campus five

Hmmm.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/16/angostura-bitters-shortag_n_540219.html

Damn, that looks good. And why haven't I ordered any of that Force 53?

Perhaps this belongs in a sugar / syrup thread, but I am just NOT a fan of the sugar cube in OF/Sazerac type cocktails. I have had so many OF's and Sazeracs in any number of outstanding bars, and it seems like every time I get one at a place that uses cubes, I am served a glass with a significant amount of undissolved sugar at the bottom. I've heard the argument that the sugar eventually dissolves, but unless I stir it a ton, it just doesn't happen. And personally, less than 1 cube to 2 oz of booze is too dry, and 2 cubes would be too much. I understand the various sides of the cube/syrup debate. But among the craft cocktail bars I've been to in LA, SF, NYC, Seattle, Denver and London, I've had maybe only one or two over sweetened OF's made with syrup, and I have had way too many under sweetened or gritty cocktails. If many of the top places around the country can't seem to execute the sugar cube consistently, then why bother? I think a barspoon of 2:1 demerrara sugar syrup to 2 oz of booze will do anytime. On another note, I've noticed several drinks on menus as said bars that are basically OF's with a liqueur as the sweetener. Varnish in LA has the Hunter, which is Rye/Heering/Ango. I know I've seen and had several others, with Chartreuse, Benedictine, etc. I seem to recall Dave Wondrich mentioned an Esquire a while back that he would order a DIY OF in less than ideal cocktail situations: "Elijah Craig 12 on the rocks, with a splash of Cointreau, and a couple dashes of bitters." (maybe it was GraMa, I can't remember). Then again, I just polished of a pretty outstanding Sazerac (1.5 oz Rittenhouse BIB, .5 oz '08 Stagg, 4 dashes peychauds, 2 ango, lemon - rinse of 50/50 Vieux Pontarlier/St. George), so maybe I'm not so objective right now.

I picked up some homemade chocolate/chili bitters today at barkeeper here in Los Angeles, and I wanted to put them to good use. I was thinking of just making a manhattan, but then I thought of starting with a cocktail that already has some chocolate-y flavors so I went with a tweaked Little Italy. 1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse BIB 1/2 oz Carpano Antica 1/2 oz Cynar several dashes Chocolate Chili Bitters Cherry Pretty good, and it really pushes the chocolate flavor out in front.

I was trying to come up with sherry based aperitvo cocktail to precede / accompany a spanish-style garlic shrimp appetizer for valentines day. I thought a martini variation with a medium amantillado sherry would be a good choice, especially since there'll be some sherry in shrimp. I started 1 oz each Plymouth to Lustau Los Arcos, with 2 dashes of 50-50 fees/reagans orange. It was so dry that I kept adding ingredients one at a time, until all of the following had been added: 1/2 oz Lustau East India Sherry 1/2 oz Carpano Antica 1 bar spoon cointreau 1 bar spoon 1:1 simple It was only after adding the syrup that I decided it was time to call it a day.

I think it's funny that while I was writing my post, somebody else was already posting about the same drink. Awesome.

Speaking of a Dark Rum/Stout Flip, Daniel Eun served me a riff on a drink he ID'ed as the Black Flip from Jim Meehan. Daniel didn't quite have the exact ingredients, so he was trying to use certain ingredients to emulate it. I think it went something like this: 1.5 oz Oatmeal Stout 1.5 oz Dark Rum (I think it was actually 1/2 Lemonhart 151 and 1/2 Mathusalem Gran Reserva) 1/2 oz simple 2 dashes Ango 2 dashes Fee's Aztec Chocolate Bitters 1 egg Dry Shake, Shake, Strain, Goblet Grated Nutmeg I made several of these this winter.

I thought the Good Night Irene was equal parts...hmmm.

I'd just hate anyone to think that CR has anything to do with proper straight ryes like Rittenhouse or even Old Overholt. If I asked for a rye manhattan, and got one with CR, I'd be sorely disappointed. (not that I'd ever order one someplace that would make that mistake)

Um, just to note that unlike in Canada, where CR may be labeled as "rye", elsewhere that's a bit of a misnomer. CR is a blended whiskey, and while that would mean it includes a blend of several different whiskeys (include rye ones), it also blended with grain neutral spirits. A crude way of explaining it would be to say that CR is part whiskey and part vodka (and of course part water). It has way less whiskey flavor and more neutral spirit.

Just got an Isi Soda Siphon (and the jury is still out on it, I need to get some newer cartridges to be sure). I wanted to test it out for cocktails, so I made an Aperol Americano (Aperol/Dolin Rouge/Orange Bitters/Rhubarb Bitters/Orange Twist). Very tasty.

I stopped in a fairly new liquor store out by my parents' house and was surprised to see some Thomas Handy behind the shelf. After googleing the proof to find out it was the 2007 vintage (which was wonderful, as compared to the oddly sour 2008), I left with two bottles. In honor of the new purchase, I killed the remaining ounce of 2007 Handy in my old bottle, and along with an ounce from the new bottle made a killer Sazerac (2 oz Handy, 1 barspoon 2:1 demerrara, 4 dashes peychauds, 1 dash ango). So, so, so good. Also I used another new acquisition, a bottle of Vieux Pontarlier Absinthe for the rinse. It's way more anise-y than our current house absinthe, St. George. It'll take a couple more cocktails to get a handle on the stuff.

Favorite basic Manhattan iteration: 2:1 Rittenhouse 100pf to Carpano, 2 dashes Fee 2007 Whiskey Barrel bitters, lemon twist. (if I'm feeling spendy I'd go with the Van Winkle Rye, even over Saz 18 or Handy) Favorite riffs on manhattan/brooklyns (that type of thing): Red Hook (mentioned above) Green Point - 2 rye, 1/2 green chartreuse, 1/2 punt e mes, dash orange bitters (recipes across the net vary on the bitters) Weatherly - 2 rye, 1/2 cynar, 1/2 apperol, scant barspoon fernet, orange twist Dewey D - 2 rye, 3/4 Lustau East India Sherry, 1/2 aperol, 1 dash Angostura, orange twist Custer - 2 rye, 1/2 galliano, 3 barspoons cynar, 2 dashes each rhubarb and celery bitters, orange twist Little Italy - (mentioned above) Left Hand - 1.5 bourbon, 3/4 campari, 3/4 sweet vermouth, 2 dashes mole bitters, cherry and my two tweaks of the Left Hand Lemony - 2 rye, 3/4 campari, 3/4 sweet vermouth, lemon twist Orangey - 2 rye, 3/4 campari, 3/4 sweet vermouth, 2 dashes Reagan's OB, orange twist Too bad it's only 2pm, because now I feel like a cocktail.

I think neo-classical is my favorite pick, and one I use quite often to describe the new-school/old school approach. Craft cocktails is another good term. However, with the term craft cocktails I don't think it reflects the tradition in the new approach, and could easily be used to describe slamming together some fresh fruits, herbs, etc. and topping with flavored vodka and maybe some soda. A muddled kumquat-sage vodka hi-ball is not exactly what I think of from these places. Sure fresh juice and other ingredients is light years past bottled sour mix, but people have done interesting fresh flavors, but still played "hide the alcohol." Part of what makes the newer approach different is the respect for the flavor of the base spirit. Neo-classical works because it's not about being slavishly vintage - rather it's about having a deep understanding of the traditions and history, but moving on from there.

Nothing particularly unique or avante garde, but enjoying something I haven't had in a while: Black Feather (Robert Hess) 2 oz. Cognac (Hine VSOP) 1 oz. Dry Vermouth (Dolin) .5 oz. Cointreau 2 dashes Ango Stir, strain, up. Orange Twist I only had a lemon for the twist, but it was still pretty enjoyable.

I've seen several places that have listed an old pal with sweet vermouth. It's not an uncommon mistake.

Last night I made a Rum Old Fashioned with Pimento Dram. 1.5 oz Appleton 12 0.5 St. Elizabeth Dram 1 tsp 2:1 Demerrara 2 dashes Fee's Aromatic 2 dashes Fee's Orange Lemon and Orange Twist Stir, cook, strain, on a 2" rock.

Not counting bitters: Rye: Rittenhouse BIB Gin: Plymouth Gin Light Rum: Flor de Cana 4 dry Dark Rum: Flor de Cana 7 Sweet Vermouth: Carpano Antica Dry Vermouth: Dolin Campari (Bug Juice if you can find it) Absinthe: St. George (or one of the Ted Breaux products) Maraschino: Luxardo Tequila: Partida Repo Add in Ango, Orange and Peychauds, as well as 2:1 demerra simple, and 1:1 white simple, and then fresh citrus and mint, and you're pretty much set. Most of the bottles are around $20 here. And other than than the Absinthe, they're all under $35. A partial list of the stuff you could make: Old Fashioned Sazerac Manhattan Left Hand Whiskey Sour Martini Martinez Aviation (sans violette) Southside Negroni Americano Daiquiri Hemingway Daiquiri Rum Old Fashioned Rosita Margarita (if you used agave nectar instead of cointreau) Tequila Old Fashioned Tequila Sazerac

Hey, I'm trying to figure out the recipe on a Paddington from PDT. From what I remember, it's a white-rum based Corpse Reviver #2 variation, with orange marmalade for the cointreau, and lime and grapefruit for the lemon juice. Anybody got anything more concrete than that? (and of course I'm asking when so many of the cocktail world are in New Orleans right now - great timing)

I've heard Dirty Sue is the way to go. I believe it's made with olive juice, rather than just being a brine. Then again, personally, I have an olive aversion, and a dirty martini seem to me to be worst thing I could ever drink. Now, a 2:1 Tanq 10, Dolin Dry Martini with Celery Bitters and twist......

The LA shortlist: The Varnish Seven Grand Comme Ca Malo The Edison Hungry Cat Copa de Oro

West End Tavern in Boulder, CO. Had the most of the stuff I can think of, including the Antique Collection.

Vieux Mot (Don Lee, PDT) 1.5 oz Gin (Plymouth) 0.75 oz Lemon 0.5 oz Simple (1:1) 0.5 oz St. Germain Shake, strain, up. I love foisting this upon either cocktail virgins or gin-phobes.

http://www.clinebellequipment.com/cln_000001_home.html If you have the space....

Here in Los Angeles, we had a cocktail contest (details HERE) for Cocktails to be named after local downtown LA sub-districts. The idea was essentially to riff on the Manhattan, sort of the way drinks named after other NYC areas (such as the Red Hook, Little Italy, Green Point, etc.) also riff on the Manhattan. There were two particular guidelines. 1) The ingredients not be particularly obscure or homemade, such that you'd be able to make or order it more places; and 2) it should be a manhattan-esque, stirred cocktail, i.e. NO CITRUS. Anyway, as soon as I heard the announcement, my main entry occurred to me. "Little Tokyo" is a sub-district of Los Angeles, and then there's Jerry Thomas's "Japanese Cocktail." The Japanese is essentially an Old Fashioned-style Brandy cocktail, but made with Orgeat as the sweetener. So, why not change the Brandy to Rye? I think its pretty delicious. Of course, since the orgeat is such a prominent ingredient, you should use decent stuff. So, my entry: 2 oz. Rye 1/4 oz. - 1/2 oz. Orgeat (depending on the whiskey used) 2 heavy dashes Angostura Bitters stir, cook, strain, up flamed orange twist Judging will occur in Feb, so I can't technically claim the name for this drink yet, but I think it's somewhat clever. I suppose the more obvious move would have been to use asian ingredients like sake, or sochu, or even something like Domain Canton, etc. But I like the JT connection as something with a little bit richer back story. Anywhere, here's hoping the above wins the title "Little Tokyo" Cocktail. (Edited for spelling, because apparently I am incapable of spelling "Tokyo" properly at 11:41pm)