Boulder Cocktail Tours

We’ve been having a great time on Boulder Cocktail Tours this month.  Thanks so much to West End Tavern, Tahona, SALT, and The Pinyon for serving up some great libations along with a mini lesson on spirits, distillation, oak and aging, adding carbonation… there’s so much to learn, which is why I’m thrilled to have been guiding cocktail tours since April 2011.  If you haven’t yet joined a cocktail tour, I encourage you to register for a Thursday tour in Boulder or a Saturday tour in Denver.  I like to think of these tours as continuing education for anyone who enjoys going out for a good time.

If you have been on a cocktail tour, I encourage you to register for another one.  They’re always different and always fun.  Here’s an idea of what we’ve tasted this month.  Cheers!

Caroline from West End Tavern knows her bourbon and can tell you everything she knows while offering sips of different spirits and samples of her signature cocktails, such as the Ron Burgundy (left) and an Old Fashioned (right).

Tahona has been a fun stop on some tours and we’ve been sampling a variety of blanco, reposado, and añejo tequilas.  If you have questions about the differences between blanco, reposado, and añejo, it’s probably time you join us on a cocktail tour…

Tina offered us a blanco Republic Tequila as well as some Republic that they had barrel aged in house into a reposado.

On a different tour, Ally offered us a tasting of Gran Centenario plata, reposado, and añejo as well as a tasting of her coin style margarita.

Connor at SALT treated us to a sweet creation of his, the Barry White and a classic- The Aviation.

The Pinyon was also a featured stop on a couple tours and we drank a Hops not Tonic (left), a beer cocktail created by Dan Mirsky, and a soda bottled cocktail with some dangerously good chicken wings.

Chef owner Theo Adley likes hanging at his own bar, so we’re often very well entertained at The Pinyon.

Boulder cocktail tours run every Thursday.  We visit 3 great local bars and get to ask the experts all of our cocktail questions.  It’s the best way to bar hop in town.

July Cocktail Tours- A Taste of The Colorado Cocktail Project

The Colorado Cocktail project was a really fun cocktail competition held in Denver on June 26-27.  33 mixologists entered the competition to create an official cocktail for Colorado.  10 finalists were invited to compete, 2 of who represent great bars in Boulder.

Britt Henze from Mateo came in first in people’s choice, and Evan Faber of SALT came in third in people’s choice.  So, July cocktail tours will feature 3 cocktails entered into the competition:

• The Western Slope by Caroline Johnson at the West End Tavern
• The Diamondback by Evan Faber
• The Bear Paw Palmer by Britt Henze

Come join us for this VIP cocktail tasting Thursdays at 3 pm.

The Colorado Cocktail Project

What does Colorado taste like?  The Colorado Cocktail Project is seeking an answer to that question in the form of a unique cocktail created by Colorado mixologists featuring Colorado spirits.  That sounds like a cool competition to me!  As New Orleans has the Sazerac and New York has the Manhattan, so too will Colorado have an official cocktail.

The rules, according to esteemed libations expert and creator of the Colorado Cocktail Project, Sean Kenyon, are:

-The base spirit (at least half of the spirit in the cocktail) must be a Colorado spirit — one produced by a Colorado distiller.

-There is a seven-ingredient maximum, including garnish

-All ingredients must be commercially available

-The cocktails must be available at the bartender’s establishment, preferably on a menu, from April 1 through June 10.

Boulder has some representation in this project-

Justin Lavenue from Bombay Bistro submitted “The Rocky Mountain Wildfire”

Caroline Johnson from The West End Tavern submitted “The Western Slope”

Evan Faber from SALT submitted “The Diamondback”

And there are a lot of entries from great mixologists in Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and a number of mountain towns.  This is going to be fun, and I wish I could be an official judge!  But, I still have a lot to learn about cocktails before I’d be judge-worthy.  Guess that means I should head out to a number of establishments and order some Colorado cocktails as I refine my cocktail palate.

Check out the list of mixologists and their cocktails on the Museum of Contemporary Art’s website, and then go drink cocktails and get a taste of Colorado!

More details:

Sunday, June 26, 2011 12-6PM
Drop-In Colorado Spirits Tastings & Lecture Marathon Series
Food Trucks. Drinks. Colorado Cocktail Experts.

Monday, June 27, 2011 5-9:30PM
Meet the Bartenders and help the judges decide which will be the winning Colorado Cocktail. Learn. Drink. Vote.

Tickets:
$40 per day
$70 two-day pass
available at www.coloradococktailproject.com or by calling 303-298-7554

Cheers!

Getting Old Fashioned

Getting Old Fashioned with Evan Faber on Vimeo

Local Table Tours is starting to make some short films.  Check out the first one here on Vimeo!

Chrysanthemum Honey Ginger Scotch Collins

The recipe is all in the name of this spontaneous cocktail, created for me by Evan Faber, one of downtown Boulder’s most creative mixologists.  As much as I enjoy mixing and matching with his popular Cocktail Element, it is always a pleasure to taste his creative concoctions.

This was a scotch collins with some chrysanthemum honey and Domaine de Canton (which just so happens to be one of my favorite spirits).

But, it is not on the menu at SALT. Not yet, anyway.

Chocolate en Fuego, a Classic Holiday Drink

I asked my friend Evan Faber, the illustrious Beverage Director at Boulder’s now-famous SALT the Bistro (and master-mind behind The Cocktail Element), for a must-try holiday cocktail recipe.  Evan gave me a recipe for one of his favorites, and, I must say- he has good taste.  This is definitely a seasonal beverage that I’ll be enjoying throughout the winter, not just over the holidays.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Reposado Tequila
• .5 oz Peppermint Schnapps or Rumple Minze
• a cup of rich hot chocolate
• dash of cayenne

When I first read this recipe I was a little unsure of the tequila-peppermint combination.  It didn’t sound like it intuitively went together, and, though I didn’t doubt Evan per se, I didn’t exactly rush out to buy Rumple Minze right away.  But, I should have!  I could have been enjoying this now for a couple weeks!

I used some Savory Spice Shop hot chocolate, which is a rich, smooth, and chocolately hot chocolate.  I’ll need to stock up on cocoa because “Chocolate en Fuego” is officially my new favorite winter-time drink… after Maple Scotch, of course!

Cheers!

A Virtual Tour: Market to Table Tour

Last Wednesday was a another beautiful day for a tour through downtown Boulder!  When we met on Pearl Street, there were hundreds of people milling around, enjoying all the performers and the sights and sounds of a perfect Colorado afternoon.  We walked down Pearl Street to our first stop – Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant.

Leaf Dining Room

At Leaf, the group enjoyed 3 perfectly plated samples:  A Raw Wrap with swiss chard and basil almond pâté, Raw Ravioli with beet, and Buffalo Seitan with blue cheese, carrot and celery salad paired with a Spanish white wine from Catalunya.  All our tour groups have enjoyed the beautifully appointed dining room, as well as the samples of delicious creations by Chef Steve Dustin.

We continued on to SALT, where a brandy cocktail with a honey cardamom simple syrup was waiting for us.  We sat at the bar overlooking the impressive kitchen.  Evan, the Beverage Director at SALT, talked with us about mixing the perfect cocktail, and pairing wine with our food samples.  Executive Chef Kevin Kidd talked with us about sourcing local ingredients as we enjoyed crostini with butter, radish and arugula; followed by prosciutto wrapped asparagus, Hazel Dell Mushroom and Haystack goat cheese in filo; all paired with a California Gewurtztraminer.  The extra special treat at the end of our visit was a sample of SALT’s famous dark chocolate caramel salt tart.

Back Bar overlooking the kitchen at SALT

Before continuing to our next partner restaurant, we stopped at Savory Spice Shop to talk with Dan about the variety of spices and seasoning mixes he carries at his shop.  We sampled different kinds of cinnamon from around the world, freeze dried corn, and candied ginger.  The staff at Savory paired up with our tour guests and expertly helped us through seasonings to use with some of our favorite dishes.

As we walked up to the Boulderado Hotel, a bridal party was checking in to this beautiful, historic hotel. The dining room at Q’s is elegant, and we sat on the restaurant’s enclosed glass porch to enjoy the Chef’s garden greens with house smoked salmon and capers, paired with Q’s signature orange- cranberry spritzer.  Q’s manager talked with us about the variety of programs and initiatives they use to be as sustainable as possible, including using wind power and partnering with a local biodiesel company.

We ended our tour at the bustling Boulder Farmers’ Market. First, we took in the sites and sounds of the busy market, stopping to sample Sugar Snap peas from Munson Farms (one of the original farms to participate in the market over 20 years ago), and popcorn from Boulder Popcorn.  Then we met up with Antonio Laudisio, who cooked us pizza in his brick pizza oven using Hazel Dell mushrooms.  We topped off our tour with a small scoop of all-natural, vanilla ice cream from Boulder Ice Cream.

Boulder Farmers' Market

If you would like to experience Boulder’s culinary scene for yourself, please click here for a listing of upcoming tours.  We look forward to seeing you on a future tour.  Each tour varies slightly, and as different seasonal ingredients become available, our chefs will change up what they share with us.

Cheers!

Julie and Megan