Award-winning bartender and wellness coach, Derek Brown, discusses how what makes the iconic drink isn't a single ingredient but something called "stopping power."
Derek! Found you through Phayvanh, a friend of mine in Vermont (who commented here). Love that you've got a Substack and look forward to reading more. I was just in DC partaking of scotches at Jack Rose. ;)
This is inspiring me to start playing around with capsicum and other styles of heat! Derek how would you recommend incorporating peppers? My first thought would be lacto-fermenting peppers and straining the liquid off the “sauce” or creating a tincture with propylene glycol and adding it into recipes drop by drop. One thing is for sure I’m about to make one hell of a spicy NA red-beer for thanksgiving!
I could count on two hands the number of cocktails I've had in my life (really), but as a wine journalist have a lot of experience with that category. I'm intrigued by your list of four essential sensory characteristics of cocktails, and note in particular that it does not include aroma; in wine, aromatics are a huge part of the value proposition. So if I were to adapt your list to wine, I'd probably land with aroma, texture, length, refreshment, and flavor (in order). Refreshment derives from both tannin and acid, and both contribute to texture, but I think that refreshment stands alone because wine is meant to pair with food, to enliven and cleanse the palate. Perhaps refreshment is analogous to piquancy, but they feel a bit different to me. And I'm not sure if I'd call it a specific sensory characteristic, but balance is also of critical importance to wine; all of the components must work together to create a harmonious experience. There's more here for me to ponder, for sure!
I love this because we really need new tasting matrices for non-alcoholic wines to understand how they’re different from wines w/ alcohol and what is good/bad about them. Right now the comparison is entirely to alcohol, which doesn’t really work. Mostly because, they don’t have alcohol.
One more question, while I have you. In wine, the visual element is part of every sensory evaluation grid with which I'm familiar. In cocktails it seems like the visual is turned to eleven, there there's more variety, too, given the appearance not only of the liquid but also the shape of the glass and the presence or absence of ice and garnishes. Do you consider the visual component to be on par with the other sensory characteristics, or does the look of the drink play some other role? Or —?
It’s clearly very important but cocktails can be served in a wide range of presentations, even with a single cocktail (think Margarita). Beyond that I suspect that one reason sight is more important to wine is identification. The Court’s grid, for instance, is geared toward blind evaluation. The closest certification is B.A.R. and their blind tasting is based entirely on taste.
I would like to take this on. Will have to do some research and outreach for samples first. Would love any recommendations (and will dig through your Substack, too).
Derek! Found you through Phayvanh, a friend of mine in Vermont (who commented here). Love that you've got a Substack and look forward to reading more. I was just in DC partaking of scotches at Jack Rose. ;)
Great bar! And even better Scotches! Thank you for signing up.
Thanks for the origin story of the word---I hadn’t heard it before!
This is inspiring me to start playing around with capsicum and other styles of heat! Derek how would you recommend incorporating peppers? My first thought would be lacto-fermenting peppers and straining the liquid off the “sauce” or creating a tincture with propylene glycol and adding it into recipes drop by drop. One thing is for sure I’m about to make one hell of a spicy NA red-beer for thanksgiving!
That would work, for sure,. Sother Teague from Amor y Amargo is starting a hot sauce company that works well in cocktails: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/creativedrunk/desert-curse-a-sauce-for-cocktail-and-culinary-endeavors
Great stuff Derek! Good thing people don't use the literal definition of a "cock-tail" any longer.
Agreed. And ouch.
I could count on two hands the number of cocktails I've had in my life (really), but as a wine journalist have a lot of experience with that category. I'm intrigued by your list of four essential sensory characteristics of cocktails, and note in particular that it does not include aroma; in wine, aromatics are a huge part of the value proposition. So if I were to adapt your list to wine, I'd probably land with aroma, texture, length, refreshment, and flavor (in order). Refreshment derives from both tannin and acid, and both contribute to texture, but I think that refreshment stands alone because wine is meant to pair with food, to enliven and cleanse the palate. Perhaps refreshment is analogous to piquancy, but they feel a bit different to me. And I'm not sure if I'd call it a specific sensory characteristic, but balance is also of critical importance to wine; all of the components must work together to create a harmonious experience. There's more here for me to ponder, for sure!
I love this because we really need new tasting matrices for non-alcoholic wines to understand how they’re different from wines w/ alcohol and what is good/bad about them. Right now the comparison is entirely to alcohol, which doesn’t really work. Mostly because, they don’t have alcohol.
One more question, while I have you. In wine, the visual element is part of every sensory evaluation grid with which I'm familiar. In cocktails it seems like the visual is turned to eleven, there there's more variety, too, given the appearance not only of the liquid but also the shape of the glass and the presence or absence of ice and garnishes. Do you consider the visual component to be on par with the other sensory characteristics, or does the look of the drink play some other role? Or —?
It’s clearly very important but cocktails can be served in a wide range of presentations, even with a single cocktail (think Margarita). Beyond that I suspect that one reason sight is more important to wine is identification. The Court’s grid, for instance, is geared toward blind evaluation. The closest certification is B.A.R. and their blind tasting is based entirely on taste.
I would like to take this on. Will have to do some research and outreach for samples first. Would love any recommendations (and will dig through your Substack, too).