Guide to Drinking 2012

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Guide to drinkinG

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GU I D E to D r I N k I N G 2012

puBLiSherManaGinG editor

art directorSenior Staff Writer

contriButinG editorSpeciaL SectionS editor

fact checkerproofreader

internproduction deSiGner

onLine editor contriButinG

photoGrapherS

contriButinG WriterS

reLationS directoroffice ManaGer

advertiSinG SaLeS ManaGer

Senior advertiSinG executive

advertiSinG executiveS

account ManaGer

allyson MaceStacy SchultzMeera nagarajan Ligaya figuerasJulie cohenStacy Schultzkelsi crowemily Lowerykelsi crowMichelle volanskyStacy SchultzJonathan Gayman, Greg rannells, kristi Schiffman, carmen troesser Glenn Bardgett, Matt Berkley, Julie cohen, Ligaya figueras, kellie hynes, Stacy Schultzerin keplingerSharon arnot

erin keplinger

angie rosenbergrachel Gaertner, Jayson Gifford, erin keplinger, allyson Mace, angie rosenbergJill George


contentsGuide to drinkinG

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cover details

Aviation from Blood & Sandthe gin network p. 18

photo by carmen troesser

7 The SweeT SpoTBy keLLie hyneS

9 whaT’S hoT RighT NowBy LiGaya fiGueraS

9 whaT’S oN Tap?By LiGaya fiGueraS

10 The DecaNTiNg Dilemma By GLenn BardGett

11 BReweD FoR You By Matt BerkLey and JuLie cohen

12 wiNNiNg DRiNkS By LiGaya fiGueraS

15 BeTTeR wiTh age

there’s nothing exciting about creaky knees and crow’s feet. But pour some booze in a barrel, and aging gracefully becomes a work of art

By JuLie cohen

18 The giN NeTwoRk

the people, politics and

products creating a whole new

generation of gin drinkers

By LiGaya fiGueraS

contact uS

allyson MaceStacy SchultzMeera nagarajan Ligaya figuerasJulie cohenStacy Schultzkelsi crowemily Lowerykelsi crowMichelle volanskyStacy SchultzJonathan Gayman, Greg rannells, kristi Schiffman, carmen troesser Glenn Bardgett, Matt Berkley, Julie cohen, Ligaya figueras, kellie hynes, Stacy Schultzerin keplingerSharon arnot

erin keplinger

angie rosenbergrachel Gaertner, Jayson Gifford, erin keplinger, allyson Mace, angie rosenbergJill George


winE

Saracco Moscato d’Asti

Fizzy, fresh and fruity. Like awesome pop rocks.$17; $7/half bottle. Whole Foods, 1601 S. Brentwood Blvd., Brentwood, 314.968.7744, wholefoodsmarket.com

Marco negri Moscato d’Asti

Sweet, soft bubbles.$15. The Wine & Cheese Place, 14748 Clayton Road, Ballwin, 636.227.9001, wineandcheeseplace.com

Augusta winery Vignoles

Liquid pineapple happiness.$10. Dierberg’s-Brentwood Point, 8450 Eager Road, Brentwood, 314.962.9009, dierbergs.com

Chaumette Vignoles

think you can’t do sweet? Start with this semi-dry.$18. Grapevine Wines, 309 S. Kirkwood Road, Kirkwood, 314.909.7044 grapevinewinesandspirits.com

BUY IT

As you read this, someone who is younger and hipper and can stay awake later than you is enjoying a sweet wine – and not just with dessert.

While we were sipping pinot noir and quoting Sideways, the cool kids were discovering Moscato d’Asti, a fruity, low-alcohol wine with all the fizz but none of the fuss (or price) of Champagne.

Who are those cool kids? Well that’d be Drake, Lil’ kim and Ab-Soul, all of whom give the sweet-drinking bottle of bubbly street cred in their lyrics.

kanye raps that it’s even better than Cristal. And as pop culture goes, so go the consumers. paul hayden, manager of the Wine and Cheese place, sold his first Moscato in the late 1990s. these days, he sells Moscatos from 15 different producers, up from three just five years ago. “Wine geeks and wine novices all seem to enjoy [Moscato] when it is presented to them,” hayden said. “It’s the hot sweet wine of this generation.”

So is this a trend a wine-loving locovore like yourself can support?

Absolutely. Anyone who has ever visited a Missouri winery knows about our sweet, tropical-tasting Vignoles*. one of the few grape varieties that thrives in our hades-esque summers, Vignoles is even popular with the cab sav set. It’s a too-sweet guilty pleasure – like eating s’mores while watching a John hughes movie marathon. It’s light and bright and hits the spot when you’re desperately craving a wine cooler but are too embarrassed to say so. And if you’re cool enough to give it a try, you may just love it.

– Kellie Hynes

* Pronounced /veen-yole/. Swallow the “s,” like in “Gravois.”

the sweet spot

a few sweet bottles to whet your palate


winE

from new releases of french phenom wines to a full-out renaissance in local brewing and distilling, action abounds in the world of alcohol. We scoured

the aisles of area wine and liquor stores and picked the brains of beverage

professionals to learn what’s abuzz – so you can get yours.

You SaY DRoughT, we SaY RoSé

Scorching weather led to a run on bone-dry rosé. if temps get high again – or you’re already thinking about turkey day wine pairings – Wines of Wildwood owner karl hagnauer suggested uncorking Sonoma-based Shane wine Cellars’ 2011 Ma Fille rosé, made from 100-percent pinot noir grapes.

While winemakers like Robert Sinskey in napa have been following sustainable practices for decades, oenophiles are demanding it like never before. Besides Sinksey’s pinot noirs, Steve Mcintrye of Balaban’s Wine and tapas Bar recommended wines by Orin Swift Cellars, also in napa, for those who seek earth-friendly wines made with little manipulation.

By Ligaya Figueras

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WINE

We waved the french flag for the 2009 growing season, and we’ll do it again for 2010 vintages. Jason Main of the Wine Merchant noted that the clayton store has at least 30 different selections of Louis Jadot to please any Burgundy budget. his tip sheet for rhône valley winery winners: Domaine d’Andezon, Domaine Pierre Usseglio et Fils and Delas Frères.

ViVe la FRaNce

BioDYNamic geTTiNg Big

sangria on tap at sanctuaria

wine on tap at sasha’s on shaw

wine on tap at green bean

Next time you ask this question, be prepared for an answer that’s slightly longer than in years past. Why? Well, bartenders and imbibers alike are constantly looking for ways to make drink service more efficient and sustainable. And these days, that means tapping more than just beer from the keg behind the bar. For instance, you can now find wine on tap at Sasha’s on Shaw, Green Bean in the Central West End and hendricks BBQ in St. Charles, set to open this month. And look for Atomic Cowboy, home Wine kitchen and perennial Artisan Ales to soon be added to that list. prefer a mixed drink? head to Sanctuaria, where there are always at least two ready-made cocktails for the tapping. this past summer, the restaurant and trend-setting cocktail bar in the Grove featured citrusy pre-batched sippers Fine & Dandy – made with Calvados, oJ, lemon juice and simple syrup – and the tequila-grapefruit soda-great paloma, topped with rosé. Sanctuaria has also offered sangria on tap since its inception three years ago, while its sister restaurant, Diablito’s, joined in on the fun when its doors opened on Laclede Avenue last December. Currently at the Midtown cantina, you can order both sangria and margaritas on draft.

– Ligaya Figueras

what’s on Tap?


winE & bEER

Local beer nerds go crazy for hop varietals, chasing them down the way winos do good grapes. fine choices on hop-harvest beers, per itap’s Jon Whitaker: Founders Harvest Ale – full of “juicy citrus, pine, green grass,” – and Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale Ale, which he deemed a good intro to how certain hops can affect a beer, since it “doesn’t beat you over the head with hops.”

evil BeeR

When local craft beer comes pre-packaged, area stores can’t keep it in stock. Such is the case with brews from 4 Hands brewing Co., and Urban Chestnut brewing Co., now out in bottles. expect similar hubbub when Excel bottling Co., the illinois maker of Ski sodas, begins bottling its Brewskee and Shoal creek Wheat beers this fall.

local BeeR geTS BoTTleD Want a brew that’s devilishly good?

cicerone-certified Scott Snyder recommended Evil Twin imperial biscotti break beer. at 11.5-percent aBv, this heavy hitter “fools you into thinking it’s barrel aged.” it hit the local market this spring and was gone in no time; watch for it in bombers and on tap. Snyder’s other wicked pick: exit Six Brewery’s beer formerly known as Evil Pumpkin, which will be available this fall under a new, mysterious name.

BEEr iN hop puRSuiT

A common decanting notion – that opening an ancient red and letting it breathe (just like the genie does in that bottle) will wake the wine – is actually more of a myth. Generally, any bottle of red that’s over 30 years old probably won’t benefit from additional air exposure because of its slow oxidation during aging. Many lovers of great Burgundies never decant, believing that mature pinot noirs will be lessened by oxygen.

But don’t put that decanter back on the shelf just yet. Wines can begin to show sediment even at 10 to 15 years of age. Unfiltered reds may actually have sediment when very young. this is when the choreography of

decanting kicks in. to avoid pouring the bottom-of-the-bottle residue into your decanter, position a light source – traditionally a candle but a flashlight works too – under the bottle’s neck. Watching carefully (better to try this step before your first bottle, not your fifth), pour the wine into the decanter, stopping when the sediment approaches the neck.

prefer Disney’s version of genie to Barbara Eden’s? Decanting will more likely benefit an immature, pubescent wine, allowing air to slightly oxidize and soften its stronger tannins. the younger wine shouldn’t have sediment, so simply let it glug, glug, glug right into the decanter.

– Glenn Bardgett

THE DECAnTinG DiLEMMA

uSe thiSurban chestnut’s home brew malt blends

You like beer. You drink beer. And you’re starting to think there might be something to this whole craft beer thing. The next natural step is to brew your own, but you haven’t the slightest clue where to start. if only you had an expert to guide the way … well,

he won’t come stir your mash or cool your wort, but Urban Chestnut brewmaster Florian Kuplent is lending homebrewers a hand with his new homebrew series. now, suds-loving folk can nab the malt blends – complete with yeast and hop recommendations – behind the brewery’s two flagship beers: Zwickel

bavarian-Style Lager and winged nut Chestnut Ale. Happy brewing!

$10 for 5-lb. package, brews approximately 2½ gallons. Urban Chestnut

Brewing Co., 3229 Washington Ave., St. Louis, 314.222.0143, urbanchestnut.com

Want to see if your home-brewed Zwickel tastes anything like Urban Chestnut’s? Enter to

win Urban Chestnut’s homebrew malt blends at SauceMagazine.com/extrasauce.php.


bEER

Gone are the days of walking into a liquor store and snatching the sole label of bitters and liter of tonic from the shelf. “We carry six different brands, each

with five different flavors,” said randall’s GM tony McLaughlin of the store’s stock of bitters, including the bittermens line. also on the shelves sit Q Drinks, which now include tonic, club, ginger and kola. and those mixing with ginger beer can now grab for barritt’s, Gosling’s or Schlafly’s own Lewis Osterweis.

Bartenders and liquor store pros are taking the bourbon craze a step further, handpicking their own bourbon barrels. Months later, a couple hundred bottles of booze – sporting an “exclusively for” label – arrive at the doorstep, along with the barrel. Who can claim such bragging rights? Sanctuaria, bin no. 51 wine & Spirits, The wine and Cheese Place, and Lukas Liquor.

haNDpickeD BaRRelS especially hot among area small-batch distilleries is vodka, such as cardinal Sin by newbie St. Louis Distillery, Mastermind out of pontoon Beach, ill., a grape-based vodka by Crown Valley, Square One’s new Midwest Wheat vodka and Pinckney bend’s american vodka – sporting a grain bill of wheat, malted barley and rye. pinckney is also aging a whiskey, while Mastermind has moonshine in the works.

loca-liquoRS

BouTique mixeRS

SpIrItS

the best parties are thrown together at the last minute – just a few friends, some great tunes, lots of passed plates and plenty of ice-cold beer. about that beer … if amid all the frantic texting and sweeping of the kitchen floor, you didn’t have time to stick any brewskis in the fridge, don’t worry. you can have that six-pack nice and chilled before the first thirsty party-goer knocks on the door. Just place the bottles in a large bucket or bowl, add 3 pounds of ice and enough water to cover. Stir in 1 cup of coarse salt, such as sea or kosher, and jiggle the bottles a little for the next few minutes. in five quick minutes, you’ll have frosty brews ready for sipping – just give them a quick rinse under cold water to get the saltiness off the bottle. as for the menu, well, you’re on your own with that one.

now trending among herbal and spice liqueurs are three certified organic products by Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction:

Snap (the taste of ginger snaps), root (root beer from yesteryear) and rhubarb-flavored rhuby. Looking for a new aperitif? enjoy the bitter notes of the repopularized italian amaro Rabarbaro Zucca, or try byrrh Grand Quinquina, a french wine that marries quinquina bark with spices and botanicals.

heRBaliciouS SippiNg

DRiNkeR’S Tip

chill your beer fastBreWed for you

Collaboration has become ingrained in the culture of our city’s craft beer scene over the last few years. Now, our micro-breweries are reaching even further, crossing over the tanks and tasting rooms of their fellow breweries to tap into the kitchens of some of the city’s most popular restaurants and coffee bars. here’s just a glimpse of what happens when local brewers, chefs and baristas put their heads together.

By Matt Berkley and Julie Cohen

PEREnniAL ARTiSAn ALES

FOUnDATiOnGerard Craft (niche restaurants), Kevin

willmann (Farmhaus), Kevin nashan (Sidney Street

Cafe), Josh Galliano and Salt restaurant

SCHLAFLY

URbAn CHESTnUT bREwinG

CO.

FERGUSOn bREwinG

CO.

2nD SHiFT bREwinG

CO.

4 HAnDS bREwinG CO.

bLUEbERRY HEFEwEiZEnblueberry Hill

Available at Blueberry Hill starting on

September 7th for limited time

MCGURK’S iRiSH ALE

McGurk’s Public House

Available at McGurk’s Public House in

Soulard

SCHLAFLY COFFEE STOUT

Kaldi’s CoffeeAvailable Nov. to March at Schlafly

brewpubs and anywhere beer is sold

bARREL-AGED bOnA FiDE

iMPERiAL STOUTGoshen Coffee Co.Coming soon to The

Wine & Cheese Place in Clayton

SERTAOZinHO wEiSS COFFEE

wHEATKaldi’s Coffee

Available at UCBC’s tasting room, coming

to stores soon

nAME TbD Sump Coffee

coming soon

THE GREEn biRDDavid bailey

Available at Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar,

Baileys’ Range and coming soon to Baileys’

Chocolate Bar and Rooster

bAiLEYS’ CHOCOLATE ALE

David baileyAvailable at Baileys’

Chocolate Bar, Baileys’ Range and Bridge Tap

House & Wine Bar

bREAKFAST bEERDavid baileyComing soon to

Rooster, Bridge Tap House & Wine Bar,

Baileys’ Chocolate Bar and Baileys’ Range

bREw FOR THE CREwFarmhaus

Coming soon to Farmhaus

Pi COMMOnPi Pizzeria

Available at Pi Pizzeria locations

PiPAPi Pizzeria

Currently available at Pi Pizzeria locations

and at 4 Hands’ Tasting Room

coffee

david bailey

pi

james beard chefs– By Stacy Schultz


up north at aviary in chicago, the creation of a hollow ice sphere means

you can order your old-fashioned on the rocks – or in one. Such molecular gastronomy in the glass can’t be far away from an StL arrival, can it?

SPiRiTS

Since we don’t expect a curbside cocktail concept to be able to, legally, join our food truck scene any time soon, we’ll settle for

an artisan coffee truck like hubBub coffee, bringing artfully roasted beans to sleepy-eyed students, professors and residents in philadelphia’s university city. now that’s a morning commute we’d be happy to take part in.

cuRBSiDe cup oF joe

geTTiNg SluSheD

BaBY gRowleRS

moleculaR mixologY

WhAt WE’rE thIrSty For

if you’re willing to admit that your inner kid still loves Slurpees from 7-eleven, imagine how much you’d thank heaven for an artisan icy alcoholic slushy whirled around in a custom-made machine like the kind getting slurped on both coasts.

Why do we think the 32-ounce half-growlers we encountered at il vicino Brewing co., in albuquerque, n.M. are so smart? Well, now patrons can take home not one, but two fresh-from-the-tap craft beers and finish them both off before they go flat.

Since the formation of St. Louis’ chapter of the united States Bartenders Guild (uSBG) a few years back, cocktail competitions have become a regular occurrence around town. Below, five drinks that garnered attention at bartender battles this year and the talented shakers and stirrers who created them. Wonder why these cocktails wowed the judges? order them and find out.

– Ligaya Figueras

1TOUCH OF GREY 2012 Plymouth Gin New Classic Cocktail Competition: Matt Obermark, Saltplymouth gin, cocchi americano, amontillado sherry, orange bitters, grey salt tincture, lemon twist

2TOKYO DRiFT2012 USBG Campari Best Aperitivo Cocktail Competition: Ted Kilgore, Tastecampari, hibiki 12-year whiskey, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, english cucumbers, tomato

3THE Fix2012 Don Q/USBG St. Louis Mix-Off: TJ Vytlacil, Blood & Sanddon Q añejo rum, raw simple syrup, lemon juice, aged balsamic vinegar,

baked apple bitters, dill apple chip, champagne topper

4ST. AMAnD’S bLiSS 2012 Domaine de Canton Bartender of the Year Central Regional Competition: Matt Seiter, Sanctuariakronan Swedish punsch liqueur, lemon juice, domaine de canton ginger liqueur, passion fruit juice, sparkling wine, lemon verbena, cava topper

5SARROnO SLinG Disaronno 2012 Mixing Star Bartender Competition: Joel Clark, Sanctuariaron zacapa 23 rum, camus vS cognac, lemon juice, passion fruit juice, raspberry syrup, Spanish bitters, fresh raspberries, disaronno floater

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Want to stir up an award-worthy sipper at home? Find the recipes at SauceMagazine.com/recipes.php.

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better with ageby julie cohen

There’s nothing exciting about creaky knees and crow’s feet. But pour some booze in a barrel, and aging gracefully becomes a work of art

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o be clear, aging cocktails in spent whiskey barrels isn’t a spanking new idea. But this year, the trend exploded, appearing on (and off) menus at nearly every craft cocktail bar within a 100-mile radius. Now, with several barrel-aged experiments under their belts, local bartenders are honing their crafts, learning their preferences and delving into exciting new territories. Their results? Well, pardon the pun, but they’re only getting better with age.

In 2004, London-based mixologist Tony Conigliaro was gifted a bottle of Dubonnet from the 1920s. A bit nervous to try the contents of the near century-old bottle straight, he stirred it into a Manhattan. He was so impressed with how the French aperitif smoothed the cocktail’s flavor that he began experimenting, pouring his Manhattans into glass bottles and setting them in a cool, dry place to marry and meld. Five years later, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, an inquisitive bartender from Portland, Ore., tried one of Conigliaro’s aged Manhattans and wondered what would happen if he aged a cocktail like distillers do whiskey – in oak barrels. Morgenthaler blogged about his new project, alerting mixologists around the globe, including a talented bartender at Taste in St. Louis named Ted Kilgore. In August 2010, Kilgore began aging his own cocktails, filling used whiskey barrels with two original creations.

The process is simple: A variety of liquors and liqueurs are funneled into an oak barrel and left to age. What makes the cocktail special, however, are the variables: how much flavor the cocktail picks up from the wood and whatever was aged in the barrel previously (usually notes of vanilla and caramel and spices); how much oxidation occurs (which lends nuttiness); and the amount of extraction that takes place (which can mellow the cocktail significantly).

For his first two experiments, Kilgore filled one barrel with Negroni Fresca, a spin on a classic Negroni, and the other with Holy Mole – a mix of amaro, Green Chartreuse, Wild Turkey rye whiskey and chocolate mole bitters. The Holy Mole, which became sweeter with time thanks to the malt and touches of wood in the barrel, was a hit with Taste customers, but Kilgore realized that he was far more interested in aging gin than whiskey. “Gin is really cool to age, because it has the ability to take on other flavors,” he explained. “With dark liquors, there is a more subtle difference. It’s not as exciting to add wood to something that is already woody.”

Matt Seiter, bar manager at Sanctuaria, is also less interested in aging dark cocktails these days. “Why put an aged whiskey that the experts have already deemed ready to drink back in a barrel?” asked Seiter, referring to such elegantly aged whiskies as a 12-year Elijah Craig bourbon. Instead, when aging cocktails at Sanctuaria, Seiter uses only un-aged liquors like tequila, vodka and white whiskey. For the last year, he has been keeping books on his signature barrel-aged cocktail Passato Amante – a combination of Boyd and Blair Vodka, The Big O ginger liqueur and Amaro Montenegro that sits in oak for about nine-and-a-half weeks. After four rounds of aging, Seiter has this one down to a science: Once he dumps the cocktail and filters out the wood bits from the barrel, he bottles it, finishes it with lemon juice and serves it in a glass laced with maraschino liqueur. As I tasted the cocktail in the barrel at four-and-a-half weeks, and then again at nine, it was easy to see – er, taste – the value of time. The drink’s acidity had been softened; the flavor palate, even more complex.

Some area enthusiasts are pushing the barrel beyond cocktails, seeing how other alcohol-based liquids fare after spending some time in the cask. Like Matt Obermark, who began aging seasonal bitters this year after

tasting Fee Brothers’ whiskey barrel-aged bitters. He loved the bitters but hated the price tag and wondered if he could create a similar product by letting his own house-made bitters sit in the wood. Come September, his bitter made of Buffalo Trace White Dog, orris root, gentian, citrus peel, cinnamon and other spices – aged for 10 weeks in a spent whiskey cask – will be placed behind the bar at Salt, ready to be stirred into fall and wintertime cocktails.

But the buck – or the barrel, rather – isn’t stopping with the city’s mixologists. As with cocktails, letting beer sit in a barrel isn’t a new idea. In fact, it’s been happening in some countries since beer was first born, though the renaissance didn’t occur in America until around 1992. In the last couple of years, it’s caught on around the country, and in this suds-loving city, it’s quickly becoming a testament to the ingenuity of St. Louis’ craft brewers.

Letting a beer age in a whiskey barrel for as little as a month or as long as several years may sound like it would produce a familiar flavor combination, but the result is nothing like chasing that shot of whiskey with a cold beer. For starters, the barrels brewers are using weren’t all used to age whiskey in their past lives; some aged wine. This can drastically affect the flavor of the beers. Brews aged in spent bourbon barrels, like the Liquid Spiritual Delight (LSD) from 2nd Shift Brewing Co., will typically pick up hints of vanilla, char and, of course, whiskey; while beer poured into casks that formerly held wine (both red and white) – like the kind brewer Cory King is experimenting with at Perennial Artisan Ales for his yet-to-be-named 100-percent Brettanomyces brown ale – will take on more of an oak flavor. According to King, there is one rule of thumb, though: Unless making a sour beer, you want to age beers with high alcohol (ABV) levels; that way, the end product isn’t overwhelmed

by the flavors it takes on from the barrel. He recommends using beer that has at least a 9-percent ABV.

With nearly 25 craft breweries now spanning St. Louis’ reach, more than half have poured a beer straight from the tank into the barrel. This September, Square One owner Steve Neukomm is debuting his whiskey-barrel-aged Belgian Grand Cru for the first time. Come November, Perennial will release the long-awaited Barrel-Aged Abraxas, a Mexican chocolate stout that’s been sitting tight inside a Rittenhouse Rye barrel for an entire year.

Taking things a step further is Paul Hayden, owner of The Wine and Cheese Place, who has teamed up with a handful of local breweries to create unique barrel-aged beers. For his latest project, he’s joining forces with 4 Hands Brewing Co., to age maple syrup inside of a whiskey barrel. The duo will then let that seasoned barrel lend its sweet and spicy notes of syrup and whiskey to create an aged beer similar to Founder’s Brewing Co.’s Canadian Breakfast Stout – a beer that sold so fast on The Wine and Cheese Place’s website, the site crashed.

These days, it seems like just about everyone in the local elixir scene is pouring something into a barrel and waiting patiently to taste the fruits of their labor. So, does that mean barrel-aging is the next foam, spreading across bars like wildfire and then disappearing from the glass as quickly as it came? Don’t count on it. For one thing, the amount of time and patience at the very epicenter of the process deems it anything but fleeting. (Some local barrel-aged beers won’t be ready for tasting until at least 2014.) More importantly, the people behind the barrels are only improving their skills, assuring us that the best drinks are ahead of us. “For us, it’s not a fad or a trend,” said Seiter, “It’s a method and a tool to better our drink selection.” And if that means better drinks, let the aging process go on and on.


WHO’S DOING THE AGINGAged CocktailsBC’s Kitchen | Blood and Sand | Eclipse | J. Gilbert’s Wood-Fired Steaks & Seafood | Lola | Pastaria by Niche | Salt | Sanctuaria | Square One Brewery and Distillery | Taste by Niche

Aged Beer2nd Shift Brewing Co. | 4 Hands Brewing Co. | Charleville Brewing Co. | Exit 6 Brewery | Kirkwood Station Brewing Co. | O’Fallon Brewery | Perennial Artisan Ales | Sanctuaria | Schlafly | Six Row Brewing Co. | Square One Brewery and Distillery | Urban Chestnut Brewing Co.

The best thing about aging: Anyone can do it. Here are a few ways to get started aging your favorite tipple at home. Buy A BArrel. Steve Neukomm, owner of Square One Brewery and Distillery, provides many area bars and restaurants with spent whiskey barrels for their barrel-aging programs. The best part: He’ll sell you one, too. $50/3-gallon barrel. Square One Brewery and Distillery, 1727 Park Ave., St. Louis, 314.231.2537, squareonebrewery.com

PreP THe BArrel. Know that bathtub you never use? Put the barrel in there, fill the tub and the barrel with water and leave it to sit for at least an hour. Some water will leak out, but then the barrel will swell and shouldn’t leak again.

Fill THe BArrel wiTH THe liquid oF your cHoice. Using a cocktail or beer you drink often will help you discern how the aging is affecting the drink, but any beer or mixture of spirits will do. Just stay away from anything containing fat or fruit juice, as these can cause your cocktail to spoil and even grow bacteria.

leT THe BArrel siT in A cool, dry, dArk PlAce For ABouT A monTH. Every week or so, try a little straw-full to see how it’s doing. When it’s aged to your liking, you can tap it straight from the barrel or pour it into bottles.

Looking for something even easier? Take a cue from Sanctuaria’s Matt Seiter and try aging beer right in the bottle. Seiter recommended using dark beers with ABV levels between 8 and 17 percent. Store the bottles upright in the driest, darkest and coolest part of your basement for as long as you can resist. In time, the alcohol that typically slaps you in the face when drinking such high-ABV beers will be tamed. “The alcohol is still there, now just other flavors are maturing when you pop it open,” Seiter explained. “The ale is more mellow and has more complexity of flavors.”

Rather leave it to the pros? Try lola’s barrel program. Just call at least four weeks in advance and collaborate with mixologist Matt McMullen on what cocktail you’d like to age in your very own 1-liter barrel. Once it’s ready, drink it at Lola and, if there’s any leftover, bring it home to tap with friends. Not a planner? Fill a 1-liter barrel the night you come in from one of Lola’s aged cocktails on tap, though you’ll have to give the barrel back once it’s empty. $250 to $300. Lola, 500 N. 14th St., St. Louis, 314.621.7277, welovelola.com

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Whiskey-barrel-aged bitters at Salt

Passato Amante at Sanctuaria

Whiskey-barrel-aged belgian Grand cru at Square one brewery and Distillery

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The people, politics and products creating a whole new generation of gin drinkers

by ligaya figueras | photos by carmen troesser

The Gin neTwork

A classic Negroni made at Blood and Sand by Adam

Frager, co-owner, and Jayne Pellegrino, bartender


When I reached the legal drinking age in 1993, it was just me and your smart

grandpa drinking gin, what with vodka having overtaken gin among clear spirits way back in ‘67. But seeing that the original spirit of the cocktail is in the midst of a heyday, if there was ever a time to turn a non-gin drinker into a gin disciple, it’s right now.

Not so long ago, choices for top-tier gin at area bars were limited to Beefeater and Tanqueray. These days, however, you can walk into a bar like Taste and have your pick of 20 premium gins, ranging from the oldest expression, genever, to new American varieties to navy-strength bottlings. Even minimally stocked bars are revealing discriminating gin selections. The newly opened Livery Company, for example, showcases small-batch American gins like Death’s Door, North Shore’s Gin No. 6 and, my favorite, Small’s. So, what has led to the growth of the gin market and styles that are becoming ever more difficult to categorize? Legislation and bartenders.

London Dry is the style that most people think of first when talking gin. It’s the crisp, clean, dry, juniper-forward gin that you recognize in the likes of Beefeater, Gordon’s and Tanqueray. But in 2008, the European Union narrowed the definition of what constituted London Dry. As Gaz Regan explained in The Bartender’s Gin Compendium, for a distillery to use the phrase “London Dry,” all of the botanicals had to be distilled in the gin at the same time (as opposed to distilling them separately and then combining the different distillates), a

tricky task to perfect, since different botanicals release their flavors best at different temperatures. These new regulations led some distillers to stick with their method but remove the word “London” from their labels. Others distillers took a different approach, experimenting with their process to create unconventional, yet fabulous 21st century gins that don’t rely so heavily on juniper. Whether dubbed Western Dry gin or American Dry gin, citrus notes and floral botanicals are ratcheted up as distillers large and small seek just the right balance and complexity, erstwhile offering their own unique expressions of the spirit.

“In craft distilling there are so many unique flavors,” said Steve Neukomm, owner and distiller of St. Louis-based Square One Brewery and Distillery. “This industry is growing in leaps and bounds and there are interesting flavors to discover.” Like those in Neukomm’s own Regatta Bay Gin, a citrusy gin distilled with nine botanicals, including hops. Or those in Pinckney Bend, another local gin that hit the market last year. Distilled in New Haven, Mo., Pinckney Bend is a citrus-heavy, juniper-light gin made using certified organic juniper, coriander, sweet and bitter orange peel, lemon peel, angelica, orris, cloves, and licorice. Each botanical is distilled separately, with some macerated and others suspended in the vapor stream during distillation.

Innovative distillers are one reason why gin is back in style. Bartenders are the other. In replicating lost and forgotten classic cocktails, the guys behind the stick have been crucial in resurrecting the elixirs of yore, including an older style of gin called Old Tom. This sweeter, richer, rounded gin is integral

for myriad vintage drinks, including a Martinez – the precursor to the martini. As a result, Ransom Old Tom Gin quickly became a staple in craft cocktail bars across the country when it hit the market in 2009.

Also riding a wave are navy-strength gins, which clock in at 57-percent alcohol by volume in comparison to the 40- to 45- percent typical of a London Dry. The British Royal Navy required Plymouth Gin Distillery to make the high-strength spirit so the ship’s gunpowder would ignite even if soaked with liquor. Today’s bartenders simply want to mix with it, and now they can, with Royal Dock Gin having recently arrived on our banks of the Mississippi, and Plymouth Navy Strength Gin finally washing ashore later this year.

Barrel-aged gins are yet another sub-category on the rise. Barrel-aged varieties (some suitable for sipping, others mixing) may rest for a short time in casks, while others spend years in the wood. And depending on what the gin sleeps in – whether spent Scotch casks for Hayman’s 1850 Reserve or ex-cognac casks for Citadelle Reserve – the color varies as much as the flavor. Bartenders like Ted Kilgore of Taste find these types of near-hybrid spirits to be a bridge for introducing devout whiskey drinkers to gin.

The 21st century has brought a gin for every palate: from barrel-aged gins for brown spirit-admirers to light, flowery gins that will convert flavored vodka infatuates. And we gin drinkers? Don’t worry about us. We’ll stay entertained making boutique G&Ts and prodding mixologists for gin drinks of yesteryear – with a modern concoction thrown in for good measure.


Gin starts out as vodka, a neutral, flavorless spirit. What makes gin gin – and what separates one gin from another – is the distillation of botanicals that give it flavor and aroma. Gin is derived from the Dutch word genever, meaning “juniper.” The resinous berry that smells like a pine tree is the main botanical used in gin, but recipes can call for a handful of other herbs and spices, from the usual suspects – caraway, cardamom, cinnamon, citrus peels, coriander, ginger and fennel – to the lesser known angelica root, cassia bark, even orris root.

A Tiny, piney primer

5 ways with a gin and tonicGin, tonic water and a squeeze of lime. It doesn’t get much simpler than a gin and tonic. But thanks to the explosion of the gin market, it’s more fun than ever to tinker with this classic highball. Looking to highlight the flavor profile of five distinctly different gins, we sought to match each one with the perfect boutique mixer, topping it with a fresh citrusy slice or aromatic garnish. Below, the results of our 21st century G&T lab. To make any of these cocktails, build the drink in an ice-filled highball glass, then add the garnish.

Garnish: 2 turns freshly Ground black pepper

3 oz. fever-tree premium indian tonic Water

2 oz. st. GeorGe dry rye Gin

2 oz. ransom old tom Gin

oz. John’s premium tonic syrup

1/2

3 oz. seltzer Water

Garnish: oranGe WedGe

2 oz. hendrick’s Gin

3 oz. Q tonic

Garnish: lime WedGe

3 oz. fentiman’s tonic Water

2 oz. tru orGanic Gin

Garnish: fresh lavender floWer

2 oz. White rock tonic Water

2 oz. the bitter truth sloeberry blue Gin

Garnish: oranGe WedGe

old spice docTor’s orders

The promised Land

Gin Blossom

suGar plum Fairy


A dry gin martini was the icon of sophistication for well nigh a century. But gin, the original mixing spirit, has long been shaken or stirred into a vast spectrum of classic cocktails, from a Collins to a sling to a Negroni. “If I was limited to just one base liquor I should unhesitatingly choose gin,” David Embury wrote in his mid-20th century cocktail guide The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. Think you’ve tasted all gin can do once you’ve sipped a French 75 or a Ramos Gin Fizz? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Find a new appreciation for the versatility of gin in any of these six arcane concoctions culled from the gin archives. Don’t see them on the menu at your neighborhood watering hole? Don’t worry; any bartender worth his or her bitters should be able to whip one up for you.

1. SINGApOrE SlINGTinted red from cherry brandy, this fruity gin cocktail is said to have been created in the early 20th century at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore for delicate femmes who hadn’t the stomach for whiskey or rum drinks.

2. DuBONNET If this simple combination of gin and Dubonnet – a French apertif – was good enough to rank among the late Queen Mother’s favorite tipples, it should be good enough for you.

3. MArTINEzThis drink, made like a Manhattan but with gin, is the precursor to the king of gin cocktails: a dry gin martini.

4. ClOvEr CluBThis pre-Prohibition cocktail was named for a men’s club that met in the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. It calls for raspberry syrup, grenadine or Chambord, whatever the barkeep has on hand, while an egg white provides the airy head.

5. pEGu CluBWhat to do when you’re a British officer serving Her Majesty the Queen in far-flung Rangoon, Burma? Stroll over to The Pegu Club and order the signature drink, good man. Gin, orange curaçao, lime juice, bitters … bloody marvelous.

6. AvIATIONThe original flight path for an Aviation: gin, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette and lemon juice shaken over ice, strained and served in a chilled cocktail glass. Not to be confused with the Aviator.

meant to be mixed1

3

5

2

4

6

Cocktails made by Adam Frager and

Jayne Pellegrino of Blood and Sand


1. BrOkEr’S GIN Priced at about $15, Broker’s is proof that premium London Dry gin doesn’t have to cost you a pretty penny. This value gin will do just fine for your next martini.

2. rEHOrST prEMIuM MIlWAukEE GIN New to The Lou this August is Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Gin by Great Lakes Distillery in Wisconsin. Sweet basil and Wisconsin ginseng are among the nine botanicals in this small-batch gin that straddles the line between Dutch genevere and London Dry.

3. CITADEllE GIN rESErvEFrench spirits company Cognac Ferrand has made gin aficionados grin since it began releasing aged gin in 2008. The 2012 vintage, aged for six months in spent cognac casks, holds three new botanicals – yuzu, génépi flower and bleuet flower petals – in addition to the 19 botanicals already used to make Citadelle. This is one of the toughest gins to find. If you’re lucky enough to track down a bottle, go to the racetrack.

4. rANSOM SMAll’S GIN By the same Oregon maker as Old Tom, this small-batch, pot still gin is one of our favorites. Formulated using a combination of 19th century recipes, this robust, highly aromatic American Dry gin is heavy on cardamom yet mindful of the spirit’s juniper roots. The orange, lemon and touch of raspberry linger like a nice, long kiss.

5. NOrTH SHOrE DISTIllEr’S GIN NO. 6Über-smooth and balanced with complex layers of zesty citrus, warm spice and serious lavender, North Shore posits this modern gin as one to appeal to the unconverted. Offering a creamy mouth feel and slightly sweet finish, this artisan gin could be a sell for vodka-lovers.

6. ST. GEOrGE TErrOIr GIN Of California-based St. George Spirits’ trio of gins, Terroir was created as an “ode” to the coastal forests of the Golden State. Although bright and citrusy, aromatics like Douglas fir, California laurel and sage offer an earthy, woodsy quality, proving that terroir isn’t just about wine anymore.

7. uNClE vAl’S BOTANICAl GINIt’s a garden in a glass with a combination of juniper, cucumber, lemon, sage and lavender. Brand new from 35 Maple Street, this gin was named after the company president’s fave uncle, who liked to grow and cook with those same ingredients. Don’t have a favorite uncle? Uncle Val will adopt you.

SplurGE

8. NOlET’S rESErvE Dry GINIf you have the dough to splurge on gin, blow it all on this elegant sipping gin by Nolet, the oldest distillery in Holland. Saffron is the star of this limited edition gin, endowing the spirit with a golden hue and a warm, spicy flavor that marries with the subtle citrus notes of verbena. Special order this $700 bottle from The Wine and Cheese Place or Randall’s Wine & Spirits.

bottle it Up Crisp London Dry. Juniper-light New Western. Sweet Old Tom. There’s a style of gin to suit every palate. Need a little help stocking the liquor cabinet with the lady gin that suits your fancy? Try these bottles. Most won’t set you back more than $30.

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Guide to Drinking 2012

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