I’m so looking forward to this trip, it’s not even funny! Maker’s Mark, Heaven Hill and Jim Beam on the Thursday, and Jack Daniels on Saturday.

If you were on the trip, is there anything you’d ask the master distillers?  I’ll make sure to ask your question if you leave one in the comments. I’ll be taking a ton of pictures, and will report back with my findings.  (image source, Maker’s Mark)

Post from: EveryJoe

Headed South

There’s notes of vanilla, orange, brandy, and citrus, and it sometimes has been described as a Grand Marnier type spirit.

Let’s just put it this way, Tuaca is really good.

Legend has it that the origins of the secret family recipe for Tuaca dates back to the Renaissance. It was apparently crafted for Lorenzo the Magnificent, a patron to Botticelli and Michelangelo.

The Washington Post called Tuaca the “new Jagermeister” and said that it’s a “shot of a generation”. This is certainly true – one of the best ways to drink Tuaca is icy cold and either shoot or sip it.  However, in my opinion, it’s more complex spirit for just a shot. 

When I’ve got all the ingredients in stock, I prefer a “Tuaca Twister” or a “Consigliere”  (recipes below) and if I don’t have everything on hand, I go simple and have Tuaca and ginger ale. There’s a million different things you can do with Tuaca though, so experiment. There’s very little that you can’t mix with Tuaca. It mixes amazingly well with Bourbon or Tequila, and provides a soft edge to drinks.

Tuaca has been available in the States for ages, and has recently launched in Canada, which just makes me happy. I don’t know what you’re doing tonight, but I’m going to have dinner, and go get the ingredients for a Tuaca Twister, and if I can find Giffard Citrus, an Italian Sour as well.

Italian Sour

In shaker filled with ice add:
2oz Tuaca
1oz Giffard Citrus Syrup
1oz Egg white
2-3 dash old fashioned bitters
Shake hard and pour into double rocks glass

Tuaca Twister

1.5 oz Tuaca
1 oz Finlandia Lime Vodka
1 oz Midori Melon Liqueur
Splash of Sprite or 7-up
Pineapple Juice

Pour the Midori  into the bottom of a rocks glass. Add ice. Shake tuaca, vodka, soda and pineapple juice over ice. Carefully pour into the rocks glass, ideally, not disturbing (too much) the Midori.
Consigliere

In Double Rocks glass muddle orange peel (no flesh) with brown sugar (1/3
tsp) and 2-3 dash old fashioned bitters
FIll Glass with ice.

In Shaker filled with ice:
Add 1.5oz Tuaca
Add 0.5oz Jack Daniels
Stir until very cold
Strain into double rocks glass.

(image courtesy: Tuaca & me on Flickr)

Post from: EveryJoe

Tuaca: Italian Culture comes to Canada

He told the story that these two young bartenders opened this place so that their friend, this older, rockstar bartender would have a place to shine. He told me that the ZigZag Cafe had, hands down, the most well stocked bar in the city.

I stopped in to check them out, and wow. I was stunned. Seriously stunned, and that’s not an easy feat.

Murray, the bartender, really is a rockstar. He moves so very fast that trying to capture a picture of him is nearly impossible.

I sat down at the bar, and Murray stopped moving, briefly, to ask me what kind spirits I liked. Clear or dark?

I told him that one of my favourite spirits was a good bourbon, and that I favoured Gentleman Jack over regular Jack Daniel’s. He nodded once, held up one finger and off he went.

He created a drink for me that I’ve never even heard of before – one that he knew from an out of print book called “The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks” by David A. Embury. He even showed me his copy of the book, that I didn’t want to handle too much for fear of it falling apart.

The Toronto, not on the ZigZag Cafe menu, is a classic 1950’s cocktail, and one that the girl beside me called “not a girly drink”. (To which I replied, I’m not a girly girl. She grinned and agreed.)

A Toronto is a sipping cocktail for sure… it’s not a quick drink by any means. The next one he made me, which was another Murray creation, was the same. Another sipping cocktail, designed to be savoured.

He called it “Maria’s Manhattan” (Maria being the not a girly girl beside me), and brought out three shot glasses, poured about 1/2 an ounce of each ingredient into each glass and then proceeded to mix the drink.

It was fascinating to me to taste the separate flavours come together in the drink. I’d never had someone sit me down and show me the kind of thing Murray was showing me.

Murray is a true mixologist, one who understands the flavours he’s putting into your glass, and truly wants to offer you something you won’t forget,or get anywhere else. I’ve already told pretty much everyone I know that the next time they go to Seattle, they have GOT to make time to stop at the ZigZag Cafe. I’m trying to figure out exactly when I’ll be able to go back down, just so I can visit Murray. A trip to Seattle used to be for the outlet malls or Nordstroms. Yeah, not anymore. Now, a trip to Seattle won’t be the same without hitting the ZigZag Cafe for a snack and a Toronto, which may just have become my new favourite drink.

Toronto

1 3/4 oz Bourbon
1/2 oz Fernet
1/4 oz simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake over ice and strain into a chilled martini glass

Maria’s Manhattan

2 oz Woodford Reserve Bourbon
1/2 oz Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth
2 dashes Fee’s Whiskey Bitters

Shake over ice and strain into a chilled martini glass

(image credit: me!)

Post from: EveryJoe

Review: Seattle’s best cocktails