Derek Brown Speaks Truth

Great piece in the Atlantic.

Testify brother!

A Distillery Grows in Kentucky!

How did we all get scooped by NPR on this one?

A Distillery Grows in Kentucky!

Funky Pot Still Jamaican Rum

By Confucius' pointy beard, I love this bottle!

About a year ago I think, the intrepid Mr. Seed pulled a couple of rum samples of his legendary black bag (seriously, anyone who knows the man respects the hell out of that bag.) They were Jamaican pot still spirits that I had never heard of, each was pretty out-there. Full of tropical fruits and odd spices and above all else, funky. I really wasn't quite sure what to make of them. A few months later, on another visit, Mr. Seed , M. Cate and myself met for dinner and a new sample came out of the black bag of myth and fables, this time it was a blend and it blew us away.

We didn't have enough to make a drink, but we both saw and smelled truth in that little bottle. Well I just got a chance to make a drink with it tonight...and wow. I simple rum sidecar with it yielded incredible tropical fruits like mango, papaya and pineapple with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. The three of us that were tending bar were stunned.

GO GET A BOTTLE NOW.

Dealing with the Angostura shortage.

How a certain whiskey bar in San Francisco is dealing with the Angostura shortage.

Angostura Bitters Shortage

I have been off the blog for way too long as a result of some travel and a tech meltdown. Rather than try to catch up all at once, I am going to ease back into it at the regular pace.

So for today, lets talk Angostura bitters. I am quite surprised there is so little chatter about the what is going on in Trinidad and how it is effecting us. The short version is that the global financial crisis forced Trinidad & Tobago to bail out CL Financial, the parent company of Angostura, and it's bank in January of this year. This is after a few years of some aggressive dealing including the investment in the company that owns Appleton in Jamaica and a defunct distillery in Kentucky. My understanding is that the company was spending money it planned on making before the economy lowed and credit dried up. Apparently the books were so bad that the company had to be pulled from the stock market and has been in limbo.

What this means to us is that the one ingredient that is present in every bar that mixes drinks, Angostura bitters, has not been in production for almost a year. This clearly a very selfish view of things and in realty, I am pretty disgusted that the worker class folk that are responsible for our beloved cocktail bitters are suffering because of greed and mismanagement. The good news is that we might be moving towards resolution. An article last week in Newsday Trinidad says things might get straightened out soon.

This is a good thing. Major distributors on both costs have been out for awhile now and bartenders have been cleaning out corner liquor stores to keep the Manhattans flowing. Cocktail Kingdom has secured a good supply and I have it on good authority that BevMo (in California at least) has a solid source for the 4 oz. size as well. I believe I have about a year's worth stashed, but am still feeling a little nervous about it so I started a huge batch of homemade just in case. Here is the recipe that I based it on.

Islay Gears up to use Local Barley

The Laddie Blog based out of Bruichladdich shared some of their strategy for the future today. I have talked before about the importance they place on keeping every stage of the production on Islay (they are the only Islay distiller that bottles on the island and will remain so until Kilchomen comes on-line.) While it is undeniably cool, it is actually an important and integral part of their mission. It is important to me because their world view as it pertains to spirit jives right along with mine as it pertains to bar. When one talks to Mark Reynier, Jim McEwan or Duncan McGillvray, the team that heads production at Bruichladdich, about their whisky, you always end up talking about Islay. Just as when I talk about drinks, I focus on the people behind the spirits. They understand that they are creating more than bottles of booze, but that they are bottling the essence of their home for the world to share. The water (most bottles are 53% water), the air (as the spirit ages it takes on elements of the atmosphere), and now the earth are in there. For those skeptics and naysayers out there, just think about wine. Could you imagine a Burgundy wine-house buying it's grapes from Greece? Sure they could make wine out of those grapes, and probably some interesting stuff at that, but it certainly wouldn't be Burgundy. Well, most of the Scotch industry rely on foreign grain for their production. I find this a little disturbing when considering how much they charge for some of their juice.

But is it Good for The Vegans?

There was a question on Jeopardy last night about weasel processed coffee beans. My girl B did some research and came up with this.

Nope, no thank you.