IN MY SHOES: Bibo Ergo Sum
This past Sunday afternoon found The Stiletto and The Heel checking out the wares at a trade show for barkeeps at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. For one of us, there was a whole lotta drinking going on.
As The Stiletto moved from booth to booth, her MO was to sniff, sip, swirl, swallow and discuss the aroma (“nose”), attack and aftertaste (“palate”) and other flavor attributes with the distributor or manufacturer so she could write about the products intelligently. The Heel’s contribution to this journalistic undertaking was to finish the rest of The Stiletto’s sample – after he had already finished his, natch - so she could write about the products intelligently.
Some trends you will be noticing at trendy boîtes:
† Earth Friendly: As in Purus vodka (“organic from grain to glass”), which is made from “100 percent organic Italian wheat and water from the alps,” distilled five times and filtered through active charcoal; Tru vodka (“organic, artisan, tasty”), which is “the first organic vodka made from American wheat that helps us all be vodka fans and good citizens”; and Whitley Neill gin (“inspired by Africa, made in England”), which is infused with the pulp and seeds of baobab fruit and Cape gooseberries. In keeping with earth-friendliness, Tru is shipped in an innovative biodegradable box made from recycled material that can be reconfigured into a shelf display, and its labels are “printed on tree-free corn fiber using soy-based inks.” For its part, Whitley Neill donates five percent of profits to Tree Aid, which promotes reforestation in rural Africa.
The Stiletto, The Heel and several others we spoke with milling about the Whitley Neill booth prefer vodka to gin, and our verdict was unanimous: “This is delicious. This is a gin I can drink.” The flavor was complex, with both herbal and citrus notes; the finish was quite smooth, with the herbal flavors lingering on the tongue.
In addition to unflavored vodka, Tru offers the requisite lemon and vanilla vodkas – but also several interesting artisanal infusions (The Stiletto sampled Candied Ginger and Celery Peppercorn). The Stiletto is envisioning (OK, dreaming of) a Bloody Mary made with Tru’s Celery Peppercorn vodka and Tilted Palm’s 19th Hole Bloody Mary Mix, which is the best she has ever tasted (the secret: bits of aged red pepper and dill pickle). Melkon and Tom: Take this as a hint to do some cross promotional marketing.
† Cachaça: By The Stiletto’s count, there were four different brands of this Brazilian rum represented at The Bar Show. Cachaça is distilled from fermented sugar cane juice, rather than molasses. As with rum, cachaça can be unaged (clear) or aged in wooden barrels (amber colored). The clear variety is suitable for mixed drinks, the aged variety can be sipped straight. In either case, the sugar cane aroma is pronounced (and intoxicating in and of itself).
The Stiletto liked the Cuca Fresca Pura Gold Cachaça best because it was smooth and not bitter, like a couple of the other cachaças she tried (plus their promotional shot glasses, which evoke a Brazilian beauty’s curvy hips and ass were quite clever). BTW, Cuca Fresca also donates “a portion of all proceeds” to the Rainforest Foundation.
† Energy Drinks: The idea is, these vitamin-loaded beverages are supposed to enable you to drink more without getting drunk (Crakshot), or to “detox” you to help you get over a hangover faster (Boozer Premium Hangover Remedy). The Stiletto has no idea whether they live up to their marketing promises – and it would be difficult to determine this, as all the samples were spiked with vodka. Tonic water is old school, apparently. Then there’s V2, a vodka that is spiked with taurine (an essential amino acid found in Red Bull and Rockstar) and caffeine.
One entrant in this category The Stiletto could not bring herself to swallow - but that The Heel was easily seduced by – was Deep Throat, which comes in a curious yellow can with a ruler on the side and the promise to “Keep It UP All Night.” Arrow Productions, which distributes the 1972 adult film of the same name, is marketing this drink as a brand extension.
There were also several outstanding libations The Stiletto would be remiss not to mention: Domaine De Canton, a very smooth, ginger-infused French cognac that comes in a striking bottle that looks like a bamboo stalk; La Fée Parisienne absinthe (“banned since 1915”), which has the same anise aroma and flavor as Ouzo, and morphs from a bottle green hue to a milky pistachio ice cream color with the addition of ice water (typically drizzled over a sugar cube resting on a slotted absinthe spoon that straddles the rim of the glass); and Marani, a winter wheat vodka imported from Armenia that is distilled three times with honey and skimmed dry milk, charcoal filtered 25 times and aged in oak barrels – all of which creates a very clean and crisp attack and a smooth aftertaste with just the right amount of bite (curiously, with all that charcoal filtering, The Stiletto would have expected the aftertaste to be more charcoal-y, as is the case with Stiletto Vodka).
Editorial Note: On Monday night, The Stiletto and The Heel - an Ivy-educated attorney with a prestigious New York firm. and occasional contributor to this blog - attended the U.S. launch party for La Fée Parisienne absinthe at the Openhouse Gallery on Mulberry Street in SoHo, which was painted completely white. The party was catered by Great Performances (thank you, Jason, for always making sure the hors d'oeuvre tray was never picked clean before The Stiletto got a chance to munch on the delectable tidbits that came out of the prep area with astonishing frequency). The highlight of the evening was a drawing to win one of several custom La Fée art installations done in the style of Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Claude Monet and Toulouse Lautrec. Each was autographed on the back by La Fée owner and Managing Director George Rowley and Marie-Claude Delahaye, curator of the Musée de l’Absinthe in Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
Correction: The Heel informs The Stiletto that Arrow Productions owns distribution rights to "Deep Throat," but did not produce the porn flick. The post has been amended.
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