Dry Ice turns an ordinary party punch into a spooky Halloween brew.
Start with 2 punch bowls of different sizes. The smaller bowl will hold the actual punch while the larger bowl will hold the smaller bowl and the dry ice.
With tongs or gloved hands (dry ice can freeze your skin) , place chunks of dry ice in the bigger container. Place the smaller bowl on top of the dry ice.
There is no need to add extra ice to the punch as the dry ice will cool the punch nicely.
Just before serving, pour some hot water over the dry ice. Continue to add hot water and dry ice as needed.
Be very careful when using dry ice! Handle only with tongs or heavy gloves!
Do NOT put the dry ice directly in the punch or touch it with bare skin. It Will Burn! Dry Ice should also NOT be ingested.
This fall Pernod-Ricard has partnered with the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) to bring the world an online version of their Bar Smarts bartender training, education and certification program.
Bar Smarts Wired takes one through 4 modules covering distillation, the spirits, mixology basics and practical applications of mixology. The $45 course is an amazing deal. You get a top notch mixology program, complete with pdfs for easy reading and entertaining videos featuring the likes of Dan Wondrich and Dale de Groff. The also student receives a very nice & complete set of bartools (pictured) and a bag to carry it all. Of course, Bar Smarts is not all fun, you need to pass 5 tests to graduate.
So if you got the itch to take an adventure in mixology, this is it.
Tonight I found myself near what I had heard was one of the best new bars in San Francisco and thought I’d give it a try. The place is called, Rickhouse, and is owned by the same folks who own Bourbon & Branch. Unfortunately, I was not able to actually get a drink. Initially, I was very impressed by the enormously compressive drink menu. The ladies next to me admitted that it was a little daunting. Still, I pressed on a picked a drink.
I looked up at the bartender standing right in front of me and was ready to order. She smiled and then went back to making her last order. Sure, no problem. I figured It wouldn’t be long, after all, the bartender was right in front of me.
Then I think I turned invisible.
The bartender kept looking in my direction, but never making enough eye contact for me to order a drink. Although I was standing right in front of her, she never even greeted me. A simple “Hi, I’ll be right with you”, would have been fine. This went on for a bit, until a guy came in who worked at the bar across street came in, walked up to the bar, stood right next to me. Almost immediately, the bartender turned and took his order. WTF?
I rolled my eyes and turned to leave, and the guy ordering noticed this and asked why I was leaving.
I said, “because good cocktails start at the door”.
This is is not a new idea. The best bartenders & proprietors know this and work hard to create a welcoming atmosphere that starts the second a customer walks through the door. A this years Tales of the Cocktail, I sat in on several panels where atmosphere was discussed as a crucial element to making a great cocktail experience. Unfortunately, the folks at Bourbon & Branch and now Rickhouse have yet to realize this. A truly great bar has heart.
The first session I attended during last week’s Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans was a panel titled “2009 Big Trends in Cocktail & Spirit Service”. The panel consisted of Jim Meehan - PDT, NYC, Michael Waterhouse, Devlin Tavern, NYC, and Simon Difford - Source Guide and was moderated by Ryan Magarian - Aviation Gin. The program covered the 4 Ps of Cocktail Service Success, not unlike the 4 Ps of marketing, Product, Precise Execution, Promotion, Passion. It was here that I discover the magic of Tales of the Cocktail, this was no boring seminar and they were serving drinks! A few samples of the cocktail being discussed. Sure is was 10:30 am , but this was New Orleans.
The Panel started off with a discussion product trends.
Spirits
Overall the trend is for full-flavored spirits, moving away from the vodka craze of late. Mezcal, Gin (the new vodka?) and Rye Whiskey are at the forefront of the full-flavored Renaissance. In addition, aged rum is exploding and Jameson sales are through the roof. Cacacha is also making huge strides from just a few years ago.
Sweet
Fortified wines like Sherry, Lillet and vermouth are popular ingredients in cocktails, as well are rice wines sake and shochu. St. Germain elderflower liqueur appears on just about every cocktail menu, and other flower based liqueurs are popping up. Other trending sweeteners include specialty sugars, Agave nectar, Maple syrup and orgeat.
It is Mixology Monday time again, and our host Rowley’s Whiskey Forge has tasked us with the all so appropriate theme of hard drinks for hard times. Rather than come up with a few wallet stretching cocktails, I thought I’d share a few tips on stretching your drinking dollar. A recession doesn’t mean you can’t drink well, it just means you need to drink smarter.
Stay home and invite friends
Drinking at home is always cheaper than going to a bar. No huge revelation here, but it needs to be said. Staying home doesn’t need to mean drinking alone, invite friends over, put out some snacks have some fun. Hopefully, a guest or two will bring a bottle along, now that’s economical.
Drink spirits instead of beer & wine
A 750 ml bottle of liquor has about 25 1 oz. drinks. A decent bottle of just about anything can be had for $20 or less. This makes each 1oz. drink about $.80 or bit over $1 if you pour a 1 1/2 oz shot. Compare that to a bottle of wine. A decent bottle runs you $10 or $2.50 a glass. If you want to push it, there are some decent $5 or about $1.25 per drink. OK you can get some cheap beer, but I set the bar at decent, not cheap, so a decent six pack is going to run you $6 on the low end or $1 per drink. If you shop well, the math gets even better.
Dry Ice turns an ordinary party punch into a spooky Halloween brew.
This fall 
You get a top notch mixology program, complete with pdfs for easy reading and entertaining videos featuring the likes of Dan Wondrich and Dale de Groff. The also student receives a very nice & complete set of bartools (pictured) and a bag to carry it all. Of course, Bar Smarts is not all fun, you need to pass 5 tests to graduate.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=d33494de-2cee-45af-a4c1-450d117f543e)
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The first session I attended during last week’s 
It is 
