Charbay's Cure For The June Gloom

Last week Mrs. Thirsty Lawyer and I went to Hospitality Uncorked where Caroline Beteta, the CEO of our client Visit California, was being honored for her commitment to California's hospitality industry.  It was a great event with food stations from well known Southern California restaurants and wine from some of California's finest wineries.  Also present was Northern California based wine and spirits maker, Charbay.

Charbay is an extremely unique, small family owned winery and distillery located in Napa Valley.  I was fortunate enough to visit their winery last time I was in Napa.  Although you can't taste any of their spirits at the winery, I did get to enjoy some of their excellent wine.

Thankfully, Charbay was featuring two great cocktails at the Hospitality Uncorked; the June Gloom and the California Citrus.  I enjoyed the June Gloom, which is anything but gloomy.  Bright flavors of Tahitian Vanilla infused rum, ginger beer and fresh squeezed lemon juice would brighten up any day.

June Gloom

1.5 oz Tahitian Vanilla Rum
,5 oz Lemon Juice
Splash of ginger beer
Served on the rocks in a low ball cocktail glass

Redbreast Cocktail

One need not limit the consumption of Irish whiskey to St. Patrick's day, The Redbreast cocktail can be enjoyed any day of the year.

The Redbreast Cocktail

2 oz. Redbreast Irish whiskey
.75 oz. Lillet
.25 oz. Triple sec
Dash of blood orange bitters

Some of the Irish

Nothing better after cheering on the LA Marathoners than a cup of the Irish. Happy St. Patrick's day.

New Cocktail Featuring Popcorn Sutton Tennessee White Whiskey

I finally managed to obtain two bottles of Popcorn Sutton Tennessee White Whiskey.   You would think the fact that they are a client of mine I would have been able to put my hands on a few bottles a bit earlier.  Better late than never.  Popcorn Sutton isn't yet available in California, but for those of you who find yourself in Nashville, it is offered at the better saloons in town.

This past Friday I put Popcorn to work and experimented with a few different cocktail recipes. Popcorn Sutton works extremely well in cocktails: the taste is well balanced between sweet and spicy, and it has a nice floral bouquet. It has some of raw, astringent qualities you would expect from an un-aged whiskey, but overall its extremely drinkable.

My first cocktail was a slight deviation on the classic Boulevardier. (I can't understand why the Boulevardier hasn't experienced the same exuberant resurgence as its progeny, the Manhattan and the Negroni.) I took a bit of a liberty in adding a dash of both orange and Angostura bitters.  The result was one excellent drink!

2 oz Popcorn Sutton Tennessee White Whiskey
1 oz Campari
1 oz 1 ounce sweet vermouth (I prefer Carpano Antica)
dash Angostura Bitters
dash Orange Bitters.

Shake and serve up with a Meyer lemon twist.