One of my regrets, and I have many, is not writing Ted Haigh ahead of this post. You see, he’s done so many great things; helping Fee Brothers craft their falernum, solving the riddle of the origins of the Singapore Sling, and, of course, playing the role of “Bartender” in “Superbad,” and having his insight into the origin story of this drink would be enlightening. In the Whoa, Nellie! you have a set of strange bedfellows, glancing nervously at one another and wondering how they arrived in the same drink, much less the same city. And it’s worth talking about the city in which this drink resides.

The Whoa, Nellie! calls the Cafe Adelaide and Swizzle Stick Bar in New Orleans its home. It was contributed to the Swizzle Stick’s menu as a tribute to the first Mardi Gras after Hurricane Katrina and in a stupefied fit of unfit drunkenness I ordered it and it broke through my haze of disorientation and inebriation and brought the guiding light of clarity and “Damn, this is GOOD,” to my soul and I scratched out the recipe from the poor bartender’s lips as I slurred my way through understanding.

Whoa, Nellie!

• 1.25oz Rye Whiskey (Sazerac or the like)
• .75oz Dark Rum (Coruba or Myer’s)
• .75oz Cointreau
• .5oz Grapefruit juice
• .5oz Lemon juice
• .5oz Simple syrup

Shake all ingredients and double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Think recuperative thoughts.

As my friend Rick said upon first tasting this drink, “The first sip reminded me of the Alamagoozlum in its strangeness. The melange of ingredients produces a symphony where no one instrument is heard, yet a chorus of sound echoes in your ears.” Yes, something like that.

The Whoa, Nellie! brings the unusual pairing of Rye and Dark Rum together in a way that allows this to be more than a sour but, even with the grapefruit, less than tiki. It’s one of my favorite types of drinks, built on simple and easy-to-find ingredients but bringing with it enough complexity to be wildly interesting without being fussy and demanding voodoo-like ritualistic principles of process or construction to achieve its goals. In short, it’s divine and yet accessible. It also goes great with hearty summer dishes such as grilled sausages, grilled flat-iron steak, or barbeque. This is a drink that cries out to be put into rotation as the mercury threatens to burst out of the thermometer out your window and poison the Hydrangeas you’ve nurtured so well.

Also, if you’ll allow me, back to Ted Haigh and New Orleans. Tales of the Cocktail is next week and, with it, a gaggle of cocktailians, bartenders, and other enthusiasts descend upon the Big Easy and raid bars like the Swizzle Stick and make them their own. One of the things I look forward to most at Tales this year is the release of a new version of “Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails,” by Ted Haigh . The first edition was the second serious cocktail book I purchased, right behind “The Joy of Mixology.” Ted opened my eyes to such wonderful drinks as the Blue Moon, the Alamagoozlum, Picon Punch, the Income Tax Cocktail, the Pendennis, and many others. He also did it with a degree of grace, detail, and intrigue that made it great fun to read.

In this deluxe edition Ted brings us back to those drinks but with new insights, new sources, and with a look at how the Internet has affected and supported the burgeoning cocktail culture. If you are thinking of dipping your toe into cocktailian waters and are at a loss for a place to start, you can’t do much better than this guide. If you are a seasoned mixologist or aficionado of quality drinks and don’t yet have this on your shelf, your library is incomplete. Buy it at Tales and get it signed by Ted himself or order it on Amazon, it’s one of the good ones.

I’m late for Mixology Monday, it’s true. Though rather than blame it on a dog eating my homework or, rather, drinking it, allow me to blame it on a certain dog in San Francisco who inspired me to chase its tail in the recreation of this drink. This is a tale of a weary traveler, who after long nights in bars, long days in distilleries, and sampling many fine brandies and Eau de Vies, was left in Oakland and drifted back to the other side of the Bay one Sunday afternoon looking for respite. Walking aimlessly around Union Square, drifting by noted liquor stores and finding them cruelly closed and, parched and listless, glancing at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and grimacing at the slice of life observed at 6th and Mission, I found my oasis, Heaven’s Dog. And, just as it opened.

Heaven’s Dog’s bar is constructed from a single cut of wood from a white cedar tree and the blend of contemporary and natural elements strikes you as you sit and face a long string of delights, spaced evenly and uncluttered behind the bartender, and contemplate what joys may come. Erik, it so happens, was part of the Feng shui on this visit. Heaven’s Dog features a “Freedom from Choice” on its menu and, in my deprived state, I was in need of such freedom. I glared at the bottles along the wall and, seeing Amaro Nonino, told Erik, “Something using Amaro Nonino, but dry, crisp, and refreshing.” Erik passed me my glass of water and, my trust and palate in his hands, went to work. This, as best as I can work out , is what I was served:

Upward Dog

• 2oz Rye whiskey
• .75oz Dry vermouth
• .75oz Amaro Nonino (used Amaro Meletti at home in the recreation of it)
• 2 barspoons Maraschino liqueur

Stir and strain. Serve with a lemon twist.

This is a delightful drink. I always develop crushes on simple and classically-styled cocktails that come across well-constructed and deliver complex and pleasing results. The balance of amaro against the rye and dry vermouth avoids the overly earthy or perfumey quality many amaro-heavy drinks acquire and the maraschino liqueur adds a sweet nutty touch without creating too much body. I highly recommend this and, if you can’t get Amaro Nonino, use a brighter and spicier amaro in your arsenal as a sub. Amaro Meletti is very light-bodied and brings a brightness to this that is most enjoyable. I also recommend using a drier rye than Old Overholt or Russell’s Reserve. Something on the order of Rittenhouse Bonded or Sazerac 6-year is called for here.

Heaven’s Dog assembles an incredible array of talent behind its bar. Erik Adkins, Thad Vogler, Erik Ellestad, and the other notable bartenders behind the stick represent a repository of cocktail knowledge and sound mixological principles that should be recognized and appreciated by the cocktailians of San Francisco. While Heaven’s Dog’s cocktail menu is squarely centered on vintage cocktails with a focus on local and natural ingredients, any bar where a patron can ask for a “Freedom from Choice” and have J. Wray Nephew Overproof rum as the called spirit and have delivered such a delightful cocktail as Thad managed, on the fly, to create deserves not only our respect but a bit of our awe as well.

I highly recommend the Bumblebee and Pisco Apricot Tropical. Or, if Ellestad is behind the stick, the Upward Dog.

Upward Dog Rating:

If one thing became apparent to me throughout the American Distilling Institute’s Brandy Conference, it’s that the bartender is the gateway to consumer taste. Panelists and craft distillers continually referred to bartenders as the arbiters of preference, the gatekeepers of public awareness, and the biggest gun in their marketing arsenal. A bar - a good bar - is a church, and the bartender, your confessor. You confess your base desires to the man or woman in formal black behind the pulpit and place your trust into their hands. And, in that trust, and what they choose to serve you, is where craft distillers’ prayers are answered.

So, in the spirit of James Garner, Destry, and Cleavon Little, approach and support your local and regional bartenders properly and your product will find its way into the hands of customers who will then start requesting it from liquor stores and from you. Here are some general guidelines:

• Give the bartender the respect and professional courtesy of making an appointment, and keeping it,

Getting facetime and building a relationship with bartenders requires that you be businesslike. For the bartenders that are best going to show off your product and give it traction, bartending is a career choice and profession, not merely a job, and they want it respected as such. And, with that in mind, be sensible about your arrival. Showing up at 7:00pm on a Friday night as they’re pushing drinks through the service bar at a clip or are just starting to pick up at the bar is no time to try and impress on them the quality of your product or ask them to try it. Want to know what time is best for them? Ask. And keep the appointment.

• Give him/her your personal contact information and invite them to use it (nothing impresses their guests more than calling the distiller on-the-spot about a product and, possibly, putting them on the phone),

Transparency and accessibility builds much more value in your product. As Jeffrey Morgenthaler, bar manager at Clyde Common in Portland, OR, notes, “What I’m looking for in a company to support is the people. I use craft spirits because I like supporting independent producers, and all I ask in turn is a passion for quality, honest information about the product, and some sort of connection to the people who produce my spirit. If I need marketing hype and press releases in my cocktails I’ll turn to one of the major brands.” This connection to the people who produce the spirit can’t be undervalued. The best advocate for your product is you, the person that made the product. And having that connection helps the bartender be more confident in answering questions customers may have and allows them a resource to contact and, perhaps in contacting, impress a customer and emphasize their own value as well.

• Show up with the product, tell your story, and get out-of-the-way (They want to get to know it, not have you cram a bunch of half-baked recipes at them),

As a cocktail writer, I assure you, bartenders don’t need any more marketing material from you. If there’s a question they have about the product or there’s a quality that intrigues them, they’ll ask. And that’s where you cease to be a salesman and enter the realm of craftsman. As Craig Hermann, bartender at Thatch in Portland, OR, put it this way, “A guy came in and bragged about how awesome and superior his moderately acceptable product was, and how it was the name that pushed the product. Like we’re also salesmen for the product. The best relationship is the one where I don’t know you’re playing me and you can hold up your end of the conversation.” So, know your product, know how and why they should use it, and, for the love of Pete, don’t show up with “chain-restaurant quality “cocktail” lists.”

• Try and slow them down in using your product in some way to avoid them cracking it open, pouring, and putting it back on the shelf, and

Honestly, this one is dicey. Large wax seals around your cap? Lovely, but also a potential hand injury or cursing of your name as they’re trying to open it, are buried 10-tickets deep and start balefully glowering at the label as they continue the struggle. They’ll remember your brand alright, but no in the way you’d hoped. Razor-sharp, and high, edge to your foil after the cap is removed? Welcome to Band-Aid city. Be very careful in approaching your packaging; bottles that are difficult to work with, cause injury, or are a challenge to open may lead to your bartender talking about your product, for sure, but not what’s in the bottle. If you want them to slow down, get them to know your story, and be able to tell it.

• Get them to your distillery and teach them about your distillation process and show interest in their feedback (once they taste your product coming out of the still, it becomes theirs)

And on this last point, one finds that it’s about people. Morgenthaler says this, “The guys at House Spirits here in Portland should be a model for craft distilling. Even when I was in Eugene, they made a point of coming down to the bar, trying out my drinks - no matter what spirit - and occasionally pushing me to come up with drinks and experiment with their product. They’re super accessible and always invite me to stop by the distillery to see what they’re up to, have a drink, try something new, etc. When I’m reaching for a bottle, I often think about supporting them because they’re part of our little family here, and I often grab one of their products.”

These are only a few of the ways bartenders and craft distillers can have the sort of symbiotic and productive relationship. Bartenders, what are your peeves and what brings you joy?

And, distillers, what has worked best for you and what do bartenders need to know to better work with you?

Ever wanted to know what David Wondrich, Greg Boehm, or Dan Warner might say about an original drink creation you’ve made? Find out tomorrow.

Tomorrow, April 29th, at 7pm (EDT) the Mixoloseum, the Quarter Bar in Brooklyn, and the Monkey Hut will all join arms in welcoming Beefeater 24 to American shores. Inspired by the fact that Desmond Payne’s grandfather was a tea merchant, Beefeater has released a premium gin that is infused with botanicals including sencha and green teas for 24 hours prior to distillation. This brings some nuances and additional light notes to an already solid gin. And, in Thursday Drink Night, we’ll be getting to know it better

This TDN will bring to bear many good things. The Quarter Bar and Beefeater 24 have been gracious enough to host a live event for us to celebrate TDN and try the submitted drinks for evaluation. Dan Warner will be there and, as rumor has it, may be able to shake a drink or two from behind the stick. Greg Boehm and David Wondrich are also slated to appear along with the Mixoloseum and TDN regulars as we broadcast the event live on the Mixoloseum channel. We also have the traditional online event where you’ll be able to submit your drinks and try others’ and Craig Hermann will be hosting an event in the Monkey Hut in Portland, OR. So, please join us. Whether online, in New York City, or in Portland, OR, you’re bound to have a great time alongside a great product.

It will likely be a wild wooly mass of drinks submitted but all will be tweeted and, if Dan’s arm holds up, all will be made and tried in good will. I look forward to seeing you there.

Details:

• When: This Thursday Night, 7:00pm (EDT) (but join in any time)
• Where: The Mixoloseum Bar
• Feed of Live NYC Event: Mixoloseum Channel
• Bring: Drink inspirations, an appreciation for the finer things spirits have to offer, and a love of laughter and a friendly group.

FREE STUFF:

The best drink of the evening will receive a copy of “Jones’ Complete Bar Guide” courtesy of Greg Boehm and Cocktail Kingdom.

MORE FREE STUFF:

The most participatory newcomer of the evening will receive an unused copy of “The Mixicologist” from my own library.

“What marketing budget?,” is the refrain. Time and again when talking to craft and artisanal distillers the question turns to “how do we get our product in front of the right people and noticed?” Ralph Erenzo of Tuthilltown Spirits, Sonja Kassebaum of North Shore Distillery, Lance Winter of St. George Spirits, and Rory Donovan of Peach Street Distillers all have answers. And, despite the fact that these aren’t the distillers of Copperhead Road, their passion, colorful approach, and war stories entertain, inform, and illustrate how nothing sells product better than the person who made it, the distiller.

“The story sells.” says Ralph Erenzo over the din that occurs when you get over 50 of the most innovative and passionate distillers together in a hangar doubling as a distillery. And, with Ralph, even then it’s hard not to hear him, “We had a group of potential investors in a couple of weeks ago…that argued that the story [of a spirit] was meaningless and that someone in Indiana or even Rochester or Buffalo wouldn’t buy it because of a story. I had just that morning returned, from Buffalo and Rochester, where I’d sold everything I had that was alloted, to people who’d never tasted it before.” From bringing bartenders and bar managers to your distillery and providing them a quick course in Distilling 101 to “[having bartenders] tasting it coming out of the still and having your product become theirs,” Ralph believes in sharing your products’ stories and letting that story sell for you. He’ll gladly tell you his.

Sonja, quick to make a cocktail for you and quick to tell you, “we’re a scrappy little distillery just north of Chicago,” emphasizes a different tack, that of credibility through cocktails.

“Everything [in our product] is hand-done and we’re really trying to appeal to the foodie audience and the cocktail audience. So, I’m a member of our bartender’s guild, I write a blog about cocktails, I was a cocktail nerd before I got into this and is partly why i got into this. So I try to do those things so that I can make a suggestion to a bartender and they’ll listen to me because I’ve earned some credibility with them….A lot of brands are just throwing out sugary schlock cocktails…on your website have current content and quality cocktail recipes that are really basic but have some pretty complex ones too….We have a monthly email newsletter that’s a great way to make people aware and excited about your product and be creative in your approach. [For example] we do cocktail pairing dinners and innovative stuff that demonstrates the quality of our products and ways to use them.”

And, once you’ve had some of Sonja’s cocktails, you’ll be excited about her products too. Until you sit down and talk to Sonja about North Shore’s Gin No. 6, you may not realize just how well lavender works in a gin, and why it does. Once you know that, though, you want to try their other products as well. But, aside from the product, there’s Sonja herself.

Running into Sonja Sunday night at Heaven’s Dog in San Francisco close to closing time and starting a conversation about the absinthes in front of you is like walking into a buzzsaw formed of equal parts excitement and knowledgeable appreciation. You can fully expect a night with Sonja to end with promises of future good times to be had, invitations to discuss your shared passions more, and a hearty hug. And once a distiller makes this connection with you, in the words of Erenzo, “you come out of the realm of the salesman and into the realm of craftsman.”

“If Rory were any more laid-back I think he’d be dead,” I overhear. Almost true. But, behind that laissez-faire demeanor lies a shrewd observer who observes, after a discussion about labeling and packaging of products, the importance of the initial roll-out and launch of a product. Rory’s cooly-delivered, if laser-focused, observation is:

“Take time to do it right the first time. Talking about redesign and the money you can spend you get anxious to get out there [telling yourself] ‘ok, I’ve been doing this for two-to-four years,’ your equipment is here and you’re ready to see something go out the door, and you’ll do whatever it takes to get some piece-of-shit label slapped on your bottle so you can get it on the shelf. And, you only get to roll-out once and your roll-out is your biggest moment. You can always come out with a new variety or brand and try and do it again but your first time is always the most important….whether it’s in your backyard or you’re moving into a new state or something, make sure you sit down and make a plan and do everything you can that first time because it’s your only shot.”

Later, Rory bluntly tells the audience, his peers, “Contests are bullshit…I mean, they’re great for the person who wins them.” And Rory’s approach is reflected in his products. From Jackalope Gin, to Jack & Jenny Pear Brandy, to their newly-released Bourbon, the first in Colorado, his products present a bold and honest approach to distillation and craftsmanship. As do almost all the products I tasted that weekend from these fine and brave distillers that pour years of their lives into their product. Take a moment, next time you see that bottle you don’t immediately recognize on the third shelf down and buried in the middle, to take a second look and consider taking it home and pouring it into your glass. Chances are, you won’t be sorry.

I’m in the same camp as Jay , except for the occasional excursion into Thursday Drink Night with an experiment of a drink among friends, I tend to leave the development of original drinks to the experts. Or, at least those in Playboy’s Top 10. That is until there is an interesting Rye or set of bitters at stake, which is exactly where I found myself this weekend with the allure and deadline of Marshall’s contest looming large in my mind. I also had bergamot-tarragon syrup to experiment with. As for why I had that particular syrup hanging around, that’s a tale for another day. With “Spring” and rye as the guiding stars per the contest rules, I set my boat a sail. I landed on the friendly and warm shores of The Revivalist, my attempt to acquire bitters and Templeton Rye in my favorite way, at Marshall’s expense.

The Revivalist

• 2oz Rye whiskey
• 1/2oz Amer Picon
• 1/2oz Bergamot-Tarragon syrup*
• 1/4oz Maraschino liqueur
• 1/4oz Lemon juice

Shake all ingredients with ice and double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel over the drink and garnish with a lemon twist.

*Bergamot-Tarragon syrup: Bring simple syrup (1:1.5) just to boil and remove from heat, add tarragon and bergamot leaves and leave to sit and cool with syrup for at least one hour. Strain all into sterilized container.

This took several tries to get right. Originally I had the lemon juice and Amer Picon inverted and the tartness of the lemon juice along with the herbaceousness of the syrup led it into highly unfortunate bile territory. There was a good start there but it needed to feature the freshness of the syrup, the heartiness of the rye - and I do recommend a hearty rye in this, a nuttier and milder rye like Old Overholt will play dead in this – and the dancing combination of rye and Amer Picon more clearly. After several adjustments and misses I arrived at the recipe above.

I was worried that the volume of syrup would overly thicken the drink and make it tacky but the Amer Picon tamps that down and counters well enough to allow enough of the syrup to be present to bring the cucumber notes of bergamot and the fresh tarragon through. Also, using a strong rye alongside the maraschino allows the rich cherry must and nut character of the maraschino to express itself without overtaking the drink, which maraschino can quickly do. This iteration presents a well-structured drink that settles through several nuances on the palate and yet finishes cleanly. I was surprised at how much of the syrup could be present without dropping it off a cliff of candyland yick but, again, the drink strikes a nice even chord. Hopefully I’ll get to try it with Templeton in short order. Thanks for the opportunity fellas, it was fun.

To enter the contest yourself or to keep up with the submissions and results, visit the contest submission rules.

Tomorrow, April 2nd, at 7pm (EDT) we will be celebrating Metaxa, a Greek brandy that’s blended with Muscat wine and botanicals and is unique in its character. It comes in 3-star, 5-star, and 7-star varieties which indicate the number of years they’re aged in oak barrels. Spyros Metaxas founded the distillery in 1888 and it’s survived wars and Spyros’ death to remain a recognized and respected spirit.

This TDN many fun and unique things will happen. Effie Panagopolous, the Metaxa Muse, will be joining us to discuss the history and merits of Metaxa in mixed drinks and cocktails and will be sharing her depth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the spirit throughout the evening. We will also be broadcasting this Thursday Drink Night from the home of Erik Ellestad who will be hosting a Live TDN event where the likes of Martin Cate, Rick Stutz, Matt Rowley, Marleigh Riggins, Camper English, Matt Robold, Michelle Whiting, myself and many other TDN enthusiasts will be descending upon his house, generally wrecking his liquor supply and creating drinks with style, panache, and good company. The feed for the TDN web broadcast will be at BlogTV under the Mixoloseum channel.

Imbibe Metaxa Contest

We will ALSO be taking part in Imbibe’s Ultimate Metaxa Cocktail Contest where the best drink of the evening will be submitted to the competition under the submitter’s and Mixoloseum’s banner. And hell, even if you participate and yours isn’t selected, take your TDN submission and submit it to win the contest.

Details:

• When: This Thursday Night, 7:00pm (EST) (but join in any time)
• Where: The Mixoloseum Bar
• Feed of Live SF Event: Mixoloseum Channel
• Bring: Drink inspirations, an appreciation for the finer things spirits have to offer, and a love of laughter and a friendly group.

FREE STUFF:

The best drink of the evening will receive a bottle of blueberry bitters courtesy of Greg Boehm and Cocktail Kingdom.

Last year I did a post rounding up mail I’d received from readers and, looking back, I can see I have a pretty good list of items to cover. I always try to answer quickly and honestly but, this year, have found it challenging. The quickly part, I mean. Also, this round-up, I need your help. There are some questions I simply cannot answer and you, dear reader, will do far better than I at answering them. Let us see what we have, shall we?

Read More »

Join us tonight at 7pm EST with a live feed of TDN: Beefeater from Vessel in Seattle where Paul Clarke, Stevi Deter will be hosting TDN at Vessel with guests such as Robert Hess, Jamie Boudreau and others. The fine bartenders at Vessel will also be submitting drinks and putting their skills into the mix.

You can also join us in the Mixoloseum Bar and submit and mix drinks of your very own!

After the infamy and fall-out from my last absinthe post vitriolic screed, I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus. I’ve been preparing to attend the American Distilling Institute’s Brandy Conference in early April (which I will be covering here), getting the Cocktail and Spirits Online Writers Guild’s Group’s web site set up and preparing for its conference in July, and generally preparing for Mixoloseum awesomeness such as this week’s Beefeater-sponsored Thursday Drink Night. And, my oldest daughter’s birthday is this month, so, I’ve been a busy monkey. As you can see above, I’ve collected a few absinthes and have been putting them through their paces the past few months. My evaluation process is outlined in the original post in the series, but suffice it to say that I’m allowing the absinthe to express its character in a very specific way - by mixing it with sugar and water in various forms . This, to me, is slightly more reliable than drinking it neat (though I’ve been known to do that) and a better measure of it’s quality than dousing it in something like a Corpse Reviver or Monkey Gland.

This line-up includes Kübler, St. George, and Marteau; three very different absinthes that unapologetically commit themselves to the flavor profile and style in which they are made.

Kübler is a traditional swiss absinthe that comes in a very untraditionally-sized 1L bottle. The swiss “blanche” style deviates from the more common verte style in two ways: 1. there is no additional infusion of herbs after the initial distillation and 2: it usually features a lower alcohol content. A lack of herbal infusion in the finishing stage doesn’t necessarily mean an absinthe blanche will be less complex than a verte, but in Kubler’s case, it tends that direction. However, we’ll see that that isn’t completely unwelcome. Drip: Kübler louches quickly with a beautiful pearlescent blue-tinged colour that isn’t found in the verte styles. As an absinthe drip, Kubler is solidly two-note. There is a prevalent high note in the Star Anise area, with some fennel tones, and a low note squarely reminiscent of cocoa. In other words, there’s not much going on here except those two things and there’s far less herbaceous quality to it than just about any other absinthe on my shelf. Kübler recommends using a 5:1 water-to-absinthe ratio in a drip and I have to disagree. A 3:1 ratio is the highest you should reach for to get the intensity to make Kübler properly sing. Frappe: I enjoy Kübler in a frappe as it is simple, laid-back, and friendly. Unlike absinthes that try to do too much, Kübler kicks back and asks only that you keep your feet off its furniture and the music turned to a nice playful jazz station. Again, it’s not the most complex absinthe by a damned sight but, sometimes, that’s a deficit - as we’ll see with St. George. Kübler is an absinthe I turn to in a frappe when I want to introduce someone else to absinthe and its general charms or I don’t feel like being challenged and want to enjoy the sparest of them all. Kübler is a wonderful product with which to introduce yourself to absinthe’s core characteristics and work your way outwards to more challenging and complex products. And, at $50/L, it’s one of the best buys available on the store shelf. I also find Kübler my absinthe-of-choice when developing mixed drinks. It represents the base nature of absinthe very clearly and others might muddle the profiles of other ingredients in my experiments. Plus, if when my drink ends up sucking, I haven’t wasted $1-3 in the .5oz I’ve used. Kübler has been, and will remain, a staple on my shelf for its dependability, simplicity, and sheer enjoyability.

St. George was one of the first U.S. absinthes on the market and I’d been wanting to try it since its release. Thanks to a good samaritan who knew of this series, and happened to live in San Francisco, I received a bottle. An arresting bottle and label, a gorgeous olive-green hue, and an appreciation of Hangar One and, by proxy, St. George Spirits, I was anxious to open and get to know this distinctive green fellow. Distinctive turned out to be the operative word. Drip: This is the first absinthe I’ve encountered where I would highly recommend using a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio in a drip. St. George absinthe presents an anise flavor in the front, subduing you with an, “Oh!, this is tasty,” lull of satisfaction, and everything that comes after is an assault of the senses and your better nature. From rosemary, to pepper, to camphor, St. George never settles and blends into anything coalescent…or completely pleasant in a Drip. There’s a lot going on, which I appreciate, but I prefer it have a central and consistent anchor around which everything else can orbit. Frappe: St. George performs much better in a frappe but still suffers from the lack of focus and a general busyness that fatigues the palate. The half-teaspoon of anisette serves to balance the frappe out a bit and, seemingly, help the absinthe stretch-out and relax without being so earnest in delivering its multitudes of flavors. It almost reads as an attempt to do Absinthe PLUS! and it just falls short of something glorious. The finish is still long, but not as excruciatingly so as in the drip. St. George famously slew the dragon and, in that vein, this absinthe is aptly-named. It is not for the weak, the timid, nor those for whom this would be their first absinthe. This is also the only absinthe I’ve seen, in my collection, to undergo the “feuille mort” transformation where it takes on the brownish hues of fallen leaves, likely indicating the quality and volume natural elements in the product, which should be applauded.

Marteau absinthe is produced by Gwydion Stone, a founder of the The Wormwood Society whose mission it is to provide consumer advocacy and, perhaps more important, historically accurate information and education regarding absinthe. Marteau de la Belle Epoque attempts to recreate a historically accurate portrayal of the absinthes tasted by our forebears. And, if this is what it was, it’s no wonder it became as popular as it did. Drip: Firstly, I’ve tried all of my absinthes neat. Marteau is the first I’ve come back to time-and-time again to do so. Sometimes it seems almost a shame to pollute it with other lesser elements, but only almost. Marteau louches almost instantly in a drip and I found a 3:1 ratio to be just about perfect and the sugar, in this one, is completely optional. The first thing I noticed about Marteau is its heavy committment to fennel for its anise character. This allows the anisette character to come through without the cheap candy-like tackiness that can sometimes occur when star anise is leaned on too heavily to provide the base flavor profile. Its emphasis on fennel and use of a Spanish aniseed allows an herbal quality to join in that isn’t harsh but still balances against the more bitter wormwood elements. There was also a relatively unusual floral character contrubiting to the balance that I later discovered to be Iris . Frappe: The frappe using Marteau was the best I’ve had. Joana, after being handed Kubler (”Nice, fun!”) and St. George (”Gods in Hell, I can’t feel my mouth!”) upon being handed the Marteau version said simply, “Oh, that’s delicious,” and then refused to give it back. This presents with a clean and clearly-focused front of licorice and then finishes with a disinct bitter and herbal quality that still carries the initial sweet anise-character along for the ride. It is nearly perfectly balanced throughout and, at the traditional 136-proof, is simply dangerous in how pleasing it is. While I’m certainly not qualified to judge Marteau against the classic and lost styles from the 19th century, I can confidently say it’s the best in class of those I have at my disposal. My only complaints with Marteau are its availability and its price point. And not because the price point seems out-of-whack with the quality of the product or artificially inflated for marketing purposes (hello there, vodka) but because it will keep people from experiencing a genuine absinthe that presents exactly what a buyer deserves: no gimmicks, no artificiality, and no short-cuts that I can see. This is what a person should be confronted with when experiencing absinthe for the first time, and it’s a shame so many won’t.

St. George Absinthe Rating:

Marteau Absinthe Rating:

Absinthe Event Announcement

Please join us on April 17th at 7:00pm in the Mixoloseum Bar for a chat with eminent cocktail writer and absinthe enthusiast Paul Clarke, Wormwood Society Founder and absinthe producer Gwydion Stone, and Wormwood Society Editor and Media Contact Brian Robinson will join us to discuss the history and tradition of absinthe and answer questions about present day absinthe production, tastes, and challenges.
Place and Time:

• When: April 14th, 7:00pm
• Where: The Mixoloseum Bar
• Bring: Questions, insights, and an open and inquisitive mind. And, hell, bring a bottle of absinthe along with you.