Sauced

Booze News Roundup: Infusions Okay in California, a Ginger Beer Take Over at the Buck

Poppy’s popular tender moves on, Utah says no more chubbies….

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 22, 2011 at 11:49AM 0 Comments

Rachel’s Ginger Beer owner Rachel Marshall will make her spicy brew in the space behind the Buck, currently being converted into a dive bar called Montana.

Photo: Rachel’s Ginger Beer via Facebook

Lots of booze-related news both national and local. Let’s get to it.

NATIONAL
We begin in California where, about two years ago, the ABC started enforcing the state’s ban on spirits infusions as more and more of these started showing up in cocktail bars. Now, however, tenders are free to infuse away, SFist reports.

Meanwhile, Utah moves in the opposite direction, tightening its already-tough alcohol rules. USA Today reports a one-year freeze on hard-liquor licenses for Utah restaurants, and a ban on the mini kegs known as chubbies (full-size kegs were already verboten). Side note: I am now totally obsessed with the term “Zion curtain.”

LOCAL
On Slog, Seattle Nightlife and Music Association president and Red Door owner Peter Hanning makes the case for liquor privatization initiative 1183. Earlier this week Publicola reported that funds raised for and against the initiative, which will be on the ballot this November, already add up to $11.1 million.

In August, Eater Seattle’s Allecia Vermillion, noting that the Triple Door was the latest in a slew of Seattle restaurants to introduce a custom-beer collaboration, asked if a trend was not afoot. Glenn Drosendahl at the Puget Sound Business Journal took that idea and ran with it this week.

Also, big bar news for Capitol Hill: CHS blog got the scoop on Montana, the new bar that will replace the Buck on Olive Way. A partner in the project is Rachel Marshall of Rachel’s Ginger Beer, a soda that has sent a number of local food writers into a fizzy ginger-induced tizzy.

Meanwhile, Poppy’s beloved cocktail mixer Veronika Groth told Sauced that she is moving on to Chino’s, a new bar/casual eats destination taking over the space that once housed Oasis Cafe.

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Tags: Bar Openings, Liquor Laws, Booze in the News

Esquire’s Best Bars 2011: One Seattle Bar Makes the List

Can you guess which one? Hint: It’s not Zig Zag.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on May 26, 2011 at 10:32AM 1 Comments

Cocktails at Zig Zag.

Esquire’s 2011 Best Bars package is out, and only one Seattle bar made it.

That bar is Sambar.

The other Washington bar included: the Geoduck Tavern in Brinnon, which the magazine describes as a “rustic paradise.”

In what has become something of a theme in the culinary contests this year, Portland trounced us. Three of its bars were listed: The Horse Brass Pub, Clyde Common, and Beaker and Flask.

The intro to the piece explains that Esquire focused on new bars:

Over the last five years, we have celebrated bars all over the country. Mostly well-established places. A hall of fame, really. This year, we’re doing it differently. New places. Most less than two years old. Which is trickier than it might sound. So many bars come and go. Or are uninteresting. Or are “mixology” places that don’t know what they’re doing exactly. The places on this list, we vouch for. And we think they’ll stick around.

I love that the editors went new, because now that so many other national pubs have followed in Esquire’s footsteps and put out bar lists, the same-old-same-old factor is in full effect. We don’t need another list of America’s top bars that includes zero surprises.

On the other hand, Sambar is not new. Nor are many of the bars on the list. It is chockful of usual suspects—PDT, Pegu Club, Bourbon & Branch, etc and so on. But the thing is, it has to be. This is supposed to be a list of the best bars in America, and these bars give weight and credibility to the list so that the Geoduck Taverns of this world might also get a mention.

Seattlest published a list of local bars that should be in Esquire’s feature. I like the hometown pride, and I also like the idea. But I find myself disinclined to agree—and not just with the bar picks. These lists aren’t scientific, but they aren’t random either. The way that bars position themselves for inclusion is by drawing significant buzz to motivate the publication (or, sometimes, a local stringer for the pub) to visit them and then by wowing the visitor by way of drinks, service, and ambiance. They have to make it happen for themselves.

You know, like Zig Zag does, we Seattleites always say. Which makes it all the more interesting that Zig Zag isn’t on this list.

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Tags: Cocktails, Booze in the News, Esquire

Canlis Bartender Takes Wine Enthusiast “Beyond Classic Cocktails”

Shine for James MacWilliams and a couple of new cocktail recipes.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Apr 05, 2011 at 05:00AM 0 Comments

James MacWilliams’ Prosperina margarita: tequila, St Germain, lime juice, and simple syrup.

Photo: Brian Canlis

Wine Enthusiast isn’t telling us a lot we don’t know when they talk about the winning ways of Canlis bartender James MacWilliams.

After all, two of his cocktails recently featured in the magazine have already been written about on this very blog—look here and here.

But it’s still cool to see him get such prominent recognition in the national press. MacWilliams was included in the March 2011 issue of the magazine, you can read the full article, titled “Beyond Classic Cocktails,” here.

Recipes we haven’t seen before include a Medoc Cocktail and something called the McCracken Pike Manhattan.

Was the latter drink named for Brian McCracken, half of the chef team at Spur and Tavern Law? Doesn’t say. You’ll have to ask MacWilliams next time you’re at Canlis.

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Tags: Seattle Bartenders, Booze in the News

Get Ready To Get Boozy At The Farmers Market

A bill before the state legislature would let shoppers sample beer and wine.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jan 10, 2011 at 09:55AM 0 Comments

Wine and beer: Coming soon to a farmers market near you?

The state legislature is considering a bill that could lead to the legalization of wine and beer tastings at farmers markets, according to The Seattle Times.

The bill, sponsored by state Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, proposes a pilot project to test tastings at 10 markets. From the article:

“The bill would direct the state Liquor Control Board to choose 10 farmers markets for the pilot project, which would run from July 2011 to September 2012. Only one winery or microbrewery could offer samples at a market per day, customers would have to stay in a designated tasting location, and food would be available to customers as they drink their samples of two ounces or less.”

Spokespeople from the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, Washington State Farmers Market Association, and Rockridge Farms have all appeared before the legislature to support the bill, while representatives from the Washington Association for Substance Abuse Prevention have come out against it.

Thanks to a similar project in 2008, Washington state grocery stores can now apply for a permit to host instore wine and beer tastings.

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Tags: Beer, Booze News, Wine Tastings, Farmers Markets, Booze in the News

Want To Live Past 100?

Drink a pint of whiskey a day.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jan 07, 2011 at 12:09PM 0 Comments

Whiskey: The secret to a long healthy life.

Seattleite Barney Chichester died on Monday at the age of 104. One hundred and four!

How did he live so long?

The Seattle PI’s Big Blog reports: “When asked his secret to long life, he often joked it was an apple a day, plus a ‘pint of whiskey,’ said his son.”

He also wrote this poem a few years back.

I’m 99 and life’s routine.
I’m on a plan which keeps me lean.
At breakfast bran and then at noon
I’m allowed a wrinkled prune.

I don’t really have anything to add except that this man is my hero and may he rest in peace. Read the full story here.

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Tags: Whiskey, Booze in the News