Just In Time For Portland Cocktail Week: Signature Cocktails From Portland's Top Talent

Cocktail week is coming to Portland, Oregon for its third consecutive year (October 21-25, 2012) and there's no better time to check in with the city's top bartending talent. Each of these bartenders has developed an individual style through research, experience and experimentation.

Cocktail culture has long been central to Portland's food scene and here are six examples why (in no particular order):


Jacob Grier -- Metrovino
139 Northwest 11th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 517-7778
http://metrovinopdx.com

Grier's approach to cocktails begins with one ingredient or technique and he builds the cocktail around that, be it beer, sherry or genever. In addition to helping popularize beer and genever in cocktails, he also accepts some of the credit/blame for turning the Bone Luge (drinking shots out of marrow bones) into what Gothamist dubbed "the new drinking fad food writers love to hate."


Walking Spanish
Grier loves the nutty, oxidized flavors that sherry can contribute to a cocktail and considers it an underutilized ingredient. Here, balanced with the bitterness of Cardamaro, the sweetness of St. Germain, and the maltiness of Bols Genever, it adds complexity and depth.

1 oz Bols Genever
3/4 oz amontillado sherry
1/2 oz Cardamaro
1/2 oz St. Germain

Stir with ice, serve up with an orange peel.



Mindy Cook -- Toro Bravo
120 Northeast Russell Street
Portland, OR 97212
(503) 281-4464
http://www.torobravopdx.com


Mindy Cook is a force to be reckoned with. She brings 14 years of varied front of house experience and a pure no-nonsense philosophy. Before Toro Bravo, Mindy worked at Mint and 820 with Lucy Brennan. She joined Toro Bravo in September of 2008 as the bar manager. In February of 2011 she took over the wine program-solidifying her place as the gatekeeper of all things liquid at Toro Bravo.


To Your Health
To Your Health is a Spanish twist on a British classic. The house-made apple cordial really sets this drink apart as Mindy's own.

2 oz Pimms No. 1
2 oz House apple cordial (recipe below)
1/2 oz lemon juice

Shake and strain over new ice in large tulip glass. Top with 2 oz. dry Basque cider. Garnish with lemon twist.

Apple cordial:
6 cinnamon sticks
9 apples
3/4 cup honey
3/4 cup lairds applejack
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups water

Peel, chop and de seed apples. Add all ingredients. Cook on medium heat in a large saucepan until the entire room smells like apple pie. Remove cinnamon sticks and pulse in a vita mix until smooth.
Run through a sieve and let cool.



Ryan Magarian (Co-Owner) -- Oven and Shaker
1134 NW Everett Street
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 241-1600
http://ovenandshaker.com

Ryan Magarian is no stranger to great liquid libations. The co-founder of Oregon's Aviation Gin and founder of the Portland-based cocktail and bar consulting company Liquid Relations. These days, Magarian is the brains behind the innovative cocktail menu at the Pearl's new pizza joint, Oven and Shaker.


The Invisible Woman
This is a riff off of the classic cocktail The White Lady. Ryan has substituted acid phosphate for the traditional lemon juice to create more depth and highlight the balance of sour and sweet.

1.5 oz Tanqueray gin
5 dashes acid phosphate
3/4 oz Combier
1/2 oz Cocchi americano
1/2 oz simple syrup

Stir with ice, serve up.


Geof Anderson -- Irving Street Kitchen
701 Northwest 13th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209
(503) 343-9440
http://www.irvingstreetkitchen.com

Geof Anderson is interested in creating cocktails that are more than the sum of their parts. It's through a careful