The Black Peppercorn Martini

OK...OK... before you even start on me... I know a Martini is only Gin, Vermouth, & an Olive or Lemon Twist. I got that, but this little twist adds a new depth of flavor that might just surprise you and still let me get away with calling it a Martini.
Now with that out of the way, let me get on to the recipe...

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 ounces Hendrick's Gin
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
1/4 to 1/2 ounce Black Peppercorn Syrup (See Recipe Below)
Ice

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir well to chill. Strain and Serve!

I found this recipe on the web and being a huge fan of black pepper for cooking I had to give it a try. I tried this cocktail with very dry, less perfumed gin, but Hendrick’s worked so well because of its moderate juniper and floral flavors. You might also see that I said 1/4 to 1/2 ounce of the Black Peppercorn Syrup. That is simply because for some people 1/2 ounce just kills the dryness of the Martini. So experiment and you can make these to your & your guest preferences.

The Black Pepper syrup is made by combing...

1 1/2 cups water,
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon whole Tellicherry black peppercorns
1 tablespoon cracked Malabar black peppercorns

Simmer all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to bring mixture to a simmer; cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Strain the cooled syrup and refrigerate it in a container with a tight fitting lid.

Now you might ask..."Were in the world would I find Tellicherry & Malabar peppercorns?" Well I can highly recomend Flavorbank.com. Some times you might be able to find these at your local "Mega-Mart" or specialty food stores but, they will never match the quality of the Flavorbank spices in any way. You can also learn about their origins and what makes different in flavors and aroma.

Jennifer English (Owner of Flavorbank) has put together a collection of the finest Peppercorns, Sea Salts, & Spices from around the world. So you can not go wrong there.

I hope you will give this recipe a try. I might even being making some of these for "The History of Bar Tools & Bare Ware from the 1800's to Today" at Tales of the Cocktail in July.

Cheers everyone and Happy Shaking...

Going Back to Tales of the Cocktail

Well I just wanted to invite everyone to the 8th annual Tales of the Cocktail in July. At this years Tales I will be moderatoring The History of Bar Tools & Bar Ware from the 1800s to Today.
Everyone knows that mixologists and cocktail historians are passionate about their tools and collectibles. Come view some of the most interesting specimens at this symposium on Shakers & Barware. You'll learn about their rich history while enjoying some delicious cocktails. We will demonstrate some of the more eccentric makers and their products including spoons, strainers, shakers, corkscrews, bottle openers, soda siphons, and glassware. The talks will be accompanied by various pieces of bar ware from numerous collections, patents from the 1880's, the prohibition era, and even some modern ones. Learn about the mixologists who used these items and how they improved upon many of them. You'll come away with a new appreciation for the role that bar ware has played and continues to play in the evolution of the cocktail.
I Can't tell you how excited I am about this because this year it is going to be huge! The event is being held at The Museum of the American Cocktail on Wednesday July 21st from 3:00 to 4:30. We have assembled a great panel consisting Mark Bigler (aka Mr Big) of CocktailShakers.com, Michael Silvers Owner and Founder of Uber Bar Tools, and last but by no means least...Dale DeGroff. Of coarse many of you already know Dale as one the most preeminent mixologist in the world, cocktail book author, cocktail trainer, ect...ect. Just check out his website for more info. Kingcocktail.com
We are also very excited to have Henrick's Gin as a sponsor. Dale will be Shaking & Stirring up some wonderful Hendrick's cocktails. That is worth the price of admission alone!
Also Dale's charming & beautiful wife Jill DeGroff will be there to sign copies of her new book Lush Life; Portrairts from the Bar . There will be copies copies available at the museum or or you can go online and get a copy to bring with you.

We will also be raffling off hundreds of dollars worth of vintage bare ware & tools.

So mark your calenders and plan on attending Tales of the Cocktail. For more information just go to Tales of the Cocktail.

WOW Collectabledetective.com is Great

As a Bar Ware & Cocktail Shaker collector I'm always looking for new sources to find the stuff I'm looking for. The owner of this site collectibledetective.com actually found me through this blog & as I have said before..."It was all over". If you are a collector of anything this is what you are looking for! I have already spent Way Too Much Time there...LOL. There are literally thousands of links to every kind of antique or collectible you ever thought of. Like I said it's great.

So just click on link to go straight to Bar Ware. There are links to the Main page from there.

Have fun hunting & Cheers...

New Video from the Vintage Bar Ware Collectors Symposium

I just received this video from Lindsey Johnson of The Lush Life. It's Steve Visakay, Mark Bigler, and myself talking about cocktail shakers and The Museum of the American Cocktail.
The video also features Dale DeGroff & Chris McMillian.
What a great time we had that day. Drinking Cointreau Cocktails and talking about Cocktail Shakers...

Vintage Shakers Symposium at MOTAC from Lush Life on Vimeo.

Lindsey and her staff did a wonderful job with this and I would like to say Thank You.
Well, I Hope everyone enjoys...Cheers!

Two Weeks after Tales of the Cocktail

Well it has been almost two weeks since Tales and I believe I have fully recovered.

The Vintage Bar Collectors Symposium went off without a hitch. We gave away bunches of cocktail shakers and bar ware. Well over the advertised $1000 worth.

There were collectors from all over the United States as well as a couple of foreign guest. It was a truly amazing time.

Stephen Visakay, Mark Bigler & myself gave our talks from behind a bar that was made in the mid 1800s. It was rescued from Lake Pontchartrain and is currently being restored for perminate display at The Museum of the American Cocktail.

Also, who knew that Cointreau and Peach Snapple would make a very tasty and refreshing cocktail.
They call it the Cointreau Kiss. There Slogan is Kiss & Tell.

It is very simple cocktail to make...1 1/2 oz Cointreau, 3 oz Peach Snapple.
Pour the Peach Snapple in a tall glass with ice and pour the Cointreau on top. How simple is that?

In days following our Symposium I attended several seminars like the History of Saloons in America with H. Joseph Ehrmann, David Wondrich, and John Burton. What many people don't understand about Tales is that it is not just a 5 day drinking fest. Oh don't get me wrong, plenty of cocktails are consumed but there is so much knowledge to gained at the same time from some of best and brightest mixologist and authors from around the world. Another example would be the seminar Cognac, from Vines to Shaker which gave a history of Cognac and explained some of the French laws that dictate how it is produced. That is one of the reasons Cognac is more expensive is because of government regulation.

Between seminars and all of the good food in the French Quarter, I tried to get some more Frequent Rider Miles at the Carousel Bar. Hey, if they served Vieux Carre cocktails on the Merry Go Round at the State Fair, I would ride it for days!
Well I guess I'm going to wrap this up for now, before I totally bore everyone to death. I just want everyone to think about attending Tales of the Cocktail next Year. It is an unbelivable time and you will not regret it....

Cheers

Tales of the Cocktail & The Vintage Bar Ware Collectors Symposium

Well, it is only a few days until the 7th annual Tales of the Cocktail kicks off in New Orleans and I can hardly wait!

As I have talked about earlier, I will be on the panel of The Vintage Bar Ware Collectors Symposium along with Stephen Visakay and Mark Bigler.
The event is being held at The Museum of the American Cocktail on Wednesday the 8th at 4:30. Mark your calender. This is one not to be missed.
http://www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org/

We got very lucky this year to have Cointreau, the legendary orange liqueur, on board to showcase their new, simple but inventive, lip-smacking libation - the Cointreau Kiss. On behalf of every guest who tries a Cointreau Kiss, Cointreau will make a monetary donation to the Museum*. So, after the talks by Stephen, Mark and myself & while showing off your vintage items and getting appraisals, pucker up and have a Kiss!

The guys at the museum are calling this "The Cocktail Shaker Roadshow"

We will be giving away over $1000 in Bar Ware. Everything from cocktail shakers to vintage Napier shot devises. Below is just a couple that I am putting up. We will aslo have an amazing collection of shakers on hand to view.



Also tomorrow I will be on "The Straight Pour" with Ann & Paul Tuennerman and a whole host of other guest, talking about cocktails, cocktail shakers and of coarse Tales of the Cocktail. So I hope you can tune in Saturday 7/14/09 at 10:00 am to to listen. You can get the streaming program at http://www.wistradio.com/page.php?page_id=8069

So I hope everyone can join us Saturday for The Straight Pour & next week for Tales of the Cocktail.

Imagine me...Writing about Cocktails...

Well it has been a couple weeks since I put any thing up. So I thought it was about time. I been a little busy though because I have a new position. I am now the Dallas Cocktail Examiner for the online magazine Examiner .com.
Here is a link to my page http://www.examiner.com/x-12183-Dallas-Cocktails-Examiner

How did stumble on to this you ask? Well, as I am now unemployed, I do daily searches for job possibilities and one site, Craig's List, I found a posting for a writing job. I applied and look were I am now! A Cocktail writer...
It has been a lot of fun so far and I'm starting to get into the swing of this gig.

I hope my fans from this blog (both of you...LOL) will check out my articles and give me some feedback and ideas for new post.

Oh by the way, if you are going to be Tales of the Cocktail, drop me a note. Maybe I will do some interviews with attendees & participants. It will be fun!

Cheers & Happy Shaking...