Hemingway's Lounge: Spring Cocktails

Hemingway's Lounge can be a like an elegant three ring circus, with barman Alex Straus as the ringmaster at the center of it all, making sure the mood is festive and the cocktails are delicious.  Straus invited Daniel of ThirstyinLA and me into the Center Ring to sample his new Spring Cocktails, before the acrobats, lions and clowns arrived.

The Peruvian Sangria is refreshing and a little boozy; the perfect drink for cocktail hour on the patio before dinner.  It is one of the new breed of cocktails that embraces wine as an ingredient; the muddled and whole grapes echoing the flavor note of the Chardonnay.

1.5 oz Pisco
.50 St Germain
.50 oz Simple Syrup
.75 oz Lemon Juice
1.0 oz Chardonnay
7 muddled grapes, plus 3 to garnish
Shaken and served over ice

Peruvian Sangria

The Smoke and Spice is spicy and springy.  Ready to drink; the smoke from the mezcal and the spice from the jalapeño syrup work together to create a cocktail with multidimensional flavors.  The Chartreuse and the lemon juice round out the drink and the bell peppers provide a dramatic visual effect.  This was my favorite of the list; unsurprising as I have a soft spot for spicy cocktails.

1.5 oz. Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
.50 oz. Green Chartreuse
1.0 oz. jalapeño-infused agave syrup
.75 oz. lemon juice
Red and green bell peppers
Shaken and served over ice

Smoke & Spice

Spring Rain is made with Akvinta organic vodka a wheat-based vodka that was new to me and which owns its own wheat fields, something unusual in the industry.  The pineapple and lime juice made this cocktail a citrus celebration.  In addition the flavor of the (unfiltered) cloudy sake comes through.  Spring Rain has a pleasant froth to it and the mint garnish floats on it effortlessly.

1.0 oz. Akvinta organic vodka
1.0 oz. Rock Sake Cloud
1.0 oz. pineapple juice
0.5 oz. lime juice
0.5 oz. simple syrup
Shaken and served in a coupe

Spring Rain

The Hunting Party is the only stirred cocktail on the Spring menu and feels like an Old Fashioned has been taken to the beach.  The predominant ingredient is the scotch whiskey but even small amounts of the Hum can have a large impact on the flavor profile and this drink is still a work in progress as the ratios undergo refinement.

2.0 oz. Benromach Scotch, a speyside whiskey
0.5 oz. Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
.25 oz. Hum, a rum infused with ginger, hibiscus, cardamom and lime
Bar spoon lemon juice
Dash of Orange bitters
Stirred and served over ice in an Old Fashioned glass

Hunting Party

The new cocktails all evoke warm weather with their refreshing tastes.  I think Hemingway himself would have enjoyed them as he surveyed the heat and the bustle of Havana.  Look out for the Smoke & Spice in particular as it packs a wonderful wallop.  Hemingway's can be quiet early in the evening and very busy towards the end of the night, so pick the vibe you want accordingly.

Hemingway's Lounge: 6356 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood.  Phone: (323) 469-0040.  Website: www.hemingwayslounge.com

The Bon Vivants Pop My Sangrita Cherry

Last week the dynamic duo of Josh Harris and Scott Baird were in Los Angeles from their home base of San Francisco and hosted a sangrita tasting at Hemingway's Bar with Tequila Ocho.  Hemingway's maestro Alex Straus was there and the Bon Vivants prepared a delicious trio of sangritas, each paired with a Tequila Ocho expression.  Straus announced that the the Bon Vivants are now Three Amigos as he has joined with Josh and Scott as the LA based representative of the trio.

Josh Harris of the Bon Vivants

I can't explain how I had never managed to try sangrita before.  For the uninitiated, sangrita is a juice based drink served alongside shots of tequila.  You sip the tequila, then the sangrita.  The sangrita may have originally been drunk to counter the harshness of the tequila, but Ocho is so smooth, the sangrita was enjoyable on its own merits as there was no need to chase away non-existent harshness.  The name sounds like sangria, but this is something completely different and wonderful.

The Tequila Ocho Plata 2009 Rancho Las Pomez was paired with:
Sangrita of cucumber, celery, green apple, lime, serrano, jalapeno, horseradish, mint, cane sugar, sea salt, cardamom, black pepper, fino sherry.

Tequila Ocho Reposado 2009 Rancho Las Pomez was paired with:
Sangrita of tomato, orange, lime, pomegranate, ancho, japapeno, red fresno, ginger, cilantro, bragg's amino, cane sugar, vanilla, combier.

Tequila Ocho Anejo 2009 Rancho St. Augustin was paired with:
Sangrita of mango, pineapple, lime, habanero, aji amarillo, sea salt, cane sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, toasted cacao, amaro montenegro

My favorite of the sangritas was the mango version paired with the Anjeo.  The sweetness of the juice mixed with the salty and spicy from the sea salt and habanero peppers was a refreshing counterpoint to the mellow and smooth tequila.

The vivid green cucumber sangrita was also quite noteworthy.  Cucumber, celery, green apple and lime all contributed to the striking color, which was more delicious to drink than to look at.

The ritual of alternating sips of the tequila and the sangrita is a fun tradition that I am glad the Bon Vivants introduced me to.  I can attest that they live up to their name and now that Straus is part of the crew, the San Francisco portion of the group has a lot to live up to.  Note that the Vivants will be opening a bar, Trick Dog, in the Mission/Potrero neighborhood of San Francisco this Spring.

Trends in the LA Cocktail Scene in 2010

Tis the season of year-end wrap-ups and here are some of the trends that hit the LA cocktail and drinking scene in 2010.  Here are five trends of 2010 and 3 to look for in 2011:

2010 Trends

Neighborhood cocktail & wine bars.  With the launch in the fall/winter of Big Bar at Alcove, 1886 at the Raymond, and Bar | Kitchen, Los Feliz, Pasadena and Downtown LA all got comfortable neighborhood cocktail spots with drinks that are destination worthy.  Bar Covell in Los Feliz joined Lou in Hollywood on my short list of favorite places to drink wine by the glass.  They both have well curated idiosyncratic lists that reflect the personality of their owners, not just the same old selections or whatever Southern Wine & Spirits wants to sell.

Single Spirit Cocktail Bars.  Both Cana Rum Bar and La Descarga launched, bringing the daiquiri and classic  rum cocktails back in the public consciousness.  Las Perlas also raised the profile of Mezcal in Los Angeles.  Seven Grand had led the way with whiskey, but this trio expanded the possibilities, each in a very different way.

Hollywood as a destination for quality drinks.  This year the craft cocktail scene in Hollywood achieved critical mass, with Hemingway's, Les Deux and the Spare Room (officially opening next week) joining Library Bar and Hungry Cat as oases from the nightclub hordes that dominate the area.

Guest bartending: The Test Kitchen built upon the tradition that Aidan Demarest created with his Radio Room at the Edison by having a rotating selection of visiting bartenders from across the city and from out of town manning the bar to accompany the ever-changing chefs.  It would not have been possible without Julian Cox, who curated the guest bartender program and has relationships with and the respect of the entire Los Angeles bartending community.

Supperclubs as cocktail destinations: Both the Tar Pit on La Brea in Mid-city and First and Hope downtown launched with decor reminiscent of the classic supperclub era.  The Tar Pit, now under the care of veteran New York bartender Danielle Crouch has a more classic bent to its cocktails while First and Hope is known for its market driven cocktails.  In a continuation of this trend, a new spot called supperclub is opening in Hollywood next month.


Predictions for 2011:

Craft Beer on the Rise: The inaugural Craft Beer Crawl in downtown LA this year showed the pent up demand and enthusiasm for craft beer in Los Angeles.  Wurstkuche, which opened up two years ago, struck lightning in a bottle, and the wave of interest in beer is continuing to rise.  2011 will likely additional craft beer bars opening up and restaurants and existing bars take their beer programs more seriously.  Cedd Moses of 213 Downtown, which owns the Varnish and Seven Grand among many others, is reportedly considering launching a beer bar.

Craft Cocktails expanding to new neighborhoods: 1886 at the Raymond and 320 Main showed that there is a market for craft cocktails in the Pasadena and Seal Beach areas.  I'd expect to see bars that focus on quality cocktails to open up in the San Fernando Valley and other underrepresented areas.  The South Bay?  You don't have to to go downtown to get a great drink.  West of the 405, only The Tasting Kitchen and Copa d'Oro have programs that are in the top echelon, except so see more join their ranks.

Bars owned by bartenders: The top bartenders in town are hired as either consultants, bar managers or bartenders; it is extremely rare to see a bartender own their own watering hole, or a healthy percentage of it.  Dave Whitton of Villains Tavern (opened in 2010) is a partner in the business and Eric Alperin has a stake in the Varnish (opened in 2009).  In the next year or two expect several of the leading bartenders to shift from employees to owners/partners as they launch their own spots to create equity for themselves instead of building value for others.

Hemingway's Lounge: Havana Cool in Hollywood

Hemingway's Lounge opened up a month ago in Hollywood in half of the former Ivar space, right on Hollywood Blvd. It is decorated as a homage to its namesake, Ernest Hemingway, and has one of the top bartenders in Los Angeles, Alex Straus, behind the bar in addition to having him create the cocktail program.

The lounge has extremely high ceilings which make the room feel even larger.  The walls, including above the bar and on the columns, are covered in books; over 10,000 in all.  One wall is also covered in dozens of typewriters.  Unlike La Descarga, which is styled after Havana during the Hemingway era, Hemingway's is all comfortable writers study, less weathered cantina, although like Descarga, Hemingway's takes reservations.

Straus is currently serving his signature winter cocktails including what has been reported to be a killer eggnog, known as Hemingway's Nog.  While you sip the hot cocktails to warm you up on these unseasonably cold fall nights, there is a DJ spinning to get your juices flowing.  The cocktail menu includes several named after Ernest's literary classics, such as The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea.

Befitting its Hollywood location, Hemingway's comes complete with bouncer and velvet rope, but if you remember to call ahead and make a reservation, you can sail past the guardians with ease and prepare to enjoy your Hemingway daiquiri in this luxe environment.  And if you have too many libations, don't try and run off with one of the books; they are glued into the bookshelves.

Some nights are busier than others and Saturday when the bar is only open from 10 pm - 2 am, Hemingway's attracts the nightclub crowd who may be more interested in a vodka cranberry than a well crafted Manhattan, so plan accordingly.

Hemingways Lounge: 6356 Hollywood Blvd @ Ivar.  Hollywood.  Phone: (323) 469-0040.  Website: www.hemingwayslounge.com