Pumpkin Spirit

[jneu]

Good Morning all.

FYI. I talked to the The sales and marketing guy at Great Lakes Distillery yesterday. He told me they grabbed a few cases of Great Lakes Distillery Pumpkin Seasonal Spirit and got them to their distributor in Illinois. He said more than likely a couple of cases will end up at Binny's, possibly available for order online. Might be worth a call.

Hey Matt, I'm guessing that if you're in possession of some Pumpkin Spirit you might be in the Milwaukee area. Ray's Liquor on North Ave. has always been good to me. I can usually find Punt e Mes and they ordered Carpano Antica for me too.

[thirtyoneknots]

If you want more spice character, maybe try a spoon or half a spoon of pimento dram? In my experience using Campari like a cocktail bitter, ie in dash amounts, tends to contribute richness without really balancing the drink the way a normal cocktail bitter goes. Without trying the stuff I might recommend a normal orange bitter. Of course if you've found something you like then by all means stick with it. Sounds very intriguing, to say the least.

[MattJohnson]

Hi Jneu, I live in Wauwatosa. I frequent Rays quite often. Good selection - although I wish they'd stock more bitters and the small bottle Noilly Pratt. Do you know anywhere in the area that has either?

[mkayahara]

I've tried to work with pumpkin in the past for seasonal cocktails, but the canned Libby's pumpkin (which I realize isn't fresh, but it is consistent) is so fibrous and nasty it's hard to incorporate into a drink.  Even with a paint shaker and a double straining it seems to leave a trail like a slug around the glass that is quite gelatinous and unattractive.  I think the only way to incorporate pumpkin into a cocktail is either to "imply" it with pumpkin pie spices or to find some sort of pumpkin flavored delivery system like a liqueur or pumpkin "spirit" like this one that will incorporate completely into the drink.  Pumpkin isn't something you want to muddle or shake.  It just doesn't work like that...

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I was cooking some pumpkin for pumpkin pie today, and I happened to be cooking some tomatoes at the same time. I ended up with some tomato water I was thinking about putting into a Bloody Mary Martini from Joy of Mixology, when it hit me: why not make "pumpkin water" using roast pumpkin and the gelatin clarification technique? It might be necessary to punch up the flavour a bit (I'm thinking some brown butter wouldn't go amiss), but I think it might work!

[mkayahara]

So, for once, I actually followed up on one of my hare-brained ideas. I made up a little browned butter, added some fresh pumpkin puree and water and simmered the whole thing for 20 minutes. Then I added 0.5% gold-strength sheet gelatin by weight, set it in the fridge, and froze it overnight. The next morning, I put it in a coffee filter-lined colander. Three days later, voilà! Pumpkin water.

So tonight I mixed up a drink. It went like this:

2 oz. pumpkin water

1.5 oz. Remy Martin VS Cognac

0.25 oz. St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

dash orange bitters

It tastes pretty much exactly like a pumpkin pie.

[jmfangio]

So, for once, I actually followed up on one of my hare-brained ideas. I made up a little browned butter, added some fresh pumpkin puree and water and simmered the whole thing for 20 minutes. Then I added 0.5% gold-strength sheet gelatin by weight, set it in the fridge, and froze it overnight. The next morning, I put it in a coffee filter-lined colander. Three days later, voilà! Pumpkin water.

So tonight I mixed up a drink. It went like this:

2 oz. pumpkin water

1.5 oz. Remy Martin VS Cognac

0.25 oz. St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

dash orange bitters

It tastes pretty much exactly like a pumpkin pie.

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That sounds brilliant - I'm going to have to give it a try for Thanksgiving. Maybe add a little St. Germain to the mix? I'll bet that it would work nicely in there.

[MattJohnson]

That sounds awesome. I'm hosting Thanksgiving and might give that a try.

[mkayahara]

That sounds brilliant - I'm going to have to give it a try for Thanksgiving.  Maybe add a little St. Germain to the mix?  I'll bet that it would work nicely in there.

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I've never had the chance to play with St. Germain, so I'm not sure whether it would work, but I'm sure it's worth a try! The only thing I would say, though, is that this is already a fairly sweet drink. It might be worthwhile to dry it up with a little vermouth or something.