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'King Of Cocktails' Is In A Glass, By Itself

A Top Bartender Talks New Years Drinks

Dale DeGroff Co.

Dale DeGroff has been described by Anthony Bourdain as "the Oracle, the Yoda, the Walking Buddha of mixology."

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By JEFF HOUCK | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 22, 2008

Dale DeGroff has been described by Anthony Bourdain as "the Oracle, the Yoda, the Walking Buddha of mixology."

Been there. Poured that.

After you've worked at New York City's glamorous Rainbow Room atop 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and watched the ball drop in Times Square from behind the well of the bar you're tending 65 stories up, everything else is akin to a weak martini.

Take 1987, when a spontaneous conga line started in the bar on New Year's Eve as a tight quartet played cool jazz. In seconds, the line extended out through the lobby, then through the dining room, onto the dance floor, out the back door into the cabaret, then across the north side of the building, with its nighttime view of pitch-black Central Park. The line marched into another room (where an orchestra changed its tune midsong to match the conga stomp), through to the west side of the floor overlooking the Hudson River, out the back door, out the service door and finished back in the bar.

"It didn't matter what room you paid to be in, everyone was everywhere," DeGroff remembers. The party line became such a legend, managers tried each year to recreate the moment with actors and costumes before it ultimately faded away.

Another year, the lights went out in the bar so that everyone could better see the ball drop. When the lights came back on, DeGroff found 15 people behind the bar with him, helping themselves. Then there was the year workers found a couple passed out naked under a table, covered in confetti. The restaurant manager's instructions: Wake them up, give them breakfast and send them on their way.

"Now I don't do New York parties," DeGroff, 60, says from his Long Island home. "Where are you going to go to top that?"

These days, DeGroff spends his time traveling the world, training bartenders, appearing at seminars and writing award-winning books. He also is the founding president of The Museum of the American Cocktail in New York City. Author and Travel Channel star Anthony Bourdain describes DeGroff as "the Oracle, the Yoda, the Walking Buddha of mixology."

A three-time James Beard award nominee, DeGroff recently released "The Essential Cocktail; The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks" (Clarkson Potter, $35).

The book is like a Rosetta Stone of libations, with such classics as the gimlet and Long Island iced tea examined in historical detail and with regional variations. DeGroff also examines the influence that culinary experimentation in the past 15 years has had on mixology, with such flourishes as foams and molecular gastronomy working their way into the bartender's repertoire.

Included in the book is one of his own landmark drinks, The Ritz, which he created with New Year's drinking in mind to honor the glamour of celebrity champagne cocktails served at Ritz hotels in London, Paris and Madrid. It was the one drink he never took off his menu.

"The Ritz, like champagne itself, is a cocktail for which there is never a wrong time," DeGroff says. "It works before dinner, during dinner, after dinner, anytime."

Served in a cocktail glass but made with high-end champagne, the drink also is built with cognac, some orange-flavored Cointreau, a dash of maraschino cherry liqueur, and a little bit of lemon juice.

"The lemon comes along with the cherry to remind us of the sour that comes along with the sweet in life," DeGroff says.

As if the new year needed a better metaphor.

RITZ COCKTAIL

¾ ounce cognac

½ ounce Cointreau

½ ounce Luxardo Maraschino

½ ounce lemon juice

Champagne

Flamed orange peel, for garnish

In mixing glass, stir together the cognac, Cointreau, maraschino and lemon juice with ice. Strain into a large cocktail glass and fill with champagne. Garnish with the flamed orange peel.

For the flamed orange peel: The aroma and flavor in citrus fruits is concentrated in the oil cells of its peel. Chefs and bartenders often extract this oil along with the juice to add the essence of the fruit to various dishes and drinks. In cocktails, the oil in the citrus peel provides an additional advantage because it can be flamed.

Always use firm, fresh fruit; the skin will have higher oil content.

Use large, thick-skinned navel oranges.

The twists should be ¾-inch by 1½-inches long. The peel should be thin enough that the yellow shows all around the circumference with just a small amount of white pith visible in the center. Cutting uniformly sized, thin oval peels that flame up well takes control, concentration and practice.

Hold a lit match in one hand, and pick up the twist in the other very carefully, as if holding an eggshell; if you squeeze the twist prematurely the oil will be expelled.

Hold the twist by the side, not the ends, between thumb and forefinger, skin side facing down, about 4 inches above the drink.

Don't squeeze or you'll lose all the oil before you flame.

Hold the match between the drink and the twist, closer to the twist. Snap the twist sharply, propelling the oil through the lit match and onto the surface of the drink.

# # #

NEW YEAR'S EVE IN A GLASS

Every year, mixologists and alcohol manufacturers try to put their stamp on New Year's Eve with signature cocktails. Here are a few holiday drinks you can try as you sing "Auld Lang Syne."

SMIRNOFF MIDNIGHT KISS

¾ ounce Smirnoff No. 21 vodka

Champagne

Splash of blue Curaçao

Wet the rim of a champagne glass and dip into sugar. Pour the vodka into a champagne glass and then fill with champagne. Top it off with blue Curaçao

GREY GOOSE L'ORANGE WINTER DELIGHT

2¼ parts Grey Goose L'Orange flavored vodka

1½ parts fresh blood orange juice

¾ parts fresh squeezed lemon juice

¾ parts simple syrup

¹{frasl}³ parts cranberry juice

¾ parts water

1 thin slice of jalapeño with 3 seeds

2 1/8 teaspoons gelatin

In a bowl, muddle jalapeño slice with simple syrup. Add remaining ingredients except for gelatin and stir to combine. Strain into saucepan, discarding jalapeño. Sprinkle gelatin over top of liquid and let mixture rest for one minute. Then gently stir over low heat until gelatin dissolves (about two minutes). Pour cocktail mixture into chocolate or candy molds. Refrigerate for two to three hours until set. Creates approximately 12 edible cocktails, depending on size of molds used.

CUERVO CONFETTI DROP

½ ounce Jose Cuervo Especial Tequila

½ ounce Goldschlager

Pour the Jose Cuervo Especial Tequila into a shot glass. Then add the Goldschlager.

LIAM'S MIDNIGHT TOAST

By Stephen Phillips

A flavorful, colorful and classy cocktail for Christmas or New Year's Eve.

4 ounces champagne (reasonably priced nonvintage champagne is fine)

½ ounce cognac

½ ounce Grand Marnier

Dash of Campari

Orange wheel (garnish)

Crushed ice

Fill a large chilled wineglass with crushed ice. Add ingredients in exactly this order: champagne, cognac, Grand Marnier, Campari.

Garnish with an orange wheel.

TRIESTE MARTINI CREMA

1 shot espresso (lightly sugared)

½ ounce GranGala Triple Orange Liqueur

½ ounce Van Gogh Espresso vodka

½ ounce cream

Slightly whip the cream using a small whisk or spoon. Combine GranGala, vodka and ice in a shaker. Brew a shot of illy espresso and add to shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass. Gently add slightly whipped cream to the top by pouring or using a spoon. Garnish with an orange peel.

THE BALL DROP

3 ounces NUVO Sparkling Liqueur

1 ounce Ciroc

Mix Nubo and Ciroc. Add a frozen sorbet ball garnish.

Served in a martini glass.

Reporter Jeff Houck can be reached at (813) 259-7324.

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