Best Hands-on Experiments Take Top Prize At This Tales Tasting Room
It sure is nice to sit down in a Tales of the Cocktail seminar and sip a beautifully prepared cocktail as you listen to words of wisdom coming from the front of the room. But, as is sure to happen with all this bartending talent in one place, the urge is bound to strike you…you must mix.
Despite being far from your home bar it’s easy to feel like you’re behind the stick again – just head over to the official hum™ Lab in the Hotel Monteleone’s Hunt Room on Wednesday, July 21st from 4:30-6:00 PM.
Join Adam Seger and Joe McCanta as they introduce you to a hands-on journey through mind-bending drinking creations in a lab where there are no rules and your imagination serves as your guide. Each station is set up with hum™ Botanical Spirit (www.humspirits.com), Preiss Imports specialty liqueurs (www.preissimports.com), The Perfect Purée’s Culinary Traditions™ and Beverage Artistry™ lines (www.perfectpuree.com), and an assortment of fresh fruits, juices, herbs and spices.
The winning ‘experiment’ from each station will receive a prize.
Posted in: Friends & Family
July 12th, 2010
A Justifiable Taste Experiment
By Darren Atkins
If you found yourself sitting in a room at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic facing a large still-like contraption, a famous chef/avant garde scientist and a sophisticated English gin specialist, then all signs point to you being in attendance at Distillation for Flavor-Past, Present and Future.
Distillation for Flavor-Past, Present and Future was presented by the tag team of Oxley Gin Global Ambassador Merlin Griffith and the French Culinary Institute’s Dave Arnold who is known for being a culinarily focused experimental genius and mad scientist of sorts. These two took their audience through a history of distillation and various distillation methods followed by a demo by Arnold who illustrated for the crowd, just what he and Griffith had been talking about. Of course no demonstration at a cocktail conference is complete without a tasting and Arnold didn’t disappoint as he distilled raw materials chocolate and jalapeno into flavorful distillates for the audience to taste.
It was obvious what the attendees were tasting because Arnold had distilled right up at the front of the room, but with words thrown around like “rotary evaporation” and “cold low pressure distillation”, most people may have been confused. But rest assured, just like the distillates Arnold produced, it all came out clear.
Arnold and Oxley explained that the way to understand alcohol’s relationship and progress with flavor is to become familiar with two main tools used in beverage laboratories; the gas chromatograph and sensory analysis. The gas chromatograph analyzes a liquid and separates the compounds through vaporization. Sensory analysis is the scientific method used for growth, analyzing and intercepting those responses received from the senses. Griffith explains why this is essential, “Your sense of smell and taste are very primal, and from an evolutionary stand point these would have told you if something was safe to eat or drink, you actually remember every single flavor or aroma that you come across, and you can train your senses by tasting lots.”
Arnold was ready to have his audience taste quite a number of things and he turned to his rotary evaporator, which is a device used in chemical laboratories for the efficient and gentle removal of solvents by samples by evaporation. Arnold comments, “Alcohol is a fantastic medium for carrying flavor and Read the full article here »
Tags: Dave Arnold, distilling, French Culinary Institute, Merlin Griffith, Oxley Gin, rotary evaporator
Posted in: Friends & Family
June 7th, 2010
The first world-class, socially conscious celebration of Latin gastronomy and culture. The best Latin chefs, renowned mixologists and tastemasters come together to share the diverse foods, cocktails, wines and coffees from Latin America.
Posted in: Friends & Family
May 23rd, 2010
The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley
The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley is the leading U.S. producer of premium fruit and vegetable purees. Since 1988, The Perfect Purée, through its Culinary Traditions™ line, has introduced more than thirty exceptional flavors, ranging from the staple raspberry, strawberry and banana to the exotic lychee, passion fruit and pink guava. The fruits are harvested at the peak of season, pureed and packed frozen to maintain the ultimate in fresh flavor and color.
The Perfect Purée sells primarily to high-end restaurants, bars, hotels and cruise lines. In 2008, The Perfect Purée launched eight flavors into specialty retail markets. In April 2009, the company launched Beverage Artistry™, a line of premium, ready to use beverage bases specifically formulated for beverage use. The high impact flavor profiles can be used with spirits, wine, Champagne or as a base for non-alcoholic offerings.
For more information visit: www.perfectpuree.com
Tags: Perfect Puree, The Perfect Puree
Posted in: Friends & Family
March 27th, 2010
The Cocktail Guru is a full service beverage consulting company. If you’re a bar or restaurant, we’ll design your beverage program from the ground up. If you’re a liquor brand, we’ll organize events, develop signature cocktails, and train your brand reps and bartenders. We have a network of bartenders across the country and travel to the location you desire.
Services offered include:
- Signature recipe development
- Beverage program development
- Signature wedding cocktails
- Bar staffing
- Mixology classes
- Brand launches and events
- Trade shows
- Bartender lunches, dinners, happy hours, and jam sessions
- And more!
www.thecocktailguru.com
Posted in: Friends & Family
February 8th, 2010
PipeLine Brands is a street based, grass roots, brand building organization that works intimately with top bartenders, managers and off premise store buyers to organically grow emerging artisanal brands. Led by principals Jim Pickett, John Badalati and John Henry, the team works round the clock to forge the organic relationships which make for the solid brands of the future.
Through deliverables like cocktail list development, staff seminars, shelf placements, community/industry events, window displays, catalogs, floor stackings and enlightened in store tastings, PipeLine works diligently to provide the solid, long term foundation for your brand. Let it flow.
www.pipelinebrands.com
Posted in: Friends & Family
February 7th, 2010
Bayer Public Relations is a full-service public relations, consulting and marketing agency specializing in culinary, hospitality, lifestyle and entertainment. We are a company built on dedication, integrity and positive thinking, combined with a genuine passion for what we do. We have invaluable experience in the fields that we represent, and we excel at creating compelling, results-oriented campaigns for our clients based on their specific goals. Based in the heart of Manhattan, we are located in the media capital of the world. We have built strong personal and professional relationships with industry leaders and top media contacts, and we continue to foster new relations and network within our community. We believe in the power of public relations, and our ability to effectively communicate our clients’ message and generate news.
B SEEN. B HEARD. B KNOWN.
www.bayerpublicrelations.com
Posted in: Friends & Family
January 31st, 2010
Drink PR is a boutique PR firm based in San Francisco. Specializing in public relations and events for all beverages–beer, wine and spirits, their current portfolio includes: Bols Genever, Martin Miller’s Gin, Leblon Cachaca, Dulce Vida tequila, mixologist Tony Abou Ganim, mixologist H. Joseph Ehrmann of Elixir, San Francisco Cocktail Week, chef Jasper White, San Francisco and New York Whiskyfest, The Bitter Truth, Uber Bar Tools, Barba Roja beer and Bagrationi sparkling wine.
Contact via phone 617 233 8024 or debbie@drinkpr.com
www.drinkpr.com
Posted in: Friends & Family
January 30th, 2010
