Fast & High Makes Better BBQ

To coincide with the Labor Day holiday, I thought I would focus a bit on a good old American tradition, barbecue. Traditionally, the catchphrase among barbecue fans has been "low and slow." Famous barbecue pits across the south smoke their meat for days on end to get the softest, most tender, most smoke infused meat. But there is a new breed of barbecue technicians that thinks differently. Known as the craft barbecue movement, these young innovators are changing the way Americans do barbecue with an innovative cooking technique they call "fast and high".

I caught up with one of the darlings of the craft barbecue movement, Joe Pitts, and asked him about his method.

"Sure the big guys can do low and slow," he says, "they have time. I'm a start-up and I need cash quick. I don't have time to sit around waiting for the meat to get tender so instead, I ramp up the heat and cook it for 20 minutes, then off it goes."

Pitts is confident when confronted with those who are skeptical about his method, "I have a science and engineering background, and I've done numerous studies that show that the chemistry is the same. If you get the meat hot enough, fast enough, it's the exact same impact as cooking it low and slow like those fuddy duddies do. I can show you the research!"

Some barbecue fans have complained that the craft barbecue just doesn't taste as good. Pitts responds, "it's not that it's not as good; it's just different. Does it taste melt-in-your-mouth tender, juicy and smoky? No, but that's not what we're going for. Our barbecue is tough and sort of burnt tasting. It's a totally different flavor that people need to appreciate on its own terms. I'm not trying to do tender and smoky. I'm a rebel, and if you don't like tough and burnt, then you just don't get it."

A major innovator, Pitts also sells plates of completely raw meat with barbecue sauce. "I call it 'white barbecue,' and it's going to be the next big thing."

Prichard's Double Barreled Bourbon

Prichard's is a Tennessee microdistillery. Like many micros, along with making their own whiskey, they have been releasing whiskey sourced from the big distilleries. Prichard's Double Barreled Bourbon was their first product and is still their most widely known spirit. It is a Kentucky bourbon that is rebarreled in new charred oak, hece the monicker "double barreled."

Prichard's Double Barreled Bourbon, 9 yo, 45% abv ($60)

The nose on this has a strong dose of banana candy followed up by some lighter candy notes. On the palate, it's got a lot of those same notes, very sweet with a lot of candy. For being rebarreled in new oak it's surprisingly light in wood notes. The finish has a slight tinge of pine.

Overall, I'm not too impressed with this one. I've had previous bottles that I've liked, and it's possible that the bourbon changed, given that it's sourced, but I wouldn't run out and buy this one.

More Cool Cocktails for Summer: The Champs Elysées

Still seeking a cool reprieve from the summer heat and seeking uses for my newly acquired bottle of Chartreuse, I've been experimenting with some non-whiskey cocktails. Today, another easy to make prohibition era classic, the Champs Elysées (recipe from the Savoy Cocktail Book by way of DrinkBoy):

1 1/2 ounces brandy
1/2 ounce Chartreuse
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

This is refreshing enough, but the brandy gets pretty overwhelmed by all of the other strong flavors, I bet this one would do better with a rye whiskey or maybe even gin.

Prohibition Era Pupusas? Jaragua and The Copper Still

The Restaurant

Jaragua is an impressive looking orange adobe building on Beverly Boulevard west of Normandie. When it first opened a few years ago, I found it pretty unexceptional. Over the years, though, it's managed to really pick up its game. It's great to see a restaurant get better rather than worse over time.

The menu is pretty standard Salvadoran but everything is done well. I like the pupusas revueltas (with just pork and cheese) which are well stuffed such that every bite yields a lava-like flow of porky/cheesy goodness. They do a good pan con pavo (the traditional Salvadoran turkey sandwich), nicely fried yuca and they have salpicon, the dish of minced beef, mint and onions that is the Salvadoran equivalent of Thai larp. It's also a really nice place to sit and have a family meal, which is not something that can be said of all Salvadoran restaurants. It's definitely worth checking out.


The Bar

There has long been a bar at the back of the restaurant, and I usually glance at it and find it, like the restaurant in olden days, pretty unexceptional, just a basic bar that never seems open, probably reserved for a later crowd who wants standard well drinks, sort of like the bar in every dim sum place in the San Gabriel Valley.

So I usually just ignore the thing, but the last time I came in for dinner, I glanced back and saw a bottle of Cynar prominently displayed on the shelf. Cynar is an Italian artichoke liqueur that is popular among the mixology crowd, but not something I expected to see at the long neglected Jaragua backbar. Seeing this, I scanned the shelf: WhistlePig Rye, Redemption Rye, creme de violette a host of bitters, a pot of fresh herbs. Something was amiss.

I strolled back and met Nancy Kwon, the new beverage director for the bar who said they were going to be renaming it the Copper Still and were already open from 8:00 pm to 2:00 am on Fridays and Saturdays, with a focus on prohibition era cocktails (natch!). While they are putting up a partition to separate the bar from the restaurant, you'll still be able to get pupusas at the bar, sort of like the Kibitz Room at Canter's, though without the divey feel.

I was there for an early dinner so I didn't get to try any cocktails, but I like the look of the place and it's a nice addition to the neighborhood, which doesn't have much in the way of craft bars. I'll report back once I check it out.


Jaragua & The Copper Still
4493 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 661-1985

Mama Mia!: Paying More for Less at Mother Dough

Mother Dough (spelled hipster/ee cummings style with no caps - "mother dough") is a Neapolitan style pizzeria on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Feliz that's been getting a lot of praise, and while the pizza is generally good, the prices are way out of whack for what you get.

We orderd two appetizers. The sardine crostini, for $8, was two slices of bread topped with a single basil leaf and a white sardine with lemon juice and orange zest. It was fine, but very small. The charcuterie plate, on the other hand, was quite good with a variety of salumis, speck and other cuts.

The pizzas are the single serving, traditional Neapolitan style and range from $15 to $19 per pie. The Margherita pizza was quite good, with a thin, chewy crust, and a tangy sauce that went well with the gooey buffalo mozzarella. The sausage pizza was less interesting. The house made sausage sliced over the top was decent but not great, lacking much in the way of spice and it seemed like an afterthought, tossed on top without a sense of how it would meld with the sauce and cheese.

I must say I don't get the hype around this place (given there is an Umami Burger across the street, this may be the most overhyped block in LA). In the world of LA pizza, Mother Dough is pretty decent, though not fantastic. Unfortnately, the place is a terrible value. The prices at MoDo seem to average about a dollar more than Mozza, while the pizza is nowhere near as good as those revelatory pies, and the portions are much smaller. Of course, it's a lot easier to get a table at Mother Dough, so maybe you're paying for the privilege of being able to dine-in, sort of a reverse delivery charge. Still, I'll take Mozza2Go over a table at MoDo any day of the week.

In any case, while the food was decent, I had no desire to return.


mother dough
4648 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: (323) 644-2885

The Three Most Overrated Distilleries

Earlier this week, I took a stab at what I think are the three most underrated distilleries. Today, we look at the most overrated distilleries. I'm aware that I am committing a number of heresies with this list, so feel free to tar and feather me in the comments, and keep in mind, I'm not saying that the whiskey from these distilleries is bad, just that they don't quite live up to the hype.


Cooley. Whiskey geeks love independence and innovation, but sometimes those factors seem to take precedence over quality. Cooley, up until they sold to Beam earlier this year, was a darling of the whiskey geeks for its independent spirit (pun intended). They make not only traditional Irish blended whiskey, but also single malt, single grain and peated single malt whiskey. But for all their innovation, I can't say I've been overly impressed with many Cooley whiskeys. Just because you can add peat, doesn't mean you should, and Connemara may be the best example of that. Cooley's other whiskeys aren't bad, but they just don't seem to merit the attention Cooley gets.

Ardbeg. Ardbeg has made some legendary whiskies in its time, but what has it done for us lately? The standard line as it's been for a few years: Ardbeg 10, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan are good whiskies, particularly Uigeadail, but certainly not of the quality or sophistication of some of their earlier stars. This is understandable as they were closed for a period and, like much of the industry, are clearly dealing with a shortage of older whisky. What we do get, though, is several annual releases of non-age statement whiskies that seldom measure up to their standard offerings, and a relentless parade of choppers, rockets and other gimmicks. Nevertheless, peatheads still seem to fawn over every rollercoaster, alligator or whisky in space. It seems that Ardbeg's best days are behind it (or, hopefully, in front of it).

Stitzel-Weller. Like Ardbeg, Stitzel-Weller has made some amazing whiskey, but the hype of this closed Kentucky distillery has gotten way out of hand. I've had some fantastic old Stitzel-Wellers, but I've also had some mediocre ones, both recent and dusty. Between every bottle of pre-1992 Old Fitzgerald fetching at least in the mid-three figures on ebay and the regular hysteria around each Pappy release, the hype for this distillery is much more than it deserves.

Runners Up: Macallan, Dalmore and Bruichladdich.

Add your suggestions (or angry tirades) in the comments.

The Three Most Underrated Distilleries

In the world of whiskey, there are some distilleries that are constantly on everyone's tongues and others that fly under the radar. Some deserve the praise heaped upon them, but others seem to have inflated reputations. Meanwhile, some of those that fly under the radar deserve more recognition.

This week, I will look at the three most underrated and three most overrated distilleries. In using these terms, I am referring to their perception in the whiskey geek community, not the population at large, which makes it a harder task. For instance, Jack Daniel's is clearly overrated by the population at large, but not by the whiskey lovers.

We'll start on a positive note, with the three most underrated distilleries (in no particular order).


Glengoyne. Lovers of sherried malts tend to gravitate toward Macallan, Glenfarclas and, lately, GlenDronach. All the while, Glengoyne puts out sherried malt every bit as rich as those heavy hitters, with a complex balance of sherry and wood and layers of flavor with unsherried versions are a delectable fruit salad. Unfortunately, the best of these, like the 1987 single cask, tend to be limited to the overseas market. Still, it seems that, recently, when I sip a new malt that really wows me, it's often a Glengoyne.

Four Roses. Four Roses definitely has a following, but it tends to exist in the shadows of the flashier Kentucky distilleries like Buffalo Trace and Heaven Hill. Four Roses is short on fancy packaging and ultra-limited special releases, but it consistently produces great bourbon from the ten recipes it has at its disposal and prices them fairly.

Charbay. Despite the booming craft distillery movement in the US (my complete distillery list is still regularly updated), the American microdistillery movement has yet to produce a recognized stand-out. Charbay is sort of an oddball even among the innovative craft distillers. Marko Karakasevic produces whiskey from finished beer, which includes hops, and releases it in small quantities. Many whiskey fans may get turned off by the high prices that Charbay whiskeys go for, but there is simply nothing else like those hoppy whiskeys, and while I might grumble about the $350 price tag, Charbay makes truly unique American whiskey.

Runners Up: Other distilleries I considered underrated include Midleton (though its reputation is growing), George Dickel, Bunnahabhain, Dallas Dhu and Glenfiddich.

Did I miss any? Add them to the comments.

Later this week: The Most Overrated Distilleries (and get ready for some whiskey heresy!)