569 replies to this topic

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. overholt rye
1 oz. amontillado (bodegas dios baco)
.5 oz. cynar
.5 oz. almond liqueur ("algarvinha" from the portugeuse producer vice rei)

i eventually ran out of cynar so i reconfigured it as

1 oz. mezcal (del maguey vida)
1 oz. amontillado (bodegas dios baco)
.5 oz. averna
.5 oz. almond liqueur ("algarvinha" from the portugeuse producer vice rei)

both versions are excellent but i think the rye version is most exciting. the drink is really driven by the aromas of the sherry and the almond liqueur.

the liqueur is interesting stuff. 8.99 retail. but i can't tell from translating the writing on the back whether it is all natural or not. the tonal expression of almond aroma certainly is excellent. the producer also interprets the almond aroma with a curious color. its very pale unlike the very dark luxardo and amaretto.

[mkayahara]

1 oz. overholt rye
1 oz. amontillado (bodegas dios baco)
.5 oz. cynar
.5 oz. almond liqueur ("algarvinha" from the portugeuse producer vice rei)

[...]
the liqueur is interesting stuff. 8.99 retail. but i can't tell from translating the writing on the back whether it is all natural or not. the tonal expression of almond aroma certainly is excellent. the producer also interprets the almond aroma with a curious color. its very pale unlike the very dark luxardo and amaretto.

This sounds interesting, and I can probably fake it up with stuff I have on hand. Obviously, I don't have the almond liqueur... how would amaretto compare? Or creme de prunelle, maybe?

[vice]

Interesting, how close is it to orgeat (in flavor, if not proof)?

edit: I see I'm not the only one intrigued, just the only one to get distracted for half an hour in the middle of a reply.

Edited by vice, 20 September 2010 - 10:56 AM.

[haresfur]

I reported on my adventure with the SanRu here. Today I tried it, substituting Polish mead for the sherry:

1 1/4 oz gin (Seagram's up a little from the original)
1 oz Dubonnet
1 oz Kurpiowski mead

build over ice

As I did previously, I tasted then added a small lime wedge. This was really spectacular without the lime. After adding lime and finding no improvement (well perhaps a twist would have worked) I added a splash more mead. Yum.

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. overholt rye
1 oz. amontillado (bodegas dios baco)
.5 oz. cynar
.5 oz. almond liqueur ("algarvinha" from the portugeuse producer vice rei)

[...]
the liqueur is interesting stuff. 8.99 retail. but i can't tell from translating the writing on the back whether it is all natural or not. the tonal expression of almond aroma certainly is excellent. the producer also interprets the almond aroma with a curious color. its very pale unlike the very dark luxardo and amaretto.

This sounds interesting, and I can probably fake it up with stuff I have on hand. Obviously, I don't have the almond liqueur... how would amaretto compare? Or creme de prunelle, maybe?

the liqueur has a 20% alcohol level. which is near the minimum of preservation.

i tried making the drink at work with amaretto and didn't enjoy the results as much. amaretto feels like it has more aroma so it didn't seem to contrast the other aromas well with the same proportions. it mostly overshadowed the whiskey and sherry.

i don't have a lot of experience with orgeat to differentiate the tonality of the aroma from this stuff. most syrups as opposed to liqueurs have sugar contents near 400g/l so i only like to use them in high acid drinks. a change to orgeat would effect the structure of the drink because these liqueurs are probably in the low 300's of sugar. home made syrups also vary a lot in the amount of dissolved aroma and restraint in this case seems to be key here for an elegant drink.

this drink is funny because i don't like drinks with strange proportions so i try to always use fairly even measurements which is limiting, but i also don't like brand-static recipes and this drink seems to rely on this brand of almond liqueur. good thing its cheap enough.

i'd try the creme de prunelle before the amaretto. i'm on a budget, but i wish i had over proof rye for the drink.

[Vieux Carré]

Being the first day of autumn I was thinking of making a good fall drink. Perhaps something with applejack. But after stepping outside into the mid-nineties temperature I realized that I must have gotten my calendar mixed up so I reached for my copy of Beachbum Berry Remixed and just in case the earth has been flipped I made a Tasman Sea. Tasty and a great tiki drink for the first day of summer!

[thirtyoneknots]

After nearly four years I worked my last shift at Veritas last night, a great time with good turnout. And while my head this morning is telling me that perhaps I should have skipped a few of those Bourbons afterwards, I definitely don't regret the Sazerac made with some of my precious 06 Handy Rye and Jade Edouard, shared with the other few cocktail enthusiasts in town. Quite memorable, even through the haze.

[Kohai]

Been lovin' on fino sherry this fall. Makes sweetness magically unsweet.

Now You Know
2 oz. Flor de Caña Gold
1.25 oz. Tio Pepe fino sherry
1 oz. Cynar
.5 oz. Licor 43
3 dashes Peychaud's

Stir/strain. Grapefruit coin zest.

Stockholm Syndrome
2 oz. Aalborg Aquavit
1 oz. Tio Pepe
.75 oz. lemon
.5 oz. simple
lingonberry syrup

Shake/strain everything but lingonberry. Drizzle lingonberry into the drink so that it creates a fade effect. Mix it all up before drinking.

[mkayahara]

i'd try the creme de prunelle before the amaretto. i'm on a budget, but i wish i had over proof rye for the drink.

Verdict: success! Tried it with the prunelle last night (and Rittenhouse bonded for the rye), and it seemed to work very nicely. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Portuguese almond liqueur you've been using has a little less sugar than this prunelle, but the aromas were all in the right places. I could see how amaretto would be far too overpowering. Will drink this again. Does it have a name?

[bostonapothecary]

Been lovin' on fino sherry this fall. Makes sweetness magically unsweet.

right on!

Verdict: success! Tried it with the prunelle last night (and Rittenhouse bonded for the rye), and it seemed to work very nicely. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Portuguese almond liqueur you've been using has a little less sugar than this prunelle, but the aromas were all in the right places. I could see how amaretto would be far too overpowering. Will drink this again. Does it have a name?

i wish i could steal the "now you know". i used to fear the almond. i always felt like a woman was trying to poison me with arsenic. it was in no way a relaxing aroma. but symbolism changes, we acquire acquired tastes, and now i'm mixing up a 750 of portugeuse almond liqueur a week...

last night i subbed macallan cask strength for the rye. pretty serious.

[12BottleBar]

I did a quick search and didn't see this one mentioned:

Small Dinger (from Bar La Florida, 1935)

1 part Light Rum
1 part Dry Gin
1/2 part Lemon Juice
1/2 part Grenadine

Brilliant drink.

[Chris Amirault]

Very interesting. What rum & gin are you using?

Tonight's libation is a variation of the Jakewalk, a drink designed by Dave Wondrich (member Splificator) for the Brooklyn bar of the same name. It's a popular staple at Cook & Brown Public House, where I tend bar and consult:

3/4 oz reposado tequila
3/4 oz white rum
3/4 oz St. Germain
3/4 oz lime
2 dashes Peychaud's

Shake; strain; orange twist.

It's a great drink, but I rarely have reposado tequila at the house. So I wondered: what would happen if the tequila weren't aged but the rum was?

3/4 oz Appleton 12
3/4 oz Milagro blanco
3/4 oz St. Germain
3/4 oz lime
2 dashes Peychaud's

Answer: it's delicious.

[bostonapothecary]

2 oz. pisco cesar
1 oz. lime juice (with a fraction of sour orange)
bar spoon of sugar

pineapple foam (left over form using my centrifugal juicer to make pineapple juice
angostura bitters

shake and double strain the first three ingredients then layer over top the foam and dab on top a few small drops of angostura bitters

i only added the foam because it was there in front of me and was going to get tossed. the foam is really stiff like a meringue and is the product of forcing air into the juice as the centrifuge spins. if you pour the juice back through the juicer you will keep making more foam. it takes about a half our to collapse.

the particular pisco makes the drink. it seems to be more pungent and penetrating than others brands. more akin to tequila. my theory as to why is that they make their muscat wine like you would a red as opposed to a white (press the grapes after fermentation). all the extra skin contact would increase the pungent aromas and the resultant distillate is closer to what muscat grappa is like, but somehow avoiding all those higher alcohol kerosene sort of aromas.

can't say for sure but its the best guess i've got. and it sure is delicious.

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. espolon reposado tequila
1 oz. cynar
1 oz. martini rossi rosato
1 oz. lime juice
dash peychaud's

i've had mixed success bringing significant bitterness to high acid drinks. yet i really enjoy this (after a while).

the initial sip seemed sorta dissonant (inharmonious), but as i spaced out a bit and perception changed from an analytical to synthetic strategy, pleasantly sour-bitter structured experiences came to mind like a pithy grapefruit. harmonious!

[Kohai]

Another favorite this fall is aquavit. I guess this is a riff on an Improved Aquavit Cocktail?

Cold Comfort
1.5 oz. Linie Aquavit
1.5 oz. Rye (prefer RH100, of course)
~1 tsp. Luxardo Maraschino
dash Peychaud's
dash Regan's Orange
black pepper-infused sambuca (rinse)

Stir, serve in stemless wine glass rinsed with black pepper 'buca.

[EvergreenDan]

1 oz. espolon reposado tequila
1 oz. cynar
1 oz. martini rossi rosato
1 oz. lime juice
dash peychaud's

Fabulous. Must. Have. Name. Please.

Used 50/50 Carpano Antica and M&R Bianco.

[KD1191]

The 2010 George T. Stagg (diluted 2:1 with water...straight out of the bottle, it's 143 proof even)...one of the most beautiful things I've ever tasted.

Tobacco & leather one moment, lavender the next. Caramel and vanilla, of course. Entirely worth the 5-hour drive to Frankfort and scouring of a half-dozen liquor stores.

Edited by KD1191, 26 October 2010 - 05:30 PM.

[Stephen D]

The 2010 George T. Stagg (diluted 2:1 with water...straight out of the bottle, it's 143 proof even)...one of the most beautiful things I've ever tasted.

Tobacco & leather one moment, lavender the next. Caramel and vanilla, of course. Entirely worth the 5-hour drive to Frankfort and scouring of a half-dozen liquor stores.

Nice!

[Chris Amirault]

What'd you pay for the 2010 Stagg, if I may ask? Saving me pennies..

[KD1191]

What'd you pay for the 2010 Stagg, if I may ask? Saving me pennies..

The various Antique Collection bottlings ranged from $69 - $75 at the several stores I visited in Kentucky. I'm pretty sure the Stagg was acquired at the lower end of that range...though I got it more or less by chance. The proprietress of the store had to "check in the back" and came out with a bottle she said had been put aside for someone who had not come to claim it. It's worth noting that I did not see the Sazerac 18 or Eagle Rare 17 anywhere...store personal mentioned selling out before they could even get the boxes unloaded onto the shelves. However, Thomas Handy Rye was plentiful most places. The one store where I found William Larue Weller had a decent stock of it, but I'm glad I picked it up there, because I did not see it again on the trip. All of this was within 1-3 days of the product being released locally...so, plan accordingly.

Edited by KD1191, 26 October 2010 - 07:24 PM.

[bostonapothecary]

my coworker really likes the "maximillian affair" which was invented at Drink in southie and bares a striking resemblance to the "artists special cocktail" from the savoy. an awesome template for a drink.

"maximillian affair"

1 oz. mezcal
1 oz. st. germain
.5 oz. punt y mes
.5 oz. lemon juice
twist

"artist's special cocktail"

1 oz. whisky
1 oz. sherry
.5 oz. lemon juice
.5 oz. groseille syrup (red currant)

i interpret the sherry as being sweet (100g/l sugar) whereas eje interpretted it as dry in the savoy stomp. i think i used harvey's orange aromatized sherry last time i made the drink and grenadine instead of groseille.

anyhow i've had the maximillian at drink and can vouch for its awesomeness but i don't allow st. germain in the house so i had to re-render the recipe to keep my coworker happy for her shift drink... and of course i made a double.

1 oz. mezcal (vida)
1 oz. matilde poire
.5 oz. punt y mes
.5 oz. lime juice
2 dash peychauds

matilde's poire is their coolest liqueur and must be non profit if you consider all the gorgeous pear eau de vie they put in the product for such a low price. like st. germain, matilde poire uses a sugar model that is very similar to pineau des charentes which is bascially low sugar and fits into these eccentrically structured recipes quite well.

delicious! excellent structure and epic aromatic tension!

there is an awesome middle ground between 2:1:1 sours and 2:1 Manhattans.

[evo-lution]

This drink is rocking my World at the moment, created by Paul Graham of Bramble in Edinburgh and was used as part of the bitters presentation I held with Stephan and Alex of The Bitter Truth on Tuesday;

50ml Matusalem Platino
10ml Falernum
20ml Freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
10ml Freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Dashes Dandelion & Burdock Bitters

Add all ingredients to julep cup, fill with crushed ice and swizzle.
Garnish with 3-4 sprigs of mint twisted together to make a wee bouquet and two sip straws.

[EvergreenDan]

... eastern standard... cachaca, benedictine, and luxardo amaro, lemon twist in a mysterious ratio...

Finally got around to fooling with this concept. Quite different from the original, no doubt, but interesting and a bit challenging (in a good "I'll drink this slowly kind of way"):

Southeastern Cocktail

2 oz Cachaça
1/2 oz Amaro, Luxardo Abano
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Bénédictine
1/2 oz Lime juice
1 ds Grapefruit bitters, Bittermens
1 twst Lemon zest

Shake, strain, rocks, low-ball, lemon twist garnish

http://www.kindredco...astern-cocktail

[brinza]

After Googling for "drinks with Bonal," found a link to Todd Smith's Bonal and Rye. Enjoying it now. Really enjoying it.

[brinza]

Two drinks:

Tried Erik's reformulation of the Savoy's Spring Cocktail in which he employed Bonal. That is a superb drink. I followed Erik's advice of using only about a 1/4 ounce of Benedictine. Good advice. Even though I love Benedictine, any more than that would have made the drink much too sweet, not to mention overpowering the herbal qualities of the Bonal. I think I liked this better than the Bonal & Rye.

Catnip Julep. I never seem to have any mint on hand, but this summer I grew catnip in my herb garden. Cats are smart animals. Like smart cooks who use fresh seasonings, cats know that the fresh article is way better than the dried stuff sold in stores. Since catnip is in the mint family, I've always felt that it can substitute for mint in certain situations. Just now I made a Catnip Julep.
Prepare as you would a Mint Julep. However, since the catnip leaves more triangular than mint leaves, garnish the drink with two broad leaves pointing upward, about two inches apart, to suggest a cat's ears. Enjoy. Meow.

Edited by brinza, 30 October 2010 - 06:54 PM.

[campus five]

Walking by a mexican panederia in East LA, I smelled something amazing. I picked up some mexican pastries, but I smelled something particularly yeasty, cinnamon-y, and well...New England-y. It was like an under-baked coffee cake, smelling of raisins, cinnamon, yeast, butter. Mmm...

I was inspired by the flavor and thought of this:

2 oz. Powers Irish Whiskey
1/2 oz. Lustau PX Sherry
1 barspoon St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 dash Fee's Aromatic Bitters
Stirred.

It was good, but it lacked depth and spice.
So I added 1/2 oz of George T. Stagg ('08), and then another 1/4 oz of Sherry to balance.

So it ended up:
2 oz Powers Irish Whiskey
3/4 oz Lustau PX Sherry
1/2 oz George T. Stagg ('08) Bourbon
1 barspoon St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 dash Fee's Aromatic Bitters
Stirred, Lemon Twist.

It turned out pretty good, if a bit big. The whiskey does a good job of mimicking the dough, the sherry reminding of the raisins, and the rest suggesting the spices.

[campus five]

Apple Jack Old Fashioned

2 oz Laird's Bonded
1 tsp raw sugar
2 dashes Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters
Lemon twist

[mssurgeon81]

Tonight's libation is a variation of the Jakewalk, a drink designed by Dave Wondrich (member Splificator) for the Brooklyn bar of the same name. It's a popular staple at Cook & Brown Public House, where I tend bar and consult:

3/4 oz reposado tequila
3/4 oz white rum
3/4 oz St. Germain
3/4 oz lime
2 dashes Peychaud's

Shake; strain; orange twist.

I've got to stop reading the Drinks! thread right before bed when I have to work tomorrow....I'd already poured myself a Manhattan nightcap, was idly surfing Egullet, and thought to myself, "hmm...I have everything to make this drink...."

It's delicious. Tart, with a nice complex floral background from the St Germain. I may have another....or try it with my Flor de Cana 12-year and blanco tequila. Damn you, Chris Amirault!

Attached Images

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Edited by mssurgeon81, 06 November 2010 - 07:45 PM.

[thirtyoneknots]

I didn't get to drink it myself apart from a couple of straw tastes, but I did make a Martinez for a favorite regular visiting from out of town tonight. I'm sure this is sort of old hat to some of you out there, but Ransom Old Tom is only very recently available here in TX (perhaps as recently as last week, when I first saw it).

1.5 oz Ransom Old Tom
1 oz Carpano Antica
1 bsp Luxardo Maraschino
2 dashes "Abbotts"

Something in the Abbotts replica combines so very marvellously with the Ransom. I'd buy that for a dollar.

[Tri2Cook]

No lemons, no limes, one orange. Seemed like a good time for a Blood and Sand to me. Now there's no oranges either... just when another was sounding about right.