Drinks! (2012, part 2)

[ChrisTaylor]

To drag Lillet 2012, kicking and screaming and everything else, back to the realm of the somewhat bitter apertif, I jacked it with a couple drops of orange bitters. I'll attempt this Fashionably Lillet cocktail tonight.

[campus five]

Lillet Fashioned...hmm gonna have to try that tonight, too.

I doubt I still have any Lillet in the fridge, so I'll probably try something similar with the Cocchi.

I've been on the Cocchi train since before it was available commercially, and when it came out, we went through two whole bottles without actually making a cocktail. Since it was summer at the time, Cocchi + soda, on the rocks, with a big fat orange peel was where it was at. I still don't think I've personally made any Lillet cocktails with it, at home at least.

[tanstaafl2]

Had a few friends over to sample some of the various bourbons I have acquired recently at my home on Saturday evening and then forgot about it until today after the excitement of the night out at Holman & Finch.

The evening started with the Experimental Collection rice bourbon form Buffalo Trace and a taste of Elmer T. Lee bourbon.

Of the two surprisingly the rice bourbon was better received. Aged 9+ years it is fairly smooth but admittedly did not have a lot of other distinguishing characteristics. The Elmer T. Lee was a good bit spicier, even a bit hot at 90 proof, and had a long finish too as compared to the rice bourbon. Would likely make an excellent mixer but not sure it would be a primary sipper for me.

Next up were the two E.H. Taylor bourbons, the Single Barrel and the more recent Warehouse C Tornado Survivor, both at 100 proof. I missed out on the first bottling of this new line of Taylor bourbons which was the Old Fashioned Sour Mash. The Single Barrel proved to be a hit with everyone. A delicate whiskey with a nice balance of sweetness and a touch of spice. The Tornado was just that, a real whirlwind of taste. Not much subtlety here! I got lots of spice that seemed to really dominate. A splash of water helped but the Single Barrel was the winner here unless you like your bourbon with a little kick!

Next we moved on to the three bourbons in the Antique collection, Eagle Rare, Stagg and Weller.

The Eagle Rare was of course the only one below 100 proof, weighing in at 90. It had little aroma in the bottle and even pouring out a bit and letting it breathe in the glass did not demonstrate much in the way of aroma. It was smooth, silky and very easy to drink though it had only a hint of spice and ended with a long slightly sweet finish.

The Stagg, at 142.6 proof, was surprisingly smooth but not something I could handle more than a sip of. It opened up quite nicely with a splash of water to bring it closer to 100 proof. much more full bodied and oily mouthfeel than the Eagle Rare but I noted what seemed like some similarities as well. I wonder just how different these two were when they started out.

The William Larue Weller was next and as a wheater was quite different from the Stagg despite a similar high proof of 133.5 proof. Again it opened up nicely with a splash of water and proved to be silky smooth with almost a honey taste to it at the finish.

We then closed the evening with a glass of the Pappy 20 year old which is bottled at 90.4 proof. Left out to "breath" for a bit the aroma was sweet with perhaps a bit of mustiness to the smell. It was delightfully smooth to drink with a bit of fruit character at the start and a longish but full bodied slightly smokey finish. Many similarities to me to the Weller once the Weller was softened with a bit of water.

In the end in this little group of definite non experts the Stagg, Weller and Pappy were well received but everyone seemed to also go back to the E.H. Taylor Single Barrel bourbon as a real favorite. A bit of a surprise but there it is.

[haresfur]

Corpse Reviver II at 1806 in Melbourne yesterday. They used Beefeater. It really is a nice drink but I rarely keep Lilet around. Perked me up enough to get through a rubber-chicken dinner held at the aquarium. Actually the dinner was ok but the penguins were more interesting than the speaker.

[EvergreenDan]

I hope it was a formal affair so the Penguins didn't feel overdressed.

Can you get Cocchi Americano, or is that impossible in Australia? It is quite nice all on its own (well, with a squeeze of lemon, or maybe a bit of seltzer if you're trying to stretch it out). I too like a Corpse Reviver #2, although I think I like the name even more -- even if the thought of a cocktail in the morning makes me pale.

[san]

We do our CR#2 with Cocchi instead of Lillet. The difference is pretty surprising; more complex and balanced. The Lillet can be a little sharper. Good call.

[haresfur]

If cocchi is available here, it is very hard to find and most likely extremely expensive. Still, I'll keep my eyes out.

[bostonapothecary]

modern rendering of fish house punch

.75 oz. lemon juice

1.5 oz. pineau des charentes

.75 oz. kuchan indian blood peach brandy with faux barrel finishing

feel free to complain that i omitted the rum.

the faux barrel finishing is creating by terminally vacuum reducing bourbon. the resultant residue is simply reconstituted with the peach brandy. this works well because most of the flavorants a barrel contributes to a spirit are not volatile at the boiling points of water or ethanol. the aroma from the grains evaporates away. the process can also be done on the nano scale and the batch i made was only 100ml. if you have a vacuum still like a rotovap the solvent can be recovered to either subsidize the cost of the process or to be concentrated itself then rejoined to create faux barrel proof renderings of spirits (overproof overholt or fernet 151...).

i'm testing the technique using a simple dehydrator, but i haven't yet had time to evaluate the results. it took 12 hours to dehydrate two 100ml containers of bourbon at 105F. i reconstituted one with the cheap applejack and the other with hiram walker kirschwasser.

[ChrisTaylor]

Re: Cocchi. If Nick's don't have it, and they don't, I doubt anyone would.

[Chris Amirault]

Been fiddling with this, and I think it's nailed now:

New Dog, Old Tricks

1 oz Buffalo Trace White Dog Mash #1

2 oz Herradura Añejo

3/4 oz Cointreau

3 dashes Bittermens xocolatl bitters

1 dash demerara syrup

Stir, strain, orange twist.

[bostonapothecary]

modern rendering of fish house punch

.75 oz. lemon juice

1.5 oz. pineau des charentes

.75 oz. kuchan indian blood peach brandy with faux barrel finishing

feel free to complain that i omitted the rum.

the faux barrel finishing is creating by terminally vacuum reducing bourbon. the resultant residue is simply reconstituted with the peach brandy. this works well because most of the flavorants a barrel contributes to a spirit are not volatile at the boiling points of water or ethanol. the aroma from the grains evaporates away. the process can also be done on the nano scale and the batch i made was only 100ml. if you have a vacuum still like a rotovap the solvent can be recovered to either subsidize the cost of the process or to be concentrated itself then rejoined to create faux barrel proof renderings of spirits (overproof overholt or fernet 151...).

i'm testing the technique using a simple dehydrator, but i haven't yet had time to evaluate the results. it took 12 hours to dehydrate two 100ml containers of bourbon at 105F. i reconstituted one with the cheap applejack and the other with hiram walker kirschwasser.

i tried the applejack with reconstituted barrel residue. pretty good. i gave it a test run with a marconi wireless

1.5 oz. applejack with reconstituted barrel residue

.75 oz. m&r sweet vermouth

dash peychaud's bitters

this made for a lovely drink. vacuum reduction was much faster but the dehydrator seemed to also produce nice results.

i haven't touched the applejack bottle in quite a while. the back said 35% finest apple brandy and 65% neutral spirits, but i think that the other detail they leave out is that with the 65% portion, they are making an faux apple brandy by simply re-distilling those neutral spirits with unfermented apple pulp. they get lots of apple aroma but not fermented apple aroma. labeling laws probably do not allow them to describe that 65% as an "apple brandy". i'd like to think the aroma tells that tale, but can anyone confirm their techniques?

[bostonapothecary]

2 oz. hiram walker kirschwasser with reconstituted barrel residue (80 cents/ounce!)

1 oz. lemon juice

8g. domino organic sugar (pretty close to white)

2 dashes peychaud's bitters

distractingly cold and tart drinks are not the greatest for testing out aroma, but i really enjoyed this. the barrel residue adds something hard to pin down that really pushes the ordinary into the extraordinary.

[bostonapothecary]

2 oz. pear eau-de-vie (aqua perfecta) with reconstituted barrel residue

4 g. non aromatic white sugar

4 dashes angostura bitters

this worked out really nicely. the barrel really bridges the gap between the aromas of pear and the aromas of the bitters.

i've tried nearly every fruit brandy i've got with this faux barrel aging method, but so far the peach brandy has been far and away the most spectacular. unaged, its like bubble-gum, but add the attentional tension created by the barrel and you've got something really extraordinary.

the essence reconstitutes easily, but with the pear there were some clumps that didn't re-dissolve and i suspect the vacuum flask always needs a double boiler as it gets to the last ounces. i'm wondering if i could dehydrate some bourbon in the glass i want to serve a drink in then have a chilled drink poured over it and let the guest incorporate the two for some aviary style theatrics. only one way to find out..

[haresfur]

I see a whole line of freeze-dried cocktails in your future. Just add vodka...

[tanstaafl2]

Saturday night was a trip to Restaurant Eugene, the restaurant that led to the development of the Holman & Finch Public House, with some friends for dinner.

In addition to way too much wine for dinner we had a couple of interesting libations before dinner. Everyone started at my house where we began with a Suppresor #7 as noted above. Then it was off to the restaurant where we arrived a bit early specifically to test drive the bar. And yes, we had a designated driver who doesn't generally drink anyway. That just meant more for the rest of us!

First up was a "Crazy Diamond". Recipe included American Spirit white whiskey, Sandeman's Founder's Reserve port, Cynar, Aperol, Regan's orange bitters and an orange peel for garnish.

Once again I am guilty of drinking a bit of it before taking the picture! Who could resist? Nice enough but not one that would have me wanting to track down the whiskey and port to try again.

Next up was "the Slapping Incident" (I forgot to ask about the peculiar name). This one included Rittenhouse BIB Rye, lime juice, Fernet, Cocchi di Torino, Faretti Biscotti liqueur and cracked black pepper for garnish served in a Collins glass over ice.

I chose it pretty much because of its interesting recipe but was pleasantly surprised with the results. Would be a fun if bracing spring/summery drink and I am going to have to get the full recipe which is available at the bottle shop since all I need to make this is the Biscotti liqueur.

It was an excellent evening and although it is perhaps on the slightly higher price end for Atlanta I highly recommend the restaurant for a night out on the town.

Edited March 12, 2012 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[Jstern35]

Just discovered this forum. After reading some of the recipes on here I definitely have some learning to do but here was today's effort..

2 oz Maker's mark

1/2 oz green chartreuse

1/2 oz cherry liqueur

1/2 oz vya sweet vermouth

Juice of half a Meyer lemon

couple dashes of Angostura

proportions can use some tweaking but flavor wise its right therr

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. jalinek 5 year old kosher plum slivovitz

.5 oz. fernet 151

1 oz. domain de montbourgeau macvin du jura

.5 oz. cynar

this is so delicous. macvin du jura is a pineau des charentes style fortified wine that has distinct and potent black tea aromas similar to those found in some grappas like the berta's of italy. insane stuff. imported by rosenthal if anyone wants to track it down. fernet 151 is 151 proof fernet create via numerous exotic and proprietary processes. it is pretty amazing on its own. if taken as a shot you think you think you survive the first massive wave of flavorants and everything will be okay, then after a split second delay you get clobbered by the gratuitous alcohol content. applied to a cocktail, you can cram tons of flavorants into a small space. the drinks template is the elaborated 50/50. this will be made again, but probably with regular fernet.

[FrogPrincesse]

I had a Blood Orange tonight (on the Campari thread) and I made him a Manhattan with Woodford bourbon, Carapano Antica, Boker's bitters, and brandied cherries.

After dinner, he was in the mood for a Caucasian...

[KatieLoeb]

Feeling fiercely lazy tonight. Don Sergio reposado on the rocks. Tried a wee splash of Polish Rose Hip syrup in my second one. Those flavors have potential together.

Edited March 15, 2012 by KatieLoeb (log)

[Ritty]

Am I the only one who feels compelled to make a special cocktail for The Ides of March?

Ides of March in Latin is Idus Martii, so I decided that I should make an Idus Martini:

3oz London gin

1oz Aperol (an bitter Italian aperitivo)

1oz Cocchi Americano (my favorite Italian vermouth)

a drop of Nelson's blood (aka English rum named after Lord Horatio Nelson)

It is a very good Martian red variation on The Classic.

[plattetude]

Poet's Dream, using Dave Wondrich's proportions --

2 oz gin (Beefeater)

1 oz dry vermouth (Dolin)

1/2 tsp Benedictine

2 dashes orange bitters (Srappy's)

Very good, but not as transcendant as I'd had at Lantern's Keep. Next time, I'll try with Plymouth, which I think will keep it a little more "dreamy."

Christopher

[tanstaafl2]

Poet's Dream, using Dave Wondrich's proportions --

2 oz gin (Beefeater)

1 oz dry vermouth (Dolin)

1/2 tsp Benedictine

2 dashes orange bitters (Srappy's)

Very good, but not as transcendant as I'd had at Lantern's Keep. Next time, I'll try with Plymouth, which I think will keep it a little more "dreamy."

Christopher

Imbibe recently had a post on this drink that was from Lantern's Keep. But they don't specify either the gin or the vermouth. Would be interesting to know what they choose to use in their particular version.

[mukki]

Classic Daiquiri (2.5 oz Flor de Cana rum, 1 oz lime, 3/4 oz simple) from Speakeasy: The Employees Only Guide.

[jnash85]

I did a kaffir lime margarita. House made kaffir lime syrup, lime juice, and silver tequila. I also had a few lime leafs in the shaker. I think I overdid it with the line leaf. It really takes over. This was inspired by a cocktail I saw on seriouseats at Le Bernardin.

[haresfur]

2 oz reposado tequila

1 oz Campari

1 tsp raspberry cordial

juice of 1 Valencia orange (do you really want me to measure?)

3 dashes Regan's orange bitters

Build in Collins glass. Add ice, then top with soda water.

The Valencia oranges aren't particularly acidic so this might be a bit sweet for some. More refreshing than challenging. The raspberry sits in the background at first. I used duty free Jose Cuervo for prototyping and a better tequila would be worth trying.

I'll make again as long as oranges are in season.