Drinks! (2013 Part 2)

[Rafa]

1 oz Calvados

1 oz Demerara Rum

3/4 oz Honey Ginger Syrup

3/4 oz Lemon juice

1 ds Bitters (aromatic, apple, cardamom, falernum all work)

Shake, strain, rock.

I like this. Egg white and sparkling apple cider make a nice silver fizz version.

[EvergreenDan]

An oldie that was new to me. I used my homemade Amer Boudreau made with 50/50 sweet to bitter orange peel, infused the full time Jamie recommends (which is much longer than Fred Yarm suggests). The result is piercingly bitter by itself. I loved this drink. Also, since I made my Amer close to 80 proof by diluting with spirits rather than water, it benefits from a long stir or service on the rocks.

Nirvana
by Jamie Boudreau, Vessel, Seattle, WA
2 oz Rye, Rittenhouse 100
1 oz Amer Picon, Amer Boudreau
1/4 oz Bénédictine
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1 twst Orange peel (as garnish, optional)

Stir, strain, straight up, cocktail. Garnish if desired

[Hassouni]

Last night:

Martinez (this may be the first time I've ever had one, oddly):

1.5 Hayman's Old Tom

1.5 Dolin Rouge

a small glug of Luxardo, a few dahses of Regan's orange, stirred, up

Champs Elysees (thanks again to Little Branch for introducing this to me, this drink rocks)

1.5 Ferrand 1840

.5 Chartreuse verte

.75 lemon jooooos

.5 1:1 SS

2 generous dashes angostura

shaken, up

[FrogPrincesse]

Champs Elysees (thanks again to Little Branch for introducing this to me, this drink rocks)

1.5 Ferrand 1840

.5 Chartreuse verte

.75 lemon jooooos

.5 1:1 SS

2 generous dashes angostura

shaken, up

Not a fan of that one when made with Remy Martin VSOP, but maybe I should give it another try with the Pierre Ferrand.

[Rafa]

A shot of Sam Ross' Sommer in the City when I got home from work. Hit the spot.

[FrogPrincesse]

Finally got to try Rafa's Man Comes Around.

Also a Waldorf Cocktail, which is a bourbon Manhattan with an absinthe rinse (I used St. George).

[Adam George]

An oldie that was new to me. I used my homemade Amer Boudreau made with 50/50 sweet to bitter orange peel, infused the full time Jamie recommends (which is much longer than Fred Yarm suggests). The result is piercingly bitter by itself. I loved this drink. Also, since I made my Amer close to 80 proof by diluting with spirits rather than water, it benefits from a long stir or service on the rocks.

Nirvana

by Jamie Boudreau, Vessel, Seattle, WA

2 oz Rye, Rittenhouse 100

1 oz Amer Picon, Amer Boudreau

1/4 oz Bénédictine

1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur

1 twst Orange peel (as garnish, optional)

Stir, strain, straight up, cocktail. Garnish if desired

A drink that would never work with real Amer Picon.

[Czequershuus]

Finally found the time to make a stout syrup so I could make this cocktail, which has been hanging about in my to-make file for quite some time.

Battle Royal Fizz(found on Cocktail Virgin Slut)

1.25 Oz Cynar

1.25 Oz Fernet Branca

1 dash of Angostura Bitters

1 Egg

1 Oz Stout Syrup

Dry shake first 4 ingredients, shake with ice, strain into a glass containing the stout syrup. (Next time I would shake with the syrup, as mine lost most of the carbonation in creation, and did not mix well in the glass. I needed to stir to get it to combine)

Delicious drink, rich, creamy, bitter. Definitely in the desert realm, but a complex rather than a cloying sweetness. For the stout syrup I used Green Flash Double Stout, 1:1 with Turbinado sugar. I let the syrup boil for a short time so the mix could reduce a bit. Glorious syrup, rich, extremely thick, distinct flavor. A real winner.

[ChrisTaylor]

A shot of Sam Ross' Sommer in the City when I got home from work. Hit the spot.

This is interesting. I like it.

[Rafa]

A shot of Sam Ross' Sommer in the City when I got home from work. Hit the spot.

This is interesting. I like it.

Me too. It's interesting how so little coffee liqueur can tame the fernet, at least in my experience. I'm thinking of joining this combo to an eau de vie in a cocktail, the way that eau de vie is sometimes paired with espresso postprandially.

[ChrisTaylor]

I contemplating introducing it to, say, gin.

[ChrisTaylor]

A shot of Sam Ross' Sommer in the City when I got home from work. Hit the spot.

This is interesting. I like it.

Me too. It's interesting how so little coffee liqueur can tame the fernet, at least in my experience. I'm thinking of joining this combo to an eau de vie in a cocktail, the way that eau de vie is sometimes paired with espresso postprandially.

I made it again with the addition of a dash of Bitter Truth chocolate mole bitters. Still tossing up whether I want to go down the rum or gin route with the spirits. Might even take a leaf from Johnny Cash's book and add a half ounce worth of Spanish brandy ... Possibilities.

EDIT

Hey, I just added some Spanish brandy. I'm not sure if this works. It seems to emphasise the coffee/dark chocolate notes of the drink.

What I've got so far:

1.5 oz Fernet Branca

0.5 oz Illy coffee liqueur

0.5 oz Spanish brandy

dash Bitter Truth chocolate mole bitters

Could do with an orange twist, perhaps.

Edited October 26, 2013 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[Rafa]

I made it again with the addition of a dash of Bitter Truth chocolate mole bitters. Still tossing up whether I want to go down the rum or gin route with the spirits. Might even take a leaf from Johnny Cash's book and add a half ounce worth of Spanish brandy ... Possibilities.

EDIT

Hey, I just added some Spanish brandy. I'm not sure if this works. It seems to emphasise the coffee/dark chocolate notes of the drink.

What I've got so far:

1.5 oz Fernet Branca

0.5 oz Illy coffee liqueur

0.5 oz Spanish brandy

dash Bitter Truth chocolate mole bitters

Could do with an orange twist, perhaps.

Very nice. I followed your earlier suggestion and made it with gin (Boker's) in the same ratio as your drink above (minus the mole bitters) and it came out very well. The pine-fernet accord gave it an almost minty finish.

I also followed the lead of the Cafe au Kirsch and made a version with, uh, kirsch:

Ultraísta

by Rafa García Febles, NYC.

3/4 oz Fernet Branca

1/4 oz Coffee liqueur, Galliano Ristretto

1 oz Kirschwasser

1 t Maraschino Liqueur

Stir, strain, up.

Good, though not for everyone. I'm going to experiment with the ratios and make a version with double the Fernet/Coffee combo but the same volume of kirsch and Maraschino.

[Plantes Vertes]

Some London eGulleteers had the very happy opportunity to meet a gracious and tolerant member from far away the other night and to drag them an unreasonable distance around Soho in quest of drinks. I forgot to ask the other participants whether they cared to have their movements and identities revealed online so I leave it to them to come forward, which I hope they will do because I did not have my camera and can only provide bald words without their help.

The Savoy

Where else could we go?

Ruby Bullet

Akvavit, lemon juice, simple and bitters.

I am a fool. I confess to ordering this drink; my excuse is that I had never tried Akvavit and was curious.... I should have consulted eje's Savoy Stomp before chancing my arm. Anyway, other than displaying an impressive liberality with the Angostura, it was uninteresting and we sent it back, explaining to our waiter that this was no Rafa drink.

White Lady

Harry Craddock

Gordon's, Cointreau, egg white, lemon juice

Forgive us, Harry; we marked this drink down too. The spirits leant off-piste and we got a somewhat slimy shake as well. Scroll down for a picture.

Norman Conquest

Erik Lorincz

Woodford Reserve, calvados, Martin Rosso, Angostura, sugar, orange peel twist

This was our preferred drink in terms of execution, although it would be worth trying with it some different bourbons. Heavy on the Woodford; scant on the vermouth. The prominent orange plus extra fruit from the calvados made this a lot more Christmassy than a standard Manhattan and a nice choice for winter.

The saddest news from this trip is that we sat by the piano. Refined, discerning and apt this playing was not. What it was was loud and harsh. Bummer.

This being a pilgrimage, we had to give homage to the saint. Luckily He was working that night... one of us upheld a dignified restraint while we others pinioned Erik Lorincz at the bar and forced him to receive our veneration. He took this like a gent. What a nice man.

Coming next... another bar.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[Adam George]

I look forward to part two.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Adam George (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

Next, we went to a good bar. Being totally crammed they were loth to let us in to the Blind Pig, but heaven smiled and we were able to exploit some handy barworld connections to get through the door.

A word of warning; the following report contains puns liable to offend those of cultivated humour.

Rum DMC

Gareth Evans
Walnut infused Smith & Cross overproof rum, Appleton V/X, Cynar, maple syrup, lime, orange bitters

We erred in ordering this drink first, because it was superb and could not possibly be matched. The walnuts were beautiful and in strong evidence and the drink managed to remain refreshing although there was not a lot of lime to balance the histrionic S&C. Maple syrup and Regan's stayed modest and nuanced the rums and Cynar.

Gareth also spent a few minutes discussing the conception of this drink with us and proved himself exceptionally generous as well as useful with spirits.

That's... Amaro

Jagermeister, Cynar, Punt e Mes, orange bitters, ice rock, grapefruit oil

Are you familiar with the Jager bomb? If not, please let me know how you achieved this. It is the most frequent way to 'mix' Jagermeister in the UK and we thought it quite intrepid as a drinks base therefore. Minds divided over this concoction; in my view it was balanced in the sense of being both strongly sweet and strongly bitter, but not consequently very pleasant to drink. This opinion prevailed on a popular vote, but the thing was not unanimous and it won at least one supporter.

Rye 'n' Air

Pikesville rye, Campari, peach brandy, anise, sweet vermouth blend, grapefruit oils, cabin pressure, duty paid

I found this had a very pretty flavour and was delicate and lively. It was sorely hard-done-by following immediately after the Rum DMC; in comparison it seemed a tad slight but I am sure we would have appreciated it more if we'd discovered it first. It comes in a clear bottle in an aeroplane baggy with travel stickers. Too kitsch? Feelings varied. But mine were that it was too kitsch.

Kamm & Sons

It's an English ginseng-flavoured aperitif with grapefruit and honey and a bunch of other stuff, and a very agreeable ingredient in mixed drinks. We insisted that some of this go down our guest from abroad in order to promote British distilling and fulfil the demands of patriotism, and so that we would get to have some too.

There were a large number of prebatched drinks behind the bar, along with some recherche spirits and liqueurs and the number 1 display of facial hair in the city. We closed the joint.

More follows after cliffhanger no.2.

Edited October 27, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

I look forward to part two.

And part 3...

[Plantes Vertes]

Here is part 3: Opium

Opium is a funny fish. It has terrible, terrible decor (it's meant to be like an opium den, right? so why are there old bits of luggage everywhere?), is super-dark and uncomfortable and it plays music that only people who like '90s pop music like. That is really nothing like an opium den. It is also up four (five?) flights of stairs and impossible to locate. The vibe is that they really want to stop people getting in, or if they must get in, from staying. When we turned up and asked to be admitted the bouncer called upstairs and told us that there was no room; then qualified as we were about to shove off by saying that there was 'a three-minute wait'. It was odd. Still, we were there, we had sore feet and we had heard about the drinks so that is where we went.

Once we made it up the stairs and adjusted our squints we discovered a menu that was quite promising on first sight but bizarrely off-putting in the details. You can judge for yourself here. Every drink seemed to hold some interest and every drink was weirdly compromised by some random interloping addition like cranberry juice or, well, vodka... I had a crack at customising the Opium cocktail but the waiter would not have it.

Descriptions from the website.

Chai-nese Clogs

short - light - complex

- £11.50 -

by Henry de Rudder

East meets west in this spice route inspired drink. Bols Genever, fresh lime and homemade chai tea syrup join a few drops of Schizandra tincture, are shaken together and served with a “kopstootje” of beer on the side.

That's what I ordered. The spices were keeping a low profile and the drink was pretty lightweight; the sip had no backup and the limes were mighty lemony too, but we agreed that it was an ok way to present the genever. The beer was nondescript; it was also very small. This was meant as a cute reversal of a traditional order of beer + genever, but we reckoned that a more serious beer could have been chosen to complement the cocktail rather than just sitting next door. I also believe that for this size-swap thing to come off properly we ought by rights to have had our genever in pints One other of our group had this too and I think liked it better than I did. I am really critical.

Chasing the Dragon

short - smoky - rich

- £11.50 -

by Joel Parsons

There aren’t many places left where you can enjoy a nice scotch and a fine cigar in the warmth these days, so we’ve tried to recreate that sensation with this one. Chivas 12 year old Scotch whisky with Mozart chocolate liqueur, Grand Marnier and a hint of Antica Formula vermouth, stirred down and served with smoked dark chocolate and a mist of wood smoke.

This drink has a fun presentation in that you can inhale the woodsmoke from out of the glass. Some people felt they'd gone rather OTT on the smoke side, but actually I enjoyed it although I don't swing for gimmicky presentations very much (looking at you, Blind Pig...). The idea is that the bitter chocolate balances out the saltiness of the drink; the person who ordered it seemed convinced. However, that person also pointed out that this formula comes from another bar.

At that point we decided that we risked becoming drunk and that we should get in a cab and vouchsafe our dignity forthwith. And so we did.

I should say that although our visitor brought us highly desirable potable presents, this did not influence my opinion of them in any way. I am very very happy that we met.

Edited October 28, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[campus five]

I was in the mood for a night cap, but wanted to keep it on the small side.

Ended up with this:

1 oz Willet 5 yr Rye (110pf)

1 oz Carpano Antica

1 dash Miracle Mile Candy Cap Bitters

1 dash Fee's Barrel Aged

Lemon Peel

Built in rocks glass, 'cause I'm lazy tonight.

1:1 with Antica is pretty rich, even with 110pf rye, and the Candy Cap bitters add even more bottom end.

It'd be better 2:1, but it's still doing the job.

[ChrisTaylor]

@Princesse, I've used Sombra (mucho humo) and Fidencio Clásico (mild smoke) and enjoyed it with both. Vida should be fine.

I made it with Spanish brandy originally because I wanted something that would add both sherry notes and proof, but Dan tried it with cognac and liked it, so PF should work fine. The only potential issue I see is with the PF 1840, which might change the balance of the drink with its proof. But even then it would probably taste okay.

For those of you who liked the drink, you might enjoy the similar but Turkish coffee-themed

Turkish Song of the Damned

by Rafa García Febles, NYC.

1 1/2 oz Cynar

1/2 oz Demerara Rum, Lemon Hart 151

1/2 oz Coffee (Cold)

1 t Old Tom Gin, Ransom

1 ds Bitters, Bittermens Xocolatl Mole

1 ds Cardamom bitters

Stir, strain, rock.

My notes: Turkish coffee, cigar, bitter chocolate.

I made this.

Well, kind of.

I used Illy liqueur because I couldn't be fucked Aeropressing 15 mL of coffee after a 13 hour work day. And, too, I don't have any Tom so I used Old Raj. It still works, altho' I suspect it's a fair whack sweeter (thanks to the Illy) than the real deal.

Oh yeah, I don't have any cardamom bitters so I used Regan's orange.

Edited October 30, 2013 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[Hassouni]

Do drinkers use the term T-break? If so, I'm on a T-break before I throw a cocktail party for some friends later in the week. I'll try to take some pics...

[Plantes Vertes]

What will you be serving, Hassouni?

[Hassouni]

Lion's Tail, Champs Elysées, Scofflaw, and Brooklynite

[Rafa]

Four flavorful sours! What made you pick these four in particular?

[Hassouni]

Familiarity (to me) and deliciousness. Also four different base spirits

Edited October 30, 2013 by Hassouni (log)