"amsterdam" news and stories

Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the proprietress of LeNell's liquor store. She's owned her own whiskey label, called Red Hook Rye, and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.

When I had to shut down my liquor shop in Brooklyn due to a lost lease back in February of this year, I decided to hit the road the very next day after vacating the former LeNell's Ltd storefront. Guest bartending, teaching classes and learning from talented bartenders made the pain of losing my beloved business sting less.

I spent a month in Holland learning from the amazing men of Amsterdam's door 74, which is without a doubt Amsterdam's best classic cocktail bar. While there, I decided to reach out and see if I could finally meet a woman I had admired from across the Atlantic ocean.

Ms. Fenny van Wees, the distiller of A. van Wees Distillery de Ooievaar, runs the last authentic distillery left in Amsterdam. The distillery's heritage goes back as far as 1782. I was eager to meet this feisty woman, whose passion is to keep the old ways alive and not give into pressures to mass produce, which compromises quality. She uses only raw, natural products and hand-selects her herbs, flowers and spices. We spent a whole day together at the distillery, leaving me so elated I could barely get to sleep that night.

Dutch Cheeses at Tromp in Amsterdam. Photo: Henk van Kol

Usually, thinking of Dutch cheeses with spices in them conjures up wheels of cheese with the usual cumin seeds or cloves. However, in the last few years, a whole slew of new spices and herbs, ranging from chile to wasabi, have found their way into cheese.

On a recent trip to the cheese shop Kaashuis Tromp, at Utrechtsestraat 90 in Amsterdam, we discovered an entire universe of cheeses classified as Klaver and flavored with various herbs and spices from around the world.

According to the owner of Tromp, Henk van Kol, new flavors have been making their way into Dutch cheeses for the past five years. Besides chile and wasabi, other non-traditional flavors include tomato and garlic. There's even a cheese called Napoli that has sundried tomatoes, garlic and black olives inside. We tried some and it's delicious plain, but it seems as though it would make the perfect pizza topping -- spices included.

Continue reading about Klaver cheeses after the jump.

Damrak Amsterdam Gin is 41.8%abv and 83.6proof. It is what I would describe as an in between style of gin, halfway between a Genever and an English dry style. It is made with malt like a Genever but is much lighter in style than a true Genever because plain, unmalted grain is used as well; and it is then distilled five times. This is definitely a robust gin and has 17 botanicals including juniper, citrus, honeysuckle, and a combination of spices, herbs, fruits, berries, and more.

The aroma is sweet and citrus forward, I think a bit of orange and grapefruit comes through. Then the floral notes come through with the unusual honeysuckle presence, which is very noticeable to me. Mostly because I am very familiar with it from this past summer when I picked thousands of the small honeysuckle flowers, one by one in the mornings over several weeks, and made them into honeysuckle liqueur. This entire aroma comes over a firm but light juniper and malt base. The flavor is spicy and sweet with a hint of citrus and malt, the floral notes, herbs and spices, and finishing with a sharp licorice bite. To call it complex is an understatement, and it is very full and thick on the tongue.

This is not a gin for GnT's. Either serve it in the Dutch style of very chilled as shots, have it on the rocks, or possibly in a cocktail where the fruit and grain will be shown to the best advantage. I haven't tried it in a martini because basically I think it has so much going on that vermouth would just confuse the issue. Once I started tasting this with a few friends, we ended up drinking more than half a bottle, served on the rocks during a long and mellow evening.

It looks like Amsterdam will be getting a new theme park, one based on the Roald Dahl's book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The park will be called De Chocolade Fabriek and will be primarily located underground in an unused railway tunnel, which means that the builders will have an easier time creating the fictionaly world, since they won't have to block out the sights and sounds of the city. Attractions will include a glass elevator and a chocolate fountain, as well as a production facility that will make a small amount of chocolate. The park will cost about €20 million (approx. $25 million) and is expected to take 2-3 years to completion.

Since it's based on the book, not the movie, you can't expect to see the likeness of Johnny Depp popping up anywhere - unlike at the revamped Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland - but considering that they made Willy Wonka slightly more disturbed in the updated film, it's probably just as well. The park is, after all, supposed to appeal to kids.

[Images from http://www.dechocoladefabriek.nl/]

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We all know that drinking and driving don't mix. However, in certain circumstances, drinking and tourism make for pretty great bedfellows.

The next time you're in Amsterdam, make sure that you check out the old Heineken brewery – known grandiosely as "The Heineken Experience". The theme park/brewery tour/marketing junket is the pleasant antidote to the hustle and bustle of the famous Dutch city.

During the hour-long tour, you'll learn the history of the Dutch beer company over the last century as told through the very memorabilia that has propelled the business from a small-time family operation to one of Northern Europe's best known (and loved!) beer makers. Like any good theme park, there's something for everyone at The Heineken Experience – video games, computer simulations, and my personal favorite – the beer hall, which pours fresh from the tap brew.

As a note of personal endorsement, I've always believed that beer in green bottles just tastes better – or as they would say in the Netherlands – het bier in groene flessen proeft beter!