Kelley's Concoctions

Imbibing is inspiring—and not simply because of the uninhibitory powers of the accumulated alcohol that can result from the activity. Though that doesn't hurt.

No, imbibing is inspiring because of the cosmos of taste sensations you can experience within the crystal confines of a glass. Much as a fine meal can be an organoleptic orgasm, so a well-crafted beverage can inspire paroxysms of ecstasy.

This truth was reinforced recently as we worked to create three "exclusive" cocktails for the cover of our holiday issue of Northwest Palate magazine. The idea was to use local Northwest distilled products to create a "Spirits of the Season" theme.

Cool, I thought, that will mean research. And testing.

But where to get the recipes in the first place?

One of them was a natural. Last Christmas our office spect the day before our holiday vacation touring Portland's Clear Creek Distillery. During a tasting with proprietor Steven McCarthy, my business partner, Cameron Nagel, had the affrontery (albeit while McCarthy was out of the room) to combine two of Clear Creek's signature spirits into a uniqque drink Cameron calls the Firry Pear.

The second recipe, after some tribulation, was delivered by a premium mixologist in Vancouber, B.C.

And the third I took on as a personal project. (To learn more about all the cocktails, you'll have to get yourself a copy of the November/December issue of Northwest Palate magazine--available on newsstands. But, for the attentive reader of this blog, here's a deal: email me here and request a copy of the magazine—with your name and physical mailing address—and I'll mail it to you for free.)

I knew from the start who I wanted to recruit to make our third Northwest Spirits of the Season cocktail: Kelley Swenson, Bar Manager at Portland's ten 01 restaurant. Though swanky in a polished, upscale sort of way, ten 01 sports a down to earth staff of highly competent professionals. Behind the bar, Kelley is an unassuming but somehow potent presence. Able to blend into the background for patrons uninterested in the cocktail arts, Kelley can quickly take center stage for the aficionado seeking special drink sensations.

I first appreciated Kelley's skills when, in answer to the cliched "What'll you have?" I responded "I don't know . . . just make me something." Not rising to the easy bait, Kelley answered back "What do you normally like to drink?" A cocktail conversation then ensued. The result was a series of Kelley's own concoctions designed to ferret from me his own sense of my spirits style.

Did I like his Truth Teller (rye, a killer vermouth unlike any I'd had before, Fernet Branca, and the perhaps supercillious addition of Kelley's own house-made bitters), or did I prefer the Corpse Lifter (Number Two, no less)—or was the Ol' Flame (remarkably good with oysters on the half shell) more my style?

From my reactions to his concoctions, Kelley began to get a sense for what I liked.

So when I came to him with the idea of composing a cocktail for our readers, he was all smiles.

There were a few restrictions on his creativity, though. We asked him to use a Northwest-produced spirit (not hard to do, when in Oregon alone there are nearly two dozen artisan distillers) and asked him to use something that gave it a bit of color . . . for the cover shot, you know.

Kelley went away and worked. He devised a recipe based on the rather unusual and quite distinctive Krogstadt Aquavit produced by Portland's own House Spirits.

. . . and to see just what the drink was, you'll have to wait for my next post . . .

Comments

[Angie]

After Aquavit, neat
I anticipate tasting
Kelly's cocktail--sweet!

(haiku)