It’s also true to say that some of the best bartenders in the world are based in the USA. But certainly not ALL of them.

I want next year’s Annual Manual to have more of a global feel to it, and in order to achieve this, I’m asking you to please help out by sending me some details on the people who you think are among the best bartenders in your country.

I’ll need their name, an email address where I can get in touch with them, the name of the bar at which they work, and I also want to know why you think they are the best of the best.

Tell me who you are, too–where you work, etc–please, and let’s see if, together, we can come up with a list of the world’s best bartenders for next year’s Annual Manual.

I’d also love to hear about any new techniques and/or methodology that you’ve been using of late, and I’m especially interested this year in finding out about bartenders who have stepped out from behind the stick, and are now operating viable businesses–not necessarily bars, but they must be bar-related businesses.

Please write to me at gaz@ardentspirits.com

Thanks for any and all help, Guys! Together we can change the world, one guest at a time!

With lotsa love from gaz regan

Double Cross Vodka

Gaz shares his ‘101 Best New Cocktails’ with us, which will ultimately appear in his 2011 Manual for Bartenders.

Adapted from a recipe by Dale DeGroff, New York.

The Double “D”

This autumnal martini-style cocktail brings Double Cross vodka and Dale DeGroff together in its name.

• 60 ml Double Cross vodka
• 7.5 ml Pear Elixir*
• Dash Dale DeGroff’s Pimento bitters
• Miniature bottled pear, as garnish**

Stir over ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Place the pear garnish on a cocktail pick in the bottom of the glass.

*Pear Elixir2 parts Maraska Kruskovac Pear Brandy1 part Mathilde Liqueur Poires1/50 part Westford Hill Distillers (Ashford, Conn.)  pear William eau de vieMix all together.

**Available through Double Cross Vodka for free.

Gaz says:

Dale sent us this recipe at the very last minute, and he swore that by the time this book was actually on the shelves the Double Cross vodka people would have miniature bottled pear garnishes available for free from their web site, and his pimiento bitters would be available, too.  I sure hope he was right

Adapted from a recipe by Chris Hannah, French 75 Bar, New Orleans.

Decolletage

“When I first heard the word decolletage spoken aloud I was dazzled… And then after discovering its meaning I was enchanted. I was determined to create a cocktail worthy of its name—enjoy.” Chris Hannah.

• 45 ml (1.5 oz) El Tesoro reposado tequila
• 30 ml (1 oz) Dubonnet Rouge
• 15 ml (.5 oz) Aperol
• 7.5 ml (.25 oz) Fernet Branca
• 1 orange twist, as garnish

Stir over ice and strain into an ice-filled brandy snifter (or double old-fashioned glass). Break orange twist over the drink, then add as garnish.

Gaz sez: Chris gets extra points for being “determined to create a cocktail worthy of” the nameDecolletage,  He’s a man after my own heart.  His creativity, which has been widely, and deservedly, acknowledged in the cocktail community, is shown off with shiny brass button in this drink.  It’s a Decolletage that teases to the point of the areolae.

The tequila, Dubonnet, and Aperol all make sense in terms of pretty much knowing that they’ll play nice together in he sand box, but then the Fernet comes along and the bar is automatically raised.

Will it commend the glass?  And the answer is no.  It adds layers and layers of complexity, but it also allows all the other ingredients play their part.  Nice one, Chris.

Nice looking bottle, isn't it?

Gaz shares his ‘101 Best New Cocktails’ with us, which will ultimately appear in his 2011 Manual for Bartenders.

Adapted from a recipe by Brendan F. Casey, Café Centro, New York, NY

“I’m always trying to come up with new variations of the Manhattan (Dale DeGroff’s Man O’ War recipe changed my life), and I loves me some tequila! My Lady and I just picked up some maple syrup at the local greenmarket that day, and I wanted to use it in a cocktail, so there you have it. Cheers!” Brendan Casey.

• 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup (fresh local!)
• 60 ml (2 oz) Michter’s straight rye whiskey
• 30 ml (1 oz) Don Julio reposado tequila
• 15 ml (.5 oz) Combier liqueur d’orange
• 15 ml (.5 oz) Punt e Mes
• 2 dashes Fee Brothers Old Fashion bitters
• 2 dashes Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6
• 1 orange zest, as garnish

First, to dissolve the maple syrup, combine it with the rye and tequila, stirring at room temperature. Then combine all ingredients in a mixing glass full of ice. Stir while thinking about Laurel and Hardy. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add the garnish.

gaz sez:

First I should note that Dale’s Man O’ War, made with 45 ml (1.5 oz) Wild Turkey 101, 30 ml (1 oz) orange curaçao, and 15 ml (.5 oz) each of sweet vermouth and fresh lemon juice, shaken with (optional) slices of orange and lemon in the shaker, and garnished with  and orange slice and a cherry, is a fabulous drink, and it shows off Dale’s ability to put a simple drink together wherein the finished product is far, far greater than the sum of its ingredients.

Brendan F. Casey’s Another Fine Mes cocktail, though, is a drink of another color.  I’m not a big fan of maple syrup in cocktails, but in this drink it’s plays with the Punt e Mes beautifully—a combination I’d never have dreamed of.  Then take a look at the base spirits: Michter’s rye and Don Julio tequila?  Great products both, but Casey must be out of his head, I thought, to put both of them in the same shaker.

Wrong again, Gaz.  I have no idea why this combination works so well, but there’s a complexity in this drink that lifts the soul to new heights.

I tried the Another Fine Mes using  Cointreau instead of the Combier, and it still worked well. Substituting Grand Marnier works, too, though it renders a cocktail that’s a little sweeter than the original.  Nice work, Brendan.

Gaz Regan

And will be sharing his ’101 Best New Cocktails’ with us which will ultimately appear in his 2011 Manual for Bartenders.

Adapted from a recipe by Alex Orwin, Group Head Bartender for The Rushmore Group (formally The Match Bar Group), London.

St Clements Stone Sour

“Developed in October 2010 for The Starland Social Club, the newest member’s space in The Rushmore Group. The menu here is hand written weekly giving the Head Bartender the scope to offer drinks that are seasonal and really demonstrate his craft. I think this drink does both.

Clementines are bang in season now and their bright floral flavours are clean and uplifting as the dark evenings draw in. Clove and other dark spice notes in the bitters work effortlessly with the clementine and are evacative of the incoming festive season.

The delicate botanicals in Beefeater 24 bring all these elements together in what is ultimately a drink that is tasty, refreshing and more-ish, as all great drinks should be!” Alex Orwin.

• 40 ml (1.33 oz) Beefeater 24
• 30 ml (1 oz) Fresh clementine juice
• 20 ml (.66 oz) Fresh lemon juice
• 15 ml (.5 oz) Simple syrup (1:1)
• 5 ml (.166 oz) Luxardo maraschino liqueur
• 20 ml (.66 oz) Egg white
• 1 Dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker and shake without ice to integrate the egg white. Then hard shake with ice and strain into a frozen coupette. There is no extra garnish; the foam IS the garnish!

gaz sez:

“Stone Sours usually contain orange juice as well as lemon or lime juice, and the clementine juice used here adds a distinctly lighter note than regular orange juice would normally yield.  This is just one of the reasons that this drink caught my eye.

Alex describes this drink to a T in the introduction, and what I like best about this one is the fact that the Beefeater 24 shines right through the drink.  That, I think, is the true beauty of it.  The botanicals in B 24 are, indeed, delicate, but they are all evident in the St. Clements Stone Sour, and that hint of the delicately perfumed Luxardo maraschino  dances nicely in the back of the throat making this a pretty complex potion, indeed.  Nicely done, Alex.”