Mixology Monday

Alright, I missed last month's MXMO challenge, but lord knows I know how to make an obnoxiously difficult drink. Here's how this weeks host at McSology set the rules of engagement:

So my charge to you all is to document your (least) favorite drink that is the proverbial thorn in your side. It can be virtually anything stylistically- The point here is to have fun and share that little ticket item that throws you off your cleaning game 10 minutes before last call!

As usual, I have two entries. Sorry for the lack of pics. I'll try to get some up tomorrow.

Bloody Mary
2 oz horseradish infusion*
2 olives
1 cocktail onion
1 caper berry
pinch of Himalayan salt
pinch of celery salt
.5 oz vegetarian worcestershire sauce (try Amy's)
2 lemon wedges
.5 oz fire cider**
3 dashes of Sriracha
organic tomato juice
garnish: lemon wedge, olive, caper berry, pickled lotus root
Muddle lemon, olives, cocktail onion, caper berry together in mixing glass. Add remaining ingredients and ice, then shake and strain over fresh ice in pint glass. Add garnish, then smile.

So this one is obnoxious for a couple of reasons. First of which, it's a mess; it clogs up dump sinks and will make all of your bar tools smell like fire cider (this isn't a problem for those of you with a dishwasher...) Most of us don't have all of these ingredients in our mise, so we also have to dig all of this out of the coolers (which, again, is not a problem for those of you who don't bartend in a submarine...) Finally, what makes this such a hassle is the making of the following:

Horseradish infusion
1 large horseradish root
750 ml 151 proof neutral grain alcohol

Remove outside of root. Cut remaining into thin strips, then place in clean mason jar. Fill with NGA, then let rest for 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, double strain, then add 1 cup of filtered water to bring proof down to around 120.

Fire Cider
1 large horseradish root
1/2 lbs ginger
2 cloves garlic (I use more for batches that are not for cocktails...)
1 lbs ginger
1/2 medium white onion
1 lbs turmeric root
3/4 gallon unfiltered, organic apple cider vinegar
1 oz cayenne

Juice horseradish root, ginger and turmeric. Add juice and pulp to clean container. Roughly chop garlic and onion, then add to juiced mess. Add cayenne and apple cider vinegar, then let rest for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, double strain into clean container.

It's a lot of work for a cocktail that most people only drink when they're hungover. Still, it is really good.

Inappropriately Named Cocktail
2 oz bourbon
1 oz cold press coffee (Ethiopian Harrar from Valhalla)
.5 oz simple syrup
.5 oz Grand Marnier
.5 oz Stroh
Irish cream foam*

Rim brandy snifter with sugar. Pour in Stroh, light on fire, use fire to carmelize sugar rim, then extinguish flame. In mixing glass, combine bourbon, coffee, simple syrup, and Grand Marnier over ice, stir, then strain into snifter. Top with Irish cream foam. Smile.

Irish Cream Foam
1 oz Irish cream
.5 simple syrup
splash cream
egg white

Combine ingredients in mixing glass over ice then shake like hell until you have a barely-pourable foamy-cream. Have fun with that.

The second cocktail is very time consuming and well, kinda of tiring to make. You say shaking a cocktail shouldn't be tiring? It's not, but make one and you'll sell five.

God, I hate these cocktails, but they are so good...

More wine!

Several new changes have been made to the wine list here at 1022:

New by the glass- Domaine Sainte Eugénie “Le Clos”. The Estate lies within the Corbierres AOC in the south of France, bordering on the Pyrénées to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east. Le Clos is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane and Grenache. From their website:

“Attractive raspberry red color with hints of garnet. Lively, complex nose of red and black fruits. Refined, even exotic, oak fragrance with hints of incense, spices (nutmeg, clove, ginger) anise, autumn woods and tobacco. Soft in the mouth with fresh, tangy acidity. Wonderful balance. Well-structured yet elegant, with fine tannins. Subtle nuances of toast, vanilla and roasted coffee beans. Multiple layers of flavor. Striking silkiness. Truly sensual.”

That’s pretty fair. I found it remarkably rich for the price, and I hope you all do as well. $7/gl, $28/btl.

Delas Cotes-du-Rhone is back! We are now offering this wine by the bottle only. We found that for our purposes as purveyors of all things delicious, it just didn’t last very long on the back bar (read: the wine ‘turned’ quickly). But at $28 a bottle, it’s still a great deal, and one of our favorite Rhone producers. From Robert Parker:

“The amazing Cotes du Rhone St.-Esprit (75% Syrah and 25% Grenache) reveals a northern Rhone orientation, but it is loaded with spice and black fruits, and displays a beautiful opulent texture as well as a gorgeous finish with impressive purity… This great northern Rhone negociant, spearheaded by their brilliant oenologist and winemaker, Jacques Grange, has consistently made fabulous wines from the northern appellations, but only recently upgraded the quality of their southern Rhone selections. These are the finest southern Rhones they have made, and their Cotes du Rhone St.-Esprit ranks alongside the offerings from Guigal and Chapoutier.”

That’s remarkably high accolades for such a modestly priced bottle. Still half off, every Tuesday.

We also have a (very) few bottles of Ridge’s 2006 Lytton Springs Zinfandel (CA) for $59/btl. These guys are serious nerds about winemaking, and have been since the 1970s. Though zinfandel is the predominant grape, Ridge is known for blending with other varietals for depth and finesse. From the website:

“Lytton Springs is home to 100 plus-year-old zinfandel vines interplanted with petite sirah, carignane, a small amount of mataro (mourvèdre), and grenache. For more than three decades the field blend from this site has produced the quintessential example of Dry Creek Valley zinfandel. Lytton Springs is a prime example of Ridge's commitment to championing Heritage varietals - varietals planted more than a century ago, and surviving in numerous locations. We honor the individual character of these vines by fermenting each variety and each lot separately using natural yeast fermentation, letting the wines undergo natural malolactic, and employing minimal egg white fining.”

I think we’re down to four bottles right now, and once they’re gone, that’s it! The winery released a great discount on the 2006 wholesale price, and we’ve passed that savings right along.

Stay tuned for more from Italy, in June. We’ve got exclusive picks from Small Vineyards headed our way . . .

Santé, Corey

1 year anniversary party

Here's the press release in case you haven't seen it everywhere else:

1022 South, a craft cocktail lounge in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood, will celebrate its 1 year anniversary on Monday, March 29 with a party debuting the spring/summer menu featuring over 40 innovative, delicious, and, in some cases, curative handcrafted cocktails.

Tacoma, Washington, October 17, 2010

1022 South will throw a cocktail party to celebrate its one year anniversary and to debut the new spring menu on Monday, March 29. Featuring over 40 cocktails, the new menu showcases 1022 South's respect for classic cocktails, an enthusiasm for apothecary, and a few of the favorite cocktails from the original menu. In addition to craft cocktails and apothecary infusions, the menu will feature a variety of delicious small plate items. To celebrate, all menu cocktails will be specially priced at $6 the night of the party.

A cocktail lounge open since March 2009 in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood, 1022 South creates craft cocktails from quality ingredients with a conscientious observance of the history and evolution of the mixed drink, and an acknowledgment that the distinction between bartender and apothecary was once only loosely made. 1022 South cocktails are made with a variety of housemade bitters and botanical infusions including herbs such as kava kava, valerian, chamomile, damiana, yohimbe, tulsi, and ginger among others.

The inventive, delicious, and potentially curative drinks at 1022 can address the stress of a long day, strengthen immune systems, or enhance an evening with aphrodesiacs. Highly-trained bartenders look forward to sharing the new cocktails and relish the opportunity to experiment: let him or her know what you are in the mood for and they will  do their best to accommodate. As 1022 South incorporates many unconventional ingredients from botanicals and infusions, housemade sodas and tonic, to spirits, wines, and beers, questions are welcomed and humor and a sense of adventure are encouraged.
 
1022 South hours are Sun - Mon 4 -11pm, Tues - Wed 4pm - 12am, Thurs - Sat 4pm - 2am.
Happy hour: 4 - 8 everyday featuring $3 wells, $3 draft beers, and $4 glasses of wine.
Nightly specials for $6

Industry night Monday: service industry professionals get happy hour all night.
Wine night Tuesday: 1/2 off all bottles.
Ladies night Thursday: happy hour for ladies all night.

1022 South is located on South J. Street, between S. 10th and 11th Avenue. 253.627.8588. www.1022south.com.

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MXMO: Absinthe

Alright everyone, here's our second foray into the MXMO madness. Yeah, I know we didn't do anything right last time...I think I get the rules now. Or maybe not...

Here is what our host Sonja has to say about absinthe:
"The topic for February is Absinthe. That much maligned, misunderstood, mistreated spirit, suddenly plentiful again in the US and other parts of the world. Absinthe played a role, whether large or small, in a variety of great cocktails from the 1800’s and early 1900’s – the Sazerac, Absinthe Suissesse, Corpse Reviver No. 2… I’m getting thirsty. So let’s celebrate absinthe’s history, and it’s future, with all manner of cocktails using absinthe."

Before I get too far into this, I want to say that a couple of us at 1022 love absinthe. So, there's was lots of fussing around with recipes (some good, some bad, all forgotten)before we came to, well, the deadline. I also want to say, thank you to all the space monkeys. Some of you burned up in the stratosphere, some of you have sailed off into the heavens; either way, I salute your courage. And, with no further ado, here's what we have to contribute:


HR 1022
2 oz bourbon
.5 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
.5 Dolin Italian vermouth
barspoon of lapsong souchong syrup*
barspoon of Pacifique absinthe

Shake, then strain into chilled coupe. While I have never had it, this drink was nevertheless inspired by Tavern Law's Gun Club.

I feel like this next one needs a bit of explanation. We like to do shots at the bar, so we gussy them up, self-deprecatingly call them amuse-booze (actually, we're being quite glib), or whatever. Still, at times we like a cold beer and a shot of hooch to go straight into our faces. With that in mind, inspired by the latest issue of Imbibe, here we go:

Devil's Handshake
1/3 Fernet Branca
1/3 Pacifique absinthe
1/3 raw ginger syrup

This was a fun one. I wish I had written down the recipe for sazerac with the honey/absinthe foam. I guess that's for another time...

*1 oz lapsong tea in 2 cups boiling water, 2 cups sugar. Stir and let rest until it is mas o menos room temp, then double strain.

1022 South

February Happy Hour Menu

I know I'm very late posting this. Sorry everyone. And yeah, that's a cosmo on the menu.

www.1022South.com

1022's website

It's taken a bit and it's not quite finished yet, but here it is. I'm going to use the FB and the blog to keep people updated on whatever nonsense we are working on (caviar, honey/jasmine/absinthe foam, etc.)

1022 South

Nothing is sacred

There's not really any way to pretty this up, so I'll dispense with the lisptick and get straight to the pig. There are a few of us in this lonely outpost between Seattle and Portland (Tacoma) who like being bartenders and who consider it a respectable trade. We are not working our way through college or biding our time until something better comes along. We are not in touring bands (at least anymore) and in need of that temporary employment granted by the bulk of restaurant work. We consider ourselves professionals, craftsmen, or whatever. But, like someone else said elsewhere, don't call us mixologists.

We love serving great beers, wines, and carefully crafted cocktails. We love facilitating peoples experiences, being raconteurs and performance artists. All of this being said, for the most part we don't drink cocktails, we drink beers and shots. I spend enough time drinking cocktails as we R&D new menus, when I'm checking out new bars and watching colleagues work, that I don't tend to mix things up too much. I've covered this elsewhere when I've written about shifters, so I'll get to what I'm here to do: Let's talk about shots, baby.

Here is a not-comprehensive list of shots that we enjoy.
1. Bourbon w/float of Tuaca
2. Bourbon w/float of raw ginger syrup
3. Equal parts yellow Chartreuse and Nassau Royale
4. Equal parts Linie Aquavit and Liquore Strega
5. Equal parts pastis and earl-grey infusion
6. Equal parts Sriracha and vodka (or bourbon or whatever...)
7. Kokovoko - 2/3 kava kava infusion (1 cup kava kava root steeped in 750 ml NGA), 1/3 raw ginger syrup, top with cayenne
8. 1/3 el Jimador, 1/3 kava kava infusion, 1/3 Aperol
9. Equal parts Fernet Branca and Becherovka
10. Stroh

Some are sweet, some are bitter, some are just awful (but that doesn't stop us from doing them every camping trip...) More than likely, if you find us on your side of the rail with a bucket of beer or a tallboy of some domestic swill, then we are probably just sipping on whiskey, Zwack, or pastis/absinthe. Consider yourself warned if we buy you a birthday shot, however.


1022 South