MikeInSacto
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Posts posted by MikeInSacto
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OK, groan, cringe, laugh all you want, but my wife and I drink this often when it's cold and wet outside:
4 oz. milk
2 oz. half and half
0.5 - 1 oz. Frangelico
1.5 oz. brandy (Korbel or Christian Bros.)
2 heaping Tbsp. Ovaltine
Stir in a mug, heat in the microwave until hot.
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Have been making a cocktail lately with 1-1/2 rye (Pepper's 1776), 3/4 Calisaya, 3/4 sweet vermouth (M&R), a couple of dashes of Fee's orange bitters, and an orange peel garnish. Pretty much the bitter orange Manhattan it would seem to be, but very tasty. I'd give credit to whoever came up with this, but I can't remember where I came across the recipe.
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Another vote for the well made Manhattan. Nothing takes the edge off of a rough day quite the way that one of these does.
The Negroni would be a close second.
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you are not exactly going to churn out classic cocktails with wray & nephews, but i adore it. in jamaica they drink drink their overproofs with campari. "JB" from the trelawny distillery and campari with soda was the favorite drink of Raymond the mason when i spent a month in jamaica in the fall.
Interesting. Is that rum with the Campari and soda on the side or are they mized?
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Along the lines of the rye-and-Bonal, it makes a great sub for Punt e Mes in a Red Hook.
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No, THIS machine is really cool (and of similar practical value):
THAT is a glorified paint shaker. And a small one at that!
Wow. I'm uncharacteristically speechless over that one. There are no words for that...
There is only one word for that:
MOUSETRAP!!!
(You may need to be of a certain age to get the reference....)
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I'm passing on this year's harvest, but I poured some of the 2010 vintage for some friends on Sunday night. It's tasting very good right now.
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Have been working on making a good Red Hook using the Maraska maraschino I unwittingly bought in a large format some time ago. Tonight's was perfect.
2 oz. Catoctin rye
1/2 oz. Punt e Mes
1 tsp. Maraska
Stir for an extra long time before straining into a cocktail glass.
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I like it. As was mentioned, the categories are necessarily a bit fuzzy and this is something that you'd never get 100% agreement on. Still, it's a very solid guide for those just starting to build up their bars. I particularly like the "unique" designation. That's both a sign that you're not looking at something that will work in every cocktail and a spur to get the reader to look up the drinks that go with that particular spirit.
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I've got this same question about their grapefruit bitters, if anyone can offer enlightenment there.
I like a couple of dashes of the grapefruit bitters in my G&Ts. Have't tried them in much else.
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I would love to see someone import Ettaler Klosterliqueur. It's an herbal liqueur made by a small Benedictine monastery in the village of Ettal in Bavaria, Germany. The style is along lines of Chartreuse. It comes in Yellow, Green, White, and a Bitter variety. I've had the Yellow, and my immediate reaction upon sampling it was that this has to be the closest real-world match for JRR Tolkien's "Miruvor" the cordial of the Elves. I don't think it's ever been imported into the U.S.
My wife picked up a bottle of each many years ago on a trip to Europe. The bitter is wonderful and was the first one to be emptied. The yellow is as you say, the green is something like Benedictine, and the white is a sweet berry liqueur.
It would be nice to have them here.
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My first thought would be a Manhattan (with the Brandy Manhattan as a variation).
Along the vein of Negroni variations as proposed by Sam, you could try subbing a Reposado tequila for the gin. Very different drink and one you may like a lot (or maybe not like, but it's worth a shot).
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Dan, your North Star Cocktail intrigued me:
I had some Presidente brandy that I needed to finish off, and I'm enjoying playing with a bottle of Scrappy's grapefruit bitters, so:
2 oz Cynar
1 oz Presidente brandy
dash Scrappy's grapefruit bitters
Yum. The Cynar/grapefruit combo is delicious.
I couldn't quite wrap my brain around this one, so I thought I'd try a variant with what I had on hand. Mine was:
2 oz. homemade nocino
1 oz. Korbel brandy
dash Fee's grapefruit bitters
dash Fee's Old Fashioned bitters
Tried it first without the Old Fashioned bitters but it needed that extra edge. My nocino has a definite bitterness to it but it's not up there with Cynar.
This went over well - my wife took a sip of mine and demanded one of her own. Good stuff.
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I've never had mine come out anything but dark brown/black, so I don't know what could have happened to your yellow batch. Were all of the batches from the same walnuts?
I strained mine off the nuts a couple of weeks ago. Interestingly, the batch that came from the tree that ripens earlier was black, but clear in the sense that it wasn't cloudy. The smaller batch (from two trees that ripen a few weeks later every year) was black but cloudy. It looked like it contained a lot of suspended gunk. It doesn't taste bad, so I figure it'll settle out sooner or later. Both batches are in the basement in their non-sealed containers. They've had a good dose of syrup added but further adjustments are expected in that department.
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Agree strongly with the Gin-Gin Mule. You could also use the ginger ale in Horse's Necks and/or Dark and Stormy's. The rye from the Horse's Necks could go into Manhattans as well. Sazeracs seem a little advanced for gateway drinks but I guess it depends on the crowd. Maybe you could serve them on the final evening as a "graduation drink"?
And I definitely have a soft spot for the Sidecar as a gateway beverage as that was my first-ever cocktail.
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For the record, here's a portion of the Corti Brother Summer Newsletter:
Back After an Absence: Cocchi Americano AperitifFor summer drinking–or anytime drinking for that matter–Cocchi Americano. Corti Brothers was the first to offer this Piemontese aperitif several years ago, and after some “discussions” with Washington, D.C., Cocchi Americano is back in the States. Art work on the label was the problem, now resolved.
Cocchi Americano has been produced in Asti, Italy, since 1891. The name “americano” does not mean what it looks like, but is a linguistic distortion of “amaricante” or bittering. This class of drink was very popular at the end of the 19th century and the Cocchi version is the only one that was a light color. Normally they were more or less brownish red.
Cocchi Americano is wonderful for the warm days of summer. Just pour it into a glass, add some ice cubes, a slice of fresh orange and a splash of soda water for a wonderfully refreshing drink that can be made as tall or short as you like.
When you don’t want a glass of wine, and stronger spirits are not appealing, Cocchi Americano with its slightly bitter and pungent flavor and its 16.5% alcohol diluted even further with water can prove to be exactly the right choice. In fact, you might forget about the other choices all together.
Cocchi Americano Aperitif 16.5% 750ml $22.99 (#2559) Case of 6 $ 124.00 (#2559C)
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Wow - I think you came up with even more than I did! My first batch was picked from the tree across the street from my house on June 12 (which is pretty late for around here). I ended up with about 16 lbs of walnuts in 5 1/2 1.75 liter bottles of vodka. A week later, I picked another 5 lbs or so from a couple of other trees in the neighborhood that always ripen later. (I think the early tree is an English walnut and the two late ones are black walnuts, but that's an uneducated guess on my part.) They're all soaking away as of now.
My aim for this batch is to let it age for at least a year after straining out the nuts. I've had some indications that extending the aging period will be good for it. I'm thinking of aging some of it in unsealed containers to promote some oxidation. I guess we'll see what happens...
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Mike, as it happens I was at Corti Bros. yesterday (Sunday) and specifically looked for it. Didn't find it, but also didn't ask -- which was probably stupid! Let me know if you find it there, because I would absolutely drive up for a couple of bottles.
Man, I could swear I've seen it there several times (and considered buying it myself). I'll make it a point to check in there next weekend and find out for sure.
(BTW, great store, isn't it?)
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I believe that Corti Brothers in Sacramento has carried it for quite some time now. I'll doublecheck next time I'm there.
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Last night, it was a variation of Gary Regan's version of the Scofflaw:
2 oz. rye (Russell's Reserve)
1 oz. dry vermouth (I was out of this, so in went Lillet Blanc)
1/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. grenadine (homemade, just a touch shy of the 1/2 oz. mark)
2 dashes orange bitters
Liked it a lot.
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If you have a fireplace, they make handy holders for those long fireplace matches.
Other than that, I got nothin'.
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We were served a complimentary "Laphroiag Project" at the Shady Lady here in Sacto. The bartender there mentioned that it came from Bourbon and Branch and according to their blog, it's as follows:
1 oz Green Chartreuse
.5 oz Laphroaig Quarter Cask
.5 oz Luxardo Maraschino
.25 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1 oz fresh lemon juice
2 dashes Fee's Peach Bitters
Combine all ingredients into mixing tin and shake vigorously. Double-strain over the rocks into a double old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
I'm not a huge fan of Laphroaig but this was very good.
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If pretty much everyone liked the cocktails, then the evening was a success.
Thanks for this thread - you've provided a lot of really detailed information for any of us amateurs who find ourselves in a similar situation.
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Thanks for that reply - I knew of the tradition of making walnut liqueurs, but I don't know much about the variety and how they're used in meals in Europe.
Gotta get myself to the Alps, I guess!
Best Manhattan variations?
in Spirits & Cocktails
Posted
This one comes off as an orange-ish Manhattan. The Calisaya adds the orange flavor but with some bitterness and not much extra sugar, so it doesn't come off as cloying.
1.5 oz. rye
0.75 oz. sweet Vermouth (we usually use Vya)
0.75 oz. Calisaya
2 dashes orange bitters (I use a homemade version but the Arizone Bitters Lab Orange Sunshine works well.)
Stir, with ice, strain, serve on a big ice cube. Garnish with an orange twist.