In the Trenches at St. George Spirits St. George Spirits occupies a large airplane hangar on a former naval base in Alameda, California. It is the oldest craft distillery in the United States and one of the most experimental. To get an idea of its range of expression, one only need to take inventory of…
There is no mention of the AIRMAIL SPECIAL on the Internet, whatsoever, but instead of filling me with excitement, like the A-1 PICK-ME-UP, this dearth of information depletes my energy stores. We are back in the jungle again, with anarchy, and no road map to guide us. Going by what the Bartender Guide tells us, the AIRMAIL…
Previously on the Rituals: My childhood friend Jason came to Los Angeles to help us deconstruct some weird cocktails (the AFTER DINNER, AFTER DINNER SPECIAL, and the AGGRAVATION) and offer his opinions. It was good to have a different perspective around—to keep Brian and me in check—and this success encouraged us to include guest tasters…
An upcoming recipe requires something called Swedish Punsch, and being Swedish (I don’t know about Brian, but I am if you go back far enough) it seems culturally appropriate for us to make this beverage from scratch instead of resorting to the only commercial version available in the U.S., Kronan, and only using a measly…
We have all had bad liquor at some point in our lives. When you were young what was the first booze you tasted? Peach schnapps? Communion wine? In college you didn’t go out and buy Jewel of Russia vodka or Bambu rum to make jungle juice. No you went and bought whatever was the cheapest….
Prohibition was a double-edged sword. Organized crime and bootlegging were bad for the United States but they were great for the world of cocktails. Would we have the cocktails we have now if there was no Prohibition? Questionable. If I had a DeLorean that could take me back in time to the days of Prohibition…
If you live in Seattle a craft distillery might not seem like a big deal—there are 24 to choose from. But if you live in Los Angeles, like us, you have nothing—or you had nothing, at least, until 2011 when Greenbar Craft Distillery ended a 95-year spirits-making drought for L.A. by moving downtown. The company’s story reads like a…
ACAPULCO 1 ¾ oz rum (Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum) ¼ oz triple sec (Pierre Ferrand Curaçao) 1 egg white ½ oz lime juice Sugar to taste Mint leaves Combine with ice; shake into pre-chilled glass. Strain. Add ice and top with one or two mint leaves, partially torn. This looks like a boozy rum sidecar…
Today we’ll be making three things from scratch: a homemade CRÈME DE MENTHE for rounding out our absinthe duties, the promisingly innocuous ACAPULCO (next in the A’s), and our ACADIAN MEAD recipe (or non-recipe, depending on how you look at it). But before we can move on to these newest of challenges, Brian and I…
On April 5, 2015 at 02:31 PM, Marjiann Moss <xxxx@xxxx.com> wrote: Dearest Eric, This sounds hysterical, and if it works, I’ll be amazed. Yes, I think a quarter recipe sounds about right for a trial. At least at that point, it’s just a few eggs and lemons, not your precious rot-gut rum and, um, rock…
I wake up feeling pretty good today. Feeling pretty good because I had had a few cocktails the night before and I felt better than expected. I make breakfast and tend to some small chores around the house. I keep passing from my kitchen to the bathroom. One of the rooms along that path is the…
Brian steers his car into the Whole Foods parking lot and everyone turns to look. Something is wrong with the hubcap on the passenger side—something is smacking around repeatedly down there—and it sounds rather like horse’s hooves. Or coconuts being banged together. So we gallop into our parking space like the cavalry, which is what…
On March 15, 2015, at 7:39 PM, Brian Christie <xxxxxx@xxxxx.com> wrote: Eric- There are 127 drinks in the A chapter of The Complete World Bartender Guide: The Standard Reference to More Than 2,400 Drinks, copyright 1977; two of which are actual boozes you make (ACADIAN MEAD and APRICOT VODKA) and three of which are punches. I’m still in…
A-1 PICK-ME-UP 1 pint dark rum 1 lb. rock candy 1 doz. eggs 1 doz. lemons Squeeze the juice of the lemons into a crock pot; add the eggs broken in their shells. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to stand for several days (the shells will dissolve.) When ready strain through the cheesecloth…