"Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails"

[FrogPrincesse]

Boukman Daiquiri (Alex Day) with Plantation 3 stars rum (substituted for Barbancourt white), Pierre Ferrand 1840 cognac (substituted for Hine), lime juice, cinnamon bark syrup.

 

This is a great Daiquiri variation, tasty and simple. Adding it to my (long) list of favorites.

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Jekyll and Hyde (Thomas Waugh) with Elijah Craig 12 bourbon (sub for Eagle Rare 10), Daron XO calvados (instead of Laird's bonded apple brandy), homemade cinnamon bark syrup, demerara syrup, Angostura and Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas decanter bitters (instead of Bitter Truth Old Time Aromatic bitters). Black olive shortbread cookies (Pierre Herme) on the side.

 

This is a very flavorful Old Fashioned variation, highly recommended. A close cousin of the American Trilogy.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2016 by FrogPrincesse
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[FrogPrincesse]

Here is a previous iteration of the Jekyll and Hyde that I made last year and didn't get a chance to post, with Buffalo Trace for the bourbon.

 

 

 

[MCDForm]

Since you all seem to have made your way most of the way through this book, do you have any advice bottles will let me make the most drinks?  My bottle collection has been neglected and slowly depleted and I'm down to some core basics, a london dry gin, bourbon, white rum, and reposado tequila.  I'm basically trying to get the most bang for my buck with bottle purchases in the future.

[lesliec]

Hi MCDForm.

 

We've had a few discussions about building up a bar, such as here. You might also want to consider sites like the 12 bottle bar.  

 

But the best answer is to skim through the Death & Co book, decide what you like the look of and get the appropriate bottles.  Looking at what you've already got I'd suggest you add (at least) a golden or dark rum, rye and scotch, but it very much depends on your taste.  And certainly a couple of vermouths in different styles, and a bitters collection (start with Angostura and an orange bitters and go from there)

 

The problem really is knowing when to stop!. 

[FrogPrincesse]

This is rather wonderful. I typically shy away from drinks with pineapple juice, but that one felt like a Daiquiri with subtle elements highlighting this incredible rum - I got a lot of banana!

 

The Great Pretender (Thomas Waugh) with Smith & Cross Jamaican rum, lime juice, pineapple juice, cinnamon bark syrup, vanilla syrup, cinnamon-sugar rim.

 

[ananth]

Nice ! Have to try this one. Just a shame for the canned pineapple juice. I used to use a juice extractor but it is really tiring to wash it. I used a straining bag and it was so easy. I guess, I'll never touch my juice extractor again haha

 

concerning cinnamon syrup, I thought that Ceylon cinnamon was supposed to be prefered than cassia cinnamon (as told in this video https://youtu.be/U7fVHDJy-ng

@ ~1min25) but the Death & Co book (which I finally own since Christmas, thank you Santa) advise to use cassia.
Which one did you use?

Edited January 13, 2016 by ananth (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

@ananth You know, this canned juice from Trader Joe's is actually very decent. It's not made from concentrate so it tastes "fresh".

 

I made the cinnamon bark syrup per the specs in the book and used cassia bark. I have large chunk of it from a trip to the Carribbeans.

[ananth]

I guess reading everywhere to always use fresh products makes you kinda extremist

[FrogPrincesse]

Well, how often do you juice/strain pineapple? I have done it a few times, and while I agree it's delicious, it is not exactly a quick process! I am very glad to have the can as an option when I come home after a long day...

 

 

 

[ananth]

Yes I guess I did it once with my juicer and once with my bag in almost a year 

[Craig E]

Inaugurated my first batch of cinnamon syrup by making a Heart-Shaped Box. 

Muddled strawberry, Hine cognac (Maison Rouge), St. Germain, lemon juice, cinnamon syrup, balsamic vinegar, Angostura bitters. 

Sweet and well spiced, very accessible.

[FrogPrincesse]

A killer Daiquiri variation with batavia arrack. The pomegranate and mint manage to tame the batavia arrack somehow.

 

Arrackuiri (Phil Ward) with Van Oosten batavia arrack, lime juice, simple syrup, pomegranate molasses, mint.

 

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Brian Miller's take on the traditional Bumboo is a beautiful rum old fashioned. I didn't have the Santa Teresa 1796 that is specified in the recipe and chose what I felt was the closest rum I had, El Dorado 8. All the little additions (vanilla & demerara syrups, 3 types of contrasting bitters) make the rum shine.

 

Bumboo (Brian Miller) with El Dorado 8 Demerara rum, demerara syrup, vanilla syrup, Peychaud's bitters, Abbott's bitters, Jerry Thomas' bitters, nutmeg

 

[Rafa]

^^Excellent vessel.

[FrogPrincesse]

Thanks @Rafa !

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2016 by FrogPrincesse
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[Quadriga]

On 22.1.2016 at 3:30 AM, Craig E said:

Inaugurated my first batch of cinnamon syrup by making a Heart-Shaped Box. 

 

 

Sounds too crazy (and looks too good) not to try.
I needed a reason to spend some money on quality Aceto di Balsamico anyway. At this time of the year, getting strawberries that taste like strawberries might be a challenge, though.

[FrogPrincesse]

@QuadrigaExactly... I have good balsamic already but I've been waiting for strawberry season to try this drink!

 

This one is pleasant but honestly the cocktail doesn't do justice to this tequila. The book called for Azul, I used Ocho plata La Magueyera which is a first rate tequila, vegetal with a touch of smokiness. The cocktail wasn't bad, but it wasn't especially remarkable.

 

Gilda Cocktail (Brian Miller) with single estate tequila Ocho plata 2014, lime juice, pineapple juice, cinnamon bark syrup

 

[FrogPrincesse]

I was looking for something gin-forward the other day and tried the Pink Elephant. It reminded me of an elegant Bramble with the alliance of gin and blackberries. There is also a Hemingway daiquiri inspiration there with the lime, maraschino and grapefruit combination.

 

It called for blackberry liqueur, I subbed blackcurrant syrup (blackcurrants taste similar to blackberries but are very tart and have a slightly tannic flavor that I always loved). You really need a juniper-forward gin like Tanqueray for this to really work. And it works - it is a simple yet really great drink.

 

Pink Elephant (Brian Miller) with Tanqueray London dry gin, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, syrop de cassis/black currant syrup, Oro Blanco grapefruit juice, lime juice.

 

 

 

Edited January 26, 2016 by FrogPrincesse
add more info (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

Creole Saz (Joaquin Simo) with Dillon rhum agricole (substituted for Barbancourt 3 stars), Pierre Ferrand 1840 cognac, JM cane syrup, Peychaud's bitters, St. George absinthe (instead of Vieux Pontarlier).

 

I realized too late that Barbancourt 3 stars was an aged rum, so it would have made more sense to use an aged agricole. Oh well, it was probably a bit more youthful and brash than the original, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed this very much.

 

[lesliec]

I don't think there are too many duds in this book.  Having given it a rest for a while, I opened it again tonight and found the May Fair by Eryn Reece.

 

 

Really, really good and is going down far too fast despite (I fear) its strength.  Gin, aquavit, sweet vermouth, Benedictine, Angostura, Peychauds.  I used my own gin, which is, let us say, quite assertive in flavour.  The recipe calls for a split between Linie and Krogstad aquavits but I only have Linie so used an ounce of that rather than half of each.  D&C have their 'house blends' of sweet vermouth (Dolin Rouge and Punt e Mes, equal parts) and Peychauds (2 Peychauds/1 Bitter Truth Creole) and, because I could, I pretty much went with those (Cocchi instead of Dolin, but there we are).

 

I posted recently in the Drinks topic that the Diamonds on my Windshield is one of the finest uses of aquavit known to man.  This is another. 

[FrogPrincesse]

@lesliec Thanks for reporting on this one. I have the opposite problem, I only have Krogstad and not Linie! They are completely different though. Krogstad is like a caraway- and anise-flavored gin, there is not a hint of sweetness/sherry like the Linie has. Too bad we cannot pool our resources!

[lesliec]

17 hours ago, FrogPrincesse said:

Too bad we cannot pool our resources!

 

Well, we tried! My friend ended up bringing entirely nothing back for me, so I suppose I'm saved the angst of wishing he'd brought that rather than this.  One must look on the bright side ...

 

Time to get the Lear fuelled up again, it seems.

 

More to the purpose, I quite like the idea of a caraway/anise gin.  That's two botanicals I haven't tried in my gin.

[FrogPrincesse]

57 minutes ago, lesliec said:

 

Well, we tried! My friend ended up bringing entirely nothing back for me, so I suppose I'm saved the angst of wishing he'd brought that rather than this.  One must look on the bright side ...

 

Time to get the Lear fuelled up again, it seems.

 

More to the purpose, I quite like the idea of a caraway/anise gin.  That's two botanicals I haven't tried in my gin.

 

Haha. Well that is too bad...

 

I am pretty sure you could pull this off. I met one of the distillers from House Spirits a while back and he explained that the aquavit was made exactly like a gin, but with different spices. The caraway seed and star anise are very prominent so it's quite distinctive.

 

[Kerry Beal]

My aquavit experiments involved first the herbs which didn't result in the flavour I was after (Taffel) - then with essential oils. To 100 ml of 45% ETOH I added 15 drops of a mixture of 120 drops caraway, 10 drops dill, 2 drops coriander, 8 drops bitter orange. 

 

Aged in nuke with a couple of sherry chips.