Inventory for October 1st, 2017

Welcome back pals, it’s two weeks before the BCB so you can imagine what the MIXOLOGY HQ currently looks (and feels) like. Spoiler alert, Stresstown – population: us. But no matter, we’re excited to see many of your beautiful faces around the Station soon and until then we’ve got some industry news: after a blackface debacle earlier this year Ann and Paul Tuennerman have resigned from Tales of the Cocktail, Punch Drink goes in search of the ultimate Negroni, and Francis Ford Coppola is now making spirits, in addition to his wine. Prost!  

It’s fall, it’s time to hibernate and, in case of delish mag, to get trashy. Just last week they published their recipe for Fireball Cider Jell-O Shots. Jell-O shots (thank goodness) aren’t really a thing back here in good ol’ Europe but fine, we’ll give it a try. No better way to embrace the dark season than with some sweet, cinnamon-flavored whisky. We’ll drink to that!

Ann and Paul Tuennerman resign from Tales

The Spirits Business reports that “The founders of Tales of the Cocktail, Ann and Paul Tuennerman, have stepped down from the company with immediate effect”. Earlier this year, Ann Tuennerman was involved in a blackface dispute, where she appeared in the Mardi Gras parade donning blackface. Paul Tuennerman announced his resignation as TOTC’s chief business officer office after the “incident”. The previous TOTC Director of Operations Melissa Young will now lead the event as the president. Ann Tuennerman says “Our goal has always been to create something lasting that can benefit the industry and the people of New Orleans well beyond our years. This allows that to continue”.

In Search of the Ultimate Negroni

Holy mother of all that is good and holy: last week Punch tried to determine the best Negroni recipe. Possible? Maybe? Call us sceptics. Their reasoning? As follows: “During a recent sampling of twenty different Negronis, the Punch staff found a surprising amount of deviation from drink to drink—in taste, potency, balance and quality. The reasons for this were multiple. The choice of gin and sweet vermouth brands varied and, somewhat more surprisingly, so did the Italian red bitter component, which was not always Campari”. The winning recipe, here we go: “one ounce of Bombay Sapphire, a three-quarter ounce of Martini & Rossi rosso vermouth and a three-quarter ounce of Campari”. And now we know.

Coppola Family Moves into Spirits with New Range

“Director and winemaker Francis Ford Coppola has made his first foray into spirits with the launch of a vodka, gin and brandy inspired by ‘unique and remarkable’ women throughout history”. The range with the rather uninspired name (Great Women Spirits) will launch with three different spirits: “American brandy Maria Gaetana Agnesi 1799 Aged 5 Years Old, Countess Walewska Premium Vodka, and Ada Lovelace Gin”. The spirits are all produced using spring water from Coppola’s Inglenook property in Napa Valley. Coppola says “My mother, sister, wife, daughter, and granddaughters have all inspired me, as have all of the incredible women we celebrate with Great Women Spirits. We all know well the great men of history, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon and so on. I can think of as many women who distinguished themselves at that level in the fields of politics, science, mathematics and philosophy, so my choices and reasons for this collection are very personal.”