Sauced

Daily Beast Ranks America’s Craziest Cities…

based on psychiatrists per capita, stress, eccentricity and drinking levels. Where do you think Seattle fell?

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Mar 12, 2010 at 10:04AM 1 Comments

If you believe The Daily Beast, Cincinnati is America’s craziest city. Seattle? We rank 19th, slightly less crazy than Pittsburgh (and Portland, # 17), but more crazy than Columbus, Ohio. (I should hope so!) We got pretty high marks for drinking, however, a 25 out of a possible 57.

Drinking scores were determined based on “heavy drinking, defined as two drinks a day or more for men, and one drink a day or more for women. With data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2008.”

One drink a day or more for women is “heavy drinking?” That’s crazy!

Photo source

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Tags: Booze News, Seattle in the News

Flipping Out

Are local bartenders at risk for raw-foods citations?

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 10, 2010 at 03:11PM 0 Comments

After health inspectors in New York cracked down on sous-vide methods in highend restaurants, the King County Health Department wasn’t far behind. Which makes me wonder if our bartenders could be in for something rotten surrounding drinks with raw eggs and egg whites.

According to the this article in the New York Times, on January 19 a health inspector cited the Pegu Club (the owner of which—blind item alert!—is rumored to be dating one of Seattle’s well-known cocktail experts) for serving a customer a drink containing raw egg white—a fact which, according to the citation, the bartender never mentioned to the customer.

From the article:

The bar’s menu lists the MarTEAni ingredients as “Earl Grey-infused gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, raw egg white” and states that “we take the greatest care in the storage of our organic eggs. Please note, however, that like sushi, the consumption of raw eggs can be hazardous.”

The inspector reported that the customer who asked for the MarTEAni didn’t order it from the menu and that the bartender didn’t mention raw eggs were in it.

Let’s look at our own regulations. From kingCounty.gov:

If you serve foods that are raw or undercooked, you will need to write on your menu, on table signs, or other means that the Public Health Department has approved, that the particular menu item is raw or undercooked and that the consumption of raw or undercooked potentially hazardous foods may result in foodborne illness.

I can think of a number of bars that serve flips and other raw egg-containing cocktails, and some of them don’t have menus or serve eggy drinks that aren’t listed on the menu. Are they in danger of a health-code crackdown? Also, get it? CRACKdown? Egg puns are funny.

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Tags: Cocktails, Booze News

Incredible Scotch Whiskey Find on the Edge of the Antarctic

Crates of whiskey buried near the South Pole over a century ago have just been unearthed.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 05, 2010 at 10:23AM 1 Comments

Amazing whiskey story on the New York Times Lede blog right now.

From the article:
“…three crates of Scotch whiskey and two crates of brandy left beneath the floorboards of a hut by the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1909, at the end of a failed expedition to the South Pole, have been unearthed by a team from the Antarctic Heritage Trust.”

The scotch, donated to Shackleton’s expedition by McKinlay and Co., was a blend called Rare and Old. Its recipe has since been lost, according to the blog of master blender Richard Patterson. He is a representative of Whyte and Mackay, the company than owns the McKinlay brand. From his blog:

“…whiskies back then – a harder age – were all quite heavy and peaty as that was the style. And depending on the storage conditions it may still have that heaviness. For example, it may taste the same as it did back then if the cork has stayed in the bottle and kept it airtight. But if the whisky is on its side, the cork may have been eroded by the whisky or air may have got in some other way – especially if the corks have been contracting and expanding with the temperature changes over the years and seasons.”

Apparently the crates were first found in 2006, but the expedition was unable to extract them from the ice until this week. If the whiskey is intact, it can be used to recreate the Rare Old recipe, says Patterson.

Pretty wild. If all this puts you in the mood for some scotch on ice, there are some fantastic bottles downtown at the Bookstore Bar and the Whisky Bar.

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Tags: Booze News, Whiskey

America is Drinking More and Drinking Cheap

A WaPo article reveals we’re hitting the bad stuff hard.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Feb 02, 2010 at 04:57PM 5 Comments

The root of all evil.

Are you drinking more and also drinking more crappy booze? Shame on you. Just kidding, it’s totally normal. In fact, everyone’s doing it.

According to the Washington Post today:

Industry growth slowed in 2009, with the amount of liquor sold by suppliers up 1.4 percent. That’s the smallest increase since 2001 and below the 10-year average of 2.6 percent.

The lowest-priced segment, with brands such as Popov vodka that can go for less than $10 for a fifth, grew the fastest, with volume rising 5.5 percent, after edging up 0.6 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, the most expensive brands, priced roughly $30 or more for a 750 ml bottle (think Grey Goose, owned by Bacardi), fell the most, tumbling 5.1 percent.

Now I’m familiar with Popov Vodka. In college Popov and I had a brief and ill-fated relationship. Trust me when I say this: no good can come of it.

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Tags: Booze News