Long Island's LIV Vodka Gets in the Liqueur Game

The distilling scene in New York State just keeps growing and growing.

Long Island Spirits, the island's first craft distillery since the 1800s, and the maker of the well-thought-of LIV Vodka, has now released a line of three potato-based liqueurs called Sorbetta. (According to LIV, the only potato-based liqueurs sold in America.)

All three—lemon, orange and strawberry—have LIV vodka as their base, and use fresh fruit and pure cane sugar. The liqueurs have a simple flavor profile. They taste like what they are: neutral spirit infused with fruit, with no secondary flavor characteristics sneaking in. If you're familiar with limoncello, the lemon liqueur will be no mystery to your tastebuds. The orange is perhaps the most complex, with some of the tangy bitterness of the rind coming into play. The strawberry is the lightest. I'd give it a spritz of seltzer and a lime, or pour it over creamy vanilla ice cream. But serve any of them chilled or on the rocks on a hot summer day, and there will be little to complain about.

Gary Farrell Returns to Russian River Valley

For years there, Gary Ferrell was once of the golden names in Russian River Valley pinot noir, making juicy, sought-after wines prized by collectors and those fond of Parker-astic, big-ticket reds. Then he sold he winery in 2004 and cleared out.

Now he has returned with Alysian, his new "back to his roots" wine. Again, his stomping ground is the Russian River Valley, and again he's producing pinots. He's just released his initial 2007 vintage of Alysian, including two pinots. If Ferrell is going back to his roots, they dig into artistic ground remarkably similar to what he left behind at his big commercial winery. In other words, fans of the Farrell style won't be disappointed. The wines are alcoholic, fruity, fragrant and juice, the single-vineyard Floodgate Pinot Noir 2007 (only 440 cases) slightly more restrained than the sweet, big-boned Russian River Pinot Noir 2007. The Chardonnay was not available for tasting at the event I attended, but, at 14.1%, and 10 months in new and used French oak barrels, I wouldn't expect a lot of subtlety.

The Vanderbilt Brings Out Spring Cocktail Menu

Brooklyn's The Vanderbilt has unveiled its spring cocktail menu, to coincide with the debut of Saul Bolton's spring dining menu. Pimm's, anniversary-kid Campari, in-season blood oranges all make appearances. Here's the list:

Campari and Strega Share 150th Birthday Honors

Who would have thought that two neon-colored Italian liquors founded in 1860 would survive to fill 21st century glasses?

It recently came to my attention that both Campari and Strega are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year. You'd think that if you had that kind of staying power, you'd earn the privilege of celebrate your sesquicentennial on your lonesome—at least in your own country! But no, the red and the yellow will have to share.

Strega (or Liquore Strega) was invented by Giuseppe Alberti, and has long been produced by the S. A. Distilleria Liquore Strega in Benevento, Campania, halfway between Rome and Naples. Its yellow color comes from the presence of saffron in its recipe. Approximately 70 herbal ingredients, including mint and fennel, help it out in the flavor department. "Strega" means Witch in Italian; hence, the drink's nickname, "The Witch."

Campari, meanwhile, hails from the north. It was the invention by Gaspare Campari in Novara, Italy. It originally got its vibrant red color through carmine dye, derived from (yeesh) crushed cochineal insects. It contains more than 60 ingredients, making it only a trifle less complex than Strega, if we go by the numbers. Campari has arguably won the popularity contest over the two bottle's 150-year run. Certainly, it's more prevalent in American bars.

If you want to honor both, don't sweat it. Campari is an apertif, Strega a digestif. You can enjoy both in the context of a single meal. 

Not sure how they feel about Strega, but you'll be well set for Campari drinks at the new Pulino's in Manhattan. See below.

Employees Only Team to Launch Line of Bar Mixers

The mixology team at the Greenwich Village cocktail den Employees Only—lead by Dushan Zaric and Jason Kosmas—will be launching in May a line of artisan bar mixers.

The new products will soon be available in New York through Fresh Direct. EO is kicking the line off with house made Grenadine and Lime Cordial, the same ones they have been using behind the bar for years.

Imbibe Names 25 Most Influential Cocktail Personalities of the Past Century

Well, now, here's an article that's bound to start a few barroom arguments over the next couple months. Imbibe magazine has stepped and named those 5-and-20 individuals they feel were the most influential cocktail figures of the past 100 years. Some are dead (Donn Beach, Harry Johnson, Harry MacElhone, Harry Craddock—oh, a lot of Harrys), but most are alive. So as to not contibute to any of those coming booze-fueled disputes, I'm just going to post the list as written, and without comment. Enjoy:

The 25 Most Influential Cocktail Personalities of the Past Century
The May/June 2010 issue cover story features the 25 Most Influential Cocktails of the Past Century. Compiling that list got us thinking about the people behind some of those cocktails, so we thought it only fitting to create a list of the 25 most influential cocktail personalities of the last 100 years. For this list, we considered the type of influence someone has had on the cocktail world as well as the duration of that influence—and keep in mind that these are people who have specifically influenced cocktail culture, not spirits. Whether they’ve created an iconic cocktail, spawned a cocktail trend or dedicated themselves to educating the public about the craft of cocktails, the following 25 people have undoubtedly impacted the way we all drink cocktails today, and for that, we raise a toast to each of them.

Cienfuegos' Rum Punch Bar "Cocteleria" Has Soft Opening Tonight, Opens Thursday

The rum punch bar faction of Cienfuego—the new East Village, Cuban food-and-drink place fostered by downtown cocktail mogul Ravi DeRossi (Mayahuel, Death & Co.)—will have its soft opening Monday night, April 26, working toward an official opening on April 30, manager Miguel Calvo told Off the Presses. It's name: Cocteleria! The Cuban sandwich shop section of the two-floor complex, called Carteles, opened earlier this year at 5 Avenue A, near E. 6th Street.