Colorado Drinking

Last weekend saw me celebrate my fortieth birthday and, coincidentally, attend a wedding in Golden, Colorado, a small, very American town outside Denver. My wife and I of course had to explore the burgeoning drinks scene, focusing mainly on Boulder, a well-to-do town at the foot of the Rockies and just under an hour's drive from Denver airport. With Colorado having around 250 breweries, both big (including Coor's) and small, the state is best known for its craft brewing scene. There are also 80 distilleries - up from nine a decade ago - and, perhaps most surprisingly, 150 wineries, meaning that any visitor to Colorado will not go thirsty.

beer

Straight from the airport, we drove to the Prost brewery just outside downtown Denver. As the name suggests (prost means cheers in German), the beers follow German styles and we were lucky enough to arrive in the middle of the brewpub's Oktoberfest, with staff dressed in Lederhosen. There are plenty of choices of regular beers on tap, but we chose a Märzen straight from the keg and served in one-litre steins. This is a beer traditionally made in March (which is what Märzen means in German) with plenty of hops so that it could be served in October after the hot summer months when it was difficult to make good beer. The beer was excellent, malty and lightly hoppy, refreshing and very drinkable at under 6% ABV (✪✪✪✪✪). Even better, the one-litre stein was just $5 - a marked contrast to California where less than half a litre of an IPA is $7. The pub doesn't serve food, but just as we were finishing our first stein a food truck pulled up, serving weighty sandwiches - a different food truck is outside the pub daily.

In the evening, after the wedding we stopped off for a cheeky beer near our AirBnB in downtown Golden. Mountain Toad is a young brewery (again served daily with a food truck), with a vibrant atmosphere. We were a little tipsy by this stage, so I have no idea what the beer we drank was called - but it was very good!

spirits

On Sunday morning, we drove half an hour to Boulder to visit J&L Distilling, which has been going for three and a half years, producing 600 cases a year of vodka, gin, and a liqueur. This was quite an experience. Owner and distiller Seth Johnson is something of a mad scientist, having trained and worked as a physicist before turning his distilling hobby into a career. He's built his own column still, with wires all over the place connecting the still to his computer which can send him text messages when he's not there. This shows his dedication to detail, which runs through every aspect of his business. Unusually, the vodka is made from molasses, which he has shipped from Louisiana, as he feels that they give a creamier, weightier mouthfeel. He also puts the vodka through a high level of rectification to take away the characteristic bite that vodka has. The result is one of the best vodkas I've tried; reminiscent of a rhum agricole, the SNO vodka ($32; ✪✪✪✪✪✪) has a subtle green, underripe banana nose, and that creaminess on the palate balances the alcohol. Johnson also makes a gin with a number of botanicals, placed in separate, layered trays at the bottom of the still, to create an intensely flavoured but very nuanced spirit (also called SNO; $36; ✪✪✪✪✪). FYR ($35; ✪✪✪✪) is a liqueur also based on the vodka, made with a range of herbs and spices, dominated by cinnamon. It's sweet, rich (at 50% ABV), with cinnamon, cloves, and herbal aromas. It's certainly a winter drink, well suited to Colorado's cold, snowy winters.

We also visited another Boulder distillery, Vapor, which is a larger operation. They've been going for ten years (they used to be called Roundhouse but changed the name for legal reasons), building their reputation on gin. They make two gins from about ten botanicals - Rhok ($35-45; ✪✪✪✪) is an unaged gin, a little too sweet for me with not enough juniper, while Ginskey ($50-70; ✪✪✪✪) is a barrel-aged gin which as the name suggests tastes like a whiskey. They've recently expanded to whiskey-making, and are even going to make a single-malt whisky from a huge copper still they've bought from Scotland (it took three and a half years to make, showing the investment that's going into this distillery). Their new Bourbon is good, though a little hot and obvious (✪✪✪).

Both distilleries have tasting rooms where guests can sample the spirits and also drink cocktails, which I think is a great idea. At J&L, we tasted their most popular cocktail, based on the gin infused with beets for a month and it was delicious and tasty. Even better was the take on a mojito, made with the vodka instead of a rum (a natural substitution given the vodka's made from molasses) and basil instead of mint. This was wonderfully refreshing and the basil integrated with the vodka very well. At Vapor, we tried the gin mint gimlet, which was very nice and beautifully presented.

wine

We didn't go to Colorado intending to taste wine, but on the recommendation of Seth at J&L we visited Settembre, a winery also based in Boulder. Colorado's climate makes grape growing difficult, with snowstorms often arriving just as the vines are budding. But the high altitude does lead to a naturally long growing season, which means that there is some potential for the state's wines. The main AVA is Western Slopes, which is 1,700m high, leading to cool nights and good air circulation.

sweet wines still dominate young wine-making states

Settembre is a winery founded ten years ago by former electrical engineer and UC Davis-trained Blake Eliasson, and with small production he is determined to make the most out of Colorado's vineyards. What I particularly liked about the wines we tasted was their age - the wines from the winery's first vintage, 2009, were drinking particularly well. Chardonnay, Riesling, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon are all made, with a rosé from Cabernet Franc too. The Cabernet Sauvignons we tasted from the 2011 and 2012 vintages were far too green and underripe, suggesting that those cool nights make it difficult to get Cabernet fully ripe. The other wines were uniformly excellent though. The 2011 Chardonnay ($27; ✪✪✪✪✪) had tropical fruits, cinnamon, and a very refreshing acidity given the wine was five years old. The 2011 Sangiovese ($30; ✪✪✪✪) was also still very alive, with smoke, red fruits, spices, and firm tannins, although the 15% ABV was noticeable (the 2010 Sangiovese, which we didn't taste, is 16%!). Also noteworthy was the 2010 Reserve Syrah ($50; ✪✪✪✪), which was juicy, fruity, and spicy, with a balanced, tannic structure.

All the wines were marked with high acidity, making the whites refreshing and the reds ageworthy. Those reds also had firm, gripping tannins - keeping those tannins in check in a climate with such diurnal variation seems to be one of the big challenges for Colorado winemakers.

We were only in the area for two days, yet managed to pack a lot in. I definitely want to return; Denver and its environs are relaxed, easy-going places and, as one would expect from an area where so much drink is being made, there are some great restaurants and up-scale bars (we had Sunday brunch at The Kitchen in Boulder). The drinks scene is young and vibrant and going in very interesting directions - watch the Colorado space.

Cocktails

I've recently been having fun putting cocktails together, experimenting with different ingredients, discovering combinations that work together surprisingly well. I had never been much of a cocktail person - finding them too strong and expensive - but when I worked at hangingditch I became fascinated with the different spirits, liqueurs, and bitters that people would come in specifically asking for. Now I'm already becoming one of those people, searching out obscure ingredients that will provide a subtle but vital fix to the recipe.

history

Cocktails date from early on in the nineteenth century, when they were a mix of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. They gradually became more complicated, with liqueurs added to the mix. Their height in the US was during Prohibition, often to cover up the dubious quality of spirits. Gin was a popular base spirit - as in eighteenth-century England, an easy spirit to make, easy to make badly, and easy to get drunk on. After the Second World War, gin was replaced by vodka, a neutral spirit to which many flavours could be added. After a lull in the 1960s and 70s in the US (though in the UK they became popular with the rise of middle-class dinner parties), cocktails returned to fashion in the 1980s, particularly in New York. This was also the point when Bourbon, which hadn't really recovered from Prohibition, was embraced back into American drinking culture through cocktails like the Manhattan and Old-Fashioned.

bitters

Historically created for their health-giving properties, bitters are alcoholic liquids with bittering agents added, such as quinine, angelica, orange, or rhubarb. Those bitter flavours can also be aromatised by the further addition of clove, vanilla, coriander, or ginger.

Many of the great bitter drinks originate from central Europe, in particular northern Italy where they are called amaro. A famous amaro apertif is Campari, which is used to give colour to cocktails; its bitterness tempered with a sweet edge, it's made from bitter orange, quinine, and rhubarb. A lower strength, less complex, more herbal alternative is Aperol.  

Amaro can also be drunk as a digestif. Italy's top-selling amaro is Averna, which is sweet and made from herbs, bark, and botanicals. The Czech Republic also produces another famous sweet, herbal digestif, Becherovka. Other digestifs are overtly and intensely bitter, designed to be drunk in small quantities. A famous example is Fernet Branca, made from rhubarb, saffron, aloe, myrrh, iris, bitter orange, and cinnamon. More notorious is Jägermeister, made from 56 different herbs.

For use in cocktails, there are many specifically flavoured bitters which have been reduced to their essence. The most famous are Angostura's aromatic bitters, a secret recipe made from herbs and spices. Originally a medicinal drink for the army of the great Venezuelan revolutionary Simon Bolivar, these are an essential element of any cocktail bar. A classic cocktail featuring them is a Pink Gin, which dates from the days of the British Empire in India. A favourite of Ian Fleming, it's made with 2½ ounces of gin and 4-5 dashes of Angostura, with a lemon twist.

Another historic producer is Peychaud, from New Orleans, whose bitters are more aromatic and sweeter, and the key ingredient in a Sazerac cocktail. Other great producers include Bob's Bitters and Bittermens, and many new companies are emerging as cocktails once again become popular. My good friend Matt Hemeyer makes spiced bitters at addition, a fine example of the imagination and experimentation behind every great cocktail.

vermouth

Dating from late-eighteenth-century Turin, vermouth is a vital ingredient in classic cocktails such as a Martini, a Manhattan, or a Negroni. Vermouth is wine with herbs, bark, and roots added to it and can be either sweet or dry. Famous brands are Punt e Mes, from Italy's Carpano family who also produce Antica Formula, a richer, fuller high-quality vermouth, Cinzano, and Martini & Rosso.

liqueurs

A liqueur is a spirit flavoured, infused, or distilled with herbs, fruits, or flowers and often with a sweet syrup added. The complex, intense aromas make them ideal for adding to a cocktail. Crème de Cassis is a liqueur made by soaking blackcurrants in alcohol; added to white wine it makes Kir and to Champagne a Kir Royale. Other similar liqueurs, which will make a profound difference to a cocktail with just a small amount, include Crème de Cacao and Crème de Menthe. Another famous liqueur is Grand Marnier, which is Cognac flavoured with the distilled essence of bitter oranges, while Cointreau is another orange-flavoured liqueur from sweet and bitter orange peels (non-branded alternatives are called Triple Sec). Amaretto, meanwhile, is flavoured with almonds. The list is endless.

cocktails

Here are some cocktails I've made recently which I've enjoyed, arranged by the core ingredient.

Brandy

Although Cognac would be the preferred base, a good brandy will suffice. Likewise with fruit brandies - good Calvados, an apple brandy from Normandy, is expensive and Laird's Applejack does the job.

Corpse Reviver

As the name suggests, this is a hangover 'cure' - at the very least, it will wake you up. There are a number of different recipes each called the Corpse Reviver; this one is brandy based. An equal combination of three ingredients - 1oz each of brandy, applejack, and sweet vermouth.

Champagne

It may seem sacrilege to corrupt a drink as fine as Champagne with other ingredients, but it nevertheless makes a superb base for complex cocktails.

Jumping Jellybean

Add 1oz each of tequila blanco, Grand Marnier, and fresh lemon juice to a chilled flute, and then top it up with Champagne. The result is a refreshing, citrusy, salty drink.

Gin

For some base drinks - for example, white rum - the quality of the spirit doesn't matter too much, but with a spirit like gin it's essential. The mix of botanicals will impart vital flavours to the drink. The classic gin cocktail is the Martini, a combination of gin and dry vermouth.

Alfonso Special

Mix and shake 1½oz of Grand Marnier, ¾oz each of gin and dry vermouth, and ¼oz sweet vermouth, with a couple of dashes of Angostura to create a bitter, spicy cocktail.

Rum

White rum, which has fairly neutral flavours of tropical fruits, is a great base for cocktails as it adds some but not too many flavours to the mix. It's what else goes into the mix that counts.

La Floridita

Mix and shake 1½oz white rum, ¾oz sweet vermouth, ¼oz crème de cacao, and 1oz of fresh lime juice, with a dash of grenadine. That touch of crème de cacao gives a strong chocolately finish to the spicy, herbal, cherry-like vermouth.

Tequila

Although darker versions of tequila can be used, it's tequila blanco that's most common - most famously in the Margarita. Always use good-quality tequila that's been made from 100% agave.

Tequila Mockingbird

Mix and shake 2oz of tequila blanco, ½oz of white crème de menthe, and 1oz of fresh lime juice. Float a sliced lime wheel on top. A beautifully coloured, salty, minty drink.

Vodka

A neutral-tasting spirit, vodka nevertheless comes in different guises, made from a range of base materials including grain, potatoes, or grapes. Increasingly fashionable now are flavoured vokdas such as vodka citron.

Agent Orange

Everything about this cocktail is orange, flavouring the neutral flavour of the vodka: 1½oz vodka, ¾oz Grand Marnier, ¼oz Cointreau, and ½oz fresh orange juice. 
 

Whiskey

Many whiskey-based cocktails use Bourbon (such as the Old-Fashioned) or rye whiskey (Manhattan, though some prefer Bourbon). Others use Canadian whisky, perhaps because so much whisky came from Canada during Prohibition, when cocktails were all the rage as part of the Roaring Twenties.

Commodore

1½oz of Bourbon, ¾oz of crème de cacao, and ½oz of fresh lemon juice. The flavours here are strong and powerful - great if you have a cold.

serving cocktails

There are different glasses for different types of cocktails. A Martini glass has a long thin stem with an inverted conal glass; a Margarita glass is similar but more like a goblet. An Old-Fashioned glass is a stocky tumbler, which is used for serving drinks over ice. The other classic cocktail glass is a Highball, tall and straight and to be filled with ice. Even if a cocktail isn't served with ice, it's usually mixed and shaken with ice in a cocktail shaker.

Cocktails are fun. They do require quite a stash of alcohol at home to make, which is fine if you're a collector like me. They work as aperitifs or as a pick-me-up after a hard day's work; they're also a great way of exploring spirits and discovering the world of obscure European drinks that survive because of the inventiveness of bartenders around the world.

Whiskey, not Whisky

All whiskies and whiskeys, whether Scottish, Irish, or American, hit a huge snag in the 1920s: Prohibition. Scotland dealt with this "inconvenient legality" by (hush-hush) co-operating with bootleggers smuggling from the Caribbean; Ireland didn't deal with it by refusing to co-operate with bootleggers; and it dealt American whiskey an almost fatal blow, which it hadn't really recovered from until the last twenty years. American whiskey is finally back again, its full-flavoured, slightly sweet style and range of base materials fitting in with the fashion for powerful single malts, but it's been a struggle.

a little history

Whiskey has been made in the States since the mid-eighteenth century; at first, the base material was rye, but corn was plentiful and affordable and became the core ingredient for most whiskeys. With the advent of railways, the nineteenth century saw whiskey grow commercially. There was only one thing holding American whiskey back: the temperance movement, which just happened to be strongest in the best whiskey-producing states. By 1915, twenty states were "dry"; whiskey production stopped completely on the US's entry into the First World War; and in 1920, Prohibition began. Were it not for Prohibition, it's easy to speculate that whiskey, and not whisky, would be the dominant style around the world.

After the repeal of Prohibition, the Second World War inconveniently got in the way; once things got back to normal in the 1950s, the American palate had forgotten how to appreciate the rich, full flavours of whiskey. So the rebirth of the American whiskey industry is relatively recent, in part fuelled by cocktails like the Manhattan, as well as the fashion for full-bodied drinks. On the back of the success of craft breweries, there are lots of interesting craft distilleries emerging with a whole new take on this great traditional drink. This is a fantastic time to discover American whiskey.

where's it made?

American whiskey, including bourbon, can be made anywhere in the States. The most important state is Kentucky, where the majority of bourbon is made. After that it's Tennessee, a state that's home both to many dry counties and the biggest-selling American whiskey, Jack Daniel's.

what is American whiskey?

The first word that comes to mind is bourbon, for which there are certain regulations. The most important is that it must be at least 51% corn, which gives bourbon its characteristic slight sweetness. A minimum of 51% gives a producer quite a bit of leeway when it comes to other grains. Rye gives the whiskey a spicy attack, which can be quite noticeable when the grain is used in large proportions. Less commonly, wheat is also used, giving round, bready flavours. Malted barley is another ingredient, though how much flavour it contributes to the whiskey is debated.

A rye or wheat whiskey can't be called bourbon, but it's still whiskey. Rye whiskey is where it all began, but it's only in the last few years, with its upfront spicy flavours, that it's made a comeback. Wheat whiskey is a fairly new and niche market, but its soft, doughy, bready flavours really mark it out. (Maker's Mark uses wheat instead of rye, and Bernheim Original is a good wheat whisky.)

Unlike Scotch, American whiskies are aged in new oak (usually American, though it's not a legal requirement), which have been charred. Oak barrels are created by firing the oak to bend the staves into shape: the story goes that one Elijah Craig accidentally over-toasted the oak but, despite the blackened wood, decided to use it for his barrels anyway. The resulting whiskey was extremely popular and charring the oak became standard practice. (No idea if this story is true; I was told it by the rep for Heaven Hill, who make a good whiskey called Elijah Craig.) This charred new oak gives the whiskey charcoal flavours, as well as sweet spices and tobacco.     

Another significant difference in maturation from Scotland is temperature. Unlike Scotland, the Deep South is hot, meaning the spirits age much quicker and integrate with the oak much more. This is why American whiskies are rarely aged as long as Scotch. Whiskeys are often aged on different levels of a warehouse - the higher the level, the warmer the temperature. Blending different barrels from different levels, or moving the barrels around, creates differences of style and complexity.

tasting

Jack Daniel's Old No.7 Sour Mash (Tennessee)

Like Smirnoff, Jack Daniel's is a drink that reminds me of university. I remember drinking it from a mug and having to pour more and more coke into it to make it drinkable. This is the first time I've tasted it since then, and to my surprise I didn't think it was too bad. Vanilla, coconut, and hot apple cider were my tasting notes.

Woodford Reserve (Kentucky)

Made by the owners of Jack Daniel's in a different distillery in Kentucky, this is a more complex whiskey, with floral, fruity, citrus, toasty, and smoky aromas. I didn't think it was quite as amazing as our tutor did, though...

Pikesville Supreme Straight Rye Whiskey (Kentucky)

This was a drink which made me want to get into an argument with our tutor (an argument which found its fruition in Cognac). He described the recent rise in popularity of rye whiskey as down to patriotic Americans drinking the great traditional whiskey to support the country in difficult economic times. If there's any truth to that, it's not enough to explain the resurgence in the production of rye whiskey which had almost disappeared by the 1990s. It's down to the gradual re-emergence of American whiskey in general, as well as the unique, expressive, spicy qualities of rye whiskey itself. Rye whiskey can be an expensive, keenly sought-after drink, which doesn't really fit into the all-American story either. Having said all of which, this was a fairly unmemorable example which the tutor admitted was the only rye whiskey he'd ever tasted.

Roughstock Whiskey (Montana)

I bought this for sentimental reasons, as @winebizkid is currently in Montana. It's not actually the best whiskey to practise tasting on, as it's made from malted barley, making it much closer to a Scotch than a bourbon. However, it's aged in new, charred oak, making it much closer to a bourbon than a Scotch. It's a big, spicy, fruity whiskey, with custard apple and toffee flavours, and dried flowers giving it a bit of a delicate edge. I found the alcohol slightly too aggressive, but there were lots of complex flavours to compensate for that. Like a lot of American whiskey, the bottle is impressively big.
 

Irish Whiskey

It's amazing that Irish whiskey still exists, given its history of incompetence. Scottish whisky found global success for two important reasons: they embraced the continuous still and allowed their whiskies to be smuggled into the States during Prohibition. In both cases, the Irish did the exact opposite. And then Eamon de Valera, the dominant figure in twentieth-century Irish politics who did his best to keep Ireland in the seventeenth century, capped exports and raised taxes on the country's whiskies.

There are only three major distilleries in Ireland, with another in the North. These use different methods of distilling, but the style favoured by Irish Distillers Ltd (in Midleton, near Cork) dominates (they make Jameson and Powers). It's triple-distilled and unpeated, which gives the whiskey a smooth easiness, especially compared to the more aggressive flavours of Scotch. Unmalted barley is used - varying from 20-60% - a use which dates back to the nineteenth century when malted barley was taxed. The use of oak has become more important too, adding complexity to the more expensive whiskeys. Bushmills in Antrim has some differences: also triple-distilled, but using malted barley. Cooley, back on the other side of the border, double-distills using pot stills and peat is sometimes used (e.g. Connemara 12YO); a continuous still is used to produce grain whiskey. These descriptions of the distilleries may not seem very evocative of place, but they are what gives Irish whiskey its different flavours.

I don't find Irish whiskey a particularly exciting category, but the industry is more vibrant than it's been since its heyday in the nineteenth century. The major labels are fast increasing their sales, particularly in the USA, while new, small distilleries are opening, creating individual whiskeys which go beyond the straightforward smoothness of the major names. It will probably take them a while to break into the market, but they're worth keeping an eye out for.

tasting

Jameson (Diploma tasting)

I find it hard to say anything interesting about this whiskey. As a smooth, simple drink, I used to like it, but compared to the rich, fuller spirits of Scotland and the US, there's little going on. There are floral and herbal notes, with a malty creaminess and a lightly spicy finish. I think that's overdescribing it, though.

Teeling (tasted in Madeira on a balmy February evening)

An example of a new Irish whiskey not coming from one of the established distilleries. I tasted this and thought, How can an Irish whiskey have tropical fruit aromas? The label had an easy answer: it's been aged in rum casks. The banana and mango are so smooth, as well as more Irish flavours of porridge and oats. If this is the future of Irish whiskey, I like it.