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table of
contents Introduction
1
Editorial
3
How to taste a cocktail
5
Dale dengroff
7
Mixology
1 Introduction
has become a more common used term in recent years and is generally accepted to be a refined, higher study of mixing cocktails and drinks than the everyday actions of a bartender.
3 Editorial
e d itor i a l Bartenders everywhere are the misunderstood bar chefs of the restaurant industry. The view on the industry is slowly changing and bartenders are being known of less as the vodka tonic, beer, and wine slingers to flavour aficionados comparable to the top chefs of this world. Reality television usually showcases one of two things situation or talent, but it’s a rarity to see a talented bartender showcasing his trade whereas chefs strut their skills on ‘Masterchef ’ & ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ on a weekly basis. Lately the bar scene has been buzzing with competitions like Toronto’s Made with Love where the city’s best bartenders challenge themselves to make the best cocktail they can. In a time when finding the newest greatest thing first –before it’s cool- the cocktail comeback will be a huge trend to be a part of. Like any developing industry this niche will soon be filled with opinions, this is purposed to add a mixologists opinion on what is most important on tasting and building a cocktail.
Editorial 4
how to T A
S T
E
5 How to taste a Cocktail
A
cocktail is an experience in not only taste but strives to influence three of the bodies senses. It begins with the eyes a cocktail is presented in an appetizing way, whether that be by a garnish or layers, or a mixture of the two. Toronto’s BarChef specializes in stunning visuals with their drinks involving dry ice, flames, and unorthodox “glassware”. Secondly as the drink approaches the mouth the scent should be the next striking feature. Many drinkers not prefer not to be assaulted with the smell of straight booze, that’s why the garnish on an Old Fashioned tends to be an orange peel it smells and looks great. A trick for a great Mojito is to use a mint leaf to rim the glass before serving, the oils come off starting the drink with a refreshing mint blast before the flavors of lime and white rum cascade after. Taste is usually subjective, but in the case of classic cocktails – much like any well established brand – consistency is key, a Daiquiri should taste like a Daiquiri. Before going through the elements in which a cocktail is built and how they affect the taste, lets begin with learning to describe a cocktail post-nostrils. The best way to describe a cocktail is by taste, texture and temperature. Temperature is easily understood and appreciated, but isn’t as simple as many think but more on that later. Texture is an interesting element in a cocktail, because soda will add fizzy while egg whites can make add a most excellent foam. Taste is purely subjective, but always make sure that the taste you’re aiming for is the taste you have in your glass.
a cocktail
How to taste a Cocktail 6
The ten cocktails that made my career: Dale Dengroff The pioneering barkeep takes us on a journey through th e ear l y day s of t h e c r a f t - c o c k t a i l re n a i s s a n ce .
7 Dale Dengroff
classic mojito
2oz white rum 1oz simple syrup 1.5oz lime juice 2 drops Angostura bitters 8 lime leaves *topped with simple syrup
9 Dale Dengroff
The ten cocktails that made my career: Dale Dengroff by Alia Akkam
W
hile these days you can barely make it a few blocks without stumbling on a cocktail bar touting from-scratch bitters and hand-chipped ice, Dale DeGroff remembers a time when apathetic bartenders presided over soda guns and packages of sour mix. DeGroff, also known by his apt moniker King Cocktail, is recognized as a modern savior of mixology, having played a pivotal role in restoring proper, thoughtfully classic drinks to America’s bars and restaurants. Mixology wasn’t even in the lexicon when he started tending bar, but he became enamored with cocktails first written about in pioneering barman Jerry Thomas’ 19thcentury book, The Bon-Vivant’s Companion, and before long he was tweaking them with gourmet ingredients and weaning customers off their vodka martinis one by one. The Rhode Island native—a James Beard Award winner who has penned two must-read bartending bibles of his own, The Essential Cocktail and The
Craft of the Cocktail—dreamed of becoming an actor when he landed in New York in the late 1960s. He worked in the mailroom of Lois Holland Callaway, the advertising agency his best friend’s brother ran. One of the clients was culinary impresario Joe Baum’s Restaurant Associates. And that, says DeGroff, “was where it all started. Those were my Mad Men days. Ronnie would take us out to all the great places Joe had opened—like the original Charley O’s, in Rockefeller Plaza, where I had my first mimosa with Cointreau floating on top. It was the beginning of my education.” Soon, he would be a waiter at Charley O’s, where on a whim he worked as a bartender at a Gracie Mansion event because “the union guys had no interest in doing it, loading and unloading the truck for no money. So I wrote out eight popular drinks on index cards and learned very quickly.” Serendipity also landed him a plum gig at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles. “I drove my 1969 Dale Dengroff 10
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It’s such an inspiring, loving community, we’ve come so far.
”
Dodge Dart there, walked in, and found a big, red-faced Irishman who I could tell didn’t want to be work-ing. He was angry he was on the day shift because they lost a bartender, so he hired me on the spot and put me on the next day. There were no interviews with HR; in fact, in 1978 there wasn’t even HR. It was called personnel,” DeGroff remembers. Learning his way around a bar filled with bottles he’d never before seen, the determined GeGroff returned to New York and worked for Baum—who remembered him from eating in all his restaurants— at Aurora. This led to a 12-year run, starting in 1987, creating epicurean-influenced cocktails with fresh citrus and big ice cubes—considered groundbreaking at the time—at Baum’s storied Rainbow Room, high atop Rockefeller Center. Blackbird, which DeGroff opened with protégé Audrey Saunders, now of Pegu Club fame, followed. Today, DeGroff keeps busy training future barkeeps through the Beverage Alcohol Resource program, promoting his herbaceous Pimento Aromatic Bitters, consulting for brands, bringing his oneman storytelling and song hybrid On the Town! to bars, and appearing regularly at events like the Berlin Bar Convent and Portland Cocktail Week. As for that new generation of talented, gungho bartenders—including his son Leo, who can be found at Apartment 13 in New York’s East Village—DeGroff couldn’t be more excited. “It’s such an inspiring, loving community,” he says. “We’ve come so far.” Certainly, not without his own mighty push. Here, King Cocktail reminisces about the 10 drinks that helped him evolve from novice to icon. 11 Dale Dengroff
mango tequila smoothie
1oz blanco tequila 1oz mango juice 1oz mango concentrate 1oz lime juice 1oz simple syrup *blend with crushed ice
the
cocktails
the stinger
When I first moved to New York, we’d close out our evenings at the Forum of the Twelve Caesars and the Four Seasons with stingers—equal parts cognac and white crème de menthe, shaken hard and served over crushed ice in a rocks glass. This was during an era when heavy French cuisine was popular, so by the time you got to the end of a meal it was exactly what you wanted: clean, cold, and the wonderful icy mint was like an adult York Peppermint Pattie. 13 Dale Dengroff
sidecar
I was making a sidecar with cognac and sour mix at the Hotel Bel-Air, and there was an older gentleman who watched me. “So kid, I suppose you think you made that right, don’t you?” he said. Then he told me the right way was with a shot of Cointreau and fresh lemon juice and sugar on the rim. It got me thinking about proper cocktails. That was reinforced when another guy asked for a fresh margarita and I handed him one with sour mix. He asked me for lime wedges from the bar, the bottles of tequila and Cointreau, and he made his own drink. It embarrassed the shit out of me.
ritz cocktail I went back to New York because I knew Joe Baum was opening the fine-dining restaurant Aurora. It had a beautiful marble bar and he wanted beautiful classic cocktails to match—no mixes. As a tribute to the classic champagne cocktail, I made the Ritz—not in a flute, but a martini glass—with cognac, Cointreau, maraschino liqueur, and fresh lemon juice, and I shocked it with champagne on top and a flamed orange peel.
irish coffee
Dale Dengroff
Every St. Patrick’s Day, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan hosted a breakfast at Charley O’s. As a service bartender, naturally I had to make many Irish coffees that morning. So we’re in the well and it was like an assembly line: whiskey, coffee, cream, another set of fresh glasses, and we pulled it off. It was my first proud moment as a bartender.
Mixology 6