Modern alchemy

What’s up at KenMoorhead.com?

So… I’ve been wholly negligent of this website for like… at least three months now.

I had an awesome plan for March.

And I never followed through on it.

WTF is up with that?

Shit got real, people. Grad school kicked into high gear and I was spending a lot of time catching up. For a while, I was starting up a consulting business (yes. Consulting. 1 year out of undergrad). I WAS a successful consultant - ask Elizabeth (she paid me).

So how’s my new business as a consultant going?

It’s not.

After a month, I shut it down.

Because I got hired. Remember how I had a few posts talking about Compendium Blogware? Yeah. They hired me (they’re a smart bunch). So the past month has been a whirlwind of settling into a new job AND finishing up my first semester of MBA school.

I hope you all understand.

I’m not going to be posting in the immediate future. And it pisses me off. Because I’m *still* getting traffic (some of it from search!). Apparently people are finding relevant info here - or rather, think they will. And I’m disappointing them.

I’m going to rebuild this site. Better. Faster. Sleeker. I’m moving to WordPress. I’m using Thesis. I’m going to use all the sleek tools that are great for a one man shop like this. I’m going to get re-engaged with the cocktail community. Re-engaged with the Third Tribe community. Re-engaged with everyone I’ve neglected over the past three months.

Why Thesis, Scribe and Wordpress when I work for, arguably, the best damn corporate blogging platform?

Compendium’s software would be absolute overkill for what I’m doing.

It’s amazing software. I recommend it to any business, especially a business with people who aren’t tech savvy. It’s blogging software your mom could use. And it’s built for business.

It’s built. For. Business.

I would be an irresponsible commitment of resources for the company.

I’d be an utter farking liability.

My employer is comfortable with my presence online - it was a point I raised during interviews and I feel very much encouraged to continue doing what I’ve always done - responsibly. Which makes perfect sense to me. Because this has always been about building up the Ken Moorhead brand. Acting irresponsibly is always in my worst interests.

So there’s still more to come. Think of our time here on Tumblr as the beta. Version 0.0.

I’ll be back sometime this summer. And we’re going to have a ton of fun. And once I get this up and running again, I won’t be stopping.

Until the inevitable monkey wrench of life happens again ;)

I’m not dead yet…

Hey Alchemists!

Things have been pretty crazy lately… lots of things happening all at once in the job hunt, my first quarter of classes has wrapped up, and I’ve been spending the little bit of free time I have working on this website… behind the scenes!

I’ve decided that I need different things from a blogging platform. Tumblr has been good for me to get me feet wet with, but eventually monetizing this site is going to require other tools. I’m also planning on switching things around a bit and using the kenmoorhead.com domain name for other purposes. I’m learning php, MySQL and Wordpress as quickly as I can so we can get back to drinks and videos. In the meantime, I’ll do all I can to get posts up here - I may do some photos for the meantime to avoid video upload times.

Thank you all so much for your patience with me these past few months… This has been a lot of fun and a huge learning experience for me! Hopefully in the near future things will calm down enough that it’s easier to just get back to drinks regularly. I have so many good ideas I want to do with you all, and then life comes in with other plans and opportunities.

While I’m thinking about it, since I’m doing a lot of redesigning, what kinds of features would you like to see on the site that aren’t already? What do you like? What don’t you like? What questions do you have that I’m not addressing?

Thanks for sticking around,

Ken

Modern Alchemy… it’s for YOU

Some unexpected information and inspiration came from my job interview this past Friday with respect to what I’m doing here at Modern Alchemy. My mission for this blog is to educate and remove the intimidation people feel toward mixed drinks. I feel that lately I’ve bent the direction of this blog toward content for fellow cocktail bloggers instead of the professional just home from work who needs a damn fine drink.

A blog for bloggers is not the goal I’ve set for myself. My goal is education and inspiration.

Thanks to Scott (one of my interviewers), I was reminded that all my talk of flavor notes and texture profiles and shaken vs stirred and complexities and intricacies (catch your breath)… While that is all interesting to me… What really matters is the drink tastes good.

That’s it.

The drink should taste good.

For the month of March I am going to put a real challenge on myself. Something I know I will benefit from. I’m going to get rid of all the fancy bartender tools for one month and go back to my roots when I started mixing drinks in the dorms for friends during my freshman year of college four years ago.

One month. Twelve drinks. The way I used to make them in the dorms. None of the glitz and glamour. None of the eyeballing the drink and commenting on legs and colour. No bullshit talk of spiceness, herbacious flavors or any other such nonsense. No smelling the drink or intellectualizing over the flavors.

You want to know how to make drinks that taste good and will impress your friends? That’s what we’re going to do. Because what did I start out with?

• 1 bottle of contraband whiskey
• 1 shot glass
• 1 rocks glass
• 1 meal plan that gave me access to fruit, fruit juices and sodas
• 2 big brass ones

That’s it. And many of you tell me that’s pretty much where you’re starting too. No stirring spoons or shaker tins or bitters or small, ever-growing libraries of exotic imported booze. You have one or two bottles and a lot of questions. I did too. Let’s put a drink in your hands and start answering them.

Please comment below (not on my private Facebook where no one else can see, you goobers!) with your thoughts, your comments and especially the questions you have! This is educational for all of us, and I want to do all I can to help you and your confidence in making drinks.

Now I’m going to somberly enjoy my last wonderfully complex, perfectly ruby-coloured Manhattan. It’s so wonderful the way it smells of oak and sweet spices, and the way the sharp bite gives way to vanilla notes that just linger on the palette… But what I’m really trying to say is, it just tastes good.

Scott, if you’re reading this - thanks for reminding me how important it is to cut through the bull and get down to the basics.

Let’s have some fun making drinks together, people.

Whoops, I forgot to update this week…

I have a paper and a presentation due Monday, and had a job interview today that I’ve spent the week prepping for. It went very well, by the way. Just anxiously awaiting a phone call. Ahem. In case you-know-who happens to be reading this entry. Thanks everyone that stopped by through the week, traffic’s been up a bit lately.

Thanks also to DJ Hawaiian Shirt,  Forrest Collins and Utah Mixologist for their comments through the week. Those of you checking in from France, Germany and the UK should definitely check out Forrest’s website to find the best martinis in Paris before your next visit.

Take care and spend the weekend drinking (responsibly!) with the ones you love!

Shaken or Stirred? And what is bruising anyway?

Can’t drink today as I’m recovering from losing my voice over the weekend. Decided to do a technique lesson on an oft debated topic: how does stirring a drink really compare with shaking? Check out the video, and comment to let me know your reactions! Also, what future technique lessons would you like me to focus on, or, What questions do you have about how to mix drinks?

Xplorador Wines Chilean Harvest 2010

Xplorador wines is hosting a drawing to send one lucky winner to Chilé for the 2010 wine harvest. If you know me, you know I love wine as much as I do cocktails. If we’ve talked about wine, you know I think South America, and specifically Chilé, is hot - and it goes beyond my love for the great carmenere grape. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope Xplorador picks me for the Chilé trip this year. I’ll be sure to bring the laptop and FlipCam so you won’t have to miss a moment of the experience.

Check out Xplorador:

http://xplorador.com

http://twitter.com/Xplorador

See you in Chilé, Xplorador!

Alcohol Advertising: True Originals No. 2

Bacardi’s gone viral (or at least trying to) lately with their True Originals ads. The latest features a sexy female bartender (they all are, aren’t they?) mixing up a piña colada. Check out the video, and comment below to let me know what you think of this campaign!

(Note: Also making this post to test out some SEO workarounds because SEO for Tumblr is a little…lackluster.)