Mixerology

Funny, there are literally thousands of posts written daily about spirits and cocktails and cocktail recipes, but so rarely do you see much said about mixers-- which, in my opinion, are as important if not more important than the spirit itself. So here are my top pointers for enjoying cocktails with mixers. 

Stop gun violence. The minute you see the bartender go for the gun to add tonic or soda or ginger beer to your cocktail, change your order. Nothing ruins a drink faster. I love it when people order a top-shelf vodka and tonic and get their "premium" booze hosed down by tonic-syrup spew. Might as well have a Zima. 

Think small. The smaller the container of anything carbonated, the better. The best tonic and seltzer for cocktails come from 8oz. glass bottles of Seagrams or Canada Dry. One bottle makes 2 perfect cocktails and doesn't sit and decompose  like larger plastic liters bottles. Fancier brands aren't necessary. Same small bottle rule applies to  Coke, etc. 12oz cans are second best. 

There's only one Ginger Beer. And it's Barritt's, in a can. While a Dark 'n Stormy is not one without Gosling's Black Seal Rum, it's not one without Barritt's ginger beer either. Not even Gosling's own brand will do-- it's too sweet. The various other carribean brands are poor imitatons. And forgive me, but housemade ginger beer (usually made with real ginger and seltzer) sounds great but never tastes very good because it's not ginger beer-- it's ginger mash and water or seltzer-- not the same. The same rule applies to ginger beer for Moscow Mules. 

Never. Ever, use Bloody Mary mix from a bottle. Pure evil-- loaded with high- fructose corn syrup, or other sugar, chemical spices, etc etc. And dont waste your money on the expensive ones like Stirrings. Making your own is not only easy but the only thing to do. Tomato juice, Worcestershire, horseradish, lemon juice, vinegar-based hot sauce, pepper and your done. I like to add a splash of pickle brine, but only from top-shelf pickle brands like Moonbrine. Garnish with anything marinated, spicy or not-- olives, onions, pickles, pepperoncini, jalapeños, etc. In Portland (Oregon), the Mary is a staple cocktail and you find a huge variety of delicious homemade mixes and garni, including bacon and beef jerky--chomp. 

While the cocktail craze and the mixology ridiculousness it has spawned is at times nauseating, watch those guys mix and you'll see how picky they are about mixers, which I have to agree with. The hand-shaved ice from filtered-water ice blocks is a little much, but I guess I get the point. 

Ahhh the good old days.....

Watch the commercial
"The one beer to have when you're having more than one." It just doesn't get any better than that. And how great that the commercial had absolutely nothing to do with drinking beer (let alone more than one) and everything to do with bringing that one great simple thought to life in a cool way. Why do we today so often overcomplicate brilliantly clear and concise ideas? Here's how the presentation of this spot might go today:

CLIENT: Guys, guys, guys, we're gonna need to see A LOT more beer drinking here. The band playing the jingle is nice and all, but Schaefer doesn't sell music, we sell beer.

AGENCY: Gotcha. What if we have the band guys all take a sip and cheers looking towards the camera at the end?

CLIENT: These guys look like a bunch of poofters.

AGENCY: What if the band starts playing and then Kate Upton walks into the studio with a tray of ice-cold Schaefers. She pops open the first lid, the film goes from black & white to color, and the drummer morphs into a DJ spinning a house remix of the jingle. The band is a racially-diverse hip-hop group—think Black Eyed Peas. They all take a sip of Schaefer, smile and nod knowingly at each other. Then each time they open another Schaefer another hot swimsuit model appears.

CLIENT: Lose the band and have it be a group of guys sitting around watching a game and I think we have a winner here, team!

Laguiole. Top ten best Father's Day gift of all time.

http://www.laguiole.com/laguiole-corkscrews-c-22.html

Is this Bud for you?

Budweiser's new can design takes their iconic bowtie emblem and brings it to life as a dimensional can shape. Striking and, they claim, easier to grip. But the unfortunate compromise of said shape is a loss of liquid volume: .7 ounces to be exact. Yes, these cans contain 11.3 ounces of beer compared to the standard 12 of a standard can.

Is Bud the next contestant in the game of colossal brand blunders? Who can forget the great Maker's Mark proof reduction near-death experience, or Tropicana's repackage debacle or New Coke! Could they possibly not understand their drinker enough to know that less beer is not exactly what they're yearning for? Maybe. But maybe not.

Perhaps they understand their target better than anyone. And guys that drink cans of Bud love to burn through can after can, and since a six-pack will most likely cost a little bit less than the 12oz ones, there's now even more reason to reach for another and another? And maybe after holding the same boring 12oz can of Bud for all these years, this is just the welcome change loyal consumers will embrace—literally and figuratively. Will be interesting to see…

Old Overholt: The Best No-Bullshit Brand

They say cool people are so because they don't have to try to be cool, and the same can be said for brands. If ever there was a brand that didn't try, it's Old Overholt.

Maybe it's because its roots are in Broad Ford, Pennsylvania, about 1/2 hour from Pittsburgh (full disclosure: my hometown) where guys that pretend to be cool get their asses kicked by guys who drink boilermakers. Or, maybe because people who drink "the Overcoat" couldn't care less about what others think of them for drinking it.

But really, the brand is most highly regarded in a small, loyal circle of professional drinkers who happen to be experts in the subject of price:value math. It simply is damn good booze for the money!

If you like to sip straight rye and delight in the complex aromas and flavors, you'll want to dig a little deeper into your wallet. But if you want a perfect Manhattan or Old Fashioned, and you plan on having more than one, this is your rye. Straightforward, dry, and at 80 proof just the right amount of heat and presence for the perfect cocktail.

Bulleit, Sazerac and Rittenhouse fans can make compelling arguments for their calls--they're all great Ryes. But they're all much pricier than Overholt (which you can pick up for about $15) and for cocktail use, really not essential.

Let's face it, built in to the higher price of those brands is the cost to cover the marketing of a manufactured "cool" that Overholt doesn't need to pay for.

Another ad pulled?

"This ad from Angostura Single Barrel Rum has apparently been pulled after Change.org filed a petition of complaint." Buzzfeed.com

But the question remains: how does a genius ad like this get produced in the first place?


AGENCY: We think we've nailed the brief with a truly compelling message. "Avoid the Friend Zone. Offer her a REAL DRINK"!

AGENCY: You'll notice, we're featuring our target consumer prominently in the ad—an "urban" man that's attractive but also a little threatening to add street cred.

CLIENT: Loving it!

AGENCY: Our consumer research found that the biggest complaint men who take girls on dates have is that they won't get their money's worth—they take a lady out and buy her a couple drinks only to have the night end uneventful. We call this being in the "Friend Zone."

But this is where the genius of our product comes in. The high proof of our rum, means a guy can buy his date one, maybe two of our drinks, loosen things up and push her right out of the friend zone and into the END ZONE!

CLIENT: Touchdown! (high fives all around)

AGENCY: The inset photo is the benefit visualization: our consumer well on his way to scoring with his racially ambiguous female friend.

CLIENT: I really like that you managed to get a product shot in the ad. Could it be larger, without taking away from the sexual tension?

AGENCY: Of course we'll want to enlarge the tagline as well. "We know good taste" concisely encapsulates three of the seven key messages in the brief: 1) our brand knows good rum 2) our brand not only tastes good but is tasteful, and lastly, our brand helps consumers have the kind of night they demand from their liquor and their dates.

Why Dewar's Gets it

As we've seen over the years, it's quite rare when a spirits brand can figure out a distinct brand positioning for itself, and then be able to communicate it without burying it in esoteric language and over-produced images of people they would like to drink the stuff. So kudos to Dewar's for defining themselves quite appropriately as "the drinking man's scotch," and for wisely refraining from using manufactured images of the "drinking men" they are referring to.

Those of us who drink scotch on a regular basis will tell you that it is not the 18-year Macallan or Johnny Black we reach for when we need a bracer or two. It's Dewar's; quite possibly the most drinkable everyday scotch on the market and easily the best value. The Famous Grouse is right there as well, and to some, has a richer flavor thanks to its blend of esteemed single-malts (Highland Park, Macallan, Glenrothes and others). But it lacks the no-bullshit, "just start pouring" attitude that Dewar's has which is why "The Drinking Man's Scotch" works so well for the brand.

The heavy influx of single-malts has grown the scotch category immensely, but because so many are well-aged and thus expensive, the category feels out of reach to your everyman drinker. A guy at an upscale steakhouse may go for the drink menu after dinner and order a nice single-malt, but if he heads to a bar afterwards, he'll be on to something else.

With all of the fancy, new aged bourbons and ryes which also carry heavy pricetags, the everyday American whiskey drinker can still sidle up and order a Jack Daniels and not have to worry whether he'll be able to cover the tab. And on top of that, a guy can feel like a man when he orders it: "Jack on the rocks, please." 

It would seem that the single-malt pedigree of The Famous Grouse actually stands in the way of the brand feeling accessible to guys who really drink? And brands like Chivas Regal can run but never really hide from feeling like that dusty bottle in the back of your grandparent's liquor cabinet that came out once a year for a guest who asked for a scotch.

"Dewar's on the rocks, please."