The Aging Bartender

Julep Obsessed?

And they’re not even that good. I mean, they’re ok, but not something I would ask to accompany my death row last meal. I think that would be a margarita to go alongside my non authentic tacos, the ones I ate growing up that really had not much to do with Mexican culture at all.…

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  • Julep Obsessed?

    And they’re not even that good. I mean, they’re ok, but not something I would ask to accompany my death row last meal. I think that would be a margarita to go alongside my non authentic tacos, the ones I ate growing up that really had not much to do with Mexican culture at all.…

  • They’re not all Bangers

    I thought about this cocktail all day yesterday. I had a version of it at Thunderbolt when I was over there on the eve of my birthday. It was described then as “Tart Cherry Thunderbolt: Overproof Jamaican & Guyanese Rums, Tart Cherries, Adapted from Charles H. Baker’s Around the World with jigger, Beaker and Flask.”…

  • A Day in the Life

    By 3:00 p.m., five days a week, I’m walking through “Sunshine Alley” between 11th and 12th and in the back door of Rustic Canyon. Upon entrance, I see the prep guys, three, sometimes four of them squeezed into the narrow back part of the kitchen where they work on one long stainless steel table. I…

  • New Cocktail: Black Hole Sun

    Yes, I know this one was reported last week as Dreaming of Lee. That was the prototype and this is the finale. I put a double bock on the menu and no one is drinking it. Here’s my passive aggressive take on that–I guess no one likes good beer. The shit is fantastic. There’s a…

  • I Have no Idea What Oloroso Sherry is

    I’ve been putting sherry, mostly manzanilla, in cocktails for years because it’s acidic and weird. The oloroso is different, slightly nutty, still weird, but I have little to no clue about it, or most other sherries for that matter. I know about flor and how it’s been oxidized and what it’s supposed to taste like,…

  • Quey?

    After another year of reflection, yes quince is worth it. Nothing really tastes like it and these weird trials make us better. there’s an old saying about it that slips my mind at the moment. Anyway, when you’re forced to take your time with an ingredient, you respect it more for some reason. Quince and…

  • New Cocktail: Dreaming of Lee

    This one’s still in the realm of R&D but came out pretty good last night. Angel and I were trying to figure out how to use the pastry’s chefs dregs, this makrut lime sherbet that is just a little too powerfully aromatic and floral. It’s not the first time makrut has shown up in our…

  • Quince: The Fourth Dimension

    Now that it’s in season, I’ve been mulling over quince quite a bit. The days when we’d just make a syrup and plug it into a drink are over. I don’t know, it seems boring to me but there are days when I’d rather just do this. Ever since we had to raise prices at…

  • Boy, I Hope Inspiration Hits Soon…

    in·spi·ra·tion /ˌinspəˈrāSH(ə)n/ 1. the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. The quality of being inspired, especially when evident in something. A person or thing that inspires. A sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea. The divine influence believed to have led to the writing of the Bible. 2. the…

  • An All Hallows’ Eve Tale

    For many years in a row, in my hometown of Burlington, VT, there was always HalloWEEN. Yes, the band Ween would come and play at a local venue, we would all dress up and get shitfaced and dance. Cocktails weren’t a thing back then. I may have had a classic highball every so often like…

  • Sunchokes: The Power and the Glory

    I know little to nothing about sunchokes except for what happens after you eat them…You know…Chamber music…Tubers are in…They always have been. Taters, ginger, galangal, horseradish…But in a cocktail? Hmmm. I mean, if you think about it, anything can be included in a cocktail. Sunchokes are creamy, nutty, a little earthy. I don’t see much…

  • New Cocktail: Angel Dust

    Angel was obsessed with getting this puppy out last night. Pretty cool to see. There’s this thing, at least I went through it before as a budding chef and in the past as a young bar manager, where you have the blinders on and put something on the menu at the 25th hour. These days…