Episode 276 - Cocktail Theory with Dr. Kevin Peterson

In this groundbreaking, down and dirty conversation with Gian Nelson of Jano Spirits, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Gian found his home in the creative and multidisciplinary workspace of the wine and spirits industry and why he’s selected Agave Americana as the canvas on which he expresses his passion.

• An overview of the different types of agave spirits currently being produced here in the US, specifically: the differences between using imported agave syrup vs. actual farmed or wild agaves.

• Why Mexico is becoming the “Old World” of Agave spirits production, and how American and other international producers are responding to a lack of shared knowledge across borders with characteristic punk rock innovation.

• What it would mean for a bartender or beverage program in Mexico to import American Agave spirits specifically to feature on their sipping or cocktail menu.

• And How many thousands of pounds of pinas it takes to make just ten cases of agave spirits.

• Along the way, we meditate on the mystical nature of inulin conversion, celebrate the influence of Chicano flavors and cultures, learn how to get your neighbor to let you dig up their agave plants, and much, much more.

Featured Cocktail: The Batanga

This episode’s featured cocktail is the Batanga. To make it, you’ll need:

• 2 ounces tequila (generally, a silver tequila is utilized, but you can feel free to substitute with any agave spirit of your choosing)

• 1/2 ounce lime juice

• 3 ounces Cola

• Salt for rimming the glass.

Begin by slicing a fresh lime, squeezing it for juice, and rubbing a spent half around the rim of a highball glass. Next, rim the glass with salt and fill it with ice. Since this is a built drink in the style of a Cuba Libre, all you need to do is add your agave spirit, lime juice, and cola to top (in that order), and, important to the ritual of this drink, stir it with the knife you used to cut the lime. Garnish simply with a lime wheel or a nice lime twist and enjoy.

In this fascinating deep dive with Aaron Goldfarb (@aarongoldfarb), author of Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits, some of the topics we discuss include:

• What constitutes a “dusty” or vintage bottle and some of the historical forces that created the trend of hunting for them, especially in the Bourbon world.

• Some tentative answers to the question, “Did it really Use to Taste Better?,” featuring oak tree rings, barrel entry proof, and cedar fermentation tanks.

• How dusty hunters use label cues like importers, tax stamps, DSP numbers, and Julian dating to determine the true age and origin of the bottles they encounter.

• A romp through some of the packaging gimmicks that dominated the Bourbon world in the second half of the 20th century.

• And a look at today’s secondary market for spirits with respect to how it started and where it might be headed.

• Along the way, we consider the historical impact of Howard Hughes’ liquor collection, salute the unwavering faith and confidence of bourbon distillers, get Aaron into bed with a sultry bottle of pre-phylloxera Cognac, and much, much more.

Dusty Booze: In Search of Vintage Spirits will drop in about a month, so be sure to pre-order your copy if you’ve got some time on your hands and think you could uncover the next outrageously valuable bottle hiding in a storage unit or estate sale.

In this roving, wanderlustrious conversation with Devon Trevathan of Liba Spirits, some of the topics we discuss include: 

• Why Devon has chosen to cultivate a welcoming and mindful relationship with discomfort while traveling, and how this has allowed her to become a sponge for the sights, flavors, and sensations that make different cultures and destinations unique.

• A working definition of “Nomadic Distilling,” which forgoes stability and a permanent facility in favor of flexibility and the ability to sample widely from multiple ingredient streams and spirits categories.

• Devon’s thoughts on the notion of Terroir (spoiler: she don’t like it) and the ability to celebrate and mash-up different spirits traditions from around the world by embracing the role of the guest or outsider.

• Then, of course, we explore the Liba Spirits portfolio, including a Tyrolean gin from the Dolomites, a botanical rum from New Orleans, and a first-of-its-kind American aperitivo made with a bourbon base.

• Along the way, we explore the perplexingly cozy lunch habits of Austrians, wax poetic on the flavor of green ants, explain why cold brew deserves a place in your next Americano spritz, and much, much more.

Featured Cocktail: Jägertee

Inspired by Devon’s travels in Europe, this episode’s featured cocktail is Jägertee, which is an Austrian winter warmer cocktail. Is it 70 degrees here in Washington, DC as I write this? Yes. But we’ll just pretend that we’re having normal January weather and that the planet isn’t trying to kill us. To make a batch of Jägertee you’ll need:

• 250 ml / 1 cup tea (your choice, but I’d recommend black tea here)

• 250 ml / 1 cup spiced rum (Austrian Strohrum is traditional, but any will do)

• 250 ml / 1 cup red wine

• 250 ml / 1 cup plum brandy, schnaps, or any other liqueur to hand

• 250 ml / 1 cup orange juice

• 2 to 3 whole cloves

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 2 lemon slices

• Sugar to taste (depends on how sweet your other ingredients are)

Combine all these ingredients in a medium saucepan over low-to-medium heat, warm the mixture gradually until it just begins to simmer, then cut the heat, strain out the solids (or don’t…you do you), and enjoy!

Jägertee means, essentially, "Hunter’s tea" in Austrian. Presumably, this is because, after a long, harrowing hunt, it’s pleasant to warm up with a comforting, spicy, winey brew, and NOT because the Austrains endorse consuming uppers and downers before brandishing firearms.

One interesting thread to follow here is that rum is extremely popular in the German-speaking world. If you go back to my interview with Brett Steigerwaldt, you’ll learn about the importance of Rum verschnitt in the early parts of the 20th century, so it’s not a complete surprise to me to see a spiced or flavored rum product popping up in a traditional Austrian drink.

In this heady, fragrant chat with Dr. Kevin Peterson, author of Cocktail Theory: A Sensory Approach to Transcendent Drinks, some of the topics we discuss include:

• Why his time testing combustion engines in a laboratory made Kevin the perfect person to analyze the classic cocktail families for their ideal dilution, temperature, and ingredient ratios

• How bartenders can use the notion of “olfactory motifs” rooted in memory, nature, and music to design cocktails that thrill at a more three dimensional level--not just on the taste buds.

• What tips and tricks Kevin has drawn from the perfumery world to punch up the impact and blast radius of his drinks, including atomized spritzes, scent strips, and even service temperature manipulation.

• The sense in which bartenders are like magicians, constantly manipulating attention and generating novelty, and how you can apply these principles to both cocktail construction and service.

• And why, at the end of the day, cocktail service and consumption involves a whole bunch of complex systems that are constantly colliding, leaking information, and changing the way we play the game.

• Along the way, we provide tips and tricks to make your friends and bar guests say “I can’t UNsmell that,” probe the koji-fermented link between pineapple, aged cheese, and sharpies, uncover why Kevin doesn’t want to be known as “the cricket guy.” And much, much more.

Featured Cocktail: The Everlasting Daiquiri

To make it, you’ll need:

• 2 oz rum (Kevin recommends Gosling’s Black Seal)

• ½ oz Fresh Lime juice

• ½ oz turbinado simple syrup

Prior to construction, you’re gonna want to chill down your rum AND a champagne flute in the freezer. Both need to be ice cold.

Then, add your liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker with 3 large ice cubes, shake for (according to Kevin) 12 seconds, then strain into your Champage flute over a smaller ice cube. So if you’re using large, 2” cubes in the shaker, plop a smaller one from a standard ice tray or ice maker into the flute before you strain.

In this "Year in Review" / 2024 Preview episode, Eric covers 2023 by the numbers, including highlights and growth figures.

Then: some quick previews of what this year has in store, and one big announcement that has been several months in the making.

In this spirited discussion with Alain Royer and Henry Preiss of Preiss Imports, some of the topics we discuss include:

• What precisely Izarra liqueur is and the geographic and cultural forces that allowed it to remain more of a regional specialty, while Chartreuse enjoyed wider exposure. 

• How other specialty liqueurs, like Jaegermeister and Luxardo Maraschino, managed to burst the bonds of their relatively “niche” statuses and become heavyweights in the cocktail world.

• The unique culture and flavors of the Basque nation, a people who transcend political and geographic boundaries and holds tenaciously to their own distinct identity even in today’s increasingly remixed and digital world.

• Then, of course, we taste through Izarra’s two flagship offerings: Izarra Verte and Izarra Jaune. We compare and contrast these spirits with their logical Chartreuse analogues and explore the best service methods and use cases for each.

• We wrap up the conversation by reviewing how Henry and his team are rolling out this beautiful duo of alpine liqueurs in liquor stores and bars across the country and give you some insights on how to get your hands on a bottle.

• Along the way, we cover the medicinal underpinnings of our contemporary genepies and amari, the crucial role of the Armagnac region in the production of these Basque spirits, the one Izarra product that didn’t quite survive the test of time, and much, much more.

In this special holiday-themed throwback episode, we've decided to re-release part of an episode from 2020, where Eric interviews acclaimed cocktail author Aaron Goldfarb, author of the book, Gather Around Cocktails.

Some of the topics covered include:

• How to master eggnog, even in a New York City apartment
• Ways to think about seasonality in cocktail ingredients and custom drink specs
• Special drinks for Jewish holidays like Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, and Purim
• And much, much more

In this stirring, ice-cold conversation with bartender and cocktail batcher extraordinaire, Robby Haynes, some of the topics we discuss include:

• What people mean when they say, “Martini,” and why certain preferences and aversions pertaining to its construction may stem from unresolved fears and myths about ingredients.

• How Robby teamed up with distillers, wine-makers, and cocktail experts to weave a flavor tapestry worthy of sitting on the shelf next to the legendary Gold Fashioned.

• What research and development looks like in the gin space, specifically when it comes to nerdy stuff like botanical maceration, gin basket ergonomics, and ethanol proof points.

• Then, of course, we taste the Hoste Martini, and Robby shares recommendations about freezer settings and over-ice service that take this cocktail to the next level.

• Martinis in-hand, we wrap the conversation by examining some of the softer nuances of martini service, like: why cocktail bars are super controlled environments, why hosting a cocktail party can be so unpredictable, and the benevolent tension between host and guest that creates a hospitality interaction.

• Along the way, we get into the latest updates on this year’s batch of the Gold Fashioned, play a rousing game of “Kill, Marry, Fornicate” with iconic Martini trifectas, ponder the mysterious “Vermouth Tipping Point,” and much, much more.

You can learn more about the Gold Fashioned and the new Hoste Martini at hostecocktails.com

In this nerdy deep-dive on the craft and science of Super Juice with bartender and cocktail competitor Mike Vander Horn (@cocktail.complex), some of the topics we discuss include:

• What Super Juice is and how it has risen to prominence in both cocktail bar and home bar settings.

• Different ways of formulating super juice, including recipes and methods drawn from Liquid Intelligence, a bartender named Nickle Morris, and a YouTube mixologist called Kevin Kos.

• How to test the flavor of super juice against real citrus, and why this highly-engineered product seems to attract as many skeptics and purists as it does sustainability nerds and flavor geeks.

• Where we stand in the sweeping citrus “movements” or “eras” that have influenced cocktail trends over the past several centuries.

• And the tools and ingredients you’ll need to source if you want to incorporate this versatile new citrus ingredient into your professional or home bar.

• Along the way, we tackle a question from the Discord Community about pH measurements, the best way to foil your bartender nemesis, South Jersey’s new signature cocktail, and much, much more.

In this time-traveling, globetrotting conversation with Amanda Schuster, author of Signature Cocktails, some of the topics we discuss include:

• How Amanda went about sourcing 200 signature recipes from all corners of the globe and spanning over 500 years of history.

• What distinguishes signature cocktails from their more generic counterparts like Old Fashioneds, Manhattans, and Martinis - specifically, the roles of people, places, and events.

• An examination of certain important historical trends, from milk punches, to private clubs, to luxury travel, all of which yielded cohorts of era-defining signature cocktails we still enjoy today. 

• The importance of menu attribution in spreading contemporary signature cocktail recipes across the digital and physical world.

• And tips for designing a signature cocktail for your own bar or home cocktail lounge.

• Along the way, we explore the bedeviling properties of chocolate and gin, when a Margarita isn’t a Margarita, how to defeat an invading army by spiking the drinking well with whiskey, and much, much more.