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Craig E

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Posts posted by Craig E

    Chartreuse and Cocktails with Chartreuse

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    Finagled my first bottle of green chartreuse tonight. 

    Served a Green Ghost, End of the Road, a Champs Elysee, a Last Word, and a couple of Monte Cassinos. 

    The real winners were the Monte Cassino: 

    3/4 oz. each Rittenhouse, Benedictine, green chartreuse, and lemon juice, plus a dash of simple syrup, and a lemon peel garnish

    --and especially the Last Word, a drink that I've been dying to try for months, and yet somehow even exceeded my expectations:

    1 oz. Beefeater, 3/4 oz. green chartreuse, 3/4 oz. lime juice, 3/4 oz. maraschino

    So good!

    • Like 2

    Drinks! 2014 (Part 2)

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    El Nacional

    wGohnPWl.jpg

    (Forgot the lemon twist 'til after I took the pic.)

    Many drinks I've made with the Vida mezcal since I acquired it have made me felt like I'm in over my head, not up to the smokiness. But this I enjoyed, either because of the alchemy of the accompanying ingredients, or maybe my taste is growing in sophistication already.

    NYTimes Articles on Food, Drink, Culinary Culture 2013–

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    Sometimes you may think you recognize a cocktail that you like (a good cocktail, in other words), but everything you like about it has been replaced by some other thing that you’re not sure about. “Hello there, that sounds like an old-fashioned!” you think. “But with burdock syrup instead of sugar, Croatian absinthe instead of bourbon, and hemlock bitters instead of Angostura.” If curiosity gets the upper hand and you ask for one, you will wonder why you couldn’t have had an old-fashioned old-fashioned.

     

    Link

    Midori - what's next

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted · Edited by Craig E (log)

    Okay, partially in apology for my share of the snark above, I went and made one of those drinks in FrogPrincesse's link. 

    CUGFW3Zl.jpg

     

    Mambo Italiano
    30ml Midori
    20ml Cynar
    10ml Balsamic vinegar
    15ml Orange juice
    Splash of Lemon juice
    5 large Basil leaves

    Lightly crush the basil in a shaker then add ice and the remaining ingredients. Shake well and double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh sprig of basil.

    To be honest, this is pretty drinkable. The Cynar and especially the vinegar are powerful enough to stand up to the syrupy Midori. And their brown color largely neutralizes the radioactive green, except at the shallow edges of the drink, so this doesn't look like an embarrassing cocktail to be sipping.
    All that said, while this recipe makes an acceptable cocktail, I actually think it would make an even better salad dressing...

    • Like 1

    Ideas for hop bitters?

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    I have been gifted (from two different friends) two little bottles of Bittercube Door County Hop Bitters. How do I use this stuff, cocktailwise?

    Searches of eGullet, and in fact of the whole internet, turn up only a handful of recipes, most of which require even more obscure ingredients. They were a limited edition, so the Bittercube site itself makes no mention of them.

    So I'm hoping some of you can provide guidance:

    - Have you used these in anything successfully before?

    - Are there drink types, or other ingredients, you think might mesh well with them?

    - Are there other types of bitters for which these would substitute well? Beyond the basics, I'm not that familiar with flavor profiles of many bitters (e.g. Boker's, Old Fashioned, Jerry Thomas), so I can't judge whether recipes calling for those might present some possibilities. 

    Drinks! 2014 (Part 2)

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    Just acquired my first bottle of Cherry Heering. Inaugurated it with a Gilroy.

     

    1 1/2 oz gin (Tanqueray Old Tom)

    3/4 oz Cherry Heering

    1/2 oz dry vermouth (Noilly Prat)

    1/2 oz lemon juice

    1 dash orange bitters (Fee Bros.)

     

    This was terrific. Where was this wonderful, almost savory/spicy flavor coming from? The other ingredients pulling it out of the gin, I guess. The pleasant cherry/spicy tones reminded me of Angostura-bitters-heavy drinks I've enjoyed.

     

    This old Savoy recipe didn't look like anything special when browsing, but I'm very glad I made it. It's a keeper for sure.

    The Aviation

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted · Edited by Craig E (log)

    The Luxardo Maraschino and the Liqueur à la Violette have arrived. I tried to order Luxardo cherries but it seems these are out of stock everywhere (or ridiculously expensive) just now. Having read the topic on making Maraschino cherries we'll have a go at that for the longer term. Too impatient for a first attempt at this cocktail we will enjoy it with a factory red cherry.

    There may also be a happy medium between the syrupy dyed abominations, and the hassle/expense of imported or homemade cherries. My local grocer carries these cherries with no artificial additives. I think they're great. Good in an Aviation (though I agree, not necessarily essential), outtasite in a Left Hand. 

    I wouldn't try to talk you out of making your own if you're up for it, but wanted to let you know of another possible option.

    How do you choose?

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    It's a bit strange: if a bottle of a given liquor is almost empty, I'm motivated to finish it off. But if there's just a little more than a little left in it, I'll tend to avoid using it and to make drinks with things from the more flush part of the inventory. So ostensibly I'm thinking about clearing bottles out of the bar, but in practice I'm winding up with a ton of bottles that are hovering just above the tipping point. 

    Kindred Cocktails is great for inspiration, and I use the "Suggest" feature to make my to-try list. 

    • Like 2
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