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Cocktails: The Jeremy Lin

Jeremy LinIf you follow the NBA even remotely, you’ve surely heard of Jeremy Lin, the Harvard-educated Asian-American player who is causing pandemonium in New York right now. He’s got poise, courage, and strength – and the world is in need of a cocktail with equally admirable attributes. The starting point has to be Kao Liang, probably the most high profile Taiwanese or Chinese spirit, and one that kicks ass as well. Next, something with verve and agility – The King’s Ginger for sure (no offense, LeBron, but this King is not for you). Gotta have something FRESH and with zing…. a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, of course. Then to round it all out, something with a bit of bite, something New York, something distinctly American… a dash of Brooklyn Hemispherical Bitters Rhubarb Bitter.

Without further ado, Thirsty South presents…

The Jeremy Lin

Ingredients
1.5 oz Kao Liang
0.75 oz The King’s Ginger Liqueur (or Domaine de Canton – see this updated recipe!!!)
0.25 oz fresh lemon juice (gotta be fresh)
Dash Brooklyn Hemispherical Rhubarb Bitters

Shake ingredients over crushed ice like a madman. Strain into a chilled glass. Slam it home.

 

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Winner, Winner, Whiskey Dinner

I have a confession. Until last night, I had never been to a “whiskey dinner.” Heck, I’ve rarely ever had whiskey with my dinner. Cocktails? Sure. Wine or beer? Most definitely. But whiskey? Neat? At my house, the whiskey typically comes either before or after dinner, not during dinner. (However, “whiskey breakfast” is an altogether different story… )

Well, I must now confess that whiskey can work wonderfully well with dinner. The right whiskey. With the right food. Ideally, in the right restaurant so I don’t have to do all the thinking about what dish goes well with what whiskey myself. And it does require thinking. Whiskey pairing across multiple courses is not as easy as wine or beer pairing, so a thoughtful chef can make a big difference.

I don’t often drink whiskey with my dinner, but when I do, I prefer to be at Empire State South drinking High West whiskey. Yeah, that’s how I roll.

So what about this particular whiskey dinner made it work? First, High West happens to distill (and bottle) some simply wonderful whiskies. Second, the range of their whiskies, from the clarity and slightly yeasty tropical fruit of the Silver Western Oat, to the deep caramel spice of the 21 year old rye, really allows for some intriguing pairings across multiple courses – from light seafood to hearty wabbit (yes, wabbit) to rich dessert. There really aren’t many American distilleries that could provide that type of range at such a high level. Third, we were in the very capable hands of a kitchen and (sous) chef who really dig whiskey and food as happy partners. The real mark of a successful pairing dinner is in how well the dishes and the drinks complement each other and reach a sum greater than their individual parts, and course after course in this meal hit that mark.

I won’t bore you with the details (but, really, the braised rabbit shoulder and ricotta cavatelli with the Double Rye was brilliant, as was the 21 year old rye with the muscovado flan, and…), but this meal showed me that whiskey dinners can be every bit as good as great wine or beer pairing dinners. And if you happen to see another pairing of High West and Empire State South? Winner, winner, whiskey dinner.

Random scenes from the dinner follow, including a few entertaining moments from High West head honcho David Perkins, who presented “10 Things You Really Should Know About Whiskey.”


Thing #10… on the origin of whiskey, or something about men in frocks huddling together closely on a boat…


Thing #7…. I have no idea what this was about, but seeing a squirrel drinking beer will always get the crowd hyped.


Thing #6… this had something to do with High West’s new OMG Pure Rye, but all I could think about was how that guy on the pole could really use a few rounds of rye himself.

Image at top: “The Vicious Circle” – a lovely riff by bartender Kelly Thorn on an Algonquin, with a bit of rye in the background behind some Dolin blanc vermouth, blanc de blancs sparkling wine, pineapple juice, and a touch of caraway.

Full Disclosure: I was at this event as a guest of the distillery.

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Small Batch Tonic from Jack Rudy Cocktail Co., Charleston

I love a gin and tonic. There are few cocktails whose spirit and mixer come together so seamlessly to produce a greater sum. Most places use good ole Canada Dry as the “T” in the G&T. Not bad. At home, I most often use Fever-Tree, which suits me to a T. Roughly, Fever-Tree is to Canada Dry as Plymouth Gin is to Beefeater Gin. Elevated, refined, both intense and balanced at once.  But now, though, there’s a Southern artisan tonic that will be pushing aside the Fever-Tree in my cabinet. Jack Rudy Cocktail Co., out of Charleston, South Carolina, has introduced a small batch concentrated tonic syrup that merits inclusion in any bar, north or south. It’s not easy to find – in Atlanta, Star Provisions got some in recently – but you can order directly from the Jack Rudy website.

What you’ll notice is that the Jack Rudy tonic is not carbonated – it is a syrup built from cane sugar, orange peel, lemongrass and quinine. You get to control its strength by the amount of club soda you add in to your cocktail, which is a delightful freedom for cocktail tinkerers everywhere. I recently received a bottle of the Jack Rudy tonic and have been playing with gin and tonics, as well as drinking it simply mixed with club soda to better gauge the flavor profile. Compared to Fever-Tree, the Jack Rudy mixed with club soda has more body, more of a grassy herbal quality, and an almost gingery depth. Fever-Tree is more bracing, a bit more clean, though with a quinine bite that is assertive. For drinking by itself (why oh why would one do this when gin is close at hand?), I actually prefer the Fever-Tree; but once gin enters the equation….

In a Plymouth gin and tonic, the Jack Rudy really comes alive. Gin and tonic do go together so nicely, and Jack Rudy’s flavor profile and body simply works wonders in this combination. Somehow, the Jack Rudy produces a cleaner G&T than the Fever-Tree, a more exotic layering of citrus and herbs and sweetness. And what does “clean” mean? That’s a tough one… to me it represents a middle ground between sharp and smooth, a clarity of flavor. With the Fever-Tree G&T, the citrus notes, both lemon and lime, come prominently to the forefront, and there is both a definitive sweetness AND a more pronounced quinine bite than in the Jack Rudy G&T. Great drinks both, and fascinating to contrast them, but the Jack Rudy takes the lead.

Oh, and here’s the recipe for a “proper gin and Rudy” if you were wondering:

Enjoy, and check out some other recipes that make great use of this artisan cocktail tonic.

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The Quintessential Southern Cocktail

Garden & Gun is a fine journal of Southern culture. This month’s issue features 50 great Southern bars (though, ahem, the Caribbean is included as part of the South!?), as well as some fine Southern spirits. What caught my attention though was a small graphic showing how Garden & Gun‘s Facebook fans voted in a poll to determine the “quintessential Southern cocktail.” The choices were the Bloody Mary (Southern? I don’t think so), the Mint Julep (decidedly Southern, but frankly a bit of a specialty drink in my opinion), the Old-Fashioned (quintessential, yes; Southern, not so much), the Sazerac (ahhh, yes), and the Bourbon & Ginger (quite Southern, but a bit too easy).

As if my comments didn’t hint at it, my choice would be the Sazerac – that classic cocktail of the classic cocktail city of New Orleans, a drink of great character, especially when made with a good rye whiskey. As for those Facebook voters, they chose the Mint Julep first, then the Bourbon & Ginger, then the Old-Fashioned, then the Bloody Mary (bloody hell!), THEN the Sazerac. Dead last. A sorry Southern state of affairs. I can forgive the Mint Julep win, though the commercialization of it as the drink of the Kentucky Darby (brought to you by Yum! Brands, and Budweiser, and Ram trucks, and Early Times, and Woodford Reserve!) gets under my skin a bit. But to put the Sazerac below the Bloody Mary! Blimey. Maybe those Garden & Gun Facebookers just don’t know what they’re missing. They need to get down to New Orleans, or to their town’s best cocktail bar, and reconnect with the Sazerac, THE quintessential Southern cocktail.

The Sazerac

1 Sugar Cube
2 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (I suggest Rittenhouse Bottled in Bond)
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Absinthe (or Herbsaint)
Lemon Peel for garnish

In an Old-Fashioned glass, muddle the sugar cube with a touch of water to soften it up. Add some ice cubes, then the rye, then the bitters. Meanwhile, add a splash of absinthe to a second, chilled Old-Fashioned glass and swirl around to coat the inside of the glass, then pour out the rest. Strain the rye and bitters into the absinthe-washed glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel. Enjoy.

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Thirsty Outtakes

I accumulate a lot of photos over the course of a year, only a small percentage of which end up on Thirsty South. Every once in a while, I’ll look back and see certain shots that trigger a memory, a moment in time. They may not mean much to anyone else from the perspective of the experience captured, but hopefully the images themselves are interesting, compelling, beautiful even. At least I hope so, as much as a photo of a bottle or a drink or a bar can be. So, for anyone who digs photos of such things (and I know you’re out there, in droves on Pinterest and Flickr), I hope you enjoy a few outtakes from the past year and a half of Thirsty South:

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