Martin Cate, Smuggler King

Last week, the media reception for the opening of Smuggler’s Cove coincided with my birthday. Mere coincidence? I prefer to look at it as an example of cosmic harmony. More about the your new cocktail mecca inside….

The space is fantastic. The upper level is sort of a mini tiki bar unto itself, with thatched roof, kapa, tikis rescued from a Trader Vic’s, and glass floats, including one with a blowfish inside (I usually feel sadness for these animals, but this one has achieved a higher form of being in becoming decor).

The lower level is a bit like the lair of a James Bond villain. Dimly lit, with a two story water feature traversed by a sort of industrial metal stairs. The water collects in an illuminated pool at the base, the perfect place to keep sharks with laser beams attached to their heads.

The entrance level, which is in between, is dominated by  nautical decor, including a truly massive anchor and pieces of a ship’s rigging.

There are bars at both the entrance and the lower level. At the bar, you can drink Eurydice, the Cove’s  own rum distilled locally at St. George’s from California sugar cane, or a proprietary blend from El Dorado. There is also an endemic beer, crafted at the 21st Amendment. The beer is dark, but not very heavy. I believe it’s some form of Red Ale. It was quaffable, but who would go to a rum bar to drink beer?

There is also a house wine (“Smuggler’s Jug”). Only five cocktails were available for the reception, including the Chadburn, which was featured in the recent NYT article.

The Chadburn

• 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) tawny Port
• 1/2 ounce pear liqueur
• 2 ounces ( 1/4 cup) dark rum
• 1 to 2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters.

Combine all ingredients in a shaker half-filled with ice, and stir until well chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass. Recipe from Smuggler’s Cove via the New York Times.

This delicious fellow is the Hotel Nacional Special:

The Hotel Nacional Special

Hotel Nacional Special

• 2 ounces golden rum
• 1-1/2 ounces unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1/2 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 teaspoon dry apricot brandy

Shake with cracked ice until cold and frothy, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with anything. Source: Chuck Taggart at Gumbopages.com

I still couldn’t bring myself to try J. Wray and Ting, but I suppose I’ll have to as I try to make my way through the menu to earn “Voyager” status. Yes, there are merit badges for various feats of drunken debauchery: “Disciple” for completing a beginner’s list of 2o sipping rums, working your way up to “Guardian” when you’ve tried them all, with special unnamed benefits commensurate with your status.

The menu itself is about 10 pages, organized by history and cocktail type. There are a surprising number of non-rum cocktails on the menu. I’ll do a better job of analyzing this document when I return this evening for the public “sneak preview” event. I’ll leave you for now with this lousy video I took of Martin officially introducing the bar during the media event.

And yes, if you can’t tell from the length of this post, I am just slightly excited that this day is finally upon us, considering the trials and tribulations I endured to come in second place during the “Find Smuggler’s Cove” game/contest this summer!

Label image removed due to copyright dispute.

Martin Cate is a magical human, one of very few who possesses the magical ability to send me into a well-mannered fit of giddiness with a single email. Behold:

SMUGGLER’S COVE

INTRODUCES EURYDICE RUM

SAN FRANCISCO, CA- Smuggler’s Cove, San Francisco’s forthcoming destination for rum and exotic cocktails, proudly announces Eurydice, a new rum crafted exclusively for Smuggler’s Cove.Handcrafted by the artisan distillers of St. George Spirits in consultation with Smuggler’s Cove owner Martin Cate, Eurydice is a completely unique rum.

My love and indulgence in St. George’s other fine products (notably their Absinthe Verte, Single Malt Whiskey, and Buddha’s Hand-infused vodka) is well-known, and that they chauffeur you to and from their open house receptions in a party bus featuring a Lucite stripper pole is a further indication of their correctness

So yes: Martin Cate + St. George’s = Kismet. Mmm… kismet.

Additionally, the can used in the rum is grown here in California, so the product is super local (The name derives from Zerene Eurydice, the California state butterfly). Alas, Smuggler’s Cove will be the only place to obtain it, meaning those of us who like to play with our liquor won’t be able to play along at home, a tragedy not unlike Orpheus’ return from the Underworld.

P.S.: Gentlemen should be well-versed in the Classical Mythologies, at the very least.

The Colbert Bump

Continuing Stephen Colbert’s streak of faux(?)-egomania, Dave Wondrich was on last night to craft a signature “Colbert” cocktail. The result? The “Colbert Bump,” fashioned after the “Cherry Bounce.”

Colbert Bump

• 1 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1.5 oz. gin (a “liberal pour” har har)
• 0.25 oz. lemon juice

Pour over ice in an iced tea glass. Top with soda water and stir.
– Dave Wondrich

According to Wondrich, his inspiration was a “Cherry Bounce,” which was a favorite of George Washington.  Wikipedia, who lists the official recipe as cherries and sugar soaked in brandy, also tells us that the British hamlet of Frithsden claims to have invented the idea.

How’s Your Drink author Eric Felten recently highlighted the drink in a Wall Street Journal column, which includes Martha Washington’s charming recipe:

Extract the Juice of 20 pounds of well ripend Morrella Cherrys Add to this 10 quarts of Old French brandy and sweeten it with White Sugar to your taste—To 5 Gallons of this mixture add one ounce of Spice Such as Cinnamon, Cloves and Nutmegs of each an Equal quantity Slightly bruis’d and a pint and half of Cherry kernels that have been gently broken in a mortar—After the liquor has fermented let it Stand Close-Stoped for a month or Six weeks—then bottle it remembering to put a lump of Loaf Sugar into each bottle.
– Martha Washington (via Eric Felten)

As for the “Colbert Bump,” it’s so-so.  In the various permutations of the Cherry Bounce I surveyed, you’ll find recipes calling for brandy, rum, and even bourbon or whiskey, but none that I observed called for gin — I think there may be a reason for that. (BTW, check out this Bounce recipe from a 1933 cookbook, courtesy of The Blushing Hostess.)

So if Colbert’s drink is red, would Jon Stewart’s call for blue curacao?

Minimum Waiting Period Before Revealing a Spoiler, from Wired.com. Illustration by Jason Lee.

As you have no doubt gathered, one of the questions I use this blog to explore is something to the effect of “what does it been to be a gentleman in the 21st century?”

Wired magazine, whose website is one of the few mainstays of my procrastinative quiver, also expounds on this idea from a more general angle in their current issue, with a feature titled, lovingly, “How to Behave: The New Rules for Highly Evolved Humans, a Scientific Approach to 21st-Century Predicaments, with very bad advice from Brad Pitt.”

It’s satisfying in-depth — more than 30 briefs on modifying your behavior, and the published equivalent of an amuse-bouche with each (“Put your costume on at the con;” “Provide subjects for all emails;” “Ignore Facebook polls”).

While I’m saving some of these for later amusement, I’m going to go ahead and sign on to the lot. Some of my favorites so far:

• If You Can’t Buy It Online, Feel Free to BitTorrent
• Online Conversations Are Not All About You
• Am I a Jerk if I Dump Our Sucky Rock Band Bassist?

Some tips are more challenging (Leave my wi-fi network open? Never BCC anyone?), but all are thoughtfully presented for your mental digestion.

This fresh wild plum jelly was so sweet and tart, I was moved to poetry.

The plums of late spring
are now as bitter as the
early fruit was sweet.

Canning/jarring fresh summer produce is a valuable, practical skill that belongs in everyone’s mental toolbox, much like sewing on a button or treading water.  Yet it was something I was reluctant to attempt. Obviously food safety is of the utmost importance, and the thought of botching the jarring process remains discomfiting. Returning home from an extended trip, I found the last half dozen or so of the wild Sierra plums still on our tree and was spurred into action.

The jelly making process is incredibly simple–boil fruit juice, add pectin and sugar. And if you’re making a relatively small amount you can skip the preserving process (keeping in mind that preserves, high in sugar and acid as they are, have a fairly long shelf life to begin with).

Simple as it was, I’m only sorry I didn’t start earlier.

P.S., Do note the difference between jelly and jam.