Starting at Square One

Hands down, our favorite cocktail of the weekend. This Honeydew and Basil Cocktail is simple as can be. All because we started at Square One.

Square One Organic Spirits truly is an inspiration to me. Their product line features an assortment of QUALITY spirits. They don't rush to fill the shelves of every market in town with 20 flavors of vodka, sacrificing what makes them so special.

The newest member of their small family of spirits is my new summery favorite: Square One Organic Basil Vodka. I have always loved fresh melon and basil together, and this new basil spirit makes concocting this cocktail so easy!

The Honeydew and Basil Cocktail
Pour over ice:
2oz Square One Organic Basil Vodka
3oz Fresh Honeydew Melon Juice*
Splash of Soda Water
Garnish with a Basil Sprig

*Honeydew Juice is as simple as passing cubes of skinned and seeded melon through your juicer! Right now these melons are at the peak of their summery sweetness and don't need to be sweetened. You may need to add some sugar to taste in the off-season.

The cocktail is also delicious with watermelon or cantaloupe!

More about Square One, from their website:

It all began at Square One . . .

. . . with the purest ingredients we could find. Very few vodkas are hand-crafted as meticulously as ours: created in one place, to the exacting standards of our Master Distiller.
We craft our distinctive, limited-production single grain vodka using certified organic American rye. Our water, drawn from deep aquifers, imparts unparalleled smoothness, reflecting its origin in the pristine Teton Range of Wyoming.
Our unique organic fermentation technique combines with a classic four-column distillation and filtration method to create Square One: an incredibly silky, high-quality vodka with a natural richness on the palate.

Eden in a Bottle . . .

Square One Botanical is a bold (90 proof) organic rye spirit infused with the organic essence of eight botanicals: pear, rose, chamomile, lemon verbena, lavender, rosemary, coriander and citrus peel. This enticing composition of organic fruit, floral and herbs creates a captivating fragrance and offers a seductive taste experience in cocktails.
On tasting Square One Botanical, the floral and fruit aromas immediately capture the senses. On the palate, the supple floral qualities are followed by herbal botanicals that offer backbone, yet stay gently in the background. Square One Botanical is delicate and balanced, and offers the cocktail enthusiast a chance to advance their cocktail repertoire beyond straight vodka or singularly flavored vodka.

Take a Cool Plunge . . .

Square One Cucumber is a deliciously aromatic spirit with the delicate and fresh taste of cucumber.
We crafted Square One Cucumber by combining the essence of organic cucumber with our original certified organic American rye vodka. To keep cucumber's fresh aroma, we applied the same skills used to capture the aromatics of flowers and plants in natural fragrances.
This spirit gives a contemporary spin to familiar cocktails like the Tom Collins or Gimlet and is a natural choice for refreshing new cocktails. For a cool, light yet effortless indulgence, try Square One Cucumber with tonic and a twist of lime.

Sweet and Savory by Nature . . .

Fresh basil has a rich history in folklore (it's sweet and savory qualities given both light a dark powers in mythology) and in cuisine from around the globe. More recently, many mixologists have discovered the flavor range and taste complexity that fresh basil brings to cocktails.
With cocktail creativity in mind, we take the herbal taste experience of basil a step further. Square One Basil is infused with the organic essences of four basil varieties -- Genovese, Thai, Lemon and Sweet -- plus we add a touch of coriander, honeysuckle and lemongrass to round out the spirit and soften the finish. Try Square One Basil in Mediterranean or Asian cuisine inspired elixirs. And in the classic Bloody Mary, replace Square One Basil with vodka and never look back.

The Vineyard Martini

Last week at Good Gracious! Events, we had the honor of creating a lovely event at Malibu's Church Estate and Vineyards for WIPA, and their group of 100 wedding industry professionals. GG!'s Pauline of course wanted to greet these special guests with a new and fabulous specialty beverage worthy of the surroundings. The Vineyard Martini was created to enhance the experience of a cocktail reception surrounded by grapes on the vine and fields of fresh herbs.

After deciding I wanted to create a grape-inspired cocktail, Stockholm Krystal Vodka joined on as the liquor sponsor for this event. I went to our produce refrigerator, snacking on grapes and nibbling fresh herbs until I found my favorite combination: red and green grapes with oregano!


Enjoy some more great photos from this event, and the recipe at the end of the post...
Special thanks to Imagery Immaculate for all of these beautiful photographs.


Everyone enjoyed the cocktail!


The vineyard table was filled with California Artisan Cheeses, tasty tartlets, crisp arancini, herbs, figs, and so much more!



Vineyard Martini, recipe by Dan Smith of Good Gracious! Events

Martini:
2 tablespoons grape base and 1 ounce of its nectar (recipe below)
2 ounces premium vodka
splash of italian sparkling lemon soda
grape skewer and oregano sprig garnish
Ice

Method:
First, place 1 teaspoon of the diced grape base in the bottom of a martini glass. In a martini shaker, combine ice, vodka, 1 tablespoon grape base and 1 oz nectar. Shake until icy cold and strain into martini glass. Top with a splash of lemon soda and garnish with grape skewer and oregano sprig.


GRAPE BASE & NECTAR
(for about 20 drinks)
Combine:
2 cups each red and green grapes, diced
1 teaspoon white pepper
3 cups oregano infused simple syrup (1 ½ cup sugar, 1 ½ cup water, 6 sprigs of oregano, heat until sugar is fully dissolved and remove oregano. Chill until cold.)

Stir above ingredients together and let soak at least thirty minutes and up to 2 hours, refrigerated

Keeping it simple...

by Dan Smith

Summer is here and MAC Cosmetics celebrated their SURF, BABY line with launch events all over SoCal. Good Gracious! was happy to be on hand with tasty grinds and bodacious libations at MAC stores from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and practically everywhere in between!

Now sometimes MAC gets pretty wild with their cocktails, but as a salute to the simplicity of a Baja summer, this time the right drink was as simple as "CAN" be!

Cans of ice cold Tecate and Modelo Cervezas were passed by surfer-dudes on wooden trays like this one featuring a Tomatillo & Chicken Chimichanga with Avocado Crema. Other trays featured the beers with Chimichurri Shrimp, Crab Tostadas on Blue Tortilla Crisps, and Grilled Squash Blossom Quesadillas with Smoky Tomato Salsa.

Of course we had some sweetness as well; Mini Chuuros with Spiced Hot Chocolate Sauce were my favorites!

Lunes por la Mañana

This week, your Monday Morning Bartender will be visiting Mexico. Ciudad Obregon is the destination and home of my partner Rene. The city is the second largest in the state of Sonora which is just below Arizona. Getting there can be as simple as two flights (LA to Hermosillo, then on to Obregon) or as complicated as a series of trains, busses, taxis, planes, and more busses. This trip I get to experience a little of each travel scenario.

When traveling South of the Border I will often grab a bottle of a delicious Mexican Liqueur to bring home. No, not Kahlua, as you might expect, but a sunny-yellow liqueur derived from a extravagantly aromatic yellow-flowered shrub native to Baja California: Guaycura Licor de Damiana.


On first impression you will notice the bottle is quite a unique shape, modeled after an Incan Goddess. Beyond that, unless you are fluent in Spanish and familiar with botanical terms, you will most likely have no idea what awaits you inside.

To make the liqueur, the damiana plants are gathered at the time of flowering. The parts used to produce Damiana Liqueur are the dried leaves and stems. The damiana herb has an ancient reputation going all the way back to the Mayans. The flavor is light but sweet, flowery and at the same time herbal.

As an herb, Damiana is said to act as an aphrodisiac and is also used to treat asthma, anxiety, depression, and headache. There is of course no scientific evidence that it works for these conditions.

Mexican Margarita folklore hints that the first ever Margarita was made with Damiana, not Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or Triple Sec.

Try the Damiana Margarita:
1 oz. Damiana Liqueur
2 oz. Silver Tequila
2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
Shake with ice and serve up or on the rocks

For now, Damiana hasn’t received much attention in the states, but this deliciously floral liqueur is now finally available readily at BevMo and fine specialty markets. It found its way into one of my newest concoctions: Bar Fly’s Bliss, which will be debuted in my February 2011 Cocktail Seminar at Catersource Conference and Tradeshow. For now, that recipe is under wraps. Here is a photo:


Rene and I, enjoying some coconut water at the laguna:

Beer Me with Barley Wine!

This is as seasonal as it gets! Outside it's cold, raining, maybe even snowing! Even here in Southern California we are on our sixth day of rain and there seems to be no end in sight!
What better time to warm up with THE beer of winter: The Barley Wine.

Bass Brewing was first to label an ale as "Barley Wine" in 1900. So named simply because while it is a beer, it can be as strong as wine. Barley Wines are always big, and full-bodied, with complexly layered flavors of spice, malt, and hops. I always enjoy enjoying the deliciously spicy and malty-sweet aromas before taking each sip! Stonger than most beers in alcohol (generally 9% to 12%) Barley Wines should be enjoyed with caution... here's a quick story why.

A pub in my neighborhood used to have a "pint-night" every Tuesday. You would buy your first pint in a 16oz logo glass for $5 and then enjoy refills for just $2! What a deal and at the end of the night you take home the glass.

One night a friend was meeting me for the "Pint-Night" debut of Sierra Nevada's Barley Wine Style Bigfoot Ale. I was running a bit late, but my friend, a strong-beer novice, started with a pint without me. Well he must have loved them because by the time I got there he was finishing his fourth! He had no idea what hit him. He was fun to watch while Bigfoot and I began our own adventure that night. Note to this pub: Serve your extra strong ales in 8 or 11oz glasses, and while I appreciate the value, two buck refills are a bit reckless!

Bigfoot is a redish-brown ale full of big malt and bittersweet hoppiness with an earthy aroma and great depth. 9.6% alcohol by volume.

Many of you know I am a huge fan of Portland, Oregon! Years ago a previous employer asked me to relocate there for a few months (which became two years) while expanding into the Pacific Northwest. My first day in that city's Pearl District we went in search of some great local brews. Driving around we simply rolled down the window and followed our noses to BridgePort Brewing Company, and their Old Knucklehead Barley Wine. Aged in oak bourbon barrels and brewed with pale, chocolate, and caramel malts, this Barley Wine can also age quite gracefully. I brought some of this home from Portland one holiday season and we put it in the extra fridge at my sister's house. Three years later I noticed that no one had touched it and WOW that was a beer to remember! I have tried to age some since but it turns out that the beer doesn't last if I know where it is.

CHEERS!

All Bubbly for the Holidays!

by Dan Smith
Good Gracious! Events, Los Angeles

What is more festive than a glass of “bubbly”?
As catering professionals, we are of course accustomed, if not expected, to serving a glass of champagne or sparkling wine as a welcoming sip or a congratulating toast, but there are so many ways to make this expected beverage sound, look, and taste extra special!

1 Spice it up
Simple as can be! Fill a glass with your favorite sparkling wine and add fresh herbs for some extra fragrance! Rosemary, basil and lemongrass are favorites. Experiment with your chef; he or she certainly won’t mind!

2 Flower power
Add a blossom and a simple glass of champagne becomes a work of art! These Wild Hibiscus Flowers are edible, taste of delicious floral nectar and are a beautifully festive addition to the most special of occasions.

3 Spanish sparkle
Soak some delicious ripe fruits in a liqueur such like Cointreau, St. Germain or a fruit brandy, then top it off with a bubbly Spanish wine and you’ve got a delicious sparkling sangria.

4 Looks good on paper
These individual splits of French champagne were simply relabeled with the groom’s wedding invitation design. Add a hot pink straw and sip!

5 Love lemons
Mix an ounce of your favorite Limoncello (ice cold) with a sparkling wine and you create something special. We garnished these with lemon and lavender at a romantic Italian al fresco feast.

What's Cooking at Good Gracious?

by Dan Smith

It's the holiday season so of course caterers and event professionals such as we are extra-busy nearly every day of the week! (Hence the lack of blog posts lately!) We have been catering breakfasts for thousands, dinners for hundreds, and just this week I have rubbed elbows with celebrities ranging from Charlize Theron to Pauly Shore.

A highlight of this season has really been having the audience to experiment with so many new cocktail recipes, some of which I have covered in previous blog posts. The Blackberry Infused Gin with Organic Q Tonic has been a huge hit! So has a delicious concoction of Vodka, Fresh Grapefruit, my own Black Pepper Bitters, and "drunken Cranberries." Bar ingredients are getting so much more fresh lately, and as caterers we are making every effort to use seasonal ingredients, just-squeezed juices, and the freshest herbs whenever possible.

Also in the works are a Cranberry Infused Vodka and a Limoncello-inspired Passioncello made with real Passion Fruit.

This is day-one of a blackberry infused gin. Notice that the gin has not yet turned color and the sugar has yet to dissolve. You may see the method for infusing gin in a November MMB blog post!


Drunken Cranberries with Vodka and Rosemary. They serve as a great FRESH way to bring seasonal cranberry flavor into cocktails without having to use boring, reconstituted cranberry juice! These can be made with a number of liquors... vodka, dark rum, or gin. It all depends what kind of drink you want to make with them!

INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups Fresh Cranberries
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Liquor (Vodka, Rum, or Gin)
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Sprigs Rosemary (Optional)

METHOD:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until cranberries soften and skins just begin to break. Remove rosemary. Let cool and refrigerate up to 1 week prior to use.

CRANBERRY DELICIOUS COCKTAIL:
In a cocktail shaker, combine ice with:
2 oz Gin
1 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
1 oz St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Shake gently to chill
Strain into a martini glass containing:
1 tablespoon Drunken Cranberries
2 Dashes Orange Bitters

CHEERS!

Serve Slightly Chilled

Most of us missed the worldwide celebration last week honoring annual arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau! Every year on the third week of November a number of French wineries, mainly Georges Duboeuf and Maison Joseph Drohin release this very short-lived vintage, straight from the 2010 harvest and bottled a mere six to eight weeks prior.

Why such a young red wine? The Beaujolais Nouveau is intended for immediate consumption! It should remain in its best form through the holidays but most begin to decline in quality after this brief window. Expect a very light red with very little tannin and fruity flavors such as banana, pear, and fig. Traditionally you should be able to enjoy this with your heavy holiday fare of turkey, ham, and all of the fixin's that come with them!

Serve this wine on the cool side- they recommend a temperature of about 55-56 degrees Fahrenheit which is what your wine fridge (if you have one) may be set at already!

This year's colorful Duboeuf Label Art

Ten Fun Facts about Beaujolais Nouveau!

1. Beaujolais [BOE-zjoh-lay] Nouveau is always released the third Thursday of November, regardless of the start of the harvest.

2. The region of Beaujolais is 34 miles long from north to south and 7 to 9 miles wide. There are nearly 4,000 grape growers who make their living in this picturesque region just north of France's third largest city, Lyon.

3. All the grapes in the Beaujolais region must be picked by hand. These are the only vineyards, along with Champagne, where hand harvesting is mandatory.

4. Gamay (Gamay noir à Jus Blanc) is the only grape permitted for Beaujolais. While certain California wineries may label their wine "Gamay Beaujolais" this is not the same grape variety as what is grown in France, and is quite different in taste and growing habits.

5. Beaujolais Nouveau cannot be made from grapes grown in the 10 crus (great growths) of Beaujolais-only from grapes coming from the appellations of Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages.

6. Beaujolais Nouveau owes its easy drinkability to a winemaking process called carbonic maceration—also called whole berry fermentation. This technique preserves the fresh, fruity quality of the wine, without extracting bitter tannins from the grape skins.

7. Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be drunk young-in average vintages it should be consumed by the following May after its release. However, in excellent vintages (such as 2000) the wine can live much longer and can be enjoyed until the next harvest rolls around.

8. Serve Beaujolais Nouveau slightly cool, at about 55 degrees Fahrenheit-the wine is more refreshing and its forward fruit more apparent than if you serve it at room temperature.

9. Approximately 1/3 of the entire crop of the Beaujolais region is sold as Beaujolais Nouveau.

10. The region of Beaujolais is known for its fabulous food. The famed Paul Bocuse Restaurant is just minutes from the heart of Beaujolais, as is Georges Blanc's eponymous culinary temple. These great restaurants have plenty of Beaujolais on their wine lists. This quintessential food wine goes well with either haute cuisine or Tuesday night's meat loaf.

Bonding Over Unoaked Chardonnay

I'm no wine snob. I like what I like, sometimes I like it too much, but that's for a whole other sort of blog. I also enjoy wines according to the season. Generally whites in the summers and reds in those cold Southern California winters.

You may know that I am an event planner for Good Gracious! Events and that gives me plenty of opportunity to advise clients on all sorts of things, including their beverage selections! This week I was meeting with a first-time client in Coto de Caza, CA (the high-security gated enclave that is home to those horrible Real Housewives of Orange County.) My new client Valerie was an amazing and down-to-earth woman who could never be mistaken for one of those reality TV shrews so she and I hit it off immediately.

After choosing her menu, selecting her china, and designing her tabletop and flowers the subject turned to wine. Here in California we are in our version of autumn which means temperatures have ranged between 75-85 degrees this week while she was asking for my recommendation for her white wine.

I said, "If you asked me a month ago, I would have suggested a very nice New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but I think I am done with those for the year. How about an unoaked Chardonnay?"

Val's eyes lit up! We were exactly on the same page and we will always have that in common. She loved her dinner party last night and immediately booked a holiday event for December. Score.

Here are a few unoaked "chards" that you may want to try. Not as grassy and bright as my favorite summery Sauvignon Blancs, and a great transition before the big, bold, and buttery more traditional Chardonnays. Each one of these has been rated a 90 score by one wine publication or another.

Babich Hawkes Bay, 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay, New Zealand
Notes: Pear, Honey, Peach, Melon
About $13


Plantagnet Omrah 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay, Australia
Notes: Bold yet young and fresh, Citrus Zest, Kumquat
About $15


Sebastiani Russian River Valley 2008 Unoaked Chardonnay, Russian River, California
Notes: Orange Blossom, Banana Peel, Mineral, Peach, Vanilla
About $19