Drinks! (2013 Part 1)

[Chris Amirault]

Sorry -- missed this the first time.

Chris - excuse my ignorance but how does the Fundador brandy compare to a cognac? I don't think I've ever had Spanish brandy. Thanks!

It is... um... squirrelier. Rougher edges, more tops and tails, I'd imagine. Better for mixing in nearly everything save things like a Vieux Carré, where you want the uber-smooth cognac. But in a Brandy Cocktail, or a Mississippi Punch, or nearly everything I usually make, it's the beans. Whenever I see a bottle of Fundador I grab it.

[lesliec]

Sorry -- missed this the first time.

Chris - excuse my ignorance but how does the Fundador brandy compare to a cognac? I don't think I've ever had Spanish brandy. Thanks!

It is... um... squirrelier. Rougher edges, more tops and tails, I'd imagine. Better for mixing in nearly everything save things like a Vieux Carré, where you want the uber-smooth cognac. But in a Brandy Cocktail, or a Mississippi Punch, or nearly everything I usually make, it's the beans. Whenever I see a bottle of Fundador I grab it.

Cocktails with squirrels? Who remembers the Monty Python cocktail sketch? A squeeze of lemming, anyone?

Chris, I can't claim huge experience with cognac but we find (some) Spanish brandies are smoother, or at least more approachable. Esplendido, our current favourite, is very drinkable on its own; it's possibly even a bit understated for mixing. But I do anyway, such as in the Man Comes Around (post 516, above). But with names like Esplendido and Fabuloso, it's almost worth seeking these things out for the names alone!

[Hassouni]

I had a Trinidad Sour for the first time ever last night, at the Passenger in DC. Funnily enough, I had to give them my iPhone with the recipe on it for them to make it! What an utterly fantastic drink.

[tanstaafl2]

Now then, people - spare a thought for those of us who actually like making our own stuff! There's plenty of gin in bottles but it's a helluva kick opening a bottle of one's own. Likewise things like orgeat and falernum, where I haven't had a commercial product that's anything like as good (to my taste) as mine.

Oh, believe me when I say I have no objection if someone else wants to make it and let me be their taste tester! Just no skill or interest in doing it myself.

[Rafa]

This thread is the closest thing to a common room that this board has, so I'll just post this here: Serious Eats named this very forum a good source for cocktail information online. In case you didn't know we were.

On topic: most of my booze is still boxed after a recent move, so I'm keeping it simple. Tonight, a Laird's Bonded Old Fashioned with Angostura. Didn't even jigger it, just splashed some over a rock.

[campus five]

Waiting for some Indian food to be delivered, so I went with the most appropriate thing possible: a gin-and-tonic.

I went with a Tanqueray/Fever Tree combo, topped with several healthy dashes of Peychauds on top, and a lime wedge that was more like a 1/4 of a lime than 1/6th. Bamn. Delicious.

[FrogPrincesse]

This thread is the closest thing to a common room that this board has, so I'll just post this here: Serious Eats named this very forum a good source for cocktail information online. In case you didn't know we were.

Cool. Thanks for sharing this Rafa.

Kindred Cocktails is also included which is well deserved.

[Dave the Cook]

This thread is the closest thing to a common room that this board has, so I'll just post this here: Serious Eats named this very forum a good source for cocktail information online. In case you didn't know we were.

On topic: most of my booze is still boxed after a recent move, so I'm keeping it simple. Tonight, a Laird's Bonded Old Fashioned with Angostura. Didn't even jigger it, just splashed some over a rock.

Nice shout-out to Dan's site, too.

Gonna try a Laird's Bonded Old Fashioned in a few minutes.

ETA: x-posted with FrgoPrincesse. Still, thanks, Rafa.

Edited September 10, 2013 by Dave the Cook (log)

[bostonapothecary]

1.5 oz. jim beam 5 year (back of shelf find. possibly from the late 90's. $10.99/750.)

1 oz. pineau des charentes

.5 oz. nocino

1 oz. cashew "heavy cream"

really fun. the cashew heavy cream probably doesn't make or break the drink. the combo of the other three is pretty tasty stuff. really great with cream or a suspect a whole egg would also do nicely.

[FrogPrincesse]

A simple lemonade spiked with gin and bitters. I tried both a Miracle Mile forbidden bitters version and a Boker's bitters version, and they were both good.

[ChrisTaylor]

Two parts Cynar, One part Campari topped with soda in a half pint.

Possibly a new favourite aperitif.

This is very good.

[Adam George]

Cheers.

I went one further and also added one part Cherry Heering and one part 47% gin.

One part is 20ml, for the sake of size.

[KatieLoeb]

Sorry -- missed this the first time.

Chris - excuse my ignorance but how does the Fundador brandy compare to a cognac? I don't think I've ever had Spanish brandy. Thanks!

It is... um... squirrelier. Rougher edges, more tops and tails, I'd imagine. Better for mixing in nearly everything save things like a Vieux Carré, where you want the uber-smooth cognac. But in a Brandy Cocktail, or a Mississippi Punch, or nearly everything I usually make, it's the beans. Whenever I see a bottle of Fundador I grab it.

Cocktails with squirrels? Who remembers the Monty Python cocktail sketch? A squeeze of lemming, anyone?

Chris, I can't claim huge experience with cognac but we find (some) Spanish brandies are smoother, or at least more approachable. Esplendido, our current favourite, is very drinkable on its own; it's possibly even a bit understated for mixing. But I do anyway, such as in the Man Comes Around (post 516, above). But with names like Esplendido and Fabuloso, it's almost worth seeking these things out for the names alone!

There's another Spanish brandy you should seek out if you're a fan. Merito Brandy de Jerez comes in a liter bottle and is priced in the low $20's range. Really good stuff. I used it for Spanish Brandy Old Fashioneds (Old Fascists, as I call them) at an event a couple of months ago and it was delicious and a bargain for the flavor and quality.

Tonight I'm sipping on a Twelve Mile Limit, which might be my new favorite tipple:

1 oz. Appleton V/X rum

.5 oz. Rittenhouse Rye

.5 oz. St. Remy brandy

.5 oz. fresh lemon juice

.5 oz. homemade grenadine

Shaken and served up with a lemon twist. Deadly but delicious. Almost a tiki drink, but not quite. More of the bastard child of a tiki drink and a boozy old Pre-prohibition style cocktail. The drink calls for white rum but I didn't have any in the house. If I'd had some El Dorado 3 year old around it would have been perfect, but that's a Special Order 'round these parts so I made do with what I had. The homemade grenadine is crucial, but I didn't need to tell you that. This is a really tasty cocktail that goes down way too easily. Definitely one for the sprint and not for the marathon.

Edited September 15, 2013 by KatieLoeb (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

Yesterday I finally signed up with Kindred Cocktails (hi, guys) and found this splendid thing:

TheMan.jpg

The Man Comes Around is Cynar, Mezcal, Spanish brandy (I used Garvey's Esplendido), Fernet Branca and Xocolatl bitters, and is a creation of our very own Rafa (who goes by DrunkLab on KC). Just my style, with lots of bitterness. The Cynar is quite dominant, to the extent where I'm not sure I could detect the FB - that's quite an achievement!

Highly recommended if you like bitter.

I bought a bottle of Spanish brandy just to make this.

Wonderful drink, Rafa. You're an artist.

[ChrisTaylor]

Cheers.

I went one further and also added one part Cherry Heering and one part 47% gin.

One part is 20ml, for the sake of size.

Duly made and tested.

You are a man I would follow into combat.

[Adam George]

Red Leader standing by.

[Hassouni]

big crunktastic party at my new place yesterday, what better than pre-made cocktails served out of gallon water jugs?

Made a gallon of gin buck:

1.75L gin (Seagram's...80 proof, whatever)

22 oz lemon juice squeezed right before the party started

As much Ango Bs as was left in the bottle (two ounces perhaps?)

Topped up to fill the jug with Gosling's ginger beer

And a gallon of my own variation on a Jamaican classic, sorrel punch - following the tradition of 1 of sour, 2 of sweet, 3 of strong, 4 of weak, with a Jamaican recipe for sorrel (hibiscus tea) used as the weak

It came out something like this:

4 of weak:

3.5 oz dried hibiscus aka sorrel aka flor de jamaica, simmered for half an hour in 52 oz water with a thinly sliced chunk of ginger, a few cloves, and a cinnamon stick or two, then left to steep in the fridge overnight

2 of sweet:

mixed with 26 oz 2:1 white sugar simple

3 of strong: 39 gat-damn ounces of J Wray & Nephew White Lightning Overproof White Rum

1 of sour - 13 oz of limes squeezed at the last minute

Both were AWESOME. Both were STRONG. Both gave most of the attendees hangovers this morning

[bartenderkyle]

^{Sorry -- missed this the first time.}

^{Chris - excuse my ignorance but how does the Fundador brandy compare to a cognac? I don't think I've ever had Spanish brandy. Thanks!}

^{It is... um... squirrelier. Rougher edges, more tops and tails, I'd imagine. Better for mixing in nearly everything save things like a Vieux Carré, where you want the uber-smooth cognac. But in a Brandy Cocktail, or a Mississippi Punch, or nearly everything I usually make, it's the beans. Whenever I see a bottle of Fundador I grab it.}

^{Cocktails with squirrels? Who remembers the Monty Python cocktail sketch? A squeeze of lemming, anyone?}

^{Chris, I can't claim huge experience with cognac but we find (some) Spanish brandies are smoother, or at least more approachable. Esplendido, our current favourite, is very drinkable on its own; it's possibly even a bit understated for mixing. But I do anyway, such as in the Man Comes Around (post 516, above). But with names like Esplendido and Fabuloso, it's almost worth seeking these things out for the names alone!}

^{Yesterday I finally signed up with Kindred Cocktails (hi, guys) and found this splendid thing:}

^TheMan.jpg

^{The Man Comes Around is Cynar, Mezcal, Spanish brandy (I used Garvey's Esplendido), Fernet Branca and Xocolatl bitters, and is a creation of our very own Rafa (who goes by DrunkLab on KC). Just my style, with lots of bitterness. The Cynar is quite dominant, to the extent where I'm not sure I could detect the FB - that's quite an achievement!}

^{Highly recommended if you like bitter.}

^{I bought a bottle of Spanish brandy just to make this.}

^{Wonderful drink, Rafa. You're an artist.}

Another cocktail great containing squirrels, contributed by Rafa...

Craft Squirrel Sex Manhattan

by Dale DeGroff, Clyde Common, Williamsburg, MA, as told to Rafa García Febles over Slippery Nipples in Monaco.

3/4 oz Limoncello

3/4 oz Strawberry eau de vie (squirrel-infused)

3/4 oz Eau de Vie of Douglas Fir

3/4 oz Raspberry Shrub

3/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur

3/8 oz Cranberry (Pickled)

4 pn Tartaric acid powder

1 ds Demerara syrup (3:1)

1 rinse Grenadine

16 spl Fernet Branca

Plant, grow, ferment, and distill eaux de vie from lemons, strawberries, and Douglas Fir on-site in the greenhouse on the terrace of your Brooklyn loft. (Must be on-site. Must be Brooklyn.) Sweeten the lemon eau de vie with fresh cane syrup. Infuse the strawberry eau de vie with squirrel (fresh only!). Combine. Hand craft a barrel out of staves rescued from your father's first yacht and age spirits in barrel for six weeks or until you've grown bored and moved on to your next artisanal project, whichever comes first. Empty barrel, and heart. Combine contents of barrel (but not heart) with handmade raspberry shrub (with raspberries plucked from your significant other's father's estate) and authentic Maraschino liqueur. In a mortar and pestle, mash with pickled cranberries overnight. Strain. Ferment in the gullet of a hoatzin, the Guyanese stink-bird (for that touch of Demerara smoke!). Kill and gut bird; double strain. In Erlenmeyer flask, add tartaric acid (fresh squeezed only!) and Demerara syrup, then smash the flask over a rotary evaporator and evaporate its contents rotarily. Convert the remaining liquid into a spray and serve out of an atomizer inserted into the mouth of a grenadine-rinsed and hand-taxidermied squirrel (eastern gray only!). Splash Fernet Branca (or other difficult amaro) until fragrant. Serve up.

--

Kindred Cocktails | Craft + Collect + Concoct + Categorize + Community

Thank God for KC, otherwise the world would be a much emptier place.

[Adam George]

Gets me every time.

[Adam George]

New job, new camera lens that I'm still mastering (Silly shallow depth of field) so we celebrated at my favourite bar, Nightjar with some pink champagne.

Sometimes when I'm out, I can't be bothered with cocktails. Nightjar's are particularly involved. It's sort of the drink's equivalent of experience dining, with many clocking in with 6 or more ingredients.

After a long shift, and with palate fatigue I'm not going in for something with "...Cherry blossom smoke...rose-hip jelly..." and neither do I want to pay £15 for something like an old fashioned that I can knock up at home.

Sorry that basically nothing in this photo is in focus. I was trying to get the first E in Mercier in, but it was dark and I had company.

[KD1191]

New job, new camera lens that I'm still mastering (Silly shallow depth of field) so we celebrated at my favourite bar, Nightjar with some pink champagne.

Sometimes when I'm out, I can't be bothered with cocktails. Nightjar's are particularly involved. It's sort of the drink's equivalent of experience dining, with many clocking in with 6 or more ingredients.

Congrats, where are you at? Heading to London this evening, and may have some spare drinking time.

Felt the same way about Nightjar...playing cards, tiny paper cranes, and buckwheat sprigs (all on one drink!) don't really add anything to the cocktail.

[Adam George]

I love Nightjar as a concept.its executed very well and the bartenders are some of the fastest and most elegant bartenders I've come across. They pump out silly complex drinks in relatively no time at all. The amount of man hours that go into prep are really impressive

However a lot of the drinks are too sweet for me because they are not really a bar tender's bar. Instead they cater for people that do not really drink cocktails. The whole place is a bit of a paradox. I love the atmosphere, though.

[ChrisTaylor]

I made a Not Dark and Stormy^TM with Dawnie ginger beer, Inner Circle green and, because Dawnie is slightly sweet, a couple dashes each of Bitter Truth Lemon and Angostura Orange.

[bostonapothecary]

1.5 oz. Marmite Rye (50% alc. acid catalyzed esterification, max time under heat, fake aged)

.75 oz. Special edition Dandelion honey Yellow Chartreuse (40%)

.75 oz. Gammel dansk (38%)

Some spare projects were lying around so I thought I'd whip up something burly. Something about this just isn't hitting it for me. The alcohol content ends up being massive and I can't quite get a nice glimpse of the sensual character of the dandelion honey. Regrets and missed opportunities, maybe I'll try again after lunch with a sherry in place of the rye.

[Yojimbo]

1 oz. each of El Dorado 3 year, Appleton VX, 1 barspoon each of Luxardo Triplum and Maraschino, juice of 1/2 lime, dash each or Angostura orange and absinthe. Stirred with ice and topped with ginger beer, with a float of Lemon Hart 151 on top. I threw in a sprig of pineapple sage and part of a stalk of lemongrass for garnish, the lemon grass makes a nice edible swizzle stick.