Cocktails and Art

An illustration of Chris Gall's that was featured in the ArtsEye press release.

This post may appear to be slightly anomalous, as I'm highlighting an event that, sadly, I won't be able to actually attend myself. So why am I taking the time to write about an Opening Reception at an art gallery in Tucson, Arizona that is taking place tomorrow night?

For those of you who may not know, I used to live in Tucson - I went to college there and hung around for a little while afterwards before moving to the greater Hartford area. And I still like to think that the piece of my heart that I fondly left there is still involved in the unique culture and happenings within the city. So when I received a pitch that the ArtsEye gallery was hosting an Opening Cocktail Reception to exhibit Chris Gall's illustrations from the new "The PDT Cocktail Book", I had to share the news. Both illustrator Gall and author Jim Meehan are expected be on site on Saturday, December 3rd to sign copies of the book. And I would only expect that delicious cocktails will be prepared, also, to accompany the artwork on the walls!

The combination of artwork and cocktails is one that I am noticing gaining momentum over the last six months or so. I was able to, in Miami this summer, attend the Miami Arts District "Art Walk" - a monthly event - where Mandarine Napoleon cocktails were served at The Workshop gallery space. I also wrote a while ago about the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators and their series "Drawing Under the Influence". The combination has also been mentioned in conversations I've had for events in the 2012 calendar year.

Mandarine Napoleon, again, is further cementing the relationship between cocktails and art by participating next week in Art Basel, one of the most prestigious art shows around the world. If you are in Miami, you should consider checking out the events in which the brand will be participating. 



Have a drink for me, Tucson. Cheers!

Icon of an Emperor

We're starting today's blog post with a bit of a history lesson. For those of you history buffs out there, listen up!

On this day in 1812, a turning point occurred during the Napoleonic Wars as Napoléon himself led the campaign to invade Russia, later crippling his army. Perhaps just remaining at home, drinking his mandarin orange liqueur, would have been the wiser choice. Oh, how hindsight is a beautiful thing...

I was reminded of this event in world history upon reading The Daily Sip email yesterday from Bottlenotes, a fantastic resource in the wine community online. The Daily Sip editors steered away from wine for an afternoon and decided to look at cocktails instead - more specifically they reviewed the Napoléon Cocktail.

What surprises me about the two versions of the Napoléon Cocktail that I have found adapted online is that while both recipes call for either Grand Marnier or Cointreau in some regards, neither recipe mentions Mandarine Napoléon as the orange liqueur of choice in the recipe. Seems somewhat surprising to me given that the spirit is in fact the product of Napoléon working with a chemist, Fourcroy, in the early 19th century to develop a liqueur of a cognac base with the maceration of mandarin oranges otherwise known as tangerines.

Perhaps Mr. Craddock, author of the Savoy Cocktail Book didn't have access to Mandarine Napoléon even though the recipe was commercialized and bottled starting in 1892, before Savoy was released. So today, over 200 years later, I will repost the Napoléon Cocktail recipe here, along with another lovely Mandarine-Dubonnet combination cocktail adapted by PDT's Jim Meehan. Give both cocktail recipes a try this weekend!

Cheers!
Stephanie

Napoléon Cocktail

• 2 oz gin
• 1/2 oz Grand Mariner (or might I suggest Mandarine Napoléon)
• 1/2 oz Dubonnet Rouge

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Napoléon's Opera (pictured above)

• 2 oz Beefeater Gin
  
• 3/4 oz Dubonnet Rouge
• 1/2 oz Mandarine Napoléon
• 1 Dash Angostura Orange Bitters
  

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with an orange twist (adapted by Jacques Straub, Drinks, 1914).

A (Belated) MCC Recap

So it seems to be my M.O. recently that some of my blog posts are a bit, well, overdue. Forget the fact that it is now June, a recap of the very successful Manhattan Cocktail Classic is in order.

The five-day event kicked off with the Opening Gala, a humongous party at the New York Public Library where 3500 people imbibed with specialty cocktails crafted by many of the industry's most influential bartenders and ambassadors. Up on the hopping third floor, Anne Robinson of PDT was serving up the Opera Cocktail, a Mandarine Napoléon twist on the 1914 recipe from Jacques Straub's manual "Drinks". Here's the recipe:

Opera Cocktail: (as adapted by Jim Meehan, General Manager, PDT)

• 2 oz. Beefeater Gin
• .75 oz Dubonnet Rouge
• .5 oz Mandarine Napoléon
• 1 Dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.

I also had the opportunity to see Dushan Zaric (Employees Only; Macao Trading Co.), Aisha Sharpe (Contemporary Cocktails), and Gaz Regan (Ardent Spirits) present The Mindful Bartender. Even having seen them all just one month prior at Pioneers of Mixology, I again thoroughly enjoyed the presentation.

We also had a blast on Tuesday night as the festival concluded with a sponsors-only Cocktail Charity Challenge scavenger hunt through NYC. The Charity Challenge found ourselves frantically running through the city, out to accomplish tasks ranging from the mild (take a photo jumping in Times Square, pictured) to the more outrageous (proposing to a uniformed NYPD officer on one knee). There are plenty more photos uploaded to the brand's Facebook Fan Page, so I encourage you to visit the site and check them out for yourself. The party ended over in Brooklyn, where the party was brought to an end with shots and beer from the Heineken USA portfolio.

My many thanks again go to Mandarine Napoléon for letting me participate in many of the weekend's events. Can't wait to see what the team behind the festival has in store for the Big Apple next year!