Drinks! (2013 Part 1)

[Rafa]

A week ago I went to Pouring Ribbons and had the following

Hot & Heavy

by Troy Sidle, Pouring Ribbons, NYC.

1 oz Reposado Tequila, Calle 23

1 oz Mezcal, Del Maguey Vida

3 wdg Lemon (cut a lemon into eights and use three of those)

1/2 oz Honey syrup ("hot honey"—hot pepper-infused honey)

1 ds Angostura Bitters

1 ds Peychaud's Bitters

1 spg Mint (as garnish)

Combine, muddle, shake, strain into an old fashioned glass over one big ice cylinder, insert a slapped mint sprig.

and

Cascabel

by Joaquín Simó, Pouring Ribbons, NYC.

1 1/2 oz Reposado Tequila, Calle 23

3/4 oz Pear eau de vie, Clear Creek

3/4 oz Herbal liqueur, Yellow Chartreuse

2 ds Bitters (cinnamon bitters)

1 ds Bitters, Angostura

Stir, strain, up.

Dry but strongly fruity, with supporting notes of oak, earth, spice, and subtle floral tones. Good sipper.

Both excellent.

Joaquín made the second drink for me after I requested something with the Clear Creek Pear Brandy, which I've been obsessed with lately—it's a great spirit, and a great early summer flavor. He made it more pear-forward for me than he would have otherwise, though the tequila contributed earthy and floral notes that complemented the pear very well. He left the drink unnamed, so I gave it the Spanish name for 'rattlesnake,' after the original Diamondback cocktail it riffs on, and after the Crotalus oreganus, a rattlesnake whose territory spans from Clear Creek's Oregon to Calle 23's Mexico.

I'm all out of pear brandy, unfortunately. I used most of it up making this:

McCarren Park Swizzle

by Rafa García Febles, NYC.

1 oz Bison grass vodka

1 oz Pear eau de vie

1/2 oz Lemon juice (1/2-3/4 oz)

1/2 oz Elderflower liqueur, St. Germain

1/2 oz Falernum

2 ds Bitters (1-2 dashes each of Peychaud's and Angostura)

1 spg Mint

Combine first five ingredients in serving glass and fill with pebble ice or crushed ice. Swizzle til well-chilled. Top with more ice, 1-2 dashes of Peychaud's and Angostura bitters, and a thin lemon twist snaked around the base of a slapped mint sprig. Serve with a short straw.

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Which I enjoy greatly.

Next up is Dan's Cynar + Smith & Cross thinger.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Rafa (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

This is the Daiquiri-type drink I made from the Kaffir Lime rum I started infusing a few weeks ago.

2oz Kaffir Lime rum (Flor de Cana 4 white)

Juice and peel of 1/2 lemon

1" sliced ginger

1/2 TBS cane sugar

Muddle ginger and lemon rind, add juice, rum and sugar, shake

The lime leaves are a really good ingredient I think, but this was not the best drink.It had a slightly unpleasant stickiness and I didn't like the flat sugar taste with the unusual flavour of the lime. Once I tasted it I thought the lime rum would be nice with some non-citrus fruit, so I'll try that next time, but I manfully forced this one down anyway. It's called a Justesse.

[blue_dolphin]

Drinks I tried last week:

On the weekend, I wanted a G&T but had no tonic so I tried this quick, cool and refresher from the kitchn and found it a pretty good substitute.

Limoncello gin cocktail

1 ounce Limoncello ( "faux cello" made with Persian limes from my tree)
1 ounce gin (Plymouth)
Over ice in a tall glass and topwith sparkling water

Following the tall-cool protocol but using the recent MxMo cherry theme, I tried and enjoyed:

Rosemary Cherry Crush
Muddle:
2 heaping tsps cherry preserves
rosemary leaves from one 3-4 inch stem

Add:
½ oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1¾ oz reposado tequila

Shake, strain into a tall glass over ice and top with ginger beer
I like this and found it more interesting than most tall drinks.

I really liked EvergreenDan's Wedderburn or Bite cocktail originally posted without a name over in the Daiquri thread. Truly more than the sum of its parts.

Using my newly purchased Amaro CioCiaro as an Amer Picon/Torani Amer substitute, I went with a Hoskins cocktail and very much enjoyed it.

From the same source, I tried:
Footloose No. 2

2 ounces Nolet’s Silver Gin
3/4 ounce Cointreau
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

It's a very pretty pink drink, floral and fruity, without being sweet. I like it.

[Rafa]

Tonight I made Dan's Wedderburn or Bite with Wray & Nephew (didn't have an old hiking boot lying around to complete the Smith & Cross substitution). Fantastic. Though deserving of a catchier name, I think.

[EvergreenDan]

Tonight I made Dan's Wedderburn or Bite ... Though deserving of a catchier name, I think.

I'll bite.

[Plantes Vertes]

Tonight I made Dan's Wedderburn or Bite with Wray & Nephew (didn't have an old hiking boot lying around to complete the Smith & Cross substitution). Fantastic. Though deserving of a catchier name, I think.

I tried with a ballet slipper and was perfectly satisfied.

[FrogPrincesse]

A few classic warm-weather drinks these past few days.

Queen's Park Swizzle with Appleton 12 year rum and mint from the garden

Honeysuckle with Flor de Cana white rum, sage honey syrup, lime juice

Gin Gin Mule with Junipero gin, Bundaberg ginger beer, lime juice, simple syrup, mint

[Czequershuus]

A little experiment based off my recent purchase of Breckenridge Bitters

1.5 Oz Blanco Tequila (Sauza Hornitos)

0.75 Oz Lime Juice

0.5 Oz Breckenridge Bitters

0.5 Oz Benedictine

Quite nice, much better than what usually happen when I try to invent rather than seek out a recipe. I found so few recipes incorporating Breckenridge Bitters that I just had to experiment. The drink features a nice interplay between the honey of the Benedictine and the buttery notes in the tequila. The Breckenridge Bitters play a background role, but a very nice supporting one. I just had this feeling they would play well with Benedictine

For those who have not tried the Breckenridge Bitters, they are in the same family as Campari, very much an aperitif. I have read they are somewhat similar to Gran Classico, which I have not had the pleasure of sampling. To my mind they are mellower than Campari, both a bit less bitter and much less syrupy.

[mukki]

A few classic warm-weather drinks these past few days.

Honeysuckle with Flor de Cana white rum, sage honey syrup, lime juice

FrogPrincesse,

How do you make the sage honey syrup?

[Hassouni]

A few classic warm-weather drinks these past few days.

Queen's Park Swizzle with Appleton 12 year rum and mint from the garden

Honeysuckle with Flor de Cana white rum, sage honey syrup, lime juice

Gin Gin Mule with Junipero gin, Bundaberg ginger beer, lime juice, simple syrup, mint

What kind of mint do you grow? Yours looks much better than the thin-leaved variety in my yard...

[FrogPrincesse]

FrogPrincesse,How do you make the sage honey syrup?

Mukki- That was a little ambiguous I realize. It's just a 1:1 syrup made with a local wild sage honey.

[FrogPrincesse]

What kind of mint do you grow? Yours looks much better than the thin-leaved variety in my yard...

Hassouni - it's spearmint. I use Miracle Grow every once in a while (and whey from ricotta production; I read that some plants liked it).... It grows in a pot and has been trying to take over neighboring pots. I do my best to keep it under control! Edited July 3, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

A post by Olmoelisa reminded me to make a Campari Spritz. Yum.

[ChrisTaylor]

A gin and tonic to test a new acquisition:

The gin is made in Western Australia and is made with various native spices.

[Plantes Vertes]

Was it good, ChrisTaylor? Do you know which spices were in it?

Edited July 4, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

I think I like it. I've yet to try it in other contexts: I'll get around to a Last Word and maybe even a Martini, even tho' I've yet to develop any taste for them. It was essentially a blind buy. The store didn't have a sample taster avaliable any more but I was able to try their London Dry-style gin, The Sabre. I enjoyed it enough to take a risk with The Cutlass.

'The West Winds Cutlass is bolstered by an increase in ABV to 50% to take its place amongst the new worldstyles that continue to emerge. Handcrafted, small batch is the key to its delicacy. The introduction of Australian bush tomato pairs up with an increase in coriander seed to produce a headstrong but beautifully aromatic and altogether drinkable gin. For the seasoned gin drinker serve with lots of ice, a splash of premium tonic and a slither of green capsicum.'

This is from the West Winds website. The salesman told me there was some lemon myrtle in there and, given the pepperiness of this and The Sabre, I expect there's some native pepperberry too. As you can see, I garnished my G&T with lime. I guess I'll have to pick up some capsicum--or maybe a jalapeno--tomorrow.

Edited July 4, 2013 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

Thanks Chris! It sounds pretty far out. Tomato eh?

[ChrisTaylor]

Bush tomato is a nightshade but, according to Wikipedia, maybe more closely related to aubergine than tomato. Booze jacked with eggplant is probably scarier than booze jacked with tomato, though.

Edited July 4, 2013 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[Rafa]

Paloma with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Perfection.

Plus an improvised pineapple and gentian monstrosity. Let us never speak of it again.

[Plantes Vertes]

Paloma with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Perfection.

Plus an improvised pineapple and gentian monstrosity. Let us never speak of it again.

Speak of what?

[Adam George]

My-Tai Mark III

15ml Skipper Demerera

15ml Smith and Cross

25ml Trois Rivieres Blanc

15ml Grand Marnier

25ml Lime

10ml Orgeat syrup

5ml Vanilla syrup

There are bitters or the lime-it's not brown.

Edited July 6, 2013 by Adam George (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Been enjoying Spiced Hemingway daiquiris lately with Sailor Jerry, Luxardo maraschino and Ruby Red grapefruit juice. The spice seems to give the drink a bass note that's missing from a plain white rum version. Very refreshing. Not quite as good as with real Cuban rum, but not a bad lateral move given the unavailability of the Havana Club here.

[FrogPrincesse]

Toby Maloney's Three Seasons with Pimm's No. 1, Junipero gin, muddled lime, lemon, orange, cucumber, strawberry & mint, topped with soda.

[Plantes Vertes]

It's a Bamboo #1.

2oz Tio Pepe fino

2oz extra dry vermouth

1/4oz Cointreau

3 dashes orange bitters

It's a very subtle drink and a good way to appreciate the grape and citrus flavours of the main ingredients. It's very dry obviously and the nice bitterness is quite pronounced. The sweetness and spices from the Cointreau come through at the end. I really liked it.

[sbumgarner]

Tried this last night:

1 oz Krogstad Aquavit

1 oz Junipero

.75 oz lime

.5 oz grenadine

.25 oz Averna

.25 oz 2:1 simple

4 drops absinthe

2 dashes celery bitters

pinch of salt

Shake, strain into ice-filled Collins glass, top with ~1 oz of club soda.

Eh. Next time I definitely would cut the simple. It wasn't awful and has potential, but I'm not sure what else is needed to get it there at the moment.