Drink Spirits

In many ways it’s almost unfathomable to think that there was a time when drinking alcohol in the United States was illegal. The US has a deep history with distilled spirits dating back to the country’s inception, when sugarcane and molasses were shipped from the Caribbean to the colonies where it was made into rum.  Even the nation’s first president, George Washington, made it a point to have aged Barbados rum prominently served at his inauguration.

It’s even more surprising considering that the turn of the century was a real renaissance for distilled spirits with the emergence of the cocktail (an event often mis-attributed to the prohibition era). Combine all that with an influx of European immigrants who brought with them generations of distillation and beer making knowledge and you would have expected the 1920s to be a celebration of spirits, not an elimination of them.

In Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, author Daniel Okrent deconstructs the complex web of events and people which made prohibition and the Eighteenth Amendment happen, and dispels a number of myths about this period in American history.  One of the most interesting parts of Last Call is its examination of how people acquired their booze during prohibition, and the cat-and-mouse game played between the bootleggers and the prohibition enforcement agencies.

Some of the most interesting tidbits in Last Call are: Read more…

Bols Genever

We spend a good amount of time with gin at Drink Spirits, but usually the gins fall in either the London Dry category (like Beefeaters) or the explosively growing New American gin category (which includes gins like Bluecoat and Organic Nation). One category of gin which doesn’t get a ton of play is the Dutch style gin, genever.

Genever is the granddaddy of the gin category. Invented in Holland, genever is a blend of grain spirits, botanicals and malt wine. Originally created as medicinal, genever got its nickname ‘Dutch courage’ due to the consumption of it by the Dutch army. Genever made its way to England as an alternative to French cognac and became the base from which modern styles of gin evolved.

Genever is less known than its other gin counterparts in the US as there are few companies that have brought a genever product to market. The most notable is Bols Genever. Based on a 1820s recipe, Bols Genever is made from a neutral spirit base distilled with botanicals and mixed with 50% malt wine which is made from long fermented  rye, corn and wheat triple distilled in a copper pot still.

Bols Genever (84 proof $40 / 750ml) – If you didn’t know it, you probably wouldn’t pick this spirit out as a gin by its aroma. With a malty sweet nose more closely resembling a white whiskey, this genever lacks the pine punch of other styles of gin. The nose reminds us of a yeasty Belgian beer, beautifully sweet, soft and thick . Even at 84 proof there’s almost no alcohol vapor coming off the nose.  The entry is a terrific blend of sweet and savory. The yeasty, malty sweet notes from the nose carry through perfectly and are harmonized with slightly bitter, earthy undertones from the botanicals, which includes hints of nutmeg and pine bark. This all comes together to create a wonderful symphony of flavor. The finish is a nice gradual release of flavor leaving the slightest hint of beer-like, malty, yeasty goodness surrounded by a cool mouth feel.  Expertly distilled Bols Genever is exceedingly enjoyable from nose to finish. Far superior to most of the white whiskies we’ve tasted (see Putting White Dog Down), this genever is well balanced, well rounded and absolutely delicious.

Bols Genever – a refreshingly unique option for gin drinkers and a much better alternative to white whiskey, its wonderful balance of flavors makes it enjoyable to be sipped or as a lead note in a cocktail -  Very Highly Recommended

Rogue Founder Jack Joyce and ADI Founder Bill Owens discuss ADI 2011

The American Distilling Institute announced that it’s bringing its annual ADI Conference and Vending Expo to Portland, Oregon, April 4-8th, 2011. The event will be held at McMenamins Edgefield Distillery with sponsorship from Rogue.

In a press conference held at the Green Dragon (one of Rogue’s brew/distill pubs), Jack Joyce, founder of Rogue, talked about the vision of Oregon becoming a fermentation capital of the US with craft beer, wine and spirit making. At the heart of this drive is the notion that legalizing home distillation is a key to the future of the craft distilling industry, and that he felt Oregon could be a place where such legislation could take place.

Bill Owens, the founder of the American Distilling Institute, and co-author of The Art of Distilling Whiskey and Other Spirits, spoke about the growth in micro-distilling in the US (defined as distillers who produce 65,000 proof gallons ore less per year). In 1993, Owens visited 60 US micro-distillers when starting the ADI; in 2010, that number has grown to over 200. Read more…

The Best Tonic For Gin and Tonic

One of the drinks we love in the summer is the classic Gin and Tonic. It’s an easy drink to prepare that doesn’t require any special barware and is a perfect complement to hot summer weather. Choices in tonic water have expanded over the years to include boutique specialty waters that cost as much as $3 per bottle. We were curious if these premium tonic waters make a difference, so we decided to do a blind tasting with our tasting panel of five Gin and Tonics each using a different tonic water.

Picking a gin to use for this face off was a difficult choice. While we love Organic Nation’s Gin and often mix with Dry Fly, neither of these gins are widely available nationally. We also considered Junipero Gin and Blue Coat Gin, but ultimately decided on the gold standard of gin – Beefeaters. This London Dry style gin can be found at almost every liquor store and bar nationwide, and while it’s a huge branded spirit, we quite enjoy it as it’s extremely well distilled and easy drinking.

The five tonic waters we put head to head against each other were: Fever Tree Tonic Water, Q Tonic, Fentiman’s, Canada Dry and Schweppes. It’s important to note that both Canada Dry and Schweppes are owned by the same company that produces Dr. Pepper and Seven Up, and both contain high fructose corn syrup. Both the Fever Tree and Fentiman’s sweeten their tonic water with sugar, and Q Tonic uses agave. Read more…

Smooth Ambler Spirits Whitewater Vodka

By definition, vodka is a neutral grain spirit which has been distilled and filtered to remove the flavors of the base grain and its fermentation.

When we “taste” most vodkas for review, the focus tends to lean more towards smoothness, mouthfeel and quality of distillation than flavor. To make matters more complicated, many vodkas on the market come from the same source – industrial neutral grain alcohol (aka NGS) manufactured by companies like ADM. This base spirit, shipped throughout the country on rail cars, is often redistilled (sometimes not), filtered and then flavored. You’d be surprised just how many of the vodkas at your local liquor store all begin their journey from the very same factory.

In this market awash in industrial NGS, it may seem like a luxury for a distiller to ferment their own grain to make vodka. Yet, when distillers begin with grain, they have a much different canvas on which to paint. Many American distillers are using this opportunity to produce a style of vodka which isn’t completely neutral. Working with the flavors in the grain, distillers like Smooth Ambler Spirits are producing vodka that is smooth and clean but with enough complexity and flavor that you’d actually consider sipping it on its own or on the rocks.

Smooth Ambler Spirits Whitewater Vodka (80 Proof) – From the moment you nose this vodka, you know you’re in for something different, with solid notes of pineapple, honey, green apple and confectioners sugar. The entry is very tropical with a distinct banana note that reminds us of bananas foster, accompanied by butter cream and caramel. There is also a nice subtle walnut and pecan undertone. The finish is cool and sweet with the slightest hint of heat. Smooth Ambler’s Vodka leaves your mouth cool and minty, a sign of quality distillation.

Smooth Ambler Whitewater Vodka Rating: A delicious tasting vodka that was a hands-down winner in one of our recent vodka blind tastings, beating out some pretty hefty competition. They make a compelling argument for in-house fermentation and vodka that lets flavors from the grain shine through.  Highly Recommended

Ransom's Whippersnapper Whiskey Celebrates Its Lack of Age

When we first launched Drink Spirits we were very enthusiastic about white dog (or unaged whiskey).  Our excitement in this space was further fueled by Max Watman and his book, Chasing The White Dog. In addition to inspiring us, the book has been massively influential, helping move white dog into the national press spotlight, including the New York Times piece, “Raw Whiskey Finds New Craftsmen and Enthusiasts“.

We also got spoiled at the start of our white dog adventure with Fingerlakes Distilling’s Glen Thunder Corn Whiskey and Charbay’s Double & Twisted light whiskey, two exceptional and unique spirits that represent some of the very best in this category. As we’ve continued our adventure we’ve found that our introduction into the space was atypical of the category, which is populated more by disappointing spirits than exceptional ones.

At it’s best, white dog can be a very raw and explosive spirit. It’s the pure expression of the distilled grain before the whiskey starts its tango with the wood. Presented at a high proof (like Wasmund’s Rye Spirit and Single Malt Spirit which are 124 proof), light whiskey can be a union of sweet and fire with deep apricot or banana notes zapped by fiery spice. But most light whiskeys are brought down to 80 proof where the fire subsides and the fruit notes turn candy-sweet (almost like a Jolly Rancher).  In the case of High West Silver Western Oat Whiskey, the spirit is so smoothed out it could easily be bottled as vodka. Read more…

Whiskey Sour

We at Drink Spirits have been doing a lot of sampling and research to come up with the perfect summer cocktail to celebrate the 4th of July. The criteria we came up with for the drink:

• It had to be easy drinking
• Good for hot weather
• Easy to make
• Ingredients that you could easily get during the summer
• It had to be delicious

Sorting and sifting through the various spirits categories, we decided that bourbon would be the perfect base spirit for a hot summer day. There are so many great bourbons out there that are affordable, so it seemed like a great place to start. There are a ton of bourbon drinks out there, with the simplest being the way Maker’s Mark Master Distiller Kevin Smith does it: Read more…

We have to be honest. When we first sat down to do the tasting for Wild Turkey (which was conducted in a special online session for web journalists), we didn’t have very high expectations. Wild Turkey Bourbon, while obsequious, never really struck us as a spirit we would go WOW over.

Wild Turkey Straight Bourbon 101

Tasting six spirits from the Wild Turkey line, including two from the Russell’s Reserve collection (named after master distiller Jimmy Russell), we were bowled over by how well the Wild Turkey line is distilled. Almost every bourbon left our mouths clean and cool after a strong and flavorful finish.

All too often we fall for a heavyweight spirit that is both expensive and hard to come by. The great thing about our Wild Turkey favorites are they are neither expensive nor hard to get.

Here’s how they fared with our panel:

Wild Turkey Straight Bourbon 101 (101 proof  $20)  - Distinct for being bottled at a higher proof than many commercial bourbons, Wild Turkey Straight Bourbon is a mix of bourbons 4 years and older (primarily 7 year, with 6 and 8 year mixed in). It’s a solid orange color with a very fragrant nose that features notes of cinnamon, oak, orange and honey. The entry is soft and sweet with some nice spice including vanilla, caramel and cinnamon. There’s some good heat here to complement the spice but it’s not overwhelming.

Read more…

Bluecoat American Dry Gin

We simply love the marketing around Philadelphia Distilling‘s Bluecoat American Dry Gin. Their concept “We won the Revolutionary War, so why are we stil drinking British gin?!” is a very clever tact. Combine that with their royal blue bottle declaring it as “American Dry Gin” and you’ve got a real stand out on the liquor store shelf. As with many spirits, you can have the best marketing concept in the world, but it doesn’t matter unless the liquid in the bottle delivers.

Here’s how the Bluecoat Gin fared with our panel:

Bluecoat American Dry Gin (94 proof) – The moment the tasting glass got even remotely close to our noses it was clear that this is an extremely bold and flavorful gin. The beautiful and strong nose has monster notes of lemon and pine with ruby red grapefruit, black pepper, anise and cucumber. The taste is monstrous with huge notes of pine, big spicy pepper on the tongue, orange peel, herbal notes and more sweet pine. The finish is very, very long with predominately orange peel left on the palate and a nice, slightly minty cooling. The Bluecoat Gin is strong enough to stand up in even the most hearty cocktail – it’s bold, strong and a real stand out. It reminds us a lot of Ransom Small’s Gin, but where that one failed (being way, way, way too cardamom heavy), this one succeeds (strong with balance).

Bluecoat American Dry Gin made our panel go “WOW”. It was a clear standout tasted next to other similar gins in our blind tasting and impressed us with its bold and flavorful style.

Bluecoat American Dry Gin Rating:
Very Highly Recommended – an extraordinarily bold and flavorful gin tough enough to stand up to the toughest cocktails.

Juan Collins

The Collins is a quintessential classic cocktail that combines gin, simple syrup, lemon juice and soda. As with many classic drinks, the origin is often up for debate. The Tom Collins first appears in the 1876 edition of Jerry Thomas’ “The Bartender’s Guide” but (according to BAR) it got its start as a way to stretch out a Gin Punch using iced soda water at the Limmer Hotel in London. The Tom Collins has been made with gin, genever gin and old tom gin throughout various points in history and in 1874 was the brunt of a national joke (known as The Great Tom Collins hoax of 1874) where people would go around asking people if they’ve seen “Tom Collins”.

The drink would evolve with American whiskey standing in the place of gin and taking on the name John Collins (after the headwaiter at the Limmer Hotel who supposedly invented the original drink). When vodka exploded it founds its way to the Collins family in the plainly named Vodka Collins.

It was probably only a matter of time before other spirits got into the Collins game, and one of the best of these that I’ve tried is the Juan Collins from Tommy “Tweed” Klus, mixologist and bar manager for Bluehour in Portland, Oregon. Using both blanco tequila and mescal, adding in strawberries, and swapping Mexican Coca Cola for the soda water, the Juan Collins joins some of the great classic versions of one of the key classic cocktails.

Here’s the cocktail recipe for the Juan Collins:

Muddle 1-2 small strawberries in mixing glass

Add
2 oz blanco tequila
1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
3/4 oz 1:1 cane syrup (best to use evaporated cane juice sugar)
1/4 oz crema de mezcal

Shake, add 2 oz Mexican Coca Cola to tin
Double strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass. Garnish lime wedge.

The result is an extremely delicious and refreshing drink that both captures the essence of a great classic cocktail and modernizes it.