Cheers

www.cheersonline.com 42 | JUNE 2014 AMARI EXPOSURE Selling better known yet mostly ignored spirits takes the same sort of dedication. Much of what passes as unusual depends on location: A backbar filled with Italian amari in New York or San Francisco might not get much attention, while in Houston, for instance, it may be considered a stretch. Morgan Weber, who runs the beverage program at Houston's recently opened Coltivare Pizza and Garden, carries every amaro available in his market—23 at this point, though he's angling for more. "I like to expose people to things they are not necessarily used to tasting," he says. "It's really risk-free, to help them figure out what they might like." To make the amari more familiar, Weber has crafted drinks to showcase them, taking classic cocktail recipes and introducing a variety of amari as an accent or secondary ingredient. "e flavor profile of each one will dictate what we do; for instance, using the very citrusy Ramazotti works well in drinks that call for that accent," he says. e Ava Crowder cocktail, for example, is made with Weber's house-made sorghum vinegar, Ramazotti, tobacco tincture, Buffalo Trace bourbon and lemon. Other drinks include the 11th & Hudson (Amaro Abano, Cynar, lemon and orange bitters) and the Coltivare take on the Negroni, made with Lambrusco Rosso, Carpano Antica and Campari. Of course, many guests have no clue about amari, so Weber and staff use them as conversation starters, regularly pouring tastes if customers are curious. He says he generally introduces novices to some of the easier, fruitier Southern Italian brands first, rather than the more herbal and bitter Northern varieties. Weber first started experimenting with the Italian potable bitters when he was an original owner and sometimes bartender at Houston's Anvil Bar & Refuge. "Opening an Italian-inspired restaurant was the perfect opportunity for me to showcase the spirits that the Italians have refined over centuries of making fine aperitifs and digestifs, prepared in the modern American cocktail tradition," he says. What's more, Weber notes, "the wonderful array of quality products, from the spirits to the bitters and tinctures that weren't available here just five years ago, have made creating these recipes a whole lot more interesting." Coltivare educates the entire staff on the cocktails and amaris, but Weber prefers that the bartenders visit any table with curious customers, rather than burdening servers with the task. "If they are interested enough to ask, I'd rather do it myself." GRAPPA AND SOJU AND PUNSCH, OH MY Weber also works with grappa, something other bars with an Italian connection have tried. Bar 888 in Luce Restaurant in the InterContinental Hotel in San Francisco, for instance, sells grappas individually, in various flights and in cocktails. Grappa, especially infused varieties of the grape brandy, have become more popular in cities with a strong Italian restaurant community. But like amari, they still have a long way to travel. For Brady Weise, head barman at the 1886 Bar at e Raymond in Pasadena, CA, a cocktail menu that changes quarterly means Soderbergh on Singani 63 Singani 63, a Bolivian grape brandy, is the latest project from filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. So why would an Academy Award-winning director get behind an obscure, pisco-like spirit? Because he loves it and he wanted to be able to buy it in the U.S. Distilled from the muscatel grapes of Alexandria grown in high altitudes of the Andes, singani is considered the national spirit of Bolivia. Soderbergh was introduced to singani by a Bolivian casting director in 2007 while shooting the film Che in Spain. It was love at first sip for Soderbergh, he says, because the aromatic, faintly floral singani was smooth enough to drink straight, it made him feel pleasantly "buzzy" rather than sloppy, and it didn't give him a hangover. Sonderbergh initially invested in 250 cases of the 80-proof Singani 63. As with most liquor brand launches, the challenges were more than Soderbergh had bargained for. But he prevailed, and Singani 63 made its debut in the New York City market this spring. As of May, it was available in about 50 outlets. Soderbergh is passionate about the product and he has no problem with being out in front of Singani 63; the name refers to his birth year. He notes that actor Dan Aykroyd, a founder of Crystal Head vodka, had offered him this advice: If you're not willing to be the face of the brand, don't bother getting involved. —MD 40-43 exotic spirits CH0614.indd 42 6/3/14 9:34 PM

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