Category Archives: Legends

Ardbeg, Dexter Gordon, Duke Ellington, Jazz, John Coltrane, Legends, The Balvenie, Uigeadail, Yamazaki

Drinking in My Dreams

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ONE OF THE THINGS that makes us uniquely human is our ability to use our minds to imagine scenarios that we would not otherwise experience.  Our brains are extraordinarily complex, and our dreams can often times seem real. It gives us the ability to answer one of the most often asked questions posed by friends.  If you could have dinner with someone famous, who would it be? We all ponder it whether asked or not.  As a jazz fan, I think dinner with some of the luminaries of the past would be kind of boring.  However, drinking a glass of Scotch with some of them would probably be more in line with the vibe that I get when listening to my favorite artists recordings.

Ardbeg Uigeadail is one of my favorite Scotches.  It’s rich and weighty with intoxicating and smoky aromatics. The initial aroma is a mix of walnut oil and violets with fresh ocean spice, pine needles and cedar. It’s reminiscent of a smoldering coal fire that brings warmth on a cold winters’ night. It’s full-flavored with a rich, deep, tongue-coating texture that is an intricate balance of sweet, spicy, and deep smoke.

When I think of jazz and smoke, I immediately recall a photograph of Dexter Gordon, one of the legends of the tenor saxophone. In the photograph, he’s wearing one of his trademark hats and smoking a cigarette.  He started his career while still a teenager, touring with the great Lionel Hampton. He eventually moved to New York City to pursue his dream of being a professional jazz musician.  He spent the majority of his career in Europe in what can only be described as exile, living in Denmark, and traveling to France and Germany to perform and record music.  Among his many accomplishments, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the movie ‘Round Midnight. I imagine it would be fun to speak with Dexter Gordon at a café in Paris.  We’d probably just talk about life.  His experiences as a musician during the 1950s and 1960s could not have been ideal, but to persevere as he did would no doubt lead to some interesting conversations about the things he learned along the way, both the good and the bad.

If you’re a jazz fan like me, the only name that comes to mind when you think of smooth and elegant is Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington.  His stage presence made him seem almost regal. Duke Ellington was a famous and successful musician and band leader when it wasn’t in the best interest of an American of African descent to be either.  He rose above the prejudice of his time and became not only an ambassador for the music, but an ambassador for his race.  Every interview I’ve ever read or television program where I saw him interviewed, he was always gracious, honest, and thoughtful.  A person who had every right to be bitter about the way he and others like him were treated and I don’t ever recall him lashing out.  I’d love to hear his views on the state of today’s music.  I doubt that he’d be critical of it, but it would be great to hear the opinion of someone who was there when Jazz was in its infancy to talk about its evolution and where it’s headed in the twenty-first century.  As a non-musician, I would find it fascinating to hear his views. I would love to enjoy a glass of Yamazaki 18 with him while discussing what influenced him when he wrote his famous suites.

Yamazaki whisky is not Scotch, but it’s made with the tradition of the whiskies of Scotland at its core.  Spiritual and deep, the soul place of Japanese whiskey is one of the ways that it’s been described.  Yamazaki 18-year-old whisky is elegant with a deep amber color.  It has aromas of apricot, raisin, truffles, marmalade, Oloroso Sherry, and Japanese oak. The palate is rich and bittersweet with heather roots, cigar leaves, honey, toffee, apples, plum wine, and black pepper.  The finish is long, spicy, fruity, and smooth. It’s such an elegant expression of the Scotch tradition that it was voted best whisky in the world in 2014, besting ALL whiskeys, whiskys, and bourbons around the globe.

Another outstanding whisky is The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14-year-old Scotch–a traditional single malt from Speyside, a subdivision of the Highlands.  In order to be considered Speyside Scotch, the whisky must be made near the river Spey. Balvenie 14 is initially aged in a traditional oak cask before it is finished in a cask which previously held Caribbean rum. This imparts an extra sweetness and warmth to the whisky. What makes this whisky even more fascinating is that the malt master at Balvenie created his own blend of West Indian rums, filled it into the rum casks, and then eventually replaced his rum with Balvenie 14 whisky. This particular Balvenie has rich aromas that include tropical fruits and toffee.  The palate has a creamy vanilla feel with notes of apples and mangoes with a hint of orange. Its finish lingers with a more focused vanilla character. 

The level of complexity with the added layers of ingenuity used to create this whisky reminds me of one person—John Coltrane. John Coltrane passed away in 1967 and since that time, musicians and scholars are still trying to understand the music that he created.  There isn’t a saxophone player alive who isn’t influenced by his playing.  He studied eastern religions and incorporated those ideas into his music.  Not only that, but he was also a big fan of Albert Einstein.  He studied Einstein’s theories and had a deep understanding of the underlying physics and mathematics.  In the book The Jazz of Physics by Stephon Alexander, the author talks about how Einstein inspired Coltrane to put physics and geometry at the core of his music.  Music that has secrets yet to be unraveled by today’s musicians.  John Coltrane was incredibly soft spoken and very reserved.  His thoughts always seemed to come across as deep and introspective in his interviews.  His interests in mathematics, physics, and eastern cultures would lead to some interesting conversations.  It would be really interesting to listen to him expound upon ideas that none of my friends would find interesting.  Topics such as the belief that the catalyst for the Big Bang was literally a sound or a tone. A tone whose remnants still exist somewhere in our vast Universe. You’d need a complex Scotch to get into the details beneath the surface of this complexed topic. Possibly more than one bottle. It would be a sacrifice worth making.

As I said at the beginning, the brain is an incredible tool.  Even when our technology advances to the point where we can virtually enjoy our dreams, it will still allow us to dream big.  I hope humanity never loses that ability.

Bartender, Cocktail, Legends

Jerry Thomas

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jerrythomas

THE DICTIONARY DEFINES a bartender as a person who mixes and serves alcoholic drinks at a bar.  The word was first used in America sometime during the 1830’s.  When we think of bartenders, we envision characters played by Nicholas Colasanto,Ted Lange, Woody Harrelson, and Bryan Brown.  Some of us even have a favorite real life bartender whose image comes to mind when you hear the word bartender, but who is the bartender who influenced these fictional and non-fictional bartenders?  His name is Jeremiah P. Thomas.

Jeremiah P. Thomas was born on December 15, 1830 in Sackets Harbor, New York and he is considered by most to be the Father of American Mixology.  He learned his craft in New Haven, Connecticut as a 16 year-old apprentice in 1846.  He then sailed to California as a merchant marine during the Gold Rush.  While in California, he developed his skills as a bartender and bar manager before moving to New York City in 1851.  During this time, he opened the first of four saloons that he’d run in New York during his life.  He also worked as head bartender at hotels and saloons in New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago, Charleston, and San Francisco.  He even traveled to Europe.

Jerry, or The Professor, as he was known, was well known for his showmanship.  He owned a set of solid-silver bar tools which he used to develop elaborate and flashy techniques for mixing cocktails.  Sometimes, he was known to juggle bottles, cups, glasses, and mixing containers.  He wore flashy jewelry and had his cups and bar tools embellished with precious stones and metals.  While working at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco, Jerry earned $100 per week.  At the time, this was more than what was earned by the Vice President of the United States.

Recently, I mentioned Jerry’s book, The Bar-Tender’s Guide, in a post.  This is the first bartending book ever published in the United States.  It was a collection of recipes that had been, until the time of publication, passed on orally.  The book also included original recipes and it discussed the principles for fabricating cocktails in all categories.

As I mentioned earlier, Jerry was known for his flare.  His signature drink, the Blue Blazer, was developed while working at the El Dorado saloon in San Francisco.  It is made by setting whisky ablaze and passing it back and forth between two mixing glasses, creating an arc of flame.  I’d love to do this at a bar, but sadly, it’s illegal to set drinks ablaze in bars in Virginia.  Among Jerry’s other creations was a drink called the Martinez, which first appeared in the 1887 edition of his famous book.  Many mistakenly refer to this drink as the precursor to what we know as the modern martini.  The 1887 edition lists the ingredients as Old Tom gin, sweet vermouth, a dash of maraschino, bitters, a slice of lemon and two dashes of gum syrup.  Clearly, this is closer to a manhattan than a martini, since a martini has gin and dry vermouth garnished with an olive.

What is most remarkable about Mr. Thomas is that his life spanned the three great ages of cocktails: the archaic, the baroque, and the classic.  He was born in 1830 when Americans were enjoying punches, toddies and slings.  During his prime as a bartender, he was in the middle of the period when bartenders used an incomprehensible array of ingredients and styles to make drinks.  At the time of his death he was witness to the introduction of modern cocktails such as the martini and the manhattan.

In addition to being the father of bartending, Jerry was a husband, a father, a traveler, a gambler, a prize-fight fan, and an art collector.  He was one of the first to display the work of Thomas Nast in his saloon.  For the Thomas Nast impaired, Nast was a caricaturist and editorial cartoonist who is considered to be the Father of the American Cartoon.  Sadly, his famous drawing of Jerry Thomas in nine tippling postures colossally has been lost.

In 1885, Jerry Thomas died from what was described at the time as apoplexy.  He was 55 years old.  By then, he was pretty well known around the country.  This was evidenced by the striking number of obituaries that appeared in newspapers from New York to San Francisco.  The New York Times noted that Thomas was at one time better known to club men and men about town than any other bartender in this city, and he was popular among all classes.  That says it all.

So, there you have it — Jeremiah P. Thomas, shaken and stirred.  Keep in mind that the person you just read about died nearly 125 years ago, yet his influence can still be seen today.  Any bartender who flips bottles, sets drinks ablaze, or makes fancy drinks is emulating the style of a man who was born when Andrew Jackson was president.  He was admired and respected by everyone and he changed the way we chronicle, categorize, and create drinks.  So, the next time you’re in a bar and you hear a bartender talking about his latest creation, ask him if he’s heard of Jerry Thomas.  He most likely hasn’t, but now you have the ability to enlighten him.  As always, when drinking concoctions from the 1887 edition of The Bar-Tender’s Guide or any other bar manual, please drink responsibly!!!

Alcohol, Legends, liqueur, Liquor, Myths, Wine

Urban Legends

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THERE AREN’T MANY things more amusing to me than urban legends.  I’m always fascinated by the things people will believe without ever verifying the facts or challenging the common sense that we were all born with.  We’ve all heard an urban legend before.  Even Santa Claus himself is part of urban lore.  There is one legend in particular that always makes me laugh.  It states that the modern image of Santa that we are all familiar with was created by the Coca-Cola Company.  This hardly makes sense to me, but there are many who believe it.  The image of the Santa that we know is a hybrid, descended from St. Nicholas, whose outward appearance and history were created and shaped by many people over the course of many, many years until he morphed into the familiar jolly old fat man in a red and white costume who lives at the North Pole and delivers gifts to little girls and boys on Christmas eve.  It should make perfect sense that what we know as Santa Claus existed long before Coco-Cola began adorning their cans with his image.

What does this have to do with bartending?  I’m glad you asked.  A friend suggested that I look at some urban legends related to drinking.  You’ve probably heard some of these stories yourself and you’ve probably thought that, taken with a grain of salt, they must be true.  Let’s have a look at a few to find out what is fact and what is fiction.

The first one is probably the most often quoted urban legend with respect to alcohol.  The story goes that one of the ingredients in Jägermeister  is deer blood.  This rumor usually traces back to two facts.  The first is that the label of a Jägermeister bottle has a picture of a stag on the front of it.  The second is that Jägermeister is German for a phrase that loosely translates to master hunter.  Combine this with the fact that Jägermeister boasts having one or two secret spices in the recipe and you could understand how this rumor spread to every corner of the globe.

Jägermeister is made with 56 herbs, roots, and spices.  These ingredients are ground and reduced to macerates by being steeped in cold water and alcohol for approximately three days.  The resulting extract is filtered and then stored in oak barrels for at least a year before being bottled.  If blood were one of the secret ingredients, the brewing process could not be easily or accurately reproduced because it would break down, rendering each batch unusable.  If that isn’t enough to convince you that there is no blood in Jägermeister, keep in mind that there is no way on Earth that the U. S. Department of Agriculture would sanction the sale of a product that has deer blood in it.

Sulfites are another misrepresented entity in the bartending world.  It’s rumored that the sulfites in American-made red wine cause headaches/hangovers.  They are cited as the reason that when Americans drink American wines, they tend to drink white wines because they have no sulfites in them.  This is amusing on many levels.  First, there is no documented medical or scientific study to suggest that sulfites cause headaches/hangovers.  Second, red wines contain lower levels of sulfites than white wines.  Third, although it is not required to be listed on the labels, many imported wines contain higher sulfite levels than domestic wines.

Here are some other facts.  Europeans have been making wine for hundreds of years.  They invented the art of using additives to improve wine.  They spent hundreds of years studying the effects of sulfur in wine.  Most notably, they discovered that you can’t make good wine without using sulfur.  Combine that with the fact that we, Americans, learned everything we know about wine making from European wine makers and we, like them, have endeavored to improve upon their work.  The bottom line is that ALL wine contains sulfites.  Our bodies even produce sulfites on a daily basis.  If you eat shellfish, guacamole, sushi, pizza, or cheese, then you’re consuming more sulfites than are found in most wines.

So, unless you are actually allergic to sulfites, you probably don’t have to worry about them being in your wine.  Why European wines don’t cause headache/hangovers is an easy question to answer.  Most Americans visiting Europe do so on vacation.  This equates to a more relaxed atmosphere free of the daily stresses of their normal lives.  Consuming wine under these conditions as opposed to drinking under the stress of kids, pets, and the daily grind probably makes all the difference in the world.  Just a theory, but you are welcome to put it to the test the next time you’re in Europe.  When you’re back at home, try consuming those wines again.  The results of your experiment should be interesting.

The last urban legend I’d like to tackle this week is the use of copper pennies to defeat the breathalyzer test.  I’ve heard this one a million times and I know that it doesn’t work, but there are so many out there who believe that it will get them out of a DUI.  The rumor is that the high copper content of pennies helps negate the results of a breathalyzer test.  Two things make this urban legend false.  The first is that since 1982, pennies have been made of 97.5% zinc with only a coating of copper.  The second is that no matter how many coins you put in your mouth, it will not hinder the chemical reaction that the breathalyzer is designed to measure: the reaction between the amount of alcohol on the breath and the contents of the magic vial inside the breathalyzer device.  Stuffing too many pennies in your mouth may keep you from being able to use the breathalyzer properly, but eventually, the police officer is going to make you spit them out.  Before you ask, burping doesn’t hinder the test either.  You can burp to your heart’s content, but it will not help.  Neither will Certs, Tic Tacs, ice, mustard, celery, peanut butter, raw potatoes, salted peanuts, Diet Coke, or candy made from ginger.

So, there you have it — a few urban legends debunked.  This  post was not an attempt to make fun of anyone.  It was meant to get at the truth about some of the more common urban myths related to alcohol.  I hope that you’ll walk away feeling more enlightened about the ways of the world.  I also hope that you’ll pass this information along to those who aren’t as enlightened as we are.