A White Manhattan

A White Manhattan: 

Bully Boy White Whiskey (unaged bourbon), Dolin Blanc (white vermouth), and rhubarb bitters. 

Super Strong Spirits

Super strong spirits--above the average 70 to 90 proof--are becoming increasingly popular.

"In general, alcohol levels have been creeping northward for a few years, as distillers aim to please bartenders and enthusiasts who thirst for a more potent dram — 50 percent has become the new 40 percent. But a goodly number of bottles are now speeding past even that mark, weighing in at anything from 51 to 70 percent, and beyond. 

True to the name “cask-strength,” these liquors are bottled uncut, at the same concentration they possessed in the barrel. (Yes, most spirits are diluted to render them palatable, a fact that comes as a shock to many otherwise savvy drinkers.) 

Flavien Desoblin, who owns the Brandy Library in TriBeCa, guessed that one out of every dozen new Scotches he encounters is high octane. The number of bourbons is fewer but still substantial, including barrel-strength expressions from Wild Turkey and Four Roses.

“We’ve got lots of people asking about cask-strength,” he said."

Read on for more information about cask-strength spirits.

Champagne Cocktails

Sometimes bubbles are just what you need...

"By the mid 1800’s the classic ‘Champagne Cocktail’ was all the rage at dinner parties and soirees in genteel society. Today these sparkling cocktails are as hip as ever in wine bars and lounges from coast to coast. Only now you get them served with Thievery Corporation or Ursula 1000 cooing in the background instead of Beethoven or Brahms." 

Champagne Cocktail Basics

- Chill your sparkling wines. Keep them about 42-45° F.

- Don’t use cheap sparkling for cocktails. Good ingredients make a good drink.
Don’t use the highest end sparkling either. Drink your Dom straight.

- As most sparkling wine drinks are on the sweet side, use a dry sparkling [aka Brut].

- Chill the glass [flute] ahead of time. Sparkling wine likes to be served well chilled.

- Pour small amounts of sparkling in at a time to prevent foam over. Repeat until the glass is filled.

Read on for more delicious Champagne Cocktail recipes.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

In honor of Rachel's upcoming birthday, we'll be making

The Courting Rachel

2 oz bourbon
1/4 oz rye whiskey simple syrup
Peychaud's bitters

Over ice, stir together bourbon, simple syrup, and bitters.

Fill a stoppered decanter (or another sealable container, like a lidded pitcher or jar) with fresh hickory smoke from a handheld food smoker (like PolyScience's Smoking Gun). Strain in the cocktail, seal the decanter, and swirl for one minute. Pour the drink out over ice; serve.

NB: If you don't have fresh hickory smoke on hand, substitute a peaty Scotch for the bourbon. 

Women Who Whiskey: Graduation Edition - Ward III

This last semester of graduate school--after which many WWW members graduated--was a bit crazed, and so Women Who Whiskey took an unintentional break from any official events between January and May.

But WWW was back in May with Graduation Edition at Ward III, a charming little cocktail bar in Tribeca known for its delicious bespoke cocktails.

Rachel and Julia

The staff was absolutely delightful, and the food was delicious. 

I had lamb tacos and tasted someone else's duck nachos. Yum!

A Manhattan

I had my signature Manhattan, which was delicious, while Rachel tried the Ward III, the bar's eponymous summer cocktail, made with Bourbon and strawberries.

The Ward III

We started off as a small group of six or so, but people kept filing in for late happy hour drinks before we all ran off to a splendid rooftop graduation party in Chelsea.

Emma and Jon

Rachel and Keenan

Overall it was a splendid place to close out our graduate school careers.

***

Ward III

11 Reade St.

(corner West Broadway)

212.240.9194

***

Three Ryes to Try

Three Rye Whiskeys to Try

Women Who Whiskey: Birthday Edition!

This event was a WWW first!

It was a Whiskey Tasting to celebrate my 28th birthday.

The lovely hostesses: Maggie, Barbara, Amanda, and Julia (me)

My roommates Maggie, Amanda, and Barbara--all Women Who Whiskey members--and I hosted the event at our upper west side apartment.

Amanda and Maggie

I had decided on an original line up of five bottles--a bourbon, two ryes, and two scotches--but a few guests brought bottles of whiskey as birthday gifts and we decided it was only appropriate to include them in the line up, bringing the up the total to eight bottles, and expanding the selection internationally. 

Some smiling guests

The original line up before the addition of Yamazaki, Bushmills and Glenfiddich

The final line up was served in the following order:

1) Rowan's Creek Bourbon - John Rowan was a statesman and judge who dabbled in Bourbon makin' on the side. A light, spicy flavor. 

2) Templeton Rye - A small-batch Prohibition era recipe, and Al Capone'swhiskey of choice (and my personal favorite). Smooth and sweet, with a slightly spiced finish. 

3) Redemption Rye - An excellent bargain. Retails between $25-30, but tastes like $60 rye. 

4) Yamazaki 12 Year Single Malt Japanese Whiskey - Would be a scotch if it weren't from Japan

5) Bushmills 10 Year Single Malt Irish Whiskey - A marriage of the new world and old world whiskies, with a hint of the sweetness of Bourbon and Rye.

6) Glenfiddich 12 Year Single Malt Scotch - A lighter, less potent but still delicious scotch

7) Balvenie Doublewood 12 Year Single Malt Scotch - A smoother, more vanilla flavor

8) Lagavulin 16 Year Islay Single Malt Scotch - A robust, smokey, peaty deep flavor 

Paige, Kim and Maura, WWW members

The ladies of Women Who Whiskey, smiling! 

Andrea, Julia, and a very enthusiastic William

All in all it was a wonderful evening--both as a birthday celebration and as a Women Who Whiskey event. 

Manhattan Bars With Fireplaces

On those chilly winter nights, warm up at one of these bars with a fireplace!

20 Things You Didn't Know About Alcohol

4  According to the Drunken Monkey Hypothesis, our zest for alcoholic beverages derives from our distant ancestors’ impulse to seek the ripest, most energy-intensive fruits.

8  That process can also happen in your digestive system, spiking every 100 ml of blood with 0.01 to 0.03 mg of alcohol.

9  Seriously, officer! Japanese doctors have observed patients with “auto-brewery syndrome,” in which high levels of candida yeast in the intestines churn out so much alcohol that they can cause drunkenness.

11  A lean, muscular person will be less affected by drink than someone with more body fat: Water-rich muscle tissues absorb alcohol effectively, preventing it from reaching the brain.

13  The times they are a-changin’. In 1895 Anheuser-Busch launched Malt-Nutrine, a 1.9 percent-alcohol-content beer prescribed by physicians as a tonic for pregnant women and a nutritional beverage for children.

14  Until 1916 whiskey and brandy were listed as scientifically approved medicines in the United States Pharmacopeia.

15  Drinking and driving: Surplus wine in Sweden is distilled into ethanol, mixed with gasoline, and sold to service stations.

Read the rest here! 

Bands Who Love Whiskey

There Sure Are a Lot of Bands With the Word Whiskey in Their Name