Fat Guy

Christopher (plattetude), you mentioned that you think Aperol is kosher. Where are you getting that information? I don't want to go too far down the Aperol path without confirming that.

If I did a straight Aperol Champagne cocktail, the pomegranate syrup could migrate over to the tequila drink for tequila, pineapple, lime, ginger (though I still haven't found a ginger syrup), garnished with pomegranate syrup. I'd just have to figure out the ratios.

I guess I'm just not comprehending the necessary alcohol content of a Champagne cocktail. Don't you need something to bump it up higher than the 12 or so percent that Aperol and Champagne provide? Or is that plenty?

I wonder how it will turn out if I make a mixture of Aperol and Bourbon, put a sugar cube in the bottom of a Champagne flute, pour an ounce of the Aperol/Bourbon mixture over the sugar cube, top with Champagne and garnish with Pom syrup out of a squeeze bottle. Would that totally suck? I guess I need to experiment.

Aperol sounds like a really good idea. I know our vendor carries it. I didn't know it was kosher and can't find anything online on that. But maybe I'll walk over and look at a bottle. If we use Aperol, how should it be deployed?

I noticed the lack of alcohol but figured in the Champagne cocktail with the Bourbon that wouldn't be a problem. But I've never tasted the product so I wasn't aware of the intensity/complexity issue. Do Stirrings bitters just suck or will they work well enough as part of a Bourbon-and-bitters mixture for a Champagne cocktail?

No joy on Pisco.

I have to investigate the Pisco situation to see if it has certification and, if it does, to see if I can get it from our vendor. In other news I found Stirring's blood orange bitters with an O-U at Whole Foods. Is that an acceptable product? Whole Foods also had "ginger juice" but not certified kosher so that search continues.

Okay, so assuming I have the power to specify 6-ounce rocks glasses, how big does that make the pour per cocktail? I need to figure that out so I can compute the quantities for purchase. (Last year I tried to specify a certain size Champagne flute but what showed up was a couple of ounces larger -- there's only so much control one has in this sort of situation.) Once we figure that out I still need to figure out quantities for the other two cocktails too...

Okay so standard small rocks glasses. How big are they, and how big does that make the pour?

Okay, so nix the vodka and find some Bourbon. The vendor we're using doesn't have the Old Williamsburg but is Evan Williams acceptable? Use Pom/sugar syrup as a garnish. Check. Now, if I go undiluted on the missing link then what is the size of the pour? I think we'll probably order those stemless martini glasses for the two non-Champagne cocktails. I'm pretty sure the glasses have a capacity of 8 ounces. Assuming crap ice in the glass, is the pour around 4 ounces or what? I've written some draft text for an explanatory card that we can put copies of on the bar or hand out at check-in. There may have to be some ingredient changes after I go out this weekend and see what kinds of kosher bitters and syrups are on the market. Continuing to seek input.

I believe everything I read on Wikipedia, which says "While Frida herself maintained that her father was of Hungarian-Jewish ancestry, researchers have established that Guillermo Kahlo's parents were not Jewish but Lutheran Germans." I'm thinking for that Paloma variant maybe we should call it The Raul Julia. That's got to be the most recognizable Mexican Jewish name out there. I'm thinking Guitar Player for the Missing Link cocktail. Maybe Builder's Fizz or something for the Champagne cocktail? I don't know. We can do better on all these names I'm sure. In terms of quantities, it seems like overkill to me to have 150 of each cocktail plus wine for a group that isn't necessarily out to get hammered and probably contains a few non-drinkers and wine-only drinkers. Maybe 100 of each? I hate the idea of running out but also don't want to waste. Thoughts? Assuming 100 of the Missing Link, the original recipe is 1.5oz. rum, 1oz. triple sec, .5oz. fresh lemon juice. That's 3oz. of cocktail, shaken, which I'm guessing means for batching I should dilute with water to a total of 4oz.? Poured over rocks that should do the trick. Backing that out to 100 cocktails we're talking 300oz. cocktails and 100oz. water, right? Which means 150oz. rum, 100oz. triple sec and 50oz fresh lemon juice. So I'd need 4.5 liters of rum, 3 liters of triple sec and 1.5 liters of fresh lemon juice, plus 3 liters of bottled water. Did I get that right? Before I compute the others, let me know if I'm crazy here.

I thought Frida Kahlo wasn't Jewish, but I can't keep it straight. When I think of really well-known Mexican Jews I think Berlioz first, Raul Julia second, and I don't have a third. The Berlioz is kind of an okay cocktail name, come to think of it. Our rabbi plays guitar. I was thinking Guitar Player for one possible cocktail name. I don't know. It may not be a terribly subtle evening. Names like Habonini might go over better.

Can we also talk about quantities? What would you all do for quantities on the 3 cocktails for 150 people, 4 hours? There will also be wine and soft drinks. Would you do 150 of each of the 3 cocktails or is that overkill?

What would be an alternative to Cognac, which is difficult to find kosher? Whiskey of some sort? Also were you suggesting above that instead of Pom plus simple I just shake Pom with sugar? By the way I need names for the cocktails. The name of the school is Habonim, which means the builders. Habonini and Habotini are obvious ones. Last year I called the Champagne punch Builder's Punch. Any great ideas?

So for a second draft I'm thinking: 1. Dark rum, triple sec, fresh lemon juice, rocks, lemon twist garnish. 2. Pom, vodka, simple syrup, sparkling wine, pomegranate seed garnish. 3. Silver tequila, pineapple juice, fresh lime juice, simple syrup, rocks, lime slice garnish. If I can find a kosher ginger syrup, a kosher lime cordial, and/or kosher bitters, number 3 can be evolved a bit.

A Champagne cocktail is mandatory so I'm leaning kind of against a second fizzy drink, but I could be persuaded. Fresca is kosher, no problem.

I like the idea of tequila, pineapple juice and ginger syrup. I wonder if those three ingredients alone would make a decent cocktail.

I haven't seen the actual bottle but Torani ginger syrup claims to be kosher certified. Any opinions regarding its acceptability?

Amazing but true: I can't bring my Microplane because anything that has been used in my kitchen isn't kosher, and the kitchen on site isn't really equipped for cooking -- it's just a place with a few warming ovens for catered food. I'd have to buy a new Microplane etc. Even something as simple as the simple syrup has to come from the kosher caterer, which will be kind of a pain because I won't be able to estimate its strength until it arrives the day of. Ditto all the lemon twists etc. If I can find a commercially prepared kosher ginger syrup with a hechsher I can buy a sealed bottle and use it, but the places we're ordering from don't have the product so it may be too much trouble.

Oh crap. Hazelnut won't work because the school is also nut-free. I have to cost out the Cointreau. Anything involving grating, steeping, etc., is no good because my home kitchen isn't kosher and there's no room to do that stuff on site.

I'll have to test it, but I'm basing it on Regan's "Missing Link" recipe, which is one of my regular house cocktails. That formula is 1 1/2 ounces rum, 1 ounce Cointreau, 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice. I was assuming the Bartenura would have a similar level of sweetness to Cointreau, but I'm not really sure about that, and I guess it's going to be lower in alcohol so that must affect something. Kosher cognac is not easy -- the grape-based spirits are the most difficult to find with certification. I just picked vodka because I think the cocktail needs an alcohol source. But I don't know. Interesting. My bottle doesn't say that. I need to do more research. I agree that some bitters would help. I've read that Stirrings bitters are kosher certified, but I can't seem to find them. The ginger syrup is a great idea. I'm not sure if I can find a kosher variant easily. I'm also reluctant to do more than one fizzy cocktail on a list of three.

Okay, I've been to the liquor store from which we're ordering all the stuff. For a sour-like cocktail, I was thinking rum, hazelnut liqueur (Bartenura makes a kosher variety), and fresh lemon juice, 3:2:1, rocks, lemon twist garnish. Easy to batch. For a Champagne cocktail I was thinking Pom (has O-U certification), vodka, simple syrup, sparkling wine, pomegranate seed garnish in the bottom of the glass. Can batch the mix and top off with sparkling wine. And then I was thinking of a variant of the Paloma: tequila, grapefruit juice, fresh lime juice, 3:2:1, rocks, lime slice garnish. Also easily batched. Does any of this make any sense? Desperately seeking input.

That looks like a great cocktail. Ingredient acquisition might be challenging, though. I was thinking of one cocktail of rum/triple sec/lemon, one martini/cosmo-like thing for those who insist, and one Champagne cocktail (using kosher California sparkling) or fizz.

Any booze that doesn't contain pork is likely to be potentially kosher, in that it contains no unkosher ingredients. The school, however, requires that the product have kosher certification: an O-U or other emblem (hechsher) on the bottle indicating that it has been produced and packaged under rabbinic supervision. That list looks largely correct, however there's no way to say with 100% certainty which bottles will have certification on the day you go shopping. So for example Rose's lime seems sometimes to have a hechsher and sometimes not, and I'm guessing that's because they have supervision for some batches but not all. But it should always be possible at the moment of purchase to find a lime cordial that's kosher, even if it isn't Rose's. So in designing kosher cocktails a good strategy is to allow for flexibility in ingredients: don't say Cointreau specifically, rather call for triple sec in general. Two other things to bear in mind: there will be meat served at the event, so no liqueurs containing dairy can be used; and the more obscure a liqueur is the less likely it is to have certification, so nothing too ambitious or fancy.