Put Me on Your Calendar!

I'm the type of girl... who loves to have something on the calendar to look forward to, something fun on the horizon. I've got two things coming up that are going to be great fun, and I'd love you to join me.

Now, you know how it is: you hear something tragic, you think, "Somebody should..." and then you get on about the business of being you and before you know it, the tragedy is out of your consciousness and you are dealing with your own problems. Or, you hear about somebody doing something about that tragedy and it inspires you to get involved.  That's just how it happened.

Clean water AND an ice ball

The "somebody" is Doc Hendley and the "something" is Wine to Water. According to CNN, countless families worldwide, and me, he's a Hero. CNN named him a Hero of the Year, about six years after he started working on the problem of water-borne illness. Back in 2003, his consciousness was awakened to the problem and by August of the following year, he was living in Darfur, Sudan, helping the locals get clean water.

Seriously? Darfur? I wouldn't even want to visit. To demonstrate my amazing power over understatement, I will say that it is dangerous. How dangerous? His team was there for a year and two of them got killed. Instead of abandoning the project, he continues to this day, to travel to underdeveloped, war-ravaged countries. 

Why? You're probably better off asking me than him. He could tell you things that would break your heart. I can tell you that every 20 seconds, a child dies from water-borne disease. There are 7 billion people living on Earth, and 1 billion of us lack access to clean water. His 501(c)(3) charity, Wine to Water, currently has projects in Haiti, India, Peru, Cambodia, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, South Africa and Sudan. There are lots of ways to get involved, and no amount of money is too small to give. 

But if you know me at all, you know I've got something in mind. Next Monday, April 8, I'll be working at the Delafield Brewhaus. I'll be mixing drinks and tapping beer and running food just like always, but here's what's different: I'll be giving all my tips to Doc Hendley's Wine to Water. Every dollar. We're going to save lives together. If even one less family watches their little one die, we will have done something great. Please come out; I'll do my best to show you a good time!

I'm reading it right now...

The other fun thing on my calendar is a book signing at another job, the Great Lakes Distillery. I am not normally so stoked about a book signing, but this particular book is so interesting; I can't turn a page without learning something strange and new and wonderful that opens my mind to the miracles of life all around us. The book is called The Drunken Botanist, and its subject matter is the flora that go into beverage alcohol. I have so far learned which organism was the first to be domesticated by humans, the gift we gave France that ended up wiping out its wine industry (and the resultant impact that decimation had on brandy and absinthe), where Belgian lambic brewers think the best yeast comes from and I could go on and on and on. The author, Amy Stewart, will be at the Distillery on April 10th. The rest of the tour's schedule is here, in case you won't be in Milwaukee on the 10th. If you're anywhere near as geeky as me, you will not be disappointed. 

I love to see you in person, so put me on your calendar and we can change the world or learn new stuff (or both!); you choose. See you soon!

More on the Future, Behind the Bar

Last week, we talked about the future of cocktails, and this week we will continue this topic. For last week's column, I consulted reports by experts in our industry to see what they think is coming down the line. You've been reading Fun Behind Bars, and you're read me say it so much you can probably say it with me: The Bar Follows the Kitchen. You know this means that the trends in food show up in the bar.  It follows that if we study what's next for food, we can predict our own future. So this week I'm reporting on trends for the kitchen, because you know that we'll be seeing them soon.  I'll be borrowing a few predictions, based on an article about the future of food from the 25th anniversary edition on Cooking Light magazine.

 Welcome to the Golden Age of American Food, they say, and the article describes things that are already happening in your mouth, and if they aren't -- they will soon!. Okay, excessively salacious, but they are happening on farms and in retailers... aaaaaand in your mouth. According to their research, popular opinion and science-in-general, the American diet is an abomination of chemicals, pretty produce that lacks nutrition, and high frustose corn syrup.  What's to come, however, is fresher, better-raised and more delicious. What does that mean for the bar? We will choose our ingredients more thoughtfully, and so will our suppliers. Here are some organic spirits to try, plus an organic tonic.. 

One trend we're watching, and supporting, is going lighter.  This means lighter with calories and easier on the alcohol - sometimes this means we drink better, not more. Sometimes this means we drink lighter-proof beverages like Bethenny Frankel's Skinnygirl line of beverage alcohol. Sometimes we keep the APV, but use lower-calorie mixers like zero-calorie water-additive powders like Crystal Light to fake a margarita on the deck while the kids play and the men barbecue.

The author of the Cooking Light piece describes a surreal experience in the grocery, stunned by the variety and the seemingly-incomprehensible claims on the packaging.  Sound familiar?  To paraphrase a famous quotation, if you're not baffled, you're not paying attention.  There are probably even more crazy flavors of vodka in a decent-sized liquor store than there are sugary cereals on Aisle 6.  It's not just wine's terroir anymore - it's the terroir of the hops, yeast and water. It;'s not just filtered, it's filtered through diamonds.  It's important for the marketers to have a message that hasn't been played to death by other companies, so every new product comes with a novel narrative.  One that plays the best, these days, is that everything comes from right where we are.   Cooking Light's food-trend article really focuses on the importance of eating local.  I've talked about this before, in relation to drinking local, and even staged a cocktail contest to highlight the many products Wisconsin's entrepreneurs are making for us, so what we're going to see is really just a continuation of our present trajectory.  Wisconsin is known as a beer-producer, but Great Lakes Distillery changed the game and now leads the way for brands like Rokker, 44th Parallel, Pie Liqueurs and more.  We're even in the wine game, and not just in Door County; Pieper Porch Winery in Mukwonago is producing award-winning wines right in the heart of the state.

What did we learn?  We learned that there really is no shocking trend to brace for; what's next is an expansion of what we're already doing.  Find new ways to use what's local, and as always, enjoy beverage alcohol safely so you can enjoy it for years to come!

Welcome to the Future

I find inspiration everywhere, but one of my favorite places to look is the future. I seek out the opinions of people whose business it is to know what's next, and today's post is all about what's on deck for 2013.

(Disclaimer: in the American midwest, you will be unusually cutting-edge if you proceed. These predictions are made for the UK, which you know is a bit ahead of our location, though not necessarily ourselves.)



the aged picso punch from nightjar



Bacardi Brown Forman has a vested interest in being ahead of the curve, and their trendspotters see big, sexy garnish, like the one to the left. Garnish can account for 25% of a cocktail's cost, but generally operators do not include this cost in the price of the drink. Consequently, swanky hotel bars are leading the charge on this particular trend, but there are more cost-effective ways to make a big impact. The key is to invest in the proper tools, study technique and be creative. The video below shows what is possible for the creative professional.



Which brings us to another hot trend for 2013: Youtube. We are as likely to learn from a bartender in Japan as we are from our next-door neighbor.  Whether we are learning the history of the Old-Fashioned, how to make an ice ball or virtually any other cocktail-related knowledge - it's all there. If it isn't, make you own instructional video and join the revolution.  One world of caution, however - some sources are better than others, so use your judgment before employing the tactics you learn online.

There are two trends that apply specifically to the people behind the drinks, and each of them is a welcome change.  In recent years, bartenders have become more serious.  It is unavoidable that we should have gone through this phase, as we have all learned so much, so fast. Educating our guests in an endeavor we find so fascinating has been irresistible. However, in 2013, we're bringing the fun back. We are still cocktail professionals, and usually the most knowledgeable people in the bar, when it comes to our craft, but there is a time and place for education, and not every guest is a student.  So bring back your knowledge of sports, current events, jokes and whatever else entertains your guests because fun is back in season! 

The second trend for bar staff is the rise of the female bartender.  We are not new to the game - one of the oldest literary works known to humankind (Gilgamesh) features the Hero getting advice from one of us. For some inexplicable reason, however, for far too long the men have gotten the ink and the limelight, similar to the way the great chefs were expected to be male for decades.  The times, they are a-changin', and women are taking our spots, front and center. If you don't know who Julie Reiner and Audrey Saunders are, you're on notice: your education is incomplete.

Lost in Catering provides the most comprehensive list of trends I think we'll see in Wisconsin, especially as Summer 2013 approaches. Hallelujah for the skinny cocktail, and I don't mean vodka and Diet Coke. I mean interesting cocktails with less sugar but all the flavor.  At some point we choose between liquor and dessert, and by the time we get to that crossroads, we've had plenty of dessert. An easy way to "skinny" a cocktail and improve its flavor all at once is to use fresh-pressed fruit instead of premade mixes. I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners, preferring to use agave and honey syrups to sweeten drinks when necessary.  Also, I'm personally trending away from sweetness, and more likely to enjoy a tart or bitter profile.

Another of their trends is the use of tea in cocktails, as well as the texture of fizziness.  Here's a recipe that combines these elements, and can be served year-round as it does not rely on fresh mint:

Bourbon Mo-TEA-to

1 oz. Maker's Mark bourbon

1 oz strong Mint Tea syrup

Ginger Beer

To make mint tea syrup, steep 3 teabags in 10 oz. hot water

until strong.  Sweeten with 4 tbls honey.

Combine bourbon and syrup and shake gently, pour over fresh ice in a tub glass and top with Ginger Beer.

Wisconsin is not known for being cutting-edge, but our reputation as a leader in cocktail culture is well-earned and growing. The last trend I'll mention today is artisan spirit.  Made by aficionados, not multinational corporations, these relatively small-batch offerings provide an interesting alternative for cocktails and help support the local economy. In Wisconsin, we are lucky to have companies to Great Lakes Distillery, Travis Hasse's Pie Liqueurs, Death's Door Spirits and a host of others giving us options, and putting us at the forefront of a trend worth following.