Black Friday Libations Tour: Columbus Edition (Pt. 2)

An older bottle of Scarlet Solstice from Brothers Drake Meadery, which
has been plying its trade in Columbus for nearly a decade.

One of the more unique aspects of our family tours lies in the fact that one of our party members who sports a severe gluten allergy (in fact, we tried to make a quick trip over to Merion Village's Bake Me Happy, but alas they were closed for the entire Thanksgiving Day weekend.)  That very fact makes our touring that much more interesting, as that puts destinations focusing on ciders, meads and spirits on our radar for possible visits. This was definitely the case when it came to Central Ohio's original meadery in the Short North's Brothers Drake.

The Honey-Doers: Marshall's Honey (American Canyon, CA)/San FranciscoMead (San Francisco, CA)

I admit that I was late to the honey party. Basically, honey was a sweetener my parents never had around the house, and I never had any reason to seek it out for the first couple decades or so of my life.

However, eventually a life of overeating and lack of exercise started to catch up with me, and I finally decided it was time to do something about it. Interestingly, I became more discerning about what I put into my body, the universe of food items I considered on a regular basis expanded greatly. One of the many things I tried doing as often as possible was using honey as a sweetener versus refined sugars and artificial sweeteners.

I've learned that Ohio has its own share of very reliable honey producers; Honeyrun Farms and SaraBee Honey are a couple of the local honey producers which we have quite happily bought products from the Worthington Farmers Market, our personal favorite farmers market. But even then, it's not like we can't not go back to California and bring back our empty jars for refill to the place where we found our first whoa-moment honey ever.

Ninth Annual Cbus Jimi Hendrix Tribute Show (11/20/2015)/Brothers Drake/Tokyo GoGo Food Truck

This Friday, my spouse and I had the pleasure of a return visit to the annual Cbus Jimi Hendrix Tribute Show, held around the date of this legendary guitarist's birthday (Hendrix would have turned 73 years old on Friday, November 27th.) This gathering, put together by Theo Perry (of Theo's Loose Hinges), brings together a collection of talented local musicians to blaze through a number of both familiar and deeper Hendrix cuts.

Unlike previous years, a scheduling issue brought the show from its usual home at SoHud's Rumba Cafe to the sophisticated digs of Brothers Drake, located where the Weinland Park and Short North neighborhoods intersect. In addition, the show was forced to an earlier than normal time slot (the guitar strumming began in earnest during the meadery's happy hour.) These changes, however, didn't stop a large crowd from showing up to watch locally talented guitarists pay homage to a man who still holds incredible influence in today's music world.

Jeffro Jam of Jam Cave Productions led things off with a version
of Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner" on his Keytar, and came back
with a Hendrix-styled montage that referenced artists
like Prince and Bob Marley

Veteran jazz guitarist Derek DiCenzo got to let loose some rock chords
on Hendrix favorites like "Manic Depression" and "Purple Haze"

.

Kenny Delicious, aka Kenny Caterer (drummer for Theo's Loose Hinges
and Lead Singer/Guitarist for Doctor Kenny Delicious), cranked out
the well-known "The Wind Cries Mary" as well as deeper
album cuts like "Castles Made of Sand" and "Red House"

Event organizer Theo Perry seemed to channel Jimi himself on his
renditions of "Machine Gun", "Crash Landing" and "Foxy Lady"

David Martinez of The Old Norths and Slight Rebellion finished out
the solo portion of the show with Jimi tunes like "Stone Free",
"Voodoo Chile" and "Bold As Love"

Columbus musical veterans Maxwell Button (drums) and
Nathan Smith (bass) provided solid backing throughout each set

All performers joined each other on stage for some final Hendrix
tunes, including a rocking version of Jimi's "Hey Joe"

For future information about next year's Jimi Hendrix tribute series (next year's tenth annual show, to be held sometime in November, should be a momentous one indeed), please refer to Theo Perry's Facebook feed.

Brothers Drake/Tokyo GoGo: I had previously blogged about Brothers Drake (and their sister meadery on the West Coast, San Francisco Mead Company) on this prior blogpost. We had become intimately familiar with their mead products over the years (and of course, we couldn't not order a mead drink or two on this occasion) but until this visit had no thoughts about exploring the cocktail side of the menu.

Brothers Drake's Meadhattan and Wild Sweet Annie, prepared with
care by one of the meadery's bar staff members

This new outlook on the mixed drink side of the adult beverage world was inspired quite a bit by revelatory experience received this summer. when we had a taste of the world-class cocktails during our fine tasting menu dinner at Delaware's Veritas Tavern. Since then, we've been willing to explore this world a bit more, and the unique mead-based offerings of Brothers Drake provided an intriguing opportunity. Indeed, from their Meadhattan (Wild Ohio mead, mixed with OYO Bourbon, cherry juice and Angostura bitters), the Wild Sweet Annie (my spouse's go-to this night, with Wild Ohio Mead, OYO Whiskey & ginger liqueur) and the Rosemary Fizz (a mix of their Motive Mead, Watershed Gin, lemon juice  and soda water along with a sprig of fresh rosemary) provided tasty accompaniment to the music this night.

Providing the food this night was what can be called Brothers Drake's resident food truck. Tokyo GoGo, operated by chef Miki Ashino, offers a selection of  Japanese-styled bar food items with a rotating selection of daily specials, as well as a special Ramen night on Tuesdays.

Clockwise from top: Karaage (flash-fried chicken thigh pieces), Pork Gyoza
Dumplings, and Korokke (fried potato balls with molten cheese interiors)

  

For just under $20, we picked up four different items that not only paired well with our mead drinks, but also were quite delicious in their own right. Their special of the night, fried tempura fish cakes, were nicely crispy with a pleasantly fresh-tasting, lightly chewy filet, while the Korokke balls and uniquely fried pork Gyoza dumplings (which came attached to each other in what seemed to be crepe form) were gobbled up with equal enthusiasm. However, our favorite dish by just the tiniest of margins so far is the Karaage - this crispy savory dish is a definite reorder again on a future visit.

As equally good as the food items were the variety of multi-profiled sauces that came with each item; we found ourselves enjoying experimenting with how the different sweet, spicy and savory taste profiles each item interacted with each dish. We look forward to another sampling of this food truck's offerings on another future visit to the area.

Brothers Drake Meadery
26 E. 5th Ave (Short North/Weinland Park)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 388-8765
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Tokyo GoGo
typically in the parking lot of Brothers Drake
(614) 916-6476 (MISO)
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A Tale of Two Meaderies: Brothers Drake and The San Francisco Mead Company

Reunited and they taste so good: Meads from the Scioto to San Francisco Bay

Mead may be the oldest-known fermented drink known to man, but it is currently perhaps one of the least-consumed. However, this beverage has seen recent exponential growth here in the United States: according to the American Mead Makers Association, while only 150 meaderies were in business in the United States in 2013, the number of cases of mead sold per meadery doubled from 404 to 823 and average gross sales jumped by 130 percent during this year.

I myself had heard of but never tasted mead until I started regularly traveling to Ohio. On one visit, I happened to stop by The Andersons General Store in Northwest Columbus, where I came across a mead sampling hosted by locally-based meadery Brothers Drake. My then girlfriend had tasted their offerings on a previous shopping visit to The Andersons and encouraged me to give it a whirl if they were in house.

Mead, especially the varietals offered this day, was nothing like I had had before, and these tastings kept me on alert for future offerings. Interestingly enough, my Northern California roots came up during my conversation with my host, who informed me that a sister mead enterprise into that vast but very much untapped San Francisco Bay Area market was in the works. I made a mental note to myself to keep track of any future developments.

Forward to Christmas season 2014, where my spouse fulfilled what had become one of our increasing list of "must-do's" as a couple: make the trip out to The San Francisco Mead Company to taste and add their meads to our stash of Brothers Drakes' offerings.

Brothers Drake has made their Weinland Park location a prime local gathering place

Brothers Drake: Firstly, we must say something about Brothers Drake itself. Founded in 2004, business founders Eric and Woody Drake have always infused their meadery business with a local community focus, and the community has responded in kind. Their current sleek warehouse space in an area bordering both the Short North and Weinland Park (they had previously occupied a much smaller space in the Polaris/Crosswoods starting in the late 2000s) houses their production facilities, as well as their bar and performance space. The latter has become a central community gathering point for many through Brothers Drake's live music and community-oriented events, featuring of local artists' work within their facility, and the presence of the burgeoning local food truck scene in the form of Tokyo Go Go and Vegan Baba. Even their mead releases in and of themselves have become reasons for locals to gather together and celebrate.

Brothers Drakes' meads, whether in their pure form or mixed in with cocktails, reach flavor profiles far beyond what ancient brewers of this beverage could have even dreamed about. Last year's National Mead Day festivities showed this in full effect, where we and other visitors that day had the chance to sample meads such as PB&J (roasted peanuts and lingonberry jam) and Brioso (a mead with coffee from local roaster Cafe Brioso, cacao, vanilla and caraway.) But even their "standard" mead varieties such as their Summer Solstice, Wild Ohio, and signature PawPaw offer their drinkers intriguing taste profiles that reach well beyond what one might think a mead might taste like.

Brothers Drake meads go above and beyond the traditional taste profiles

Brothers Drake's story is ten years in the making and running stronger than ever. Needless to say, we have been pleased by our visits there as well as their creative mead varietals; even better, it looks like the Ohio community will be the recipient of this company's fine products and community presence for many more years to come.

Brothers Drake Meadery
26 E. 5th Ave (Short North/Weinland Park - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 388-8765
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San Francisco Mead Company's unassuming location in the Bayview District

The San Francisco Mead Company: In terms of locations, The San Francisco Mead Company is following in the footsteps of its sibling in Columbus. Originally founded in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco in 2012, owners Oron Benary (who was involved with Brothers Drake early in its development and still retains part-owner status) and his wife Sarah Jones moved their facility to a much larger space in the southern reaches of San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood summer of 2014.

However, this space does not, nor is meant to duplicate its sibling in Columbus in terms of acting as a community gathering place, as we found out during our visit. A simple setup of a large, round white table plus a gathering area of couches off to the side greeted us as we walked in the door. At this table, a very enthusiastic group of newfound mead fans was holding a conversation with Cory, our host for this day. An informal tap system of San Francisco Mead's offerings was setup along the wall, plus something that warmed our Columbus-area hearts greatly: a couple bottles of Brothers Drake's fine meads stood on the table.

Cory proved to be a wonderful host filling in for Oron and Sarah, who were away for the holidays. In fact, everyone there seemed to be quite interested that we were from Columbus and we were more than happy to relate our experiences with Brothers Drake (we may have even convinced the guests, who were from the northern reaches of California's Central Valley, to pay a visit to drop by Brothers Drake one of these days.)

San Francisco Mead is currently geared for production, but that doesn't stop
visitors from enjoying their delicious products

Other than the sister relationship, our excitement for trying San Francisco Mead Company's offerings related to the honey found in the Bay Area and the flavor profiles of the mead produced from them. In a fortunate turn for the company, their current landlord is a beekeeper himself and assisted the owners in further learning the terroir of the area and the design of their current facility.

It turned out all three of their offerings were incredibly tasty, from their solid Orange Blossom to the uniquely complex California Gold and their pie-in-a-glass decadence that is the Apple Pie (we took home bottles of the latter two with us back to Ohio, and we admit we're both quite excited to have the opportunity to do an Apple Pie Mead comparison side-by-side tasting.)

While output is currently on the low end (per this blogpost by local PBS station KQED, their output is roughly 1,000 cases per year; in contrast, Brothers Drake's production is closer to 5,000 cases), Cory mentioned that San Francisco Mead does have plans to increase their output; indeed, they had just received newly obtained equipment and, with their existing space, could possibly out-produce their Ohio-based sibling in the future. We were informed there are already plans in the works for a proper tasting room closer to more foot traffic near downtown San Francisco (currently, the meadery is only open for tastings on Saturday unless a special appointment has been made.)

We felt special when Cory gave us a sampling of some of the other mead products within their building at the time, including a sneak peek of their Blackberry mead. Due for release in mid-2015, this still young mead has fruit notes even now that promise something spectacular once it is bottled. In addition, we got to taste two of Brothers Drake's mead products that they had on hand. The Brioso mead, which we found to be a bit harsh on the coffee taste when we first sampled it on National Mead Day in 2014, had obtained a more balanced flavor profile that we enjoyed immensely. On the other hand, their Pawpaw had gained a more-pronounced crispness to its overall sour/tart profile and proved to be another palate-pleaser.

Based on our experience here, The San Francisco Mead Company appears well on its way to being successful in its own right. Both San Francisco Bay Area and Columbus residents have a lot to be proud of in terms of the people behind these businesses. Even better, anyone, regardless of residency, can gain immense enjoyment from either of these companies' finely crafted products.

The San Francisco Mead Company
1180 Shafter Avenue (Bayview/Hunters Point - Google Maps)
San Francisco, CA 94124
(415) 819-4941
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Hopyard Honeys: The Columbus Women's Craft Beer Society

Today's guest post is written by none other than my beloved spouse. She has the word on some local ladies who sample and discuss something near and dear to many people: BEER.

Last February, my sister sent me a private message on Facebook.  “Are you busy Wednesday night? I have a Women's Craft Beer Society meeting at 7pm. I wanted to know if you want to come.”

A women’s craft beer society?  I was intrigued. As with most people, my first experiences with beer were in college where quantity was valued over quality.  After I turned 21 (*cough* in 1994 *cough*), my older brother started inviting me to a few of his parties where I started to learn that there were a lot more interesting beers out there than what the macrobreweries had to offer.  My interest in beer grew slowly but after a fortuitous stop in 2005 at a bar in the San Diego area introduced me to Arrogant Bastard by Stone Brewing, I became a confirmed craft beer aficionado. Of course I agreed to go with my sister.

The Columbus Women’s Craft Beer Society (aka Hopyard Honeys) was originally organized in January 2014 by Nichole Endicott and Sarah Cottrell, a couple of women with an interest in craft beer and some connections to the local craft beer scene. Nichole continues to do most of the leg-work for the meetings including lining up a location and purchasing the beers we will be sharing. Each month has had a different theme or style of beer that we explore, and each meeting is intended to be both fun and educational. Since my first meeting in February, I have attended most of them. One of my favorite meetings was in August, when the theme was beer brewed by companies owned by women or where the brewmaster was a woman. Being the hop-head that I am, I also really liked the IPA themed meeting back in the spring.

October's theme was pumpkin beers and ciders

The group is female-only and is a great way to meet new friends who share your interest.  The women who attend have a wide range of backgrounds, experience with craft beer, and style preferences. Information is shared freely and we aren't afraid to search the internet when a question is beyond the knowledge of anyone present. The most important thing to know for any woman interested in attending these meetings is that there is no stupid question: don’t be afraid to ask away!
Columbus has a great craft beer scene and we almost always include a local offering that is representative of the style or theme being explored. We usually sample 4-6 beers and, in some months, there are bonus offerings as well.

If you are interested in joining us, we usually meet on the last Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. and we usually wrap up between 8:30 - 9:00.  However, because dates (especially November and December due to the holidays) and locations are subject to change, the best way to keep tabs on the upcoming meetings is to join the Facebook page (a link to which is located below).  Please note: to cover the costs of purchasing the beers, attendees are asked to contribute $10 per meeting and to RSVP to the monthly event page so there is an accurate count of how many people to expect.

The November meeting is a week earlier than usual due to Thanksgiving. We are going to meet at Brothers Drake Meadery this Wednesday, Nov 19 at 7 p.m.  Please arrive by about 6:45 since we will begin promptly at 7 p.m. We are going to sample four of their offerings and learn all about mead. Mead is technically a honey wine, not a beer, so this is a chance to step outside of our usual beer-exploration this month. Food will be available at Brothers Drake through the Tokyo Go Go food truck parked on site. While the educational part of the meeting will be a bit shorter than usual since Brothers Drake will have a band coming to play at 8 p.m., we expect that most of us will hang around to socialize and listen to some live local music.

Hopyard Honeys - Columbus Women's Craft Beer Society
Facebook Page
November's Meeting Event Page

Brothers Drake Meadery
26 E 5th Ave (Short North)
Columbus, OH  43201
(614) 388-8765
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Memorial Day Musings, Part 2: Honeykiss Bakery

As a child, pies were generally something you bought from the frozen aisle at the store every now and then as a treat for me and my siblings.  It wasn't until my later years that I got to enjoy my first baked from homemade pie.  I still don't mind the grocery store version at your average picnic or barbecue, but a pie baked from scratch is generally something to be savored very slowly and with utmost delight.

I came to find out that I married into a pie-loving family.  At all the big family gatherings, there were all sorts of crusted examples of baked goodness, some of which had been passed down from previous generations.  I've also learned that my new home here has plenty of delectable examples of this baked good.

We hadn't decided what our contribution to the family get-together on Memorial Day would be as I was perusing one of my favorite local area blogs (The CMH Gourmand) when I happened on a post mentioning our subject line establishment: Honeykiss Bakery.  I had learned about and glanced at their website several months prior, posting a note to my brain back then that this site would be worth revisiting again.

Well, why not bring a pie?  It was time to check out the Honeykiss Bakery website again.  Sure enough, the bakery was taking orders for Memorial Day, but they needed to be put in within a couple days.

My spouse is a cherry fiend, and it's not a surprise that cherry pie is one of her favorite foods ever.  Honeykiss has a Cherry Cobbler and a Cherry Pistachio Pie on their menu that sounded awfully tempting.  But we're also fans of Brothers Drake mead and other brewed beverages in general, so when we read the bakery's description of their "My Blueberry Heaven Pie" together, even she had to agree that this would be our choice:

Our award-winning creamy blueberry pie features blueberry filling reduced in cinnamon, Brothers Drake Blueberry Mead & lemon.  Between the blueberry filling and the sugar-lemon streusel topping, is a creamy layer of Snowville Creme Fraiche, locally sourced eggs, & Rockmill Belgian Ale.

Because of our itinerary, we shot an e-mail to the owner Rachel to see if we could pick it up sometime after lunch on Saturday; she responded back quickly saying it would be no problem.  So after the Asian Festival (written about in a previous post) we skedaddled over to Grandview Heights to pick up our goodies.

A happy placard with the bakery's name greeted us at the entrance to the townhouse/bakery, located in a residential area not too far from Grandview's main drag.  We were invited in but not immediately greeted by Rachel, but in the kitchen we could see the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies resting on the counter that dominated the generally wonderful scents of freshly baked goods.

Shortly after, Rachel popped in, decked out with apron and cherry smile, though both my wife and I could tell this was not going to be a restful holiday for her.  We chatted for a bit on how we came to know of her business through the blog (while she did not know him personally, she had the pleasure of baking up a few goodies for the Gourmand), our love of the ingredients she used for the pie, and family gathering plans to pair up the pie along with very same mead she had used in her recipe.  She sounded quite excited for us, and we promised we would let her know how the pie went over.

Suffice it to say, the pie was a hit.  Unlike lesser blueberry pies where the filling is much too sweet, the blueberries provided all the needed sweetness, offset quite nicely by the tang of the lemon in both the surrounding filling and the topping itself.  The creamy layer between the topping and the filling and the from-scratch crust  just added another sublime touch that made each bite worth savoring.

I think a cherry pie from Honeykiss is calling our name sometime in the future...

Honeykiss Bakery

1665 King Ave (Grandview Heights)

Columbus, OH 43212

(614) 620-6689

Website

2017 Update: Sadly, Honeykiss Bakery appears to have ceased operations around September 2016. What I wouldn't do for another slice of their peanut butter pie <sad face>