Sauced

Upcoming Drinking Events: Party Punch at Rob Roy, Madonna-Inspired Cocktails

Plus: a skip trip with Prost!, Belgianfest.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 31, 2012 at 09:55AM 0 Comments

This weekend, make punch with Anu Apte.

SATURDAY, February 4

Learn to make two kinds of party punch with Rob Roy owner Anu Apte. The hour-long Swig Well session gets underway at 1 at her Belltown cocktail lounge; the $25 ticket includes snacks and samples of the juice. Sign up on the Swig Well site.

A reminder the beer bonanza that is Belgianfest happens today at Pier 66. Tickets are still available.

SUNDAY, February 5

Also courtesy Swig Well, also at Rob Roy: Ted Munat walks through the ABC’s of throwing a killer wingding. The author of Left Coast Libations will cover everything from picking a theme to prepping your bar to creating a menu. For those who go big, Munat will also touch on how to snag sponsorship and drum up buzz. The class costs $60 (three cocktails included) and lasts from 1:30 to 2:30, which gives you just enough time to make it to…

Bottleneck Lounge. Starting at 3, bartenders will be mixing “big gay cocktails” inspired by Madonna’s Super Bowl performance, says owner Erin Nestor. If you’re more into halftime than game time, this is your spot.

BEYOND

Feb 29 This sounds fun. German bar Prost! is shuttling snow bunnies to Crystal Mountain for a beer-fueled ski day on February 29. Tickets are $77 and include transportation, lift tickets, a t-shirt, all the brews you can guzzle on the bus, and two drink tokens to use at the bar. The bus leaves at 7am from the Phinney Ridge Prost! at 7311 Greenwood Ave North, also where you sign up. Only 40 spots, so act fast.

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Tags: Drinking Events

Jim Murray Hosts Whisky Tasting at Paratii Craft Bar This Sunday

And just because it’s on a Sunday doesn’t mean you shan’t partake—Monday is a holiday, remember.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 12, 2012 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Whisky guy Jim Murray. Photo courtesy Whisky Advocate Blog.

Sam Hassan of Paratii Craft Bar drops a line to say Jim Murray of Whisky Bible fame will be at his Ballard bar on Sunday evening.

According to Hassan, Murray is long overdue for a visit—he hasn’t been to Seattle in 10 years. For this stop he’ll walk tasters through up 16 varieties of the spirit. Reservations are required, so call 206-420-7406 to get on that.

Since Monday means no work, you might as well keep the whisky ball rolling and head to MacLeod’s afterward.

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Tags: Whiskey, Drinking Events, Paratii Craft bar

Tini Bigs Turns 15

Celebrate by drinking your way through the years with a bunch of the bar’s alums.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Jan 09, 2012 at 02:00PM 1 Comments

Tini Bigs: Occupying the corner of 1st and Denny for 15 years. Photo by Angie Norwood Browne.

When owner Keith Robbins opened Tini Bigs in 1996, Seattle was basically a beer town. And as was the national trend at the time, the bar served its cocktails in oversized 10-ounce martini glasses, a move that inspired the bar’s name and is still in effect today.

Robbins has weathered some tough moments since then, including the 1999 World Trade Organization protests, the ban on cigar bars, and the departure of the Seattle Supersonics, which robbed Tini Bigs of a major source of patrons. But through all this, the Uptown establishment also helped usher in a new cocktail-celebrated era in Seattle, and served as the proving ground for some of the city’s best-known bartenders.

On January 22, the bar will mark its 15th birthday by throwing one hell of a party. Tini Bigs is resurrecting 17 of its most popular drinks, each one representing a year between the bar’s opening in December 1996 and now, and each one going for $5. Robbins created this list by getting in touch with a bartender from each year and asking for a selection. The full list is below, and Robbins is in the process of confirming the evening’s guest bartender lineup. What is confirmed: all this madness begins at 6pm.

While the night will indeed be a fun one for us civilians, Robbins says he’s most excited to make the night a reunion of the bar’s many alumni, many of whom still make drinks throughout the city. He even set up an alumni Facebook page for the occasion.

Obviously the past 15 years have transformed Seattle into a town of cocktail devotees. “It’s good to have more people appreciate what you’re doing,” says Robbins. “In the past, it was just ‘give me a vodka cran.’”

When I stopped in to meet Robbins recently, he insisted we sample a few plates off the menu. I made some excuses about not being hungry and braced myself for some buffalo wings or somesuch. What I got instead: Some of the most impressive bar food I have experienced in this city, including pork belly and a cornmeal pancake, and a kale salad that rivals the epic one at Skillet Diner. Seriously…whoa. Robbins said he recently brought in a new chef, Paul Kreft, who previously cooked at Toulouse Petit, and Purple Wine Bar Blue Glass, Skillet and Local 360.

Here is the full list of libations on offer January 22, and the bartender alums who selected each one:

1996 Joe Jeannot – Smokey Bigs (Toulouse Petit)
1997 Jude Augustine – Jolly Rancher (Hawaii)
1998 Patrick Haight – John Wayne (Snoqualmie Casino)
1999 Kevin Stuart – Peach Tini (Cantinetta)
2000 Josh Cushman – Backyard (99-06) (Azul)
2001 Dennis Brand – Spanish Tini (Branzino)
2002 Ezana Petros – Dirty Girl Scout (Matador)
2003 Aaron Marshall – Pear-a-dox (Pesos)
2004 Bill Arvish – Playboy (Dahlia Lounge)
2005 Amon Mende – Aloe (Cantinetta)
2006 Kevin Parisi – Burning Man (Macleod’s)
2007 Mike McSorley – Spaghetti Western (India)
2008 Jamie Boudreau – Chet Baker (Canon)
2009 Brian Lee – West Village Manhattan (Canon)
2010 Jon Chistiansen – Immaculate Misconception (Monsoon Bellevue)
2011 Joe Zara – Wild Child (Tini Bigs)
2012 Shane Sahr – Na Zadrowie (Tini Bigs)

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Tags: Drinking Events, Tini Bigs, Keith Robbins

A Bellevue Bar Crawl, Tequila Tasting at Coa, and Early Morning Wine at Local 360

Plus: a chance to sample “2012’s hottest cocktails.”

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Jan 06, 2012 at 11:39AM 2 Comments

Photo: Lucas Anderson

Wine Month at Local 360 gets underway January 12.

Usually we’d post this type of thing at the beginning of the week, but saucy news is thin this morn. Onward.

Local 360 inaugurates a series of Thursday wine tastings on January 12. The first one features pours from Ash Hollow Winery and a $30 chef’s menu is available for grubbing. They happen from 9 (am) to 3 5 to 10pm.

Agave mecca Coa hosts Kent Johnson of Aha Toro and quote-unquote tequila evangelist Clayton Szczech on January 19. Tickets for the sipping session are $35. Noshes are included.

Also that night: An impressive lineup of local bars (Tavern Law, Bathtub Gin, The Saint, Little Water, to name a few) are partaking in an event named New Year Libation: 2012’s Hottest Cocktails. The bash takes place at Pravda Studios and costs $25.

And for further down the road: Three sisters have organized what they’re calling the Totally Teal Toast, an 80’s-themed bar crawl benefiting the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research. On February 18 saddle up at 12:30 at Lot No. 3 before grogging at Pearl Bar and Dining, Paddy Coynes, Lucky Strike, and Earls. Register at totallytealtoast.com.

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Tags: Drinking Events

Rob Roy’s Alcohol-Fueled Advent Calendar

Count down to Christmas with 24 days of holiday drinks…and a little bit of fire.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Nov 30, 2011 at 12:25PM 0 Comments

The blue blazer, being poured by legendary bar man Jerry Thomas.

Some advent calendars contain chocolate or Bible verses; others involve cups of flaming whiskey. You’ll find the latter at Rob Roy, where bartenders have organized a spirited advent calendar that starts tomorrow. Look for a different seasonal drink each day in December, leading up to Christmas Eve.

This decidedly adult advent countdown was the inspiration of Andrew Bohrer, who will be posting each day’s drink recipe on his Caskstrength blog (if you haven’t read his barman’s holiday gift guide yet, go check that out too). Rob Roy’s Bryn Lumsden set up the calendar and got everyone organized.

What’s the point of all this? Per Bohrer, it’s a chance to redeem all those holiday drinks that nobody orders because they are often poorly executed, or achingly sweet. “I wanted to give everybody a free pass for a day to order something they couldn’t ever get or order in a bar,” he says. The drinks will be a surprise each day, but Bohrer predicts a mix of holiday classics and wintry originals from him, Lumsden and Anu Apte. About a quarter of the drinks will be hot, including the Tom and Jerry, recently resurrected over at Vito’s, and a “Spanish coffee amnesty day.”

On December 24, the alcoholic equivalent of that really giant culminating piece of advent-calendar chocolate is the blue blazer, a beverage that involves flaming cups of whiskey and a high probability of setting one’s self on fire. It’s a favorite feat for Bohrer, who says the process requires only a steady hand and a tolerance for, you know, being set on fire.

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Tags: Drinking Events, Drinking Events, Rob Roy, Holiday Drinking, Holiday 2011

DIY Spirits, Spring Hill’s Updated Happy Hour, and Beaujolais

Here’s where you should be drinking (and learning about drinking) in and around Seattle.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Nov 15, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Take a seat at the upstairs bar at Madison Park Conservatory and you’ll notice the banks of bottles containing all manner of house-made elixirs. They’re the work of Maggie Savarino, MPC’s manager, all-around spirits maven and now author of her own season-by-season guide to DIY cocktail projects. The delightfully feisty Savarino is teaching a class of the holiday spirits persuasion at Book Larder December 5. Be advised: grab your tickets now. The class costs just $15, and given Savarino’s local following it’s likely to fill up fast.

In addition to bringing back its Monday night fried chicken dinners, Spring Hill has changed up its happy hour. The discounted beer, wine and food action happens Tuesday through Saturday, from 5 to 6:30 in both bar and dining room. Draft beers (the classics from Georgetown Brewing) are $3.50, some wines by the glass are $6 and a selection of “tumbler drinks” go for $4. A nine-item happy hour food menu runs a tasty gamut from a $5 plate of beets with apples and bacon to a grilled bavette steak with blue cheese for $8. Also of interest: chef Mark Fuller’s chicken-fried veal sweetbreads and chicken liver pate with a whole wheat waffle.

Lest you forget, Thursday November 17 is the Fete de Beaujolais Nouveau, though “Beaujolais Day” also has a nice, rhyming ring to it. Here are a few spots where you can partake in the celebrating. And over on Nosh Pit we’ve listed a host of other delightful events, many of them similarly awash in booze.

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Tags: Happy Hour, Wine, Drinking Events, Spring Hill, Maggie Savarino

Where to Drink on Beaujolais Day

Sure, there’s Thanksgiving to think about. But there’s also wine to be had—fruity, tannin-light red wine from France.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 14, 2011 at 09:23AM 2 Comments

The Fete de Beaujolais Nouveau happens November 17.

Across the pond the third Thursday in November marks the Fete du Beaujolais Nouveau, a drinky celebration of the latest harvest of Gamay grapes. Here, local spots uncorking bottles of Beauj.

Beaujolais staple Cafe Campagne is touting five-buck pours, sure to go swimmingly with the noshes, saucisson en brioche. Starting at 3pm a five-spot also will get you a glass at downtown happy hour hotspot RN74. There 10 varietals will flow through the end of November.

Not far away at Le Pichet, Eli Rosenblatt takes the mic at 7 followed by the Djangomatics at 10. In between snack on a street food–inspired menu and house sausages. No cover and no reservations needed.

You’ll also find live music at Maximilien from 6 to 9. The band Rouge will perform on the restaurant’s splendid (and heated) patio, where the happy hour menu is available all night. Tickets are $5 ($19 if you add the wine sampler) and can be purchased on Brown Paper Tickets. Inside, a three-course dinner is on offer for $39, with seatings at 5:30 and 8:30.

At the charming Voila! Bistrot choose an appetizer, entree, and dessert as part of a special $39 menu, then sample the trio of Beaujolais wines.

Across the street Luc is planning a $30, three-course feast. Order a bottle of the Gamay juice for $40; by the glass it’s $12.

From 4:30 till 10, Bastille in Ballard is pouring a variety of vinos from producers the Gang of Four. A taste will cost you $3, a glass is $6. Or go big with the $20 carafe and wash it down with pig head terrine or chicken liver or rabbit pate.

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Tags: Drinking Events

David Nelson Behind the Stick at Tommy Gun

The Il Bistro barman makes an appearance there November 11. Are more to come?

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Nov 08, 2011 at 09:58AM 0 Comments

Catch David Nelson at Tommy Gun this Friday.

David Nelson is currently running the show at Il Bistro in Pike Place Market, but before that he was mixing drinks at two Hill haunts: Still Liquor and Tavern Law. This Friday he’s hopping I-5 once again to get behind the stick at Tommy Gun.

The preternatural barman will guest at the Olive Way watering hole between 5 and 9. Will you be seeing his face there more often? “Gosh, I hope he’ll be back but we have don’t have anything formalized at this juncture,” says owner Erin Nestor. But she did add, “Frankly, we’d be delighted to host a guest bartender monthly.”

In other boozy Hill happenings, Cure is uncorking $12 bottles of cava on Sundays from 4 to 2am. Also for your sabbath consideration: two buck Tecates and half-price tequila shots at the aforementioned Tommy Gun starting at 5.

Oh, and fans of suds will want to block off November 12 for the Phinney Neighborhood Association Winter Beer Taste. It’s on Saturday, not Sunday.

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Tags: Seattle Bartenders, Drinking Events

Seattle Cocktail Week: It’s Here!

The first-ever toast to our cocktail culture takes place October 27–30.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 26, 2011 at 09:08AM 0 Comments

Photo: Lucas Anderson

Finally! Seattle Cocktail Week occurs October 27–30.

The long overdue, four-day booze fest we’re calling Seattle Cocktail Week is finally upon us. It isn’t a seminar-and-demo–driven turbine like the one in Portland so much as a rallying of 80-some bars promising discounts, special menus, and booze-soaked shenanigans Thursday, October 27 through Sunday evening.

Anyone wanting to get in on the action should pick up a “passport” listing the participating bars, the specials they have planned, and sponsors, says Andrew Friedman, president of the Washington State Bartenders Guild. Establishments across town will have the 100-page booklet; the Guild, which organized Cocktail Week, is asking for a $2 donation. (Liberty on Capitol Hill—Friedman is a co-owner—is sure to have them.) [UPDATE 10/27: Here’s a list of bars stocking the guide.]

“What started off as a small ‘passport’ has turned into this book,” says Friedman, noting how enthusiasm for Cocktail Week has totally ballooned.

What kind of specials are we looking at? Liberty, for instance, will mix drinks with local brands on Thursday; the next night it hosts Portland barman Tommy Klus on behalf of Del Maguey Mezcal. You might consider hitting up Rob Roy on Thursday for Boobs, Booze, and Beignets. LUPEC Seattle organized the fundraiser for breast cancer research, and Where Ya At Matt is providing the eats.

Also, this sounds fun: Tan Vinh of The Seattle Times reports neighborhood bar crawls will take place Thursday–Saturday, with a closing night party at the Capitol Hill Barrio.

We’ll update you as we hear of more noteworthy events, but you can keep tabs on things via the Seattle Cocktail Week facebook page.

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Tags: Drinking Events, Seattle Cocktail Week

Cocktail Throwdown at Vito’s

Seattle slingers will go up against notables from across the state.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Oct 19, 2011 at 10:16AM 0 Comments

Photo: Andrew Waits

The throwdown goes down at Vito’s.

October 31 is, of course, Halloween, but it’s also shaping up to be a night of epic cocktailness.

Starting at 7:30 at Vito’s, several of Seattle’s finest drink slingers will face off against notable barmen from other parts of the state. The event: Bartenders on Fire!

Repping Seattle is Jay Kuehner of Sambar, Vessel’s Jim Romdall, and Keith Waldbauer of Liberty. They’ll take on Chris Kell of 1022 South in Tacoma, Gabe Pimental of Waitsburg’s Jimgermanbar, and Dave Shenaut—he tends at the Rum Club in Portland but lives in that hamlet across the Columbia (Vancouver). It’s a team challenge, and entrants will mix with Novo Fogo Cachaca as well as “secret ingredients” then present the results to a panel of judges.

Reservations are recommended, call 206-397-4053. Costumes are optional.

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Tags: Drinking Events

Upcoming Drinking Events: Ginger Bliss release party; Mezcaleria Oaxaca Opens

Plus: Boozing it up at Pike Place Market, oyster HH returns to Whole Foods.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Oct 03, 2011 at 09:23AM 0 Comments

This Saturday, celebrate the release of a new collection of cocktail recipes from Seattle author A.J. Rathbun.

Bargain oysters = happy times. On Tuesday, October 4, Whole Foods Westlake reintroduces oyster happy hour; from 6 to 8pm the slippery suckers are just 69 cents a piece. (Oh and lookie here, on Wednesdays it’s 50 cent wings.)

Thursday: Long-awaited Capitol Hill distillery and tasting room Oola throws itself an opening party, your chance to check out its vodka and gin and get a look at the Graham Baba-designed tasting room.

Pike Place Market hosts Arcade Nights on Friday the 7th. The $25 admission is purchasable at Brown Paper Tickets. For that you receive 10 tokens, each good for a beverage or snack. It’s 21 and over, drinks on offer include wine, beer, and hard cider.

A mezcal collection AND food from the Carta de Oaxaca folks? That’s more than a little exciting. Saturday, October 8 is opening night at Mezcaleria Oaxaca at 2123 Queen Anne Avenue N. You never know what Seattleites are going to show up for, but if the consistently clusterfucky crowd situation at Carta is any indication, you’ll want to arrive early.

Also on Saturday: Rob Roy celebrates the release of Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz, the new cocktail book from local writer A.J. Rathbun. Meet the author, buy a book, and sample some of the cocktail recipes between 2 and 4pm at the Belltown bar.

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Tags: Cocktails, Seattle Bars, Books & Authors, Whole Foods, Mezcal, Oysters, Drinking Events, Queen Anne, Cocktail Recipes, Belltown, Books About Drinking

Upcoming Drinking Events: PBR Art Mobile, Oktoberfest on Whidbey Island

Also: October 8 is the date to celebrate a new cocktail book from prolific local A. J. Rathbun.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Sep 26, 2011 at 02:24PM 0 Comments

The town of Langley celebrates Oktoberfest on the first.

Photo: Gonorthwest.com

To begin, a save the date. Local cocktail writer A. J. Rathbun has a new coming book out called Ginger Bliss and the Violet Fizz: A Cocktail Lover’s Guide to Mixing Drinks Using New and Classic Liqueurs, the release date is October 4. On Saturday, October 8 from 2 to 4pm, Rob Roy will host a celebratory event featuring cocktails from the book. Rob Roy’s Andrew Bohrer will mix drinks.

On to the week at hand:

Wednesday is the Craft Beer and Wine wingding over at the Yacht Club on Fairview Avenue, but that event appears to have sold out. Instead, you could go to Full Throttle Bottles to taste Yoho Beers from Japan. Yeah, not quite the same. Sorry about that. But still, Yoho!

The Pabst Blue Ribbon Art Mobile, a promotion on wheels that aims to take advantage of the beer brand’s self-consciously lowbrow hipster customer base, rolls into town this Thursday, September 29. There’s more information on this website.

Saturday, October 1 head to Whidbey Island for Langley’s Otoberfest, featuring beer, brats, games, and pretty views of water. Oh and hey, here are some more out-of-town Oktoberfests from the Tripster blog.

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Tags: Drinking Events, Outdoor Drinking, Oktoberfest