Frosty words on mint juleps

There are a few things you should know about mint juleps.

First off, your mint julep should not be the size of a supertanker or a thirsty-two ouncer. It should be the size of a julep cup (10 oz., 12 max.). The idea is something that will not heat up too much. Like so many drinks, it must stay cold while you're drinking it. That's the top consideration.

It should not be unduly sweet unless you are a southerner. If you're a southerner, feel free to make it as sweet as you like, and even use Southern Comfort, as they do at the Derby (though I'm obliged to say that though the Derby is storied, the julep has been around for even longer---if anything, and the Derby only adopted the julep as a preferred drink in 1938). But if you are from anywhere north of Mason County Pennsylvania, you'd better watch the sugar.

The silver cup is an affectation if it doesn't have a rim at the bottom. There's a rim at the bottom so you don't warm the cup with your hand. A rimless julep cup is an affectation.

Here's the best recipe anywhere---again from Doc's CocktailDB

Build
4 mint sprigs (2 oz)
1 tsp sugar dissolved in water & muddled with mint

Fill with shaved ice
Stir until frosted

Add mint sprigs and/or orange slice, pineapple spear, cherry
2 oz bourbon
(Substitute brandy, gin, rye, applejack, etc)
Serve in a julep cup (10.0 oz)

Ah, 2 oz. bourbon in a mint julep. Yes. That's so you bet the right horse.

If you'd like more info and some good links on the mint julep, check Colleen, she's sort of the mint julep clearing house. The largely historical article at wikipedia is of considerable interest.

And what bourbon whiskey?

For me, dear old Jim Beam works best. For you?

Ramos Gin Fizz

When considering recipes for any drink, the question to ask is, "What are the issues?" The issues with a Ramos Gin Fizz are many, starting with what to call it.

The Ramos Gin Fizz was originally called a New Orleans Fizz; it pops up early on as such. The drink also became known as a Ramos Gin Fizz later on, in deference to its inventor. There's no question that Henry Ramos worked at Meyer's restaurant in New Orleans, and there's no question, unlike with many other eponymous drinks, who the real inventor of this one was.
Jerry Thomas's 1887 guide, which mentions six gin fizzes, is of little help. There is in it a gin fiz recipe, but ironically, the 1887 edition of the guide precedes the invention of the New Orleans Fizz by a year, and three years after the death of Thomas.

Among noted present-day mixologists, you can't find Ramos Gin Fizz in Ted Haigh's Cocktail database; Ted is the ultra-traditionalist, and the drink goes by the earlier name there. But note Chuck Taggart has no problem labelling the drink the Ramos Gin Fizz. And their recipes are different too---slightly, but in critical ways.

Ted wants you to double up on the lemon juice; Chuck wants the lemon and lime to be present in equal measure. Ted calls a half-ounce of cream optional; Chuck calls out two ounces of it. Chuck wants you to shake the drink for over a minute; Ted doesn't specify.

There's also an option often found in bars to use powdered egg instead of egg white. But what makes a fizz a fizz is not an egg white; what makes for a fizz is sugar and lemon juice.

Overall, de gustibus non disputandum est. I like the Ramos without cream, and I wouldn't think of mixing it without egg white, and I too would double up on the lemon juice. In short, I'd follow Ted's New Orleans Fizz recipe to the letter, without the cream. But Chuck's recipe is certainly just as valid as Ted's, and tilted toward a mid-century modern moment, when cream found more favor in drinks than it does today.

Honestini

Explaining a lot is this NYT travel article on New York (read: Manhattan) bars that "put the right prefix on the -tini."

Picture your basic barely thirtysomething Madison Avenue account rep for some beverage giant. They go out to a bar after work and ...

"Here, they take your cellphone number and call you when they’re ready."

No, they don't have that kind of a place much in Madison or Baton Rouge. But they make all kinds of silly demands on customers in NYC, and the account rep thinks, "Wow, in this cocktail crazy land, I can say anything and it will work..."

No, you can't. But they do anyway, over and over and over. And there are hundreds of obliging media and bloggers ready to defend the cuketini for a free bottle, or ready to denounce it to demonstrate their integrity.

The truth is that there has never been a better time for new drinks than now; but there has also never been a worse time for new drinks than now. Our only suggestion is not to insist on either Old Skool or flavortini approach, but to try, try, try, and give honest evaluations. Unlike those folk in New York City, you do have to sleep at night, ultimately.

For Old School bars in NYC that put you through hell anyway, click the link and scroll to the bottom.

Absolut Error

Not often you find an ad agency that deals with a super brand like Absolut stupid enough to make an error like this one:

Absolut Vodka pulls ad showing California in Mexico (Reuters)

The gringo-insensitive ad was devised by a fairly unrepentant Mexico City firm. The boner comes on the heels of Pernod Ricard purchasing Absolut after a couple of flaccid years with Stolichnaya. Absolut's ultimate-legs ad campaign, now nearing the twenty-year mark, is legendary in advertising circles.

Just last week, we expressed concern about the new relationship with Pernod Ricard and the impact on advertising.

The Amaretto Sour

Those are today's moonshadow roses at dusk. I'd love to show you my Amaretto Sour. But it disappeared before I could find my cellphone.

It wasn't a particularly good day; no, you couldn't say that by even a Willie McCovey stretch. And the afternoon, and the early evening unfolded no better.

But madamina was baking chocolate cakes with Amaretto, and Amaretto Sour came to mind.

"Can I use this for a Sour?" I asked her, holding the bottle up.

"Two dollars a pour," she said. After I set the bottle down, she added, "It's cheaper than at a bar, that's for sure."

But after dinner she yielded, and I fingered the lemons. Amaretto is sweet, enough so that the sourest lemon in the bunch would have sufficed. But I wanted dessert, so I opted for a Meyer, which runs sweeter than the others.

The ratio is two parts Amaretto to one part lemon juice. Over rocks in a sour glass or even a tumbler. Don't start with a full bottle, because these are exceptionally smooth, and you may not stop.

For ideas on how to garnish appropriately, consult the Doctor's Cocktaildb.

It's a perfect drink for April.

Too much debt at Pernod Ricard?

Diageo was assembled as a super-giant in the 1990's; Pernod Ricard is assembling itself as such in the zeroes. The timing has left the company with more debt than Diageo, which markets niche products and superpremiums better. But what else does today's Pernod acquisition of Swedish Absolut mean for the spirits biz in the US?

The most intriguing element of the acquisition is that Pernod Ricard will have to divest itself of Stolichnaya in order to complete the purchase. The key to Absolut's success in the American market has been its relationship to Saatchi & Saatchi---the agency's historic Absolut campaign is nothing short of the reason Pernod Ricard is obliged to sell off Stolichnaya, which has never been able to gain peer status with Absolut in this country.

Stolichnaya's ad campaigns have fumbled many times, most recently by Pernod Ricard itself in last years ad campaign with Paris-based Marcel Republique. Pernod Ricard has only controled American advertising of Stolichnaya for the past two years, however.

The Absolut relationship with Saatchi may continue under Pernod Ricard; if so, good news for Pernod. But it is more likely that it will not, and if not, there will be more questions for the brand. Most ad agencies don't watch things like Moody's financial ratings, but at this level they do. Pernod's debt load may cause some concern with the new prospective clients.

Little Joy, Yelped

JM, Very little joy, 3.24.07

I don't know where you go for your bartrending info, but the stuff on Yelp about Little Joy (Sunset & Portia, Echo Park) is divinely inspired.