Inventory for October 8th, 2017

We’re a couple of days out from the Mixology Bar Awards and Bar Convent Berlin, surely you can imagine what the atmosphere is like in the office? Crackling with equal amounts tension and excitement – that’s probably an apt description. In other news: De Kuyper Royal Distillers acquires Cherry Heering, the World’s 50 Bars were announced in London last week, Robert Simonson has a new book out about three-ingredient cocktails, and the Tuennermans are still dealing with some controversy in relation to their departure from Tales of the Cocktail. Cheers, and see you at BCB this week!

It’s been a pretty crappy couple of weeks in terms of global weather (global warming? what global warming?!), but the thinnest of silver linings that has emerged out of this is the sense of community: people gathering together, trying to help one another. Like today, a group of bartenders is organizing a fundraiser to help the victims of the Mexican earthquake. Drink mezcal, be merry, and all for a good cause. It begins at 5pm at La Despensa in Berlin Friedrichshain.

De Kuyper Royal Distillers Acquires Cherry Heering

Last week, De Kuyper Royal Distillers announced the acquisition of Cherry Heering from brand owner Peter F. Heering company. Cherry Heering Liqueur was first made in 1818 and is best known for being used in the very first “Singapore Sling.” Adéle Robberstad, CEO of Peter F. Heering company, comments: “This is a unique combination of two family businesses teaming up. De Kuyper’s global network and on-premise experience will contribute to the future success and further development of the Cherry Herring brand. I am excited to be part of this journey.”

World’s 50 Best Bars

At the very end of the week, the World’s 50 Best Bars finally released their 2017 list. While a couple of new faces have made it to the 50 spots, there are a lot of familiar names floating around. The Savoy’s American Bar was voted the best, while Ryan Chetiyawardana’s Dandelyan came in at a close second. We’re happy to see our friend Ago Perrone at #4 with the Connaught Bar. Last year, the only German bar to make the list was Berlin’s Buck & Breck, and they only barely made it at #50. This year, the only German bar is Schumann’s at #38. Good thing we’ve got the Mixology Bar Awards coming up, to help celebrate the German bar industry.

How Manhattan Drinkers are Different from Martini Drinkers

The Daily Beast published an excerpt from author Robert Simonson’s book 3-Ingredient Cocktails. He begins, “There have been only a handful of seismic shifts in the evolution of the cocktail. But the arrival of vermouth on the American scene in the late 1800s is surely one of them. The cocktail canon would be significantly poorer without this oft-maligned miracle ingredient. The Martini, the Manhattan, the Rob Roy, the Negroni, the Star, the Gibson, the Bronx. They all need vermouth. The list goes on and on.”

He doesn’t really explain what sets Manhattan drinkers apart from Martini drinkers but he does let you in on a secret about the Manhattan: “One more thing about the Manhattan. The cocktail’s lengthy winning streak can possibly be credited to one secret weapon of which almost no other cocktail can boast: you don’t need great whiskey to make a great Manhattan. Celebrated literary imbiber Lucius Beebe once wrote, ‘It has often been remarked that the most exciting Manhattan is one compounded with ordinary quality bar whiskey rather than the rarest overproof article. It is perhaps the only mixed drink where this generality obtains.’”

Tuennermans to Sell MOJO Stake

After the Tuennermans decided to leave Tales, the rumors began swirling. Neat Pour spoke to newly installed company president Melissa Young, who stresses the fact that the Tuennermans are removing themselves from both Tales, and their private company MOJO911 LLC, which holds the trademark on the Tales of the Cocktail name. She wrote, “They [the Tuennermans] are not part of the daily activities of MOJO or any of the events we manage and are exploring how to transition their ownership in MOJO quickly.”

Discussion is still rife around the exact nature of the relationship between the not-for-profit foundation which officially runs Tales, and MOJO, which is paid to organize the event. Amanda Schuster takes a look at the questions around the financial side of things, as well as the other organizational issues with Tales, suggesting it might be best if the event is replaced by something else entirely.