Its coming! 50 Plates opens this month

Well, its almost here. The debut of 50 Plates is becoming a reality later this month. I'm excited to be a part of the bar staff there, as we have an embarassment of riches behind the bar. Andrew Finkelman, late of Alberta Street Oyster Bar and Grill is heading things up, joined by Suzanne Allard of Castagna fame (and at least two entries in Food and Wine's cocktail books), James Pierce (the best bartender under 25 in Portland) and myself. I'm pretty excited to be working with, and learning from all of these people and the closer we get to opening night, the more my anticipation grows.

Even cooler is that I understand that we've got one of the premier baristas in town to handle our coffee program. I've always wanted to learn more about coffee and espresso, so I can't wait to see what he has in store for us.

This will by my first time working in the Pearl and I'm really looking forward to it. Stay tuned for more updates.

Drink Du Jour- Rabo De Galo (Sao Paulo style)

This one is usually eyeballed in Brazil, but I broke out the old jigger anyway. This just went in a rocks glass with one ice cube to cool it down. This really brought out the "gasoline" flavors that I taste in cachaca sometimes. Rabo De Galo means "cock tail" in Portugese and this is a drink thats traditionally served up in a rocks glass. Anyway, not one of my favorites (even though I love Cynar) and I'll have to give it a go with some sweet vermouth next. I think I'm going to play with some traditional Brazilian cocktails for a while on here.

Rabo De Galo (Sao Paulo Style)
2 oz Augua Luca cachaca
1 oz Cynar
1 ice cube

Product Review- Agua Luca Cachaca

I'll admit, I don't drink much cachaca. In fact, I tend to think that the majority of cachaca's that I've had are redolent of diesel gasoline, not something I usually want in my cocktails. I'm not even much of a rum man (cachaca being merely a subcategory of rum made from sugarcane and originating in Brazil), although I am looking forward to changing with my upcoming work at Beaker & Flaskwhere my good friend Kevin Ludwig is a huge rum fan. That said, the caipirinha is a great cocktail (and also the national cocktail of Brazil), and while seemingly a simple perparation, maddeningly complex to make correctly. I wouldn't walk into your neighborhood tavern and order a caipirnha tonight, but a good cocktail lounge should have bartenders capable of preparing this classic properly (if they carry cachaca).
As it is, only 1% of Brazil's cachaca production is for export, with the majority of that going to Germany, but the United States is starting to become a growing market for cachaca. In the Mayhew household, there are currently two different brands of cachaca in the house, an all time high. The reason for this is that the nice folks at Heaven Hill were kind enough to send me a sample bottle of Agua Luca Cachaca, along with a couple of other bottles of various liquor. I'm not familiar with Agua Luca (its not available here in Oregon yet), so I was intrigued by the bottle and especially the presentation. It comes in a bottle shaped not unlike that of Voss water , but with a clear glass fading into a blue green base. This is one of the prettiest bottles that I've seen in some time, almost the equivalent of the little black cocktail dress. It definitely hints that this isn't your run of the mill liquor inside. My wife commented that it looks more like a high end cologne bottle than the usual liquor bottle and its clear that a lot of thought and effort went into designing this package.
Upon opening the bottle for the first time, a sweet sugarcane nose became very apparent. Agua Luca has the best nose of any cachaca that I've personally tried, an alluring scent of the tropics and one that just seemed to reach out and ask me to mix it into something special.
Tasting Agua Luca was a revelation. This is a very mixable and versatile liquor, able to add some interesting notes to drinks where, say vodka or rum would be the norm. Even better though, when I tasted Agua Luca, I realized that I was drinking something that could best be described as sexy. I don't generally describe alcohol in these terms, but there was something raw and uninhibited about this cachaca, something primal and something that screamed sex. No wonder they dressed this bottle up. On the shelf, it sits and looks pretty, but once you pour it into a drink, hold on because this is one great liquor. I love mixing it with ginger beer and mint, two very flavorful ingredients and yet Agua Luca holds its own and complements both with its own unique taste. I've definitely got to stock up on this for the home bar, too bad its not in Oregon yet. I've got more drinks coming with this unique and versatile liquor, but I wanted to offer up my first creation with Agua Luca cachaca, the Seu Jorge cocktail named after my favorite Brazilian musician. This is a great drink for a warm July day, in fact, this was the drink of choice in our house on the 4th of July. Summery, spicy and refreshing, you can serve this tall with a little club soda on top to lighten it up if you'd like.

The Seu Jorge Cocktail
2 oz Agua Luca Cachaca (no substiutions please)
4 oz Ginger Beer
10-12 mint leaves muddled gently (peppermint please)

1) In the base of a double rocks glass, gently muddle 10-12 mint leaves to release their oils. Do not overmuddle.
2) add Agua Luca cachaca
3) add ginger beer
4) add ice, stir to incorporate, and garnish with a fresh spanked mint sprig to express its aroma

Enjoy

One More Update

Just so everyone knows, this summer seems to be filled with weddings and/or graduations and/or visits from out of town friends. So if I'm a little slow responding to people or seem just a bit stretched thin, well, this should pass by August.

A Personal Tales Update

As we draw ever closer to the cocktail event of the year, its becoming even harder to announce this, but unfortunately, due to some family concerns, I won't be able to attend Tales of the Cocktail this year. No one is more disappointed about this than I am, but sometimes family must come first. Don't worry, all is well in the Mayhew household, but there is some family business that must be attended to. I love my family dearly and they just have to be my first priority at all times, and above all else. I'm going to be quite jealous of my friends who are attending, and it should give me plenty of desire to attend in 2009, but for now, its just not in the cards as much as I've really tried to make this happen.

I'd like to thank the Tales people and especially Paul Clarke for allowing me to participate in some of the events leading up to this years event. Perhaps I'll see some of you at this years Great American Distillers Festival in Portland next month.

Drink Du Jour- The Morinaga Cocktail

I was in Anzen Japanese Market the other day, and I spotted something I haven't seen before, sparkling sake. Sepcifically, it was Gekkeikan Zipang sparkling sake, and while I am not usually one to create a drink around sake, I've been wanting to play with more asian ingredients recently. I decided to use create a new drink using the Champagne Cocktail as a base, but I wanted to give it my own twist (of course).
With a traditional Champagne Cocktail, you use a bitters soaked sugar cube and champagne, nice and simple. I decided that I did want to use bitters, but I needed something to work with the flavor profile of the sake. I chose Fee Brothers Peach Bitters, which ended up being a great choice.
I also didn't want to just add sugar into the cocktail. I wanted to create something that would deliver the sugar, but also create complexity and depth in the drink. I found just the thing in my refrigerator, a half drunk bottle of Barnard Griffin Rose of Sangiovese. I figured the bottle would go south soon, so I took a cup and a half of the rose, put it in a saucepan with a cup of granulated sugar, kicked up the heat on the burners a bit and made a nice Sangiovese simple syrup. I love this stuff, its full of ripe strawberry flavors, and adds a nice deep pink color to whatever you use it in. I love drinking the Barnard Griffin rose during the warm summer months (its perfect with bbq'ed chicken), and now, I have a use for unfinished bottles.
Next, I felt like the drink would benefit from some regular sake to give it a bit more solidness. I have exactly one bottle of sake in the house, Momokawa's G Sake. I'm not a big sake fan, but its local Oregon product, so its in the old liquor cabinet. The flavor profile worked really well with the sparkling sake, so its more luck than anything as I wouldn't have a clue which sake to use if this one hadn't worked out. To be honest, I would have abandoned the drink as a failure.
So here is the drink. Simple proportions, simple ingredients, and yet, as Raena said, "Thats damn tasty". Its a nice switch from more traditional sparkling options and a nice libation for a warm summer evening.

The Morinaga Cocktail
1 oz G Sake
1 oz Barnard Griffin Rose of Sangiovese simple syrup
2 dashes Fee Bros Peach Bitters
Gekkeikan Sparkling Sake to fill

Build in a champagne flute (note that I said flute not coupe on this one), and top with sparkling sake. No garnish needed.

Drink Du Jour- Nuevo Chi Chi

Yeah, yeah, I know, a Chi Chi is a vodka Pina Colada, but I hate that drink and wanted to rethink how its made. Recently, and in spite of my usual predelictions, I've been playing with vodka a lot recently. In fact, I rather like 42 Below vodka, and I've just received some interesting samples of Three Olives vodka's newest flavors (root beer, tomato, and triple espresso). I've also recently discovered coconut water, which in addition to being tasty, is incredibly healthy as well. So here is my loose interpretation of what the Chi Chi should be.

Nuevo Chi Chi

2 oz 42 Below Vodka
4 oz One Coconut Water
3 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters


Build over ice in a double rocks glass, stir to incorporate and enjoy.