TOTC2021: How To Find The True Cost of a Cocktail
As the bar industry recovers from the pandemic’s widespread decimation, how the bar industry allocates its revenue and resources is an acutely pressing question. For an industry with such a high proportion of low-wage work it’s vital that we rebuild with an eye toward equity, and ensure that everyone is paid what they’re worth, and our businesses thrive.
Tasting Table - What The Number 10 On A Bottle Of Tanqueray Represents
“According to spirits expert John deBary of the Food Network, Tanqueray is imprinted with the number 10 as a nod to its roots: The specific still used to produce these select batches of Tanqueray is imprinted with the number 10. And it's the very same one Tanqueray has been using for 200 years, earning it the nickname "Old Tom." Old Tom even survived one of the infamous Blitz air raids in London in 1941.”
Food52 - Why Your Bar Cart Needs A Spray Bottle
Although the traditional method (pouring, swishing, dumping) works fine, thanks to Food52’s resident drinks expert John deBary, we’ve learned a better, cooler way to rinse a cocktail—and all you need is a tiny spray bottle. For John’s preferred method, you’ll pour an ounce of the rinsing spirit into a small (roughly 50ml) spray bottle. Then, instead of pouring, swishing, and dumping, simply give the empty cocktail glass a few sprays and the job is done.
Food52 - Dark Phoenix
John deBary is back and making a Dark Phoenix, better known as the X-Men Animated Series cocktail of your dreams! This fiery red-and-orange elixir leverages the densities between syrup (heavier) and soda water (lighter) to create a color gradient similar to the animated pseudo-deity. GET THE RECIPE ►► https://f52.co/3I9nr6h
Eater - The Brash, Chaotic, Enduring Taboo of Four Loko
This backlash, however, had the effect of making Four Loko all the more enticing to a number of college students and young adults. “It was the 20-year-old version of snap bracelets, where the notoriety and the popularity are kind of inextricably linked to their prohibition,” says cocktail expert and author John deBary. “It was always like, Hey, did you hear about this thing that New York City is banning? Or, Hey, you hear about that kid who died of drinking Four Loko? Let’s drink it.”
Eater - Ursula, One of Brooklyn’s Best Breakfast Burrito Spots, Is Moving to Bed-Stuy
“By night, Ursula on Nostrand Avenue will eventually roll out a small cocktail program (created by cocktail expert John deBary) and wine selection (from sommelier Peter Redmond) with an emphasis on LGBTQ+-owned, distilleries and other makers — an extension of the inclusive ethos at the restaurant. Eventually, a casual dinner service will launch.”
Julia Bainbridge's Good Drinks Newsletter - Dry January
Two years in, and this is the first time I’m really talking Dry January. Let’s get into it.
If you’re a drinks person, which I imagine you are, since you’re here, John deBaryneeds no introduction—but I’ll give one anyway:
John deBary is a bar expert with over a decade of experience in New York City hospitality. He's the author of two cocktail books, Drink What You Want: The Subjective Guide to Making Objectively Delicious Cocktails and the forthcoming Saved by the Bellini (& Other ‘90s-Inspired Cocktails); a freelance journalist; and Food52’s first Resident Drink Expert. He's also a co-founder and board president of Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting structural solutions to quality-of-life crisis facing restaurant workers, and the creator of alcohol-free apéritif Proteau, which he recently put to bed. (Fingers crossed John puts out another product in the near future. The man has taste!) Subscribe to his newsletter here. (Oh, and John is also a judge for the L.A. Spirits Awards and was named one of Wine Enthusiast’s 40 under 40 in 2020. Toot toot beep beep!)
I absolutely adore John Thee deBary, who adds so much to my life, including the (edited and condensed) conversation below. Note: If it's not clear, I'm asking questions in bold, and John is answering them in the regular-weighted font.
TASTE Podcast January 2, 2023
John deBary is a bartender extraordinaire, a cookbook author, and a great spokesperson for the bar and restaurant world. This being the start of “dry January” (for those who celebrate), we wanted to have John on to talk about the rise of the nonalcoholic (NA) movement and how spiritless drinking is hardly without spirit. We find out what it was like launching his own NA brand and what the future holds for the term “mixologist.” We always love catching up with John and hope you enjoy this conversation.
Food52 - Vegan Grasshopper
A Grasshopper was the first cocktail I ever made. In college I threw together a batch of this green-tinged concoction for a viewing of Barbarella with a few friends. Many people relegate the Grasshopper to the “bad” drinks pile, but I rekindled my affinity for this drink when I came across bartender Micah Melton’s Wasabi Grasshopper that’s prepared in an ice cream machine, giving it a texture unlike anything you could achieve in a blender or cocktail shaker.
The Grasshopper first appeared in print in the early 1900s where it was simply crème de menthe and crème de cacao layered on top of each other. In the 1950s, cream started to appear in the recipe and the drink took on more of an alcoholic milkshake vibe. It languished for a few decades before bartenders dusted it off and made attempts to modernize the drink, such as adding a good slug of French Cognac to cut the sweetness and add a bit more depth.
Food52 - Eyeball Punch
I love Halloween. My birthday is three days before so growing up I always had a spooky birthday party. Plus, I love getting dressed up (I am gay) and I love candy. Halloween is the perfect soft entry into the holiday season because there’s no one way to do it right. You can go to a parade, trick-or-treat, have a party, or even just stay at home with a scary movie.
In the years that my husband and I end up hosting a Halloween party, I always throw together a large format drink that keeps my guests’ glasses full without me having to run around and play bartender all night. Fundamentally, this drink is pretty simple, it’s apple brandy, port, and apple cider, but what makes this drink really special is the “viscera” ie. the apple ribbons and peeled grapes that are soaked in bright-red bitters to give them a stomach-turning internal-organs vibe that’s perfect for a celebration of spookiness. It might seem daunting at first, but peeling grapes is not as difficult as it sounds and it’s definitely worth it for the slimy eyeball texture. Apple strips can be made using a vegetable peeler and it’s up to you if you want to use the skin, or just the soft flesh.
The ice chunks can be made pretty simply by freezing filtered water in pint-sized deli containers. You don’t want to use small ice here as it will interfere with the impact of the viscera. And the final touch—the flaming rum, is entirely optional and I would not recommend it if you’re feeling wary about working with flames, but in a dark room late on Halloween night, nothing looks cooler than a flaming bowl of guts (and boo-ze!)
Cheddar News - Celebrating National Vodka Day with Community Spirit Vodka
In honor of National Vodka Day, Cheddar News wiped up some crazy cocktails with two New York-based mixologists. They're both featured in the first cocktail book by Community Spirit vodka, a new brand that aims to elevate marginalized voices within the hospitality community. John DeBary, author, bartender, and founder of Restaurant Workers' Community Foundation, and Naama Tamir, owner and operator of the restaurant Lighthouse in Brooklyn, gave their insight on this mission as they crafted some of their signature drinks.
Recipe Club - Apples
Whoever said “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” probably hadn’t tried this week’s recipe—but Recipe Club goes where proverb-coiners fear to tread.
Mashed - 12 Alcohol-Free Liquors You Need To Try
“Proteau is producing some of the most innovative and indescribable zero-proof drinks in the market. It would be a borderline disservice to its ingenuity to say that it is comparable to any other alcoholic liquor or that any substitute would come close to replicating it.”
PUNCH - All the Ways to Pineapple Your Cocktail
For cocktails that call on pineapple juice, fresh is best, as “canned juice tends to be lifeless,” according to Proteau founder John deBary. In his version of the Singapore Sling, he dials down the pineapple quotient while maintaining the classic’s juicy nature, balancing it with a hint of spice from Bénédictine.
