590 replies to this topic

[FrogPrincesse]

I used Hendrick's gin for its cucumber notes.

Sometimes going in the opposite direction works when picking ingredients. Since you already have an overwhelming amount of cucumber flavor (or aroma) from the cucumber itself, picking a gin with complementary contrasting botanicals might work -- maybe a classic juniper-forward London dry?

Until the price went from "too high" to "insulting", Plymouth was my choice for pairing against cucumber.

It's funny that you both reacted to my gin choice. I can't say that I disagree with you. I had a little debate with my husband last night on that very subject but I decided to let him have his way...

Here is the whole story. I made quite a bit of this cucumber lemonade last Saturday so we had a chance to try it with various gins over the weekend. Initially, I very foolishly reached for a bottle of Junipero, my motivation being that there were only a few ounces left and that I wanted to kill that bottle. Talk about contrast! I love Junipero in some other applications (Negroni, Cin Cyn, etc) but it was absolutely hideous in that drink (definitely not "complementary"!).

Then we tried the cucumber lemonade with Tanqueray at our friends' - a great match, perfect balance, really great.

Last night I discussed our options with my husband since we did not have Tanqueray and Junipero was out of the question. I was considering Plymouth or Beefeater. He wanted to try it Hendrick's, which got lost a little in the drink due to lack of contrast. It was, of course, much better than the Junipero, but I agree with both of you, not the best match.

Next time I would use Plymouth or Beefeater. I was thinking that Bols genever could be also an interesting option with smoky flavors that could add another dimension to the drink, similar to a John Collins.

[thirtyoneknots]

Genever plus cucumber sounds like some kind of bartender inside joke

[FrogPrincesse]

I forgot to add that, after the Junipero debacle, I rescued the drink by adding a few drops of Serrano extract that a friend made. It managed to counter-balance the juniper and add a nice finish. I only used a couple of drops.

Genever plus cucumber sounds like some kind of bartender inside joke

Scratching my head...?

[thirtyoneknots]

Genever plus cucumber sounds like some kind of bartender inside joke

Scratching my head...?

Haha see! It is an inside joke! Let's just say in this biz I've known many an iconoclastic individual with an axe to grind, many of whom feel like the cucumber thing is sort of played out. Hence take an "acquired taste" gin and add cucumber....

Not saying it wouldn't be good, mind you.

[FrogPrincesse]

Genever plus cucumber sounds like some kind of bartender inside joke

Scratching my head...?

Haha see! It is an inside joke! Let's just say in this biz I've known many an iconoclastic individual with an axe to grind, many of whom feel like the cucumber thing is sort of played out. Hence take an "acquired taste" gin and add cucumber....

Not saying it wouldn't be good, mind you.

Thanks for clarifying.

It's true that there are a lot of gin-cucumber drinks.

It's just fun to kick it up another notch... I have a feeling that it would work. And I am looking for excuses to use genever.

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. lactic acid "acidulated malt" aromatized "whitened" bourbon
1 oz. cape verdean tamerind liqueur
1 oz. unadulterated regular campari
1 oz. lime juice

this is pretty cool bitter-sour. the aroma of the tamarind liqueur augments the tonality of the campari to something really lovely. the whiskey gets lost amid the other more significant attentional features.

lactic acid, which is a volatile acid, is important to whiskeys. this one takes it to the n'th degree and a strange & ghostly illusion of creaminess lurks in the whiskey when consumed straight.

if you want to accumulate lactic acid for any culinary reason, these acidulated malts are a really cool and affordable source.

[FrogPrincesse]

I made him a Red Hook tonight, a cocktail that is on our regular rotation.



For me, a Gin Gin Mule with my homemade ginger beer. The spices in the beer (coriander, fennel, celery) gave a nice little twist to the cocktail.

[tanstaafl2]

Attended a whisk(e)y "class" last weekend at the Holeman & Finch Pub which I quite enjoyed. It featured about 6 different spirits to include Scotch, Irish, Canadian and American. Been meaning to post a couple of pics but keep forgetting. Nothing like getting moderately hammered starting about 11:30 in the morning! In addition to the whiskey tasting there were a couple of cocktails to include a mint julep using a tender 3yo straight bourbon from Big Bottom Whiskey out of Oregon. They also dredged up an old cocktail that didn't seem like it should work that I found rather pleasant in spite of itself, the Cameron's Kick. They used the Irishman 70 and a Benromach Traditional Speyside single malt as I recall (although it traditionally calls for a blended whisky like Famous Grouse), lemon, orgeat (They used B.G. Reynolds) and a bit of orange peel expressed over the drink and dropped in.

Tried that drink again again last night, this time with Johnnie Walker red (no Grouse in the house) and Bushmills white and must say it was quite pleasant again even with more basic spirits.

Then I decided to try something from the latest edition of Imbibe and settled on the "Ce Soir" which apparently means something like "tonight" or "this evening".

Includes a VSOP cognac (suggests the new Ferrand 1840 which I haven't been able to track down yet so I used my basic house cognac, Chalfonte), Cynar and yellow Chartreuse with orange and angostura bitters, stirred and served up in a chilled glass with a lemon peel expressed and discarded.

Seemed like an interesting but potentially challenging collection of ingredients but I found it quite pleasant!

I do keep forgetting to break open the Drambuie 15 so maybe I will get to that one tonight.

Edited by tanstaafl2, 03 May 2012 - 02:39 PM.

[FrogPrincesse]

I looked for a thread on Brooklyn variations but did not find one, so I am posting this on this general Drinks thread.

Very tasty Brooklyn variant created by Philip Ward: The Rojo Bianco.



2 oz reposado tequila
1/4 oz white vermouth
1/4 oz maraschino
1/4 oz campari
1 dash angostura bitters

It tasted like a slightly spicy Brooklyn. Really nice.

[bostonapothecary]

inspired by the "art of choke" (bitterness + mint)

1 oz. gin (farmer's organic)
1 oz. cape verdean tamarind ponche
.5 oz. campari
.5 oz. lime juice
6 sprigs of mint

shake with mint and double strain. garnish with mint to provide top notes.

someone asked for a gin & mint cocktail last night so i made him the above. i've never seen someone order a second so quickly. i made one for myself later to see what it was all about. sort of bitter and sort of sour, with gorgeous aromatic tonality. some rare grapefruit like fruit is conjured.

the tamarind ponche had sat on the shelf for quite a while. it has a ton of its own acidity so it cannot make comfortable 2:1:1 sours, but seems to lend itself well to this template which i think i borrowed from the "Maximilian Affair".

there is no jamaican rum at the office, so i think i may try making it with armagnac next. i think the tamarind ponche could best be synthesized by subbing 1:1 st. germain & plymouth slow gin.

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. los abuelos blanco
1 oz. "poncha da madeira" (from back of label; contents: rum, sugar, alcohol, water, honey, lemon, orange, passionfruit)
.5 oz. campari
.5 oz. lime juice
dash peychaud's bitters

this tastes like their is meat in it. no doubt from the strange agave expression that is los abuelos. you'd think there was mezcal in the drink, but there is no smoke. the bottled punch from madeira is pretty wild. the color is unreal and i bet is mostly a product of the passion fruits. between portugal proper, the azores, madeira, and cape verde there seems to be a trend of high acid liqueurs. those that love st. germain will adore them. the ingredients curiously distinguish between rum, alcohol, and water. which makes me wonder if they either dilute the rum for economy or the citrus are extracted first with an everclear and then blended into the rum (or maybe it is rhum?).

i could totally be happy running a portuguese themed cocktail bar. the recent finds from madeira have really pushed the theme over the edge.

[bostonapothecary]

chris angel's milk of manhattan
2 oz. lactic acid acidulated malt aromatized bourbon (two of my favorite verbs!)
1 oz. carpano antica
dash angostura bitters

like when the magician pushes the playing card through the plate of glass, the volatile constituents of the acidulated malt are forced in between evan williams. it is like the ghost of a milk maiden controlling a wigi board. creaminess haunts, perches, and lurks just over your shoulder. the specter of prohibition also haunts this drink. but maybe we could all have one together, join hands, and simultaneously cast out all evil like an exorcism.

[Tri2Cook]

but maybe we could all have one together, join hands, and simultaneously cast out all evil like an exorcism.

You provide the lactic acid acidulated malt aromatized bourbon and I'm in. I'm not gonna find that at the LCBO.

[FrogPrincesse]

A Mint Julep with mint from our garden and Elijah Craig bourbon.




And a great excuse to use my new swizzle stick.

[bostonapothecary]

1.5 oz. lactic acid acidulated malt aromatized bourbon
1 oz. cesar florido's moscatel especial
4 g. non aromatic white sugar
yolk

the moscatel especial is really cool. it probably has the same sugar content and acidity as a port wine. never having had one before, i expected an aroma like a marsala, but was wrong. the aroma is spectacular and more akin to an old tawny. a complete pleasure to drink on its own.

the yolk (leftover from preparing lunch) turns the aromas of the moscatel and whiskey into something enigmatically nutty. perhaps not too distant from walnut.

[FrogPrincesse]

I went to a class this weekend and learned to make a delicious cucumber lemonade that can be used as base for cocktails. [...] The cucumber lemonade (made with cucumber water) is great on its own, but adding a little gin doesn't hurt. It's very fresh/green and tart. I imagine that tequila or white rum would be good too. I used Hendrick's gin for its cucumber notes. [...]

I used Hendrick's gin for its cucumber notes.

Sometimes going in the opposite direction works when picking ingredients. Since you already have an overwhelming amount of cucumber flavor (or aroma) from the cucumber itself, picking a gin with complementary contrasting botanicals might work -- maybe a classic juniper-forward London dry?

Until the price went from "too high" to "insulting", Plymouth was my choice for pairing against cucumber.

I made this drink again last night (3 parts cucumber lemonade, 2 parts gin) with a London dry gin (Beefeater) and Plymouth gin, side by side. Both versions were good, with a preference to Plymouth. The Beefeater had a sharpness at the end that did not completely harmonize with the drink, while the Pymouth resulted in a more cohesive drink.

Edited by FrogPrincesse, 08 May 2012 - 09:41 AM.

[Kohai]

1.5 oz. lactic acid acidulated malt aromatized bourbon

Do tell.

[FrogPrincesse]

Catching up...

Last night I was looking for a rye sour in the Bartender's Choice app and found the Adderly (Sam Ross): rye, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, orange bitters. It is described as a rye version of the Casino, which uses gin. It was good but too tart for my husband, who is not a fan of sours in general, unlike me.





So for him I immediately thought of the Final Ward (Phil Ward) - the same ingredients, minus the orange bitters, plus green Chartreuse (it is equal parts rye, maraschino, lemon juice, and green chartreuse). He liked it much better. The chartreuse of course completely transforms the drink and gives it an incredible finish.





The Bartender App also contains a variation of the Final Ward with yellow chartreuse (with adjusted ratios) which looks interesting. I will have to invest in a bottle eventually.

Edited by FrogPrincesse, 10 May 2012 - 08:41 PM.

[Hassouni]

Yesterday bottled my homemade falernum



And made a Bermuda Rum Swizzle with it (Black Seal, of course)



Lovely drink, just need a proper swizzle stick! I did manage to get the glass icy on the outside though.

Tonight, a simple Kalimotxo with some crappy Egri Bikaver (gotta use up the case I foolishly bought) on the deck with my nargile. Best smoking drink ever, pretty much.

[haresfur]

Jersey Cocktail:

Henry of Harcourt Duck & Bull Cider (hard sparkling)
1 tsp simple syrup
6 dashes Fee's Old Fashioned bitters

The bitters' spices go very well with cider.

[FrogPrincesse]

Yesterday bottled my homemade falernum



And made a Bermuda Rum Swizzle with it (Black Seal, of course)



Lovely drink, just need a proper swizzle stick! I did manage to get the glass icy on the outside though.

I am sure it tasted great with your homemade falernum. The commercial stuff I have does not have much flavor.

[bostonapothecary]

an attempt at inverting a sidecar
1.5 oz. pineau des charentes (brillet)
.75 oz. compass box "orangerie" (their orange peel aromatized scotch)
.75 oz. lemon juice

some liked it and some didn't. i did not think the orangerie provided enough orange aroma to really push this into sidecar territory.

re-rendered as more of a collage for a unique someone
.75 oz. pineau des charentes (brillet)
.75 oz. vergano americano
.75 oz. compass box "orangerie"
.75 oz. lemon juice

this went over really well. a gorgeous, but slightly crazy young woman comes in every now and then wanting a last word, but we have no chartreuse or maraschino so i usually just end up making her something like this. she may also have a crush on me (but i probably also have a crush on her). she only wanted half a drink (as her second round) so i drank the other half. the guy she was with was not amused by our obvious prior bartender-imbiber relationship and splitting of a drink (and so read it as flirting), but i got the sense that it was already a first and last date. i instigated nothing, but merely followed her lead... i think she was trying to challenge him to be competitive and he failed. he didn't seem to understand the appeal of the drink when he tasted it. i keep finding that people (particularly well educated women) like ironic & complex service for dates as a test. if someone on a date for example, does not handle a wine list of only esoteric wine varietals well, they may have complacency issues and cannot scale well to the rigors of real life.

this morning:
1 oz. tabasco aromatized gin
1 oz. averell damson plum gin
.5 oz. cynar
.5 oz. lime juice

despite the propensity for damson gin to overshadow, the aroma of the funky gin is definitely the greatest attentional feature. it may be more elegant & accessible if the tabasco aroma was diluted more, but i really enjoyed it. in this context, the gin makes you think you are drinking the real deal medronho of the al garve.

[FrogPrincesse]

Impromptu cocktail party at our house tonight with a friend/neighbor to celebrate the end of a productive week. The weather was great in San Diego today so we went with rum-based drinks.

We started with a classic Daiquiri with Flor de Caña 4 years. Then we had a Captain's Blood with Appleton 12 years (and Angostura, lime, simple syrup), a new favorite we discovered yesterday (see here).

We followed with PDT's Paddington with Flor de Caña 4 years. Really nice with some oro blanco grapefruit (here is a picture I took previously).

To finish, a Santa Cruz Daisy with Appleton 12 years (+ lemon, a little bit of club soda and a few dashes of curacao/Clément créole shrubb).

[haresfur]

Ramping up from the Jersey.

Stone Fence

2 oz Inner Circle Red
over ice
top with Duck and Bull cider.

The Inner Circle beat the cider into the background. I think 1 or 1 1/2 oz would balance better.

When in doubt add bitters - a few dashes of Peychaud's helped as did a side of Camembert and biscuits.

[KD1191]

an attempt at inverting a sidecar

Was also playing with derivations from that theme the other day. I called this one the Clown Car:

2.25 Bas-Armagnac
1 Grapefruit
.5 Cointreau
.25 Batavia Arrack

The flavors just kept coming out, and they were all rather strange.

[bostonapothecary]

The flavors just kept coming out, and they were all rather strange.

a fruit that doesn't exist is conjured and the artifice is compelling.

i was playing this game the other night with some ladies that run a prestigious art gallery. even though they are at the forefront of modern visual art, they are quite squeamish about their cocktails. they like it when the greatest symbolic attentional feature is also the greatest sensory attentional feature such as a predictable "cranberry martini" with cranberry infused vodka, fresh pressed cranberry juice, and sugar (no lie, they order these).

if the drink tastes like it reads they will not end up with an acquired taste. even though they curate and sell visual acquired tastes, they do not recognize them in the other senses. its very sad and they usually drive me crazy (they are redeemingly funny and overall i adore them). somehow (because they overheard me doing it for someone else) the idea of making drinks taste like beautiful fruits that could be real, but do not exist was fun. we made a few, and they slurped them down.

we started with the sour orange bronx which conjures the lost burmese pomelo (if it was, it must be behind rebel controlled lines)
1.5 oz. farmer's gin
.75 oz. m&r sweet vermouth
.75 oz. dominican sour orange juice
expressed sour orange peel
i was bluffing about burma and only geographically guessing, but when googled they are actually famous for them.

then we went with the re-rendered maximillian affair
1 oz. j.m. rhum agricole
1 oz. j.m. (joao monteiro) cape verdean tamarind ponche (no relation to j.m. of martinique)
.5 oz. campari
.5 oz. lime juice
6 sprigs of mint
no one knew what tamarind was so i explained how cape verde was a point on the famous "tamarind belt" that stretches from guyana to east timor. the drink overall conjures monstrous expressions of heirloom grapefruit.

[Hassouni]

A Mint Julep with mint from our garden and Elijah Craig bourbon.




And a great excuse to use my new swizzle stick.

Whooooaaa where'd you get the stick??

[thirtyoneknots]

A Mint Julep with mint from our garden and Elijah Craig bourbon.




And a great excuse to use my new swizzle stick.

Whooooaaa where'd you get the stick??

I believe you can get them from Cocktail Kingdom

[FrogPrincesse]

Whooooaaa where'd you get the stick??

I believe you can get them from Cocktail Kingdom

That's where I got it.

[Hassouni]

So I made a "Jamaica Rum Daiquiri" as featured on Alpenz's page for Smith & Cross, first time, despite the bottle being 60% finished...

1 oz S&C
1 oz lime juice
2/3 oz (?*) simple (in my case Demerara)



Although I prefer my Daiquiris to be drier and more boozy, this is one of the most perfectly balanced drinks I've ever had. Sweet, but balanced by sour, with a deep richness brought out by the rum. Next time I'll change the proportions, but wow, this cocktail is like poetry on the tongue.


*(who the hell has 1/3 or 2/3 oz measurements?)

Edited by Hassouni, 12 May 2012 - 05:00 PM.