Mixology Planet Tour 2012

Sitting in the Krakow airport getting ready for another adventure I think about the last one I just had.  This was the final AMCA for Bridget Albert in Illinois.  I have truly been honored to have these experiences and I could not have done it without her mission to educate and put on programs like this.  I hope that whatever avenue I end up strolling along I keep this mission to educate and raise the bar for how we operate in the beverage community.  The AMCA promotes education through traveling to different distilleries and experiencing the culture which amazing products are born from.  These experiences provide us with an insiders look on how and why people do what they do, highlighting their passion.  Obviously there is the given… we go to these amazing countries…. and there is usually booze involved…. How much I can not confirm ;).  What sets this program apart from just the obvious is the extras that bridget has incorportated. Perhaps a certification, a volunteer opportunity, visiting museums and so much more.  Constantly pushing to confront and conquer as a team.  I have been humbled time and time again with this amazing lady guiding us through.  I’m sure as much as we have learned from her and been supported in conquering fears we have done the same for her, the sign of a true team with an wonderful leader. From the emotional journey  of Auschwitz to deep cavernous salt mines and all the crazy means of transportation, boats, planes, helicopter, horses, buses, motorcycles…. we have done it all and most importantly together and we bring back a sense  of accomplishment for facing fears, experiencing once in a life time journeys, a better understanding of people and cultures from around the world that humble you instead of being a pretentious beverage professional( not that anyone would ever be ). I think with a different leader/ninja master that was not as caring, loving, supportive and non judgmental we would not have seen these journeys in the same light.  I feel like through these classes from the 101 to the AMCA 2011 to the AMCA 2012 I have had the opportunity to be exposed to the things I am truly passionate about that no one has up until this point really put together a program that exposed to me the possibilities of this industry.  I know that educating and traveling and giving other people the oppurntity to do the things I have been so blessed to do will be part of my mission in life. I am a better person, beverage professional and have made life long friends in a beautiful community that continues to educate and support each other.  I look around and see my previous classmates becoming brand ambassadors, taking over beverage programs, becoming the USBG council and more importantly coming together as a community and raising over 8,000$ for the devastating affects of hurricane sandy.  These people never seem to amaze me! I’m blessed to be apart of something so wonderful and Bridget’s class was the introduction to all these wonderful people and the door to show me all the possibilities in this industry.  Thank you Bridget for being a wonderful mentor and I hope to be able to give other people the opportunities  I have had. I love you!

I love when someone says something and it just makes you stop and think…”why didn’t I think of that before”.  As I was sharing a cab ride with Tad, owner of Chopin vodka, we were discussing different marketing ideas from bottles, endorsements and specific wordage used to get consumers to buy the product.  You are probably guessing gluten free… well you are wrong and thats a whole other discussion….the word is Organic. With all of these products on the market and very little to distinguish what makes them different, companies have to devise a marketing ploy, if you will, to set them apart and seem to offer something special.

Organic means ” food produced with the use of feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides”.  Well  how did most of our food get an organic statement on it.  Its not as if all farmers foresaw farming demands of the future or that over night things that were not considered organic turned into coined “organic”. it has been almost 22 years since the Organic Food Production Act of 1990 began developing a national rule of what could be marked as “Organic”.  One would think that that would not be a hard decision to figure out right?… wrong because you have to think of how many people that would affect… its not just the farmers but the grocery stores, consumers and those that are trading and investing.  Overall affecting the market value of food.  Sure some had to do with the philosophical debate on what organic  is and may be and what organic means in our modern day society.

It took 12 years for the “Final Rule” to become law! of course it did.  If anyone remembers the Alar scare that happened in 1989 with apples, it is no wonder why it took so long to want to pass regulations. I remember as a kid everyone telling me to not eat apples or to make sure they were really washed before we were allowed to eat them. Alar was thought to be one of the most potent cancer- causing substances in our food supply that is sprayed on apples to keep them on trees longer and look all pretty and shiny.  This spread like wild fire, as most horrifying stories do. Children were said to be at risk so a bunch of panicking parents bordering hysteria tried to ban ALL the APPLES and apple products! What is the worst that could happen … no apples?…20,00 apple growers suffered … even those that never used Alar.  Farmers went bankrupt, the government spent 9.5 million of taxpayer money to reimburse apple growers and stories that residue ended up on grapefruit as well,  which is not true since it is not a product designed for citrus, ended up affecting other farmers. You would have to eat 28,000 pounds of Alar treated apple each year for 70 years to have any effect.

So you see why the term organic took so long to be something anyone wanted to pass laws on since in would directly affect the nation. As easy as this was to be believed true, it seems that billions of dollars of marketing have convinced a large amount of people that the organic food they are eating is purely good and safe and that everything else is not.”of course the reality is much more complex and there are features of Organic production that are problematic for an environmental point of view. There are also farming methods that are better for the environment than organic, but the “Organic Brand ” is so strong that few consumers will ever believe this.”  Organic is only 0.7% of US cropland. How can that be so when so much of our Alcohol and food is “organic”. Part of the answer comes from imported organic food that comes from farms that have an annual visit with no actual residue testing which allows them to be certified. Also different ways of controlling weeds contribute more to pollution than using a small amounts of herbicide that is less toxic than table salt.

So, I am not saying that there are not great small local companies that don’t produce amazing quality organic products or that companies that are not organic certified don’t make wonderful products that aren’t equal and many times better than ” organic” companies.  I’m saying that the term organic is a misleading brand image that is marketed by mainstream consumer marketing companies. Just be smart and do a little research and stand behind brands that you would want your friends to drink! CHEERS!

On our AMCA class to Poland to learn about Polish culture and the vodka produced by Chopin,  I discovered the magic of single distillate  vintage vodka.  Yes, single distilled vodka from a certain year.  The vodka that we have in the States has been distilled a minimum of four times.  We have become use to a stripped down very clean tasting product.  The more times you distill alcohol the more times you remove certain flavors.   The team at Chopin lead by owner Tad Dorda have been experimenting with vodka that has been distilled only once from young potato’s from a certain year the way it was made in the past before its mass production.  I found the tasting we had at the Chopin distillery of these products to be an amazing event.  We have wines, all types of whiskeys, even beers being made defined by the years they were made, why not vodka?                    I found all the different years we tasted(09,10,11,& 12) to all have unique flavor characteristics that the others did not have.  All the vintages were quite good and unique, worthy of being there own vintage.  Chopin plans to bring these vintage single distilled vodkas to the U.S. sometime in the future, I can’t wait to share them with all my whiskey loving friends and guests!

Going to Poland to study Vodka I didn’t think that I would fall in love with the chocolate there. I did, and it came in a surprising form that I am sure will delight chocolate lovers everywhere! While touring the Chopin Vodka distillery in the coutryside of Poland we were introduced to a new product soon to hit shelves everywhere in America. I don’t even know how to being to describe it. Chocolate in a glass? Because thats what it was-DORDA is made with the fininst Polish chocolate melted together and blended with the finest Chopinn Vodka. Forget what you think it will taste like-like all those other chocolate “liqueurs”,because its not even close to what you expect. We were all taken aback by the richness that DORDA exhibited. There was no other explanation than pure bliss for any chocolate lover, which I am one. It was a delight to tour the distillery and see the hand craftsmanship that went into this product. The bars of chocolate were melted down and blended with Chopin vodka as simple and pure as that. We were able to taste the solid chocolate bars before they were melted down and it was a lovely bittersweet chocolate that I would happily eat on its own. It’s such a lovely handcrafted product I feel privileged to be one of the first from the States to try it. If you come across a bottle don’t do anything more than pour DORDA in a small glass and sip to euphoria.

Ethanol is part of our every day lives. It’s mixed in with gasoline, used for cleaning, and of course, consumed in copious amounts. For those of us in the bar world, we know it a bit more intimately than others.  As we delve ever deeper into the world of flavor and the science there of, let’s take a moment to recognize the amazing properties of this little cluster of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen.

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Its interesting to see how things become popular due to necessity, and what makes something in such high demand. Why does one thing become at the forefront while other things that are similar never stand a chance? What is that Tipping Point? When is “ that magical moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire”? For many Americans we identify with whiskey as being the national spirit, which may be true today but what was the spirit drunk by the early settlers?  Kill Devil is a spirit distilled from the juice of sugar cane or its by product known as molasses better known today as Rum.

As sugar became high in demand an abundant byproduct called molasses was left over.  Discarding this vicious byproduct caused many problems as it was seen at fairly useless and difficult to ship. Until one day when it was noted that molasses had enough residual sugar to attract yeast that then attacks the sugar and rearranges it into alcohol and carbon dioxide (fun fact is that Don Q captures the carbon dioxide let off and it is then used in the bottling process of coca-cola).

Fermentation was nothing new as wine and beer and other spirits had been made as well for hundreds of years, but during the sixteenth and seventeenth century sugar cultivation and distillation aggressively made its way through the New World tropics.  This was all made possible by the demand for refined sugar, an abundance of molasses  (cheap), the desire to drink especially with unsafe water on long voyages, and the interested of distillation and slavery to have enough people working on these plantations during harsh conditions. With out these things it never would have been as successful. “Over the course of four centuries it went from swill to swanky, and moved from the gutter the great room” It was a drink that was at first harsh and cheap to purchase, loved by pirates and drank by most.  It has evolved, becoming more refined and compared to some of the finest Cognacs.

Rum use to be extremely high in alcohol content and was very harsh.  Obviously through cocktails it is demonstrated the use of water was often used to cut the proof down.  So why wasn’t rum being diluted in the barrels? It was easier to ship, store and conserve barrels by have a strong spirit that took up less space and water was fairly questionable, in high demand which lead many to drink it as is, resulting in extreme rapid intoxication.  Regulations have since lowed the proof in which rum can be bottled and today typically ranging 80-90 ABV which almost twice of that use to be the norm. Rum does not have many specific regulations but lets look at  what rum is as we know it today.

“any spirit distilled solely from the fermented sugars derived from the sugar cane plant and distilled below 96% alcohol by volume is rum (rhum in French and ron in Spanish). The sugars may be in the form of fresh juice, cane syrup or molasses. In the EU, the term rhum agricole is reserved for rums made from sugar cane juice in the French overseas departments and Madeira and that have specific characteristics.

There are also spirits which, though rum by definition, are described as sugar cane spirits or by other synonyms. For example, ‘cachaça’ the national spirit of Brazil, is distilled from fermented sugar cane juice and you’ll discover a number of ‘aguardiente de cañas’ produced locally across South America. However, if the product is fermented from sugar cane juice, syrup or molasses and distilled below 96% alcohol it is rum, pure and simple.”

The rum from the past has heavily influenced the rum and cocktails of today.  It can be attributed to proof, regulations, distillations methods, aging and availability. Also when we look back at the history of cocktails we see how these drinks originated.  Many times water was added for dilution, lime added to prevent scurvy, sugar to balance out the acidity resulting in the grog, rum punch, daiquiri etc…. Many cocktails were innovative but many emerged out necessity and availability of products.

The column still is a pretty tricky device. A basic understanding of how it works is relatively easy to obtain. As I learned in Puerto Rico, even a slightly more technical understanding of the mechanics of one can be pretty elusive. We got a crash course from Don Q’s Liza Cordero, from which I walked away with many answers but a lot more questions.  One thing I feel pretty confident about is  an understanding of what some key differences are between the process of distillation via a column versus a pot still.

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As I sat in a San Juan airport bar with my travel companions waiting to see if tropical storm Issac would allow us to leave the lovely island of Puerto I was reminded of another island, Hawaii and the Aloha spirit.
What got me to this connection was the spirit of kindness, which is the Aloha Spirit. Our trip to Puerto Rico was sponsored by the kind island spirit of DonQ and their very capable hosts John Meisler, Estaban Ordonez and Yisell Muxo. All these people showed us great Aloha Spirit with their hospitality, kindness and knowledge.
How can we be aware using the Aloha Spirit? Here are a few guidelines. Always say a sincere thank you for all the kindness you receive. Expect nothing and when things are given to you be appreciative. Respect those around you and the time they are sharing with you. Smile. Listen. Enjoy. Your hosts are spending there time, effort, and money in order that you have a great and in our case informative experience. Do not take things for granted. Go with the flow and not against it, it makes life easier.
Issac and Mother Nature were kind to us that day and allowed us to leave Puerto Rico with our new found knowledge of Rum and the DonQ way of producing it. I am thankful DonQ, our hosts, Puerto Rico, and the people I got to spend time with. Mucho Gracias, Mahalo and Thank You!

If Prohibition taught us anything, it’s that banning a substance will not end consumption thereof. So, when alcohol was made illegal in the US (but not Canada), our northerly neighbor suddenly became a favored source of illicit whisky for bootleggers and rum-runners.

Because of its strategic location just across the Detroit river, Canadian Club soon became the largest distributed brand of Canadian whisky, exporting as much as 20,000 cases per month. It was adopted as the drink of choice amongst mobsters and bootleggers, the most famous being Al Capone, which only boosted its popularity further.

With such an increase in the illicit consumption of Canadian whisky, there arose multiple factors which placed Canadian Club at a unique historical crossroads during this period. The US no longer regulated the production or sale of alcohol. This meant that Canadian sources were certain to be of higher and more consistent quality than their American counterparts. Unfortunately, it also meant that there was hardly anything preventing counterfeiters from passing bogus bottles of rotgut off as the genuine Canadian article. Prohibition was a dangerous time, not just for purveyors, but also for drinkers of whiskey, often of dubious origin and poisonous composition.

Just a glimpse: one of the many shelves filled with confiscated counterfeit bottles designed to resemble Canadian Club

This scenario led to some of the most colorful episodes in the history of the Canadian border since the war of 1812. Tunnels dedicated to the transport of whiskey, dozens of different fake Canadian Club bottles, and violent speedboat chases just a few miles from the coast are but a few of the features that defined this period.

Submarine tunnel: Hiram Walker's personal tunnel led from the C.C. brand center in Windsor to the other side of the river in Detroit.

Much ink can be, and has been spilled on this subject, but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Below, crates of Canadian whiskey that were first dumped by bootleggers on the verge of capture in the Detroit River, later recovered as historical artifacts.

Sunken treasure: crates of Prohibition-era whisky bottles collected from the bottom of the Detroit River

December 5, 1933 marked the much-celebrated end of Prohibition in the U.S. But Americans still had the taste of Canadian whisky, and other imported spirits, lingering on their palates. Canadian Club was not to be forgotten, and to this day remains as one of the most popular Canadian whiskies in America.

Being in the service industry now almost 15 years I’ve seen a lot of trends come and go. The Sex and the city Cosmo boom, the bomb craze, and if you know me, my favorite craze of them all (gross), the dirty martini. Being a beverage professional I’m constantly being asked by my bosses on what the next trend is and if I’ve sat at your bar in the past year or two I’m sure I’ve asked you the same question.

The thing is, at least in Chicago, I’ve noticed good service making a huge comeback. Sure, we’re Midwestern and generally nice people, but that doesn’t always translate to the bar or restaurant. We got a little caught up in our house made bitters and tinctures, crystal clear ice and ingredients so obscure you need to carry around the food lovers companion. Or the exact opposite, a nightclub bartender charging you $12 for a vodka soda and couldn’t care less if you live or die. We got away from the very thing that this is all about, service. The best bartender I know has no idea what a Negroni is, when to stir or when to shake, or who the hell Jerry Thomas was. But he’s one of the nicest, most friendly barman I’ve ever come into contact with. His guests adore him and even when he’s in the weeds, he never looks upset or frazzled.

I’m proud to be a part of a community that has embraced this not as a trend, but something that’s here to stay. Now if we can just do something about that dirty martini..