#WHISKEYMYWAY: WEEK 3 ROUNDUP

Week 3 of Age Your Own Whiskey — a big, boozy group project that meets on the Internet — is behind us. 

Age Your Own Whiskey works like this: a bunch of you dropped an oak stave into a bottle of our unaged White Oak Whiskey on the day after Christmas. Once a week, you post a photo of the bottle on social media and tag it #whiskeymyway so that we can all see each other's progress. We're thinking that you'll see good color and flavor around Week 5, but you can go longer, stop early, taste along the way .... it's #whiskeymyway, after all. Just starting to age yours now? You're not too late - start posting.

Here's how some of your #whiskeymyway bottles are looking after Week 3:

Twitter: @mifinke1986

Twitter: @FoodEvansville

Twitter: @JamesJpault75

Twitter: @BeanPizza

Instagram: @mrgoober03

Instagram: @_jenny.luna_

Snap your Week 4 photo this Saturday, Jan. 23, post it and tag it #whiskeymyway. And let everyone know...

1. Have you tasted it? What's the flavor like so far?
2. Are you changing conditions at all?  (Varying the temperature? Agitating it? Adding another stave?)
3. How's the color?  

We'll post another roundup next week!

MENU FOR DINNER AT THE DISTILLERY

Photo by Natasha Komodo of Femography

Cardinal Spirits and Plated Table, a farm-to-table caterer, are collaborating on the best dinner party of 2016. It's a bold claim, since we're not even 20 days in. But, we said it and we're not taking it back. We guarantee that Dinner at the Distillery on Jan. 25 will be a memorable evening: Four courses featuring fantastic local produce and meats, each paired with a cocktail that was crafted to complement the food. The setting: long tables, low lights, an intimate gathering in the back of the distillery among the still and barrels.

There are exactly eight seats left at the table, so buy your ticket today. 

Here's the full menu for the evening:

DINNER AT THE DISTILLERY, JAN. 25
Cocktails by Logan Hunter of Cardinal Spirits
Food by Kelsey Smith of Plated Table

FIRST COURSE
COCKTAIL
Bramble 75: This fizzy little number is the perfect starter, made with our Bramble Black Raspberry Vodka, lemon juice and bubbles.
DISH
Herbed ricotta on homemade nut and seed crackers topped with glazed baby carrots and brown-butter beets, plus arugula micro greens.

SECOND COURSE
COCKTAIL
Smoked Apple: Our American Gin, infused with three varieties of apples and cranberries, plus our Flora liqueur and a smoke tincture. 
DISH
Butternut squash and apple soup topped with sour cream, candied bacon and chives.
Vegetarian version served without bacon. 

THIRD COURSE
COCKTAIL
Truffle Barley Old Fashioned: A classic Old Fashioned with an earthy twist in the form of truffle-vanilla tincture.
DISH
Prosciutto-wrapped pork loin stuffed with kale, porcini mushrooms, ground pork, and brandy, roasted on a bed of apples.
Vegetarian dish: Four-mushroom risotto with riesling, thyme, and finished with a spritz of gin. Topped with a lion’s mane mushroom steak and garlic micro greens.

FOURTH COURSE
COCKTAIL
Espresso Martini: Without the riffraff. No cream or extra sugar. Our Vodka, Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur and Bramble Black Raspberry Vodka. 
DISH
Flourless chocolate cake made with Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur. Served with a side of whipped cream and homemade raspberry jam.

WET BANDITS COCKTAIL RECIPE

This cocktail made with our Standard Dry Gin blends fresh ingredients — blackberry and sage — with comforting winter flavors — honey and cinnamon. And the color couldn't be prettier.

WET BANDITS

By Baylee Pruitt of Cardinal Spirits

2 blackberries
Sage leaf
1/2 oz. honey syrup (recipe below)
2 oz. Cardinal Spirits Standard Dry Gin
3/4 oz. lemon juice
2 dashes cinnamon bitters

Add blackberries, sage leaf and honey syrup to a shaker. Muddle to release juices from berries. Add ice to the shaker, then add gin, lemon juice and bitters. Shake vigorously, then double strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a sage leaf. 

To make honey syrup: Add 1 cup water and 1 cup honey to a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve. Heat for 5 minutes. Cool completely before using. 

#WHISKEYMYWAY: WEEK 2 ROUNDUP

If you bought or received one of our Age Your Own Whiskey kits over the holidays, then you know that this is one big group project.

The instructions were to drop the oak stave into the bottle on the day after Christmas, then post a photo of it once a week after that on social media and tag it #whiskeymyway so that we could all see each other's progress. We're thinking that you'll see good color and flavor around Week 5, but you can go longer, stop early, taste along the way .... it's #whiskeymyway, after all.

Here's how some of your bottles are looking after Week 2:

Instagram: @mrgoober03

Instagram: @diffuser_city

Instagram: @liquid81

Twitter: @EverHopefulWhit

Twitter: @JamesJpault75

Twitter: @FreshAir381

Twitter: @Doc_Boc

Twitter: @FoodEvansville

Twitter: @MattCarlton

Snap your Week 3 photo this Saturday, Jan. 23, post it and tag it #whiskeymyway. And let everyone know...

1. Have you tasted it? What's the flavor like so far?
2. Are you changing conditions at all?  (Varying the temperature? Agitating it? Adding another stave?)
3. How's the color?  

We'll post another roundup next week!

BEHIND THE BAR: JAKE CIFUENTES

Bartenders hear our stories all the time. So let's hear theirs for a change. This is Behind the Bar: interviews with bartenders over a drink (or two). The series starts with Cardinal's own barman Jake Cifuentes. 
— by Kajal Singh

What spirit should people drink more of?
Definitely the White Oak Whiskey (from Cardinal). Whiskey drinkers get a little scared away by the unaged aspect and the fact that it’s clear. But it’s good on its own.
 
What’s your favorite cocktail at Cardinal Spirits?
My favorite drink to make is the Cardinal Sling. But I’m a coffee guy, so my favorite to drink is the Café a l’Orange.
 
What’s your story?
I’ve been bartending for about eight months. I’m a good friend of Cardinal’s general manager (Logan Hunter) and he used to be the head bartender at Uptown. I got drinks from him and watched him bartend for about two and a half years. He’s the one that really got me into bartending.
  
What made you want to join Cardinal?
I liked that it was doing something that isn’t really being done right now. I really liked the vibe. The people that were involved and started it up, seemed really nice and very genuine. And wanted to make a good product and do business the right way, so it’s something I wanted to be a part of.

What’s your magical hangover cure?
My magical hangover cure is bananas and bacon. I love bacon. Works every time.
 
What was your first cocktail?
I didn’t drink until after I finished college. So, I feel like I appreciate spirits a little more. But, my first cocktail was one of Logan’s specialties at the last bar he worked at. It’s called The Smoked Libertine. It’s whiskey based. There are a lot of nuances to it. My favorite part is that he dropped an eighth of an ounce of scotch in it and lined the glass with it. Scotch gave it this heat, this smoky flavor.
 
Where's your favorite place to drink, besides Cardinal?
It’s a toss up between Uptown and The Bishop. Which is really funny because they are both very different. I like Uptown because it’s quieter, so I can write. But then sometimes, I like to go to the Bishop because it’s loud all around me – yet I feel like I have a little bubble around me so I can do my own thing.
 
What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received?
Well, one of my best friends is the quasi Buddhist literary guy. He would always tell me: “Unlearn everything that you’ve learned, so that you can learn that you know nothing.” So basically, don’t get caught up in your own prideful bullshit. My best piece of advice to give is to realize that nothing is as bad as it seems.
 
If you could do anything besides bartending, what would that be?
International aid. Long term, that’s what I plan on doing. I’m not sure exactly what I want to do related to international aid, that’s what I am trying to figure out. I have Latin American heritage, so I’d like to work down there. Meet people who are doing work and see what it’s like and what I’d like. I know there’s water, education, hygiene, policy, social justice and all that. I know I want to help. I haven’t really figured out a medium for that yet.

Would you ever write a book?
Maybe. I’ve actually been working on a screenplay for about four years. I’m a big fan of well-executed romantic comedies, like Elizabethtown. I’ve always thought we have all these movies coming out in Hollywood that are about love and people finding the one. If we’re lucky, we all have that experience once. But for 99.9% of the population, it takes a couple times to get there. Those stories never get told. 

My screenplay is about this guy going through a breakup and coming to realize his own agency. I’ve done it in my life and I know other people do it too; they put so much into a relationship, their identity is that other person. So when that’s gone, they don’t have anything left. So it’s sort of that process of realization. The symbol that I use throughout the screenplay is writing. The main character is a writer, but he is so devastated that he can’t write. He realizes that he is wasting all this time on an idea and construction that he built up in his head. It’s kind of him walking through that process. In the end, he isn’t doing what he loves and wasting all of this time on a construct. I was walking through the same thing at the time I started writing the screenplay.
 
If you had to have a drink with anybody dead or alive, who would it be?
Oh man, that’s tough. Probably Che Guevara.

CRAFTPACK, VOL. 15

Links that make you go Hmm...

We have some incredible cocktail classes coming up at the distillery: Gin, Whiskey, and Tiki.

"Booze in everything," and other food trends for 2016 predicted by grandparents.

Indianapolis employers that have bars right in their offices

Teas that make you forget all about coffee

How to make drinks with crème de cacao and not regret it

MILK PUNCH RECIPE

Don't be fooled by the jingle-jangle tunes and Christmas glass in this video — this Milk Punch recipe is as solid for a January weekend as it was during the holidays.

Our smooth Single Malt Whiskey is right at home in this creamy cocktail, which is gently sweetened with apple butter. 

MILK PUNCH

By Baylee Pruitt of Cardinal Spirits

Makes 1 cocktail

1 ounce Cardinal Spirits Tiki Rum
1 ounce Cardinal Spirits Single Malt Whiskey
1 ounce half-and-half
3/4 ounce unsweetened apple butter
1 dash aromatic bitters
Nutmeg, for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously, then strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

WINTER IN THE TROPICS RECIPE

Do your tastebuds need a little vacation from holiday drinks? We thought so. Winter in the Tropics is quite the pleasant rum punch, and a refreshing switcheroo from those holiday flavors like cranberry and cinnamon. The recipe calls for blood oranges, which are coming into season, and freshly squeezing them is definitely worthwhile (though you can substitute bottled juice, like Italian Volcano brand). 

This punch was created by Cardinal Spirits bartender Chris Resnick, who is the master of Tiki Tuesdays at the distillery. (Chris' Winter in the Tropics recipe was featured in Nuvo during the holidays!)

WINTER IN THE TROPICS
 

By Chris Resnick of Cardinal Spirits

Serves about 12

1 bottle Cardinal Spirits Tiki Rum
1 bottle Italian Volcano blood orange juice (or 22 ounces fresh squeezed blood orange juice)
8.5 ounces lemon juice
8.5 ounces vanilla syrup (recipe follows)
20 dashes Angostura bitters
Lemon and blood orange wheels, for garnish
Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish

Combine ingredients in a punch bowl with a large block of ice. Garnish with lemon wheels, blood orange wheels and freshly grated nutmeg.

For the vanilla syrup: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 cup turbinado sugar, ½ cup water and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Simmer until sugar has dissolved. Cool before using. Store in refrigerator.

DINNER AT THE DISTILLERY

We are teaming up with the fantastic local caterer Plated Table to host a one-of-a-kind dinner party on Monday, Jan. 25, at the distillery, and we'd love for you to be there.

This farm-to-table, four-course dinner will be prepared and served by Kelsey Smith of Plated Table. Kelsey will make each dish with produce hand-selected by local farmers (Kelsey happens to be the market master of the Bloomington Winter Farmers Market, so she's got connections), and perfectly paired with an exclusive Cardinal Spirits cocktail. The private dinner will be held in the distilling room of Cardinal Spirits.

Reservations are required and seating is limited to keep the dinner intimate: Purchase tickets here. 

CRAFTPACK, VOL. 14

Links that make you go Hmmm.

Imbibe's roundup of riffs on milk punch includes our terrific Nocino Milk Punch, created by Cardinal Spirits bartender Chris Resnick. (Yay!)

No More Personal Margarita Pitchers, and Other Drinking Resolutions from professional drinkers.

Did you get one of these in your stocking, and will you actually use it? (Or is it just cute?)

Craft beer is great and all, but we kind of loved seeing those old-school, short-neck Miller Lite steinies at parties during the holidays. 

To bookmark for next year: Our essential holiday cocktail recipes.