Mixology Monday XVII: Bring on the Blog Love

I was just trying to buy a car…

I don’t know when bartending transitioned from a means to acquire vehicular freedom to an obsession, but my evolution from Cro-Magnon pre-mixed drink dispenser to somewhat upright professional enthusiast has been a wonderful journey. The magnificent individuals I have worked with over the years and eager customers consistently encouraged me to hone my craft. Bartending started as a way to work through school, but a B.S. and M.A. later, I realize I was always working towards two types of educations. I liked the B.A.R. degree better.

Unfortunately, I ran out of resources for my ongoing pursuit of knowledge. Co-workers actually avoided the subject when talking with me. Unless you are fortunate enough to work for one of the few great bars in the world in one the few cities that host such establishments, bartending knowledge generally peaks at some point if you rely exclusively upon your bar for information. Extending your knowledge requires time outside of the bar and a determined search for others like yourself.

While books are some of the best resources for feeding the bartending monster growing inside, the online cocktail community has become the most accessible and diverse source of information for exploring anything you might pour. Name one book that extensively covers Japanese Whisky, the fine science of ice, and the ongoing creation of homemade Falernum. When did the last book you read clarify its contentions or answer your follow-up questions? Formed by a collection of amateurs and experts, the cocktail community covers subjects from the most basic to the most intricate subtleties. You can never predict what you might find. I think that when I found The Cocktail Chronicles for the first time I stayed up after three straight bartending shifts until I had read all of Paul’s posts.

Around the same time, I started a Cocktail of the Day feature at the bar where I worked and made hundreds of drinks which I learned about from reading the posts of great enthusiasts and bartenders all over the web. It was Darcy’s campaigning for the superiority of the original Mai Tai in one of his posts at The Art of Drink that led to a citywide epidemic after I made them one night as the nightly concoction. I make classic Mai Tais at home all the time, but just reading Darcy’s description of serving Mai Tais to his customers while his ridiculous boss conjured a banana member of “The Cocktail Hall of Shame” made me want to do the same in my bar that evening. We ran out of my newly purchased bottles of Orgeat in under two hours. People actually called others and told them to come to the bar to try one!

Similarly, most of my cocktail blog reading benefits my bar guests, but sometimes, you get a little selfish and keep things at home. This tends to happen when the ingredients required aren’t available at our bar. I have trouble singling out one specific cocktail among so many that I’ve enjoyed, but the other day I made one of Jamie Boudreau’s Apple-Blueberry Collins, which he just posted on his site. Make sure to check out his post on the recipe below:

APPLE-BLUEBERRY COLLINS

2 oz Laird’s Applejack
1 oz lemon juice
¼ oz simple syrup
3 dashes Angostura bitters
10 blueberries
2 oz lemon-lime soda

Place all but lemon-lime soda into an iced shaker
Shake hard (to break up the blueberries) and strain into an iced Collins glass
Top with lemon-lime soda

I love the drink Jamie – great work!

I’m always looking for a new great drink for myself or my partons, but it wasn’t always that easy. After going page by page everyday through my favorites, I learned about this cool concept called an RSS feed. Wow, my addiction became so much easier. With my newly acquired time and knowledge of the blogging, I considered starting my own blog, but I was just too intimidated by the expertise of some of the bloggers I read every night. After about three months, I decided to start my own modest experiment, and it is still up and going.

I try and write informative posts for people like myself, but I must admit that the person who probably gets the most out of the blog is myself and that’s what encourages the blog the most. Don’t get me wrong; I love talking to people, answering questions, and striving to put together reading material for people. But, writing and researching my chosen subjects has really pushed me to learn more and improved my ability to provide a unique experience to my bar guests. I certainly don’t write the best cocktail blog on the internet, but I like to think that I throw something into the pot of cocktail blogging knowledge. If you haven’t started your own cocktail blog exploration and want to know where to find others who do it better than myself, these are some of my favorites in no particular order.

The Cocktail Chronicles – Paul Clarke
Read the whole blog! It will keep you busy for months and represents everything that the best cocktail blog can offer.

The Art of Drink – Darcy O’Neil
Yes, a Canadian chemist creates one of the best blogs you can read. Give the maple leaf a try.

Jeffrey Morgenthaler – Guess Who
The bartender’s bartending blog. This blog is awesome for everyone, but it is great to get some honest commentary on the profession in addition to the excellent info.

Nonjatta – Chris Bunting & Scottes’ Rum Pages - Scott
I wish there were more down-to-earth blog’s like this that covered specific topics and gave a deeper source of content on certain spirit types.

EVERYTHING TO YOUR RIGHT!
I can’t comment on everybody specifically, but I think that the above blogs represent a good spectrum of the cocktail blogging community. Specifically, the first three have been at it for quite some time and have tons of archived posts. Personally, I defer to others and strive for one of the largest link lists on the net for cocktail bloggers. Many people like to link to others who link to them and what-not, but I put you up there if I read your stuff – no politics here. I read every blog linked on here whenever they write something new, and if you have the time, you should too. If you aren’t listed on this site, tell me where you’re at, and I’ll make sure to add you on here and read any thoughts you have.

Well, that about sums up my enormous love for cocktails blogs everywhere. To all the bloggers out there: keep writing! I don’t know how influential cocktail blogging is on the mainstream public, but my customers and I really appreciate it all! Now head on over to the Cocktail Chronicles to check out everyone elses Mixology Monday posts and find out about other great blogs.