Jackie Summers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | October 22, 1967 |
| Occupation(s) | CEO, Jack from Brooklyn |
| Known for | Sorel Liqueur |
| Website | https://jackiesummers.nyc/ |
Jackie Summers is an American microdistiller, writer and chief executive officer of Jack from Brooklyn. In 2012, he became the first Black person in the United States to be granted a license to make liquor post-Prohibition.
Summers is of Caribbean descent and is originally from Queens. [1] [2] His grandparents immigrated to the United States from Barbados in the 1920s. [3] According to Summers, "when I was growing up, there was always a pitcher of sorrel, a type of hibiscus tea, in the kitchen. After the kids were in bed, the adults would put a splash of rum in it". [4] Jackie's father was a pianist (playing with Louie Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday, among others) and his mother worked as a research scientist. [5]
After a cancer diagnosis in 2010 resulting in the removal of a tumor near his spine, [6] Summers resigned from his job as a publishing executive to start Jack from Brooklyn (a nickname of his) to make Sorel Liqueur, a modern version of the roselle-based Caribbean beverage. [7] [8] [9]
In 2012, he became the first Black person in the United States to be granted a license to make liquor. [10] [1] [11] Summers' small-batch sorrel liqueur is a deep garnet color, and along with hibiscus, is also flavored with cloves, cassia, nutmeg and ginger. [12] [13] [14] After the Jack from Brooklyn distillery was damaged in Hurricane Sandy, Sorel relaunched in 2013, operating until Jack from Brooklyn paused production in 2015. [6]
In October 2021, the brand relaunched after an investment from the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund. [15] [16]
Before becoming a distiller, Summers worked in magazine publishing. [17] Summers has also written for Edible Brooklyn , Esquire , Wine Enthusiast , and Plate. [9] In 2019, his essay "Rice is at the Intersection of Poverty" was awarded Best Food Essay by the Association of Food Journalists. [18] [6]
In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he and Daniella Veras launched a Virtual Happy Hour on Zoom that became popular. [17] [19]
In 2014 Brooklyn Magazine named him one of the 50 most influential people in Brooklyn food. [20] He was named to Drinks International's list of the 100 most influential people in the bar world in 2019, 2020, and 2021. [21] In 2019 he won an American Food Journalists award for Best Food Essay for his piece for Plate magazine, "Rice Is at the Overlap for Poverty and Comfort". [22] In 2021 he was named to the Imbibe 75 People to Watch list. [2] [23] In 2022, Summers was named one of Food & Wine's Drinks Innovators of the Year. [24] His Epicurious piece "All the Food You Can Eat and Only the Family You Can Stand" was nominated for a 2022 James Beard Foundation Award. [25]
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a single spirit or a combination of spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, shrubs, and bitters. Cocktails vary widely across regions of the world, and many websites publish both original recipes and their own interpretations of older and more famous cocktails.
Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added. In the course of some centuries, winemakers have developed many different styles of fortified wine, including port, sherry, madeira, Marsala, Commandaria wine, and the aromatised wine vermouth.
A liqueur is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond a resting period during production, when necessary, for their flavors to mingle.
Tiramisu is a coffee-flavoured Italian dessert. It is made of ladyfingers (savoiardi) dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of eggs, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, flavoured with cocoa. The recipe has been adapted into many varieties of cakes and other desserts. Its origin is disputed between the Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Vermouth is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid to late 18th century in Turin, Italy. While vermouth was traditionally used for medicinal purposes, it was later served as an apéritif, with fashionable cafés in Turin serving it to guests around the clock. In the late 19th century, it became popular with bartenders as a key ingredient for cocktails, such as the martini, the Manhattan, the Rob Roy, and the Negroni. In addition to being consumed as an aperitif or cocktail ingredient, vermouth is sometimes used as an alternative to white wine in cooking.
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Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a privately held American supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Gates, New York, and was founded on January 30, 1916, in Rochester, New York.
Aguardente (Portuguese), or aguardiente (Spanish), is a type of distilled alcoholic spirit that contains between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It is a somewhat generic term that can refer to liquors made from various foods. It originates from and is typically consumed on the Iberian Peninsula and in Iberian America.
Liquor is an alcoholic drink produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit, distilled beverage, spirituous liquor or hard liquor. The distillation process concentrates the liquid to increase its alcohol by volume. As liquors contain significantly more alcohol (ethanol) than other alcoholic drinks, they are considered "harder." In North America, the term hard liquor is sometimes used to distinguish distilled alcoholic drinks from non-distilled ones, whereas the term spirits is more commonly used in the UK. Some examples of liquors include vodka, rum, gin, and tequila. Liquors are often aged in barrels, such as for the production of brandy and whiskey, or are infused with flavorings to form flavored liquors, such as absinthe.
Bon Appétit is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York and has been in publication since 1956. Bon Appétit has been recognized for increasing its online presence in recent years through the use of social media, publishing recipes on their website, and maintaining a popular YouTube channel.
The Brown–Forman Corporation is an American-based company, one of the largest in the spirits and wine business. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, it manufactures several very well known brands throughout the globe, including Jack Daniel's, Old Forester, Woodford Reserve, GlenDronach, BenRiach, Glenglassaugh, Finlandia, Herradura, Korbel, and Chambord. Brown–Forman formerly owned Southern Comfort and Tuaca before selling them off in 2016.
Chocolate liqueur is a chocolate flavored liqueur made from a base liquor of whisky or vodka. Unlike chocolate liquor, chocolate liqueur contains alcohol. Chocolate liqueur is often used as an ingredient in mixology, baking, and cooking.
Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation, is a state-owned manufacturer and distributor of cigarettes and alcohol, and also formerly a state-sanctioned alcohol beverage brewing and retailing monopoly, in Taiwan. Its most famous product is Taiwan Beer. Other products include wine, Japanese-style liqueurs, Chinese herb liqueurs, and various distilled spirits.
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A spritz is an Italian wine-based cocktail, commonly served as an aperitif in Northeast Italy. It consists of prosecco, digestive bitters and soda water. The original Spritz Veneziano uses Select as bitters and was created in Venice in 1920. Popular variants are spritz al Campari which uses Campari and Aperol spritz which uses Aperol as bitters.
Natasha David is a German-born American bartender, mixologist, and author. In 2014, David opened the critically acclaimed cocktail bar Nitecap on New York's Lower East Side. David has also competed on Iron Chef America. In 2022, David authored the cocktail recipe book Drink Lightly. Her cocktail recipes have been featured in many publications and books, such as New York Times, Bon Appetit, and The Essential Cocktail Book. David has also been awarded as Zagat's 30 under 30, Eater's Bartender of the Year, StarChef's Rising Star, and Imbibe Bartender of the Year. Her consultancy company You & Me Cocktail is responsible for notable projects such as Paul Sevigny’s Baby Grand and the revamp of Pravda‘s cocktail program.
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