Can't Get Over La Paloma Pairing Dinner

La Paloma Cafe claims its menu celebrates the cuisine of the Californios, early Californian settlers who incorporated Spanish and Mexican influences into indigenous ingredients cooked over fire. So how better to honor such cuisine than with a Spirited Journey through Mexico, where the spirits start with natural ingredients and are also cooked over fire (or with steam). Fortunately at a fantastic paired dinner on March 20 La Paloma had Blake Landis, cofounder of Angelisco Tequila and brand ambassador for Mezcal Nuestra Soledad and Tepache Sazón serve as a funny, informative, generous guide into all things agave.

Landis took us back through the history of distilling agave, which, goes to the Missions. The padres, happy tipplers all, ran out of the brandy they brought with them to the New World, and as Landis put it, said, "Shit, I need a drink!" They saw the indigenous people drinking pulque--fermentation from the fresh sap of agave--and thought, "Let's try distilling that." Imperialism, trial and error, time--and voila, tequila. 

Landis's own history working and co-owning bars and restaurants led him to a shocking discovery about the tequila world today--the 1% rule. While that bottle of a good brand will no doubt say "100% blue agave," the law allows that no more than up to 1% of the overall volume can be additives. Those additives are things like glycerol, vanilla, agave flavor, and caramel coloring. As always, remember natural is a marketing term, not a legal one.   But Landis and his friends hoped to build a tequila brand that refused the 1% loophole. Eventually the discovered the Aceves Family in the highlands of Jalisco, with a 100 years of mescaleros experience. And Angelisco Tequila was born.

That's Landis counting the two things in his booze--blue weber agave and water. Angelisco also works on keeping its prices down for premium product by doing other things that are equally good for the earth, by using a minimalist, bar-friendly bottle, recycled paper label, and an eco-friendly screwcap.

Which means (you thought I was going to forget the food, didn't you?) Angelisco is clean, tasty, and ready to pair with equally bright and flavorful cuisine. That bigeye tuna aqua chile above was an amazing burst of fish, each perfect little tile fresh and fleshy and the ocean at a chomp. The cucumber cooled. the Serrano chile warmed, the exact right clip of red onion gave it all grip. And atop fish #3 that's a sour grass blossom, something we take as field-filling weed this time of year. Oxalis added vivid yellow contrast to the plate, tangy floral notes to the palate. And in one more way chef Jeremy Tummel got to tie theme directly to the land around us.

The second course mightn't be the most Instagramable, but it was delicious and had a great personality. Plus, it paired with Nuestra Soledad's San Luis del Rio Mezcal, clean and lean as a Concorde (I'm showing my age here, aren't?). The dish is a Manilla clam cocktail, or as Tummel billed it, a "Baja-style campechana," and you would want to lap up that sauce/salsa/soup by the bowlful if you didn't have more courses on the way. Pungently tomato-y even this early in the tomato season, rich with Lillies (garlic and onion or shallot?), cilantro, pepper, and the magic of some smoked trout roe, briny bubbles of saline delight. A dice of avocado, a splash of lemon oil. Wow.

Obviously any meal at La Paloma that didn't take advantage of its red oak grip would be a shame. Wednesday was not in the least shameful. Those are oak smoked baby back ribs, reminding me why I need to order ribs more. They also got everyone past the niceties--looking around at the jolly group (you sit at a communal large U of a table), and everyone dug in with their hands to bite off every last tender morsel of dark coffee barbecued meat. The white sage (more local herbal call out, of course) honey granola atop provided some crunchy contrast, and then the cheesy (Parm, evidently) white corn grits beneath hit the spot where comfort food gets elevated just enough to be classic yet contemporary. The pair here was with Angelica's tequila reposado, which, of all things, they age in used Elijah Craig barrels. Peppery, with vanilla from the bourbon oak, it paired with the ribs like they were created for each other.

And here Chryss got a pescatarian sub that earned its many envious glances from other diners. Thanks, La Paloma, for being so accommodating. Indeed, overall the service was top-notch, even navigating around the large single table in the back patio. 

There might have been a bonus Por Siempre Sotol. I won't tell. 

Dessert brought out the refreshing pineapple piloncillo brûlée you see above, topped with a vanilla beanie cream scoop and drizzled with dulce de leche. Plus there's a bit of crumble on the plate and some finger lime for acid and balance and bubble-popping fun (and a call back to the roe, no?). Sweet, but far from too. The drink pairing went for the same-same rule this time, to stunning effect--we got to enjoy Tepache Sazón, a traditional Mexican fizzy fermented drink often made of pineapple, as it is in this case. Think kombucha without tea or scabby or yoga pants. Clocks in at 7%. The effervescence keeps reviving your mouth for more dessert. And isn't that what we all want?

Well, one might also want to attend the next La Paloma pairing dinner, especially since it will feature SB's now Ian Cutler and his distillery's terrific booze. It's booked for Friday, April 26th, and you can learn more and reserve on line.

Have a Little Hedonistas de la Fe in Me

 

It's National Mezcal Day, so let's celebrate with a terrific artisanal product, Hedonistas de la Fe. As with many mezcals sold in the U.S. market, Hedonistas came to be when some Americans obsessed with the drink and enough money and business acumen to want to build a brand went hunting in Mexico for a mezcalero they loved. Co-founders Bhalin Singh and Jim Beaubien discovered Gerardo “Kaín” Santiago Hernandez in Matatlan, Oaxaca and knew they had their man. Kaín is a fourth-generation mezcalero, doing things the right old way, from sourcing agave to roasting for days over mesquite to natural fermentation to double distillation. 

Hedonistas also gets to celebrate the wide-range of flavors mezcal permits. While tequila must be made of Blue Weber agave, there are actually over 250 varieties of the plant, and about 30 have been used to make mezcal. At this point, Hedonistas keeps its product line to four, but each is quite distinct.

They kick off with the mezcal most folks have had, an Espadín. This bottling is the only one of the four that comes from cultivated agave, and as part of the their sustainability efforts, Hedonistas replants as many as they use to distill. As you can see from the photo above, all four styles are crystalline, bordering on shimmering clear--part of the no additives process. Let's get to the smoke issue quick, too. Yes, that's one of the major distinctions between tequila and mezcal, but to act as if that's the only difference is like saying the only difference between the New York Giants and the San Francisco Giants is which coast they play on. I'd rather suggest the difference is more like that between football and baseball itself, with mezcal the more interesting, evolving, thoughtful, and varied, just like the national pastime. 

So with the Espadín you get the smoke on the nose and initial palate, but some of the taste of smoke is from burnt grapefruit peel, it seems. Each sip is integrated, complicated, lingering. There are floral notes, and notes of white pepper. It lasts. Hedonistas suggests you can mix this one for cocktails, but it seems too good for that, unless you really want to impress. And I am quite taken by some of their cocktail recipes on their website, in particular the Last Rite No. 1, made with the Espadín, yellow chartreuse, Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto, and fresh lemon juice.

Moving up the ladder of complexity and price we get to the Tobala, the first of the wild agave sourced by trained jimadors who harvest the plants near the end of their 10-12 year life cycle. Think of Tobala as the whisper-to-a-scream mezcal--it starts attractively come hither on the nose with orange blossom notes, but then builds to a crescendo on its long finish with a hit of pyrazines--that green pepper flavor that makes Cab Franc so distinctive. For its late oomph it still is both sophisticated and inviting.

The Cuishe is kind of the flip side to the Tobala, enticing you in with a nose that makes you feel like a walk through a florist. Tropical, with a lingering note of petrol like in a Reisling, it's a tender mezcal, even down to having the smoothest mouthful of the four. Note that it doesn't give you a bit of alcohol kick at the back of the throat, like you got snapped with a tiny towel, just to remind you you're drinking firewater, if still very elevated booze. (All four come in at a kicky yet controlled 46% ABV, if you were wondering.)

Then there's the Tepeztate, which will make you rethink what mezcal can be. Green and grassy, the plants that make it up mature at 20-22 years (they're old enough to drink themselves in the States!). Think of it as the sturgeon of agave, well, not in flavor, of course. Hedonistas suggests it has a Calvados-quality I didn't quite pick up, but it is to be savored like a fine Cognac, without a doubt. 

You've probably guessed from the buzzwords handmade, artisanal, wild, and all those years it takes for the plants to be old enough to be harvested and distilled that this stuff doesn't come cheap. The range goes from $64.99 - $199.99. It's up to you to decide what's too dear for you. But if you can afford it, you won't go wrong.

Where There’s Fuego, There’s Humo: Santa Barbara Couple Starts Mezcal Brand

 

Ask Elliott Reese what’s the one thing everyone should know about mezcal, and he answers, “That it’s not tequila; it’s honestly better than tequila. I know that’s subjective, but if you want an agave spirit — neat — you can’t beat mezcal.”

For some, those might be fighting words, but Reese knows of what he speaks. Earlier this year, he and his wife, Karen, launched the mezcal brand Fuego y Humo and are eager to share their love for this distilled spirit in Santa Barbara and beyond. After working with José Manuel Méndez, a third-generation mezcalero in Oaxaca, their artisanal brand is currently offering three varietals of mezcal and a terrific story.

Care to read the rest then do so at the Independent's site.

Some Tart Appeal for Repeal Day

It's Repeal Day, so I thought you'd all need a drink to celebrate. After all, it's only been 86 years we've been able to drink legally again, and the way this country is going, with a tee-totaling authoritarian in charge and an even more scarily religious veep behind him (doesn't Pence completely seem like someone who reads Handmaid's Tale as masturbatory fantasy?), who knows what might happen? Drink up!

Here's the You Bitter, You Bitter, You Bet Cocktail. By whom, you might ask? By me. Drink enough of them, and I promise your face will dance. And before Pete Townshend shows up at my door to windmill my bad-joke-loving face to shreds, let's get on with it.

I'm playing around with homemade limoncello for a future story in an actual publication, not just a blog, and if you've ever made limoncello you know the problem with it--my god, that's a lot of sugar! So the trick is tempering that sweet with lots of not so. That's one reason the YBYBYB also includes fresh lemon juice, too, for a bit more acid, as cocktails need bite.

But wait, there's more! Over there on the right of the photo you see our specialty ingredient, Greenbar Grand Hops Amaro. Greenbar Distillery is LA's first in-town spirit-maker since Prohibition, so perfect for a Repeal Day drink, even if that just means 2004 (drink local is so 21st century). That they call it an Amaro is a bit of an exaggeration--but it is definitely bitter, with its composition of molasses spirits, aromatic and bittering hops, quillaja (soap bark tree), and cane sugar. You might need to adore your IPAs to like this cocktail, but this unique product brings a powerful pucker to the drink.

Most of the drink is powered by Mezcal, as I like smoky flavors, and they play well with lemon, too, of course. (Try grilling lemons some day and you'll know exactly why.) And the hit of Ancho Reyes gives a bit of true heat--it's still the best chili-infused liqueur for my money.

And I almost forgot. Cilantro! So here's hoping you're not one of those folks who has the genetic thing that makes cilantro=soap. We're going to have to someday do gene therapy just to fix that, if you ask me. The muddling allows for a lot of fresh green bright flavor to infuse the cocktail. And the quick hit of some smoked salt at the end makes the lemon sing even more (have you ever had preserved lemon? if not, what are you waiting for?).

Cheers to Repeal Day!

You Bitter, You Bitter, You Bet Cocktail
(makes 2 drinks)

1 oz. limoncello
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
½ oz. Greenbar Grand Hops Amaro
½ oz. Ancho Reyes
4 oz Mezcal (I have a soft spot for El Silencio because they had a great bordello at Tales of the Cocktail, plus TJ's sells it)
¼ cup cilantro leaves and stems
2 most beautiful big cilantro leaves

Muddle the ¼ cup cilantro with the limoncello, lemon juice, amaro, and Ancho Reyes. Really mash it up to extract some flavor. Add the mezcal and ice cubes and shake vigorously to mix, remembering there's a bunch of green stuff at the bottom of your shaker.

Double strain (you want to keep the drink green fleck free) into two chilled coupes. Sprinkle a small pinch of smoked salt onto each drink. Top each with one of the big cilantro leaves.

Sip This: Mezcal Amarás

Mezcal Amarás: Mezcal might be having its moment, and this import by Anchor Distilling certainly will help convert anyone assuming mezcal is merely tequila’s burlier, brawnier cousin. It’s a joven (young) style made from 100% Espadín agave from Oaxaca. Amarás translates as “you will love,” and that’s not just advertising bluster — think of this as a smooth, sipping tequila with campfire notes (anyone a fan of peaty Islay scotch wants to get this mezcal immediately).

Want to read the rest then do so at the Indy's website.