Recession Proof Mixology - Tonight!

Ryan Magarian and the other House Spirits fellows are joining Kelley Swenson at Ten 01 for the first in the Recession Proof Mixology series, tonight from 5-7pm. Cocktails will be inexpensive and, most important, bound to be amazing. It looks like this is going to be a regular Wednesday night thing for House Spirits (rotating to different Portland bars), so whether you are trying to stretch your unemployment check or need to forget about the job you still have, these nights will give a nice little shot of decadence to your week.

Here's tonight's menu:

The Old Fashioned Gin Cocktail
Locally renowned as the “Oregon Fashioned”, our exact recreation of the original cocktail as noted on May 13th, 1806 in the Balance and Repository Newspaper of Hudson, NY
Aviation Gin carefully balanced with a note of sweetness and healthy dashes of Regan’s No.6 Orange and Peychaud Bitters.


The Cloister Cocktail
First spotted in the 1977 cocktail recipe encyclopedia, the Jones Bar Guide, this drinks is a complex and refreshing balance of Aviation Gin, Yellow Chartreuse, freshly squeezed lemon and grapefruit juices.


Botticelli
Medoyeff Vodka and Aperol Italian Bitters make sweet music with house made clover honey syrup and freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Served up with a mere suggestion of prosecco and aromatized with a short burst of grapefruit oil.


Corleone
Hand pressed green grapes and fresh citrus bathe in an ocean of Aviation Gin and Clear Creek Distillery Grappa. Finished with a single magical dash of Regan’s No.6 Orange Bitters


The Trident Cocktail
Our good friend Robert Hess’ most notable contribution to the liquid arts.
Krogstad Aquavit carefully balanced with lengths Dry Sherry, Cynar, and Fee Brothers Peach Bitters

Local Liquor: Always Appreciated

If you need to buy someone a present, nothing is more widely appreciated than a bottle of booze. And if you are going to give booze, get it from the source: House Spirits, one of my favorite local producers.

House Spirits makes Aviation gin as well as a handful of other small-batch artisan spirits. They just released a subtle and complex ouzo as part of their new Apothecary line, with other delights to follow, including a rum. If the unfinished rum I tasted at their workshop recently is any indication, this is going to be a really delicious product. My New Year's resolution is to drink more daiquiris. Anyway, here is the info:

The House Spirits Apothecary will be open this Saturday (tomorrow!), December 20th, from 11AM - 5PM for shopping and tasting, and every Saturday starting January 3rd, 2009:

HOUSE SPIRITS DISTILLERY & APOTHECARY
2025 SE 7th ave, Portland
Open from 11am-4pm
with tours at 12pm and 4pm
Tours limited to 20 ppl per tour
Please contact to hold a spot
tours@housespirits.com
503-235-3174

La Boucherie

The day after Thanksgiving André's mom took us to la Boucherie, Sea Breeze Farm's new restaurant on Vashon. It was all anybody talked about for the rest of the weekend. Simply prepared meats so fresh they were practically still breathing, seasonal produce, and amazing wine also produced by the farm were presented in a tasting menu that included everything from "lamb scallops" to the best sirloin I have eaten in my life. If you live in or travel to the Seattle area you've got to check this place out.

Le Beaujolais nouveau

So Friday night André and I attended the Beaujolais Nouveau celebration at the Heathman. It is apparently one of the biggest Beaujolais Nouveau parties in the country - who knew there were so many francophiles in Portland? I find it amusing that a culture with such supposedly high epicurean standards (France, not Portland) has produced an annual tradition based on a wine that nobody actually really likes. In any event, the Heathman party was pretty fun. We missed the suckling pig, but there was a bunch of really good cheese and crepes Suzette and macarons and a bunch of shrimps still with their eyes and whiskers. I love dressing up and hanging out in old-fashioned hotels for any reason, too. It makes me feel like Eloise at the Plaza, or a decadent, drunk old lady stepping on the hem of her evening gown.

Milking It

The folks at Skyy have been pairing their vodka with milk. Not in a White Russian but Milk the movie, about Harvey Milk, who served on the SF Board of Supervisors and was the first openly gay man to be elected to major public office in the US. (And SEAN PENN plays him in the movie! And Gus Van Sant directs!) Skyy is launching a marketing campaign to go along with the movie, sort of like they did with Sex & the City. (You may have seen the big, pink ads.) I am less interested in what's in a "Talk of the Castro" cocktail or how many opening parties Skyy is promoting than that this partnership is happening, period.

Cynics may just see it as an attempt to cash in, but while Skyy may be doing just that, along the way they are also raising awareness, helping to mainstream gayness, and even making a difference financially. As part of the campaign, Skyy is making contributions to LGBT organizations, including the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

Companies are beginning to do this kind of thing more and more. Another example is Kimpton hotels, who have an active marketing & sales campaign targeting LGBT communities. Even though it's probably just numbers more than anything else - the product of a savvy market analysis and outreach plan - it still kinda warms my heart.

Weekend Report

Friday night André and I hung out with our colleagues from the firm at 50 Plates. Highlights included an intriguing Algonquin, made from rye, dry vermouth and pineapple juice. They also have a great new drink called the Linda. Go in and ask Lance to make you one. Then run.

Saturday Autumn and I checked out the House Spirits open house, where Gwydion Stone's Absinthe Marteau debuted. Extraordinary. I also tasted the saffron vodka from Sub Rosa. It tasted kind of like curry - yummy, but I'm not sure what I would do with that. Any ideas?

Then that evening I made kasha varnishke for a friend's potluck. I am a West Coast, 21st century Jew. I go to work on the high holy days and I got my kasha varnishke recipe not from the matriarchs of my family but from Mark Bittman, aka The Minimalist, on nytimes.com. Well, that's how it goes. (Bittman, at least, is a fellow M.O.T.) It was still super good, and hopefully will keep my skinny goyish boyfriend from blowing away in the breeze.

Door 74 Opens

Philip Duff, who has long been the face of Bols and Damrak gin, is striking out on his own with Door 74, a grown up bar with a reverence for history. After years as a brand ambassador, Philip finally gets to do exactly what he wants, putting his own stamp on Amsterdam's wonderfully, shamelessly stylish and romantic bar culture with classic cocktails, new creations, and an old-school attitude.

This excerpt from the bookish bar menu gives a taste of what to expect:

We do not have:

bad attitudes, a lack of patience, a door charge, a toilet charge, a wardrobe charge, any drinks companies paying us to stock crap brands, any products designed to appeal to the kind of people who watch more than one reality-TV show, untrained bartenders, energy drinks, low prices, loud music, tea or coffee, the policy of jamming as many people into the space as humanely possible, any problem with a beer and a shot of booze, any time for Paris Hilton*, too-small rocks glasses, too-large cocktail glasses, brandy snifters, sweetened cranberry juice, much vodka at all, neon straws (unless it’s Tiki Night), disco cocktails, small measures, any outstanding warrants for our arrest**, any desire to make non-alcoholic cocktails, or a bar mascot (although we’d quite like to have a sloth).

We do have:

Friendly staff, fast bartenders, double-frozen Hoshizaki ice for shaking and stirring, enormous globes of ice for liquor on the rocks, glassware freezers left, right and center, gorgeous liquor brands you’ll rarely see anywhere else (because they don’t have the money to buy their space on the back bar), faith in humanity, belief in the small of a woman’s back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, years and years and years of experience, a deep and abiding love of good liquor, great cocktails and lasting friendships, enough bitters to make Harry Johnson giggle like a fool, a tailor, owners who work almost every shift themselves, a belief that good drinks matter and grown-up people enjoy them, decent late-night snacks, excellent wines and beers, seats for everyone, late opening hours, a day off occasionally, and a lot of time for you. Thanks for coming.

*Except for Mr. Duff.
**Except for Mr. Duff, again

The initial cocktail list is a liquid biography of Charles Henry Baker, Jr (author of the classic Jigger, Beaker & Glass: The Gentleman’s Companion) with a Violette fizz, Remember the Maine, and other delights.

Unfortunately for me, this bar is in Amsterdam, but I am adding it to the long and growing list of things I absolutely must do if and when I make it back to Europe again. (I wonder if Bols has found a new brand ambassador...)

Door 74 is now open. While it is made for ladies and gentlemen, scoundrels, says Philip, are welcome. That means you. Please click here for more info. And for more than you ever wanted to know about Amsterdam's cocktail culture, you can read my story in Imbibe Magazine.

Proost!