Is your bar giving ‘uninspired’ energy? A midsummer bar makeover may be in order. If you’re a creative and ambitious bartender hoping to elevate their beverage preparation skills, then look no further than this list.
The Sugar Cube Revival
The modern sugar cube, presumed to have celebrated its 181st birthday this year, is enjoying a resurgence amongst artisanally-minded imbibers. The sugar cube’s epicurean lore spans Britain’s 19th-century afternoon tea parties, Paris’s gilded-era absinthe dens, and mid-century Madison Avenue’s smoke ladden boardrooms, but was actually created in what is currently the Czech Republic in 1843 by sugar factory manager Jakub Kryštof Rad.
While simple syrup has virtually replaced sugar cubes behind most modern professional bars in modern incarnations of old classics like the Sazerac and the Old Fashioned, sugar cube loyalists, like the culinary artisans behind the brand Storied Goods, continue to invigorate a time-old tradition.
Storied Goods’ bespoke assortment of infused sugar cubes, which includes flavors like orange-cherry, and rose petal (pressed with real rose petals) are fantastic beverage elevator for beverages of any kind — from champagne cocktails to coffee and tea concoctions. And, if you need inspiration, you can tap the brand’s signature twists on time-honored recipes.
Fizz Up With DrinkMate
Homemade bars seeking customizable carbonated options should look to the DrinkMate OmniFizz countertop carbonator to meet their needs. A must-have for bubbly beverage enthusiasts, this machine can quickly turn virtually any flat beverage into a refreshing, effervescent treat, including fresh juices, flavored water, wine, coffee beverages, and cocktails. The only limit to your creativity is the machine’s supply of CO2, which comes in the form of an easily replaceable 60L cylinder that can be purchased through the brand or at select retailers.
The OmniFizz isn’t the only tool in DrinkMate’s arsenal of products: the company also recently rolled out a portable carbonation device, called the instaFizz, which allows you to carbonate your beverage on the go. Additionally, The Lux, Drinkmate’s sleek, stainless steel answer to its OmniFizz model, is so popular that supplies have vanished amidst high customer demand. That should be no surprise to those familiar with Drinkmate’s products, which more than exceed expectations.
Infuse your Booze
The fat-washed cocktail era has been in full effect for some time (2007, to be exact). What reportedly began with a hickory-smoked bacon-washed Old Fashioned at NYC-based cocktail bar Please Don’t Tell has burgeoned into a full-fledged movement that, nearly two decades later, is still formidably humming along.
Through The Corto Cup Cocktail Kit, the brainchild of a collaboration between olive oil producer Corto Olive Co. and cocktail kit producer Camp Craft Cocktails, the fat-washed cocktail era can rage on. The kit Includes a 16oz jar filled with dried botanicals and fruit like sage, lemon, and cranberry. Also included in the kit is Corto’s limited-edition, California-produced Agrumato-Method lemongrass & basil olive oil, but don’t call this product an infused olive oil. Instead, the brand utilizes the Agrumato-Method, which macerates and cold-extracts botanicals and late-summer harvest olives rather than steeping them in olive oil after it’s produced to produce a powerful flavor.
Getting started is pretty straightforward: simply add vodka or your spirit of choice (I opted for a brandy-fortified white wine blend to create a custom vermouth). Once your spirit has been infused for three days, you’re left with a flavorful boozy base for savoy cocktails. You can now grab your Corto olive oil to wash your cocktail glass to add subtle umami and smoothness to your infused martinis.
For a more complex drink, add an equal amount of olive oil to your infused spirits (by column) and reseal your jar. Shake, then let your mixture sit at room temperature for up to 48 hours. Freeze your mixture for a few hours until the olive oil solidifies, then use a mesh strainer or cheesecloth to separate the spirits from the oil solids. Voila!
The World Is Your Garden
What better resource to tap for devising unique beverages — sparkling, savory, bitter, or whatever texture or intricate flavor profile your tastebuds desire — than the outdoors? Barkeep-turned-author Mike Wolf explores this concept in his book, Garden to Glass.
Garden to Glass is both a memoir and recipe bible for home and professional bartenders eager to incorporate fresh, homegrown ingredients into their beverages. Wolf’s book challenges its readers to look beyond the grocery store — even the local farmer’s market — and begin foraging for fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables right outside their homes or bars.
Wolf’s journey into garden-inspired recipes began during his days designing the cocktail menu items at the former Holland House cocktail bar in Nashville, Tennessee. After the bar ran out of blackberries needed for a popular cocktail, Wolf stepped outside and plucked them from trees growing along his bike route to work near Shelby Park in East Nashville. During his forage for berries, Wolf discovered an entire ecosystem of edible wild plants, including passionflower, sumac, and elderflower, to add to his bar toolkit. A botanist bartender was born.
Garden to Glass is just one of several books penned by Wolf (his fourth, Cheer: A Liquid Gold Holiday Drinking Guide, is available for pre-order). You can also catch his podcast, Liquid Gold (co-hosted with Kenneth Dedmon) for current bar insights from the bar alchemist and friends. So, grab some garden gloves and explore your horticultural side, because the world, quite literally, is your garden (to glass).
