I'm the kind of person that doesn't mind a bit of seasonality in my drinks. A little pumpkin in my beer, a little mulled spice in my wine...but easy on the apple pie, okay Leinenkugels? So I gladly accepted an invitation to Stoli's new Gala Applik launch party, the Moscova Affair, earlier this fall at Manor. I am not generally a vodka-drinker, nor a club-goer, so arrived thirsty, slightly early, and with all the scattered nervousness of a kid on the first day of class. With corset- and leather-clad servers and an Adam and Eve-themed silent circus tableau by San Francisco's Vau de Vire Society that more than lived up to the smoke-swilling lush-lipped ad campaign Stoli has plastered over CTA bus stops for months, I felt appropriately out of my element. At least the place was lousy with vodka, featuring at least five different suggested mixers for the new apple-infused Stoli blend, which I was expecting to taste more like Apple Pucker but has actually a mild, almost perfumey character. Applik and ginger ale was probably the best of the combinations I tried, though the signature "Applik Temptress" featured sour mix and a dash of bitters. Vanity Fair suggests a sangria-like white wine and fruit cocktail called, appropriately or not, the Rio 2016. Ouch. And, mmmmm!
I don't know that there's anything particularly seasonal about champagne, unless you feel the end of Daylight Savings Time should be celebrated with bubbles. But I still stopped by Pol Roger's Jazz Celebration last night at Pops for Champagne, an institution that I've been meaning to try for years. The White Foil Reserve Brut was the drink of the night, comprised of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes and fermented early in its life to a precise 46 F degrees, a process apparently distinctive to Pol Roger. A bottle of the White Foil retails for about $60, according to our pourer, though Pops has several other Pol Roger varieties on their menu as well, starting in more like the $115 range and rising steadily from there. The Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1998 is aged in the deepest, coldest cellars in Pol Roger's operation, and has a dense, almost edible quality to it, with bubbles so fine you barely notice them and a mouth-feel much more like wine than champagne. My favorite was the Brut Blanc de Blancs 1999, which was both demi-sec and a bit tart, I thought the most interesting in terms of flavor of the bunch.
In other drinking news, C-House, in the Affinia Hotel, continues its prix-fixe Goose Island beer menu through the end of this week, and more paper seems to peel back every day from the windows of Lush Wine and Spirits' new location on Chicago Avenue. Whatever causes you to raise a glass this fall, be it circus folks, or grain alcohol, or the pleasing pop of a champagne cork, there are plenty of places and things to drink this time of year.
On any given day, you never know what you'll find when you open up your inbox. Color me surprised, then, when I opened my e-mail to discover an invitation to represent Gapers Block as a judge in a semi-final for DeKuyper's Mix Master Bartender Contest.
Not one to say no to the difficult task of judging cocktails, I joined the judges panel, and on September 30th at Martini Park, we sent one lucky bartender on his way to the Chicago final.
Contestants had to create a shot or drink that had no more than three ingredients, one of which had to be a DeKuyper product. It had to be a drink that was fairly simple to prepare, so no mashing or muddling, and no energy drinks. We judged the entries on taste, appearance, creativity of name, simplicity, and originality.
Roof on the 27th floor of The Wit rolled out new cocktails for fall, and I had the chance to sample them when I dropped by a media event for Telluride ski resort on Thursday evening.
Several tempted me: the Spiced Pears & Honey, with Hangar One Spiced Pear Vodka, housemade honey syrup, and lemon; Ipanema, with Leblon Cachaca, apricot nectar, and Madeira; and Blood Orange Sidecar, with Landy's Cognac, orange bitters, and blood orange simple syrup.
But Roof's Great Pumpkin won me over, first with its nostalgic name, and then with its not-too-sweet, nice-and-warm-going-down taste. Maker's Mark Bourbon anchored a hint of citrus and the namesake ingredient, pumpkin simple syrup.
This drink oozed autumn and was a perfect choice on a chilly, rainy night. Makes me want to spend the weekend in search of more great pumpkin cocktails in Chicago. Anyone have any tips?
Goose Island took home three silver medals: Red Woody took the honors in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer category; its IPA placed in the English-Style India Pale Ale category; and Demolition earned its silver in the Belgian and French-Style Ale category.
Piece Brewery won a gold and a bronze this year. Its Top Heavy Hefeweizen won the South German Style Hefeweizen category, and Fornicator placed third in the Bock category.
Last year's winner for Large Brewpub of the Year, Rock Bottom's Chicago outlet added another two medals to their stash of awards. The Crow and The Sparrow placed second in the American-Belgo-Style Ale category, and Drunken Angel won a bronze in the Specialty Beer category.
Whether you support the Olympic bid or not, I think one thing we can all agree on is the deliciousness of Dunkin Donuts coffee. Luckily for us, regardless of the Chicago 2016 outcome, Dunkin' Donuts will toast us all with a free medium coffee all day, Monday, Oct. 5.
The free coffee is Dunkin' Donuts' way of saying thank you to Chicago for all the hard work in showcasing our city. The free coffee is available all day, Oct. 5, at all of the nearly 500 Dunkin' Donuts locations in Chicago and suburbs. No purchase necessary and limit one per customer.
Thank you, Dunkin' Donuts, for letting us all be winners.
Although whisky and whiskey fans may not get a catchy tune like the po-ta-to/po-tah-to people, they do have a chance to debate the proper spelling tomorrow night at The Great Whisk(e)y Debate. This free event (for ages 21+) features whisk(e)y professors from Canadian Club, Knob Creek, and Laphroig who will talk about the merits of each of their whiskies during this interactive (i.e.--tasting) event. Even if you're not the biggest whisky buff, I'd recommend going--these are three really good and varied whiskies, and this is a good opportunity to learn about and taste the differences to see what style (or styles) you like best.
Humboldt Park has a new spot for coffee in the form of Knock Box Café. Taking over the former space of Humboldt Pie at 1001 N. California Ave., Knock Box Café is warm and inviting space with plenty of room to stretch out without that feeling of sitting on top of other customers.
Knock Box serves Chicago's own Metropolis coffee brewed by knowledgeable and friendly baristas; one of the things that I tend to look for is coffee made correctly, and this place does just that. You might get a bit overwhelmed by the great smells due to the fresh baked cookies and other pastries straight from the oven, but that's a good thing. They also have sandwiches, utilizing Red Hen Bread and Boar's Head meats, so they can also serve as a lunch spot.
Of course it wouldn't be a coffee shop without free wifi, and Knock Box has that as well, making it a comfortable space to get a bit of work done.
If you are wondering about the name, after every shot of espresso pulled, the barista "knocks" the portafilter onto the knock box to dispose of the espresso grind, making way for fresh espresso and another perfect shot.
It is intimidating. The blades from which it will undoubtedly be a pain to scrub leftover fruit pulp. The noise. Are we sawing down trees or making a delightful breakfast treat? The overwhelming number of possible ingredients. These are understandable drawbacks to making a smoothie. Yet, this summer, I made the decision to face these fears. It started a couple of weeks ago, and now I would consider myself a full convert. Smoothies are not as hard as they seem. Buy some earplugs, allow yourself the luxury of leaving the blender in the sink to clean in a few hours, think of the smoothie as an art project, and you will be surprised with what you can create.
I don't have the perfect smoothie recipe to share. What I am supplying here is the confidence to move forward on that lingering desire you already have. The basic elements I would suggest for a healthy and tasty indulgence include flaxseed, plain yogurt, frozen berries (of any variety), banana, frozen peaches, cranberry juice and honey. My basic philosophy is to throw it all together, mix it up, taste, adjust. The frozen berries and peaches can be replaced with the fresh thing if in season. Though, I would recommend always having some frozen goods for back up as they are especially nice when you want a smoothie fast (no cutting of stems/pits required leading to limited clean up). The trick to the flaxseed is putting it in first and grinding it into a fine powder thus allowing it to fully infiltrate the smoothie with its healing powers. Once the flaxseed is ground, just starting loading it in. Don't be scared. Most fruit really does taste wonderful together.
Ever make a smoothie with a bicycle powered blender? Last Saturday many Chicagoans came out to enjoy Open Streets. The organizer, Active Transportation Alliance, handed out free smoothies with ingredients donated by Green Grocer on a blender bike from Uptown Bikes.
Summer drinking usually conjures Pinot Grigios and piña coladas, or mint juleps and margaritas. Good drinks to sip standing on dry grass, or out of plastic cups pintucked after multiple pours. Drinks that might look good sporting thick sprigs of herbs or little paper umbrellas. Throwing its hat into the summer drinking ring this past week is Rosangel, Gran Centenario's venture into flavored tequila. The company unveiled the blend of award-winning Resposado and hibiscus flowers at Nacional 27 last week, accompanied by vegetable empanadas, plantain croquettes, and a watermelon and tuna ceviche that paired wonderfully with the strong, sweet tequila. Rosangel is aged in barrels previously used for port, which gives the liquor the pink hue so nicely accentuated in its packaging, an art deco design that recalls a vintage perfume bottle--an effect heightened by the floral notes of the hisbiscus addition. One whiff of the fumes coming off the drink will dispel any notions that it could be a girly tequila, however. This stuff will put hair on your dainty, effeminate chest.
On hand to help guide the tasting were Nacional's own Adam Seger and Jane Lopes, sometime bartendress at the Violet Hour. Jane's drink recipe for a Jalisco Blinker is below. Sweet, tart, and flowery, it could be the perfect new addition to your summer drinking palette (and presumably would work with any sweeter tequila as well).
I visited my family in Japan earlier this month. Alas, the trip piled up more tasty foods than my stomach could accommodate (I would have needed two extra stomachs to accommodate everything that called to me). One of the best discoveries, though, didn't take up much room: a pitcher of cold-brew iced tea that always sat in my mother's fridge.
In the cold-brew method, tea leaves are steeped in cold water, right in the fridge, instead of being steeped in hot water, cooled and transferred to the fridge later. Because the flavors of the tea are extracted much more gently, the cold-brew method takes longer, usually overnight. In terms of the actual active time, though, the method requires a lot less engagement than hot-brew. You just leave a bag of tea steeping in the fridge overnight, take out the bag in the morning, and it's ready for the day. You don't even need ice cubes to fast-cool it. There's an additional benefit: it's a lot tastier than hot-brew tea, in my opinion.
Tea brewed cold doesn't get that astringency and bitterness that you sometimes find in your hot-brew tea. This is because these flavor elements are released only when the tea is exposed to intense heat. What you get instead is a subtle, but very clean, essence of each tea, unmarred by off-flavors. I've tried all the teas I have lying around in the cupboard, from higher-end Earl Grey from Julius Meinl to a $1.75 can of Jasmine tea from a Chinese grocer, and all have come out wonderful. Trust me, you'll be amazed how sophisticated your cheap Jasmin tea can taste, when brewed in this method. (This cheap Jasmine tea has been the winner so far.)
Some tips:
- Use plenty of tea, a bit more than you would in a hot brew. I use a generous tablespoon of tea for a 2-quart pitcher.
- If using tea bags, try a Japanese-style tea bag that you can fill yourself. (They are available in many East Asian grocery stores, and of course, at Mitsuwa or Tensuke.) Buy the largest-sized one you can find so that the tea leaves have enough room to expand.
(20 wine samples/$20) + commentary by Alpana Singh + tray-passed h'ors d'oeuvres = A DEAL
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this equation, but it seems to be completely valid. Osteria Via Stato's hosting a wine-tasting event called "20 Wines for $20" on Wednesday, August 12, from 5:30-7 PM. During this event, Chicago's well-known Master Sommelier and host of Check Please! Alpana Singh will talk about the 20 fruit-forward Italian wines available for sampling. H'ors d'oeuvres by Executive Chef David DiGregorio will complement the wine, and other wine experts and importers will be on hand to discuss the evening's offerings.
Not surprisingly, space is limited, so if you want to get in on this deal, call Allison Gallese at 312-642-8450 to make a reservation.
Goose Island Brewery has been rolling out new looks for its products over the past six months or so, starting with its small-batch Reserve and Clybourn Heritage beers and most recently its line of sodas.
The beer labels, particularly on the Reserves, are elegant and stylish, almost looking more like wines than beer. But my favorite new look is on Goose Island Root Beer, the granddaddy of the soda line. It's probably no surprise -- after all, it shares the red Chicago star motif with Gapers Block itself -- but between the star and the overall retro feel of the label, it just looks incredibly cool. I'm not sure what defines it as "Chicago Style," as the bottle says, but it remains one of the better root beers available here in the city.
Lincoln Park's River Shannon (425 W. Armitage), which claims to be the oldest Irish pub operating in Chicago, is celebrating their 63rd anniversary next month. They've decided that with this milestone, it's high time they had a signature drink, and they're looking to you to come up with the recipe.
From now until August 1, you can stop by the bar and submit your recipe. Recipes must use Tullamore Dew whiskey. The River Shannon staff will choose five finalists on August 6 at a tasting party where you can sample all five drinks from 9-11 PM. For the next week (through August 14), you can vote online for your favorite.
On August 15, River Shannon will hold their anniversary party from 4-8 PM. At the end of the party, they'll reveal the winner of the competition and present him or her with a plaque. Another plaque commemorating the event will hang permanently in the bar.
Didn't get your fill of inebriation and nationalism last weekend? Well, thank goodness for France, as you can try again with a couple of Bastille Day celebrations this weekend. On Saturday the 11th, Pops for Champagne is holding their Bastille Day Celebration (details in Slowdown). For members of the Third Estate who don't feel like spending money to celebrate La Fête Nationale, Lush Wine & Spirits will be holding free tastings at both of their locations. On Saturday, they'll be sampling various French wines and cider all day, with more wine tastings from 2-5 on Saturday; on Tuesday the 14th (Bastille Day proper) from 5-8, you can taste French wines from regions other than Bordeaux and Burgundy.
This Saturday, July 11, your bicycle is your best drinking buddy. The day kicks off at 9am with the Tour de Fat, New Belgium Brewery's annual Fat Tire-fueled day of bikes and the brewer's art, over in Palmer Square Park. $5 Fat Tires and plenty of bike- and environment-related fun should keep you busy for most of the morning.
From there, ride north on Kedzie and then east a bit on Belmont to Kuma's Corner, which is celebrating its fourth anniversary with a block party featuring free food and a performance by awesome Baltimore band CLUTCH. It starts at noon, but you may actually want to hold off till after this next stop if you want to catch the band.
Down at Soldier Field, Alefest gives you the opportunity to sample up to 20 beers from the dozens offered by more than 50 craft breweries for just $40 -- and you get to keep the glass! Afterward you can take a nice, leisurely ride on the Lakefront Path toward wherever home is... or to wherever food to sober you up might be.
Many people celebrate Independence Day with cold beers and fireworks... The Fifty/50, for reasons known only to itself and its PR team, has decided to up the ante by celebrating the entire week leading up to Independence Day with that most storied American beer-product (beloved by NASCAR enthusiasts and hipsters alike!), the 40 ounce malt liquor. I strolled over for a sip of Colt45 earlier this week, served appropriately in a brown paper bag. I find Colt to be one of the better malt liquors out there, certainly putting King Cobra to shame, and $5 a bottle just seemed too good to pass up. But 40 ounces of just about anything gets difficult to drink down to the last dregs... And through, hrmm, experimentation conducted with the utmost scientific rigor, I can categorically tell you that two 40s is too many. (On a Monday night at any rate.)
If you'd like to try your hand at the Fifty/50's week o' 40s -- no frat-party inspired duct tape required -- the party continues with hip hop, Cubs viewing (it is the Fifty/50, after all), an Olde English all-day party on the 4th, followed by a Schlitz hangover brunch on the 5th. I would advise steering clear of the Cheesy Cheese Balls on the menu -- never has a bar food been so structurally off-base, falling apart into clumpy half-melted strings as soon as you pick it up. People who have had a 40 and a half cannot gracefully contend with that kind of mess. But there's plenty of other good-looking grease on the menu to keep you properly fortified against all that barley. Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, let's hear it for those amber waves of grain.
Chicago's "new wave of microbrews" is highlighted in the travel section of this Sunday's New York Times. Metropolitan and Half Acre both get shout outs, as well as the venerable institutions where their beers are sold, such as the Hop Leaf and the Map Room.
This Friday, June 26, from 7pm to 10pm, Chicago-based Bottlenotes is hosting "Around the World in 80 Sips," an exploration of more than 80 wines from, as the name implies, all around the world, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.. It's an opportunity to try wines from less well-known regions like China and Lebanon alongside the more established wine spots. An assortment of artisanal cheeses and food from local restaurants will help soak up some of that wine.
Tickets are $50 in advance, $75 at the door, but Gapers Block readers can get an exclusive $10 discount by using the code GAPERSBLOCK at checkout. Cheers!
When you talk to distiller T.A. Breaux about his product, after a while you get the vague sense that he's talking like a parent (or teacher) who has to patiently (very patiently) explain the same fact to a child (or student) over and over again until said person finally gets it.
But that's because Breaux distills absinthe, one of the most misunderstood spirits on the market.
The recession's obviously not hitting everyone (those lucky people), because Laurent-Perrier Champagne'swinter holiday partnership with Baccarat crystal went so well that the two have teamed up again to bring you yet another exclusive opportunity.
This time the two companies are celebrating spring, with two different types of packaging. The first, available only at Fox & Obel (and F&O is one of the few places in the country that will have this), is a bottle of Laurent-Perrier's Cuv
é
e Ros
é
Brut with a large Baccarat crystal vase. It retails for $1200.
The second item contains a smaller vase along with a bottle of the Ros
é
. It's available at both Fox & Obel and Urban Harvest for $225.
Maybe you aren't into crystal or vases, but you do like the bubbly. On its own, the Ros
é
itself is really quite delicious and is only $100 a bottle.
This week, many Chicago restaurants may have a little extra going on in their wine offerings thanks to Riesling Week. While it may not be much more than a PR move to train the spotlight on German, Austrian and Alsatian wines just when spring is beckoning oenophiles towards Pinot Grigios and Sauvignon blancs, and everyone else towards Memorial Day Miller Lites, Riesling Week couldn't have come at a better time. The first few perfect days of spring, a participating restaurant on my way home from work...patio seating. Sold.
Located in the Affinia hotel, C-House specializes in imaginative seafood and features a nicely tiered menu of bites from the bar, appetizers, entrees, and sides -- all of which work in endless combinations to appease big and little hungers, sushi-enthusiasts and anti-raw stalwarts alike. And many of which work really nicely with the sweetness of their featured Riesling flight. Our server noted that rather than pairing each wine with a course, the chef rather intended all three to be tasted with everything we ate to see how the different flavors played off each other with each individual sip. It certainly took the concern out of ordering. We tried various combinations of bites and apps, standouts being the crab salad (wrapped up in paper thin slices of apple to create something resembling more of a candy than a summer salad), lobster club sandwich, and the seemingly grilled and freeze-dried corn kernels that accompany the very popular yellowtail fish tacos.
The wines were a relatively dry 2006 Keller Riesling Trocken from Rheinhessen, Germany; a sticky sweet 2007 Monchoff, Robert Eymael, also German and with a sweet and tart punch that made me think of mead; and a 2004 Schloss Lieser, Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Spatlese, which was the most balanced of the three, though try ordering another one of those after you've had a few. A classic, dessert-friendly Riesling which went really nicely with the tartness of the fish tacos' pickled onions, the buttery richness of the lobster and yellowtail, and the sweetness of the crab salad. Bites at C-House start at $4, and the wine flight runs $22 through the end of this week. Zum Wohl!
I love it when one of the things I'm interested in (food and drink, for example) appear on a blog in relation to something else I'm interested in (local artists and crafters, for example). So it made me happy twice over when I realized that Dan Grezca (pronounced Jet-SAH) is designing the label for a new beer for Three Floyds called Apocalypse Cow. No mention of it on their website, and no clue what type of beer it is, but the name and label will be enough to make my try it.
Although New Belgium Brewing is known primarily for their Fat Tire amber ale, they've also got a pretty cool program called "Lips of Faith," a group of experimental beers that they make in small batches and share with a select group of establishments.
Oak Park's Marion Street Cheese Market has just gotten accepted into this program, so for the next year, they'll be awash in some ultra-cool, hard to get brews from New Belgium. They're kicking off their participation in the program by tapping a barrel of Biere de Mars next Wednesday evening, May 6. Along with $3 pours of this ale brewed with barley, oats and wheat malt, Marion Street will be giving away a bunch of New Belgium swag, including glassware and Belgian chocolate.
The Cheeseburger Show will be hosting a tweet-up at Sheffield's, 3258 N. Sheffield Ave., Friday night from 8pm to 10pm, and they'd like to buy you a cheeseburger. That's right -- free sliders. You can RSVP on Facebook if you like -- or, you know, just show up.
And, as Chuck Sudo notes, Sheffield's Beer School is hosting a "DarkLord Eve" party the same night from 7pm till 1am. "Kuhl and the Sheffield's staff will be tapping some choice selections from Three Floyds, Dogfish Head, Surly and New Belgium, including a cask -- not a keg, a cask -- of Three Floyd's Robert the Bruce ale." No need to register, it's pay as you go.
Two upcoming events promise to provide unique opportunities to sample some great wines and food -- but you've got to hurry to get tickets before they sell out.
On April 26 at the Crimson Lounge in the Hotel Sax, Chicago's Best Palate brings together some of the city's top sommeliers -- Scott Tyree, formerly of Tru; Chef Alain Njike of Park 52; Italian Village's Michael Taylor; and Lucas Henning of C-House -- who will tasting three mystery wines and attempt to determine the the region, varietal and year of each. You'll be able to play along, answering the same questions and possibly even besting the wine experts. It's hosted by The Local Tourist's Theresa Carter and the Windy City Wine Guy, Michael Bottagliero -- no slouch in the wine department himself. Tickets are just $30.
The Local Tourist teams up with Tweating Out for the Chef's Table dining series, which ventures to Via Ventuno on April 29. For just $25, you'll sample food and wine from the latest in restaurateur Jerry Kleiner's stable (it had been Room 21 before a full re-imagining), and enjoy some face time with Kleiner himself. Tickets for this one are likely to go fast, so register soon.
Ipsento is a quality coffee shop. That is their goal. That is what they effuse. I stopped into Ipsento on a rainy night with my friend Leah. I had come here once before last summer and had a pleasant enough experience. But after reading on their website that ownership has changed as of April 4th and they intend to give all profits back to the community, I was intrigued.
This living room-esque coffee shop is soul stroking. The décor is mostly found and second-hand objects giving the small space a feeling of familiarity. When you walk in the front door you are greeted with a coffee-roasting machine. That is because the new owners, the Coffee Ambassadors, are a direct-trade coffee roaster, which is actually a step above fair trade coffee. After talking with the barista I learned that their vision goes far beyond just supplying direct trade coffee to Bucktown residents. They want to be a place of community, sustainability and mutual learning. The vision is formidable. But some may argue that a vision is not enough. To that I say, have their soy chai latte! This chai latte is by far the best I've had in Chicago. I rejoiced after the first sip, literally yelling about how wonderful it was across the quaint coffee shop to the next customer at the counter. My friend had a sip and concurred that there was something unique in my mug. Soon after, I realized it tasted like a cup of campfire and all the good sentiments that go along with a campfire. It was one of those drinks that after the second sip I was already sad thinking about the last.
Currently, Ipsento is in its budding elementary stages. Run by a group of young people they welcome the input of community members. This place breathes creativity, tasty flavors and community engagement. Come spring, they hope to be serving mostly local foods from farmer's markets. Stay tuned. I believe this is the beginning of something beautiful.
Ipsento Coffee House, 2035 N. Western Ave., 773.517.4123
Ted Haigh (aka Dr. Cocktail) has a vintage cocktail column in Imbibe magazine, and after reading this recipe for the Violet Fizz, I had to try it. It's especially good for spring days now that the flowers are starting to bloom.
The Violet Fizz features creme de violette, a formerly "lost ingredient" in classic cocktails that hadn't been available in the United States for years. It's an Austrian liqueur made from Queen Charlotte and March violets. You can buy it at Drinks Over Dearborn for $23.99.
Yes, it's bright purple, but in this gin-based drink, you'll get only a hint of that color.
1 1/2 oz. gin
.5 oz. creme de violette
1 oz. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. sugar (I tend to use powdered sugar)
soda water
Shake the gin, creme de violette, lemon juice, and sugar in an ice-filled shaker. Strain into an ice-filled highball glass. Top with soda.
>Picture a ballroom full of booze and you with a tasting glass in your hand. You look around and hundreds of people (some in kilts) crowd around tables, getting tastes of the best whiskies in the world. This is WhiskyFest.
After thinking about going for several years, I finally attended my first WhiskyFest. While the event was a bit overwhelming, I came away with a different impression of both whisky and the event.
First off, there's no way you'll be able to try all the whisky that's available. The event had 68 exhibitors, most pouring more than one option at their table. If you wanted to talk to the distillers and maybe get a bite to eat, you had to map out your evening pretty carefully.
Secondly, I was really surprised to see the amount non-whisky options. Gin, vodka, rum, absinthe, and beer were all available, which means that even someone who doesn't fully appreciate whisky can find enough to enjoy at the event.
Thirdly, the Midwest could very well become a power player in niche, small-batch alcohols. Sure, the fest was dominated by Scotland, Ireland, and Kentucky, but some local distilleries had some amazing and unique offerings as well. Read about them after the jump.
We've posted about foodie Twitterers and culinary elite Twitterers before, but some of my favorite local Twitterers focus on beverages. Perhaps it's because their tweets feel more actionable than most; Lush Wine & Spiritstweets regularly about what they have in stock, free wine and beer tastings in their store, and events they'll be attending. Goose Island posts about their tastings, dinners, and beer releases, while the streams for Flossmoor Brewery, Half Acre Beer, and Metropolitan Brewery document the goings-on of the breweries and the brewers. I learned about North Shore Distillery's new limited-edition chocolate and chile liquor, Mole Poblano, via tweet, and now I can't wait to taste it. On the non-alcholic front, while Intelligentsia is pretty new to Twitter, they're realizing its power--a tasting of single origin espresso announced via tweet drew so many people to the Monadnock store last week that they ran out of espresso well before the event was scheduled to end.
Whether you're Irish or Catholic or neither or both, you can enjoy Irish music and fare at the Fifth Province within the Irish American Heritage Center. Every Friday through April 10, the Center hosts a fish fry and Irish music from bands like The Dooley Brothers and Seamus O'Kane & Jimmy Moore. Plenty of Irish beer and cider on tap, too. Music starts at 9pm. $12 cover.
Since Chicago is all things whisky for the next several days, I thought this week's cocktail should be based on it.
A whisky sour is a refreshing sweet and sour drink. Sure, it looks like lemonade, but it packs a punch. It's also not very complicated to make, despite the fact that you sometimes see whisky sour mis in the store. You really don't need to have that. The basic recipe just calls for having a lemon on hand (or if you don't have a fresh lemon, bottled lemon juice will do. Trader Vic wouldn't think it's optimal, but it'll do).
2 oz. whisky
juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1/2 oz. or 1 tablespoon)
1/2 tsp. sugar (or powdered sugar)
club soda or seltzer
cherry and orange section for garnish
Add whisky, lemon juice, and sugar to a shaker, fill with ice, and shake. Strain into a chilled sour glass (if you have one--a rocks glass is just fine though). Add a bit of soda/seltzer. Garnish.
Note: Obviously, the size of the lemon will dictate how much juice you get out of it, so if you're using bottled juice, you may need to play with the proportions a bit.
You can also substitute brandy for whisky, which will give you a brandy sour.
Actor Dan Aykroyd will be at Binny's South Loop store (1132 S. Jefferson) tomorrow from 1-3pm to talk about his new winemaking ventures with DeLoach vineyards, as well as a separate project, Crystal Head Vodka. He'll sign bottles, pour a few glasses for the audience, and if you're lucky, he'll show you his webbed toes. I'm serious about the toes.
Malt Advocate's WhiskyFest may be next Wednesday, but bars in Chicago start celebrating tonight. If you're going to WhiskyFest, attending some of these is a great way to get in the mood for the big night; if you're not going, it's a great (and cheap--most of these events are free) way to get in on the action and learn more about the complexities of whisky, weather it be scotch, Canadian, bourbon, or Kentucky.
This past Sunday I joined 200 other beer geeks (including GB-er Mandy Burrell Booth) at Goose Island Clybourn for their Stout Fest, where we got to sample over 30 stouts and porters from 16 breweries.
I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of the stout and porter styles. So why bother going to a beer fest that's solely featuring styles I don't normally drink? Simple--I got the opportunity to try a lot of different beers in these styles, which allowed me to quickly learn about them and gain an appreciation for them. And frankly, some of them blew me away.
Sunday is the start of World Water Week (which kicks off with a one-mile walk and other festivities at the Field Museum) and the Tap Project, a chance for the nation's restaurants and restaurant patrons to help bring clean water to children around the world. For the week, restaurants around Chicago will charge $1 for the tap water they normally provide for free, and the money raised will go to UNICEF's clean-water works. The Tap Project web site has a list of participating places in and around town. There's an inspiring variety, in terms of location and price point, including the Goddess & Grocer, Naha, Southwater Kitchen, Big Bowl and C-House, the kitchen featuring Marcus Samuelsson, celebrity chef and UNICEF Ambassador (and, some might say, tall, cool glass of water himself).
Maybe you're watching a lot of basketball this weekend, and you'd rather enjoy a cocktail instead of drinking a bunch of macrobrews. Try the Godfather--it's simple enough to describe to a bartender who's never heard of it, yet remarkably complex:
2 parts scotch
1 part amaretto
Pour liquor into ice-filled rocks glass. Stir. Garnish with a cherry.
The amaretto helps to smooth out the harshness of the scotch, but the drink isn't overly sweet. However, be careful of its smoothness--this is still pure alcohol, so slamming too many of these is really not a good idea.
If you're not a scotch fanatic, you can replace the scotch with vodka, which makes the drink a Godmother.
Hart Davis Hart Wine Co., Chicago's fine wine auction house, hosts a BYOB night at Blackbird for a wine friendly dinner paired with the cuisine of Chefs Paul Kahan and Mike Sheerin. Here's an occasion to break out that special bottle you've been saving or some gems from the cellars of HDH. The evening includes a Champagne reception and a four-course meal in the private dining room. Start perusing your cellar or the local wine shops now. Reservations required.
I've recently become a fan of gin. When I first started drinking, vodka and rum were more my liquors of choice. I did try a gin and tonic once but didn't like the flavor--the gin was a little too much (or maybe too cheap) for me. I also associated gin with old ladies and the Queen Mother, and since I was definitely not either, I snubbed gin.
Then came the vodka martini craze, which meant drinking in happiness. Now that pre-Prohibition and classic cocktails are all the rage, vodka has taken a backseat in my life. Why? Vodka isn't that classic.
My 1947 Trader Vic Bartender's Guide is 437 pages. Exactly two of them contain recipes for vodka drinks, a total of four recipes in all. Vodka apparently wasn't very popular back in the day because it doesn't have any distinct flavor or scent. If it didn't have either of those, why bother drinking it?
Needless to say, I wasn't convinced. Then I went to the Whistler, and their limited cocktail menu didn't contain any vodka drinks at all. So I tried a gin drink and was pleasantly surprised by how good and flavorful it was. I continued experimenting with gin, and I find that I've really taken to it (or maybe I'm just turning into an old lady).
I got this recipe from a Diageo kiosk that was set up at Binny's in Lakeview, and it's a variation on the Gin Rickey, which was writer F. Scott Fitzgerald's favorite drink.
.75 oz lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
1.5 oz. gin
4 dashes bitters
lemon wheel (for garnish)
Pour the lemon juice, simple syrup, gin, and bitters into a shaker. Add ice, shake well, and strain into an ice-filled rocks glass (it's also good straight-up). Garnish with a lemon wheel.
Give it a try, and maybe you'll discover your inner author. Happy drinking!
If you've been waiting to get a swig of Popskull, the German Brown Ale collaboration between Three Floyds and Dogfish Head Ales, your wait is over. In Fine Spirits (5420 N. Clark) is the first bar to get one of the four cask ales that were produced, and they'll be tapping it tomorrow, starting at 4 PM. Both pints and half-pints will be available, but In Fine Spirits warns that the cask holds about 80 pints, so quantities will be limited.
If you get there too late, you can still drink other fine Three Floyds and Dogfish Head brews and chat with John Freyer from Dogfish Head Ales and Lincoln Anderson from Three Floyds.
A limited number of barrels of Popskull will be released during Three Floyds' annual Dark Lord Day celebration at the end of April.
Mike Phillips, a barista at Intelligentsia's Broadway store and last year's Great Lakes Regional Barista Championship winner, is one of the six finalists in the U.S. Barista Championship. Three other finalists are from Intelligentsia's Los Angeles outpost, and another, Scott Lucey, is from Alterra Coffee in Milwaukee.
Wondering what goes on at a barista competition? The finals will be streaming live at the USBC website; they're scheduled to run from 2-4:30 Central time this afternoon, and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter.
UPDATE: Phillips is the winner! His final score was 730 points, besting second place Nick Griffith of Intelligentsia LA (719.5 points) and third place Scott Lucey of Alterra Coffee (697.5 points).
I won't beat around the bush--the Cuba Libre is basically a Rum & Coke, but this is what it's called in the 1947 Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide (relied on by the owner of Weegee's, and if that's not a ringing endorsement for this book, I don't know what is).
I chose this because I really want to talk about the importance of measurement in mixing a proper cocktail. This week I went to a bar for a Rum & Coke, and the bartender filled a small glass with ice, poured a lot of rum in it, and then topped it off with not much more than a splash of cola. It tasted awful. After a couple of sips, I actually went back to the bar to ask to have it poured into a bigger glass with more coke added. Only then was it palatable.
A lot of bartenders think they're doing you a favor by pouring liquor with a heavy hand. They're not.
For those of you who appreciate a good rare whiskey, you can now order your very own bottle of the 1964 Cellar Collection from The Glenlivet. This limited-edition bottle joins their Cellar Collection lineup of whiskeys from 1959, 1969, 1972, and 1983. The U.S. market will get less than 300 bottles, so run right over to Binny's, Sam's, or Drinks Over Dearborn to place your special order right now. Oh, and it's $2,000 a bottle.
A couple of weeks ago I went to a food writers panel, and one of the questions posed to the panel was, "What's your favorite restaurant?" As the writers came up with their answers, I thought how I would answer the question. All of my choices were based on the establishment's cocktail menu.
Well, then. Although I do love a good meal, I apparently love a good cocktail more, so I've decided to regularly post cocktail recipes that you can either order when you're out, or try making at home. This week: The Satin Manhattan.
I love cinnamon. No really. I try to find interesting things to do with it. I'm totally biased, I know. But I love it. So when reading recently about different infused vodkas I got to thinking about the best way to infuse vodka with cinnamon. Using powder seemed like it would create an awful texture in the final drink, but I worried that the sticks wouldn't release enough flavor.
I had no reason to worry. Vodka, as I learned, is incredibly easy to infuse. All I did was take this inexpensive bottle of vodka, throw in a handful of cinnamon sticks (of course I got really good ones from The Spice House) and I let it sit on a counter for a couple of weeks. I think it only needed a week, but I wanted to make sure I had enough time to redo it if necessary. But I didn't need to.
Once it was infused I set about trying cool ways to use it. It tastes fantastic with Coke (which makes me think homemade vanilla or cherry vodka may be in my future as well), superb with spicy ginger beer, great with ginger ale and a dash of grenadine or bitters. It also matched well with chocolate liqueur (and a splash of milk), Irish cream, hot cocoa (or coffee if you're into it), and might even be tasty drizzled over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. I feel like so much more could have been done with it if I'd really gotten creative with the mixing of spirits. I think I'll be doing it again and experimenting further.
Well, maybe not save, but the local distributor of the distinctive New Orleans whiskey (and its namesake, the first official American cocktail, if sources are to be trusted), is helping drum up support for New Orleans revitalization projects by pushing all proceeds from Sazerac sales to the the rebuilding of the Museum of American Cocktail (bien sur) and the Second Harvest Food Bank of the city in need. What better way to celebrate Mardi Gras and the coming Lenten season than a little debauchery that does real good?
Participating Sazerac speakeasies include the Violet Hour, Nacional 27, The Drawing Room, Sepia and The Whistler, and the drink itself is usually a combination of Cognac, whiskey, absinthe, and/or bitters -- each bar is likely to have its own twist on New Orleans' official drink, judging by their pedigrees. The party starts Fat Tuesday, February 24, and ignores the post-Mardi Gras spirit to keep pouring through March 31.
Starbucks announced today that it's closing 300 more stores and laying off 6,000 workers. No word yet on which Chicago stores are closing, if any, but we'll keep you posted. Follow local blog Starbucks Gossip for employee reactions and more news.
We've also learned that local chain Intelligentsia has changed the type of chocolate it's using in its mochas and hot chocolate, and the new stuff is not vegan. There has been no official announcement, but baristas have been telling customers as they order as a precaution. Vegans, consider yourself warned!
Five Star Bar in River West has got a fantastic list of bourbons, whiskeys, and scotches--nearly 100 to keep you occupied. That's great, but if you don't know much about these liquors, you wouldn't even know where to start. Enter Whiskey University, a new monthly class series led by Whiskey Professor Steve Cole. Cole is one of three Whiskey Professors who travel the globe for Beam Global Spirits & Wine.
Each two-hour class will feature different aspects of the liquor. The first session, this Saturday, January 31, will look at bourbon, its history, and how to read a bourbon label. You'll also sample four different bourbons: Basil Hayden's, Knob Creek, Baker's and Booker's. Coming months will feature different liquors and topics.
Class is in session from 4-6 PM. Tuition is $10 per class, $5 for industry professionals. It's highly recommended you reserve a space, so call the bar at 312-850-2555.
I got a jump on the rest of the city on Thursday, when Gapers Block hosted a "staff-tivity" at the brewery in Ravenswood. We got to sample two of Metropolitan Brewing's delicious beers, the Dynamo Copper Lager and Flywheel Bright Lager, while noshing on sandwiches and fries complements of Hopleaf. I loved the Dynamo, a beautifully balanced beer with a crisp finish -- very drinkable. The Flywheel is a bit sweeter up front, but still has a smooth, dry finish befitting a German lager.
Entertainment was on point: to help celebrate Metropolitan's kick-off, the Neo-Futurists are using the brewery as a stage for the aptly-named "Beer," running Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between Jan. 31 and March 7. We got a sneak peek at the show, which tells the story of 10-year-old Boon, who passes out drunk after drinking his stepfather's crappy beer, and awakens to find himself and his puppet buddy, Puke, in a mysterious brewery. To get home, they must learn how to brew delicious beer. It's a great idea -- the Wizard of Oz meets Willy Wonka, for beer-lovers -- made that much better by staging it at a real brewery.
So, to recap, here's an idea for a fun night out next Thursday: check out "Beer," and then go drink some (of Metropolitan's) at one of the lucky bars featuring Chicago's newest brew.
Patrons of West Lakeview Liquors might notice that employees Devon Cunningham and Beejay Olson have taken a little sabbatical. They're currently in Belgium for six weeks with apprenticeships at De Struis Brouwers, where they'll learn the intricacies of traditional Belgian brewing practices. They're blogging about the experience here.
During the holidays, a lot of liquor companies have offers for free personalized gift labels that you slap on the bottle to make the gift of booze a little cooler. But gift-giving knows no season--what if you'd like to spruce up your bottle for a friend's birthday this spring or a housewarming gift this summer?
Never fear. Knob Creek bourbon offers free customized labels year-round through their website. Type in your message, and they'll print out a label and ship it to you with instructions on how to attach it to your bottle of Knob Creek. You do have to allow 4-6 weeks for shipping, but it's worth it to give your gift that extra-special touch.
Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery is kicking off 2009 by releasing two new bottled offerings. The first is Wooden Hell, a bourbon barrel-aged barley wine that has won gold twice at the Festival of Barrel-Aged Beer. Only 360 bottles will be available for sale, with a limit of two bottles per customer. See their blog for details on how to pre-order this brew.
The second beer they're bottling will be the Killer Kowalski Baltic Porter, which won a silver medal at this year's Great American Beer Festival. Flossmoor Station will have about 120 cases for sale, and they'll be available starting Saturday February 7th at a release party that starts at 1:00 PM.
On the chance that neither of these beers sells out, Wooden Hell will be for sale at the Killer Kowalski party, and Killer Kowalski might make its way into distribution. However, just to be safe, you should pre-order the barley wine and be there to party with the porter in February.
The Wall Street Journal reported this past weekend that more than a few cocktails are showing up on Chicago bar menus in "honor" of His Honor, Gov. Rod. The drinks at Harry Caray's and Nacional 27 are name-checked, but most concoctions seem to include some pun on "impeach," mostly through peach-flavored or -infused alcohols, which leads the WSJ to wax historical about one particular Chicago drink -- the Cohasset Punch. The story is neat, and the drink sounds nifty -- give it a whirl at your politically themed holiday party!
From the Wall Street Journal:
Cohasset Punch
1½ oz dark rum
1 oz sweet vermouth
juice of ½ lemon
½ oz syrup from canned peaches
½ oz Grand Marnier
2 dashes orange bitters
Start by putting half a canned peach in the bottom of a saucer champagne glass; then half-fill the glass with shaved ice. Put all the liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the glass.
• I'm a fan of Elizabites' "On the Table" series, where she shows how a restaurant's table is set when you arrive -- most recently, Province and The Publican.
Last week, Jill Jaracz and I tried (and posted about) some Laurent-Perrier champagne at the Four Seasons. Where, you may have asked yourself, could I try this intriguing yet pricey beverage before purchasing myself or my loved ones a bottle? Fox & Obel has you covered. They're hosting a Laurent-Perrier champagne tasting tonight, from 6 to 7pm, and $25 will get you sips off several L-P bottles, including Ultra Brut and Grand Siecle, as well as a discount on anything you purchase in the store following the class. Reserve a place here. (Or sometimes, if you just happen to pop into Fox & Obel after one of their classes is over, there are occasionally half-empty bottles that need some help before landing in the recycling bin, nudge nudge.)
If you miss tonight's session, Fox & Obel is hosting another champagne shopping event, this time featuring Egly-Ouriet, next Monday, December 22, same time and price.
Baby, it's cold outside -- but that doesn't mean we must suffer. River North spot mk warms up customers with free hot toddies every time the temperature dips below 20 degrees. I'd say tonight qualifies.
Here's the recipe:
1½ oz. whiskey
1 oz. honey
1/3 oz. lemon
3 oz. African amber tea
Coat the bottom of a mug or an Irish coffee glass with honey. Then add whiskey and lemon juice. Boil water and add the tea bag to make hot tea. Pour the steaming tea into the glass and stir.
Morton's turned 30 this year, and to celebrate, you can get free mini cheeseburgers this Sunday, Dec. 21, at any of their locations from 5pm to 6pm. (They also have a $49.95 three-course prix fixe deal if you're interested.) UPDATE: Morton's will also be handing out complimentary steak sandwiches on Friday, Dec. 19 from 4:30pm to 5:30pm at the Wacker Place (65 E. Wacker Place) and State Street (1050 N. State St.) locations.
On the other hand, The Reader's Free Shit blog reports that only half of McDonald's downtown locations are prepared to make good on the promise of free McCafé coffee on Mondays. The others either aren't participating or can't because the new machines aren't set up.
What could be cooler than being in culinary school and winning a trip to the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal because of your talents? Next year two Kendall College culinary students will do just that, having won the first Cockburn's Culinary Competition, which put students to the test of pairing entrees with Cockburn's Special Reserve Port.
Last Wednesday, Kendall hosted the final round of this competition, where three teams of two vied for this prize. Fellow GB-staffer Lori Barrett and I attended this event, where we got to sample Cockburn's ports and taste all three finalists' dishes.
Yes, it's the season for giving yet again. And what better gift than champagne, that most sparkly and celebratory of all beverages? Yes, you could break out the Andre and a sheepish yet hopeful smile, but it's Christmas! Lexus and Best Buy and every other merchant in America would have you believe we can wish and spend this recession into the past -- so why not go for the good stuff and pick up some Laurent-Perrier this year? Or if you're really feeling flush, the 2008 Laurent-Perrier holiday gift set, featuring a magnum (i.e. the one that's "juuuuuust right") of Grand Siecle and six hand-blown Baccarat crystal champagne flutes based on a design commissioned by the champagnerie in 1965 reflecting an inversion of the bottle's shape. Thanks to the Laurent-Perrier press unveiling at the Four Seasons this past week, fellow GB-staffer Jill Jaracz and I can vouch for the fact that it is lavishly lovely -- and the champagne is good as well. More details (and the price!) after the fold.
Dale Degroff is often credited with bringing fresh ingredients back to the art of cocktails. While bartending at Manhattan's Rainbow Room, Degroff stripped their drinks of mixes and artificial ingredients and brought back honest cocktails long forgotten in the states.
Degroff recently visited Chicago to promote his new book, The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks. The local launch party was held at the highly appropriate Violet Hour and served five of Degroff's drinks: the East India, the Manhattan East, the Original Manhattan, the Monkey Gland, and the Cosmopolitan.
The Essential Cocktail is a definitive book with hundreds of recipes, variations, and drink histories. Best of all, the book boasts 150 full-color photographs -- a detail that is often missing from other cocktail books.
Degroff was recently a guest on the Rachel Maddow Show, where she admitted to being an "amateur, low-level, hobbyist bartender" (swoon). Degroff shared a brief history of the American cocktail and the recipe for his version of the East India. See the recipe after the jump.
Surly Darkness, a gorgeous limited release Russian Imperial Stout from the Surly Brewing Company, is currently back on tap in Chicago.
Only a couple dozen barrels are brewed each year and most bars have a two glass maximum per person. (Which isn't a bad idea at 10.3% ABV.) The beer pours thick and is a deep brown/black with a silky brown head. The flavors run through chocolate, blackberries, molasses, coffee, chicory and roasted malt.
The supply may not last the weekend, so it may be a good idea to call ahead to your favorite bar to see if it is available. Three great bars that still have it (as of this afternoon) are:
In the refrigerated beverage section at Dominick's: a new line of grape juices from First Blush, named for the varietal grapes that normally make wine. These bottles of nonalcoholic Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay and Syrah stand out from the other drinks on the shelf, the has-been Odwalla smoothies and POM pomegranate drinks. First Blush has drawn some notice before for its packaging, and word on the street is that Kate Hudson imbibes, as do other fashionistas. This juice just might be worth getting to know: Here's a Cab that claims to fight signs of premature aging (with super antioxidant powers), as opposed to other Cabs that tend to show up under your eyes the next morning. But, like anyone new in town and desperate to make friends, we hear these juices can be cloyingly sweet.
My youngest brother looks forward to this time of year for one reason, and one reason alone: eggnog. As soon as it hits the shelves, he switches to the sweet stuff instead of milk, and keeps it up all the way into January.
If you're an eggnog freak like my brother, you might be interested in an upcoming cooking demonstration at Room21, 2110 S. Wabash Ave. On Dec. 4 from 6pm to 7pm, Chef Daniel Tucker will show you how to make homemade eggnog -- the old fashioned, boozy way, presumably. The demo costs just $10, and if you stay for dinner you'll get $10 off your bill.
Space is limited, so reservations are recommended; call 312-328-1198.
Autumn is one of my favorite eating times of year. Heavy hearty dishes are not only acceptable but encouraged again after the light, fresh dishes of spring and summer. And while a glass of rich red wine may go perfectly with your braised meats and casseroles, what if you're in the mood for an autumnal beverage? Throw an oak leaf in your whiskey and call it a Fall Julep? Thankfully a few drinks, alcoholic and otherwise will happily spare you this fate.
I recently sipped some seasonal offerings at Crust, which is well-know as a organic gem but more should know for its fervent vodka infusions. The current menu sports an abundance of in-house flavored Rain Vodka concoctions, including red hot, horseradish and root beer varieties. The Forbidden Fruit, despite its fairly silly name, is a wonderfully sweet and sour cider cocktail made with cinnamon-brown sugar infused vodka. The cinnamon-toast sweetness is tempered by the scratchy dryness of the cider, icy cold and topped by a shaker layer of bubbly, breakable foam. The Peach Impediment (again with the name -- I dare any of you, gentle readers, to order two of these consecutively without slipping on the second word) is a gently flavored drink with an end-of-summer lingering sweetness, made with honey and bergamot infused vodka, made with honey from the local and totally awesome Chicago Honey Co-op. The whisper-soft sweetness of peach swirls around the perfumy bergamot flavor -- just enough to ready your palate for whatever stronger winter warmer will show up next on the bar menu. At $10 a pop, these aren't exactly your bargain basket well drinks, but maybe worth the extra few bucks in moderation.
And of course, what could be a more appropriate beverage for October than sweet, spicy apple cider. Always available in plastic quarts at the local supermarket, cider always seems to taste best at its orchard source, perfectly tart and quenching after a long day of pulling hiding fruit from heavy-laden tree limbs. County Line Orchard in Hobart, IN seems to be a popular destination for large sectors of Chicago on fall weekends -- if you can find it despite Indiana's refusal to mark major streets, you can not only pick your own apples and pumpkins, but buy up jugs of cider, canned goods (dilled green beans! green tomato pickles! piccalili!!chow-chow!!) and other locally inflected goods. Also, there's a corn maze. And if you spend an afternoon there with your other young, childless friends, you're sure to need one of those Crust martinis when you get back to the city. Trust me.
Crust, 2056 W. Division Street, (773) 235-5511.
County Line Orchard, 200 S. County Line Road, Hobart, IN 46342, (219) 947-4477.
Half Acre Beer received the new tanks and other brewing equipment at its new brewery at 4257 N. Lincoln Ave. in North Center this morning.
The equipment was purchased from Ska Brewing Company in Durango, Colorado, and shipped here on four trailer trucks. The fermenters looked a bit like space capsules on the flatbed when I arrived at the brewery to watch the unload for a little while.
Oh, Alpana, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Riesling, cabernet sauvignon, pinot gris, viognier... That's at least four, right? Throw in that musical laugh and adorable stories about hanging with Argentinian wine magnate Ernesto Catena in his maze-shaped vineyard with sommeliers-cum-belly dancers. (Whoa.) Even if you're not an avowed Alpana Singh fan, you have to admit the woman knows her wines, and was sharing her knowledge for the benefit of the city's BYOB diners at Chicago Gourmet this past weekend. Focusing more on the bounty of available ethnic cuisine the city offers rather than individual restaurants, the pairing of six wines with six neighborhood styles was a great introduction to thougtful BYOB shopping. Rather than picking up some two-buck Chuck or "whatever Trader Joe's has with a cute animal label," Alpana suggested springing occasionally for a $20 bottle of wine at the supermarket, especially since the restaurant mark-up of the same wine would put it closer to $70. All the advice and a few more delightful anecdotes below the fold.
When it comes to brewing beer, it's safe to say that Germans know their stuff. So the brewers at Goose Island Brewing Company were mighty pleased when Harald Stueckle, brewmaster for German stalwart Beck's who was in town promoting Beck's Oktoberfest, sampled Goose Island's IPA and proclaimed it "great" and "interesting."
When Andrew (chief of Gapers Block clan) managed to secure press passes to the Chiago Gourmet for us, I immediately wanted to cover a seminar on sake. Normally, it would be $60 to attend (on top of the already hefty $150 day pass, I believe), which is a bit out of my budget. I was curious to see how sake is presented and received, given the recent surge of interest in sake in the Untied States. On top of that, as a relative newcomer to the world of sake myself, I was eager to try new varieties and listen to a sake expert describe their aromas and flavors. So I jumped to the opportunity.
After picking up the press pass and walking past a glassed-in seminar room with maybe eight people listening to a suit-and-tied presenter from an exotic winery, I sat down by the grand staircase on the first floor of the Cultural Center. I was a few minutes early. When I was checking the setting of my camera when I noticed a middle-aged, Eastern Asian guy sit next to me. I didn't think much of that; I just thought he was a tired visitor taking a break for a moment.
The man turned out to be the chef Takashi Yagihashi of Takashi, the seminar's presenter. As he walked up to the front of the seminar room, I kicked myself for not looking at him closely enough--I could have talked to him about the Chicago Gourmet and about sake without anyone milling around for their turn to speak to him. There were probably about 30 people in the room for the seminar. Some wore press passes, while others were paying guests (with occasional flashes of ritzy jewelry). It was interesting to see the sake seminar much better attended than the preceding seminar on wine--although, to be fair, there are more than fifteen wine seminars to choose from, whereas on sake there is only one.
Yagihashi's sake cup collection, along with his Starbucks cup, made an eclectic tableau at the Sake for Everyday seminar.
Yagihashi started with a little biography of himself -- growing up in Mito as a grandson of a sake retailer, moving to the U.S., working his way up in prestigious restaurants, and opening his own in Bucktown -- and moved on to the brewing process of sake. Within a few minutes, everybody was intently listening to his charming and informative talk with occasional self-depricating humor (which reminded me of Japan so much!).
For the tasting part, there was generous pouring of one sake from each of the major sake category. A guy from Yagihashi's distributor joined and gave us a lively commentary on each sake. From the "Junmai" category, which uses rice grains polished at least to the 70% of their original size, we tried "Hitorimusume" from Yamanaka Brewery in the chef's hometown (link in Japanese). To my palate, it tasted a little harsh and alcoholic, although, after listening to Yagihashi describe it as "neutral and good with food," I could see it that way, too.
I hosted a potluck at my place for Drive-Thru's fabulous writers on Tuesday night, and I needed a quick, fall-inspired, non-alcoholic beverage to supplement the bottles of wine others planned to bring. I got inspiration at - where else? - my local corner store.
I bought a gallon of apple cider and mixed it with a two-liter bottle of ginger ale in a very large pitcher. Then, just for a little bit of fancy, I simmered two cinnamon sticks and some star anise in a homemade simple syrup of water, sugar, and a few spoonfuls of honey. I added the cooled syrup to the pitcher, mixed, and served the sweet and spicy sipper over ice.
Yu suggested I punch up the ginger flavor next time by simmering some fresh grated ginger root with the simple syrup.
• You can now follow the Reader's Chicago Drinks correspondent, Bianca James, on Twitter, although if you're interested in drinks it won't be worth it.
I just got a sample of Froose, a new beverage for kids that aims to be a whole food rather than a sugary liquid. The little juice boxes were created by a mom who grew concerned about the way her son was eating less yet gaining weight. Once she figured out that it was the sugars in the juice killing her son's appetite and filling him with empty calories, she teamed up with some scientists to find a way to make a fruity beverage with whole grains.
I thoroughly enjoy a refreshing and balanced cocktail. The blend of liquors with mixers and other flavorings is a fine craft, and a craft that I've enjoyed partaking in at restaurants and bars. But the last few months, I've been experimenting with a few mixed cocktails at home. And I do actually follow these recipes and measure the ingredients, because I'm not comfortable with my ability to measure by eye. A little extra garlic isn't going to ruin a dish, but a little extra vermouth can ruin a cocktail.
Last week I was delighted to visit The Drawing Room for a book signing and cocktail sipping event to promote Market-Fresh Mixology by Bridget Albert and Mary Barranco.
There were three different cocktails to sample from the book and the two I had were delicious. Since then I've made a Fresh Tomato Bloody Mary (essentially a Bloody Martini) made from fresh muddled cherry tomatoes and fresh basil and oregano. Tonight I'm drinking a Cinnamon Fig Sidecar since I have a few figs left from researching the One Good Meal column this week. And I'm glad I had a leftover fig to try it out. The mix of fresh fig, fresh sour mix, orange curacao and cognac is a great blend. It's not quite as refreshing for a hot summer night as I may like, but it will be a great cocktail for this fall and the cooler, cuddly nights we have coming up.
And the best part of the recipes is that the authors include recipes for making your own sour mix, simple syrup, and a plethora of other infusions and mixers. They also break down all the bar tools that you may find at a store and tell you which ones you actually need and what they do. So whether you're likely to just make an occasional cocktail for yourself at home, or whether you envision tastefully decadent cocktail parties, this book will provide you with what you need to know and tell you which recipes you're likely to find at your local farmer's market (or grocery store). And if you blanch at the $18 price tag for the book, may I remind you that two martinis at almost any martini or cocktail bar will set you back at least that, or more, especially if you factor in the tips. Because of this book, I was able to grab a handful of cherry tomatoes off our tomato plant along with a few basil and oregano leaves to come up with a refreshing cocktail that made me crave brunch food at 11pm. Yum.
You'd think, being a fan of all three, that Bloody Marys would be right up my alley. Wrong. I've been on a hunt for the past four years to find a Bloody Mary that I actually like. Every three or four months I'll order one, only to be disappointed (and completely baffled - I SHOULD like these). I was about to come to terms with the fact that I just don't like the combination of the three when I found myself ordering a Bloody Mary at The Globe Pub.
Some friends and I frequent The Globe Pub on Saturday mornings to watch English Premier League football. That particular morning, I couldn't bring myself to drink a Carlsberg so I decided to give Bloody Marys one more shot. For the first time in four years I was not let down. Just enough spice and the perfect combination of tomato juice and vodka. Garnished with a lemon, lime and two green olives this cocktail has renewed my faith in the popular hangover remedy. The food at The Globe is pretty great too. And the football - don't forget the football.
The Globe Pub
1934 W. Irving Park Rd.
773.871.3757
After every party we've ever had, we've always had far more of a bottle of cheap gin than we've wanted. I unabashedly admit that I'm a gin snob. Bombay Sapphire is the lowest I'll happily go on the gin scale and since having Hendrick's, I've preferred the less-junipery taste with my tonic, or with my vermouth and olives. But I had about 12 ounces of cheap gin in a large plastic bottle that kept getting in my way. I was tired of moving the jug of rotgut and put it on the counter in plain site where I knew I would have to find a way to deal with it.
I was wishing it was Hendrick's when I remembered that Hendrick's suggests adding a slice of cucumber to your gin and tonic instead of a lime. The clean, crisp, green taste of cucumber is well-matched to the herbal flavor of gin. So I got out a clean quart-sized jar from my cabinet and sliced up a cucumber into 1/4" rounds. I layered the cucumbers in the jar and poured the cheap gin over the cukes.
After sealing it up tightly in the refrigerator for about two weeks, I finally got over my reticence and decided to make myself a gin and tonic. I put some ice in a glass, poured in a shot of gin, added two of the cucumber slices to my glass for garnish and topped it all off with some tonic water. I nervously took a sip and I was in love. The bitterly alcoholic taste was gone from my cheap gin and what I was left with was a tasty cocktail. Now I just need the summer weather to return so I can enjoy my summertime cocktail before it's too cold.
Half Acre Beer Company met with members of the Northcenter community last night, and officially got the go-ahead from the community to make 4257 N. Lincoln Ave. the home of its new brewery.
The space would be a brewery only, not a brewpub, but with the Wild Goose Bar & Grill next door, you probably won't have any trouble finding factory-fresh Half Acre on tap.
With the Goose Island brewpub by Wrigley, Metropolitan Brewingbuilding in Ravenswood and Half Acre moving forward in Northcenter, beer fans may soon have a North Side microbrewery beer crawl.
Half Acre is premiering its second beer, Over Ale, at Vas Foremost Liquors, 2300 N. Milwaukee Ave., tonight from 5pm to 7pm. Go get a taste.
In these lean times, I like to brew my own coffee at home to save some change. However, the process can be trickier in the summer when what I really want is iced coffee. Here are some tips I've picked up along the way:
First, the guys at Intelligentsia's Randolph Street location tell me that my brewing method is perfect: I just make a pot of coffee like I always do, nice and strong. They recommend avoiding darker roasts, which don't taste as good on ice.
Once the coffee is ready, I pour a big glass and stick it in the freezer. By the time I'm finished showering, the coffee isn't exactly cold, but it's not piping hot, either. I fill my thermos with ice cubes made from coffee leftover from the previous day, and then pour in my chilled coffee and a spot of half and half.
Lately, I've been sweetening the brew with a homemade almond simple syrup. I bring one-third of a cup of water and one-third of a cup of sugar to a boil, then let it simmer for just a couple of minutes until the sugar dissolves completely. I take the pot off the heat and stir in a bit of almond flavoring to taste.
Incidentally, Intelligentsia's new summer drink, GG's Horchata -- rice milk, espresso, simple syrup and a dash of cinnamon -- is a refreshing change of pace on days when I don't feel like firing up my pot at home.
At least that was the price a friend of Drive-Thru unwittingly paid on a recent evening. The scotch list didn't show prices, but our informant assumed that a glass would run the typical $10-15 it is at other bars, maybe a bit more considering the locale. But a greater than 100-percent markup? Ridiculous.
Northshore, Chicagoland's local distillery, has just announced their summer 2008 limited release -- Alphonso Mango No. 11. Their delicious Distiller's Gin No. 11 has been infused with Alphonso mangoes imported from India.
Bottles will retail around $40 and will begin showing up in bars and stores next week. Their summer 2007 rhubarb ginger gin was excellent and I'm sure this new release will not disappoint.
...Um, because One Trick Pony and I drank it all. Okay, not technically true. But after sampling the spirits of 20 different distilleries, featuring over 50 different rums, cachacas and other sugar-cane based liquors, it certainly felt as if we had. This past weekend, the newly opened Bottom Lounge played host to the First Annual Chicago Rum Festival, the inauguration of what we can only hope will be a long-running addition to Chicago's venerable tradition of drinking under the el tracks. More details on what 50 tiny tiny sips of rum will do to a girl, as well as some locally available stand-outs to satiate your own inner pirate, after the fold.
Sirène has a beautiful deep emerald hue. The aroma boasts a very pungent anise, with some citrus and pine notes. The highly herbal flavor is spicy and well-balanced. It tastes delicious neat, but is also refreshing in the traditional "La Louche" style. Mix 3 parts very cold distilled water with 1 part absinthe (or alternatively, add 3 ice cubes to your absinthe for a slow transformation). The absinthe will mellow slightly, allowing you to better taste the myriad herbal flavors. It will also take on a beautiful opalescence as it clouds.
You won't experience any of the purported psychoactive effects, but at 60% ABV you could easily get quite drunk.
On an excessively hot and muggy day last week, I traveled to Hyde Park for a dinner party with some friends. The host greeted me with a cool, refreshing glass of Casal Garcia Vinho Verde. This "green" wine from Portugal is so called due to age, rather than hue. Typically, vinho verdes should be consumed within their first year.
The wine is lightly effervescent and has a crisp citrus taste with, a bit of apple and melon, and a dry finish. It is bright and refreshing and pairs well with salty foods. We enjoyed it with a bruschetta appetizer. I immediately went out to buy a few bottles of my own. At $6, this has become my summer white. (I bought mine at Foremost, 2300 N. Milwaukee Ave.)
If you've been considering ordering a bottle of wine from an out-of-state vineyard that you maybe visited, or enjoyed in the past, you better hurry. After June 1 it becomes harder to order wine directly from out-of-state vineyards. You can order up to 12 cases of wine directly from vineyards who have a state-shipping license, but you can't order wine from out-of-state retailers. Even though you've been able to order wine from out-of-state retailers for the last 15 years, and even though the US Supreme Court decreed that states can't enact burdens on out-of-state producers or shippers, the fine liquor distributors who are supporting our legislators in IL have passed this new legislation. For more coverage of the ban, check out Hungry Magazine.
Last week, the Mid-American Club played host to the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers Grand Tasting road show. An 80th floor view of the Chicago skyline -- and suburb-line at that height -- is an impressive backdrop for any event, but perhaps more impressive to me was the discovery that this "zinfandel" stuff is... kind of delicious.
I'm a white wine kind of girl. I know, I know, it's lame and puts me in stereotype-land rather than the company of connoisseurs, but it's worth pointing out: connoisseur I ain't. I just like me some fermented juice of the grape variety from time to time. And zinfandel has never been at the top of the list -- but after the ZAP event, I could absolutely will look forward to sipping some zin in the near future. More details on this revelation, and some excellent locally available wines, after the fold.
North Shore Distillery will be releasing their newest product to stores this week -- Sirène Absinthe Verte. Sirène is produced using the traditional ingredients of anise, fennel and grand wormwood, as well as a special blend of herbs and spices.
The distillers recommend drinking Sirène the traditional way; with a 3:1 ratio of water to spirit. They have also put together cocktail recipes on their website for further experimentation.
Just a reminder that Dark Lord Day begins at the Three Floyds Brewery tomorrow at 11 am. Get there early to mingle and be prepared to wait in line. Bring cash.... and possibly a coat.
More information and directions can be found on the Three Floyds website. I'll be there with my boyfriend, my dad and my dentist (!), and I'll be posting a full write-up in the feature section next week.
Gourmet.com ran a story today on John Kinder, a renowned mixologist who has worked at many local establishments and earned a loyal following among Chicago's cocktail aficionados. Apparently, he sends out a weekly email newsletter to keep his fans up to date on his latest concoctions.
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the 800 North Clybourn Goose Island brew pub location will be closing at the end of this year due to lease renewal issues. The Wrigleyville location will remain open and the closing is not expected to interrupt brewing services.
My husband and I have lived in our new apartment for about a month, and we love it. But on weekends we've missed being within walking distance of both a good coffee shop and a bakery on par with our old haunt, Dinkel's on Lincoln. This morning, we searched Google Maps in desperation and finally unearthed a solution: a short bus ride down Irving Park Road to Sheridan satisfies both cravings with Emerald City Coffee and Artemio's Bakery.
The excellent Randy Mosher becomes their unofficial tour guide and is eventually rated the biggest "beer nut" in Chicago. The Chicago Beer Society also receives some attention.
Our friends at Half Acre Beer let us know that owner Gabriel Magliaro is turning the ceremonial hand delivery of the first case of their beer to the Heartland Cafe into a fundraiser called the "Half Acre Hike." He'll be walking from Monroe Harbor, approximately 0 North, to the cafe at 7000 N. Glenwood -- about 9 miles north, carrying a case of beer the whole way. The walk will raise money for First Slice, a nonprofit that provides healthy, hearty meals to underprivileged children.
The walk gets underway at 4pm on April 26, and a party at the Heartland, featuring Chicago Samba, starts at 8pm when the walkers arrive. You're welcome to sponsor Magliaro -- or join him on the walk and raise money yourself (no need to carry a case). Call 312-492-8494 or email info@halfacrebeer.com for more info.
• Also on April 26, there's a great event for fans of beer ...and zombies. Chicago is finally getting its own Zombie Pub Crawl! The drunkard zombies will be invading Andersonville, and it's $10 in advance, $15 day-of.
• Meanwhile, Samuel Adams has announced a recall of some of their beer after it was discovered that some bottles contain glass shards, due to problem with one of their bottle factories. Check your bottles for the code "N35 OI" stamped around the bottom (in the glass itself, not the label) -- if you find it, don't drink that beer till you check the site to see if it's safe.
Nobody puts Baby in a corner: Schlitz Beer will be sold in Chicago again starting next week after being in near-exile by its owner, Pabst Brewery, for 20+ years. Schlitz ads are still around the city, so I think Pabst is making a good decision.
Thanks to Chicagoist for passing along some great news: Flossmoor Station is bottling! Look for it beginning April 5th.
Flossmoor has consistently impressed me since I first tasted their beers at the Great Taste of the Midwest a few years ago. Their brewpub serves up delicious food and is an easy and highly recommended trip from the city.
Tomorrow, March 10, is Founder's Day at Peet's Coffee & Tea. That means a half pound of free beans for every customer who buys a half pound. And, as others Peet's enthusiasts know, a free cup of coffee is always part of the deal when you buy beans (yup, every day of the year.) Alfred H. Peet, the founder of the company, died just this past September, almost 42 years after he opened his first shop in Berkeley, CA. Because it's a California company, there are only two outposts here in Chicagoland: the first, in the city, at 1000 W. North Avenue and the second, in Evanston, at 1622 Chicago Avenue. While not exactly a homegrown, local business, Peet's is, on the whole, more committed to quality and community service than some of those other chain coffee joints out there.
Join members of Logan Square Walks tonight at Weegee's (3659 W. Armitage) at 7pm for a happy hour event and drink-naming competition. Weegee's is creating a signature
drink in honor of the group--a concoction of champagne, sloe gin, sherry, and orange liqueur--and those in attendance will vote for the best name. My suggestion? The "Sippy Skipper."
I celebrated Presidents Day a few weeks ago by having brunch at Lincoln Restaurant, which is just north of the intersection of Lincoln, Damon and Irving Park. What better way to celebrate our country's revered heads of state? Aside from the gut-busting portions of eggs, pancakes and breakfast meats, our stomaches were just as full of soda at the end of the meal. At least one of us could not turn down the giant frosty mug full of 32 ounces of root beer (pictured above, behind a regular 12 oz. portion). I don't think Honest Abe himself ever ingested such a large amount of carbonated beverage, but if he had wanted to, he surely would have come to his namesake restaurant to do so.
Beer lovers, brace yourselves: thanks to bad weather in Europe and a reduction in crops here in the States, there's a severe shortage of hops, one of the key ingredients in beer. As a result, prices have skyrocketed &mdash as much as 600 percent for rarer cultivars.
The increased costs are squeezing smaller brewers in particular. I recently spoke with Gabriel Magliaro of fledgling Half Acre Beer about the situation.
Andrew: I know your beer is contract brewed in Wisconsin; is this bill being passed on to you by the brewery, or are you purchasing ingredients directly?
Magliaro: "Yes, this bill is being passed on to us by the brewery, and we're lucky that we're contract brewed right now because they have long standing relationships and a bit more buying power than we would have on our own. We're having to buy our entire year's worth of hops now because we need to insure that we can continue to brew our beer without compromising quality. Our brewer is asking us to help them out because they can't afford to absorb this kind of spending and are forced to buy this way. We have been actively searching for hops to buy on our own with the hope of buying for our Over Ale (Half Acre's planned second offering]) and beating the price coming down from our brewer, but have been either unable to find the necessary variety of hop or completely blown out of the water when we have. The Saaz hop that we use for the lager was generally found for about $5 a pound. I was just quoted $30 a pound for hop that aims to mimic its qualities."
For those of you who have yet to try the fabulous spirits created by the local North Shore Distillery, Binny's South Loop will be hosting a free tasting this Friday from 5pm -8pm.
(Their website mentions that they will be adding a brandy to their artisan collection soon!)
I finally had the chance to stop in The Original PapaNicholas Café, "Chicago's #1 whole bean coffee roaster," and I was presently surprised. Located in the former spot of Frappe Coffee Lounge, this Portage Park coffee shop has everything you would expect from a coffee shop in this day and age, free Wi-Fi, flat screen televisions all in a comfy contemporary space. The Batavia-based company has been roasting coffee in Chicago for years, selling a variety of blends in area grocery stores such as Treasure Island, Sunset Foods and Jewel. This is their first stand-alone café; a few mini cafes have been in area Jewel stores in the suburbs.
The café has an impressive and affordable menu, standards of muffins and scones, deli sandwiches and grilled paninis -- the Grilled Chicken and Apple sounds interesting. One of the more attention-grabbing items PapaNicholas Café offers is Nick's 96, 96 ounces of coffee to go -- most likely a big container of coffee intended for the office, but I could see some monkey trying to drink it all himself.
The Original PapaNicholas Café
4431 N. Milwaukee Ave.
773-282-9682
Monday through Thursday 5:30am to 9pm
Friday 5:30am to 10pm
Saturday 7am to 10pm
Sunday 7am to 9pm
Mark your calendars, ale fans: the Chicago Beer Society's Night of the Living Ales IV will be held March 1 at Goose Island (3535 N. Clark) and will be a celebration (and competition) of locally brewed ales. The ticket price ($35 for CBS members, $40 nonmembers) includes a tasting glass, a load of samples, and appetizers. Take CTA or a cab, folks. You'll be in it to win it and therefore in no shape to drive home afterwards.
Most wine shops are charging a premium this week for sparkling wines, but Randolph Cellars is offering 10% off all the bubbles in house through Saturday. Use the extra couple of bucks to buy your sweetie some truffles or a decent card. Cue the Barry White...
Five weeks have expired since the ringing in of the New Year and by now all of those pesky resolutions have long been annihilated. Fortunately, you now have a “do over” as we kick-off the Chinese New Year today, beginning a 15 day celebration to commemorate the “Year of the Rat.”
While China is out of reach for most (regardless of how deep you have dug that hole on the beach), you can bring a bit of China to your Chicago celebrations with Tsingtao Beer. Tsingtao is the number one Chinese beer in America as well as being the top branded Chinese export product -- period. It's a refreshing international Pilsner style beer that is available in many Chicago retailers, bars and restaurants. The brand has planned several events commemorating the holiday this week; a listing follows after the jump.
Be prepared to find out. Miller Brewing Company is launching a new low-cal brew--Miller Genuine Draft Light 64--in several Midwestern states (including Illinois) in March. MGD Light 64 will be the lowest calorie beer on the market from a major brewer (both national and regional).
According to the Miller Brewing Company website, MGD Light 64 has 64 calories and 2.4 grams of carbohydrates per 12 ounce serving. By comparison, per 12 oz., Bud Light has 110 calories and 6.6g carbs; Coors Light has 102 cal. and 5.0g carbs; Heineken Light has 99 cal. and 6.8g carbs; Amstel Light has 95 cal. and 5.0g carbs; and Michelob Ultra has 95 cal. and 2.6g carbs.
And for some reason I can't help but think that this beer will be targeted towards women...
Jezebel pointed me to an article in Portfolio by Lew Byrson encouraging beer companies to begin considering women as part of their marketing demographic. Women reportedly make up at least a quarter of beer drinkers these days, yet marketing campaigns from major breweries still continue to predominately show woman serving beer or flanking male beer drinkers.
But lest you think that beer companies completely ignore women, according to the article, "[Women] are supposedly the reason beer comes in six-packs rather than eight-packs--a sixer was presumed to be as much weight as a woman would feel comfortable carrying in one hand." [!]
Most of my female friends and I love beer, though we typically stick to smaller, higher quality breweries. While I will never be a Bud Light or Coors drinker, I am surprised that these major companies have yet to make a real effort to court female drinkers. (Though, I am by no means suggesting that sexist advertising is entirely unique to beer companies.)
Apparently at Chicago's Exsalonance Salon, you can get a beer pedicure. The salon claims that the enzymes and hops in the beer help reduce calluses.
If you absoutely have to go out for dinner on amateur night, best make your reservations right now. Luckily, a quick scan of opentable shows plenty of early res's available at lots of swanky spots throughout the city. They even offer a special page that shows some of the fixed price deals and promos for the big night out.
Standouts include Anteprima, Copperblue, and Naha offering their regular menus and others with special tasting menus and the ever popular Champagne toast. BOKA, Gejas, Le Lan, and Bin 36 all have tasty looking options that range from $50-$135 depending on your seating time and number of courses. The best bargain seems to be The Park Grill with a five course tasting menu, live jazz, and free trolley rides home within a two mile radius all for $55. As an added bonus, you can order $10 glasses of Veuve Clicquot NV all night long.
When I was in Kraków a few years ago, my family flew out to spend Christmas with me. We crammed 5 people into the tiny flat I was renting, spent time reading at Massolit, drank at Alchemia, wandered through Kazimierz and staved off the cold by drinking cups of Grzaniec Galicyjski-- a mulled wine served from street stands in Rynek Glowny.
I was very pleased to find this delicious mulled wine in my local liquor store upon my return to Chicago. Few things make me feel like the holidays have arrived like the smell of Grzaniec Galicyjski warming on the stove.
December 5th isn’t a real holiday, though some people think it ought to be. What’s so special about December 5th? It’s the anniversary of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited the sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors — or as it's more commonly known as, Prohibition.
Repeal Day is something Chicagoans should celebrate. Chicago’s close ties to the era of bootlegging and gangsters, Al Capone controlled the flow of illegal alcohol and as many as 10,000 speakeasies by the end of the Roaring Twenties. Repeal Day isn’t just an excuse to drink, it is also a day to celebrate U.S. history. So have a drink and celebrate your Constitutional rights. Have a drink with friends — preferably a small, American craft brew or micro brew, since many smaller breweries went out of business during Prohibition.
Although New Year's Eve is still a few weeks away, I've noticed that liquor and grocery stores are already starting to carry an abundance of Champagne. Not just for weddings and special occasions anymore, Champagne and Champagne cocktails are becoming more popular. What kind of cocktails you ask? Here are a few you may not have heard of:
The Poinsettia: A perfect addition to your Christmas spread, this drink features Champagne, triple sec and a splash of cranberry juice. The French 75: Not for lightweights, this cocktail mixes gin and Champagne, plus a splash of simple syrup and lemon juice. Nelson's Blood: This one mixes tawny port and Champagne. Pretty sure you never thought you'd see port in a cocktail. The Black Velvet: This drink is a strange combination of Champagne and black Irish stout. (And you thought the port was weird!)
And for those who want to learn how to pick out the perfect Champagne for your holiday parties, attend a tasting at Pops for Champagne. Tastings occur weekly, with a different Champagne variety to be featured each time. Prices vary. Click here for more information.
I have long been enamored with antique seltzer bottles. However, I decided that I should wait until I stumble upon one in a resale store rather than pay the premium collectors prices that I typically encounter online. I am also somewhat unclear as to which antique bottles accept carbon dioxide cartridges to aerate liquids and which are simply delivery mechanisms.
Recently, I have noticed modern versions up for sale. They are reasonably priced and certainly take CO2 cartridges. I may have to buy one next year to employ for summer cocktails.
Has anyone had experience with either the antique or modern seltzer bottles?
Wine geeks in the South Loop have two new spots to shop in the hood.Binnys Beverage Depot and Sam's Wine and Spirits have both opened giant new stores on Roosevelt in the South Loop. The new Sam's features a wine and cheese bar and fine wine room, with two floors of wine and spirit selections in a landmark building circa 1928. Binny's new location, less than a mile west, is simply gigantic. In what looks like even more floor space than the Lincoln Park Sam's location, Binny's South Loop has a tasting room with over 100 wines and 16 beers to sample, a rare wine cellar, walk in humidor, and special section of their gourmet market dedicated to chocolate. Both stores have Grand Opening events scheduled for the week.
Holidays with my family always mean delicious food, warm conversation and a healthy amount of booze. If you are looking for a festive cocktail to enjoy while stuffing your bird this week, may I suggest turning to the bittersweet Negroni.
I tasted my first Negroni a few years ago when I met up with my uncles in Venice. They make a point of enjoying this beverage whenever they visit Italy, I make time for it a bit more frequently. When made with care, the bitterness of this drink is quite refreshing and appropriate any time of year.
The fabulous North Shore Distillery recently sent out a recipe in their newsletter for their take on this favorite:
North Shore Negroni Developed by Josh Kaplan at MK Restaurant in Chicago
1 part Distiller's Gin No. 6
1 part Aperol
1 part Vya Sweet Vermouth
Shake ingredients with ice, strain into martini glass.
Aperol has only recently become available in the United States. This Italian apertivo is similar to Campari, though a touch milder. (Incidentally, a typical Negroni includes gin, Campari and sweet vermouth.) I might suggest pouring your Negroni over ice into a cocktail glass if you will be running around your kitchen while enjoying it.
I worked late last night and decided to stop at the Division Small Bar on my way home. I was pleasantly surprised to find two new beers on tap from the Surly Brewing Company in Minnesota: Darkness and Furious.
Darkness, a limited release Russian Imperial Stout, was the star of the night (though the super-hoppy Furious is one of the best IPAs I have had). Only 25 barrels were brewed and Small Bar had a two glass maximum per person, which is probably a good idea for any 10.3% ABV beer. The beer pours thick and is a deep brown/black with a silky brown head; a truly beautiful beer. The texture is smooth and medium-full bodied. The flavors are sweet at the beginning with chocolate, blackberries and molasses. An unexpected hop level (80 IBUs) moves the middle flavors into coffee, chicory and roasted malt and finally back to a bitter chocolate.
Surly debuted in Chicago on Monday night at the Hopleaf and the Map Room, followed by Small Bar (Division location), Clark Street Ale House, Kuma’s Corner and Sheffield's last night. They are cultivating permanent relationships with some of these establishments through Windy City Distribution. Keep an out for them in the coming months.
The fourth Thursday of every November marks Thanksgiving, a holiday made for foodies. Wine lovers, on the other hand, have their sights set a week earlier on the third Thursday of the month, the annual release of the fun-loving wine Beaujolais Nouveau.
Around the world on midnight and throughout the day on Thursday, Nov. 15, lushes everywhere will be swilling this season’s fruity red from the Beaujolais region of France. Some consider Beaujolais the white wine lover’s red because it’s barely aged – just weeks ago, this wine was hanging on the vine as Gamay grapes – and very low in tannins found in bigger reds like Cabernet. In fact, the beauty of Beaujolais is that it’s not meant to sit around: the sooner you drink it, the better. (My kind of wine!)
So for the “freshest” taste, head to Pops for Champagne or Juicy Wine Company (reservations recommended at Juicy) on Thursday, when Beaujolais will be the main event. If you can’t clear your schedule for the festivities, pick up an affordable bottle at your local wine purveyor. Word is that Beaujolais and Thanksgiving dinner match up like turkey and cranberry sauce.
Newcity Chicago's latest paper edition features a "selective indie coffeehouse guide," helpfully organized by neighborhood. The collection of reviews is fun to read. Did you know there's a coffeehouse in Ukrainian Village where you can take tango lessons several nights a week? Or that you can get a tamale, Viennese breakfast, or even sushi with your coffee at shops around town? Despite the loss of institutions like Filter in Wicker Park, it's nice to see that so many indies are still serving it up hot and quirky in Chicago.
The Web version of the Newcity's guide is more extensive -- though my one minor gripe is that I wish it linked to the coffeehouses' Web sites, when available, so readers could more easily check out the menu and hours of operation.
Is it just me, or is bacon everywhere these days? And I'm not talking about the bacon on your "Enormous Omelet Sandwich" from the BK Lounge. I'm talking about bacon gone gourmet. Unique items like Bacon Ice Cream (Blackbird) and Bacon and Almond Brittle (Crimson Lounge) are popping up on menus at hot spots all over Chicago. And believe it or not, you can even satisfy your pork and salt cravings in liquid form.
Belly-up to the bar at Osteria Via Stato and order the Baconcello, a cocktail that mixes house-made bacon and green apple infused vodka with maple syrup and fresh lime juice.
Or, give Sepia's Bacon Bloody Mary a try. It's your basic Bloody Mary: tomato juice, black pepper, horseradish — but with bacon-infused vodka. Cheers, everybody!
Have you ever watched "Check Please!" and wished you could sit down with host/sommelier Alpana Singh to get some good advice on a wine selection, or ask questions about an episode of her show? A new part of the current season of "Check Please!" is a feature called Ask Alpana, an online form where readers can send her a question that could be answered on a future episode and posted online.
My fiancee and I finally replaced our broken coffee pot, and our timing couldn't be better: this week, seasonal, holiday-inspired coffee blends hit the shelves at coffe shops across the city.
We've lived within walking distance of the Caribou Coffee at Ashland and School for six years. Favorite baristas have come and gone, but the Reindeer Blend remains our wintertime ritual. The "serious coffee with a playful name" is a blend of aged Sumatra, Indonesian and Columbian beans, creating a rich brew with hints of caramel and spice. It's in stores this Thursday, and I fully expect to enjoy a steaming cup on Friday morning.
If you can't wait until Thursday for your cup of cheer, Intelligentsia's Celebration Blend arrives in stores Tuesday. The coffee has hints of red currants, caramel, citrus peel, molasses, clove and cinnamon -- warm and fuzzy fuel for Christmas gift shopping.
If you're a Starbucks fan, you can get yours Wednesday, and you have options. Choose the Christmas Blend or the more neutrally named Holiday Blend, which also comes in decaf. Both pair well with gingerbread cookies, according to Starbucks' Web site, so either way you can't go wrong.
Ever wonder how your barista got that cool little leaf design on the top of your latte? Learn how to turn your cup into a canvas at Intelligentia's Espresso Enthusiast Class--a basic course in barista training. Topics include espresso preparation, milk steaming and of course latte art. You'll even receive a free bag of Black Cat coffee for your efforts. There are a variety of dates available and reservations are required. Fulton Street Roasting Works, 1850 W. Fulton, Chicago. $200 per class.
Hellllooooooooooo! (please imagine in a spooky voice)
Back by popular demand, I have created another wine n candy pairing challenge! Yes indeed, you can count on me to suggest things to drink after the kids (or your roommates) are finally down from their sugar rush and zonked in their beds. Follow these three steps to play along at home.
First: Once the kids are asleep, strike quickly and snag the premium candy from their bags and plastic pumpkins. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey's Minatures, "Fun Size" real candy bars...stuff like that. (Leave the Smarties - even your kids won't eat those. Who hands that crap out anyway? Lame.) It should be noted that some children do keep track of their loot in great detail. If your kid has an excel spreadsheet detailing their haul, you will have to alter that too. Can't be too careful.
Second: Select one or two or eight of the wines mentioned below. You will need to purchase them ahead of time, so swing by the wine store on your way home from the Mega Mart when your getting candy for the neighborhood. You'll be glad you did.
Third: Pour yourself a sample of wine and taste with the recommended candy treats or anything else you could weasel from the little ones' stash. Relax and enjoy. You deserve it. After all, you created a Sponge Bob costume from foam rubber and an old swim suit. Note to self: try to sell the tyke on "ghost" next year.
If you go nuts for great Pinot Noir, you best get on the stick and register now for Pinot Days at Navy Pier. Over 50 producers of Pinot Noir from California, Oregon, Burgundy, New Zealand, and beyond will be in town from November 7th to November 10th for a muti-event festival celebrating the soft and sexy red grape. The grand finale is a tasting of over 150 different Pinot Noir-based wines from 1-4pm. $50 Lakeview Terrace at Navy Pier. More info is available at the Pinot Days website.
Chicago's homegrown Argo Tea has a new brand of vegan muffin made by the same company, Bake 'n Joy, that makes their conventional ones. I think I remember a gal behind the counter at Argo on Adams telling me that the staff there thinks that these new vegan muffins taste better than the non-vegan ones. I must qualify that with: I'm vegan, my note-less memory could have blurred, and she hadn't tried them herself. Thinking about the taste of the apple caramel variety and already pedaling home, I adjusted my route home to pass another Argo in order to try the other vegan flavor, blueberry. Both types tasted tender and moist, with a soft, slightly spongy mouth feel that sparkled with a touch of sweetness. Either would be brilliant with a morning's tea or coffee.
An impromptu beer run this week resulted in a pleasant find: all the New Belgium Skinny Dip had been replaced with 2 Below, the socially conscious and progressive brewery's Winter Ale. (Good thing, too, because I couldn't handle one more reminder that summer, while officially over, wasn't over. Like removing a band aid, I prefer to just get it over with quickly.)
The geeks (and I mean that in a good way) over at RateBeer have given it only an average rating thus far, but I happen to really like this cold-weather brew. Especially with hot soup. And the hissing of my radiators.
Bill Daley reports in The Stew that Governor Blagojevich signed HB429 into law yesterday. Starting next June, Illinois residents will be allowed to purchase and ship up to 12 cases of wine directly from Illinois vineyards and out-of-state wineries. This is in compliance with the 2005 Supreme Court ruling on Granholm vs. Heald which determined that states must allow all wineries to direct ship to their residents, regardless of their location, or none at all. Wineries within the state may not have preferential treatment.
There are a few more restrictions that legislators snuck in, though. Illinois residents will no longer be able to purchase wine from out of state retailers. Some of the larger Illinois wineries will be forced to sell all of their goods through distributors, which means price increases to the consumer and tougher competition from other brands.
While these details of the bill may seem trivial, they will impact Illinois consumers more than most folks realize. Winediva is investigating and will report more soon!
To celebrate the new fall television season, TV Guide (remember them?) will be hosting a "Free Coffee Friday" tomorrow. Several coffee shops will be offering free regular-sized coffee and copies of TV Guide from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Here's the lucky places: Letizia’s Natural Bakery (2144 W. Division St), Whispers Café Inc. (1031 N. State St), Ennui Café (6981 N. Sheridan Rd), Gallery Café (1760 W. North Ave), Mercury Cafe (1505 W. Chicago Ave), Alliance Bakery (1736 W. Division St), and Janik’s (2011 W. Division). If you miss it, the next opportunity will be October 5.
Millstream Brewing Company is a 22-year-old brewery (bought in 2000 by a new set of three owners) in Amana, Iowa. They produce a modest selection of beers that go in and out of season as well as root beer, cream soda and black cherry soda. Windmill Wheat, which is available all year round, is their lightest beer, and, in my opinion, it rivals any other light, wheat beer on the market. Unfortunately, it's not available in Chicago. La Salle, Illinois, seems to be the closest place to buy Millstream beer, but if you find yourself in Bloomington, Peoria or Galesburg, you might also be able to find some. I suppose it just doesn't make sense to sell something with the word "windmill" in its name in a major metropolitan area.
In an interesting bit of trickle-down economics, the rising cost of gasoline is raising the cost of beer. With the demand for corn-based ethanol, more and more farmers are planting this cash crop as opposed to barley, a key ingredient in beer. In Germany, a less than stellar barley harvest, estimated at about half of regular production, has raised the price of the crop 40 percent in the last two years, adversely affecting the smaller import beer cost as well. Barley isn’t the only thing that is raising the cost of your favorite ale — with higher transportation and energy costs as well as a rise in materials such as aluminum and glass bottles, everything is having some sort of effect.
In my never-ending quest to find new coffee shops, I tend to rely on many different sources, word of mouth, the Internet and sometimes dumb luck, as was the case with Sweet Bean and More.
I first noticed a sign in a window almost six months ago about this new addition to the Lakeview neighborhood and made note of it in one of many notebooks since lost. Recently, I drove by on a whim, and, lo and behold, people milling about and patio furniture outside signaled that they were open. Lucky for me it was their first day open and worth the wait. Situated below the newly-constructed Diversey Station condo complex at 1855 W. Diversey Pkwy, Sweet Bean is one of the most elegant shops I’ve seen of late, very comfortable and inviting with rust and gold wall treatments, hand-laid tile accents and a gorgeous wood and marble bar. This new offering just begs for people to sit and enjoy the day, and with plenty of outdoor seating for the warm months and free wi-fi, who could blame you? Sweet Bean serves Chicago’s own Metropolis coffee and espresso as well as a nice variety of baked goods both savory and sweet.
Sweet Bean offers a breakfast daily until 10:30am, the open-face sandwich on French bread with mushroom, red onion, feta and scrambled egg, as well as a variety of salads and sandwiches all decently priced around $8. All of the sandwiches and salads are prepared in-house to order. Sweet Bean is also offering a weekend brunch from 8am to 2pm with a special, elegant menu.
Sweet Bean and More is open daily 6am to 8pm Monday through Friday and 7am to 8pm Saturday and Sunday. It is located at 1855 W. Diversey Pkwy. (773) 857-3100
Somewhere between Ukrainian Village and Humboldt Park, I forget just where the line is drawn, lays Star Lounge Café. Open for just about three weeks, this 20-seat coffee bar is yet another new offering to the Chicago coffeehouse scene. Down right comfy and warm, probably due to the orange hued walls, dark wood floors and the wood bar that runs half way down the shop, Star Lounge offers a bit of a different feel than the regular coffee shop. It’s more like going to the local pub than waiting in line for a double tall half-caff latte at some chain store. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable about coffee; I talked to the barista, who seemed more like a bartender than coffee jockey, mostly about other coffee shops around the city and about different roasters around the country. He seemed to know what he was talking about.
Star Lounge offers a variety of breakfast and lunch items named for Chicago neighborhoods and streets, such as the Grand Avenue, crunchy peanut butter and sliced banana on your choice of bagel from New York Bagel & Bialy, or the East Village Veggie Delight, an iron-pressed flat sandwich, hummus, tomato, black olives, red onions on white or wheat. Star lounge even has a bit of a kids menu with PB&J and grilled cheese sandwiches. They serve all the standard specialty coffee drinks one would expect from a coffee shop: cappuccino and lattes, as well as some none coffee stuff like Jones Soda, Naked Juice and a variety of teas. The Cosmic Creations, like the Peppermint-mocha Macchiato, a traditional latte macchiato layered with a splash of peppermint flavoring and marked with espresso and chocolate sauce, are worth trying. And you’ve got to love a shop that calls there espresso blend “Dark Star.”
Star lounge has a few other things going for it as well, notably the backyard patio, for that chilling’ at home kind of feel as opposed to sitting on Chicago avenue watching cars speed by, and of course free wi-fi, the hallmark of any new coffee shop. Hours are a bit limited; they're open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. according to Menu Pages. Hopefully the hours will expand in the future. Of all the new offerings the city has at the moment, Star Lounge Cafe is well worth checking out.
Star Lounge Café is located at 2521 W Chicago Ave. (773) 384-7827
Half Acre Beer will be at the North avenue Whole Foods Market holding a tasting from 6-8:00 pm. If you have yet to try this new Chicago beer, this is the perfect time as some of the people behind it will be there answering all your important beer questions.
Whole Foods Market is located @ 1000 W. North Ave.
Plenty of opportunities to have fun with fish this fall with The Fish Guy. Take a sushi class from Hiroko Shimbo on October 14, 15, or 16 for just $100. Class includes lots of sushi and sake as well as signed copies of both of her cookbooks. You can also snag a coveted reservation at the once a week restaurant Wellfleet on September 7, 14, or 21 if you act quickly. Sign up now and get a free Caviar Wellfleet for each couple. 773-283-7400.
Do you already have Labor Day weekend plans? No? Well then get out of town for a quick trip up to America's Little Switzerland, New Glarus, Wisconsin, and visit the New Glarus Brewing Company. They offer free, self-guided audio tours every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a tasting room where you can get four, 3-oz tastings of their beers for only $3.50. The Web site says only three tastings, but our experience was slightly more plentiful. Of course, you'll want to spend a lot more purchasing cases of beer after the tastings: New Glarus isn't sold outside of Wisconsin. Be sure to get some Dancing Man Wheat and Copper Kettle if they're available. Both are nice wheat beers, the former being lighter and brighter in flavor and the Copper Kettle darker and maltier (check out RateBeer for more detailed and informed opinions on the brews).
In addition to the souvenir tasting glass, the brewery will also give you a coupon for a free small beer at a local restaurant. My suggestion: go to the Glarner Stube where you can enjoy big, steaming pots of cheese fondue, puffy fried cheese curds and my favorite, roesti, a dish of fried grated potatoes laced with Swiss cheese. While your heart my stop on your drive back to Chicago, I-90 is well traveled and rescue crews will be able to reach you quickly.
This weekend is also the Wilhelm Tell Festival, so expect extra revelry in the town's Swiss-ness.
Intelligentsia is raising the prices of their drinks. Like Starbucks , Intelligentsia is citing rising costs of milk, paper goods and other raw material for the price hike. The Chicago institution hasn’t raised prices in some time, and it is something they don’t take lightly; the increase is between five and nine cents, a mere drop in the coffee cup. The average retail price of a gallon of whole milk in August was $3.87, and depending on what report you’ve read, the price may go above four dollars in the fall.
River North has a new coffee shop in Cyberia. This 30-seat shop on Wells, opened in early July, occupies a space that has been a few other places, including the Italian spot Calabria Coffee and before that a Seattle's Best. As you may have guessed, Cyberia offers free wi-fi with purchase and access to about a half dozen computers for a nominal $5 an hour, with print and fax services at a buck a page.
Cyberia serves Chicago's own Intelligentsia coffee and teas as well as an array of sandwiches, soups, fresh salads, cakes and pastries. With its comfy couches, warm and friendly space, attentive and friendly staff as well as good coffee and Internet, Cyberia is a welcome addition to Chicago's burgeoning coffee shop scene.
Cyberia is located at 701 N. Wells St. (312) 573-2789
Editor's note: We sent Cubs in Five columnist Jeff Webber and photographer Phineas X. Jones to the Chicago History Museum for an event on Monday; here is their report.
Iowa's Templeton Rye rolled into Chicago Monday night with a busload of flappers and gangsters and a couple dozen cases of the rye whiskey Al Capone used to call "The Good Stuff." The upstart distillery's tasting party, held at the Chicago History Museum on Monday, brought back a taste that Chicago hasn't had in more than 70 years. Come mid-September, the single-malt, single-barrel rye will begin showing up in bars and package stores across the city. And when you raise a glass, you can thank Templeton Rye founder Scott Bush... and his mom.
The pitch is so succinct, it fits on a cardboard coaster: "Prohibition Era Rye Whiskey available legally for the first time ever." The story: a tiny Iowa town, struggling against hard times, takes to bootlegging and ends up Prohibition's closest thing to a name brand hooch. Fast-forward to the present, where Iowan Scott Bush rescues the famed recipe from the pages of history and brings it to the market in its first-ever legally distributed incarnation. It's the kind of story that lends itself to barfly evangelism. And really, who wouldn't rather hear a fanciful yarn about Al Capone smuggling Iowa whiskey into Alcatraz than suffer through yet another flavored vodka? After umpteen lifeless versions of berry vodka, old school rye whiskey is a breath of fresh air.
After decades of declining popularity, the time is ripe for a rye revival. Even the Manhattan, a rye cocktail in its original recipe, is more often made with bourbon these days. But with small-batch bourbons and prestige whiskeys making their way onto the top shelf, it was only matter of time before the drier, cleaner taste of rye made a comeback as an alternative. Templeton Rye is just the thing to help re-establish the style. Deep amber, with a clean, reedy character, Templeton has a chewy, spicy goodness and a clean finish that makes old fashioned cocktails like the Sazerac, the Rock and Rye and, yes, the Old-Fashioned, seem new again. All of those and more were on the menu at Templeton's tasting party.
Now obviously, a well-appointed tasting party with free-flowing booze is going to win converts. Add fun touches like brand reps dressed as flappers and gangsters and even a pair of period-uniformed "coppers" on a mock raid and you've added some flair. But where so many liquor tasting parties drown themselves in marketing department approximations of cool, Templeton's party spotlighted a certain easygoing Iowan charm. Upon hearing a distributor's boast that Chicago was the first major city to receive the new Templeton Rye, company president Scott Bush's Iowa pride compelled him to assert that "Des Moines is a major city." This drew cheers from the flappers and gangsters, who were, it turned out, all Templeton natives, among them Scott Bush's wife, grandmother, father and, yes, his mom.
Friends, family and neighbors in Iowa have had a year to get hooked all over again on Templeton Rye, but you'll have to wait until the middle of next month to get your hands on it in Chicago. Until then, you can visit the distillery online at templetonrye.com.
After spotting my post about Half Acre Beer Company in Merge, the fledgling brewery contacted me to offer a taste so I could judge for myself how well they make their product. I accepted, and a few days later their point man, Gabriel Magliaro, stopped in the office with six-pack in hand and ready to chat.
Half Acre has been under development for about a year and a half, Magliaro said, and just started selling last week. The company is based on the West Side, but the beer itself is brewed by a contract brewer in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, a common strategy for small, start-up beer brands. Half Acre hopes to one day brew beer themselves here in the city.
Their first beer, a lager, is available primarily in Wicker Park and Bucktown; you can find it at the Charlston, Pint, Jerry's 2 and Bacino's, and in six-packs at the 7-11 on Damen and the Always Open on Milwaukee. They hope to expand to the rest of the city and beyond very soon (it's in the hands of their distributors).
So, what does it taste like? For a lager, it's surprisingly complex, far from the flimsy, watery Budweiser, the number-one selling lager in America. The beer has a dark amber color with a little cloudiness, and a somewhat bitter-tart aroma. I tasted a big orange-blossom note floating on top of a rich caramel flavor that provided depth to stand up to food, but not so much that it can't be drunk on its own. Very effervescent, with a nice balance of yeasty tartness and hoppy bitterness. This is definitely a beer worth seeking out.
If you’ve ever wanted to taste this famously fancy and expensive red from Robert Mondavi and the Baroness de Phillippine de Rothschild with out shelling out $150, here’s your chance. The new Whole Foods at the Center on Halsted has a Vino sample area like the one I blogged about earlier this summer, but the selections are a bit different. This location is offering some swankier tastes on tap and a few more boutique-y items than most other stores. You can get a sample of the 2003 Opus One for $8 at their tasting station, and if it really does it for ya, take a bottle home for $159. Best keep that bad boy in the cellar for a while though. I find Opus reaches its peak in about 10- 12 years from vintage, but that’s just me. I like my California Cabernets and blends to have a good deal of berry fruit tones still front and center, even if its at the expense of complexity.
Any Halsted Street bar owner or restauranteur will confirm that the boys love their bubbly, especially Veuve Clicquot. You’ll find a hearty supply here of both standard and half bottles, pre-chilled, in the cooler for you. While you’re there, pick up some of their sushi, a couple of made to order noodle bowls, and some Raspberry Cheesecake or Peach gelato for dessert. Then call me with an invite for dinner.
Citing higher materials costs, Starbucks will be raising the price of most of its drinks by nine cents starting July 31. Thankfully, the cost of the easy listening CDs for sale next to the cash register will remain abundant and at reasonable prices. Everybody gonna dance tonight!
If you're planning any kind of meat on the grill for this weekend, you owe it to yourself to snag a bottle of this smoky goodness. Kent Rosenblum, originally a veterinarian by trade, is an expert with hearty reds like Zinfandel, but he's really outdone himself with this inky purple black vino from the San Francisco Bay region. Aromas of blackberry, dark chocolate, mint, black pepper, and cured meats simply leap from the glass and really sing with BBQ pork or grilled beef. It’s a monster of a wine, but still well-balanced with a long, supple finish. Like a dark chocolate mint melting on your tongue as you take that first sip of post dinner coffee. Rarely, does a wine make me rattle off this kind of cork dork poetry, but this really rang my bell with some slow smoked spareribs and a spicy/sweet sauce. It’s about $18. Get some. Rosenblum Heritage Clones Petite Sirah 2005
By now you've probably read about Monica Eng's $1100 Taste experiment; having a bite of each and every offering at Taste of Chicago and living to tell about it. Today she reports back with a rating of everything she ate. A very useful "get it," "eh" or "forget it" system along with her top picks and best overall booths. So, if you're going to brave the greasy mouthed masses, you can make a game plan ahead of time.
The only thing Monica didn't hit was the booze. I did. Yes indeed, you can count on me to scope out the reasonably quaffable adult beverages at any outdoor festival. Read on for my less comprehensive, but all important, drink recommendations.
An article in today's Sun-Times uncovers the hottest new trend (huh?) in bars: groups of customers ordering a pitcher of alcohol to share, instead of (wimpy) individual glasses. The trend, according to the South Water Kitchen bartender who was interviewed for the story, has also extended to home entertaining, especially when grilling is involved, as "most [pitcher drinks] are more diluted than most cocktails." Well, he apparently was not collecting data at my apartment. The article also lists several recipes for popular pitcher drinks, one of which involves coconut flakes.
Currently, Trader Joe’s is carrying some of the finest little Clementine oranges I’ve seen in quite a while. Grown in Chile, this variety of mandarin orange is sold in 2lb. netted bags that retail for a very friendly $3.50. These “Premium Clementines” rate very highly in taste and have an uncommon juiciness that makes for a bit of a messy snack, but one heck of a cocktail ingredient. Sure, they work quite well in any recipe that calls for a little OJ, but a simple cocktail allows the Clementine juice’s uniquely tangy sweetness to take center stage. I’ve put together a distinctly summertime drink recipe that’s as simple as it is delicious. I’ve left the template loose to accommodate a variety of tastes.
Andersonville is getting a new coffee shop, The Coffee Studio, and they’ve been keeping a blog about the trials and tribulations of opening one, from the conception, the build-out of a space and choosing just about everything else. If you have ever wondered just how much work goes into opening an independent shop, you should take a peak at this blog. The Coffee Studio plans on opening sometime in July. Stay tuned for more information regarding just when.
I had a beer on a recent trip to Portland that caused me to ponder it the entire time I was drinking it. Upon returning to Chicago, I went by Sam's Wines and Spirits to see if I could find it. Unfortunately, the name escaped me and all I could remember was that it was called Summer Solstice and it was brewed by a company in Mendocino, California. I wan't expecting to be able to find it, especially without much information or recollection of what the bottle looked like.
The guys stocking the beer shelves came to my rescue. I described what I could remember, and one of them said, "Yeah, I think I was just looking at that beer this morning. Let me see if I can find it in the back." A few minutes later, he came out with three cases of the very beer I was searching for, all unopened and not yet shelved.
Although my beer didn't taste as I had remembered it, sweet and creamy, like straight vanilla and caramel, I can't help but appreciate that I have it in my fridge, thanks to those really helpful guys.
The discussion on LTH forum reveals that some beer enthusiasts are disappointed by the newly (finally) opened Chicago Ale House on Lawrence and Leavitt Aves.
"Pedestrian" is the word one commenter used to describe the beer list. I can't help but agree. I stopped by the bar on Thursday night excited to see what beers were on the more than 50 taps advertised on a sign hanging outside of the establishment for months before its opening. The Hopleaf, this 'aint. The underwhelming list includes all your predictable standards (Blue Moon, Stella, etc.) with little regard for great regional breweries. Three Floyds and Great Lakes are represented by a mere one beer each, and even Goose Island gets shunned with only 312 on tap.
Going to the Chicago Ale House is a lot like going to buy beer at Jewel, except that it's more expensive and there are giant flat screens broadcasting sports games galore. Oh, and a handful of Michael Jordan posters, just in case you forgot that its a Chicago bar.
If you have been wondering what happened to the back bar from the old Lava Lounge, it found a new home at The Blind Robin, the newly opened spot from the owners of Green Eye Lounge and Underbar. The Blind Robin promises to be a hip yet understated place to hang, with green walls hinted with orange — think robin’s breast — and board games, lots of board games. As an added plus, an exhibition of paintings by local artist David Rettker is up on the walls, and the logo was designed by Gapers Block alum Phineas X. Jones!
The Blind Robin, 853 N. Western Ave. 773-395-3002
Hours: 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Monday through Friday; Noon-3 a.m. Saturday; Noon-2 a.m.
My good friend John and I sat sipping Arabic coffee at Petra Café in the Loop. "This is so good: the cardamom in the coffee," he told me. The green shells of the cardamom pods floated at the top of our rich, slightly sweet and very fragrant coffee. Arabic coffee is not strained. "It's a little thick at the end," John pointed out. It's ironic seeing this falafel spot serve it in tall disposable cups. It's traditionally served in a small one that you wouldn't be taking out. But perhaps it's in our future to see this type of coffee surrender to our to-go culture, too. Still, we loved the taste. Peta Café opens weekdays at 8 a.m. Allow a little time for them to make you a cup. You can dream about where this place is named after as you wait. Giddy up.
White peaches from California are available at Whole Foods in Lakeview right now, which means true Bellini cocktails are just a blender spin away. The famous Italian aperitif starts with a glass of cold Prosecco (an inexpesive sparkling wine from Italy), topped with a white peach nectar puree, and garnished with a berry or perhaps a little nugget of the stone fruit and a sprig of mint. Epicurious has a recipe from the Hotel Cipriani in Venice that is both simple and classic. Best make them quick. The white peach season is notoriously short.
Anyone even thinking about preparing a margarita today in honor of Cinco de Mayo (or any other occasion, for that matter) should definitely check out todays blog from The Thirsty Celt. Chicago's favorite Spirits Curmudgeon at Large, has indispensable spirits information and a pleasantly acerbic wit that makes him a joy to read, sober or otherwise. He is also the creator of BeverageExperts.com, a terrific resource for all kinds of booze related questions. His simple but classic margarita recipe is available here.
If you need to stock up on some nice stemware, now's a good time. The Robert Mondavi series by Waterford usually carries a price tag of $50 per set of two. CostCo on Clybourn has them for a mere $36.99 right now. While they're not as aromatically precise as competitors like Riedel, they are some of the most beautiful wine glasses around for the money.
Good news for Riedel fans too! Macy's has open stock of Riedel Vinum series stems for a close out price of $14.99 each as part of their One Day Sale on Wednesday May 9th. Makes a nice gift for Mom as well.
"Food & Wine" magazine recently released Cocktails 2007, a book of some of the baddest ass cocktails from around the country, and Chicago represents well. From the usual suspects: John Kinder, late of Moxie, with his Bonds’s Cocktail No. 1 (Calvados, honey, Lillet Blanc and peach bitters); Eben Klemm’s Rush Street Highball from David Burke’s Primehouse (gin, apple and lemon juices); and a dark horse entry from Las Palmas’ La Melonada (a wonderful sounding frozen margarita laced with cantaloupe and ginger). Nacional 27’sAdam Seger’s lack of presence is a fairly glaring omission. Nacional does, however, garner a mention in the Bar Snacks chapter with a recipe for their Spiced Almonds.
While enjoying excellent seats at Wrigley Field on Monday, I was obligated to indulge in some gameday grub. I gleefully put back a few vapid Bud Lites and stuffed my face with a couple of brats that looked and tasted like they arrived to the ballpark in someone’s back pocket. But it’s all about tradition at ball games and if I hadn’t gone for the Bud Lite and hot dogs, it woulda been Old Style and peanuts. So, price aside, I had no complaints… especially since we split well before the Cubs’ inevitable collapse.
It wasn’t until later, at the Hopleaf Bar in Andersonville, that I had the opportunity to right the evening’s previous culinary wrongs. Still being a bit full from the doggies, I kept it light by ordering the famed muscles mussels appetizer and a pint of De Koninck Bolleke ale. The slightly fruity, slightly malty, crisp brew was an excellent foil for the succulent, nautical sweetness of the Hopleaf’s mussels.
As previously mentioned, Shiner Bock, Blonde and Hefeweizen officially hit Chicago on Monday. We've heard it's been hard to find, although ShinerChicago has a list of bars that carry it — the big ones, anyway. They're also available (assuming they didn't run out) at Sam's Wine & Spirits for $7.99 a six-pack ($7.19 during their 1040 sale going on right now!), but is that it? What about other bars and stores? Post in the comments where else you've spotted the beer that made, er, Spoetzel TX famous.
The beer company everyone knows is doing some good things for the world of beer, Anheuser-Busch has introduced three new beers to the Chicago market. Big deal right, but these beers are a bit different than your regular Bud. First off, Redbridge is made with Sorghum instead of wheat or barley, making a beer that people who live with Celiac Disease or are following a wheat-free, gluten free diet can enjoy. Celiac Disease is a genetic disorder that affects 1 in 133 Americans, or approximately 3.2 million consumers.
The other two beers are a bit trickier with their origins: Wild Hop lager and Stone Mill pale ale, organic beers both. Nowhere on the packaging does it say Anheuser-Busch; instead the brewer is listed as Green Valley Brewing Co. Apparently these beers have been around for a year or so but not available in Chicago until recently. I first noticed them at my local Jewel about two weeks ago and Whole Foods over the weekend. Both beers are made with 100% organic ingredients and are certified USDA organic — even the packaging is made up of 100% recycled materials. It’s nice to know that a big brewing company is doing some good, or at least noticing the lucrative market of organic foods and beer and pulling organics further into the mainstream.
Cafe Rōm at the Hyatt Center looks like an amazingly crisp and clean space. White mod tables and chairs, shiny white vinyl booths with low-rising and highly sloped backs, curved glass sandwich cases and a collection of brightly backlit white menu boards wrapped in stainless steel let you pretend you're in New York or Berlin. Even the restroom marked "WC" for water closet adds to the cafe's European flair. The recessed ceiling at the ordering counter suggests intimacy and, as the ceiling opens up to seating area, the cafe seems surprisingly roomy. Sitting down, I noticed the tenderness of my roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, basil and tomato contrasting quite well to the nice tear and slight chewiness of my ciabatta. The sandwiches are well endowed with oil. As my pal Rose pointed out, "The olive oil is dripping from my sandwich." It's too bad they're touchy about snapping photos, stating reasons of proprietary design. Most people who've been eating with me recently have seen me excited to photograph the food and setting, and know how a management's position on restricting this could drastically change my lunchtime activities. Chatting with the general manager, Kourtney, about their concerns was fun and lively - with short discussions ranging from bakery offerings and conspicuous coffee drinks to the space's design; and I was assured I could take more photos after my authenticity was verified. By far, this was the most interesting conversation I've had with a restaurant manager about taking photos. I'm going to return for a sandwich and a cup of their smooth and mild coffee, but I could do without reading "all roads lead to.." on Rōm's takeaway menu. At least until they open considerably more locations. Their next is due to open soon in the renovated Metra Market.
I just got back from SXSW Interactive down in Austin, and what did I happen to spot in Time Out when I got home but an ad that looked suspiciously like a Shiner Bock label. Shiner, for those unaware, is sort of like Austin's Old Style, the "official beer" of the city which most locals don't actually like all that much. It's not too different from Old Style to my tastebuds, either — maybe a little tarter, but otherwise solidly simple, basic beer.
The ad included a URL: ShinerChicago.com. Go there and you find three pages of information that add up to one thing: Shiner will be available in Chicago starting April 16, in yet-to-be-determined bars across the city. Expect a big to-do, a la Fat Tire, to begin shortly.
Plenty of places serve vegan food in the Loop, but muffins are another story. Luckily, locally owned Argo Tea carries vegan and trans-fat free muffins from Chicago Diner. Hints of apple, ginger and cinnamon come with the carrot raisin walnut variety. It'd be even more delicious if the nuts were candied, but my moderately successful attempts at swishing up an evading layer of chocolate syrup at the bottom of my soy mocha took care my quest for additional sweetness. On a previous visit, a barista pulled an incredibly smooth espresso into a very cute demitasse.
Sam's Wine and Spirits was quietly sold today to one of the family members and a group of outside investors. The store has been family owned and operated by the Rosen family since its humble beginnings on the Near North Side in the 1950s. Youngest brother, Brian Rosen, and his financial backers have purchased his brother Darryl's interest in the company and seem to be making changes rather quickly. Eight employees were let go this week, which continues a trend of many key staff members giving notice or receiving pink slips over the last three months. No word yet as to whether they intend to make changes to the business model or how the selection or service will be affected.
I grabbed drinks with a friend from out of town at South Water Kitchen on Monday night; she was staying at the Hotel Monaco upstairs, and as she worried whether her 6am flight would be canceled due to the snowstorm bearing down on the city, we enjoyed some well-mixed if questionably named drinks.
After a page of cocktails named after neighborhoods (my friend had a "Wrigleyville" martini), the drink menu listed several "healthy libations," including one with "a pinch of echinacea (to help boost the immune system)" in with its Rain organic vodka, carrot and tangerine juices. While the actual health benefits of such a concoction are dubious at best, South Water gets points for recognizing the silliness of the premise: the first drink under the title is called "The Oxymoron."
In May I traveled to Buenos Aires and spent a week eating and drinking in South America's second largest metropolis. Many guidebooks are quick to peg Argentina as the place to drink Malbec. While this is true, Argentina has much... Read this feature »
I'm the kind of person that doesn't mind a bit of seasonality in my drinks. A little pumpkin in my beer, a little mulled spice in my wine...but easy on the apple pie, okay Leinenkugels? So I gladly accepted an invitation to Stoli's new Gala Applik launch party, the Moscova Affair, earlier this fall at Manor. I am not generally a vodka-drinker, nor a club-goer, so arrived thirsty, slightly early, and with all the scattered nervousness of a kid on the first day of class. With corset- and leather-clad servers and an Adam and Eve-themed silent circus tableau by San Francisco's Vau de Vire Society that more than lived up to the smoke-swilling lush-lipped ad campaign Stoli has plastered over CTA bus stops for months, I felt appropriately out of my element. At least the place was lousy with vodka, featuring at least five different suggested mixers for the new apple-infused Stoli blend, which I was expecting to taste more like Apple Pucker but has actually a mild, almost perfumey character. Applik and ginger ale was probably the best of the combinations I tried, though the signature "Applik Temptress" featured sour mix and a dash of bitters. Vanity Fair suggests a sangria-like white wine and fruit cocktail called, appropriately or not, the Rio 2016. Ouch. And, mmmmm!
I don't know that there's anything particularly seasonal about champagne, unless you feel the end of Daylight Savings Time should be celebrated with bubbles. But I still stopped by Pol Roger's Jazz Celebration last night at Pops for Champagne, an institution that I've been meaning to try for years. The White Foil Reserve Brut was the drink of the night, comprised of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes and fermented early in its life to a precise 46 F degrees, a process apparently distinctive to Pol Roger. A bottle of the White Foil retails for about $60, according to our pourer, though Pops has several other Pol Roger varieties on their menu as well, starting in more like the $115 range and rising steadily from there. The Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 1998 is aged in the deepest, coldest cellars in Pol Roger's operation, and has a dense, almost edible quality to it, with bubbles so fine you barely notice them and a mouth-feel much more like wine than champagne. My favorite was the Brut Blanc de Blancs 1999, which was both demi-sec and a bit tart, I thought the most interesting in terms of flavor of the bunch.
Summer drinking usually conjures Pinot Grigios and piña coladas, or mint juleps and margaritas. Good drinks to sip standing on dry grass, or out of plastic cups pintucked after multiple pours. Drinks that might look good sporting thick sprigs of herbs or little paper umbrellas. Throwing its hat into the summer drinking ring this past week is 
Goose Island Brewery has been rolling out new looks for its products over the past six months or so, starting with its small-batch 
This Friday, June 26, from 7pm to 10pm, Chicago-based 
I love it when one of the things I'm interested in (food and drink, for example) appear on a blog in relation to something else I'm interested in (local artists and crafters, for example). So it made me happy twice over when I realized that 
Picture a ballroom full of booze and you with a tasting glass in your hand. You look around and hundreds of people (some in kilts) crowd around tables, getting tastes of the best whiskies in the world. This is 
Yes, it's the season for giving yet again. And what better gift than champagne, that most sparkly and celebratory of all beverages? Yes, you could break out the Andre and a sheepish yet hopeful smile, but it's Christmas! Lexus and Best Buy and every other merchant in America would have you believe we can wish and spend this recession into the past -- so why not go for the good stuff and pick up some 
Oh, Alpana, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Riesling, cabernet sauvignon, pinot gris, viognier... That's at least four, right? Throw in that musical laugh and adorable stories about hanging with Argentinian wine magnate Ernesto Catena in his maze-shaped vineyard with sommeliers-cum-belly dancers. (Whoa.) Even if you're not an avowed Alpana Singh fan, you have to admit the woman knows her wines, and was sharing her knowledge for the benefit of the city's BYOB diners at Chicago Gourmet this past weekend. Focusing more on the bounty of available ethnic cuisine the city offers rather than individual restaurants, the pairing of six wines with six neighborhood styles was a great introduction to thougtful BYOB shopping. Rather than picking up some two-buck Chuck or "whatever Trader Joe's has with a cute animal label," Alpana suggested springing occasionally for a $20 bottle of wine at the supermarket, especially since the restaurant mark-up of the same wine would put it closer to $70. All the advice and a few more delightful anecdotes below the fold.
Price of a bottle of 
...Um, because 
Beer lovers, brace yourselves: thanks to bad weather in Europe and a reduction in crops here in the States, there's a severe shortage of hops, one of the key ingredients in beer. As a result, prices have skyrocketed &mdash as much as 600 percent for rarer cultivars.
Mark your calendars, ale fans: the Chicago Beer Society's 
Five weeks have expired since the ringing in of the New Year and by now all of those pesky resolutions have long been annihilated. Fortunately, you now have a “do over” as we kick-off the Chinese New Year today, beginning a 15 day celebration to commemorate the “Year of the Rat.”
When I was in Kraków a few years ago, my family flew out to spend Christmas with me. We crammed 5 people into the tiny flat I was renting, spent time reading at 
Have you ever watched "
Learn how to turn your cup into a canvas at 
If you go nuts for great Pinot Noir, you best get on the stick and register now for Pinot Days at Navy Pier. Over 50 producers of Pinot Noir from California, Oregon, Burgundy, New Zealand, and beyond will be in town from November 7th to November 10th for a muti-event festival celebrating the soft and sexy red grape. The grand finale is a tasting of over 150 different Pinot Noir-based wines from 1-4pm. $50 Lakeview Terrace at Navy Pier. More info is available at the 
After spotting my 
If you’ve ever wanted to taste this famously fancy and expensive red from Robert Mondavi and the Baroness de Phillippine de Rothschild with out shelling out $150, here’s your chance. The new 
If you need to stock up on some nice stemware, now's a good time. The 
