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Intro: Robert Hess


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Hello!

While not (yet) a practicing distiller, I am an ardent researcher into all things spirit related. My primary passion is on the more "culinary" side of things, in other words "Cocktails".

I will be coming out to the upcoming "Whiskey Conference" in Kentucky, where I will be presenting a special "The Art of the Mixed Drink" seminar during the opening reception, where I will briefly describe how cocktails present a unique "celebration" of their base spirit. We will then sample several whiskey based cocktails and I'll discuss how each of them should be properly made to really allow the whiskey to shine through.

My "stock" bio is as follows:

Robert Hess lives and works in Seattle Washington. He traces his interest in cocktail to a childhood fascination of bartenders - who effortlessly transformed the contents of the bottles around them into gleaming jewels of refreshment. Eventually he took action on these early memories, absorbing all he could about the classic art of mixology. Using his culinary training as a canvas, he views cocktails as a cuisine with the same artistic flavor potentials as that of any French chef. He has since become a ceaseless evangelist of quality cocktails, working with restaurants, bartenders, and consumers to help them better understand how to advance their craft.

He created www.DrinkBoy.com, and its associated discussion forum, to allow bartenders around the world to interact with each other and share thoughts, ideas, and experiences which would benefit everybody through an open discussion. He has since teamed up with several others across the country to found “The Museum of the American Cocktail” (www.MuseumOfTheAmericanCocktail.org), which will be opening exhibits in New Orleans, and New York, as well as holding a variety of events and seminars around the world.

He also is the host and executive producer of “The Cocktail Spirit” a web-based video series being presented through the Small Screen Network (www.SmallScreenNetwork.com) to provide easily accessed information and instructions on how anybody can make great cocktails.

-Robert

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  • 2 weeks later...

Howdy Mr. Robert DrinkBoy Hess Sir- I'm at your forum a lot, usually just lurking and picking up info with an occasional post. I have to congratulate you and thank you for all you and the other new pioneer mixologists who have done so much to bring around the new golden age of the cocktail. It's totally changed my life, literally. The fascination and knowledge I have developed about cocktails has led me to adding the whole spirits and cocktail thing to my writing, entering the occasional cocktail competition, and directly to my current endeavor of becoming a partner in a winery, and opening a distillery and eventually brewery. Also it has led to me dropping many piles of cash at places like PDT, Pegu Club, Angels Share, Bookmarks, Death & Co, and many more as I get quietly muddled and then befuddled.

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I think it is critical that distillers have an understanding, if not a full blown appreciation, for how their product plays in a cocktail. There are several facets to this, first and foremost is just knowing "how" to make a great cocktail with your product. Many of the distillers I've been out drinking with are so laser focused on their product "straight", that when they do order a cocktail with it their lack of what makes a "great" cocktail is clearly evident. On many distillery websites, when they list their cocktail recipes, it is equally clear that they just grabbed some recipes from somewhere without really making sure that they really reflect the same quality that their product achieves.

I think another important aspect is just knowing how your particular product plays in cocktails. I think it is with gin that this is the most important. I've had US gins that taste basically fine by themselves, and play well in a drink like the Pegu or Aviation, but when had in a (properly made) Martini, especially when compared side-by-side with a quinticential gin like Tanqueray or Plymouth, they are clearly missing something somewhere.

-Robert

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Robert- I agree with everything you said. I am making many of my spirits with the eventual cocktails in mind. Thinking about what products do best in different styles. I think my mixologist and reviewer background gives me an enormous range of known possibilities to work towards. I have well over four hundred bottles of different spirits in my collection to refer to, with more coming in every week.

Some of my spirits will also be made for just drinking straight.

When it comes to the gins I am developing I am looking in both directions. A big, full, over the top chock full of unique botanicals for drinking on the rocks or as a lesser ingredient in a cocktail. And one that is more savory, herbal, spicy, but light and flavorful with classic lines to it, and ultra smooth for martinis and for those who like a clean gin on the rocks. By the way, you state Tanqueray and Plymouth, two classic London dry styles. My fav in that style is Gordons. I feel that it is balanced right in the middle of the hundreds of gins out there and is a classic itself.

As for the eventual cocktails, I hope to have mixologist friends helping me create new ones that point up the unique characteristics of my spirits, and adapting classic oldies as well.

A great spirit is fantastic in and of itself, but can become magnificent and a work of art when made in to a classic styled cocktail. Jim Meehan made me a few Apricot Flips last time I was at PDT in NYC. Hine cognac is great by itself. So is the classic aged apricot brandy that is used in his rendition of this classic drink. But bring the two together with an egg, shaken up to a silky froth, and poured over a single large ice cube. WOW, a drink that changed me forever. The simple complexity was amazing.

I think it is critical that distillers have an understanding, if not a full blown appreciation, for how their product plays in a cocktail. There are several facets to this, first and foremost is just knowing "how" to make a great cocktail with your product. Many of the distillers I've been out drinking with are so laser focused on their product "straight", that when they do order a cocktail with it their lack of what makes a "great" cocktail is clearly evident. On many distillery websites, when they list their cocktail recipes, it is equally clear that they just grabbed some recipes from somewhere without really making sure that they really reflect the same quality that their product achieves.

I think another important aspect is just knowing how your particular product plays in cocktails. I think it is with gin that this is the most important. I've had US gins that taste basically fine by themselves, and play well in a drink like the Pegu or Aviation, but when had in a (properly made) Martini, especially when compared side-by-side with a quinticential gin like Tanqueray or Plymouth, they are clearly missing something somewhere.

-Robert

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