Batavia Arrack

[EvergreenDan]

A ginger post-storm! Stephen Hawking said that for every equation in A Brief History of Time, the readership was halved. Maybe the same for homemade ingredients? Or at least for the home enthusiast?

I tried the Arrack Attack with 1 oz Arrack and 3/4 oz each Canton and lemon. This keeps the overall volume the same. It pumped up the ginger, but I missed the strong "buttered stripper pole." I need more Arrack for experimentation. As much as I hate to use a odd-ball fresh ingredient, a muddle slice of fresh ginger would be good.

[tanstaafl2]

I tried the Arrack Attack with 1 oz Arrack and 3/4 oz each Canton and lemon. This keeps the overall volume the same. It pumped up the ginger, but I missed the strong "buttered stripper pole." I need more Arrack for experimentation. As much as I hate to use a odd-ball fresh ingredient, a muddle slice of fresh ginger would be good.

I noticied your recipe on the KC website was still the same as posted earlier in this thread. Did you ever try this again and come to a final conclusion on the appropriate balance?

I was thinking of trying the increased Canton and Lime (Lemon? It say Lime on the KC website and above) that you note here but stay with 1.5 of the Arrack and leaving the Cynar at 0.5.

A bigish drink perhaps but sounds tempting.

[EvergreenDan]

Sorry -- I meant lime, not lemon in the Arrack Attack.

I just made two half-recipes. One as written (1/2oz each ginger and lime) and one with 3/4oz ginger and about 5/8oz lime. Other ingredients as posted on the site. I preferred the original more subdued ginger one. There is plenty of buttered stripper pole, but the extra ginger starts to come to the front. I think it is slightly more interesting with it lurking in the background, letting the arrack hit you and then the bitter of the cynar linger, moderated by the acid.

That said, there's nothing wrong with bumping up the ginger if you want. It would be fun to try the new King's Ginger, too.

[tanstaafl2]

That said, there's nothing wrong with bumping up the ginger if you want. It would be fun to try the new King's Ginger, too.

I will try to play with the drink a bit and see what I come up with.

Not familiar with the King's Ginger. Website seems to be of decidedly limited help. A good bit about randy old King Edward VII (He was certainly Flashie's kind of guy!) but not much about the liqueur itself. Seems to be limited to the UK for the most part.

[EvergreenDan]

I saw Kings Ginger in the store a couple of days ago, and there is a launch party tonight in Boston.

Along the same lines, but without ginger, you might (bravely) try:

Dirt in my Drink

by Dan Chadwick, Kindred Cocktails

1 oz Batavia Arrack, Batavia Arrack van Oosten

1 oz Cynar

1 oz Prune juice

1/2 oz Rye

1/2 oz Lime juice

Shake, strain, rocks, lowball

[tanstaafl2]

I saw Kings Ginger in the store a couple of days ago, and there is a launch party tonight in Boston.

Along the same lines, but without ginger, you might (bravely) try:

Dirt in my Drink

by Dan Chadwick, Kindred Cocktails

1 oz Batavia Arrack, Batavia Arrack van Oosten

1 oz Cynar

1 oz Prune juice

1/2 oz Rye

1/2 oz Lime juice

Shake, strain, rocks, lowball

Hmm, prune juice might be stretching it a bit...

[Mayur]

Let me know how your experiments go. I wish there were "ginger bitters" that I add to bump up the spicy ginger without affecting the other flavors so much.

There kinda are.

http://bittermens.com/products/x-series/peppercake-bitters/

[EvergreenDan]

http://bittermens.com/products/x-series/peppercake-bitters/

Wow is Bittermens prolific. I'll try to snatch a bottle at The Boston Shaker if they still have any. Thanks!

[EvergreenDan]

Update: The Boston Shaker is out of Bittermen's Peppercake (ginger) bitters, and has been for a month or more.

[tanstaafl2]

Update: The Boston Shaker is out of Bittermen's Peppercake (ginger) bitters, and has been for a month or more.

Have not had the Peppercake bitters so no way I can compare directly but I noted that the aroma of the Bitter Truth Celery bitters seemed to have a lot of ginger to them. They are also described as having a ginger component. Haven't tried them in a drink yet but it might be another option to push up the ginger flavor in a drink if you don't mind the other "vegetal" components that are described as being an aspect of these bitters.

I don't really smell a lot of "celery" in it although my sense of smell was never the greatest. Maybe a hint of orange. Then again I don't really recall celery having much aroma to begin with!

Taste either for that matter...

[BittermensAG]

Update: The Boston Shaker is out of Bittermen's Peppercake (ginger) bitters, and has been for a month or more.

The Peppercake is one of our experimentals and only made in very small quantities (mostly because it's damned expensive to make and a real pain to filter). We'll have some more available on December 1.

[FrogPrincesse]

I made a couple of Batavia Arrack-based cocktails tonight.

For me, it was Dan Chadwick's Arrack Attack. I found it refreshing with grapefruit flavors, and some really cool herbal notes from the Cynar at the end. This drink really seems to highlight the flavor range of the arrack.

He is not a big fan of Cynar or ginger, so I made him the Alicante. On paper it's an intriguing mix of Grand Marnier as the base with Batavia Arrack, dry vermouth, orange and mole bitters, expressed orange peel, and a pinch of salt. It is a great drink, full of interesting flavors. He could not guess what was in it- he initially thought that the base liquor was a white rhum agricole.

[FrogPrincesse]

I've been playing with my bottle of Batavia Arrack lately. This cocktail by Misty Kalkofen caught my eye.

Pleasure and Pain: Batavia Arrack, Branca Menta (Fernet-Branca), walnut liqueur (Charbay black walnut liqueur), Bénédictine. It originally calls for Branca Menta which, from what I gather, is Fernet-lite (more minty/sweeter/less bitter); but I thought I might as well go all the way with Fernet.

 

Lots of spice and nuts, then it goes into more bitter and metallic flavors, almost acidic, with a walnut Bénédictine finish. Still pretty tame if you are into that kind of thing.

 

 

[haresfur]

I've been playing with my bottle of Batavia Arrack lately. This cocktail by Misty Kalkofen caught my eye.

Pleasure and Pain: Batavia Arrack, Branca Menta (Fernet-Branca), walnut liqueur (Charbay black walnut liqueur), Bénédictine. It originally calls for Branca Menta which, from what I gather, is Fernet-lite (more minty/sweeter/less bitter); but I thought I might as well go all the way with Fernet.

 

Lots of spice and nuts, then it goes into more bitter and metallic flavors, almost acidic, with a walnut Bénédictine finish. Still pretty tame if you are into that kind of thing.

 

 

That certainly is an adult drink.

[FrogPrincesse]

Not like it's a bad thing.

[Chris Hennes]

On 9/18/2007 at 11:57 AM, Splificator said:

[...]here's a recipe for Mississippi Punch (predating Jerry Thomas's by a couple of years) that calls for Batavia arrack; it's damned tasty, IMHO.

Shake well with plenty of cracked ice:

2 oz cognac (VSOP or better)

1 oz dark Jamaican-style rum (I like Coruba in this)

1/2 oz Batavia arrack (the van Oosten works wonderfully well)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 oz rich simple syrup

Pour unstrained into tall glass, garnish with half-wheel of orange and a few raspberries or whatever else is in season. Approach with straw and have at it.

 

I was digging around the back of the liquor cabinet today and found a half-full (half-empty?) bottle of Batavia arrack looking all lonely, so figured it was time to shift it to the front row. Like Chris A. above, I am using the Cruzan dark rum here since that's what's on hand, so I followed his lead and tweaked the proportions a bit. 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My arrack is not lonely.  Currently three and a half bottles in the next room.  And they get fondled frequently.  For my Mississippi punch I follow Splificator's 1850 recipe of Brigade-Major Thomas Unett.  Published in the Illustrated London News, reprinted in Imbibe! V2.  (Maybe in the original edition as well but I only keep V2 next to the keyboard and I am too lazy to get up to look.)

 

No simple.

 

I increase the juice to one full lemon to slake my citrus thirst.  They say scurvy is a horrid way to die.  Here Mississippi punch is served a couple of times a week.