Drinks! 2014 (Part 2)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

[Host note: This is part of an extended topic that became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it into shorter segments; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Drinks! 2014 (Part 1)]

 

 

I made another crafty and elusive elk.  I had intended to reduce the falernum but I forgot:

 

1 oz Patron anejo

1/2 oz tobala

1/2 oz falernum

1/2 oz maraschino

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

2 dashes Angostura orange

 

 

Very nice, as indeed it was the first time I made it.  But I had to find out what happens when the falernum is reduced.  I tried again, this time with the falernum at 1/4 ounce.  Not as good.  The original recipe is better.

Edited June 7, 2014 by Mjx
Topic split, host note added. (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

Very nice, as indeed it was the first time I made it.  But I had to find out what happens when the falernum is reduced.  I tried again, this time with the falernum at 1/4 ounce.  Not as good.  The original recipe is better.

 

You are using Taylor's, right? That stuff doesn't have a lot of flavor, mostly sugar and a bit of clove. If you use homemade, it's a different story.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Yes, sadly, Taylor's is what I use.  From time to time I think about homemade but the idea of that much grating puts me off.  I tend to be somewhat afraid of graters.

[EvergreenDan]

Had this again tonight with Becherovka and lemon. I'm tempted to try it with 1-3 tsp of Angostura a la a Trinidad Sour.

[EvergreenDan]

Crafty & Elusive Elk (CEK?), this time with actual lime but sub of 1/4 oz shy of Angostura. Lovely.

 

Maybe someday I'll have this with good home/house-made falernum.

 

I followed this up with a Juniperio / Dolin Martini, which may have been a mistake. Thank god dinner is already cooked.

[Czequershuus]

In the mood for a bitter repast tonight, I chose this one

 

Laughing Boy (Link)

1.5 Oz Plantation Barbados 5 Year Rum (Appleton VX)

0.5 Oz Carpano Antica (Punt e Mes)

0.5 Oz Fernet Branca

0.5 Oz Meletti Amaro

1 ds Aromatic Bitters (Angostura)

1 ds Orange Bitters (Angostura)

Stir, rocks, pinch of salt, lemon twist.

 

Really hit the spot after a long day. Bitter, dark, and rich. On to more new Fernet cocktails, having just restocked!

[lesliec]

Bitter, dark, and rich. 

 

I like that in a woman!

 

Sounds like my kinda drink too - I just added it to Kindred.  Thanks, Czequershuus.

[lesliec]

Followup on the Laughing Boy - I kinda liked it; Wifey didn't.  So it doesn't pass the Man Comes Around wife test, as previously discussed.  Sorry, Dan.

 

It's advisable with drinks from the dark side like this one to only make one and see how the other half likes it.  Fortunately, that's what I did.

[ChrisTaylor]

Any subs for Meletti?

[EvergreenDan]

Any subs for Meletti?

It's unique. I find that it has the gestalt of chocolate. Maybe half Ramazzotti and half creme de cacao? Or Ramazzotti or Averna or Nonino with a few dashes of Mole or Chocolate bitters?

[lesliec]

Any subs for Meletti?

 

I wish I'd thought to ask that.  I used my own amaro, which may be a tad assertive for this.  Bloody good, though.

[brinza]

It's unique. I find that it has the gestalt of chocolate. Maybe half Ramazzotti and half creme de cacao? Or Ramazzotti or Averna or Nonino with a few dashes of Mole or Chocolate bitters?

I didn't notice the chocolate notes in Meletti.  Nevertheless, I would think with everything else in that Laughing Boy recipe, Chris could easily get away with just subbing Ramazzotti or Averna alone and the drink should not suffer one bit.  Frustratingly, I happen to have some Meletti right now, but alas, no Fernet, so I won't even attempt this drink, because Fernet has no substitute.

[FrogPrincesse]

For a cocktail party with friends last week -

 

Sam Ross' Cobble Hill (aka "summertime Manhattan") with High West Double Rye, Dolin French vermouth, Montenegro, muddled cucumber

 

 

... followed by Greg Best's Rhythm and Soul with High West Double Rye, amaro Margerum, Averna, Angostura bitters, St. George absinthe.

 

 

That double rye is really great in cocktails.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Autumn in Jersey.  Recently I've been formulating them:

 

3 oz Laird's bonded

3/4 oz orgeat

1 oz lemon juice (or generous)

2 dashes Angostura

 

 

This was so good I made another.  For which I had to pop a fresh bottle of Angostura.  Which I eschew whenever possible  Didn't Mark Twain write something about opening bottles is what makes drunkards...or maybe it was Hemingway?  Too bad it wasn't Poe,

[ChrisTaylor]

In the mood for a bitter repast tonight, I chose this one

 

Laughing Boy (Link)

1.5 Oz Plantation Barbados 5 Year Rum (Appleton VX)

0.5 Oz Carpano Antica (Punt e Mes)

0.5 Oz Fernet Branca

0.5 Oz Meletti Amaro

1 ds Aromatic Bitters (Angostura)

1 ds Orange Bitters (Angostura)

Stir, rocks, pinch of salt, lemon twist.

 

Really hit the spot after a long day. Bitter, dark, and rich. On to more new Fernet cocktails, having just restocked!

 

I made this sexy beast using Meletti and Mole bitters in place of the Meletti. It's as wrong in the right kind of way as a woman in a leather skirt.

[lesliec]

Last night I made the very interesting Ligurian Sea. Interesting particularly as it features a louched absinthe/water layer on top of something very similar to a Negroni (gin/vermouth/Cynar).

 

In terms of appearance it was a roaring success.  The recipe didn't ask for one, but I put a large ice cube in the glass with the Negroni component and poured the separately-mixed absinthe and water onto it.  The results is a fascinating smoky layer over the dark liquid underneath.

 

But ... until you've drunk your way through the layer, there's not really much happening.  I have no problem with absinthe, but for me the drink started off quite watery.  And once you're through the layer I'm not sure the lingering hint of absinthe does the rest of the drink many favours.  I'll probably make it again because it looks amazing, but I'll experiment with cutting back on the water and perhaps using a 'proper' Negroni with Campari as the base, just to be a bit more assertive.

 

The above doubts notwithstanding, I'd recommend you make the drink - once - because of how it looks.  Sorry, I didn't do a photo to save you the trouble.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Having no lack of lime I hunted down a crafty and elusive elk, which I had spotted from the air:

 

1 oz Patron anejo

1/2 oz tobala

1/2 oz falernum

1/2 oz maraschino

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

2 dashes Angostura orange

[Rafa]

I made a Farewell to Hemingway after reading this lovely, thoughtful post about the Spanish Civil War, among other things. As for the drink itself, usually it's nicely refreshing and aromatic, but last night it just tasted like slightly sour cherry Lambic. It improved when I added a bit of Islay to it. 

[Czequershuus]

A late night coming home from a busy day sometimes requires a nicely complex drink. This night I went for:

 

La Yapa

1 Oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse BIB)

1 Oz Lemon Juice

0.5 Oz Fernet Branca

0.5 Oz Falernum (Velvet)

0.5 Oz Grenadine

2 ds Angostura Bitters

Shake, rocks(I served up. Oops, I too often forget to read this part of a recipe)

 

What a delightfully big drink. Surprisingly the Fernet is almost lost here, the acidity of the lemon and the grenadine came charging through. A really refreshing drink, given its ingredients.

 

On a side note, has anyone else had the experience with homemade grenadine that it does not go off. I must have made my current bottle six months ago or more, and I keep expecting it to crystalize, or mold, or start to taste off as happen to all my other syrups, but it just holds strong and flavorful. I am not complaining, mind you, it is actually very fortuitous.

[FrogPrincesse]

San Gennaro (Andrew Pollard), a Manhattan variation with 1 oz High West Double Rye! (bonded was specified but my Rittenhouse is gone), 1 oz amaro Montenegro Averna can also be used), 1 oz Punt e Mes (Carpano Antica was specified), 1/2 teaspoon Campari, brandied cherries.

 

 

 

The reason it's not posted under Best Manhattan Variations is because it was a bit too sweet (I can't imagine what it would be like with the Antica), and in the end I could barely taste the rye.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Cool, cloudy, windy -- Autumn in Jersey weather tonight...and no room in the refrigerator for the bag of lemons:

 

3 oz Laird's bonded

3/4 oz orgeat

1 oz lemon juice

2 dashes Angostura

 

 

Garnished this time with a generous sprig of mint, as well as the spent half lemon.  I can't say mint adds anything much to this drink at all but at least it goes nicely with the green plastic straw.

[KD1191]

A Campari Cooler [Campari, Carrot, Lemon, Orange Blossom] at Grain Store, in London:

 

 

This was complex, yet refreshing and delicious. The essence of 'orange' (taste the color!) with a bitter edge. Thanks for the recommendation, PV. Lovely spot, but would like to go back on a weekday. Lots of prams and ladies brunching yesterday, with a very strange avant garde fashion shoot thrown in for good measure.

[Plantes Vertes]

Glad you liked it! It's next door to an art school, which could explain the extraneous avant guardistes, but God, prams Uncalled-for.

[Adam George]

Sunday brunch in Shoreditch.

So

Many

Yuppies.

[Plantes Vertes]

Even yuppies must brunch