Drinks! (2013 Part 1)

[mkayahara]

Made a Good Things Come from the Beta book:

1 3/4 oz Redbreast

1/2 oz PX sherry

1/2 Fernet Branca

1/4 yellow Chartreuse

The recipe asked for a dash of Scrappy's lavender bitters, which I sadly do not have on hand. I dashed in our friend Adam's Aphrodite bitters instead, and, by gum, that works just fine. A splendid entry in the brown-n-stirred canon, and, thanks to Aphrodite, a pun on the drink's name as well.

This sounds really good, Chris. I do have the bitters, but I don't have the sherry. It's really never possible to have all the ingredients you need, is it?

[Chris Amirault]

Especially things that don't keep and are not base spirits: that PX is amazing but you don't use 2 oz a pop....

[mkayahara]

Precisely. Nothing irritates me more than a cocktail recipe that calls for 3 different fortified/aromatized wines. And PX is something I usually only have around Christmas, because it goes so nicely in egg nog.

[Adam George]

I drink PX whenever I can. It keeps forever. Possibly longer under vacu vin and in the fridge.

[Yojimbo]

Unnamed drink:

2 oz. Ransom Old Tom

1 oz. Dolin dry

1/2 oz. Ferrand Dry Curacao

1/2 oz. Meyer lemon juice

2 dashes Angustura

built over ice and stirred.

Much as I was hoping for synergy, this was kind of two drinks fighting it out in the glass, with the orange/spice flavors of the gin and curacao not quite melding with the floral notes of the vermouth and the bright citrus of the lemon. Still pretty tasty, but it's clear that in most cases, Ransom does better with sweet vermouths. There is a reciple with Doulin bianco that I have yet to try, though.

[Chris Amirault]

A brave effort. I struggle to nail a drink with Meyer lemons, and Ransom is a tough nut too.

[KD1191]

Stopped in at The Violet Hour over the weekend and, while I always leave impressed, the Shoot The Piano Player (Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy, Cinnamon Honey Syrup, House Made Amer Picon, Blanche de Bruxelles) knocked my socks off. Built over kold draft cubes in a tulip glass, it was the most wonderfully fruity thing I've tasted in some time, and the first beer cocktail I can remember enjoying entirely on its own merits.

I'll also admit to often wrongly overlooking the vodka category. I need to stop that, because they have a history of using it to pull out interesting flavors from lower-proof ingredients. This tactic was on display in the Pick Me Up (Tito's, Dolin Blanc, Combier Cherry Liqueur, Angostura Bitters). I think the drink was designed as a way to accentuate the best qualities of Dolin Blanc. There is a wonderful note of cherry blossom in the vermouth that is amplified by the vodka and echoed by a hint of cherry liqueur. This was a drink for spring, served in the depths of Chicago winter.

Edited January 30, 2013 by KD1191 (log)

[tanstaafl2]

Out for dinner last night at the Iberian Pig and tried several house cocktails featuring rye and bourbon.

The first was called North Park Square with bourbon, sweet vermouth, honey syrup, black tea bitters with a lemon twist. Tasty, a bit on the dry side with a hint of bitterness perhaps because of the black tea bitters.

Next was the house old fashioned with bacon infused rye, maple syrup and angostura bitters.

But my favorite, and I admit to having a sweet tooth, was their variation on the Gramercy variation of the Spanish Harlem found in the Kindred Cocktail library. In addition to replacing the vermouth with PX sherry they also replaced the Maraschino liqueur with Averna.

1.5 bourbon, 1 Averna, 0.5 PX sherry (they were using Gonzalez Byass Nectar PX Sherry, very rich and plummy sweet) and angostura bitters garnished with three cherries (which got eaten before I could take a picture!).

A most pleasing drink to me!

Edited January 31, 2013 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[thampik]

I'm really keen on PX in a cocktail (since the PDT Rapscallion recipe) so I was keen on trying this. Well... No Averna

so I had to sub Cynar and really enjoyed it-probably need to tweak the quantities as it was a touch too sweet

[EvergreenDan]

Smoking Jacket. I used a mild single malt, skipped the bitters and dried it out a with a half part of dry vermouth. Excellent. Good intro to Scotch for the Scotch-o-phobe.

Smoking Jacket

by Paul Manzelli, Craigie and Bergamot, Boston, MA

1 1/2 oz Blended Scotch, Grant and Sons

3/4 oz Cynar

3/4 oz Sweet vermouth, Carpano Punt e Mes

1 oz Orange bitters

Stir, strain, low ball, big cube

[Hassouni]

It's cold.

Muscovado sugar + juice of half a lemon in a mug

4 cloves and a cinnamon stick thrown in

add 2 oz Cruzan black strap and an ounce of homemade pimento dram

Top with boiling water and dash with orange bitters.

Mm mm mm~!

[Hassouni]

It's cold again, but that has little relevance.

First: classic Sazerac, with Rittenhouse 100 and Demerara syrup

Second: a cube's worth of muscovado sugar, a generous shitload of Angostura bitters, 1/4 oz water - muddled into a syrup. Stirred with 2 oz Scarlet Ibis, and strained up into an OF glass - a sort of rum old fashioned served Sazerac style. This is one HELL of a rich drink! Highly recommended.

[Hassouni]

After making a shit-tasting "Brain Duster" (equal parts rye, red vermouth, absinthe + bitters - this drink might be ok with 4:4:1 rye:vermouth:absinthe....) I made a very lovely Applejack Rabbit, which I'm currently enjoying. I used the ratios given by David Embury, but upped the maple syrup a bit:

1.5 oz Laird's Bonded

.25 oz lemon juice

.25 oz orange juice

.5 oz Québecois grade B maple syrup.

Shaken and served up. Goooood stuff! Might change it to .5 oz lemon next and keep everything the same, but mm mm mm!

PS, the Brain Duster was from Wondrich's Esquire column. It was an utter and profound dud. Really unpleasant. Anybody else tried this and liked it?

Edited February 4, 2013 by Hassouni (log)

[KD1191]

Last night it was a couple drinks with the new Tanqueray Malacca...

First, a Martinez:

1 1/2 oz Tanqueray Malacca

1 oz Carpano Antica Formula

1/4 oz Leopold Bros Maraschino

20 Drops Bittercube Orange Bitters

Really lovely. The gin is drier than its 80 proof might otherwise suggest, and it has quite a bit more spice than I was expecting. It is not a fruity gin. Here, it amplifies and accentuates the vanilla in the CAF while adding depth to the herbaceous qualities of the vermouth.

Second,

2 oz Tanqueray Malacca

1 oz Noilly Prat Ambré

2 Dashes Miracle Mile Sour Cherry Bitters

If you don't have access to Ambré (this includes the vast majority of the world), Cocchi Americano is close. As soon as I tasted the flavor profile of the gin, I knew that this would be terrific. The bitters might not have been exactly the right call, but I knew I needed something with a bit of fruit to counteract all of the interesting spice (cinnamon, clove) that was going to be happening between the gin & vermouth. I have a feeling these two will become very well acquainted...

[FrogPrincesse]

KD1191 - between the Tanqueray Malacca and the Noilly Prat ambré, I think you are just taunting us!

[KD1191]

KD1191 - between the Tanqueray Malacca and the Noilly Prat ambré, I think you are just taunting us!

I can confirm that (the far more accessible) Cocchi Americano is an equally inspired pairing. Hopefully that assuages some of those feelings.

I've been holding onto that bottle of Ambré since my trip to Paris last spring...I wasn't sure what might prompt me to open it, but when I tasted the gin, I knew I would have to try them together.

[tanstaafl2]

KD1191 - between the Tanqueray Malacca and the Noilly Prat ambré, I think you are just taunting us!

I can confirm that (the far more accessible) Cocchi Americano is an equally inspired pairing. Hopefully that assuages some of those feelings.

I've been holding onto that bottle of Ambré since my trip to Paris last spring...I wasn't sure what might prompt me to open it, but when I tasted the gin, I knew I would have to try them together.

Where did you acquire the Tanq malacca? I have already asked about it locally but I doubt it will land out here in the hinterlands anytime soon. But stranger things have happened! is there an online shipper source?

[KD1191]

KD1191 - between the Tanqueray Malacca and the Noilly Prat ambré, I think you are just taunting us!

I can confirm that (the far more accessible) Cocchi Americano is an equally inspired pairing. Hopefully that assuages some of those feelings.

I've been holding onto that bottle of Ambré since my trip to Paris last spring...I wasn't sure what might prompt me to open it, but when I tasted the gin, I knew I would have to try them together.

Where did you acquire the Tanq malacca? I have already asked about it locally but I doubt it will land out here in the hinterlands anytime soon. But stranger things have happened! is there an online shipper source?

It was a gift, and a much appreciated one, as my conversations with local shopkeeps make me doubtful that we'll see it on the shelves here in Illinois. That said, some of it will supposedly be hitting retail in New York. I would expect allocation to be pretty limited, but it couldn't hurt to call around to the usual suspects in NYC.

[Adam George]

I'll be at the launch party in London on Monday.

I hope to snag a bottle or too and will report back next week.

[sbumgarner]

I used a Negroni template last night to come up with something I would definitely repeat:

1 oz reposado tequila (I used Espolon)

1 oz Meletti

1 oz Cardamaro

Stir, strain into coupe. Orange twist.

It obviously didn't have the bitter bite of a Negroni but the acidity of the Cardamaro combined with the peppery tequila was offset nicely with the rich chocolatey notes of the Meletti, with enough overall bitterness to round it all out.

[bostonapothecary]

.75 oz. benromach speyside single malt

.75 oz. linie aquavite

.75 oz. walnut liqueur

.75 oz. florio sweet marsala

this was quite extraordinary. yet another big marsala success. the linie and benromach contrasted each other wonderfully. this will be made again.

[bostonapothecary]

.75 oz. lime juice

.75 oz. rum agricola da madeira

.75 oz. hispaniola mamajuana

.75 oz. goya coconut cream (caramelized in pressure cooker for 40 minutes)

the spirits and coconut cream were run through the colloid mill a few times to homogenize all the fat. the rest of this isn't being served until monday but i thought i'd start today and see how it held up. in the past i've just homogenized the coconut cream by itself. if anything appears to separate i'll just mill it again the day of.

quite the delicious take on a colada.

[Adam George]

Drinking Chablis tonight: I really didn't feel like mixing.

[bostonapothecary]

1.5 oz. cape verdean tamarind ponche (high acid liqueur)

.5 oz. campari

.5 oz. tabasco "aromatized" gin

.75 oz. lime juice

shaken, double strained, diluted to 4.5 final volume, gassed up to 8g/l CO2 using the champagne bottle manifold.

my favorite version of the sparkling tamarind drink. in the previous iteration i only used .5 oz. lime juice but i keep finding with these sparkling drinks i cannot stick to my usual even ratios and maintain the harmonies i want.

[Chris Amirault]

This kills.

Nemo Toddy

2 oz (or maybe more) Old Monk rum

1/2 oz (or maybe more) Smith & Cross rum

1/2 oz rich (2:1) Rancho Gordo piloncillo syrup

3/4 oz lime juice

3 dashes Bittermens xocolatl bitters

1" cube of ginger, grated on a microplane

Add the liquid ingredients into a mug. Put the grated ginger into a fine strainer and pour boiling water over it. Stir. No garnish.