Plantation Rum @ Trailer Happiness Rum Club

Trailer is a legendary bar for a host of reasons. Their fantastic tiki menu, bewildering rum range, and ability to create world famous bartenders being just three of them.
Furthermore, the infamous ‘rum club’, an event which sees innocent rum representatives (such as myself) succumbing to the allure of alcohol in the name of education.
On Monday, May 10th, I had the pleasure of hosting said club, displaying a selection of the Plantation Rum range.
A haul of enthusiastic amateurs and professionals alike accompanied me on a mini Caribbean tour, taking in samples of local rum from Nicaragua, Guyana and Barbados.

Starting with the Nicaragua, 1998 vintage, we were very much at the lighter end of the rum scale. Made entirely in column stills after a brief fermentation produces a delicate, almost ethereal body to this rum. The complex, rich palette truly evolves as you keep the spirit in your mouth, as well as paving the way for a delightful toffee after taste.
We’d started well, and the group were unanimous in their appreciation of the Nicaraguan. Next stop, Guyana.
The 1999 Guyanese is almost the opposite end of the spectrum . Pot stilled instead of column, long fermentation instead of short, this rum is full bodied and heavy with dark fruit and green banana flavours. Towards the end we find almost peaty, vegetal notes (which proved very familiar to the Whisky fans in the room).
It’s fair to say the Guyanese rum was more divisive than the Nicaraguan. Although most could appreciate the heavier style, around 2/3rd of the room preferred the lighter, Nicaraguan example when drinking neat.


Next on the way we found the middle ground: Barbados 2000. Wow! This time, we had a combination of pot and column still production, blended together and aged in Bourbon casks. Rich, full bodied, but remaining elegant and subtle, the vanillins from the Bourbon oak spoke clearly alongside the green, exotic fruity notes. I believe, though I’m open to correction, that this proved to be the most popular of the vintages sampled that night.

But I still had one more trick up my sleeve: The Barbados Grande Reserve. This 5 year (average) blended rum was a very pleasant surprise – not least due to costing almost half the price of the vintages. A soft, sweet rum, as happy neat as in a daiquiri or (my personal favourite), with lashings of ginger beer.

The real advantage of this rum for the professionals out there is that, due to being a blended rum, we can be certain of consistency of both quality and supply. With the vintages, as awesome as they are, when they’re gone, they’re gone – which makes for some interesting reading for the rum collectors out there. The Grande Reserve, however, will keep coming as long as we keep drinking it!
Overall, a great event, and a good time had by all. There’s even talk of a return visit with Los Valientes... Watch this space!

Cigars and Cognac

Another great event – can you believe I get paid to do this?!

On the 20th of April, 2010, a group of Cigar and Cognac aficionados gathered at 10 Manchester Street, a gem of a boutique hotel, to learn about, and enjoy, cognac and cigars.

The speakers for the day, Jimmy McGhee from  Hunters & Frankau cigars, and yours truly! For today I would be speaking about a cracking cognac, Pierre Ferrand’s Selection Des Anges.

This cognac is a blend of grand champagne eaux du vies, with an average age of some 30 years. Typically, for Pierre Ferrand, they do not feel the need to slap ‘XO’ all over the label. The delimitation itself only guaranteeing a minimum age of 6 years, it only really serves to impress rappers and fashionistas in New York. The connoisseurs, however, know better what to look for.

This 100% grand champagne cognac is a deep mahogany colour, with a nose of jasmine, honeysuckle and walnut. On the palette it is rich with candied fruit, ginger, honey, and nutmeg. Rancio flavours are abound, which made this cognac ideal for the cigar matching – the purpose of the evening.

I’m pleased to say my choice of cognac went down very well, and the assembled group seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. My thanks to 10 Manchester Street for the invitation to speak on the evening, and I’m pleased to accept their invitation to return.

Fame at last!

Did I mention I now have a monthly article? No? Well, I have - and very proud of it I am too!
From March 2010 I will be writing a monthly 800 word article for The University Catering Magazine.
If you're remotely interested, you can see my debut intoxicology insight here (it may download as a pdf).

700 Years of Armagnac

It’s been a while since my last blog, due, in part, to the number of fantastic events I’ve been lucky enough to attend of late.

Not least of which was the 700^th anniversary of Armagnac. Hosted in the luxurious surroundings of the Connaught Hotel, those of us able to evade the army of Mercedes and Bentleys whilst crossing the road were handsomely rewarded on arrival.

The event started with a short lecture from Ian Wisniewski, who never ceases to amaze me (and everyone else present) with his encyclopaedic knowledge of Armagnac (and, ostensibly, any other category he sees fit to discuss).

The inevitable comparisons with Cognac were drawn, but not in the ‘me too’ manner which you might expect. For today was Armagnac’s day to shine in its own right.

I will not be attempting to replicate the information given by Ian in this blog for two reasons:

1 – His fantastically entertaining and informative lecture was obviously the result of many weeks of dedicated research. For me to simply cut and paste it here would be highly dubious.

2 – I couldn’t write quickly enough. The man is a machine!

So, with Ian’s introduction well received, we were set loose on the tasting room.

With some 75 spirits on offer, the obvious threat of inebriation was a real and present danger. As your man in the field, however, I heroically put research before self-preservation and got stuck in,

For the sake of brevity, (and because my tasting notes veered towards the undecipherable), I shall provide you with just my top three highlights, in no particular order.

The Samalens Singles 12 year Grand Bas Armagnac was outstanding. Plenty of roasted, woody flavours brought prunes, fig and almonds to the palette, with a luxurious and light finish.

My biggest surprise of the day was courtesy of Janneau for their 12 year offering. Sweeter than I had anticipated, and delicate to boot. Dare I say, a more feminine take on the Armagnac style? Certainly, something more akin to the Fins Bois cognacs style than the single distillery Armagnac it is.

Moving up a notch in age took me to the Larressingle 21. Being a Tenereze Armagnc, I had expected a heavier, richer spirit. I had not expected, however, such luxurious richness. Certainly, it was a more full bodied spirit, but the power and balance of the developing rancio flavours left it perfectly proportioned. This Armagnac received a very rare 4.5/5 in my tasting booklet, and is something I will definitely be drinking again.

The Future of Tequila? El Tesoro @ Cafe Pacifico

What happens when you get a load of London bartenders together in a room, then fill it up with Tequila?

Well, probably not quite what you are expecting. This would be due, in part, to the bad reputation which still lingers (undeservedly) around the tequila category. And, to be fair, the reputation which continues to thrive regarding London's bartenders!

February 1st saw the launch of the El Tesoro Tequila competition, in which competitors can win themselves a trip to Mexico to visit the 'La Altena' distillery, home of not only El Tesoro, but also Ocho and Tapatio.

Gathering in Covent Garden's Cafe Pacifico were bartenders and managers from some of the most easily identifiable 'key' Tequila venues in the country: Crazy Homies, Green & Red, Navajo Joe's and, naturally, Cafe Pacifo itself, as well as a host of other influential cocktail bars.

The competition kicked off with a tutored tasting, hosted by Tomas Estes, the European Tequila Ambassador, followed by discussion of what the future holds for Tequila.

Having won the Imbibe Ice Awards taste competition by a Mexican mile, as well as being the proud winner of more awards than any other Tequila on the planet, I need not go into the details which came out of the tasting here (but will do so separately). 

Instead, the focus of this blog entry will be the ideas and comments of the group regarding the past decade of trends in the Tequila market, and where they see this leading in the coming decade.

Interestingly, Tom Estes pointed out that the UK (and London in particular) is really not a large market for Tequila, in global terms. It is, however, one of great kudos within the Tequilaros of Mexico, giving great status to those brands successful within the city. This apparent incongruity seems to stem from the high regard in which bartenders from our capitol are held worldwide. 

It is fair to say that, in this country at least, Tequila still suffers in the eye of the public from a relatively negative perception (see my previous article from a Tom Estes talk). Slowly but surely, this appears to be changing. 100% agave tequila is now the fastest growing spirit category in the country (although the agave itself isn't growing much quicker).

Evidence of this can be seen quite easily: there are now many venues dedicated to all things Mexican. And not just in a kitsch, 80's kind of way, either. The likes of El Camino, La Perla, Cafe Pacifico, Green and Red, Wahaca, and Cafe Sol are bringing serious quality to the market.

Furthermore, in Westbourne Park Road's Crazy Homies we now find a dedicated tequila bar! That's right, a venue which serves exclusively Tequila, and no other spirits. The public's increasing interest in the Tequila category can be seen here on a daily basis.The team were keen to point out that articles in mainstream publications such as the Guardian and Observer (oddly, willlowe.com seems to have passed them by...) are engaging the middle classes, bringing them through the doors actively seeking to know more about the spirit. And Homies are delivering, in a big way. They bought along for discussion a proof of their new, soon-to-be-launched menu / bible. In this mighty tome, we see a full four pages dedicated solely to Tequila; a full menu including tasting notes for each tequila on their shelf. It is very hard to imagine this happening ten years ago.

And it's not just happening in London. Leeds has a strong following emerging, with the likes of Azucar and Neon Cactus. Further afield, Glen Morgan (of Soho's Lab), recently back from Tokyo commented on the aptly named 'Agave' there, stocking more than 360 Tequilas and Mezcals.

All of this attention, and increased sophistication, is a far cry from the standard serve of a dirty shot glass, salt and lime of years ago.

But how is it happening? The marketing machine behind Patron Tequila has been credited with influencing the market to a large degree, especially when it comes to American customers. Many bartenders are also actively selling tequila, educating their customers, and passing on a passion for this much mis-understood spirit. Order a rum and coke in Crazy Homies, for example, and you'll likely walk away with a Batanga, a little bit more knowledge, and a smile on your face.

And that, we all agreed, is where the future lies.

Tom Estes may be the Tequila Ambassador, but everywhere he goes he seems to create small armies of ambassadors in their own right, each carrying the passion, and passing it on wherever, and whenever, they can.

 

By the way, if you're interested in joining the competition to win a trip to the distillery, it is running in February, March and April of 2010. You need to be a bar / restaurant / club in the UK, and be prepared to share some Tequila love! Contact wlowe@bibendum-wine.co.uk for more details.

Raspberry Daiquiri Video

The Daiquiri. One of the most enduring cocktails ever created. Perhaps the secret to its longevity lies in its versitility? A cocktail which can be served straight up, on cubed or crushed ice, or frozen, with almost any fruit you care to mention...

On reflection, maybe it has become such an enduring cocktail simply because there are so many preparations which fit under the umbrella name of 'daiquiri'.

Either way, when properly thought out, the daiquiri can be a delightful drink.

Thinking about the flavours which are already present in your rum will help you to pick out the most suitable fruits to combine with your base (lime, of course, being the traditional choice). These days, you'll find pretty much any fruit in a daiquiri, or even more likely, any type of puree. Personally, I prefer to use real fruit, but each to their own.

In the video below I'll show you the very simple steps involved in making a delicious raspberry daiquiri. Feel free to experiment with different fruits, rum, ice... pretty much the whole recipe!

I look forward to hearing how you get on, so be sure to let me know.

Name that Cocktail!

Fancy winning yourself a bottle of LP Ultra Brut?
Of course you do! Well frankly, it could be much easier than this.
Take a look at the simple cocktail I've put together in the video below, think up a name for it, and you're in with a chance.
This competition will run for one week from today (Jan 13th), and the winner will be announced on the Bibendum Times website, which is also where you should go to enter.
If you're into competitions generally, you should definately try to get yourself to the Bibendum Times tasting on January 20th (click for more info). On the day I will personally be hosting a competition in which one lucky person will win an all expenses paid trip to Cognac! Full details of the comp can be found here. Good luck!!

Aramis Martini Video

Here's an exciting new discovery for you: Citadelle Reserve Gin.

French Law dictates that Cognac may only be distilled between the beginning of November and the end of March. This leads to some perfectly good distilleries, together with their distilling teams, being essentially dormant for 6 months of the year.

A particularly creative solution to this predicament was created by the team at Pierre Ferrand Cognac. Using an incredibly complex 18th century recipe of 19 different botanicals, this gin is finished by ageing for 6 months in Cognac barrels. It's truly a unique approach, and creates a stunning, herbaceous gin, quite unlike any other I've ever tried.

To make the most of this gin, I set about making a martini (the king of white spirit cocktails).

Starting out with a wash of Strega, to accentuate the herbaceous nature of the base spirit, I simply stir 50ml of Citadelle Reserve over ice, and double strain into a martini glass.

The clever bit comes in the garnish - an atomised mist of cognac. Naturally, I opted for Ferrand cognac. In this instance, I seem to have misplaced my atomiser, so a bit of improvisation later, I dismantled a water spray more often used for watering plants, and used this to spray a fine mist of the cocktail. This results in a wonderful aroma (rather than taste, per se) of cognac around the glass.

Finish with a thick twist of orange zest, and we're good to go.

I've even made you a video to show you how it's done.

Enjoy!

Christmas Martini

It's Christmas Day (or at least, it was), which calls for a super special recipe.

Whilst the rest of the world reaches for the Champagne, I reach for the chemistry kit, and set about creating a cocktail fit for a king. Or all three kings, for that matter.

The goal was a fresh, fruity martini, with authentic, natural, and subtle flavouring. To this end, I employed another technique borrowed from the molecular gastronomy cook book: "Sous Vide" cooking. Essentially, this refers to cooking at low temperatures, in a vacuum. For our purposes, this enables infusion of flavours which would normally take weeks (if not months) to be achieved in minutes.

To begin, I finely chopped one gala apple and placed it into a sealable sandwich bag. I then poured in 250ml of Beefeater 24, and worked the bubbles out of the bag before sealing. This was then placed into a second bag to prevent any leakage (in either direction), and immersed in a pan of water which I heated to 60 degrees Celsius, and maintained at that temperature for 20 minutes. The result: a naturally apple flavoured gin, which completely avoids any synthetic flavouring, and takes a fraction of the time you would expect for an effective maceration.

Next, I made an elderflower caviar using calcium lactate, sodium alginate, and a natural elderflower liqueur (from the Chase Distillery). This was done using the typical spherification method, which I covered in a previous video (here).

With both of these steps complete, the preparation was finished.

To make the martini, I started by chilling the glass with ice and soda water (which is standard practice for this type of drink). As I wanted very subtle flavour, I opted to shake the apple infused gin over ice, rather than simply stirring. This would increase the dilution of the gin, taking the edge off the abv (a good idea, since I have removed vermouth from this recipe). With the gin well chilled, I double strained the liquid into the martini glass using a hawthorn and julep strainer, to remove any shards of ice from the cocktail.

The final step was simply to add the elderflower caviar  into the glass using a barspoon, and serve.

Served with pan fried scallops lovingly prepared by Mrs Lowe,  this cocktail was a real hit. Next time around, I shall infuse an entire bottle of Beefeater 24, and simply re-bottle any left over gin for future use.

I particularly enjoy cocktails where a little preparation ahead of time dramatically cuts the time required to make the drink, and so noticeably improves the final product, and this Christmas Martini is a particularly good example of this.

Canela Cafe Video

Today I'm in Restaurant Alimentum, Cambridge, showing you how to make a lovely winter warmer, the Canela Cafe.

It's essentially a rum based take on the Espresso Martini, which is arguably my favourite digestif. It works all year round, but for that extra festive touch, I've introduced a small pinch of cinnamon, which brings out the delicate spicy touch in the rum.

You'll need:

50ml Los Valientes Rum

10ml Vanilla infused sugar syrup

1 pinch of cinnamon

I espresso shot

Los Valientes Winter Old Fashioned Video

It's a recurring theme with Los Valientes. Almost without fail, when a bartender is left to play around with this molasses / sugar cane blended rum, they will end up creating a variation on the classic Old Fashioned recipe.

I believe this is due to the rum already being so well integrated, it simply does not require any masking or over dilution.

To illustrate this point, in one of my previous posts, I have shown an Old Fashioned with a ginger foam. When I visited Mark Pope at Alimentum, on Hills Road in Cambridge, he had another angle on this preparation. Mark opted to stick to the classic Old Fashioned recipe, but infuse the rum 24 hours in advance, bringing yet another dimension into the glass.

Taking 250ml of Los Valientes, he added two tea spoons of raisins, two of sultanas, one star anise, half a broken cinammon stick, a tea spoon of orange zest, and 15ml demerara sugar. Mark left this combination to steep for a full 24 hours, subsequently using this as the base for his Old Fashioned.

The result was a fantastic, festive flavoured Old Fashioned. Perfect as a digestif after a rich dessert, or simply to warm you up on these cold winter evenings.

My thanks to Mark Pope, and Alimentum, for hosting us for the afternoon. If you get the chance to check out their fantastic bar and restaurant, you really should. Their website can be found here.

Los Valientes 20 Year Rum

I was going to write a review for this, the favourite of my rum shelf, but decided to take the lazy option. Since Nick Wykes of IPBartenders has already done such a fabulous job of writing a beautiful tasting note already, I'm just going to cut and paste it here!
For what it's worth, I agree with him...

Ron Los Valientes 20 year old

Mexico

Sometimes it's just a joy to be sitting here doing this, today is one of those days. I have in my maw a healthy slug of Ron Los Valientes 20 year old, charged as I am with telling you about it.

From within the province of Veracruz in eastern Mexico, the Villaneuva family has been producing fine spirits for three generations. Veracruz, and specifically the town of Cordoba, has been famous for it's sugar cane for 500 years and it's both the juice and molasses from this local cane that goes into the small batch production of the Los Valientes range.

The slow fermented juice from the Veracruz cane is double distilled in pot-stills, with only the corazon taken from the second distillation, this is then blended with column distilled, fast fermented, molasses from the same crop. The 70:30 juice to molasses ratio should tell you something of the delights that await.

The 20 year old, numbered and signed by the cellar master, is a deep copper red number with soft, distinct legs that seem to ooze down the glass where other spirits simply adhere to the laws of gravity.

A nose of sweet, mellow pungency, rich in oily phenols, hints at dried fruits, treacle, chocolate and nutmeg. The extended barrel ageing on the Caribbean coast is reminisced with a strong liquorice backbone and nutty char.

If the nose is a valiant one, a brave fighter of 1910, then the palate is a different animal altogether. The 43% abv is immediately evident as an intensely unctuous and spirited spicy clove and bitter almond flavour dominates a medium sweet body. It's a sharp bite that drives a complex character and the Greek is a big fan of adding a splash of spring water to placate the eugenol driven spice. Uprising quelled there are beautiful dark chocolate and hazelnut notes to savour.

The surprisingly restrained and refined palate is thanks to a counter-intuitive approach to ageing whereby much larger, 180 gallon, white oak barrels are used to avoid exaggerating the ageing influence and afford the finished spirit a more sophisticated, lighter, dare I say ethereal quality than many Caribbean aged counterparts.

There's a strong kick, as you might expect, from Los Valientes, but it's balanced and well structured, perhaps a result of the charcoal, cotton and compacted cellulose filtration and almost certainly courtesy of the exclusive selection of the beating Mexican heart of the cane juice distillate.

With a 10, 15 and 20 year old in the range (a 25 year old has been hinted at) there may be more evolution than revolution going on in Veracruz these days but Los Valientes rums are enough to make you want to fire off a Springfield and grow a moustache. I may be some time....

How to make the perfect... Hot Toddy

It's December in England. And everywhere else for that matter. But here, especially, this means cold, dark,  soggy evenings.

Try this recipe as a winter-warmer, a traditional 'cure-all' for those seasonal sniffles, or as a delicious digestif.

Start with two bar spoons of honey in a traditional whisky glass.

Add in four drops of bitters, then dilute with 75ml of boiled water. Throw in two slices of lemon, and allow to steep as the liquid cools for two to three minutes.

Next, add in 50ml of bourbon (sweeter than scotch - I always use Makers Mark). Inhale deeply as the whiskey hits the hot solution and your olfactory nerve will think it's Christmas.

If necessary, add more honey to sweeten to your taste.

Now put your feet up, and enjoy. After all, you've been ever so good this year...

New / Old Fashioned Video

Here's a short video of another drink I put together on this blog last month.
The write up of the cocktail is here, and the video follows below.
Enjoy!

Molecular Margarita Video

Oh dear. They've only gone and let me loose with a video camera...

Due to popular demand (that is, one person asking), I've made a short video showing in a bit more detail how I made the margarita which I featured in this blog last month.

It's been pretty hastily put together, but hopefully it might be of some help to someone out there. If not, please send your details over and I will refund you 3 minutes and 33 seconds of your life back.