Drinks! (2013 Part 1)

[bostonapothecary]

That sounds ... fucking awesome.

EDIT

I'd be tempted to use a blend of Angostura bitters and Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters.

Thanks. I wasn't sure which way to go with the bitters so I went with the easy choice. There's a background of bitter in the sweet potato syrup as well, from the sugar caramelizing on the pan, so I didn't want to go to heavy on additional bittering. The spices in the Angostura seemed like a good choice with the sweet potato theme but it would be fun to try others. I have enough syrup left for a few more.

Sounds good. Got a name for it?

Didn't even think about a name. It's not very practical to make. It was just one of those moments when an idea hit me at the right time. Normally, an idea like that would hit me a few minutes after I've already cleaned the pan.

in Guyana there is a drink called sweet potato fly that old ladies make. they save the water they boil their sweet potatoes in and use it to make lemonade. its is great as lemonade but i've also used sweet potato water in my ginger beer. a little ginger might be an awesome addition to that syrup.

[Rafa]

in Guyana there is a drink called sweet potato fly that old ladies make. they save the water they boil their sweet potatoes in and use it to make lemonade. its is great as lemonade but i've also used sweet potato water in my ginger beer. a little ginger might be an awesome addition to that syrup.

Great ideas.

Out of curiosity, do you serve any of your experiments (with distilled wines, re-distilled gins, reconstituted liqueurs, etc) at the restaurant where you work? Or are they all private projects/research that you do in your own time.

[FrogPrincesse]

This:

Black Francis

by Rafa García Febles, NYC.

2 oz Rye

1/2 oz Maurin Quina

3/4 oz Cynar

1 twst Lemon peel

1 Cherry, Luxardo (as garnish)

Stir, strain, rock, garnish.

Nice cherry accord. Dark and bitter. Maurin Quina rewards playing around with.

This drink also ties in with haresfur's post in the Naming Cocktails thread about naming drinks after pop culture (and indie musicians, specifically).

Love the name. If you come up with further variations on that theme you have the Frank Black and the Charles Thompson IV that can also work... Perfect.

[bostonapothecary]

in Guyana there is a drink called sweet potato fly that old ladies make. they save the water they boil their sweet potatoes in and use it to make lemonade. its is great as lemonade but i've also used sweet potato water in my ginger beer. a little ginger might be an awesome addition to that syrup.

Great ideas.

Out of curiosity, do you serve any of your experiments (with distilled wines, re-distilled gins, reconstituted liqueurs, etc) at the restaurant where you work? Or are they all private projects/research that you do in your own time.

I'll give you the long answer because people always wonder why I work where I do and why we keep it so simple. I do more or less all projects on my own time these days but tons of people come by the house and drink them. distilling stuff yourself is illegal so you cannot serve your own distilled stuff anywhere. the reconstituted liqueurs and fake oak aged stuff is legal but I don't use any of that at work. I kept it around for a while but it didn't resonate too well. I'm still serving people their first old fashioneds. my mottoes often are: be patient and its too easy to make money and keep people happy. we patiently serve gin drinks, force local distilleries on people as well as slightly off the beaten path wine varietals. I try to keep the other staff patient. they seem to get bored with our wines and cocktails when our patrons do not.

right now the only interesting stuff I'm doing at work is carbonated cocktails in magnums for our events and exploring reflux de-aeration of citrus juices so I can juice twice a week but keep everything un-oxidized.

the restaurant is experimental in different ways. I just listen to people. what do they notice? what do they ask for? what language do they use and how do they respond to language? how do they respond to our lack of certain products? how much further do you get remembering peoples names and being charismatic than having the dopest product? someday when I start selling really wild stuff again I think it will have been useful to have just paused and spent a few years listening. I'm also limited by a horrible budget. we are always cash strapped due to all the owner's projects but the challenge is fun. most of my bar manager tasks are trying to keep the boat afloat. someday knowing how to be financially practical will also pay off.

I thought someone would offer me a job someday where I could actually use all my accumulated projects but that definitely has yet to happen. I've tried to keep my experience at work very teamwork and service orientated to contrast all the technical experience I've accumulated in my own free time.

when people arrange a visit I usually go out of my way to make sure there is extra cool stuff laying around.

[Rafa]

Thank you for answering so fully and honestly. There's a lot to be said for the sort of bar you work at, and some of my best experiences at bars have been with warm and perceptive bartenders who are committed to giving their customers a memorable experience and turning them on to new things. But I find so much of what you do really exciting and I'd love for a bar program that could properly showcase projects from you and like-minded others. (Minus the distilled spirits, of course.)

[ChrisTaylor]

Likely Doubtful:

1.5 oz. Angostura Bitters

1 oz. lemon juice

1 oz. simple

.25 oz. Batavia Arrack

.25 oz. Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao

1 egg white

splash seltzer

dry shake, shake and strain into dry collins, top with seltzer

Simple variation of an Angostura Fizz. The curacao and arrack soften the bitters enough to make this really approachable even though Ango is the main ingredient. It separates pretty quick, but the color is awesome.

Arrack to soften something. Love it.

[FrogPrincesse]

I made myself a Negroni last night with St George Terroir gin and Cocchi vermouth. It was really great, but to be honest the flavor of that gin is so fantastic that I felt a little bad muddling it with other ingredients. So for my husband I made a Bin n' Gitters, which is just gin, lime juice, and simple syrup with a bunch of crushed ice, topped with Angostura bitters and garnished with mint. This was a great way to enjoy this gin and its layers of botanicals (and yes that's a 1/2 liter bottle of Angostura in the background in case you were wondering!).

[Hassouni]

How's the Cocchi in a negroni?

[FrogPrincesse]

How's the Cocchi in a negroni?

I like it. It has more chocolate than ripe berries notes compared to the Dolin, and is a little more bitter. Just a different style. Can't wait to try it in a Manhattan.

[KD1191]

How's the Cocchi in a negroni?

I like it. It has more chocolate than ripe berries notes compared to the Dolin, and is a little more bitter. Just a different style. Can't wait to try it in a Manhattan.

That 'chocolate' in the Cocchi VdT pairs great with the minty characteristics of Fernet. It's very good in a typical Manhattan, but even better in a Fanciulli (6:3:1 of Rye/Bourbon, Sweet Vermouth, Fernet).

[FrogPrincesse]

How's the Cocchi in a negroni?

I like it. It has more chocolate than ripe berries notes compared to the Dolin, and is a little more bitter. Just a different style. Can't wait to try it in a Manhattan.

That 'chocolate' in the Cocchi VdT pairs great with the minty characteristics of Fernet. It's very good in a typical Manhattan, but even better in a Fanciulli (6:3:1 of Rye/Bourbon, Sweet Vermouth, Fernet).

Good to know regarding Fernet and Cocchi VdT. Maybe time to revisit the Hanky Panky as well then.

[bostonapothecary]

sow's ear and the silk purse

1.5 oz. apple brandy from bragg apple cider vinegar (55%)

1.5 oz. centrifuged rhubarb juice

8 g. non aromatic white sugar

.75 oz. lemon juice

2 dashes peychauds bitters

the resultant 5 oz. of diluted cocktail was carbonated to approx. 8 g/L of dissolved CO2 with the champagne bottle manifold

the apple brandy from cider vinegar was a strange concept recipe designed to illustrate a few concepts. it is a long story but the spirit was probably very high in ethyl acetate and acetaldehyde and plain old acetic acid despite best efforts to neutralize it. after a year of sitting around it has "mellowed" dramatically and the apple character, though not exactly ready to replace lairds, has improved. the rhubarb juice has been in the freezer since last spring and i couldn't remember if it was sugared or not. weighing it and comparing it to the volume said it was completely un-sugared. i've lost track of so many things that i need new techniques to figure out how much a forgotten project has been sugared or if it has been cut with water. sometimes the volumes are too low for a hydrometer so i'm exploring finding density by comparing mass to volume.

this was particularly delicious. when you have the power of the cocktail all flaws can become features.

[FrogPrincesse]

Wow that Hanky Panky with Cocchi VdT was so good, even my husband who is terrified of Fernet thought it was nice! Thanks KD1191 for suggesting Cocchi VdT with Fernet. A winning combo for sure.

I used the ratios from PDT: 2 oz gin, 1.5 oz sweet vermouth, 1/4 oz Fernet-Branca.

I made him a Manhattan with Templeton rye and Cocchi VdT that had great chocolate notes and a dry slightly bitter finish. Bitter chocolate. I resisted the urge to use mole bitters and used the whiskey barrel-aged bitters for more constrast. Really great.

Edited April 4, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[bostonapothecary]

1.5 oz noble rot brandy

.5 oz rain water madeira

.5 oz cynar

.5 oz lemon juice

dash peychauds bitters

I prefer equal parts for things like this but I only had .5 oz. of lemon juice so I let that dictate the shape of the drink. This tastes like a boozed up grapefruit with some serious patina.

[TheStarvingArtist]

Got a bottle of Dimmi Liquore to play with. Tried a fun twist on an Aviation that worked quite nicely- sort of spicy and flowery. Definitely will revisit this.

Lady of Milan

2oz Bluecoat gin

1/2oz Dimmi

1/2oz Cocchi Americano Rosato

1/4oz lemon juice

[Rafa]

Got a bottle of Dimmi Liquore to play with. Tried a fun twist on an Aviation that worked quite nicely- sort of spicy and flowery. Definitely will revisit this.

Lady of Milan

2oz Bluecoat gin

1/2oz Dimmi

1/2oz Cocchi Americano Rosato

1/4oz lemon juice

Gorgeous photo. I haven't tried the Cocchi Rosa and haven't found detailed reviews, but I gather it's a lot like the standard Americano? I may just buy it next time I'm restocking on Cocchi then.

Tonight, I made a Dark 'n Stormy to try out my new ginger syrup/soda, using Gosling's Black Seal instead of my usual Lemon Hart 151 (I'm low) or Cruzan Blackstrap (I'm out). The syrup came out pretty dry so I supplemented it with a bit of falernum and pineapple juice. Good choices.

[Adam George]

Today's cocktail; White Lady to Merchant Hotel specs: Equal parts Sapphire Export, Cointreau, Lemon, Absinthe rinse.

Anise garnish

[Rafa]

Very pretty. Very precarious. Would a joke about drinking on the edge be too easy?

Today, I made a simple hazelnut orgeat (hazelnut milk + Petite Canne cane syrup + Regan's orange bitters) and am enjoying some now on the rocks with soda and a few dashes of mole bitters (liquid Nutella!). This would go beautifully with bourbon, I think.

[Adam George]

I thought about putting the bottles up there too... Then thought better.

[Yojimbo]

A variation on David Wondrich's El Presidente (the later Imbibe version, not the Esquire version):

1 oz. Flor de Cana blanco

1 oz. Mt. Gay Eclipse (got it for free, trying to use it up)

1/2 oz. Luxardo Triplum

1 oz. Dolin blanc

juice of 1/2 lime

1 capful (about 2 teaspoons?) homemade grenadine

I'd post a picture but the second one already went shockingly fast. I will say that Dolin blanc and a decent white rum is a match made in heaven(Flor de C's not even my favorite, the El P. would sing with a better rum) .

[mkayahara]

1 oz. Mt. Gay Eclipse (got it for free, trying to use it up)

What's wrong with Mount Gay Eclipse?

[Rafa]

I will say that Dolin blanc and a decent white rum is a match made in heaven(Flor de C's not even my favorite, the El P. would sing with a better rum) .

Dolin blanc and El Dorado 3 are made for each other.

Try them in a Palmetto variant (2:1 rum to vermouth with two dashes mole bitters and a lemon twist) or with a touch of Maraschino in this thing I made.

[Yojimbo]

1 oz. Mt. Gay Eclipse (got it for free, trying to use it up)

What's wrong with Mount Gay Eclipse?

A totally fair question, MK, and I should've clarified my statement, but those two drinks were rather de-clarifying . . . . there's nothing wrong at all with Mt. Gay Eclipse as a gold rum, except for two things:

1. I never have enough space in the liquor cabinet, so I tend to try and drink up the stuff that I've acquired accidentally to make room for the stuff I've bought on purpose, and

2. My rum tastes lean towards light but flavorful blancos, (I second Rafa's take on the El Dorado 3 yr!) or something darker and funkier, i.e. Lemon Hart, S & C, or even blackstrap, so I have less interest in a gold rum, and in general I prefer Appleton V/X for mixing.

The Mt. Gay did work very nicely in the drink, though.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Yojimbo (log)

[Rafa]

It sounds like we have nearly the same taste in rum. For what it's worth, Mount Gay is releasing a new rum meant for mixing that's described as flavorful and spicy and sounds promising.

[bostonapothecary]

1.5 oz. ungodly strong sugar free chartreuse

1.5 oz. centrifuged rhubarb juice

8 g. non aromatic white sugar

.75 oz. lime juice

dual float of vida mezcal and goslings 151

the resultant 5 oz. of diluted cocktail was carbonated to approx. 8 g/L of dissolved CO2 with the champagne bottle manifold

I poured myself a mislabeled glass of something and decided to turn it into a sparkling cocktail. I still had some rhubarb juice so I decided to re-use that successful template. the dual float was something I was into a few years ago when some particularly wild people were hanging in the house. I spent the entire afternoon listening to Acid Mothers Temple which may have some sort of influence on the noisy drink. a fun one.