Drinks! (2007–2009)

[willr]

Inspired by Sam Ross - London Cocktail:

1.5oz Rye

0.5oz Orgeat

Whole egg

1-2 dashes Orange flower water

dry shake, shake with ice and top with grated nutmeg.

Simple but effective.

[Keith Orr]

Here in Portland OR a local place called Toro Bravo makes a Manhattan with Bourbon,

sweet vermouth and sherry garnished with a twist of orange peel.

Today I've been playing around with my homemade variation.

1 1/2 oz Wild Turkey Rye

1/2 oz Punt e Mas

1/2 oz Amontillado Sherry

Dash of Angostura Orange Bitters

Stirred and strained into a glass and garnished with a homemade cherry.

[Keith Orr]

Last call tonight. Tried a Bijou. Used 3/4 oz each M & R sweet vermouth, Green Chartreuse and Boker's Gin and a dash of Angostura Orange Bitters. Seemed a bit cloying - the best part was a good blast of juniper from the gin. Frankly, I didn't really enjoy it that much.

Okay, Second last call. Tried it again with Punt e Mas and 2 dashes of orange bitters. Wow, what a difference. The botanicals from both the Punt e Mas and the Chartreuse really come forward - I really like this version. I wouldn't make the first one again. This one is worth repeating..if not tonight.

[thirtyoneknots]

This weekend saw the temperature dip into the low 40s and high 30s, about as cold as it regularly gets in this part of Texas, so I figured a Whisky Skin was in order to assist in maintaining homeostasis (from Imbibe!):

generous tsp rich syrup (or same amt of demerara sugar)

piece of lemon peel

2 oz peaty Scotch (Balmore Legend)

top with boiling water

build in a warmed mug.

The aroma and flavor of hot peaty scotch is absolutely enchanting, and that, coupled with the almost absurd ease or preparation, means that I think I have a new cold-weather favorite. I can only imagine that it would be even better with a more intense and higher proof scotch, like the Laphroaig Cask Strength, or an Islay whisky with some citrusy notes, like Ardbeg. Not to be missed, at any rate, and with the very serviceable Balmore legend ringing in at about $22/btl, you have no excuse.

[David Santucci]

Still doing lots of experimenting while I get my bar built back up, and while I'm trying new ingredients. Here are two recent ones that worked

2 1/2 oz Gin (Tanquerray)

1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (NP)

2 dashes Grand Marnier

scant dash Fernet Branca

Nothing more than a Martini variation, but a good one. This could become my new house Martini.

2 oz Gin (Plymouth)

1/2 oz Bianco Vermouth (Martini)

1/2 tsp Dry Vermouth (NP)

1/2 tsp Maraschino (Luxardo)

1 1/2 tsp Anejo Tequila (Cuervo RDLF)

Flavors really melded nicely in this one, even the oak and agave. The less-assertive gin was key, as was keeping the level of Maraschino low.

[thirtyoneknots]

Got off work at a nearly-reasonable time tonight and so now I'm sipping on a Sazerac-ish cocktail, made not with Rye or Cognac but with Hollands, as per Imbibe! (using Anchor Genevieve). Pretty dang tasty, maybe my favorite Hollands drink yet.

I think the Genevere Julep that has been mentioned elsewhere has some big potential.

Edited November 19, 2008 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

Update: Genevere Julep is a beautiful and elegant beverage. Do not resist it. No drink I have tried with the Anchor Genevieve so far has tamed its prodigious funk in such a constructive way as this. Truly a keeper.

[KatieLoeb]

Had a lovely Manhattan made with Laird's bonded and the Carpano Antica last night. A delicious and autumnal variant of that fine beverage.

[lancastermike]

Had a lovely Manhattan made with Laird's bonded and the Carpano Antica last night.  A delicious and autumnal variant of that fine beverage. 

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An applejack manhattan has always been a favorite of mine. And the bonded Lairds is worth the effort to obtain. For us residents of PA it is a SLO item, but they do not have a minimum purchase amount on it. Since it has turned cooler, the Lairds has been my first choice off the shelf. It make a damn nice Sidecar as well.

[KatieLoeb]

It make a damn nice Sidecar as well.

I believe that drink is called an Applecart.

I love the Laird's bonded, although I confess I bought my bottle in a "neighboring state". If you're already ordering SLO's from Laird I highly recommend their 7.5 year old Applejack. Closest thing to an American Calvados you'll find and a screaming bargain for the quality at $19.99. And that makes a righteous Sidecar.

[bostonapothecary]

i had a genavieve juelp last night at Drink...

it was a nice drink but i asked for about one sugar cube worth of sweetness. i think i intended that to be relative to 2 oz. of gin but got 3 oz. so i probably just should have trusted him.... (but every julep i order anywhere is too sweet for me)

well. i think next time i will try it with some liqueur instead of sugar as well for deluxe flavor contrast. very promising stuff.

[avant-garde]

Had a lovely Manhattan made with Laird's bonded and the Carpano Antica last night.  A delicious and autumnal variant of that fine beverage. 

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I have both at home. Care to share recipe? Any bitters, etc...?

[slkinsey]

Ever the stickler for nomenclature...

Had a lovely Manhattan made with Laird's bonded and the Carpano Antica last night.

That's a Marconi Wireless.

[bonded Laird's] makes a damn nice Sidecar as well.

I believe that drink is called an Applecart.

I've done a little digging around on this drink, which always puzzled me for a few reasons.

First is that I've never found the combination of applejack, Cointreau and lemon juice particularly appealing, and certainly not very Sidecar-like. For me, and of course these things can be highly personal, the appeal of the Sidecar is in the combination of Cointreau's refinement and the brandy's smoothness. Applejack's whiskey character, which I love so much, seems a less apt fit and I might rather make a simple applejack sour instead.

Second has to do with the name. We've taken around here to saying "applecart" like it's the generally accepted or at least historical name for a cocktail compounded of applejack, Cointreau and lemon juice. My looks around would seem to indicate that this is not the case. Rather, there is the Apple Car cocktail or, if the drink is made with the more brandy-like Calvados, the Royal Jubilee cocktail. The Apple Car goes back at least to Embury. I don't know if it goes back any further than that.

Anyway... getting back to drinks. Among the way-too-many I had at Pegu last night was the Hoffman House Fizz with which I began the evening. It is compounded of gin (London dry, although I imagine Hollands would be tasty), maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, orange juice, cream and grenadine (dry shake, shake, strain, highball glass, rocks, fizz). Odd-sounding combination, but it really works.

[thirtyoneknots]

Ever the stickler for nomenclature...

Had a lovely Manhattan made with Laird's bonded and the Carpano Antica last night.

That's a Marconi Wireless.

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Since we're being sticklers, could it not also be a Star Cocktail? The preportions and bitters are not specified.

[slkinsey]

I figure when they say "apple brandy" they're not usually talking about applejack, but something smoother. Plus, whenever there are multiple historical naming traditions of essentially identical similar cocktails (viz. the Allen, Aviation, etc.) I think it makes the most sense to go with the one that has the most popular currency, which seems to be the Marconi Wireless in this case. For sure it's a much cooler name.

What I don't like, as a general rule, is calling something a [name of the different-than-usual ingredient as a prefix for the name of a famous and iconic cocktail].

[eje]

Morning Glory Cocktail delicious, but just about blew my head off. This was a breakfast beverage? Sure would have made work a lot more fun today.

[KatieLoeb]

Had a lovely Manhattan made with Laird's bonded and the Carpano Antica last night.  A delicious and autumnal variant of that fine beverage. 

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I have both at home. Care to share recipe? Any bitters, etc...?

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Actually, I had the fortune of having this made for me at my local watering hole, Southwark, one of Philly's finest classic cocktail bars. It looked like about 3:1 Laird's bonded to Antica, a good couple of shakes of Angostura and a cherry. If I were a stickler, I'd have preferred a few of the La Parisienne brandied cherries I stock at my bar on a pick, but I was on the other side of the wood, and happy for it.

Sam, I suppose in the world of Laird's products, the bonded is still apple whiskey, albeit a strong one, whereas the aged stuff is more brandy-like/domestic Calvados in nature. I'd always thought of and heard an apple brandy or Calvados sidecar called an Applecart, but that might just be a case of "whisper-down-the-lane" misunderstanding.

[slkinsey]

Sam, I suppose in the world of Laird's products, the bonded is still apple whiskey, albeit a strong one, whereas the aged stuff is more brandy-like/domestic Calvados in nature.

Technically it is all apple brandy, of course. I like to describe applejack as apple "whiskey" because I feel like it has a distinctively rough-around-the-edges, "whiskey-like" character whereas other styles of distilled apple product have a more rounded, smooth, "cognac-like" character. As a result, for example, applejack steps very well into the place of rye whiskey in a Tombstone but not so well into the place of cognac in a Sidecar. The reverse is true of Calvados.

This extends, in my experience, even to the longer-aged Laird's products. I just tasted some of the 12 year old Laird's I have in the cupboard. It still has a bit of fire in it and reminds me more of an aged whiskey than an aged cognac (it is not as smooth as, for example, the 13 year Van Winkle rye). Again, this is the opposite of what one gets out of Calvados, which becomes increasingly cognac-like as it ages. I should hasten to point out that this is one of the things I like about Laird's products.

I'd always thought of and heard an apple brandy or Calvados sidecar called an Applecart, but that might just be a case of "whisper-down-the-lane" misunderstanding.

Yea, I thought that too... although something about it was always tickling at the back of my mind. From the best I have been able to uncover, the "Applecart" is exclusively an eGullet naming convention. Anything outside eG I've seen points to the Apple Car with applejack or the Royal Jubilee with Calvados. I do think it makes sense for these to have different names, considering how different these products are despite having a common raw ingredient.

[David Santucci]

could it not also be a Star Cocktail?

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The Star also seems to have the problem of meaning different things to different people. Embury says it is a DRY Applejack Manhattan. Though I much prefer the two alternate names for that cocktail he lists: the Klondike, and the Farmer's Wife.

He also lists an alternate name for the sweet Applejack Manhattan: the B.V.D. Needless to say, not an alternative I would choose. Anyone for a Hanes? How about a Fruit of the Loom?

[David Santucci]

From the best I have been able to uncover, the "Applecart" is exclusively an eGullet naming convention.

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Embury does list it as an alternate, but seems to prefer Apple Car. I also like his suggestion of that a Jack Rose could also be called a Pink Apple Car. Perhaps with 12 year-old Laird's it could be called a Pink Apple Cadillac.

[thirtyoneknots]

could it not also be a Star Cocktail?

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The Star also seems to have the problem of meaning different things to different people. Embury says it is a DRY Applejack Manhattan. Though I much prefer the two alternate names for that cocktail he lists: the Klondike, and the Farmer's Wife.

He also lists an alternate name for the sweet Applejack Manhattan: the B.V.D. Needless to say, not an alternative I would choose. Anyone for a Hanes? How about a Fruit of the Loom?

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According to Imbibe!, it first appears in George Kappeler's 1895 Modern American Drinks as 2 dashes gum, 3 dashes Peychaud's or Angostura, 1/2 apple brandy and 1/2 italian vermouth.

Interestingly enough, 1895 is also the year Marconi made his first transmission of 1 mile, although the company to produce the sets commercially was not founded until 2 years later. At any rate it would seem that applejack and vermouth cocktails and radio both became popular around the same time. Anybody have a citation on earliest use of the name 'Marconi Wireless' for a drink?

[avant-garde]

Actually, I had the fortune of having this made for me at my local watering hole, Southwark, one of Philly's finest classic cocktail bars.  It looked like about 3:1 Laird's bonded to Antica, a good couple of shakes of Angostura and a cherry.  If I were a stickler, I'd have preferred a few of the La Parisienne brandied cherries I stock at my bar on a pick, but I was on the other side of the wood, and happy for it.

Sam, I suppose in the world of Laird's products, the bonded is still apple whiskey, albeit a strong one, whereas the aged stuff is more brandy-like/domestic Calvados in nature.  I'd always thought of and heard an apple brandy or Calvados sidecar called an Applecart, but that might just be a case of "whisper-down-the-lane" misunderstanding.

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Made one of these just now. Here is how I made mine, and have to tell you it's pretty darn good.

Ingredients:

3 oz. Laird's Applejack

1 oz. Carpano Antica

¼ oz. Demerara Syrup *

2 dashes Angostura

Method:

Stir the above with ice for about a minute. Then, conservatively mist the inside of a chilled cocktail glass with pastis (such as Absente or Pernod) and strain above mixture into glass.

Garnish

Drop two Maraschino brand cherries in the bottom and enjoy.

* Recipe for demerara syrup is two parts demerara sugar to one part filtered water. This is also amazing in a Sazerac combined with Old Overholt.

Thank you Katie for posting about this one...

[KatieLoeb]

It's so nice to see that overused advertising phrase "new and improved" put to actual and rewarding use.

Excellent iteration avant-garde! My compliments!

[mkayahara]

Test-driving a drink tonight that I'm thinking of serving at the Christmas party this year, possibly in a punch bowl. I started by making a spiced simple syrup with allspice, cinnamon and clove, then built this in a Champagne flute:

1/2 oz. + barspoon (so, say, 2/3 oz.?) spiced simple syrup

1 oz. Plymouth gin

1 oz. tangerine juice

Top with sparkling wine (I used Freixenet Cordon Negro, but only because that's what I can get in small bottles for cheap)

Tangerine twist

Garnish with a frozen cranberry

Something of a variation on the French 75, but an artillery name seems out of place for a Christmas cocktail. Maybe I'll call it a Silent Night.

The tangerine twist was really essential here, because the flavour of the juice just didn't come through on its own. If I do it as a punch, I'll probably steep the tangerine peel in the syrup with the spices to bolster the flavour. If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

[KatieLoeb]

Matthew, that sounds positively delightful!

I think if you take the tangerine peel off with a veggie peeler in a very thin strip (no pith at all) just as you're serving and squeeze it over the drink and plop it in, that ought to do. You could also boil those thin strips in the syrup as you suggested.

I like a bit of cardamom, a couple of star anise and a pinch of red pepper flakes in addition to the cinnamon, cloves and allspice in my spiced simple syrup for a more savory end result with a little kick!

Edited November 27, 2008 by KatieLoeb (log)