Category Archives: Deep Ellum

Cocktails, Competitions and Honors, Deep Ellum, Events, Exotic tales of adventure, For A Good Cause, General revelry, Pop-Up Bars, Reunited and it feels so good, Theme parties

Mustache seesaws and vodka ice cream: Bar squads vie for Ultimate Cocktail crown at 8th annual benefit event

Mustache seesaws. Vodka ice cream. A magical wall through which seemingly disembodied hands offer cocktails for the taking. It might sound like something out of an Alice in Wonderland fantasyland, but that’s what you’ll find on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 13, at Deep Ellum’s Harlowe MXM and its adjoining sister bar, Trick Pony.

The event is the 8thannual Ultimate Cocktail Experience, which in its previous seven years has raised nearly $1 million total for Dallas-based Trigger’s Toys, a non-profit organization aiding hospitalized kids and their families.

Ultimate Cocktail Experience 2018
2018’s Ultimate Cocktail Experience took place at The Bomb Factory. Image from video footage produced for the event.

“It’s one of those days when everybody comes together,” said Naomi Ayala, president of the U.S Bartenders Guild’s Dallas chapter, at a recent group workshop. “It’s for the kids.”

Originally known as the Fantasy Bar Draft and then Cocktails for a Cause, the Ultimate Cocktail Event has snowballed since its initial runs at The Standard Pour in Uptown and Henry’s Majestic in Knox-Henderson, held more recently at massive venues like the Bomb Factory and Klyde Warren Park. This year’s move to Harlowe/Trick Pony takes the party back to its roots while maintaining its spirit and spectacle.

“We’re toning it back down,” says Brian McCullough, among the event’s original organizers. “Everyone will feel the whole thing a little more.”

Ultimate Cocktail Experience
The Ultimate Cocktail Experience, now in its 8th year, has raised nearly $1 million for Trigger’s Toys.

The Ultimate Cocktail Event runs from 6 to 11 p.m. and capitalizes on the Harlowe/Trick Pony complex’s two-story design – a perfect setting for the gala’s traditional five-way battle of pop-up bars staffed by more than a hundred bar industry pros from DFW and beyond.

Every year, five teams of bartenders conceive an imaginary bar and spend time developing the drinks, concept and clever marketing campaigns in pursuit of the coveted people’s choice prize. This year’s event is an all-star reunion, bringing together each of the last five year’s winners for a bid at the ultimate crown.

“We’re even bringing back Ampersand and Ampersand,” says Stephen Halpin, Dallas-based manager of trade education for Patron Tequila, referring to the cheeky name of 2014’s champ.

But as Ayala said, it’s all about the kids. It was Bryan Townsend, vice president of global sales for spirits producer The 86 Co., who launched Trigger’s Toys 11 years ago after witnessing the positive effect that his dog, Trigger, had on an antisocial child at a local care facility.

This year’s move to Harlowe MXM/Trick Pony takes the annual benefit back to its bar roots. Image from video footage produced for the event.

Now, in addition to providing financial support for kids and their families facing long-term hospital care, Trigger’s Toys every year buys holiday-season gifts for them and their families and funds therapeutic care for kids with autism, cerebral palsy and other conditions through an organization called Bryan’s House.

“It has just evolved and evolved,” Townsend says.

Joining “& and &,” helmed by the Statler Hotel’s Kyle Hilla, will be 2018 champ Elevate, captained by Megan McClinton and Jason Pollard of The Usual in Fort Worth; 2017 champ Cuba, led by Nicholas Grammer of The Mitchell; 2016 winner American Carnival, headed by Andrew Stofko of Te Deseo; and 2015 champ Zoom Zoom, led by Zach Smigiel of Billy Can Can.

Tickets are $65 and are available here.

Harlowe MXM, 2823 Main Street, Dallas

NOTE: A previous version of this post stated that Ravinder Singh of Sloane’s Corner would be leading team Cuba; Nicholas Grammer has since stepped in to take his place.

Bars, Bartenders, Charity, Community, Competitions and Honors, Dallas, Deep Ellum, Most excellent ideas, People

The Shake Up: Bartending contest aims to show off DFW’s female talent

Bartender competitions are in full swing these days, with The Standard Pour’s epic Bar Brawl having wrapped up a few weeks ago after a two-month-plus run and another tournament set to launch next week at The Lodge. But “The Shake Up,” which kicks off tonight, stands out for one reason: It’s strictly for the ladies.

Armoury DE general manager Rosey Sullivan, who organized the competition, wanted to show that there is plenty of female bartending talent to go around. It didn’t sit right with her that of Bar Brawl’s 14 contestants, only two were female – and pitted against each other in the first round. The situation didn’t so much anger her as open her eyes to an inherent bias she says pervades the profession.

“I thought, the best way to show that ‘male’ and ‘craft bartender’ aren’t synonymous is to showcase all the female talent that exists,” Sullivan said. “What better way than to host another competition?”

Shake Up’s 16 contestants will be matched against each other in teams of two for a weekly $200 prize. There’ll be a speed round, while another will involve a Daiquiri variation. The competition will feature all-female judging panels, too, including local industry veterans like Remy Cointreau rep Amy Florez and bartenders Jones Long and Mandy Meggs. Meanwhile, Armoury’s all-female front-house management team – including Sullivan, Megan Christiansen and Kelsey Hanshew – made the bar a perfect place to host the Monday-night competition, Sullivan said.

Tonight’s match will pit Madison Carney of Ruins (Deep Ellum) and Katie Morgan of The Charles (Design District) against Candy Gaines of High & Tight (Deep Ellum) and Taylor Weidman of 2 Charlies Bar & Grill (Denton).

Part of each week’s proceeds will benefit a women-focused charity such as Altrusa, Genesis House, Dress for Success and the Dallas Women’s Foundation.

What does Sullivan hope to accomplish beyond female visibility? Making the local female bartender’s network stronger, for one. The title round will be held in early February with a $3,000 reward at stake – though not a one of those who Sullivan asked to participate ever even asked about that detail – which may just go to show just how strong that network already is.

Bartenders, Community, Dallas, Deep Ellum, People

Dallas’ cocktail family reels after loss of two beloved bar men on same night

Chad Yarbrough, of Armoury DE. Photo illustration by Austin Marc Graf.

Dallas’ cocktail/spirits community is reeling over the sudden loss of two local bartenders, both lost to unrelated illnesses.

Chad Yarbrough of Armoury, D.E., and Josh Meeks of Henry’s Majestic died within hours of each other late Sunday and early Monday morning.

Yarbrough, who had just turned 33, was a gentle soul whose warmth and steady presence at Armoury, D.E., and beyond earned him the affection of colleagues and patrons alike.

The influence of the force known as “The Cobra” was evident in the outpouring of sentiment that filled his Facebook timeline through the night and into Monday morning, from Shoals’ Omar Yeefoon, who was “absolutely gutted to lose someone so amazing so young,” to High and Tight’s Austin Gurley, who called Yarbrough “one of the most genuine and solid dudes I’ve known.”

The local cocktail/spirits community is tight knit, historically driven by a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats mentality, so when loss hits, it cuts deep and wide. Yarbrough’s abrupt passing is the second to befall the cocktail community – and specifically Elm Street in Deep Ellum – this year, following that of beloved Brick and Bones general manager Ian Brooks, killed by a hit-and-run driver in May.

Yarbrough, who died of liver failure, had been with Armoury and its nearby sister bar, Ruins, since its opening days, and the bar had hosted a fundraiser just two weeks ago to help pay his medical bills at Baylor Dallas.

“Our hearts are heavy today,” read the post on Armoury’s Facebook page. “It is difficult to find the words to describe the loss of such a dear friend to so many of us…. It was our absolute privilege sharing the room with you through the years.”

“We all lost a beautiful soul today and heaven gained an angel,” wrote Spec’s rep Brian McCullough, co-founder of The Standard Pour in Uptown. “I’m so sorry we lost you. I love you brother!”

Keisha Cooper of Uptown’s Circo recalled karaoke nights with Yarbrough and his willingness to dress in drag for a charity event.

Yarbrough behind the stick in a photo taken in April 2017.

“You will always remain a light in this often-dark world that will never flicker, never fail,” she wrote. “Catch you on the flip side, boo.”

“This guy had the biggest heart,” said Austin Marc Graf of Henry’s Majestic, who said he was there the night Yarbrough got his first tattoo.

And Shoals co-owner Michael Martensen remembered how Yarbrough would stop by the bar daily on his way to 7-Eleven just to say hi and shake hands.

“Getting to know Chad Yarbrough over the past years was a joy,” Martensen said. “Enjoy the ride, Chad. You earned the respect and trust of many.”

And encapsulating the thoughts of the entire community, he finished by saying, “I am blessed to have known you.”

Meanwhile, on its Facebook page, Henry’s Majestic announced the loss of Meeks, who had joined the bar earlier this year. “He was always happy to serve you and make you feel at home,” the post read.

Charity, Community, Dallas, Deep Ellum, Events, General revelry, Most excellent ideas, Pop-Up Bars, Theme parties

Saturday’s Ultimate Cocktail Experience will turn Deep Ellum space into a city under a roof

The Ultimate Cocktail Experience, coming Saturday to the Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum. (Photo by Don Mamone)

On Saturday, the Bomb Factory in Deep Ellum will transform into a virtual city under a roof. Think bodegas, food trucks, a 13-piece band, a shoeshine stand.

In that sense, the always zany Ultimate Cocktail Experience will be no different – and yet very different in its quest to raise money to benefit for needy kids and their families. Each year, dozens of bartenders from Texas and beyond form teams and try to out-do each other as one-night-only pop-ups, churning out cocktails for charity while creating an identity fitting the theme.

“We really create an experience,” says event founder Bryan Townsend, who first created the event to benefit Trigger’s Toys, the charity he started 10 years ago. “I want it to be the kind of thing where people look at their friends and say, ‘What the hell is going on?’”

What began as a modest holiday-season party at an Uptown bar has eclipsed $200,000 in proceeds each of the last two years. Now in its 10thyear, the event has raised $1.2 million in all, moving from the grassy expanse of Klyde Warren Park into the massive Deep Ellum venue.

“It’s turned into this thing,” Townsend says. “I’ve been really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

A scene from 2016’s Ultimate Cocktail Experience at Klyde Warren Park. (Photo by Don Mamone)

Ten years ago, Townsend was feeling trapped in the corporate job he had then and began to focus on other things – like his dog, Trigger. He and Trigger were at a Grapevine hospital one day when a nurse told him about a little girl in therapy who’d been unable to socialize with others.

Townsend said: Maybe she’d like to give Trigger a treat?

The girl did, and then Townsend wondered if she might want to follow Trigger through one of the play tunnels in the children’s ward. When that happened, the nurse went and got the girl’s mom, because it was so unlike the girl to be so social.

Inspired by the experience, Townsend created Trigger’s Toys, a nonprofit providing toys, therapy aids and financial assistance to hospitalized kids and their families. As the proceeds grew, Townsend spread the benefits around, with funds now also providing therapy services at Bryan’s House, a Dallas agency serving kids with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and more.

That’s the mission at the heart of Saturday’s revelry, which runs from 7-11 p.m. at the Bomb Factory, or starting at 6 p.m. for VIP ticket holders. Attendees might encounter breakdancers, drum lines, fortune tellers, even a dog park.

“We want to it be like you’re walking through a city,” says Townsend, vice president and sales director for spirits producer The 86 Co. “What would you see?

Four different pop-ups will vie for top honors:

Elevate, a glam hotel-style bar headed by Megan McClinton and Jason Pollard (The Usual, Fort Worth);

The Lab, a molecular mixology bar led by Fernanda Rossano (High & Tight, Deep Ellum) and Austin Millspaugh (Standard Pour, Uptown);

Corner Bar, a neighborhood-bar concept led by Ravinder Singh (Macellaio, Bishop Arts) and Jones Long (Knife, Mockingbird Station); and

Neon, headed by Zach Potts (Gung Ho, Lower Greenville) and Kelsey Ramage (Trash Collective, Toronto).

Tickets run from $68 to $128 and are available here.

Alchemy, Bishop Arts, Deep Ellum, Exotic tales of adventure, Fancydranks, Garden to bar

What’s the buzz? Dallas bartenders use mouth-tingling Brazilian bud to jazz up cocktails

buzz button, Scott Jenkins
In Deep Ellum, Hide’s Green Tara may drink crisp and refreshing, but a little bit of buzz button changes everything.

At Hide in Deep Ellum, the Green Tara is a lovely, lemonade-hued cocktail, dressed with dehydrated citrus and an eye-catching yellow bud that looks like a little knit gumdrop.

The drink – a vodka-based number flaunting pear, jasmine green tea, vanilla bean, lime and lemon – is tart, crisp and refreshing, with soft, herbal notes. But take a crunch of that fuzzy little bud and within seconds, your mouth lights up like a state fair midway.

And, notes bar director Scott Jenkins, “it totally changes the dynamics of the drink.”

The Brazilian jambu goes by many names, but here in the U.S., it’s most commonly known as the buzz button. The flowering part of an herb known as Acmella oleracea, it’s less known for its looks than its effects on the palate, caused by the release of a natural chemical compound called spilanthol.

“It’s like putting a nine-volt battery on your tongue,” says bartender Spencer Shelton of Ruins in Deep Ellum, which uses buzz buttons – referred to on the menu as “Brazilian bud” – in Armando Guillen’s appropriately named Cojones! My Tongue! “It’s kind of Pop-Rock-y.”

buzz button
At Ruins in Deep Ellum, Armando Guillen’s Cojones! My Tongue! features rum, soursop syrup and lime, but it’s the buzz button that gives the drink its exclamatory name.

The bud’s initial taste is grassy, almost straw-like, before the electricity kicks in – a hint of sour as it prompts salivation, then a prolonged carbonated tingling on the tip of your tongue. The sensation is almost numbing. “There’s a slight analgesic quality to it,” Hide’s Jenkins says.

And it’s one more way to perk up the cocktail experience. The first time I ever encountered one was in 2012 in Las Vegas, where a buzz button graced an Asian-influenced Margarita variation at The Chandelier Bar at The Cosmopolitan. Guests were urged to drink half the cocktail before eating the bud to experience the drink’s altered state: The tingle on the tongue lent a jolt of effervescence.

At Hide, the Green Tara starts with a burst of green tea and citrus, followed by the soft sweetness of pear. A bite of buzz button bumps up the drink’s floral components, sweetens the citrus and creates a bubbly sensation as you drink.

I also saved a bite of buzz button to try with Hide’s tequila-based Yellow Belly, which features yellow bell pepper, Yellow Chartreuse, lemongrass and coriander; it beautifully boosted the pepper’s sweet, vegetal brightness.

In a way, the buzz button experience is a micro version of the flavor tripping parties that were trendy a decade ago, where people gathered to chomp on miracle fruit berries and then marvel at how Tabasco suddenly tasted like doughnut glaze or cheap tequila like, well, really awesome tequila.

Bartenders say jambu’s sensation works best with citrus and clear spirits like gin, vodka and tequila, “really any kind of patio drink,” Ruins’ Shelton says. “It’s mouthwatering and refreshing. It just begs you to drink more.”

Jambu, Szechuan button
A sampling of Brazilian jambu, also known as buzz button, from Dallas’ Mulcahy Farms in a shot from 2014. (photo courtesy of Mulcahy Farms)

Several years ago, when Shelton worked at Bolsa, near Oak Cliff’s Bishop Arts District, he and then-bar manager Kyle Hilla were researching herbs when they came across jambu.

Curious, they turned to Cynthia Mulcahy of Mulcahy Farms, who’s grown herbs and edible flowers for Bolsa for years. “She was pretty much our personal botanist,” Shelton says.

As it turned out, Mulcahy was already familiar with the plant, having traveled to Brazil annually for 15 years. “It’s something you find in Rio de Janeiro and other places,” she says. “They have herb farms in the hills that ring the city. It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. It’s like the Italian countryside.”

Mulcahy started growing buzz buttons for Bolsa, where Shelton and Hill – now beverage director for the Statler Hotel – used them on drinks and randomly handed them out to unsuspecting patrons to see their reaction.

“Sometimes people freak out,” Shelton says. “Everything from curse words to just saying, ‘Ow!’ It’s one of a kind, and you don’t expect it. It’s just fun, that’s my favorite thing about it.”

Bars, Cocktail craft, Cocktail history, Cocktails, Cocktails are everywhere, Dallas, Deep Ellum, Drinks around the world

Trick Pony’s ambitious ‘Around the World in 80 Cocktails’ lets you think globally, drink locally

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Harlowe MXM, Alex Fletcher
Japan’s sake-influenced Sakura Martini is among the dozens of global cocktails that will roll out over the next few months at Trick Pony. (Photo by Austin Marc Graf)

If there’s one thing that unites the majority of the globe, it’s the sweet relief and refreshment that many of us find at day’s end in a cocktail glass. Now, all-world barman Alex Fletcher is summoning the spirits of the earth to Deep Ellum’s Trick Pony, where starting Tuesday (today) and for the next few months, you can sample international sips one drink at a time.

The drinks of “Around the World in 80 Cocktails” — a nod to the Jules Verne novel, made into its best-known movie version in 1956 — will be rolled out weekly in groups of six. One of them will get a social-media push daily, but all six will be available during the week. “It’s a trip all over the world,” says Fletcher, who handles operations for the group that owns Harlowe MXM, Breadwinners and Henry’s Majestic.

Some familiar names dot the overall list, standards like Peru’s Pisco Sour, France’s French 75, Tahiti’s Mai Tai and Brazil’s Caipirinha. But there’s also a sake martini from Japan, a rum-based drink called a “Hot Dog” from Martinique and the Suffering Bastard, a gin-and-brandy concoction from Egypt.

The lineup represents nations from Iceland and Indonesia to Uruguay and the Netherlands. The Kenya-based Dawa is a Caipirinha-like cocktail that involves muddling lemons with cream honey. Vietnam’s Fishy Surprise supplements whiskey and Drambuie with a bit of fish sauce.

 

Around World 80 Cocktails, Alex Fletcher, Harlowe MXM
The Rhubarb Fizz, by way of Australia. (Photo by Austin Marc Graf)

“There’s some cool stuff from Thailand that I found,” Fletcher says, such as the Siam Sunrays, which flavors up vodka with ginger, lemongrass and Thai chili. “I tried to find places where people didn’t know cocktails existed.”

In addition to the sake martini and Caipirinha, this week will kick off with Spain’s cava-infused Agua de Valencia, Hollywood’s bourbon-based Brown Derby, a rhubarb fizz from Australia and the Jamaican Planter’s Punch.

Coming off Trick Pony’s last special program – a lineup of cheesy 1980s drinks – Fletcher’s bar team was jazzed but wanted something more challenging. The fact that Fletcher threw 80 cocktails at them may have made them think twice.

He says he first got the idea while perusing the web site of Hendricks Gin, a brand given to fanciful, old-timey imagery. The hot-air balloons reminded him of the 1956 movie and then, a book called “Around the World in 80 Cocktails” was published last fall.

 

Harlowe MXM, Alex Fletcher, Around World 80 Cocktails
Bourbon, grapefruit and honey syrup make Week 1’s Brown Derby, created in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Austin Marc Graf)

He’s even had a 5-foot-by-10-foot world map produced for the occasion, which ultimately will be smattered with travelogue-style Polaroids of each drink.

All are established cocktails. “Why reinvent the wheel?” he says. “Why not showcase what’s going on around the world?”

He did have to ignore some of his discoveries because the ingredients weren’t available locally, while other specifics, like measurements, were inexact or described in old terms such as “a hogshead of lime juice.”

“I thought, ‘How am I going to make this into something my bartenders will understand?’” he says. “What does that mean in ounces?”

Alex Fletcher, Harlowe MXM
In a few months, this map will be covered with Polaroids of cocktails from around the world. Think globally, drink locally,

The drinks aren’t necessarily arranged by region; Fletcher says he tried not to bunch similar flavor profiles together to avoid “a palate blowout.”

One drink he found from Hong Kong is traditionally served punch-style in, literally, half a globe – which makes sense because it involves a dozen ingredients.

“I saw that, and I’m, like, ‘I’m in,’” Fletcher says. And he may or may not have ordered some globes for the event, which means you might not only be able to drink in the world, but drink from the world too.

Trick Pony, 2823 Main Street, Dallas. 

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Bummer, Deep Ellum, Plano, Seasonal, The Cedars, Uptown, West Dallas

Fall is here, but it still feels like summer. Here are some cocktails to help with that.

Yes, it might be fall, but summer don’t care. It’s decided to linger around North Texas and deliver one last beatdown, with temps in the mid-90s until early next week.

You don’t have to sit there and take it. Because when life hands you lemons, you make Sidecars, and when it hands you unbearably hot weather, you’re going to fight back with cool, refreshing cocktails.

Here are six drinks you should enjoy before autumn finally sets in.

BIG STICK MOJITO, The Theodore, NorthPark Center

Hugo Osorio, The Theodore
At The Theodore, Hugo Osorio’s Big Stick Mojito is nothing to speak softly about.

First of all, just look at this. This is a gorgeous drink. And the Big Stick Mojito – the “big stick” a reference to the famous “speak softly” quote from the president this NorthPark Center restaurant is named for – is as fun and delicious as it appears, a visual feast of green, white and red from bartender Hugo Osorio.

This mojito sweetened with tropical pineapple features a brilliant raspberry coulis that rests at the bottom of the glass, perfect for slurping through a straw while simultaneously offering balance in taste and texture.

“We wanted this cocktail to be super approachable,” says Kyle Hilla, bar director for Turn The Tables Hospitality, the group behind The Theodore as well as Bolsa, Smoke and other restaurants. “And on top of that, we wanted something incredibly stunning to look at.”

Mission accomplished, sirs.

RASPBERRY-WATERMELON FREEZE, Fat Chicken, Trinity Groves

Stephen Halpin, Fat Chicken
When it’s hot outside, your body naturally craves snow cones. It’s science.

You’re probably not surprised to see a snow cone on the list. When it’s hot out, your body naturally craves snow cones. It’s science.

However, you may be surprised to know this snow cone comes from Fat Chicken, the fried chicken joint at Trinity Groves. One of a trio of frozen drinks designed by Stephen Halpin, global mixologist for Patron tequila, the Raspberry-Watermelon Freeze is summery and fruity with a bit of DIY mischief: The mix of Patron silver, watermelon and lemon juices and muddled raspberries is presented in a small carafe that you get to pour into the heaping glass of Hawaiian shaved ice presented alongside. (Though I’d recommend first using your straw to dig out a shaft into which the liquid can descend so it doesn’t end up all over your table.)

“I wasn’t sure when I got here if people would want to drink their drinks out of a snow cone,” says manager Christopher Garrison. “But they love it.”

MEET YOUR MATCHA, Yayoi, Plano

Lyndsy Rausch, Yayoi, Plano
Shochu: It’s big in Japan.

When Lyndsy Rausch took over the bar program at Yayoi in Plano, shochu – the featured spirit at Japanese izakayas – was a natural starting point. “Adding matcha to it was really the first thing that came to mind,” she said, “because I wanted something earthy to match the complex flavors in shochu.”

A low-proof liquor distilled from rice, barley or sweet potatoes, shochu likewise is earthy; Rausch paired Iwai barley-based shochu with matcha powder, added citrus-y yuzu and mint to cut the bitterness, and topped it off with club soda. The result is radiantly green and highly drinkable, a liquid hammock to lay your thirst in when temperatures climb.

FROZEN GIN AND TONIC, Harlowe, Deep Ellum

Harlowe, Deep Ellum
This is probably why Billy Joel wrote the lyric “makin’ love to his tonic and gin.”

It’s got gin.

It’s got tonic.

And it’s frozen.

There’s much to like about Deep Ellum newcomer Harlowe, including the brunch-time lobster waffle and an expansive rooftop bar, but the simplicity of the Frozen Gin and Tonic is nothing short of genius on a 90-degree day. With nothing but a bit of star anise stranded atop the blindingly bright tundra of its surface, it’s a stone-cold certain way to punk that nasty summer-like warmth.

DUE SOUTH, Parliament, Uptown

Jeremy Koeninger, Parliament
If you’re wondering how to cool off in Uptown, I will point you Due South. (Photo by SungJoon Bruce Koo)

Another way to beat the heat is to fight fire with fire. At Parliament, bartender Jeremy Koeninger’s Due South puts a Texas spin on the tropical Painkiller, adding jalapeno to the tiki staples of rum, coconut and pineapple with a dash of orange and nutmeg.  “Being from Texas, I like the combination of spicy and sweet,” he says.

Presented with a jalapeno coin atop the foam, Due South is a terrific hot-weather refresher, showcasing creamy pineapple, cool citrus, peppery heat and a nutty finish. (I’m always surprised at how well coconut and jalapeno pair up, which is probably the one reason I never get tired of watching Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray in Lost In Translation.)

The name of the drink, Koeninger says, refers partly to the happy coincidence that any south-of the-border spirit – except for cachaca – works in the drink; pisco, in particular, is excellent.

ABSINTHE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER, The Cedars Social, The Cedars

The Cedars Social
If you’re both in need of refreshment and absinthe-minded, this drink is for you.

It might be hard to imagine absinthe as the basis of a soothing refresher, because unlike shochu, it’s notoriously anything but low proof. The Cedars Social’s Absinthe Makes The Heart Grow Fonder is a drink to ease the pain of a sweltering summer night, or a starry starry night, or in this case, an autumn night that still feels like summer.

Copper & Kings’ 130-proof absinthe is the star of this show, backed by a remarkable pecan-based orgeat and a chorus of soda. A fortifying fusion of licorice and pecan, it’ll almost make you wish the hot weather would linger a while longer. Almost.

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Deep Ellum, Drinks around the world, Events, Food and spirits, Tastings

Fear not: Niwa’s Sunday tastings will help you navigate sake’s goodness

Jettison
A man and his brews: At Niwa, George Kaiho’s sake game is strong.

Let’s say you are the type of diner who confidently fords a robata grill menu, stoutly navigating the fare only to break into a paralytic stupor at the sight of an extensive sake list. Faced with a noodle bowl of unfamiliar terms, you might very well leap into the abyss of a random choice or opt for a safer fallback (“Sapporo, please!”) — but wouldn’t life be one less mystery burdened if you knew what all those enigmatic terms meant?

Deep Ellum
Partially unfiltered Daku sake, paired with a Wagyu short rib deviled egg.

Fortunately for you, George Kaiho is here to help. The resident bar manager at mezcal/sherry bar Jettison in Oak Cliff, Kaiho has been moderating a series of sake tastings every other Sunday at Deep Ellum’s Niwa Japanese BBQ, sharing his love and considerable knowledge of Japan’s brewed, rice-based alcohol with anyone who will listen. (Niwa’s next sake tasting will be Sunday, Aug. 6.)

This is the way to explore sake: In dribs and drabs, with an experienced tour guide leading the way. Niwa’s tastings begin with a thin spiral-ring booklet called “A Guide To Tasting Sake.” Inside is a detailed description of sake production along with a map of the 47 prefectures of Japan. And because one is never too old for sticker books, attendees also receive a baggie of stickers with photos of the five premium sakes to be sampled and background on each; these can be applied to pages in the booklet with space for notes about each sake’s first impressions, tasting notes, pairing ideas and more.

Niwa, Jettison
Kaiho explains the meaning behind the name of Dassai’s “Otterfest” sake at a tasting in July. “This one’s special,” he said.

Each sake – all of them registering about 15 percent alcohol – is paired with a small bite. At Niwa’s inaugural sake tasting in late June, first up was the Daku Nigori, nigori meaning a sake left partially unfiltered; with a milky, porridge-like texture, it’s best served chilled. Offering notes of grape, berry, banana and pear, the Daku was paired with a Wagyu short rib deviled egg, a rich contrast to its viscous, syrupy sweetness.

Kaiho, who was born in Dallas but grew up in Japan, explained that while sake’s quality and diversity are similar to wine, it ‘s better compared to beer, being less affected by climate than by the production process itself. “Wine is about what happens in the vineyard,” he said. “This is more like a beer. It’s about what happens along the way.”

Restaurant owner Jimmy Niwa displays the evening’s menu at a sake tasting last month.

Cheap sakes abound, but it’s premium sakes that are on the rise, one of the main characteristics being the degree to which the rice is polished, or washed, since the grains’ exterior layers offer less desirable flavors to the final product. To be called premium, a sake’s grains must have been polished down by at least 30 percent. “Ginjo” sake has been 40 percent polished, “Daiginjo” 50 percent.

Our second sake was Otokoyama’s Tokubetsu (special) Junmai from Hokkaido prefecture, one of Japan’s northernmost breweries, founded in 1661. While some producers add alcohol to sakes to bypass the lengthy fermentation process, a junmai sake is free of such chicanery; made with snowmelt well water, ours was dry with apple notes and it paired well with the starch of spicy fries and wasabi aioli.

Cowboy Yamaha
Shiokawa brewery’s “Cowboy” Yamahai sake, paired with Niwa’s pork belly bun at a tasting in July.

Next up, the Kirinzan Classic, immediately distinguished by a funky, yeasty aroma. Its watery, nearly flavorless taste blossomed into an apple/pear finish; Kaiho speculated that yeasts were likely added during production with a neutral spirit added to halt fermentation. (Trickery! See above paragraph.) It coupled nicely with a salty kara-age chicken.

Fourth up was Masumi’s highly drinkable Karakuchi Kiippon, a junmai ginjo (no added alcohol, 40 percent polished) made with soft mountainous water from Japan’s alpine Nagano region. (The Coors of Japan!) Kaiho said this particular sake, served with sashimi, was a favorite when he worked at Tei-An, where tables of buoyant imbibers would order bottle after bottle. Pleasantly refreshing with a clean, cucumber-y taste, our glass at Niwa was appropriately flanked by a crab cucumber roll.

Jettison, sake
Kaiho demonstrating the art of the proper pour at a sake tasting in July.

Our final pour was Kirinzan’s Junmai Ginjo. The brewery, founded in 1843, gets both its water and rice from Niigata prefecture, and Kirinzan is a so-called zizake (local) sake consumed largely by local inhabitants. Sweet and clean with a lovely floral character, it was paired with sushi.

At the moment, Niwa offers the tastings for a generous $20-$25, a bargain compared to the pricey sake dinners Kaiho oversaw when he worked at Tei-An. The booklets have enough pages to accommodate multiple visits. “If you come to four or five, you’ll end up with a good book of sakes you can keep to yourself,” Kaiho said. (Actually, two tastings was enough to fill up my booklet, but I’ll not quibble with a pleasant buzz and a good time, provided the math isn’t torpedoing my wallet.)

And anyway, “the goal here is not to make money,” said restaurant owner Jimmy Niwa. “It’s to show people what sake is all about.”

And that right there should be reason enough to give sake’s goodness a try, for goodness’ sake.

NIWA, 2939 Main Street, Dallas.  

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Bars, Bartenders, Deep Ellum, Follow the bouncing ball

Muscle your way to Shoals, Deep Ellum’s newest (and grooviest) cocktail den

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Omar Yeefoon
The backbar at Shoals.

Shoals Sound & Service, the retro cocktail den from local cocktail luminaries Omar Yeefoon and Michael Martensen, is now open in Deep Ellum, after quietly marking its official opening night Thursday.

Deep Ellum
That 70’s, Shoals: Get your groove on.

The svelte Elm Street locale is sexy and soulful,  recalling the vibe at Bar Smyth, the swanky, short-lived speakeasy that both Martensen and Yeefoon once inhabited in Knox-Henderson. The vibe at Shoals is much more laid-back, all wood and angles and curves and comfort, with nifty artsy touches and a lounge-y back area with zig-zag-design love seats.

Shoals Sound and Service
Barman Yeefoon, shaking up a Sidecar.

Patrons can get their groove on with a classics-driven drink menu (think Sidecars, Old Fashioneds, Daiquiris and French 75’s) or go off-menu with the bar staff’s own whims — or call your own shot, like a Bols Barrel-Aged Genever Old Fashioned. Liquid refreshment comes served against a 1970s backdrop with vinyl tracks from Al Green and Elton John occasionally topping the turntable.

Deep Ellum
Love and happiness: Shoals’ retro vibe includes plenty of vinyl.

The food offerings are simple, with vegan options available: The sandwich leans either bologna or veggie; the delicious empanadas, beef or veggie. Butter beans and jars of in-house pickled veggies are on the list too.

Martensen, who is also a partner in the Arts District’s Proof + Pantry, delivered a Champagne toast to mark Shoals’ opening, proudly acknowledging the team behind the bar. “The sacrifice they have given over the hurdles that I’ve given them are far beyond what I would have ever expected,” he said.

Deep Ellum
Shoals’ vibe is decidedly 70s retro.

It’s  a treat to see Yeefoon behind the bar again; after stints at Bar Smyth and The People’s Last Stand, the talented Dallas native spent a couple of years as Texas representative for The 86 Co., a now-ubiquitous New York-based line of spirits, but he never really quite warmed to the business side of the industry.

Now, with his smooth manner and signature shake, he seemed at home. Had he much missed behind being the bar? “Every day of my life,” he said.

SHOALS SOUND & SERVICE, 2614 Elm Street, Dallas.

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Barmoire, Bars, Dallas, Deep Ellum

Nightcap on Elm Street: Five drinks you should have in Deep Ellum

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Five bars with a stone’s throw of each other on Elm Street are winning at craft cocktails.

In the movies, Elm Street might be the stuff of nightmares, but in Dallas’ Deep Ellum neighborhood, it’s become a cocktail drinker’s reverie. With a growing list of newcomers now riding alongside the unflappable Black Swan Saloon, this hopping stone’s-throw stretch between Good-Latimer and Malcolm X is a destination fit to spend a Saturday afternoon and evening while catching a show nearby.

Here are five drinks, at five different spots, that you could potentially have – or share! – while you’re at it.

Hide Dallas
If you like Pina Coladas, get yourself over to Armoury D.E. for a tangy translation.

PINA COLADA NO. 2 – at Armoury DE

Start at Armoury, because the place opens at 4. Share a duck-heart appetizer with your pal and pair it with the Pina Colada No. 2.  This tangy tiki tipple comes from barman Cody Yarbrough, who was browsing through 1895, the excellent olive oil/vinegar shop newly opened a couple blocks away on Main, when he discovered the store’s coconut balsamic. “I tried it and I was, like, we have to do something with this,” Yarbrough said. The PC#2 is the result, a mouthparty of Brazilian cachaca, lime, orgeat and soda, plus that delicious coconut balsamic, garnished with a flamed pineapple.

Deep Ellum
Hide’s Delight, perfect for your afternoon.

THE DELIGHT – at Hide

Head to Hide, the cocktail lab near Malcolm X where the bar peeps get all NASA on your cocktails, producing drinks that are more delicious than gimmicky. Spirits are “milk washed” and relieved of their harshness; citrus juices are clarified for a pure veneer; soda and tonic water are eschewed in favor of a lighter-handed carbonating device. And because it’s still early, you’ll want the aperitif-style Delight, a low-proof bittersweet ballet of Aperol and Cynar tamed with grapefruit and elderflower. The cocktail is whirled in a Perlini device for a delicate carbonation; the fizz curls up on the roof of your mouth like a cat settling onto a sunny windowsill.

Brick and Bones
You can take your time with Brick and Bones’ Slowpoke Rodriguez.

SLOWPOKE RODRIGUEZ – at Brick and Bones

By now you’re getting ravenous, and the duck hearts at Armoury barely sated your appetite. You want to some more grub before showtime, so look no further than across the street to Brick and Bones, which serves up some pretty fantastic fried chicken. The drinks at this joint all recall old cartoon characters, some more obscure than others. Try the Slowpoke Rodriguez, named for Speedy Gonzales’ acceleration-challenged cousin – a flavor fest of hibiscus-infused tequila with a sweet-tart mix of amaretto and blood orange liqueur and a splash of jalapeno syrup for spice. “It’s like a Margarita without the acid,” says bartender Dre Cantu.

Austin Gurley, High and Tight
Smoke gets in your ice: Austin Gurley’s Smokey Bandit.

SMOKEY BANDIT – at High and Tight

The show is over, and you and your concert ears are ready to start winding down. Head over to High and Tight, whose back entrance you’ll find in the parking lot adjoining Armoury – and have Austin Gurley’s hardy Smokey Bandit, in which cinnamon-spiced bourbon meets hickory-smoked Cynar 70, doubles down on the smoke with a bit of mezcal and goes deep with a power-boost of chocolate bitters and anise-y Pernod. The drink is garnished with a twinkle of star anise. “The idea was to be boozy and complex, but approachable,” Gurley says. Mr. Bandit, you may approach the bench.

Gabe Sanchez, Black Swan
Pineapple rum: One of those things you wanted but didn’t know you wanted.

PINEAPPLE RUM OLD FASHIONED – at Black Swan

Finally, it’s time for, you guessed it…. your nightcap on Elm Street. Pay a visit to Deep Ellum’s craft-cocktail old-timer, the Black Swan Saloon, just a door to the west. Inside this discreet dive-bar-style hideout, proprietor Gabe Sanchez’s Pineapple Rum Old Fashioned is a tropical tri-rum-virate, with Plantation’s aged pineapple rum the star of the show. While the idea of pineapple rum might sound contrived, it’s actually got centuries-old roots, as cocktail historian David Wondrich told the New York Times: “It was a thing distillers used to do. It was done in the island. They’d soak pineapple in the barrel; it gave the rum a sweetness and richness. It was not wildly popular, but you’d see it.” Now you can, too, with Sanchez’s elegant drink a fitting sign-off before your ride home.