Blackbird in Chicago, Lynn House says that her naming process is a little unorthodox. “I draw a lot of inspiration from pop culture, be it music, movies or books. When I hear a song or movie title, a flavor profile will often start to develop. Sometimes it’s the name first. A perfect example of that is London Calling.” It took House about nine months to create a drink for the name, a play on a Pimm’s Cup that became a big hit. “When I started using more pop culture references I noticed about a 35% increase in sales. It’s a way for people to look at something [new] and make it more familiar.” In new cocktail mecca of Seattle, Rob Roy Bar Owner Anu Apte has a different take on the name game. “My naming process varies

greatly. Sometimes I like to name drinks in a simple descriptive manner, for instance, the Blue Bark Rickey. It is a Rickey style drink that has Blueberries (blue), and Turmeric (bark).” Apte says that she gets more creative with names drawing from memories or current events at the time of creating the cocktail. “My recipe for the 2012 Food and Wine Cocktail Book is ‘Ainsley, Here is your Meadow.’ The drink is a floral scotch based drink with egg whites and a lot of body. Ainsley is a Scottish name meaning ‘my own meadow’ and the drink is soft and mellow” like a beautiful field.

Featured Recipes

Worlds Apart "A Love Ballad" By Russell Davis Bar, Cocktail, & Spirits Consultant Bartender - Rickhouse, SF 1 oz Genevieve 1 oz Junipero Gin .5 oz Small Hand Pineapple Gum Syrup .25 oz Yellow Chartreuse 1 Barspoon Nocino Walnut Liqueur 2 Dashes Aromatic Bitters Technique: Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 15-20 seconds, or until proper dilution. Strain into a chilled coupe glass.

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Garnish: Duke's Orange (a fancy name for orange zest that measure's about 1"x 3" that has been cut off the orange using a vegetable peeler).

All Nogged Up By Ken Walczak

1 oz. 1 oz. 1/2 oz. 1 oz. 2 dashes

Cruzan Black Strap rum Makers' Mark 46 Cinnamon syrup* Lowfat eggnog** Scrappy's chocolate bitters

Technique: Combine ingredients, shake long and hard â&#x20AC;&#x201D; at least 30-40 seconds if you use homemade nog â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and serve up. Garnish: Grate fresh nutmeg over the top. * to make cinnamon syrup, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water and two cinnamon sticks in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 3-4 min. Remove cinnamon sticks and cool. ** store-bought lowfat eggnog works in a pinch, OR you can create your own right in the shaker. Combine two egg yolks (plus one egg white for a frothier cocktail) with 1/2 oz. whipping cream and 1/2 oz. lowfat milk, 1/2 oz cinnamon syrup (recipe above), and a few pinches of fresh nutmeg.

INTRODUCING KNOB CREEK SINGLE BARREL RESERVE. ®

WE POUR OVER EACH AND EVERY BARREL TO HAND SELECT THE VERY BEST BOURBON. AS EXHAUSTING AS THAT SOUNDS, WE’RE DEDICATED TO PERFECTION. YOU WOULDN’T WANT IT ANY OTHER WAY – NEITHER WOULD WE.

H A ND-SE L E C T E D | 120 PROOF | ROBUS T F L AVOR

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