Drinks! (2013 Part 1)

[Adam George]

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.

Sounds great and I love the label!

[Hassouni]

Pre-dinner drink: test pilot, made with all the ingredients shown (the unmarked bottle is homemade falernum, and Palo Viejo is a very serviceable rum from PR I picked up for a pittance while there 6 weeks ago)

Post-dinner, nargile (hookah) on the deck COS ITS FINALLY SPRING drink: a Queen's Park Swizzle, breaking in the new Lemon Hart 80 and the genuine swizzle stick I got from Cocktail Kingdom a while back:

[Rafa]

Really wish we could get Lemon Hart 80 here. And I second Palo Viejo as perfectly alright.

Last night I tried Cacao Prieto's Don Esteban Rum Liqueur. Despite the name, it's very dry, with a wonderfully dark, lush chocolate flavor rounded out by pepper and a touch of espresso. Amazing; I couldn't stop sipping it. I think with some simple syrup it could function as an otherworldly creme de cacao, but I'd rather use it as a chocolate spirit base for cocktails along the lines of Mozart Dry (also unavailable here) if it weren't so expensive.

[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

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.

Thanks!

I grabbed it on a whim, since I like the original so much. The rosato is much richer and punchier, which lots of strawberry and rose and spice. It also seems a little more bitter, but that might just be because the original's bitterness seems offset by the citrus, whereas the rosato doesn't have that quality. I almost like drinking it on its own more than mixing with it!

[sbumgarner]

Last night I felt like a Daiquiri but not a Daiquiri, so I did this:

1 oz Banks 5 Island

1 oz El Dorado 3

.75 oz lime

.25 oz 1:1 simple

.25 oz Luxardo Maraschino

scant teaspoon PF Dry Curacao

scant half-teaspoon Hum

Shake, strain, coupe

A lot going on but to my surprise everything played it's part - a little funk, a hint of orange, and the Hum is so powerful that even in tiny amounts you can taste the spices and aromatics in the background (unfortunately that has rendered Hum as my largest, most expensive bottle of bitters). Cutting the rum 50/50 with the ED3 added some richness that seemed more appropriate in a drink like this rather than a classic Daiquiri.

[Rafa]

I grabbed it on a whim, since I like the original so much. The rosato is much richer and punchier, which lots of strawberry and rose and spice. It also seems a little more bitter, but that might just be because the original's bitterness seems offset by the citrus, whereas the rosato doesn't have that quality. I almost like drinking it on its own more than mixing with it!

I feel the same way about the original. Sounds like the Rosa will be very good now that it's punch season, maybe with some bourbon...

I tried a Jungle Bird in Sam Ross' ratios (omitting the simple) with the Don Esteban chocolate rum "liqueur" and liked it. I think I'll try it again, this time cutting back on the pineapple juice, adding a 1/4 oz of allspice dram, and spiking the chocolate rum with some Lemon Hart 151, and call it a Hoatzin, for the national jungle bird of Guyana.

Oh, and this

1 1/4 oz Green Chartreuse

1/2 oz St. Germain

1/4 oz gin

3/4 oz lime

1 oz soda water

1 slice cucumber

1 pinch salt

4 leaves mint

1 sprig of mint, slapped, for garnish

was very nice.

[EvergreenDan]

Scotch Negroni

1 oz Islay Scotch (Bowmore Legend)

1 oz Sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes)

1 oz Campari

lemon twist

If (and that's a bit if) you like each ingredient individually, you'll like the combo. After I made it, I realize that it is like my Bernet Frankenstein: sub Fernet for Campari and ditch the twist and ice/chilling.

[FrogPrincesse]

More experimenting with the St George Terroir gin.

After a fabulous Martini a while back that I forgot to post (2:1 with Noilly Prat dry vermouth, Regan's & Fee Brothers orange bitters)...

... a Bee's Knee (with lemon juice, buckwheat honey) which seemed to emphasize the rosemary/cypress notes in the gin. Loved it.

[haresfur]

Julep variation for 2:

Start dissolving 2 tsp date syrup in

4 oz Wild Turkey 101 rye

When you get bored stirring (my date syrup is very thick) go outside and harvest a few sprigs mint.

Stir the drink some more then gently muddle the mint in. Add ice and stir some more.

Strain over decent size ice cubes in 4 oz rocks glasses.

Spank a couple of small tender mint sprig tips and float on top of the ice.

I was thinking of naming this Oasis except I can't due to the musical association. So since I was making two I'll call it Date Night.

[Rafa]

Last night I came home from work exhausted and with a sweet tooth so I made myself a Scotch, sherry, apple brandy, ginger, and honey milkshake. To my taste it was delicious (pat, pat) but a bit rich for the weather.

Today I came home and made myself a crisp and barely sweetened John Collins with Bols Genever. Aah. Much more weather appropriate.

Edit: Just added half a dropper of Dutch's Colonial Bitters to the Collins. Recommended.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Rafa (log)

[thampik]

I am after a bit of advice on which ones to buy.

Briottet or Luxardo Marachino liqueur (the former is quite a lot cheaper)?

I am also looking for a Rye - 100% proof Rittenhouse (approx £32) is a lot more expensive that Rittenhouse Straight (£22) so is it worth it? Are there any other reasonably priced alternatives?

[haresfur]

Get the Luxardo - it's the standard. You can always try the less expensive one once you know what you are aiming for. For rye I'd be happy to get Rittenhouse 100 proof for that price. You could also look for Wild Turkey rye - preferably 101. The higher proof spirits will give you more control over dilution.

[ChrisTaylor]

It's cold so I'm planning on moving onto whiskey later but, pre-dinner, a Negroni seems sensible. Equal parts Tanq (the last of a bottle--don't you love it when that bit at the bottom gives you exaaaactly 30mL), Campari and Punt e Mes w/ a dash of Fee's orange bitters. I've been disloyal and played with many variations that replace the gin with this or that--genever, dark rum--and even less-sinful-but-still-somewhat-dangerous variants (2:1:1 in favour of gin, say) but this, yeah, as nice as some of those variations are the equal parts classic is a masterpiece. It's the Christina Hendricks of drinks: sexy and bold and red.

[Adam George]

I am after a bit of advice on which ones to buy.

Briottet or Luxardo Marachino liqueur (the former is quite a lot cheaper)?

I am also looking for a Rye - 100% proof Rittenhouse (approx £32) is a lot more expensive that Rittenhouse Straight (£22) so is it worth it? Are there any other reasonably priced alternatives?

At Home I use Briottet and its perfectly fine, but not as funky and complex as luxardo.

100 proof is well worth it, but the price has gone up. You won't find Wild Turkey anywhere. No one in England has any.

[thampik]

thanks, haresfur and Adam. I'll try the luxardo and the 100% proof rye.

[Hassouni]

Wowee, this may be one of the best drinks I've made in a while:

Lemon Hart 151 (old bottling) old fashioned

quarter sized puddle of 2:1 simple (made with evap. cane juice sugar, so brown), 3 dashes Angostura, an ounce or so of the rum, and a bit less of filtered water, stirred with ice.

The combination of everything has the intense, luxurious sweet spiciness of pimento dram or falernum, while having neither in it. Cracking drink! Will try it with my LH80 later and report back (both here and in my thread on the subject)

[FrogPrincesse]

A couple of recent cocktails.

This very nice Manhattan for my husband with Templeton rye, Cocchi vermouth di Torino, Boker's bitters, brandied cherry.

The Rolls Royce from the Savoy (ratios from Bartender's Choice): gin, sweet & dry vermouths, benedictine. A perfect Martini variation with a touch of Benedictine. I used a lemon peel because I was out of oranges but orange would be best.

[FrogPrincesse]

I forgot this one... It was quite hot in San Diego this weekend so we just had some Lillet on ice to cool us down.

[Plantes Vertes]

When I found myself still working at 11pm, I made a Bloody Mary.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

Then when I finished the project I went for an Apple Crisp. I used Wild Turkey 101; found out that in Kentucky it's called 'the Kickin' Chicken'

Edited April 24, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[Rafa]

1 1/2 oz Rhum JM Blanc

3/4 oz Clément Créole Shrubb

3/4 oz Lime juice

1/2 oz Campari

Anyone have any idea what to call this? It started out as a rhum agricole take on a Margarita (a Marguerite?) but it took a swerve in a Papa Doble direction, after which I looked at Dan Chadwick's Margara for ratio ideas.It's not very bitter at all; it tastes like a dry-ish grapefruit Margarita, and I could see it being pretty successful with just a 1/4 oz of Petite Canne cane syrup to sweeten it up. I want to give it a Martinique-related name but I know little of its culture beyond rhum and its beaches and all the Edouard Glissant I read in college.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Rafa (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

1 1/2 oz Rhum JM Blanc

3/4 oz Clément Créole Shrubb

3/4 oz Lime juice

1/2 oz Campari

Anyone have any idea what to call this? It started out as a rhum agricole take on a Margarita (a Marguerite?) but it took a swerve in a Papa Doble direction, after which I looked at Dan Chadwick's Margara for ratio ideas.It's not very bitter at all; it tastes like a dry-ish grapefruit Margarita, and I could see it being pretty successful with just a 1/4 oz of Petite Canne cane syrup to sweeten it up. I want to give it a Martinique-related name but I know little of its culture beyond rhum and its beaches and all the Edouard Glissant I read in college.

What about a Four Snakes? This is the Martinique flag, and you have four ingredients, so.... but if you put cane syrup in you'll have five and ruin it. Better not do that.

Edit: Wikipedia has these things to say about the etymology of the name Martinique, which perhaps might interest you:

Martinique owes its name to Christopher Columbus, who sighted the island in 1493 and finally landed on 15 June 1502. The island was then called "Jouanacaëra-Matinino", which came from a mythical island described by the Tainos of Hispaniola. According to historian Sydney Daney, the island was called "Jouanacaëra" by the Caribs, which would mean "the island of iguanas". After Columbus' initial discovery, the name then evolved into Madinina ("Island of Flowers"), Madiana, and Matinite. When Columbus returned to the island in 1502, he rechristened the island as Martinica. Finally, through the influence of the neighboring island of Dominica (La Dominique), it came to be known as Martinique.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[haresfur]

1 1/2 oz Rhum JM Blanc

3/4 oz Clément Créole Shrubb

3/4 oz Lime juice

1/2 oz Campari

Anyone have any idea what to call this? It started out as a rhum agricole take on a Margarita (a Marguerite?) but it took a swerve in a Papa Doble direction, after which I looked at Dan Chadwick's Margara for ratio ideas.It's not very bitter at all; it tastes like a dry-ish grapefruit Margarita, and I could see it being pretty successful with just a 1/4 oz of Petite Canne cane syrup to sweeten it up. I want to give it a Martinique-related name but I know little of its culture beyond rhum and its beaches and all the Edouard Glissant I read in college.

Glissant on the Beach?

[Kerry Beal]

1 1/2 oz Rhum JM Blanc

3/4 oz Clément Créole Shrubb

3/4 oz Lime juice

1/2 oz Campari

Anyone have any idea what to call this? It started out as a rhum agricole take on a Margarita (a Marguerite?) but it took a swerve in a Papa Doble direction, after which I looked at Dan Chadwick's Margara for ratio ideas.It's not very bitter at all; it tastes like a dry-ish grapefruit Margarita, and I could see it being pretty successful with just a 1/4 oz of Petite Canne cane syrup to sweeten it up. I want to give it a Martinique-related name but I know little of its culture beyond rhum and its beaches and all the Edouard Glissant I read in college.

"A French Possession"?

[Rafa]

Thank you all so much! A lot of good ideas so far, and a lot of good stuff on Martinique. One of my favorite parts of researching/inventing drinks is the huge and diverse amounts of information I pick up along the way.

I'm leaning toward something feminine starting with an M, but Four Snakes is a great idea and now I want to save that up for another drink.

1 1/2 oz Rhum JM Blanc

3/4 oz Clément Créole Shrubb

3/4 oz Lime juice

1/2 oz Campari

Anyone have any idea what to call this? It started out as a rhum agricole take on a Margarita (a Marguerite?) but it took a swerve in a Papa Doble direction, after which I looked at Dan Chadwick's Margara for ratio ideas.It's not very bitter at all; it tastes like a dry-ish grapefruit Margarita, and I could see it being pretty successful with just a 1/4 oz of Petite Canne cane syrup to sweeten it up. I want to give it a Martinique-related name but I know little of its culture beyond rhum and its beaches and all the Edouard Glissant I read in college.

Glissant on the Beach?

Yup. Nothing says sexy fun times on the beach like "interrogating notions of Creole identity vis-a-vis Africanism." Yup. Just remembering what I spent four years studying makes me want another drink.