Drinks (2009–2011)

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. pisco (caesar)

1 oz. slivovitz (clear creak)

1 oz. strawberry syrup (basket pressed!)

1 oz. lemon juice

scant float of mezcal (chichicapa)

i thought it would be cool to create some sort of weird overtone by mixing the aroma of blue plums with the (non quite summer) strawberry syrup. it worked out. they gained strength and when ameliorated with lemon juice and sugar, the inner sound of the strawberry was more real than before i had juiced it.

the mezcal was cool but maybe i need dueling floats of mezcal and lemonhart 151.

epic abstracted inner sound!

[TexasCocktailGeek]

At Anvil's anniversary party last night, I enjoyed the following (along with fantastic bourbon-sauce pizza and a great meat/cheese plate):

Vieux Carre

1 oz rye (Rittenhouse BIB, I think)

1 oz Pierre Ferrand cognac

1 oz sweet vermouth (didn't get a look at the bottle)

1 bar spoon Benedictine

2 dashes Angostura bitters

2 dashes Peychaud bitters

lemon twist

Last Word

1 oz Citadelle gin

1 oz green Chartreuse

1 oz Luxardo Maraschino

1 oz lime juice

I didn't quite finish the second one, though not because it wasn't tasty. Excellent drinks, and a fun way to celebrate my favorite bar!

[KatieLoeb]

I'm working on a Singapore Sling variant with G Sake (sponsor) and Ginger Rooibos/Green tea infused Plymouth for a cocktail competition in a few weeks. Several iterations tried so far. The skeleton is there, I just need to decide whether to use Cherry Heering or Shoya Plum wine and/or B&B or straight Bendictine.

Kyoto Sling

1 oz. Ginger Rooibos/Green Tea infused Plymouth

1.25 oz. G Sake

1 oz. fresh lemon juice

.5 oz. Cherry Heering or Shoya Plum wine

.5 oz. Benedictine or B&B

1 tsp. 4 Copas Agave nectar

dash Orange bitters

dash Angostura bitters

Shake all and strain over fresh ice in a Collins glass. Top with a splash of soda and stir gently. Garnish with an orange wedge and piece of crystallized ginger on a spear.

As soon as my recipe is perfected I'll report back on exact proportions. This is for the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia Sake Fest which will take place on 4/14/10.

[thirtyoneknots]

The Fiancee had never seen Band of Brothers before, so we watched the first episode together tonight...Old Grand-Dad BIB and water seemed the only real option to go with.

[TexasCocktailGeek]

My cocktail of the evening was the Ideal:

1 1/2 oz Aviation gin

3/4 oz Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth

1 tsp Maraschino liqueur

1 tbsp fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

grapefruit peel garnish

Quite nice - just bitter, sour, and sweet enough for my liking. I can't remember where I found these proportions, though they're very nearly the same as Harry Craddock's version.

[TexasCocktailGeek]

As soon as my recipe is perfected I'll report back on exact proportions.

Hi Katie,

Speaking of proportions, I was looking at the online beverage menu for Oyster House, and I was especially intrigued by two of the drinks listed there:

Morningstar (Hendrick's gin, Lillet, orange bitters, flamed orange oil)

[...]

Saloon Keeper's Daughter (rye, Luxardo Maraschino, housemade grenadine, lemon)

I hope it isn't inappropriate for me to ask this here, but would you mind sharing the proportions of those drinks? They sound great, and I'd love to try recreating them at home.

[KatieLoeb]

Hi Jeff!

I'm happy to share.

Morningstar

2.0 oz. Hendrick's gin

.50 oz. Lillet

1-2 Dashes Orange bitters

Flamed orange peel

Add Hendricks, Lillet and orange bitters to iced shaker and stir vigourously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Flame orange peel above surface of drink. Basically this is a 4:1 Hendrick's French Martini with the addition of the orange bitters and the flamed orange oils. We heat up the peel, flame as much oils as possible onto the surface of the drink and then dip in the peel and discard it. Served gloriously naked and refreshing. The Morningstar is the creation of Andy DeGiulio, one of my cohorts behind the stick at Oyster House.

Saloon Keeper's Daughter

2.0 oz. Old Overholt Rye

.50 oz. Luxardo Maraschino

.50 oz. fresh lemon juice

.25-.50 oz. housemade grenadine (to taste depending on how sweet you like it and how tart your lemon juice is)

1-2 dashes Angostura bitters

Lemon twist

Add all ingredients to an iced shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist that has had the oils expressed over the surface of the drink.

Some of the veterans in this forum might recognize this formula as the Red Feather Boa, one of my first original cocktail creations from several years ago that I'd never actually put on a menu anywhere. However, we changed the name since (in the words of several of my coworkers) "no straight man will ever order that drink". Since it's a pre-Prohibition style drink but still sort of a "girly-whiskey drink, it morphed into the Saloon Keeper's Daughter.

Edited April 2, 2010 by KatieLoeb (log)

[TexasCocktailGeek]

Thanks, Katie! My wife and I will enjoy these this weekend!

[brinza]

Speaking of the Oyster House in Philly, someone here has been quoted and has a recipe in the Spring/Summer issue of the PA Wine & Spirits Quarterly.

I'm going to try the Saloon Keeper's Daughter tonight.

The drink, that is.

Edited April 2, 2010 by brinza (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Thanks for noticing, Mike. I wish there were an online link for the Quarterly. That's actually a really good article and there are some excellent gin cocktail recipes in there. Aside from the ones I already knew, of course...

[brinza]

Yes, it is a good article, and--three recipes! When I posted before, I hadn't yet read the last page. I actually tried the Provençal Martini first using the lavender infusion I put up last summer. I used a half-teaspoon and that was plenty. I must have put a massive amount of lavender petals in that stuff. I think I'll turn it in into a not-too-sweet liqueur. Anyway, the drink was excellent.

However, I really want to comment on that Saloon Keeper's Daughter. A stroke of genius. It uses fairly common ingredients; nothing complicated, yet it really is an incredible combination. I was quite impressed. I had to make it with bourbon, though, as I'm out of rye at the moment (the horror!), except for my Thomas Handy which I refuse to use in a cocktail. Tomorrow I'll get some rye and will definitely make another one of these. I recommend everyone have a go at the Saloon Keeper's Daughter!

THE LANDLORD'S DAUGHTER by Paul Giovanni

Much has been said of the strumpets of yore

Of wenches and bawdy house queens by the score

But I sing of the baggage that we all adore,

The Landlord's Daughter

You'll never love another

Although she's not the kind of girl

To take home to your mother

The Landlord's Daughter

Her ale it is lively and strong to the taste

It is brewed with discretion and never with haste

You can have all you like If you swear not to waste

The Landlord's Daughter

[last two stanzas omitted in the interests of decency]

--(from The Wicker Man)

[thirtyoneknots]

...except for my Thomas Handy which I refuse to use in a cocktail.

...

Not that this is the drink I would necessarily recommend it for, but if you've never made a cocktail with Thomas Handy you are missing out, good sir.

[brinza]

...except for my Thomas Handy which I refuse to use in a cocktail.

...

Not that this is the drink I would necessarily recommend it for, but if you've never made a cocktail with Thomas Handy you are missing out, good sir.

Well I fibbed a bit there, Andy. I have made an Old Fashioned with it a couple times, and I did try a Manhattan, but something about it wasn't right, so I didn't repeat it. I should have said that I'd rather not experiment with it unless I can be sure of the outcome. What's the best way to make it work in a Manhattan? Just use less? What other drinks would you say it's worth using in? (we can move this offshoot to the Rye thread if you'd prefer)

[KD1191]

...except for my Thomas Handy which I refuse to use in a cocktail.

...

Not that this is the drink I would necessarily recommend it for, but if you've never made a cocktail with Thomas Handy you are missing out, good sir.

Well I fibbed a bit there, Andy. I have made an Old Fashioned with it a couple times, and I did try a Manhattan, but something about it wasn't right, so I didn't repeat it. I should have said that I'd rather not experiment with it unless I can be sure of the outcome. What's the best way to make it work in a Manhattan? Just use less? What other drinks would you say it's worth using in? (we can move this offshoot to the Rye thread if you'd prefer)

Spent an evening last week making several Sazeracs with Handy, and they were exemplary. It worked well with an Herbsaint, but even better with Vieux Pontarlier. The best also had a dash or two of the Elixir Vegetal in the rinse.

Edited April 8, 2010 by KD1191 (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

...except for my Thomas Handy which I refuse to use in a cocktail.

...

Not that this is the drink I would necessarily recommend it for, but if you've never made a cocktail with Thomas Handy you are missing out, good sir.

Well I fibbed a bit there, Andy. I have made an Old Fashioned with it a couple times, and I did try a Manhattan, but something about it wasn't right, so I didn't repeat it. I should have said that I'd rather not experiment with it unless I can be sure of the outcome. What's the best way to make it work in a Manhattan? Just use less? What other drinks would you say it's worth using in? (we can move this offshoot to the Rye thread if you'd prefer)

Well as the name suggests, and KD1191 confirms, a Sazerac with it is a special treat. I like to use it at full strength, Bobby Huegel at Anvil likes to cut it 50/50 with the "baby" Sazerac Rye. If you're not cutting it, be sure to give it a nice, long stir. Herbsaint would be ok I suppose (am I the only one not impressed with the "new" formula?) but if you have any real Absinthe, especially a particularly pungent one, it will really take it somewhere special.

The other thing to do with it is to mix it into a Manhattan, half Handy, half Carpano Antica Formula, 2 dashes of bitters, up with a twist. Whoever you have to kill, bribe, or compromise your dignity to to obtain a bottle of Carpano Antica is worthwhile, if you can experience this drink.

There are others, too (a Slope is actually pretty nice with some tweaks using this whiskey) but that should get you started.

[KD1191]

Finally test driving a spirit I'd been ogling for a long time:

18th Century Brooklyn

2 oz Old Potrero 18th Century "Rye"

3/4 oz Noilly Prat Dry

2 tsp Luxardo Maraschino

2 tsp Amer Picon

Stir, stir, stir, stir. Strain. Hallelujah.

Dry. Sweet. Dry. Dry. Dry. An oak lover's dream. The sweetness from the maraschino contrasts very nicely then slips away to the very end when there's a bit of the funk that I associate with maraska pits. The Amer Picon doesn't have a great showing, but this whiskey isn't pulling any punches. Next time around I'm going to try Amaro CioCiaro.

[Chris Amirault]

Are you using an original Amer Picon? Or something else?

[KD1191]

Are you using an original Amer Picon? Or something else?

The Violet Hour's approximation of Amer Picon. I've tasted it side-by-side with modern Amer Picon and prefer TVH's by a wide margin. I've never had the original recipe.

[John Rosevear]

Sangria: 1.5 l young red wine with some body (I use Black Box's cab), 48 oz orange juice, juice of 2 limes, juice of 2 lemons, 1 cup triple sec (I use Bols), 1 cup brandy (Christian Brothers or E&J works just fine, don't use good stuff), 3/4 cup sugar. Serve over ice in a pint glass, garnished or not as you like. Makes one gallon. Just sweet enough, nicely bracing.

[brinza]

Well as the name suggests, and KD1191 confirms, a Sazerac with it is a special treat. I like to use it at full strength, Bobby Huegel at Anvil likes to cut it 50/50 with the "baby" Sazerac Rye. If you're not cutting it, be sure to give it a nice, long stir. Herbsaint would be ok I suppose (am I the only one not impressed with the "new" formula?) but if you have any real Absinthe, especially a particularly pungent one, it will really take it somewhere special.

The other thing to do with it is to mix it into a Manhattan, half Handy, half Carpano Antica Formula, 2 dashes of bitters, up with a twist. Whoever you have to kill, bribe, or compromise your dignity to to obtain a bottle of Carpano Antica is worthwhile, if you can experience this drink.

There are others, too (a Slope is actually pretty nice with some tweaks using this whiskey) but that should get you started.

I do have CAF! Surely I would have thought to use that in the Manhattan, wouldn't I? Must revisit this. The half and half proportion makes sense. And I've got Kubler Absinthe for the Sazerac (actually I most likely did already make this one, which I thoroughly enjoyed).

Now, the Slope sounds intriguing to say the least. I found the discussion of it here. I don't have Punt e Mes, but I have Gallo "Sweet" vermouth, which is almost as bitter as Punt e Mes. And I have the R&W Apricot, so it should all come together. Thanks for the tips.

Edited April 9, 2010 by brinza (log)

[Alcuin]

...except for my Thomas Handy which I refuse to use in a cocktail.

...

Not that this is the drink I would necessarily recommend it for, but if you've never made a cocktail with Thomas Handy you are missing out, good sir.

Well I fibbed a bit there, Andy. I have made an Old Fashioned with it a couple times, and I did try a Manhattan, but something about it wasn't right, so I didn't repeat it. I should have said that I'd rather not experiment with it unless I can be sure of the outcome. What's the best way to make it work in a Manhattan? Just use less? What other drinks would you say it's worth using in? (we can move this offshoot to the Rye thread if you'd prefer)

Well as the name suggests, and KD1191 confirms, a Sazerac with it is a special treat. I like to use it at full strength, Bobby Huegel at Anvil likes to cut it 50/50 with the "baby" Sazerac Rye. If you're not cutting it, be sure to give it a nice, long stir. Herbsaint would be ok I suppose (am I the only one not impressed with the "new" formula?) but if you have any real Absinthe, especially a particularly pungent one, it will really take it somewhere special.

The other thing to do with it is to mix it into a Manhattan, half Handy, half Carpano Antica Formula, 2 dashes of bitters, up with a twist. Whoever you have to kill, bribe, or compromise your dignity to to obtain a bottle of Carpano Antica is worthwhile, if you can experience this drink.

There are others, too (a Slope is actually pretty nice with some tweaks using this whiskey) but that should get you started.

I think this is the best Manhattan I've ever had--I reserve it for myself as a special treat too. It really is amazing. Thanks to thirtyoneknots for the idea and proportions which I think I found upthread a long time ago. I've been drinking them sparingly ever since.

The Slope sounds interesting with Handy too--how much whiskey do you use? I don't have R&W--I use Giffard's Abricot du Roussillon--but I don't think it matters that much since I enjoy it where people use R&W (which I'm not sure I've ever tasted.)

[thirtyoneknots]

I think when I did the Slope with the Handy I did 1 oz Handy, 3/4 oz Punt e Mes, and 1/4 oz Apry (I typically make my cocktails very small at home). If using the Rothman & Winter, which is both less sweet and less intensely apricotty, some adjustment would probably be necessary. The trick though is to have the whiskey make up only half the drink.

Alcuin, I've not had the Giffard product (though it sounds wonderful), but as I understand it Orchard Apricot is made by sweetening an apricot eau-de-vie with fresh press juice, retaining both the ethereal florality of the spirit and the fruityness of a fresh apricot. Apry would be comparitively less complex and more like a dried apricot, or preserve--it is much sweeter as well. Both are good, but different.

[deensiebat]

I filtered and finished a batch of rhubarb liqueur that had been steeping for a few weeks. Definitely needs to age for a while, but I couldn't resist taking a sip.

[eas]

Here's thanking the guy (and team) that brings us the Miller's Westbourne Strength Gin to the USA, and stood behind the gin through these years of challenge.

A Good Gosler

1.5 oz Miller's Westbourne strength gin

1.5 oz Cocchi Americano

3 careless heavy dashes of Angostura Orange

handful of fridge ice

gentle stir

[plattetude]

The "Growing Old and Dying Happy is a Hope, Not an Inevitability" by Maks of Cure:

2 oz Cynar

1 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye

Pinch of salt

2 pieces of lemon peel (+1 to garnish)

Herbsaint (for rinse)

Stir Cynar, rye and salt to combine.

Express and donate two pieces of lemon peel.

Add ice and stir.

Strain into an Herbsaint-rinsed coupe.

Garnish with an additional lemon peel.

Finally mixed a couple of these this weekend to have with my wife. Oh lordie that's good stuff.

Christopher