eje

Harrovian Cocktail 1 Dash Angostura Bitters. 1 Teaspoonful Orange Juice. (1 teaspoon clementine juice) 1 Dash Lemon Juice. (1/3 teaspoon Lemon Juice) 1 Glass Dry Gin. (2 oz Plymouth Gin) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. (Orange Peel.) "Harrovian" appears to be a term which refers to those who attend Harrow School and also the alumni of that organization. Harrow School is an English Boarding school for boys which, even now, hews very closely to tradition. Another cocktail that falls outside of the bounds of those which have survived to the 21st Century. Basically, a bittered, citrusey, super-extra-dry Martini, this ain't kid stuff. I have to say I warmed to it as I sipped. Still having most of the juice of a clementine and half a lemon left over, I also tried making it with those and an ounce and a half of gin. Definitely preferred the austere restraint of the original over the fruitier variation.

Mr. Toby Maloney has a nice video of his version of the Southside... (youtube link)

Sadly, I still have never seen a bottle of Malacca Gin here in San Francisco. However, some Internet friends (Thanks Mike and Jenny!) ran across a few bottles and were kind enough to share. Who am I to say no? H.P.W. Cocktail 1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 1/2 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth) 1/2 Tom Gin. (1 1/2 oz Tanqueray Malacca) (dash Mesquite Gum Syrup) Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. Robert Vermeire, in his book, "Drinks: How to Mix Them," has an interesting note about the H.P.W Cocktail: Millionaire is a bit of an understatement, as at his death in 1930, Harry Payne Whitney was estimated to be worth $62,808,000. His wife, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was no slouch either. Daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, she was a sculptor and patron of the arts who later went on to found the Whitney Museum of American Art. Yep, that's another perfectly fine Martinez type variation.

Imbibe magazine had a writeup of the various finalists in the Averna Cocktail Contest: Averna Cocktail Contest Finalists They even spilled the beans on Thomas Waugh's Cocktail for the competition:

Well, it's not as bad as I made it sound. I was maybe exaggerating a bit. Half and Half is treated in some matter so that the fat globules in the cream do not separate out and float to the top. I think it is more of a physical process than chemical. Though, there are ultra stabilized versions of half and half that have a shelf life of decades rather than weeks. Those probably involve chemicals. Anyway, I think pretty much any cocktail that calls for half and half can be made with cream. Can anyone think of a reason half and half would be necessary? Maybe if it is subbing for half milk and half cream in a milk punch or something?

Hanky Panky Cocktail 2 Dashes Fernet Branca. 1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 1/2 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth) 1/2 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Tanqueray Gin) Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top. This is from a document I got from the Savoy Hotel: Much has been written about Ms. Coleman by such luminaries as the ladies of Lupec, (By Jove! Now That's The Real Hanky-Panky) and Dr. Cocktail (In his column in Imbibe! Magazine), so I won't cover that much. Besides, the above quote is all I've got to go on. Though, in my usual stickler manner, I will note that the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel opened in 1898, and Ms. Coleman did not join as head barman until 1903. She wasn't the first head barman, just, "the first in a string of famous barmen," as the quote above notes. As usual, I think it is worthwhile to pick a gin with some spine, if you're going to go Fifty-Fifty in a cocktail. I've made the Hanky Panky before and enjoyed it. I can't say I thought, previously, that it was a great drink, just a very good drink. Something about this combination of ingredients, or my mood, really worked on the evening when I made it as above. Maybe all the Gin and Sweet vermouth cocktails I've been making over the last couple weeks have given me better perspective, but this classic of Ms. Coleman's is definitely worth risking the consequences of a dalliance.

H. and H. Cocktail* 2 Dashes Curacao. (Brizard Orange Curacao) 1/3 Glass Kina Lillet. (3/4 oz Cocchi Americano) 2/3 Glass Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz No. 209 Gin) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top. If you know anything about me by now, you know that any excuse to combine Gin and Cocchi Americano is a fine excuse to have another drink. Definitely Hazier and Happier!

Some news regarding Cocchi Americano Aperitivo. My current bottle is getting low, so I asked the manager at a local liquor store when he expected to get more in. He told me the current shipment has been held by the TTB. According to him, the TTB inspectors have decided to take issue with the name "Americano," fearing that it will confuse American consumers into thinking the product is made in America. Also, he told me, the inspectors, in their wisdom, have pointed out that the red and blue stripes on the chicken could be interpreted as a representation of the American flag, which, apparently, is a big no no in liquor packaging. Well, at least, those not made in America. Le Sigh...

Interesting thoughts! Saying the Vya has a briney character makes me think of some Scotches and Campari. I wonder if it would mix well with either of those?

Hakam Cocktail 1 Dash Orange Bitters. (light dash Regan's and Fee's Orange Bitters) 2 Dashes Curacao. (Brizard Orange Curacao) 1/2 Dry Gin. (1 oz Tanqueray Gin) 1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. (Orange Peel.) The last of this trifecta of Dry Gin and Italian Vermouth Cocktails, I found the Hakam the most enjoyable of the three. I guess the question is, "Hey, isn't this just a Martinez?" I suppose, since technically a Martinez is supposed to be made with Old-Tom Gin, it's not. Still, the Hakam is well within spitting distance of the Martinez. Who can complain about that?

"Beer Duck" is real? Oh my gosh, I thought I imagined it. My wife and I were watching some travel or cooking show and the host mentioned some dish that he coveted. I thought he said "Beer Duck" and my wife thought something else. We could never come to an agreement. I've sort of adopted it as a ridiculous exclamation or rallying cry. Any ideas on a Chinese name or a good recipe for it? Is the idea that it is good with beer or that it actually contains beer?

Interesting. The Myrtle (Myrtaceae) Family of Plants also contains: Guava, Feijoa, Allspice, Bay Rum, and Eucalyptus, among others. I can see why it would have a piney/camphor type flavor, given it's heredity. Myrtaceae (wikipedia link)

I'm told this first release is very limited and will mostly be sold through distributors to bars. A few retailers in New York and California will have it available, I believe starting some time next week.

Most homemade recipes for Sloe or Damson Gin contain no added water. So the only dilution of the gin comes from whatever juice and water moves from the fruit during the infusion. I would guess most of those, especially since they are often made with "Full Strength" or "Navy" Gin, end up quite potent. edit - re: Mirto. I haven't tried Mirto yet. Aren't the fruit kind of blueberry-ish? The flavor of the sloes is definitely along the lines of a sour-bitter cherry.

Our friend who scored the Plymouth Sloe Gin talked a bit about Sloes. She said, according to the folks from Plymouth, they are inedibly sour and bitter raw. They are almost entirely pit and very bitter and tart skin with a tiny layer of mealy flesh. Apparently, they had some preserved Sloes at the event and they were actually pretty vile. She remarked, someone must have been pretty desperate to even think of trying to make food out of them. I'd compare it to an almost an agrodolce kind of thing. I'm sure they must have to have enough sugar to qualify as a liqueur, just to make it drinkable, even though it ends up having a sweet-tart taste. Edit - jackal10 uses 1/2 pound of sugar for 750ml of gin infused with a pound of damson plums in his recipe.

"G" Cocktail Roundup.

Another letter down! The letter "G" started with two fairly deadly Absinthe Cocktails, the Gangadine and the Gasper. Ouch. The first really tasty cocktail, The Genevieve contained the mystery ingredient "Hercules." Unfortunately, between making the cocktail, and posting it, new information arose, completely blowing my interpretation. I still think it is probably tastier the way I made it! Our first true classic cocktail in "G" was the Gibson. Even though I normally enjoy pickled onions, I have to say I preferred a plain old Martini with orange bitters a lemon twist to the inclusion of the onion. There was some appreciation for the Gilroy Cocktail though I have to admit when I tried to reproduce the magic of the first version for friends, I felt it fell short of my memory. Perhaps because I didn't have Cherry Heering the second time? We also had Gimblets and Gimlets in G, both quite pleasant. The Glad Eye Cocktail, while not in itself all that fantastic, heralded some new and interesting news on the Savoy front. Grace's Delight was another of the few a la minute spice infusion cocktails in the Savoy. I have to say I find this idea pretty darn interesting. The Grand Royal Clover Club proved the most common version of a classic cocktails isn't always the best. Of the cocktails that could use reviving, the Great Secret with Cocchi Americano was quite enjoyable. We finished up by calling in the Navy for the Gypsy Cocktail. For a short number of Cocktails, I have to admin "H" is looking pretty good. Definitely looking forward to some "Hanky Panky" and "Hoop La!"

I had Plymouth Sloe Gin for the first time at Forbidden Island. At the time I realized how dissimilar my plum gin was from Sloe Gin. The thing that surprised me the most was how much sour character Sloe Gin has. I think my plum gin wasn't bad, and left with a choice between the horrible cough syrup that passes for most commercial Sloe Gin in the US I'd still pick it. But it came nowhere near to capturing the sour cherry bitterness of Sloe Gin. Just a lot more fruity and mild. I think real Damsons are more sour than the plums I used, but I still don't think they come close to the nearly inedible bitter sourness of true Sloe Berries.

Some friends were lucky enough to be invited to one of the events in the Bay Area celebrating the near release of Plymouth's Sloe Gin. Lucky bastards actually came away with a bottle. Fortunately, for me, they are not particularly experienced mixologists, so invited myself and a few other cocktail enthusiasts over to make drinks and sample the Sloe Gin. I made a list of the 6 or so Sloe Gin drinks I wanted to try and my friends made up a list of a few more. Aside from a delicious Silver Sloe Gin Fizz we were surprised by the Millionaire. Millionaire Cocktail (No. 1) The Juice of 1 Lime. 1 Dash Grenadine. 1/3 Sloe Gin. (3/4 oz) 1/3 Apricot Brandy. (3/4 oz R&W) 1/3 Jamaica Rum. (3/4 oz Appleton V/X) Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. A really tasty and accessible combination of flavors. There are a bunch that are basically Vermouth and Sloe Gin. I generally avoid making vermouth heavy drinks unless I know the people I am with can handle the taste of vermouth. So I put off making the Sloe Gin drinks with lots of vermouth. Amusingly, as the evening progressed I discovered I had fallen in with a a posse of Vermouth enthusiasts. They loved the Blackthorne (2/3 Sloe Gin, 1/3 Sweet Vermouth, orange bitters) and San Francisco (1/3 Sloe Gin, 1/3 Sweet Vermouth, 1/3 Dry Vermouth, Orange Bitters, Aromatic Bitters). Both of these also went very well with the cheese plate our hosts had assembled. The Savoy Tango (Sloe Gin and Calvados) and Modern Cocktail No 2 (Orange Bitters, Absinthe, Grenadine, 1/3 Scotch, 2/3 Sloe Gin) faired less well. The Modern, especially, seemed to highlight the medicinal flavors of the Scotch, Sloe Gin, and Absinthe, making it quite unattractive to our taste. Anyway, looking forward to picking up a bottle for myself in the coming weeks. Quite excited about the return of this "lost" ingredient.

I think Collins are generally shaken and served over ice, while Fizzes generally are shaken and served without ice. Collins are also pretty strictly defined as: Spirits, lemon, sugar, ice, soda. Fizzes can include a much larger canvas of ingredients. Eggs, cream, etc. The glasses they are served in should be different. I believe the group has some disagreement about whether a Highball is a specific drink or a class of drinks. To me, a Highball is built in a glass and includes: spirits, ice, soda or ginger ale. That's it. Others maintain Highballs are an entire class of drinks that includes any drink with any sort of carbonated beverage.

Yeah, I'm still undecided. My current inclination is to say they put too much flavor in the Dry and not enough in the Sweet. Though, in general, I feel like my problem with the Dry isn't so much the flavorings as the wine base.

Gypsy Cocktail 1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 1/2 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth) 1/2 Plymouth Gin. (1 1/2 oz Plymouth Navy Strength Gin) Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. (Lemon Peel.) I haven't found Plymouth Gin to stand up particularly well against Dry Vermouth in Fifty-Fifty type cocktails, let alone sweet vermouth, so I thought the Gypsy might be a fine opportunity to call in the big guns. The Plymouth Gypsy was really quite good, I have to say. Really kicked up the smell of the gin, vermouth, and lemon twist. But I wouldn't recommend making any serious commitments for the rest of the evening, if you're going to start out on this level... There are a bunch of Cocktails that go by the name "Gypsy". The most famous is probably the Vodka Gypsy: 1 3/4 oz Vodka, 3/4 oz Benedictine, and a dash of Aromatic Bitters. The next most famous is probably Dominick Venegas' Gypsy: 1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin, 3/4 oz St. Germain, 1/4 oz Green Chartreuse, and 1/2 oz Lime Juice. I haven't tried the Vodka Gypsy, but Mr. Venegas' St. Germain drink is quite tasty.

Guard’s Cocktail 2 Dashes Curacao. (scant barspoon Senior Curacao of Curacao) 1/3 Italian Vermouth. (3/4 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth) 2/3 Dry Gin. (1 1/2 oz Tanqueray Gin) (dash Regan's Orange Bitters) Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. Odd how cocktails with similar ingredients sometimes pile up. Just a bit ago we had two cocktails in a row involving peach bitters and mint. The next three cocktails are all Gin and Sweet Vermouth. Just got this Vya Sweet Vermouth and am still deciding what I think. So far, in this cocktail, it's not really grabbing me. I think I need to try it side by side with Dolin Sweet and Carpano Antica and maybe in some Manhattans.

Here's an odd coincidence... From today's NY Times: Cocktails and Cheddar, Jessica Grose And yes, I picked the alcohol based Ginger Extract at the hippie store, 70% alcohol, no tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate, however...

Grenadier Cocktail 1 Dash Jamaica Ginger. (6 drops Eclectic Institute Ginger Herbal Extract) 1/3 Ginger Brandy. (3/4 oz Canton Ginger Liqueur) 2/3 Brandy. (1 1/2 oz Cerbois VSOP Armangac) 1 Teaspoonful Powdered Sugar. (1/2 teaspoon Rich Simple Syrup) Shake (stir, please) well and strain into cocktail glass. (Brandied Cherry wrapped in ginger slice.) One of my favorite descriptions from the Cocktaildb is that of "Jamaica Ginger": Figure the Ginger Herbal Extract from the hippie coop is about equivalent. According to wikipedia, "A grenadier (French for "Grenademan") was originally a specialized assault soldier for siege operations, first established as a distinct role in the mid to late 17th century. Grenadiers were soldiers who would throw grenades and storm breaches, leading the forefront of such a breakthrough." After all that drama I dunno if this cocktail is quite all that menacing. It's got a little heat from the ginger extract and is a pleasant enough use of Brandy. The ginger wrapped cherry does act pretty grenade-like.