LE TOURMENT VERT Absinthe Makes The Cocktailer Grow Fonder By Francine Cohen
Well, that fact has not actually been scientifically proven yet.
But… anecdotal evidence collected around the country indicates that at cocktail lounges, bars and parties (like the post-Oscar bash co-hosted by Madonna and Demi Moore at Madonna’s manager Guy Oseary’s mansion near LA which featured Le Tourment Vert absinthe fountains, and the Le Tourment Vert launch party sponsored by the Maloof brothers at The Palms where David Arquette was spotted on the outdoor patio) the return of absinthe to the bar shelf is a big deal and cocktailers and mixologists alike are fondly embracing it. Whether it is enjoyed at a Vegas or Hollywood bash, in a hip cocktail lounge like Chicago’s The Drawing Room, Scottsdale’s hot new restaurant Digestif, at a comfy bar like New York’s Waterfront Ale House or Iggy’s, or just picked up at the local liquor store for some quiet home enjoyment, absinthe is making a big splash as it returns to the marketplace after a 96 year absence when it was banned and the only way to enjoy was abroad or to smuggle it in (not that we’d advocate that). Read more...
TELLING TALES OF THE COCKTAIL Annual culinary and cocktail festival gets the industry all stirred
up in New Orleans By Ben Tinsley & Francine Cohen
Tales of the Cocktail is in its sixth year as a hot destination culinary and cocktail festival that allows the connoisseur or amateur to fully experience (taste, see and learn about) cocktail culture in New Orleans and around the world. The event’s annual components are Spirited Dinners, a seminar series, Cocktail Hour, cocktail luncheons, walking tours of the French Quarter, and classic and contemporary cocktail parties -- all presented by the country’s hottest chefs, authors, bartenders and cocktail experts. Tales of the Cocktail has “shaken and stirred” the New Orleans French Quarter since 2003 and celebrates its 6th anniversary in July 2008. It’s the most spirited event of the summer – and it takes place in the birthplace of the cocktail. Tales of the Cocktail, a dining and drinking extravaganza that explores the “spirit” and “spirits” of New Orleans, is a balanced mix of food, drink, history and fun, shaken with sophistication and creativity, and served up to educate locals and visitors to the city with perfection.Read more...
THE CAIPIRINHA COCKTAIL Brazil's thirst quencher now the sip du jour By Pameladevi Govinda
Offering a hint of mouth-watering citrus and balanced sweetness the Caipirinha cocktail is the perfect summertime libation. U.S. mixologists have discovered the Brazilian thirst quencher and are serving it at all the hip bars and restaurants. The beauty of the Caipirinha (pronounced kie-pee-REEN-yah) lies in its minimalist simplicity: mix muddled lime with sugar, cachaça (pronounced ca-SHA-sa) – a distillate of fermented sugar cane juice – and ice. For years it was the peasant drink of Brazil, but in more contemporary times it has become a very hip sip du jour. “The Caipirinha is Brazil’s national drink. It is a cocktail that came out of the slave trade when crude sugar cane distillates were masked by sugar and lime,” explains H. Joseph Ehrmann, mixologist proprietor of Elixir, one of the oldest saloons in San Francisco.
Cachaça has since evolved and is the latest spirit to attract enthusiastic bartenders across the country. Ehrmann says, “With the boom in Latin culture, the Caipirinha is catching on, especially now that you’ve got all these new quality cachaça brands on the market. For years all we had were a few not so good imports, but now we’ve got Leblon, Beleza Pura, Sagatiba, Cabana and more, available on the U.S. market.” Depending on whom you ask, cachaça is either in the rum category or is closely related to it. The Brazilian spirit is distilled from the juice of freshly pressed sugar cane, making it an agricultural rum, whereas most rums are made from molasses, a by-product of sugar production. The two types of rum taste distinctly different.
Noah Ellis, beverage director for the Michael Mina Group, serves the Caipirinha at Nobhill at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He says, “The Caipirinha is a great cocktail because it’s simple and you can taste everything in it: the cachaça, the lime and the sugar. Read more...
