The Story Behind the Award-Winning Austrian Steam Recipe
One of my favorite memories involving Jake's StrongGinger took place at the 2019 Kohler Food & Wine Event, where our Austrian Steam recipe earned top honors in the Kohler Chocolate Brandy Recipe Contest.
Like many great stories, it started with a good friend.
My friend Lauren Hofland encouraged me to enter the competition and ultimately helped transform a simple cocktail recipe into something much more memorable.
The contest challenged participants to create a unique recipe featuring Kohler Dark Chocolate Brandy. While the recipe itself was delicious, Lauren understood something important:
Great food and drink are often about the experience as much as the ingredients.
So she created an unforgettable presentation.
Using Jake's StrongGinger, Kohler Dark Chocolate Brandy, and rich hot chocolate, Lauren developed the Austrian Steam recipe and paired it with an original poem written in the style of Edgar Allan Poe.
Standing before a live audience, she delivered a dramatic reading while presenting a steaming mug of Austrian Steam to David Kohler.
The combination of storytelling, performance, and flavor captivated the audience.
It wasn't simply a drink.
It was an experience.
And it won.
Shortly afterward, Herbert V. Kohler himself enjoyed the recipe named in honor of his Austrian heritage at the Horse & Plow restaurant.
To this day, it's one of my favorite Jake's StrongGinger stories.
Below is Lauren's original poem, preserved exactly as she performed it that evening.
AUSTRIAN STEAM
BY LAUREN ROSE HOFLAND
with apologies to EDGAR ALLAN POE
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious bottle purchased at the liquor store—
Perusing my cupboard, decanters uncapping, suddenly there came a
tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
Ah, sad to be so cold and sober in the midst of bleak October;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the pantry.
Fervently I prayed for Brandy;—too late in the season for summer
Shandy
The tapping visitor did implore—
“
“I have come to offer a libation, a most delightful, chocolate creation —
Nameless here for just a bit more.”
Presently my soul grew bolder; unhesitating— as I was getting colder,
“Sir,” said I, “truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I sought a warm beverage, and so gently you came rapping
on my door,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you”—and here I opened wide the door;—
Herbert Kohler there and no one more.
Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
HVK had obviously just come from the store.
“Surely,” said I, “you have heard my plea;
Let me see what’s in the bag, this mystery
Let my heart be still you Dandy, have you brought to me some Brand
Have you brought to me some Brandy through my front door?
’An empty glass we all abhor!”
Then this entrepreneur beguiling turned my sadness into smiling,
As the bag he laid on the floor,
“The first surprise that I brought for thee
Is Hot Chocolate from the Craverie,
8 ounces and not a dribble more—
Bring a mug, so that I might pour!”
Quoth Herbert Kohler, but there’s more!”
Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
Post-haste I opened my cabinet door
Upon my securing a mug, Herb pulled out a jug,
“The answer to your doldrums is this Fixer…Jake’s locally-brewed Ginger
Tealixer!”
Quickly, quickly be measured a pour, into a shot glass, not a drop on the
floor—
The pepper-y liquid slipped into the mug of chocolate galore
Quoth Herbert Kohler, but there’s more!”
By now the Chairman still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of Herb, and table and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, he betook himself to thinking
Fancy unto fancy, a third ingredient to pour—
“A shot of smooth Kohler Dark Chocolate Brandy is undeniably just dandy
Quoth Herbert Kohler, but there’s more!”
Thus I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To HVK who once again reached into the bag on the floor;
This and more I sat divining, with his head at ease reclining
On the cushion’s velvet lining, on the cushion’s velvet sheen
HVK, eyes agleam, produced a bowl of sweet whipped cream, a cool cloud
atop the pour.
Quoth Herbert Kohler, but there’s more!”
Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unsee
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
“Mr. Kohler, God hath sent thee with a bar of Kohler Original Chocolate
candy!
Oh my spirits then did soar.
Quick as a wink he chopped it, then he topped it, yes, he had added
something more!
With a gleam, perhaps a tinge of flirtation? —he handed me the warm
libation,
And offered up a sincere oration:
“It has been my pleasure, indeed it’s been a dream, to mix for you my
Austrian Steam.
“And I wish you a deliciously Happy Halloween!”
The Austrian Steam Recipe
The recipe that inspired the poem remains surprisingly simple:
- 8 oz Hot Chocolate
- 1 oz Jake's StrongGinger
- 1 oz Kohler Dark Chocolate Brandy
- Fresh Whipped Cream
- Shaved Kohler Chocolate
Combine the hot chocolate, Jake's StrongGinger, and Kohler Dark Chocolate Brandy in a warm mug. Top with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.
Perfect for a cool Wisconsin evening
More Than a Recipe
What made Austrian Steam special wasn't simply the ingredients.
It was the creativity.
The storytelling.
The friendship.
The performance.
And the reminder that food and drink have a remarkable ability to bring people together.
Winning the Kohler Chocolate Brandy Recipe Contest was certainly exciting, but the memory I treasure most is watching Lauren bring the entire room to life with her words.
That's a recipe worth remembering.
To Your Health,
Tryg "Jake" Jacobson
Founder, Jake's StrongGinger