SALEP Topic: Drambuie

For this month's SALEP meeting (SALEP = Society for the Advancement of Libation Edification and Potation), Brian taught us about Drambuie, a new liqueur to both Kelly and me. Thanks, Brian!!

What is it?
Drambuie is a sweet, gold colored liqueur with a Scotch whiskey base that is accented with the flavors of Scottish heather honey, herbs, and spices. The whiskey is a blend of malts from the Speyside and Highland regions of Scotland.

Etymology:

"Drambuie" is derived from the Scottish Gaelic phrase an dram buidheach- "the drink that satisfies."

Origin:

(Abridged from www.drambuie.com/us/history)
-The story of Drambuie begins in July 1746. Prince Charles Edward Stuart was on the run after being defeated at the Battle of Culloden, thus ending his hopes of restoring the Stuarts to the throne of Great Britain. 

-The Prince was pursued by the King’s men across the Highlands and Islands of Western Scotland, aided by many Highland Clans. Among them was Clan MacKinnon whose chief, John MacKinnon, helped the Prince escape from The Isle of Skye. In thanks for his help and bravery, the Prince gave John MacKinnon the secret recipe to his personal liqueur.

-In 1873, the recipe was passed on to John Ross of The Broadford Hotel on Skye, who started making it to serve in his hotel. Customers who tasted it commented in Gaelic that it was “an dram buidheach," the drink that satisfies, shortened to Drambuie. The name stuck and in 1893, John’s son James registered it as a trademark. 

-Malcolm MacKinnon travelled from Skye to Edinburgh in 1900 to work in the wines and spirits business. He recognized the opportunity that the liqueur offered and in 1909 produced Drambuie for the first time. By 1914 he had acquired the recipe and the trademark and he established The Drambuie Liqueur Company.

-Word began to spread about the Drambuie elixir and it became the first liqueur to be introduced to the House Of Lords in 1916. The following year, Buckingham Palace ordered a case for its cellars. The breakout of WWI interrupted the rise of Drambuie’s popularity commercially, however it did gain favor amongst many Army officers, becoming an Officers Mess staple in the Highland regiments. 

Zesty Irishman:

- 3/4 oz Drambuie
- 1 oz Irish Whiskey
- 1/4 oz triple sec
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Ginger Ale
- Lemon twist  

Find Drambuie at: 

Raven & Rose 

Hale Pele 

Clyde Common

Past SALEP Topics: 

• Vermouth
• Green Chartreuse 
• Campari   
• Beer Cocktails 

Portland Bar: The Richmond Bar

What: The Richmond Bar 

Where: 3203 SE Division St

When: 4pm - 2am every day, 4-6pm HH ($1 off every item)

Honeys Heart: Justin, our bartender

Lesson learned: Monday night is not the best night to explore new bars. Katie and I planned a date night to Expatriate for cocktails. We double-checked that they would be open and after reading their assertion on their website that they're "open 8 days a week", we thought we were good to go. We stopped at Life of Pie to share a Margherita pizza ($10) and then headed to Expatriate. Upon arrival we discovered a "Closed for a Private Event" sign. Shit. 

Back in the car we did some quick searches and settled on Oso Market and Bar, open until 11pm. As we drove by Oso 10 minutes later we were again confronted with a "Closed" sign. Feeling a little defeated we headed to SE Division determined to find an open bar that we hadn't tried. Katie suggested The American Local, but of course it was also closed. Don't worry though, Katie's knowledge of the Portland bar scene is vast and she suddenly remembered wanting to try The Richmond Bar. It might have been our fourth stop in a driving night tour of Portland's eastside, but our rocky road lead us there and we were thankful. 

We sat at the bar and started with cocktails off the menu. I went for the Beet Down ($9) with gin, beet, lime, simple syrup, and bitters while Katie chose the Juice Box ($9) with vodka, grapefruit juice, orange juice, cherry heering, and grapefruit bitters. So far we were off to a good start.

 

With our empty glasses on the bar, Justin, our trusty bartender, asked if we wanted to stay on menu or go off. We declared that off menu sounded like more fun...for us. Some bartenders act inconvenienced when you say things like "I like boozy drinks with gin and savory flavors" and then expect them to craft the most delicious drink ever. Luckily for us Justin had the opposite opinion. With abundant enthusiasm he encouraged us to go off menu because it's more fun for him too! 

He stayed on the grapefruit route with Katie's next cocktail but took it a little more bitter and used gin versus vodka. We preferred this variation to the first. For my cocktail we went more boozy and he made a Martinez. Predecessor to the martini, it's made with gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur and angostura bitters. Justin used Old Tom gin which is aged in barrels and that definitely gave the drink a deeper flavor, more reminiscent of a whiskey cocktail. Garnished with an orange twist and a giant ice cube, I was feeling pretty fancy. My tendency would be to order a cocktail more like Katie's so I appreciated the nudge to try something classic.

Following our libations Katie had to pick up Doug at the airport so we accompanied our cocktails with a snack. Though the Cheese and Toast ($5) with white cheddar cheese spread, toast, and red onion marmalade came highly recommended, we opted for the Nº2 Hand Pie ($7) with butternut squash and goat cheese.

The hand pie was definitely sharable and was served with pickled veggies and two sauces: spicy mustard and a homemade malt sauce. The sauces were good, but we concluded they probably go better with the meat hand pies. 

Cool ambiance, great cocktails, and a totally affordable and (from our minimal experience) tasty food menu. Plus, The Richmond has a great happy hour too. $1 off all items from 4-6pm everyday. We'll definitely be back!

Portland Restaurant: Boxer Sushi

What: Boxer Sushi
Where: SE 20th and Hawthorne
When: Wed - Mon 5:30 - 9:30pm
Honeys Heart: Omakase 

Work travel is pretty awesome when it takes you to cool cities, especially one that your sister lives in, and then you get to go on adventures the following weekend. Like skiing Mt. Snow in Vermont or hitting up Brooklyn Boulders.

It is always nice to sleep in your own bed and get back to a routine though. I flew home from NYC on a Monday and Adam was leaving in the morning, so we headed out for a sushi date night.

Micah Camden, who seems to be building a little Portland food empire with Little Big Burger, Boxer Ramen, Boxer Sushi and Blue Star Donuts, is sure doing something right. We opted for the Omakase, a Japanese phrase meaning "I'll leave it to you," which runs $45 per person. The experience starts with miso soup, then moves to salad, sashimi, nigiri, vegetables, sushi rolls, and ends with mochi.

A few things about the Omakase experience and Boxer Sushi's approach that I really liked:

1.) Eating the fish in this order and taking time with each course was so much more enjoyable than digging into a bunch of rolls at one time and not really appreciating the fish. I also liked having a little surprise each round!

2.) The fish was served with garnishes and sauces that enhanced the flavor. Unlike dipping a roll in soy sauce and wasabi which consequently covers up some of the flavor, each selection seemed to really shine.

3.) I would prefer to always order family style and try a little of everything. I love getting a little bit of many things versus committing to just a few items.

The salad was crisp and firm with some tasty spices on the top.

Miso soup is always nice on a cold day and the tofu in this was a little sweet. I liked the unique variation.

This was one of my favorites. I should have taken notes because I can't remember what they all are, but I have photo documentation so I can just show them that on my next visit, right? On top of the freshness, the plates were all visually appealing with their flavor-intensifying sauces and garnishes.

Okay, this was a favorite too. The clementine and pepper added a sweet and spicy flavor that complimented the fish perfectly. I could definitely go and just have this.

I guess the sashimi is where my heart is. This salmon was also fantastic and next to it was a lump of crab meat, both drizzled with lemon oil and baby cilantro. Seriously delicious.

Following the sashimi selection was a unique plate of veggies. The green beans were covered in miso and were probably Adam's and my favorite. Next to those was spaghetti squash and at the top was pickled onion.

Next was nigiri with seven pieces each. The plate was set up to be eaten right to left with the lightest, less fatty white fishes at the beginning, moving to salmon, tuna, trout, mackerel and eel. I was really into the white fishes, while Adam declared he could eat tuna every single day. Each was slightly different in preparation with either a little garnish, wasabi, or the decision to keep it simple.

The last savory item on the list was a roll filled with crab and asparagus, topped with fish and a pepper. Again, this didn't disappoint.

The meal ended with blueberry and green tea mochi. Blueberry ice creams always remind me of lip smackers so my favorite was the green tea. I love the texture of the rice cake/dough around the ice cream. Boxer Ramen downtown has many flavors and I would recommend wrapping up your lunch there with one of these delights!

After having this sampler experience it would be easy to go and pick just a couple things that I really wanted, or for special occasions I would gladly do it again! Perhaps when the McNany's are in town...

5 in 5: Trifecta Tavern, Lincoln, Paley's Place, Tilt, and Bibi2go

Hey guys! Time for everyone's (or maybe just Doug's) least favorite type of post: the 5 in 5. You know the rules! Or if you don't, there are some previous 5 in 5's here and here.

Trifecta Tavern
Occasion: A friend raved about it, plus Ken Forkish is awesome.
The Five: Brussel sprouts to die for.

Lincoln
Occasion: Pre-movie happy hour.
The Five: Terrible service. Won't be back.*

Paley's Place
Occasion: The first full day of #snowpocalypse meant we were confined to our neighborhood when choosing early happy hours.
The Five: Why didn't we visit sooner??

Tilt
Occasion: More snow, more burgers.
The Five: Being bad tastes so good.

Bibi2go
Occasion: Kel and I met for what we were hoping would be a delicious and semi-healthy lunch.
The Five: Microwaved egg. Cold rice. No.

 

*This description warrants an explanation, even if it's against the rules. Doug and I sat at the bar at Lincoln for happy hour. We ordered off the menus given to us, only to have the bartender snap "that's not on the menu anymore! Where did you get those menus!?" before snatching the menus away from us. He then literally threw new menus at us and did his best to ignore us the rest of the night. I understand not all bartenders are super friendly, but nothing calls for outright rudeness like that, especially when Doug and I had done nothing wrong. (I mean, the family next to us brought in McDonald's for their kid... that's gotta be a worse offense, right?)