news
09-01-2015, 03:04 PM
By Carey Jones for DETAILS (http://www.details.com/?mbid=synd_huffpotaste).
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-01-1441119358-1234777-homebar620-thumb.jpg (http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-01-1441119358-1234777-homebar620.jpg)
(photo: Getty Images)
"What bartenders geek out about takes years to trickle down to the consumer," says Brad Thomas Parsons, the author of Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All (http://www.amazon.com/Bitters-Spirited-Cure-All-Cocktails-Formulas/dp/1580083595). For the past five years, that's been elaborate homemade concoctions like ginger-peppercorn syrup and habanero bitters--basically, anything that ups the ante on a craft cocktail. Now, instead of keeping those bottles behind the bar, they're selling them (online, mostly) to enthusiastic customers who are eschewing liquor-store stalwarts. Here, the best bartender-made secret ingredients to buy.
• • •
Bitters
Jack McGarry, co-owner of The Dead Rabbit (http://www.deadrabbitnyc.com/) in New York City, wanted bitters to match the 19th-century-style drinks he serves (cocktails in the 1800s were less sweet, more of the put-hair-on-your-chest variety). "I read a book from 1884 that talked about Orinoco bitters (http://www.deadrabbitnyc.com/shop/orinoco-bitters/) and how they were superior to Angostura," he says. "So I started researching." His Orinoco bitters mix Christmas spices (allspice, clove, vanilla) with cardamom and sharp, biting angostura bark--which, ironically, the eponymous product no longer uses. $25
Also try: Bittercube (http://bittercube.com/), which is based in Milwaukee, produces seven varieties, including the rum-friendly Jamaican #1 and #2. $10 to $22
Read more: 5 Cocktails Everyone Should Know How to Make (http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2015/04/5-cocktails-every-man-should-know-how-to-make.html?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
Syrups
Tiki drinks are notoriously complex to perfect: You need obscure-sounding components like orgeat, velvet falernum, and "Don's Mix"--which no one made to the standards of Blair Reynolds, who owns Hale Pele tiki bar in Portland, Oregon. "Then I realized, why shouldn't I?" he says. His B.G. Reynolds (http://bgreynolds.com/) line includes orgeat, an orange-almond syrup that's key to tropical drinks, notably the mai tai. $12 to $21
Also try: Small Hand Foods (http://smallhandfoods.com/), veteran bartender Jennifer Colliau's Bay Area line of pre-Prohibition-cocktail building blocks, offers pineapple gum syrup for pisco punch and tonic syrup (just add soda). Starting at $10
Mixers
Bottled mixes get a bad rap, and for good reason. But Bittermilk (http://bittermilk.com/), from the proprietors of the Gin Joint in Charleston, South Carolina, takes the just-add-booze concept off the supermarket shelf. Formulas include a Oaxacan Old Fashioned and a Smoked Honey Whiskey Sour. "If we gave people a recipe using smoked honey, they'd try to do it at home, and they'd do it at too high a heat," says co-owner MariElena Raya. $15
Also try: The Violet Hour (http://theviolethour.com/) in Chicago is launching a series of "sauces" that nail the proportions of classics. Mix the Original Sauce--scorched demerara sugar, bittering agents--with a brown spirit and you've got a professional-grade old-fashioned.
More from DETAILS:
11 Ways to Master Any Wine List (http://www.details.com/culture-trends/food-drink/201505/how-to-order-wine?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
Brad Pitt Is Back and Sexier Than Ever (http://www.details.com/culture-trends/celebrities/201411/brad-pitt-fury-fashion-shoot#/slide=1?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
The Best And Worst Booze To Drink If You Want To Lose Weight (http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2015/04/the-best-and-worst-booze-for-weight-loss.html?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
Shirtless Nick Jonas Explains How He Got His New Buff Body (http://www.details.com/culture-trends/celebrities/201411/nick-jonas-workout-diet-kingdom-mma?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
14 Healthiest Snack Foods to Buy (http://www.details.com/body-health/food-diet/201104/healthiest-snack-foods-to-buy#/slide=1?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
The Lazy Person's Guide to Cocktails (http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2015/02/the-busy-mans-guide-to-cocktails-5-fast-easy-whiskey-recipes.html?mbid=synd_huffpotaste) -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/1/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/1/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/2/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/2/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/3/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/3/rc.htm)
http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/a2.img (http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/a2.htm)
http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/ach.img (http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/ach.htm)http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/a2t.imghttp://pi2.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/a2t2.imghttp://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/497a41fa/sc/26/mf.gif
More... (http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/497a41fa/sc/26/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0Cdetails0C30Ebartender0Eappro ved0Ecock0Ib0I80A713260Bhtml/story01.htm)
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-01-1441119358-1234777-homebar620-thumb.jpg (http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2015-09-01-1441119358-1234777-homebar620.jpg)
(photo: Getty Images)
"What bartenders geek out about takes years to trickle down to the consumer," says Brad Thomas Parsons, the author of Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All (http://www.amazon.com/Bitters-Spirited-Cure-All-Cocktails-Formulas/dp/1580083595). For the past five years, that's been elaborate homemade concoctions like ginger-peppercorn syrup and habanero bitters--basically, anything that ups the ante on a craft cocktail. Now, instead of keeping those bottles behind the bar, they're selling them (online, mostly) to enthusiastic customers who are eschewing liquor-store stalwarts. Here, the best bartender-made secret ingredients to buy.
• • •
Bitters
Jack McGarry, co-owner of The Dead Rabbit (http://www.deadrabbitnyc.com/) in New York City, wanted bitters to match the 19th-century-style drinks he serves (cocktails in the 1800s were less sweet, more of the put-hair-on-your-chest variety). "I read a book from 1884 that talked about Orinoco bitters (http://www.deadrabbitnyc.com/shop/orinoco-bitters/) and how they were superior to Angostura," he says. "So I started researching." His Orinoco bitters mix Christmas spices (allspice, clove, vanilla) with cardamom and sharp, biting angostura bark--which, ironically, the eponymous product no longer uses. $25
Also try: Bittercube (http://bittercube.com/), which is based in Milwaukee, produces seven varieties, including the rum-friendly Jamaican #1 and #2. $10 to $22
Read more: 5 Cocktails Everyone Should Know How to Make (http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2015/04/5-cocktails-every-man-should-know-how-to-make.html?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
Syrups
Tiki drinks are notoriously complex to perfect: You need obscure-sounding components like orgeat, velvet falernum, and "Don's Mix"--which no one made to the standards of Blair Reynolds, who owns Hale Pele tiki bar in Portland, Oregon. "Then I realized, why shouldn't I?" he says. His B.G. Reynolds (http://bgreynolds.com/) line includes orgeat, an orange-almond syrup that's key to tropical drinks, notably the mai tai. $12 to $21
Also try: Small Hand Foods (http://smallhandfoods.com/), veteran bartender Jennifer Colliau's Bay Area line of pre-Prohibition-cocktail building blocks, offers pineapple gum syrup for pisco punch and tonic syrup (just add soda). Starting at $10
Mixers
Bottled mixes get a bad rap, and for good reason. But Bittermilk (http://bittermilk.com/), from the proprietors of the Gin Joint in Charleston, South Carolina, takes the just-add-booze concept off the supermarket shelf. Formulas include a Oaxacan Old Fashioned and a Smoked Honey Whiskey Sour. "If we gave people a recipe using smoked honey, they'd try to do it at home, and they'd do it at too high a heat," says co-owner MariElena Raya. $15
Also try: The Violet Hour (http://theviolethour.com/) in Chicago is launching a series of "sauces" that nail the proportions of classics. Mix the Original Sauce--scorched demerara sugar, bittering agents--with a brown spirit and you've got a professional-grade old-fashioned.
More from DETAILS:
11 Ways to Master Any Wine List (http://www.details.com/culture-trends/food-drink/201505/how-to-order-wine?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
Brad Pitt Is Back and Sexier Than Ever (http://www.details.com/culture-trends/celebrities/201411/brad-pitt-fury-fashion-shoot#/slide=1?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
The Best And Worst Booze To Drink If You Want To Lose Weight (http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2015/04/the-best-and-worst-booze-for-weight-loss.html?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
Shirtless Nick Jonas Explains How He Got His New Buff Body (http://www.details.com/culture-trends/celebrities/201411/nick-jonas-workout-diet-kingdom-mma?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
14 Healthiest Snack Foods to Buy (http://www.details.com/body-health/food-diet/201104/healthiest-snack-foods-to-buy#/slide=1?mbid=synd_huffpotaste)
The Lazy Person's Guide to Cocktails (http://www.details.com/blogs/daily-details/2015/02/the-busy-mans-guide-to-cocktails-5-fast-easy-whiskey-recipes.html?mbid=synd_huffpotaste) -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/1/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/1/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/2/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/2/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/3/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/rc/3/rc.htm)
http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/a2.img (http://da.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/a2.htm)
http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/ach.img (http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/ach.htm)http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/a2t.imghttp://pi2.feedsportal.com/r/238385091662/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/497a41fa/sc/26/a2t2.imghttp://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/497a41fa/sc/26/mf.gif
More... (http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/497a41fa/sc/26/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0Cdetails0C30Ebartender0Eappro ved0Ecock0Ib0I80A713260Bhtml/story01.htm)