Vol. 45 Fall 2015
I N N OVAT E
Jeff Arnett Master Distiller, Jack Daniel’s Distillery
I N D U L G E
E X P L O R E
. s e t s a t t a . t e r o g h s o g w n T e amazi On
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PUBLISHER’S LETTER
Trust as a Competitive Advantage – Managing for Transparency I‘ve been thinking about our industry and how trust is increasingly critical to business, and how trustworthiness, or its absence, has become increasingly visible. On this subject, a book I was recently introduced to has caught my interest: Extreme Trust by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. It talks about how important trustworthy behavior and transparency are in business. We live in a world that places great emphasis on branding, providing quality products and customer service. But this is the age of interconnection and social media – if you treat a customer unfairly, produce a shoddy product or try to gouge, the world will find out within minutes through Twitter, Yelp, Epinions and others. None will show any mercy. Extreme Trust explains that it is important to create better customer experiences and focus on winning the long-term battle for trust and loyalty, even if the dollar value of that trust is hard to quantify. “Each customer is like a tiny bundle of future cash flow with a memory.” – Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. “Your customer doesn’t talk about your spin, but about his reality, which is the only reality he knows, and the only one that matters to him.” – Extreme Trust With a wealth of fascinating research as well as practical applications, this book will show you how to earn, and keep, the extreme trust of everyone your company interacts with. Serving the interests of your customers through trustworthiness builds loyalty and will give you a competitive advantage, so pay attention to what your customer has to say. Visit www.extremetrustbook.com
“ Transparency may be the most disruptive and far-reaching innovation to come out of social media.” – The New Influencers by Paul Gillin
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EDITOR’S LETTER Our cover story this issue is an interview with the seventh master distiller at Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Jeff Arnett. He is the 7th master distiller, in his 7th year, supporting the Old No. 7 brand. Seems like he should go to Vegas with those numbers! I met with him in the old revenuer’s office, on the grounds of the distillery, for well over an hour and discussed many topics of interest. I hope you enjoy the interview. I also want to give my thanks to Mark Day of DVL Seigenthaler for his help in this project. I’m thrilled to announce F. Paul Pacult is joining us to contribute editorial Mike Raven, Editor, in the Mix content. Paul is widely recognized as one of the premier authors, speakers and judges of spirits in the world. His works include the Spirit Journal, Kindred Spirits, Kindred Spirits 2, American Still Life, A Double Scotch, Beer Essentials and more. He is presently writing a new book, as we speak. We currently publish scores and reviews from his Ultimate Beverage Challenge; his new contributions will be in addition to that. His first editorial is in this issue and it dwells on the fact that we are in the midst of the greatest cocktail renaissance since before Prohibition. We got together with a group of IMI’s customers and asked them to send us the recipe for one of their favorite rye or bourbon whiskey cocktails. We have 19 of them for you. I’m sure you will find a preferred tipple or two in the group. Tony Abou-Ganim delivers another great story with his long-lived series, “The Adventures of George.” In this issue, the bon vivant searches for, and finds, the ultimate Cosmopolitan. Our restaurant and hotel spotlights feature the creative and unique hotel restaurants of the Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and the up-and-coming Fox Restaurant Concepts. Don’t miss these visual and inspiring features. These, along with the innovative collections of our contributors, will make some great reading this fall. You can also bring in the Mix with you and catch the entire collection of features on your mobile device, tablet or PC at ITMmag.com. Mike Raven Editor, in the Mix
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INTRODUCING MAESTRO DE RON
THE NEWEST GRAN RESERVA RUM FROM BACARDÍ® LIVE PASSIONATELY. DRINK RESPONSIBLY. ©2015. BACARDÍ, BACARDI GRAN RESERVA MAESTRO DE RON TRADE DRESS, BACARDI UNTAMEABLE AND THE BAT DEVICE ARE TRADEMARKS OF BACARDI AND COMPANY LIMITED. BACARDI U.S.A., INC. CORAL GABLES, FL. RUMS - EACH 40% ALC. BY VOL.
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INNOVATE 22. Monin Celebrates Grand Opening of New Flavor Innovation Center 30. Wine Quiz by The Society of Wine Educators
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44. Technology – The Virtual Reality of the Tech Industry by Adam Billings 50. Interview – Jeff Arnett, Master Distiller, Jack Daniel’s Distillery 64. “Breaks” Out by Ned Barker 68. A Well-Rounded Beverage Menu by Maeve Webster and Mike Kostyo 98.
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Crossword Puzzle by Barry Wiss, CWE CSS, of Trinchero Family Estates
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INDULGE 20. Celebrating America’s Second Gilded Age of Cocktails and Spirits by F. Paul Pacult 40.
The Smash Cocktail
48. Ultimate Beverage Challenge reviews rye whiskies 78. TIPS, Promoting Responsibility This Holiday Season 80. Bourbon and Rye − Cocktail recipes from leading hotels and restaurants 94. 2015 USBG Bartender of the Year
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EXPLORE 14.
he Adventures of George: T The Cosmopolitan by Tony Abou-Ganim
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24. Alsace: Culturally Germanic and Spiritually French by Ed Korry, CHE CSS CWE 32. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants: A Great Place to Stay (and Tipple)! 42. Making the Rounds With Helen Benefield Billings – Belmond Charleston Place Hotel 72.
Fox Restaurant Concepts
90. The West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers’ Association and a Visit to the Brugal Rum Distillery 10
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Media Print
Tony Abou-Ganim, known as “The Modern Mixologist,” is an accomplished bar chef and consultant who has created several original cocktail recipes, including the Cable Car, Sunsplash and Starlight. He has recently authored his second book, Vodka Distilled (Agate Surrey, publisher). Ned Barker is a hotel industry veteran and principal of Grill Ventures Consulting, Inc. (www.GrillVC.com). Specializing in F&B, GVC works with both hotel and restaurant companies. GVC’s work ranges from full concept development and operations/ marketing review and analysis, to special one-off project assignments. Edward Korry is an associate professor and chair of the Beverage & Dining Service Department in the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University, Providence, R.I. Edward carries many certifications as well as being president of the Society of Wine Educators and an executive board member of the U.S. Bartenders’ Guild Master Accreditation program. Adam Billings is the director of Creative, Technology and Innovation at iMi Agency, a full-service marketing agency in the hospitality industry. He manages adult beverage programs for chain restaurant, hotel and concession clients.
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PUBLISHER Don Billings EDITORIAL AND DESIGN Editor – Michael Raven Designed by – Connie Guess, ThinkWorks Creative Copy Editor & Proofreader – Christine Neal Associate Editor – Celeste Dinos Associate Editor – Helen Benefield Billings ADVERTISING SALES mike@itmmag.com EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICE 1196 Buckhead Crossing, Woodstock, GA 30189 PHONE 770.928.1980 | FAX 770.517.8849 EMAIL mike@itmmag.com WEB intheMixMagazine.com
in the Mix magazine is published quarterly by iMi Agency. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from the publisher.
in the Mix is exclusively operated and owned by Incentive Marketing Inc. SUBMISSIONS Incentive Marketing Inc. assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.Visit our website, intheMixMagazine.com, for guidelines on how to submit inquiries or contact our editors.
Travel and hospitality industry writer Helen Benefield Billings has been with in the Mix since its inception in 2004. Helen lives in her native childhood home of Sea Island, Ga. when not traveling or attending industry functions with her husband, Don. F. Paul Pacult is widely recognized as one of the premier authors, speakers and judges of spirits in the world. His works include Spirit Journal, Kindred Spirits, Kindred Spirits 2, American Still Life, A Double Scotch, Beer Essentials and more.
Maeve Webster, senior director of Datassential, works with Mike Kostyo, the company’s publications manager, to bring us important updates from this leading consulting firm and supplier of trends, analyses and concept testing for the food industry.
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Larry McGinn, Partner Celeste Dinos, Partner Don Billings, Founding Partner
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The Adventures of George by Tony Abou-Ganim
– THE COSMOPOLITAN –
Long Island Bar Cosmopolitan. Photo by Al Rodriguez Photography.
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George was in Las Vegas for a convention, and as is his commitment to make time to enjoy the fruits of his labor, he arrived a couple of days early to visit some of his favorite bars, restaurants and bartenders. His first stop was Rick Moonen’s Rx Boiler Room inside the Shoppes at Mandalay Place. George grabbed a seat at the bar, which was bustling with the happy hour crowd. “George, good to see you! Welcome back,” greeted the bartender. “Hello, Eric! Good to see you, my friend. I could really go for one of your wonderful Negronis and an order of the Bacon Wrapped Bacon-N-Egg, please,” he replied. “With pleasure. You may also want to check out our latest cocktails,” Eric replied, handing George a menu. As George perused Eric’s new cocktail menu, he was served his Negroni, followed quickly by the bar’s signature appetizer. One bite and he was reminded why this was one of his favorite spots in Las Vegas. George was attentively watching Eric prepare a round of cocktails as he took the final sip of his Negroni.
“Can I fix you another?” Eric asked.
“What did you just make?” George inquired. “Made a Cosmopolitan for Dale DeGroff. It’s his recipe, with his signature burnt orange peel garnish,” Eric replied. “He’s sitting with Rick. You should say hello.” “I’d love to meet him but first I’ll try one of his Cosmopolitans,” George responded.
Top: Rx Boiler Room Entrance. Bottom: Rx Boiler Room Bar Manager and Mixologist, Eric Smith.
Eric prepared the drink and led George down to the end of the bar where Rick and Dale were sitting. “Rick, you know George, and this is Dale DeGroff,” Eric said, introducing them.
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Barman Extraordinaire, Dale DeGroff.
“Hey, Rick, good to see you. Dale, it’s a pleasure,” said George, shaking hands. “I’m having one of your Cosmopolitans. I forgot how good they are.” “Well, thank you but I didn’t create the drink, but I did have a hand in perfecting it. As the story goes, it was supposedly first mixed by a bartender named Cheryl Cook in South Beach. Absolut launched Citron in 1988, at the height of the ‘Martini craze’ and she mixed it with a splash of triple sec, a few dashes of Rose’s Lime Juice and some cranberry juice to turn it pink, and called it a Cosmopolitan,” Dale explained. “I discovered the cocktail a few years later at the Fog City Diner in San Francisco. In 1996, I put it on the menu at the Rainbow Room, where I tweaked the recipe slightly to Absolut Citron, Cointreau, cranberry juice and fresh lime juice, along with a flamed orange peel garnish. It’s wonderful – very well balanced, complex and just plain tasty,” he continued. “I have not had one in years. It truly is a delightful cocktail
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when made well, and Eric makes them very well,” Dale continued. “If you want to know more about the evolution of the Cosmopolitan, you should track down this cat Toby Cecchini, who runs a joint called The Long Island Bar in Brooklyn.” George finished his Cosmopolitan, paid his check, thanked Eric for his hospitality and said goodbye to Rick and Dale. He was now very curious and thought that a trip to New York would not only be a way to learn more about this elusive tipple, but he could also take in a Broadway play and eat at one of his favorite restaurants, Mario Batali’s Lupa. He arrived in New York the following week, checked into his hotel and immediately grabbed a cab for Brooklyn.
“The Long Island Bar on Atlantic Avenue in
Brooklyn, please,” George requested. “Great old spot that just re-opened a couple of years ago. Definitely worth the trip,” replied the cabbie.
The Long Island Bar in Brooklyn, New York
He arrived just as the bar was opening and was still rather quiet. He grabbed a stool at the long, vintage bar and was quickly approached by an attentive bartender who presented him with a menu and a glass of water. “Welcome to the Long Island Bar. What can I offer you?” the bartender inquired. “I would love to try your Cosmopolitan and I’ll also be having dinner,” George answered. The bartender prepared George’s cocktail, working skillfully yet quickly, and placed it in front of him. George immediately noticed the lemon twist adorning the drink. “This truly is a lovely bar,” George commented to the bartender, as he perused the dinner menu.
“Thanks. It was originally opened in 1951 by
Ramon Montero and then was run for over 50 years by his daughter, Emma Sullivan. In 2013, Toby Cecchini and Joel Tompkins restored and re-opened it,” he explained. “How’s your Cosmopolitan?”
George found the Cosmopolitan to be bright, crisp and very well balanced. “It’s delicious. I believe I’ll have another, as well as an order of the Grilled Octopus and the Merguez Frites,” he responded, adding, “Any chance Toby Cecchini is available?”
“Let me check,” he answered.
The bartender served George his second Cosmopolitan and the grilled octopus as a gentleman approached him. “Hi, I’m Toby Cecchini; nice to meet you,” the man said, introducing himself. “Nice to meet you, Toby. I just met Dale DeGroff in Las Vegas and he suggested I pay you a visit if I wanted to learn more about the history of the Cosmopolitan,” George explained. “And you came all the way to Brooklyn to get my story? Well, I am flattered. First of all, I did not invent the Cosmopolitan, but I did have a hand in developing the recipe everyone knows today.” He continued,
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“I was working at a bar called Odeon in 1987 with a woman named Mesa, who drank a drink called a Cosmopolitan at the Life Café in San Francisco. It was made with vodka, Rose’s Lime Juice and grenadine. I didn’t like the drink but I did like the way it looked, so I attempted to improve it. My version was made with the newly-launched Absolut Citron, Cointreau, fresh lime juice and cranberry juice, finished with a twist of lemon.” “So your recipe is very similar to Dale’s, except for the difference in garnish,” George clarified.
From Vodka Distilled 1 ½ oz (45 ml) Absolut Citron vodka ¾ oz (22.5 ml) Cointreau ½ oz (15 ml)
freshly squeezed lime juice
¾ oz (22.5 ml) Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
In a mixing glass, add Absolut Citron, Cointreau, fresh lime juice and Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail; shake with ice until well blended. Strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Garnish with a spiral of lemon.
“Very close. The ingredients are pretty much exactly the same but our proportions are slightly different – that, and the garnish,” he explained. “Back then, there was no social This stunning shot of a media but the drink really took off when Cosmopolitan is from Tony’s Madonna was pictured sipping one at the second book, Vodka Distilled. Rainbow Room Grammy party; and, of Vodka Distilled is a comprehensive look at the history of vodka, course, there was ‘Sex and the City.’” the brands, the different “Well, your version is fantastic and distillates and styles, as well it works great with the Merguez Frites,” as the famous cocktails and George praised. their recipes. “Glad you’re enjoying yourself. I sure hope your visit was worth the trip,” Toby replied. “It sure was. I not only have a newfound appreciation for this fantastic libation, but I also discovered a wonderful new bar with a wonderful host!” George returned to Las Vegas with a better understanding of the creation of this contemporary classic cocktail, even if it may ultimately be impossible to say for certain who is responsible for its invention. There is one thing for certain: This is a drink that truly benefits from using the proper top-quality ingredients. To substitute inferior products is to cheat one’s self of the experience it was designed to provide.
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WINE ENTHUSIAST RATINGS SCORE OUT OF 100 POINTS
PTS
My American Handmade Vodka beats the giant “Imports” every day. That’s because it’s distilled six times, we use old-fashioned pot stills we built ourselves, and taste test every batch to make sure you get only the best. Try American! Tito’s is made from corn, so it’s naturally gluten-free.
2015
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CELEBRATING
AMERICA’S SECOND GILDED AGE OF COCKTAILS AND SPIRITS By F. Paul Pacult
Paul Pacult (left) with cocktail historian, David Wondrich, tasting for the Ultimate Beverage Challenge.
Many people collect stamps or sports memorabilia, or play golf as an avocation. My favored leisure pursuit is ambling into the misty, fuggy and frequently Nordiccool atmosphere of bars in any burgh, metropolis or hamlet around the world. The percussive tinkle of ice in a glass, the soft sunset glow of a back bar festooned with elixirs, and the cricket-like murmur of patrons fascinate and comfort me. The good news – no, the excellent news – is that the chances of visiting a really good bar fitted with talented barkeeps, delectable foods, and menus of drinks and distillates that showcase our era’s bounty have, since 1995, dramatically risen. This ascension has generated the undeniable emergence of the “Second Gilded Age of Cocktails and Spirits.” I cite our present moment as the “second” such period because in the recent history since the discovery of the New World, we have experienced only one other time when the convergence of 20
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available distilled spirits and the creativity of drinks masters have collided, causing a congenial explosion of sensory abundance. To comprehend our good luck, it’s worthwhile to peer back at The “First” Gilded Age, which occurred from the 1850s through 1915. This 65-year span was bathed in a golden aura because, particularly in North America, citizens were served by fabled bartenders led by Jerry Thomas, who wrote the defining cocktail recipe book of the 19th century, The Bon Vivant’s Companion. That generation of drinks servers had at their disposal an unprecedented banquet of whiskeys, brandies, liqueurs, bitters and gins. While estimates of available spirits in the U.S. in 2015 number somewhere around 7,500, the total in the late 1800s is unknown. What is known is that Ireland supported a couple of hundred whiskey distilleries while, in 1880, Scotland boasted 170 malt distilleries; and domestically, there were thousands of small distillers operating on farms and in village taverns, supplying an ocean of whiskey and brandy. Suffice it to say that there was a lot of liquor keeping America afloat until the 20th century’s four-headed dragon of two world wars – the Great Depression and Prohibition – punched The “First” Gilded Age with haymaker after haymaker, eventually knocking it not just down, but unconscious. But since the mid-1990s, tsunamis of change have happened as the world’s mainstream and craft distillers have offered us their superlative wares in record numbers; and highly skilled bartenders have reintroduced the classic cocktails and, to some extent, have even redefined what cocktails could be. This extraordinary confluence of distilling volume and mixology expertise forms the foundation of the “Second Gilded Age of Cocktails and Spirits,” which is why my pastime is so much more fun than being a philatelist (aka, stamp collector).
F. Paul Pacult is a founder and the judging director of
Ultimate Beverage Challenge (UBC); the editor of F. Paul Pacult’s Spirit Journal; a founding partner of Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR); the author of five best-selling books and is writing his next, Kindred Spirits 3: 3,000+ Reviews of Whiskey, Brandy, Tequila, Gin, Vodka, Liqueurs & Rum from the pages of F. Paul Pacult’s Spirit Journal.
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Monin Celebrates Grand Opening of
New Flavor Innovation Center Clearwater, Fla., June 2015 – Monin Gourmet Flavorings, the world’s global flavor leader, hosted a grand opening celebration of their Flavor Innovation Center this summer in Clearwater, Florida. The opening showcased a new state-of-the-art kitchen and a remodeled bar and café. Third-generation owner, Olivier Monin, and CEO Bill Lombardo were in attendance, along with many prestigious restaurant partner representatives from Bloomin’ Brands, Hard Rock Café, Front Burner Brands and more. The Innovation Center acts as a space for Monin chefs and beverage innovation directors to work alongside customers to develop custom menus and seasonal, on-trend recipes. The team provides full service support, from ideation to implementation. “The new kitchen allows us to add further value for our partners by expanding our products into culinary
solutions,” said Joe Smith, vice president of Sales. “From flavoring waffle batter to salad dressings, sandwich spreads to glazes, the possibilities are endless.” The center is one of three around the world, run by full-time Monin creative culinary and beverage experts. This new space is an extension to the Clearwater headquarters and production facility that serves customers in North and South America. Operators are encouraged to contact a Monin sales representative for tours and custom recipe development. Founded in 1912 in Bourges, France and familyowned for three generations, Monin is the premier provider of flavoring products for creating specialty beverages. With manufacturing facilities in three continents and distribution to more than 100 countries, Monin is recognized as the global flavor leader. Monin Gourmet Flavorings, 727-461-3033, monin-usa@monin.com.
Photo by Michael St John.
Left: John Koch, Bill Lombardo, Olivier Monin and Joe Smith, ready for the ribbon cutting.
Photo by Antron Benbow.
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Alsace:
Culturally Germanic and Spiritually French By Edward Korry
Having returned from an 11-day vacation trip to Alsace, my overall thoughts are still as fresh as its delightful wines in my mind. For those less inclined to spend a viticultural vacation: Trust me, there’s plenty for you as well. Alsace has so much to offer visually, historically, culturally, gastronomically and viticulturally. Our Alsatian vacation included typical Alsatian gastronomy: foie gras; fresh water fish such as bass and pike; coq au Riesling; choucroute, flammenkuche or tarte flamblée; baeckeoffe;
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a potato, onion, lardon and muenster cheese gratin; sausages; bretzels; kugelhoff; and tarte aux myrtilles, among many others, all washed down with delightful and delicious local wines.
THE ALSATIAN WINE CHALLENGE With the quality level as high as it is, I will frame this article by trying to answer why it is that Alsatian wines are not more popular in the U.S. market. I believe it’s all about the sweetness level and the perception by many that if the wine is described as having any sweetness, even if not really perceptible, then its quality cannot be very high. Sommeliers are partially to blame as they decry residual sugar in wines and have put German wines on a pedestal,
now that many are considered as bone dry. Consumers in the U.S. would love the wines of Alsace because, while they most frequently ask for dry wines, they might really prefer wines with some offsetting residual sweetness that isn’t very apparent. It used to be a truism that Alsatian wines were dry (with the exceptions of the late harvested and botrytized categories Vin Tardive and Sélection de Grains Nobles, respectively) and German wines were sweet. That has changed in the last 20 years. Why? It’s the winemakers’ response to the impact of global warming. Winemakers try to produce balanced wines and when faced with piercingly acidic wines, they found the best way to achieve that is to
on the vine for as long as possible to increase the phenolic and flavor ripeness without worrying about the sugar levels getting too high. With the rise in temperature, this is now a challenge, resulting in many of the 1,200 producers producing a broad spectrum of sweetness in wines, which confuses consumers.
It used to be a truism that Alsatian wines were dry ... and German wines were sweet. That has changed in the last 20 years.
leave offsetting residual sweetness so that the wine tastes balanced. With greater warmth in the marginal climate of Mosel, Rheingau and other famous German regions, grapes are now being harvested with both a higher concentration of sugar and a corresponding drop in acidity levels. Thus, there’s less need for the former balancing act. In Alsace, which is across the Rhine graben, or trench, facing the German Baden wine region to the east, the weather is semi-continental but very dry. It’s the second driest region of France because it lies in the rain shadow of the Vosges Mountains to its west. (The dryness of this region also has enabled many producers to use organic practices and take the lead in biodynamic farming.) Growers used to leave grapes
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The height of Alsace’s prosperity was the mid-Renaissance in the 16th century, when it was part of a German principality. The quaint villages reflect that era, as one walks by street after street of still-occupied houses built in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
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A TURBULENT HISTORY Alsace has an ancient winemaking history, with the earliest written reference dating back to A.D. 2. By the end of the ninth century, there were 160 villages documented as producing wines. The height of Alsace’s prosperity was the mid-Renaissance in the 16th century, when it was part of a German principality. The quaint villages reflect that era, as one walks by street after street of still-occupied houses built in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Villages are also beautifully decorated in public and private spaces with flower boxes and plantings. Its history is replete with wars primarily fought between Germanic principalities and the French, and the most devastating in many ways was the Thirty Years’ War between Protestants and Catholics. When the Germans annexed Alsace in 1871, the area was planted with high-yielding and low quality hybrid grapes, thanks to phylloxera. Surprisingly, the Hitler Youth did Alsace a huge favor when they ripped out 75 percent of the vineyards in 1942. It is not until 1962 that Alsace begins to be recognized for quality wine, when it becomes an AOC.
A UNIQUE AND COMPLEX TERROIR Alsace has one of the world’s most northerly wine regions, with approximately 37,000 acres of wine located on a narrow band running 75 miles from north to south and 1.5 to 3 miles wide. It lies, for the most part, on eastand southeast-facing slopes (similar to Burgundy) at 600 to 1,320 feet in elevation on the slopes of the protecting Vosges Mountains. It has one of the most complex varieties of soils in France (13 major types) due to the huge uplift some 300 million years ago, which was then followed by the inundation of an enormous inland sea. Subsequently, 50 million years ago, the area was subjected to further upheavals and buckling, with multiple fault lines resulting in a huge trench that is now the Rhine valley. The Black Forest Mountains, some 70 miles to the east, were part of the same Vosges Mountains. The soils include limestone, marl, loess, schist, volcanic, granitic, sedimentary and the famous pink sandstone, from which the 1,000-yearold cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg is made. The soil is particularly of interest, as leading producers try to
match soils to varieties and determine to a great degree the particular impact that they have on the resulting wines. Alsace is subdivided into two zones: the Haut-Rhin and the Bas-Rhin. The Haut Rhin has the preponderance of production (60 percent) and is more sheltered than the more northerly Bas-Rhin. There are three AOCs (AOPs) in Alsace: Alsace AC, Alsace Grand Cru and Crémant d’Alsace. The wines, like in Germany, are mostly varietally driven and, with few exceptions, must be 100 percent of that variety. You may also easily find a bottle of Edelzwicker or Hugel’s Gentil here in the U.S., the latter being a white blend that has noble grape inclusion requirements. Both are delightful apéritifs and great values. Ninety percent of AC wines are white, though its formerly almost-red Pinot Noirs are ripening enough to provide both depth of color and flavor. Alsace’s total production is 12.5 million cases and represents 18 percent of France’s AC still white wine production. The varietals include the four “noble” ones: Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat and Gewurztraminer (without the umlaut, or two dots over the ü) and others including Chasselas, Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Klevner de Heiligenstein (Savagnin rosé). Chardonnay is grown but limited to crémants. The four “noble” grapes reach an apogee of quality in Alsace that few if any regions can match. The AC regulates the maximum residual sugar to nine grams per liter (threshold for most is between nine and 10 but doesn’t taste sweet; brut Champagne has up to 12g/liter). The 51 Grand Cru vineyards do not have such restrictions so their wines are more frequently off dry, though offset by acidity due to the high diurnal range augmented by the cooling effect of the pine and oak forests of the Vosges. Grand Cru production equals less than four percent of the total, but one of the joys of being there was my ability, at every restaurant we frequented, to enjoy Grand Cru wines by the glass – many of which I hadn’t previously had the opportunity to enjoy or assess.
It should be noted that some of the traditional
négoçiants who have been in the wine trade since the 17th century, such as Hugel and Trimbach, eschew the Grand Cru designation and prefer to use a single vineyard
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lieux-dits or namesakes, such as Hugel’s Riesling Schoelhammer (2007) or Clos Ste-Hume located in the Rosacker Grand Cru. Other examples include Domaine Weinbach’s Clos des Capuchins in the Schlossberg Grand Cru, or Roger Muré’s Clos Saint-Landelin in the Vorbourg Grand Cru. Other top producers such as Ostertag, Zind Humbrecht, Marcel Deiss and Domaine Schlumberger are also among my favorites. Regardless, I was able to explore the subtleties of the Grands Crus and was able to explore how soils variations impacted the structure and flavors of Alsatian wines. While these wines are more expensive than the AC wines, their price value is far greater than wines from other prime wine growing regions of the world and deserve to be on your menus, especially as they are so food friendly. The AC wines present greater value, whether from the above named négoçiants or such grower co-ops as Cave de Turckheim, located in the granitic soils of the eponymous village. The style at the AC level – whether Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer or Pinot Blanc – is typically dry. It is only when trying their great value Brand vineyard Grand Cru, that one will encounter a mouth-filling richness offset by minerality, crispness and refreshing acidity. In 2011,
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two complementary designations were included in Alsace AC: communal designations, of which 11 are allowed, and lieux-dits (namesakes). In 1976, the Crémant d’Alsace AC was created – a sparkling wine made in the traditional method and a bright spot in the Alsace trade, given its meteoric rise and accounting for 23 percent of production. Seventy-five percent is consumed in France, which is no surprise as it is a great value quality sparkling wine. Many producers are, thankfully, available in the U.S. and present the consumer with plentiful choices, either as blanc de blancs or as rosés. Producers such as Lucien Albrecht, Dopff & Irion, Willm, or Mayerling will enhance your customers’ experience at great price value and grow your sparkling wine sales, which invariably has a commensurate rise in consumer appreciation of their dining experience – it’s the magic of bubbles. Not only do Alsatian wines pair with so many continental cuisines, they are unrivalled when paired with Asian style cuisines! So do your customers a favor and let them enjoy the experience of Alsace through a glass of wine. You will be well rewarded by their appreciative reactions.
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Wine Quiz The Society of Wine Educators’ free app, SWE Wine and Spirits Quiz, is available on all platforms. Just look for it in your app store or go to winewitandwisdomswe.com. It offers a series of fun, educational quizzes covering the five major categories: red, yellow (white wines), spirits, sparkling and dessert wines. Here are this issue’s sample questions. The answers can be found on our website, ITMmag.com.
1. Which AVA is located within the Willamette Valley AVA? a) Chehalem Mountains b) Snipes Mountain c) Alta Mesa d) Chalk Hill 2. The Castelli di Jesi area produces a DOCG wine using which grape? a) Garganega b) Verdicchio c) Vernaccia d) Albana 3. Where is Plettenberg Bay? a) South Africa b) New Zealand c) Chile d) New South Wales 4. The Marquis de Pompal first demarcated which wine region? a) Priorat b) Jerez c) Port d) Madeira 5. What spirit is produced in Hungary? a) Becherovka b) Zwack Unicum c) Zucca d) Gammel Dansk
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6. What grape is used in the Cornas AOC? a) Viognier b) Carignan c) Grenache d) Syrah 7. What wine is made from Prugnolo Gentile? a) Vino Nobile b) Taurasi c) Carmignano d) Rosso di Montalcino 8. Which is a subregion of Hawke’s Bay? a) Mouteka b) Te Awamutu c) Gimblett Gravels d) Waipara Valley 9. Where in Chile is the “Valley of the Moon” located? a) Tierra del Fuego b) Cape Horn c) Atacama Desert d) Deigo Ramirez Islands 10. What is the largest wine region in Australia? a) Murray Darling b) Yarra Valley c) Perth Hills d) Riverina
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Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants A Great Place to Stay (and Tipple)! Bill Kimpton created the first boutique hotel and restaurant company in the U.S. over three decades ago. Famous for turning interesting old buildings into great hotels, the Kimpton chain has attracted and maintained a following of guests who have become accustomed to the company’s sometimes unusual and homey amenities. The complementary evening wine hour, fantastic award-winning restaurants with top-notch wine programs and the best pet-stay program in the business all have their customers coming back time and time again. in the Mix takes a look at some of Kimpton’s most revered hotel restaurants.
Top: Interior of the Atwood Cafe. Left: The French 75. Bottom: Bewitched cocktail. Right: Ramon Anguiano, Atwood’s head bartender.
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ATWOOD
restaurant and bar at the Hotel Burnham, CHICAGO Located in a National Historic Landmark building in downtown Chicago at the bustling intersection of Washington and State Streets, this boutique hotel was constructed in 1895 as the Reliance Building by legendary architects Daniel Burnham, John Root and Charles Atwood. Helmed by Executive Chef Brian Millman and Head Bartender Ray Anguiano, the restaurant serves seasonal American cuisine and handcrafted cocktails in a relaxed and welcoming environment that pays homage to the timelessness and casual elegance of the building’s rich history. The intimate Atwood has a dining room capacity of 65, with a bar area that entertains 26 seated guests. They also have a 22-seat patio and private dining in the Reliance Room, which holds 32 guests. Atwood was renovated in 2015 to breathe new life into the National Historic Landmark, whose radical steel and glass design set the precedent for the nation’s first modern-day skyscraper. The décor pays homage to the building’s rich history while also integrating an expanded bar area with high-top seating overlooking State and Washington Streets through iconic 18foot tall windows. During the months of November and December, Atwood is dressed in festive décor and serves its annual Holiday Tea Service, a favorite of guests and locals alike. Guests can sip their choice of eight loose-leaf teas with optional flutes of bubbly.
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THE BIERGARTEN at the Hotel Monaco, PITTSBURGH The Biergarten is an 88-seat, openair beer bar located on the ninth floor rooftop of Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh. It is a perfect post-work and weekend spot to celebrate good friends and good times. The space features an exhaustive menu of European beer as well as German-influenced bar bites, along with a playful selection of pub games. The Biergarten looks to Germany for menu inspiration in both the food and the beer programs. The true star is the deep and varied list of European brews, extensive and well thought out. The menu consists of central European street food (served from a cart!). It includes house-made currywurst, giant pretzels, sauerbraten and a full array of pickles. Other specialties include an assortment of cannery items including smoked mussels and potted pork and mixed nuts.
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Top: The open-air Biergarten on the ninth floor of the Hotel Monaco. Left bottom: Some of the Biergarten’s choices. Right bottom: A good pour of one of the many choices at the Biergarten.
Top left: The Pennsylvania Porkchop, featuring Old Overholt Rye. Top right: Some of the stunning cocktails offered at the Commoner. Bottom: Communal tables at The Commoner.
THE COMMONER at the Hotel Monaco, PITTSBURGH The Commoner is a 120-seat modern American tavern serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant’s menu showcases approachable, seasonal favorites and an expansive, beer-focused bar program. A large exhibition kitchen that draws the dining room into the energy and excitement of the kitchen anchors the 3,000-squarefoot space. The 16-seat bar features 20 draft lines offering a variety of local brews; several wines and cocktails are also available on tap. For game day viewing, the bar features flat panel televisions and state-of-the-art sound. In addition to the bar seating, high tops, communal tables and booths provide seating for 36 and are arranged to maximize viewing for Pittsburgh’s legendary sports fans.
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BLUE HOUND KITCHEN AND COCKTAILS
at Hotel Palomar, PHOENIX Blue Hound is located in the heart of the city’s shopping and entertainment scene. Part of Hotel Palomar Phoenix, Blue Hound is also a cocktail enthusiast’s best friend, with its creative libations and one of the city’s largest selections of bourbon, Scotch and gin. Blue Hound is a contemporary American gastro-lounge; it is a neighborhoodfriendly but casually polished venue that strikes the balance between the energy of its city setting and Arizona’s laid-back lifestyle. The chef-driven cuisine, from Executive Chef Sean Currid, showcases regional and global influences through the use of brines, rubs, marinades, oils and vinegars, to bring out the most soul-satisfying flavors and tastes. Each dish is served up as a sharable social plate, perfect for communal noshing or an individual portion; and each also pairs perfectly with Blue Hound’s award winning handcrafted cocktails, spirits, artisanal wines and beers. The cocktail program, from award-winning Head Bartender Stephanie Teslar, boasts one of the valley’s largest menus of brown spirits, including top-notch gins, bourbons, Scotches, sherry, port, vermouth and house-made tinctures. Blue Hound raises the bar for the city’s urban drink culture with a renowned team of barkeeps, who leverage Phoenix’s largest menu of top cocktails.
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Top: Head Bartender Stephanie Teslar of Blue Hound Kitchen and Cocktails. Right: Horseshoes and Hand Grenades cocktail at Blue Hound. Bottom: Blue Hound Kitchen and Cocktails’ striking Lost Melody cocktail.
PENNYROYAL
at The Palladian, SEATTLE
Top: Lead bartender at Pennyroyal, Chad Phillips. Left: The bar at Pennyroyal. Bottom left: Pennyroyal’s Classic Whiskey Cocktail. Bottom right: Pennyroyal’s popular Flaming Tiki cocktail.
With a convivial “social salon” air, Pennyroyal takes inspiration from old-world European style bars, focusing on aged spirits, a rotating punch menu and bar bites prepared front-and-center by knowledgeable barkeeps. The menu, like Seattle’s seasons, changes often to reflect what’s fresh and inspiring in the moment. Dark woods, exposed brick and vintage glassware play a starring role in the 35-seat establishment, joined by an approachable yet refined menu featuring the likes of local cheese with house-made crackers, mini cod sandwiches, fresh Penn Cove pickled mussels brined with the light heat of seasonal chilies, and bar ceviche. There is a revolving menu of house cocktails, local wine and beer, and drinks that are crafted using seasonal and house-made ingredients, including liquor infusions, vermouth, grenadine, tonic, bitters and more. Sample cocktails include the “Last Known Surroundings,” a mixture of rhubarb-infused gin, Aperol, lemon, ginger and rhubarb bitters; and the “Salgar Special,” made with Fernet Branca, Monkey Shoulder Scotch, Vida Mezcal and clove tincture. Monday through Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m., Pennyroyal hosts happy hour, offering a daily punch and select wines for $5 as well as classic cocktails for $7.
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EMILY WINES
master sommelier and senior director of National Beverage Programs for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
Emily’s role at Kimpton is one of mentor, expert and advocate, all in one trailblazing package. One thing that’s missing is an overly developed ego, despite her stellar credentials. She oversees a talented senior beverage team and directs bartender activities from A to Z for Kimpton – from sourcing quality ingredients to investing in education and mentorship. Emily’s constantly on the lookout for great wines and spirits from around the world but above all, she strives to make a difference in the way people experience wine. Her persona, and subsequently the beverage program she oversees, is decidedly devoid of pomp and fuss. In 2008, Emily became one of only 131 people in the U.S. to ever pass the master sommelier diploma examination. She was also awarded the prestigious Remi Krug Cup for passing all three sections of the exam on her first attempt, one of two women to ever achieve this remarkable distinction.
“At the end of the day, what makes me happy is providing a spectacular drinking experience, from incredible craft cocktails to socially conscious wines. My goal is to make guests and employees feel like they’re coming home, that there’s always room for everyone’s beverage tastes in this world.” – EMILY WINES
MIKE RYAN
national manager of Bar Education for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
As the first national manager of Bar Education for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Mike brings to this position his 15-plus years of experience in the culinary and bar industry. Mike’s primary responsibilities on the core beverage team involve training and educating on-the-ground bartenders and helping open or refresh Kimpton’s collection of bars and lounges around the country. He also creates bar education programs around timely bar trends such as “Tiki Times,” and executes lively bar summits for additional hands-on training and team building. Prior to his national team role, Mike helped launch Kimpton’s Sable Kitchen & Bar in Chicago in 2010, which soon became a local favorite and has been lauded nationwide by industry critics and peers. Under Mike’s bar leadership, Sable was named one of the “Best Bars in America” by Food & Wine, one of the “Best Hotel Bars in the U.S.” by USA Today, and one of the “Top 55 Whiskey Bars in the U.S.” by Bourbon Review.
“At the backbone of all of our bars and lounges are talented teams who have a genuine interest in sharing a love for what they do. There are no barriers and definitely no attitudes. Crafting a personalized, authentic experience requires education, passion and care for every ingredient, every drink. We take great pride in our bars and in making the most out of every interaction.” – MIKE RYAN
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THE SMASH The smash cocktail is over a century old. It is probably one of the easiest drinks to make and every bartender knows how to do it. (If not, you’re in the wrong bar).
The smash is the sister-drink to the julep but in the modern recipes using fruit – in this case, lemon – it would be a sacrilege for any Southern gentleman or lady, or one vaguely associated with the South or who just likes the South, to call it a julep. In 1888, the bartender Harry Johnson introduced the smash as a category separate from the julep, but he never really adequately explained the difference. Typically, his cocktails were strained and served in a “fancy bar glass,” smaller than the usual julep glass. Today, the smash category is wide open and includes seasonal fruits and herbs. Therefore, for all practical purposes, the smash is a “style” of drink as opposed to being an actual recipe for a drink.
The Classic Whiskey Smash Makes 1 cocktail 2 oz 1 oz 1/4 3-4
Bourbon whiskey Simple syrup (1 to 1 ratio) Lemon, cut up into 2-3 pieces Full sprigs of mint (or to taste)
Place mint and lemon in a mixing glass. Muddle to release juices and oils (don’t bruise the mint). Add simple syrup and whiskey. Add ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig. Simple, refreshing and tasty.
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MAKING THE ROUNDS
Belmond Charleston Place Hotel With Helen Benefield Billings
No trip to beautiful Charleston, South Carolina would be complete without staying at the Belmond Charleston Place Hotel. Elegant service in an inviting, genteel environment lent itself quite perfectly to several days of walking tours and shopping on King Street, followed by decadent meals and precious moments of relaxation during our recent visit in July. The Thoroughbred Club, located just off the grand lobby area at Charleston Place, simply beckons one over with its warm and rich aesthetic complete with comfy, masculine leather sofas and chairs. Live music features a pianist tickling the ivories with everyone’s favorite classic ballads from a bygone era – think the Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra. White wine is always my drink of choice and the SonomaCutrer Chardonnay was calling my name. My best drinking partner, Don, always enjoys studying cocktail menus and he decided on the Mouzon’s Mash. Bartender and Mixologist Mouzon Taylor, Jr. was inspired to create this signature cocktail in tribute to his grandfather, who used to add peaches to moonshine – making it very special indeed. Cheers to the fall season!
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MOUZON’S MASH In a shaker glass muddle: 3
peach slices
5
mint leaves
1
lemon quarter
Splash of simple syrup Add 2 ounces Gentlemen Jack Tennessee Whiskey (this is very important, as Gentlemen Jack is charcoal filtered and adds that smoky element to the drink). Add ice to shaker and strain over a fresh ice-filled Collins glass. Top with 2 ounces club soda. www.belmond.com/CharlestonPlace
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THE VIRTUAL REALITY OF THE TECH INDUSTRY By Adam Billings For this techie, there is nothing more exciting, yet frustrating, than waiting for a new gadget to arrive. Throughout all of the hype, the obsessive online research and the constant waiting, it all comes down to the unboxing – a term that vloggers prolifically use when reviewing products on YouTube.
Adam Billings, Director of Creative, Technology and Innovation at iMi Agency 44
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We are now seeing a shift in the way new technology is brought to market, and the
consumer is driving the change. Long gone are the days when we expect big tech to produce the only blockbuster hits or (gasp) we walk into an electronics store with the intentions of stumbling upon something new. Consumers are now finding new technology on television incubators like “Shark Tank,” on tech websites like Cool Material and through crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter. Consumers are more passionate than ever about their technology and are willing to participate at the highest level, which is investment. Crowdfunding as a means of innovation has been incredible; however, as a means to product development, it has a tarnished record. It turns out that taking a product from concept to shelf is not a simple task. Many crowdfunding projects underestimate the time and
funds it will take to meet consumer demands. But even with many dismal failures – and there have been a lot – there are some incredible success stories. Not unlike Lady Liberty herself, one of the greatest examples of crowdfunding, the path of one came from the many. In the case of Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset, its inventors met their $250,000 crowdfunding goal in less than 24 hours, and ended their Kickstarter campaign at $2.4 million just 30 days later. In the past several years, Oculus Rift has ranked a modest 40th on the list of highest funded crowdfunding projects, according to Wikipedia. However, earlier this year, Facebook purchased the company for $2 billion, a number unfathomable for a technology that has been in existence for decades. Everyone has heard the term “virtual reality,” but you may find it difficult to explain if you haven’t experienced it firsthand. You may hear fancy terms like “immersive theater” or “3D simulator,” but that does
In the beverage industry, Patron has been proudly working on a virtual reality experience of its own, called “The Art of Patron.” little to explain what it feels like to put on a virtual reality headset. Those in the know will tell you to just try it. The first time I experienced the Oculus headset, I was thankfully by myself in a small apartment highrise in Manhattan. My gestures alone would have made for quite an entertaining YouTube video, not to mention the self-commentary and otherwise absurd noises I was making out of sheer amusement. The headset blocks all of the outside light and projects a slightly altered image in each eye to exhibit depth. The device tracks your movement from side to side and up and down, allowing you to see in every
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direction. Each experience in virtual reality is so unique, whether it’s a movie in the cinema, a 360-degree video or a first-person video game. After about an hour (all that I could take at the time), I removed the headset, revealing what many call the “vr face.” Only then did I realize that someone from the apartment building about 20 meters away was staring at me with perplexity and a slight grin – a sad but true reminder that nobody looks cool in virtual reality. Not without faults, the first versions of virtual reality are somewhat pixilated and slightly slow to respond, but we are talking about megapixels and milliseconds that will only improve with time. We have seen the beginning of an industry that is rooted in gaming and entertainment, but will certainly flourish in education, telecommunications and product demonstration, just to name a few. In the beverage industry, Patron has been proudly working on a virtual reality experience of its own, called “The Art of Patron.” It’s a tour of the distillery and their process of making tequila, from a first-person (bumble bee’s) perspective. It is a great representation of the technology and the art of filmmaking. My guess is that others will imitate it. After just over three years from its funding goal, Oculus Rift is set to deliver its premier headset in the first quarter of 2016. What started as an innovative idea that was crowdfunded by 9,522 individual backers, was brought to fruition through big tech acquisition. This is a reminder that some change comes slowly, even in the tech industry.
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Ultimate Beverage Challenge (UBC) was founded in 2010 by awardwinning author/critic/journalist/educator F. Paul Pacult, publishing executive and editor Sue Woodley, and consultant David Talbot. In 2013, editor/journalist Sean Ludford became a partner. For the past five years, UBC has operated Ultimate Wine Challenge (UWC) and Ultimate Spirits Challenge (USC), which are acknowledged as being as two of the world’s foremost annual international wine evaluation and competition events. This issue we are featuring UBC’s 2015 top picks in the rye whiskey category, as evaluated in their most recent event.
TOP RYE WHISKEY Chairman’s Trophy – Score: 97
Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey
64.6% abv
Extraordinary, Ultimate Recommendation Deeply concentrated aromas of toasted grains, brown rice and molasses. Equally rich and deep in the mouth with layers of baked goods, cigar box and fresh herb flavors. On the finish, it is lightly spiced with dark caramel.
Finalist – Score: 95
Pikesville 6-year-old Straight Rye Whiskey 55% abv
Extraordinary, Ultimate Recommendation Wonderfully delicate, with aromas of Boston cream pie, plantain, butternut squash and brown sugar. Spicy, with a buttery sweetness to match, and deep-baked, dark cherry flavored leading into a vanilla-tinged and spicy finish. Outstanding.
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Finalist – Score: 94
Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Rye Whiskey
50% abv
Excellent, Highly Recommended Fresh and baked stone fruits characterize the aromas. In the mouth, it is spice laden and full of peach pie and brown sugar flavors, along with a distinct herbal quality that is long lasting after each sip.
Finalist – Score: 94
Finalist – Score: 94
Sazerac Rye Whiskey
Woodford Reserve Straight Rye Whiskey
45% abv
45.2% abv
Excellent, Highly Recommended
Excellent, Highly Recommended Interesting aromas of wheat and red berries. Decidedly savory and spiced in the mouth, the flavors develop into dark coffee and vanilla caramel after each sip. A fine grain texture is a nice balance of smooth and rustic.
Score: 92
Coloring is pale bronze, burnt orange. Nose is fruity, spicy, nutty, minerally, sawdust-like, cedary/piney. Taste profile reflects the aromatic findings and adds nuances of dried apricot, fruitcake, roasted walnut flavors that work in unison with the attractive fragrance. Aftertaste is medium long, resiny/woody, cheese-like.
Bulleit Rye Whiskey
Excellent, Highly Recommended
45% abv Score: 92
Jim Beam Rye Whiskey
Excellent, Highly Recommended
45% abv Score: 92
Knob Creek Rye Whiskey
Excellent, Highly Recommended
50% abv Score: 92
Redemption 7-year-old Barrel Proof Straight Rye Whiskey
Excellent, Highly Recommended
61.3% abv Score: 92
Templeton Straight Rye Whiskey
Excellent, Highly Recommended
40% abv Score: 87
Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye-92 Proof Whiskey
Very Good, Strong Recommendation
46% abv Score: 86
George Dickel Rye Whiskey 45% abv
Score: 84
Hillrock Double Cask Rye Whiskey
Very Good, Strong Recommendation
Good, Recommended
45% abv
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7-7-7 INT
ERVIEW WITH
JEFF ARNETT MASTER DISTILLER AT JACK DANIEL'S DISTILLERY By Mike Raven
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or 7 years, Jeff Arnett has been the 7th master distiller of Old No. 7. In the nearly 150-year history of the Jack Daniel Distillery, there have been only seven master distillers. He follows a fascinating first six, including Jack himself (1866-1911). While Jack had been both owner and master distiller, he would be the last person to hold both titles. Lem Motlow took over ownership of the distillery upon Jack’s death and his name is now infamous in Jack Daniel’s history. However, he never actually held the title of master distiller. Those having that title, following Jack, were Jess Motlow (1911-1941), Lem Tolly (1941-1964), Jess Gamble (1964-1966), Frank Bobo (1966-1988) and Jimmy Bedford (1988-2008). Jeff grew up not too far from Lynchburg in Jackson, Tennessee. He received a degree in industrial engineering from the University of Alabama and worked in the food and beverage manufacturing business for 11 years before coming to Lynchburg in 2001 as a quality control engineer. Now he’s trusted with the worldwide stock of Jack Daniel’s. Jeff and his wife, Lori, live right outside of Lynchburg with their two children. When he’s not working at the distillery, or traveling the world touting the world’s number one selling whiskey, you might find him tinkering around in his garage. We met in the historical Revenuer’s Office on the property of the distillery for the interview. It was a rainy July day, and here’s how it went.
MR. As the master distiller of Jack Daniel’s, you seem to actually work in the distillery more than most. I’m not talking about the classics like the Jimmy Russells of the world, but nowadays there are a lot of brands being made that are really just labels with marketing behind them. That’s not really the case with you. JA. It’s not. I realize that’s a very important part of what I do because I think you need something that makes a brand tangible to people; you need a face and a voice to kind of bring life to it. But at my core, I was a production guy.
Before I got to Jack Daniel’s, I had already worked in food and beverage – I was an engineer and a manufacturing manager. When I came to Jack Daniel’s, I was the quality control manager and I really enjoyed the job. It’s not that I don’t really enjoy talking about it too, but I would much rather be here giving a hand in making the whiskey rather than just talking about it all the time. So for me, it just needs to be the right balance. For me, that’s about 20 percent of my time being spent out on the road, which allows me to cover more ground than you might think. In about 50 to 60 days a year, for the last seven years, I’ve been able to hit almost 30 countries and visit literally with thousands of people. But I do think it’s important that I’m here doing what my role and title implies I’m doing. And really, that’s the way I’m wired. It’s one of the things I really enjoy and that helps get me fired up and energized to go back out and talk about it again. MR. I’m sure it keeps you grounded and what not. Plus, I’m sure you have a lot of long-term employees you trust immensely while you do travel. JA. Definitely. That goes for even when I’m here. I trust in those same people. I don’t have to be in the stillhouse 24/7. The people we have are trained and educated in how to do it. Many of the people learned from their parents or grandparents. I don’t really have to be in there even to serve as their conscience – they care as much as I do about the product. They make it with a sense of pride, not only of being a Jack Daniel’s employee but even more so, of being a whiskey maker here and being entrusted with that role. We have a handful of about 20 people that I would put up against anyone in the industry with their knowledge of fermentation and distillation and how to make a great product. And I get credit for all their hard work (laughing). But I get the blame, too, so they understand you have to take the good with the bad.
“ Many of the people learned from their parents or grandparents. I don’t really have to be in there even to serve as their conscience – they care as much as I do about the product.”
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MR. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire is the latest whiskey to come out of the shed. It’s obviously a popular flavor and category. Does it penetrate GenX and Baby Boomer drinkers, or is it mostly Millennials drinking it? JA. Clearly I think we were trying to attract people who were not necessarily whiskey drinkers before. Whether that was someone my age who was a wine, vodka or rum drinker, or never found a whiskey they liked, or it was a Millennial who has a brand new right to go out and try different products and decide which ones they like. I think what we’ve seen is you can’t lump those flavors together and say they are going to have similar trajectories or attract the same people necessarily. With Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, when we launched it, we were hoping to get into the shot occasion – something universal for men, women, young and old. Something like when everyone first gathers at the bar, they would do cheers with Honey and then maybe go off and drink what they normally would drink. We were hoping it would be attractive there, but what we found was that a lot of people buying it said it was an after-dinner cordial for them, so it didn’t necessarily show up in that shot occasion. What we saw was that people who previously drank whiskey see it in a different occasion, so they would buy their normal whiskey bottle plus this one and do different things with it. I put it in coffee. It’s the only product from JD that I put in coffee, but I like to sweeten coffee and it gives me a slightly nutty flavor. Now, with the Jack Fire, it is much more in that shot occasion; it is more of a trendy young group of people (drinking it). We would class them (Fire and Honey) the same as being whiskey-based liqueurs, flavored whiskies. Honey seems to be attracting a different group than Fire. Maybe that is ultimately the benefit – being able to have different flavors that stay current and allow you to go after very specifically targeted people and meet them where they are, and give them a version of JD that suits them. We would love to be attractive to everyone. We say we want to be bikers to bankers, LDA (legal drinking age) to DND (damn near dead) (laughing). People’s palates change over their lifetime and even
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people of the same age would describe what they want in different ways, and that’s why it’s important for us to offer different extensions out there. I stand behind the quality of all of these. People ask which is best, so I ask, what do you normally drink? Then I’ll point them in the direction I think is best. We’re trying to figure out what someone wants and try to offer something that rings their bell. MR. The first “extension” after Old No. 7 was Gentleman Jack, correct? JA. Correct. MR. How long ago was that?
JA. No. Old No. 7 and Gentleman Jack are products of 200-barrel batches or so. We take barrels from different floors and different warehouses because we want the consistency level of those two brands to be the same, year to year, batch to batch. Single Barrel is the only one we let move around. So there is no absolute standard of identity. It’s the same grain bill, aged in the same toasted and charred-oak barrel we’ve manufactured. We have 87 warehouses but we concentrate on only a couple of dozen for Single Barrel – ones that have historically shown that they have some fairly aggressive environmental conditions. To get a whiskey this mature, you need the help of hot summers and cold winters. You really want to vacillate the whiskey in and out of the barrel, you want to deepen that soak line – we really want to drive it into the barrel with the seasons. It almost doubles the angels’ share and that adds more color and character. We don’t add anything.
JA. It was 1988. We were doing Green Label and Black Label. Green Label was always pretty much a regional brand, never as widely distributed as Black Label. To me, Gentleman Jack was largely about answering the one criticism of Black Label, even though Old No. 7 Black Label is the number one selling whiskey in the MR. It has a rich color (referring to the Single Barrel). world, globally as a single label, 160 countries, topJA. It does – this is one of our prettiest products. It’s seller. If there was something about Black Label people almost a brownish red when it comes to Single Barrel; would describe as possibly being a deal-breaker or the you know you’re adding barrel character. reason why they wouldn’t drink it, it would typically be the finish. There are different ways of describing People always ask me what I’m looking for when I look it: the wood, the oak, the charcoal. It was typically the in the glass. All whiskies are going to be brown, unless bitterness of the finish, but a lot of it is resonant of being it’s just brand new in the barrel. It’s always the underin a brand new, charred-oak barrel and it is hard to avoid. shading that tells you how the barrel is progressing. Is We mastered charcoal over the years, we didn’t invent it, this a barrel that’s going to be something like Gentleman but clearly we’re pretty good with it, after all these years. Jack? Or more like Black Label? Or more on the lines of So taking Black Label through the charcoal for a second Single Barrel – you look at the color as a good indicator. time, after it had matured in the barrel, really allows us We wouldn’t be able to use the color to tell us much at all to take the whiskey in a direction that answers that one if we were getting barrels from different manufacturers. potential preference for people who want a softer finish. We would have more variety because they would be It is a little lighter in color; when you go back through the charcoal, you do lose a little of that. But more importantly, you are softening that finish, which is the one element people will “ Our integration as a company cannot be just a great potentially say they prefer.
whiskey maker but also a great barrel maker.”
MR. How do you keep the Single Barrel consistent? Is it a blend of upper and lower barrels?
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made in different locations. But because we make all our barrels for ourselves, we can actually use color to be much more predictive of character than it would be otherwise. Our integration as a company cannot be just a great whiskey maker but also a great barrel maker. When a barrel is all of your color and half of your flavor, to me that is one of the best investments we ever make because it allows us to control a huge part of what ultimately we are going to become. We know where the wood came from and how long it was seasoned – these are things we know to make sure that no corners were cut. (We went into a discussion about the barrel program at Jack Daniel’s. He went on to explain that every barrel is toasted first and then charred. He described it as like roasting a marshmallow over a flame to brown it and then putting it into the fire to char it. I thought that was a good analogy.) MR. I always wondered, how often do you change the charcoal all the Jack Daniel’s whiskey goes through? Every time I come here, you’re burning sugar maple. What’s the lifespan of that charcoal? JA. We have 72 vats and we don’t need all of them to be in service at one time, so that allows us to take vats out of service and change the charcoal. We taste every vat, every week that it flows. We have 100 employees who serve as official whiskey tasters. Fifty of them work primarily in the new whiskey realm. So they are just working in the before-and-after charcoal mellowing to make sure each vat is working the way it should. At the end of six months, even if we haven’t had any problems with it, we are going to go ahead and take them out of service, empty the charcoal out of them and replace it. The charcoal is very similar to a sponge – it’s absorbing things into itself and it’s only useful as long as it’s not saturated. So at some point you know you are going to risk that the whiskey going in the top is going to be the same as the whiskey coming out the bottom. We want to make sure we change it prior to that happening. We don’t let any of that (charcoal) go to waste. We repurpose the wood: We have a company that pelletizes it and people ultimately end up burning it in their grills at home. We have less than 1 percent landfill rate; with all the stuff
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coming onto the property, we had to be very deliberate to get there. We run a pretty green operation, especially when it comes to wood. We are finding new homes for everything as far as natural resources go. MR. I imagine your barrels are highly prized when you are done with them? JA. They are. They go primarily to the Scotch industry and some are used for reposado tequila as well as Canadian whisky. Our standard joke is that there’s three gallons of Jack Daniel’s soaked into every barrel, so we always tell people, if there’s a Scotch you like, it’s because of all the Jack Daniel’s left in the barrel (laughing). It is a very synergistic relationship. We only use our barrels once but we are able to find other homes for them, whether that be a local craftsperson who turns it into a piece of furniture or giving it to another industry that doesn’t derive of lot of their character from the barrel. They can use it up to 60 years in the Scotch industry, so it has a very long life. You can regrow the tree that built the barrel in the time that barrel is done holding whiskey. MR. On the subject of burning things, you burn a lot of things here. It came to mind that you have to be concerned with something catching on fire. Fire and whiskey operations are bad bedfellows. What do you do if something does go wrong (knockon-wood)? Give our readers some insight as to how you prepare for such an incident. JA. We are in a very small community here, so we would not be able to rely on a municipal fire department to put out a fire if we had one here, and we’ve been very fortunate to never have had a fire. But we’ve also invested heavily in proactive things to insure that, too. All of our warehouses are equipped not just with sprinklers but also with smoke detection. So even if something was even smoldering, such as a lightning strike, we would see a change in the air quality and get a notification to get out there before we even lost the first drop of whiskey. Because we’re in a small town, we have 30 employees who have held up their hands and said, “I will be a firefighter if needed.” They are all state-certified firefighters. We actually built a facility here on-site where they train each week in the classroom and with live firefighting. Alcohol
has different properties when it’s on fire and it can be completely invisible if there is no other combustible material involved. So you have to train people not to just trust their eyes. If there’s an alarm going off, you could have a fire without seeing smoke or an obvious blaze. MR. Kind of like a racecar driver, when you see him jump out of the car but can’t see the flames? JA. Sure. They jump around trying to pat the fire out and all you can only see are clear heat ripples, if that. There are no real schools to train people specifically for alcohol fires; that’s something we have done here to protect our assets and our greatest asset, our people. They have state-of-the-art equipment: trucks, foam supplies, and personal protective gear that they wear.
MR. It is a big investment, really. JA. Absolutely. We have a fire chief here, and every one of the 87 warehouses has its own individual plan. So when they arrive, they know where the fireplug is, they know the perimeter and what the risk of fire spreading is, an approach angle and a tactic they are going to take with every scenario. We also have the largest foam supply east of the Mississippi River here. The foam will control the temperature. Alcohol actually has a pretty low burn point; it’s the wood of the structure that would drive the temperature up. If we had a warehouse catch fire, our plan is to lose only that one and no others. That is to say, we won’t go into a building to save whiskey but to contain the fire, control it from the outside, do the smart thing and keep it from spreading. That would be the
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unexpected fire. Now, if you look at the fires we actually start ourselves . . . (laughing). When we’re burning ricks, we actually do it a pretty long distance away from where we have other combustion sources. They have an EPA-designed pad that has an afterburner that’s refractory – we can take 140 proof from our own still and put it on four ricks and control that burn. The two gentlemen who burn all of the charcoal are both state-certified firefighters and part of our brigade. MR. That’s how you start the ricks fires, with your own fullproof whiskey? JA. Yes, we take our own “white dog” that’s been held as a quality retain for some length of time. When it is time to push those through (use them), we just dump them in a container and transfer it up to them and they’ll destroy it literally by lighting it on fire to start the ricks. We can burn four ricks at a time; we need 16 ricks to change a vat and we’ll change two to three a week. So they burn quite a bit. We’ll go through 30 to 50 ricks in a given week. We usually have about 1,000 on site. It’s a big investment but it’s the one thing that truly separates Tennessee whiskey
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from Kentucky bourbon. Otherwise, we would be very similar. I always tell people that bourbon is our first cousin. Of all the whiskies out there, it is clearly the one most akin to who we are. But charcoal mellowing makes a huge step change in our character, which we can taste if you like. (We went on to taste the “white dog” whiskey that would go into the barrel – one that was charcoal mellowed and one that was not. In all the times I have been to Jack Daniel’s, I have never done this tasting. I didn’t think it would be that big of a difference, but it is! Much smoother. We discussed Jack Daniel’s grain bill, which is 80 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley and 8 percent rye, and which has never changed. Jeff pointed out that they use the same three grains that bourbon does, but old Jack made the choice of going low in rye content. Jeff feels it really separates them; they use 8 percent, half to a third of most Kentucky bourbons. He tells people that a whiskey higher in rye content may be described as bold, peppery and spicy. He doesn’t think these are very good descriptors for Jack Daniel’s. He describes JD as being sweet to oaky in character, and a lot of it has to do with the low rye content.)
MR. With an expansion on its way, what do you do to insure the water will remain available and pristine for generations to come? After all, the water from Jack Daniel’s Hollow is the main reason you’re here. JA. After having a study done, we were able to purchase the land above it because we do know there are some sinkholes and wet weather affects it. The water is underground for a quite a while because it gets down to ground temperature, 56 degrees. We know the limestone is going to impart a heavy mineral content to it and it’s going to serve as a natural filter for iron, so it’s going to have certain properties. We went ahead and bought 250 acres that sit over the top of it back in 1982, and that’s allowed us to preserve the quality of it. Even though the distillery sits right at the outlet of it, our uptake of the water is actually at the cave. We elevate it into a 10 million gallon tank. So we’re always holding more than you see right here. The expansion facility is actually closer to the water source than the facility we are in. We located it on the highest hill above the distillery, right behind us here. It will have the same water, grain and yeast as this facility. The still design, the charcoal mellowing vats, all that is common to both facilities.
(In our continued discussion about water, Jeff said they would have to quadruple the output of whiskey before they would have to worry about water supply. So unless something happens, he is not concerned. “I think you can take great water and make bad whiskey. It’s just hard to start with bad water and make great whiskey.” – Jeff Arnett) MR. You must go through a shipload of grains (that got a laugh). Where do you keep it all? JA. If we were on a river, we probably would be shipping it in (laughing)! MR. And I assume you’re pretty picky about it. Where do you get it? JA. Well, the concrete silos you see here that are part of the distillery, they were built back in 1938 when they rebuilt after Prohibition. Back then, those would have held a month’s supply of grain or more. Today, that’s less than 24 hours’ supply. So we’re truly just in time when you look at how much grain we have on site. We do have a rail spur up in Tullahoma, which is the closest location we have to rail, where we keep a lot of malt and rye and we’ll keep typically maybe a week or so of corn. So we
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can direct-truck from there; it’s only 20 minutes away. We also have one grower’s contract, which is a family farm in north Alabama, and his entire crop is ours. We insist on #1 yellow corn, so we can’t just buy it anywhere. We like high starch varieties and we need people who have cleaners and dryers, because we don’t want the dust plume coming off of it and we don’t want a lot of water in the grain. We don’t want shucks and cobs and nut and bolts, and everything that will come in a #2 grade corn. So southern Kentucky, southern Illinois and north Alabama are our primary sources of corn. We can also direct-truck for these sources, although our main storage is in Tullahoma.
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(The discussion about grains got quite deep about how the growing areas have changed and the rigors of moving it in from locations around the country. He also noted that they are actually using ships to import rye from Scandinavia, which is some of the best, because it is too difficult to procure rye from Canada.) MR. Let’s talk about the expansion a little bit, seeing as how it’s about to start making whiskey next month. It’s unbelievable that you make all this whiskey right here. Are the new stills still all copper? JA. Yep, all copper, just the same as the ones here. Literally everything is designed as a mimic of here. We hired an engineering firm to take all of our knowledge
and help us put together a design package. But we are truly the experts on how Jack Daniel’s is made, so they made the documents so people could go in and structurally build it. We spent a long time with a company to get that done. Everything was deliberately done not to make just whiskey, but Jack Daniel’s whiskey, specifically. It is on site and a replication of the process here. (He went on to talk about having everything in one spot is a bit risky should something like a natural disaster happen, but the new facility is up the hill and separate.) We will be splitting trucks from
the same suppliers, yeast from the same lab, same water source, the fermenter and its design – everything you need to make Jack Daniel’s is replicated. We’re feeling pretty bullish; we’re all excited. We don’t want to rest on our laurels and think it will be easy, but within the next couple of weeks we’ll have confirmation back that not only are we making a great product but also it’s a perfect match for the product we have here. One of the things we know, especially when you have all new copper in your system, is it’s going to create a very,
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“ Jack started out in copper and that’s the only thing we’ve ever made our stills out of in all these years, and ever will.”
very clean distillate. Most of our stills maybe last ten years but when they first go in, you notice super-clean properties that come from them and that will change over time. I’ve told people I believe the product that will come from there will be just like new still product when we replace old stills here, because we have to from time to time. MR. You say you replace stills every 10 years or so? JA. Yes, every 10 to 13 years on the high end. It’s an investment on our part because it’s an expensive metal and it’s also a soft metal, so it’s not quite as durable. It’s not an inert metal; it actually has chemical properties and they provide a lot of benefits. Copper actually gives itself in the process and allows you to take some things from the distillate that you don’t want in it. It cleans up things that don’t have a pleasant nose and it takes away chemicals in a high enough concentration that could be seen as potentially a carcinogen. So I always say it’s an investment but well worth the return that you get. We are constantly having to go back and look at them because we flow water, grains, everything through our stills and that’s fairly abrasive on a soft metal. Jack started out in copper and that’s the only thing we’ve ever made our stills out of in all these years, and ever will.
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MR. What kind of JD cocktails do you like? JA. When I’m home, I’m a Single Barrel rocks guy. I’m fairly simple; I enjoy the whiskey for what it is. But at the same time, I’m interested in knowing what people are doing with it and how it is getting served out there because there’s a huge education in it. With people who take the whole mixology craft seriously, there’s as much art to it as I’m doing here. Choosing ingredients wisely, insisting on only fresh ingredients – there are a lot of common philosophies that support mixology. When I’m traveling, I get to meet some of the best cocktail masters out there. I’ll typically ask them for their best Jack Daniel’s cocktail, whichever one they think that is (no pressure there). Traveling 30 countries in the last six or seven years has exposed me to a lot of it.
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“Breaks” Out By Ned Barker, CEO, Grill Ventures International When making banquet menu recommendations to clients, I often recommend that they promote beverages within the food sections of their menus, including even the breaks section. Why not get the guest thinking about a perfect wine accompaniment or an interactive beverage station while they’re selecting an entrée or perusing reception offerings, or ending a long day of meetings? You might think, for example, that wine is mentioned often in the dinner and reception sections of most banquet menus. And you’d be right. In fact, a small survey of
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hotel catering menus shows lots of wine references in the food sections. There are wine sauces, wine vinaigrettes, wine reductions, wine-braised meats, wine chutneys and port wine dates. Beer and cocktails receive their fair share of mentions too. Beer marinades and beer cheese sauces are plentiful. Beer is also used for braising, and both root and ginger beers receive frequent mention in sauces and such. Cocktails receive fewer mentions – sometimes in reference to an inventive fresh fruit mixture, other times in reference to a type of glass used, say, for a dessert. Oops. Those aren’t the kind of references I meant. Oh, well. On the other hand, the beverage presence in banquet menus is becoming more prominent. One simple method I like to use to measure the degree of attention is through page count: How many pages within the banquet menu are devoted to beverage? For my small survey, I selected 10 menus at random, at 4+ star hotels, chains and independents. In all, I looked at 367 pages of menus and found that 42 of those pages, 11.4 percent, were devoted to beverage. Two hotels gave beverage a 20 percent page share. Several of the surveyed menus actively sell wines and cocktails through detailed description. The InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile describes a dozen recommended choices for a “Welcome Cocktail,” while the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle devotes two pages to descriptions of its “Hand Crafted Cocktails.” I was pleased to see that eight of the 10 menus listed essential
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information about their wines, such as brand, varietal, origin, etc. And I was especially impressed with the Hyatt’s and InterContinental’s detailed descriptions of their wines. The Hilton San Francisco Union Square goes a step further. Their menu lists recommended pairings for dinner items, and not just for entrées. The hotel suggests wines or other appropriate beverages to enjoy with appetizers, soups and salads, as well. To accompany their Wine Country Dinner Buffet, they suggest that the client “Create the true wine country experience by adding a wine tasting experience for your guests. Our wine experts will guide your guests through special pairings with different varietals.” This is an important idea – it elevates the wine accompaniment from “meal enhancement” to “experience enhancement.” This last summer, the mid-Atlantic region Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants broke out of the “breaks” box with their “Summer Six Pack”: “Sculpt any meeting by choosing one menu item for each part the day and treat the group with a complimentary menu upgrade.” The upgrade options were especially creative and differed from hotel to hotel.
The “Wrap-Up” feature of the Six Pack, offered at the close of the meeting, presented great options, some with alcohol. Hotel Monaco (Washington, D.C.) tempted with “mint juleps and bite-sized pimento grilled cheese sandwiches as a wrap-up snack.” Other hotels’ offerings included a mini fiesta complete with margaritas; focaccia with summer squash, shaved pecorino and thyme, and Anchor Steam Lager; and Belgian endive petals with Waldorf chicken salad and Prosecco. The Hilton Union Square offers mocktails with several of its afternoon breaks, and features an “International Bubbles and Bites” break, with choice of cava, Prosecco or Champagne. Will adding more beverage options to your catering menu increase sales? Perhaps. But how you add them is important too. Will adding more beverage options to your catering menu increase sales? Perhaps. But how you add them is important too. Even more important is the understanding that the catering menu is more than just a menu – it’s a marketing brochure that showcases your hotel’s culinary, beverage and creative service capabilities. So having a few creative/standout/ signature beverages and beverage service offerings, as you likely do already for the culinary side, may not sell more beverage, but it might factor into the reasons for selecting your hotel in the first place.
Give your beverage offerings a
chance to “breaks” out.
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A WELL-ROUNDED
BEVERAGE
MENU The latest non-alcoholic beverage research from Datassential can help you keep up with the latest trends. By Maeve Webster & Mike Kostyo
At New York’s Atera restaurant, servers prepare an elaborate drink tableside, sifting this, whisking that, all the while discussing the history of the ingredients and the reasoning behind each action. But they’re not making a cocktail. The drink, a tableside matcha service, is part of Atera’s elaborate $65 “Tea Progression,” designed and implemented by Jeff Ruiz, who is the tea curator and captain at the restaurant. Across the country, a number of restaurants have begun to take their non-alcoholic beverage programs very seriously, elevating the coffees, teas, juices and other non-alcoholic beverages through meticulous sourcing, avant-garde ideas and elaborate preparations.
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Chicago’s Next restaurant offers a non-alcoholic drink pairing menu designed to pair with the ever-changing theme: a green tomato, garlic, and white pepper drink for a Sicilian-inspired menu; or, a watermelon, red pepper and beef tea paired with a Tortilla Espanola for a menu that honored Spain’s famed El Bulli restaurant. Portland, Maine’s Hugo selects single-origin coffees from local Tandem Coffee Roasters and pairs them with the “ideal brewing method” – press, pour-over, siphon, etc. – to finish the meal. It’s not just fine dining restaurants that are upping their game. Consumers today have access to high-quality, on-trend experiences on an everyday basis – from coffee beans sourced from far-flung locales and brewed to exacting specifications at national coffee chains, to fast casual burger restaurants offering house-made craft sodas to set themselves apart. To keep up, operators of every stripe are experimenting with on-trend flavors (herbal infusions, alternative sweeteners like molasses and flavored honeys), global drinks (Cuban coffee, Thai iced tea), and attention-getting brewing methods (tableside presses, carbonated tea on draft). Datassential’s recent MenuTrends Keynote: NonAlcoholic Beverages, is specifically designed to understand the current non-alcoholic beverage market’s major trends, the fastest-growing drinks on menus, and what consumers want. Here’s a peek at a few of the findings from this comprehensive report that you can leverage in your own drink program, in order to meet consumer expectations and create a memorable, well-rounded beverage program that includes both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options.
Thinking Outside the Cup: Coffee and Tea If coffee is an afterthought in your beverage program, you might want to give it a second look – it’s certainly top-of-mind for consumers. In fact, after tap water, brewed coffee is the most consumed beverage. Roughly two out of three Americans drink hot brewed coffee on any given day, and 16 percent drink a specialty coffee beverage. While consumers certainly turn to coffee for a morning or afternoon pick-me-up, there are plenty of opportunities to reach consumers at every hour of the day, particularly with specialty coffee beverages and iced coffees. Roughly 30 percent of consumers purchased their last iced coffee or iced specialty coffee at lunch, and one in 10 consumers chose a hot or iced specialty coffee with dinner. Yet, while 88 percent of operators offer hot brewed coffee, only one-third offer hot specialty coffee, and even fewer offer iced varieties. Specialty and iced coffees resonate with Millennials, in particular. Over a
quarter of Millennials loved unique, trending varieties like bulletproof coffee or Thai/Vietnamese coffee. Millennials are also interested in seasonal flavors. Half of Millennials were interested in seasonal coffee and tea flavors, compared to 35 percent of consumers overall. Tea has been experiencing its own “third wave” recently, as new varieties and an increased emphasis on sourcing drives innovation in the category. Brown rice tea has grown 117 percent on menus in just the past year, while matcha has grown 56 percent. Tea bases like jasmine, oolong and rooibos are all growing on menus, as well as unique flavors like lychee, kiwi, watermelon and coconut. Consumers don’t actively avoid tea like they do some other beverages, likely due to its health halo. And operators can impart that same halo to other drinks (cocktails, juices) or even dishes (ice cream, sauces) by incorporating tea. With the right mix of seasonal and iced beverages, a well-designed coffee program can keep sales up across dayparts and throughout the year.
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The New Healthy: Alternative Milks and Green Juices It’s not just tea adding a health halo to menus. Alternative milks and functional juices are key parts of the “New Healthy.” Instead of focusing on nutrition (low calorie, low fat) or feel-good terms like “organic” and “sustainable,” operators and consumers are interested in functional foods and ingredients – energy, protein, superfoods. In fact, the term “protein” now appears on 44 percent more menus than it did four years ago. Alternative milks, many made from energypacked nuts, have been growing fast on menus. Almond milk is up 41 percent on menus and soymilk is up 27 percent. Operators are also experimenting with housemade, premium nut milk options, which can justify a premium price and are another trend that resonates with Millennials, who are more likely than other generations to “love” varieties like cashew, walnut and coconut milk. These milks can be used throughout the beverage menu, from coffees to cocktails. Los Angeles’ G&B Coffee serves an iced, house-made, almond-macadamia milk latte, shaken and served over ice from the shop’s high-end Kold-Draft ice maker, prompting The New York Times to ask if it’s the “best iced latte in America.”
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Some of the fastest-growing juice varieties on menus today, however, incorporate nutrient-dense greens. Juice varieties like spinach, cucumber and celery are all up at least 18 percent in the past year (spinach is up 50 percent). On-trend kale continues to grow. In fact, kale is up a whopping 422 percent on non-alcoholic beverage menus overall in the past four years. But consumers are also concerned about the purity of and high sugar content in juices. Nearly three-quarters of consumers said that “pure, 100 percent juice” was important to them, and nearly a quarter said excess sugar was a barrier to ordering juice away from home.
How Sweet Is It? Carbonated Beverages Sugar was also a major barrier to soda and carbonated beverage consumption. Twenty-four percent of consumers said they were discouraged from drinking a soda at a restaurant because sodas have too much sugar and are too sweet, and over 20 percent were concerned about calories and high fructose corn syrup. Now consumers are seeking out natural and alternative sweeteners. Thirty-nine percent of consumers said they were interested in natural sweeteners in non-alcoholic beverages; and operators are responding, using options like raw or cane sugar, honey, molasses or maple syrup. At Roam Artisan Burgers, a “better burger” fast casual based in San Francisco, the house-made sodas are sweetened with agave nectar, and come in flavors like caramelized pineapple and prickly pear. The craft soda movement has driven far more flavor experimentation in carbonated beverages, with flavors like lavender, blood orange and hibiscus
trending in the past year. Lavender alone has increased its presence 120 percent in carbonated beverages in the past year. And great taste is not only the most important attribute when consumers choose a soda, but also over half of consumers said that having a soda that pairs well with the particular food they are eating is important.
Keep Evolving, Stay on Trend, and Command Premium Prices For many of today’s consumers, a few cans of soda and some drip coffee won’t cut it any longer. They are looking for healthier options, new flavors and on-trend ingredients (although that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want to see their old favorites, but they do want options). A few innovative, on-trend drinks, like bone broth or horchata, can also make the entire beverage menu – and even the operation as a whole – seem trendier and more interesting. Many of these drinks particularly resonate with Millennials, while also commanding premium prices. This is just a small peek into this comprehensive report, which also covers everything from pricing to regional differences to enhanced waters, energy drinks and smoothies/ shakes, and even beverage toppings. So before you send that drink out to the guest, top it with a sprinkle of chocolate shavings – nearly one-third of consumers said they loved them. Contacts: maeve@datassential.com mike@datassential.com Please go to www.datassential.com for more information on this subject.
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Fox Restaurant CO N C E P TS Fall is approaching. The temperatures in Phoenix may still be wavering above 90 degrees, but the time has come to make changes for autumn. Regan Jasper, vice president of beverage and partner in Fox Restaurant Concepts, sips coffee from a Galveston coffee mug and shuffles the stack of menus on his desk. Jasper is kneedeep into shifting the beverage engine of his 15 concepts and 40-plus restaurants from the breezy wines and cocktails of summer into something appropriate for the changing foliage. “Fall season means I have to wait another year for more Rosé,” says Jasper. “I love it when it’s time for Rosé in the restaurants.” With the momentum Fox Restaurant Concepts has been enjoying the last five years, the stack of menus gets thicker every season. What started as Regan Jasper one restaurant in Tucson in 1998, where Regan was the sommelier and beverage manager, has grown into a veritable food and wine empire now stretching from southern California to Fairfax, Virginia, with stops along the way in Cherry Creek, Dallas, Houston and Atlanta.
He scribbles a note in the margin of the menus for Denver. It says, “ Call John – Move 60 cases to Colorado.” For this blend, he partnered with Dutton Goldfield and made 2,500 cases of Russian River Valley’s finest Pinot Noir. “For the first blend, we only made 150 cases. I was taking a meeting in Tucson with a couple of suits – they wanted to use some bulk juice and make something like ‘Fox Signature Chardonnay’ and I ended the meeting. I told them I had way too much respect for winemakers, growers and lifetime wine guys to put my name on something I didn’t have any hand in making,” he says. “Sitting at the bar at the time was a good friend of mine from Oregon. She asked me if I was in trouble with the law or something,” laughs Jasper. “I told her about the meeting and she invited me to her place in Oregon to make wine. So the first blend was Patricia Greene – Fox Block, we called it – and when I told that story to some of my wine guys, everyone wanted to be next.
The calendar on Regan’s wall reads like an atlas for 2016 and 2017: Chicago, it says; New York City, it says. Clusters of clothespins mark a particularly busy handful of months in Texas where Fox Concepts may open five restaurants. “The dates move around,” says Jasper. “That’s why they’re on magnets instead of glued up there,” he smiles. This particular fall season marks the release of Regan’s 10th proprietary Pinot Noir, Fox Block Ten. 72
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Spearmint White Negroni from Little Cleo’s Seafood Legend.
That was almost a decade ago and we’ve made some unbelievable wines with ZD, Truchard, Davis Bynum and Melville. For Fox Block Eight, I went to New Zealand and worked with Olly at Misha’s in Central Otago. That was something I wouldn’t have believed if you would have told me 10 years ago. And now Number Ten, with Dutton Goldfield.” As he shuffles through the menus, we discuss each concept. Regan references each like a member of his family, each with their charm and their struggle, each program with its own identity and quirky personality. Eventually I abandon subtlety and ask him directly who will help him craft the next in the line of his legacy Pinot Noir blends. “I’m keeping my cards close on that one,” he says. “There’s a good amount of interest from a few really fun places. I will tell you that I’d love to go back to Oregon at some point, if not for Fox Block Eleven, maybe for Twelve.”
The 3 Bitter Manhattan from Culinary Dropout.
When I ask Regan what keeps him going, what he is excited about for the future, what exactly does the future hold for him, he laughs and pauses. “You know,” he says, “we’ve got a lot of stores to open – 20 or so more in the next two years. That’s a lot of hurdles to cross, but it’s probably my favorite thing at this point. Opening 40 or 50 bottles of wine and sharing them with the next generation of Fox Concepts employees. I know that if I do that right – if I take care of them the best way I know how – then they’ll take care of everyone that comes through those front doors. And if they do that for me, we all can keep going to fun places and opening great new stores.” Fox Restaurant Concepts has fifteen concepts in all with the number of restaurants growing rapidly.
Top and left: XV Coffee Shop.
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True Food Kitchen in El Segundo.
Interior of True Food Kitchen in El Segundo.
TRUE FOOD KITCHEN “Easily one of our proudest lists,” says Jasper. “There’s so much great earth-conscious wine out there that nobody really knows about. And this is a great cross-section of it. We’ve got juice from Chianti to the Languedoc, from Sardinia to Sonoma, from Chapoutier to Frog’s Leap.” The wine selection encompasses the brand’s three tenets: local, organic and sustainable. “With cuisine as fresh and diverse as True Food has, you can’t just write a lay-up wine list and hope people don’t ask questions. I want our guests to ask questions. I want them to get excited about dry farming, solar-powered wineries and biodynamics.”
An assortment of Natural Refreshers from True Food Kitchen.
Organic cold-pressed juice by Strawberry Daiquiri from True Food Juby True and True Food Kitchen Kitchen. 74
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NORTH ITALIA “I love it when we open new NoRTHs. Teaching a new staff about Italian wine can be a challenge, but there’s almost nothing better than the look on their faces when they start to see the light,” he says. “I called in a few favors on this list. I mean, we’re pouring vintage Long Meadow Ranch Cabernet by the glass at $12 – which should feel almost like theft. We’ve got Reversanti Barolo by the glass, and we move more Guado al Tasso Vermentino than anyone I know. That wine is drinking so great right now.”
NoRTH Italia in Houston.
Red Rooster cocktail from NoRTH Italia.
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THE HENRY “What started as ‘our little restaurant at the office’ has turned into the subtly elegant restaurant that we playfully dubbed ‘The Greatest Neighborhood Restaurant.’ The wines and craft cocktail program run alongside one another in scope – from craft to classic to innovative and fun,” says Regan. “Lots of little gem wines in this one. Jamey Whetstone’s Jon Boat, the Megahertz from Bello – small production, sexy little wines that people can discover. And we’re running a Fox Block Flight right now. You can get Eight, Nine and Ten all at the same time.”
WILDFLOWER
Fox Block Nine Pinot Noir from Melville Vineyards and Winery.
The Wildflower in Tucson. 76
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“That’s where it all started,” says Jasper of Fox’s first restaurant, Wildflower, which is about to celebrate its 17th birthday and which remains quite popular among the loyal Fox crowd in Tucson. “I have a sincerely hard time believing it has been 17 years.” Wildflower remains home to many of Fox’s greatest hits, both in the bar and in the kitchen. “I wanted to make an easy drinking Pinot Grigio, and when you’re making white wine in California, if you don’t go straight to Christian Roguenant, then you’re headed in the wrong direction,” he says and smiles. “We blend up almost 4,000 cases every other year. This time around, we splashed about 2 percent of Orange Muscat in with the Pinot Grigio and Albariño – that wine is killing it right now, so good.”
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PROMOTING RESPONSIBILITY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON By Trevor Estelle, vice president of Sales & Marketing for the TIPS Program It is the time of year we all count on to promote our businesses, particularly our spirits, wine and beer sales. As people start feeling more festive, they want to consume and we want to be the first to offer the drinks. As we prepare for the holiday rush this year, let’s not forget that we want to keep our guests safe and prevent over-service. When you serve alcohol, you know the risks: You risk lawsuits if you over-serve; you risk lives if you serve a drunk driver; you risk your livelihood if you sell to a minor. Here are a few tips that may protect both your patrons and your establishment this holiday season: 1. Request identification from anyone who appears 35 years of age or younger. Guests who cannot present a valid form of ID should not be given any alcohol. *Remember FEAR when inspecting any form of identification:
• Feel – Check for tears, frays or other damage.
• Examine – Compare the ID with those listed in an ID Checking Guide.
• Ask – Communicate with the guest by asking questions to verify that the ID belongs to the guest (year of birth? year of high school graduation?) and look for signs of hesitation.
• Return – Return the ID to the guest.
2. Control access to the alcohol you provide:
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• Use standard-size glasses and measure the alcohol in mixed drinks.
• Count drinks.
• When serving a guest previously served by a co-worker, check with your colleague to find out how many drinks the guest has already been served.
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3. Offer soft drinks, fruit juices, bottled water and coffee so that your guests have an alternative to alcohol. 4. Allow guests to have only one drink at a time. Discourage competitive or rapid drinking. 5. Offer appetizers, snacks and other food to slow down the absorption of alcohol, especially if you notice a guest showing signs of intoxication.
6. Look for behavioral cues to determine if a guest is approaching intoxication or is already intoxicated:
• L owered Inhibitions – Talkativeness or loud behavior.
• Impaired Judgment – Inappropriate behavior or increased rate of drinking.
• Slowed Reactions – Slurred speech, glassy or unfocused eyes.
• Loss of Coordination – Stumbling or swaying.
7. Make sure that anyone who is visibly intoxicated receives no more alcohol and
is not left alone. This is important even if the guest is not driving; an impaired guest can be injured or may injure others in ways other than through an automobile collision. 8. When necessary, provide alternate transportation for impaired guests. Either call a cab or enlist the help of sober friends to take the impaired guest home. 9. Get your staff certified in Training for Intervention ProcedureS! For more information about TIPS, please visit www.gettips.com.
About TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) TIPS® (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) is the global leader in education and training for the responsible service, sale and consumption of alcohol. Proven effective by third-party studies, TIPS is a skills-based training program that is designed to prevent intoxication, underage drinking and drunk driving. Over the past 30 years, TIPS has certified over 3.5 million participants. TIPS has certified participants in all 50 states and over 40 different countries. Establishments who use TIPS benefit immediately by reducing risk and creating a safer, more responsible work environment. TIPS training can: • Reduce exposure to alcohol liability lawsuits Trevor Estelle, vice president at the TIPS program
• Lower insurance premiums • Improve customer service and satisfaction • Ensure compliance for state and local laws To learn more, visit WWW.GETTIPS.COM
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The popularity of bourbon and rye whiskey has exploded exponentially in the last few years. That’s no big secret. With that in mind, in the Mix reached out to IMI Agency customers and asked if they would send in a favorite cocktail recipe to share with our readers. The response was strong with 18 companies sending in outstanding recipes having either bourbon or rye as the main component.
APPLEBEE’S
Bourbon & Berries “We’ve worked to integrate bourbon to a greater degree in our beverage menu, given the growth in the segment over the last few years and its appeal to young adults. The deep flavor of Maker’s Mark stands up well to the flavor of blackberries, which can overpower less-flavorful spirit products. The name is both fun and descriptive at the same time.” – Mike Hurt, director of Beverage Marketing, Applebee’s. INGREDIENTS:
Maker’s Mark Blackberry Cranberry juice Lemon
THE RITZ-CARLTON
CHARLOTTE, N.C ., THE PUNCH ROOM
Honey Franciulli “The Honey Franciulli is a favorite of many of my guests because of its unapologetic complexity. There are a ton of things going on in this drink and some have compared it to a bold Merlot’s ‘beautiful bourbon’s equivalent.’ The Krupnikas, which is a Lithuanian family recipe for a spiced honey liqueur, lends notes of the fall season while the burnt orange just brightens this spirit-forward cocktail to the perfect balance.” – Bob Peters 2 oz ½ oz ½ oz ½ oz
Ridgemont Reserve 1792 Bourbon Fernet-Branca Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth Krupnikas
Lightly shake with ice; double strain into Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a flamed orange. 80
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P.F. CHANG’S
Twisted Whiskey A twist on the classic whiskey sour. Our version uses Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Cointreau, fresh lemon, hand-squeezed orange juice and clover honey water. 1 ¼ oz ¾ oz ¼ oz 1 ½ oz ¾ oz Dash Dash 1
Woodford Reserve Bourbon Cointreau Honey water Hand-squeezed orange juice Hand-squeezed lemon juice Angostura bitters Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters Orange peel for garnish
Fill a bucket glass with ice and set aside. Fill a mixing glass 2/3 full of ice and add all ingredients. Cap and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain into serving glass. Garnish with orange peel dropped in (unspeared).
ST. REGIS
WA SHINGTON, D.C .
Inside the Beltway Bourbon Mojito Created by Andrew Cassedy. This cocktail brings together refreshing, worldly ingredients for Washington’s diverse clientele and gives them something to help cut the hot, humid summers of Washington, D.C. ½ oz Knob Creek Single Barrel Bourbon (St. Regis exclusive) ½ oz Domaine de Canton Ginger Liquor ½ oz Simple syrup 3 sprigs Fresh mint 4 slices Peeled fresh ginger 5 Seeded, halved kumquats Muddle fresh ingredients and simple syrup. Shake with ice and pour into a 14-ounce highball glass. Top with club soda and garnish with mint and a kumquat.
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SQUARE 1682
AT HOTEL PALOMAR, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Wildwood Ave & Boardwalk Square 1682’s lead bartender, Dan Kulisek, recently added a new cocktail to the bar’s summer menu. Of the new bourbon and rye-based drink, Wildwood Ave & Boardwalk, Dan says, “I wanted to make a stirred, boozy cocktail that tasted like Birch Beer, something that I often drank sitting at Mac’s Pizza in Wildwood, New Jersey as a child. I’m really tapping into sensorial memories, and I felt that this would be a great opportunity to showcase such a timeless flavor in a boozy bourbon drink.” 2 oz 5-7 dashes ½ oz ¼ oz ¼ oz
Bulleit Bourbon Xocolatl Mole Bitters Art In the Age ROOT Luxardo Ramazzotti Amaro
Fill a mixing glass with the ingredients. Stir and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.
MASTRO’S
BEVERLY HILLS, C ALIF.
Chairman of the Board Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select Tennessee Whiskey is a one-ofa-kind whiskey made to pay tribute to Jack’s Daniel’s biggest fan, Frank Sinatra. This is our tribute to Jack and Frank. This drink is available exclusively at our Penthouse above Mastro’s Steakhouse, Beverly Hills. 2 oz Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select Tennessee Whiskey 1 Sugar cube 3 dashes Tobacco bitters Splash Water 1 Lemon twist Muddle sugar cube, bitters and water in a bucket glass. Add the Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select Tennessee Whiskey, stir and add large ice cube. Garnish with lemon zest.
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EVERGLADES BREWHOUSE RESTAURANT
IN TROPIC ANA FIELD, TAMPA , FLA .
Everglades Moonshine Created by John Cirelli, general manager for Centerplate at Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. The theme of the restaurant is barbecue, bourbon and beer so this bourbon drink was the perfect fit. Customers enjoy the cocktail in the unique setting of the baseball stadium; it gives them an alternative to drinking beer. The homemade bacon stirrer also adds a special touch. 1 part Bulleit Bourbon 4 parts Fresh squeezed lemonade Splash Pepsi 1 House-smoked bacon stirrer Fill a plastic Mason jar with ice. Add bourbon and lemonade and top with a splash of Pepsi. Garnish with a house-smoked bacon stirrer.
CARMEL VALLEY RANCH C ARMEL-BY-THE-SEA , C ALIF.
Lavender Sazerac A simple variation on the traditional Sazerac cocktail, using our homemade lavender simple syrup created by our sommelier, Dave Eriksen. It is a mixture of lavender (from our 4,000 plants on property), honey (produced by our Italian honeybee apiaries), natural cane sugar, water and raspberry extract. The goal of the Valley Kitchen at Carmel Valley Ranch is to feature local products in our food, wine and cocktail programs (many coming from our own organic garden and vineyard). 2 oz ½ oz 3 dashes Splash
Templeton Rye Whiskey Homemade lavender syrup Peychaud’s Bitters Absinthe (We use Leopold Bros. Absinthe Verte from Colorado.)
Lightly splash Absinthe in glass (rocks or classic cocktail) and swirl around; pour out excess. In mixing glass, pour whiskey, lavender syrup and bitters over ice; stir until chilled. Strain into glass. Garnish with lemon zest/twist and lavender sprig. The key is to not let the Absinthe overpower.
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IRVINE MARRIOTT
DEPARTURE RESTAURANT
The King’s Drink
Stumptown Express
Clark Gable was known as “The King of Hollywood.” Gable played famous roles such as Rhett Butler in “Gone with the Wind.” He also starred in “Mutiny on the Bounty” where parts of the movie were filmed on Catalina Island, a popular local SoCal destination for travelers to relax and re-energize! Gable loved rye whiskey and his drink of choice was usually a good rye with ginger ale. In honor of Clark Gable, we have created The King’s Drink, a perfect combination of Jim Beam Rye Whiskey and Fever Tree Ginger Beer, with a modern twist. We use fresh mint from our on-property living herb wall and the cucumber creates a re-energizing crisp note, similar to a SoCal summer breeze.
“The Stumptown Express is a celebration of the renowned coffee culture in Portland, Oregon. We feature Stumptown coffee roasters in Departure restaurant and this cocktail is a natural extension of our passion for artisan coffee as well as bourbon. The Stumptown Express also highlights Departure’s Asian influence through the incorporation of Canton ginger liqueur, bridging the spice from the high rye content of Four Roses Bourbon, the sweetness of the honey, and the bitterness of the coffee in perfect harmony. I’ve always been a fan of Four Roses and find it mixes well with bitter and spicy ingredients, and this cocktail is no exception.” – Brandon Wise, corporate director of Beverage for Sage Restaurant Group.
1 ½ oz Jim Beam Rye, aged in an oak barrel at Floe Lounge 3 oz Ginger beer 3 slices Cucumber 6 Mint leaves
1 oz 1 oz 1 oz ½ oz 2 dashes 2 dashes
IRVINE, C ALIF.
Muddle mint and cucumbers in a pint glass. Add ice and rye whiskey, then shake and double strain into a rocks glass full of ice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with a cucumber and mint leaf. Let the kings enjoy! 84
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PORTLAND, ORE.
Four Roses Bourbon Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur Stumptown cold brew 2:1 honey syrup Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters Peychaud’s Bitters
Stir all ingredients and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with 3 coffee beans.
INTERSTATE HOTELS AND RESORTS
NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE
Kentucky Sidecar
Cannonball
“When designing our 2014-2016 cocktail program, we increased the number of bourbon and rye products because it’s such a trending category. We also added fresh juice options and partnered with Finest Call because of the quality of their syrups and mixes.” – Bradley Moore, vice president of Food and Beverage Operations for Interstate Hotels and Resorts.
“We worked with Elad Zvi and Gabriel Orta, the talented owners of Bar Lab, Inc., to develop several bourbon-based cocktails for our newest ship, the Norwegian Escape. The Cannonball cocktail has approachable individual ingredients, but then creates a very unique and balanced cocktail experience when mixed together. It fits perfectly in our new concept ‘The District Brew House,’ a bar onboard that focuses on innovative, specialty cocktails and craft beers.” – Wes Cort, director, Restaurants & Beverage, Norwegian Cruise Line.
½ oz 2 oz ½ oz 1 oz ½ oz 1
Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Rémy Martin VSOP Cognac Cointreau Orange Liqueur Fresh lemon juice Finest Call Bar Syrup Orange wedge (squeeze and discard)
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain all ingredients into a martini glass. Garnish with fresh orange peel and a sugared rim if desired!
1 ½ oz 1 oz ½ oz ½ oz Dash 2 oz
Bulleit Bourbon Monin Peach Syrup Pineapple juice Lemon juice Orange bitters Samuel Adams Boston Lager beer
Mix in a Grand Pilsner glass. Garnish with orange twist and thyme.
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GAYLORD PALMS
MOOR RESTAURANT, ORLANDO, FLA .
The Bourbon Beehive “Currently we’re seeing the cocktail world mirror the greater culinary trends of the locavore movement. That alone is something that I wanted to incorporate when making this beverage. The idea of using fresh seasonal and regional ingredients is something that inspired me to create this drink. Using our in-house hydroponic garden mixed with a few trials and errors, this savory drink took its form.” – Erika De La Cruz, creator of the Bourbon Beehive. 2 oz 1 oz 1
Knob Creek Bourbon Honey sage simple syrup Sage leaf
Build in a beaker. Add ice, stir 20 times and strain over a perfect 2-by-2 cube. Garnish with a sage leaf and honeycomb stir. Honey sage simple syrup: 1 cup Water 1 cup Florida orange blossom honey ¾ oz Sage sprigs Combine water and honey. Bring to a boil, add sage and steep for 25 minutes away from burner. Cool and store.
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INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL BUCKHEAD ATLANTA , GA ., THE BOURBON B AR
The Governor 2 oz ½ oz 3 dashes 3 dashes
Four Roses Yellow Label Bourbon Turbinado syrup (brown sugar syrup) Black walnut bitters Orange bitters
Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir for roughly one minute, or until glass gets very cold to the touch. Strain over ice, preferably one large cube if you have one. Garnish by cutting a slice of orange peel, then hold a flame to the outside of the peel for a couple of seconds and then express the oils over the flame. This will create a bit of a flash as the oils from the caramelized peel ignite. Enjoy!
MORTON’S THE STEAKHOUSE
Boulevardier With bourbon’s continued popularity, this cousin of the Negroni is the perfect drink for the new consumer. This cocktail is seeing a great resurgence in popularity because of its “cool” factor and flavor profiles of the true classic cocktail: bitter (Campari), sweet (vermouth) and savory (bourbon). It will drink a little smoother than a Negroni because it does not have all of the herbal elements of the gin. In the end, the Boulevardier is popular and often requested, so we owe it to our guests to make a great one. 1 oz 1 oz 1 oz
Templeton Rye Campari Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
In a mixing glass, stir ingredients with ice; then strain over an ice-filled rocks glass or serve straight up in a cocktail martini glass. Garnish with an orange peel (twisted onto the drink to release the citrus oils).
HOUSE OF BLUES
Yester Year “There’s a great John Coltrane line about autumn: ‘Thru the trees comes autumn with her serenade. Melodies the sweetest music ever played.’ Riffing off that thought, our team worked to use ingredients and combinations that would remind people of that kind of autumn mood. That means ‘roast’ flavored characteristics like nuts, savory herbs and market flavors that mix well with the spiciness of rye and the sweeter bourbon profiles. We fused some recognizable combinations, like orange and chocolate, into it to provide comfort and familiarity … which is what autumn is all about.” – Eric Stenta, vice president, Food and Beverage Operations. 2 oz 1 bar spoon 2 dashes
Pikesville Rye Whiskey Orange marmalade Aztec Chocolate Bitters
Combine all ingredients in mixing glass with ice. Stir for 30 seconds. Strain over fresh ice into an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with orange peel. Fall 2015 • itmmag.com
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FOUR SEASONS RESORT RANCHO ENCANTADO SANTA FE, N.M.
Blackberry Bourbon Smash Created by Nicholas Tyson. A sweet, refreshing, bourbon treat full of berry and a hint of tart acidity. 3 Muddled blackberries 1 ½ oz Bulleit Rye ½ oz Crème de cassis 1 oz Hibiscus syrup 3 drops Blackberry aged bitters ½ oz Soda water Juice squeezed from ½ fresh lemon Muddle blackberries, crème de cassis and blackberry bitters in a glass with lemon juice. Add Bulleit Rye and hibiscus syrup. Add ice and shake. Pour into a rocks glass and top with club soda. Garnish with a whole blackberry. Hibiscus syrup - 5 hibiscus flowers, 3 cups sugar, 3 cups water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 3 minutes. Let cool before use.
AMERICAN AIRLINES ADMIRALS CLUB
Berry Smash 1 ¼ oz 1 oz 1 ¼ oz ¾ oz ½ oz 3 2
Templeton Rye Disaronno Finest Call Premium Lemon Sour Cranberry juice Blueberry Re`al Syrup Mint leaves Lemon wedges
Muddle 2 lemon wedges and mint in shaker. Add remaining ingredients into the shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a Dress The Drink garnish (dot of blueberry, almond, lemon zest with hints of sea salt and white sugar). 88
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When I first started reading this book, I wondered how it could all be about just one drink. But it is – and it’s not just any drink, it’s the OldFashioned. Simonson researches this cocktail with gusto. Referring constantly to old newspaper and magazine articles of an era long-gone, he reconstructs the golden age of cocktails and the history of the Old-Fashioned. The first half of the book is “The Story,” which I could not put down and read in one sitting. The second half is “The Recipes,” which includes Old School, The Standard Variations and Modern Classics – enough to keep this novice bartender busy for a while. If you like cocktail history and want to improve your recipe portfolio, I highly suggest picking up a copy. It can be found on his website, robertsimonson.net. Published in the U.S.A. by Ten Speed Press.
No single cocktail is as iconic, as beloved, or as discussed and fought-over as the Old-Fashioned.
Its
formula is simple: just whiskey, bitters, sugar and ice. But how you combine those ingredients — in what proportion, using which brands, and with what kind of garnish — is the subject of much impassioned debate. The Old-Fashioned is the spirited, delightfully unexpected story of this renowned and essential drink: its birth as the ur-cocktail in the nineteenth century, darker days in the throes of Prohibition, re-ascension in the 1950s and 1960s (as portrayed and re-popularized by Don Draper on “Mad Men”), and renaissance as the star of the contemporary craft cocktail movement. – Penguin Random House
Images taken from The Old Fashioned, by Robert Simonson (Ten Speed Press 2014). Photography copyright 2014 by Daniel Krieger
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The West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers’ Association and a Visit to the Brugal Rum Distillery Sunset in the cane fields.
The West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers’ Association (WIRSPA) has developed the Authentic Caribbean Rum (ACR) Marque as a visual symbol of authenticity, quality and diversity. This ACR Marque ensures a common standard of production across this rich and diverse region of the world widely recognized as the home and birthplace of rum. WIRSPA represents 15 independent countries that produce Authentic Caribbean Rums: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago. These 15 Caribbean country associations, which make up WIRSPA, have agreed to a common set of production standards to define Authentic Caribbean Rum. While Neil Morris, ACR ambassador each brand will maintain 90
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its individual character and identity, the ACR Marque guarantees the authenticity and provenance of the rum. I had the pleasure of visiting one of WIRSPA’s most famous members, the Brugal Rum distillery, where they have been producing rum since 1888. Over 125 years ago in the Dominican Republic, Don Andrés Brugal Montaner broke from the traditional styles of the time to create a distinctively different rum all his own. Five generations later, Gustavo Ortega runs the family-owned operation. He led us through a tasting of their unique and beautifully crafted rums. They are distinctively dry, with the nuance and complexity that can only come from a dedication to exclusively cask aging every drop.
Fifth generation Rum Master Gustavo Ortega Z.
A selection from the Brugal Rum family.
Putting the famous netting on a bottle of Añejo.
There were two things that stood out in particular when I visited Brugal. The first is their method of distillation. It is unique in the sense that they distill a very dry, raw distillate (clear alcohol), which is less sweet than many and purer than most. The other is their unwavering dedication to cask-aging every drop of rum, using the same wood policy as the world’s finest single malt Scotch whiskey. Because they caskage their rum in the year-round heat and humidity of the Dominican Republic, maturation is accelerated. I learned of this firsthand, being in the barrel rooms. A sweltering temperature inside makes the rum age and take on its barrel’s characteristics much faster than, say, bourbon in Kentucky. This also causes an accelerated rate of evaporation, known as “the angel’s share.” So the longer you age it, the more you lose. They say a barrel of rum will totally evaporate in eight years, so it is plain to see that aging rum in the Dominican Republic is an expensive process.
One of the barrel rooms aging Brugal Rum in the Dominican Republic heat.
A tasting of the rums was impressive. Fifth generation Rum Master Gustavo Ortega Z. walked us through a selection of the rums in the tasting room, away from the heat!
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The XV Ron Reserva Exclusiva is a unique blend of rums aged three to eight years in former bourbon barrels made of American oak, and rums aged two to three years in former Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks. The result, a perfect marriage of dry rums with exceptional smoothness and flavor, has a complex and rich flavor of wood, roasted almonds and caramel.
Freshly cut sugar cane dripping with juice.
Especial Extra Dry is a white rum aged over two years in used bourbon barrels. Triple filtration enhances the flavor and strips away the color brought on from the wood. It is a mature white rum with much more character than most in its class. The Añejo is one of my favorite rums for the money. It is matured for two to five years in specially selected former bourbon barrels made of American oak, giving it a beautiful aroma of wood and caramel. The taste is a rich experience of toffee, spice and a hint of oak. It is a good mixing rum or, better yet, served over a single large cube.
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The 1888 Ron Gran Reserva Familiar celebrates the family heritage and the year the distillery started. But make no mistake – this is rum made by and for the new generation of this family. The rum is double wood aged and spends six to eight years in ex-bourbon white American oak casks, followed by a second maturation of two to four years in first-filled, hand-selected Spanish sherry oak casks previously used for aging Oloroso sherry. The rum is captivatingly complex with an aroma of fine saddle leather and spice, with undertones of the barrel wood. The flavors include hints of chocolate, roasted coffee, cinnamon and other dried fruits. Truly a fine rum. They talk about it as being a whiskey drinker’s rum. Next time you have a chance, enjoy a rum that carries the Authentic Caribbean Rum Marque and you will be sure it is from one of the finest rum producers in the Caribbean.
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2015
USBG Bartender of the Year
Tyson beats the clock. Photo by Shannon Sturgis.
After three rigorous days of show-stopping mixology this past June, The United States Bartenders’ Guild and Diageo World Class have named New York City bartender Tyson Buhler as the winner of the coveted title, World Class Bartender of the Year.
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The fourth World Class U.S. competition drew in thousands of applicants, with 75 finalists selected to compete regionally. From there, 15 barmen advanced to the national competition in Chicago, to wow judges with their extreme talent. The bartenders demonstrated their knowledge, technique and creativity by crafting cocktails featuring one of the Diageo Reserve brands. While the tallies were tight, in the end only one talented bartender was named the winner: Tyson Buhler.
This year, World Class hosted educational seminars and trained more than 5,000 people on the Diageo Reserve brands, which include Bulleit Bourbon, Ciroc, Tequila Don Julio, Johnnie Walker, Ketel One, Tanqueray TEN, Zacapa Rum and Diageo Single Malts. World Class is a global training program and internationally recognized competition, culminating in an annual landmark competition where the Global Bartender of the Year is announced. In early September, Tyson traveled to the final, this year in South Africa, to compete. The results were not ready at press time but you can log into www.theworldclassclub.com to see how he did.
The Challenges Ode to the Windy City: Upon arrival, competitors have to create three cocktails: two classics with a twist, and one drink that reflects Chicago. Sensorium: Here, charm and performance are key. This challenge tests competitors’ ability to create memorable guest experiences that appeal to all of the senses, from the nose to the toes.
Left: Tyson Buhler swizzles to beat the clock. Middle: Winner Tyson Buhler hugs 2014 Winner Charles Joly. Right: Ode to the Windy City by Tyson Buhler. Photos by Shannon Sturgis.
Cocktails Against the Clock: Time to cheer! Barmen will wow the crowd with speed, creativity and grace under pressure, creating six cocktails in just eight minutes.
The Judges Judges of the competition included the 2014 global winner and Chicago native Charles Joly, as well as the 2013 U.S. winner Jeff Bell and the 2012 U.S. winner Rickie Gomez. They were joined by internationally acclaimed industry icons including master mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim, beverage expert Steve Olson, award-winning bartender Jim Meehan, James Beard Nominee Julie Reiner, National President of the USBG David Nepove, acclaimed mixologist and author Dale DeGroff, the 2014 Canada winner Grant Sceney, and spirits specialist Jacques Bezuidenhout.
The Tasting Menu: Forget wine. This challenge pushes competitors to create the perfect food and cocktail pairing. Local Goes Global: Early in the day, competitors will be taken to the Chicago market, where they will have 45 minutes to buy all of the ingredients to make two Ketel One cocktails. Competitors must present two cocktails that take inspiration from environments outside of their country and feature the flavors of the market produce.
World Class Nationals 2015 Judges. Fall 2015 • itmmag.com
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2015 World Class U.S. Finalists ALEX RENSHAW
ALLISON WIDDECOMBE
CHICAGO, ILL.
DENVER, COLO.
Midwest Regional Finals Bar: Bordel
Southwest Regional Finals Bar: Williams & Graham
Renshaw’s passion for the hospitality industry is unparalleled, and is fueled by his experience working in a selection of Chicago’s finest bars and restaurants. He believes bartenders should always offer an exceptional experience to customers because “at the end of the day, if we are doing our jobs correctly, that experience can make someone’s day or night.”
As a World Class veteran, Widdecombe is back for a second year to showcase her mix of creativity and knowledge in crafting a well-balanced and flavorful drink.
LAURA KELTON CHICAGO, ILL.
Midwest Regional Finals Bars: Sportsman’s Club, Bordel, Fulton Market Kitchen Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kelton will showcase her Southern roots at the World Class U.S. Finals. Kelton now tends the bar in a few Chicago establishments, where her innate understanding of excellent hospitality is evident.
JASON PATZ DENVER, COLO.
Southwest Regional Finals Bar: Williams & Graham Starting as a busboy, Patz has climbed up through the ranks and now serves as a bartender at one of Denver’s, and the nation’s, most acclaimed cocktail bars. Patz’s experience is quite expansive, yet his passion for the hospitality industry is what gets him excited about crafting cocktails. TYSON BUHLER NEW YORK, N.Y.
HARRISON GINSBERG CHICAGO, ILL.
Midwest Regional Finals Bar: The Dawson
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Northeast Regional Finals Bar: Death + Company
Style. Technique. Passion. These are the three components that Chicago’s own Ginsberg values above all else when crafting cocktails.
A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in Arizona, this World Class veteran incorporated his culinary training into the art of bartending. His background is the perfect foundation for his latest project of running a bar program at an esteemed New York restaurant, Ristorante Morini.
HOLLY BOOTH
LACY HAWKINS
PARK CITY, UTAH
NEW YORK, N.Y.
Southwest Regional Finals Bar: High West Distillery and Saloon
Northeast Regional Finals Bars: Clover Club, The NoMad
Booth lives, works and plays in Park City, Utah. In addition to bartending, Booth is a yoga instructor, so she will be sure to have a clear state of mind on competition day.
Hawkins has been slinging drinks for nearly 10 years, but not just anywhere. This West Coast native is now making elevated cocktails at some of the most iconic cocktail establishments in New York City.
in the Mix Magazine
SAM TREADWAY
ANDREW MELTZER
BOSTON, MASS.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.
Northeast Regional Finals Bars: backbar, Ames Street Deli, Study Restaurant
West Regional Finals Bar: 15 Romolo
Treadway has bartended in four different time zones during the past decade, and has finally settled down in Boston and Eastern Standard Time. Working at a few cocktail bars in the city, Treadway values fresh, seasonal ingredients in his crafted drinks.
Meltzer is the vice president of the USBG San Francisco Bay Area chapter. He emphasizes the importance of delivering a high standard of service that matches the exceptional quality of drinks. His flair for technique and an enthusiastic stage presence make Meltzer a true competitor at the World Class Finals.
ERIC BENNETT
JORGE VARGAS-BAQUEDANO
BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
LOS GATOS, CALIF.
South Regional Finals Bar: Carrigan’s Public House
West Regional Finals Bar: Jack Rose Libation House
Bennett’s early passion for creating new flavors in food and drinks led him to become extremely interested in the art of mixology. By studying the profession and researching as many unique ingredients as possible, Bennett was able to understand the structure of a well-balanced cocktail.
Starting as a runner in the kitchen, Vargas-Baquedano built up his skills and knowledge to become a bartender. Having recently joined the USBG, Vargas-Baquedano attends educational seminars to evolve his skills and continually challenge himself.
FORD ROBERTS
JUSTIN PARK
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
CHINATOWN, HAWAII
South Regional Finals Bar: Grape & Grain Exchange
West Regional Finals Bar: Manifest
Before transitioning to bartending, Roberts began his career in the industry working at fine liquor and wine stores. His passion for bartending led to a full-time position, where he transformed the menu to incorporate fresh and homemade products into the program.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Park draws inspiration from the world around him, taking advantage of Honolulu’s unique climate and abundance of fresh, island-grown fruits and vegetables. His hometown ingredients often find their way into his cocktails.
TIM BRADSTREET ORLANDO, FLA.
South Regional Finals Bar: Siro Urban Italian Kitchen Bradstreet works with local farmers and purveyors to create a true farm-to-glass cocktail program at his Florida establishment. Bradstreet values the importance of natural and fresh ingredients to create a delicious drink. World Class Nationals 2015 U.S. Competitors. Photo by Shannon Sturgis. Fall 2015 • itmmag.com
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Trinchero Family Estates Presents: by Barry Wiss, CWE, CSS
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The proper whiskey sour is made with a dash of _______
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Minimum bottle proof of whiskey
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8 Man’s best friend and slang term for clear whiskey, “white____” 10 Required for Tennessee whiskey’s Lincoln County process 12 True or False: There are more barrels of whiskey in Kentucky than people 15 Babi’s friend or the second (“double”) pot of a still 17 Made with Tennessee whiskey, an Alabama Slammer would be one of these
Fall 2015 • itmmag.com
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