"Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails"

[Rafa]

I noticed, and I'm also not sure. A lot of their tiki recipes depart from the originals so it's hard to tell. 

[haresfur]

That description, an apple enjoyed by a campfire, makes this sound really tempting. Unfortunately, I just can't adjust to Islay scotch. Or at least, I can't adjust to Laphroaig which is the only one I've tried. Based on my experience with every drink I've tried using Laphroaig, to me, the drink would probably taste like enjoying an apple in the doctors office while he bandaged me up. I know it's just me, too many people talk about the Islay smoke for it not to be true, but the only smoke I ever get would be what might result from dousing a pile of band-aids in iodine and setting it ablaze. Which makes me sad because the idea of the smoky taste appeals to me.

 

 

I tend to agree with you.  For me Dalwhinnie 15 has a nice level of smokiness without the medicine and is a good value.

[FrogPrincesse]

I noticed, and I'm also not sure. A lot of their tiki recipes depart from the originals so it's hard to tell.

 

Based on these other sources, it looks very much like a typo. Which is good, because I am not sure how I feel about vanilla in a Zombie.

 

 

Take, for example, this Zombie Punch, Made by Brian Miller for Death & Co. in NYC

 

ZOMBIE PUNCH

1 1/2 ounce aged Jamaican rum

1 1/2 ounce gold Puerto Rican rum

1 ounce 151 proof demerara rum

3/4 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce Don’s Mix #2

1/2 ounce Velvet Falernum

1 teaspoon grenadine

1/8 teaspoon absinthe

1 dash Angostura bitters

-shake with 3 ice cubes and strain into a tall tiki mug over crushed ice

-garnish with a mint sprig

Don’s Mix #2 is a combination of 2 parts fresh grapefruit juice to 1

part cinnamon bark syrup.

 

[Tri2Cook]

Try Ardbeg or Caol Ila, or indeed Lagavulin. Smoky without the medicinal nature of Laphroaig

 

I tend to agree with you.  For me Dalwhinnie 15 has a nice level of smokiness without the medicine and is a good value.

Thanks for the suggestions. The Dalwhinnie is the only one of those suggestions available locally. I can get the Ardbeg but it's about 5 hours away so I or someone I know would have to be going there anyway. I don't think I'd do the 10 hr. drive just for the bottle.

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Regarding the Zombie, Brian Miller confirmed via twitter that it was a typo. It's supposed to be Don's Mix, not Don's Spices #2.

[FrogPrincesse]

Why the hell did they not create an app for the book that lets you plug in what you have and have the app identify doable recipes?

That sounds great (and applies to all books containing recipes), but I imagine that cost is probably the issue. It's not cheap to develop an app. I am hoping that the book will eventually be indexed on Eat Your Books, which will allow to search recipes by ingredients. 

[ChrisTaylor]

My copy landed today. Couple recipes have caught my eye that call for Galliano Ristresso. Never so much as tasted that but I do have Illy's coffee liqueur on hand. Considering how long it takes me to work through a bottle of coffee liqueur, the last thing I want to add to my collection is another coffee liqueur. Would Illy be a workable substitute?

 

EDIT

 

Sooooo many recipes I want to try. I've barely cracked the spine and I like this book already. 

 

EDIT 2

 

 

Conference. Page 137. Ticks a helluva lot of the boxes that need to be ticked, at least in my book, by cocktails in the Old Fashioned/Sazerac vein by reveling in its glorious brown-ness and booziness. Rather grand, even with my substitutions:

• Laird's apple brandy in place of Calvados
• A random bottle of cognac in place of the specific brand they call for
• Eagle Rare 12 instead of Buffalo Trace

 

Later in the evening I made the Latin Quarter, a Zacapa 23-based Sazerac variation, from page 257. There was a misstep. Unthinkingly I used cinnamon syrup instead of regular syrup. I only realised this when I was returning the bottle to the fridge. The syrup, of course, was the last item I added to the mixing glass. Fuck it. I'm not sinking a couple ounces of expensive rum without at least trying the mutant thing. Unsurprisingly, cinnamon syrup kind of works with Zacapa 23 and Angostura/Peychaud's/Xocolatl Mole bitters. It's not the drink they serve at Death & Co but it's workable enough.

[FrogPrincesse]

Nice photo, Chris.

 

Almond Brother (Jason Littrell) with 7 Leguas reposado tequila (añejo),  lime juice, amaretto, R&W apricot liqueur, orgeat (homemade coconut orgeat), maple syrup. I was terrified that this might be too sweet so I reduced all the sweet elements very slightly. But it was not sweet at all. It's like a fancy version of Tommy's "Margarita". It worked great with this aged tequila and highlighted the wood and pepper notes by contrast with the other ingredients.

 

 

[choux]

Is it worth picking up Lazzaroni Amaretto vs. the more common Disaranno? I don't have any amaretto right now, I could get Lazzaroni, but it would require a trip to the specialty store.

[FrogPrincesse]

Sorry I can't help you; I inherited this bottle which is 99% full and have no experience with Disaronno. Given that I use amaretto extremely rarely, my advice would be to get a "sample" from a friend or family member who already has a bottle, rather than buying a full bottle.

[EvergreenDan]

Luxardo amaretto is very good. Disarronno is not. Can't say about Lazzaroni.

[Hassouni]

Disaronno (remembering back to my college days) is horrifically sweet

[ChrisTaylor]

18th Century. Page 170. 20th Century variation based on Batavia arrack. Used Punt e Mes instead of Carpano and the brown MB Creme de Cacao instead of the white stuff, purely because the white stuff's harder to get/considerably more expensive in Australia. I've never made or tasted a 20th Century so I'm not sure how this compares to the original. It's funky because, hey, arrack. The lime/chocolate/vermouth/monster rum combo isn't my favourite thing in the world but it's not bad in the way I thought it would be. Drinkable but probably not worth repeating.

 

 

Naked and Famous. Page 185. A Last Word variant. I have the  exact mezcal they ask for (Del Maguey Chichicapa) and the Aperol but only green Chartreuse. They call for yellow. I've never tasted the yellow so I can't tell if this is basically the same as or wildly different from the D&C drink. I never thought I'd see the day when stuff + Chichicapa would see Chichicapa getting pounded into the dust. Unless yellow Chartreuse improves the profile of this drink significantly I will not, not, not make this again. Not working for me.

 

[weinoo]

My question is, and don't take this the wrong way - can you diss a recipe when you don't follow the recipe?

[Rafa]

Yellow is considerably softer and sweeter. I've never had a problem with the mezcal disappearing in that drink when made with the yellow, although I prefer the similar Eclipse (mezcal/tequila/Heering/Aperol/lime). You might enjoy Phil Ward's Division Bell (mezcal/Aperol/Maraschino/lime), which is at least better than the Pink Floyd album it's named for.

[ChrisTaylor]

My question is, and don't take this the wrong way - can you diss a recipe when you don't follow the recipe?

 

You raise a fair point. Although I wonder if my aversion to the drink had more to do with the Aperol than with using the wrong kind of Chartreuse.

 

Anyway. Here's one where I did follow the recipe, bar the Carpano/Punt sub. Martica. Page 218. Cognac and Appleton w/ vermouth, a little maraschino and a dash of Angostura. Rich. Robust. Oaky. Molasses in a big way. Very good.

[tanstaafl2]

Yellow is considerably softer and sweeter. I've never had a problem with the mezcal disappearing in that drink when made with the yellow, although I prefer the similar Eclipse (mezcal/tequila/Heering/Aperol/lime). You might enjoy Phil Ward's Division Bell (mezcal/Aperol/Maraschino/lime), which is at least better than the Pink Floyd album it's named for.

 

 I would second both of these. Green and Yellow are not interchangeable as the yellow is much lower proof, has honey added and is much sweeter and blunts the subtle herbal notes of green.

 

The Division Bell is excellent but must be made carefully as too much or two little of any one ingredient seems to have an impact out of proportion to what you might expect. And for me at least it should be made with Aperol rather than Campari. But I admit to not being a huge Campari fan.  

[ChrisTaylor]

Yeah, based on a flip-through of the book I think I'll need to add a bottle of the yellow stuff to the collection. I managed to get away with it, I think, with beta cocktails but D&C's book doesn't seem as focused on monster drinks (of the sort that can tolerate an ingredient somewhat beastlier than what the recipe calls for). I'm starting to wonder if yellow, in general, might prove more versatile.

 

Now if anyone can direct me to a non-shit version of Aperol ... >_>

[weinoo]

If someone could, would it be Aperol?

 

I find the thing with cocktail recipes is that many ingredients are in such small quantities that changing them changes the essence of the recipe.  It's like pastry and baking; much harder to riff on than, shall we say, veal  piccata.

 

And, as they point out in the book, the D&C team spent a lot of time developing their recipes; I've spent a few nights at that bar, back in the day, and I know how many variations of each and every new cocktail those guys attempted.

Edited October 31, 2014 by weinoo (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Yeah, based on a flip-through of the book I think I'll need to add a bottle of the yellow stuff to the collection. I managed to get away with it, I think, with beta cocktails but D&C's book doesn't seem as focused on monster drinks (of the sort that can tolerate an ingredient somewhat beastlier than what the recipe calls for). I'm starting to wonder if yellow, in general, might prove more versatile.

 

Now if anyone can direct me to a non-shit version of Aperol ... >_>

 

Unfortunately, I kind of like Aperol...not to excess, of course.  If you want yellow with a bit more proof, try VEP.

[EvergreenDan]

Aperol has a pretty horrific orange soda pop flavor straight, but when mixed with Campari becomes a delightful bitter grapefruit. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

There is nothing wrong with Aperol except they don't make it from little bugs.  Thus the color is vile and unappetizing...just like some other orange bitter I could mention.

 

I almost never consume Aperol straight.  Enjoying a naked and famous as we speak.  One of my favorite beverages that I seldom fix, because, well, it's not a mai tai.

[ChrisTaylor]

One that I made long before the book came out: Oaxaca Old-Fashioned, page three (and 273). Still brilliant. I used Del Maguey Chichicapa and Don Julio reposado. I don't know a whole lot about agave-based spirits but the combination works for me. A cocktail that, in its simplicity, celebrates the deliciousness of good ingredients.

 

As an aside, I purchased some yellow Chartreuse today. I haven't re-made the Naked and Famous yet but I did taste some straight. It's, yeah, very different to the boozier green stuff. Evoked Strega, almost.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Still waiting till I can afford some green VEP.

[ChrisTaylor]

So I revisited the Naked & Famous with the prescribed yellow Chartreuse. It's a very different drink. Still not a big fan but I like it a lot more than the previous version. Needs more crushed insects ... >_> 

 

EDIT

Thus far my main takeaway from the book has been mixed bases. I mean, I've made the New York Sazerac and American Trilogy before, but the idea of splitting the base spirit two, three, four ways--tiki-style--is relatively new. At least, it's not something I'd actively thought about. The Conference is really something. The Martica is a beast. I'm keen to play with this idea in relation to my go-to drinks the Negroni, Old-Fashioned and Manhattan. And, yeah, I'm tempted to revisit N&F again with a 50:50 split of Aperol and Campari. 

 

EDIT 2
 

The drink is growing on me but reminds me, I guess, of drinks in that Paper Plane category. Despite loving The Last/Final W(o/a)rd, there's something about it that doesn't work for me. Maybe I'm more attached to maraschino than I realised.