Inventory for September 20th, 2015
Welcome to the newest inventory! This week we take a look at space-aged whisky, as Melbourne gets ready for summer it’s also the proud owner of a espresso martini tap, René Redzepi shocks the food and beverage industry, The New Yorker profiles Bethenny Frankel in a very long, very interesting piece, and the House of Angostura launches Angostura No. 1. Enjoy!
There’s a new dog in town … Bourbon Dogs. The brainchild of Max Paarlberg promises hot dogs, craft beer, and whisky, all in one convenient location (previously Locke Müller on Berlin’s Spreewald Platz). It’s never been easy sourcing great hot dogs in Berlin and Paarlberg has combined his love of them with current craft beer trend as well as a very impressive selection of whisky.
He’s not leaving it at that though, starting today, every Sunday will be “Lobster Roll Sunday” at Bourbon Dogs. For those of us poor, New England deprived Berliners let us explain: imagine a buttery, toasted bun that’s filled to the brim with fresh, slightly sweet, lobster meat which is lightly bound together by a lashing of homemade mayo. Expect this, plus champagne cocktails and bloody maries. Our winter has been saved.
1) Space Aged Whisky
We’ve shot beer up into space, why not whisky? Last week The Verge spoke to four tasters at the Ardbeg Distillery in Islay, Scotland who had come together to taste whisky that had spent the last three years aboard the International Space Station. It was compared to whisky that had matured in a similar way on Earth. Head of distilling and whiskey creation at the Glenmorangie Company Dr. Bill Lumsden told The Verge that the space whisky “had a much smokier quality, with flavors akin to cherries, prunes, raisins, and cinnamon.
He also noted that the whiskey’s aftertaste was pungent, intense, and long, with hints of wood, antiseptic lozenges, and rubbery smoke.” The earth-aged whisky was richer. After studying the samples, the whisky researchers came to the conclusion that the space-aged whisky had a much higher overall concentration of wood extractives. Basically, “the drink and the wood are interacting much differently than they do here on Earth.” Lumsden is still trying to figure out just how the different space gravity affected the maturing process.
2) Melbourne’s Espresso Martini Tap
While we up north are starting to bundle up and watch golden colored leaves fall to the ground, our Australian folks are gearing up for summer. How better to celebrate the season of being highly awake and drinking at all times of day, than with a espresso martini on tap?
The Arbory bar in Melbourne just installed a nitro espresso martini tap, which made with what is basically a cold drip coffee that’s pumped with nitrogen and chilled. The frosted, creamy concoction is served with “Ketel One vodka, Kahlua, and less sugar syrup than you’d normally use, because we found that you don’t need that much sugar when you’ve got the creaminess from the tap.” Enjoy that summer Melbourne, we’ll be over here – longing.
3) René Redzepi Plans to Close Noma and Reopen It as an Urban Farm
René Redzepi is a true trailblazer in his field and always up for a surprise. This week he managed to shock the food and beverage world as he announced that Noma would be completing its last service on New Years Eve 2016. Can’t make it to Copenhagen by then? Not to worry, Redzepi is planning on opening his own urban farm and then re-opening Noma within that construct.
The menu will be much more seasonal, basically going vegetarian in the spring and summer months, concentrating on game in winter, and serving a lot of fresh fish at the beginning of the year. Charming as always, Redzepi explains his concept in this gorgeously shot video and ends with a sentence that only he, humble after winning “Best Restaurant in the World” four times, could pull off: “We spent the last 12 years trying to figure out, how to be a chef in the Nordic region. Now we’re ready to start that restaurant we’ve been practicing for.” Godspeed Redzepi, see you there.
4) Bethenny Frankel’s Skinny Girl Empire
Years ago, when the Real Housewives franchise was just taking off, Bethenny Frankel was cast in the role of “aspiring real housewive” in the New York version of the show. Other than her peers though, the business woman came onto the show with a purpose. To market herself. At the time the natural chef was writing a book, when it was published during the show’s second season it became an instant bestseller.
Her true legacy though, is the Skinny Girl Margarita and subsequent brand. On the sixth episode of the show she ordered a “skinny girl’s margarita” in a bar (clear tequila, lime juice, and a splash of Cointreau or triple sec). After that, she turned Skinny Girl into a brand, which was sold to Beam Suntory in 2011 for “a reported hundred and twenty million dollars”. She’s since created more “cocktails, “flavor enhancers”—syrups that create fruit-flavored water—sparklers, popcorn, and salad dressing” under the name. A successful businesswoman, no doubt, who truly marketed herself to the top. The New Yorker’s profile on Frankel might be long, but it is very worth its time.
5) The House of Angostura launches Angostura No. 1
Last week The House of Angostura announced the second edition of its Cask Collection “a limited edition range of satin smooth rums, aged in special casks for all to enjoy”. Titled Angostura No.1 the rum is the first ever to be finished in French Oak. Made from a 16-year old blend that’s aged in both American and the aforementioned French Oak, the spirit is said to be “silky and smooth”