Cocktails & Spirits in Paris

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Conspiracy meeting in Barcelona

Last monday in Dry Martini Bar in Barcelona. 4 members of the Traveling Mixologist were forced to drink loads of gin and to look serious at the same time. At least one had still a smile on his lips.

Michael Menegos, Angus Winchester, Ricardo Sporkslede, Stephan Berg

Rocking Amsterdam

Amsterdam Performance

Impressions

1st ANNIVERSARY

Februray will see the first anniversary of the german bartender network "The Traveling Mixologists". For celebration reasons the first of several performances within the upcoming year will be held in the beloved city of Hamburg, where the very idea was born almost a year ago by Joerg Meyer and Goncalo de Sousa Monteiro while holding an oversized glass of junipered spirit in their hands.

As one can assume the Lions will be involved - somehow!
We are proud to welcome everyone who can appreciate a good drink and who can treat a bartender the right way.

Come and celebrate the craft of bartending with tasty concoctions all night long. Don`t worry, we will stock up enough eggs to cover the demand for RAMOS GIN FIZZES.

THE TRAVELING MIXOLOGISTS
GINTASTIC NIGHT

FRIDAY, 1. FEBRURAY,
20:00 LE LION,
Hamburg/Germany Rathausstrasse 3
+49-40-334753780
www.lelion.net

Behind the Bar at VictoriaBar Berlin

TRAVELING MIXOLOGISTS IN COLOGNE

The Traveling Mixologists will give credits to one of the most important European barbooks "The Savoy Cocktail Book". Written by legendary barman Harry Craddock and first published in 1930, this book made Europe the epicenter of cocktail culture in the 30`s and gave important influence for future generations of bartenders all around the globe.
During the evening they will bring back long forgotten concoctions and a few ones altered to be suitable for the 21 century.

Connaisseurs are more than welcome!


Performance will be held:

August 15th,
Cologne/Germany

Bar Shepheard
Rathenauplatz 5
0049-2213310994

PARTICULAR FINDINGS ABOUT THE CAIPIRINHA - A TM ON THE QUEST FOR TRUTH

BY BASTIAN HEUSER aka BEUSER aka BARWORKS - currently in Brasil:

Before I start I have yet one thing to say:

The following words shall not be of any judging nature. It shall be a brief description (not more and nothing less) of the way Brazilian bartenders (from the districts of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) prepare and serve this little and lovely piece of refreshment....

In the last 4 weeks of my travels I have had a lot of Caipirinhas.
I have had them at little beach huts in the sizzling sun, I have had them in 5 star hotels overlooking the sheer madness of Sao Paulo, I have had them in all kinds of restaurants and bars and I even had one in a greasy diner on the highway from Rio to Sao Paulo.
Every single one of them tasted better and pleased my palate more than pretty much anything I have been served under the name of `Caipirinha` in the whole of Europe.

I asked myself: Why? What is the difference?

And although I now do have a definite opinion on this drink, I want to leave it to you to judge and discuss the ´best way` (if there is such thing)...I just hope my ´insight-informations´ will help!

We shall start where most (if not all) drinks start out at: the simple choice of

1. Ingredients

The limes being used in Brazil are not much different from the ones we get (persian limes) but they thend to be a bit bigger and juicier.
(For the use of other fruits see 2.)
The sugar though is much different. Here one uses white cane sugar of an amorph structure (not crystalized) which hardly costs anything but still seems to be unvariably expensive in European countries and not of real interest for export.
This sugar is superfine and dissolves almost instantly when brought in contact with liquids.
The third ingredient is the choice of ´pinga´ (Cachaca). Most bars I visited used either ´Cachaca 51´, ´Ypioca´ or ´Velho Barreiro´ only a handful used other Cachaca.
The mentioned ones are available for roughly 2-3 ? per litre and display what we call ´pouring brands´ nonetheless there is always the possibility of an upgrade. (I shall get back to this later)

2. Ordering

When ordering a Caipirinha in Brazil, in most cases you will be asked for your choice of ´pinga´ but in all cases you will be asked for your choice of fruit. For Brazilians a Caipirinha is not limited solely on the lime but can be made with pineapple, mango, passionfruit, kiwi, papaya, etc.
And they will not add these fruit to the lime but substitute it for the lime which in general will make a far sweeter drink.
But Brazilians do have a much sweeter palate than we do and I must say that these ´Fruit Caipirinhas´ can be a welcome refreshment on a hot afternoon.
Talking about sweetness:
in a lot of restaurants and bars you will even be asked if you would prefer your Caipirinha with artificial sweetener instead of sugar...something that was totally new for me.
Especcially the well-heeled (and well-proportioned) crowds of Rio seemed to prefer this way to cut down on one´s daily calory-intake.
(What do you think about this? Is this something we should start to think about under the aspects of ´customer service´ or any other given aspects?)

3. Preparation

Now we shall take a look at the preparation of the most popular kind of Caipirinha: the ´Caipirinha con Limao´
In most of the places I visited, the bartender would cut off the ends of the lime, slice it in half and cut out the inner white pith. Then he would slice the halfs lengthwise and cut them in thin slices. These will then be muddled under the addition of 3-4 bsp of mentioned sugar in the guests´ glass.
Some only take half a lime which seemed to be a bit dependent on the size of the actual glass used (in that case the sugar was reduced as well).
Not one of my Caipirinhas was prepared with crushed or shaved ice.
Only a handful contained cracked ice (in that case the ice was freshly cracked in the hand of the bartender using a muddle stick), most of them were prepared using cubed ice.
Every single one I had was shaken, mostly using a small plastic glass which fitted smugly over the guests´glass (kind of a speed shaker I guess).
By the way: in general the glass that the drink is served in tends to be a bit smaller than we are used to...nonetheless the amount of pinga is roughly the same (60ml).
Straws are common but only to stir the drink up for the odd time or two not for actually sipping from it. You sip out of the glass.
A nice thing I experienced a couple of times was the service of my Caipirinha with a small spoon, which somehow reminded me of Harry Johnson and Jerry Thomas...

4. Upgrades (´Pimping´)

I have mentioned the possibilities of upgrades earlier on.
There are supposed to be about 3000 different brands of Cachaca available in Brazil...I have not quite had all of them but I had the odd one.
I can therefore just give you a few examples of upgrades that I enjoyed in my Caipirinha, but be reminded: this is my personal taste, no judgement.

Santo Grau, Minas Gerais

Germana, Minas Gerais

Espirito de Minas, Minas Gerais

Magnifique, Rio de Janeiro

Armazem Viera, Santa Catarina

These Cachacas (in my personal view) will enhance the drinking experience of a properly made Caipirinha...sipping them on its own is up to you (in fact this would be a whole new essay so I will not get into that at this point).

Just to let you know: the most popular upgrade of a Caipirinha within the Brazilian community is....a Caipiroska!

They love Vodka and especcially people who seem to be a bit on the wealthy side would never order a Caipirinha. Caipiroska made with Lemons and artificial sweetener is more often their choice.
Even a lot of bartenders I talked to choose this drink to be their personal favourite....interesting, is it not?!

5. Prizes

Pouring Cachacas are widely available at around 2-3 Euros for 750 ml, Premium Cachaca will set you back inbetween 8 and 12 Euros.
For the really good stuff you can easily pay up to 300 Euros...
Prizes for the Caipirinha heaviliy depend on the location where it is consumed at (not the quality though).
I have had some for as little as 1,50 Euros, I have had some for as much as 8 Euros but most of them were prized somewhere between 3 and 5 Euros (upgrades obviously being a different kind of party).


A few closing words before I leave to Chile to find out more about their Pisco Sour:

Damn´ me, I just love Cachaca!

And I wish that, when I come back, I can start to find decent Caipirinhas in more bars around Europe....maybe even the odd Sipping-Cachaca next to the ever-expanding choice of rums.

I´ll consume heaviliy. And leave good tips. I promise....

Bottoms up,

Beuser

-A Traveling Mixologist-

Cucumber TV from Hendricks Croquet 2007

The Traveling Mixologists win the Hendricks Croquet ...


Link: sevenload.com

Traveling Mixologists in Munich

Link: sevenload.com

Next Bartenders Night: Munich -Trinkhalle - "Pimp my Drink"

31.5.2007 the Traveling Mixologists invite you to our "Pimp my Drink" Evening at Olivers Bar the "Trinkhalle", Baaderstrasse, Munich. Tom (Cologone), Goncalo (Berlin) and Jörg (Hamburg) will mix up some forgotten classic and some pimped well known. To give a tribute to Mr. Beuser (currently brasil), we are also thinking about having a caipirinha on our menu, even if a normal german bartender doesn't like this drink of the crowd. Goncalo spend a box of limes for testing in his bar (but don't tell the owner!) to bring this drink back on the board. To give a tribute to one of the greatest living german bartenders, Charles Schumann, Goncalo pimped one of his Drinks. Tom brings some london inspired drinks, Jörg some old classics. Shaker and Barspoons will move from 8.00 o'clock p.m.

Beuser on tour - C.H. Baker is back!

Traveling Mixologist Bastian Heuser, aka Beuser, aka the chef, the RUM Nose, Winchesters Molecular assistant, startet together with a very charming lady a journey around the world. 120 days the study "fine and far away drinking cultures" like Charles H. Baker did it long time ago. They start in brasil to find the holy gral of caipirinha.

Check out his traveling - journal:

zwei-hasen-tanken-super: Ferne und feine Trinkkulturen mit N&B

Hopefully, he will find the time to give us some summaries here.

München

Die Bayerische Landeshauptstadt wird in Kürze die Traveling Mixologists beherbergen und am 31.5.2007 laden wir zum "Pimp my Drink" Event in die Trinkhalle in der Baaderstrasse.

Olli von der Trinkhalle wird sich als begnadeter Host erweisen und den aus entfernten Winkeln der Republik angereisten Mixologists ein grosses Willkommen bereiten.

Die Traveling Mixologists reisen, mit Ausnahme von Bastian Heuser, der eine Weltumrundung als Entschuldigung geltend machen kann, komplett an.

Der Fokus der Veranstaltung liegt in der Neuinterpretierung von bekannten und unbekannten Cocktails und Drinks, die durch die Wahl der richtigen Marken, abgestimmt auf den Drink ein neues und intensiveres Geschmacksbild erfahren werden. Momentan erarbeitet das Team die Barkarte und wird höchste Anstrengungen unternehmen um dem erlesenen Münchner Publikum einen geschmackvollen Abend zu bereiten.

Ab 20.00 Uhr sind die Tore der Trinkhalle geöffnet!

Nächste Veranstaltung in München

Wie Herr B.euser auf dem Drinksblog schon verlauten lies, wird das nächste Treffen der Traveling Mixologists in München statt finden. Termin wird Mitte / Ende Mai - genauer Termin, Thema und Ort folgen in Kürze. Wer auf die Einladungsliste zu "Traveling Mixologists in München" möchte, möge bitte eine email an joerg @ traveling-mixologists.net schicken. Wir freuen uns, die Kollegen aus München kennen zu lernen.

Goncalo präsentiert neuen MEGA TREND!

Während zweitklassige Magazine über zweitklassige Trends a la Molekulare Mixology berichten, hat sich der geschätzte Goncalo in ein stilles Kämmerchen zurückgezogen und in monatelanger Geistesarbeit ganz im verborgenen einen neuen MEGA TREND entwickelt:

Ladies and Gentleman - The Traveling Mixologists proudly presents:

OLECULARE MIXOLOGY by Goncalo

Schauen Sie ganz tief, durch den Boden eines mittelgroßen Collins Glases und entdecken Sie ungeahntes. Fokusieren Sie Ihre Zutaten und nehmen Sie diese ganz genau unter die Lupe. Bei genauer Beobachtung und Wertschätzung auch kleinster Details wird Ihnen der nächste Drink ganz sicher gelingen!

Anfängern empfehlen wir Oleculare Mixology mit einem leeren Glas zu praktizieren, Profis beherschen es sogar mit einer guten Mischung Gin und Tonic im Glas.

Traveling Mixologists April 2007 in Hamburg

Am 13. und 14. April 2007 trafen sich die Traveling Mixologist in Hamburg. Am Freitag lud Stephan Berg zu einer Rye & Bourbon Night. Er hatte seine Bibliothek nach alten Drinks durchforstet und heraus kam ein Cocktail Menu der Sonderklasse: Blinker Cocktail, Scoff Low Cocktail, Derby Cocktail, Algonquin Cocktail, Liberal um nur einige zu nennen. Wir vermixten Markers Mark, Blantons, Knoob Creek, Woodford Reserve, Wild Turkey Rye, Old Overholdt Rye, Rittenhouse Rye.

Zum Favoriten des Abends wurde unerwartet der Seelbach Cocktail. Für Bitters Produzenten "Geschäftschädigend" hatte Stephan die Dashes of Bitters reduziert und somit wurde dieser Champagner Cocktail gefälliger.

Stephan war mit einem Koffer voller historischer Bitters
angereist. Es gab Gelegenheit einen Orginial Peychauds gegen den aktuellen Remake zu probieren. Es gab Renaults Bitters, einen original Abbotts Bitter, die Testversion des "neuen" Orange
Bitters von Angostura, einen Jerry Thomas - Own Decanter Bitter von TBT sowie einen von Alexander Hauck frisch gepflückten Sloe Gin von TBT.





Am Samstag mixte Bastian Heuser einen ganzen Korb voll frisch gewürzter Tiki und Rum Drinks. Klassiker wie Daiquiri, Ti Punch und Trader Vic's Mai Tai, Interpretationen wie Jamaican Gimlet, Rum Old Fashioned Cocktail, Guyana meets Manhattan, Last Word revisited trafen echte Eigenkreationen a la Atomic Grape, Pear Affair und Lilli. Herr Heuser vermischte Robinson Rum, Havana Club, Bacardi 8 Jahre, El Dorado, Appelton, La Mauny,Wray and Nephew Overproof.

Ganz nach Heuser wurden frische helle
Trauben, Cardamom Kapseln, Rosmarin, Salbei, Ingwer, Birne und Minze verarbeitet. Eine ganze Menge Limetten wurde pro Drink a la Minute gepresst... eine Palette frische Bio Eier wechselte roh den Besitzer.


Auch hier erwies sich der legendäre Old Cuban Champagner Cocktail von Audrey Sanders als Favorite.

Jeder Hotel Controller wäre stolz auf Bastian gewesen. Als sich ein Überhang an frischem Eigelb abzeichnete, wurde kurzer Hand ein Tee gekocht und das Eigelb mit Sahne und vielen Gewürzen im ISI zu einem Schäumchen vermischt und auf einige Rum Manhattans gelegt.

Fotos vom Abend:

Jörgs flickr Set
Bastians flickr Set

Barkarten vom Abend
auf scribd

RUM, RON, RHUM

Samstag, 14.04.2007 - 21 Uhr
Hamburg

Bastian Heuser wird uns eine nicht ganz klassische TIKI Night servieren. Mai Tais, Jamaican Gimlets, Rum Manhattans, Rum Old Fashioned, Robinsons Last Word, Lilli, Cardamom Mulata.
Mit der gewohnten Raffinesse wird Bastian einen Korb voll Gewürze und frischer Zutaten in seinen Drinks verarbeiten.
Wir bitten um Reservierung per Telefon, Email:
Jörg +49 40 55 57 93 41
joerg @ traveling-mixologists.net
First come, first serve!

BarCamp - Classic Whiskey & Rum Drinks

Samstag, 14.04.2007 - 11 bis 16 Uhr
Hamburg
Stephan und Bastian geben ein Seminar und stellen alte und neue Drinks mit Rye, Bourbon und Rum vor. Herr Heuser wird seine Kräuter und Gewürz Kiste einpacken, Herr Berg hat alte und neue Bitters unterm Arm. Die Teilnahmegebühr beträgt 50,00 Euro, inkl. MwSt. Die Reservierung gilt nach Überweisung als verbindlich, First come, first serve.
Derzeit findet das Seminar im Cafe Paris, Rathausstr.4, 20095 Hamburg statt.

Reservierungen über
Jörg +49 40 55 57 93 41
joerg @ traveling-mixologists.net

Rye & Bourbon - real American Classics

Freitag, 13.04.2007 - 21 Uhr
Hamburg

An diesem Wochenende kommen Stephan Berg und Bastian Heuser nach Hamburg.
Stephan eröffnet um 21.00 Uhr die Bar. Er mixt einen Abend lang Klassiker der Cocktailgeschichte auf Basis von Rye & Bourbon Whiskey. Seelbach Cocktail, Brooklyn Cocktail, Mint Julep, Old Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail, Algonquin Coktail, Stella Maris Cocktail um nur einige zu nennen. Es ist davon auszugehen, dass er mit Bitters nicht geizen wird.

Wir bitten um Reservierung per Telefon, Email:
Jörg Meyer - +49 40 55 57 93 41
joerg @ traveling-mixologists.net

First come, first serve!

01.02.2007 - A Gin Tastic Evening

Am 1.2.2007 kam Goncalo nach Hamburg und mixte zusammen mit Jörg Gin - Gin - Gin!

Der Gin Tastic Evening war ein voller Erfolg. Von 20.00 Uhr bis nach 4.00 Uhr wurden knapp zwanzig Flaschen Gin verschiedenster Colour geleert.Unsere Gin Tastic Cocktailkarte!

Joerg Meyer

...is self employed and is the legendary CEO of Cucumber TV and serves handcrafted drinks of any kind in his fine Hamburg Establissement Le Lion-Bar de Paris. Together with Stephan Berg he writes the Bitters Blog , were they share ideas and opinions about the bar trade.

joerg @ traveling-mixologists.net

Angus Winchester

... is perhaps the most widely travelled independent Bar Consultant in the world today. Living nowhere except out of his suitcase he has been spotted advising bars, bartenders and guests how to drink better everywhere from West Coast USA to New Zealand and most places in between. he founded his first company - The International Playboy Bartenders - in 1998 and his current one - Alconomics - in 2004. He is a Vodka Professor, a Tequila Demi God, a Malt Advocate, the founder of The Rum Club and is currently the Ambassador for Tanqueray Gins tho it is being 009 of the Travelling Mixologists.


angus@traveling-mixologists.net

Ricardo Sporkslede

Alexander Hauck

Helmut Adam

Xavier Padovani

... 23 years old (hummm...), 85 kilos (really, really! seriously!), 1.82 meters, brown eyes, friendly, (almost-) well educated, speaks fluent French, English, Italian, Spanish, Canadian, Cantonese, Japanese, Spanish and German (of Course!). PHD in Physics, Mathematics, Philosophy and Biology. Keen golfer, snowboarder. Practice on a professional level and on a weekly base of Polo, ice hockey, parachute, cave diving, golf, squash, tennis. Medailled Cucumber grower. Drinks gin professionally.

Michael Menegos

... made his first Martini at the tender age of 9 and hasn't stopped since. Later he chose bartending instead of a film career. His regulars and most fans of good cinema are thankful for this. A bartender for 20 years now, an educator, bar trainer and consultant with his company- The Mix Lab -, drinks editor for greek Esquire and Nitro Magazine, he travels the globe in search for old distilleries, classic bars, after hours eateries and hangover cures. The latest member of the Traveling Mixologists has a thing for tropical aged spirits, the nectar of Mayahuel and all whisk(e)ys and his favourite passtime include reading, gardening, following Liverpool FC and Martini breakfasts. Currently spreading the word and developing drinks for Skinos Mastiha Spirit and planning his early retirement at his retreat on his beloved island in the Aegean Sea.

Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro

...der passionierte Gin Liebhaber Ginçalo schreibt für das Mixology Magazin Berlin.

goncalo @ traveling-mixologists.net

Bastian Heuser

...bailed out of university to spend his life behind bars. Cocktail bars that is. Until previously he has been working behind the stick in Cologne, Frankfurt, London and Berlin. But since he is getting older too, he has now swapped the stick for a pen and writes for the one and only german bar magazine 'Mixology' in order to make a living. To compensate for the loss of tips (imagine, you don't get tipped for writing a good article.) he does the odd bit of consulting. Should he ever linger around your bar, give him decent rum and tequila and he'll leave you alone. Maybe.


Bastian @ traveling-mixologists.net