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Thoughts on DIY Bitters

DIY Bitters

I’m teaching a class at the Woodford Reserve Distillery soon on the Art of Summer Culinary Cocktails. Since I was not the one to write the class description, I’ve had to do a bit of research to cover all of the topics authoritatively.

The DIY bitters part of the class has been the most challenging. There are plenty of DIY bitters recipes on the web, and some even reference recipes from the early days of bitters, but none are really the level of DIY-friendly that I’m looking for.

All of the recipes that I’ve found* suffer from a few fatal flaws: Continue reading Thoughts on DIY Bitters

That’ll Be $1,000, Please

My fellow bartenders Ron and Keith and myself crafting the 2012 $1,000 Woodford Reserve Mint Juleps. (Yes, someone already made a boy band comment.)

The Woodford Reserve $1,000 mint julep is the 6th most expensive cocktail in the United States and the only one of the top 10 to be offered regularly. (Once a year, anyway.) BTW – the photo in the link is of the KY Derby Early Times mint julep. The 2012 Woodford Reserve $1k Mint Julep was made with Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon, Kentucky spearmint, California lemon mint, barrel-aged mint sugar and barrel-aged vanilla sugar, and looks like this:

It was interesting to watch people’s expressions when we told them the price. Many people thought we were joking …