Sunday, November 20, 2011

Zotter: Scotch Whisky chocolate bar: "Highland Harvest"

I love chocolate. And Scotch. I was delighted to find Zotter's whisky cream filled bar in Probieren Geniessen in Mannheim, Germany when I took a day trip there in October.




Cute shop, they sold more than just whisky, and you could bring or buy a small vessel to fill! Or buy an entire bottle.

Anyway, the chocolate was lovely. I wish I'd purchased 2 bars so I could taste some more as I write this post! Google found me Chocablog's review, which you can read here. Good picture of the bar itself, too.

I'm making truffles with a friend on Black Friday. Perhaps I should try mixing in some Scotch?

Monday, November 7, 2011

Singlebarrel: San Jose, CA (USA) & Scotch-based cocktails

Pardon for the lapse in posts. I've been lazy.

So, I love me a fancy cocktail, however I haven't explored many Scotch-based cocktails. The ones I have heard about or tried were all mixed with Islay Scotches, not my favorite type (but beloved by my co-blogger).

In San Jose the other weekend with a good friend, we checked out Singlebarrel. This establishment has been open about a year and a half and at 7ish in the evening, was already sporting a line out the door. I thought this was ridiculous, I'm in San Jose, right? But it was all about to make sense.

The very nice ID-checker/guard/host explained to me, as a Singlebarrel n00b, that we would go downstairs, talk to the bartenders about what we like, and that a lovely cocktail would be suggested to us. Oh, and to spit out any gum we might be chewing because their real cloth napkins are made by some lady in the South.

We waited our turn and proceeded down the stairs. Nearly too dark but perfect for the mood, kind of like Bourbon & Branch. However, too dark for me to easily read the bottles of Bourbon, Scotch, etc that were displayed behind the bar. You could just teasingly see the beautiful bottle shapes and colors of the delicious liquids within. Loved the suspenders & caps sported by the bartenders. My friend and I found stools at the bar which we were allowed to perch & stay on (if standing, you must leave the bar area after you receive your drink, and head to the spacious lounging area). I had two rather sweet/girly drinks (yummy in their own right), but my friend had two cocktails with Laphroaig. Great establishment, this place. I hope to go back!

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that I need to research/create a yummy Highland or Speyside based cocktail to order so I can encourage these bartenders that not all Scotch-based cocktail needs to be done with Islay... *grumble* In the meantime, here is a link to a recipe for Butter, Lemon, Smoke, featuring Peat Monster.