Drinks! (2004–2007)

[slkinsey]

For the little it's worth, one of my very favorite cocktails is Il Piano, which used to be but no longer is on the menu at Franny's in Brooklyn.  (I was the very first person ever to order one, and I have reason to suspect I was the only person who ever ordered any.)

It consists of Fernet Branca, Seven Up, and maybe that's it.

If you ask the bartender, I'm sure she or he will make you one.

Franny is very fond of Fernet Branca. I had a Fernet and Coke there on her suggestion that was delicious and refreshing.

[Sneakeater]

Did you know that Fernet and Coke is like the national drink of Buenos Aires teenagers?

(I don't mean to be insinuating anything by that, Sam.)

Edited July 2, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sneakeater]

Franny is very fond of Fernet Branca.  I had a Fernet and Coke there on her suggestion that was delicious and refreshing.

←

Franny was very proud to tell me that she invented Il Piano herself. When I ordered them from a table rather than the bar, she almost always brought it to me personally.

Edited July 2, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[johnder]

Today I was playing around with ideas that can help use up some of my lemon verbena plant that has decided to take over the garden. I came up with a new cocktail that I am calling at this point

It's frigging hot outside cocktail.

Lightly bruise 3 lemon verbena leaves

1/2 oz lime simple syrup

1/2 oz lime juice

2 oz rum (I used Plantation 1995 run for this batch)

Shake with lots of ice, double strain - up

Garnish with small verbena leaf.

It was very tasty. I made up a big batch of lime 1:1 simple syrup today that I was going to use for some daiquiris and used some for this drink. It really worked well.

I am going to try another round with some Rhum Agricole later tonight.

[Ktepi]

Lemon verbena and rum sounds like a good combination!

My Mile High Club:

about 1 oz Tanqueray gin

about 1/2 oz Luxardo maraschino (I'm running out! and I didn't see it at the NH state liquor store)

about 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

the pulp of 1/2 passion fruit (this was a very full passion fruit -- I was anticipating having to use a whole passion fruit, because the ones I used to get here were always very scant; but now that everyone carries Melissa's, they seem, well, fuller)

some rich lemon-infused syrup

some club soda

The syrup is the by-product of candying some Meyer lemon slices; I wind up using those syrups as bar ingredients a lot. Sometimes -- like with the lemon, or the pineapple-saffron -- the flavor is pretty pronounced, as much as you'd want from "lemon syrup." Sometimes, like with the strawberry, it's mild enough that the base spirit overwhelms it.

I fiddled with this until it was the right balance of sweet and tart without the gin being too overwhelming, and I'd guess the club soda is probably an ounce or two. The syrup was just a trickle, just enough to take the edge off the lemon and the gin.

[KatieLoeb]

ktepi, your Mile High Club sounds absolutely delicious!

A quick Google search reveals that the Marco Polo Sour Cherry syrup is available through Amazon.com and also HERE. I think Trader Joe's also carries a sour cherry juice, but it probably isn't as viscous or sweetened up as the Marco Polo syrup.

FWIW I found my syrup at my local Lebanese market. You might be able to locate it at a similar venue or perhaps at a Mediterranean shop.

Further nosing around has revealed that the importer is ADRIA IMPORTS, INC., 58-97 57th St, MASPETH NY 11378, PHONE: 718-326-4610. Maybe if you give them a call you can locate a local retailer.

Apparently there's also Black Currant, Blackberry, Blueberry, Mixed Fruit, Orange and Raspberry syrups available. Sounds like it has a lot of potential for cocktails.

[Ktepi]

ktepi, your Mile High Club sounds absolutely delicious!

A quick Google search reveals that the Marco Polo Sour Cherry syrup is available through Amazon.com and also HERE.  I think Trader Joe's also carries a sour cherry juice, but it probably isn't as viscous or sweetened up as the Marco Polo syrup.

FWIW I found my syrup at my local Lebanese market.  You might be able to locate it at a similar venue or perhaps at a Mediterranean shop.

Further nosing around has revealed that the importer is ADRIA IMPORTS, INC., 58-97 57th St, MASPETH NY 11378, PHONE: 718-326-4610.  Maybe if you give them a call you can locate a local retailer.

Apparently there's also Black Currant, Blackberry, Blueberry, Mixed Fruit, Orange and Raspberry syrups available.  Sounds like it has a lot of potnetial for cocktails. 

←

Oh excellent, thank you. The last two places I lived had Mediterranean markets -- I made a lot of pomegranate margaritas -- but I don't know of one here yet. There is a small Russian market I should check, though. New Hampshire doesn't seem to have discovered sour cherries, and I'm down to my last two Montmorencies in bourbon and sugar, left from last summer (perfect for old-fashioneds, which is where all the rest went).

I've been disappointed by playing with black currant in the past, though the other day I was thinking that Auburn vanilla liqueur in cassis lambic would probably be great -- I know it is with the framboise, one of those things that's so stupidly easy you don't feel like you've earned it.

But blueberry ... that would be cool.

[johnder]

For my 2nd cocktail tonight I had a variation of the Kelly Cocktail.

1 1/2 oz Lairds Bonded Applejack

1/4 oz Noilly Sweet Vermouth

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Homemade Grenadine

Dash simple syrup

2 dashes Peychaud Bitters

I changed the bitters from Angostura to Peychaud because like a few other people (Phil) I think Peychaud and applejack are a match made in heaven. I also used my homemade grenadine and as a result added a dash of 1:1 simple to bring the sweetness in line. (My grenadine is on the slightly tart side)

Pretty good cocktail overall. Very close to a Jack Rose, but the addition of the vermouth and bitters make it completely different. I am going to try making a Jack Rose with Peuchaud and see what happens at some point.

John

[johnder]

Tonight's beverage selection

I had a Ti Punch with Ed's great La Favorite Rhum

and the wife had a Violet Femme cocktail using my recently purchased bottle of Parfait Amor

Nothing like a long weekend to try out mucho cocktails.

john

[Jason Perlow]

Today, I made an improvised tomato-water "Mary" using the liquid leeched off from my making of a batch of fresh tomato salsa for my tostones I made for my BBQ this evening. The salt I added to the salsa rendered a lot of seasoned tomato water (which had chiles, garlic, onions, black pepper, lime juice) in it, which I mixed with crushed ice and a hit of Hendrick's cucumber-flavored gin.

I'm not sure what the hell to call it but it was freaking awesome. Beat any bloody mary I've ever had, for the most part. I highly reccomend mixing up a batch of salsa with this method. You get the salsa, and then a nice reward as a bonus.

We also made some Pina Coladas, the -proper- way in our Vita-Mix, using fresh pineapple, canned pineapple juice, coconut milk, and Brugal Anejo rum. Those really hit the spot.

Edited July 4, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[eje]

[...]

and the wife had a Violet Femme cocktail using my recently purchased bottle of Parfait Amor

[...]

←

Sounds like fun, John!

What's the Violet Femme?

Sounds like one real gone, daddy, gone, cocktail.

Please add it up for me.

~Erik

Edited July 4, 2006 by eje (log)

[johnder]

[...]

and the wife had a Violet Femme cocktail using my recently purchased bottle of Parfait Amor

[...]

←

Sounds like fun, John!

What's the Violet Femme?

Sounds like one gone, daddy, gone, cocktail.

Please add it up for me.

~Erik

←

The Violet Femme is a cocktail Brian at Pegu showed me. I think it his original creation, but not 100% sure. I will clarify with him next time I see him.

2 oz Plymouth

1/2 Oz Simple

1/2 Oz Parfait Amore

1 Oz Lemon.

Grapefruit Peel

Muddle Peel, add ingredients, shake, serve up with lemon wheel.

[raxelita]

We have a glut of rhubarb in the restaurant, so I invented:

The Rhubarb Swizzle:

2oz sweetened rhubarb puree (rhubarb heated down with sugar and pulverized)

2oz Busnel (cheapish) Calvados

.5oz lemon juice

2-2.5 oz Cava

Fill highball with crushed ice, pour first three ingredients over and swizzle. Top off with Cava. If desired (for added sweet fruitiness), top with another dollop of rhubarb puree.

[eje]

We have a glut of rhubarb in the restaurant, so I invented:

The Rhubarb Swizzle:

[...]

←

Another cool cocktail, raxelita!

I wonder how straight, uncooked, rhubarb juice would work in a cocktail. Really sour, I imagine.

Sadly, I think juicing rhubarb without a vegetable juicer would be a thankless task.

[raxelita]

Thanks eje--It was really tasty, almost smoothie-like in texture, with a nice foamy top provided by the Cava. We're thinking of having at least one revolving seasonal fruit cocktail, to go along with the whole local/seasonal bent of the food.

Edited July 6, 2006 by raxelita (log)

[johnder]

The Violet Femme I posted above is indeed Brian's original creation as confirmed tonight. I encourage you that if you have a bottle of Parfait Amor lying around to give it a go, it's really a awesome drink.

John

[ned]

The Haitian

Lots of mint muddled with some kind of sugar and ice

Lots of Barbancourt's

Some lime

A splash of soda if you're thirsty.

[Ktepi]

I was down to my last two bourbon-soaked Northstar tart cherries from last year, and wanted a drink where they wouldn't be lost -- and am out of bourbon other than what these had been soaking in. So:

2 oz Kijafa

1/4 oz maraschino

the two cherries and the bourbon they'd soaked in

about 1 oz tonic water

It needed to be diluted with something and the club soda wasn't cold -- I like the little bit of bitterness you get from using so little tonic. Nice round cherry flavor, not too redundant.

[cstuart]

For the little it's worth, one of my very favorite cocktails is Il Piano, which used to be but no longer is on the menu at Franny's in Brooklyn.  (I was the very first person ever to order one, and I have reason to suspect I was the only person who ever ordered any.)

It consists of Fernet Branca, Seven Up, and maybe that's it.

If you ask the bartender, I'm sure she or he will make you one.

Franny is very fond of Fernet Branca. I had a Fernet and Coke there on her suggestion that was delicious and refreshing.

←

Fernet and Coke is my roommates drink of choice. Recently I've seen a lot more people drinking Fernet - not sure why exactly.

[donbert]

Inspired by Charles Baker's Tequila por Mi Amante (strawberry infused Tequila) I made some strawberry infused Cachaça. Eric, from Pegu, came up with the following drink a couple nights ago:

2 oz Strawberry infused Cachaça (Mãe De Ouro)

1 oz Lime juice

1/4 oz Demerara Syrup (2:1 syrup)

1/2 oz Falarnum

1/2 oz Cream

1 Egg White

shake for at least a minute, serve in a tall glass with a splash of soda water.

It's like a cross between a Ramos Fizz and a strawberry milkshake. After finishing the liquid part of the drink you should grab a spoon for the strawberry meringue left in the glass.

[KatieLoeb]

This sounds absolutely delicious! I need a cold shower after reading the description!

[KatieLoeb]

Tonight's efforts revolved around a newly opened bottle of Wokka Saki and my determination that a palatable cocktail could be construed from it with pineapple flavoring added to the mix. Here the recipe for the eventual winner:

2 oz. Wokka Saki

.5 oz. Giammona Pineapple Syrup

.5 oz. fresh lime juice

.5 oz. Martini and Rossi Bianco

2 dashes Fee Brothers Orange Flower Water

Shake hard over ice and strain into a well chilled cocktail glass.

The resulting drink is bright neon yellow, on the sweeter side but tamed a bit by the lime juice. The vermouth seems to function to make everyone work well and play together nicely. This might need a bit of tweaking, but is tasty as is for the moment.

[Sneakeater]

I know that cocktails that you order at a bar rather than make yourself sort of violate the tone of this thread, but last night I knocked back several of a new cocktail to me: the Champs Elysee. I tried a few other things as well, but kept coming back to this, as it was exactly what I was in the mood for.

Here's a a recipe I pulled off the web. Sammy the fabulous bartender at Milk & Honey (and other related NYC spots) used Green Chartreuse instead of the Yellow the recipe calls for. As he put it, "the more intense and bitter, the better!" (You can see why you WANT this guy to be mixing your drinks.)

1 oz brandy

1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse

juice of 1/4 lemons

1/2 tsp powdered sugar

1 dash bitters

[donbert]

SE, not continue to stray further but, you have to try Jim Meehan's version of the Champs Elysee at Gramercy Tavern. He uses the Chartreuse VEP.

[Sneakeater]

Thanks. I'm THERE.