Food - Summer Spirits

8/31/15, 8:03 PMFood - Toledo Blade
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Noah Momyer with his Sicilian Sunrise poolside at
Sylvania Country Club.
A variety of shrubs.
Chelsea Schippel pours a blackberry whiskey
lemonade poolside.
Toledo-area experts pour the perfect summer cocktail
8/16/2015
BY NATALIE TRUSSO CAFARELLO
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Whether lounging poolside or socializing with friends on your deck, you sometimes
crave a drink that captures the spirit of a summer day.
We tapped into Toledo’s budding cocktail culture for drinks to imbibe that will keep
you cool and composed when the sun shines hot.
The bubble
Liven your summer day — or night — with sparkles. Bubbly wines can uplift that
classic cocktail recipe, apéritif, juice, or spirit. At Veritas Cork and Craft in downtown
Toledo, making the Tincho is as easy as twisting the cap.
The Tincho is a “super refreshing drink” that is all the rage in Argentina, where it’s
hotter longer, manager Matt Snyder said.
Fill a short cocktail glass or stemless wine glass with mounds of ice, squeeze lime to
cut the sweetness, and pour New Age White wine in. For a more festive look, use a
wine glass. Mainly composed of the white Argentinian Torrontés grape, New Age is
priced around $10 and is a sensually perfumed, floral wine with a slight effervescence.
The Italians have blessed us with many culinary classics that earn their greatness from
their simplicity. That holds true in the cocktail world. The Negroni, on an upswing
this side of the Atlantic, is made with gin, sweet vermouth, and the charismatic
Campari that serves as the basis for many Italian apéritifs — before dinner — or
digestifs — for after dinner.
At Element 112 in downtown Sylvania, sommelier Drew Carter switches out the gin
for sparkling white wine Prosecco so you can sip a Sparkling Negroni poolside. The
bright acidic florals found in Prosecco, or even a Cava, work here, as they are both
more approachable in price and taste than Champagne, which has a yeasty flavor, he
said.
“This is a brilliant and cold classic cocktail. In recent years with the resurgence of
classic cocktails Negroni is growing in popularity. And there’s nothing like bubbles
for summer,” he said.
Another Italian classic that has graced many brunch menus is the Bellini, simply
peach puree or nectar and Prosecco served straight up in a Champagne flute. At
Burger Bar 419 the Bellini gets a shot of life with a vodka infused Peach Cordial and
is served in a retro coupe glass.

Matt Waldfogel with a pomegranate pink lemonade.
Spirits by the barrel
According to the Distilled Spirits Council, America’s
affection for pre-prohibition cocktails and whisky
varieties are causing a surge in the spirits market.
Compared to 2013, total whisky sales to suppliers
has grown by 7.3 percent on average, with Blended
Whisky leading with a 42 percent volume increase.
Overall, American’s drank a total of 210 million 9-
liter cases of spirits last year.
U.S. Spirits Market in Volumes 2014
Manager Matt Waldfogel creates the sweet concoction with a syrup that he makes using fresh peaches, an infusion of vodka and
warm spices, like cinnamon, vanilla bean, and cloves.
Sylvania resident Michelle Mancy, who was soaking in the sun at the Sylvania Country Club’s newly renovated pool, enjoyed a
super-sized Triple Berry Mojito that gets another element of refresh with the addition of lemon-lime soda and muddled berries.
“I like vodka and ginger beer. Or Moscow Mules. I like to keep it light. I love Mojitos in the summer too. They are so refreshing,”
she said.
Chelsea Schippel, the club’s dining manager, said they like to use berries and herbs like mint or basil in cocktails like the Triple
Berry Mojito and Blackberry Whisky Lemonade, to keep with the spirit of summer.
The spirits
Pre-prohibition style cocktails are no longer confined to city slickers frequenting
swanky bars in giant metropolises.
“Cocktail culture is nearly non-existent in Toledo, but it’s coming,” Mr. Waldfogel
said. “I think you’ll see more creating and see classic cocktails revived.”
Whisky is on a comeback. This is no longer your grandfather’s liquor. Mixologists are
composing menus with the classic drinks, some with a twist, opening up the palates of
a new generation, men and women alike.
“I think people are branching out. When you think of whisky you think of heavier. But
the industry is coming up with lighter whiskies,“ Ms. Schippel said.
Frank Coleman, senior vice president of public affairs for the Distilled Spirits Council
in Washington said the media and period dramas with leading men taking swigs to get
through the day has contributed to a revived interest in sophisticated drinks that were
once banned in the early 1900s. Whisky clubs are popping up throughout the nation,
beyond the East and West coasts.
“American whiskeys are in a huge comeback. ... In 2013 we saw every category of
whisky grow: scotch, Irish, Bourbon, Tennessee whisky, flavored whiskey, Canadian
whisky ...,” Mr. Coleman said.
“The first thing was Sex and the City and the Cosmo in early 2000s. Now Mad Men,
Boardwalk Empire. The media has far more interest,” he said.
In all of his many trysts, the most popular ad man, Don Draper, was perhaps equally intimate with his drink as any of his lady
friends.
Like Waldfogel’s from scratch peach cordial, and Noah Momyer of Element 112
experimenting with the vinegar-based shrubs, Mr. Coleman said there is more
innovation in the ingredients that accompany the spirits.
“It is part of the foodie culture and spirits plays great into that because it is so flexible.
These bartenders that call themselves mixologists or bar chefs, that’s how they think of
themselves and it’s a good thing. The pre-prohibition cocktail is an American
invention like jazz,” Mr. Coleman said.
Veritas tops off its Glass City Cocktail with Malbec [red wine made from purple

Cases of 9-liter bottles sold, estimated in millions:
Blended Whisky: 8.7
Bourbon and Tennessee: 19.3
Canadian: 16.3
Scotch, blended and single malt: 9.4
Irish: 2.7
Total Whisky: 56.6
Total Vodka: 66.9
Total Rum 25.1
Total Tequila 13.7
Total Gin: 10
A pomegranate pink lemonade, front left, peach
bellini, back left, Mezcal Martini, front center,
Sicilian sunrise, back right, and blackberry whiskey
lemonade front right.
grapes] that holds up to the bourbon, adding ginger syrup and lemon for freshness.
Burger Bar’s Mezcal Martini has a clean smoke delivered by its tequila.
“If smokey scotch and tequila got together and had a bastard child, that would the Del
Maguey Vida Mezcal. They smoke and age the agave similar to what they do to the
peat when they make a scotch,” Waldfogel said.
The shrub
Thank the English for this vinegar based syrup drink that can equally quench the thirst
of teetotalers and the imbiber.
“Shrubs are pretty standard in my world,” said Mr. Momyer. Element 112’s bar
manager shook and stirred drinks in Seattle, known for its foodie culture, before
recently moving to Toledo.
A shrub involves mixing a vinegared fruit syrup with spirits, water, or a carbonated beverage like soda.
“A lot of bartenders use them. I just started experimenting with them. It goes back to the days when you could not refrigerate
things and was used as preservative,” he said.
According to a May 19 New York Times article “The Modern American Shrub,” the English used vinegar to preserve fruit. The
colonial Americans eventually made it “fashion to pour off the vinegar, mix it with a sweetener and use the syrup as a base for a
drink.”
There is a cold and hot process to make one. Below is a recipe for a hot process. Mr. Momyer said you can create them according
to taste and the varieties are endless. You can use fruit, or a mix of fruit and herbs to flavor your shrub, which in turn adds depth
and character to your next cocktail. And there’s something about that vinegar tartness that restores your cool in the sweltering days
of summer.
“Sugar and vinegar are a good balance of sweet and sour. You have the acidity and all the elements that go into a cocktail,” he said.
On a whim he piled ice in a glass, poured in a plum shrub, topped with soda water, and garnished with a mint and rose. “It’s that
simple,” he said. He added that when making a mocktail just as much attention and thought should go into it as when making an
alcohol-based drink.
Shrubs are versatile and can be paired with vodka or gin, but don’t play as well with brown-based spirits, he said.
Burger Bar’s Mezcal Martini
2 Ounces Del Maguey Vida Mezcal
1 Ounce Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
.75 Ounces sweet vermouth
A dash of bitters
1 Orange slice
Muddle an orange slice in your shaker, add ice, Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, ounce
Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, sweet vermouth, a dash of bitters. Shake. Strain. Pour in
a glass and garnish with an orange twist.

Sparkling Negroni
Use a sparkling wine that is light and bright, Prosecco or Cava.
1 Ounce Campari
1 Ounce sweet vermouth
Prosecco
Pour Campari and vermouth into a tall glass with ice.Top with sparkling wine. Garnish with an orange twist.
Shrub
Here Noah Momyer of Element 112 uses tomato and basil, but any fruit, such as plum, or fruit and herb mix can be used.
The shrub uses equal parts water, sugar, and vinegar, although depending on taste you may want use slightly less vinegar.
1 Cup water
1 Cup sugar
3/4 Cup vinegar, white wine, champagne, or red wine. He used champagne.
2 Cups chopped tomatoes
7-8 Leaves fresh basil
Boil water and add sugar. Once sugar melts making a simple syrup pour in fruit and herbs. Be aware of the strength of the herb,
and you don’t want it to overpower the fruit. You can be liberal with the fruit. Add herb slowly. Depending on how fragrant it is
you can always add more.
Boil and let simmer through. Taste it to ensure the flavor has infused into the sugar.
Strain. Let cool. Add vinegar. Label. Refrigerate.
Sicilian Sunrise
1 Ounce Campari
1 Ounce apricot shrub
Two dashes grapefruit bitters
Soda water
In a tall glass with ice add first three ingredients. Top off with soda water. Stir.
Glass City Cocktail
1.5 ounces Big House Bourbon
1 wedge of fresh lemon
1 teaspoon ginger simple syrup

Malbec
In the shaker muddle bourbon with lemon and ginger simple syrup. Shake with ice. Strain into cocktail glass filled with ice. Top off
with Malbec.
Contact Natalie Trusso Cafarello at 419-206-0356, or ntrusso@theblade.com, or on Twitter @natalietrusso.
Copyright 2015 The Blade. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission.

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