Category: Bartending

I am often asked to review and revise cocktail lists for my clients when their sales are down. Often, their antiquated recipes are pedestrian, don’t use fresh ingredients or are simply out of balance. There is, however, another factor that is often overlooked and can directly translate to the death of a cocktail… its name.
A deliciously beautiful forest green cocktail will never get ordered if named: Swamp Thing, Frog Slime or Dr. Maniacal’s Corrosively Poisonous Potion. Here are some simple rules to keep in mind when naming a cocktail:

1) BE ORIGINAL- As a general rule, don’t add the letters –tini, –rita or –politan to the end of your names. Chocolatinis, Rosearitas or Pepperpolitans are boring names that don’t promise anything more than the use of a specific base spirit married with a specific flavor profile. If the name lacks creativity, the guest expects the recipe to lack creativity as well.

2) KEEP IT SIMPLE- A cocktail should be a one, two or three word name. The shorter the better. The name should flow off the tongue and be easy to pronounce. Using a word of foreign origin is ok, but only if the guest is able to say the word without being corrected or feeling foolish.

3) KEEP IT CLEAN- During the 70’s and 80’s cocktails were vulgar things and therefore often had vulgar names. Slippery Nipples, Slow Comfortable Screws and Texas Mother F***ers somehow found their way into the mainstream vernacular. Yet today’s guests want to discover that cool new delicious creation that they can share with their friends. They want to be able to say the name without blushing.

4) COPYRIGHTS- You can’t copyright a recipe; however you can trademark a name. When naming a cocktail, it is important not to infringe on someone else’s copyright. For example, it is a bad idea to call your cocktail BEETLEJUICE or THE TERMINATOR. These names run the risk of a “cease and desist” order or a lawsuit from a major corporation.

5) MAKE IT RELEVENT- If you are stuck for the name of an original recipe, it is always a good idea to consider a name that is relevant to the ingredients, venue, location, geography or theme of the place where it’s being served. When I first starting making my own tonic water at PER SE restaurant, I was stuck for a name that was relevant but couldn’t be confused for a classic Gin & Tonic. Ultimately I settled on a name that alluded to both: A Tonic with Gin Per Se.

6) TELL A STORY- The name of a good cocktail should be a conversation starter. If the name references a person or a place, there should be a reason. Play to people’s intelligence and they will feel proud to have figured out a name without an explanation. If the name you select is a little too esoteric or cerebral then you have a great story to tell if asked.

7) FIND THE HUMOR- Using humor in a cocktail name is a great way to draw a quick smile and relax a guest before ordering. A subtle pun or a deliberate misspelling is a great way to raise an eyebrow and get a guest to order out of sheer curiosity. Cocktail names like CAN’T ELOPE (with Cantaloupe juice) or LOVE, DRUNK, PUNCH is not only fun but can generate press and publicity. The media loves to write about cocktails with clever name. Make sure that any humorous references have universal appeal. It is a mistake to name a cocktail after an inside joke.

8) MAKE IT TIMELESS- If you have a fantastic recipe; find a name that will stand the test of time. Be careful about naming a cocktail based on a modern pop culture reference. After all other considerations, I like to step back from the name and consider if it will still be relevant in 100 years.

So the next time you create a potent potable and you are inclined to name it after your favorite drunken uncle’s lewdest joke, just remember the industry is changing. If you want people to take your craft seriously, you must at least take it seriously yourself. Ultimately you’ll find yourself asking, when it comes to naming a great cocktail… What’s NOT in a Name?

The season is upon us. Mulled Wine, Buttered Rum & Spice Cider… yum! Who doesn’t love a nice Hot Toddy in front of a blazing fire? Come to think of it… I don’t. Sure, I love inhaling burning carcinogens and singeing my eyebrows as much as the next guy, but when it comes to hot cocktails, I need to blow off some steam. Here are some tips when making a great hot cocktail:

1) LOSE THE BOOZE- Ever wonder why that first sip of a great gin martini is so much better than the last? The warmer our spirits are, the more aggressive the ethanol is perceived on the palate. We can usually use half as much distilled spirit in a hot cocktail as we would in the colder version of the same drink.

2) SWEET IS NEAT- It goes against the nature of a mixologist to make a cocktail that is too sweet. However, when it comes to hot cocktails, a little sweeter makes sense. People tend to nurse a hot drink between sips until it cools down. This allows the palate to reset so that every sip is like the first. Be careful though, you don’t want thick and syrupy.

3) THINK THIN- The biggest mistake every beginning bartender learns the hard way is that the thicker the glass, the easier it cracks when you add hot liquids. As the thicker glass heats up on the inside of the glass it expands, the outside is still cool and can’t compensate for the rapid expansion… crack! Ultra thin, delicate glassware is the best. Careful though, a thin glass with a stem is best if you want to avoid burning your fingers.

4) WAVE GOODBYE- Avoid using microwaves when possible. If you have to use a microwave, make sure to stir evenly and thoroughly after heating. Microwaves can be problematic and do not heat evenly. Cooking in a sauté pan is ideal over a low heat till you reach a simmer. Only add the alcohol to the mixers after they have been heated.

5) NOT 2 HOT- How disappointing is it to get a great tasting balanced hot cocktail only to burn the roof of your mouth on the first sip. Be sure to avoid making your cocktails too hot. Especially if you are using fat like butter or milk, they take longer to cool down. An ideal temperature should be between 130 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here is a hot cocktail recipe that I created at PER SE. Chef Eric Ripert from Le Bernadine called me from behind the bar to learn the recipe. Try this one for the holidays and ENJOY!

HOT BUTTERED CHESTNUT RUM:
1 Tbl Spoon Salted Butter
1 Tsp Chestnut Paste (or Almond Paste)
1 Tbl Brown Sugar
½ Tsp Cinnamon
½ Tsp Confectionary Vanilla Extract
½ oz. Zacapa 23 Yr Solera Rum
1 oz. Steamed Half and Half
3 Dashes of All Spice Bitters

Glassware: Demitasse Cup or Small Fine China Tea Cup
Garnish: A Dusting of Freshly Ground Nutmeg over Steamed Foam
Method: Put all liquid ingredients into sauté pan and simmer above a low heat until butter is fully melted. Add spices to rum and dry shake (no ice) vigorously in cocktail shaker. Pour Rum into glassware and add liquid. Stir ingredients together with demitasse spoon. Top with steamed Half and Half foam and dust with Fresh Nutmeg. Serve.

For more recipes check out this CBS segment on my site under WARM WINTER COCKTAILS:

PRESS

Happy Holidays!!

We’ve all seen that funky jar of liquor behind the bar… sometimes it is obvious what’s inside, sometimes not so much. You know the jars I’m talking about. The jars with sliced Pineapple and vodka, sliced Jalapeno’s and vodka, sliced Strawberries and vodka… zzzzz. Humph, snort? Oh, sorry. I dozed off for a second there. If we are lucky, we find some creativity in finer establishments, lavender-vanilla bean infused rums, bacon infused bourbons or Cobra infused Sochu. This of course, does not guarantee a palate pleasing experience. With a couple notable exceptions these infusions smell incredible and taste mediocre unless placed in the hands of a talented cocktailian.

There are in fact many ways to flavor a spirit. A mixologist or master distiller will flavor a spirit in one of five ways: Compounding, Distillation, Maceration, Infusion or Percolation. Compounding is achieved by adding artificial or natural flavors to a spirit after distillation. Distillation is the process of adding ingredients to the mix before fermentation and letting the flavors in those ingredients adhere to the ethanol molecules before extracting the alcohol from the mix. Maceration involves extracting flavors by crushing or muddling. Infusion is the easiest. Put ingredients in a jar and fill with alcohol. Since ethanol is a solvent, if the ingredients have any natural oils, they are quickly absorbed and the spirit takes on those flavors. But what if we want to exact caramelized flavors that result from cooking? The wild card is Percolation; the rarely used art of cooking spirits to incorporate flavors within them.

The reason we avoid cooking spirits is because the evaporation point of ethanol is lower than water, therefore when we try to flavor a spirit through cooking we end up burning off the alcohol. It turns out this is an excellent way to flavor foods… think bananas foster with rum, or a brandy flambé. But how can we extract subtle flavors from foods and put them into our spirits? This is a different matter entirely. Some foods taste notably different when cooked than raw. Ask most mixologist to percolate a spirit and they reach for the coffee pot or pressure cooker. However, there is an alternate method of percolating spirits that has only recently been employed by a select few… cooking sous vide.

Ah-ha! (says every chef reading this). What the hell is Sous Vide (asks everyone else)? Cooking Sous Vide (under water) is actually a very classic French way of cooking. Place meats, fish or vegetables into an airtight bag and place in a warm water bath, thus very, very slowly caramelizing the natural sugars within. Chef Thomas Keller is famous for his Maine lobster tail which he adds to a cryo-vacuumed packed bag with just a little butter, coarse sea salt and cooks sous vide. The lobster cooks so slowly that the proteins never seize up and because the bag is vacuum packed the butter melts while the tail expands from the heat. In this way, the butter and salt are literally drawn into the tail resulting in an incredibly tender, perfectly seasoned buttery piece of perfection. But the advantage to using this technique on spirits has far greater implications.

By cooking spirits in an airtight bag, the ethanol can’t cook off. Now a universe of new flavors has just become available to the creative mind. In 2004, I created my own artisanal Tonic water from scratch, a full year before Fever Tree, Q-tonic and now a dozen other producers. Today it’s not uncommon to see a cocktail menu with a “house-made” tonic. Before I left PER SE, it was always my intention to create my own gin. I would have simply taken a high quality vodka, added it to an airtight bag and fill it up with botanicals. Juniper, citrus peels, cardamom, cassia bark, angelica root, lavender, cucumber, rose petals, saffron… whatever I wanted. Several years back, I mentioned this idea to a dear friend and mixologist in Vancouver. A year later, she was cooking spirits sous-vide with hemp (yes, the active ingredient remains. No I did not partake). If the final product has extracted some undesirable color, simply pass several times through a fine coffee filter or cheese cloth and you can revert to a clear spirit.

So the next time you decide to make an infusion behind the bar, consider percolation. Now flavoring spirits is only limited by your imagination. The flavors you adopt cannot be replicated using any of the other methods, yet this is the least utilized method for adding flavors to distillates. So don’t be just another jar head, the next time you gain a hankering to create an insane infusion, consider perky perks of percolation.