bmdaniel

I cracked the seed from a supermarket apricot for my latest batch of orgeat. Seem no worse for wear.

Also, not only is the flavor of homemade orgeat better, but I really like the louche-esque effect it gives the drink (see my mai-tai photo above). Hardly takes more work than an infused syrup.

The most essential, most perfect, most misunderstood, abused, and bastardized: The Mai Tai, of course. And if you are going to be able to compare it to a Daiquiri it shows what happens when you start tweaking classic formulae. I tend to agree, although the Zombie (non-Spievak version) is an interesting example of a really great drink coming from throwing 11-12 ingredients together. I doubt your students will see many (if any) drinks so good with so many different ingredients playing together.

I used fresh pink grapefruit juice for everything - if/when I can get my hands on a white grapefruit, I'll try it again. I did think, to my taste, the maraschino-pineapple combination was a surprisingly good one. I will probably try riffing on it in some other drinks (maybe a pisco punch variation)?

A Tale Of 3 Zombies (Left to right: Spievak Zombie, Cabaret Zombie, Dick Santiago Zombie) For a variety of pleasant and unpleasant reasons I have been sadly negligent in my Tiki adventures over the last weeks. Fortunately I was able to get back into the saddle last weekend, and had a great time making and tasting Zombies. I know I'm starting to sound like a shill, but Sippin Safari is really a great book. Even if you aren't that interested in the tiki cocktail scene of the 30's and 40's, or the great photos, the chapter on the Zombie is worth the price of admission. Since it's creation by Don in 1934, the Zombie was probably his most famous drink (both for its taste and it's legendary potency). Because of this popularity, Zombie imitations quickly spread to cocktail bars across the US. However, due to Don's system of secrecy (ingredient bottles labeled with strange names that the bartender's didn't know what contained), no one really knew how to make one. This created Jeff quite a bit of trouble in trying to find the true Zombie recipe as well, because lame imitation recipes abounded. However, he eventually cracked the case in the form of a 1950 cookbook by Jeff Spievak called Barbecue Chef, which contained a delicious, balanced Zombie recipe with an attribution to Don himself. This is the recipe Jeff published in Intoxica, and seems to be the most commonly seen one in cocktail circles these days. The story doesn't end there though - after publishing Intoxica, Jeff stumbled upon a 1956 issue of Cabaret Magazine that claimed to publish for the first time Don's Zombie recipe, with his consent. To make matters worse, the recipe produces an almost completely different drink than the Spievak version, but an equally delicious one. At this point, it almost seemed that the Zombie mystery was going permanently back to unsolved status, until (as discussed in the previous Dick Santiago post), Jeff got his hands on Dick Santiago's bar book, complete with a recipe for Zombie Punch. After a great bit of detective work to crack the code on the ingredient "Don's Mix" (2 parts grapefruit juice to one part cinnamon syrup), he had a third recipe. Mostly because I'm a big nerd, I went ahead and put all three recipes in a table that makes the relationships between the three drinks pretty clear (to me at least): It seems pretty obvious that the Cabaret Zombie is a mild evolution of the Dick Santiago version, with the maraschino funkiness replacing the cinnamon syrup spice, and subbing dark Jamaican rum for lighter. The Spievak Zombie (which many of you probably know and love) is a wildly different drink, mainly about passionfruit instead of a balancing of rum, pineapple, and funkiness/spice. So what on earth is going on here? Well, I don't think anyone knows. Jeff's hypothesis is that either Don came up with the Spievak version to be easier to make for home mixologists than the actual version (which are pretty cumbersome beasts) or that Spievak is just a great liar and darn good tiki mixologist. If you have only tried the passionfruit version in Intoxica, I highly recommend making the Cabaret version (the Santiago version in interesting for historical context, but I think the latter one is an improved drink). To me, it is a significantly better cocktail, with a very interesting interplay between the pineapple, maraschino, and rums. Even better, do what I did last weekend and make all three - you won't regret it (although you might regret drinking 3 zombies in the morning).

I tried one of these last night - very interesting cocktail. I wouldn't have guessed, but this is actually a very nice way to showcase the apple brandy. I'm not sure I liked the Apry finish as much - might try some other variations on this theme.

To keep up with my recent tiki kick, I decided to make a Cream Gin Fizz, a specialty of the Cunha Hotel in Oahu around 1900. This was the kind of mainland inspired drink popular in Oahu before Don the Beachcomber invaded with his faux-tropicals in 1948. Cream Gin Fizz 1 1/2 ounces dry gin 1 1/2 ounces milk 2 ounces fresh lime juice 3 teaspoons sugar 1 ounce soda water This is a nice variation on a Ramos Gin Fizz - it doesn't have the complexity brought by the orange flower water, but is certainly a more bracing cocktail with twice the citrus. It has a bit of a key lime pie feel, and would probably be even more interesting made with key limes. Recipe courtesy of Jeff Berry's Sippin' Safari

http://www.drinkupny.com/Rothman_and_Winter_Creme_de_Violette_p/s0505.htm

I've had the exact same issue with the Flor De Cana 1.75s - Looked like just a manufacturing defect, because I've had other ones that were fine.

Try it again when you get an orange - I was surprised, but it makes a huge difference.

It's a shame that you feel that way.

How long does the Gourmand lunch menu take, roughly? Would love to do it but worried time might be a touch tight (have to be at Ed Sullivan before 3pm for a 12pm lunch reservation) - any chance? Hate that I'm having to rush these lunches (here and JG), but trying to fit as much into the trip as possible.

It's different, and probably superior (to my palate at least). However, it doesn't look as nice.

Well - I don't mind the look of an old-fashioned glass with rocks and the drink only going 1/3rd to 1/2 of the way up (especially with the cool spherical ice balls). The highball glasses are a problem though.

This is definitely a problem for me in general - I love the Riedel highball and old-fashioned glasses we got as wedding gifts, but they are huge (22 7/8 and 15 1/8 respectively). It's either huge cocktails or mostly empty glasses (I don't mind so much on the old-fashioned glasses, but it's a real problem with swizzles, fizzes, etc.) One thing that's nice about the KegWorks tiki glasses is that they are only 10 oz - these work great for the drinks, but not as well for photos that let you see the cocktails.

I wish I had an interesting answer to that, but I just ordered it from KegWorks. I'd like to add some interesting tiki-ware to my glassware collection - bowls in particular. Chris. - where did you get your bowl?

Dick Santiago Cocktails (Clockwise from top left: Rum Cow; Rum, Gum, and Lime; Donga Punch; Golden Stag; Port Au Prince; Coola Culla Don) If I haven't made it clear already, I think Sippin' Safari is a great book for anyone interested in tiki cocktails, or even moreso, the people behind their creation and formative years. Jeff does a great job of bringing to life the colorful characters who made and served these drinks, and the extent to which they were really front and center in the Hollywood culture of the 1930s and 40s. It wasn't just that stars like Barbara Stanwyck, William Holden, Bob Hope, and Ava Gardner were all frequent guests of Don the Beachcomber's - even Donn's employees themselves became part of the Hollywood set. The best example is probably Leon Lontoc, who despite amassing 53 TV and Movie credits (according to IMDB), never stopped working as a the waiter for tables 12, 14, and 16. Another interesting character Jeff features in the book is Dick Santiago. Dick's duties at Don's included burning the names of celebrities into their own personal chopsticks (stored on-site), weaving palm-frond hats, and driving Ava Gardner home after she had one too many. Jeff uncovered his personal notebook* and in his honor, my wife and I dedicated a Saturday to trying recipes from Dick's personal collection. Rum Cow 1/2 ounce sugar syrup 1 ounce dark Jamaican rum (Cruzan Blackstrap) 1 1/2 ounces milk Shake and strain into cocktail glass - serve with grated nutmeg (I didn't have any nutmeg and replaced with a mist of angostura bitters on top) This was a nice take on a typical New Orleans milk punch - if you served this to me blind, "Tiki" might not be the first word that came to mind, but it was undoubtedly delicious (if sweet). If you like milk punch, I would definitely recommend this variant (you could probably leave out the syrup if using the Blackstrap) Rum, Gum, and Lime 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 1 ounce soda water 1 teaspoon sugar syrup 1 1/2 ounces Infierno (A defunct 20 year aged Cuban rum) Stir together in old-fashioned glass with orange and lime peels. Jeff suggests this cocktail as a good way to enjoy an aged sipping rum. I didn't have anything particularly special, so made it with Appleton Extra. I thought it ended up tasting pretty bland, like a watery daiquiri, but would like to revisit with a more worthy rum. Donga Punch 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice 1 1/2 ounce Don's mix (2 parts grapefruit juice to 1 part cinnamon infused sugar) 1 1/2 ounce aged Martinique rum (St. James Extra Old) This was kind of like a smokey Hemingway Daiquri with cinnamon stepping in for the Maraschino - would probably be even more interesting if the cinnamon was more pronounced than it turned out in my version. Golden Stag 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 1/2 ounce sugar syrup 1 ounce golden stag rum (Appleton V/X) 1/2 ounce aged dark jamaican (Appleton Extra) 1/2 ounce Louisiana rum (Flor De Cana Gold) Dash Angostura Bitters I think this drink is a great example of what you can achieve blending rums that you don't get with single rums drink - this is basically just a 4:1:1 daiquiri, but comes across as a wholly different drink than if it was just made with 2 oz of white rum. Perhaps not as clean as your standard Daiquiri, but I'd prefer it anytime. Port Au Prince 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 1/2 ounce unsweetened pineapple juice 1/2 ounce Falernum (Taylor) 1/4 ounce sugar syrup 3/4 ounce Barbancourt Five-Star Rum 3/4 ounce amber Virgin Islands rum (Flor de Cana gold) Dash Angostura bitters 6 drops grenadine (homemade) 4 ounces crushed ice Blend everything for 5 seconds and serve in a Pilsner glass This drink is pretty straightforward (in that it tastes about like you'd expect), but is still very enjoyable. The blend of rums works nicely with the pineapple juice to create a tasty drink. It does bring up a constant issue I've been having witht he recipes in Jeff's book; Including the ice, you've got a total volume of 7 1/2 ounces max (actually probably substantially less, based on the density of crushed ice and accounting for melting). In the book, they show this served in a pilsner glass filled to the brim. Did people really have 7 ounce pilsner glasses back then? I'm hard pressed to find one available smaller than 12 oz today. As you can see in the picture, it barely came halfway up my old-fashioned glass. This hasn't just been this one drink either, but pretty consistent so far in making these drinks - any thoughts? Are modern glasses just huge, or are Jeff's recipes scaled down? Is it just a function of adapting from the more specialized glassware Don employed? Would love to hear anyones thoughts/experiences. Coola Culla Don 1 teaspoon Coola Culla mix (equal parts sweet butter and honey) 1/4 ounce Donn Spices #2 (equal parts vanilla syrup and pimento liquor) 1/4 ounce cinnamon infused syrup 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 1 1/2 ounce gold Puerto Rican rum (Flor de Cana gold) 3 ounces crushed ice Blend for 20 seconds and strain into a specialty glass (like a small, straight-sided brandy snifter) This recipe brings up an oddity among Don's recipes (to me at least) - the use of butter in cocktails. It's a relatively common theme, and in this cocktail ended up with a visually unappetizing result (I don't know if you can see in the picture, but the butter didn't fully integrate and produced an odd-looking drink). Unfortunate, because the drink was delicious - rich from the butter with an interesting interplay of spices from the vanilla, allspice, and cinnamon. Is there anyone in modern-day mixology incorporating butter (or any fat for that matter) into their cocktails? It's something potentially worth playing with, if anyone has tips for getting past the unfortunate appearance. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Stepping back from the individual cocktails, I think this sampling gives an interesting view of the diversity that was available in the tiki scene. Before starting this, I had a tendency to think of Tiki Drinks as a relatively uniform family (and even among these, every drink but the Rum Cow includes Rum, Sugar, and Lime). However, even with these similarities, the 6 drinks are remarkably different in their final outcome. For me, it has created an increased appreciation for the large role that the "supporting elements" in a drink can play in completely reshaping a cocktail, as well as just how diverse and versatile a group of spirits get lumped together as Rum. *Incidentally, Dick's notebook also provided a breakthrough in Jeff's quest to uncover the authentic Zombie - an issue for a future post.

I made the "Paul's Club" from the June Imbibe - 2 parts gin, 1 part concord vinegar, .25 parts simple (concord vinegar being white wine vinegar soaked for a week in smashed concord grapes). It tasted like a drink that include an ounce of vinegar, which is to say, undrinkable.

Absinthe is one that should probably be on the list, and that you could argue is in (or close to) the maraschino and cointreau category.

I made a Pisco Fizz variation the other night with a whole egg, and topped up with sparkling wine. The richness of the yolk worked well with the acidity and dryness of the sparkling. I tried a similar thing with a Ramos gin fizz (whole egg, champagne in place of seltzer water) but it wasn't as successful.

St. James Ambre is an aged rum with the color you would expect from the name. I've heard that even though it is made from raw cane pressings, Barbancourt is not a true rhum agricole due to differences in the production method. It's sort of it's own beast in a way. 10 Cane is decent and funky to a point, but Orinoco shares nothing in common with rhum agricole; it is certainly molasses-based and very, very smooth (as well as absurdly overpriced). Unless you need a white rum for sipping only or are compelled to spend $40 on what is still 'just' white rum, I don't recommend the Orinoco at all. Don't know enough to comment on the Charbay. If you find a liquor store willing to special order things for you, Depaz should be available to you (Anvil in Houston carries it but they get a lot of things otehrwise unavailable in the state by ordering it by the case). ← I've found Depaz on the shelf at some liquor stores in Texas (Goody Goody in Addison for sure).

Interesting that you should ask - one of the things I was struck by in the great photographs in Jeff's book were the different tiki glasses/servingware. I've been poking around on ebay looking at bowls in particular. The bowl drink in Sippin' Safari that jumped out as the most interesting was the Tiki Bowl. If it's not in Grog Log or Intoxica, I'm happy to pm you the recipe.

Okay - so for my first two posts, I figured, why not get immediately out of my league and take on a couple of the classics (both surrounded by a fair bit of mystery and/or controversy). What better to start with than probably the most famous of all Tiki drinks, and the most likely to have been tried (at least in some version), by general cocktail drinkers - the Mai-Tai Alright, so this post is really two drinks. Trader Vic's famous Mai Tai (right), and the drink which Don the Beachcomber accused him of ripping off, the Q.B. Cooler (left). Trader Vic's Mai Tai - Courtesy of Sippin' Safari 1 ounce fresh lime juice 1/2 ounce orange Curacao (MB orange Curacao) 1/4 ounce sugar syrup (slightly less rich demarara syrup) 1/4 ounce orgeat syrup (homemade) 1 ounce aged Jamaican rum (Appleton Estate) 1 ounce amber Martinique rum (St. James Ambre) Shake well with crushed ice; pour into a double old-fashioned glass; garnish with mint sprig Don the Beachcomber's Q.B. Cooler - Courtesy of Sippin' Safari 1 ounce fresh orange juice 1 ounce club soda 1 ounce Lowndes Jamaican rum (Appleton V/X) 1 ounce white Pontalba rum (Flor de Cana 4) 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 1/2 ounce Don's honey mix (equal parts honey/water) 1/2 ounce Western Pearl demerare (Lemon Hart) 1/4 ounce Falernum (John Taylor's) 2 dashes Angostura Bitters 1/2 teaspoon ginger syrup Blend with 4 ounces crushed ice for 5 seconds; top up with more crushed ice Jeff's take on this controversy is that Trader Vic was "inspired" by the Q.B. cooler and tried to re-create it, resulting in his Mai-Tai. Obviously, the interesting outcome is that there is hardly any similarity in ingredients or proportions between the two drinks (although one can see where he was going after the same flavor profiles - e.g. the Curacao for orange juice, etc.) There is a very similar overall flavor profile to these drinks, but a large difference in intensity (at least as made by me). Between blending the crushed ice (consider, 4 oz of crushed ice in essentially 6 ounces of room temperature liquid - quite a lot of melting), and the club soda, the Q.B. Cooler is considerably watered down compared to the relatively intense Trader Vic Mai-Tai. There is also a much more "in-your-face" sour component to the Mai-Tai brought by the relatively high proportion of lime juice. Donn Beach might have been the original, and by all accounts superior Tiki mixologist, but in this battle I'd have to give my preference to Trader Vic. Made with homemade orgeat, this is drink is at once, bracing, tropical, and complex (especially the interplay between the two rums and the orgeat). I'd be interested if anyone has more luck than I did with the Q.B. cooler - I'm tempted to play around with the citrus ratios and see if I can create something more attuned to my palate. ETA: I would be remiss not to note, however, that my wife preferred the Q.B. cooler (and I do agree with her that although more subtle, there is probably more overall complexity in Donn's mix of drink, if not as overall as pleasing of a cocktail for me).

As a very recent newcomer to Tiki Drinks, I was a bit surprised to see how little discussion there has been in this forum about these delicious and complex drinks. There is an extremely helpful ingredients thread as well as a thread on rums for tiki drinks, but not much discussion on the drinks themselves. I think thats a pity, because not only are the drinks themselves exceptional, in my opinion, but there is quite a bit of opportunity for substitution and updating. So, I figured I'd try to get the ball rolling. I live in Dallas, where the average temperature has been 3 digits for the past month, and so there is quite a bit of appeal in these cooling, tropical concoctions. For me, a weeknight after work is a nice time for a classic cocktail and/or a bottle of wine. But a weekend, especially a 103 degree one, is a spectacular time to make a tiki drink or 4, and be transported to a (faux-) tropical getaway. Thus, I propose (for myself at least), devoting at one day of weekend mixology to this task each week. I recently read through Jeff Berry's excellent Sippin' Safari (which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the subject whatsoever), so I thought I'd begin working through the cocktails he shares in that book providing whatever commentary/questions/etc. come to my mind (fair warning - I know very little about this genre of cocktails, and so it's highly likely that some/all of this will be uninteresting and/or rank amateurish). At least at the start I probably won't be tinkering too much, instead working on trying to build a decent foundation for the drinks and the interesting surrounding history/trivia. Hopefully, others will chime in with their own drinks/comments/ideas, etc. - I think this could be a lot of fun and help build up a very helpful resource on an under discussed topic on this forum. Okole Maluna! Ben

Amateur Gourmet has a nice post about his recent trip to El Bulli: http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2009/08/dinner_at_el_bu.html The courses are almost completely different from what I had in June (only overlap is hot gin fizz, sesame sponge, oyster leaf, abalone, suckling pig and coconut ball so 24 out of 30 were different). Interesting that he says the coconut ball tastes like coconut ice cream - doesn't match my experience.