Drinks! (2007–2009)

[bostonapothecary]

last night i had some barolo chinato (capellano) with chocolate...

the bitter of the chocolate seemed to cancel out the "chinato" and reveal the stunning fruit of the wine while the zabaglione acompaniment in the dessert seemed to have the opposite affect canceling out the fruit and drawing into focus a a very classy "chinato"... the dessert really showcased the balance of fruit and embellishment that barolo chinatos have...

hopefully in the next week i can attempt my "sfursato chinato"... IMO sfursat (raisinated nebbiolo) is even more epic and medicinal than barolo... it hails from the valtelina and the largest terraced agricultural system in the world, and becomes probably the most labor intensive wine in the world to make...

unfortunately the wines, as special as they seem, do not always conform to modern tastes and meet the market... therefore perfect for my embellishment... i couldn't get anyone to drink them in the dining room but hopefully with some vermouth making skillz and an adventurous clientelle i can develop interest at the bar...

18% sugar like capellano

quinine, wormwood, orris

cinnamon, seville orange peel, bergamot peel

black tea, fraction of a clove

the fortifier? grappa? cherry eau di vie? arrack?

i have a feeling this will be expensive to get perfect...

[eje]

last night i had some barolo chinato (capellano) with chocolate...

the bitter of the chocolate seemed to cancel out the "chinato" and reveal the stunning fruit of the wine while the zabaglione acompaniment in the dessert seemed to have the opposite affect canceling out the fruit and drawing into focus a a very classy "chinato"... the dessert really showcased the balance of fruit and embellishment that barolo chinatos have...

←

I really like Italian wines generally, and Barolo Chinatos specifically. I need to give the chocolate pairing a try some time.

Would pairing Barolo Chinato in a drink with the Mozart Black Chocolate liqueur be too weird? Hmmm...

Didn't someone here promise to find their grandmother's recipe for a red wine based vermouth? I'm going to have to track that post down.

[bostonapothecary]

last night i had some barolo chinato (capellano) with chocolate...

the bitter of the chocolate seemed to cancel out the "chinato" and reveal the stunning fruit of the wine while the zabaglione acompaniment in the dessert seemed to have the opposite affect canceling out the fruit and drawing into focus a a very classy "chinato"... the dessert really showcased the balance of fruit and embellishment that barolo chinatos have...

←

I really like Italian wines generally, and Barolo Chinatos specifically. I need to give the chocolate pairing a try some time.

Would pairing Barolo Chinato in a drink with the Mozart Black Chocolate liqueur be too weird? Hmmm...

Didn't someone here promise to find their grandmother's recipe for a red wine based vermouth? I'm going to have to track that post down.

←

the chocolate pairing is an awsome experince. i've never had this mozart chocolate liqueur but i can't image one being sophisticated enough like dark chocolate to work... i've never had one that didn't have too much sugar.

i just spent alot of time trying to blend my first chinato attempt. its kinda tough. cinnamon is really important but can quickly take over. my staff liked the result of the first bottle (i then tweaked what didn't fit in my bottles and learned the evils of cinnamon) they generally don't like bitter at all.... i on the other hand thought i got no comparable intensity yet i felt like a put alot of bitter stuff in there....

and the fruit! yikes. i don't understand how they get such incredible fruit on their chinatos. i was using an 8 year old ferrando canovese. when you add sugar, the fruits character darkens so intensely....

most all vermouth is white wine (and caramel). i wonder if they do specific pressings and fermentations for the barolo chinatos.... yikes more variables....

[thirtyoneknots]

Tried a Weeper's Joy from Imbibe last night. Yowzah! That's some serious juice there my friends. Very intense. "Angel's tears" indeed, though I'd hate to know what they were crying about.

[thirtyoneknots]

More from Imbibe: Tonight after a bit out on the town, including a glass of Lucid at my place of employ (how/why did I manage off on V-Day?), I tried the Gin Punch:

3 oz gin (no Hollands unfortunately, and the Junipero is low; used Bellringer)

2 oz Water

2 tsp sugar

.5 oz Raspberry syrup (Monin)

Juice of half a lemon

Shaken with lots of crushed ice slightly larger than a pencil eraser, along with 2 orange slice and a couple of pieces of (thawed) frozen pineapple. Poured into a pint glass, placed [frozen] berries on top.

Verdict: Hm its pretty good, but lacks the certain je nais se quois of the brandy version. Until I can try it again with some Continental gin styles, I must reserve judgement on the whole, but with this London Dry, it's probably a pass.

Not that that kept me from finishing it.

Edit: clarity

Edited February 15, 2008 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[Bricktop]

100th anniversary Grand Marnier after a nice Valentine's Day dinner.

The bad news is I am in the home stretch of a bottle I bought several years ago,

and the replacement cost is !

Edited February 15, 2008 by Bricktop (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

100th anniversary Grand Marnier after a nice Valentine's Day dinner.

The bad news is I am in the home stretch of a bottle I bought several years ago,

and the replacement cost is  !

←

We used to have the 100 yr and 150 yr Grand Marnier in addition to the regular ol' Cordon Rouge at work. We once did a semiblind tasting on all three side by side and everyone unanimously preferred the cordon rouge to the 100 yr, with the 150 clocking in as the faraway favorite. We no longer stock the 100 yr.

Now it could be that some do prefer the 100 yr, but my suggestion is that since it isn't all that much more, go ahead and give the 150 a shot. It's quite nice (one of our wine distributors used to drink it like water).

[bostonapothecary]

100th anniversary Grand Marnier after a nice Valentine's Day dinner.

The bad news is I am in the home stretch of a bottle I bought several years ago,

and the replacement cost is  !

←

We used to have the 100 yr and 150 yr Grand Marnier in addition to the regular ol' Cordon Rouge at work. We once did a semiblind tasting on all three side by side and everyone unanimously preferred the cordon rouge to the 100 yr, with the 150 clocking in as the faraway favorite. We no longer stock the 100 yr.

Now it could be that some do prefer the 100 yr, but my suggestion is that since it isn't all that much more, go ahead and give the 150 a shot. It's quite nice (one of our wine distributors used to drink it like water).

←

i was gonna try and make some and see what kind of results i got.

bottle of high end cognac.

peel of a couple seville oranges oranges. (in season now!)

34% sugar. (go slowly until you get what you like, grand marnier could use less sugar)

pierre ferrand makes small format bottles that might be awsome for experimentation. (the musky character of Selection Des Anges might be really cool contrasted with some orange) i'd start building it piece by piece. maybe even sugar first. then add your orange peel slowly to get your desired intensity. age until next valentines day... save the juice of the tart seville orange for a st. james cocktail...

its breaks tradition but i really like to use the mild agave nectars in liqueurs. they dissolve so fast in alcohol, and enliven flavors so well at small doses.

a nice bottle of sophisticated hand made orange liqueur would be awsome to keep on the kitchen counter to sip when doing the dishes...

[thirtyoneknots]

100th anniversary Grand Marnier after a nice Valentine's Day dinner.

The bad news is I am in the home stretch of a bottle I bought several years ago,

and the replacement cost is  !

←

We used to have the 100 yr and 150 yr Grand Marnier in addition to the regular ol' Cordon Rouge at work. We once did a semiblind tasting on all three side by side and everyone unanimously preferred the cordon rouge to the 100 yr, with the 150 clocking in as the faraway favorite. We no longer stock the 100 yr.

Now it could be that some do prefer the 100 yr, but my suggestion is that since it isn't all that much more, go ahead and give the 150 a shot. It's quite nice (one of our wine distributors used to drink it like water).

←

i was gonna try and make some and see what kind of results i got.

bottle of high end cognac.

peel of a couple seville oranges oranges. (in season now!)

34% sugar. (go slowly until you get what you like, grand marnier could use less sugar)

pierre ferrand makes small format bottles that might be awsome for experimentation. (the musky character of Selection Des Anges might be really cool contrasted with some orange) i'd start building it piece by piece. maybe even sugar first. then add your orange peel slowly to get your desired intensity. age until next valentines day... save the juice of the tart seville orange for a st. james cocktail...

its breaks tradition but i really like to use the mild agave nectars in liqueurs. they dissolve so fast in alcohol, and enliven flavors so well at small doses.

a nice bottle of sophisticated hand made orange liqueur would be awsome to keep on the kitchen counter to sip when doing the dishes...

←

If you're trying to approximate the profile of the 150, my advice would be to start with something exceedingly mellow (the real thing is based on 100% Grande Champagne Cognac) and maybe mix in a little tangerine with the orange peels; to my taste it has a very distinct tangerine flavor not unlike Van der Hum. Maybe some subtle spice/herb components as well, and yeah some kind of unusual sweetener, maybe even like a Pineau de Charantes. It would raise the proof slightly, but so what? If one was willing to invest in it, some very interesting combinations of orange/brandy liqueurs could no doubt be compounded.

-Andy

[bostonapothecary]

100th anniversary Grand Marnier after a nice Valentine's Day dinner.

The bad news is I am in the home stretch of a bottle I bought several years ago,

and the replacement cost is  !

←

We used to have the 100 yr and 150 yr Grand Marnier in addition to the regular ol' Cordon Rouge at work. We once did a semiblind tasting on all three side by side and everyone unanimously preferred the cordon rouge to the 100 yr, with the 150 clocking in as the faraway favorite. We no longer stock the 100 yr.

Now it could be that some do prefer the 100 yr, but my suggestion is that since it isn't all that much more, go ahead and give the 150 a shot. It's quite nice (one of our wine distributors used to drink it like water).

←

i was gonna try and make some and see what kind of results i got.

bottle of high end cognac.

peel of a couple seville oranges oranges. (in season now!)

34% sugar. (go slowly until you get what you like, grand marnier could use less sugar)

pierre ferrand makes small format bottles that might be awsome for experimentation. (the musky character of Selection Des Anges might be really cool contrasted with some orange) i'd start building it piece by piece. maybe even sugar first. then add your orange peel slowly to get your desired intensity. age until next valentines day... save the juice of the tart seville orange for a st. james cocktail...

its breaks tradition but i really like to use the mild agave nectars in liqueurs. they dissolve so fast in alcohol, and enliven flavors so well at small doses.

a nice bottle of sophisticated hand made orange liqueur would be awsome to keep on the kitchen counter to sip when doing the dishes...

←

If you're trying to approximate the profile of the 150, my advice would be to start with something exceedingly mellow (the real thing is based on 100% Grande Champagne Cognac) and maybe mix in a little tangerine with the orange peels; to my taste it has a very distinct tangerine flavor not unlike Van der Hum. Maybe some subtle spice/herb components as well, and yeah some kind of unusual sweetener, maybe even like a Pineau de Charantes. It would raise the proof slightly, but so what? If one was willing to invest in it, some very interesting combinations of orange/brandy liqueurs could no doubt be compounded.

-Andy

←

this is starting to sound awsome...

you'd already be down in proof if you were diluting 80 proof cognac with pure sugar... so you would have to add lots of pineau de charantes to get the sweetness you want... but the less sweet and less alcohol it has the more you can justify drinking! a rainbow of orange sounds beautiful...

[Bricktop]

100th anniversary Grand Marnier after a nice Valentine's Day dinner.

The bad news is I am in the home stretch of a bottle I bought several years ago,

and the replacement cost is  !

←

We used to have the 100 yr and 150 yr Grand Marnier in addition to the regular ol' Cordon Rouge at work. We once did a semiblind tasting on all three side by side and everyone unanimously preferred the cordon rouge to the 100 yr, with the 150 clocking in as the faraway favorite. We no longer stock the 100 yr.

Now it could be that some do prefer the 100 yr, but my suggestion is that since it isn't all that much more, go ahead and give the 150 a shot. It's quite nice (one of our wine distributors used to drink it like water).

←

Hee hee, I have the 150 also, but that one's in worse shape volume wise than the 100. I think 150 > 100 > CR, when I taste them side-by-side, but that's very rare. The CR is plenty fine in my book. The prices now are crazy. The 100 cost me $89 and the 150 was $109 about 5 years ago.

[thirtyoneknots]

100th anniversary Grand Marnier after a nice Valentine's Day dinner.

The bad news is I am in the home stretch of a bottle I bought several years ago,

and the replacement cost is  !

←

We used to have the 100 yr and 150 yr Grand Marnier in addition to the regular ol' Cordon Rouge at work. We once did a semiblind tasting on all three side by side and everyone unanimously preferred the cordon rouge to the 100 yr, with the 150 clocking in as the faraway favorite. We no longer stock the 100 yr.

Now it could be that some do prefer the 100 yr, but my suggestion is that since it isn't all that much more, go ahead and give the 150 a shot. It's quite nice (one of our wine distributors used to drink it like water).

←

i was gonna try and make some and see what kind of results i got.

bottle of high end cognac.

peel of a couple seville oranges oranges. (in season now!)

34% sugar. (go slowly until you get what you like, grand marnier could use less sugar)

pierre ferrand makes small format bottles that might be awsome for experimentation. (the musky character of Selection Des Anges might be really cool contrasted with some orange) i'd start building it piece by piece. maybe even sugar first. then add your orange peel slowly to get your desired intensity. age until next valentines day... save the juice of the tart seville orange for a st. james cocktail...

its breaks tradition but i really like to use the mild agave nectars in liqueurs. they dissolve so fast in alcohol, and enliven flavors so well at small doses.

a nice bottle of sophisticated hand made orange liqueur would be awsome to keep on the kitchen counter to sip when doing the dishes...

←

If you're trying to approximate the profile of the 150, my advice would be to start with something exceedingly mellow (the real thing is based on 100% Grande Champagne Cognac) and maybe mix in a little tangerine with the orange peels; to my taste it has a very distinct tangerine flavor not unlike Van der Hum. Maybe some subtle spice/herb components as well, and yeah some kind of unusual sweetener, maybe even like a Pineau de Charantes. It would raise the proof slightly, but so what? If one was willing to invest in it, some very interesting combinations of orange/brandy liqueurs could no doubt be compounded.

-Andy

←

this is starting to sound awsome...

you'd already be down in proof if you were diluting 80 proof cognac with pure sugar... so you would have to add lots of pineau de charantes to get the sweetness you want... but the less sweet and less alcohol it has the more you can justify drinking! a rainbow of orange sounds beautiful...

←

I was thinking the Pineau in lieu of actual sugar; it seems that you prefer relative dryness in liqueurs, so you may be able to achieve the sweetness desired with the Pineau de Charantes alone.

[bostonapothecary]

more than a year ago i took a pisco i didn't really like (don cesar), infused it with dried cranberries plus a little agave nectar and left it in a spent louis XIII to mature in the sun of my kitchen window... the bottle looked stunning with light shining through bacarat and the red liquid... i think i remember tasting it eight months ago and not liking it... the pisco had some kind of intimidating heaviness...

well anyhow, some sort of molecular stuff must have happened because its delishous now. far more integrated. the fruit seems much less intense compared to my fuzzy memory of it before and the intimidating edges of the pisco seem very different... a delishous, very adult fruit liqueur...

i think i'm gonna save the rest only as a reward for doing the dishes...

[thirtyoneknots]

Lazy Sunday, tried out a few new ones, including the Knickerbocker from Imbibe:

2 oz Santa Cruz Rum (Cruzan Single Barrel)

2 tsp raspberry syrup (Monin)

1 tsp Curacao (Grand Marnier)

juice of half a lemon

Shake with shaved (crushed) ice and decorate with fresh (frozen) berries.

Deeelightful. I went against the book's advice to use lime, mainly because I had half a lemon already cut from a few days ago that I wanted to use up. Also, the odd tension between rum and lemon always seemed so old-fashioned to me. Wonderful drink, highly recommended.

[thirtyoneknots]

Improved Brandy Cocktail from Imbibe again, but this time reduced the amounts of all the modifiers down to the original recipe. Since I have various syrups and liqueurs stored in empty bitters bottles, I literally 'dashed' them in, though for those playing along at home, I have repeatedly quantified my average dash from these as 1/8 tsp.

2 Dashes Angostura

3 (generous) dashes gum (rich simple)

2 (generous) dashes Maraschino (luxardo)

1 dash Absinthe (Jade Edouard)

2 oz Hardy VS Cognac

Stir/strain/up into coupe, garnish with twist.

I think I like this drier version better. No disrepect intended to the author, of course.

Edited February 21, 2008 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

Also decided that as a nightcap, I'd give the old Coffee Cocktail another try, not having cared much for it the previous two attempts. Made with Dow's Ruby and Handy VS Cognac, it wasn't bad, actually, if a little on the rich side. Tastes a bit like dog hair, so to speak.

[thirtyoneknots]

Made more real cocktails at work last night than I probably had since December. Towards the end of the night people were just telling me to make them whatever I wanted, and I recalled a concept that bostonapothecary had posted about and started playing with it, coming up with this:

2 oz Flor de Cana 4 year gold

1 oz (or a little less) M&R sweet vermouth

barspoon Kahlua

2 dashes Angostura

stir/strain/up/twist

Pretty neat drink, actually. Complex and bizarre; we were picking up orangey and white chocolate-type flavors, and once the drink had warmed a bit and the lemon oil on the surface dissapated some, the thing smelled remarkably like cola. Weird, and quite tasty, enough to make it again.

[bostonapothecary]

Made more real cocktails at work last night than I probably had since December. Towards the end of the night people were just telling me to make them whatever I wanted, and I recalled a concept that bostonapothecary had posted about and started playing with it, coming up with this:

2 oz Flor de Cana 4 year gold

1 oz (or a little less) M&R sweet vermouth

barspoon Kahlua

2 dashes Angostura

stir/strain/up/twist

Pretty neat drink, actually. Complex and bizarre; we were picking up orangey and white chocolate-type flavors, and once the drink had warmed a bit and the lemon oil on the surface dissapated some, the thing smelled remarkably like cola. Weird, and quite tasty, enough to make it again.

←

something similar i made was with dry vermouth instead of sweet vermouth (alto cucina). it can be strange how interesting these recipes can be... they don't always read well... i need to try it with the M&R sweet now...

i think i have just 2 oz. left in my bottle of flor de Cana 4 year gold... perfect.

[bostonapothecary]

this is non alcoholic so i hope i don't offend anyone... but it is very adult...

today i attempted to make "sweet potato fly"... unfortunately somebody sold me fake sweet potatos. i think they were yams but it didn't matter the results were still extremely cool...

recipe:

take your favorite lemonade recipe... instead of diluting the lemon juice and sugar with water dilute with water percolated through roasted sweet potato pulp... (i think i used 3 pounds of roasted yams to get maybe 2 liters of juice...

these were some really sad yams and they still tasted good. tomarrow the first thing i do is make it with some beautiful sweet potatoes from whole foods... i ran my water trough the yams three times then through an empty coffee filter once... keeping it hot so it went through easy... the character the water picks up is beautiful and it fits in with lemon so well...

this recipe is a specialty of rural guyana which they just call "fly". another version is "mango fly"... so if i find good sweet potatoes i'm going to use mango powder as my acid and add it to my percolator so i can capture more of that guyana character...

all the beautiful sugars dissolve and all the starchiness stays in the filter... i made this in a couple minutes while doing other things... i can't wait to test this in 90 degree heat...

[thirtyoneknots]

i think i have just 2 oz. left in my bottle of flor de Cana 4 year gold... perfect.

←

The 7 year is also excellent, perhaps my favorite aged rum by them I've tried so far (which includes the 18 year).

[eje]

One thing I've always wondered about is why sweet potatoes have never really been used to make spirits.

I know they sometimes are used in Japanese Shochu. But, it is weird to me, since just about every substance known to man that can be fermented has been fermented, that sweet potatoes don't really seem to figure. Not like they are hard to grow or anything.

When you roast them you get such a lovely honey like nectar, just oozing from them, it seems like there should be some use for it...

[Morgan_Weber]

One thing I've always wondered about is why sweet potatoes have never really been used to make spirits.

I know they sometimes are used in Japanese Shochu.  But, it is weird to me, since just about every substance known to man that can be fermented has been fermented, that sweet potatoes don't really seem to figure.  Not like they are hard to grow or anything.

When you roast them you get such a lovely honey like nectar, just oozing from them, it  seems like there should be some use for it...

←

Erik,

Now that you bring it up, it makes total sense. I can't believe there isn't a sweet potato spirit on the market. I wonder if Sam knows of such a product?

-Morgan

[Morgan_Weber]

I was flipping through Craft of the Cocktail this evening and came across Dale's version of a Sazerac, which blends Cognac and Bourbon. Being out of Cognac, I decided to try using the Laird's Apple Brandy as a substitute. I gotta say, it is quite tasty.

1 oz. Baby Saz

1 oz. Laird's Apple Brandy (7 1/2 year)

1/2 oz. Simple Syrup

Splash of Absinthe

2 Dashes Peychaud's

2 Dashes Angostura

I was out of lemons, so I used a blood orange twist.

[JAZ]

I finally bought a bottle of Yellow Chartreuse, so I tried a Widow's Kiss (recipe from Imbibe! -- how convenient to find a bottle of Yellow Chartreuse right after I came across that recipe). Laird's bonded, the Chartreuse and Benedictine, with a dash of Angostura.

It's a very nice drink, but definitely (for me) an after-dinner type. It'll make it into my stable of favorite nightcaps, though.

[Alchemist]

Ok, cocktail geeks and sophisticated palates stop reading NOW.

It is a cold, wet, snowy night in NYC. I wanted a poolside, or better yet, a "swim up bar" cocktail. With no vacation in sight I decided to whip up something that would transport me to tropical climes. I wanted a drink that would allow me to hear palm fronds whispering in a warm breeze, as well as the lapping of clear blue water. Simple, straight to the point, no esoteric ingredients. Complexity, who needs it?

Seriously, if you like Aviations, Casinos, Old Fashionds, Close your eyes and go to another thread, hell report me to a moderator.

I open a can of Coco Lopez. Goddamn, it’s so greasy and sweet. I consider just this, a bottle of Mathuesalem, a tarp and my girlfriend. Damn, she is in Chicago, and the hardware store is closed. So dealing the hand I’ve been dealt, I have the rum and the Coco lopez…

So Coco Lopez, Pinapple juice, some lime juice (fresh squeezed for you geeks peeking through your fingers) some simple syrup, and a couple of dashes of bitters. Two handfuls of ice (Kold-Draft) go in the blender. Yes I said blender you got a problem with that?

I frappe the living crap out of it and put it in a brown plastic glass. Brown plastic, just like you get in that swim up bar. I stick in an umbrella, hang a plastic mermaid on the edge (her arms hanging outside like she is in a hot tub) and two thick straws.

It’s as close to the equator as you can get without leaving the isle of Manhattan.

I had more than one you might be able to tell.

Toby