Drinks! (2013 Part 2)

[Plantes Vertes]

Reminded me of the chemical smells when the airbag deployed.

On the strength of praise like this I'm willing to go all the way to the off license to try one.

Think I'll walk, though.

[Rafa]

Is the off license open at 4am London time?

[FrogPrincesse]

Is the off license open at 4am London time?

I think she is on her way already.

[Hassouni]

Having lived in London a few times and visiting frequently, I'd be overjoyed if I found an offie still selling booze at 4 am....

[Plantes Vertes]

I am here only six hours late to confirm that since 2005 you can purchase alcohol at any time in the UK. But at 4am it won't be Los Amantes Joven or Antica, so I did not manage an Airbag last night.

[Hassouni]

...only if a place has paid extra for the 24 hour license!

I really need to get on this arrack thing...

[bostonapothecary]

2.5 oz. chestnut "shrub"

.5 oz. campari

.5 oz. laphroaig 10 year cask strength

1.5 oz. water

carbonated to 7 g/L dissolved CO2

far more appropriate than I thought. I just acquired the scotch, which is some fierce stuff, and wanted to play with it. I suspect mezcal might also be appropriate.

while I was carbonating the first I started assembling the second

2.5 oz. chestnut "shrub"

.5 oz. campari

.5 oz. 100 proof old forester

4 dashes peychaud's bitters

1.5 oz. water

carbonated to 7 g/L dissolved CO2

this was an attempt at making a more elegant version without really know what either drink tasted like. I also thought of making it sort of like a seelbach to so dashed up some peychaud's but shunned the angostura.

the second one is the winner. bourbon really brings the chestnut to life. such exotic dryness.

[FrogPrincesse]

A few more things I forgot to post earlier.

(French) American Trilogy with rye, calvados, simple syrup, orange bitters. I've always liked this one and jump on any excuse to mix with Calvados (Michael McIlroy & Richie Boccato's original recipe calls for bonded applejack).

Another autumn classic, the Lion's Tail.

A couple of Old Fashioneds with gum that I used for my MxMo Resin entry.

First, a Whiskey Old Fashioned with Buffalo Trace bourbon, gum syrup, Angostura bitters, lemon peel. Really great with the gomme.

Rye Gin Old Fashioned (Thad Vogler) with St. George dry rye gin. Instead of the cherry bitters I used Fee's old-fashioned bitters which have a vague cherry note to me.

This one had some crazy flavors. The touch of maraschino liqueur seemed to reinforce the aroma of the gin. It's not for the timid.

And lastly, this great little thing from The Art of Shim. Craig Lane's Rhum Dandy Shim with sweet vermouth as the base, white rhum agricole, lime juice, cane syrup, absinthe, lime zest. Packed full of flavor.

[Chris Amirault]

A rum Old Fashioned with a slight twist:

2 oz Smith & Cross rum

1/2 oz Cruzan blackstrap rum

3/4 oz demerara pineapple syrup

2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl bitters

Making Regents Punch for Thanksgiving. Boy, it's great having pineapple syrup around the house....

[ChrisTaylor]

Two things from the past couple days:

• Ti Punch w/ La Favorite aged agricole. Very nice. Even tho' I used lemon instead of lime.
• Gin and tonic using The Botanist and my new favourite tonic water, Cascade. Incidentally, haresfur, I was at Coles the other day and bought some Cascade and it scanned in for $2 for the eight pack. Time to stock up.

[haresfur]

What's left? Ok...

Wee Paunch

by Rafa García Febles, NYC.

2 oz Irish whiskey

1 sli Lemon (lemon coin; a cut of peel and pith containing a bit of flesh and juice)

1/2 t Barley malt syrup

Build in glass over ice, stir, rest, sip.

This one surprised me, really quite good. Wee was taken (showing your paunch, Rafa?) so:

Whi' Punch

1 1/2 oz Dalwhinnie Scotch

1/2 tsp light cane syrup (I considered treacle but thought better of it)

small slice lemon, you know the drill

build over ice, but as I'm drinking it time isn't helping much so maybe no ice next time

As always my prototype measures are approximate so adjust as you see fit.

I could see making this for Chris.

ETA: Barley malt could be good, too

Edited November 27, 2013 by haresfur (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

What's left? Ok...

Wee Paunch

by Rafa García Febles, NYC.

2 oz Irish whiskey

1 sli Lemon (lemon coin; a cut of peel and pith containing a bit of flesh and juice)

1/2 t Barley malt syrup

Build in glass over ice, stir, rest, sip.

This one surprised me, really quite good. Wee was taken (showing your paunch, Rafa?) so:

Whi' Punch

1 1/2 oz Dalwhinnie Scotch

1/2 tsp light cane syrup (I considered treacle but thought better of it)

small slice lemon, you know the drill

build over ice, but as I'm drinking it time isn't helping much so maybe no ice next time

As always my prototype measures are approximate so adjust as you see fit.

I could see making this for Chris.

ETA: Barley malt could be good, too

Made this with a touch more Dalwhinnie and lime juice instead of lemon. What about honey syrup? Dalwhinnie has a certain honey-like quality to it.

[Czequershuus]

Seeing a long holiday weekend in front of me I thought it was the perfect opportunity to experiment with a newly acquired bottle of sherry. Specifically a bottle of Sandeman Armada Rich Cream Oloroso Sherry. I have to admit that when I bought the bottle I missed the rich cream part of the name, having been to excited about finally seeing a sherry with Oloroso in the name in a local liquor store. Not a totally loss, though, as some research soon revealed it would be a good substitute for East India Solera Sherry, which I had seen in a number of recipes on Cocktail Virgin Slut. So, on to the experiments from lat night.

And what to try first? Well, with sherry it must be a cobbler.I found a recipe on CVS for a cobbler made with a PX sherry. and as mine was quite sweet on the first taste, with a lovely nutty, slightly oxidized taste, this made sense to try

2 oz Sherry

1 bsp Demerara Syrup

17 drops Bittermans Xocoatl Mole Bitters

Stir with ice and strain over pearl(crushed) ice.

Hmm, nice, but maybe to sweeyt. I love the interplay of the sherry and mole bitters, but the cocktail seems to lack depth overall.

So next I decide to try the Sherry Cobbler recipe II had used for previous sherry experiments, and that had yielded a pleasing large format drink for a party some years ago.

4 Oz Sherry

0.5 Oz Simple Syrup(Rich Turbinado)

2 Orange Weges

2 ds Bitters (To match garnish or sherry, I went with one of Angostura, one of Mole)

Shake with ice and stran over crushed ice(Iw as lazy an pored out of the strained)

Much nicer. The shaken orange wedges impart an orange oil that I find works very nicely with sherry. Not complex, bot a lovely sipper. I would try this again, maybe with 0.25 Oz of syrup and a new bitters combination.

Finally, I thought I would try a sour cocktail, and found the recipe for the Spanish Union in my to try file. Also from CVS, it looked very interesting.

0.75 Oz Tequila

0.75 Oz East India Solera Sherry(Sandeman Armada)

0.75 Oz Lime Juice

0.75 Oz Cinnamon Syrup

1 ds Bittermans Xocoatl Mole Bitters

Wow, this was fantastic, and a fantastic use of Cinnamon syrup, and just a lovely cocktail in general. The spice is the dominant flavor, but never overpowering. The sherry and tequila harmonize excellently(a combo I need to explore) and the lim juice balances amazingly. A perfectly constructed cocktail.

I do love experimenting with sherry, and since a bottle only keep so long, there will be more to come!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I've been reading up on mezcals. Meanwhile tonight I felt like an orgeat drink that was fruity like a punch. Actually I'm guessing this would be classified as a punch:

1 1/2 oz Appleton 12

1 1/4 oz Meyer lemon juice (juice of one Meyer lemon)

1/2 oz orgeat

Shaken and strained into a coupe. Just what I had hoped! In other weather this might be nice with ice and seltzer.

[Hassouni]

I'd call that a sour.

The traditional punch definition is "1 of sour, 2 of sweet, 3 of strong, 4 of weak." (in Barbados I think they add: "stir it well with lots of ice, and of course add some spice" [bitters], or something like that)

Of course, there are punches that don't follow that, but they're made in crowd-serving quantities and thus still count.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

True, but Meyer lemon isn't very sour.

[haresfur]

Another Scotch version with Aberlour a'bunadh so a name that can cover any whisky version:

'sky punch

1 1/2 single malt Scotch (a'bunadh cask strength batch 33)

1:1 honey syrup ~ 1/4 tsp - to taste (whatever old eucalyptus honey was sitting in the cupboard) Good idea Chris.

thin lemon coin (a slice actually)

1 ice cube ('cus cask strength you know)

Build, sip.

This one really evolves in the glass. At first it just tasted like Aberlour. I mashed the lemon a bit more and it didn't have a huge effect. But as the ice melted it simultaneously seemed to get more lemon flavour and more of an alcohol bite. Overall, I'd drink it again, but probably go with less lemon. a touch more honey and maybe a dash of water instead of ice.

[ChrisTaylor]

Sazavit or, my first experiment with aquavit

Set out two Old Fashioned glasses. Fill one with ice. Yeah, it's a Saz variation ... only you're rinsing with Talisker (might try Laphroaig next time--the idea of Talisker/Aquavit came from a guy that works at my go-to bottle-o). In the other stir together, w/ a little ice, some demerara syrup and a couple dashes each of Peychaud's bitters and Bitter Truth lemon bitters. Tip out the excess Talisker and lose the ice and strain the aquavit/etc into the whiskied glass. For an alpha cocktail I'm happy enough with it. But, yeah, the smokiness only pops up towards the end. Needs more Islay.

[ChrisTaylor]

Plantes Vertes,

My drink of the night was an Airbag, which may or may not have saved my brain during a bad accident a few years ago (you will be the judge).

It was bitter, smoky, acidic, metallic. Reminded me of the chemical smells when the airbag deployed. Very good.

And I cannot believe that Rafa forget to mention the cherry bomb garnish. Shame on him!!!

Last night, two weird drinks on opposite ends of the classiness spectrum.

Airbag

by Phil Ward, Mayahuel, NYC.

1 oz Reposado Tequila, El Tesoro Reposado (Calle 23)

1/2 oz Batavia Arrack, Van Oosten (Smith & Cross)

1/2 oz Mezcal, Los Amantes Joven (Fidencio)

3/4 oz Sweet vermouth, Carpano Antica Formula

1/4 oz Allspice Dram, St Elizabeth (homemade)

1/4 oz Bénédictine

1 ds Bitters, Bittermens Xocolatl Mole (I used Aphrodite bitters because I couldn't get my bottle of Bitter Truth mole bitters to open, despite my overwhelming manly strength)

Stir, strain, up.

My notes: Pepper, vanilla, chocolate, allspice, herbal depth, dunder, all beautifully integrated, smooth, and elegant. Wow.

Despite looking on paper like a, well, like a car crash, this is a beautifully composed drink, with every ingredient playing its part. Spicy, sweet, deep, lightly bitter, and flavorful. In the shocker of all shockers, Phil Ward really knows what he's doing. Try it and let me know whether an Airbag

.

[...]

I realize that I've strayed from my mission by mixing a drink as ungirlie as Ward's Airbag. In my defense, it is on the sweet side.

After all this html code I think I need another drink...

I made this using everything in the original recipe bar two things: the allspice dram (I used housemade) and the vermouth (Punt e Mes). Smells dangerous. This is a fucking monster. It's agavesmokefunksweetbitterspiceandallthingsnice.

[Hassouni]

Another Scotch version with Aberlour a'bunadh so a name that can cover any whisky version:

'sky punch

1 1/2 single malt Scotch (a'bunadh cask strength batch 33)

1:1 honey syrup ~ 1/4 tsp - to taste (whatever old eucalyptus honey was sitting in the cupboard) Good idea Chris.

thin lemon coin (a slice actually)

1 ice cube ('cus cask strength you know)

Build, sip.

This one really evolves in the glass. At first it just tasted like Aberlour. I mashed the lemon a bit more and it didn't have a huge effect. But as the ice melted it simultaneously seemed to get more lemon flavour and more of an alcohol bite. Overall, I'd drink it again, but probably go with less lemon. a touch more honey and maybe a dash of water instead of ice.

This sounds huge. I will make one very soon!

[Hassouni]

Neither are a lot of "X sour" drinks

[choux]

Tried the Tia Mia as well, I loved the slight smokiness of the Mezcal, didn't need simple syrup because I find the Giffard orgeat sweet enough. I made some orgeat today so will be trying it out later this evening.

Any suggestions on an ice crusher? I have a handheld one that does one cube at a time, but am too lazy to crush enough to fill glass.

[lesliec]

Any suggestions on an ice crusher? I have a handheld one that does one cube at a time, but am too lazy to crush enough to fill glass.

1. Place tea towel on kitchen bench

2. Dump ice tray full of cubes onto towel

3. Wrap towel over cubes, ensuring the edges are not open

4. Beat the $#*% out of it with a rolling pin

Works well; deeply satisfying after a trying day. And at the end of it, you get to have a drink!

[lesliec]

Smells dangerous. This is a fucking monster. It's agavesmokefunksweetbitterspiceandallthingsnice.

So you liked it, then?

Made one myself the other night, since you lot had been talking about it. Lacking Arrack, I used a rhum agricole, because I could. And my allspice dram was also home-made.

It is a fascinating drink. I kind of enjoyed it at the time but had it down as 'interesting but not going to be a favourite', but I've been thinking about it on a daily basis since. This is not something I generally do with cocktails; there's too many others to play with. I think I'll have to try it again ...

And I agree with FP that omitting the cherry bomb is a flogging offence, Rafa. Quite nice to drink the Laphoaig after removing the cherry from same as well.

[FrogPrincesse]

Fish House Punch earlier today before the big Thanksgiving meal.

Currently enjoying a digestif. My glass is on the right.