Pisco in 'Cisco

In the August issue of San Francisco Magazine, I have a story on the return of the Pisco Punch, a cocktail that was invented during the Gold Rush era at the Bank Exchange bar. The story highlights Pisco, the new lounge opening next to Destino any day now. The story also mentions that you can get a Pisco Punch at Level III, Cantina, and the Presidio Social Club, but that's ain't everywhere. You can also find it at Orson, Farallon, and Beretta. It was briefly on the menu at Bourbon & Branch. Beyond the punch, the Pisco Sour and other pisco drinks are showing up at places like McCormick & Kuleto’s, Zazil, the Alembic, Coco500, Range, Clock Bar, and NOPA, plus all the Peruvian restaurants that have been serving it all along. And there is another new pisco-focussed restaurant opening on the Embarcadero soon- La Mar Cevicheria Peruana. For all of the other flavors and trends making their way into Bay Area cocktails, nothing is moving onto menus as fast as pisco.

Don't quit your day job

The title I wanted for this story in July's San Francisco Magazine was "Take a Shift Where You Eat," but I can see why they didn't go with that :)

Don't quit your day job Thanks to new amateur hours, dilettantes can give their dream careers a trial run. By Camper English, Photograph by John Curley Most fantasy careers (astronaut, movie star, Mrs. Clooney) are a bit out of reach for the average desk jockey. But at least there are some new ways to take dream jobs in the service industry for a test spin.

Read the rest of the story, with information about guest bartending at Elixir, the guest sommelier program at Fifth Floor, being the guest chef at Kuleto's, and guest stripping at New Century Theatre here.

10 Trendsetting Mixologists

In various editions of the Beverage Network's magazines, I have the cover story on 10 Trendsetting Mixologists from across the country. I interviewed my picks at the Navan/Grand Marnier Mixology Summit this spring.

This year’s batch of bartenders to watch have more in common than a penchant for inventing and shaking up tasty cocktails. They’re using fresh and often local ingredients, adding savory herbs to drinks, and making sure the execution of each cocktail is consistently stellar.

These standout mixologists, some with impressive training under their belt, some the winners of national and international cocktail challenges, are also quite influential, both introducing quality cocktails to the underserved areas of the country, as well as impressing jaded vacationers in Vegas and Aspen. They impact the community through bartenders’ guilds, banding together to influence the purchases of control state boards, and educating the public with classes and seminars. These men and women help elevate both the craft of mixology and the consumer palate simultaneously. Let’s raise a glass to the class of 2008.

The mixologists chosen were: Charles Joly from Chicago Patricia Richards from Las Vegas Matt Martinez from Los Angeles Jeremy Strungis from New Jersey Ted Kilgore from St. Louis Gina Chersevani from Washington, DC Lance Mayhew from Portland, OR Denis Cote from Aspen, CO Eric Simpkins from Atlanta Jon Santer from San Francisco Read interviews with these ten terrific bartenders here.

Absinthe in Men's Book

Speaking of absinthe, I just noticed that the story I wrote on the subject (or as I call it, the subject that keeps on paying) for Men's Book San Francisco is online. Go here and forward to page 80.

Glossy Booze: Mostly June edition

Everywhere Magazine (Issue 3) has a story about the The Hedgehog Distillery located in Auvergne, France. San Francisco Magazine has a story on the death of happy hour discounts in the city, written by the one and only Camper English. Elite Traveler magazine (March/April) has a story by Nick Passmore on getting the most out of wine auctions. Playboy lists some vodka picks for brands to drink on the rocks, in mixed drinks, in martinis, and a new product, with a few recipes. Lawrence Osbourne has a story in Men's Vogue about the return of Riunite. Gourmet has a short piece on a Berlin beer brand Berliner Weisse bottling 1809. 7X7 Magazine (May) has a story on sipping blanco tequilas. Another original topic by Jordan Mackay. In the June issue, he talks about ice and the infamous Kold-Draft machine. Delta's Sky Magazine (May) lists a signature cocktail called Le Starcky from Le Meurice in Paris, some wine pics from Paul Pacult, and an interview with a beer sommelier in Santa Monica. It's Esquire's annual Best Bars in America round-up, though I think this year it may have jumped the shark. New York Magazine agrees. Some of the choices seem more like writers' personal favorites more than David Wondrich's curated selection. Oh well, at least San Francisco's Cantina, Elixir, Rye, Toronado, and Tosca got mentions. There are also a few good sidebars on drinking alone, having a "safety drink," and bad hotel bar names.

Tequila Terroir

Run screaming to your local newsstand to pick up the June issue of Wine & Spirits magazine, with the Top 100 Value Wines on the cover. Also on the cover is a mention of a story inside on Tequila Terroir, written by me. Hooray! My pal Jenn Farrington took the photos. Here's the teaser:

This February, a new Tequila called Ocho launched in Europe with a small but significant difference from other brands: each bottling is labeled with the harvest year and name of the agave field from which it came. Tequila is a spirit unusually ripe for the study of terroir as its raw ingredient does not vary, it is grown in a specified region with diverse soils, and it does not need to be aged like whisky or Cognac so it can be appreciated without the influence of wood. Yet until now brands have provided consumers with only broad clues as to the origin of the agave in each bottle.

On the page after my story, you'll be treated to a tasting story on tequila written by David Wondrich, in which he explains terroir in spirits better in three paragraphs than I did in 1200 words.

Glossy Booze May edition

Here are some booze stories in this month's magazines. - Sunset Magazine (May) has a story on starting a wine cellar, plus a recipe for the Michelada. Unfortunately, it the version I don't like with tomato juice. - Conde Nast Taveler lists 28 new bars and clubs around the world, plus a good recipe for the Pisco Sour from Copenhagen, a terrible one with Absolut Mandarin and Citron from Buenos Aires, an apricot and nutmeg sour from Bangkok, and a Dirty Martini recipe with Reyka from Alibi in Boston (yuck). From San Francisco they mention the Presidio Social Club and 1300 on Filmore. Interesting. - Details (May) discusses the Shandy, and has a much better picture than last month. - Gourmet's Alan Sytsma talks about Will Goldfarb's Experiential Cuisine program, and includes a recipe for the molecular cocktail the Coco Cola. Plus, online they have a nice story on Sam Adams sharing their hops with small breweries. - Saveur.com has an interview with Beachbum Berry. - Speaking of hops stories, Imbibe (May/June) has a large feature on the shortage and explains the crisis quite clearly. Also, there are stories on summer cocktails, making great iced coffee, 10 summer wines, travel to Croatia, Saison ales, aerators, rosewater cocktails, bourbon historian Mike Veach, and homemade ginger ale. - Malt Advocate (second quarter issue) has a cover story on the scotch whisky boom, plus stories on blending beer, Buffalo Trace, the Boilermaker, beer prices, Brown-Forman, and St. George's Dragon distillery in England. -San Francisco Magazine has a story by me(!) on the death of happy hour drink specials, and a few places that still have them. -7x7 Magazine's Jordan Mackay writes about blanco tequilas that are good for sipping. - Best Life (May) has a story on fine, finer, and finest tequilas, written by the talented Camper English. Oh looky, it's online.

Grappa in the SF Chronicle

By me, in today's SF Chronicle

Italy's Fiery Grappa the Latest Spirit to Go Upscale by Camper English Several spirits have overhauled their previously negative reputations in recent years. Tequila lovers now pay up to several hundred dollars per bottle, and consumers who wouldn't touch gin three years ago now shake it with egg whites into frothy cocktails at home.

But upon hearing the word "grappa," many drinkers still wince. A beverage program built around the fiery spirit is thus a risky proposition, but that's what you'll find at Bar 888, the lobby bar that also serves the Italian restaurant Luce on the ground floor of the new Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco's SoMa area.

"In San Francisco, we think people are interested in learning something new," says Rene Van Camp, corporate food and beverage director for the Intercontinental Hotels Group. "People are educated here about food and beverage, so we needed to find something that they don't know about already."

keep reading.

Glossy Booze

From the stack of magazines in my apartment: Details (April) has a story by Rob Willey on the Mint Julep, with possibly the ugliest looking mint julep photo ever printed. Playboy (April) reports that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il spends $700,000 a year on Hennessey cognac. But he still probably doesn't make the best spokesmodel. Also, they have a story by Dan Dunn on Savanna Samson's wine picks, including wine to match your favorite porn. Esquire's David Wondrich (May) discusses the Whiskeyburger, a molecular mixology drink that tastes like a burger, complete with tomato syrup, ground chuck-infused whiskey, and mustard bitters. They say the recipe will be online, but it appears that's a lie, lie, lie. In 7X7 (a San Francisco magazine, April) Jordan MmmKay talks about Italian varietals by way of California, and homemade limoncello. Best Life (April) has a small article on boutique tonic water (by me!) Sunset Magazine (April) has a story on cult Cabernets. Men's Vogue writer Lawrence Osbourne discusses Pompeii's wine industry. Marcia of Tablehopper writes about barstool eating in San Francisco Magazine. (That is, eating at barstools, not eating barstools.) Also, a mention of Cantina's Caribbean Sangria. [Want your publication included in the glossy booze round-up? Email me.]

Belgian text

The text of my Belgian beer bars story from San Francisco Magazine is now online here. And if you're interested, my Aspen travel piece is here.

Dueling Belgians

In the March issue of San Francisco Magazine, I have a story on the three Belgian beer bars that opened in December 2007. (Also, a travel story on Aspen.) At 7x7, the other glossy city magazine, Jordan MmmKay? has a piece on the same topic (bars, not ski towns), with four recommended beers to try. The Trappist in Oakland is a simple place, with only two cheese plates available as food. When I visited there was one server working the whole seating area so it was faster to walk to the bar and pick up pints yourself. They did a nice job with the glassware cooler water jet that lowers the temperature of your glass by a couple of degrees. In North Beach, La Trappe is something between a restaurant, a lounge, and a bar. They have a full bistro menu (but could use more appetizers for those not in search of a meal) with some Belgian specialty foods, as well as a huge beer menu. I recommend getting there early to score a space on the plush seating in the lounge. Also, rumor has it mixologist Victoria Damato-Moran will be working there- which is odd because the place doesn't have a full liquor license. In the Mission, Monk's Kettle is a small, bright space with upscale pub food and two dozen beers on tap. They have a combination of Belgian and other non-common beers, and the place seems always to be busy. Plan to get dinner if you want a table, or just pop in at lunchtime for a few pints (says the writer without a day job).

Some stories

Here are two recent stories I have up on gay.com: - A survey of American gins - Vodka myths and mysteries What do these have to do with gayness, you ask? Nothing! Sometimes you just want to write a story and need a place to stick it.

Brunch drinks

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Daytime Cocktails for New Years Brunch Camper English, Special to the Chronicle

New Year's Day often arrives with one pondering the previous night's indulgences and the resulting aftereffects. On the upside, this can also be done with a cocktail in hand.

Whether consuming them to nurse the previous night's hangover or just to pass the lazy New Year's holiday, adults have a free pass to enjoy cocktails before noon on Tuesday.

Typical brunch cocktails include the bloody Mary, mimosa, screwdriver and Irish coffee, with fresh derivations of these standards now on morning menus throughout the Bay Area. Additionally, frothy Southern breakfast drinks like the Ramos gin fizz are coming back into vogue, though drinkers' aversions to raw eggs and the negative associations with imbibing in the morning may be obstacles to their popularity.

In "The Joy of Drinking," author Barbara Holland addresses the National Institutes of Health's "pompous treatise" against readministration of alcohol (more widely known as "the hair of the dog that bit you") to cure the hangover, for fear that it encourages alcoholism.

She writes, "I don't know what social circles the NIH travels in, but I myself have never seen any sufferer, after shakily sipping his bloody Mary, let out a whoop, grab the vodka bottle and chug it down."

Read the rest of the story here.

Lalique- So Chic!

By me, in today's SF Chromicle:

Splurge on a $12,000 bottle of scotch Though the product isn't available until January, the whiskey lover in your life probably won't mind the IOU for this $12,000 Macallan 55-year-old single-malt Scotch packaged in a custom Lalique crystal bottle. The spirit inside is unusual for Macallan as it has more of an earthy, peaty profile than their younger whiskies, and the funky bottle on the outside is unusual in that there are only 420 of them on the market. (To get one, inquire at Macallan55@remyusa.com.)

Boozeless Cocktails

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Drink Menus Explore Virgin Territory with Alcohol-Free Cocktails Camper English, Special to the Chronicle

Bay Area restaurants and bars are increasingly devoting space on their menus to alcohol-free drinks. These concoctions are more complicated than simple sodas and juices, involving the same glassware, seasonal ingredients and fresh garnishes as drinks with the hard stuff.

This trend of enticing consumers with nonalcoholic cocktails, rather than leaving it to them to request a virgin version of another drink, owes much to the current emphasis in better cocktail bars on creating drinks with seasonal ingredients. These fresh drinks can be translated fairly easily into alcohol-free versions, whereas in other bars, a nonalcoholic Jack and Coke is just a Coke.

Josh Harris, bar manager of Palmetto on Union Street in Cow Hollow, says that in the first month or so of being open, the menu listed only drinks with alcohol, but patrons would see the fresh cocktails being made and request alcohol-free versions.

"Some of them translated (to nonalcoholic drinks) very well, and some of them not well at all," he says.

Read the rest of the story here.

New bars in the Bay Guardian

I contributed this round-up of new drinking venues to the San Francisco Bay Guardian. As I was taking notes on the venues that opened in the past year, I realized that there are way to many of them to list. The final article has 32 new venues listed, and it doesn't include a third of the wine bars that opened, nor several of the venues that renovated their whole schtick, such as bacar and Jardinière, nor many of the new restaurants with good cocktail programs even though I included a bunch. No wonder I've been so busy.

ChocoCaberYoga

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Raise a Glass to Yoga Class A sense of relaxation, the loss of calories and increased flexibility are some of the benefits that come with yoga practice, but the just-opened Cocoon Urban Day Spa and Local Kitchen and Wine Merchant have teamed up with some rewards that are a bit more tangible. On Dec. 20, from 7 to 9 p.m., they'll be running their "Yoga, Wine, Chocolate and Cheese" workshop. (So much for that loss of calories.) It begins with a 90-minute yoga flow class lead by the spa's yoga coordinator Danielle Marie Giovanello and attended by Local's sommelier Mark Bright, followed by a session of decadent gluttony, or as they put it, "delve deep into your visual, auditory, kinesthetic, gustatory and olfactory senses." Either way, it's a tasting of two kinds of wine plus organic cheese and chocolate pairings after class. $95. 330 First St. (at Folsom), San Francisco; (415) 777-0100.

Genevieve

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Fritz Maytag and the team at Anchor Distilling are so far ahead of the curve they must get bored waiting for us to catch up. They've just released Genevieve, a genever-style gin they began developing in 1996, which has been sitting in a tank ever since. Genever is an old type of gin (before the modern London dry style came into being) that was used in some of the earliest published cocktail recipes currently in vogue.

New gins (including Anchor's Junipero) are column-distilled into a neutral spirit then infused with botanicals including juniper berries and redistilled. Genevieve, on the other hand, is first distilled from malted grains in a pot still, similar to whiskey, before being flavored and redistilled in another custom-built pot still. The result is a gin with the added flavor and texture of an unaged whiskey.

The first release was only 700 bottles sold mostly to cocktailian bars and a few liquor stores in order to avoid confusion with Anchor's other gin. They're currently producing more of the product for when the rest of us figure it out.

Reading this now I'm uncomfortable with the phrase, "pot still, similar to whiskey." I actually wrote "whisky," meaning scotch, and it was copy-edited to "whiskey," but this could also be incorrect as blended scotch whisky has column distilled whisky mixed in. Bourbon whiskey is mostly column distilled. On the other hand, the phrase "malted grains" does make it similar to (some) whisk(e)y, and it's certainly what people think of when you say "malted grains". So I'm just going to declare that phrase as ambiguously incorrect. I'm also going to declare that writing about whisk(e)y is a big pain in the ass.

Breaking News

So Lance Winters of St. George Spirits let the cat out of the bag that his absinthe was approved at the end of last week. Well, local booze news doesn't get any bigger than that so I told my editors at the Chronicle it shouldn't wait until Friday's Wine Section and they agreed. Stacy Finz wrote the story with my contributions mushed in here are there (it was my scoop though- just saying). We were in a race to at least tie with the NYTimes story that also came out today. But in any case, by all accounts the St. George Absinthe Verte rocks. But cool your jets for a minute. The stuff written about in the stories is not even in bottles yet, people. The labels will be made the end of next week (Lance said he bribed the label people with booze to do a rush order.) I don't know if either story mentioned it, but it should be on sale beginning Friday Dec 21rst at the distillery in Alameda. The distillery will be open at least regular hours 12-7 Friday and Saturday and 12-6 Sunday. I think initially you'll only be able to buy it at the source until its distributed. Field trip, anyone?

Get bubbly

Today's Chronicle Wine Section is the all-bubbly issue. They have a section on cocktails with bubbly and Gary Regan complains that David Wondrich won't pay his bar tab, which somehow is the lead-up to the Prince of Wales' Cocktail. I just wrote about an inside-out champagne flute.

Black (Out) Friday

The SF Chronicle's Wine Section comes out with the now-annual gift guide today. To read the intro and all of the items, start here, then follow the links in the box on the right. I listed some suggestions for gift books (Felten, Wondrich, In the Land of Cocktails), Gary Regan tells us must-have bottles of each kind of booze for your liquor cabinet, Jay Brooks tells us his ideal beer imports, I give a list of essential glassware for the home bar, and in this list of miscellany I pick some whiskies and a calendar.

Hidden bars in Time

Hey look, I wrote a little thing in Time magazine's Style and Design issue on hidden cocktail bars as a national trend. Here it is online, and here is the scan.

Classic Hotel Bars

Looks who's quoted on ForbesTraveler.com on classic cocktails in classic hotel bars: your old pal Camper English.

Give thanks for beer and turkey

By me, in Friday's SF Chronicle: A new Web site by the Brewers Association wants you to pass on the wine this Turkey Day and pop open a craft beer instead. BeerAndTurkey.org offers suggestions for beer pairings with a range of holiday meals, including roasted, smoked and Cajun-style turkey, ham, goose, salmon and lamb. They also pair beer with side dishes and seasonings, like amber ale with sage dishes and all-malt pilsner, dark lager or red ale to go with buttery mashed potatoes and creamed corn. The site also lists a few serving suggestions (large bottles for easy sharing, multiple glasses for multiple beers), but not all segments of the population will be served by the Web site: There are no pairing notes for Tofurky.

Felten and Wondrich book reviews

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

New books dedicated to old drinks Camper English

Many drink books published today are the "Behind the Music" of cocktails, telling the stories of the book authors and recipe histories rather than inventing a slew of new libations.

In the past few years we've seen titles including "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozulum Cocktail to the Zombie," "Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail," "Sippin' Safari: In Search of the Great "Lost" Tropical Drink Recipes... And the People Behind Them," and "And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails." This fall, two more titles make that list.

"Imbibe!" by Esquire writer David Wondrich (Perigee Trade, $24) is an investigation into the first known cocktail recipe book, Jerry Thomas' "How to Mix Drinks" from 1862.

The majority of the text is a deconstruction of about 100 recipes from or inspired by "How to Mix Drinks." Wondrich translates the recipes into current measurement sizes, suggests substitutions and deletions of specific ingredients, and recommends specific brands to give the drinks authentic (or better tasting) flavor. But this is not just an updated recipe book: While each recipe may consist of only a few lines, Wondrich's historical analysis of the drink's origin, comparison with recipes from other texts, and suggested alterations and spin-offs can go on for several pages each. (And in a few places he refers to how much material he left out to save space.) Wondrich uncovered many new bits of information and has answered several lingering cocktail origin questions in the book. Cocktail connoisseurs and history buffs will find this book an essential addition to their reference libraries.

Eric Felten's "How's Your Drink? Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well" (Agate Surrey, $20; release date Nov. 28) is written in the breezy tone that defines his James Beard Award-winning column of the same name in the Wall Street Journal. The book consists of short essays on classic and modern cocktails with recipes at the end of each, grouped into chapters on ice drinks, holiday drinks, war drinks and the like. Though Felten also traces cocktail origins, he references fewer cocktail books and more literary sources like Broadway plays, novels and newspaper stories. It is a cultural study rather than a technical one, packed with great trivia and hilarious observations like calling gargantuan martinis "hazing, not hospitality." The best description of the book, and the study of cocktail history in general, comes from the conclusion. "If there is anything to be serious about in the way of drinks it is this only: that one's drink be delicious. If it can add to our pleasure by having a good story to tell, then all the better."

Vintage Cocktail Books

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Bartenders shake and stir their way through cocktail history Camper English, Special to the Chronicle

Because of their proximity to sticky liquids, well-used cocktail books often don't hold up over time, which may be why vintage cocktail books from the 1860s through the 1940s are rare and highly collectible.

These books hold more value than the recipes inside or their resale value, however. Modern cocktail enthusiasts use them to rediscover how and what people were drinking when the books were written, what bar life was like in the beginning of the last century, and the history of bartending as a profession.

Josey Packard, a bartender at Alembic in the Upper Haight who also studies recipe history, earned her master's degree in editorial studies at Boston University, during which she became interested in books about classic cocktails. She initially made drinks that she read about in newspapers, including the mojito and cosmopolitan, which lead her to try more gin-based and other complex drinks like the Corpse Reviver, Mary Pickford and Gansevoort fizz not widely made in bars at the time. "There was a point at which I realized I was more disappointed than delighted when going out for cocktails," she says. And thus began her career as a bartender.

Keep reading here.

Pumpkin pie, just like Mom used to drink

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Modern Spirits Vodka, the small brand that creates infusions like celery peppercorn and chocolate orange, has released its first seasonal flavor: pumpkin pie. (They'll be launching a rose infusion for Valentine's Day next.) The vodka was infused with pumpkin puree and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg and retains a slight orange-yellow color, but isn't so bold as to taste like a pie put into a blender. It's fine served cold as a sipping vodka (a nice digestif after a big turkey meal), or in one of several recipes found on the Web site ModernSpiritsVodka.com. The Everything Nice cocktail could be served in place of dessert: 2 ounces pumpkin pie vodka, 1 ounce heavy cream, 2 tablespoons maple syrup and a splash of orange liqueur served in a graham cracker-rimmed martini glass.

Tiki bar crawl in San Francisco

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Next Thursday though Sunday is the seventh annual San Francisco Bay Area Tiki Crawl. That the event is spread out over four days and three geographic regions is an indicator that we have a heck of a lot of tiki bars in this part of the world. (Take that, Hawaii!) On South Bay Thursday, the hordes descend upon Smoke Tiki, the Palo Alto Trader Vic's and Martini Monkey in the San Jose airport (pending approval). Friday night, city tiki-hoppers stop by Trad'r Sam, the Tonga Room, Bamboo Hut and the San Francisco Trader Vic's. On Saturday, it's time to hit Trader Vic's in Emeryville, Forbidden Island in Alameda, and the Conga Lounge and Kona Club in Oakland. The tour ends on Sunday with a leisurely revisit of Forbidden Island. There is no bus between venues unlike past years, so drivers are encouraged to find safe carpool situations rather than anger the great gods of common sense. Specific times and addresses, as well as an e-mail information list can be found on TikiCrawl.com.

Halloween drinks in SF

By me, in Friday's SF Chronicle:

A few bars and restaurants around San Francisco are putting extra effort into making your Halloween more spirited with cocktail specials.

Luna Park is serving the Dr. Moreau's Island, a rum punch poured into a bowl with dry ice for the fog machine effect. 694 Valencia St. (near 18th Street), S.F; (415) 553-8584, lunaparksf.com.

Another rum bar, Forbidden Island in Alameda, is serving two drinks without rum for the night: the Hawaiian Hemoglobin, a blood-red hibiscus liqueur and sparkling wine drink, and the Hellfire with mango, tamarind, Hangar One chipotle vodka, and cayenne pepper. 1304 Lincoln Ave. (at Sherman), Alameda; (510) 749-0332, forbiddenislandalameda.com.

At Rye, bartenders are conjuring up three cocktails for All Hallow's Eve: the Bela Mumosi (similar to a mimosa), the Karloff's Cauldron with pumpkin puree and ginger flavors, and the Bloody Scary, which is a riff on the Bloody Mary. 688 Geary St. (at Leavenworth), San Francisco; (415) 474-4448.

Teatro ZinZanni is performing a special macabre ball event with the drinks made with Blavod black vodka. Pier 29, Embarcadero at Battery Street; (415) 438-2668, zinzanni.org.

And whatever costume you're wearing this year, don't forget to cut a hole in the mask for the straw.

WhiskyFest listing

Okay, last post about WhiskyFest until I go there: Here is the mention of the event in Friday's SF Chronicle:

Lessons in whisky Malt Advocate magazine's WhiskyFest, which has been running annually for years in New York and Chicago, makes its debut in San Francisco on Tuesday. It's a one-stop whisk(e)y workshop, with lectures, tastings of more than 250 Scotch, Irish, Canadian, Japanese, and American whiskeys, and food to keep you from getting overwhelmed by it all. Some of the special guests and/or speakers this year are Jimmy Bedford, master distiller at Jack Daniel's, Fred Noe, Jim Beam's great grandson, and John Campbell, distillery manager at Laphroaig. New whiskeys available for tasting include Benromach Organic Scotch, additional Glenmorangie finishes, and the Buffalo Trace 2007 Antique Collection. The event runs from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency, 5 Embarcadero Center, in San Francisco. Tickets cost $105; to register in advance and for information, call (800) 610-6258 or visit maltadvocate.com.

Lost ingredients

Here's my big fat lost ingredients cover story in today's SF Chronicle Wine Section.

Resurrecting spirits Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, October 19, 2007 Last year, Erik Ellestad, a cocktail aficionado and systems administrator at UCSF, decided to drink his way through a classic recipe book.

Though he initially considered "The Old Waldorf Astoria Bar Book," he found a cocktail every couple pages that required an obscure or unavailable ingredient, so he chose the easier-seeming "Savoy Cocktail Book" from 1930. On his path to making the book's 750 drinks, he hit his first snag at the second recipe: The namesake spirit in the absinthe cocktail had been banned in the United States since 1912.

"I tried a couple of substitutes (including pastis) that were not very satisfying. Then I received a bonus from work ... so I decided to order some absinthe from London."

Ellestad has plenty of company: Historically accurate cocktails are a growing trend extending from the classic cocktail craze, with an emphasis on finding and tasting the first-known version of a drink. Such cocktails can be a challenge to re-create. Drink recipes from 100 or more years ago require some translation, as they were smaller in size, used measurements such as drachms and gills, and involved processes like clarifying loaf sugar syrup.

But, as Ellestad found, the bigger challenge is that many of the spirits and other ingredients called for in classic recipes are no longer imported, have changed flavor profiles radically, were outlawed or are simply no longer produced.

Hunting down obscure spirits involves time, travel, collaboration and sometimes, reinvention. Nevertheless, dedicated drink historians (and thirsty mixologists) are working together to bring many of these lost cocktail ingredients back onto the market.

(Go read the rest. There's lots of it and I name-checked about half the booze nerds on the planet.)

The Zagat guide to Diageo-approved restaurants

By me, in today's SF Chronicle: (yes, I wrote most of the Wine Section today)

Zagat Survey launched the iDrinkWell.com Web site this week as a "guide to finding restaurants that not only serve great food but are also dedicated to serving you the highest quality drinks." Though not currently advertised on the site (iDrinkWell forwards to a Zagat microsite), iDrinkWell is a collaboration between Zagat Survey and international liquor company Diageo. The venues chosen for the site (61 in the entire Bay Area) must be Zagat-rated and must have participated in a Diageo-sponsored training program.

No cocktail bars make the list yet, though Zagat publishes a separate nightlife guide. So the venues on the site (ranging from Absinthe to Yosemite's Ahwahnee Dining Room) are all restaurants listed alongside ratings by a company associated with objectivity.

A Zagat representative said, "There are completely different criteria for this program versus the traditional Zagat recognition program." No kidding.

For more information on this ludicrous collaboration that should make you swear to never use a Zagat guide again, read this industry story on Diageo's future plans for the program.

Good things come in small batches

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Oct. 13 is the first Independent Spirits Fest, a big tasting event focused on small producers. Unlike most single-topic spirits bonanzas, this one has a bit of everything: cachaca, single-malt Scotch, liqueurs, flavored vodka, eau de vie, bourbon and more. Most of the Bay Area-based distillers (Charbay, Anchor, St. George, Osocalis) will present so you can support the home teams or try something from farther afield. Spirits are available for ordering on site, allowing you to get a jump on your holiday shopping. For added entertainment, "Cocktails on the Fly" Internet cocktail show host Alberta Straub will be conducting live interviews with distillers onstage while also mixing drinks with their products. Tasting, food and music are included for $75, or for $88 you can get in and start tasting an hour early.

The W Hotel San Francisco, 6:30-10 p.m. Oct. 13th. Tickets available at CelticMalts.com.

Cachaca in the Chron

Here's today's story in the SF Chronicle on the state of cachaca:

A wave of artisan cachaca hits local bars Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, October 5, 2007

Nipping at the mojito's heels, the caipirinha is poised to become the next Latin cocktail of the moment.

With just three ingredients - a muddled half of lime, sugar and cachaca (kah-SHAH-sah), a Brazilian spirit - a caipirinha is easy enough to make. If a bar or restaurant has a muddler, there is a fair chance the bartender can make a caipirinha.

With so few ingredients in the drink, the choice of cachaca will have a large impact on its flavor, but until recently bartenders had to work with the very few mass-produced, rough-tasting brands that were available in the United States.

In Brazil, however, there are an estimated 30,000 small-scale cachaca producers and 5,000 brands on the market. Cachaca is the third-most distilled liquor in the world, and because of the caipirinha's popularity, more of it is hitting stateside shelves

Cachaca is commonly called Brazilian rum, but it is distilled from fermented sugarcane juice instead of the molasses used in most rums from other countries. The majority of cachaca is unaged (whereas most rums are aged), giving it a lighter and often more vegetal flavor with a strong sugarcane taste.

Like other liquors, cachaca can be either column distilled, an industrial technique that usually results in a cleaner, though less flavorful end product, or pot distilled, a smaller-batch method that retains more character of the raw ingredient, but also impurities. Most of the commonly available Brazilian brands like Cachaca 51 (also called Pirassununga) and Pitú are column distilled and bottled without aging.

Other brands of cachaca are aged in oak or native Brazilian wood barrels, and are generally considered "sipping cachacas," enjoyed without mixer. The brand Ypióca, also fairly available in the Bay Area, produces several cachacas aged one to two years in balsam or freijó barrels. Wood aging softens the mouthfeel of spirits and adds vanilla, caramel and other flavors. When the wood is not the usual oak used in wine and the majority of spirits, refreshingly new flavor notes can be found in the final products.

In recent months, three smaller brands of aged imported cachacas have become available: Armazem Vieira, GRM and Rochinha. These products range from 2 to 16 years of aging in woods with names like arririba, umburana, and jequitiba rosa. Some of these brands are available at the liquor store John Walker & Sons, and at the bar Cantina in San Francisco and the restaurant A Cote in Oakland. These boutique products come with a matching price, though. The GRM (my favorite of the bunch) sells for more than $60 per 750 ml bottle.

These three brands are imported by Olie Berlic, a former sommelier from New York who discovered them in Brazil while preparing to launch his own brand of cachaca, Beleza Pura. Berlic says, "I was looking for a high-end, unaged cachaca. The caipirinha calls for unaged, un-wooded cachaca, so that you don't have the wood flavors competing with the fresh lime citrus flavors." Beleza Pura is meant for the caipirinha, whereas his imports can be sipped neat.

The Fazenda Mae de Ouro brand is pot distilled from sugarcane not burned before harvesting (the brand manager said this can impart smoky flavor into the final product), and aged for one year in oak. Though aged, the product makes a fine caipirinha.

Many new high-end brands were developed specifically for the American market and palate. These companies advertise their cachacas as possible substitutions for vodka, rum or tequila in cocktails consumers already know. To make them adaptable to multiple drinks, they distill the products multiple times and/or highly filter the products to remove flavor.

Agua Luca is distilled from fermented sugarcane juice "within 24 hours of harvesting," then the final spirit is filtered 12 times for a flavor profile that's closer to vodka in flavor and structure than most cachacas.

Leblon is the most visible and available premium cachaca in the city. It is unique in that it is aged for a few months in used Cognac barrels both in Brazil and in France. Because of this, other brands' representatives question Leblon's authenticity as a true cachaca but newcomers may prefer its softer texture to the rough industrial brands.

Despite all the new brands on the market, even most Brazilian establishments here don't carry more than a few bottles of cachaca. San Francisco restaurants Canto do Brasil and Espetus stock three, and Destino carries four brands.

There are a few go-to venues for cachaca variety though. The restaurant Bossa Nova in San Francisco offers nine brands of cachaca, and Oakland's A Cote carries "9 or 10" cachacas. The Union Square Latin bar, Cantina, likely has the largest selection in San Francisco with nearly 20 brands, almost all of them high-end, and more than half meant for sipping rather than mixing.

As it's rare to find this many brands even on liquor store shelves, these venues may be the best places in the Bay Area to learn about cachaca, with bartenders who can lead tastings of their preferred products. Barring that, you can always fly to Brazil and research the other 4,990 brands.

Where to drink cachaca

A Cote, 5478 College Ave. (near Taft), Oakland; (510) 655-6469, acoterestaurant.com

Bossa Nova, 139 Eighth St. (near Minna), San Francisco; (415) 558-8004, bossanovasf.com

Cantina, 580 Sutter St. (near Mason), San Francisco; (415) 398-0195, cantinasf.com

Canto do Brasil, 41 Franklin St. (near Oak), San Francisco; (415) 626-8727

Destino, 1815 Market St. (near Guerrero), San Francisco; (415) 552-4451, destinosf.com

Espetus, 1686 Market St. (at Gough), San Francisco; (415) 552-8792, espetus.com

Camper English is a freelance cocktails and spirits writer and publisher of Alcademics.com.

National Vodka Day is October 4

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

7 reasons to celebrate National Vodka Day

Because vodka is by definition tasteless and minute differences in flavor don't make up for massive differences in shelf prices charged for it, spirits snobs tend to dismiss the whole category. But let's take a minute to reflect on the good things about vodka as we celebrate National Vodka Day on Thursday, Oct. 4:

-- It mixes with anything, so it's easy to use. Even amateur mixologists can make farmers' market cocktails with vodka, soda and the muddled fruit of the day.

-- No Jagermeister breath.

-- Cosmopolitans, Moscow mules, lemon drops, white Russians, madras, bay breezes, Bloody Marys: Yum.

-- The marketing of vodka provides no end to amusement. Carbonated, caffeinated, sold in a bong? Yep, we've seen those.

-- You don't have to think too hard about pairing it to bring out the subtle aromas of coriander and fennel. Just add juice. It works.

-- Some of the flavored vodkas are actually pretty terrific.

-- Not only does vodka not stain when you spill it on the rug, it can be used as a stain remover. Take that, wine!

Hip Tastes Review

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

Is that a sommelier in your pocket?

This Thursday is the release of local "personal sommelier" and wine-tasting party host Courtney Cochran's first book, "Hip Tastes: The Fresh Guide to Wine" (Viking Studio, $18.95). The surprisingly practical wine tutorial for newbies and reference for shoppers is broken into memorable one-point paragraphs. (Perhaps a more appropriate title would have been "Wine: The Short Answers.")

Mixed in with the overview are useful solutions to modern dilemmas like what to drink when all the wine is lousy at the business reception (white, with a couple ice cubes), what to pair with Mexican food (depends on whether you're getting the carnitas), and how to shop for it online (try not to order anything in the peak of summer).

She keeps the endless lists of beginner-befuddling producers, regions, and French vocabulary out of the main text (so you can focus on the whys rather than the whats) and includes her recommendations instead in the Appendix, along with the pronunciation guide we may not admit we really want.

The website for the book is here.

Wait, Kuleto's?

In a very surprising move, classic Italian restaurant Kuleto's in SF's Union Square launched the city's first all-organic cocktail menu. By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

What is likely San Francisco's first all-organic cocktail menu popped up in a very unlikely place - Kuleto's, the Italian restaurant in Union Square. The seven drinks on the menu are made with organic vodka, rum, gin, Tequila and Scotch, mixers, fruits, juices, syrups and even garnishes. Most are familiar drinks - cosmos, mojitos, lemon drops and margaritas - but you won't find a martini or Manhattan because nobody seems to make an organic vermouth. The bar does serve non-organic drinks aplenty, but you'll have to order off the menu for those.

221 Powell St. (at O'Farrell), San Francisco; (415) 397-7720.

All bar hands on deck

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

All bar hands on deck The problem with cocktail recipe books is they get all sticky when you bring them into the kitchen. The problem with fun-sized, plastic-coated cocktail recipes is that the recipes are usually overly sweet and taste terrible. Finally someone figured out a sensible solution- a cocktail card deck with recipes from one of the most respected books on the market: Dale DeGroff's "The Craft of the Cocktail." The 50 tabbed cards in "The Craft of the Cocktail Deck" ($14.95, Potter Style), feature a drink on the front and the recipe on the back and are divided into tabbed sections for Martinis, Inspired Classics, DeGroff's Signature Classics and Frozen Cocktails. The margarita is unfortunately placed in the latter category but the cards are not laminated so cocktail snobs can black out the phrase, "Combine all ingredients in a blender."

Caliente Cocktails

Here's a recent story I wrote for San Francisco Magazine about Latin cocktail bars, and in particular Cantina. I am known to spend some time drinking there on occasion.

Popular Singles

Roll out the single-barrel Bay Area watering holes snap up bottlings of exclusive whiskeys Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, September 7, 2007 The Cigar Bar & Grill in Jackson Square in San Francisco serves a Manhattan you can't get anywhere else, as it's made with the restaurant's exclusive 10-year-old bourbon. Harris' Restaurant and Nopa have exclusive bourbon, too, as does T-Rex Barbecue in Berkeley. None of these watering holes have stills in their backyards to produce their own spirits, but they each serve a different barrel of whiskey.

Most whiskeys are blends of dozens of different barrels, sometimes fewer if they're "small batch" whiskeys. The distillery's master blender mixes barrels together to achieve the desired flavor profile consistent with previous batches.

In the past few years, the master blender has had slightly less work to do, as single-barrel bottlings have become popular. In these bottlings, a barrel of exceptionally high quality (or an exceptionally old one) is put into bottles and labeled on its own. The resultant bottles are usually sold to multiple liquor stores, bars and restaurants, but increasingly, distilleries have begun promoting single-barrel bottlings to individual customers.

Read the rest of my story in today's Chronicle here.

Wine Month vs. Bourbon Month

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

It's going to be a wet September this year. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared it California Wine Month, while the U.S. Senate calls it National Bourbon Heritage Month. The Senate may have been too busy with other matters to notice that specifying bourbon instead of American whiskey fails to recognize Jack Daniel's or even the rye whiskey made by George Washington at Mount Vernon. On the other hand, that's less liquor you'd be obligated to drink out of Californian/American pride. As a compromise between the competing beverage agendas, you may wish to use September to partake in some local wine events (californiawinemonth.com) while making plans for a trip on the American Whiskey Trail (americanwhiskeytrail.com) for a vacation - perhaps around President's Day.

Caliente Cocktails

In September's San Francisco Magazine I have a story on Cantina, a bar I may have mentioned here once or two hundred times already, as part of the Latin cocktail trend. The story isn't online, so run screaming to your local newsstand to pick up the new issue.

Moonshine By the Bay

Bay Area home distillers make modern-day moonshine Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, August 24, 2007

Moonshiners live among us. By day they appear to be respectable members of society, perhaps writing software to make your Internet experience run smoothly. But at night and on weekends, after a visit to the farmers' market or a nice brunch, they work in secret, sterilizing equipment, taking specific gravity and temperature measurements, and waiting impatiently as their illegal hooch drip, drip, drips out of tiny stills.

" 'Illegal' is such a judgmental word," jokes Doug (not his real name), who makes moonshine along with his friend Ron (also not his real name) at Ron's house in the Upper Haight.

The two have been distilling for less than a year. "We started home brewing, then we got into 'advanced brewing,' as we like to say to the neighbors," Ron says.

read the story here.

The book I refer to in the story is this one- Moonshine! by Matthew Rowley. It combines moonshine lore and history with tons of practical advice for building your own still and making your own booze.

Hey, My Bartender's On TV!

By me, in today's SF Chronicle:

"Great Cocktails," a new show on the Fine Living Network, features some great bartenders we think you'll recognize: Jeff Hollinger of Absinthe, Duggan McDonnell of Cantina, Matt Kahn of Cigar Bar and Grill, Zachary Morlock of Frisson (now at Bacar and Ambassador), and even Chronicle cocktail columnist Gary Regan make appearances. So do other mixologists from around the country, popping up in short segments on simple topics like giving a toast and throwing a theme party. Most of the local bars on the show don't have televisions so you'll have to watch them from home, pretending the drinks you're having there are as good as what the pros mix. See fineliving.com for showtimes

Pink Margarita

I am going to be writing about cocktails and spirits in a monthly column on Gay.com and PlanetOut.com. My first one is just an intro to tequila and margaritas than you can either read here or here.

Distillers are the new rock stars

A blurb by me in today's San Francisco Chronicle:

Next big thing: Tequila bottle signings Camper English Friday, August 10, 2007

Further evidence that distillers are the new rock stars: Carlos Camarena, owner and third-generation master distiller of El Tesoro Tequila, will be in town next week to sign autographs. The distillery recently launched a limited edition 7-year-old El Tesoro Anniversario tequila in celebration of its 70th anniversary. Camarena will sign bottles of the product at the John Walker & Company liquor store (175 Sutter St., at Kearny, San Francisco; 415-986-2707) from 4 to 5 p.m. Wednesday. Bottles may be purchased at the store for about $185 or you can bring your own should you happen to have one sitting around. Then follow the tour to a Q&A session and discussion with Camarena about the history of El Tesoro from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at nearby Cantina (580 Sutter St., at Mason, San Francisco; 415-398-0195) the same day.

Jam On It

By me, in today's San Francisco Chronicle:

Jammin' cocktails Camper English Friday, August 3, 2007

With mixologists around town focusing on farmers' market fruits and fresh herbs, we wouldn't have guessed the hot new cocktail ingredients would be marmalade and jam. But we don't make the trends, just report on them.

-- Bar Drake, the new lobby bar in the Sir Francis Drake hotel that opened last month, serves the Tommy Gun with Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey, Grand Marnier, apricot jam, lemon juice and fresh ginger, and the Breakfast at Tiffany's cocktail with Ketel One Citroen, orange marmalade, orange bitters, fresh lime juice and ginger beer. And since the bar opens at 11 a.m., you can actually have it for breakfast. 450 Powell St. (at Sutter), San Francisco; (415) 392-7755, Ext. 226, bardrake.com.

-- Cantina serves a Marmalade Cooler that sounds like a Latin version of the Breakfast at Tiffany's, with Appleton rum, Bonne Maman orange marmalade, lemon and California ginger brew. Since these venues are close to each other, it only makes sense to visit both and compare. 580 Sutter St. (at Mason), San Francisco; (415) 398-0195, cantinasf.com.

-- The Marmalade Whiskey Sour has been on the menu at Bourbon & Branch since it opened last year, and the bar is only a few blocks from these other two venues should you feel motivated to go on a marmalade bar crawl. The drink is made with bourbon, lemon, orange marmalade and orange bitters. 501 Jones St. (at O'Farrell), San Francisco; bourbonandbranch.com.

-- Sino Restaurant at Santana Row currently offers two unusual drinks with their house ginger marmalade in the mix. One is Seduction, with Smirnoff vodka, Vermeer chocolate liqueur and ginger marmalade, and the other is the Sinodriver, with Wasabe vodka, orange juice and ginger marmalade. The drink menu is scheduled to change soon and we don't know if these drinks will still be on the new list, so get them while they're hot. 377 Santana Row, Suite 1000, San Jose; (408) 247-8880, www.sinorestaurant.com.

The New Clubs (Are Actually Bars)

I received the latest copy of San Francisco Magazine in the mail today, in which I have a story on the latest trend in nightlife- retro-opulent design bars with demoted dancefloors. In San Francisco, some of the hot new spots opened recently are:

• Harlot (Bordello theme)
• Slide (Speakeasy theme)
• Etiquette (Victorian-bondage theme)
• Ambassador (Rat Pack theme)

Another interesting note is venues that are more crowded and clubby, such as Harlot and Etiquette, have a specialty cocktail menu at happy hour that they then hide at night when there isn't time for muddling and squeezing fresh juice.

Bay Area bartenders earn toasts at New Orleans cocktail event

Bay Area bartenders earn toasts at New Orleans cocktail event Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, July 27, 2007 We like to think our bartenders and their drink creations are extraordinary here in the Bay Area. Last weekend at the Tales of the Cocktail event held in New Orleans, we found validation that it's not just too many Negronis triggering our hometown pride -- the Bay Area's bartenders are finally getting respect at the national level.

In its fifth year, the Tales of the Cocktail conference celebrates the history of cocktails in New Orleans and the practice of making them around the world. Though open to the public, the event is heavily attended by people in the beverage industry, from small-city bartenders on up to major spirits distributors. Approximately 12,000 people were at the event July 18 to 22.

Esquire magazine cocktail correspondent and historian David Wondrich, who gave several talks at Tales of the Cocktail, said: "In San Francisco (the bars) tend to have that neighborhoody feel but they specialize much more in cocktails. It's like cocktail culture never went away."

Read it here.

Eau my goodness

By me in today's SF Chronicle:

St. George Spirits, the Alameda distillers behind Hangar One Vodka and several eaux-de-vie, liqueurs and one whiskey, have launched another small bottling with big flavor. Aqua Perfecta Basil Eau de Vie is made with Thai and other varieties of basil, soaked in unaged California grape brandy and redistilled. The product, which sells for $50 at the distillery (and in a few other venues soon) was launched July 14 and is a "refined accompaniment to caviar" according to the press release. The bold basil flavor is rather potent right out of the bottle and should make for some savory cocktails like the suggested Thai Fighter with lime juice and ginger simple syrup.

Available at the distillery, 2601 Monarch St. (at Alameda Point, the old Naval Air Station), Alameda; (510) 769-1601, or online at stgeorgespirits.com.

Update from St. George Spirits:

-The $50 price was a promotional thing for the open house, $65 is the regular price. -For now it will only be available in 6 bars, no liquor stores except ours.

Boutique Tonic Water

Finally my tonic water story came out in today's SF Chronicle:

The Evolution of Tonic Water In the quest to make better cocktails, today's bartenders rethink each ingredient in a drink and try to improve it -- from the cheap, mass-produced version, to a higher-quality version, to the artisan version, to the locally made artisan version, and finally to the homemade version.

We've seen this with spirits (from Tanqueray to 209 Gin) and juices (from bottled juice to locally grown fruit). But until a few years ago, nobody had given too much thought to tonic water.

This bitter, sweetened, carbonated quinine-based beverage is an odd mixer. Unlike soda it's rarely consumed alone, and unlike juices and seltzer water it's rarely an ingredient in more complex cocktail recipes. Most of the time, tonic is served only with gin or vodka and a wedge of lemon or lime as garnish.

In the average bar, tonic comes spitting out of the "gun," the squirter that mixes flavored syrup with seltzer water as it shoots into your glass. But now many venues pour boutique-brand tonic and other sodas from bottles. One venue even makes it in-house.

Read the full article here.

Wine-Finished Bourbon

Another piece by me in today's Chronicle:

Bourbon with a Chardonnay chaser

Over in Scotland, wood-finished whiskies are all the rage. Most Scotch ages for years in barrels that previously held bourbon or sherry, and recently several distillers have been transferring the whisky in its final years to barrels that held Port, Madeira or Burgundy, where it picks up additional flavors. Now American whiskey producers are giving it a try.

Jim Beam released Port and Cognac-finished whiskies several years ago as part of their Distillers' Masterpiece collection. This month, Woodford Reserve bourbon is rolling out a limited-edition Master's Collection Sonoma-Cutrer finished whiskey that first aged for five years in new charred American oak barrels, then four more months in used Sonoma-Cutrer French oak Chardonnay wine barrels from which it picks up more fruit and citrus notes. It's available in California stores for $89.99.

-- Camper English

Summer camp- at a special discount

In today's Chronicle:

Summer camp for cocktail drinkers

The Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay hosts a Mixology Weekend Aug. 3-5 as part of its "Inside the Kitchen" summer series. The hotel offer five 2-hour courses taught by some of the Bay Areas best bartenders -- Thad Vogler (Jardiniere), Todd Smith (Bourbon & Branch), Scott Beattie (Cyrus), Greg Lindgren (Rye), and David Nepove (Southern Wine & Spirits, pictured at right).

Each session tackles a different topic ranging from Farm-Fresh Cocktails to the Spirits of Latin America, and all classes include hands-on cocktail-mixing instruction for several drinks.

Students can attend courses a la carte for $95 per class, or buy them all for $460. That's not cheap, but each class is limited to 14 students and includes free bar tools. With the skills learned, you might consider it a savings plan to reduce your future bar tab. Book early to ensure a spot at www.insidethekitchen.net.

-- Camper English

BONUS: They've allowed me to offer a discount! Alcademics readers get $10 off any of the classes at Mixology Weekend- just enter "cheers" as the promo code when you sign up at www.insidethekitchen.net. I'll be there attending at least one of the events.

The all-star edition

Today's SF Chronicle Wine section is doing a baseball theme for the all-star game. I contributed a quick item on flasks.

Sipping suds at the ballpark

Deceptive device? Sensible packing? You decide. Like a CamelBak worn backward, the Beerbelly (see photo) is a convenient and (optionally) incognito pouch that mimics the bloated paunch on the outside that you'll develop for real after drinking its contents. It might be equally useful for holding cold beer on hot days watching a baseball game as it is for carrying hot chocolate on chilly nights in the kayak outside the park waiting for home runs. $34.95 at thebeerbelly.com.

If you prefer to pad another area, but don't want to haul a seat cushion and three unwieldy cans of beer to the game, you can put the beer in the cushion and carry it all with one handle. The Sippin' Seat comes in five colors, and when you're not drinking out of it you can fill it with air for extra padding. $24.99 at www.cellphoneflasks.com/sippinseat.html.

-- Camper English

Please Update Your Browsers

I've created a new website for my booze writing separate from the personal stuff on cramper.com- but you're welcome to read both. This blog is moving (and will be dead here) so you'll need to follow the link. This will be the last post here. Please redirect your browsers to my new site: alcademics.com

I'm full of it

"It" meaning "ideas" instead of "liquor" for a change. I'm trying to scrounge up some story assignments, as I need a lot more work to pay the bills here at Camper HQ. (If you happen to be an editor paying a decent per-word rate, call me, k?) I've had a rash of story ideas based on recent travels and press releases and upcoming events and breaking news. As a writer I'm always trying to identify a theme or trend or extract useful information from my experiences, then pitch them to magazines and newspapers. In the past two days I've sent out 13 story pitches to editors and heard back on 3 of them. (They answer the no's fairly quickly). It should be noted that simultaneous pitches are not allowed, so these are 13 distinct story ideas in addition to the probably ten other pitches I'm still waiting to hear back on from the past several months. That's not an excessive amount of pitches to have out, since nobody is paying me very well, but it is a lot to keep track of. In any case, the point it this: I've been doing a lot of really good thinking over the past week about booze but I can't share any of it until I hear back that my pitches were not accepted and I know I can't get paid for it. What you're getting here on this blog is the writing that I can't sell, along with a lot of information I post as I learn it. Perhaps one day I'll be the world's first independent online cocktail journalist (if you're a high-paying sponsor, call me, k?), but for now I have to hold out a little bit. It's hard, because I like to talk a lot.

Imbibe Me

The new issue of Imbibe is out, and it's wonderful as always. There are stories on lemonade, a rare amaro, rose wines, a channel knife test, tea cocktails, seltzer water, vintage cocktail ingredients, Peru and pisco, wine-collecting obsessives, beer for BBQ, coffee roasting, how to throw a spirit tasting party (written by me!), sangria, and mead. Mead! Go. Subscribe. Now.

Bitter Summer in San Francisco

I wrote a piece for the July issue of San Francisco Magazine about the city's summer love for Italian bitter aperitifs and digestifs that you can find here, though in the print edition it's in groovy chart format and they didn't omit the Aperol row. I also wrote about our two San Francisco-distilled gins in the Best of the Bay section. Check me out!

New Infusions

In today's Chronicle, I have a short trendicle about the new infusions. It's no longer about infusing one ingredient in vodka. Now to impress bar patrons you either need to infuse the modifying ingredient like the vermouth, infuse an unusual spirit like cachaca, or add a whole salad's worth of ingredients to your infusion jar.

Infusions 2.0

Remember when a jar full of vodka with lemons floating in it was enough to make you ooh and aah? These days, bartenders have reclaimed their counter space for commercially flavored vodkas, but that doesn't mean that infused liquor has gone away. Homemade infusions, though often kept out of sight, are now more complex and subtle than the old ones.

-- At Etiquette, bartenders infuse bourbon with vanilla and spices in the Manhattan, cachaca with pineapple in the Brazilian Tease, and sun-dried tomatoes, three kinds of peppercorns and celery in the Garden Vodka, which is then poured into a dirty Garden of Etiquette Martini with a salt and pepper rim. 1108 Market St., San Francisco, (415) 869-8779.

-- The signature Americano cocktail at Americano restaurant calls for chai-infused sweet vermouth along with Campari, soda water and an orange slice. 8 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 278-3777; www.americanorestaurant.com.

-- The Mission's Elixir uses rose hip-infused vodka, along with elderflower liqueur, Cointreau and lime juice in the delightfully dry Eldersour. 3200 16th St., San Francisco, (415) 552-1633; www.elixirsf.com.

-- Vegetarian temple Millennium recently infused bourbon with peach for use in an old-fashioned. They'll also be using cherries in that drink, as well as infusing them into a cherry brandy. And there's also a a chocolate mint-infused vodka that is mixed with a vegan version of Bailey's. 580 Geary St., San Francisco, (415) 345-3900; www.millenniumrestaurant.com.

-- Camper English

Expired Link

Here's something small I wrote for Friday's SF Chronicle, so most of it has already happened.

Tips for tipplers on surviving Pride weekend

1. He who stays out too late on Pink Saturday won't wake up in time to do her makeup on Pride Sunday.

2. The Civic Center celebration is a perfect venue for food and drink pairing if you remember this simple advice: Beer in a plastic cup always goes with food on a stick.

3. Like parades but don't feel like marching? Grab an outdoor seat at Ti Couz or another restaurant on 16th Street and enjoy a cocktail as the Dyke March goes by sometime after 7 p.m. Saturday.

4. Appletini, way out. Pomegranate, in. Try a splash of pomegranate juice or liqueur in Champagne at your pre-Pride party brunch.

5. The Trans March is on Friday. Celebrate with beer before liquor or liquor before beer. It's all good.

6. Money spent on beer at Pride booths goes back into the community. So drink responsibly but tip wildly.

7. Especially if they're hot.

-- Camper English

And for the new father...

Another small thing by me in today's Chronicle:

Father's little helper

Fatherhood is a lot of work. First you have to help make the baby, then you have to sit around and wait for nine months until it's ready to play with. After all that effort, new dads deserve a refreshing cocktail, and since there are extra hands around the house, it's about time baby started pitching in. "Baby Mix Me a Drink" ($9; McSweeney's), a 12-page board book from San Francisco resident Lisa Brown, will help Baby start to identify shapes and colors such as olives and red vermouth. Good baby!

-- C.E.

For the Father With (Almost) Everything

Small piece I have in today's Chronicle:

For the dad who has almost everything

It's a touch pricey for a Hallmark holiday gift, but consider this: Father's Day is on Sunday and National Martini Day is on Tuesday. That's two birds you can kill with one stone, and by stone we mean a $440 silver-plated cocktail shaker set packaged in baby blue Tiffany's-esque boxes. The Ercuis brand two-piece shakers and Hawthorne strainers were imported from Vienna by former Enrico's bartender David Nepove, a.k.a. Mr. Mojito, who now sells them online at MisterMojito.com. Unfortunately the shakers do not come with the magic power to transform every drink made in them to the finest cocktail in the world, so we recommend you also send Dad's butler a gift certificate for bartending school.

-- Camper English

Sweetness and Spice

A trend piece by me in today's SF Chroncile:

Sweetness and spice

Cocktails in the city these days will taunt you with hotness then leave you cool -- just like some Internet dates. But at least these chile-spiked drinks give you a good buzz for the bus ride home.

-- Farmer Brown serves up a creamy Mango Margarita Mango with Tequila, mango puree, lime juice, agave nectar and cayenne salt around the rim. Often the bar serves a spicy watermelon variation as well. 25 Mason St., San Francisco; (415) 409-3276, farmerbrownsf.com

-- The base ingredients of the Agua Caliente at Rye (invented by Jackie Patterson of Le Colonial) are also Tequila, mango puree and lime; but this drink has triple sec and a dash of Campari beneath the chile rim. 688 Geary St., San Francisco; (415) 474-4448

-- At Poleng Lounge, hot Thai chile peppers and dry green tea are muddled with cooling cucumber, mint and vodka in the signature Po'my Leng cocktail to make the hot and cold ingredients battle for dominance in your mouth. 1751 Fulton St., San Francisco; (415) 441-1710, polenglounge.com

-- The Gunpowder Cocktail at Presidio Social Club is merely a gin gimlet (gin, lime juice, simple syrup), with a sprinkle of cayenne powder on top, served in a martini glass. Drink it and your date will call you "hot lips." 563 Ruger St., San Francisco; (415) 885-1888, presidiosocialclub.com.

-- Last week, the winning cocktail in Harry Denton's Starlight Room's cocktail contest joined the menu. The Pink Cream Soda (invented by Todd Smith of Bourbon & Branch) tastes like its name, with rosé Champagne, guava, lemon and vanilla syrup, but it's the muddled jalapeno pepper at the bottom that really makes it interesting. Sir Francis Drake Hotel, 450 Powell St., San Francisco; (415) 395-8595, harrydenton.com.

Biofuel Blows Your Drinking Budget

A short piece by me in today's SF Chronicle:

Biofuel blows drink budget

Cleaner-burning biofuels made from agricultural crops may be a more environmentally sound way to deliver energy than fossil fuels, but they may also drive up the price of your favorite adult beverage.

In news stories released last week, we learned of two examples where raw materials for drinkable alcohol are being replaced by crops to produce non-potable ethanol.

The Associated Press reports that in Germany, farmers are abandoning barley in favor of subsidized crops for biofuels. Thus barley prices have doubled in the past two years, and the increased cost of the raw materials is now being passed along to beer drinkers.

In Mexico, Reuters reports a similar phenomenon. A current glut in the agave market has inspired some growers to burn their fields and plant corn to meet U.S. demand for ethanol instead. While it doesn't appear that current Tequila prices have been raised, agave can take up to eight years to mature, so the next decade could see a shortage.

As if you needed another reason to stock up.

Online Bartenders

Probably not news to regular blog readers, but here is a short thing I had in today's Chronicle:

Cocktail experts mix it up online

Most of the bartending videos on sites like YouTube are poorly executed cocktail pouring demonstrations or useless tips like how to mix up a Scotch on the rocks. But in with all the bad advice, you can find a few experts to trust.

Robert Hess of DrinkBoy.com has a show called the Cocktail Spirit airing on SmallScreenNetwork.com that mixes his extensive knowledge of cocktail history with bartending advice, taking eight minutes to make a Champagne cocktail because of all the talking.

And if you've been missing local bartender Alberta Straub after her departure from the Orbit Room, you can find her online at CocktailsOnTheFly.tv. She brings the same kooky attitude and complicated recipes to videos that she did in person behind the bar, so you can watch her demonstrate making the hibiscus-flavored juice she prefers to cranberry, or yelling "There's no such thing as an appletini!" while repeatedly slamming the citrus press against the cutting board.

-- Camper English

I have Stuff in Stuff

Run screaming to your local newsstand and pick up the June issue of Stuff Magazine. You'll know it because of the scantily clad woman on the cover. Rip out all the pages until 56, where you'll see the latest riveting piece of cocktail journalism by Camper English. Now, you won't see the name Camper English anywhere on the page because they're not about bylines (just tan lines), but that's me all right. The "article" is Yoga Pose, Drink, or Sex Position? Play along at home, but you'll have to buy the magazine (or, you know, discuss in the comments) to find the answers. Yoga Pose, Drink Name, or Sex Position?

1. Zombie
2. Corpse
3. Downward-Facing Dog
4. Suffering Bastard
5. Throat Swab
6. Mudslide
7. Thunderbolt
8. Reverse Cowgirl
9. Wheelbarrow
10. Sleeping Beauty
11. Warrior
12. Bulldog

What I like to do for fun, since I know all the answers (not that I do yoga- I looked it up) is try to imagine what the drink recipe would be if it had one of the sex or yoga names. (Maybe the Reverse Cowgirl would be a Coors Light followed by a shot of bourbon.) But you probably shouldn't play the game in the other direction unless you want to imagine a sex position called the Mudslide...

Whiskey is Out

In the June issue of Out Magazine (I don't know why it hits newsstands 3 weeks early) I have a story on whiskey. It's sort of about how to use whiskey in drinks, pairing it with food, and tasting notes on wood-finished whiskies. Those include the Glenmorangie Burgundy, Bushmill's Single Malt 16 year, Compass Box Oak Cross, Balvenie Doublewood, and Macallan Fine Oak 17. (Note: all yummy.) It also has the recipe for Nihon's Apple Mack. Pick it up!

New reasons to Imbibe

Hooray! The latest issue of Imbibe Magazine arrived in the mail today. I love this month's issue even more than the last one, because I'm in it. I have two short articles- one on buy-your-own barrel whiskey programs, and another on antique cocktail book collections. Beyond that, this issue has stories on:

• The gin rickey
• Bloody Mary mixes
• Cachaca
• Beachbum Berry
• Fresh ingredient cocktails for summer
• The wines (and port) of Portugal
• Happening coffee scenes
• Urban winemaking
• American Lagers
• Public wine storage facilities
• Making your own bitters

Because this wonderful magazine must never, ever go out of existence, please go subscribe to it now.

Drinking with Tony

In today's Chronicle:

Mix it up with a video bartender

In the age of YouTube and other online video sites, you can find a lot of free drink mixing advice in live action form. Unfortunately, much of it is bad advice. (Google "How not to make a mint julep" for a spectacular example.) On the other hand, if you're willing to shell out twenty bucks for the new DVD "Modern Mixology," you may actually learn something useful. Tony Abou-Ganim, who spent time at Jack Slick's Balboa Cafe and helped open Harry Denton's Starlight Room before going on to host "Raising the Bar: America's Best Bar Chefs" on the Fine Living Network, leads this slick video production with a smooth jazz soundtrack. While most how-to-bartend demonstrations cite the recipe and pour the drink at a hyperspeed bartender pace, an eager Abou-Ganim takes his time and focuses on mixing styles, garnish techniques, and product education while reviewing 20-plus classic cocktails.

$19.95 at www.modernmixologydvd.com

-- C.E.

Beer Pong

As listed in today's Chronicle:

The Wrath of Pong

Saturday from noon to 4 p.m., Jillian's in San Francisco will host an "athletic drinking event" that will surely change the image of beer consumers as lazy frat boys standing around chugging brew out of big plastic cups. Instead, the brave warriors participating in the HeyLetsGo.com Beer Pong-A-Thon will stand around a table and throw pingpong balls into big plastic cups filled with beer, and then drink the beer. Four simultaneous games will be projected onto 50-foot flat-screen televisions, and winners get two tickets to Vegas to watch the World Series of Beer Pong -- which should add the necessary drama to the event. Given that the losing team drinks more than the winning one, the thrill of victory will be shared by all.

Jillian's, 101 Fourth St. (at Howard, inside the Metreon), San Francisco; (415) 369-6100. Spectators pay $15 at the door. To register, at $60 per team of two, go to www.heyletsgo.com/beerpong.

-- Camper English

An actually good liquor website

In today's SF Chronicle, I have this short write-up:

Bay Area bartenders invade the Interweb

Most spirits Web sites are a mess of Flash animation and overly loud house music that you can't turn off, but the relaunched Roth Vodka Web site is actually kind of cool. It stars many of the Bay Area bartenders we know and love, including Greg Lindgren from Rye (pictured at right), Jonny Raglin (Absinthe), Martin Cate (Forbidden Island), and Nicole Burke (Garibaldi's), in hundreds of short videos wherein they demonstrate recipes and drink preparation techniques. Because there is a lot of overlap in topics, it's great fun to watch bartenders with contrasting opinions, such as the nine bartenders who justify their muddler of choice or Zack Morlock (Frisson) dismissing "Ice is ice" while Dominic Venegas (Range) says, "It's the backbone to a drink." Stalk your favorite bartender at www.rothvodka.com.

Check out the site- you can spend hours on there. It's great that they don't hit you over the head with product placement. And for those of us struggling to make proper drinks at home, hearing bartenders disagree with each other on techniques and recipes makes you feel a lot less stupid.

Tasting Tequila at Tommy's Mexican

Mastering Tequila, One Glass at a Time

Camper English, Special to The Chronicle

Friday, February 23, 2007

Tommy's Mexican Restaurant, with a mere 275 bottles squeezed onto its shelves, no longer has the largest selection of 100 percent blue agave Tequila outside of Mexico, but likely has the most Tequila-savvy clientele. The restaurant's Blue Agave tasting club is the nation's largest, with more than 6,000 members -- not too shabby considering the restaurant is located out in San Francisco's avenues and the bar has only nine stools.

The club began around 1989, according to beverage manager Julio Bermejo, who runs the family restaurant with his father Tommy, mother and two sisters. Bermejo got the idea for the tasting club while at UC Berkeley, when he frequented Raleigh's, a bar with a beer-drinking club.

He started the Blue Agave Club a bit later, but says that, at first, "it wasn't taken seriously at all."

The rest of the story is here.

My story in today's Chronicle talks about Tommy's famous tequila tasting club. Going into it I knew that there was no discount for being in the club, and in fact you have to pay to join, so I couldn't figure out why anyone would actually do it.

As the story hopefully shows, Julio Bermejo has created a warm environment conducive to learning about tequila from people who are also in the program above you. It's a mentoring community of tequila drinkers on Monday and Wednesday nights, where you pay for drinks but get the information for free. Now that I've been there I get it- and have my own tequila club card to prove it- but I sure wish it weren't so darn far away.

Update: The first line in the story said that Tommy's no longer carries the largest selection of 100% blue agave Tequila in the country, but I didn't have space to say why that is. This is from the Tommy's website by Julio Bermejo:

The article also mentioned that Tommy's no longer has the largest selection of 100% agave Tequila in the U.S. This is true. What I say is that we carry the best selection of legally imported 100% agave tequila in the U.S. How can this be? Well, first we refuse to play the game of carrying every single 100% agave Tequila available. We have seen many people try this approach and sooner than later they revert to carrying only the best products they can get. As most of you know, there are many distilleries that put out a plethora of Tequila labels. I refuse to carry seventy products from 1 producer whom I believe to only make mediocre products. Our list continues to have at least 30 selections that are no longer made that none of our competitors can get. Tommy's continues to be the premier Tequila bar on Earth. We are grateful the Tequila industry holds us in such high esteem and we are flattered that all of our competitors come to Tommy's to learn about Tequila!

Bitters are in Out

My latest piece for Out Magazine should be hitting newsstands about now. I wrote about the revival of bitters, what they can do for your drinks, and reviewed the major brands. It's a solid cocktail article that could go in any magazine, so it's cool Out doesn't require a gay angle to get printed. Pick up a copy, and don't be shy about telling the editors how much you love it!

Drinking for Two

(In Today's San Francisco Chronicle) Love Potions For Two

Dipping straws into a shared cocktail isn't the most romantic way to celebrate Valentine's Day, especially given the kitschy reputation of extra-large drinks. Yet some bartenders are trying to show that extra-big doesn't have to mean extra-bad.

The best known cocktail for two or (for the polyamorous) more is the scorpion bowl. The tropical drink, simply a fruit and rum punch in an oversized bowl with straws, is a popular leftover from the tiki food and drink fad that first swept America beginning in the 1930s. It's sometimes presented in a ceramic scorpion bowl with a volcano in the middle that's filled with a high-proof spirit and ignited -- a volatile combination that no doubt contributes to its enduring appeal.

The story goes on to discuss to origin of the scorpion bowl (Trader Vic's), what different people do with it, and why Forbidden Island does them right. We include the recipe for the popular Fugu for Two, shown in the picture.

Read the rest of the story here.

I wrote the story with Valentines Day in mind, and we made sure to include where else you can get shared cocktails. That way, you can skip the whole dinner aspect of the holiday, get drunk on jumbo cocktails, and go screw. Double the pleasure

A few bars offering drinks for two or more:

Betelnut. Scorpion bowl. 2030 Union St. (at Buchanan), S.F.; (415) 929-8855.

Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge. Multiple tropical drinks. 1304 Lincoln Ave. (at Sherman), Alameda; (510) 749-0332.

Lingba Lounge. Bowl of Monkeys. 1469 18th St. (at Connecticut), S.F.; (415) 355-0001.

Luna Park, Volcanic scorpion bowl, Make Your Own Passion (Valentine's Day only). 694 Valencia St. (near 18th Street), S.F; (415) 553-8584.

Poleng Lounge. Emperor's Cup. 751 Fulton St. (at Masonic), S.F.; (415) 441-1710.

Ponzu. Godzilla. 401 Taylor St. (at O'Farrell), S.F.; (415) 775-7979.

Tonga Room. Multiple tropical drinks. 950 Mason St. (inside the Fairmont Hotel), S.F. (415) 772-5278.

Trad'r Sam's. Multiple tropical drinks. 6150 Geary Blvd. (at 26th Avenue), S.F.; (415) 221-0773.

Trader Vic's. Multiple tropical drinks. 9 Anchor Drive (at Powell), Emeryville; (510) 653-3400. 555 Golden Gate Ave. (near Van Ness), S.F.; (415) 775- 6300. 4269 El Camino Real (at Dinah's Garden Court), Palo Alto; (650) 849-9800.

The Bitters Truth

Reinventing bitters House-made concoctions give cocktails a signature spin

Camper English, Special to the Chronicle

Friday, January 19, 2007

Bitters, the cocktail flavoring agent once considered a crucial ingredient in drinks, fell out of favor after Prohibition. Though a few brands like Angostura and Peychaud's have been continually produced since their inception, most bitters makers closed up shop long ago.

With the recent classic cocktail revival, bartenders and home mixologists have renewed interest in the ingredient. Bartender Jennifer Colliau of San Francisco's Slanted Door says, "It may be that we've run out of ways to infuse vodka. Now there are more people who are interested in booze that tastes like booze. (Bitters) alter the flavor of the liquor but in an aromatic way, rather than adding sugar or acidity -- lemon or lime juice -- or adding a mixer like soda."

The classic Sazerac calls for Peychaud's bitters, the Manhattan and old-fashioned cocktails require Angostura, and an early version of the martini (now making a big comeback) requires orange bitters. With a variety of bitters to use, bartenders can put subtle spins on well-worn cocktails by swapping in one flavor of bitters for another. They can also use bitters in new cocktails to form a bridge between ingredients that don't align perfectly on their own.

Only a few brands of bitters have come on the market in recent years, including new fruit flavors from Fee Brothers and Chronicle Cocktailian columnist Gary Regan's Orange Bitters No. 6. But these and other sought-after bitters like the European brand Bitter Truth can be hard to find in the Bay Area, forcing consumers to call around or order the products online.

read the rest of the story here. When I was writing this story it was the holiday season and all the bitters were sold out around town. I was able to find several flavors of Fee Brothers' bitters at Plumpjack wines in Noe Valley, and I spoke with Domenic Venegas who works at John Walker & Sons downtown (as well as bartends at Bourbon & Branch and at Range). He says that they carry Regan's, the Fee Brothers' line, Angostura, Peychaud, and will be getting in the Bitter Truth bitters as well as some other European ones shortly. That might be your best bet for buying them in San Francisco. You can also buy bitters directly from the manufacturers. (Regan's are on the Buffalo Trace website.)

Booze for Gays

My first story on booze for Out Magazine is in the February issue, hitting newsstands soon. I just finished a second assignment for them and have a third due on Monday. In the February issue I talk about sake, the misunderstood beverage. The story relays the basic facts and fallacies about sake and tells you what to look for when you order it in restaurants. They put my picture on the contributors page but cut out my quote about how I want to make the Sour Apple Martini illegal. The gays would probably take offence to that, but that's why I'm writing this column- they need to learn that sweet and fruity are so last century. Now it's all about sour and bitter. Finally, drinks to match my attitude.

Hair of the Dog

For hangovers, bartenders prefer the 'hair of the dog'

Camper English, Special to The Chronicle

Friday, December 29, 2006

Most readers will glance at the following two sentences and ignore the advice in them, so perhaps it's best to skip this first paragraph altogether. The best way to cure a hangover is to avoid getting one. Standard suggestions for hangover prevention include drinking in moderation, drinking a glass of water between every cocktail, eating plenty of food so that alcohol absorbs through the stomach lining at a slower rate, and not mixing different kinds of alcohol during your night out drinking.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's face facts: On Jan. 1, plenty of people will be hurting from overindulgence the previous evening. Hangovers are a fully preventable condition that most of us forget to prevent. We needn't feel terribly bad about having one (focus the guilt on what you said to your ex last night) because even people who work with alcohol on a daily basis slip up occasionally and pay the price, just like the rest of us.

We asked a few Bay Area bartenders who should know better than to get a hangover in the first place what they do to make them go away.

Read the rest of my hangover story in today's Chronicle here.

700 Santas in One Small Bar

(In Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle)

Digging out boxes from the attic, untangling strings of lights, trying not to cut yourself on smashed glass ornaments: Decorating for the holidays is often a complicated project. Still, most people don't seem to mind. Take Garry McLain, for example.

To decorate his Hayes Valley bar, Marlena's, which is about the size of a one-bedroom apartment, it took four people five days to install tens of thousands of dollars' worth of decorations. And they don't even have a tree.

Instead, there are 700 Santa Claus dolls. Most are in display cases lining all the walls inside the bar and on the semi-enclosed patio smoking area, though some are way too big to fit behind plastic. Those stand guard in the corners of the room. Others hang from the ceiling, and a few dozen are stacked around the bar or riding a gold mechanical Ferris wheel behind it. Most of Marlena's front windows are covered up to make room for them, sacrificing sunlight for Santa Claus.

Read the rest of the story about Marlena's 700 Santas here.

Holiday Beers

Brewers plan for hoppy holidays Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, December 8, 2006

With colder weather comes stronger and spicier beer, as brewers prepare to roll out holiday ales and winter warmers.

City Beer owner Craig Wathen, who sells a wide range of seasonal brews at his San Francisco store, says that in winter two styles of beer temporarily populate store shelves and bar taps: winter warmers and holiday ales. He says that both have higher alcohol content than brews produced for hot weather, but winter warmers are the darker and heartier of the two. Holiday ales are not usually quite as potent, but often contain added spices like cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. The spices can be added to the brew kettle if the whole batch will be flavored, or directly into the barrel if the brewer wants to spice a subset of beer.

"I think a holiday beer is more geared toward food and sharing it in a social circumstance. It's a little bit more creative. It's considered by most breweries to be their showcase beer of the year," says Wathen.

Click here to read the rest of my story on what local brewers are doing for holiday beers. I talked to every commercial brewer in San Francisco, but unfortunately two of them were cut out for space reasons. But that's why blogs are good- supplemental material. So here they are:

The Beach Chalet at the end of Golden Gate Park will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this December with an aptly named Ten Year Anniversary Ale according to head brewer Aron Deorsey. He said it should come in at around 10 percent ABV and describes it as a “Belgian-style strong pale ale with a medium body, deceptive alcohol warmth and subtle hop character.”

Deorsey will also release an as-yet-unnamed, unfiltered dark Belgian ale in the second week in December. That one will have raisin and plum flavors as by-products of the Belgian yeast used. Then closer to Christmas, he’ll make a spiced version of this same ale. He’ll brew a spice tea that includes fresh coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, and add it directly to a keg of the dark Belgian ale. It will be served directly from the keg.

San Francisco Brewing Company’s founder and brewmaster Allan Paul says he’ll serve his Christmas Cheer Ale in the North Beach brewery/restaurant again this year. He describes it as “an un-spiced but interesting dark ale along the lines of a porter beer, utilizing a variety of roasted malts and hops to give it a nice complex spiciness, but without the spice.”

Then for St. Stephen’s Day (December 26th) he’ll release their St. Stephen’s Bock, which is a rich, amber lager beer according to Paul. He calls it, “a rich, malty full-bodied brew without the bitterness of predominant hops.”

Bitters

Yesterday I went to the 209 Gin distillery on Pier 50 in San Francisco. They invited local bartenders to a make-your-own bitters day a few weeks ago, where they could pick herbs and spices to mix with alcohol and let soak for a couple of weeks. They could follow ancient recipes found in old cocktail books or on the web, or try to invent new ones. Yesterday they went to pick up the finished jar of bitters, strain it out, dilute it with water, add sugar, and bottle it. I heard about the event, so I went to watch. I met head distiller Arne Hillesland, who gave me a great tour of the facility. They only distill on demand, so unfortunately weren't doing it that day. It's approximately a three-day process because they leave the juniper and other herbs to soak in the gin overnight before they fire up the heater to distill on the next. I could go into detail about the day, but I'm going to write an article about it so you'll read it in the Chronicle later. In the meantime, click here to check out my photoset on Flickr from the day.

The Champagne Cocktail and the French 75

My story in today's Chronicle:

Leftover Champagne? Sacre bleu! Time for Champagne cocktails Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, December 1, 2006 The majority of Champagne cocktails served around the Bay Area are fruit-flavored drinks like the mimosa and Bellini, and sparkling berry drinks by different names. However, a couple of classic Champagne cocktails are bubbling up on drink menus. The original Champagne cocktail is made by dropping an Angostura bitters-soaked sugar cube into a Champagne flute and filling with sparkling wine or Champagne. It is one of the few drinks today that is made just as it was when the recipe was first printed in Jerry Thomas' 1862 book "How to Mix Drinks," believed to be the first published bartending guide.

Read the rest of the story here.

Pimm's in In!

England's classic Pimm's cocktail experiences a Bay Area revival Camper English, Special to The Chronicle Friday, November 17, 2006 In England, the Pimm's cocktail is a refresher most associated with Wimbledon and summer. In San Francisco, the drink has remained on several restaurant and bar menus since earlier this year, perhaps because our fog is reminiscent of the stereotypically unpleasant London weather. The Pimm's No. 1 Cup, the main ingredient in the Pimm's cocktail, is a brown-burgundy-colored, gin-based, semisweet, fruity liqueur. The liqueur is so strongly associated with the Pimm's cocktail that the cocktail is often called the Pimm's cup, the Pimm's No. 1 cup, or Pimm's and lemonade. Pimm's No. 1 Cup (the liqueur) is often simply called Pimm's.

Read my story on Pimm's in today's San Francisco Chronicle.

The Gimlet is the New Martini

Here is my latest article in the SF Chronicle about the gimlet.

Inventive gimlets stray from tradition Way back in the 1990s, martinis came in only two flavors: vodka or gin. Then someone invented the ultra-popular appletini and unleashed great confusion upon the land. Bars and restaurants scrambled to create their own signature martinis. Entire menus devoted to martinis followed, with ingredients so far removed from the original recipe that some people now use "martini" to mean "anything served in a martini glass." The drink has come a long way from gin, vermouth and an olive.The traditional gimlet recipe is even simpler. It calls for gin and Rose's Lime Juice, but now it is being served around San Francisco with everything from cucumbers to cardamom.

Read the rest of the story here.

Booze Clues

Here is one of my first Booze Clues recipe columns in Frontiers Magazine. I guess it's not online. Looks good, right?

Pumpkin Ale at Magnolia

Here is my short thingy in today's SF Chronicle:

The Great Pumpkin Batch

Jealous of kids who get to dress up and gorge themselves on candy on Halloween? Forget about it over a treat they're not allowed.

At Magnolia Pub & Brewery in San Francisco, David McLean and his team have brewed up their seasonal Barking Pumpkin Ale to be tapped today and served until it runs out. They create the ale by mixing baked pumpkin seeds and slices of baked organic sugar pie pumpkins from Riverdog Farm in Guinda, into a barley mash. In the boiling process, they add spices reminiscent of pumpkin pie -- cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice -- to the wort before fermentation. The ale is flavored with minimal hops to let the pumpkin shine through, and the chosen yeast lends a slight fruity aspect to the finished beer.

To best enjoy its nuances try the cask-conditioned version as opposed to the regular draft. The cask-conditioned ale is only available at Magnolia, but the draft is also on tap at McLean's new outpost the Alembic just up the street.

Magnolia Pub & Brewery, 1398 Haight St., (415) 864-7468. $4.50 for 20-ounce pint. The Alembic, 1725 Haight St., San Francisco, (415) 666-0822, $5 for 20-ounce pint.

Hooray!

I'm back in the states. Here is the Chron article. Sweden and Denmark were great. So too will be sleep when I get it. Update: I just noticed that the list doesn't include the big-ass sidebar. I wonder if the recipes were printed along with it. I still haven't seen the print version.