A few Saturdays ago, the wife and I drove up to Seattle to visit our friends Brian & Chris. It’s been forever since we last visited. We got to run into the Munats at the #101 liquor store, see the lovely Elicia & FrankTodd, eat at a bunch of great restaurants.
A shining moment of any trip, however, is visiting your ‘tender friends and watching them behind the stick. I’ve been an online-friend of Keith Waldbauer for bit now; I finally got to meet him in person at Tales of the Cocktail. He is a class act. I was sad that with so much going on, I didn’t get to spend enough time chewing the fat. So I visited him at Union.
Seeing him behind the bar was a joy: Smooth movements, quick action, congeniality. The drinks? Heaven. If you are headed to Seattle, you must visit Union. Keith let me sample his falernum (he’s posted recently over at slash food on the topic) ((It was very good)) and his pimento dram ((delicious and much better than mine)). There are two drinks that stood out from the rest that night, and with Keith’s blessing I have been cleared to share them with you. I’ve just received these and cannot wait to get home and mix them up. I hope you’ll join me at your own home bars.
First is out of that wonderfully thick orange Jones tome ((and ZigZag’s menu)), “None but the Brave.” After complimenting Keith on his pimento dram, he asked “Have you had a None but the Brave?” Shaking my head put him into quick action. Pimento dram is usually used in quarter ounces and teaspoons due to the strength of the elixir; This drink uses a generous half-ounce and balances it out well. It’s a delight.
None but the Brave
2 oz brandy/cognac
½ oz pimento dram
¼ oz lemon juice
¼ oz Jamaican rum
dash simple syrup
shake, strain into cocktail glass
The next drink is Keith’s own, so even more kudos for releasing it into the wild. It is the “Silver Flower Sour,” a mix of a pisco sour-ish formula and some surprising and apt liquor choices. It is delicate at first and then opens into a melange of flavors, ending with a clean rye finish that almost made this imbiber cry. I’m almost tearing up now thinking of it.
Silver Flower Sour
1½ oz rye (high proof is best)
½ oz lemon juice
dash elderflower syrup*
dash orange bitters
½ egg white
shake like hell ((Keith did my newly-learned trick of dry shaking with the removed metal spring from a Hawthorne strainer before the iced regular shake)), strain into cocktail glass. Flame orange twist atop foam.
*Keith has a German elderflower syrup that is amazing. You can sub St. Germain as Vessel does, or hit up IKEA’s food section for elderflower drink syrup.
After Union, We lumbered down the stairs to visit Murray at Zig Zag. As usual he was a pure joy to talk to and watch. We could only unfortunately stay for one drink and had to bid adieu.
Thanks to Keith for his generosity, and to Murray for his kindness.
Reminder to self: Visit Seattle more often. It is full of fabulous people.
Seattle is definitely on my short-list of cities to visit soon. Any chance you could get Keith to share his falernum and pimento dram recipes?
Both of those drinks sounds great, too!
His Falernum recipe is on the slashfood post I linked to above.
I’ll have to ask him about the Pimento Dram.
We miss Seattle so much.
We never had any interest in cocktails until we lived there, and we still can’t get over how such a relatively small city has such an amazing assortment of bars and boozerati. 🙂
I hear that! When Heather and I were in SF, We did the cocktail scene (but it wasn’t the ‘new’ cocktail scene that we all love). We did hit the hell out of the compass room, trad’r sams, martunis, fuse, etc. — But it was no alembic, slanted door, forbidden island.
Yeah, Martin opens up right after we move to PDX. Doesn’t he know it’s all about us? Heh.
I should get a special award for going to Union AND Zig Zag when I can’t drink. I’m taking a bottle of Rittenhouse Rye into labor with me.
awwwwww, shucks. It was great having y’all there, it truly made my night. When the missus and I head south, your first round on us.
And Heather, am I reading this right? Is there a little monkey in the hut? Congratulations!!! And yes, you should receive a special citation to hang on the wall…. I said NO to Zig Zag and Union.