I first started working on the cocktails I was doing for the event. Simple margaritas and daiquiris with water added to them to compensate for lack of ice dilution. I would pour the cocktails into a liquid nitrogen bath mixing with a wire whisk to obtain almost an ice cream consistency. They turned out well, but after a few (dozen) samples my lab partner (lovely girlfriend) and I started to suffer encephalon angina (brain freeze) and decided to retire back to drinking cocktails instead of eating them. The only problem that we were faced with now was that I forgot to refill the ice tray and had no way of mixing a regular drink. This is when I struck idea gold and decided to try switching the method of liquid nitrogen wash to liquid nitrogen as a weighed ingredient to the cocktail.

We decided on Gimlets. Well, my lab partner thought it was a gimlet when actually she was drinking a sweet Gin Rickey. Anyways, I grabbed a large 28oz tin and began constructing our not so typical cocktail and customized it for my taste. A hefty 3 ounces of Sapphire, ½ ounce fresh lime juice, and ½ ounce simple syrup built on solid cubes in a double old fashion and stirred for some good time is my usual method to suit my taste and is perfect in my opinion. I replicated this but replaced 2 ounces of water for the ice cubes. With everything in my tin I started to slowly pour 2 cups of liquid nitrogen into the tin, stirring the mixture with a bar spoon the whole time to prevent freezing. At this time I became the classic mad scientist from an old black and white film. Moving quickly all around, grinning while rubbing my hands together, staring at the potion with smoke billowing from its mixing vessel, and finally announcing completion with a loud maniacal laugh.

I split the concoction amongst two old fashion glasses to share with my lab partner for proper feedback. Instantly the cocktails made the glassware fog up and super cold to the touch. The first observation was definitely that these drinks were cold. Really cold! Colder than any other cocktail, (still in the liquid form), that I have ever had. The cocktail itself was on point for my suiting, but my lab buddy thought that it needed a little tweaking. So we tweaked and tweaked until there seemed to be a fog of liquid nitrogen smoke in my lab. When the smoke cleared we were left with what may seem to be the perfect cocktail in terms of proper measured amounts, proper dilution, proper temperature, and proper technique. What we were also left with was a giant buzz from researching and a tank of liquid nitrogen. Pretty good combo.

My lab partner and I high on spirits, ecstatic about our findings, and done wanting to be mad scientist decided it would be the right time to freeze a lime solid and shatter it. Enjoying our last cocktails of the night we watched the lime sitting in the liquid nitrogen bath. The nitro furiously bubbled around the lime and we just watched while the last bit of the liquid vaporized away. I let my lab partner do the dirty work and with one hard throw to the ground the lime shattered and pieces sprawled all through out the kitchen floor. We high fived and went to sleep. I dreamt of a cocktail lounge with no ice, scientists behind the bar in lab coats with weird mixing vessels and crazy grins. With that same crazy grin on their faces all of the lounge patron’s eyes were locked on the crew of mixologists and what they were stirring up.

Morgenthaler’s recipe is as follows:
1 ounce ginger juice
2 ounces finely strained lemon juice
3 ounces 1:1 simple syrup
10 ounces warm water
25-30 granulates of champagne yeast

Combine all of the ingredients in a flip top bottle, give one shake, and let sit in a warm dark room for 24-48 hrs. Refrigerate to stop the yeast from fermenting.

Morgenthaler’s recipe says no less than 48hrs, but I have had some batches explode on opening, so I always let the yeast activate for about 30 hours. Again, you can mess with the amounts depending on how spicy you like it. I like to use almost equal parts ginger juice and lemon juice.

When juicing ginger, make sure you chop it down into small hale size chunks to make things easier on the juicer and make sure you continually clear the pulp off of the blade after each feed to cut back on any pressure building up inside the juicer.

Well, try to brew some ginger beer at home then sit back and enjoy a Dark n’ Stormy, Moscow Mule, or my current favorite – The Pimm’s Cup.

Pimm’s Cup
1/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz 2:1 simple syrup
2 oz Pimm’s #1
4-5 oz Homemade ginger beer.
Slice of Cucumber
Build the ingredients over ice, give it a nice stir for about 10-15 seconds and garnish with a slice of Cucumber and some strawberries if you got some.

I’m still in Summer mode, so these drinks are geared toward the refreshing and light side of things.

Cocktails:

Negroni – - Velvet Tango Room
(Equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari stirred over ice or served up.)
This cocktail is one of my favorites and is extra special when it is perfectly crafted by the VTR bartenders. It’s bitter, bright, a touch of balanced sweetness, and a beautiful array of herbal spiciness that causes an upheaval of the senses. One of these is usually not enough, but you might want to stop and savor the lingering effects when you’re done.

Moscow Mule / Dark and Stormy – - Dragonfly
(Moscow Mule: One part Vodka, one part lime juice, three parts ginger beer served on the rocks in a copper mug.)
(Dark and Stormy: Goslings Dark Rum drizzled into Ginger beer over ice with lime.)
These are summer time favorites that are as fun and easy to drink as they are refreshing. Mike at Dragonfly has a very approachable and drinkable cocktail list. Everything on it is a modernized classic and truly compliments the West 25th street attitude: a nod to the new and old.

Irish Godfather – - Duck Island Club
(2oz. of Jameson’s Irish Whisky over ice in a rocks glass, splash of Amaretto, several dashes of bitters)
This drink has been a staple of the Duck Island Club since Andy Long took it over last October. The three flavors blend together to make this drink bittersweet and potent.

Beer:

Buckeye Brewing Ho Ho Ho – - Buckeye Beer Engine
The Buckeye Beer Engine is a well known beer mecca in the middle of Lakewood. It’s also known (as its name suggests) for its cask offerings. A beer engine is a pump that is traditionally used to bring beer from a cask in a pub’s basement up to the bar. Buckeye’s beer engine brings up a rotating cast of beers that tend to enter the glass a little more intensely flavored and slightly less carbonated. Buckeye’s own beer, Ho Ho Ho, is a winter seasonal that I was lucky enough to taste in the cask in July. A little more time in the cask integrated the spiced flavors and brought out a generous but pleasing sourness.

More of What to Drink and Where to Drink It coming soon . . .

First and foremost: The Negroni

Besides being my “Summer Manhattan” the Negroni is a favorite among the experienced cocktail afficionados. It’s an aperitif cocktail that originates from Italy during the early part of the last century when the average Italian could use a good drink. It was derived from the Americano: Campari, Sweet Vermouth, and club soda. Instead of club soda, gin was substituted to ramp up the alcohol. Then – voila – the Negroni was born!! The Negroni is composed of equal parts Campari, Gin, and Sweet Vermouth. An orange peel is used for the garnish and is often “flamed.” The oils in the rind are expressed in front of a flame over the drink.

The next Summertime favorite is the ubiquitous Gin and Tonic. I shouldn’t have to explain how to make this classic, but throw some Gin over some ice and add some tonic on top and garnish with a lemon or lime wedge and your laughin’. Take this refreshing concoction a bit further and add some Fee Brothers’ Grapefruit bitters to the mix. It makes a refreshing beverage irresistable.

The third cocktail is the Caipirinha.

It’s the national cocktail of Brazil. It is traditionally composed of Cachaca (cane sugar rum), sugar, and lime. It doesn’t get more simple and satisfying than that!! To construct: muddle lime wedges and sugar in an old fashoined glass/rocks glass, add ice to the top, and add cachaca. Stir gently and serve. The lime is often substituted for a wide variety of fruits in Brazil, but I have yet to see any subsitutions stateside.

     Ever wonder why you don’t know what Sho-chu is?  Why is there no good grappa in Ohio?  Calvados?  Brandy?  Eau de vie?  These questions could go on ad nauseum.  The answer is the State Liquor Control body doesn’t want to deal with it.  The short version of the story is that the state has to warehouse spirits for the retailers and doesn’t want to spend the extra man-power and space to dole out the small stuff.  It seems that if it doesn’t come in to their warehouse on a pallet, it ain’t getting to your store.  Thus, the only stuff you find at your local retailer is mass-marketed swill.

     Things have changed a tiny bit due to the demand of certain craft bartenders and bar owners.  Everest Curley is responsible for bringing Pimm’s No. 1 back to Ohio and keeping it here.  Paulius Nasvytis of The Velvet Tango Room is responsible for maintaining stock on a number of spirits including a pisco.  These are great achievements and signal to us that given enough prodding, the state will respond.  There’s a long way to go before the variety increases to my satisfaction, but it doesn’t look like the system will change any time soon.  So, I’ll make-do with what’s available and still stun my crowds!!

     If there’s some specialty spirit you’re looking for check out the Ohio Liquor Control website.  There’s a list of all of the approved spirits in the state.  This is not, however, an inventory list – sadly.

Mister Mike Gulley – a la Dragonfly on W. 25th. 

His tremendous award winning Gin cocktail:

Sweet Arnold:
2 oz Earl Grey infused Tanqueray (1/4 cup loose Earl Grey steeped in a full bottle of Tanq for 2 hours)
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz tri syrup (agave nectar, clover honey, simple syrup)

…Build on ice and top with seltzer water.

Garnish with a horse’s neck or a long lemon twist.

Stop by the Dragonfly and drink his amazing talent up!

http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/sour-mix-getting-sweeter/Content?oid=1935980

Thank you Chris. As someone who works with profitability issues facing bars, I am amazed at the apathy and ignorance of not only beertenders, but also the management and owners of properties. Cruise Craigslist job boards and soon you will realize how bad it really is.
Many posts are for ‘attractive females’, and ‘include photo’ with application. Not only is this illegal, but backward thinking. So you have a ‘hotty’ behind the bar; great, now you have 10 guys sitting at the bar buying dollar draughts and harassing your employee who is not going home with any of them. Perhaps if you hired a an engaging personality to mix drinks, you could attract 10 ‘hotties’ to your bar to drink Cosmos which would attract 50 guys to drink your dollar draught. Someone might even get laid. Let’s hope that any resulting offspring would be born with better taste however.
My second favorite job post is for ‘no experience necessary, we will train the right person’. Really? What does your training program look like? Perhaps a half hour explaining fireable offenses, employee discounts, and where to park, followed by 10 minutes of computer training, and finally a shift working with a ‘head bartender’. In my 20 years of experience, most manager’s have ‘failed up’ and have no business training anyone.
Do you want to be profitable? Do you want guests to return? Get yourself and your staff educated, create accountability through training, and fire those who lack a work ethic.

     It starts with expectations.  The general public doesn’t demand anything until it doesn’t get it.  What I mean is that they don’t tend to give a shit about anything until someone tells them to.  This has maintained the domination of mediocrity in the beverage industry – piss-poor beer, poisonous spirits, and bulk wine.  No one said a word about it for decades and the result was mediocre crap.  Ultimately, consumers became educated and sought out alternatives and the result is the amazing selection we currently enjoy.  When it comes to service, skill, and attitude, bartenders have been accepted in many different forms.  There’s the Busty Bartender, the Cocktail Nerd, the Casual Dude, Flair-o-tronic, the Beer Nerd, and the Wine Nerd among others.  The ones I have trouble with and will address in this article are the Busty Bartender and the Casual Dude.  The others employ a skill that may (in some circumstances) make up for shitty service or a crappy attitude.  In Cleveland, this skill trumps all bad service and other pathologies, for better or worse.

     It’s no secret that I can appreciate a nice set of boobs.  They are not necessarily an indicator of anything, but tend to lead me to believe that the bartender behind the rack is there because of said rack instead of any ability relating to bartending.  This is not always true, but has been more common since the average customers’ needs have narrowed to shots and beers.

     The Casual Guy (or Girl) is the bartender that strolls to you to take your order, has no sense of urgency, has no knowledge of bartending craft or service, and, generally, is nothing more than a bar babysitter.  This bartender is more common here than I’d care to admit.  This one invades all manner of bars – fine dining and shot and beer bars.  Bartending requires a fairly high level of sustained energy.  If one can’t maintain that level, one shouldn’t be bartending.  

     Respect the bar.  It’s the place in the restaurant where you stand to make the most profit.  You, generally, have less staff, lower cost percentage, and lower energy cost.  It’s a license to print money.  The bar is often overlooked in food-focused concepts.  This is a grave mistake.  The bar is the first thing the customer sees.  They use it to kill time before they sit at a table.  It’s likely that they’ll stop there on the way out for a nightcap.  The bar needs to be clean, clear, and orderly.  It’s a showcase of products and a stage for cocktail performers.  There’s as much innovation possible behind the bar as there is in the kitchen.  The future of mixology is very exciting and the average consumer is getting hip to that cutting edge.  It’s time to raise the bar here in Cleveland and tell the bar owners and bartenders that bad service and lack of knowledge will not be tolerated.

Send your rambling to chrisminnillo@gmail.com

Thanks!