March 2020

Talk about a good reason to curl up and binge watch Netflix.

This boozy affogato looks heavenly.

Mr. Black Boozy Affogato

Mr. Black Boozy Affogato

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop ice cream
• 1 1/2 oz. Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
• Crunchies (for garnish)

Preparation: Take a generous scoop of ice cream (your choice of flavor) and drop into a dessert cocktail glass. Pour Mr Black liqueur over the top and wait for the ice cream to slowly drizzle into the coffee syrup. Liberally sprinkle your choice of crunchy garnish.

Garnish Suggestions: Honeycomb or Rice Crispy cereal, candied nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia, etc. Chocolate chips, biscuit crumb, cacao nibs—anything delicious with a bit of crunch!

The post Drink of the Week: MR BLACK At Home Affogato appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News

As a bar owner in Oakland, California Allison Sadauskas is dealing with closure of all non-essential businesses, as is New York and several other states.

“My bars do not have kitchens so we are closed entirely,” shares Allison. “So, neither myself nor any of the twenty-two staff members I employ are currently working, unfortunately.”

Heart & Dagger Saloon

Allison is keeping busy right now with administrative work as well as actively trying to locate financial resources for herself and her staff. “My bars are named the Heart & Dagger Saloon and The Amplifier (both in Oakland),” says Allison. “I’m glad recent California liquor laws allow bars to sell beer, wine, and spirits to go! For the type of liquor license I own for both bars this means we cannot sell individual cocktails to go, rather everything must be in its original can or bottle packaging. We have opened a “Bottle Shop” at the Heart & Dagger Saloon, which is now open for a few hours every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, where we feature rare and difficult to find beer, wine, and bottle of spirits.”

She also has an eight-year-old child that she is home-schooling through all of this. “His routine helps keep me on a regular schedule,” she says. “We have a full school curriculum to get through daily. We also enjoy taking walks with our dog, doing yard work, cooking healthy meals at home, getting a full night of sleep every night, and trying my best to not let the stress get the better of me.”

Heart & Dagger Saloon New Bottle Shop

Allison has set up a Fundrazr donation site, which folks can donate to. The monies raised there will be equally distributed amongst all the staff at Heart & Dagger Saloon and The Amplifier. This site will be up and running for the duration of the mandated closures. She has also applied for assistance with USBG, EDD Unemployment, Small Business Loans and the likes.

Her advice to her staff and other bartenders who have the means at this time is to become certified in online certifications like ServSafe, LEAD, and AB-1825 Sexual Harassment Awareness and Prevention Training.

Meet Chilled 100 Member Allison Sadauakas

A San Francisco East Bay Area native, Allison Sadauskas began her bartending career originally intending for a short-term means of paying for graduate school. Instead Allison’s passion for bartending has lasted for nearly two decades. Allison has been behind the bar at several notable Bay Area bars and restaurants before opening up her first bar, the Heart & Dagger Saloon in Oakland’s beautiful Lake Merritt neighborhood, with husband and co-owner, Erik. The pair opened their second bar, The Amplifier, in the thriving Uptown district of Oakland in late 2018. You can still catch her slinging drinks at both of her bars a few days a week. When not working (which is a rarity), Allison also enjoys spending time with her son as well as appreciating the abundance of live music and comedy the Bay Area has to offer.”

Heart & Dagger Saloon

The post Raise Your Spirits: Bar Owner Allison Sadauskas Opens a Bottle Shop appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News

Certain cocktails have the ability to calm and soothe our senses.

We asked five bartenders their favorite cocktails to cozy up with. These cocktails will help warm your body, relax your mind, soothe your senses, coat your throat, and drift you off to a happy place.

Mulled Drinks

Warm, mulled drinks are cozy says Louisville’s Trouble Bar, co-owners Nicole Stippy and Kaitlyn Soligan-Owens. The duo mix up mulled cider drinks with a word of advice. “We love warming cocktails,” says Stippy. “The biggest thing about boozy warm cocktails to remember is proof can become your enemy quickly in hot drinks! The steam of your drink is going to create an express path for the booze aroma to hit the drinker before they even get to enjoy the taste of the drink itself.”

Trouble Mulled Cider

Trouble Mulled Cider

Ingredients:

• 2 gallons of your favorite cider
• 1 1/2 oz. of bourbon, preferably with a proof between 80 and 90
• 4 oranges (cut into halves)
• 8 cinnamon sticks
• Handful of dried cloves
• Allspice

Preparation: Insert two cinnamon sticks through the middle of halved oranges and push the cloves into the flesh of the orange. Repeat this for each half of the orange. Using a small cheesecloth piece to make a bag, throw all the extra cloves, cinnamon sticks and allspice inside and tie up with baking string. Put all mulling ingredients into the crockpot; fill to nearly the top with cider and let sit in the slow cooker on high for three hours before serving. Ladle cider into a cup. Slowly add 1 1/2 oz. of a bourbon whiskey and stir, before garnishing with a cinnamon stick.

Brandy Cocktails

Louisville has a strongly bourbon-oriented reputation, of course, so it’s not a surprise to see the spirit added to mulled cider. However, there is more to mixology in the Derby City than whiskey. Bar manager Eron Plevan from Alex&nder, the rooftop bar at Copper & Kings Distiller, has a warming cocktail he describes as “warm coconut eggnog,” using house made brandy.

C&K Coconut Cocktail

C&K Coconut Cocktail

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Copper & Kings American Brandy
• 2 1/2 oz. spiced coconut cream batter*

Preparation: Mix the two ingredients above and top with hot water. *Combine coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk, egg, cinnamon, allspice, clove, and nutmeg.

Hot Toddy Cocktails

Mike Vacheresse, co-owner of the Brooklyn-based Travel Bar, opened his bar in the winter of 2014 and created a cozy cocktail to match the occasion, the Travel Toddy. “I was intrigued by Kronan Sweedish Punsch, so I built the Toddy around it,” said Vacheresse. “I feel like a Hot Toddy is a hug from the bar to the customer.”

Hot Toddy

Hot Toddy

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Kronan Sweedish Punsch
• 1 oz. cinnamon-infused El Dorado 3 year Blanco Rum
• 5 oz. hot water
• Flamed orange peel and cinnamon stick (for garnish)

Preparation: Put 8 whole cinnamon sticks in a liter of El Dorado Rum, place it in a cool spot for 10 days, turning the bottle over every other day. Strain the rum through cheese cloth and store in a glass bottle. Combine ingredients with hot water and garnish with flamed orange peel and cinnamon stick.

Tiki Cocktails

Not everyone thinks a cozy cocktail necessarily needs to be warm in temperature. Bartender PJ Wagner for The Northcott Liquorette, thinks it’s the idea the drink carries with it that matters. “A soothing cocktail doesn’t have to be hot or spicy, but it does need to take you to another place, and I think something tropical or tiki is the perfect escape.”

Escape from Neptune

Escape from Neptune

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Blind Tiger Bourbon
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. Bitter Truth Allspice Dram
• 1/2 oz. strawberries
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. BroVo Falernum
• 1/2 oz. cinnamon syrup
• 5 dashes Prohibition Bitters Ginger beer

Preparation: Muddle strawberries; add ingredients to a Tiki-style glass or Highball filled with ice.

The post 5 Bartenders Share Their Favorite Cocktails to Cozy Up With appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News

There is no sugarcoating what is happening in the service industry right now.

The COVID-19 pandemic has already had devastating consequences for people all over the world, and we fear the worst is yet to come. The bartending community, in particular, has been thrust into financial hardship with a very unpredictable future.

We asked our Chilled 100 bartenders to share how they are coping through this crisis. As the husband of an analyst, Houston bartender Chris Morris, who is dealing with his city being shut down for a second week, wanted to put a number to the predicted tip revenue that would be lost in his city.

Houston Bartender Chris Morris

“There are approximately 12,200 restaurants in the Houston area alone, if we ballpark it to 13,000 to include bars—it seems kind of low but that’s just conjecture. Using his own formula, he estimates conservatively that a small bar, for instance, employing one bartender, three servers, and a support person every night can earn about $125 each a night in tips on a slow night. So for Houston’s 13K establishments at $125 a night multiplied by five staff members over fifteen days, the total lost dollars is close to 122 million. These are hypothetical numbers for just a small mom and pop bar in the area. What about major restaurants in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City? The numbers are staggering.

“Holy shit. It really puts that $500,000 donation from Jameson and $1M donation from Diageo into perspective. I’m grateful that our industry is so supportive of its own, I really am. And I know brands and suppliers are doing all they can do to get through the obnoxious legalese necessary to do anything, but this isn’t something we can do alone. The tips lost by FOH is more than the GDP of Samoa. The real one, not even the American knockoff (I jest).” Chris urges this is a multi-billion-dollar problem and one that bartenders will need to be financially creative to get through.

“Yes, I’m aware many restaurants are now offering takeout, curbside, and delivery. It’s a band-aid over a gaping wound. I hope it provides enough for the staff to hold out. For many, it’s simply not possible. It certainly wasn’t for us, a new small independent without a dedicated following and years of relationships. Today, I go and pick up my check, turn in my key, and pack my tools. I then get to sit and hope I have a bar to return to in a few weeks … months?”

Within his bartending community, Chris notices a sense of dread and uncertainty as a lot of jobs in the hospitality field have disappeared overnight. To stay informed he encourages bartenders to take the time to read the many articulate posts on the subject of the sales impact and the effects on the restaurant and bar industry itself. He also wants to remind bartenders that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, so use this time wisely. “As we see in China, the trouble does subside, hopefully by early summer. Luckily for us, people are going to need a good, strong drink when all of this is over.”

Houston Bartender Chris Morris Mixing Behind the Stick

That said, what can bartender’s do in the meantime? Megan McCoy, Kansas State University Director of the Personal Financial Planning Master’s Program, recently told CNBC that the first step involves “accepting that your life is going to be different for a while and focusing on tasks you can control.”

Since the virus is forcing everyone to virtually connect with one another, take advantage of online classes, services, tastings, videoconferences and even socially distant dinner parties. These are the kinds of social spaces we need to create now. One thing we know for sure is participating in online culture, or actually contributing to it, is capable of pulling us together. Bartenders need to use technology to their benefit now and not only as a distraction from the real world.

And while lengthy social media sessions may be unhealthy, digital face-to-face conversations can fill the void left by the inability to interact daily with bar patrons and offer you a chance to talk directly with friends.

At the same time remember to actively seek enjoyment. Catch up on reading, dive into some binge-watching, listen to your favorite podcasts (or use this time to find new ones), listen to music, practice a hobby—you name it.  Health officials recommend actively seeking something fun so that you are not just keeping yourself busy, but occasionally enjoying your time at home.

Houston Bartender Chris Morris Mixing Behind the Stick

Finally, don’t be too proud to ask for help. If you have needs, lean on your family and friends. If necessary (or possible), seek professional help. And, if financial situations seem scary, the National Consumer Law Center advises contacting your landlords and creditors as soon as possible and asking for hardship concessions. Many credit cards offer forgiveness plans, too.

“For me, I’m not sure if putting this crisis into real, tangible numbers makes me feel any more justified,” says Chris, “But if your favorite bartender seems a little distraught over the next few weeks, this is a little glimpse into why. We’ll all need a drink soon enough, A strong one. I look forward to being there to serve it.”

The post Ask A Bartender: Coping Through Crisis appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News

Few iconic cocktails predated the contemporary cocktail revival, but the Cosmopolitan was one of them.

Created in 1988, the “Cosmo,” as it is commonly referred to, didn’t come into vogue until the early-to-mid 1990s. The mastermind behind this classic? A veteran bartender by the name of Toby Cecchini—now owner of The Long Island Bar in Brooklyn.

At the time of the Cosmo’s genesis, Cecchini was cutting his teeth as a mid-twenties bartender in the industry at the iconic Tribeca restaurant: the Odeon. In 1988, a time when the Martini reigned supreme, Cecchini caught wind of a drink called the Cosmopolitan that was taking the gay bars of San Francisco by storm, which was made of vodka, Rose’s lime juice, and Rose’s grenadine. As any creative bartender would, he decided to take some of the flavors of this popular tipple and elevate it with some balance in flavors and ratios.

His first grab was Absolut Citron—vodka with notes of citrus that was just released and launched a flavored-vodka craze. Then he took the cocktail in the direction of a Margarita with the addition of fresh lime juice and Cointreau. Ultimately he substituted the cranberry cocktail juice for the grenadine and garnished with a fresh lemon peel. The result was a light-pink hued cocktail in a pretty coupe that, some years later, the ladies of HBO’s Sex and the City took a liking to and became their drink of choice, catapulting the drink into the mainstream and making it one of the most popular cocktails of all-time.

While it started as a staff favorite, Cecchini could no longer control the allure of his bright, balanced vodka sour that spread like wildfire across the New York City bar scene.

Still, this cocktail is often the bane of the modern bartender’s existence—along with the dry vodka Martini—it is a classic that is often botched but can be a beautifully balanced cocktail when executed correctly. Ensuring that a citron vodka is used as the base is vital for high notes of citrus that brightens the cocktail through the essence of the citrus, as opposed to the juice. Your choice of cranberry cocktail juice is also essential—keep it simple with Ocean Spray, or some other bright, red, fruity cranberry juice to make sure you’re ending up with a pretty pink and not a mucky off-red hue is also key. (Organic cranberry juices are often a more natural color—this, unfortunately, doesn’t work here.) Add those two ingredients with fresh lime juice, and Cointreau (or an 80-proof triple sec), then make sure you’re giving a proper shake—typically 12 seconds for shaken cocktails that are served up—and you’re on your way to a Cecchini-level Cosmopolitan. However, you’ll have to visit him at The Long Island Bar for a truly proper one.

The Perfect Cosmopolitan

The Cosmo

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. citron vodka
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 3/4 oz.  Cointreau
• 3/4 oz. cranberry cocktail juice (like Ocean Spray)

Preparation: Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker; add ice; shake, then strain into coupe glass. Garnish with an expressed lemon peel, and serve.

The post How to Make the Perfect Cosmopolitan appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News

As a precaution due to COVID-19, BACARDÍ will postpone the 12th annual BACARDÍ Legacy Cocktail Competition, until further notice. 

The competition was scheduled to take place May 1-7 in Miami, Florida.

Taking into consideration The World Health Organization’s assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a global pandemic, BACARDÍ made the difficult but necessary decision to halt any further plans for the competition in line with the density reduction and social distancing guidelines being set forth by public health organizations.

“In coordination with our local authorities and public health officials BACARDÍ has made this decision to safeguard the health and well-being of everyone involved in the BACARDÍ Legacy Cocktail Competition – from our finalists to our hotel and bar partners,” said Ned Duggan, Global SVP, BACARDÍ Rum. “This remains an ever-evolving and challenging situation, but we should all do our part to limit the spread of COVID-19.”

“It’s a sad day at BACARDÍ as we won’t be able to celebrate the amazing work of our 41 Legacy finalists in May as planned, but our main priority is to ensure the safety of our vibrant community,” said Jacob Briars, Global Advocacy Director for Bacardi. “Our finalists have been working incredibly hard for the last year to prepare for the finals in Miami. We are working on plans to continue to shine a spotlight on the 2020 Legacy finalists, their Legacy cocktails and their bars around the world and will update with more details soon.”

BACARDÍ Legacy Cocktail Competition

BacardiLegacy.com

Facebook.com/BacardiLegacyCocktailCompetition/

Instagram.com/Bacardi.Legacy

The post BACARDÍ Legacy Cocktail Competition Global Finals Postponed appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News

Bee Smash with Polliinator Vodka

Bee Smash

Created by Samantha Casuga

“The Pollinator Vodka has a lovely floral aroma that I thought would work well in a bright shaken cocktail. Mint and rhubarb accent the honey and elderflower found in the vodka, then I added a little pineapple juice for a tropical undertone.”

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Pollinator Vodka
• 6-8 mint leaves
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. rhubarb syrup*

Preparation:  Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake. Fine strain into a chilled coupe glass.

*Rhubarb Syrup

Juice raw three rhubarb stalks using a conventional juicer. Weigh the resulting juice with an equal amount of white sugar and combine in a blender. Blend on high until sugar is fully dissolved, approximately 3 minutes. Bottle, label and store in refrigerator.

Meet Samantha Casuga

CHILLED 100 Member, New York  

Samantha Casuga, originally from Canada, is highly involved in the bartending community. She has participated in many programs including the Prep Team for San Antonio Cocktail Conference moving up to a team leader, and up to a Grey Coat at Tales of the Cocktail in the Cocktail Apprentice Program. She believes in the value of networking, team building, and creating bonds within the industry.

She has completed numerous programs including Certified Specialist of Spirits certification and the Bar-5 program with Beverage Alcohol Resource. Currently, she is a candidate for the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Level 4 Diploma.

Samantha is head bartender at The Dead Rabbit, NYC and brings 10 years of hospitality experience to the team.

Samantha Casuga – CHILLED 100 Member, New York

The post Drink of the Week: Bee Smash appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News

As an ongoing initiative, we’ve launched a new series called Keep Your Spirits Up—geared toward bringing bartenders useful and helpful information centered on wellness, professional development, and overall assistance during this difficult time.

When it comes to bartending, knowledge really is power. It’s easy to get stuck in the cycle of work and play, so taking a step back to stay educated beyond cocktail specs and service related to your establishment is important, especially during a time that we could consider the golden age of drink-related literature. Whether you want to brush up on how to properly build a round of drinks, understand a bit more about dilution and temperature as it relates to the optimal cocktail, or just learn more about a specific spirit category, there are many books to choose from to help you with your bartending knowledge. Here are five essential books every bartender should read:

“Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions” by Alex Day, Nick Fauchald, David Kaplan, and Devon Tarby (Amazon: $26.51)

A James Beard Award winner in 2019, winner of the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for best new cocktail or bartending book, and also named one of the best cookbooks of the year by Chicago Tribune, Cocktail Codex is an absolute must-read written by the Death & Co. team for both experienced bartenders looking to refine their craft by learning new techniques that they may be unfamiliar with, such as carbonating cocktails, various syrup-making methods, or the role of acid types in cocktail-making; or for new bartenders who could benefit from some foundational knowledge, such as how the Old-Fashioned is related to the Sherry Cobbler, Sazerac, and Ti’ Punch, and how to think about cocktail structure.

Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions

“Cocktail Codex” accomplishes this by giving readers six different cocktail templates, from which all cocktails can be traced back to: the Old-Fashioned, Martini, Daiquiri, Sidecar, Whisky Highball, and flip. They make the point that, once you understand the hows and whys of each “family,” you’ll understand why certain ingredients will find balance versus not, when to use one technique instead of another, when you can employ the Mr. Potato Head method of substituting one ingredient for another, and more.

“Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail” by Dave Arnold (Amazon: $23.79)

A winner of the 2015 James Beard Award for Best Beverage Book and the 2015 IACP Jane Grigson Award, this book is an examination of what makes the perfect cocktail through a scientific lens. (It’s more of a chemistry book than anything else, to be completely honest.) Arnold, the mad booze scientist, and his collaborators investigate temperature and dilution, carbonation, sugar content, and acidity to understand what perfect balance looks like in various cocktail formats. Arnold includes chapters on the handling and role of liquid nitrogen in cocktails, chitosan/gellan washing, and clarification via high-tech equipment such as the centrifuge, as well as other methods of clarification as well. This book is not for the light-hearted, but it is a great source of reference for curious, detail-oriented bartenders that like to know the hows and whys to all-things cocktail-related. “Liquid Intelligence” is an absolute essential, and has played a large role in why the bar industry is where it is today.

Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail

“Meehan’s Bartender Manual” by Jim Meehan (Amazon: $22.49)

A winner of the 2018 James Beard Foundation Cookbook Award in “Beverage” category, and also a winner of the 2018 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for Best New Cocktail or Bartending Book, Jim Meehan, a contemporary cocktail pioneer, pours his years of experience in hospitality, knowledge of cocktails, and connections with some of the most influential individuals in the spirits world into this genuine bartender bible. Meehan covers the essential topics, including the history of cocktails and bartending, service, hospitality, menu development, bar design, spirits production, drink mixing technique, and the tools you’ll need to create a well-stocked bar.

The book includes recipes for 100 cocktail classics—including some of Meehan’s originals—plus insights as to why he makes them the way he does. For bartenders who are just coming into the industry today, this book is everything you need. Meehan establishes himself as the modern day Jerry Thomas with this exquisite piece of literature. This will be a book that stands the test of time – being a source of reference for bartenders for the following decades and beyond.

Meehan’s Bartender Manual

“I’m Just Here for the Drinks: A Guide to Spirits, Drinking and More Than 100 Extraordinary Cocktails” by Sother Teague (Amazon: $17.97)

Wine Enthusiast’s 2017 “Mixologist of the Year,” and barman at one of the World’s Best Bar’s, Amor y Amargo, Sother Teague, gives readers a brief overview of some of the core spirits that bartenders should know, paired with some witty wisdom and clever cocktails. “I’m Just Here for the Drinks” is a great light read for bartenders looking to brush up on their historical facts as it relates to drinking cocktails and spirits, and is a great source for some drinkspiration. Teague’s backbar-focused approach to cocktail-making is low-maintenance, yet inventive, which makes his recipes accessible for any bartender. And, if you’re an amaro-lover like Teague is, then you are in for a treat with some of his deliciously bitter recipes.

I’m Just Here for the Drinks

“The Drunken Botanist” by Amy Stewart (Amazon: $13.19)

This book has been around since 2013, but still holds significance as the botanical guide for bartenders and drink-makers of all sorts. Stewart introduces readers to almost every herb, tree, flower, spice, grain, fruit, and bark imaginable through the lens of cocktails and spirits. “The Drunken Botanist” will leave readers with an understanding of the various ingredients that make your favorite spirits, for example, the various grains and vegetables that can make a whiskey, or vodka, as well as almost every botanical that you’d find in a gin as well.

The book features several types of informative sidebars as well. The most practical are the recipes for syrups, pickles, and liqueurs such as limoncello; and Stewart’s expert advice on how to grow some of these ingredients at home and what their ideal temperatures, and conditions are. This book is essentially the deconstruction of booze to their most raw form, and it is an excellent read for bartenders looking to understand a bit more about what they’re drinking, where the ingredients come from, and their historical relevance.

The Drunken Botanist

The post Keep Your Spirits Up: 5 Essential Books that Every Bartender Should Read appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News

Set in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, Council Oak Steaks & Seafood has a unique menu, live music and a fresh, fun, and new energy.

The drinks menu offers Jack Daniels Hard Rock Exclusive-Single-Barrel-Bourbon-made Manhattans and a wood-fired octopus dish that’s to die for. We asked Chef Quincy 5 things about himself and Council. Check it out.

Chef Quincy commutes to Atlantic City from Philly every day.

“I was working at Union Trust in Philadelphia when I was first introduced to Marc Forgione. I did a stage for him and he offered me the position of Chef de Cuisine at his new restaurant, American Cut. Mark had a great reputation and I was excited to work with him, which is how I first got to Atlantic City. I then had a mutual acquaintance who introduced me to the Corporate Chef at Hard Rock. We hit it off instantly, which led to offering me the position of Executive Chef of Council Oak Steaks & Seafood for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City’s opening in 2018.”

Chef Quincy Logan

He is very particular about his ingredients.

“We do things seasonally at Council Oak Steaks & Seafood. We thoughtfully source the highest ingredients possible. I like to bring finesse and technique to the menu, which guests don’t normally see in larger restaurants.”

Honey Bee

He has an open kitchen policy.

“Council Oak Steaks & Seafood is a refined environment with an airy dining room and an open kitchen. The Chefs are also very accessible to the guests, elevating the dining experience from start to finish.”

Council Oak Fish Restaurant

He likes to get creative.

“My favorite part about Council Oak Steaks & Seafood would be the different equipment I get to work with. The Josper Charcoal Oven and Argentine Style Wood burning grill are great pieces to cook with. For instance, our octopus is wood-fired, braised in red wine court bullion, marinated, and then grilled on the wood fire. I also have the freedom of creativity to express myself on the menu.”

Lobster Pot

He’s a sucker for Council’s Seafood Pots.

“Our Seafood Pots are amazing. My personal favorite is the Lobster Pot.  It’s served with a full one-pound lobster, creamer potatoes, andouille sausage, fennel, shallot and garlic, white wine pernod, and clam juice.  These are simmered and served in a beautiful Le Creuset Dish.”

The post 5 Things About Chef Quincy Logan of Council Oak Steaks & Seafood appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News

LeSin Vodka is an ultra-premium brand that is mastering the French art of seduction. Here are some interesting (and sexy) concepts the brand incorporates during production.

First off, LeSin is triple distilled from deluxe winter wheat and crisp artesian spring water that is filtered through limestone, which is considered the ‘Champagne of natural filtration.’ Well, that sounds pretty sexy. The company has developed the perfect environment for filtration, which Charles Vaughn, founder of LeSin Vodka says, “Optimizes the wheat and water characteristics that pave the way for a smooth, luxurious, and alluring experience.” Also, there is no sugar added at any point in the process. Getting sexier.

LeSin Vodka Brand Ambassador

What’s more, the brand has mastered the art of elevating temperatures at every level of distillation. “Much like you can cook a great piece of steak too fast and end up with rough, dry meat,” explains Vaughn, “If you’re not select and careful with how you distill vodka, you could end up with an aggressive burning product that is not very pleasant to consume.” Patience in the distillation process works hand in hand with the brand’s ultimate goal to produce vodka from the purest ingredients in France. Ultimately filling the vodka with luxury, romance, sophistication and sexiness.

Still, while seductive terms aren’t usually associated with vodka, Vaughn says, “Our French heritage lends itself perfectly to being sexy.” He acknowledges the bottle has a subtle hourglass design, and everything is made in France, including the silk labels, which are elegant and understated. Now that’s sexy.

LeSin Vodka

Furthermore, LeSin Vodka inspires bartenders to mix signature vodka cocktails in a new and tantalizing way: Based on the seven deadly sins, the company updated the original misdeeds to—seduction, indulgence, luxury, demureness, passion, desire, and vanity—The Seven Deadly LeSins, which serve as inspiration for signature cocktails being designed by leading bartenders all over the world. Vaughn recommends bartenders pair LeSin Vodka with natural and organic fruits, berries, and juices when developing cocktails. He points out that, “the natural softness and earthly sweetness paves the way for a smooth finished product.”

The experience will seduce the senses.

Follow LeSin Vodka on Social Media: Facebook  Instagram  YouTube  Twitter

The post Brand Profile: LeSin Vodka, The Subtle Art of Sexy Vodka appeared first on Chilled Magazine.

Source: Mixology News