TOP 6 OLDEST BARS IN SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco is really an iconic place on the west coast which greatly contrast with Los Angeles. You will not find much of anything old in Los Angeles whereas San Francisco offers an 'old world' feeling. Where to find to the oldest bars in SF I wondered?

(1) The Oldest is "The Embarcadero"
Old Ship Saloon was established in 1851
298 Pacific Ave., www.oldshipsaloon.com
The oldest bar in San Francisco (Elixir will have something to say about that), Old Ship Saloon is a bar made out of a ship hull that ran aground during a storm off of Alcatraz. It was later towed to the current location at the beach. Since renovated, the bar still preserves the memory of the ship.

(2) The second oldest is "Elixir"
Elixir was established in 1858
3200 16th St., www.elixirsf.com
Elixir has seen a lot going on since the Wild West days. In 2003, the bar was fully restored to its original glory by 'H', its new owner.

(3) The third oldest is "The Saloon"
The Saloon was established in 1861
1232 Grant St.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saloon
The oldest “saloon” in the city. Yes there are still saloons in the US.

(4) The fourth oldest is "Northstar Cafe"
Northstar Cafe was established in 1882
1560 Powell St., https://twitter.com/northstarcafesf
The oldest bar in the North Beach area with plenty of libations and free popcorns all day.

(5) The fifth oldest is "Shotwell’s"
Shotwell's was established in 1891
3349 20th St., www.shotwellsbar.com
Shotwell’s originally opened as a grocery store saloon by German immigrants with a backroom for beer drinking. Today it serves only beer, but many including craft beers from the Bay Area.

(6) The sixth oldest is Little Shamrock
Little Shamrock was established in 1896
807 Lincoln Way, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Shamrock
The oldest business in the Sunset-Little Shamrock area nearby the Golden Gate Park. The Shamrock first opened in 1896 to let people have a beer and play darts.

LE GARAGE MAKES THE BEST 2019 BURGER WITH INFUSED COGNAC

BEST BURGERS MADE WITH COGNAC FROM LE GARAGE IN COGNAC FRANCE

If you love burgers and hamburgers give yourself a favor and taste Le Garage Bar’s Burgers in Cognac, France. They are yummy!

Catch the limited edition burgers that they make every month or just based on the season.

NEW FOR 2019!

‘LE COGNAÇAIS’ BURGER

Ingredients include:

. Artesanal Bread source from Maison Lemetayer (22 place d’Armes, Cognac France).

. With Salad, Tomatoes, Onions, Goat Cheese (all sourced from the local farmers), 150g of Minced Meat from the nearby artesanal butchery, with Cream of Mushrooms infused with Comandon X Le Garage Cognac.

. Add some heirlooms potatoes hand peeled and wedged.

Sorry! There is only 1 ‘Le Garage Bar’ and it is in Cognac only.

Happy New Year 2019!

Le Garage Bar, 1 Rue de l’Isle d’Or, 16100 Cognac, France

GOVERNMENT AGREES TO GROWING LAND SPACE TO PLANT COGNAC VINEYARDS

Cognac Economy is Up

Cognac sales have been rising for four years, thanks to exports. Plans were approved this week to expand its vineyard areas by almost 3,500 ha next year, in addition to the present 75,000 ha in the appellation.

Sales of cognac

In the 2017-18 season (August to July), cognac sales grew for the fourth consecutive year, up 8.2% in volume and 5.4% in value over the previous year. Exports accounted for 98% of sales, still driven by the North American market, with Asia the fastest-growing region.

A record high of 205.9 million bottles were shipped during the campaign, for a turnover of 3.2 billion euros, according to the BNIC.

Source: Vinexpo Newsroom

BRANDY REVIVAL IN CALIFORNIA: SAVE WHISKY DRINK BRANDY

Save Whisky Drink Brandy

California Brandy is coming back!

I have known it for a long time and it is starting to look like I was right.
Why I anticipated this revival?

When I came to California in 1996 for the first time I was surprised by the concept of 'single grape varietal'. A concept rather foreign to me as I was coming from the traditional blended grape varietals from the local appellation which is the way wines are presented in France. This discovery was later to become my impetus for producing Monteru Single Grape Brandyin 2008.

As I ventured into the wine world in the early 2000s in California and later into the distilled spirits it appeared to me that it was just a matter of time before California would reclaim the brandy category it once had.

===>The evidence were:

• California and its concept of wine and entrepreneurial way of life,
• California single grape varietal wine thriving business,
• Micro-brewery and later Micro-distillation boom,
• Spirits venturing into single ingredients such as Rye, specific type of Potatoes, wheat versus corn and etc. I noticed a real interest for studying the process and original ingredients,
• Regain and later explosion for the Mixology, combined with the search of better ingredients,
• People interests for organic, handmade, farm-to-table, sustainability, ... eventually culminating to local is better than far away things. A concept which is well executed by brands such as Tito's Vodka (starting from Texas) or FEW (starting from Chicago's suburbs) for instance.

All of these factors combined and symbiotically moving have increased my confidence in the return of brandy.

Recent Links:
The definitive guide to California brandy old and new
in San Francisco Gate
By Lou Bustamante, October 22, 2018
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-definitive-guide-to-California-brandy-old-and-13323980.php

California brandy is better than ever. Will consumers notice?
in San Francisco Chronicle
By Lou Bustamante, Oct. 20, 2018
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/California-brandy-is-better-than-ever-Will-13323976.php?fbclid=IwAR0hGYCS3fCwsy_yeChrX7DnTTvlvXvRxCjme1HK_fS35Yg1758euKLyQAU#photo-16334737

TOP 100 MOST VALUABLE BRAND FROM INTERBRAND LIST HENNESSY 98th

Interbrand Logo

Source: https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/

by Nicola Carruthers

9th October, 2018

Hennessy (no.98/100), Jack Daniel's (no.84/100) and Johnnie Walker (no.97/100) have been ranked among the top 100 most valuable global brands on the Interbrand Best Global Brands 2018 list.

Brown-Forman-owned Jack Daniel's - which was ranked 84 on the list - moved two places down from last year to make it the highest-ranking spirit brand for the third year in a row. Interbrand valued the brand at US$5.64 billion, up 6% from 2017.

Diageo-owned Johnnie Walker made the list at 97, falling by one place from last year. Returning to the list for the ninth consecutive year, Johnnie Walker was valued at US$4.73bn - up 7% on last year.

A new entry to the list was LVMH-owned Hennessy Cognac at 98, valued at US$4.72bn.

Smirnoff vodka, which is also produced by Diageo, dropped off the top 100 list after ranking at 97 last year.

The spirits brands are three of six alcohol brands to make the list, which also includes beer brands Heineken, Budweiser and Corona.

"I'm very proud to see Johnnie Walker recognised by Interbrand as one of the 2018 Best Global Brands," said John L Williams, global brand director for Johnnie Walker.

"Johnnie Walker has been the world's most popular Scotch for more than 60 years - a true global giant, and yet one that is crafted by a small team of 12 whisky masters with the finest malts from the four corners of Scotland.

"It's an incredibly exciting time to work on this iconic brand - we've just unveiled White Walker in collaboration with HBO and Game of Thrones, and are hard at work in preparation for a new Johnnie Walker brand experience in Edinburgh."

The ranking is based on three key components that contribute to a brand's cumulative value:

1) the financial performance of the brands and services,

2) the role the brand plays in influencing customer choice,

3) and the strength the brand has to command a premium price or secure earnings for the company.

See the FULL LIST at INTERBRAND

NEW WEBSITE FOR THE BNIC: CULTURE COGNAC

Culture Cognac Website

CULTURE COGNACis a site managed by the French government (Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac, BNIC). It offers basic information about what is cognac and how it can be enjoyed.

"Sharing the culture around Cognac to connoisseurs and purchasing advisors throughout the world… such is the philosophy behind this magazine, created by the BNIC (association of Cognac professionals) and co-edited by the experts and celebrities that make up the ICS (International Cognac Summit) community. Since 2008, they have improved upon and gathered around innovative communication projects to transmit their knowledge and promote the Cognac designation around the world."

This site is easy to navigate and attractive. Check it out!

Source: Cognac Culture

UNIVERSITY OF SPIRITS IN THE COGNAC REGION CELEBRATES CRAFT COGNAC WITH LE GARAGE BAR & COMANDON

Association Elixir University Eaux-de-Vie Logo

Le Garage Bar Logo

Comandon Logo

Cognac and Cocktail Event in Cognac, France.

Organised by Association Elixir from the Université des Eaux-de-Vie from Segonzac and Le Garage Bar in Cognac.

Le Garage Bar is an iconic bar in Cognac owned by the Berniers for almost 20 years. Originally, the bar was a garage dealership for DeDion, Panhard and other luxury French. Now, Le Garage Bar has kept this spirit but changed into a trendy and fun bar in Cognac where everyone can relax and taste a cognac cocktails.

Le Garage Bar in Cognac, France

You will taste the new cognac Comandon X Le Garage Bar.

When: Thursday 25th October 2018
When: Le Garage Bar: 3 rue de l'isle d'or, 16100 Cognac, France
Starting at 7pm

Le Garage Bar will serve 4 Cocktails made with the unique small batch cognac produced by Comandon, le Comandon X Le Garage, fabriqué en lot unique et avec une passion artisanale.

COMANDON X LE GARAGE COGNAC, CRAFT, SMALL BATCH, LIMITED EDITION, UN-CHILLED FILTRED, SINGLE DISTILLERY

7 € per cocktail or 12 € for 2 cocktails

Specialty foods will be availble exclusively made for this event by the chef of Le Garage Bar.

This event will profit and fund/donation to the Elixir Club, student club from the University des Eaux-de-Vie, so as to offer scholarships to finance the last year trip which is part of the curriculum for the Master 2 Management of Spritis Business in Segonzac, France.