Peace To The Family

Jameson, requested at bars improperly as Jameson’s or even worse, Jame-o, is also known as that green bottle attached to my homie’s hand and is by far the top selling brand of Irish Whiskey in the world. What started as a small distillery on Bow Street in Dublin is now distilled in the County Cork and owned by the spirit goliath Pernod Ricard. John Jameson founded the brand in 1780 and became the most popular of the original six Dublin distilled delights and developed a rep for treating the working man right. Attributing happy workers for better whiskey, the label to this day is still balanced by two barrel men honoring the men and women who have put in work over the years.

Jameson Irish Whiskey (40% ABV, 80 proof) is a blend of triple distilled whiskey made from barley, maize and Irish water from the river Dungourney that runs through the distillery grounds. It is prized by shot drinkers the world over for a characteristically smooth snort that is light and sweet with the punch you’d expect from a whiskey. It is easy drinking; bottles never seem to make it through the night amongst my tribe. In reality though there is nothing easy about making such a poundable drink.

It starts with barley that is malted by steeping (soaked to grow), germination (spread out to sprout) and kilning (hot air dried) before it is then milled and turned into grist (a coarse flour with exposed enzymes and starch) and eventually into wort (filtered, sugary and sweet liquid) and then fermented (sugar becomes alcohol) for sixty hours into wash, a low alcohol liquid usually around 8% ABV. Of note, when it is kilned, it is dried with hot air which sets it apart from other Scotch (and some Irish) whiskeys that are fired with peat for flavor.

After it is fermented it is triple distilled through Wash, Feint and Spirit pot stills. Each still removes impurities and condenses the wash resulting in a liquid much higher in alcohol around 80% ABV. Maize goes through the same process and comes out—incredibly—much stronger at 15% ABV as a wash and 95.5% ABV after it is triple distilled through column stills. Once completed the two spirits are reduced in strength and fill three cask types; sherry butts, bourbon barrels and port pipes. They are then matured in Midleton for a few years before being emptied into a huge vat, allowed to marry and then bottled.

When it is all said and done Jameson has a nose of oak, damp leaves and earthen aromas which is lightly floral with some peppered wood. It tastes warm, smooth, a bit nutty, of sweet honey, malty cereal, ginger, limes, cloves and hints of sweet sherry. It finishes short with ginger and classic Irish maltiness. I’m fairly certain the eleven ten gypsies are rolling their eyes at such a description and rightfully so: I’m fairly certain I’d get laughed out of the basement for trying to get someone back in DC to try this cocktail. But I must have done something right as they are serving the following at the 2014 Jameson Bartender’s Ball in San Francisco:

Danger from the Dungourney

Double Barrel Men

1.5 oz Jameson Irish Whiskey

.5 oz Jameson Black Barrel Reserve

.5 oz toasted vanilla bean syrup

.5 oz lemon juice

1 dash Boker’s bitters

combine Jameson Irish, syrup, citrus and bitters in a mixing cup, add ice, shake and strain into a double old fashioned glass packed with ice. Float Jameson Black Barrel on top and garnish with a healthy sprig of slapped mint.

Sizzup Bring four sticks of Madagascar vanilla bean and two pints of water to a rolling boil when the room starts to smell like crème brûlée and add equal parts sugar to the water. Let simmer ten to twenty minutes for a toasted/burnt touch, strain, bottle, cool.

Jameson makes many expressions. The Jameson Black Barrel Reserve is an 80 proof Irish pot still and small batch grain whiskey that ages in bourbon barrels. It is a proper introduction and finish in this cocktail bringing a swill to the nose wrapped with a refreshing burst of mint and well pronounced bite at the end of the sip. The spirit alone has a rich nose of exotic fruits, nectarines, apricots and papaya. It tastes creamy, with vanilla, fruity grain and toasted wood note. It finishes long (unlike regular Jameson) with fruit and wood spices.

The Jameson family was awarded the motto of ‘sine metu’ which translates to ‘without fear’ for their bravery in the face of pirate raids. It appears on every bottle along with the barrel men and makes for a tempting cocktail name with an easy talking point. However, I have worked in the service industry for quite some time now and so have the majority of the tribe that I refer to in these barely readable and often ignored pages. While we have our fun, I pay homage to them with this drink name not for their blind courage from the sauce but rather for the hard work behind bar tops everywhere.