Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/113109
���ve percent in new creations and marketing.��� The dream of re-inventing himself and his company is focused on becoming brand specialists. ���We are not a portfolio company,��� Cooper insists, ���but a brand innovation company. We are specialists like no other business in our industry: We ask the question, ���Where can we ���nd an opening to something that doesn���t exist?��� That���s what is interesting to me.��� Re-Inventing Spirits with Whiskey With St-Germain now being marketed by Bacardi, Cooper Spirits Company is introducing these new brands: Hochstadter���s ���Slow & Low��� Rock & Rye Straight Rye Whiskey (98 proof, $28) With The original recipe for The Stratosphere came from the 1946 bartender���s guide The Stock Club Bar Book, by Lucius Beebe. It is simply a glass of champagne with �� ounce of Cr��me Yvette. a six-year-old whiskey as an anchor, this category-widening spirit offers up notes of orange zest, clove and honey, with the addition of horehound, an herb from the mint family. The liquid is creamy and soothing to the palate, the right amount of rock candy syrup to keep it serious and not sweet. It is a historic restoration of a saloon whiskey from the early 19th century. Hochstadter���s ���Slow & Low��� Honey & Rye (84 proof, $28) A four-year old straight rye whiskey with added honey. among the world���s top professional bartenders. This educational grant provides a few deserving professional bartenders with ���nancial assistance by sponsoring their efforts to further their cocktail career. Now, given Cooper Spirits��� combined ���team effort��� with Bacardi, this program will go a long way toward building within the bartending community. ���I���m impressed with Bacardi and their long-term endeavor of nurturing brands, with no stone left unturned,��� Cooper says of the partnership. ���Most large spirits companies are bound by a ���nite time line. But Bacardi remains a privately held family business without those restrictions: They have the freedom to do what they believe in.��� A New Focus Rob Cooper and his team have experienced a creative explosion over the past few years, but their ideas and the resulting brands had languished without monetary support. Now, with the income generated through the St-Germain acquisition, the innovation and creation are becoming shelf-ready realities. ���I am a reluctant businessman,��� admits Cooper, who showed us and tasted us on his latest endeavor, Hochstadter���s ���Slow & Low��� Rock & Rye and Honey & Rye. ���I didn���t want to end up looking at the metrics,��� he sighs, ���or spending 90 percent of my time working in a supply chain or with human resources and only Cr��me Yvette (55.5 proof, $35) First introduced in the late 19th century, Cr��me Yvette is ���nally making its historic return, channleing the appeal and charm of the Belle Epoque for the spirits industry and serving as proof that Cooper Spirits is a leader in this French-inspired movement. Made with precise care and attention, four berries���m��re, raspberry, cassis and wild strawberry���are blended with dried violet petals from Provence. A pneumatic press extracts ���avors and richness of texture, with a ���nal addition of honey Cocktails Just Pour Vous Mark and Jonnie Houston���s latest cocktail haven is a Paris Metro ride that���s over a century back in time. Bar Manager Dave Fernie���s bar program features French-inspired drinks and spirits, with names like the Moulin Rouge and Zou Bisou. The Amour Amer (Bitter Love) an original recipe by Dave Fernie of Pour Vous ��� 1 oz. St-Germain ��� 1 oz. Grey Goose Vodka ��� �� oz. lemon juice ��� �� oz. Fernet Branca ��� Shake over ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Dave Fernie is Bar Manager at Pour Vous, a Hollywood, CA, cocktail bar that was designed to resemble Paris during the Belle Epoque. march 2013 / the tasting panel / 7