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GOURMET NEWS www.gourmetnews.com n JUNE 2017 n GOURMET NEWS 1 2 4 Americans Puckering Up for Craft Shrubs and Bitters By Lorrie Baumann Interest in craft cocktails is propelling the development of a wide range of syrups, shrubs and bitters, and these same products are also drawing interest from the consumer who's looking for a healthier alternative to sugary sodas, the cocktail experience with- out the alcohol or the good-health associa- tions of fermentation. Shrubs are syrups made by blending fruit and spices with vinegar and sweetener, while bitters are tinctures of botanicals in al- cohol that are used as flavoring agents or tonics. Bitters are ingredients in classic cocktails like the Manhattan, the Old Fash- ioned and the Sazerac, which is thought by some to be the first cocktail ever invented, but they've become increasingly popular with mixologists over the past few years be- cause they add the bitter flavor that's unfa- miliar to many Americans. That unfamiliarity is part of what enhances the taste experience, says Marianne Courville, who makes The Hudson Standard, a line of artisanal-quality shrubs and bitters that re- flect the flavors of the Hudson River Valley. "It puts the body on a kind of alert, because a lot of poisonous plants are bitter," she said. "The idea of a cocktail is that you want to hit all of those taste notes, but in a very co- hesive way, in a way that makes sense." The Hudson Standard's Catskill Masala Bitters won a 2017 Good Food Award. Oth- ers in the line of bitters include Ginger Bit- ters, Spruce Shoot and Celery Bitters and Love-Struck Bitters. Love-Struck is based on an ancient Roman recipe for an aphro- disiac that combined hyssop, thyme, pepper- corn and ginger, which Courville says struck her as a nice combination of ingredients for a bitters drink as she was reading the recipe. "Then I added quassia bark, which is a very strong bark and very bitter. You just have to be very careful about how much you use be- cause it's strongly bitter, aromatic and spicy," she said. "It's fun. People really like it." Her shrubs, which include Pear Honey Ginger Shrub, Strawberry Rhubarb and Apple Coriander Maple, and Cassis Berry and Peach Lavender, are sour rather than bit- ter. While there are many cocktails that in- clude a sour note that often comes from the addition of citrus juice, the sour notes in a shrub originate in vinegar. They're particu- larly useful to mixologists who are mixing cocktails in big batches or making them ahead of time, since vinegar preserves the cocktail's flavors better than citrus juices, which change their flavors when they're ex- posed to air. Courville is finding that her shrubs have also begun to attract the attention of those who see them as a healthier alternative to sugary sodas. "The popularity of shrubs in the last three years, in our experience of tast- ing all over the place, is that they are equally used as a craft beverage, as a soda or syrup. What we like is that people are recognizing that using a shrub soda is way healthier than a high fructose soda," she said. "It is being seen now as a healthy alternative. Seven grams of sugar would be about average for a serving for a shrub today – it's a lot less than a brand-name soda. That varies by maker, of course, and we're a little bit more in the vinegary side." For more information, visit www.thehudsonstandard.com. Courville is, of course, is not the only maker of artisanal cocktail mixers who's seeing the explosion of interest in the craft cocktail mixers. Q Drinks introduced Q Grapefruit at the Winter Fancy Food Show for its line of fizzy cocktail mixers designed to bring out the flavors of the spirits with which they're mixed. They're sold in four- packs of bottles or cans, each one sized to make one cocktail. The Tonic, Ginger Ale and Club Soda are also packaged in a 750ml bottle that's great for a party. The Tonic that's the original product in the line and a finalist for the sofi Award in 2010 is made with agave nectar for a flavor that's less sweet than other tonics. It's also fizzier than other tonics, and it's flavored with real qui- nine. A newer Indian Tonic is made with cane sugar for a sweeter flavor that brings out the juniper flavor of a dry gin. Q Ginger Beer also has less sugar than other ginger beer brands, and it's very spicy and extra- carbonated, made especially for mixing rather than drinking on its own as a soda. A four-pack of 6.7-ounce bottles retails for around $5.99 to $6.99. Visit www.qdrinks.com. Despite their new enthusiasm for the sour and bitter, Americans haven't lost their sweet tooth, either, and Sonoma Syrup Company's line of flavor-infused simple syrups, cocktail mixers and apple cider drinking vinegar is a whole range of prod- ucts that will enhance both bar and coffee cupboard. Artisan bar mixers in the line in- clude Classic Grenadine, Sweetened Lime Juice, Five Citrus Sweet & Sour, Pure Olive Juice and Olive Mary Mix. On the sweeter side, the flavor-infused simple syrups, useful for coffee drinks, homemade sodas, flavored iced teas and for cocktails include White Ginger Infused Simple Syrup for Moscow Mules and Ginger Lattes; Meyer Lemon In- fused Simple Syrup, which adds bright fla- vor and sweetness to lemonade, teas and Lemon Drop Cocktails: Pomegranate Sim- ple Syrup for Lavender Lemon Drop cock- tails, over ice cream or in iced tea. A Sonoma Syrup Six Pack includes Classic, Lavender, Meyer Lemon, Almond Orgeat, Mint and Pomegranate and retails for $79.95, while a Barrista Latte Gift Set in- cludes Vanilla Bean, Hazelnut Syrup and Classic Simple Syrup along with two pumps and retails for $55. Each 8-ounce bottle of the bar mixers makes about eight cocktails. Each 12.7-ounce bottle of syrup makes about 16 cocktails. For more information, visit www.sonomasyrup.com. Simple syrups from quince & apple are made by hand in Madison, Wisconsin. Fruits are sourced from the Midwest when possi- ble, and all ingredients are all natural and non-GMO. Varieties include Tart Cherry Grenadine, which won a 2014 Good Food Award; Rhubarb Hops; Lime and Cucum- ber; Honey Lemon; and Citrus. For more in- formation, visit www.quinceandapple.com. Runamok Maple offers its barrel-aged, smoked and infused maple syrups in beau- tiful heavy glass bottles that suggest cocktail uses while the bottle is still on the shelf. To make the barrel-aged maple syrups, the maple is poured into recently emptied bour- bon, rye or rum barrels, and as it ages, the syrup draws in the essence of the spirits without the alcohol. The company's Car- damom Infused Maple Syrup is infused with organic cardamom from Guatamala, and a tablespoon or two in a cocktail will add this sultry flavor, while background notes of smoke and caramel can be added into a cocktail with Runamok's Pecan Wood Smoked Maple Syrup. All of Runamok Maple's products are certified organic. Visit www.runamokmaple.com. DRY Sparkling markets its products as lightly sweet, culinary-inspired sodas, but Sharelle Klaus, the company's Founder and Chief Executive Officer, is far from oblivi- ous to the products' potential uses for craft cocktails, and the company's website fea- tures a plethora of recipes for pairing the sodas with alcohol. The company debuted its bold and spicy Ginger DRY Sparkling flavor in easily transportable 12-ounce alu- minum cans at Natural Products Expo West. Demand for this popular flavor is strong, as DRY saw with its limited edition 750 mL holiday bottle offering, and the company of- fers recipes for cocktails called The South- ern Belle, which includes bourbon, peach liquor and lemon juice; and the Dry Tequila Fizz. Ginger DRY is made with four all-nat- ural ingredients, including a touch of cane sugar – about a third of the sugar of leading ginger beers and ginger ales. It is Non-GMO Project Verified, gluten free, OU Kosher certified, caffeine free, sodium free, and made without any artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners. Visit www.drysparkling.com. Deliver Cheese Flavor with Gamay Food Ingredients Gamay Food Ingredients ® can help you cheese up your menu with a product line that includes cheese sauces and dry seasonings that give you cost-effective ways to add your signature cheese flavor to your mac and cheese, nachos and more. "You can come to us for a cheese sauce to make a signature macaroni and cheese, custom made nacho cheese sauce or cheese sauce cups – we can custom de- sign it to fit your needs," says Russell March, Gamay's Senior Director of Sales and Marketing. Gamay is based in Wisconsin, and is founded on the production of dairy flavors. This gives Gamay access to the ingredients for a full range of flavor types that can be incorporated into sauces and seasonings. Sauce capabilities include shelf-stable, re- frigerated or frozen for foodservice or re- tail. For more than 25 years, Gamay has been a leader in dairy flavor innovation and product customization for manufactur- ers and marketers in industries all around the world. "Gamay has created numerous break- through flavor solutions for our customers, and has established itself as a leader in dairy flavor development," March said. "We pride ourselves in offering high quality, practical dairy solutions to both food manufacturers and foodservice companies." Come to Gamay for a custom-blended dry seasoning that you can use for an instant mac and cheese with all the flavor of the made-from-scratch dish. "It's very cost-ef- fective because you're not shipping water," March said. "So what you end up with is a lower cost mac and cheese." Use seasonings to amp up the dairy flavor with shake-on seasonings from Gamay for your French fries or snacks. "Because we create the dairy flavors, we have a great deal of flexibility. 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