odds and ends

Ardent Spirits iPhone/iPod-Touch App

gary regan — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:27:00 GMT

PRESENT

Flip N Drink

Click the App Store link above to get this baby right NOW!

That's right, guys! The Ardent Spirits Team have joined forces with some very very cool software guys, and now we have our very own iPhone/iPod-Touch App. How very 21st-century of us, huh?

Click here for a Demo on You-Tube

Now Listen Carefully:

This App is a Top-Notch, Fabulous, Better-than-you-ever-thought-possible, Cocktailian's Dream.

It's Unlike Anything Else Out There. Promise.

Wanna Hear What some of the Heavy Hitters are Saying?

Click Here

Here's an example of just one of the 100s of real fab cocktails on our app

Recipe

Adapted from a recipe by Dale DeGroff, author of The Essential Cocktail, New York.

15 ml (.5 oz) gin

30 ml (1 oz) maraschino liqueur

30 ml (1 oz) fresh orange juice

7.5 ml (.25 oz) fresh lemon juice

Champagne

1 orange peel spiral, for garnish

Shake the gin, liqueur, and juices over ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with the champagne and add the garnish.

Cocktailian Conversation*

Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming, 1953, features double agent Vesper Lynd, the woman for whom the Vesper cocktail is named. Bond describes the drink thusly: "Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel."

If You Like This Drink, You Might Enjoy: Aviation, Aviator, Beachcomber Cocktail, Classic Cocktail, El Floridita 1930, Hemingway Daiquiri, Martinez, Mary Pickford Cocktail, French 75

Every Drink has Every One of the Features Above

Flip N Click here for More Details

*That's right--each cocktail comes with it's very own bit of completely useless information that you can use to start conversations with that cool looking dude/dame with the tantric tat down the end of the bar . . .

P. S.

All the Classics are on this App

PLUS cocktails from these 21st-Century Master Cocktailian Bartenders

(Thanks Guys! Much Appreciated.)

Audrey Saunders, New York.

Bob Brunner, The Paragon Restaurant and Bar, Portland, Oregon

Bradley Plymale, Ana Mandara, San Francisco

Bryna O’Shea, San Francisco.

Charlotte Voisey, Mixologist, Hendrick's Gin.

Chef Kathy Casey, Kathy Casey Food Studios, Seattle.

Chili Bill, Finnegan’s Wake, San Francisco

Christie Hartmann and Gage Tschyevkosky, Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, Denver.

Colin Peter Field, The Ritz, Paris.

“Cowboy” Dave Wright, The Windmill Lounge, Dallas, Texas.

"Curly" Haslam-Coates, Trio, Leeds, England.

Dale DeGroff, author of The Essential Cocktail, New York.

Daniel Eun, PDT, New York, 2008.

David Wondrich, author of Imbibe, New York

Del Pedro, Grange Hall/Pegu Club, New York.

Don Lee, PDT, New York, 2008

Duggan McDonnell, Cantina, San Francisco, circa 2008.

Ektoras Binikos, Aureole restaurant, New York.

Ethan Kelley, The Brandy Library, New York.

Frank Caiafa, Peacock Alley, Waldorf=Astoria & Handle Bars, New York.

Ginger DiLello, Philadelphia Fish and Company, Philadelphia.

Giuseppe Gonzalez, Clover Club, Brooklyn.

Jacques Bezuidenhout, San Francisco

Jacques Bezuindenhout, San Francisco.

Jamie Boudreau, Tini Bigs, Seattle.

Jay Crabb, Bijou Restaurant and Bar, Hayward, CA.

Jim Meehan, PDT, New York

John Simmons, Petaluna, New York.

Jon Santer, Bar Agricole, San Francisco.

Jonny Raglin and Raul Tamayo, Absinthe, San Francisco.

Julie Reiner, Clover Club, Brooklyn, and Flatiron Lounge, New York, 2006.

Junior Merino, theliquidchefinc.com, Rayuela, New York.

Kacy Fitch, owner/bartender, Zig Zag Café, Seattle.

Kieran Walsh, Solstice Lounge, San Francisco, 2006.

Lane Zellman, New Orleans.

LeNell Smothers, Brooklyn.

Marcovaldo Dionysos, Michael Mina Clock Bar, San Francisco.

Michael Waterhouse, Dylan Prime, New York

Murray Stenson, Zig-Zag Café, Seattle

Neyah White, Nopa, San Francisco, 2008.

Nicholas Edwards, The Lark, Brisbane, Australia.

Nick Hydos, Painter’s Tavern, Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY.

Patrick O'Sullivan, bartender, Seppi's, New York.

Pete Kendall, Milk and Honey, London.

Phillip Ward, Pegu Club, New York, 2005.

Robert Hess, Drinkboy.com, Seattle.

Ryan C. Maybee, Jp Wine Bar and Coffee House, Kansas City, Missouri.

Ryan Magarian, Portland, Oregon

Salvatore Calabrese, Salvatore@Fifty, London.

Sean Bigley, The Fontana Bar, Bellagio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas.

Simon Weston, Bamboo, London.

Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh, author of Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails.

Ted Kilgore,The Monarch, Maplewood, Missouri.

Thomas Waugh, San Francisco.

Tony Abou-Ganim, themodernmixologist.com, Bar Milano, New York

Victoria D'amato-Moran, Bottega Ristorante, Yountville, CA.

Xavier Herit, Daniel, New York.

Yvan D. Lemoine, iFoods, ifoodstudios.com, New York.

And We Just Keep on Adding More and More . . .

post a notice

gary regan — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:15:00 GMT

So You Wanna Post a Notice in the Ardent Spirits Newsletter, Huh?

Or is it the Worldwide Bartender Database that you Want To Reach Out To?

We accept suitable announcements that are 100 words or less.

Each announcement MUST include an email address or a web site url for our readers.

Announcements cannot be "designed," nor can they include graphics or logos.

Send your announcement as a text document, or as text pasted into the body of an email, to gary@ardentspirits.com

REMEMBER to let us know which publication you want it to appear in. (If you want it in both, just say so.)

Ardent Spirits newsletter reaches almost 8,000 ardent subscribers.

The Worldwide Bartender Bulletin reaches over 1,500 beverage professionals.

PRICING

write to gary@ardentspirits.com for details

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gary regan — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:34:00 GMT

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Review of Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6

gary regan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:44:00 GMT

NewYorkMetro.com

May 23, 2005

Better Bitters

In pre-Prohibition days, a cocktail, by definition, was not a cocktail if it didn’t contain bitters. Which is why mixologists who look back longingly to that golden age for inspiration are in a frenzy over Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6, cocktails historian Gary Regan’s brand-new elixir. Like adding vinegar to temper the sweetness and round out the flavor of certain dishes, adding bitters to cocktails provides balance and complexity. But unlike Peychaud’s and Angostura brands, orange bitters are hard to come by. So when Regan couldn’t ﬁnd any to his liking, he decided to cook up a batch of his own. It took six attempts and a trip to a witches’-supply store in Greenwich Village—presumably Kalustyan’s was a bust—before he got the recipe down. The tasty brew of orange zest, cardamom, cinchona, caraway, coriander, gentian, quassia, and a few other occult staples is fast becoming a hot commodity on the mix-ologist circuit, both here and abroad. (Regan has already fielded an urgent request from the Paris Ritz.) Look for it soon at your neighborhood Dean & DeLuca, or if you can’t wait to try it in Regan’s Bronx Cocktail recipe (left), order it online from buffalotrace.com/giftshop.asp.

Gary Regan’s Bronx Cocktail
2 ounces gin
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce dry vermouth
1 ounce fresh-squeezed orange juice
Orange bitters to taste
1 orange twist for garnish

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Add garnish.

Cocktails with Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6

gary regan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:41:00 GMT

Savoy Truffle

Created by Gary Regan, 2005.

1 1/2 ounces Hennessy Cognac

3/4 ounce Grand Marnier

3/4 ounce Black Mozart chocolate liqueur

3 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters No. 6

Fill a mixing glass two-thirds full of ice and add all of the ingredients. Stir for approximately 30 seconds, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Dry Gin Martini Circa 1900

1 1/2 ounces gin

1 1/2 ounces dry vermouth

3 dashes Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6

1 lemon twist, for garnish

Fill a mixing glass two-thirds full of ice and add all of the ingredients. Stir for approximately 30 seconds, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add the garnish.

NUEVO SOL

Adapted from a recipe by Marco Dionysos, bartender, San Francisco.

1 1/2 oz. BARSOL Quebranta Pisco

3/4 oz. John Taylor's Velvet Falernum

2 dashes Regan's Orange Bitters No. 6

3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice

3/4 oz. pineapple juice

1/2 egg white

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into 9 oz. cocktail glass

with cinnamon sugar rim.

Enter the Jasmin

Adapted from a recipe created at Cocktails in the Country, 2006, Painter’s, Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY.

1 1/2 ounces Belvedere Pomarańcza vodka

1 1/2 ounces Jasmin tea

3/4 ounce Noilly Prat dry vermouth

1/2 ounce simple syrup

3 dashes Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6

Shake and strain into a chilled champagne flute.

Tabby Cat

Created by Gary Regan, 2005

2 ounces Dubonnet Rouge

1 ounce Belvedere Pomarañcza vodka

2 dashes Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6

1 lemon twist, for garnish

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add the garnish.

The Knack

Adapted from a recipe created by Thomas Waugh, bartender at Harry Denton’s Starlight Room in San Francisco

1 3/4 ounces Hennessy cognac

1/2 ounce Benedictine

1/4 ounce Mandarine Napoleon

1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

1 dash Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6

Fill a cocktail shaker two-thirds full of ice and add all of the ingredients. Shake for approximately 15 seconds and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add a kumquat rose for garnish.

R. O. B. recipe

gary regan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:32:00 GMT

Regan's Orange Bitters

Adapted from guidelines set down in The Gentleman's Companion Volume II Exotic Drink Book by Charles H. Baker. Published by Crown Publishers.

Warning: These bitters have a very high alcohol content and should not be consumed undiluted. Their purpose is for use in small quantities in cocktails and mixed drinks.

8 ounces dried orange peel chopped very finely

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds (taken out of their pods)

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon quassia chips

1/2 teaspoon powdered cinchona bark

1/4 teaspoon gentian

2 cups grain alcohol

4 1/2 cups water, divided

1 cup granulated sugar

1. Place the peel, cardamom seeds, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, quassia, cinchona bark, gentian, grain alcohol and 1/2 cup water into a half-gallon mason jar, push the ingredients down so that they are covered by the alcohol and water. Seal the jar.

2. Shake the jar vigorously every day for fourteen days.

3. Strain the alcohol from the dry ingredients through a cheesecloth. Gather the ends of the cheesecloth to form a pouch and squeeze tightly to extract as much alcohol as possible. Place the dry ingredients into a strong bowl or mortar, reserve the alcohol in a clean mason jar and seal tightly.

4. Muddle the dry ingredients with a pestle or strong spoon until the seeds are broken.

5. Place the dry ingredients into a non-reactive saucepan and cover with 3 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over a medium-high heat, cover, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool, still covered (about 1 hour).

6. Place the dry ingredients and water into the original mason jar that contained the alcohol, seal and leave for seven days, shaking vigorously every day.

7. Strain the water from the dry ingredients through a cheesecloth. Discard the dry ingredients and add the water to the alcohol.

8. Put the sugar into a small, non-stick saucepan and place over a medium-high heat. Stir constantly until the sugar becomes liquid and turns dark brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool for two minutes.

9. Pour the sugar into the alcohol/water mixture. At this point the sugar may solidify, but will quickly dissolve.

10. Allow the mixture to stand for seven days. Skim off any sediment from the surface and carefully pour the clear liquid from any sediment resting on the bottom.

11. Measure the bitters, there should be about 12 fluid ounces, add 6 ounces (or ½ the amount of bitters that you have) water, shake thoroughly.

12. Place the bitters into a bitters bottle.