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SOUTHERN WINE & SPIRITS

In keeping with the season,


a martini takes an autumnal
turn with Absolut Pears
vodka, with fresh pears and
rock-candy flecks as garnish.
BEVERAGE TRENDS

Richer, Autumn and winter drink menus add


flavor and intensity with warming spices,

Darker, brown spirits and seasonal produce

Stronger
BY JACK ROBERTIELLO

easonal menus may be nothing new in cutting-edge TO MARKET, TO MARKET

S restaurants, but in bars pioneering the American


cocktail revolution, the range of cyclical
possibilities is still being explored. In fact, the changes
So complete is the bar’s change to seasonal ingredients
that bartenders are now haunting farmers’ markets just as
chefs do; some even give drink demonstrations among
bartenders install as the weather piles of produce. Josh Pearson,
goes from balmy to blustery may head bartender at Sepia in
be the most dramatic. Chicago, recently displayed his
Where classic cocktails reign, seasonal drink ideas at a local
featured drinks tend to get farmers’ market.
stronger, darker and heavier as Whether driven by an
the days shorten. At bars and awareness of customers’ drinking
restaurants with more habits or by a locavorian culinary
contemporary menus, bartenders impulse, what’s available in the
frequently introduce flavors from market will be in the drink.
the autumn harvest of apples and In general, as spring and
pears and holiday baking spices. summer give way to fall and
They also may add warmer drinks winter, lighter, refreshing drinks
as the thermometer reading sinks. employing gin, vodka, blanco
At operations with a culinary tequila and light rum yield to
approach to drink making, the cocktails made with whiskeys
DOLE

changes can be constant and and brandies, dark rum and aged
adventurous, with menus Brandy warms up cherry puree and chocolate tequilas. Citrus and fresh herbs
incorporating robust, house-made for a Black Forest Martini with cherry cordial move aside for hardy, storable
syrups and bitters, squash and flavors, perfect for winter months. apples and pears, while more-
root vegetables. Even at assertive flavors from cinnamon,
restaurants with well-defined ethnic menus and at high- clove, nutmeg and ginger take prominence. Strong, stirred
volume operations, where consistently fleet service is drinks come on, as do hot toddies and beverages made
important, the days of perpetual drink menus are done. with whole eggs or egg yolks.

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BEVERAGE TRENDS

ROUNDING OUT FLAVORS de cacao, orange juice and an absinthe rinse


“We definitely gravitate to lighter flavors in for a drink called the Absente Minded.
summer and spring and deeper, rounder and Pearson changes out three drinks from his
even more comforting flavors in the fall and menu every four weeks or so, making a hyper-
winter,” says Toby Maloney, head mixologist seasonal statement. In late summer, he was
and co-owner of The Patterson House in busy turning crab apples into apple butter for
Nashville, Tenn., and The Violet Hour in a drink to be served in late September made
Chicago. with aged Brazilian cachaça and aquavit.
Even the types of bitters change; at his When summer ends and melons and other
bars, Maloney replaces light, citrusy bitters juicy fruits are no longer prominent bar
with darker concoctions that employ more- offerings, the seasonal change to fall fruit can
intense spices, like his own apple-ginger seriously alter a menu, says Lynette Moreno, a
bitters. Customers increasingly anticipate New York bartender and consultant.
these sorts of changes on beverage menus. “It’s great to have a pretty peach drink in
“I think my clientele look forward to my the summer, but once that fruit stops giving a
putting out new drinks every season; it keeps it great yield of flavor, you have to switch to
fresh and interesting,” says Bob Brunner, what’s coming in,” she notes.
beverage director at Paragon, a restaurant and Moreno, who developed the drink program
bar in Portland, Ore. In fall and winter, at the just-opened Rye House in Manhattan,
Brunner, who changes the Paragon menu says fall fruits pair well with brown spirits like
quarterly, turns increasingly to bourbon, rye applejack, dark rum and bourbon; the latter
and single-malt Scotch. He also uses apple fits especially well into fall and winter menus,
cider for drinks like the Blindsider, made with with its inherent honey, cinnamon and clove
Buffalo Trace bourbon, flavors.
Domaine de Canton Some bartenders extend the combination
ginger liqueur and by infusing apple or pear into spirits, while
fresh, hand-pressed others start using high-quality apple and pear
cider from a regional brandies and eau de vie.
supplier, garnished
with a Braeburn apple KEEPING PACE WITH FALL MENUS
wedge. An autumnal harvest theme is strong even in
regions without orchards; in Las Vegas,
SMOOTH SEGUES Armando Rosario, master mixologist for
Managing the seasonal national beverage distributor Southern Wine
menu transition & Spirits in Nevada, recently developed
requires some fine- restaurant drinks such as the Pear…fect
tuning. Martini with Absolut Pears vodka, fresh lime
“Fall is the hardest juice and rock-candy syrup, garnished with
menu to do” says sliced pears. His Pumpkin Pie Martini
Sepia’s Pearson. “You combines Absolut Vanilla, Goldschlager
want to feature some Cinnamon Liqueur, Baileys Crème Caramel
warming drinks, but and pumpkin puree, while Ginger Apple Pie
SEPIA

on days that are hot, blends Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Monin
you still want Ginger Syrup and apple and fresh lemon
Bartenders turn to darker to offer something refreshing.” juice.
spirits and add extras like Like Brunner, Pearson turns to darker “Bars today need to be bringing in drinks
tea, cider and late-harvest
spirits, adding to the menu seasonal drinks with fresh ingredients, especially when they
fruits to capture fall
flavors, as in Sepia’s rye- that feature aged rums, blended Scotches with are connected to fine-dining restaurants,” says
based Highroad. a little smoke, Calvados and other more Rosario. “There may still be many places in
robust flavors. He’s also open to working more Vegas where cheap drinks are what’s popular,
with vegetables; he recently pureed roasted but mixologists are following the lead of chefs
beets and mixed them with rye, white crème and keeping their menus seasonal.”

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BEVERAGE TRENDS

At restaurants like Craigie on Main in


Cambridge, Mass., aggressively seasonal
kitchen and bar menus change daily, so
micro-harvests join the ingredient list, says
The
Beverage Manager Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli.
The connection with seasonality makes it
FLAVOR PAYOFF
easier for customers to relate to drinks with a
stronger culinary bent. Seasonality on a Large Scale
“We have a really great group of guests
who are willing to hand themselves over to
Not every organization has the resources to craft artisan drinks, but
us,” says Schlesinger-Guidelli. “They are
industry expert Lisa Ash, Monin’s beverage-innovation director, has
knowledgeable about products, they go to
ideas for making seasonality an easier upsell.
farmers’ markets and specialty shops and are
members of Community Supported “Fall apple ciders are great, and people are receptive to flavoring
Agriculture programs; they are highly them with spiced rum or tequila to make a classic with a twist,” says
involved in the food chain.” Ash, who also notes that fresh pomegranates, dried fruits and
It was no surprise to Craigie on Main flavored syrups add easy autumnal notes to cold or hot cider drinks.
guests when, last fall, a drink with Muscat de
“I’ve also developed a lot of ‘warm-tinis’ using rum, tequila or
Provence squash appeared on the menu.
flavored vodka,” Ash reports. The liquid is warmed and flavored
Schlesinger-Guidelli cooked the squash sous-
with chai tea, ginger spice or vanilla. “These are not shaken and are
vide with butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt,
served in scalded martini glasses, which means whirling hot water in
pureed it and mixed the result with vodka
the glass so it won’t crack when a hot drink is poured in it.”
and honey.
With the long New England apple season, Coffee, tea and cocoa drinks always have some upsell potential, but
different varieties were available at Craigie as Ash notes that unless operators differentiate flavors, these drinks
winter approached. Golden-russet apple cider won’t capture much attention.
or Rhode Island Greening apples ended up in
drinks last year, the latter muddled with sage- “Hot-tails are more fun than your normal mug drinks,” she says.
and-juniper syrup and custom-made Maple, cinnamon, currants, vanilla and caramel are a few more
pepper-cake bitters. warming flavors Ash suggests for hot drinks. Extras like cinnamon
Schlesinger-Guidelli incorporates flamed sticks and apple or pear slices finish the presentation. “Look for
citrus and also uses salt more often in winter complementary flavors in your spirits and in your warm drinks. Even
to add savory notes to drinks. He anticipates warmed fruit juices are a great idea. I find dark rums are easier to
experimenting this year with powders, using play with than some of the whiskeys and bourbons.”
dried ingredients like citrus as glass-rimmers. Ash points out that no matter what the season or the region, people
have come to expect mojitos and margaritas on bar menus,
A GLOBAL VIEW OF SEASONALITY
and even these can reflect the season with a
Even restaurants with more- splash of pomegranate or cranberry syrup. She
restricted menus introduce notes that seasonal drinks help move a bar
mellower seasonal flavors at program beyond “the same five or six drinks” and
year’s end. Creating cocktails that give staff members something to talk up.
go with the food, especially at
Mexican restaurants, where high- “Premium ingredients and signature flavors are great
acid drinks like Margaritas pair so selling points,” Ash says.
well, is important at Barrio in — Kathy Hayden
Seattle, says Christene Prentice,
director of liquids for owner Heavy
Restaurant Group.
Hot drinks with warming spices mark a clear transition
Her new beverage menu for to cooler weather; a splash of pomegranate, cranberry
October puts less emphasis on mint or pumpkin-spice syrup doesn’t hurt, either.
and citrus and more on drinks like
the Canela Old Fashioned, made with MONIN

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BEVERAGE TRENDS

cinnamon-infused Sauza Conmemorativo Bénédictine, Chartreuse or peaty Scotch can


añejo tequila, Fee Brothers Old Fashioned evoke the essence of a flavor without
bitters and agave nectar. overwhelming a drink.
Prentice also plans to use more bitter Egg whites have crept into many summer
Italian amaros with bourbons and fall fruits; menus in the form of fizzes, but cold weather
earlier this year, she had success with a drink is the only time a whole-egg drink will sell,
made with tequila, Averna and cilantro. according to Pearson. The heavy texture of
Operational issues, especially speedy service yolks fits best with heartier appetites and
at dinner, limit her experimental range, but denser spirits in drinks like rum or brandy
she tackles both speed and flips, says Schlesinger-Guidelli.
consistency by developing Despite other significant changes, some
house-made syrups. lighter drinks need only a tweak to become
“They help you get autumnal.
control of the flavors,” says “It’s an interesting intellectual exercise to
Prentice. “If you want to make summery drinks more fall-like,” says
make drinks using serrano The Patterson House’s Maloney. He serves a
chiles, you can ensure that cocktail using American whiskey and black-
the spice level is consistent walnut liqueur over a glass of crushed ice. The
by making a syrup with agave flavors speak of fall, but the presentation is
nectar.” that of a julep, a very summery drink.
The same holds true with
other spices; Pearson of BAR PRESERVATION
Sepia makes a black-pepper Blood orange, a new bartender favorite, and
SOUTHERN WINE & SPIRITS

essence and an allspice syrup other citrus fruits make their appearance in
that provide intensely mid-winter. Schlesinger-Guidelli looks
warming qualities. Creative forward to in-season ingredients like oro
mixologists have extended blanco, a grapefruit-pomelo hybrid. But he
their reach into winter also takes fruits and vegetables at their peak
warmers as well. Paragon’s and preserves them for later use. At the end
Winter calls for festive, Brunner rolls out a number of hot toddies of summer, he was canning produce for
indulgent drinks like made with assertively flavored cordials, winter drinks.
master mixologist
including an alpine-pine fruit liqueur and “It might sound crazy for a bar program,”
Armando Rosario’s XO
Sweetspot, featuring Allspice Dram filled with flavors of nutmeg, he admits, “but if I’m going to do something
Amoretti Crème di cinnamon, clove and pepper. Schlesinger- on Valentine’s Day with raspberries, I’d rather
Pistachio and rimmed with Guidelli last year made toddies using arrack extend what’s really great now through
chocolate and ground
(palm wine) and Bénédictine. preserving techniques.”
pistachio.
Rinses are another way bartenders add That may not match current ideas of fresh
more-intense flavor to drinks in the colder seasonality, but perhaps truly locavore drink
months. Swishing a glass with absinthe, lists will evolve from the calendar-conscious
bar menu. If that proves so, expect bartenders
to add canning to the current repertoire of
TAK E -AWAY T I P S pureeing, infusing, syruping, bitters-making
and the rest of the skills a 21st century
TWEAK TO FIT: With darker spirits, warming jalapeño syrups and mixologist must master. &
seasonal fruit, even icy drinks like mojitos and juleps can shift with the
seasons
TRY THE RINSE CYCLE: Swishing a glass with a strong spirit
enhances warming drinks without overwhelming more subtle flavors
JACK ROBERTIELLO writes about spirits,
ADD ZEST: Winter’s citrus season helps keep winter drinks — both cocktails, wine, beer and food from Brooklyn,
hot and cold — refreshing and seasonal N.Y.; he can be e-mailed at applejak@earthlink.net.
PUT IT ON ICE: Prepare for Valentine’s day by freezing strawberries,
raspberries and cherries for festive red drinks

130 FLAVOR & THE MENU Fall 2009 www.flavor-online.com

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