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Last week, the Federated Media crew made a pilgrimage to the Boothby Center for the Beverage Arts in San Francisco for a cocktail class lead by 2010 Bartender of the Year, H. Joseph Ehrmann.
H. started the class with a bit of cocktail history and overview of tools and technique, after which we got down to the business of mixing cocktails.
We were taught how to make 3 drinks: one stirred, one shaken and one built in the glass.
For the stirred drink, we had the option of a martini or manhattan. Then we shook up some margaritas (look, Ma, no mix, just fresh limes!). Finally, we got our muddle on and built some tasty mojitos.
Once armed with this knowledge, H. set the group loose to create their own cocktails from a huge variety of spirits, liqueurs, syrups and fresh produce. I recused myself from the competition and judged the results along with H. The group came up with some mighty fine cocktails. It was very hard to pick a winner, but we had to. Our pick was Liam Long’s rum cocktail where he made great use of fresh rosemary and ginger and incorporated a splash of absinthe.
He calls it the Embarcadero Dandy, in honor of FMs old and new homes on the Embarcadero in San Francisco (well very close, actually).
Ingredients
- 1 ½ oz rum
- 1 dash absinthe
- 1 oz simple syrup
- 1 oz lemon juice, fresh
- 1 tsp ginger, shaved or grated
- 2 sprigs rosemary
Instructions
1. Combine shaved ginger, thumb-sized piece of lemon peel, and a half sprig of rosemary (stem removed) in a collins glass.
2. Add lemon juice and muddle, add simple syrup.
3. Pour just under 1 ½ oz of rum and top off with absinthe.
4. Fill glass to brim with ice and stir.
5. Garnish with remaining sprig of rosemary and serve.
