Category: Cocktails

Albany Chef’s Food & Wine Fest

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The Albany Chef’s Food & Wine Festival; Wine & Dine for the Arts, was held January 12-14. It’s an annual three day festival funding the support and preservation of the local not-for-profit arts community. The festival featured food from local restaurants, wines, spirits and New York State craft beers. I attended the Saturday afternoon Grand Tasting which also had a bloody mary completion and a seminar on terroir in Oregon.

Albany is the sixth largest city in the state of New York and the seat of the state government. It’s about a 3 hour drive due north of New York City.

The event was held in downtown Albany at the Albany Hilton hotel located at 40 Lodge Street.

 

Seminar

“It’s Willamette Dammit! The Dirt On Oregon” An interesting tasting with Jim Bernau, founder of Willamette Valley Vineyards. 2012 Pinot Noir from five different terroir sites.

Tualatin Hills: Dark red, dusty sour cherry on the nose, tart cherry fruit.

Chehalem Mountains: Dark brick in color, crushed black fruit on the nose, tight juicy red fruit with citrus fruit notes at the end.

Yamhill-Carlton: Dark red, sweet, red cherry fruit, moderate tannin and acid. Easy drinking.

Eola-Amity Hills: Dark red, closed nose of fresh herbs, mouth watering acid and fruit.

Salem Hills: Dark red, toast and minerals on the nose, tart, crushed rocks, tart red cherry on the fruit.

 

 

Better Together Gala

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Another holiday party for the season. On Sunday I attended the Better Together Gala benefitting the National Breast Cancer Foundation. It was an afternoon of wine, cocktails, fashion shows and general partying for a good cause.

The event was held at Pier A Harbor House, a recently renovated pier house literally located on the most southern tip of Manhattan island. If you walked out the door and stepped right you were on the East side of the island, step left and you were on the West side. It’s a huge, multi level bar/restaurant/event space over looking New York harbor that should get very busy when the weather warms up.

In between fashion shows I kept myself busy with Finger Lakes Riesling, Chardonnay and the occasional cocktail.

 

Wines

2015 Wagner Vineyards Riesling

2013 Fox Run Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay “Kaiser Vineyard”

 

Cocktails

Better Together Signature Drink: Vodka, fresh lime, triple sec, cranberry juice, simple syrup

Positively Pink: Old Scout, strawberry, sweet vermouth, lime

Breast In Show: Bourbon, Angostura bitters, orange bitters, simple syrup

Second Base: Tequila, fresh lemon, ginger, crème de cassis

Diane: Teeling whiskey, fresh lime, ginger

Think Pink: Vodka, ginger, lime

 

 

Holiday Spirits Bazaar

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It’s the time of the year for the Holiday parties. This past Saturday evening I attended the 7th annual Holiday Spirits Bazaar held at the Astor Center event space on 399 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.

It was a night of holiday cocktails, punches and nogs made with gin, tequila, rum, brandy, scotch, bourbon, aquavit and cordials such as Drambuie along with many types of botanicals. Generally, a nog is made with dairy (milk or cream), sugar and eggs while a punch with fruit or fruit juices and of course, alcohol. The event was set in two themed rooms, the Whiskey Tavern and the Sparking Spirits Parlor along with reindeer, wreaths and tinsel. It was very festive.

 

Punches, Nogs and cocktails I sampled:

 

Fitzgerald’s Roaring Twenties Punch

Sleigh Bell Punch

Apple Ginger Punch

Rum Raison Punch

Merry Mulled Punch

Arak My World

DeLord Of The Rings

La Loba’s Rompope

Northern Lights

The Big Apple Cider

Rosy Cheeks

Spiced Old Fashioned

A Crafted Egg Nog

 

 

Secret Summer Garden Party

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This past Sunday on August 14th, I attended the second annual Secret Summer garden party. Hosted by RAPT NY, Bespoke Solutions and Highlife Productions, it was a “farm to bar” cocktail festival serving cocktails made with premium liquors using responsibly sourced herbs and greens from Farm One hydroponic garden as well Swedish cider from Rekorderlig and Tiger beer.

Live music was provided by the tuba playing band of Lucky Chops, the Coyote and Crow duo and songs by Ida Blue. Additional live performances by wandering ballerinas and aerialists with some ping-pong tables thrown in.

The event was held at ivy-covered Foundry event space across the East River from Manhattan at 42-38 Ninth Street in the industrial waterfront area of Queens at the foot of the Queensborough bridge.

The New York area was in the grip of a heat wave that weekend and the outdoor patio was steaming at start time but fortunately the indoor tastings rooms were cool enough and temperatures moderated as the sun set. It was a fun Sunday of cocktails, people and entertainment.

 

The cocktails (You were supposed to eat the garnish)

The Beetnik

Finlandia Vodka, Market Beetroot, House Made Allspice Falernum, Fresh Lemon, Red Veined Sorrel.

Doc Hollywood

Butter Washed Old Forester Bourbon, Toasted Pecan Sarsaparilla, Micro Bubble Soda, Amaranth.

The Shoemaker

Gentleman Jack Whiskey, Chambord, Mountain Huckleberry & Ginger Syrup, Fresh Lemon, Assam Black Tea, Market Berries and Shiso.

Hart’s Desire

Herradura Silver tequila, Market cantaloupe, Vanilla Bean Agave, Fresh Meyer Lemon, House Made Yuzu Bitters, Provencal Foam, Hibiscus Aviators.

Churchhill Downs

Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Cinnamon Basil Steeped Honey, House Made Bergamont Bitters, Purple Ruffles & Peppermint

 

 

 

FIAF Bastille Day Fest

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This past Sunday on July 10th, the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) which is New York’s premier French cultural center, presented their annual Bastille Day festival. It was a three-block long party on East 60th from Fifth Avenue to Lexington Avenue in Manhattan celebrating the best of France in New York and the friendship between France and the United States. Bastille Day is France’s Independence Day

The block party featured food “à la française” from top rated French restaurants and bakeries, performances from cast members of the musical An American In Paris, can-can dancing and live music from the Hungry March Band and Myriam Phiro’s Accordion Trio.

And since no French party is complete without wine, there was a Champagne & Chocolate tasting featuring some of France’s most prestigious champagnes and fine European Chocolates, and a wine, beer, cocktails and cheese tasting with both events held at the FIAF building at 22 East 60th Street. There was also a VIP party hosted at Amali restaurant on 115 East 60th street which featured wines from the south of France.

 

At the wine, beer and cheese tasting I sampled a trio of rosé:

2013 Gérard Bertrand “Thomas Jefferson Brut” Cremant de Limoux. Salmon in color, big bubbles, closed nose of cotton candy, crisp citrus at the finish.

2015 Gérard Bertrand “Gris Blanc”. Copper color with strawberry notes on the nose.

2015 Espitalet des Anges “Villa des Anges” Mostly Cinsault, salmon in color, closed nose, tight with bitter cherry notes on the finish.

Champagne & Chocolate Tasting:

NV Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé. Light pink in color with an earthy nose.

NV Brimoncourt Blanc de Blanc. Lime notes, bread dough on the nose with the bread dough notes on the fruit.  

NV Piper-Heidsieck Brut. Bread dough on the nose, crisp and tart.

NV G.H. Mumm’s Brut. Bread dough and earth on the nose with lime and earth notes on the finish.

At the VIP party:

2015 La Grezette “Le Rosé de Julie”

2015 RS “Rosé Seduction”

2015 Chateau Lamartine Cahors

2010 Chateau Bouscasse

2015 Domaine de Pellhaut

2013 Chateau de Jonquieres

2013 Domaine du Moulin

 

 

Speed Rack

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This past Sunday evening I attended the Speed Rack season 5 National finals. Speed Rack is an organization that promotes women bartenders, this event is a multi city contest to find the nations fastest women bartender and crown her Ms Speed Rack 2016.

The competition featured eight wild card contestants who participated in timed heats of rounds of cocktails to be judged by cocktail celebrities.

The event that evening also raised money for breast cancer research, so pink was the color of choice throughout the venue including the speed rack logos on the t-shirts, which some might say was a double entendre.

The event was held at the over 100 year old nightclub, concert venue and event space, Webster Hall located at 125 East 11th Street in the East Village, Manhattan. To accompany the competition, two levels of the club were filled with spirit companies serving their products and assorted cocktails.

I stopped by the Luxardo table whose claim to fame is a two century old liquor made from Maraschino cherries, and tried some of their other products which included Aperitivo, an herb and citrus based liquor, and the Fernet Amaro, another dark, intense herb based liquor.

 

Some of the cocktails I sampled:

 

St-Germain Cocktail: Processco, St-Germain, club soda.

Lady Reign: Bacardi Maestro, Bacardi 8, apricot brandy, pineapple juice, lime juice, angostura bitters.

Four Roses Cooler: Four Roses bourbon, honey syrup, lemon juice, grapefruit juice, angostura bitters.

Welcome Home: Beefeater gin, apple juice, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, yellow Chartreuse, velvet Falernum.

English Channel Collins: Plymouth gin, Lillet rouge, fresh lemon juice.

Paradise City: Absolute vodka, spiced Aperol, fresh lemon juice, soda.

Moscow Mule: Absolute vodka, ginger beer, fresh lemon juice.

Exonoration: Singani 63, perfect purée prickly pear, ginger syrup, lime juice, Perrier.

The Grand Life Punch: Kappa pisco, Grand Marnier raspberry peach, lemon juice, bubbles, berries.

Double Dr Punch: Highwest double rye, pomegranate juice, date syrup, lemon juice, orange flower water, mint.

Do Lally Ditty: Jameson Black Barrel, honey, sauvignon blanc, apple juice, fresh lime juice, mango green tea.

 

 

Boco Resort Cocktail Party

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This past Sunday afternoon, the Bowery Collective which holds cocktail themed events during the year, held their first annual Boco Resort cocktail festival featuring over 50 types of Summertime cocktails. In preparation for Summer drinking they wanted us “to rethink the margarita and show how brown spirits can work in the sun” using brown spirits in cocktails that traditionally use white spirits such as rum, tequila and vodka. Works for me. The event which was held at the ever trendy Bowery Hotel on 335 Bowery in Manhattan and was held on the second floor terrace event space. I’ve been to many cocktail and wine events at this space and with an outdoor terrace and a hunting lodge motif, makes for a fun event space

There were many booths featuring brown as well as white spirits with mixologists creating various incarnations of Summer cocktails including fruity drinks with umbrellas!. Out in the terrace there was a guy with a buzz saw slicing (empty) rum bottles. It seems that Monkey Rum designs its bottles so that they can be reused as a drinking glass.

After a glass of Fernet Branca to start the day, I sampled many cocktails and whiskeys. With a reggae band playing in the background, followed by a DJ spinning tunes, a good time was had by all.

 

 

 

The Bloody Mary Festival

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This past Sunday I attended The Bloody Mary Festival,  a multi-city event that was advertised as “a celebration of our beloved brunch cocktail and the largest event of its kind”.

It was an afternoon of sampling Bloody Marys  prepared by local bars and restaurants along with food trucks and a DJ.

This year the event was held at the Grand Prospect Hall at 263 Prospect Avenue in Park Slope Brooklyn. It’s a 100+ year old oak paneled beer hall event space that someone described as “Disney-does-Hapsburg”.

This time around the vodka sponsor was Bleu Storm vodka, an ultra premium French vodka made from whole wheat.

A few of the Bloodys and the restaurants/bars that serve them:

 

Bloody Mary Liberation Party The Prospect Park

Lucky Luna (Greenpoint) Kimchi and Nori Bloody Mary

Esme (Greenpoint) Esme Bloody Mary

Syndicated (Bushwick) Blood For Dracula

Travel Bar (Carrol Gardens) The Well Traveled

706 (Prospect Heights) The 706

Hunter’s (Cobble Hill) Hunter’s Saigon Mary

Skylark (Park Slope) The Skylark

Talde (Park Slope) Talde Bloody Mary

Catfish (Crown Heights) Creole Bloody Mary