Just Because It's Christmas, and at Christmas You Tell the Truth (About Drinks!)
Celly Drippins,' vintage Fernet-Branca, a new podcast episode with Hello Hello, and Tarot that urges you to step away from the family arguments this holiday.
Happy holiday season, folks, if you’re into that kind of thing.
I did in fact get to experience a true beer holiday, so better than any old regular holiday, this November. Sierra Nevada was lovely enough to invite me down to Mills River, North Carolina to experience the very limited release of Celly Drippins.’
Celebration is such a beloved annual beer tradition, and Celly Drippins’ takes the special, limited, fleeting excitement of the yearly fresh hop beer and dials it up to 11. If you’re not caught up, I recommend expert and beer discoverer extraordinaire Don Tse’s rundown for Forbes.
Essentially, an unimaginable amount of work goes into hopping Celebration with freshly picked Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops—that’s why you love this beer, and the amount of dedication here is no surprise from a brewery that helped form and then break the mold for American hop enthusiasm. But when all is said and done, those hop bags that steep in the beer still have liquid in them that continues to drip even after, productivity- and efficiency-wise, the team has to pull the beer off for filtration and packaging. Those “drippins’,” about as concentrated with hop aromas as can possibly be, become Celly Drippins.’ Sierra Nevada brewers take the time to finish them into a beer out of a sheer love of hops—and their fellow employees, as the beer was just for staff until very recently. Supplies are so limited because no brewery can afford to let tanks sit long enough for hop bags to just drip forever. This year was the first time both the Mills River and Chico locations released Celly to the public; there were allotted amounts to be served until they ran out each day for three days.
The anticipation was palpable as the small group of invited media members I was lucky enough to be a part of was led into the brewery’s second-floor taproom, where we had a little bit of time with this beer before some of Sierra Nevada’s most devoted fans from near and far were released into the space for a grand, official tapping. The vibes were immaculate—there was a lot of remarking about how nice it was to see a huge crowd of people absolutely losing their minds over beer in a time when it’s all but declared dead. Craft beer enthusiasm was alive and well in North Carolina that weekend, I promise you that.
And most importantly, the beer was—no hyperbole—the best I’ve ever had? Yes, I do believe it was the best beer I’ve ever had. I’ve never experienced hops’ geraniol expressed so intensely. It was more floral than I knew a beer could be, in such a gorgeous way that deftly wove sweetness and bitterness together. The bitterness was bracing but rounded up by that that caramel malt…I often wish this but never more so than on that Friday in the Sierra Nevada taproom: I desperately wanted the alcohol content to magically vanish so I could just drink these in perpetuity. They say never meet your heroes, but I met Celly Drippins’ and I can say I’m forever a fan. It’s really nice when the hype is actually legit, isn’t it?
Drinking Vintage at Gigantic
I visit family in Western Massachusetts several times a year, so imagine my surprise when I realized there’s a hot-to-trot cocktail bar hiding in plain sight in Easthampton. Over Thanksgiving weekend, we checked out Gigantic and could not have been more enamored—this bar just joined my “must visit every trip” list. In addition to being a very vibe-y yet inviting spot, the drinks are something to behold. We loved the Salty Spaniard martini—Manzanilla sherry, gin, gentian, dry vermouth, brine, and Spanish olive oil—and the One Armed Man—Cynar, reposado tequila, apple eau de vie, and Amargo Chile—but what we simply must discuss is Gigantic’s vintage spirits collection.
Exceptionally aged whiskeys get a lot of ink spilled over them when they’re on a bar menu, but I think it’s especially exciting when you encounter, say, Clover gin from 1989(!), an Amer Picon from 1935, or a Cynar from the 1960s. It’s a double whammy of an experience: You get to see how these spirits and liqueurs age, how their ingredients and subsequent flavors, aromas, and mouthfeels evolve; and you also literally get to drink in history. You can hold in your hand a bottle someone from a century ago held in theirs, and notice what the label art says about design trends at the time. If you really soak this in, it’s fascinating. And Gigantic plays into that experiential component. We ordered a Fernet from the 1930s. Out came a gorgeous stemmed glass with the pour on a silver tray with a pour of contemporary Fernet to compare it to, plus soda water for palate-cleansing. It wasn’t just a drink, it was literally an experience—we had so much fun going back and forth. You also get to hang out with the bottle a bit, again, analyzing the label and, of course, taking copious amounts of spirit-geek photos.
In case you’re wondering, century-old Fernet does and doesn’t hold up well. Perplexingly, the aroma was like…urine…urine behind Port Authority on an August day, to be precise. But I’ve white-knuckled through jarring aromas to try all manner of foods and beverages, and when I did so here, I found a Fernet that was super mellow. Instead of the bracing, minty punch you get from a Fernet made today, this aged Fernet was more like a mild tea, its herbs readily apparent but subtle and easy-drinking. Fascinating, eh?
What I’ve Been Up To
I got to try a lot of very fancy, very delicious whiskeys/whiskies to write this luxury gift guide for Observer.
I chatted with breweries running modern mug clubs and/or subscription services for Brewing Industry Guide—everyone I spoke with was super candid about the lift, the challenges, the reasons why they offer what they offer, how they price things, the benefits, and much more.
I dove into one of my very favorite aspects of any botanical-driven distillery for Craft Spirits & Distilling: maceration / distillation libraries. When I found out however long ago now that many distilleries keep mad-scientist-like collections of all manner of botanicals, spices, roots, etc. macerated and / or distilled for experimenting, learning, and blending, I nearly gave up writing to try to get a job at one of these distilleries (what’s leaving one industry on fire for another, after all?). I want to do nothing more than spend every day tinkering with these samples. But, they have to be worth having for distilleries, and offer value when it comes to innovation and testing—several different distilleries told me what that value is for theirs.
Kölsch service has been studding taproom event calendars for several years now, but especially on the heels of it launching at new, buzzy breweries like Brooklyn’s Eckhart, we looked at how and why this style of service with this style of beer might be exactly what today’s beer drinker is looking for over at Punch.
Perfectly timed for the holidays, I noticed sweet potato popping up in more cocktails—especially with whiskey, for which it’s a dream match. I rounded up some especially delicious examples out in the wild, with recipes, for Whisky Advocate.
I gave my first of some scheduled presentations coming up, all under my new official consulting program. And it was a blast—I got to spill the tea to a PR team on how to best work with media, all in the pursuit of strengthening PR-and-media relationships so we can all work together more efficiently. Putting the materials together was almost overwhelming, but in what turned out to be a good way, because there is just so much to cover. If you’re a publicist and interested in learning about how we can work together with a session, let me know!
Hello Hello, This Month’s Podcast is Live
For December, I caught up with Luis Hernandez, director of food and beverage at NYC café and bar Hello Hello. We talk about *that* vodka Red Bull, an all-day concept, running three businesses as one—successfully, and why serious cocktails need to be served in a fun environment these days. It’s a fascinating, insight-packed chat; listen here.
Save on Consulting
With the new year coming and bringing all of its resolution and fresh start vibes, I wanted to extend a discount on my consulting services from now until February. Enter NEWYEARNEWBUSINESS at checkout when booking media consulting for your business or your PR firm, or content consulting for your business. Jump start the year with more effective media outreach, more earned media coverage, more impactful ways to engage consumers, etc.! Email courtneyiseman@gmail.com with any questions, or head here to book.
Best Drinks This Month
The Polina at The Dirty Truth in Northampton, Massachusetts: They infused a rye with cardamom and caraway and mixed that with crème de cassis, Cocchi Americano, and yellow Chartreuse, and holy hell. It was lush, just post-rain forest floor mingled with the incense priests scent the church with from those swinging metal balls (thuribles, I just learned). I’d bet this was a polarizing cocktail, only for those who like intensely herbal profiles, but it knocked my socks off.
The aforementioned Salty Spaniard at Gigantic.
Celly Drippins,’ duh.
The Mycologist at Antidote (The Chemist distillery’s cocktail bar) in Asheville: This is the Chemist’s own single malt whiskey with porcini mushroom, Alpine amaro, and citrus topped with soda. Gorgeous. In case you haven’t noticed, I only drink “forest floor” now.
The Figroni at the Gokan and SG Shochu Sip & Guzzle takeover: Anyone else noticing fig around a lot more lately? I’d assume it would be too sweet, but in the right hands, it’s earthy, spicy, complex, and jammy. Like here, with SG Shochu Mugi, vermouth, amontillado sherry, Campari, fig leaf, and pomegranate…ah, my photo cut the menu off…vinegar?
Drinks Tarot
I pulled the Five of Swords for this month’s newsletter. As a suit, Swords speaks to the mind, the intellect, and communication; this card in particular deals with the fallout—or potential fallout—of having an argument or disagreement. It is, frankly, very timely for all of us who will be spending the holidays with family and are experiencing any anxiety or dread regarding tension with any relatives.
This card urges you to really weigh how worthwhile it is to you to be right, in that situation with those people. It’s giving major “pick your battles” energy. If you have genuine optimism that you can change Aunt Helen’s mind on DEI issues, sure, try to have a conversation—but remember you need to be careful about the timing of that discussion as well as your own sanity. And if you don’t think there’s hope of any grand needle-moving—say you’ve tried before and it’s only lead to shouting and tears—just skip it. The results could very well equate to lots of stress and pain, a ruined holiday, and maybe even prolonged conflict; if it’s all for naught, the somewhat lesser stress of just holding your tongue and changing the subject on certain topics may in fact be the easier road.
A good drink everyone can enjoy is a great way to keep everyone focused on something harmless—get the conversation going about flavor profiles! I have two recommendations for you. One, Malört: You can argue over this instead! People will make faces, what fun! And two, YOJU’s Hard Vietnamese Coffee. It’s sweet and creamy but balanced with coffee bitterness, so it’s a real crowd-pleaser. It’s super easy to crack cans, pour them into fancy glasses, and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg—you and Aunt Helen will be toasting in no time, even if you very understandably choose to not speak with her the rest of the year.