The Tasting Panel magazine

January / February 2017

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30  /  the tasting panel  /  january/february 2017 We've partnered with Chef's Roll & Somm's List, the global culinary and wine professional networks, to learn more about beverage experts from across the country. If you are a mixologist or wine professional interested in being featured here or want more information on Chef's Roll and Somm's List, please email featured@chefsroll.com. JOAN VILLANUEVA, Beverage Director at The Hake in La Jolla, CA You're known for creating signature bitters and garnishes, including beautiful candied rose petals. What have you been playing around with making lately? It really is more of a way to look into reducing waste and starting a con- versation. I am really into crystallizing and dehydrating. At the same time, I feel like each cocktail tells you which direction to go with in regard to its garnish. Strawberry chips are currently in the works, but candied garnishes are something I am looking to develop more. What's your coolest drink at the moment? Naima is a tequila variation on a Negroni with the components altered in a way that work in a really funky way. But if I had to pick something from The Hake, it would be between Wild World, a gin Old-Fashioned prepared with The Botanist Gin and BDW Walnut Bitters, or T.A.K., a Sotol Por Siempre take on a pineapple-sage Margarita. A personal favorite classic cocktail and why? A Wild Turkey 101 Old Fashioned. I am a big fan of Wild Turkey, and an Old Fashioned tells you a lot about a bar. PHOTO: SAM WELLS PHOTO: MATT DE LA CRUZ DEREK GALLANOSA, Head Brewer at Abnormal Brewery in Rancho Bernardo, CA You have become popular for creating multiple layers of flavor in your beers. How have you worked to perfect and refine this creative process? I blame the culinary world for this one. Working in a restaurant such as The Cork and Craft, the restaurant adjoining Abnormal Beer Co., I get to see first-hand how the chefs and cooks layer flavors on their dishes. They start off with a base protein and add complemen- tary flavors to build the complexity of the dish. I use the same concept by adding complementary ingredients to base beers to make them more complex. It's more work, but the end result usually turns out quite tasty. You produce a lot of coffee-infused beers. How do you do your coffee treatments and how does it affect the beer? I love coffee beers and work a lot with Carmel Mountain's Mostra Coffee. Their Head Roaster, Mike Arquines, is a very close friend whom I've been working with for over eight years. My process begins by doing a cupping/tasting session with them to see what's available and which characteristics those varietals offer. I then determine which varietal works well with the beer I'm infusing and, depending on the assertiveness of that roast, determine the dosing rate. After the beer has finished and chilled to under 40 degrees, I recirculate the entire tank through a filter of coarse ground coffee for 18–24 hours. It's kind of like making cold brew, but instead of water I'm using beer, and instead of letting it sit, I'm agitating the liquid and creating a more aggressive infusion. I think it's great in darker beers and adds a layer of complexity that can play off a lot of the roast and chocolate charac- teristics of those types of beers.

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