I attended the inaugural Bar Convent Brooklyn this year and had a swell time. Ive been to Bar Convent Berlin several times over the last 6 years or so, so I knew a little bit of what makes this event different from other cocktail conventions:

* Its a bar show, so most of the action is at booths with brands displaying their wares. Many brands use these shows as an opportunity to showcase new product releases, as they can taste a lot of bartenders on them all at once. Some larger brands, it seems, just try to remind bartenders that they still exist, treating them to guest bartenders and other various treats at their stands. * The educational seminars for the most part are purchased slots by brands, and then the brands can put in whatever programming they want in them. (The Main Stage talks are the exception.) Most brands do a great job at this and dont make their talks full-on brand presentations. This is very different from Tales of the Cocktail and other events where there is a long application process to propose talks, and then brands are tacked on as sponsors often after the fact.  I attended this years event with Rutte Distillery and gave a talk with European brand ambassador Steffen Zimmerman, about the weird and wild history of the Gin & Tonic. They had special covers made for my G&T book with me and my "Maxi-Me" Steffen and we gave those out at the booth and at the talk.

 

The seminar went really well, but wasnt terribly well-attended. Better promotion and clearer information on the website/app/program/signage is necessary for next year. I think I should walk around holding up a big sign for the hour before the talk next year like a boxing ring babe. 

 

 

Booth-wise, most brands brought their A-game and made creative and interactive booths. Rather than just handing out samples, they offered oysters (Rutte and one or two other brands), private bar experiences (Argonaut Brandy), some lumberjack thing (Suze), and more. The smaller brands that were grouped together faced the problem of all blending in together, and most could have used larger bartop displays/different lighting/ visual tricks to draw attention. 

There were many after-parties events spread throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. Rutte threw a party at one of my favorite bars, Pouring Ribbons, with guest bartenders Philip Bischoff of Singapores Manhattan Bar and Danil Nevsky from Cocktails for You. Another night I went to Dead Rabbit where Thomas Henry tonic water was throwing an event as they prepare for a big launch in the United States. Bacardi threw a rager of some sort, and I heard reports of various happy hours, barbecues, guest bars shifts, and other parties around town. It was easy to fill out ones nighttime agenda. 

 

 

For those of us who dont live in NYC, I think having BCBr there once a year will be that excuse we all need to come into town and run around to all the new bars, as we used to do during the Manhattan Cocktail Classic. This year in addition to Pouring Ribbons, I got to Blacktail, Dead Rabbit, PDT, McSorelys Old Ale House (twice), Bathtub Gin, and probably some others Im forgetting. 

 

As for new products being introduced, I had the opportunity to try a bunch of stuff, including those Thomas Henry tonics (they have a bottled coffee tonic that is terrific), Fever Tree introduced a new tonic flavor, BritVic announced theyre also launching in the US, I sampled Barking Irons Applejack, the Tempus Fugit Banana Liqueur (tastes like baked banana bread), JH Cutter Whiskey, and Rutte introduced their Bebo Coffee Liqueur to the US market. 

All told the first Bar Convent Brooklyn was a great event. There are some tweaks to make but I hope it will continue. 

 

 

Im heading to New York this week for some events around Bar Convent Brooklyn  with of Rutte Distillery.  Ill be around BCB probably all day both days, but here are two specific places to come hang out with me. 

If youre attending Bar Convent Berlin, come check out a talk Im giving with Rutte brand ambassador Steffen Zimmerman. Its a seminar about the history of the Gin & Tonic and it takes place on Demo Stage 1 at 6:15-7:00 on Demo Stage 1. 

 

Ill also be guest bar-attending (that means drinking) at Pouring Ribbons on Tuesday night starting at 8PM. Rutte is  hosting Phillip Bischoff and Gabriel Carlos from Singapores Manhattan Bar, and Cocktails for Yous Danil Nevsky and Eddie Rudzinskas. The Facebook invite is here.

 

As bartenders play with drink formats and serving vessels, and as meat juice becomes an increasingly acceptable thing to put into cocktails, a few drinks are starting to resemble soup around San Francisco. Here are some. 

 

SPLIT PEA SOUP AT LOLO. Peas and chicken? Also, garnish game is ON.

BIRD AND SEED - aquvit, lime syrup, CHICKEN STOCK, GREEN PEAS, fennel bitters, meyer lemon olive oil.

 

RAMEN AT PABU. Its ramen inspired, minus the noodles, which are only in the name.   

Tastefull Noodz - japanese whiskey, cynar, CHICKEN RAMEN, MIRIN, citrus

 

CEREAL AT WILDHAWK. This one has been on the menu since opening - a breakfast cereal-inspired Negroni that comes in a bowl with citrus peel marshmallows.

Breakfast Negroni - COCOA PUFFS-infused Negroni served with CITRUS MARSHMALLOW shapes.

 

 

MYSTERY DRINK AT PCH - Kevin Diedrich has been teasing the internet with pictures from the next cocktail menu - not due out until July.  Not sure if this one is soup-like or if its just the photo, but it makes me very thirsty... or hungry depending on whether or not its soup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought it was kind of fun that in the last couple of weeks two different honey-bourbon products have come out; one with honey-influenced bourbon and the other bourbon-influenced honey.

 

Today I receive a release from Stubbees about bourbon-infused honey: 

From glistening your meats as they roast to giving a lavish flavor to your favorite cocktail, Stubbees’ new Bourbon-Infused Honey makes it easy to create flavorful culinary creations at home using just a few spoonfuls. Made with only the finest honeybee honey and craft bourbon, Stubbees’ Bourbon-Infused Honey is perfect for charcuterie boards, select coffees and teas, smoked meats, baked items, and crafted cocktails.

“We’ve become known for our raw whipped honey products that come in a range of flavors like peach, orange zest, mango, and vanilla bean,” explained Stubbees founder and beekeeper, Justin Stubblefield. “We wanted to branch out and create a product that blends small-batch bourbon and floral honey. Our new Bourbon-Infused Honey is more than I could have ever hoped for. It’s delicious.”

Founded in 2013, Stubbees is a homegrown gourmet honey company based in Jacksonville, Florida that specializes in crafting raw whipped honey products mixed with organic fruit. Stubbees’ Bourbon-Infused Honey is available in 12 oz. bottles for a suggested retail price of $22, online here and at select retailers around the United States.

 

 

And a couple weeks ago I got a release about bourbon aged in honey barrels from Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery:

In a sweet play on the distilling industry’s legendary “honey barrels,” those elusive whiskey casks that have been aged to perfection and are almost mythological within the world of whiskey, Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery in Nashville, Tennessee is about to issue a limited-release Belle Meade Bourbon Honey Cask Finish. It’s their second release of the remarkable Craftsman Cask Collection series, the first of which was an acclaimed Mourvèdre Cask-Finish, shared by owners/whiskey makers Andy and Charlie Nelson in March.

At the distillery, there’s a great buzz of anticipation surrounding the Honey Cask Finish, an industry first. Unlike so-called “honey bourbons” that are flavored with added honey, the Honey Cask Finish is aged in barrels that were previously filled with natural honey by the artisan-beekeeping-entrepreneurs at TruBee Honey in Arrington, Tennessee, about 20 miles south of Nashville. Close to 300 bottles (two barrels worth) of the cask-strength Bourbon will be released on May 12 – just in time for Mother’s Day. Belle Meade Bourbon Honey Cask Finish will be available for sale only at the distillery in Nashville. Doors open at 11am. The 750mL bottles are $120 and limited to one bottle per customer, per day. For honey connoisseurs out there: the barrel had been filled with Summer Vintage Raw Wildflower Honey. And here’s an important lesson from the distillers, if you’re tempted to try this at home: “Honey is hygroscopic, meaning that it attracts water (as opposed to hydrophobic, which would repel water),” explains Andy. “When we got the barrel back from TruBee, the honey had dried out the wood, so the barrel leaked a decent amount when we filled it up with Bourbon. Barrels take a little while to rehydrate, but eventually the moisture swelled the wood back up enough to become a fully sealed container once again.”

 

Make sure you read that last paragraph if youre into barrel aging. 

Fun stuff. Honey and bourbon tasting flights are sure to follow....

 

 

Last week I was treated to a tasting of the cocktail menu at Che Fico in San Francisco, a new restaurant thats all the hype right now- hours-long waits and no reservations available for months. 

The cocktail menu was designed by Christopher Longoria. In most of the drinks, the spirit is listed last, which Longoria said is to promote people reading each listing rather than skipping through the menu based on the base spirits alone.

Likewise, the cocktails are not strongly booze-driven by generally lighter and designed to be food-friendly. Most drinks are earthy and/or herbaceous.  Its a very solid menu, with not too many variations of classic cocktails. 

As you can see from the pictures, theres not a ton of garnish. Theres also not much citrus, surprisingly. 

 

 

APERITIVI ($8)

BERGAMOT italicus rosolio, seedlip spice 94, jardesca california apertivo, soda

KUMQUAT cappelletti, dry vermouth, prosecco [this drink makes use of kumquat refuse from pastys cannoli production]

 

COCKTAILS (MOST $14)

BASIL dimmi, eau de vie, chile vodka

 

PUNCH pineapple, long pepper, banana, cinnamon, cognac [its a milk punch]

 

PEPPER limoncello, strega, cardamaro, lime, black pepper, cachaca [pleasantly earthy and that garnish is dope]

 

BRUTO dimmi, bruto americano, dry vermouth, cherry bitters, old tom gin [didnt try this one]

 

CORIANDER coriander curacao, herbs de provence bitters, citric acid, old tom gin [hard to see but garnished with a coriander blossom]

 

THYME cocchi rosa, aquavit, thyme, oloroso, genever

 

ROSEMARY WSR cabernet, sfumato, lemon, angostura bitters, rye [wine-forward and earthy]

 

CAFE cold brewed coffee, montenegro, sweet vermouth, absinthe, rum [creamy and delicious with a note of root beer from the absinthe]

 

CONCORD (N/A, $8) concord grape, black pepper, cucumber, lime, soda

 

Nice work Christopher!