Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/97133
DEPARTMENT HEADER Brunching with Brown Spirits WE TRAVEL TO LOUISVILLE TO HOST A COCKTAIL BRUNCH TO REMEMBER It doesn���t get much brunchier than a Bloody Mary, but Jim Beam���s Devil���s Cut helps us rethink brunch cocktails at THE TASTING PANEL���s Brown Spirit Brunch in Louisville, KY. 90 / the tasting panel / december 2012 edited by Rachel Burkons / photos by James Eaton F or some, brunch is a religion. From the comforting joy of a properly cooked hash brown, to the decadence of a just-right Hollandaise, brunch���and the accompanying recounting of the previous evening���is a veritable weekend staple. While no brunch, no matter how many farm-fresh eggs you throw at it, would be complete without a cocktail, the bartending community has outpaced the Sex and the City girls, with nary an Appletini in sight at today���s farm-to-glass mixology���driven brunch hangouts. Today���s brunch cocktails are innovative, hand-crafted and sourced from an arsenal of artisan spirits. So when THE TASTING PANEL decided to put brunch cocktails on display, we could think of no better way to get the creative juices lowing on an early Sunday morning than with a Brown Spirits Brunch, with only one goal in sight: Bring us your brunchy best, using brown spirits as a base. We packed up and headed to Doc Crow���s Southern Smokehouse and Raw Bar in Louisville KY, where our panel of 11 of the leading buyers in bourbon country got their brunch on with seven fantastic brunch cocktails. Each brand had ten minutes to breathe new life into brunch cocktails, and we���ll share recipes and tasting notes with you here. Viva la brunch!