Author: Matt Pietrek

Checking out the La Quintinye Vermouth Lineup

Every so often, a press release for a new product jumps off the screen to capture my attention. Such was the case when I read about La Quintinye vermouths, which claim to be the first vermouths made with Pineau des Charentes. Don’t feel too bad if you’re not acquainted with Pineau — I didn’t know about it myself until a year ago when I learned that certain Plantation rums are finished in Pineau barrels. Pineau is sweet, delicious aperitif from France, a union of lightly fermented grape juice — only specific grape varieties need apply — and unaged cognac. I’ve acquired several bottles of Pineau and savor them, so this vermouth quickly got my attention. Let’s take a look at the La Quintinye lineup. If you’re not familiar with vermouth, you might read my earlier primer on it.

Continue reading “Checking out the La Quintinye Vermouth Lineup”

Vermouth: A Wonky Primer on What It Is and How to Care for It

There’s an old trope about ordering a “dry” martini so devoid of vermouth that the bottle was merely opened in an adjoining room, or that the word “vermouth” was merely whispered nearby. People who think this is clever not only exhibit a huge misunderstanding of what “dry” means, but are also missing out on experiencing a vibrant cocktail the way it’s supposed to taste. Sure, go drink asi watered down, chilled glass of gin, or worse yet, vodka, if that’s your version of a good martini. Vermouth gets a bad rap from people who don’t understand it and why it’s a frequent player in both classic and modern cocktails. With several vermouth reviews coming up on the blog, it’s worth outlining the essentials to set a baseline to build on.

Continue reading “Vermouth: A Wonky Primer on What It Is and How to Care for It”

Lost Spirits Rumbles into High Gear: Aging Reactor Release Imminent

After Lost Spirits’ big announcementthis past April that they’d be leasing their revolutionary “reactor” aging technology to other distilleries, owners Bryan Davis and Joanne Haruta have gone mostly dark. To briefly recap their audacious plan as it was announced:

  • An aging process using wood, light, and other techniques to provide the equivalent of fifteen to twenty years of ester/aldehyde transformation (“aging”) in six days. This process has already been demonstrated on their four rum releases.
  • A self-contained reactor, the size of small SUV, delivered to distilleries, who will lease it for a monthly fee.
  • A small handful of carefully selected distilleries for the initial beta test phase.

Continue reading “Lost Spirits Rumbles into High Gear: Aging Reactor Release Imminent”

Plantation Rums Brings Out the Rarities at Tales of the Cocktail 2015

The agony and ecstasy of Plantation Rums is a direct result of their many, many releases of rums purchased from distilleries around the world and finished in France. Once you’re hooked on their sublime expressions and start collecting their numerous bottlings, you realize it’s a herculean task; there’s always some obscure release you didn’t know about that needs a home on your bar shelf. Sure, Plantation has staples like the Barbados Grand Reserve five-year, the Original Dark, and the 3 Star Blend, but once you start collecting single vintages, say Panama 2000, or the even more exotic Black Label series, it’s like Pokémon card collecting. You can’t have just one.

Plantation often makes small releases for a single country, or custom bottlings of just a few barrels for a retailer, so it’s anybody’s guess how many different offerings are out there. If you’re not familiar with Plantation, you should read this post before continuing. Continue reading “Plantation Rums Brings Out the Rarities at Tales of the Cocktail 2015”

A Wonky New Orleans Cocktail Bar Roundup

If there’s one thing New Orleans is not short on, it’s bars. In the touristy part of town (the French Quarter) you can’t go more than a block without seeing people spilling out of a bar, clutching frozen Daiquiris in a to-go cup – practically the official mascot of New Orleans. All of Bourbon Street seems to be one continuous bar, the highlight being the ill-advised “Hand Grenade”: gin, rum, vodka, grain alcohol, Midori, with a float of regret. Sure, you can head over to Pat O’Brien’s for an authentic “Hurricane” – don’t forget to pick up some powdered Hurricane Mix as you leave.

Yes, there’s much for a craft cocktail connoisseur to shake their head at in New Orleans. There are plenty of world-class bars in NOLA though– a cocktail wonk just needs to be more diligent in seeking out bars worthy of time and attention. What follows is in no way a complete list of every worthy bar in NOLA – that would take months. But as an obsessive bar hound who’s always looking for the next great “score,” what follows are a few you should put on your A-list.

Continue reading “A Wonky New Orleans Cocktail Bar Roundup”

Grape Escape: Peru’s Pisco Varietals at Tales of the Cocktail 2015

Pisco is a spirit that’s taken me a while to wrap my head around. A clear, grape-based spirt from South America, I’ve been enchanted by it since my first sip, and later making my first pisco punch at home. But once you seek to move beyond the Pisco Sour, its many styles and terminology are daunting. In exchange for gaining this awareness, you’ll discover a world-class spirit that’s a joy both neat and in cocktails, and yet is a bargain when compared to tequila, cachaça, brandy, and so on.

Much like bourbon has specific rules (at least 51% corn, aged in new American oak barrels, etc.), the production of Peruvian Pisco also has very specific regulations, which make it equally worthy of attention as French Cognac (also a grape-based brandy) or single-malt Scotch. I have explicitly specified “Peruvian” pisco here because both Chile and Peru claim it as their own and have intense national rivalries about who makes the “real” Pisco. From an outsider’s perspective, the Peruvian regulations are more stringent and, based on price, are more highly valued. For our purposes here, “pisco” means Peruvian Pisco.

Continue reading “Grape Escape: Peru’s Pisco Varietals at Tales of the Cocktail 2015”