New WEBSITE

Hello all:

Behind The Bar Show has moved to a new website. I'm no longer going to be updating http://behindthebarshow.blogspot.com. If you've been using that URL to come to this site, please start using http://www.behindthebarshow.com instead. If you've always used http://www.behindthebarshow.com then you shouldn't be seeing this as it no longer points to this Blogger Page but to my new website.

The new Behind The Bar Show website allows you to see a calendar of events, recent product reviews and recent blog posts on the front homepage. You can also drill into a separate blog posts webpage or a full page of product reviews. This site also has "episodes" separated so you can quickly find details on every podcast episode including recipes and a direct link to the audio or video file. I'm also happy to announce there's a separate "recipes" page that will have all the recipes given on my show and some extras and is completely sortable. (I'm still working to add all the recipes so it's not complete yet.)

I hope you enjoy the new website. I believe the new layout will make it easier to find what you want from my webpage. Please feel free to send me comments on how you like the new webpage.


AGAIN: This Blogger page isn't going to be updated anymore and will, sooner or later, completely go away.

Thanks,
Mr. Martini

New website in the works

Hello all:

I have a new website in the works. I don't have any ETA yet as I'm still working on taking all the information from this site and put it into the new site.

Why am I wanting to move off of Blogger and onto a new site? Unfortunately Blogger isn't giving me the level of detail I need for my kind of website. The new Behind The Bar Show website, when live, will be available via http://www.behindthebarshow.com so you may just see the switch happen all of a sudden. The new website will have a calendar showing all of the cocktail events I'm currently aware of (It'll be great if hosts of events continue to email me so I can keep the calendar full of events worldwide), have a recipes list that you can sort, a list of product reviews (as long as distilleries and bar ware companies continue to contact me for reviewing their products), blog and everything this Blogger page currently has.

If there are any features you'd love to see on the website. Call or send a text to 559-WE-DRINK, email me at behindthebarshow@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post and I'll see what I can do.

Cheers!
Mr. Martini

Art of the Cocktail

Hello fellow cocktail enthusiasts! I am happy to let you all know of a great two-day event with tastings, workshops, a competition and dinners. Some of the details are below. For more details, go to their website at http://www.artofthecocktail.ca/

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Distillery ambassadors, representatives and lounges will be offering tastes of their products or creating sophisticated cocktails for sampling. Wander around the Tasting Room sampling the cocktails that appeal to you while catching tips from mixologists, authors and reps. Take in ongoing demonstrations on our side stage that will run throughout the Tastings. Demonstrations include the competition for the Best Mixologist in the Pacific Northwest, a Flair demonstration and new trends worth trying.

Tickets may be purchased on our website. Tickets are only available in advance. No tickets will be available at the door. Cocktail samples are $1 each and tokens can be bought on site, cash only.

Episode 059 - Vermouth

Here it is! I don't know why it took me so long to think of doing a vermouth episode but it finally dawned on me and here it is. Vermouth is a fantastic ingredient used for ages in classic cocktails. It's perceived in a bad light for the martini for way too long. I for one want to demystify this ingredient and explain what vermouth really is and why we should be using more of it. Enjoy the show!

Recipes given on this episode:

Martini
3 parts gin (Plymouth Gin_
1 part dry vermouth (Noilly Prat)
dash orange bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an olive or lemon twist.

(A 50-50 Martini is equal parts gin to vermouth.)

Martini (Perfect)
2 oz gin
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
dash orange bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Algonquin Cocktail
1 1/2 oz rye whiskey
3/4 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz pineapple juice
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Affinity Cocktail
1 oz blended scotch
1 oz dry vermouth
1 oz sweet vermouth
2 dashes angostura
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (This is essentially a "perfect" rob roy.)

Fourth Degree Cocktail
3/4 oz gin
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz dry vermouth
barspoon of absinthe
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze a lemon peel over the drink and drop in.

Rolls Royce Cocktail
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
2 dashes of Benedictine
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (This is yet again another perfect style martini but using Benedictine instead of orange bitters.)

Dubliner
2 oz irish whiskey
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1/2 oz grand marnier
dash orange bittesr
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

HEAD'S UP:
Keep listening to the end of the episode for a special BONUS RECIPE!

COMING SOON: Episode 59

This is just a quick post to let those of you who watch my website know I'm working on the next episode and hope to record it this weekend. Episode 59 will be about a very important ingredient in classic cocktails and needs to get its story out there. The ingredient is VERMOUTH!

Keep an eye out for it!

Episode 058 - HI Honey

It's that time again. I just posted my 58th episode on HONEY. If you're not subscribed to my podcast through iTunes, why not?

On this episode, I give the good and the bad on honey. We talk about how to mix it easily into your cocktails and of course cocktail recipes using honey.

I also play a couple messages received on my new voiceline: 559-WE-DRINK. Do you have a question, comment, or just want to do a shout-out? Give me a call and leave a message.

Here are the recipes given but don't just go by these. Go listen to this episode to learn more.

Bee's Knees
4 parts gin
2 parts lemon
1 part 1:1 honey syrup
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
(If you use Cuban Rum instead of Gin, it's called a Honeysuckle.)

Lonsdale (Vince Lund at Beretta)
1 1/2 oz gin
3/4 oz lemon juice
1 oz apple juice (I prefer apple cider)
1/2 oz 1:1 orange blossom honey syrup
2 basil leaves
Bruise basil by slapping it between your palms and then tearing into strips. Shake everything up with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a basil leaf.


Honey, Thyme & Ginger Caipirinha
1 1/2 oz cachaca
1/2 oz ginger liqueur
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz honey
sprig thyme
Stir ingredients (minus thyme) until honey is incorporated. Add ice and a sprig of thyme. Shake well and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with chrystalized ginger. [Follow my instructions on the show about using a honey syrup and you can jump directly to shaking and cut out having to stir to incorporate honey, which can be very time consuming.]

A twist on the Margarita
1 1/2 oz reposado tequila
3/4 oz lime juice
3/4 oz 2:1 honey syrup
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with a splash of sparkling wine to give it POP.

Mr. Martini's Hot Toddy
Add 1 oz bourbon to a heated coffee glass. Twist a lemon peel over the glass, rub the rim and drop it in. Add honey to your sweetness level. Fill with hot Earl Grey tea. Stir to fully incorporate the honey. Let it warm your body and soul.

Bumble Bee Cocktail (Special thanks to Erik Atkins at Heaven's Dog)
2 oz Appleton's V/X rum
3/4 oz lime juice
1 oz 1:1 honey syrup
1/2 oz egg white
Shake without ice to froth egg whites. Add ice and shake to chill and dilute. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add a few drops of angostura bitters on top of the white foam (signature of any drink shaken with egg whites) and finish with an orange peel as well.

New voice number for listener feedback

I'm happy to say I was finally able to get a Google Voice account and will now be able to accept calls for listener feedback again. If you've listened to my old episodes you know I used to have the number, 206-9-THE-BAR, but that number went bye-bye. I was using a voicemail service out of Seattle that would send the messages to my email address as WAV files. The service was great but if I didn't get a message in 30 days, the account would automatically be closed. During one of my long vacations, it seems my subscribers didn't want to call during that time and 30 days came and went. I lost the number and when I went back to the site to try and get it back, they removed their "Vanity Number" feature.

I've been distraught over losing that number since then but no more. I have what I believe to be a BETTER number, thanks to Google Voice. Not only can you now call and leave me a voice message with your comments, questions, complaints, recipes, etc, you can also text message the number as well. Take these are more options for sending me feedback to tell me how my show is going.

Just remember: If you send me a voice message, I reserve the right to play it on my show. :)

SO WHAT'S THE NUMBER?

559-WE-DRINK
1 (559) 933-7465