Drinks! (2012, part 2)

[rod rock]

1 oz. india's pride "premium indian rum"

1 oz. hiram walker kirschwasser

1 oz. cynar

1 oz. dominican sour orange juice

2 dashes peychaud's bitters

I wonder how it would taste with adding little bit of fresh lemon. This seems interesting!

[mkayahara]

Got a sampler of Scrappy's bitters today, so I made a Ransom Old Tom Old Fashioned with the lavender bitters, using green Chartreuse as the sweetener. The aromatics integrate really thoroughly, perhaps too much so, but there's a nice floral finish, if you're into that sort of thing. Next time, I'll probably do a Chartreuse rinse and just sweeten with sugar. I could see this working quite nicely with xocolatl bitters, too, if you lack the lavender.

[Emily_R]

I had a delicious cocktail at a restaurant in NYC this weekend, and then just called them up to ask for the recipe. They called it a ginger martini, and the bartender told me...

Around 1 tsp grated ginger, muddled with a bit of sugar

1 oz orange vodka

1/4 oz apple schnapps

1/4 oz lemon juice

Shaken hard with ice (it had those nice little frosty shards in it), and garnished with a twist of orange. Really really summery and refreshing. I never would have imagined putting those flavors together, but it really worked.

[ChrisTaylor]

Bijou in a bar. I think 1.5oz gin is too much, esp. if we're talking Plymouth. Gin just kicks seven kinds of fuck out of all the other ingredients.

[thirtyoneknots]

Bijou in a bar. I think 1.5oz gin is too much, esp. if we're talking Plymouth. Gin just kicks seven kinds of fuck out of all the other ingredients.

Hmm...I know making this drink gin-heavy is fashionable but I always saw the Chartreuse as the dominating ingredient there. Plymouth is pretty soft, as gin goes.

[ChrisTaylor]

If there was only an ounce of gin in there I suspect that, yeah, the Chartreuse would've come through even stronger (it did come through, but this was less the bitters-heavy drink [non-specific--I wasn't in the mood for thinking or researching but wanted something that wasn't a Negroni or Americano or any of the other usual suspects). I can't picture that version appealing to me much more than the one I had, to be honest.

[Vieux Carré]

I have, for what I assume are obvious reasons, resisted getting a bottle of blue curacao. But seeing a bottle of Drillaud Blue Curacao with its electric blue color, I finally bought a bottle. This permits me to make the last drinks I had not tried from Dr. Cocktail's Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails. Having a "dusty bottle" Crown Royal buried in the back of a shelf (as the doctor ordered), I whipped up a Leatherneck Cocktail. I am surprised to find that the Drillaud BC is not overly sweet and mixed with the CR makes a drinkable, though not particularly exciting, cocktail. Still I have to admit, I do find drinking a blue cocktail kind of fun on a warm day--who'd a figured?

[Tri2Cook]

I do find drinking a blue cocktail kind of fun on a warm day--who'd a figured?

The people that make blue curacao?

[tanstaafl2]

I have, for what I assume are obvious reasons, resisted getting a bottle of blue curacao. But seeing a bottle of Drillaud Blue Curacao with its electric blue color, I finally bought a bottle. This permits me to make the last drinks I had not tried from Dr. Cocktail's Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails. Having a "dusty bottle" Crown Royal buried in the back of a shelf (as the doctor ordered), I whipped up a Leatherneck Cocktail. I am surprised to find that the Drillaud BC is not overly sweet and mixed with the CR makes a drinkable, though not particularly exciting, cocktail. Still I have to admit, I do find drinking a blue cocktail kind of fun on a warm day--who'd a figured?

I confess I rather like the Leatherneck but then CR was drunk a lot by my crowd back in the day some 30 odd years ago when we thought it was the top of the heap in the spirits world, mostly because our budget was severely limited and our cocktail knowledge even more so. A sentimental thing I suppose.

I like the color as well when I have blue curacao handy, which isn't often, but I mix it with most any curacao when the mood hits me. Both the clear Senior curacao and the newer Ferrand dry curacao work for me. Close your eyes and you can imagine it as having that turquoise glow without the expense and effort of trying to track down a decent blue curacao!

Hmm, I wonder what Clement Creole Shrubb would do as a sub.

[ChrisTaylor]

Wanted to test out at least one of my new bitters. Opted for the recipe on the label of the Dandelion & Burdock bitters: 50mL reposado (Espolon), couple dashes of dandelion bitters and some green tea-infused simple.

[ChrisTaylor]

I had this |---| much left in a bottle of Campari and figured, hey, I may as well make an Americano to finish it up, right? Poured it into the glass and, oh, man, I guess that's about 60mL. Deceptive bottle shape and all that. So in went 60mL Punt and however much juice I managed to squeeze from a ruby grapefruit (didn't measure it). And then, yeah, that other ingredient. I leaned in all close-like and whispered the words 'soda water' over the drink.

[ChrisTaylor]

A recipe I found in, I think, the Strega thread. Equal parts rye (Ritt), Strega and Fernet Branca. Rocks (or, maybe, just one really big one) and an orange twist. Despite Strega having a pretty strong taste, I think the Fernet (unsurprisingly) kicked seven varieties of shit out of everything else. And, I mean, Fernet tastes really fucking great, so this is all acceptable ... but maybe next time I'd go 1 oz Rittenhouse, 1 Strega and .5 Fernet.

[Chris Amirault]

I think the new Pierre Ferrand dry curacao is absolutely amazing, and I built this drink sitting at the bar of Cook & Brown with the intention of creating a very dry tribute to it. [square bracket marks an addition for the less adventurous crowd, for whom you could also sub in a less dry brandy like Hennessy VS.]

Arid, Extra Dry

1 oz Marie Duffau Napoleon Bas Armagnac

1 oz Ransom Old Tom gin

3/4 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao Ancienne Methode

[dash simple syrup]

dash Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas Decanter bitters

Stir; strain.

Glass: coupe.

Garnish: orange twist.

[thirtyoneknots]

1 oz Marie Duffau Napoleon Bas Armagnac

That's some real nice stuff right there. Real nice.

[FrogPrincesse]

1 oz Marie Duffau Napoleon Bas Armagnac

That's some real nice stuff right there. Real nice.

It does seem nice.

It must be the French snob in me, but I would have a really hard time using Armagnac in cocktails. It's so nice on its own and it is somewhat difficicult to find (at least here in San Diego).

[bostonapothecary]

.75 oz. ransom old tom gin

.75 oz. puysegur bas armagnac

.75 oz. gran classico amaro

.75 oz. sour orange juice

dash peychaud's bitters

the idea of old tom gin, armagnac, & orange sounded awesome, but i wanted to try it in a tart drink. refreshing. i need to further explore the old tom gin & armagnac duo.

chris, have you tried the compass box "orangerie" yet?

[ChrisTaylor]

Pegu Club using the 4:1:1 ratio. When I first tried this I used, for some reason, Cointreau. This time I used GM. Better choice. Tanq. for the gin and Regan's instead of Fee's for the orange bitters component probably helped out some, too.

[tanstaafl2]

Last night was a smallish dinner party of 10 to celebrate the arrival of the Rhum JM 1994. Needless to say it was all about rum for the evening!

I broke out the rum collection for the gang. I made available some (ok, most!) of the rums and sugar cane related bottles in my own liquor cabinet for sampling.

In addition a couple of guests rums included Ron Medellin Gran Reserva from Colombia and the Zacapa XO.

The evening started out with a Doctor Cocktail using Kronan, lime juice and several different rums for comparison to include Brugal, Appleton Extra and S&C. Opinions were mixed as to which was best. I liked the S&C version but was surprised how good all three were.

From there the evening moved on to rum tasting with our 2 guest rums, Pampero Anniversario and Zacapa 23yo among others and finished withe a tasting of the Rhum JM. The Rhum JM was splendid as hoped but the Pampero was also a pleasant surprise for me among the others sampled. The Ron Medellin was a bit thin and a little disappointing over all. The Zacapa XO was perhaps slightly drier than its younger sibling but the two were certainly similar in taste.

After that it was on to Mojitos and dinner. I was mostly using the HC Blanco but also made one with the FdC 4yo blanco which I found to be at least as good (and a lot easier to buy!).

Another pleasent evening seemed to had by all at the Tanstaafl Lounge!

Edited June 17, 2012 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[Chris Amirault]

chris, have you tried the compass box "orangerie" yet?

No. Should I?

[tanstaafl2]

The Ron Medellin was a bit thin and a little disappointing over all.

Seems the Ron Medellin rum from Colombia are all produced at 35% ABV which would likely explain the thin watery result. I have alerted my friend who travels down there on occasion so perhaps a better representation of Colombian rum, should it exist, will be available next time!

[Brown Hornet]

Pegu Club using the 4:1:1 ratio. When I first tried this I used, for some reason, Cointreau. This time I used GM. Better choice. Tanq. for the gin and Regan's instead of Fee's for the orange bitters component probably helped out some, too.

I had a Pegu Club Father's Day yesterday -- my current formula

2 oz Bols Genever

3/4 oz cointreau

1/2 oz lime

1 dash each Angostura, Regan's Orange, Fee's Orange bitters

Perfect drink for summer in Hotlanta. Admittedly this is a sweeter Pegu Club than the traditional but it's my new favorite. I'll make sure to try it with the GM next time and see if I prefer it over the Cointreau.

[thirtyoneknots]

1 oz Marie Duffau Napoleon Bas Armagnac

That's some real nice stuff right there. Real nice.

It does seem nice.

It must be the French snob in me, but I would have a really hard time using Armagnac in cocktails. It's so nice on its own and it is somewhat difficicult to find (at least here in San Diego).

Don't limit yourself! the Duffau Napoleon is very well priced. Last place I worked we made Fish House Punch with it for NYE and it was extremely well-received.

[FrogPrincesse]

Don't limit yourself! the Duffau Napoleon is very well priced. Last place I worked we made Fish House Punch with it for NYE and it was extremely well-received.

You are right; it looks like it is less than $40 a bottle which is reasonable. Much better than the 25-year Armagnac that I have at home and reserve for "special occasions".

How does it taste neat? Fish House Punch with Armagnac sounds amazing!

[thirtyoneknots]

Don't limit yourself! the Duffau Napoleon is very well priced. Last place I worked we made Fish House Punch with it for NYE and it was extremely well-received.

You are right; it looks like it is less than $40 a bottle which is reasonable. Much better than the 25-year Armagnac that I have at home and reserve for "special occasions".

How does it taste neat? Fish House Punch with Armagnac sounds amazing!

Neat it's quite accommodating but for a small premium you can go higher into the Duffau line and I think you'll find the money well spent if sipping is what's on your agenda.

[FrogPrincesse]

A Martini for Martini Day yesterday. Plymouth and Noilly Prat (3:1 ratio), lemon twist.

I loves olives (these are jalapeno-stuffed olives from Santa Barbara), but on the side preferably, not in my drink.

The Noilly Prat is the US formula that I have been hoarding. But since it's going to be brought back to the American market (see the story here), I might as well use up my bottle now!