Drinks! (2013 Part 1)

[Plantes Vertes]

Today I tried a Fig Old-Fashioned.

It kind of looks like you have a snail wrapped around the rim of that glass.

Who's saying I didn't?

[Adam George]

Summer is sort of here in London, so we sorted our Piña Colada recipe:

2oz Thai Five Spice'd Pampero Especial (Morganthaler Method)

.5oz Wray

2.5oz fresh pineapple

2oz Coco Lopez

.5oz lime

2 dashes Angostura

I'm going to drop by and try this soon. I've never been keen on gigantic fruity beach holiday cocktails but now I see yours I'm willing to be persuaded

Nice mate. Feel free to pop up and see me any time on the First Floor at South Place Hotel during the evenings Tuesday - Saturday.

It's soon to be members and residents only, but ask for me and it won't be a problem. Be sure to introduce yourself and the first drink is on me!

We have a short list of five "Tiki" drinks that we're super happy with and work on an "if we have it, you can have" basis. I spent quite a bit of time tweaking and balancing and reckon they'll all meet eGullet pallates.

We'll be adding more as popularity grows but for now it's five drinks, done really well rather than half-arsed attempts at every Tiki drink created.

Any suggestions on drinks to use Pimento Dram in are welcome - I'm still learning the tropical drinks, myself.

Sorry to hijack this thread with spam. I'm just trying to spread the cocktail love, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blender.

[Plantes Vertes]

Summer is sort of here in London, so we sorted our Piña Colada recipe:

2oz Thai Five Spice'd Pampero Especial (Morganthaler Method)

.5oz Wray

2.5oz fresh pineapple

2oz Coco Lopez

.5oz lime

2 dashes Angostura

I'm going to drop by and try this soon. I've never been keen on gigantic fruity beach holiday cocktails but now I see yours I'm willing to be persuaded

Nice mate. Feel free to pop up and see me any time on the First Floor at South Place Hotel during the evenings Tuesday - Saturday.

It's soon to be members and residents only, but ask for me and it won't be a problem. Be sure to introduce yourself and the first drink is on me!

We have a short list of five "Tiki" drinks that we're super happy with and work on an "if we have it, you can have" basis. I spent quite a bit of time tweaking and balancing and reckon they'll all meet eGullet pallates.

We'll be adding more as popularity grows but for now it's five drinks, done really well rather than half-arsed attempts at every Tiki drink created.

Any suggestions on drinks to use Pimento Dram in are welcome - I'm still learning the tropical drinks, myself.

Sorry to hijack this thread with spam. I'm just trying to spread the cocktail love, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blender.

Consider the love spread. I'll be wearing a red rose and carrying a copy of the Times . And I'll give the eGullet handshake. And then I'll just introduce myself in words...

Well here's a pimento dram number, again one I've noted down and never got around to trying:

Lion’s Tail

2 oz. Bourbon

½ oz. St. Elizabeth allspice dram

½ oz. Lime juice

1 dash Angostura bitters

You can adapt it by changing your bourbon for dark rum and the bitters for rock candy syrup (Jasper's Jamaican), and/or adding a few drops of absinthe.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[tanstaafl2]

... are bitters an adequate sub for Amer Picon in a Brooklyn?

Not really. I would also go easy on the Maraschino in a Brooklyn -- I thought it dominated a bit. For Amer Picon, your choices include:

• Real Amer Picon (although its not the same as the historic ingredient)
• Toriani Amer (never had or seen it, but I've heard it's not a close match)
• Bittermen's Amer Nouvelle (Lacks the caramel coloring, but in this drink it wouldn't matter)
• Amaro CioCiaro (pretty close; now available in Massachusetts; available at DrinkUpNY.com)
• Amaro Lucano (not quite as close, but I'd use it)
• Amer Boudreau (a homemade infusion of orange and/or bitter orange peel in GNS, Amaro Ramazzotti, and Stirring's Orange Bitters; mine is VERY bitter, and I did diluted it with vodka to about 80 proof)
• Or a concoction of your own design -- something bitter, orange, and a bit spicy.

A while back David Wondrich in this post had suggested 15 ml Everclear and 1 ml Angostura orange bitters for every 100 ml Amaro Ciociaro as another alternative for homemade Amer Picon. Having never had the original it is hard for me to say if it does the job or not.

Bittermen's Amer Nouvelle would seem like the simplest option if readily available. I have the Amaro Ciociaro and when feeling lazy tend to just use that and a splash of Angostura, foregoing the extra proof from Everclear.

Edited April 29, 2013 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[tanstaafl2]

Today I tried a Fig Old-Fashioned.

It kind of looks like you have a snail wrapped around the rim of that glass.

Who's saying I didn't?

Kinda looks like something they make you eat on reality shows like Survivor...

[Hassouni]

Summer is sort of here in London, so we sorted our Piña Colada recipe:

2oz Thai Five Spice'd Pampero Especial (Morganthaler Method)

.5oz Wray

2.5oz fresh pineapple

2oz Coco Lopez

.5oz lime

2 dashes Angostura

I'm going to drop by and try this soon. I've never been keen on gigantic fruity beach holiday cocktails but now I see yours I'm willing to be persuaded

Nice mate. Feel free to pop up and see me any time on the First Floor at South Place Hotel during the evenings Tuesday - Saturday.

It's soon to be members and residents only, but ask for me and it won't be a problem. Be sure to introduce yourself and the first drink is on me!

We have a short list of five "Tiki" drinks that we're super happy with and work on an "if we have it, you can have" basis. I spent quite a bit of time tweaking and balancing and reckon they'll all meet eGullet pallates.

We'll be adding more as popularity grows but for now it's five drinks, done really well rather than half-arsed attempts at every Tiki drink created.

Any suggestions on drinks to use Pimento Dram in are welcome - I'm still learning the tropical drinks, myself.

Sorry to hijack this thread with spam. I'm just trying to spread the cocktail love, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Blender.

Consider the love spread. I'll be wearing a red rose and carrying a copy of the Times . And I'll give the eGullet handshake. And then I'll just introduce myself in words...

Well here's a pimento dram number, again one I've noted down and never got around to trying:

Lion’s Tail

2 oz. Bourbon

½ oz. St. Elizabeth allspice dram

½ oz. Lime juice

1 dash Angostura bitters

You can adapt it by changing your bourbon for dark rum and the bitters for rock candy syrup (Jasper's Jamaican), and/or adding a few drops of absinthe.

This drink works exceptionally well as a swizzle, too.

[Adam George]

Cool.

I wish my Old Grand Dad Bonded would hurry up and get here. It seems to have dried up in London.

Will Woodford Reserve do in a pinch?

[Hassouni]

Well, for a swizzle it helps to have something strong, due to all the crushed ice (I used Wild Turkey 101). How strong is the WR?

[Adam George]

In England it's 86proof, unfortunately.

Waiting on that GrandDad.

[Hassouni]

86 English proof or American proof?

[Adam George]

I speak American on predominantly American message boards!

[Rafa]

1.75 oz Rittenhouse 100

1.00 oz Cherry Heering

.25 oz Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters

Luxardo cherry garnish, discarded lemon twist.

Smooth, dark, and complex. Basically an egg-less Heering Flip grafted onto a rye cocktail. Beta cocktails-y. Needs a name. Laughter in the Dark, Azriel, and for some reason La Llorona are contenders. (Part of me wants to name it Black Cherry Garcia, what with that being one of my surnames and all.) I went with rye because it's dry and loves cherry and chocolate, but other spirits could be interesting: mezcal, Demerara rum, and brandy come to mind.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Rafa (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

Ben & Jerry's has beat you to Cherry Garcia.

You're obviously feeling maudlin. Please, please, do yourself a favour and call this a Fleshy Drupe.

Edited April 30, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[Rafa]

How about just "The happiest little stone fruit."

I was kind of hoping to play off that Ben & Jerry's flavor. I've been called Cherry Garcia by too many people not to want to pay them back.

[Plantes Vertes]

Just call them Fleshy Drupes too.

In actual real life you should call it a La Llorona. Any drink in which a poor, sorrowing cherry has taken its life deserves this name.

[Plantes Vertes]

Stone Fence

I used 1:3 Wild Turkey 101 and Henney's Dry Cider

Edited May 1, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[Yojimbo]

2 oz. blanco tequila (Herradura)

scant 1 oz. Luxardo Triplum

3-4 hard dashes of absinthe (Lucid, bought years ago when it was one of the few available in the U.S., still trying to use it up)

1 dash Angostura orange bitters

juice of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange

built over ice and stirred. No garnish, but could've benefited from an orange twist.

[bostonapothecary]

2.5 oz. 1995 guyana rum aged 12 years in oak then finished in chateau d'yquem casks (46%)

I'm not having the greatest week so I thought I'd indulge a little. this was the last of it. these Renegade rums were closed out believe it or not and I ended up paying only $23 dollars for them. I used a lot of them as my well rum for a while at work and we only put them in south sides. that may seem blasphemous but they were really tasty that way.

the distillery here was Uitvlught: "Originally a dutch estate and pronounced 'eye-flut', meaning 'overlooking the sea', in this case the Atlantic coast west of the Demerara river. This rum was distilled on the famous Port Morant still; the last remaining Demerara vat still."

I don't really know how to decode the term "vat still".

A Mountain of Crushed Ice, which has some awesome photos describes the still as "The double wooden pot still – used to be in Port Morant Estate that was founded in 1732. A wooden still with a copper neck which was moved to Uitvlught – and then in the year 2000 finally moved to Diamond where it is today."

all the strange distillation papers I've collected have me suspecting that wooden boilers might allow distillers to make extra high ester rums by being able to handle distilling material higher in total acidity. copper would corrode and wear out faster than usual but wood I suspect can take all the extra dunder they recycle. I'm not sure that I'm correct because it is never exactly spelled out but something must keep those stills relevant besides nostalgia.

[Rafa]

2.5 oz. 1995 guyana rum aged 12 years in oak then finished in chateau d'yquem casks (46%)

these Renegade rums were closed out believe it or not and I ended up paying only $23 dollars for them.

!

Those go for 4-5 times that around here. And I'm pretty sure the Guyana/d'Yquem is no longer available.

[thampik]

The American Bar at the Savoy is one of my favourite places for cocktails - today I made the Malecon which is a drink created by the current head bartender, Eric Lorincz.

50ml Bacardi Superior rum

10ml Oloroso sherry

3 dashes Peychauds

2 bar spoons caster sugar

30ml fresh lime juice

15ml 10 year old port

[EvergreenDan]

I was out of (Carl) Sutton Cellars Brown Label, but I had a bottle of Imbue Petal & Thorn so I used that and pumped the lemon to 2 tsp (1/3 oz). Very nice. The Petal & Thorn comes through nicely. Maybe it should be called a "Little Thorny"?

I might dial back the bitters a bit.

Little Carl
by Drink, Boston, MA
2 oz Cynar
2 oz Dry vermouth, Sutton Cellars Brown Label
1 t Lemon juice
4 ds Bitters, Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged
1 pn Salt (as garnish)

Pour over hand hewn ice ball in double old fashioned glass, stir, top with pinch of salt

Savory. Initial wine / vermouth gives way to savory Cynar flavors, acidity, and a lovely lingering bitter finish. Low in alcohol. A great drink to linger over.

[Adam George]

The American Bar at the Savoy is one of my favourite places for cocktails - today I made the Malecon which is a drink created by the current head bartender, Eric Lorincz.

50ml Bacardi Superior rum

10ml Oloroso sherry

3 dashes Peychauds

2 bar spoons caster sugar

30ml fresh lime juice

15ml 10 year old port

Do you taste any rum in this?

I'm just looking at this spec and scratching my head a little. I made a stirred drink with 60ml Bacardi and just 5ml Oloroso and even then I found the rum getting bullied.

The Malecon is basically Eric's Pioneer cocktail with sherry and Port subbed for Curaçao and Swedish Punsch, presumably to make the drink more available and user friendly.

[FrogPrincesse]

Last night I made a couple of rhum agricole daiquiris after a discussion of these rums in "What did you buy at the liquor store today? (2013–)". I decided to test JM and La Favorite side-by-side. JM (I am using the 40%) has a slight yellow tinge and La Favorite is colorless. In the daiquiri, the pear/coconut/lychee notes of La Favorite come through whereas JM has more citrus/sweet tropical fruit. I have a slight preference for La Favorite and my husband has a slight preference for JM, but they both make fabulous daiquiris.

[Rafa]

1.50 oz Punt e Mes

.50 oz Cynar

.25 oz Maraschino

Stir, strain, coupe, lemon twist.

Yes. Will definitely make this again.

[thampik]

The American Bar at the Savoy is one of my favourite places for cocktails - today I made the Malecon which is a drink created by the current head bartender, Eric Lorincz.

50ml Bacardi Superior rum

10ml Oloroso sherry

3 dashes Peychauds

2 bar spoons caster sugar

30ml fresh lime juice

15ml 10 year old port

Do you taste any rum in this?

I'm just looking at this spec and scratching my head a little. I made a stirred drink with 60ml Bacardi and just 5ml Oloroso and even then I found the rum getting bullied.

The Malecon is basically Eric's Pioneer cocktail with sherry and Port subbed for Curaçao and Swedish Punsch, presumably to make the drink more available and user friendly.

I did - I have to say I really enjoyed this drink.

The type of Oloroso used probably makes a difference? I used what I had - Gonzalez Byass Matusalem Sweet Oloroso - whereas Eric's recipe calls for Don Jose Oloroso sherry. Having googled both, I know I probably ended up with a completely different drink!

Edited May 4, 2013 by thampik (log)