The bar with no name at 69 Colebrooke Row and Drink Factory are very pleased to offer the unique opportunity of a Stage position within the bar and the lab.
The positions will be open to both bartenders and students of Cocktail and Food Science, and will offer periods of time to work alongside Tony C and the award winning team of 69 Colebrooke Row aiding and shadowing the research and development- giving an exclusive insight into this unique setting.
Apprentices will not only be trained on the happenings and equipment within the lab, they will also get the opportunity to see these realized within the bar environment.
This will provide a rare view of the unique process of concept formation, development and implication of ideas.
The position will provide a rare opportunity to learn from leaders in the field of cocktail science, be involved within pioneering projects, and will help the understudies develop a unique set of skills and gain invaluable experience.
Apprenticeship duration will last one to two weeks.
More details to follow shortly
02 December 2010
Drink Factory Interview - Dale DeGroff
Dale is rightly accredited with rejuvenating the cocktail culture of the present day- encouraging a generation of bartenders to re-evaluate the past and its bounty of great classic drinks. Author of the seminal 'Craft of the Cocktail' and Founder of The Museum of the American Cocktail, he still remains an authority on the world of cocktails and continues to teach of its wares.
1. What is the first cocktail you ever made? Rum and Coke…that was the go-to entry level drink for my generation
2. What are your 3 favourite drinks? With recipes if you have them; old, new and your own. Dry Martini 2 parts Beefeater to one part Noilly and a dash of orange bitters …olive and a twist. Valencia: 3 parts Tanqueray No,10 1 part Emilio Lustau fino sherry flamed orange peel garnish. Dry Sazerac (one sugar cube ) made NIOLA style in two old fashioned glasses BUT with ½ rye and ½ cognac
3. Tell us about a new flavour you have discovered recently. Sweet and dry sherry combined with whislkies or unaged brandy like pisco
4. If you could pass just one thing on to an apprentice bartender, what would it be? Like the work…it is hell if you don’t
5. What does the future hold for yourself, and what do you see happening in the future within the industry? At this point waking up every morning! … the craft bartending profession is back and will only get better … assuming of course the rest of the world doesn’t self destruct …politicians need more cocktail hours with well made drinks good company and some nice salty canapés!
6. What has been your biggest satisfaction from working behind the bar? Spending the evenings in generally pleasant surroundings with my fellow creatures.
7. If you were to have a conversation with a cocktail (and presuming it could talk back to you and tell you its past), which cocktail would it be and why? Gin Martini … gin makes people talk and imagine the conversations
8. What influences your drinks from outside the industry? Small band classic Jazz … the musicians improvise nightly and take chances … but there ain’t much of it around these days
9. If you were to break a bartending golden rule, what would it be? I got into bartending to get away from “golden rules”
10. Outside of flavour and the craft of the cocktail, what in your opinion affects the appreciation of cocktails the most? The surroundings … and that includes yours truly the BT! And that does not mean a million dollar build out or any of those kind of trappings although they can also be part of it…what it means is surroundings of substance whether it be a hole in the wall joint or a fifty foot bar… surroundings of substance are hard to define … but not hard to feel.
11. If you were to champion a (another!) cocktail, which would it be? The simple daiquiri Good rum that tastes like cane sugar and fresh lime juice… when made well it of floral … bright … fresh … limey … and all round ambrosial.
27 November 2010
New Dry Martini Bar, Madrid
Joining Luca Anastasio behind the bar, Tony assisted in making some drinks too for the assembling guests at the new Dry Martini bar in Madrid. Sister to the well known Barcelona site, it is set to make an impact on the Madrid scene.
Belmondo Bar, Madrid
Tony was on a recent visit to Madrid and amongst his travels stopped in at Belmondo Bar - a new bar headed up by the talented Francesco Cavaggioni
25 November 2010
Drink Factory takes delivery of Centrifuge!
Our newest addition to the lab family comes in the form of a giant spaceship- a refrigerated centrifuge. Using a high speed motor to separate compounds according to density, it can clarify and break up mixtures. A much awaited new member!
09 November 2010
05 November 2010
Drink Factory interview- Gaz Regan
The one and only Gary Regan surely needs no introduction (for those who need a further taste of his wit, charm and brilliant idiosyncratic take on the drinks world- and have not already done so- read his books)
1. What is the first cocktail you ever made?
Whisky Mac (scotch and green ginger wine) Prince Rupert pub, Great Lever Council Estate, Bolton, Lancs, circa 1966.
2. What are your 3 favourite drinks? With recipes if you have them; old, new and your own.
Manhattan (gaz regan's Fave)
90 ml (3 oz) Evan Williams Black Label bourbon*
45 ml (1.5 oz) Noilly Prat sweet vermouth**
6 dashes Angostura bitters***
Build over ice in a large Old-Fashioned glass. No garnish.
*Unless someone sends me some other kind of bourbon or straight rye--if it's free, I'll drink it. If I have to buy it, I buy Evan Williams Black Label
** Unless someone sends me some other kind of sweet vermouth-- if it's free, I'll drink it. If I have to buy it, I buy Noilly Prat
***No substitutions. And it's been a long time since they sent me any freebies . . .
East Ender
Recipe by gaz regan.
“When my book, the bartender’s GIN compendium, was about to be released in 2009, I realized that I had to find a gin-based session drink, because I couldn’t go around promoting this book while drinking my usual Manhattans. This is the drink I came up with, and it’s a pretty good quaff, I think. Robert “DrinkBoy” Hess, though, pointed out that it’s not a far cry from a sweet Martini, circa 1900. I created a classic drink, then, just over a century after someone else'd created it!” gaz regan.
90 ml (3 oz) dry gin
30 ml (1 oz) sweet vermouth
5 dashes Angostura bitters
1 flamed (optional) orange twist, as garnish
Build in an ice-filled old-fashioned glass, stir briefly, and add the garnish.
Negroni
The incredible aspect of the Negroni that not everyone understands is that it works every time, no matter what brands of gin or sweet vermouth you use. And you can slap my wrist and call me Deborah if it doesn't also work no matter what ratios you use, too. Seriously. Go up on the gin, go up on the Campari, go up on the vermouth. These three ingredients are soul mates, and they support each other no matter how you try to fool them.
45 ml (1.5 oz) Campari
45 ml (1.5 oz) sweet vermouth
45 ml (1.5 oz) gin
1 orange twist, for garnish
Pour all of the ingredients into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass and sir briefly. Add the garnish.
3. Tell us about a new flavour you have discovered recently.
Chai tea. I’ve been drinking it for years, but only recently have I been using it in cocktails. Very complex — it brings a lot to the party.
A Very Cooperative Cocktail
Recipe by gaz regan.
Created for the Cornwall Community Co-Op, New York, for a benefit featuring John Charles Thomas on trumpet, and Bari Mort at the piano, July, 2010.
30 ml (1 oz) aged rum
30 ml (1 oz) Cherry Heering (or other cherry brandy)
30 ml (1 oz) cold chai tea
15 ml (.5 oz) simple syrup (1:1 ratio)
1 lemon twist, as garnish
Stir over ice and strain into a chilled champagne coupe. Add the garnish.
4. If you could pass just one thing on to an apprentice bartender, what would it be?
You’re job is to serve your guests. Serving cocktails is secondary. (God I’m getting bored of spouting that, but . . . )
5. What does the future hold for yourself, and what do you see happening in the future within the industry?
More and more and more teaching for me, I hope. I’ve been learning from 21st-C bartenders for a decade now, and I think I have something to give back.
The industry will hopefully pause to take a breath, get its priorities in shape, then start pushing the envelope some more.
6. What has been your biggest satisfaction from working behind the bar?
Being in the moment (when you’re in the weeds), It’s the Zen of bartending.
7. If you were to have a conversation with a cocktail (and presuming it could talk back to you and tell you its past), which cocktail would it be and why?
The Manhattan, my fave drink. I’d like to find out exactly where it was born, and who gave birth to it.
8. What influences your drinks from outside the industry?
The tastes of friends who have nothing to do with the booze game. It’s fun to figure out what they’d like to drink, etc.
9. If you were to break a bartending golden rule, what would it be?
Talking politics and religion while behind the stick
Drinking on the job
10. Outside of flavour and the craft of the cocktail, what in your opinion affects the appreciation of cocktails the most?
Gulpability. How easily does that drink glide down the throat?
11. If you were to champion a cocktail, which would it be?
Need I say it?
28 October 2010
Rotavapor Masterclass at the Sipsmith Distillery
Tony and Jared Brown gave a demonstration into the applications and uses of the BUCHI rotovapor at the Sipsmith distillery in Shepherd's Bush. Given in the shadow of the copper still, Tony and Jared discussed the differences and benefits of vacuum distillation- illustrated in a practical demonstration of a distillation run.
21 October 2010
Our new favourite book (review)! Punch - Dave Wondrich
Following on from the canonical Imbibe!, our favourite historian and friend of the bar with no name, Dave Wondrich casts his eye to the matter of the bowl and investigates the long history of punch. Written in his incomparable style to include in-depth research and his trademark wit, it provides a thoroughly enjoyable exploration of this fascinating beverage.
A must read!
Book Review- Cooking for Geeks, Jeff Potter
The book covers aspects for both the professional and home cook. Adapting information from various sources, he gives not only illumination on techniques and the science behind the happenings, it also gives practical solutions for how to adapt the methods. An enjoyable and informative read!
Book Review- Culinary Tea, Cynthi Gold, Lise Stern
The book beautifully documents a series of recipes varying from savoury to sweet- all including different varieties of tea. Describing the attributes of each type of tea and regional differences, the recipes give ideas as to what variables will result. Ranging from more commonplace pairings to more esoteric ones, it covers a wealth of different combinations and methods of incorporating the teas. Interspersed with other aspects of tea rituals, it provides interesting reading into the category of transporting tea into other uses. Although it mis credits the Earl Grey martini which belonged to Audrey Saunders.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)