In the Spirit

Ready, Set, Go

Shake, stir and be snappy

By Tony Cross

One of my good friends manages a restaurant and recently had to jump behind the bar because of a lack of help due to COVID. As new bartenders emerge in restaurant bars — and establishments who market themselves as “cocktail bars” — there are basics that even novice bartenders need to master.

My friend can make a decent drink — no worries there — but it pains me every time he shakes a cocktail. When he’s finished, he has the damnedest time separating the two shakers. So, what does he do? He bangs it against the bar until he gets them to come apart. Good thing he’s got two tin shakers. If one of them was a pint glass, hitting it against the bar could send shards of glass flying, ruining a perfectly good drink. That’s cocktailcide.

So, what to do? When placing your two shakers together, don’t put the top shaker (smaller tin, or pint glass if using a Boston shaker) pointing straight up. Place it at a slight angle, so that the two shakers sort of curve, something like the contour of a banana. Then shake. And shake hard. When you’re ready to separate your two tins (or Boston shaker), hit the bottom of the inside of your hand against the seal of the two shakers. You’ll see the two start to separate — that’s where you give it a quick snap of the hand, and voila! This is the correct way to do this, but it also saves time, and looks way more professional than beating it against the back of your bar.

Previously, I’ve discussed the importance of dilution in your cocktails, and how/why water is a key ingredient. Dilution is important, so when I watched a bartender take the time to whip up a nice variation of an old fashioned, it killed me when she added a small bit of ice and gave it a few lousy stirs, like it bored her. In that short 10 seconds of her life that I know she wants back, she had to have been thinking, “Ehh, here you go.” Now, did I ask her to redo the drink and stir more? Of course not, that would be silly. What’s also silly is charging $12 or $15 for a cocktail, and not knowing what you’re doing from A to Z.

So, what to do? Pack it with ice in a chilled stirring vessel and stir until cold and diluted.

I’ll finish with a pet peeve: Be fast. This is a must in any establishment, whether they’re busy or slow. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen bartenders doing their thing, but taking forever to get the drinks out. Bartenders do a lot more than just make cocktails — they set the tone for the night, make their guests feel at home, and so on. But you have to be fast. The stirred cocktail I ordered above was correctly made, minus the lousy stir job, but it took her forever to make it.

The establishment was slow, so she was conversing with a couple at the bar while she made my drink. It was torture. I once worked under a bartender that loved chatting with his patrons more than making the drinks, or it seemed that way. The wait staff and I almost formed a coup. Yes, it was that bad. So bad that in between ingredients, he would forget what he had put into his mixing vessel. His solution? Add another part of spirit. Nine times out of 10 this resulted in the drink being sent back for being too boozy.

So, what to do? Move it. If you want to be good at your job, you’ll be multi-tasking drink orders, conversation, food orders and so on. You have to be fast. Don’t be that place that’s known for slow service. Eventually your guests will go somewhere else.   PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

In The Spirit

So Appalled

A duck walks into a bar and orders a diluted drink

By Tony Cross

Last year my company launched a little promotion on social media letting folks know about our bottled cocktails. Previously, we dealt in and delivered growlers of carbonated cocktails, but now we’re offering stirred cocktails such as old fashioneds, Sazeracs and Manhattans, in addition to a few signature drinks of our own.

We’ve done a couple of different promotions, but the very first one got the most buzz in the comment sections. Everyone was kind and excited, tagging their friends and loved ones. A month after the first promo, I received a notification on my phone that we had a new comment. I pulled it up, and it read like this: “Why diluted? Never go into a bar and order diluted drinks.”

This is interesting on a few levels, but first I need to explain this in context. In the promo, we listed the ingredients of the cocktails we were bottling and added that “Each bottle yields nine cocktails and is diluted with distilled water.”

Dilute? What? Yes. Dilute. Why? Easy. When you order a cocktail — let’s say an old fashioned — the bartender will most likely create it with the following steps: She or he will take an aromatic bitters and add a few dashes to a chilled mixing vessel (perhaps with a dash or so of an orange or other bitters); then take sugar, in the form of either syrup or cube, muddle for a moment to break the sugar down to mix with the bitters (if it’s cubed) or use a spoon to mix (if it’s a syrup); then add a couple of ounces of whiskey (bourbon, rye or whatever is on the menu/house whiskey). Finally, the bartender will add ice and stir.

Now, this is important. Why? Because ice is just as much an ingredient as the others. Some might argue it’s even a more crucial ingredient than the others. When the bartender feels that the cocktail is ready, he or she will stop stirring, possibly taste a small thimble of the drink to ensure it’s right, and then strain the old fashioned over a large cube of ice in a rocks glass. Next comes the garnish, and it’s done.

How does the bartender know when the drink is ready to strain and serve? Temperature and dilution. Oh, snap! The bartender stirs the cocktail to make sure that it gets cold, but at the same time, the ice that’s spinning round and round like a carousel has another job: to melt. That’s right, water is an ingredient in the old fashioned. If the bartender simply mixed all of the ingredients together (without ice) and put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes, the cocktail would be cold, but it would also be unbalanced. Without the dilution, the old fashioned would taste hot, or too boozy. 

The very first cocktail book I read started off explaining that ice is as much an ingredient, if not the most important ingredient, as all the others in a cocktail. Admittedly, I was unsure if what I was reading was overly dramatic. It wasn’t. It was spot on. You want your ice made with water that you would enjoy drinking. Sulphur-rich town water ain’t it. Ice that’s been in your freezer with that half-opened box of frozen shrimp ain’t it either. Clean ice. You can have a great rye whiskey, a nice organic cane sugar syrup, and the perfect pairing of bitters, but once you add that old, cloudy ice to stir it with, none of those other ingredients hold as much weight.

I mentioned earlier that the bartender might extract a touch of the old fashioned from the stirring vessel to taste. Many bartenders do this to make sure the cocktail is diluted enough. If it’s not, they’ll stir until it is.

Now, in defense of the person that posed the question, we should agree that an over-diluted cocktail isn’t acceptable. I have never bellied up to any bar and ordered a diluted drink and, to my knowledge, I have never imbibed with any friend or date that has. It would not be a good thing if the bartender stirred your old fashioned for five minutes straight. No thanks. We add distilled water to our bottled cocktails so they’re ready to go — properly diluted with no stirring required. Pour it over ice (or neat), stay calm, carry on, and cheers.  PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

In the Spirit

Straining for a Gift?

Wu-Tang Clan to the rescue

By Tony Cross

There’s always that one person who’s impossible to buy for. My father is a struggle during the holidays; he has a habit of buying himself what he would like a month or so before Christmas. Maybe if we just stopped buying him gifts altogether, he would stop that nonsense. So much for hindsight. Even if you’re a great gift giver, here are a few recommendations that probably haven’t crossed your mind. All are unique and will hopefully stand out.

Mover & Shaker Co. Raekwon Cocktail Strainer, $105

Calling all Wu-Tang fans: I saw this advertised a few months ago, and I splurged immediately. With my wallet. Cocktail company Mover & Shaker has teamed up with legendary MC (Emcee), Raekwon, from Wu-Tang Clan, on a signature cocktail strainer. They’ve only made 300, so you’ll have to act fast. Go to moverandshakerco.com. It’s shaped like the Wu-Tang “W” and has “chef RAEKWON” etched on it. If I had never seen this, and someone gifted it to me, I would be thrilled. Even if that hard-to-buy-for-person isn’t the biggest cocktail fan, having this piece could change their mind. If they love Wu-Tang, of course. A few weeks after receiving my strainer, I went live with my company’s promotion of bottled cocktails. One in particular we call “Surgical Gloves,” named after a Raekwon track. I made a little video and posted it on our social media sites. The next morning, not only did I have a message from the Chef, himself, he also shared it on his Instagram stories. I screamed like a little girl.

Crude Bitters Attawanhood #37 and No No Bitters

Based out of Raleigh, local business Crude Bitters has plenty of great bitters to choose from, but these two seasonal bottles don’t stay on the shelves long. The Attawanhood #37 and No No bitters couldn’t be more different. They’re the spice rack in a cocktail smorgasbord and, depending on whom you’re buying for, one might complement that person’s cocktail palate more than the other. This is what they say about their seasonal bitters:

“Attawanhood is a variation of a classic aromatic with a tart cherry in the forefront. Named after the street our founder grew up on (a fun “A” name like the classic bitters you many know). Stone fruit, silkiness, with sharp bitterness and dark spice bite. For classic and modern cocktails.” In addition to the tart cherry, there are flavors of cinnamon and cloves as well. They describe their No No bitters as, “A tasty mix of sweet and hot peppers. You don’t want these bitters. They’re a spicy meat-a-ball-a. Blending bhut jolokia, guajillo, habanero, Scotch bonnet, jalapeño, bell, and more. We craft this to add a sweet pepper flavor, one you can taste, and then it finishes with a slow capsaicin burn.” Visit your local wine shop, or wherever local mixers are sold to grab yours. If your local establishment doesn’t carry Crude, ask them to! Until they do, you can place an order over at crudebitters.com.

The Spirit of Haiti-Clairin

Clairin, a native rum to Haiti, is one of my newest fascinations. If you are buying a gift for a rum fan, look no further. Oh, and when I say “rum fan,” I don’t mean flavored Bacardi or Captain Morgan’s. This is the real deal. Previously, I’ve raved about The Spirit of Haiti’s Michel Sajous clairin. That bottle comes in at a whopping 51 percent ABV, but when used in a daiquiri, it’s pretty damn tasty. No, it’s really tasty. Since then, I’ve become enamored with their Clairin Vaval. My new favorite, hands down. Still high proof, coming in at 48.7 percent ABV, this is my Ti’ Punch rum. Distiller Fritz Vaval uses 100 percent Madame Meuze sugar cane juice — Vaval’s family has owned their distillery since 1947 and has 20 hectares of land planted with varieties of this type of sugar cane. According to the spiritofhaiti.com, “It’s fermented naturally with wild yeast and distilled in one continuous copper column still with 10 trays and a homemade condenser made from a gasoline can.” Small batches. Beautiful packaging. Exquisite rum. Odds of finding this in any of our local ABC stores is probably as good as bumping into Fritz on the street. Go online and grab a bottle as soon as possible to ensure arrival by the 24th. The Spirit of Haiti distributes three other types of clairin, so if this one’s a winner, you can grab another variety next go-round.  PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

In the Spirit

Kettle to the Coil

Wine and heavy metal

By Tony Cross

Six years ago, I was approached by a committee from our local community college asking if I would be interested in creating a cocktail for an event. Bestselling author Tom Wolfe was coming to town, and they wanted a cocktail that had orange(s) in it. Why? One of Wolfe’s more popular books, The Right Stuff, is about astronauts, so I guess the committee thought, “Tang!”

I agreed, but warned them that the orange mix astronauts used to drink (Do they still?) would probably not make the cut.

I remember my thought process being a bit backward when visualizing what I wanted to do. Yes, I was incorporating oranges, but that’s not what I had my eye on. It was September, and the temperature was starting to drop, and I had been toying around with the idea of putting a cocktail on the list with a red wine syrup. I found a recipe I wanted to tinker with, and that’s what I wanted to do with the “orange drink.” So, maybe a wine syrup and oranges? No. How about infusing the wine with oranges? Possible. But no. What about an orange-infused spirit? I believe that’s how it started.

I had an idea in my head of what I wanted my cocktail to taste like, but it rarely happens as planned. At the time I hadn’t worked with Scotch very much when it came to mixing it with other ingredients. So, where the idea for an orangey Scotch came from, well, I just don’t know. But why the hell not? I needed to get the syrup right first, and then work around that. I chose a light and fruity pinot noir for my wine. I figured that since I was going to add fall spices to it, I didn’t want anything too complex. I added quite a bit to the wine: apples, anise, cloves, on and on, and . . . wait for it, oranges! Well, the peels anyway.

The syrup came out pretty yum, so now it was on to the orange-infused Scotch. I chose The Famous Grouse, a blended whisky. It’s not over the top pricewise, and it does a decent job when blending with other ingredients in a shaken cocktail. I had never infused just oranges in a dark liquor before, and my first attempt wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. Basically, I had cut out the flesh of the oranges (avoiding pith), and let it sit in a glass jar of Scotch for five days to a week. The result was kind of cloudy and lackluster.

My next go round, I decided to cut the amount of fruit in half and replace the other half with orange peels. I was pleasantly surprised after three to five days of infusing. Oh, and I cut my jar amount in half, too. I took two Mason jars and split the bottle of Scotch up with the flesh and peels. That’s what I should have called the cocktail, “Flesh and Peels.” Instead — and I was notorious for this — I named it after a song. A metal song, “From the Kettle onto the Coil.” Why? Because I was never good at naming a drink, unless it was after a lady or a song. What could go wrong?

The drink turned out great, and the folks that ran the event loved it. However, I don’t recall seeing Mr. Wolfe or his trademark white suit. Oh, well.

Below is the recipe for the wine syrup and cocktail. Feel free to use this syrup in an old-fashioned with Scotch, bourbon or rye whisk(e)y, or however you feel inspired.

Pinot Noir Syrup

750 milliliters pinot noir

3 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon whole cloves

1 tablespoon star anise pods

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1/2 tablespoon cardamom pods (crushed)

3 cinnamon sticks

1/2 apple (sliced)

Zest of 6 oranges

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to just under a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes or until reduced by half.

Kettle to the Coil

1 1/4 ounces orange-infused Scotch

1/2 ounce Drambuie

1/2 ounce pinot noir syrup

3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

Add all ingredients to shaker with ice. Shake hard for 10 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Express the oils of an orange peel over the cocktail and discard into glass.

Orange-infused Scotch

Take two 16-ounce Mason jars and put into each of them:

Flesh and peel of one medium-large orange. Half a bottle of The Famous Grouse (or other blended Scotch). Tighten jar, and let sit in a cool, dark room for 3-5 days, each day slightly agitating jars. Pour through strainer when ready, and then filter again through coffee filter. The infusion should last for a few weeks, though every bottle I made rarely survived longer than a day or two.  PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

In the Spirit

The Hangover

Making sure the sequel is a dud

By Tony Cross

I run my cocktail delivery business out of a health food store. Shocking, I know. I love working out and eating healthy — during the week, that is. On the weekends I’ll let loose. There are some who might say I have a supplement problem. And by “problem” I mean taking myriad vitamins to ensure I stay tip-top. When customers learn I run a cocktail business, too, the look of confusion is priceless. One of the first questions I’m asked when people find out about my double life is: What do you take for hangovers?

The Mayo Clinic defines a hangover as “a group of unpleasant signs and symptoms that can develop after drinking too much alcohol.” If you enjoy reading a spirits column, this is not exactly CNN breaking news. And if you’ve never experienced one, you’re a better person than me. Maybe. Long story short: They’re awful, and they get worse with age. Although there is no magical cure for a hangover, I’ve learned a few things along the way. But first, the basics.

Consuming a glass of water per alcoholic beverage is going to help you from becoming dehydrated, which is a huge hangover symptom. Also, avoid excess sugar in your cocktails if you’re going to be making a night of it. When I was 21 and bartending at a private party, the host told me that there was a bottle of Crown Royal hidden for a lady who would be arriving later in the evening. The whisky was only for her. I took that responsibility with pride, since Crown was the only liquor I drank at the time.

When the woman arrived, I shared my affinity for the spirit, prompting her to ask, “How do you take it?” I replied confidently, “With Coke.”

“Oh, no, honey, no!” she exclaimed. “That’s only making your hangover worse. Take it over ice or with water.” Important lessons from decorated professionals should be taken seriously. I never drank Crown and Coke again.

First and foremost, I strongly believe that having a healthy lifestyle is key; it’s all about balance.  I know from experience that treating your body with respect throughout the week will help those weekend hangover blues. Having a clean diet is the number one priority. That doesn’t mean being on a diet, it simply means eating as cleanly as possible, and limiting the processed foods and sugars you put into your body.

Next, exercise. Alcohol is a depressant, and for some folks it’s easy to slip into a routine of having a few drinks every night after work, and then more on the weekends. I’m speaking from experience on both fronts. I am happier, more confident, and have wayyy more energy when I’m in my workout routine. I’m not saying that exercise is going to prevent your hangover, but if you’re in good shape, and work out often, the hangovers are easier for the body to process.

Now, let’s talk supplements.

As a rule of thumb, I always recommend a good multi-vitamin. No matter how clean your diet is, you’re still probably not getting all of the vitamins/minerals you need on a daily basis. When you’re consuming alcohol, your vitamins get depleted, and it adds to why you don’t feel so great the next day.

B-Complex:  A lot of mental and emotional wellbeing that takes a beating after a night of over-indulgence comes from B vitamin deficiency. Most people will just take a B12 tablet, but that’s not good enough. When your Bs — 1, 2 and 3 — are depleted, depression, irritability and anxiety can be triggered.

Magnesium: This mineral is great for so many things, but being deficient can cause confusion, loss of appetite and weakness. For me, I take the glycinate form of magnesium. It was recommended to me by an amazing fitness trainer who, sadly, no longer lives in North Carolina. After a month of supplementing, I noticed that my panic attacks (especially if I was even slightly hung over) vanished. Seriously. I was this close to getting a prescription from a doctor, which would’ve been a Band-Aid. Instead I’ve been taking this supplement for six years now.

Milk thistle (Silybum marianum): This is a flowering plant grown around the world. Silymarin is one of the substances in milk thistle believed to protect the liver against toxins. Its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects help the liver after being damaged. Is it going to cure your hangover? No. Will it help your liver after a night of drinking? Probably. I take a liver supplement during the week at night before I go to bed. I look at it as a multi-vitamin for my liver. When I run out of my bottle of milk thistle, I’ll switch to another company that uses herbs like dandelion and burdock, or another one that uses the resihi, chaga and turkey tail mushrooms. All good for liver protection.

And the winner for “Best One-Two Punch for a Hangover” goes to: ibuprofen. Created by Stewart Adams and his associate John Nicholson in the late 1960s, the drug went to clinical trials in 1969, and was probably first tested on an alcohol-induced headache by Adams in 1971 while he was in Moscow, hours away from giving a big speech. Many shots of vodka the night before led Stewart to give it a go. “He took a handful of ibuprofen and felt fine, no hangover!” recalls his son, David Adams (Smithsonianmag.com 2020). Personally, I prefer Ranger Candy. If you know, you know. PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

In The Spirit

Let’s Be Perfectly Clear

Juice porn for nerds

By Tony Cross

Six years ago, I purchased the book Liquid Intelligence, by Dave Arnold. When it arrived in the mail, I remember thumbing through the pages and quickly realizing that everything I was laying my eyes on went right over my head. “Ohhhh man, I’m dumb,” I thought. The book deals with the science of cocktails, and it’s laid out like a textbook. I failed chemistry in high school, so it’s safe to say this triggered scary flashbacks and my PTSD with, well, being dumb.

As insecure as I was, I still marveled at Arnold’s brilliance and passion for perfection chapter by chapter. There were some tricks I picked up right away — like how to properly milk-wash a spirit — but these little gifts were few and far between. If you’ve ever looked through the book, you’ll know exactly what I mean. The section that intrigued me the most was Part 3: Clarification. “Unclear liquids are actually suspensions, containing particles that reflect and scatter light in a random pattern that makes the liquid appear milky. Clarification removes these particles.” Pictured was a glass of cloudy, blended strawberry juice and next to it a glass of clear strawberry juice. Arnold goes on to say, “Why clarify? Why breathe?” I was hooked.

There are a few ways to clarify juices. I’m going to talk about centrifuging — the way I clarify — but feel free to check out Liquid Intelligence for others. So, what’s a centrifuge? Have you ever donated blood? When they take the tube with your blood, they put it in this machine that spins the tubes thousands of times the force of gravity. This allows the platelets and blood plasma to be separated from the other blood components. That machine is a centrifuge. For juices, centrifuges spin so fast that the solid particles in the liquid get thrown to the outside; this is called centrifugal force. But you know that, right? You’ve been on a Tilt-A-Whirl.

When Arnold’s book came out, the cheapest centrifuge (to produce large volumes) wasn’t. It came in at just under $10,000. Yikes. I was bummed. But then, a few years later, Dave made an announcement that he had created the first centrifuge for bartenders and chefs. The Spinzall was released in 2017, and to my knowledge, it’s still the only centrifuge on the market catering specifically to bartenders/home bartenders. A friend of mine got one for Christmas from his wife, and I was able to tinker around with it. (His wife told me that it was still in the box! Gimme!)

I was asked to give a science-based cocktail class around that time — hey, I told the committee I was completely unaware of what science is but they didn’t care — and was hoping that the centrifuge would come in handy. Following the directions and using the correct enzymes to break the solids down (more on that in a moment), I was able to clarify fresh strawberries.

When the Spinzall finished doing its thing, I was in love. This might not do it for you, but it is what it is. I was so excited I took pictures and live video of the clarified juice coming out of the centrifuge. Everyone I told or messaged smiled or texted back saying “cool,” but nobody really gave a rat’s ass. You’re into brunettes, I’m into blondes. Whatever.

Google this Spinzall thing and I’ll break down how simple it is to use. Let’s take strawberries as an example. You’ll need 400 grams washed and diced organic strawberries and an enzyme called Pectinex Ultra SP-L. You need this exact type. I found a knockoff version on Amazon, and it did not work. (What’s a counterfeit enzyme look like anyway?) You can get the Pectinex over at modernistpantry.com. Pectinex Ultra SP-L is an enzyme that breaks down pectin structure. As Dave points out in this book, SP-L “is a mix of enzymes that are purified from Aspergillus aculeatus, a fungus found in soil and rotting fruit.” Basically, SP-L busts a cap in pectin’s liver. It’s needed to clarify most juices, so I always have a large bottle handy.

And just like using the centrifuge, SP-L is easy to use. Here we go: Put your washed and diced strawberries into a blender on medium for 30 seconds. Add 2 milliliters of Pectinex SP-L, and then blend on medium (or medium-high, depending on your blender) for another minute to two. Let sit for a few minutes and you’re ready to run it through your Spinzall. This is where I’m going to stop giving advice. Arnold provides online videos with detailed operating and safety instructions so you won’t put an eye out.

You may be asking yourself, “Why the hell do I want to clarify?” If you’re working in the kitchen at a restaurant, this centrifuge does way more than clarifying juices. It also makes herb oils, purees, no-churn butter, etc. If you’re a bartender, clarified juices can be used to make shelf-stable cordials (when paired with appropriate food-grade acids). Juices that are clarified are silky and smooth on the palate. Try making a daiquiri with clarified lime juice and you’ll see what I mean.

If you’re not in the business, I can see why you may be hesitant to purchase this for your home bar. But, if you really geek out on cocktails and love playing host for your friends and family, go for it. There are so many ways to put the Spinzall to use that you won’t get bored.

As for me, this centrifuge has been monumental for Reverie Cocktails. It’s allowed us to look at our cocktails in a whole new light. Making and distributing kegs of carbonated cocktails is completely different from making them one at a time, and this sucker has been a lifesaver. Even if you don’t gravitate (oh, geez, sorry about that) toward owning a centrifuge, or have zero interest in clarifying anything, I hope this high school chemistry dropout has shed the smallest ray of light on how science is everywhere, even in your cocktail glass. PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

In the Spirit

The World of Del Maguey

Mezcal so good, I forgot how to count

By Tony Cross

Back in June, I was invited to dinner and a mezcal tasting by my good friends Bo and Suze. I first met the couple six years ago when I was tending bar. Bo and I bonded over our love of spirits and cocktails. He was one of the few people I knew at the time that shared the same knowledge and appreciation of everything from cocktail books, to bars across the U.S. and the great drinks they are known for. Needless to say, we’ve been pals ever since.

In the time we’ve known each other, we’ve shared lots of great drinks, many of which were imbibed in his bar, The Bo Zone. That’s right. He’s got quite the selection, and almost everything on hand for most cocktails across the board. Along with his invitation, he informed me he’d just received a huge delivery of spirits online. Yes, you can order spirits online and have them delivered to your home in North Carolina. I’m not going to name names, but do your research and thank me later.

The majority of bottles from Bo’s latest shipment was mezcal from Del Maguey. Pronounced ma-gay, the single village Mezcal was founded in 1995 by Ron Cooper. Each bottle is made by individual family producers and, as the website states: “We are the first producer to credit each product after the village where our liquid is made. When you see our beautiful green bottles, you know it’s Del Maguey.”

After the three of us enjoyed a fabulous dinner, we retired downstairs to The Bo Zone, where many beautiful green bottles awaited us. Here are a few of my favorites from that evening. I’m including the tasting notes that Bo provided, along with my recollections. I took pictures so I would remember just in case I time-traveled — I didn’t, but I’m glad I have the pictures to remind me. They were all excellent. The mezcals, I mean.

Del Maguey Tepextate ($115)

This was the first bottle we got into. What a great start.

Bo’s notes: This glorious mezcal made from wild agave is the work of the same master mezcalero that produces the legendary Tobala (see below) bottled by Del Maguey. Tepextate expressions are rare, to say the least, and the extreme conditions that the plant grows in result in mezcals with concentrated, sweet tones of pure nectar.”

My recollections: Honeysuckle. It was a touch sweet. The problem with all of these great mezcals is you want to have another taste — there’s so much going on that you need one more little sip to figure out what your palate is picking up.

Del Maguey San Pablo Ameyaltepec ($130)

Number three on the list was this beauty from Puebla. For “mezcal” to be printed on a label, the agave has to originate from one of eight Mexican states. Puebla is now on that list.

Bo’s notes: With this extraordinary bottling from master mezcalero Aurelio Gonzalez Tobnon, Del Maguey takes a big step forward with their first official bottling from the state of Puebla. The wild Papalote agaves for this spirit were harvested after 12 to 18 years maturing to full ripeness in the remote hillsides outside the city limits. Showing off an incredible range of complexity, the spirit resolves to an umami-like level of intensity and harmony with notes that hit on the tropical, floral, spicy, savory, salty, mineral and more.

My recollections: We all agreed that the Ameyaltepec left a savory, umami flavor on the finish. What’s fun about tasting mezcal (or spirits or wine) is how there is no right or wrong. You taste what you taste. Over the years I’ve looked at tech sheets on spirits/wine provided for staff by a distillery/winery and thinking, “Nope. That’s not what I taste at all.” This was one of the times where we all thought the notes hit the nail on the head. What a finish.

Del Maguey Madrecuixe ($110)

Bo’s notes: Not far off the banks of the Red Ant River in the dense, green village of San Luis del Rio in Oaxaca, Paciano Cruz Nolasco produces some of the most traditional mezcals on Earth. This rare bottling was made from the wild grown agave species of Madrecruixe. The opening notes are herbaceous and green in nature, then slowly, layers of tropical fruit are revealed spiked with earthy, edgy flavors that all seem to fit together thanks to the gorgeous texture and elegant medium body.”

My recollections: I remember loving this. I also remember humming some Jimi Hendrix tune that was on in the background. Let’s go with: What tastes like bananas, silk, and something green for $300, Alex?

Del Maguey Tobala ($120)

When we finished tasting the recent acquisitions, Bo pulled two more off the shelf. I’ve had this one before, but it had been so long I was forced to say, “Hey, man, lemme taste that one again” out loud.

Notes from Del Maguey’s website: The Tobala maguey is found growing naturally only in the highest altitude canyons in the shade of oak trees, like truffles. It takes about eight piñas (agave hearts) to equal one piña from either of the more commonly propagated and cultivated magueys. Our Tobala has a sweet, fruity nose, with a mango and cinnamon taste and long, extra smooth finish.

My recollections: “Ahh, man, that’s awesome!” At this point I was texting certain friends (who could care less) with pictures of the different, beautiful green bottles I was sipping from. My laugh was getting audibly louder and somewhat obnoxious, even in text form.

Del Maguey Pechuga ($200)

This is the showstopper. Bo had a little more than half a bottle of the Pechuga that had been on the shelf for five years — or did he say three? — and I was honored he would share this beautiful spirit with me. The first thing I learned about Pechuga involved the use of a chicken. Don’t be afraid. A whole skinless chicken breast (pechuga) is washed thoroughly to remove any grease, then hung by a string within the still for 24 hours while a second or third distillation happens. It’s not voodoo, it balances the native apples, plums, plantains, pineapples, almonds, and white rice that were already added to the 100 liters of mezcal.

My recollections: I remember taking a few sips, smiling, saying something brainy, and then tuning out. I was transported immediately to Santa Catarina Minas. I’m a donkey. Kind of like Eeyore, but not melancholy; my mood was the equivalent of being in a commercial for unwanted facial hair where everyone is really, really, happy. Oh, and I was a cartoon. I’m in the middle of grinding piñas during mezcal production. And then I came to. Maybe I did time-travel a little. This mezcal is classy.  PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

In the Spirit

In the Mix

Pierre Ferrand 1840 shines

By Tony Cross

My introduction to cognac happened in the late summer of 2003. I had my first “front of the house” job at an intimate, independent French restaurant. It was small, and so was the staff; I was one of two servers. The owner, Raymond, was the chef, and his partner, Alan, was the sous-chef. Raymond’s wife, Ginette, ran everything up front. I began working there after they had been established for 13 years.

La Terrace was one of a kind. Usually on Saturday evenings, after all of the guests had retired to their homes, and the closing duties were finished, Raymond and Alan would sit at one of the two large round tables in the dining room, enjoying a snifter of Rémy Martin cognac. I remember Raymond explaining to me how cognac is a digestif, a beverage (usually alcoholic) that helps you digest your food. He let me try it, and I’m sure I just shrugged it off. “What do you know? American punk.”

It was a mild rebuke, meant in the nicest way possible. Really. And he was right — all I cared about at the time was drinks, girls, and rock ’n’ roll. Maybe not much has changed.

These days you can find a much wider variety of brandy on the shelves. Brandy is any spirit that’s distilled from juice. Pisco, armagnac and cognac are a few examples. Cognac is produced in the Cognac region of France, and there are six regions, or appellations, where the grapes are grown. The grapes are fermented after being picked and then double distilled in copper pots. The “eau de vie” is then aged in oak barrels.

Cognac is classified in three different categories:

VS (Very Special/Superior): Aged for at least two years in oak casks.

VSOP (Very Special/Superior Old Pale): Aged for at least four years in oak casks.

XO (Extra Old): Aged for at least six years in oak casks.

I’m not an aficionado by any means, so I’m not going to go down a list of cognacs and the differences/similarities in them. I will, however, recommend a great cognac for mixing cocktails. Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac is one of the most accessible and versatile cognacs on the market. At 90 proof, it’s great in mixed drinks. It has more of a backbone than Hennessey or Rémy. And don’t get me wrong, I love Rémy Martin.

I became aware of Pierre Ferrand five or six years ago, when I picked up Death & Company: Modern Classic Cocktails, by David Kaplan, Nick Fauchald and Alex Day (still one of the best cocktail books ever put into print IMO). “The Sazerac cocktail was originally made with cognac, until the European phylloxera epidemic in the late 1800s wiped out grape production and bartenders switched to rye,” they write, and go on to suggest using the 1840. One of the finest appellations in Cognac is Grande Champagne, and that’s where the Ferrand estate is located. Ferrand only produces Grand Champagne cognacs (which basically means they only use grapes grown from the soils of that appellation).

If you’re not into making cocktails, you can definitely enjoy this neat. I do. I purchased a bottle the other week, and as you’ll see in the picture above, what’s missing was enjoyed straight. It’s velvety and rich. I picked up notes of pear, lemon and spice; it has a pretty long finish. I don’t think this cognac was designed to be enjoyed neat, but it holds up quite nicely. The place it really shines is in cocktails, like the Sazerac. Some bartenders do equal parts cognac and rye — that’s probably my favorite build. I’ll leave you with the classic Sidecar cocktail recipe from the Death & Co. book.

Sidecar

2 ounces Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac

1/2 ounce Cointreau

3/4 ounce lemon juice

1/4 ounce cane sugar simple syrup

Garnish: 1 orange twist

Shake all ingredients with ice, then strain into a coupe. Garnish with the orange twist.  PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

In the Spirit

Home Alone

Lost in quarantine

By Tony Cross

Welcome back for another installment of Solitary Confinement. I’ll be your host.

As I type, I’m still locked down, but it seems some restrictions will be lifted soon with three or four phases gradually reopening different types of businesses. If all goes exactly as planned, restaurants should be allowed to let guests come in and dine sometime early this month. That’s a big “if.” Since, realistically, we could still be fending for ourselves well into mid-June, I’m going to recommend a few more drinks that you can make at home with your spouse, or by yourself.

Please remember that our ABC stores are open, and they carry many local distilleries’ spirits. Although I’m only naming two for the recipes below, also look for the following: Durham Distillery, Instill Distillery, Fair Game Beverage Company, Fainting Goat Spirits, Doc Porter’s Distillery, Crude Bitters (available in Nature’s Own and Triangle Wine), Muddy River Distillery, and many more. They thank you. I thank you.

Negroni

I’ve probably mentioned before about my first interaction with Campari. It didn’t go well. “That’s freaking gross,” I’m sure I said. Well, what the hell did I know? I was still smoking a pack a day, I flipped my hair (which I still had) up in the front like Tin-Tin, and fast food was dinner five or six nights a week. When I got my act together and started taking better care of my body (the hair was a lost cause), a few things happened: I felt better, and my palate expanded like you wouldn’t believe. I fell in love with certain vegetables that I never enjoyed before and started to fall in love with all things bitter. Bitter foods, bitter beer, bitter women, and yes, bitter spirits, especially amari.

Author Brad Thomas Parsons says in his book Amaro that “the ingredients of Campari, one of the world’s most famous amari, remain a closely guarded secret, with the only two known ingredients being alcohol and water. Beyond that, the recipe is based on an ‘infusion of herbs, aromatic plants, and fruit in alcohol and water.’”

I think you either love Campari or you don’t. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that’s in the middle. My favorite cocktail to make with Campari is the Negroni. In my opinion, it’s one of the best cocktails to have before dinner. It really wakes up the palate. This is an extremely easy cocktail to make. You’ll need three ingredients: gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. Four, if you count ice. For the gin, I stand by Sutler’s Spirit Co. out of Winston-Salem. I’ve written about Sutler’s a bunch, so take my word for it, it’s a lovely gin that’s not juniper-forward. For the sweet vermouth, I recommend Carpano Antica from Italy (also available at Nature’s Own). Traditionally, the recipe calls for equal parts of all three ingredients, but I like to up the gin a touch, so here we go:

Take 1 1/4 ounces of gin, and put it into your rocks glass (yes, we’ll be building this cocktail). Add 3/4 ounce of Campari, and 3/4 ounce of the sweet vermouth. Add ice, and stir until the cocktail is nice, cold, and properly diluted. All that’s left is the garnish. You can take an orange wedge and drop her in, or you can take the peel of an orange and express its oils over the cocktail and discard the peel into the drink. Either way, it’s one helluva way to start the evening. Or afternoon. Or morning (you know who you are, quarantine champs).

Westside

This is one of the first cocktails I learned how to make when I was trying to make heads or tails of the cocktail business. Also extremely easy to make, it just has a few more ingredients. This drink is a spin on the classic Westside, subbing vodka for gin. The Westside was created at the bar Employees Only, in New York City. My first crush was with these folks — their whole ideology of creating drinks, setting the mood, etc. Anyway, before I start getting too awkward, here’s the drink:

The original recipe calls for a Meyer lemon-infused vodka, but this will definitely work with TOPO vodka (out of Chapel Hill). You’ll also need cold sparkling water (Mountain Valley or die), mint, a lemon, rich simple syrup, ice, and a cocktail coupe (or martini glass). Before you start making this drink, place your coupe glass in your freezer, so it’s nice and cold by the time you’re ready to pour. Take 4-5 mint leaves, and break them in half, putting them into a cocktail shaker. Next, add 1/2 ounce of rich simple syrup (two parts sugar, one part water). You’ll take 3/4 ounce of fresh squeezed lemon juice, and finish with 1 1/2 to 2 ounces of vodka. Add ice to your shaker, seal it up, and shake hard for about 10 seconds. Take your coupe glass out of the freezer and place it on the table. Before you strain this cocktail into the glass (or double strain if you want to keep as much mint from entering the glass as possible), you want to add a splash of the sparkling water to your shaker. Bubbles! OK, now strain. You can garnish this drink with a very thin slice of lemon, or nothing at all. These go down pretty quick, so imbibe responsibly. Just kidding, you’re grown up; you’re in own house; the world is set on “virtual.” What have you got to do? Go to town.  PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

In the Spirit

Rainy Day Cocktails

Always seem to know when it’s time to call

By Tony Cross

As I’m writing this, our state is going into a mandatory stay-at-home lockdown for folks who do not fall into the criteria of jobs considered “essential.” If you work at a grocery store, pharmacy, hardware store or even a bank, you can go to work if you choose. A lot of other folks must stay home.

This is the hardest column I’ve ever had to write. All of my friends in the restaurant/bar business are clinging to hope that this passes soon; most of them know it will not. I’m at a loss for words.

To say that these past weeks have been devastating would be a huge understatement and, in a way, somewhat disrespectful to those who have had their world flipped upside down. With that being said, a lot of people are staying home, which is good. Be responsible. A lot of you are stuck inside with your significant others. I feel for you, too. Hopefully, by the time you read this, we’ll no longer be hiding from a virus. But, just in case we are, here are some cocktails to make at home, while we’re trying to stay sane and keep hope alive.

I’m going to pick two spirits this month (bourbon and agave) and give a drink recommendation for each. If we’re still asked to stay at home a month from now, I’ll pick two more, rinse and repeat. So get out your jiggers, measuring spoons — whatever you’ve got — and try to have fun together, before you claw each other’s eyes out. As for me, all I can say is, “Cheers to being single!”

Bourbon

Besides drinking whiskey neat, there are myriad things that you can mix up at home, but for now we’ll stick with a classic. For those of you who come back to read this mess month after month, I know that I’m reposting this, but we may have some new friends tuning in.

Old-Fashioned

The definitive cocktail, right? Spirit, sugar, bitters and water. There ya go. Personally, I prefer a rye whiskey, but when you’re stuck at home, you play with the hand you’ve been dealt. By the way, I’ve been told that our local ABC stores are essential, so I guess things could be worse. Here’s how I build an old-fashioned when I’m home. I take my rocks glass and add a quarter-ounce of a rich demerara syrup. (To make that I stir together two parts demerara sugar and one-part water over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.) After the syrup, I add three dashes of Angostura bitters, one dash of Regan’s orange bitters, and one dash of Angostura orange bitters. Why two different orange bitters? Because I’m complex. No. Because the Regan’s is dry and the Ango is sweet. Together they bring an orange balance. If you are tuning in for the first time, I completely understand that now is the time you turn the page and read something else. No offense taken.

Add two ounces of whichever whiskey you’ve got on hand and give it all a quick stir. Next is ice. I use a large cube and stir for 50 or so revolutions, until the glass is chilled, and you feel the drink has been properly diluted. Remember, water is an ingredient, so make sure you stir. Then I’ll take a swath of orange and lemon peels, expressing oils over the drink, and put them in my cocktail. If you feel it looks good enough to drink, then do it.

Agave

It’s warming up. My favorite time of year is here, and it’s almost literally the only thing I’m smiling about these days. Margarita season is upon us. If you’re new to this column, first thing’s first: no store-bought mix. Ever. Take it out of your mind. It doesn’t exist. Here’s how to make a somewhat-decent ‘Rita from scratch. Grab a cocktail shaker. If you don’t have one, maybe you have a protein shaker. Not ideal, but who cares; you want a margarita, right? Add 3/4 to an ounce of fresh lime juice (you’ll need to squeeze your own) into the shaker. Take a rich simple syrup (refer to the old-fashioned recipe to make it yourself, but use white or cane sugar instead), adding a quarter or half-ounce to the shaker. If you like your margarita a bit sweeter, opt for the half-ounce. Add roughly a half-ounce of Cointreau (orange liqueur). If you only have triple sec, that will do. If you have none of the above, that’s OK, too. I’ll give you an alternative in a few.

Now comes the tequila. You’ll want a blanco tequila — it’s clear and unaged; light and crisp; perfect for margaritas. If you have a reposado, that will most definitely work as well. If you only have an añejo, I wouldn’t dare. Pour two ounces of the tequila into the shaker. Before you add ice, make sure you have your drinkware ready. If you’re having it on the rocks, make sure your glass is packed with ice. If you’d like to have a salted rim, take a lime wedge, and rim it around the glass. I recommend only rimming half of the glass; that way you can switch back and forth from a salted sip to a non-salted sip. If you’re having your drink straight up, make sure your coupe or martini glass has been in your freezer while you’ve been preparing it. Now add a lot of ice to your mixing vessel, seal it, and shake the hell out of it until it’s nice and frosty (if you’re actually using the protein shaker, you bro-shake it hard for about 10-15 seconds). Strain your margarita over ice or in your coupe. If you didn’t have an orange liqueur to add, you can take the peel of an orange, and spray the oils over the cocktail like we did with the old-fashioned. You can also add a lime wedge on the glass for a garnish, but I usually drink mine instantly and forget.

Stay well everyone.  PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.