Cheers

Cheers October 2013

Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.

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Above, a Sidecar at Brandy Library in New York. Right, the interior of 80-seat Brandy Library, which offers about 350 brandies, Cognacs, Armagnacs and piscos. the dish," he says, citing the example of how the ingredients in a brandy cream sauce temper one another. NoPa has 14 options in the brandy category, priced $12 to $60. At Eastern Standard, McCoy recommends foie gras terrine, glazed pigtails, charcuterie, pork porterhouse and quail as brandy accompaniments. PISCO FEVER Even though many guests don't view it in the same category as their amber-hued counterparts, pisco is a grape-based spirit and technically a brandy. The South American spirit has been gaining traction in the U.S. in recent years. The staff at Brandy Library works to educate guests about pisco and get them to understand that it has more applications than the Pisco Sour—though the operator does offer the classic cocktail for $15. Desoblin believes that few customers order it as a sipping beverage because most pisco isn't aged. Brandy Library serves three piscos, all priced at $12. "Pisco is much better perceived [than other brandies]," says The Palmer Houses' Coyne. "I think it has a lot to do with its versatility, and many bars finding unique ways to offer pisco," he says. Lockwood has included several eclectic pisco potables on the menu like the Pineapple Pisco Punch ($13.50), with Barsol pisco, muddled pineapple, pineapple juice and fresh lemon juice. McCoy has noticed that pisco awareness has greatly increased, and there are now more bottles available from both Chile and Peru. (The two countries have been fighting over who invented pisco for centuries). While pisco primarily used at Eastern Standard in the Pisco Sour ($10), the operator also offers it in other drinks like a riff on the Pisco Punch ($10) with pineapple syrup, lemon and 28 | OCTOBER 2013 Peychaud's Bitters, and the Manhattan variant El Capitan ($12), with Carpano Antica and their house-made infusion of Fernet Branca, Cynar and Créole Shrubb. FOR MATURE AUDIENCES Cocktail drinkers aside, most brandy fans—especially Cognac drinkers—still skew towards an older demographic. "It is definitely a more mature crowd drinking Cognac," age 40 and older, says Coyne. "The younger generation does not have too much knowledge or experience with Cognac." Coyne attributes this partly to an overemphasis on marketing and advertising flavored vodkas to younger consumers. The Palm's Sbai believes "the category still needs to be discovered by the millennials, but the baby boomers and established Gen Xers seem to have a handle on it." Some guests who typically do not gravitate towards the brandy category may be swayed, but NoPa's Hiney thinks for the most part, interest is fixed. "Guests are either brandy drinkers or they're not. It's not really something we suggest someone order if they are new to the spirit." But as with many spirits, promotion and education go a long way in terms of customer perception and understanding of the brandy/ Cognac category. To make brandy more approachable for the uninitiated or unfamiliar, Taste by Niche offers a flight for $11. And with the ongoing interest in classic spirits and craft cocktails, plus the trendiness and increased availability of pisco, the category stands to gain many more converts. Kelly Magyarics is a wine and spirits writer and wine educator in the Washington, D.C. area. She can be reached through her website, www.kellymagyarics.com, or on Twitter and Instagram @kmagyarics. www.cheersonline.com

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