Drinks! (2007–2009)

[haresfur]

We went to the 1806 Cocktail Bar in Melbourne Australia, for apres footie drinks and tried:

Fish house punch - could have sucked down a whole lot of this

Corpse Reviver # 2 - nice

Sazarac - 1/2 bourbon 1/2 cognac; not bad but a bit disappointing

Black blazer - house variation on the blue blazer made with navy rum and black chocolate. Quite tasty and the flames were very pretty.

Well worth a visit if you don't mind going for American culture while abroad.

I also tried the Junipero martini at the San Fransisco airport - made 2:1 per egullet suggestions. It was nice enough but wouldn't be my first choice drink. Too bad they didn't have any Anchor rye.

[Chris Amirault]

After a 90F day I was looking for a new summer cooler and came up with a decent cachaca sling:

3 oz cachaca (Boca Loca for ten bucks a bottle -- I'll tell not whence)

1 oz lime

1 oz 2:1 cane syrup

1/2 Cherry Heering

2 dashes Angostura

top with soda

[thirtyoneknots]

Unsure wether to collapse into exhaustion or cram my pie-hole with grub after completing a particularly taxing term paper today I instead did what any of us would do: had a drink. The Montana Cocktail from my brand new Barflies and Cocktails from Mud Puddle:

2 dashes anisette (1/2 barspoon anise del mono)

3 dashes orange bitters (Fee/Regan)

1/2 French Vermouth (1 oz old N-P)

1/2 Sloe Gin (1 oz Plymouth Sloe)

Shook it for fun and cos the book said to, garnished with a lemon twist. Very interesting combination of flavors, could potentially be worth sticking in the rotation if the sloe gin were tamed a tad, maybe do equal parts sloe gin, dry gin, and vermouth?

Kudos to the Mud Puddle people for these gorgeous reproductions! I thought it was neat enough to have the text of the book back in circulation, but to have the whole thing, covers and all, faithfully reproduced is fabulous! Going to have to start saving up for the next round from them. I know Mr. eje is looking for Hugo Ensslin, if they are out there counting votes, I'd say lets also hear from George Kappeler or "The Only William".

Edited April 30, 2009 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[Lisa Shock]

I tried making a cuba libre with Pepsi Throwback and found it a bit sweet, but very delicious. The addition of a good amount of lemon juice and a twist of peel helped. There's just nothing like real sugar, IMO.

[slkinsey]

Isn't a Cuba Libre made with lime?

[Lisa Shock]

Isn't a Cuba Libre made with lime?

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Yes, but I got into the habit of using lemon when I was visiting relatives in Hawaii. For some reason, every place we went they put lemon wedges into cola.

Actually, I also tried Throwback with rum & lime and it was a bit better than with lemon. So, I guess there's a reason why classics are classic....

[taion]

Steve's Word.

It's a Last Word with Laphroaig in place of the gin. Surprisingly tasty – the Laphroaig takes a much bigger role in the drink than the gin does in a Last Word, but it works quite well.

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D'oh, Pete's Word, sorry.

Had one the other night with VEP Chartreuse. As delicious as expected, but I'm not sure that, at the margins, using the VEP is worth it. The drink has plenty going on already...

[kitchensqueen]

I covet everyone's beverages - sounds so good! Especially the Montana Cocktail that thirtyoneknots is having. Gin is a great vehicle for a good mixed drink.

Alas, I'm in a red wine mood coinciding with a budget mood - three buck chuck cab for me tonight...

[Chris Amirault]

Given its history (I'm a big Patriots fan), I'm shocked that I like this one:

For the Superbowl, I put together a quick drink list that included cocktails aligned with each team -- The Cardinal, a cardinal-red concoction of Campari, Lucano amaro, gin, and Cointreau (good, but not great), and Big Ben (as in Roethlisberger), which was designed to be big and brawny enough to cut through a crush of linebackers.  Hence the doubling up of the spirits.  That drink was a major win, I thought. 

Big Ben

1 oz rye (Rittenhouse BIB)

1 oz genever (Anchor Genevieve)

1/4 oz Benedictine

orange bitters (Bitter Truth)

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I went with Boomsma genever and my half-n-half orange bitters (Regan's and Fee's) for this one, and it's terrific. I'll break out the Genevieve next time.

[thirtyoneknots]

Was looking ahead in the Savoy and saw the Pegu Club coming up. When I first started getting into cocktails almost five years ago this was one of 'the' avante-garde drinks at the time, along with the Corpse Reviver No.2. I recall trying it then and even with my crappy DeKuyper Curacao I still enjoyed it. It would seem the original, or nearly original, recipe as printed in the Savoy (I believe it comes from MacElhone?) has fallen out of favor since then, with a tarter cocktail being favored. I myself have fallen into this same habit and along the way I stopped making Pegus for myself or recommending them to customers. Tonight I retried the drink as originally written, and it was a revelation all over again:

1.5 gin (Beefeaters)

.75 curacao (Sr. Curacao working great here)

tsp lime

dash orange bitters

dash Angostura

The relative dryness of the Sr. Curacao was married wonderfully to the bitters with the gin stretching it oh so subtly. The masterpiece here I think is that there are really three shows happening: the curacao and bitter orange, the gin and Angostura, and the far more subtle gin and lime. The drink not terribly sweeter on the palate than a Manhattan or something, despite how it looks on the page. Trying this again to this recipe was like getting to visit with an old friend. What a great drink.

[bostonapothecary]

Was looking ahead in the Savoy and saw the Pegu Club coming up. When I first started getting into cocktails almost five years ago this was one of 'the' avante-garde drinks at the time, along with the Corpse Reviver No.2. I recall trying it then and even with my crappy DeKuyper Curacao I still enjoyed it. It would seem the original, or nearly original, recipe as printed in the Savoy (I believe it comes from MacElhone?) has fallen out of favor since then, with a tarter cocktail being favored. I myself have fallen into this same habit and along the way I stopped making Pegus for myself or recommending them to customers. Tonight I retried the drink as originally written, and it was a revelation all over again:

1.5 gin (Beefeaters)

.75 curacao (Sr. Curacao working great here)

tsp lime

dash orange bitters

dash Angostura

The relative dryness of the Sr. Curacao was married wonderfully to the bitters with the gin stretching it oh so subtly. The masterpiece here I think is that there are really three shows happening: the curacao and bitter orange, the gin and Angostura, and the far more subtle gin and lime. The drink not terribly sweeter on the palate than a Manhattan or something, despite how it looks on the page. Trying this again to this recipe was like getting to visit with an old friend. What a great drink.

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i made one last night with a death's door gin nip i had been saving from last years TOTC.

2 oz. death's door gin

1 oz. cointreau

1 oz. lime juice

dash angostura

i really need a lot of acidity and this was one of the best drinks i've had lately.

[KatieLoeb]

After a long evening of fussing with spreadsheets, looking up pricing on the antiquated and often inaccurate PLCB website and typing out drink recipes and preparation instructions I made myself a faked up Strawberry Margarita with some of this glorious batch of Tequila por mi Amante I started about four weeks ago:

I've been enjoying this just for sipping, but tonight I splashed a little Creole Shrubb and some lime juice in, just so I could take a tall drink up to my office and sip contentedly whilst I surfed eGullet and finished some of my typing up of beverage directions for my new job. It was just what I needed. Sweet, goes down easy and very delicious in a doesn't-taste-like-a-cocktail sort of way. Just getting back from a short vacation and still trying to get my sleep schedule back to normal. This is certainly helping to sedate me ever so slightly and make it easier to go to bed at a reasonable hour...

[Chris Amirault]

Katie, what tequila do you use for your lover's infusion? I'm eager to get more of my own put up as soon as I can get a non-styrofoam strawberry.

[KatieLoeb]

I used a big old down and dirty handle 1.75L bottle of Tortilla Gold. Cheap but tasty enough and since it's getting infused I'd not waste a good sipping tequila on the process. Almost all of the color has leeched out of the berries. The tequila itself is a glorious deep rose color now. This was a quart of strawberries, hulled and quartered, one vanilla bean split and cut into pieces and one 1.75L of tequila. All that's required is patience...

[Chris Amirault]

I use Lunazul silver, which is apparently 100% agave and cheap enough to drop into the bucket o' berries.

As I mentioned over here, I'm trying to find ways to use this amazing Branca Menta I've got. After fiddling with Stinger/Goodnight, Irene variants, I've found one that is based on a poor man's cognac, combining rye with Licor 43 as a substitute. Meet the Stingier:

2 oz rye (Rittenhouse BIB)

1 oz Branca Menta

1/2 oz Licor 43

Stir, strain over cracked ice, orange twist around the rim and over the top.

[maggiethecat]

House made gimlet, without the Rose's.

[KatieLoeb]

I use Lunazul silver, which is apparently 100% agave and cheap enough to drop into the bucket o' berries.

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As is predictable, I can't get that in PA. The 100% agave tequilas start at about $36 and up for the handle. Pretty steep for infusing, I think. I'd love to find some decent tequila of known providence in the large format for future batches. I think I'll have to visit a neighboring state to accomplish that.

[bostonapothecary]

I use Lunazul silver, which is apparently 100% agave and cheap enough to drop into the bucket o' berries.

As I mentioned over here, I'm trying to find ways to use this amazing Branca Menta I've got. After fiddling with Stinger/Goodnight, Irene variants, I've found one that is based on a poor man's cognac, combining rye with Licor 43 as a substitute. Meet the Stingier:

2 oz rye (Rittenhouse BIB)

1 oz Branca Menta

1/2 oz Licor 43

Stir, strain over cracked ice, orange twist around the rim and over the top.

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i think the branca menta might be pretty sexy with the strawberry tequila...

just like you would make a stinger maybe.

so far is it work picking up a bottle over a regular branca?

[thirtyoneknots]

Celebrating a personal victory tonight with the following:

1 oz George T. Stagg 2008 release

1/2 oz Punt e Mes

1/2 oz M&R Sweet

1/2 tsp maraschino

dash Angostura, dash Bitter truth Aromatic

Stirred with ice and strained into my most old fashioned coupe. lemon twist of course. Absolutely seamless.

[Chris Amirault]

i think the branca menta might be pretty sexy with the strawberry tequila...

just like you would make a stinger maybe.

I'll give it a try.

so far is it work picking up a bottle over a regular branca?

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Absolutely. Two very different things, and I love both of them.

[haresfur]

Knickerbocker made with the Imbibe version of Jerry Thomas' recipe:

1/2 lime, squeezed, with rind put into glass

2 tsp. raspberry syrup (Torani)

2 oz rum (Pyrat XO)

1 oz Curacao (Gran Gala)

Made in a shaker but poured the ice into the glass after straining out the worst of the lime pulp. Christened my new copy of Imbibe with lime juice in the process.

Interesting that the proportions are different from Dave Wondrich's Esquire recipie. I found this a little sweet and heavy on the raspberry but tasty, none the less. I'd cut back on the syrup next time. I think this would be a very good gateway mixed drink and refreshing for a hot day. Next time I'll probably try Cruzan dark just to see how it works but the XO was nice. Could also be interesting with the pineapple-infused rum I have in process.

A big thanks to Mr Wondrich for introducing me to this one.

[thirtyoneknots]

Knickerbocker made with the Imbibe version of Jerry Thomas' recipe:

1/2 lime, squeezed, with rind put into glass

2 tsp. raspberry syrup (Torani)

2 oz rum (Pyrat XO)

1 oz Curacao (Gran Gala)

Made in a shaker but poured the ice into the glass after straining out the worst of the lime pulp.  Christened my new copy of Imbibe with lime juice in the process.

Interesting that the proportions are different from Dave Wondrich's Esquire recipie.  I found this a little sweet and heavy on the raspberry but tasty, none the less.  I'd cut back on the syrup next time.  I think this would be a very good gateway mixed drink and refreshing for a hot day.  Next time I'll probably try Cruzan dark just to see how it works but the XO was nice.  Could also be interesting with the pineapple-infused rum I have in process.

A big thanks to Mr Wondrich for introducing me to this one.

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I think the 1 oz of curacao is a misprint, probably supposed to be 1 tsp upped from 1/2 tsp in the original. In the notes for the drink he recommends increasing the curacao to 2 tsp if a sweeter drink is desired, which is sort of a hint. Might help with the sweetness problem you noted.

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. sazerac rye

1 oz. kirshwasser (hiram walker)

1 oz. lemon juice

spoonful of sugar

dash peychauds bitters

most excellant. epic low budget flavor contrast!

[haresfur]

I think the 1 oz of curacao is a misprint, probably supposed to be 1 tsp upped from 1/2 tsp in the original. In the notes for the drink he recommends increasing the curacao to 2 tsp if a sweeter drink is desired, which is sort of a hint. Might help with the sweetness problem you noted.

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Ah, much better. I did cut back a little on the raspberry then upped the curacao to a couple of tsp after a taste because I used a pretty hefty lime.

[vice]

Katie, what tequila do you use for your lover's infusion? I'm eager to get more of my own put up as soon as I can get a non-styrofoam strawberry.

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I just put up some TPMA today in Cazadores Reposado (as with Paul Clarke, just what I had on hand). Chris, pick-your-own at Schartner's and other places should start imminently. Time to dust off your handle basket.

Edited May 20, 2009 by vice (log)