Drinks! (2004–2007)

[johnder]

I have been playing around with Apry. Having grown tired of the Barnum and Pendennis, I came up with my own cocktail based on the pendennis.

I call it the Gowanus.

2 Silver Tequilla

1 Apry

.75 Lime

2 Peychauds

Shake, up.

Very tasty.

[ThinkingBartender]

A dyslexic man might see the G as a C; Gowanus is a name that is just asking for trouble.

[Bricktop]

A Manhattan tonight. Upper East Side version .

2.5 Sazerac 18 year old Rye

1 Vya Sweet Vermouth

2 dashes Fee's Old Fashioned Bitters

Homemade cherry.

Absolutely amazing drink. Too amazing, really.

[johnder]

A dyslexic man might see the G as a C; Gowanus is a name that is just asking for trouble.

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Lol. Thats pretty funny. Given I grew up near the Gowanus canal, it never crossed my mind.

[jmfangio]

Tonight's drink was the Last Word. 

1 oz gin

1 oz green chartreuse

1 oz maraschino liqueur

1 oz lime juice

Round one was made with Stock maraschino.  A bit too sweet for our taste.  Round two was Maraska.  Perfect.   We're looking for ways to use the Stock since it seems like a shame to dump it.  The Maraska is drier and lets the herbal character of the chartreuse come through.  What a great drink!

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If you ever have an opportunity to get fresh yuzu, try that in place of the lime. Takes one of my favorite drinks to a whole new level.

[eje]

Something like a Juniperotivo

2 oz Junipero Gin

3/4 oz fresh pomegranate juice

1 key lime, ends cut off and quartered

1 barspoon rich simple

2 sprigs grapefruit mint

Muddle lime in rich simple syrup, add mint, Junipero, and pomegranate juice. Add ice and shake to chill and (double) strain into a cocktail glass.

Should have used a finer strainer to catch the lime pulp and smaller mint pieces. Depending on how sweet you like your cocktails and the tartness of your pomegranate juice, another barspoon of rich simple might be needed. This was pretty tart. Festive color, though.

[Nathan]

I ran out of plymouth last night and was in the mood to experiment so I fooled around with the sidecar and ended up with the following (absolutely delicious):

1 part calvados

1 part apricot brandy

1 part cointreau

dash grenadine

dash absinthe

2 dashes lemon juice.

[eje]

Bacardi Variation

3/4 oz white rum (Flor de Cana Extra Dry)

1 1/4 oz Havana Club 7

1/2 oz Grenadine (homemade)

Juice 2 mexican (key) limes

This was nice, with the stronger molasses flavor of the Havana Club coming through; but, the smoother Flor de Cana mellowing harsher aspects of the HC.

One of these days I gotta try the Flor de Cana 7 and see how it compares to the HC 7.

[eje]

Winter In California

2 oz Germain-Robin Fine Alambic Brandy

3/4 oz Ripe Hachiya Persimmon Puree

Juice 1 Satsuma Mandarin

1/2 oz Orgeat

1/4 oz Pimento Dram

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker to chill. Strain into cocktail glass.

Was making Persimmon Pudding and decided to challenge myself to make a cocktail out of the Persimmon Puree. This is pretty good. I think the only thing I might do to improve would be add a dash of bitters. Really like the christmas spice aftertaste of the Pimento Dram.

[johnder]

Tonight: Horsecar

1oz Rye (Rittenhouse)

3/4oz Sweet Vermouth (Anitca)

3/4oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly)

Dash Angostura

Cherry Garnish.

First time I made or had this cocktail. I found it in the Jones guide. I accidently left out the angostura and after adding it after a sip or two, its addition really makes the drink.

[bar.mix.master]

Tonight:  Horsecar

1oz Rye (Rittenhouse)

3/4oz Sweet Vermouth (Anitca)

3/4oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly)

Dash Angostura

Cherry Garnish.

First time I made or had this cocktail.  I found it in the Jones guide.  I accidently left out the angostura and after adding it after a sip or two, its addition really makes the drink.

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Ummm, isn't that a Perfect Manhattan?

[johnder]

Tonight:  Horsecar

1oz Rye (Rittenhouse)

3/4oz Sweet Vermouth (Anitca)

3/4oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly)

Dash Angostura

Cherry Garnish.

First time I made or had this cocktail.  I found it in the Jones guide.  I accidently left out the angostura and after adding it after a sip or two, its addition really makes the drink.

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Ummm, isn't that a Perfect Manhattan?

←

Manhattan Project.

I think it is a variation, the proportions are different. This is almost equal parts of rye and the vermouths. Most of the manhattan recipes I see is usually 2 - 2.5 oz of whisky and 1/2 to 3/4 of vermouth.

George started a thread today that we can probably move this conversation over, appropriately entitled:

[Bricktop]

A kind of Red Hook tonight, in that I unthinkingly grabbed the Vya rather than the Punt e Mes when compiling it. 2:0.5:0.5 of Jim Beam Rye, Vya Sweet Vermouth and Luxardo Maraschino.

Very yummy drink. Elsewhere (Cocktail Chronicles) I read that some had throttled back on the maraschino from 1/2 oz, and I concur.

On the subject of the Luxardo, I picked up another bottle when I was down in Baltimore. The first one was already a third low because of my Aviation slurping.

EDIT: Clarity

Edited November 27, 2006 by Bricktop (log)

[Bricktop]

Inspired by the Chartreuse thread, tonight was a San Martin

2 oz Gin (Junipero)

1 oz Sweet Vermouth (M&R)

a splash of Yellow Chartreuse

Lemon twist garnish.

My "splash" was a half capful. A very complex cocktail indeed. A lot going on there, and it was fun to sip and ponder it.

[ThinkingBartender]

Tonight:  Horsecar

1oz Rye (Rittenhouse)

3/4oz Sweet Vermouth (Anitca)

3/4oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly)

Dash Angostura

Cherry Garnish.

First time I made or had this cocktail.  I found it in the Jones guide.  I accidently left out the angostura and after adding it after a sip or two, its addition really makes the drink.

←

Ummm, isn't that a Perfect Manhattan?

←

Manhattan Project.

I think it is a variation, the proportions are different. This is almost equal parts of rye and the vermouths. Most of the manhattan recipes I see is usually 2 - 2.5 oz of whisky and 1/2 to 3/4 of vermouth.

George started a thread today that we can probably move this conversation over, appropriately entitled:

←

I think that the proportions of the Horsecar are too different to that of a perfect Manhattan; which I assume is 2 oz Rye, to 1 oz combined vermouth; easily worked out as a 2:1 ratio.

The Horsecar is 1 oz Rye, and 1 1/2 oz combined vermouth; so thats a 2:3 ratio.

We could say that the Horsecar is a Heavy Manhattan, and the Perfect Manhattan is a Light Manhattan (yay! I get to use my own terminology!!!)

[Nishla]

Inspired by the Chartreuse thread, tonight was a San Martin

2 oz Gin (Junipero)

1 oz Sweet Vermouth (M&R)

a splash of Yellow Chartreuse

Lemon twist garnish.

My "splash" was a half capful.   A very complex cocktail indeed.  A lot going on there, and it was fun to sip and ponder it.

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That sounds really good. I, too, was inspired by the chartreuse thread today...but I also wanted to use some homemade grenadine (don't want it to go bad!). I found one drink on cocktaildb including those two ingredients that wasn't a pousse cafe variation:

Razzberry Cocktail

1oz applejack (I used 1.5 oz)

3/4 oz raspberry syrup or grenadine

3/4 oz yellow chartreuse

Stir and strain into cocktail glass

I'm glad I increased the apple jack--it was still on the verge of being too syrupy. Also, I think a lemon twist would be nice but I was too lazy. I'll definitely try this again with a few tweaks.

[Mayur]

I've been working on a Thanksgiving pre-dinner cocktail tonight.  I was inspired by an e-mail I received that had something similar in it, but I changed up a few ingredients and re-worked it a bit.  Tried this two different ways tonight.

2 oz. Ten Cane Rum OR Laird's Applejack

1 oz. apple cider

.75 oz. fresh lemon juice

.5 oz. Marie Brizard Poire William liqueur

.5 oz. Spiced Dark Simple Syrup*

one dash Fee Brother's Old Fashioned Bitters

Lemon rind

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a flamed lemon peel.

My biggest complaint is probably my own fault.  My market only had gallon containers of the unpasteurized fresh apple cider and I didn't have room for one in my fridge (in addition to living alone and loathing the amount of waste I already create) so I bought a smaller bottle of pasteurized cider.  It just isn't "apple-ey" enough, but I suspect that would improve either drink tremendously.  The Applejack version of the drink was good, but I think the Ten Cane rum version was even better.  The subtle spicing from the simple syrup is a little more evident in the rum based version of the drink.  Both versions are very light and autumnal and pretty well balanced.

Any suggestions on a good name for this concoction??

* Spiced Dark Simple Syrup

1.5 cups water

3 cinnamon sticks, broken up

4 star anise

10 whole cloves

1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes

1 cup demerara sugar (I use Trader Joe's organic)

Bring water to a boil and add spices.  Allow to boil for three minutes.  Add sugar, stir to dissolve and allow to simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally.  Turn off heat and allow to cool.  Strain before using.

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Wow; that's too funny.

My Thanksgiving cocktail, the Canadian Commonwealth:

3 applejack

2 pear cider (unpasteurized fresh)

2 Pimm's No. 3 ("winter")

.25 Vya dry

.5 spiced maple syrup (cinnamon, cloves, star anise infused)

.75 lemon juice

dash of old-fashioned bitters

Topped with a slug of sparkling (alcoholic) pear cider. Dusting of five-spice powder on rim of glass.

If I'd had Poire Williams or another suitable eau-de-vie (Quetsch or some such being my favorite), I'd probably have gone with that.

Great minds?

Incidentally, eje: How do you think that pomegranate-y Juniperotivo variant would work with a slug of stone pine liqueur? I've been after the ultimate Christmas cocktail...

Edited November 29, 2006 by Mayur (log)

[eje]

[...]

Incidentally, eje: How do you think that pomegranate-y Juniperotivo variant would work with a slug of stone pine liqueur? I've been after the ultimate Christmas cocktail...

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The Zirbenz Stone Pine liqueur?

Pomegranate and Zirbenz does sound interesting.

But, I find the Zirbenz to get lost pretty easily when combined with strongly flavored liquors. I'd worry you wouldn't really taste it much in combo with the Junipero. Pine and Juniper are pretty similar flavors. And Zirbenz is kind of expensive to put in a drink and not be able to taste it.

[Mayur]

Mmm, point taken.

So here's the question: My preferred take on a "winter" cocktail would probably be Hendrick's + lime + pomegranate + stone pine, in order to avoid juniper/pine overlap. Is 2 gin/.5 lime/.5 pom/.5 pine/.5 dry vermouth or something else a cocktail that would likely work?

[KatieLoeb]

Mayur:

Great minds truly do think alike. I had been contemplating using spiced maple syrup but settled on the spiced dark simple instead. Did you find that the maple flavor came through in the drink? I was afraid of wasting my small bottle of real Vermont maple syrup a friend had brought back for me recently and decided that the spiced simple would compliment the rum better since the drink already had so much other stuff going on in it. But I'm intrigued with the idea of introducing maple-ey flavor into a cocktail.

[Mayur]

Mayur:

Great minds truly do think alike.

I had been contemplating using spiced maple syrup but settled on the spiced dark simple instead.  Did you find that the maple flavor came through in the drink?  I was afraid of wasting my small bottle of real Vermont maple syrup a friend had brought back for me recently and decided that the spiced simple would compliment the rum better since the drink already had so much other stuff going on in it.  But I'm intrigued with the idea of introducing maple-ey flavor into a cocktail.

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I think the maple flavor definitely comes through, although it does depend on the type of maple syrup you use. I used New York State Grade A dark; light maple syrup would probably need a little reducing to get a strong enough flavor to cut through apple and spice.

[Bricktop]

A kind of Red Hook tonight, in that I unthinkingly grabbed the Vya rather than the Punt e Mes when compiling it.  2:0.5:0.5 of Jim Beam Rye, Vya Sweet Vermouth and Luxardo Maraschino.

Very yummy drink.  Elsewhere (Cocktail Chronicles) I read that some had throttled back on the maraschino from 1/2 oz, and I concur.

Not remembering my own thoughts on the amount of maraschino (shocking, eh?), I revisited this drink tonight, but this time I used Sazerac 18 YO, and added 4 (yes FOUR) good dashes of Fee's Old Fashioned Bitters. The bitters thread had a post advocating a heavier hand with bitters, so I did.

If this isn't the best frigging cocktail I have had to date, I can't think of one better. The Luxardo's viscosity gives a fabulous mouthfeel, and the bitters help balance off the inherent sweetness of maraschino. I'm really proud of this one!

[Nishla]

Two more drinks tonight from cocktaildb, both with chartreuse:

Widows kiss variation:

1/2 egg white

3/4 oz parfait amour

3/4 oz yellow chartreuse

3/4 oz benedictine

This was quite good, although it was hands down the most disgustingly UGLY drink we've ever made. Yellow, purple and brown don't make a nice combination

The texture was fairly thick from the egg white, but not syrupy.

Scoff Law Cocktail:

3/4 oz Rye (rittenhouse bonded)

3/4 oz dry vermouth (vya)

1/2 oz lemon juice

1/2 oz green chartreuse

1 dash orange bitters

yum yum...nice and citrusy, great flavor from the rye and chartreuse. I liked this a lot.

Also, speaking of holiday drinks, I had a cranberry rosemary cocktail last night at Eastern Standard in Boston. It had a nice piney flavor which reminded me of a christmas tree, and the cranberry flavor developed over a few minutes. Really different than any drink I've ever had, in a good way

[Nishla]

My best friend brought us an entire case of pink grapefruit the other day, so we're looking to use some of the juice in drinks...

AJ cocktail:

1.5 oz applejack

1.5 oz grapefruit juice

.5 oz homemade grenadine

This was very good, but I'd probably cut back a bit on the grenadine.

Midnight Sun (I saw a few different variations, this is somewhere in between a couple of them)

1.5 oz aquavit (Aalborg, Jubilaeums Akvavit)

1.5 oz grapefruit juice

.5 oz homemade grenadine

Also really good, and the flavor of the aquavit still came through.

[johnder]

Tonight a Pago Pago

1.5 Rum

1/4 White Creme de Cacao

1/4 Green Chartreuse

1/2 Pineapple

1/2 Lime

Shake

This was pretty tasty. I was wary about the combination, but hey it works. This recipe is from the Jones book, I would probably bump the Green up to 1/2 just to make it a little more pronounced.

John