MxMo XIV

[eje]

If any of you read (or write) blogs which cover cocktails, you might know that Paul over at Cocktail Chronicles has been organizing a monthly online cocktail event he calls Mixology Mondays.

This month's event is being hosted by my Bernal Heights homies Anita and Cameron on their Married...with dinner blog. The theme is Champagne Cocktails.

To quote Mr. Clarke:

MxMoXIV shifts gears on April 16 when Champagne Cocktails is the theme over at Married…With Dinner. As Anita — who’s hosting along with her husband, Cameron — writes, “There’s a certain irony in drinking bubbly on tax day.” Ironic, indeed…

If you would like to participate, please write up any cocktail made with sparkling wine in this topic before Monday, April 16th at midnight. I will compile a list of cocktails posted and mail them to the organizer.

Here's to Fizzy Lifting Drinks!

[bostonapothecary]

my latest champagne cocktail is the "creole love call" and is inspired by the duke ellington song of the title with adelaide hall on the vocals growling....

one teaspoon of creole shrub

one teaspoon of pimento dram

two dashes of peychauds

top with a very sincere champagne....

to be honest i wanted everything super cold so i poured champagne and all over ice and then strained it into a flute

i used a channel cutter to make a real serious garnish of lemon twist....

lining the flute with some frivelous extra flavor would not be against the spirit of the drink....

cheers!.....

[Ktepi]

I usually make this with prosecco, but there's no reason it couldn't be made with champagne.

Roasted Lemonade Champagne Cocktail

Per champagne flute:

more or less equal amounts of roasted lemonade concentrate and champagne

2 oz Bulleit bourbon (I like the rye flavor of Bulleit more than any other bourbon I've made the drink with)

dash of Angostura bitters

Roasted Lemonade Concentrate

Eight lemons

1-2 cups of sugar

Cut six of the lemons into quarters. Arrange them in a baking dish, cover with a cup to cup and a half of sugar, and nearly cover with water. Roast at 400 degrees or so until the lemons are soft and the liquid has become syrupy -- about 45 minutes to an hour.

Scoop the pulp from the lemons and puree it with one or two roasted lemons, the juice of the 2 remaining fresh lemons, and all of the syrup. Adjust sweetness to taste, keeping in mind that this is a concentrate. Chill. This can be done a few days in advance.

Roasted lemonade is mentioned on an eGullet thread or two; it has a thick body and bitterness like grapefruit juice -- using Meyer lemons minimizes the bitterness, but I like it.

[eje]

Rosey Fizz

1 Rose Scented Geranium Leaf (nice; but, optional)

Rose Hip Granita*

2 oz Apple Brandy (Laird's Bonded)

2 oz Blood Orange Juice (juice 1 small moro blood orange)

1/2 tsp superfine (caster) sugar

1 egg white

Sparkling Dry Rosé Wine (Louis Boillot Perle d'Aurore Cremant de Bourgogne)

Rose Flower Water

Muddle Geranium leaf in the bottom of collins glass. Fill glass 1/3 with Rose Hip Granita. Shake Apple Brandy, Orange Juice, sugar, and egg white well in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into glass containing granita. Top with sparkling wine (it will foam up) and a couple drops of rose flower water.

---

I've been a bit obsessed with combinations of rose hip "tea" and Apple Brandy. Initially I really liked the idea of a cocktail that was composed entirely of products made from plants in the Rose Family (Rosaceae). Eventually, I was forced to allow citrus and rose geranium leaves into the mix (and in this case Rosé wine and eggs.)

The smokey apple-ish flavors of rose hip "tea" do combine amazingly well with Apple Brandy. I think this grown-up version of an ice-cream float is the best combination of these flavors I've done so far.

Another in my continuing series of "drink your dessert" cocktails and sorbets.

*Rose Hip Granita

2 c water

8 tsp dried Rose Hips (available at health food stores and natural groceries)

1 c sugar

1 drop lemon oil

Bring water to boil and add rose hips. Simmer on low for 5 minutes. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Press through a sieve, food mill, or china cap, extracting as much of the pulp through as possible. Whisk in sugar to dissolve. Add a drop of lemon oil and refrigerate until cooled.

If you have an ice cream maker, process according to manufacturers instructions. Store in a sealed container in the freezer.

If you do not have an ice cream maker, chill an stainless steel or pyrex pan in your freezer. The sorbet mixture should not come up more than an inch along the side of the pan. Add mixture to pan, and stir with a fork every hour until well frozen. Store in a sealed container in the freezer.

This makes enough granita for 4 or 5 cocktails.

One interesting thing about the rose hips was that they seemed to have some sort of gelling or foaming property. When I was whisking in the sugar, I noticed it spontaneously formed a fairly stable foam. In addition, even though made simply with a fork procedure, this granita was very close in texture to a gelato. I guess the same substances in the rose hips which formed the foam also acted to prevent larger ice crystals from forming.

Edited April 1, 2007 by eje (log)

[ThinkingBartender]

This looks like it is going to be one hell of a Mixology Monday.

Two weeks to go.

[bostonapothecary]

Rosey Fizz

1 Rose Scented Geranium Leaf (nice; but, optional)

Rose Hip Granita*

2 oz Apple Brandy (Laird's Bonded)

2 oz Blood Orange Juice (juice 1 small moro blood orange)

1/2 tsp superfine (caster) sugar

1 egg white

Sparkling Dry Rosé Wine (Louis Boillot Perle d'Aurore Cremant de Bourgogne)

Rose Flower Water

Muddle Geranium leaf in the bottom of collins glass.  Fill glass 1/3 with Rose Hip Granita.  Shake Apple Brandy, Orange Juice, sugar, and egg white well in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into glass containing granita.  Top with sparkling wine (it will foam up) and a couple drops of rose flower water.

OMG, that is real serious.... decandent.... i want one.

[ThinkingBartender]

Here is my entry:

>>>Click here<<<

I hope that lots of other people are having a go at this months topic.

Cheers!

George

[KatieLoeb]

This is what I'll be using as my mimosa recipe at M Restaurant this summer. It's a variation on the Flaming Orange Gully, but with Grapefruit vodka and topped with sparkling wine.

"M"-mosa

2 oz. Absolut Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka

1 oz. fresh lime juice

4 dashes Angostura bitters

1 oz. Falernum Syrup (I use Fee Bros.)

2 oz. fresh orange juice

Mix together above ingredients and divide between four Champagne flutes. Top each with 3-4 oz. of sparkling wine.

[lancastermike]

Was never a fan of champagne cocktails till I had my first Seelbach:

3/4 ounce bourbon

1/2 ounce Cointreau

7 dashes Angostura bitters

7 dashes Peychaud's bitters

4 ounces chilled brut Champagne

1 orange twist, for garnish

This is one outstanding drink. It seems like way too much bitters to be good, but love this.

[KatieLoeb]

Mike, that sounds great! Bourbon, Champagne and bitters - three of my favorite things all at once!

What could be bad about that?

[lancastermike]

Was never a fan of champagne cocktails till I had my first Seelbach:

3/4 ounce bourbon

1/2 ounce Cointreau

7 dashes Angostura bitters

7 dashes Peychaud's bitters

4 ounces chilled brut Champagne

1 orange twist, for garnish

This is one outstanding drink. It seems like way too much bitters to be good, but love this.

←

I failed to say this came from Dr. Cocktail's classic cocktail book. If you were only looking for original creations please disregard. Well, don't disregard as it is too good not to drink

[thirtyoneknots]

I also did a recipe from Dr. Cocktail this time around, one that has intrigued me for some time; the Soyer au Champagne (Silk with Champagne):

2 dashes brandy (1 tsp Hennessey VS)

2 dashes Maraschino (Luxardo)

2 dashes curacao (Brizzard)

2 dashes pineapple juice

Pour into parfait glass (or large cocktail glass for me) and top with Champagne (or Freixenet Brut Cava) and carefully place a tablespoon or so of vanilla ice cream (Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ) Serve with at least a straw, spoon might help as well.

This was decent but the acidity of the wine clashed somewhat with the ice cream, I think it would have been even better with a slightly sweeter sparkler like Dry or Extra Dry, and a heartier brandy like Martell would not have been amiss either. This is also essentially a Champagne Float, and I think it would work well that way, tripling or more the entire recipe, although the richness would require that it be shared. All in all, a decent drink, and worth trying, but not one I'm rushing to make again.

-Andy

[eje]

Wow! Some really tasty sounding suggestions.

I'm really looking forward to trying many of these.

Here's a link to the roundup of the various submissions over on Married...with dinner:

MxMo XIV Roundup