On the fourth day of Caesars my true love gave to me … a day off. After a weekend of not-enough-sleep, rich foods, Caesars and other drinks, my body is begging for a day of rest. The thought of more clam/tomato juice and booze makes me feel slightly nauseated and I don’t think it would be fair to review a Caesar when I’d be gagging it down for the sake of my manufactured December event. I overestimated my stamina. HOWEVER – tomorrow is my birthday and there will be a Caesar tasting event. This is partly due to the fact that I interviewed one of the co-founders of Walter, a craft Caesar mix. Possible the only existing alternative to Clamato. They started producing it in 2013. It’s made in Canada and features natural ingredients and glass bottles. Their website says it’s named after ‘outstanding Walters in history.” That list includes Walt Whitman, Walter Gretsky and the founder of the Caesar, Walter Chell. |
Aaron Harowitz gave me some of his time last week to talk about his product and three bottles of Walter arrived in the mail today. So, tomorrow evening I’ll open them up and my friends and I can test out some Caesar recipes.
In the meantime, here is some of the conversation I had with Mr. Harowitz:
HC: What made you want to develop an alternative to Clamato?
AH: My partner Zack [Silverman] and I are old friends. We grew up together in BC. We put ourselves through university tending bar and serving tables. We realized there wasn’t an alternative to what’s currently on the market. The majority of Caesars are made with MSG and high fructose corn syrup, artificial colour, artificial flavour. Zack and I care a lot about the food that we eat and drink. We thought that Canada’s cocktail deserved a product made with all-natural ingredients.
HC: How did that realization come about?
AH: We had a friend who ordered a Caesar, but ordered it with tomato juice. We asked why and they said “have you ever checked out the ingredients that are in most of the Caesar mix in the market?” We realized we could provide Canadians an alternative.
HC: What’s different in Walter?
AH: We’re really proud to use natural ingredients. We use tomatoes. We use organic cane sugar and a little bit of sea salt. We use grated horseradish. We use some hot sauce and Worcestershire Sauce and we’re really proud to use real clam juice from a sustainable fishery. And we’re part of the Vancouver Aquarium Oceanwise program, so it’s an Oceanwise product.
HC: Tell me a bit about your participation in Oceanwise…
AH: It’s run by the Vancouver Aquarium. It’s just over 10 years old now. It started in part because a pretty famous Vancouver chef had a seafood restaurant and wanted to know more about the products he was serving. The Vancouver Aquarium through their Oceanwise program basically works to ensure that products or seafood that get the Oceanwise seal are fished or farmed in a sustainable way. For us, it was a product we’d always seen. Many of the bars and restaurants we worked at we’re part of the Oceanwise program. One of the big things that differs a Caesar from a Bloody Mary is the fact that it actually does have clam juice or clam nectar in the product. When we were making the product it was always important to us to find a fishery that has sustainable fisheries practices in place. So we worked with the Vancouver Aquarium to go through a vetting process to make sure that the clam juice that we were using was in fact fished with sustainable practices in place.
HC: There’s a real community around craft brewing. Are you guys a part of that? Are you friends with the beer people or do you have your own Caesar crowd?
AH: We certainly know a lot of craft-brewers and craft-distillers and people making all kinds of artisanal products. Were often involved in consumer shows with those people. We often partner up with a craft distiller to do events together. We think there’s a great community of people making artisanal products, really caring about the ingredients that they’re using in their products and making it in ways that ensure consistency and quality. We’re really proud to have a product that falls into that space. Other artisanal producers, whether it be a brewery or distiller or people making tonics or syrups or jams, it’s tremendously supportive.
HC: You talk about mixing wine with Walter on your website …
AH: It’s a really interesting execution. A bartender friend of ours introduced us to it. It’s not a replacement for other spirits. It’s just an addition. If you’re making a classic vodka Caesar – a one ounce spirit cocktail – you could use three-quarters vodka and then a one-quarter oz red wine; a little splash of red wine. What it does is add a nice earthy, winey taste to the cocktail. If you think about making a lot of classic tomato sauces or ragus, often red wine is a component of that, so it ties in that way.
HC: You also talk about mixing beer with your product …
AH: A lot of people add a little splash of Clamato, or in our case, Walter to their beer. A lot of people call it a Red Eye or a Beer and Walt is what we like to call it. But then there’s also a really interesting beer cocktail called a Michelada that originates in Mexico and that’s a little more like a true beer Caesar. Instead of having a pint of beer with a splash of Walter, what that would be is making a proper cocktail with three-quarters beer to a quarter Walter proportions. And serving it over ice with hot sauce and a rim and the whole deal.
The Walter tasting event will take place Tuesday Evening. Check back on Wednesday for updated blog posts on the fifth and sixth days of the 12 Days of Caesars.
In the meantime, here is some of the conversation I had with Mr. Harowitz:
HC: What made you want to develop an alternative to Clamato?
AH: My partner Zack [Silverman] and I are old friends. We grew up together in BC. We put ourselves through university tending bar and serving tables. We realized there wasn’t an alternative to what’s currently on the market. The majority of Caesars are made with MSG and high fructose corn syrup, artificial colour, artificial flavour. Zack and I care a lot about the food that we eat and drink. We thought that Canada’s cocktail deserved a product made with all-natural ingredients.
HC: How did that realization come about?
AH: We had a friend who ordered a Caesar, but ordered it with tomato juice. We asked why and they said “have you ever checked out the ingredients that are in most of the Caesar mix in the market?” We realized we could provide Canadians an alternative.
HC: What’s different in Walter?
AH: We’re really proud to use natural ingredients. We use tomatoes. We use organic cane sugar and a little bit of sea salt. We use grated horseradish. We use some hot sauce and Worcestershire Sauce and we’re really proud to use real clam juice from a sustainable fishery. And we’re part of the Vancouver Aquarium Oceanwise program, so it’s an Oceanwise product.
HC: Tell me a bit about your participation in Oceanwise…
AH: It’s run by the Vancouver Aquarium. It’s just over 10 years old now. It started in part because a pretty famous Vancouver chef had a seafood restaurant and wanted to know more about the products he was serving. The Vancouver Aquarium through their Oceanwise program basically works to ensure that products or seafood that get the Oceanwise seal are fished or farmed in a sustainable way. For us, it was a product we’d always seen. Many of the bars and restaurants we worked at we’re part of the Oceanwise program. One of the big things that differs a Caesar from a Bloody Mary is the fact that it actually does have clam juice or clam nectar in the product. When we were making the product it was always important to us to find a fishery that has sustainable fisheries practices in place. So we worked with the Vancouver Aquarium to go through a vetting process to make sure that the clam juice that we were using was in fact fished with sustainable practices in place.
HC: There’s a real community around craft brewing. Are you guys a part of that? Are you friends with the beer people or do you have your own Caesar crowd?
AH: We certainly know a lot of craft-brewers and craft-distillers and people making all kinds of artisanal products. Were often involved in consumer shows with those people. We often partner up with a craft distiller to do events together. We think there’s a great community of people making artisanal products, really caring about the ingredients that they’re using in their products and making it in ways that ensure consistency and quality. We’re really proud to have a product that falls into that space. Other artisanal producers, whether it be a brewery or distiller or people making tonics or syrups or jams, it’s tremendously supportive.
HC: You talk about mixing wine with Walter on your website …
AH: It’s a really interesting execution. A bartender friend of ours introduced us to it. It’s not a replacement for other spirits. It’s just an addition. If you’re making a classic vodka Caesar – a one ounce spirit cocktail – you could use three-quarters vodka and then a one-quarter oz red wine; a little splash of red wine. What it does is add a nice earthy, winey taste to the cocktail. If you think about making a lot of classic tomato sauces or ragus, often red wine is a component of that, so it ties in that way.
HC: You also talk about mixing beer with your product …
AH: A lot of people add a little splash of Clamato, or in our case, Walter to their beer. A lot of people call it a Red Eye or a Beer and Walt is what we like to call it. But then there’s also a really interesting beer cocktail called a Michelada that originates in Mexico and that’s a little more like a true beer Caesar. Instead of having a pint of beer with a splash of Walter, what that would be is making a proper cocktail with three-quarters beer to a quarter Walter proportions. And serving it over ice with hot sauce and a rim and the whole deal.
The Walter tasting event will take place Tuesday Evening. Check back on Wednesday for updated blog posts on the fifth and sixth days of the 12 Days of Caesars.