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The Ponce City Goats

Ponce City Goats. Sounds like the name of a rural AA baseball farm team. But, no, it’s actually the twitter handle of the brand-dripping-new The Dancing Goats Coffee Bar @ Ponce City Market. 

This guy knows coffee. Jason brewing some Collabrewation special beans.

Now, there are two types of people in the world – those that care about the fact that a new coffee bar is opening (you perchance?), and those that care about the fact that a new coffee bar is opening and want to go out and snap photos of it on its opening day (me). Yeah, maybe there are a few other folks out there who don’t give a spit, but they’re probably not here reading this anyway, so we can ignore them.

The truly exciting thing about this new coffee bar in Atlanta (the second location for Dancing Goats after their shop in Decatur), though, is not just the fact that it’s excellent in concept, design and execution; it’s the fact that this is the real kickoff for the massive Ponce City Market project that may someday (2014!) make for a really interesting new hub of community activity in this city. Seriously, this is a fascinating development, and having a first rate coffee bar drawing in crowds in the early stages of the development is a brilliant way to raise awareness and get people (literally) buzzing about what’s to come. As my wife and I sipped our coffee this morning, we even got a quick tour of the wonderfully detailed model of the Ponce City Market by one of the people working on the development – their office is right next door to the coffee bar and the model is basically IN the coffee bar. A stop at Ponce City Goats is worth it for that alone.

Enough words, here are some images to get you thirsty for Dancing Goats and the Ponce City Market future.

Collabrewation:

Inside, appropriately old school lighting fixtures:

No Tilt-Shift needed (the Ponce City Market model):

Mmmm, donuts. Baked for Dancing Goats by Duck’s Cosmic Kitchen:

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High West Campfire Whiskey: Review as Fan Fiction

Every other ghatblammed whiskey writer seems to have waxed poetically on the jackelope-like qualities of High West Distillery’s new Campfire whiskey – a blend of straight rye, straight bourbon and blended malt Scotch that ends up anything but straight. Its like a crooked trail through the dry, magnificent deserts of Utah that ends up in the rain-drenched peat bogs of Scotland, via the rye and corn fields of the great American plains. Actually, that’s exactly what it is.

I’ll dispense with the formal tasting notes, the whiffs of this and the hints of that, and get right into the story. Fan fiction, if you will. A fiction so unbelievable that it just might be true. Here’s the first chapter – grab a glass and take a seat:

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It all started with a sip. Not just any sip, mind you. Perk had spent the day chopping up the big oak tree that came down in the lightning storm the week before. You know, that oak tree that used to stand sentinel over his rows of corn down on Lawrenceburg Road. The tree was old but sturdy, not the kind to be felled easily, but lightning has a way of turning tree to toast.

The smell after the storm lingered for days all around, and Perk’s work on the wood just brought it out even stronger: the buzzsaw scent of fresh-cut oak combined with the charred remains of singed bark, a bit of tree sap burnt like sugar in a skillet sticking it all together. Perk liked the chopping, if only for the memories racing through his mind as he axed his way through the downed tree. It was the scent more than the act itself that triggered those memories of a simpler time. A simpler time that was anything but simple.

As he took his first sip of rye that same night, the spice and bite were like a kick in the dusty pants, and those same memories that the oak brought out earlier in the day began to crystallize into something entirely different in his mind. Memories merged with dreams and came out, somehow, as an ambitious but highly suspect plan. A plan that would take him far away from Lawrenceburg Road.

When Perk woke up, his head seemed to drag a few feet behind his body. Those sips of rye had accumulated to something more like a deluge. But through the deluge, the plan he had hatched managed to hold its form. It took a few coffees, amped up on that hazelnut vanilla crap he had grown accustomed to thanks to his last girlfriend, for all the details to come into focus. But that very same morning, memories and plans and dreams actually turned into actions. He picked up the old circular dial phone, the one his dad once used, and called up the airline for a one way flight to Edinburgh. He would take the train out to Aberdeen, and from there… well, his plans hadn’t gotten that far. But he knew, despite the distance, he would find a home where the spray of the sea mingles with the deep funk of burning peat.

Perk wasn’t wishing to wash away the past. On the contrary, he hoped, he knew, that the scents he could only seek in Scotland would stir up memories that even the oak and the lightning couldn’t. He knew there was a key, hidden in the Scots mist, to unlock the same mystery that his father before him couldn’t solve. He knew he had to go.

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High West Campfire Whiskey, Batch No. 1, Bottle No. 646
A Blend of Straight Rye, Straight Bourbon, & Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
92 Proof
Approx. $54 Retail

Verdict? Excellent. Inspiring and unique stuff, enough so to inspire fan fiction. You’ll find here an intriguing story of bourbon sweetness, rye spice, and Scotch smoke happily playing tug of war.

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* Thirsty South Rating Scale:

Wow – among the very best: knock-your-socks-off, profound, complex liquid gold!
Excellent – exceptional in quality and character, worth seeking out, highly recommended
Good Stuff – solid expression of its type/varietal, enjoyable and recommended
Fair – fairly standard or exhibiting obvious though minor flaws
Avoid – move away folks, nothing to see here, a trainwreck

Full Disclosure: Bottle received as a tasting sample from High West.

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That’s Amaro

I recently reviewed STG Trattoria in Atlanta for Creative Loafing, and while I think the kitchen at STG still needs to uncover its true voice, the heavily amaro-centric cocktail list is already a unique and compelling aspect of this restaurant. Actually, “cocktail” may not be the right word in a literal sense – with the exception of a Negroni and and an “Italian” Manhattan, STG’s bar really offers “aperitif sodas” with an array of Italian aperitif options, plenty of juice and soda, but no (or minimal) heavy alcohol.

Over several visits, the basic menu (shown below) has remained roughly the same. The formula is aperitif (such as a barolo chinato, or Aperol, or an amaro) + fruit juice (such as lemon or lime) + soda (such as ginger ale or tonic or cola or sparkling mineral water) + bitters. Of course, there are a few twists along the way, like a touch of absinthe in the mix in the “Reviver Pop.” And the results all fall on a spectrum that starts off heavily bitter (the “Cynar Lime Soda” packs a dry vegetal bite) and moves to equal parts sweet and bitter (the “My Amaro Cola” uses Mexican Coke for a heavy dose of sugar sweetness). My favorite choice for a hot summer day is the “Aperol Orange Soda,” for its bright citrus acidity and its powerfully refreshing base bitterness. These drinks are ideal to start off a meal, cooling you down, whetting your appetite with a not-too-strong kick in the pants, putting you in the mood for something rich and indulgent to counter the bracing jolt of the drink. The price is right too – six bucks seems like a bargain drink these days, and these beauties are worth every penny.

Cocktail purists will not be thrilled that there’s not a fulltime bartender on duty – the two heavy duty cocktails on the menu are pre-batched and the sodas are (in theory) easy enough for anyone to throw together. I must say that the pre-batched cocktails work wonderfully: the Negroni being everything you want in this classic cocktail, and the Italian Manhattan offering a rich and intriguing twist on its American counterpart. But I have had some variability of quality on the aperitif sodas, suggesting it may be worth the staff’s time to have some more in-depth training on putting these sodas together properly.

STG’s cocktail menu is definitely different, not trying to be all things to everyone, staking out a specific area of focus that fits perfectly with a menu heavy on pizzas and Italian-inspired plates with local ingredients. It’s also the kind of menu that will benefit over time from a thoughtful bartender who can take the basic formula and apply both creativity and a knowledge of the classics to come up with some new takes. I look forward to more amaro at STG. Maybe even a few flights of straight amaros and aperitifs to help diners/drinkers become more familiar with these Italian masterpieces. When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that’s … 

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Drinking New York City

I get to New York about once a year on average. I make lists each time. Bars, restaurants, food trucks, coffee shops. Places I just have to hit. It’s always a blend of the old and new – I lived there many years ago and still have to hit some favorites each time I go back. And I usually make it through only a small portion of “the list,” defeated by human limitations on time and consumption. And, of course, walking the streets of New York, there are always places that were never on the list that end up beckoning you in.

Cocktails at Mayahuel

For cocktails this trip, I ended up hitting PDT and Mayahuel and Blue Ribbon Downing Street Bar (which also has an incredible wine list), and had time to walk in and check out Death and Company but not enough time to actually get a drink (bummer! this was at the top of my list but just didn’t work out). Other places I had really hoped to hit were The Beagle, Amor y Amargo, Booker & Dax, and Employees Only. Amazingly, The Beagle, PDT, Death and Company, and Mayahuel are all in an area about four blocks square in the East Village. That would be some cocktail crawl. Another time.

Mayahuel rocked. Thanks to some local Atlanta bartender friends who insisted I go there; I had never heard of it. Mayahuel focuses on tequila and mezcal, and does tremendously well with those spirits and a number of infusions and interesting flavor plays. There was the “Slight Detour,” with a jalapeno-infused tequila, reposado tequila and mezcal, agave nectar, and Xocolatl mole bitters. And there was something else… I can’t recall thanks to the tequila and mezcal. It’s a cool little underground space, an intimate bar with good things going on.

Blue Ribbon Downing Street Bar was one of those places I just happened upon, another tiny little space that seats about 15 people max. I know the Blue Ribbon folks do just about everything well, so was confident that we’d find something good there. There were oysters, champagne, and deviled eggs, and then a cocktail involving gin and cucumber that was bright (naturally) green and tremendously interesting and complex. I just wish I could have done a few wine flights here as well.

The Bear at PDT

And the heralded PDT? Let’s just say I’m over the whole speakeasy-enter-through-a-secret-door thing, and I’m also kinda over gimmicks like bacon-infused bourbon. PDT has been doing this particular drink (the Bacon Old Fashioned) for more than four years now, but it seems people won’t let them take it off the menu. I may not love bacon-infused bourbon, but, luckily, I do love stuffed bears.

The only beer stop on the trip was Birreria, the rooftop bar at Eataly. The rotation of three house-brewed beers here are a co-production of Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Italian brewers Baladin and Del Borgo, but I was really disappointed in them (despite being a fan of Dogfish Head in general). All three are unfiltered, unpasteurized and naturally carbonated cask ales. All sounded interesting – there was a witbier brewed with coriander and peppercorns, a chestnut ale, and a thyme pale ale. But none met the mark, more due to the beer lacking character than the presence of the flavoring elements. Service was equally disappointing.

Coffee? Holy smokes, it seems like there are excellent coffee choices every block or so in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I had the wonderful New Orleans ice coffee at Blue Bottle, a few fabulous espressos with different portions of steamed milk (no Italian names here) at Ninth Street Espresso, a great latte and espresso from Joe, a spot-on cortado at Third Rail… and I passed many, many more places that I wish I could have checked out, including the Mudtruck on wheels. Like I said, holy smokes.

Wine? That list at Blue Ribbon blew me away, and I had some really nice wine pairings at a “fancy” lunch at Eleven Madison Park. Favorite wine of the trip? A funky Savennieres from Domaine aux Moines that really woke up my taste buds with excellent acidity.

Making the Egg Cream

Oh, also at Eleven Madison Park, one of my favorites things imbibed this trip, an orange cocoa-nib “egg cream” that was perfection, with a subtle chocolate kick beneath a sharp orange cream bite. Like liquid dark chocolate-covered orange rind. In case you didn’t know, egg creams have no egg, no cream (discuss…), but are based on seltzer water, milk, and (most often) chocolate syrup. A high end take on this humble New York specialty was a surprising treat.

Of course, there was lots of food to go along with the drinks. A few places that I’d highly recommend: Kin Shop for semi-upscale Thai, Red Hook Lobster Pound for lobster rolls, the Lounge at Le Bernardin for late night seriously upscale seafood, Lonestar Empire at the Williamsburg Flea Market for an awesome brisket sandwich, and the always amazing chocolate chip cookies from Levain Bakery. Sure, there was some damn good pizza and pasta and bao and soup dumplings and pastrami, too, but the names above stood out most.

Local Spirits: Bourbon? Leave that to the South!
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Snapshots from La Colombe Torrefaction, Chicago

Whenever I’m on the road, I try to seek out genuine local coffee shops. I’ve been in Chicago a good bit lately, and that has meant morning espresso from Intelligentsia, or a to-go cup of Dark Matter coffee with my insanely good buttermilk old-fashioned donut from Do-Rite. You can’t go wrong at either of those places. I’ve also hit a Lavazza Espression counter, and a Caffé RoM – two Italian-ish chains that didn’t really impress me as caring enough about their coffee. They both feel a bit too polished, a bit too sterile, and neither could make the kind of espresso that delivers my desired reaction of half “wow,” half “ahhhhhh.” Contented excitement is what I want.

Today I may have found a place to replace Intelligentsia as my go-to in Chicago – I got exactly what I was looking for when I walked in this little shop on W. Randolph next door to a row of produce warehouses. This cafe is actually an outpost of a small chain out of Philadelphia called La Colombe Torrefaction, so it’s not quite local, but clearly not corporate either. La Colombe has a few shops in Philly and New York, but they are known more for their roasting prowess. The Chicago shop does some of its own roasting, and also supplies many restaurants around town with fresh roasted beans.

On my first visit, I got my preferred test of a good barista – a cortado (basically equal parts espresso and steamed milk) – and also picked up a bottle of La Colombe’s cold brewed “Pure Black” coffee. No sugar, no cream, no nothing but water and coffee beans (oh, and a touch of liquid nitrogen to help seal the freshness and produce a satisfying pop upon opening). The cortado was spot on, nice creamy texture, great balance of bitterness and acidity and bright flavor. And the Pure Black? Crazy stuff. The flavors are intense, cocoa-ish, malt-y, both big and soft and laser sharp. How do they do that? A stop at La Colombe, and a bottle of Pure Black, is highly recommended if you happen to be in Philly or New York or Chicago.

A few photos of La Colombe Chicago to leave you with: