Drinks! (2007–2009)

[KatieLoeb]

Blackberry Beret! I like it! I like the idea of it being purple too, but an addition of creme de mure would make the drink too sweet and probably wouldn't work since the grapefruit juice is the primary color. It's a yellow drink in the glass...

Actually, to make the syrup I blanched 1/2 cup of packed sage leaves in 1/2 cup of honey for about 2 minutes. I added 1 cup of water and let it simmer for about 5 minutes, adding one more 1/2 cup of water as it evaporated. I then buzzed that through the blender and let it sit overnight to cool. Strained it and it was REALLY sage-ey. I then diluted it with 1 cup of premixed 1:1 honey syrup and 1/2 cup of Fee Brothers Falernum. I didn't want to cook the falernum for fear of changing the flavor of it or messing with the aromatics. The end result is a syrup with enough sweetening power and delicious aromatics that I can just measure into the drink on a busy night and not fuss with muddling as well as it always being consistent. It's strong enough that a little goes a long way, in a good way, if you know what I mean.

I will undoubtedly make my own falernum someday, but for now the Fee Bros. is wha't's available to me in PA. No Velvet Falernum here yet. Again, it's consistent and I like that.

I was inspired to combine these flavors because I know that sage and grapefruit work together and I know that sage and blackberry work together. I just decided to see if it was transitive...

[Keith Orr]

Blackberry Beret!  I like it!  I like the idea of it being purple too, but an addition of creme de mure would make the drink too sweet and probably wouldn't work since the grapefruit juice is the primary color.  It's a yellow drink in the glass...

Actually, to make the syrup I blanched 1/2 cup of packed sage leaves in 1/2 cup of honey for about 2 minutes.  I added 1 cup of water and let it simmer for about 5 minutes, adding one more 1/2 cup of water as it evaporated.  I then buzzed that through the blender and let it sit overnight to cool.  Strained it and it was REALLY sage-ey.  I then diluted it with 1 cup of premixed 1:1 honey syrup and 1/2 cup of Fee Brothers Falernum.  I didn't want to cook the falernum for fear of changing the flavor of it or messing with the aromatics.  The end result is a syrup with enough sweetening power and delicious aromatics that I can just measure into the drink on a busy night and not fuss with muddling as well as it always being consistent.  It's strong enough that a little goes a long way, in a good way, if you know what I mean.

I will undoubtedly make my own falernum someday, but for now the Fee Bros. is wha't's available to me in PA.  No Velvet Falernum here yet.  Again, it's consistent and I like that.

I was inspired to combine these flavors because I know that sage and grapefruit work together and I know that sage and blackberry work together.  I just decided to see if it was transitive...

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Thanks for sharing the sage falernum recipe. I've tucked that away.

The grapefruit sage combo sounds good. I think I might try some sage on a bruleed grapefruit

I love the title "Intoxicologist" BTW

[syoung68]

I wanted to make a fall drink and instantly thought of apples. After some experimentation I have something that I like, but it needs a name.

First I made a spiced apple syrup. I brought 1 cup of 100% apple juice to a simmer with 1 cinnamon stick, 1 clove, and 1 cardamon pod. I reduced by half, let it cool, removed the solids and into a squirt bottle.

The Drink with no name

2oz Laird's Applejack

.5oz Cruzan Blackstrap Rum

.5oz sweet vermouth (Rossi)

.25oz Spiced Apple Syrup - maybe just a bit more but .5 oz is too much

dash of Angostura

Shake and up into a cocktail glass - it might be cool to do it like a Saz in a tumbler

I have been garnishing with a dehydrated apple ring.

[plattetude]

I wanted to make a fall drink and instantly thought of apples. After some experimentation I have something that I like, but it needs a name.

First I made a spiced apple syrup. I brought 1 cup of 100% apple juice to a simmer with 1 cinnamon stick, 1 clove, and 1 cardamon pod. I reduced by half, let it cool, removed the solids and into a squirt bottle.

The Drink with no name

2oz Laird's Applejack

.5oz Cruzan Blackstrap Rum

.5oz sweet vermouth (Rossi)

.25oz Spiced Apple Syrup - maybe just a bit more but .5 oz is too much

dash of Angostura

Shake and up into a cocktail glass - it might be cool to do it like a Saz in a tumbler

I have been garnishing with a dehydrated apple ring.

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This sounds nice. I know you weren't looking for tweaks, but something I find works really well with Applejack and apple flavors is Benedictine. And Peychaud's plays well with apples too....

Christopher

[syoung68]

Tweaks are always welcome - I will try the Peychaud's in about 10 mins. I have no Benedictine in the house, so that is out - for tonight.

[bostonapothecary]

2 oz. trimbach framboise "grand reserve"

spoonful of sugar

4 dashes angostura

this is actually disgusting and tastes like bubble gum and it went down the drain after a couple sips and trying to save it with cynar (i wish i had a lemon). the nectarine aromatized brandy also tasted like bubblegum in similarly structured cocktails... apple and pear are the only fruit brandies that i've tasted so far that are divine in non sour drinks... (nectarine make a great sour)

so the question i'm wondering about now is if peach brandy (un oaked) would be divine like pear or total bubble gum gross, naturally occurring artificial flavoring...?

[bostonapothecary]

i went out for a drink tonight...

i aspired to drink...

1 oz. lemonheart 151

1 oz. cynar

1 oz. cola

dash regan's

stirred...

well. apparently no bars stock over proof rum or barely any over proof / barrel proof products... well how do you cram a lot of dry vermouth, sherry, or low proof stuff into a drink to get any contrast or intensity when you are forced to inherit someone else's water...?

well anyhow i ended up with something delicious.

1.5 oz. batavia arrack

.75 oz. lemon juice

.5 oz. fernet branca

.25 oz. or so... honey syrup

entire egg.

some random bitters.

this drink was gorgeous. when faced with something like fernet in a sour context a yolk is a nice traditional accompaniment. i don't know if the bitters were something standard like regan's or somebody's homemade batch but the drink put forth a lot of nutmeg like spice and the richness and texture was ideal for my mood. so now i wonder if someone's random bitters were laced with nutmeg or did the cocktail magically emphasize a certain something from within...

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz trimbach framboise brandy

1 oz. seagrams distiller's reserve

1 oz. lemon juice

spoonful of sugar

dash angostura

this drink was especially delicious and i think its the sugar and acid that really enliven the framboise creating awesome contrast to the potent choice of gin.

[bostonapothecary]

2 oz. clear creek eau de vie de pomme

spoonful sugar

4 dashes angostura bitters

stir

i wanted to drink something seasonally appropriate. i didn't add a twist because it was already so aromatic... i think i like these plum/pear/apple brandy old fashioneds more than i like whiskey... rye and bourbon seem too comparative to angostura bitters while these brandies offer more flavor contrast. whiskey is great and all but i think it needs a different bitter... with rye as good and spicy as they make them these days i'd say the same about a manhattan. luckily there are lots of bitters to play with lately...

Edited October 22, 2008 by bostonapothecary (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

Lazy Sunday today and this evening I got to thinking about Jerry Thomas' punch formula and some derelict bottles I had sitting around and when the thinking was done I made this, inspired by his formula as tought to me via Imbibe!--and I'm not ashamed of it.

Apricot Punch (Jerry Thomas Style)

[uSE LARGE BAR-GLASS]

1/2 oz Apry

juice of half a largeish lemon (3/4 oz)

2 oz Barack Palinka (or Blume Marillen if you roll that way)

1 oz gin or funky white rum (I used Steinhager I'm trying to get rid of)

1 oz St. Germaine

1 oz water

fill with crushed ice and shake, then pour back into glass. If you've got fruits, esp pineapple of fresh peaches or apricots it would be a tasty garnish, or shake it with the drink. I had no fruits and no garnish and it was still tasty. The sweetness could probably be dialled down very slightly but it's not appreciably sweeter than any of the punch recipes in Imbibe!. Worth a try, and now I have a way to use up my Barack Palinka.

ETA: If you want a more tart version, just use a whole lemon...The floral funk balance is too nice to mess with the liqueur quantities.

Edited October 27, 2008 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[David Santucci]

now I have a way to use up my Barack Palinka.

I'd be happy to take it off your hands

[thirtyoneknots]

now I have a way to use up my Barack Palinka.

I'd be happy to take it off your hands

←

Yeah I like the stuff but now I have some Blume Marillen that a friend brought back from nyc, and I haven't yet found the place where BP works better than that stuff--it's delicious but just so rough around the edges. Any suggestions for other uses? The Culross is actually on my shortlist of faves from the Savoy topic, but if you're making it with Barack Palinka, it needs to be drank cold.

[mkayahara]

I was in the mood for an Air Mail tonight, but lacking any splits of Champagne, I had to cast about for fizzy alternatives. I stumbled upon a can of Strongbow and thought that might fit the bill. Sure enough, it does! The apple character of Strongbow plays well with the other flavours, while still being dry and fizzy enough to draw things out a bit.

[thirtyoneknots]

Had a friend over to keep me company while I worked on some projects and we tried a few things with a couple of goodies I got in mail order today; Improved Gin Cocktail with Genevieve was so nice and funky and so different than I anticipated. Meeting House Punch scaled down drastically from the recipe on the Tales of the Cocktails Page was fascinating, positively reeks of Colonial America. One or two other items that were tasty but of more minor interest but the real story for me was the very scaled down version of Fish House Punch, adapted by me from the recipe in Imbibe! using my newly-got bottle of Marie Brizzard Peach Brandy:

2 oz Cognac (scant), I used Martell VS

1 oz Dark Rum (generous), I used Pusser's

1 tsp Marie Brizzard Peach Brandy

1 oz lemon

1 oz Rich Demerara Syrup

1 oz water

Fill glass with crushed ice, shake, and pour back into glass.

Having tried this method previously with Apry, I can now vouch that there is no substitute for the 'real' thing. The tsp of Peach liqueur permates so brilliantly and elegantly, I wonder so much how it would have tasted with the old-school aged peach eau-de-vie. I think I want to try the above with 1.5 oz brandy, .75 oz of rum, and .75 oz of Laird's bonded, just to see how a (presuambly) similar item performs. I can't wait to have the occasion to make a full-on batch of Fish House Punch, it is delicious beyond belief.

All winners, if the other two recipes for bowls of punch in Imbibe! are even half as delicious as this, then they are formidable indeed.

I think Punch is my new project.

[maks_p]

Messing around with some local satsuma tangerines (down here in New Orleans):

1 oz. satsuma tangerine juice

0.5 oz lime juice

0.25 oz. maraschino

1.5 oz. gin (blue gin)

2 dashes peach bitters

I'm a big fan of maraschino - love the funkiness. i thought this worked.

Edited November 2, 2008 by maks_p (log)

[Ktepi]

Recently-acquired ingredients converged shamefully -- the juice of a kalamansi, a chunk of fresh pineapple, a shot of Clement VSOP rum, a little hickory syrup.

It's a hickory daiquiri, doc.

[Chris Amirault]

Now that's one of the all-time great names.

Yesterday I enjoyed a Rochester Cocktail for the first time. It's listed in the back of Imbibe! as a creation of Robert Hess, but oddly enough it's not available on the drinkboy.com website.

2 oz rye (Rittenhouse BIB)

1 oz Dubonnet Rouge

½ oz Licor 43 (scant -- CA)

¼ oz absinthe (Kubler)

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir, up, lemon twist.

It's a great way to use two tricky ingredients (Dubonnet and Licor 43) in a classic formula that's sort of a quasi-Improved Manhattan thingy.

I think that you have to hold back a bit on the Licor 43, but, boy, it's a lovely drink.

[Nishla]

An experiment with cachaca:

1 oz cachaca (Beija)

1 oz scotch (Dewar's blended)

1/2 oz orange liqueur (Luxardo Triplum)

1/4 oz lime

I think the cachaca and scotch worked really well together, and the triplum added just enough sweetness.

[David Santucci]

now I have a way to use up my Barack Palinka.

I'd be happy to take it off your hands

←

Yeah I like the stuff but now I have some Blume Marillen that a friend brought back from nyc, and I haven't yet found the place where BP works better than that stuff--it's delicious but just so rough around the edges. Any suggestions for other uses? The Culross is actually on my shortlist of faves from the Savoy topic, but if you're making it with Barack Palinka, it needs to be drank cold.

←

Haven't had the Blume Marillen yet, but I think I will be getting some soon, as I can't find Barack Palinka anywhere here. As for suggestions, I tend to use it with (white) rum. The Cuban (daiquiri w/ half BP in place of rum) is hard to beat. I have used it in a lot of experimental cocktails -- it's a great thing to try when you have a cocktail that just needs something. I'm pretty bad at taking notes, but I dug out my notebook and there are two I wrote down (which means I must have liked them): one with nothing more than rum and creme de cacao, one with rum, applejack and Swedish punch.

[David Santucci]

Seems like tomorrow would be a great day to make cocktails featuring Barack Palinka. If you want to be fair and balanced you could make some 'John' cocktails too.

[Zeemanb]

Seems like tomorrow would be a great day to make cocktails featuring Barack Palinka. If you want to be fair and balanced you could make some 'John' cocktails too.

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Woke up this morning with this very thing on my mind. Normally I am not someone who enjoys sickeningly sweet drinks, but I call this "The Landslide". Technically, Landslide #3 since there are already a couple of variations out there...

1oz. Ketel One Vodka

1oz. Bailey's Irish Cream

1oz. Drambuie

1oz. Starbucks Coffee Liqueur

1/3oz. Godiva Chocolate Liqueur

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and pour into a rocks glass over ice. Sprinkle on some shaved chocolate and/or crushed espresso beans.

[bostonapothecary]

attempt at a 50/50 style drink...

1.5 oz. distilled hops, coriander, orange peel

1.5 oz. chamberyzette (replica)

2 dashes peychaud's bitters

stirred

this tasted immensely like watermelon which may be due to the vermouth quotient being too oxidized (but still a pleasure!)... and the contrast of the botanicals was really cool. hoppy and refreshing...

i started using block ice at home. breaking the ice up to form your drink is almost as stress relieving as contemplating some flavors...

[thirtyoneknots]

Tonight I had some punch, working from Imbibe! First up was the gin punch, using my newly-got bottle of Genevieve. It was decent, but nothing to write home about although I could see how it would appeal to some folks more.

I've been pondering the formula for Fish House Punch for a few weeks now, and triangulating off the JT Punch-by-the-Glass method, I've scaled it down to this to try previously:

2 oz Cognac (scant)

1 oz Jamaican Rum (generous)

scant tsp Peach Brandy (Brizard)

juice of 1 lemon

1 oz rich syrup

1-2 oz water

Fill with crushed ice, shake, and pour back into glass.

Delicious, of course, I can't want to have it in a bowl, but the whole business about the peach brandy really bothered me. The more I thought about it the more I wondered about applejack, and if it wasn't the next closest thing, in character if not flavor. So tonight I tried the following:

Apple House Punch

1.5 oz Cognac (Hardy VS)

3/4 oz Laird's Bonded

3/4 oz Jamaican Rum (Appleton V/X)

juice of 1 lemon

3/4 oz rich syrup

2 oz water

Crushed ice, shake, blah blah.

Much more subtle of an apple flavor than the other is with 1/4 the amount of peach flavoring. It may not really be all that close but it's pretty dang tasty on it's own. Of course for all I know this may be a pre-existing variation or recipe, I guess Dr. Wondrich would be the one to ask about that. It really seems to work here regardless but I am still curious if the character of applejack is in any way similar to that of the old-school peach brandy. Anyone have any idea? Doc, you out there?

Edit: quantities

Edited November 7, 2008 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[bostonapothecary]

sour

2 oz. distilled hops, coriander, orange peel

1 oz. lemon juice

spoonful of sugar

shaken!

this might be the most amusing drink i've ever had or its just relative to my mood... now that i have distilled hops, my desire to drink other things is gone... of course i can improve upon this with bitters and an egg white.

[brinza]

An experiment with cachaca:

1 oz cachaca (Beija)

1 oz scotch (Dewar's blended)

1/2 oz orange liqueur (Luxardo Triplum)

1/4 oz lime

I think the cachaca and scotch worked really well together, and the triplum added just enough sweetness.

←

This looks interesting. An acquaintance from Brazil recently sent me a bottle of Santo Grau. It's very very heady and pungent--should stand up to the scotch real well. I'll be trying this with White Horse and Patron Citronge.