http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/dining/french-brandy-gains-a-foothold-on-american-cocktail-menus.html 2014-11-10 22:52:41 French Brandy Gains a Foothold on American Cocktail Menus American mixologists find ways to slip Cognac, Armagnac and Calvados into cocktails at affordable prices. === France has done well by the American cocktail revival. French liqueurs, bitters and aperitifs that were gathering dust on the shelf (like Lillet and Benedictine) or weren’t available in the United States (like Suze) now enjoy a renewed relevance. But France’s big dog in the spirits world, brandy, has struggled for years to find a foothold in this country’s cocktail culture. Cognac, Armagnac and Calvados come in as also-rans behind whiskey, gin, rum and tequila. The reasons for this are several. Some bartenders have perceived Cognac as being a bit old-fashioned, while others were put off by the overly sweet profile of the leading Cognac brands. But the main stumbling block is price; most French brandies are too expensive to be practical mixers. A few bars and restaurants, however, haven’t given up the fight. Xavier Herit, the head bartender at the Greenwich Village restaurant and bar At “We could have used a bourbon base or a rum base,” Mr. Young said. “But I thought, why not use an Armagnac? We never see that in cocktails. And it’s worked beautifully.” But there is perhaps no greater brandy evangelist among America’s bartenders than Thad Vogler. At “I’ve always been interested in spirits that have an appellation,” Mr. Vogler said, “where every aspect of production from the agricultural component to the bottling component has been considered.” That kind of attention and prestige often means prohibitive prices. Mr. Young said, “In the past, to put a brandy cocktail on the menu and have it be profitable, you’d have to charge $18.” Some producers have tried to compensate by creating less expensive brandies geared toward mixing, like Mr. Vogler circumvented the cost issue another way. “When we started thinking of opening a second place, we knew that was going to allow us much more economy of scale,” he said. “We could buy barrels directly from producers and get pricing that would allow us to put the stuff in cocktails.” Mr. Vogler is sitting on eight barrels of Cognac, Armagnac and Calvados. His cocktails sell for $12 to $14. Less concerned with price is Still, before you can sell it, you have to explain it. The first question you get when trying to pitch an Armagnac, Mr. Waugh said, is, “What kind of Cognac is that?” Mr. Vogler has had less trouble putting his brandy-heavy menu across. He credits the cocktail renaissance. “One thing it’s accomplished is, in metropolitan areas, the consuming public is up for what’s on the menu,” he said. “I’ve been amazed at how much brandy is selling. And how little resistance there is.”