Drinks! (2004–2007)

[donbert]

From right to left a strawberry infused cachaça demerara Caipirinhia and what we're calling a Meu Amor (←).

[johnder]

Damn! Too bad I am allergic to strawberries! Have you tried it with any other fruit?

John

[donbert]

Damn!  Too bad I am allergic to strawberries!  Have you tried it with any other fruit? 

John

←

Not yet, but I'll post if I do. It is really surprising how strong the strawberry flavor is but without being sweet at all on it's own.

Got any ideas/suggestions John?

addended: Maybe it's because I'm two drinks deep already on an empty stomach but it is really good just chilled, stirred with cracked ice and strained. Rather dangerously good actually...

Edited July 21, 2006 by donbert (log)

[johnder]

Not yet, but I'll post if I do. It is really surprising how strong the strawberry flavor is but without being sweet at all on it's own.

Got any ideas/suggestions John?

←

Hmm I will have to think about it. Off the top of my head it seeing all the cherries in the market it could be interesting. Maybe heat some cherries in a simple syrup to soften them up and puree it to adding simple to bring it to the right sweetness. Could be interesting. May be to overpowering though.

[freshherbs]

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.

←

if I am not mistaken, doesn't Jim's version also have an Indian spice in it? I am thinking some sort of exotic simple...

[slkinsey]

Hmm I will have to think about it.    Off the top of my head it seeing all the cherries in the market it could be interesting.  Maybe heat some cherries in a simple syrup to soften them up and puree it to adding simple to bring it to the right sweetness.    Could be interesting.  May be to overpowering though.

FWIW, I've got some NY State sour cherries that have been sitting in maraschino plus a little extra simple for around 9 months. There's a jar with some of them in there down at Pegu, if you ever want to check them out.

[Sneakeater]

Gramercy Tavern's Champs Elysee is seriously good.

Thanks, donbert.

[ned]

Needs some tuning and as much an amuse bouche as a cocktail but:

Arugula soup

salt

simple syrup

hendricks gin

bacon lollipop garnish

[freshherbs]

just whipped up a morning glory fizz...mmmm...rye and gin in the same cocktail? if someone could tell me how to incorporate bacon i may be able to live on this forever...

[johnder]

last night I had a

State Street Cocktail

1 1/2 oz plymouth gin

1 oz pineapple juice

3/4 oz lemon

1/2 oz lime

1 egg white

1/2 oz simple syrup

Pretty good drink -- very refreshing. I am going to play around with the ratios a bit The original recipe called for a jigger of pineapple and the juice of 1 lemon and 1/2 lime. I am not sure of the size of the lemons and limes back in 1937, but now I get about 1 ounce of juice from the lemons and limes I get at the store.

[raxelita]

Still working the seasonal swizzles-- now peaches are in abundance.

Pastry made us a reduced, sugared peach puree to which we added chopped mint, then built up with brandy, lime juice and Cava over crushed ice in a highball.

On par with the rhubarb, perhaps a little fresher.

[Anita Bergmann]

Have I posted here about the edible alcohol party I hosted?

Best in show:

1) The vomegranate (pomogranates infused with vodka)

2) Edible martini (jicama cubes infused with either vodka or gin as requested, lightly passed over with vermouth, garnished with an olive)

3) Duck farts. There's apparently a drink called a duck fart. Bailey's, whiskey, and *something*. We thickened it lightly with gelatine and served them from the, er, posteriors of rubber duckies.

[KatieLoeb]

Duck farts. There's apparently a drink called a duck fart. Bailey's, whiskey, and *something*. We thickened it lightly with gelatine and served them from the, er, posteriors of rubber duckies.

There's something so wrong about this on several levels. I'm not even sure which to address first.

Are there photos of this debacle?? If so, now you have to show them.

[johnder]

tonight, utilizing my new stash of lairds bonded

Honeymoon Cocktail

1oz Lemon Juice

3/4 Oz Applejack

3/4 Oz Benedictine

1/4 Oz Orange Curacao

Very good, I like the heavy lemon notes, followed by the Apples.

Edited August 24, 2006 by johnder (log)

[KatieLoeb]

I'm working through an idea right now. A Membrillo Manhattan. Melted quince paste (I heated gently with apple juice concentrate and then whizzed with the stick blender), Maker's Mark, sweet vermouth, a dash of orange bitters. First attempt was tasty, but the texture was awkward. Need to find a way to make the reconstituted quince paste more liquid and less gelatinous. Perhaps a splash of some sort of alcohol (I was thinking a wee bit of Applejack) after removing from the heat and a good straining through a fine mesh would do it. The quince gives the drink a really good flavor and a bit of mouthfeel, which is nice, but currently there's some sludge left in the glass that's unattractive.

Any ideas or suggestions??

[johnder]

I have actually been playing aound with something along the same lines. I picked up a bottle of quince juice that I reduced to a syrup and have been using that in some drinks.

I haven't had too much time to experiment with using it, but I did mix some in with some applejack, a little sweet vermouth and some hess bitters. It was a little overwhelming. I may need to cut the quince syrup down with some water.

I'm working through an idea right now.  A Membrillo Manhattan.  Melted quince paste (I heated gently with apple juice concentrate and then whizzed with the stick blender), Maker's Mark, sweet vermouth, a dash of orange bitters.  First attempt was tasty, but the texture was awkward.  Need to find a way to make the reconstituted quince paste more liquid and less gelatinous.  Perhaps a splash of some sort of alcohol (I was thinking a wee bit of Applejack) after removing from the heat and a good straining through a fine mesh would do it.  The quince gives the drink a really good flavor and a bit of mouthfeel, which is nice, but currently there's some sludge left in the glass that's unattractive.

Any ideas or suggestions??

←

edit: to fix typos induced by too many honeymoon cocktails.

Edited August 24, 2006 by johnder (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Great minds think alike...

[eje]

Tonight I drink a toast to two great bartenders.

I raise my

* to Darcy O'Neil and Fabio Delgado.

Cheers!

Long may you pour!

*Link to youtube video. Excerpt from a documentary film in production featuring Fabio Delgado making cocktails at historic Cuban bars.

[birder53]

Campari is my choice lately. Two winners:

Titan's Temptation (from Salvatore Calabrese's Complete Home Bartender's Guide)

1 oz sambuca (we used Molinari)

1 oz Campari

1 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Beautiful to look at and tastes great! The sweetness of the sambuca goes well with the bitter Campari and tart lemon juice. Very refreshing and actually a good drink with spicy foods.

Campari and Soda

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add 2/3 Campari and 1/3 lemon soda. I used Wegman's Frizzante Sicilian Lemon Soda. Add a slice of lemon for good measure and good looks. Good stuff!

[Nishla]

We made "grenadine" using watermelon puree today. I'm having a drink now made from the grenadine, old overholt rye, lime and maraschino, and it's quite good!

[TallDrinkOfWater]

Last night, through inadvertently combining a couple of recipes in my head while trying out Benedictine, I used lime instead of lemon in a Monk cocktail. It turned out quite well.

Herbal, but not in the same overly-rich way that chartreuese-based drinks can be. Very crisp and refreshing.

[birder53]

Last night, through inadvertently combining a couple of recipes in my head while trying out Benedictine, I used lime instead of lemon in a Monk cocktail. It turned out quite well.

Herbal, but not in the same overly-rich way that chartreuese-based drinks can be. Very crisp and refreshing.

←

Have you tried it with the lemon juice? Just wondering which you preferred if you had a chance to make a comparison.

[gethin]

I'm working through an idea right now.  A Membrillo Manhattan.  Melted quince paste (I heated gently with apple juice concentrate and then whizzed with the stick blender), Maker's Mark, sweet vermouth, a dash of orange bitters.  First attempt was tasty, but the texture was awkward.  Need to find a way to make the reconstituted quince paste more liquid and less gelatinous.  Perhaps a splash of some sort of alcohol (I was thinking a wee bit of Applejack) after removing from the heat and a good straining through a fine mesh would do it.  The quince gives the drink a really good flavor and a bit of mouthfeel, which is nice, but currently there's some sludge left in the glass that's unattractive.

Any ideas or suggestions??

←

I have no idea whether you could get it in the US, but Marius Bonal (based in Rodez in the Aveyron department in South West France) make an excellent eau de coing (quince) liqueur. I've been using it in both bourbon and gin based drinks (sometimes with calvados and/or a Greek cinammon and clove liqueur called Tentura).

If you are more interested in the possibilities of membrillo, rather than simply looking for the taste of quince, would fiddling with the acidity of your melted, strained , alcoholised membrillo (eg adding a little lemon juice) make it more liquid ?

Are you using a Spanish membrillo ? I often buy a Brazilian (tinned) quince paste that is smoother and perhaps easier to dissolve than most Spanish membrillo. My local Brazilian shops also stock a range of other fruit pastes (guava, paw paw, banana etc ) in tins that, now you have put the idea into my head, could well be interesting possibilities.

gethin

[KatieLoeb]

I'm working through an idea right now.  A Membrillo Manhattan.  Melted quince paste (I heated gently with apple juice concentrate and then whizzed with the stick blender), Maker's Mark, sweet vermouth, a dash of orange bitters.  First attempt was tasty, but the texture was awkward.  Need to find a way to make the reconstituted quince paste more liquid and less gelatinous.  Perhaps a splash of some sort of alcohol (I was thinking a wee bit of Applejack) after removing from the heat and a good straining through a fine mesh would do it.  The quince gives the drink a really good flavor and a bit of mouthfeel, which is nice, but currently there's some sludge left in the glass that's unattractive.

Any ideas or suggestions??

←

I have no idea whether you could get it in the US, but Marius Bonal (based in Rodez in the Aveyron department in South West France) make an excellent eau de coing (quince) liqueur. I've been using it in both bourbon and gin based drinks (sometimes with calvados and/or a Greek cinammon and clove liqueur called Tentura).

If you are more interested in the possibilities of membrillo, rather than simply looking for the taste of quince, would fiddling with the acidity of your melted, strained , alcoholised membrillo (eg adding a little lemon juice) make it more liquid ?

Are you using a Spanish membrillo ? I often buy a Brazilian (tinned) quince paste that is smoother and perhaps easier to dissolve than most Spanish membrillo. My local Brazilian shops also stock a range of other fruit pastes (guava, paw paw, banana etc ) in tins that, now you have put the idea into my head, could well be interesting possibilities.

gethin

←

Even if that quince liqueur exists in the U.S., I am fairly certain that I can NOT get it in Pennsylvania. Interesting sounding stuff, though.

I am using a Spanish membrillo, because it fits the restaurant in which the drink would be served. I like the idea of the other fruit pastes and if you have any success with those, I'd love to hear about it.

I'm trying not to mess with the membrillo too much, to preserve the flavor "as is". The apple juice concentrate worked and went well with bourbon, so it was an "apporved" additon. Don't think I'd want to add anything acidic to the basic Manhattan recipe. I want the end result to be a quince flavored Manhattan that has good texture and flavor, and would be viable for sale in a high volume Spanish bar without any "fussing" on the part of the bartenders, other than say a squeeze of quince/apple juice puree from a squeeze bottle into a shaker of standard Manahttan ingredients.

[danoots]

Had a variation on a "Black Irish". A friend brought back a beautiful bottle of espresso liquer from Il Caffe di Sant Eustachio in Rome. Tried one part liquer to three parts Glenfiddich 12 year, over ice.

Awful. Completely out of balance - wayyy too much smoke, and the scotch brought out the bitterness in the espresso beans.

From this point on, I'll just enjoy the Eustachio on the rocks. If you haven't tried this... I'd recommend it. Just a little sweet, it's dark and thick, and tastes strongly of espresso. Don't know if it's available in the U.S.

Edited September 1, 2006 by danoots (log)