I have a number of upcoming projects to announce, including books based on my recent talks on Bug & Booze and Ice Innovations. I realized I should start collecting emails so I can let irregular readers of Alcademics know about them when they happen. 

While I havent gone through the trouble of finding an email list provider yet, the rough plan is to send out occasional emails with round-ups of posts and larger announcements. Youll probably not receive anything until August 2017. 

If instead youd like to get notices through rss or email when new each new blog post goes up, sign up for that here. 

 

 

If the embedded form below isnt working well for you, you can do it directly at this link. 

 

 

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Here are the new drink books that have come across my desk and mailbox, out this July and August 2017. The text below is the publishers information, not reviews by me, though Im looking forward to reading them all. Links are to Amazon for purchasing. 

 

GIN TONICA: 40 RECIPES FOR SPANISH-STYLE GIN AND TONIC COCKTAILS BY DAVID T SMITH 

Spaniards love their gin and tonics. In Spain, the bartender doesn’t ask you what you want to drink, he asks you how you want your gin and tonic prepared. This simplest of drinks—just gin, tonic, ice and a garnish—is now considered the national drink of Spain.

The trend started in the north of Spain, in Basque country, where you can walk into a bar and upon ordering you are presented with a cart teeming with gin and tonic options to create your very own bespoke drink. A beautiful cocktail with a variety of herb and flower garnishes, a Spanish-style gin and tonic or "gin tonica", is made with a premium gin and the best quality tonic water, combined with bitters and various herbs, spices, flowers, and fruits that will complement the botanicals of a specific gin. It is served over ice in an oversized balloon glass—the idea being that the shape enables the drinker to enjoy all the lovely aromas their drink gives off.

For a cocktail with only two ingredients, the flavor potential is staggering! Making a gin tonica is an intricate process, sometimes taking a barman as long as 15 minutes to deliver the ideal drink. The ice has to be dense so that it melts slowly, the glass might be spritzed with a fine layer of citrus oil, chilled to perfection, with the tonic poured in delicately. No detail is ignored, the wait is part of the experience, and the result is absolutely delicious. Attention to detail and respect for the classic is what truly elevates the Spanish gin tonica above all others. With more gin brands and styles of tonic available than ever before, and 40 inspired recipes here to try at home, there has never been a better time to discover the joy of the gin tonica—saludos!

 

MEZCAL: THE HISTORY, CRAFT & COCKTAILS OF THE WORLDS ULTIMATE ARTISANAL SPIRIT BY EMMA JANZEN 

Produced in Mexico for centuries but little known elsewhere until recent years, mezcal has captured the imagination of spirits enthusiasts with its astonishing complexities. And while big liquor is beginning to jump aboard the bandwagon, most mezcal is still artisanal in nature, produced using small-batch techniques handed down for generations, often with agave plants harvested in the wild.

Join author Emma Janzen as she presents an engaging primer on all things mezcal: its long history, the craft of distilling it, and a thorough guide to many of the most common agaves used in production and how they shape the resulting spirit. In addition, top mezcal bars across the United States and Mexico contribute a selection of nearly fifty cocktails that accentuate its distinguishing qualities. Beautifully produced and authoritatively written, this is the definitive guide to exploring and unraveling the mysteries of this extraordinary handcrafted spirit.

 

 

LETS GET MONSTER SMASHED: HORROR MOVIE DRINKS FOR A KILLER TIME BY JON CHAIET AND MARC CHAIET 

 

Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., would like to introduce you a horror movie-themed cocktail book with gross-looking, but delicious party drink, all wrapped up in an awesome 80s VHS package! Inside, youll find 55 recipes inspired by classic pulp horror movies of the 80s and 90s. Play the Puppet Master Game and murder your way through ten movies, and unique cocktails, or shoot The Silver Bullet while enjoying American Werewolf in London; either way you slice it, murderously mouthwatering movie mixers await you in Lets Get Monster Smashed!

There are 55 recipes spread across 5 chapters (shots, gelatin, punches, special fx, and non-alcoholic) inspired by classic pulp horror movies of the 80s and 90s, complete with viewing recommendations. The movies may be weird, the drinks may look gross, but the elevated drink making techniques and unusually tasty recipes keep readers and their guests interested and coming back for more. Great for theme parties, Halloween festivals, movie fans, and retro enthusiasts.

 

 

THE POPTAIL MANUAL: OVER 90 DELICIOUS FROZEN COCKTAILS BY KATHY KORDALIS

Love cocktails? How about popsicles? Enter poptails, the icy cool alcoholic beverage you can enjoy on a stick! The Poptail Manual is packed with over 90 recipes, including all your favorite cocktails from the Pina Colada to the Mojito, plus more exciting and indulgent flavor combinations such as Tiramisu, Amaretto Sour, and Strawberry and Black Pepper Sambuca poptail.

All recipes use premium alcohol, fresh fruits, and natural ingredients only. The book also includes ideas for making your own popsicle molds.

 

 

BOOKS ON RELATED TOPICS:

 

THE DIRTY GUIDE TO WINE: FOLLOWING FLAVOR FROM GROUND TO GLASS BY ALICE FEIRING 

Still drinking Cabernet after that one bottle you liked five years ago? It can be overwhelming if not intimidating to branch out from your go-to grape, but everyone wants their next wine to be new and exciting. How to choose the right one? Award-winning wine critic Alice Feiring presents an all-new way to look at the world of wine. While grape variety is important, a lot can be learned about wine by looking at the source: the ground in which it grows. A surprising amount of information about a wine’s flavor and composition can be gleaned from a region’s soil, and this guide makes it simple to find the wines you’ll love.

Featuring a foreword by Master Sommelier Pascaline Lepeltier, who contributed her vast knowledge throughout the book, The Dirty Guide to Wine organizes wines not by grape, not by region, not by New or Old World, but by soil. If you enjoy a Chardonnay from Burgundy, you might find the same winning qualities in a deep, red Rioja. Feiring also provides a clarifying account of the traditions and techniques of wine-tasting, demystifying the practice and introducing a whole new way to enjoy wine to sommeliers and novice drinkers alike.

 

WHAT SHE ATE: SIX REMARKABLE WOMEN AND THE FOOD THAT TELLS THEIR STORIES BY LAURA SHAPIRO 

Everyone eats, and food touches on every aspect of our lives—social and cultural, personal and political. Yet most biographers pay little attention to people’s attitudes toward food, as if the great and notable never bothered to think about what was on the plate in front of them. Once we ask how somebody relates to food, we find a whole world of different and provocative ways to understand her. Food stories can be as intimate and revealing as stories of love, work, or coming-of-age. Each of the six women in this entertaining group portrait was famous in her time, and most are still famous in ours; but until now, nobody has told their lives from the point of view of the kitchen and the table.

It’s a lively and unpredictable array of women; what they have in common with one another (and us) is a powerful relationship with food. They include Dorothy Wordsworth, whose food story transforms our picture of the life she shared with her famous poet brother; Rosa Lewis, the Edwardian-era Cockney caterer who cooked her way up the social ladder; Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady and rigorous protector of the worst cook in White House history; Eva Braun, Hitler’s mistress, who challenges our warm associations of food, family, and table; Barbara Pym, whose witty books upend a host of stereotypes about postwar British cuisine; and Helen Gurley Brown, the editor of Cosmopolitan, whose commitment to “having it all” meant having almost nothing on the plate except a supersized portion of diet gelatin.

 

 

 

While robots will eventually make all our jobs obsolete, they seem to be coming for bartenders first. Three robot bartender happenings have popped up on my radar recently. 

 

BATTLING COCKTAIL ROBOTS

San Franciscos DNA Lounge is hosting their annual Cocktail Robotics Grand Challenge. Actually it just happened on July 16th.

I wasnt able to attend but it promised judging based on:

*

Style and Grace: How clever, how dapper is that robot of yours?

*

Efficiency of Intoxication: Are the drinks it makes good?

*

Full-Assery: The opposite of halfassery. Does the infernal device actually work, or do you have to stand there tweaking it constantly?

*

This Will End Badly: Extra consideration will be given for terrible ideas and Mad Science.

Check their Facebook page for more info and future events. 

 

ROBOT-STAFFED BAR OPENS IN VEGAS

Tipsy Robot is a new bar in Las Vegas where the robots make the drinks for you. 

The press release promises:

A one-of-a-kind destination attraction that merges craftsmanship and high-tech innovation, Tipsy Robot features two cocktail-shaking robots that interact with customers in a social, digital environment. Customers can order one of Tipsy Robot’s 18 signature cocktails — or create a custom cocktail — through one of the bar’s 33 tablets.

The robots mirror the actions of human bartenders. They mix, shake, pour, slice fruit and even dance to the latest Top 40 and EDM hits. Each beverage takes 60-90 seconds (or less) from order to completion.

 

ROBOT-MADE GIN COMING SOON

At the annual Tales of the Cocktail convention in New Orleans on July 21, there is a seminar called, "Bartending Robots: Friend or Foe?"

The seminar will talk about the future of cocktail robotics, as well as introduce a forthcoming robot-made gin that will be blended a la minute at The Long Now Foundations bar The Interval. Cant wait to try it. 

The seminar description promises:

What of a bartender’s skill can a machine replace? And what is it likely to replace? While people are (usually) much nicer than robots, our mechanical counterparts have been growing in speed, accuracy and number. Before you deride robotics as technology that denigrates the noble bartender’s position, let’s explore the ongoing evolution of bartending machines and how we can use them to further the craft. Taking a cue from European flavor houses that make bespoke gin for brands and bars, Jennifer Colliau, Beverage Director of The Interval in San Francisco, worked with St. George Spirits to make single-aromatic distillations that are combined via robotics to whatever specifications a guest would like. Jennifer is joined by Dave Smith, Head Distiller of St. George Spirits and the manufacturer of the single-aromatic distillates, Pierre Michael, owner of Party Robotics and the builder of The Intervals Gin Robot, and Alexander Rose, futurist and Executive Director of The Interval at Long Now. Join them for a discussion of the future of robotics and automation and how they can impact the bar, for better and for worse. During this seminar, you will taste finished St. George gins, investigate styles and recipes, then use the individual aromatic distillations to mix your own gin.

 

 

 

 

I was researching a few different topics and stumbled upon an interesting observation: Not only is Campari sold at a wide-ranging variation of alcohol percentage in different countries, the coloring used to make its signature red is different depending on the country. 

As many people know, Campari was traditionally colored with cochineal, a scale insect native to South America that grows on the prickly pear cactus. (Cochineal is still used in many products today, as it is a natural coloring and doesnt need to be labelled as the unsightly artificial coloring.)

In 2006 cochineal was discontinued - but as it turns out, not everywhere. In the United States and it seems most countries, Campari now uses artificial coloring. Depending on which country one is located in, that coloring must be declared in different ways, so what is merely "artificially colored" in the US is labelled as three specific coloring agents in one country, and none at all in others.  

But in at least one country, cochineal is still used. 

In the United States, Campari is sold at 24% ABV and the coloring is listed as "artificially colored."

 

In France, the ABV is 25% and the colorings are listed as E122, E102, and E133. 

 

Next door in Spain, no special colors are labelled, but its also sold at 25% ABV.

 

 It appears it is the same in Argentina (with INS instead of E numbers), but the proof is 28.5%.

 In Argentina it is the same.

 

In Toronto, it is sold at 25% and the color is merely misspelled (kidding!) as "colour."

 

In Australia, it is sold at 25% with no special color labelling. 

 

In Malaysia it is the same - 25%, no color labelling. 

 

In Iceland, its sold at 21% ABV with no special color labelling. 

 

NOW HERES WHERE IT GETS REALLY INTERESTING.

I was wondering if the Swedish government website was merely out of date as it lists the coloring as E120 - thats cochineal(!), but a friend just picked up a bottle recently and COCHINEAL IS STILL IN CAMPARI IN SWEDEN. Additionally, it is sold at 21% ABV. 

 

 

And even more interesting is this bottle of Campari from Jamaica. Hold onto your butts:

* "Blended and bottled in Jamaica... by J Wray & Nephew" [Campari now owns JW&N] * 28.5% ABV * "Contains Egg"  

CONTAINS EGG. Folks, that is some interesting news right there. Typically when eggs are used in wine, beer, and spirits (that arent egg-based liqueurs), the eggs have been used in the fining process that helps filter the products to clarity. I think its fair to assume this is how eggs are used in Campari. 

My _guess_ would be that because Jamaica has a Rastafarian community, many of which are vegans, products fined with eggs are required to be labelled. 

What this means though, is that even though they took out the cochineal insect coloring (except in Sweden apparently), Campari, at least in Jamaica, is still not vegan. 

The question remains what it is in the rest of the world. 

 

Keep in mind that much cane sugar is whitened using bone charcoal, so any liqueur or sweetened alcohol has an okay chance of being non-vegan. 

 

Thank you to my Facebook friends from around the world who shared their bottle images. If you live in another country not mentioned here, please send me your bottle image to add to this discussion. Thanks! 

 

 P.S. Im writing a book on Bugs & Booze. Want to be notified when it launches? Join my forthcoming email list and Ill let you know!

 

 

The other week I had a chance to check out the seasonal cocktail menu at Pabu, the huge and fancy Japanese izakaya/sushi restaurant from the Michael Mina Group in the Financial District of San Francisco. Ive been to Pabu on several occasions, and the drinks have always been good, but I think theyre now at the top of their game.

The cocktails are the increasingly-rare combination of inventive, savory, light, and refined; and a refreshing deviation from what most other bars in the city are doing.

 

Lead Bartender Nick Jones says the new drinks are the result of a team effort, and they also have a leg-up from Alamedas St. George Spirits: many of the cocktails include their take on funky shochu (that I didnt even know they made). Ingredients like St. Georges fantastic Baller whiskey, the light Suntory Toki whisky, junmai sake, and pickled plum, add unfamiliar, interesting flavors and keep the menu on a tightly-controlled Japanese theme. 

About half the menu changed over recently. Below are the new drinks. 

 

 

 

 

SUMO, a bold whisky drink served in a ceramic mug with a dominant note of sesame oil. Despite the tangerine and basil flavors, Id choose this drink as a digestif. It doesnt so much go with food; it is food.

 

 

HANA, an elegant, soft and savory aperitif cocktail of sake and Suze, served from a teapot. (image above)

MURASAKI, a bright and refreshing cocktail thats equal parts tequila and shochu in flavor; a fantastic introduction to what this menu is all about.

 

BALLER, a Manhattan-style cocktail with St. George Spirits Baller whiskey and Byrrh; probably one of my favorite drinks in San Francisco at the moment.

HADOUKEN, which reads on the menu like another stupid boozy mezcal-and-bitters drink with Amaro Montenegro and Union Mezcal, but is in format wonderfully, surprisingly light-bodied and probably quite izakaya-food-friendly. 

 

GEISHA (they really need better names for these drinks), a drink with rum, sake, strawberry, and Chartreuse cream that is the showdrink (I think Im going to start using this term from now on) to order for people nervous about the menu, in that its tasty but also has the friendly-foamy-yum factor.

 

The second page of cocktails includes held over from previous menus. I tried one Id missed previously: the Shiso Delightful with St. George shochu, shiso-infused vermouth, sherry, lemon oil, and bitters. It was huge in funky, grassy, what-the-eff flavor (probably too huge for some people) and the drink to try if you love big drinks, rhum agricole, and/or want a final-final drink of the night. Its three weeks later and I think I can still taste it. 

The drinks range from $13 to $16 so youre definitely paying for the unique and pricey base spirits in the cocktails, but thirteen dollar drinks in SF is no longer shocking. Treat yourself.