Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/326040
june 2014 / the tasting panel / 107 Chad Arnholt has been with San Francisco's wildly successful Trick Dog since the beginning; actually, even before the beginning, as he was friends with the founders when he was running his own whiskey bar in Boston. Now he's behind the bar at the Mission District trendsetter. But don't call him a "mixologist," or anything fancy: "Just say 'bartender,'" he says. "Other people have titles, but I came here really wanting to be a bartender." He pours a bit of Teeling neat into a tumbler and takes a sniff: "It's really got a nice vanilla, kind of buttery salted caramel thing going on. Round butter and cream notes that take the edge off a bit. A little bit of pine—a tiny amount of orchard fruit in there, too." And compared to other Irish whiskeys? Where does it fit in, or depart? "It's more of a sipper. There are some lighter ones that are great, but they're either meant to mix really easily or to get people drinking really easily. This one has a bit more of a substantial quality to it." Trick Dog has gotten folks drinking really easily, too. The staff is very tight-knit, and Arnholt's creation this day, the Cardigan Arms Race, is part of a running joke between himself and his boss, Bar Director Morgan Schick, who didn't buy him a sweater during a trip to Ireland. It's also a cross between their Carnivorous Kick and Banana Mai Tai. —J. C. Cardigan Arms Race ◗ 1¾ oz. Teeling Irish Whiskey ◗ ¼ oz. Rhum J.M White Rum ◗ ¼ oz. Giffard Banane du Brésil ◗ ¼ oz. dry curaçao ◗ ½ oz. Small Hands Orgeat Syrup ◗ ¾ oz. lime juice ◗ Arnholt nestles a cherry inside the spent lime rind and adds enough Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum to fill it, then flames a little paper umbrella as the finishing tropical touch. The Cardigan Arms Race features a flaming umbrella. Sipping Showstopper Bartender Chad Arnholt at Trick Dog in San Francisco. TP0614_102-128.indd 107 5/23/14 9:51 PM