"Deschutes Brewery...crafted for explorers everywhere since 1988"

Deschutes Brewery was first established as a small brew pub in 1988 by Gary Fish in the small town of Bend, Oregon.  The brewery is named after the Deschutes River, a beautiful river that snakes through the town.  The setting is picturesque with the Deschutes National Forest surrounding the town, as seen on their logo.  

*The Original Brew Pub

In 1993 production was moved to a new facility and then again it expanded in 2012.  In addition, new equipment was installed containing a water reuse system, saving the company thousands of gallons of water per year, as well as a carbon dioxide capture system from the fermentation process, which will decrease waste to the city sewer system.

*The large tanks welcoming guests to the new facility

*Gary insists on fresh hops and not the widely used pellets

*Barrels of fresh hops going in!

One unique feature of Deschutes is the the company is owned by it's employees.  They all share stock in the company and it looks like happy employees makes for a great working environment.

*Every employee is entitled to have a beer a day from this uniquely disguised "bathroom" door

*Wine Fooders used for their sour beer program

*It was nice seeing some familiar names on the barrels..namely Bethel Heights!

*Being the sixth-largest brewery (2013) requires a major bottling facility!

*Love the VIP treatment!

*Trust your bartenders!  Ours suggested the brat and pretzel...Oh hell yeah!

*The pub is turning out great food paired with awesome beers!  Chainbreaker baby!

A huge thanks to everyone at Deschutes!  We enjoyed the hospitality, the food and especially the beers!  We will be back!  Cheers!

http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/

"Tom Collins...you may know the cocktail, but do you know why a Gin Collins has a first name?"

I will begin with what makes a "Collins", a Collins...the Collins is the tallest of all drinks and is typically the tallest (and usually the thinnest) of bar glasses.  The "Collins Glass" will hold anywhere from 12 to 16 ounces.  The basic Collins is simply a "Sour" served in a tall glass with a bit of sparkling water or as one classic cocktail book says, "it is a lemonade made with charged water and spiked with gin or some other liquor."

The original Collinses were made with gin, but oddly enough it was not made with London Dry Gin. The gin usually at hand in the mid 1800's would have been Old Tom Gin, which is a lighter and in most cases slightly sweeter than the London Dry style.  With the rebirth of classic cocktails, there was a need for this almost extinct gin style, in particular the Tom Collins and a previously discussed Martinez.

Anchor Distilling's Old Tom Gin...Follow the Black Cat

Why Old Tom Gin?  Why the black cat?  The patchwork of tales begins with one Captain Dudley Bradstreet, dating back to 1736.  Bradstreet had acquired a London property and was sitting on a stock of gin.  He hung a sign depicting a painted black cat in the window and let it be known that "doses of sweet mother's ruin could be had at that address."  Under the cat's paw sign was a slot and a lead pipe, which was attached to a funnel inside the house.  Customers would place their money in the slot and "lo and behold", the sweet nectar would flow.  As legend goes other houses began "copy-catting" and would wait for people to call "puss" and when the voice within replied with a "meow", they knew bootleg gin was at hand.  Very soon Old Tom became an affectionate nickname for gin. 

Famous New Orleans Drinks and how to mix 'em 1937

In the constant search for classic cocktails I stumbled upon a very unique Tom Collins recipe in the copy of my Famous New Orleans Drinks... from 1937.  Stanley Clisby Arthur says "like many another thirsty quencher, the Tom Collins is subject to infinite variations.  It is not difficult to concoct and no knack is needed to make it just right, but we implore you not to leave out the dash of orange flower water.  Depart not from the recipe, sanctioned by John Swago, one of the best old-time mixologists who ever pushed a Tom Collins across the polished mahogany."

As a nod to John and Stanley here is my recipe...

Barragan's Tom Collins

1 1/2 Anchor Old Tom Gin

1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Simple Syrup

2 dashes Fee Brother Orange Flower Water

top with sparkling water

and garnish with a Luxardo Cherry

Cheers!

"Pegu Club Cocktail...a confirmed classic"

I have seen this cocktail in several of my classic cocktail books, but in truth, I have never made it...until now.  Earlier today I purchased a set of vintage Fostoria Art Deco Era etched cocktail glasses and wanted to christen them with a drink worthy of such beauty.  

*Fostoria Art Deco Era etched cocktail glass

The Pegu Club and it's namesake cocktail have all but disappeared from it's present day Myanmar, however there has been a resurgence due to tourism.  The cocktail first appears in Harry McElhone's "Barflies and Cocktails" (1927) then again in the "Savoy Cocktail Book"  (1930) by Harry Craddock and yet again in Patrick Gavin Duffy's "Official Mixer's Manual" (1934).  The recipe is relatively the same in each book, but the measurements vary...here is my first go with this cocktail...

*Three of my classic cocktail reference books

Barragan's Pegu Club Cocktail

2 oz Boodles Gin

1 oz Pierre Ferrand Orange Curacao

1/2 oz Lime Juice

dash of Angostura Bitters

dash of Regan's Orange Bitters

"La Fheile Padraig...more commonly knows as The Feast of Saint Patrick"

The Feast of Saint Patrick is celebrated on the traditional death date of the foremost patron saint of Ireland, March 17th.  For starters, Patrick was born into a wealthy Romano-British family from the Roman provence of Britania c.AD 385.  His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church.  At the age of 16, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland.  During the 6 years of working as a shepherd he "found God" and managed to escape and find his way back to Britania.  According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity.

Saint Patrick is often associated and credited with expelling the snakes out of Ireland.  This is just a metaphor for expelling the pagan beliefs and converting them to Christianity.  In addition, the shamrock was used to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish pagans.

Time to grab an Irish beer or whisky, in my case both, and Slainte!

"Cocktail a la Louisiane"

New Orleans is the birthplace to some of my favorite cocktails...meet the Cocktail a la Louisiane.  This is the special cocktail served at the Restaurant de la Louisiane.  This cocktail is a very spirit forward one,  reminiscent of a Sazerac or a Vieux Carre (details on this beauty coming soon)...this cocktail can be found in the Famous New Orleans Drinks and how to mix 'em by Stanley Clisby Arthur 1937.

*A great book for classic cocktails

The original recipe in the book calls for equal parts rye, vermouth and Benedictine, but I find this to be a deservedly rye based cocktail so I mix it as such...

1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse Rye)

1/2 oz Italian Sweet Vermouth (Punt E Mes)

1/2 oz Benedictine

bar spoon of Absinthe (Mata Hari)

2 dashes of Angostura Bitters

2 dashes of Peychauds Bitters

stir all the ingredients together in a beaker with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with a giant ice cube

garnished with a Luxardo Cherry

Cheers!

http://www.lalouisiane.com/la-louisiane-history

"Sabrage...the gentle art of Sabering"

The technique of Sabrage is known to have been popular in France during Napoleons era.  The saber was the weapon of choice for Napolean's light cavalry, the Hussars.  In one of the more spirited tales about sabering, Madame Clicquot used to entertain Napoleon's officers in her vineyard and they would open the champagne bottle with their saber to impress her.

The physics behind the sabrage...a Champagne bottle holds between 70-90 psi or as we are taught as sommeliers "a pressure of 5 to 6 atmospheres".  At the opening of the bottle, there is a lip that creates a stress concentration.  On the vertical seem of the bottle there is a thin, faintly visible seam, which creates a second stress concentration.  At the intersection of the seam and the lip, both stress concentrations combine and the strength of the glass is reduced by more than fifty percent.  The impact of the saber on this weak point creates a crack that rapidly propagates through the glass, fueled by the momentum of the saber and the pressure in the bottle.  Once the crack has severed the top from the bottle, the pressure inside the bottle and transferred momentum from the saber will send the top flying, typically 15-30 feet.

"Champagne! In victory one deserves it; in defeat one needs it."- Napoleon Bonaparte

"Hail to the King of Sauvignon Blanc in Santa Barbara...Fred Brander"

The Brander name is a staple in Santa Barbara wine country.  Fred Brander first planted primarily Bordeaux vines in Los Olivos in 1975.  His first Sauvignon Blanc harvest in 1977 won Santa Barbara County's first gold medal at a major wine competition.  Two years later, Fred began construction of his winery. 

The Brander tasting room

The brander collection still deals with primarily Bordeaux varietals, but a little Syrah, Pinot Gris and Riesling have all found their way to Fred's lineup.  These wines do not disappoint and I particularly loved the Cabernet Franc and Colson Canyon Syrah from his 2012 vintage.

Beautiful garnet color, Chinese 5 spice, violets, lilacs and dried currants...ahh Cab Franc

The next time you are passing through the Santa Barbara area, do yourself a favor and sample through these delicious wines and you are sure to find something to suit your taste buds.  If you find yourself tasting other Santa Barbara Sauvignon Blancs, there is a good chance it came from one of Fred's clippings.  Cheers to the King!

http://www.brander.com/