Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/841201
6 2 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t 6 2 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t BARTENDER BRUNCH San Francisco Barman Erik Adkins. San Francisco bartender and Whiskey Concierge Michael Lazar serves up a Bourbon Milk Punch made with Jim Beam Black ® , Straus organic milk, sugar, vanilla and freshly grated nutmeg. Megan Breier, West Coast American Whiskey Ambassador, Beam Suntory. IN WINE, SPIRITS AND COCKTAILS, the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts is enduring and commonplace. We don't often go into the nuances of production, but rather focus on the spirit as a whole and our sensorial experiences in the moment of tasting. But if we are to truly understand why a crafted spirit brings us such pleasure and enjoyment, we have to go beyond the superficial and dive into the origin and development of what we are tasting. Megan Breier, Beam Suntory's West Coast American Whiskey Ambassador, recently gave a room full of San Francisco's most inquisitive and discerning bar professionals the perfect opportunity to pick apart four bourbons and whiskeys from the Beam portfolio to better understand what makes them so special and enjoyable. According to Breier, it all starts with the mash bill—the recipe of grains that gives each whiskey its heart and soul. With Socratic flair, Breier jumped right into it: "First things first, what does bourbon have to be made out of?" "Corn!" was the enthusiastic response from the room. "Good, at least 51% corn, which gives us 49% to play with. Today we are going to take you through several different mash bills—a wheat mash bill, a rye mash bill, a high rye mash bill as well as a traditional mash bill." With each course, guests were invited to pass around a bottle of clear distillate and the mash bill for each course (brought to life by a clear bottle with the exact amount of each grain for various mash bills, represented by actual kernels of corn and/or grains of wheat, rye and barley). This served as an effective visual tool for remembering each mash bill, and a neat foil to the sensorial nose and palate moments of the pairings. CELEBRATING THE FLAVORS OF A MASH BILL THROUGH PAIRINGS WITH BEAM BOURBONS AND A THOUGHTFULLY CURATED MORNING PAIRING by Karen Moneymaker / photos by Hardy Wilson GOOD MORNING (MASH)