Hasta La Ideas

Goat milk caramel sauce blended with Macallan scotch for delicious drizzling

When the San Francisco confectioner Happy Goat brought their deliciously artisinal caramels to the NYC Food Fair earlier this year, all it took was one bite before we were hooked. Using locally-sourced, free-range goat milk and Madagascan bourbon vanilla beans, founder Michael Winnike and a few friends mix up each batch in traditional copper pots for an addictive treat that is naturally lower in fat. Also, because goat milk is low-lactose and the closest in nature to mother’s milk, the caramels are also easier on the lactose intolerant.

After a few months of enjoying the caramels on a pretty regular basis, we wondered what they would taste like with a little Scotch mixed in—because, who wouldn’t want that? We connected Winnike with our friends at The Macallan, who were happy to help craft what has become one of the richest, most complex caramel sauces we’ve ever tasted.

The limited-edition jar sells exclusively from our Cool Hunting for Gap pop up shop for $19 each. After experimenting with the sauce on a few different foods, we recommend adding it to a cappucino, dipping apples in it or drizzling over any dessert in need of a little extra zing.

Fermented honey makes a flavorful comeback thanks to an artisanal Maine producer

by Jason Reindorp

Located in a space resembling both wine shop and chemistry lab, a visit to Portland, ME’s Maine Mead Works to taste their handcrafted HoneyMaker wine is equal parts educational and delicious.

The HoneyMaker Mead uses 100% Maine wildflower honey and other locally produced ingredients, and then barrel aged with American oak. While many consider it a thick or syrupy drink, Maine Mead Works’ variety has a remarkably delicate and refined consistency. Subtle differences occur between the eight flavors not only because of their seasonally-sourced main ingredients, but because the honey changes in taste depending on when it was harvested, with spring honey yielding a lighter flavor than darker, autumn honey.

Founded in 2007, HoneyMaker Mead is created by husband-and-wife duo Ben Alexander and Carly Cope along with award-winning South African mead-maker Dr. Garth Cambray and mead maker Nick Higgins, who have a joint patent for an ultra-filtration system that eliminates more pollen, yeasts and bacteria than traditional filtration methods, resulting in a cleaner and smoother taste. The team has worked hard to bring the ancient beverage back into favor, balancing the art and science of crafting mead with choosing locally raised honey and fruits, all while aiming to become carbon neutral.

At just around 12.5% alcohol content, HoneyMaker Mead makes for a delicious after dinner drink or mixer for fruity concoctions. Popular during medieval times, mead is also thought to promote virility and fertility, which helped coin the term “honeymoon” because newlyweds would drink it for the first month after marrying.

Maine Mead Works Honeymaker Mead sells online from VinoShipper or from stores around the Portland area for $14-18 a bottle, depending on seasonal flavor.

From Benromach to Yoichi, a definitive guide to whisky by one of the industry’s more illustrious tipplers

In his new book “101 Whiskies to Try Before you Die” whisky expert Ian Buxton poses the fun challenge of learning about whisky by drinking a lot of whisky. Having the enviable job of working in the whisky industry for over two decades, as a consultant, Marketing Director of a world-famous single malt, and builder of several distillery visitor centers, he learned the ins and outs of whisky and the people who make it. In this book, he shares his wisdom and some entertaining details along the way.

Over a golden dram of Highland Park 50 at its Harrods launch in London earlier this year, we talked scotch with the book’s illustrious author.

Buxton’s love of whisky led him to write this book not as “an awards list,” but rather as the definitive “guide to 101 whiskies that enthusiasts should try” to complete their education. He focuses generally on bottles that are neither obscure nor prohibitively expensive. Buxton’s love of whisky jumps off of the page with each story he has to tell about the geography of Scotland, the history of distilleries, the stories behind some of the unique companies that create award-winning blends. Of the whiskies included in the book, 72 are from Scotland while the rest hail from Ireland, England, Japan, Sweden, Canada, India and the U.S.

From insider details about distilleries he visited on his honeymoon to honest disclosures about companies he worked for, 101 Whiskies is full of anecdotes that make what could otherwise be a dry who’s-who into a page-turner. From three types of the brown tipple created in small batches by Compass Box to impressions of the impossibly hip Monkey Shoulder site, he covers it all with wit and a balanced perspective.

While some brands are accessible like the Macallan 10 and Makers Mark, more exclusive labels make the cut when Buxton feels they’re worth the money, which includes Johnny Walker’s Blue Label George V Edition and the surprisingly delicate Highland Park 40. All of this variety turns the book into a whisky-fueled journey through tasting these 101 whiskies into both a inspiring travel guide and an education in scotch, whisky, whiskey, bourbon, rye and new make spirit (whisky before it’s been aged).

Buxton always makes sure to prioritize the actual liquor itself, adding his own DIY suggestions for some of the packaging, such as the posh wooden box for the Dewar’s Signature that could become “a handy coffin for a pet hamster or gerbil.” Though he’s similarly skeptical about Basil Hayden’s copper belt, he likes the contents.

Buxton does have a few preferred places for drinking whisky, including Edinburgh’s Bramble Bar, The Pot Still in Gasgow, the Highlander in Craigellachie, NYC’s The Brandy Library and in London, The Athenaeum Hotel or Albannach and Salt. And if there was to be a 102nd bottle? “Probably some moonshine from the hills, but we don’t want everyone to know and the cops to visit the guy.”

“101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die” sells online from Amazon and will be available December 2010 from Powells . Sláinte!

by Blaine Pate

From the Happy Canyon appellation of Santa Ynez comes
Habit, a truly artisanal wine high on both style and substance. After seven years of making wine in his own basement, voiceover actor Jeff Fischer (who plays the character based on him in the animated series “American Dad”) knew he had reached his potential as a garage vintner. Striking up an old-school apprenticeship with friend and iconic winemaker Doug Margerum, Fischer became a cellar rat, providing manual labor in exchange for the use of Margerum’s facilities and knowledge.

In the creation of the Habit label, Fischer cold-called his favorite artist, Stefan G. Bucher, on a lark to ask if he’d design it. To Fischer’s surprise, Buscher told him that he had always wanted to design a wine label, but had never been asked. When Fischer told Bucher of his addiction to trying to make a good wine, and his feeling that winemaking is in his blood, the desirous hand and bloodlike droplets on the label were born.

The result of these collaborations, Habit’s sauvignon blanc is quickly gaining acclaim in sommelier circles as a nuanced, sophisticated-yet-friendly wine that marries hints of pineapple, grass and grapefruit with a delicately floral nose. Perfect for a summer barbecue, it pairs deliciously with grilled vegetables, shrimp and duck, while the striking label inspires conversation.

Limited to a batch of 50 cases, Habit’s going fast. It’s primarily available from a select list of restaurants and retailers in Los Angeles and New York. Check out the site for vendors, or as Fischer says, “If somebody wants a bottle, they can just email me.” Cheers to the artisan.

Stockholm’s first and only members bar, the recently-opened Safiren Apt 606 serves up Bombay Sapphire-based drinks. Hidden within Stockholm’s stylish Story Hotel, Apt 606 offers members an urban retreat that even guests aren’t privy to.

A gin heavily focused on quality both in taste and design (the brand has its own award for glass design), Bombay compliments the club’s smooth aesthetic well. Members can choose from a variety of top-notch cocktails including the tempting Bombay Sapphire Rose, the classic Dry Martini (favored by the late Queen Mother), and a take on Robert De Niro’s tipple of choice, the Bramble—with all the recipes published (with downloadble PDFs) on the Apt 606 site.

The bar itself, a low-key affair, mixes vintage curiosity items with modern luxury for a casually sophisticated feel, accented by fabrics in rich tones of oxblood, maroons and deep turquoise.

In keeping with the air of secrecy surrounding most bars of its ilk, Apt 606 doesn’t take applications. Instead, selected members receive a key to access the private bar. Tucked away from the main drinking space of the hotel, the slightly protracted entry process only makes for an even greater feeling of seclusion and privilege.