Drink du jour- The Monkeytown Cocktail

Its been blazing hot here in Portland, unseasonably so, and I've been looking for something new to cool off with. Yesterday, I was at Uwajimaya, the best asian grocery store in the area and I spotted some interesting drinks. I ran across Yeo's Sugar Cane drink, and I thought that it might make a great base for a cocktail, so I picked up a few cans.
After rolling it around in my head for a while, I realized that I had a bottle of Cabana Cachaca that had been generously provided to me for blogging about Tales of the Cocktail. I've been really intrigued with cachaca recently, and have really enjoyed having Cabana in the house. It seemed like a natural fit, a distilled cane sugar spirit with a cane sugar beverage, but I wanted a little more complexity, something to add depth and interest to the drink and keep it from being too one dimensional. So I turned to an old standby, green chartreuse, and a new favorite, Bittermens Xocolatl Chocolate Mole Bitters. Both added needed notes to this drink, and the combo of green chartreuse and Bittermens chocolate mole bitters won't be soon forgotten.
The only downside that I can think of with this drink is that it did come out almost the same color as Midori, an almost neon green, but the drink is both tasty and complex, so I'll live with the color.
One last thing, as I'm sure people are going to ask. What or where is Monkeytown? Well, I liked the name, and its a suburb of Monroe Utah, and I have no idea why that area is called Monkeytown. I just felt like calling something Monkeytown more than anything. So there you have it, the Monkeytown cocktail.

The Monkeytown Cocktail

1oz Cabana Cachaca
1/2 oz green Chartreuse
2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Chocolate Mole Bitters
4 oz Yeo's Sugar Cane Drink

Build dry
add ice
enjoy

Mea Culpa

For those that read this blog on a regular basis, you'll notice that the previous post is missing. I've deleted it, and while it might not still be on the internet, I'd also like to apologize for that post. Ryan Magarian was kind enough to call me today and share his perspective on what I had written and, for that, I'd like to thank him.
In a nutshell, I'd written a post critical of a local establishment, that on further review, came off as very personal and negative. I don't know the owner of this establishment personally, I think we've met twice and only for a brief moment. After Ryan's conversation with me, and rereading the post, I've chosen to take it down. One of the risks of having a blog is that they don't come with an editor, or someone to be a second set of eyes to say, "Hey that might be over the line". Instead, its very easy to write a post that, to the author, looks like what he or she is trying to achieve, but to the reader sends an entirely different message. In the end, its not about what I meant to say, its entirely about how people who read this post interpreted what I wrote, and its my responsibility to ensure that my message is clear and on point. Clearly, I failed to do this, and I take full responsibility for the message that was, regrettably, posted. I sincerely apologize to anyone that I may have offended, and I'm afraid that I have offended a few people.
In retrospect, this has gotten me thinking about why I even blog, To be honest, it started as an exercise in writing for me. I'd just completed a magazine article and I wanted to get disciplined about organizing my thoughts, and writing on a regular basis. Additionally, I wanted to move away from what I've seen in some blogs as a need to be always right. I wanted to share my successes as well as my failures in creating drinks, I wanted to attempt to foster a positive atmosphere in which people could learn from my mistakes and share their successes. I also wanted to help to bring the cocktail community together, not to sow more division. I've clearly gotten a little off track, and I'm recommitting myself to fostering a positive cocktail community, especially here in Portland. What we share is an enjoyment of cocktails. Its that simple. We shouldn't turn it into anything more than what it is, and tearing others down is not the way to help our community.
Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who reads this, and who takes the time to share the opinions and thoughts on my writing. I appreciate any and all thoughts that you'd care to share with me. Hopefully most will be good, but I can also accept that my opinion my not be the gospel truth, and I can take responsibility for the posts that I have made,


Thanks for reading,

Lance

An open apology to cocktail enthusiasts

I realize some of my writing recently may come off as a little cranky. I know I've been hammering the professional stuff recently, and its been due to some cocktail enthusiasts (I'm not naming names here) repeatedly asking me for access to things and jumping into some conversations I've had with other professional bartenders about technique. Sometimes, as a bartender, I really need to just discuss things with others who work in similar situations. Some of the things that happen in a bar may not be the perfect way to do something, but they are the best technique possible given the volume you need to produce. Having someone jump into the middle of a conversation with a lecture about how they do something at home can be really frustrating when I'm trying to talk with another pro. That said, 99% of the conversations that I have had with cocktail enthusiasts have been nothing short of wonderful. I love almost all of you and I think that you raise the bar and contribute very good information and help this become a community that grows.
I've just been frustrated by a couple of people yammering on constantly about things and sidetracking some conversations that I've had. Its not a big deal, but I realize that I probably owe the rest of you cocktail enthusiasts an apology.
I'll make it up to you soon. I've got my bacon bourbon ready, which I'll post here, plus some other interesting projects coming up. Thanks again for reading, and I'll look forward to hearing from you.

MySpeedRail.com

So www.MySpeedRail.com has just launched its beta as of yesterday. This is the site I've been talking about, and, full disclosure, I am a paid content provider for the website. I'm very excited about this project though, as it is a website for bartenders and by bartenders. One of my frustrations with some other sites is the profusion of cocktail enthusiasts watering down discussions of actual bar techniques with commentary about how they may do something at home. I'm not trying to upset any enthusiasts here, I think they play a very valuable role in the cocktail world and as a general rule, I really enjoy their feedback and insight. That said, at least for me, having a website open only to the pros, those of us who have had that ridiculous order for 20 cosmos on a friday night when we're 10 deep at the bar and had to make a huge batch with an empty olive jar, or who understand intuitively what to look for to evaluate a good bartender (another post for another time, but I've noticed the pros evaluate very different things than enthusiasts), thats what makes this valuable. Its a gift from the good people at Angostura and its completely ours. No branding, no popup adds, just bartenders sharing techniques, recipes, successes and frustrations with their own kind. A place where it is safe to not know all the answers, and a site that, to be honest, is going to take active participation from the bartenders who are members to make it work.
I still have invites available for the beta. Email me at lancejmayhew AT oregonbarguild DOT org for an invite. If I don't know you, please send me more than just "Hey, I'd like an invite". Tell me where you work, even better, I'd love to hear what you hope to get out of this website. And if you aren't behind the bar, sorry, but this one is ours. Bartenders only.
Even more exciting than just the site itself are some of the people helping me support the launch. I had assumed that this would be an American only website, which would have been cool, but a little limited. Instead, www.MySpeedRail.com is getting contributions from people like Myles Cunliff in the UK, Hayden "Woody" Wood in Australia and Shaun Soole in beautiful Victoria, BC, Canada. This is a first, a chance to create an international community of bartenders to foster the resurrection of our craft and share tips and recipes from around the world.
If you can't tell, I'm very excited to be a part of this launch and I'd love to share this opportunity with my fellow bartenders.
I'll be blogging both here on my personal blog, and also on www.MySpeedRail.com. I'm planning more cocktail recipes for the website and I'll probably focus more on some of my more experimental techniques here at this blog.
I hope to see most of you over there soon.

Fun with acronyms- The OBG is hosting the GADF's Cocktail Competition

For those not in the know, the Oregon Bartenders Guild will be hosting the cocktail competition portion of this years Great American Distillers Festival right here in Portland, Oregon August 23rd and 24th. Our good friends at Imbibe Magazine will be partnering with us to help ensure that this is the premier cocktail competition in the Pacific Northwest. As a competitor in last years event, I think I can promise that this year will be bigger, better organized, and more fun than ever before. I'll put more up about the competition as we move closer to the event, but this event is open to all professional bartenders. This is going to be a lot of fun, and the OBG board members organizing the event are full of great ideas and the energy necessary to make this event a spectacular success.

Email me at lancejmayhew AT oregonbarguild DOT org if you have any questions.

Hey, where'd I go?

If you don't see as many posts from me over the next few months, I apologize. I have signed a contract to be a content provider for a new, bartenders only website that is launching next week. One of the requirements of the contract is that I provide 3 original posts a week on the site. Nothing terribly difficult about that, but it will probably have some degree of impact on what I am able to post over here.
I have no intention of abandoning or ignoring my blog, but I do have a lot on my plate, with this website launch and the opening of Beaker and Flask on the horizon. Its looking to be a very very busy summer for me.
As for this website, I'll provide more details as I am allowed. I will say that I am very excited to be a part of this launch, and I'm hopeful that this website will be a valuable tool for the best bartenders in the country.
Please bear with me. The first few weeks may be the hardest. Also, if you are a pro (unfortunately, this website is not open to cocktail enthusiasts, its restricted to professionals only) and you'd like to get an invite to the beta launch (did I mention that this website is invite only?), please send me a message and I'll be happy to pass it along to the right people.

Barrel Aged Orange Bitters Update

Well, I've left the barrel outside all week, I'll probably bring it into the garage now, but I want it to experience some weather to bring the madeira in and out of the wood.

I put together my bitters recipe Wednesday night. I'm going to let this soak for a month, and then into the barrel in June. Here's what I'm doing-

2 750 Ml bottles of Everclear
5 orange peels
8 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 bay leaf

Its in the basement right now, sitting next to the Bacon Bourbon. More on that soon.

So what do you do when you make bitters and end up with 5 peeled oranges? I make dessert.

Navan Oranges
5 oranges, peeled and sliced into rounds (if this was for a dinner party, I'd slice the pithy edges off, but at home I leave it as is)
3 oz Navan Liqueur
3 dashes Angostura Bitters

1) In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly to incorporate
2) Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours
3) Serve and enjoy. Best topped with a little whipped cream spiked with Grand Marnier.