Cocktails

[Vanessa]

I have been aware for some time of a silent nagging on this subject from Kikujiro. So, this is what I have to say. Please note that I do not consider my opinions definitive, nor (with all due respect to everyone) am I interested in the ‘perfect martini’ type of pissing contest.

I got into cocktails about 9 years ago, due to a good friend who introduced me to the idea, and then the taste epiphany (which I had totally forgotten until a week or two ago, when I came across the same recipe): I made a drink called ‘Prince Charlie’ from Marian McNeill’s ‘The Scots Cellar’ (I’m sure The Balic can enlighten everyone further on Marian McNeill – the great chronicler of Scottish food and drink). This is equal quantities of Drambuie, brandy and lemon juice and the taste was so amazing that I have made myself a cocktail more or less every day since.

I have a crap memory and a very low boredom threshhold. This means that I make cocktails from books, a different cocktail (or two) every day. I like most, depending on my mood, with the exception of anything resembling a Bloody Mary. i.e. I hate tomato juice or other vegetable juices.

Over a period of time I have developed certain ways of doing things, as follows:

Ice: I use still mineral water, having noticed how much cleaner the ice trays are (compared with using London tap water) and how much easier it is to get the ice out of the tray. With regard to quantity of ice used, I use 4 cubes for a cocktail in the shaker, and 2 cubes for one that is just stirred.

Re-stirred (as opposed to shaken cocktails): when I started out I acquired one of those sophisticated strainers with a spring underneath. But then I realised I was never going to keep my glasses in the freezer, and if you strained a stirred cocktail into another glass it was never going to be cold. So, for a cocktail that is not shaken, I simply use 2 ice cubes and make the thing in the glass I drink from. The strainer with the spring (has a special name I know) has long been thrown out.

Re-shaking: I am a firm believer in the fact that shaking means shaking, not just a vague waving in the air that one sees in some bars. I like my ice cubes to be substantial because the larger the cube the colder the drink and the less dilute when it is strained out. The same friend of mine that introduced me to cocktails likes her ice to be all itty bitty – she hasn’t cottoned on to the fact that this just makes a warm, dilute drink. So, if the ice in substantial cubes, then when I shake the shaker gets frosted on the outside. The point of shaking is to chill the drink, but also to introduce microscopic air bubbles throughout, which have an effect upon the drinking sensation (you can see it in the cloudiness of the drink, which then settles to be clear) – not quite like a fizzy drink, but something related. If the drink is insufficiently shaken, then you don’t get that spread of oxygen throughout the drink and it comes out ‘flat’.

Crushed ice: I try to avoid this. In the days before I acquired a nice Magimix (Cuisinart for you Americans) food processor, I used to have a Kenwood processor with a Parmesan shaver blade that made the most wonderful shaved ice. The Magimix doesn’t have that capability and if you use the normal blade it makes OK, but not great crushed ice – I’m not fond of ice lumps. I don’t have the space nor the inclination to acquire an ice-crushing machine. So these days I try to without. In fact I’m not crazy about cocktails made in the blender for exactly the same reason, you always end up with little lumps of ice in your mouth.

Base spirits: I tend to use supermarket own brands, for economic reasons as much as anything, except that I use 40% ‘London Gin’ rather than the basic 37.5% as I find it makes quite a difference. When it comes to brandy, I also try to use the 40% version.

If you are a Londoner, Gerry’s in Old Compton St in Soho is a vital source for the more obscure liqueurs etc, and also for reasonable prices. For example they are far and away the cheapest source of Chartreuse. Then, of course, it is important to make good use of all family and friends that are passing through Europe, especially Spain, France and Portugal. Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason are also not bad, but considerably more expensive than Gerry’s.

Cocktail books I have appreciated: The Bartender’s Bible – Gary Regan, The New American Bartender’s Guide – John Poister and, my current ‘bible’: World Encyclopedia of Cocktails – Paul Martin.

That’s it for now.

v

[Wilfrid]

That was a good read, Vanessa. I once resolved to make a different cocktail every evening (from a book, of course), but apart from the difficulty of fitting it in before (1) going to the pub time and (2) opening the wine for dinner time, I found that I was always short of ingredients.

So I have ended up making the same half dozen or so cocktails repeatedly from the ingredients I have. But I am getting good at them Oh, Negroni, Sidecar, Manhattan, Cosmopolitan, Rob Roy, and a lemony one the name of which escapes me. I must do some cordial and liqueur shopping and try some of the DeGroff recipes.

The book I have been using is Cocktail by Harrington and Moorhead, which fortunately got a tick from Dale DeGroff.

[nightscotsman]

The book I have been using is Cocktail by Harrington and Moorhead, which fortunately got a tick from Dale DeGroff.

"Cocktail: the Drinks Bible for the 21st Century" is my favorite. I think it's out of print now (if you ever see it, grab it - hard to find and going for more than the cover price, used), but a lot of the contents are available on-line here.

I far prefer cracked ice for shaking as the larger surface area chills the drink much faster. It's also very important to use really cold (close to 0 F), fresh from the freezer ice, not sitting in a pool of water in an ice bucket.

[JAZ]

Well, of course it's a matter of personal preference, but here's my opinion on the shaken v. stirred question: I prefer to stir drinks made primarily with one spirit (e.g., martinis, manhattans) and to shake cocktails made with either cordials or fruit juices. My reason is that, as Vanessa noted, a shaken drink ends up with tons of minute air bubbles. She enjoys that sensation, but I don't. And I don't like a clear drink like a martini to be cloudy. But for a cocktail with different ingredients with different consistencies, I think shaking is essential to thoroughly mix the drink, And since there are generally opaque or colored ingredients, the cloudiness is not as apparent. If I'm shaking a drink, I do shake it thoroughly, but I don't like a drink so violently tossed around that it pours out all foamy. Ick.

That being said, there's no doubt that a shaken cocktail is colder. I get around that by storing my cocktail glasses in the freezer (my freezer is small, and filled mostly with glasses, ice and limoncello). I do prefer larger cubes for stirring or shaking drinks, but if I'm serving a drink on the rocks, I like smaller cubes or crushed (not shaved) ice.

I adore my copy of Harrington and Moore's Cocktail book. I spent months trying out many drinks that were new to me and several of those have become favorites. I particularly enjoy the Jasmine (gin, lemon juice, triple sec and a splash of Campari) and the Pegu (gin, triple sec, lime juice and bitters). You can probably I'm a gin sort of person.

However, my current favorite drink is not from his book and is not gin based. It's a vodka drink which consists of mandarin flavored vodka (Absolut is good, Hangar One is exquisite) and Lillet Blond, with the proportions of a classic (i.e., not terribly dry) martini. Stirred, up and garnished with an orange twist if I have an orange lying around. In fact, I'm drinking one right now, rewarding myself for a rather nasty day at work.

(I have only had a few minutes to glance at DeGroff's book, but it looks to be very good as well. I will undoubtedly buy it.)

Janet

Oh, and that strainer thingy is called a cocktail strainer. Seems like it would have a better name.

[vengroff]

It's also very important to use really cold (close to 0 F), fresh from the freezer ice, not sitting in a pool of water in an ice bucket.

This got the old high-school physics part of my brain churning. Working through what goes on made me come to the conclusion that if you use very cold ice, as you suggest, increasing the surface area will make a big difference, but if you use ice-bucket ice right at the melting point, it won't. In fact, if your goal is to minimize dilution, really cold ice cubes are only marginally better than ice-bucket ice.

Please correct me if you think I've got this wrong. I'm assuming that since you have an organic molecule for a signature, you'll know what I'm talking about here.

Here's how I worked through it:

Suppose that before the ice is added, the drink is at a nice room temperature of 20° C. Your goal is to chill it 17° to 3° C, not far above freezing. Assume that the drink (prior to adding ice) is 60% water, with a heat capacity of 1 calorie per gram degree celsius (c/g°C) and 40% alcohol, with a heat capacity of 0.57c/g°C. To cool a gram of the of the drink 17°C will require

17 * ( 0.6 * 1.0 + 0.4 * 0.57 ) = 14 calories

If we shake the drink with ice that has been sitting out at 0° C, then the only way it will cool the drink is by melting and diluting it. It takes 80 calories to melt a gram of ice, and 3 more calories to raise it to 3° C, so we will need to melt

14c / (83 c/g) = 0.17 grams

of ice. So, our final drink will be diluted by 17%.

Now suppose we start with ice at -18° C, which is approx. 0° F. Ice does not conduct heat especially well. As a result, most of the action when we shake the drink for 15-20 seconds is at the surface of the ice. If we use large cubes, then the temperature at the center will hardly have changed by the time we strain the ice out of drink. Assume, for the moment, that ice at the surface melts, and the rest of the ice remains at its original temperature. Ice has a heat capacity of 0.5c/g°C, so it will take 9c/g to raise it to the melting point of 0° C. We then need the same 83 calories to melt it and raise it to 3° C. The warmed and melted surface ice would thus absorb a total of 91c/g, meaning that

14c / (91 c/g) = 0.15 grams

of ice would be melted for each gram of the original drink. The final result is a drink diluted by 15%, not much different than if we had started with 0° C ice.

If the ice has a large surface area, then almost all of the ice will warm up to the melting point before any of it starts to melt. In the extremely high surface area case, if we have more than 14/9 = 1.6 grams of ice per gram of drink, then no ice will melt at all, since the evenly warmed ice will not even reach the melting point.

So, it seems that the key to chilling without dilution is to use cold ice with a large surface area, so that all of it absorbs heat and warms up before any significant amount can melt.

However, returning from physics to actual drink-making, shouldn't a good martini be diluted with some water that melts from the ice? I seem to recall that the ideal was about 20%, which would argue for starting with ice at 0° C with a bit of water clinging to the surface of the cubes. I guess we'd have to do some laboratory exercises to find out which drink ends up tasting the best.

[nightscotsman]

However, returning from physics to actual drink-making, shouldn't a good martini be diluted with some water that melts from the ice?  I seem to recall that the ideal was about 20%, which would argue for starting with ice at 0° C with a bit of water clinging to the surface of the cubes.  I guess we'd have to do some laboratory exercises to find out which drink ends up tasting the best.

According to the cocktail books that I've read, the water from the ice melting during shaking or stiring is an integral part of the drink and should be allowed for in a proper recipe. 15-20% sounds about right.

Oh, and don't let my sig fool you - most of your post, while interesting, went flyin' over my head.

[col klink]

I used to make my own ice with only Brita water. But that was down in Texas where the water is bordering on horrid (when my brother dan was less than a year old he contracted giardia from the Dallas water supply, when we moved up to Seattle, the docter asked "what third world country did you move from?"). However, as my drinking progressed and the laziness ensued, I started buying clean ice. For the most part I still just buy my ice, it's clean, tastes great and keeps well in the freezer. Since I like my cocktails very cold, I prefer my them shaken. By the way NSM, you make a killer vesper. Not that I've tried a vesper elsewhere, but I'm quite fond of them and you've completely turned around how I make Manhattans.

edit: forgot about the cute doctor quote.

Edited January 15, 2003 by col klink (log)

[vengroff]

Oh, and don't let my sig fool you - most of your post, while interesting, went flyin' over my head.

Looking back on the original post, I really geeked out.

The simple intuition behind what I was trying to say is that it takes a lot more heat (80 times as much) to melt ice than is does to change the temperature of water by 1 degree Centigrade. Warming ice takes about half as much heat as warming water the same number of degrees. So, if you start with a bunch of really cold ice with a large surface area, then warming the ice to the melting point will use up so much of the heat from the cooling drink that there will be little or none left over to melt any significant portion of the ice. That's the theory anyway.

Is that some kind of disaccharide sugar in your sig?

[Ron Johnson]

I shake martinis, gibsons and the like because I do not find lukewarm vodka or gin palatable. Stirring makes a drink that is cold for the first sip but then quickly warms.

I will accept a stirred Manhattan because bourbon tastes great when its not ice cold.

[col klink]

Looking back on the original post, I really geeked out.

Vengroff, I'd like to thank you for the math, it's what makes the site more credible. I just wish I didn't have all of those flashbacks to high school.

[StephenT]

However, returning from physics to actual drink-making, shouldn't a good martini be diluted with some water that melts from the ice?  I seem to recall that the ideal was about 20%, which would argue for starting with ice at 0° C with a bit of water clinging to the surface of the cubes.  I guess we'd have to do some laboratory exercises to find out which drink ends up tasting the best.

I've heard that as an argument for not chilling your gin (or vodka) when making a martini. If you chill the spirit then it doesn't melt enough of the ice and your drink is unpalatably strong. Of course, those who like their drinks to be tongue-numbingly strong will disagree

[StephenT]

If you are a Londoner, Gerry’s in Old Compton St in Soho is a vital source for the more obscure liqueurs etc, and also for reasonable prices.  For example they are far and away the cheapest source of Chartreuse.  Then, of course, it is important to make good use of all family and friends that are passing through Europe, especially Spain, France and Portugal.  Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason are also not bad, but considerably more expensive than Gerry’s.

Vanessa, thanks for the post! Speaking of Chartreuse, do you have any favourite cocktails made from green Chartreuse? When a friend recently travelled to France, she asked me if she could get me anything and I asked for green Chartreuse, specifically with the intention of making cocktails with it. But I haven't actually done so yet and the bottle is giving me displeased looks.

[nightscotsman]

Vanessa, thanks for the post!  Speaking of Chartreuse, do you have any favourite cocktails made from green Chartreuse?  When a friend recently travelled to France, she asked me if she could get me anything and I asked for green Chartreuse, specifically with the intention of making cocktails with it.  But I haven't actually done so yet and the bottle is giving me displeased looks.

Champs Elysees

1-1/2 oz brandy

1/4 oz Chartreuse

1 oz lemon juice (though I prefer a little less - like 3/4 oz)

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and garnish with a lemon twist.

[col klink]

I can vouch for the drinkability of the above.

[coolranch]

However, returning from physics to actual drink-making, shouldn't a good martini be diluted with some water that melts from the ice?  I seem to recall that the ideal was about 20%, which would argue for starting with ice at 0° C with a bit of water clinging to the surface of the cubes.  I guess we'd have to do some laboratory exercises to find out which drink ends up tasting the best.

I've heard that as an argument for not chilling your gin (or vodka) when making a martini. If you chill the spirit then it doesn't melt enough of the ice and your drink is unpalatably strong. Of course, those who like their drinks to be tongue-numbingly strong will disagree

So True. I've been experimenting with this at home with my vodka martini.

A little water helps a lot. I do try to chill the glass, though.

I am trying to branch out with the cocktails I make at home...I'm buying the ingredients to make the rum infusion for the flaming orange gully this weekend.

Re: stirred v. shaken, I've always followed the rule of

if it's a pure alcohol drink (martini, Manhattan), stir

if you're mixing fruit juices, etc, shake

[Vanessa]

Stephen - apologies for the delay in response.

The first drink with Chartreuse (green) that comes to mind, although I don't personally like it very much, is hot chocolate with Chartreuse - 1fl oz or a bit less in each mug. Madelein Kamman in her lovely book 'Madeleine Kamman's Savoie' has several pages on the liqueur and the hot chocolate is a favourite of her family - they call it 'le chocolat des skieurs'.

As for cocktails - green Chartreuse does have a very specific, herbal flavour with a high level of alchol. You have to be in the mood for it:

- 1fl oz each of kirsch, green Chartreuse & Cointreau + dash of Maraschino. Shaken and strained into martini glass

- 2fl oz gin, 1fl oz sweet vermouth, 1tsp green Chartreuse + dash orange bitters. Shaken and strained into martini glass

- 11/2fl oz gin, 1fl oz dry vermouth (Noilly Prat), 1/2fl oz green Chartreuse + dash orange bitters. Stirred and strained into martini glass

- 2fl oz gin, 1fl oz green Chartreuse + dash green creme de menthe. Shaken and strained into a martini glass

- 2fl oz Irish whiskey + dash green creme de menthe + dash green Chartreuse. Stirred and strained into a martini glass. Garnish with green olive

- 1fl oz each gin, green Chartreuse and sweet vermouth. Stirred and strained into a martini glass

- 11/4fl oz bourbon, 11/4fl oz green Chartreuse, 1/4fl oz dry vermouth. Stirred and strained into a martini glass

- 1fl oz brandy, 1fl oz Dubonnet, 1/2fl oz gin, 1/2 fl oz green Chartreuse. Shaken and strained into a martini glass

- 2fl oz bourbon, 1fl oz sweet vermouth, 1fl oz orange juice + dash green Chartreuse. Shaken and strained into a martini glass

- 11/4fl oz green Chartreuse, 1fl oz vodka, 3/4fl oz grapefruit juice, 1/4fl oz cherry brandy. Shaken and strained into a martini glass (N.B. although I've made this one, I can't remember, or even imagine now, how it might taste )

- 11/2fl oz Scotch, 1/2fl oz green Chartreuse. Shaken and strained into a shot glass

- 1fl oz each brandy and green Chartreuse. Layer into a liqueur glass

- 1fl oz gin + 1 dash each green Chartreuse and Angostura Bitters. Stirred and strained into liqueur glass

Pousse cafes often use Chartreuse - they are those drinks in layers in little liqueur glasses. But they generally look great and taste foul.

As you can see, this is not a liqueur associated with cocktails involving fruit juices, with the odd exception, nor fizzy mixers, but more suited to the traditional, old-fashioned style cocktail. I also have an idea that a spoonful poured over some very good quality ice cream (vanilla) might be nice. I remember last year making a blueberry icecream served with eau-de-vie de mirabelle poured over. Fantastic.

v

[Vanessa]

more on cocktails:

One of the annoying things for us in the UK is that measurements in recipes are nearly always in fluid ounces, while it is illegal for spirit measures to be sold in shops in anything other than metric. So you either have to be creative or work out the proportions of each recipe. Some books do give recipes by proportion rather than quantity.

A couple of years ago a US cocktail gear company (Copco?) managed briefly to slip some ounce measures onto the UK market and I snapped them up when I saw them. Otherwise it is good to bear in mind that a tablespoon measure is 1/2 fl oz. I also have a baby 1/8 cup (1fl oz) measure that I bought some years ago in the Albert Kuyp market in Amsterdam. Never seen the like since.

Base spirits: no point in using the best cognac and single malts or whatever. I use supermarket own brands. However, for gin I make sure to buy the 40% 'London' gin rather than the basic 37.5%. I find it makes quite a difference. Also, when it comes to French brandy, it is a good idea to check the alcohol level of what you are buying. Anything below 40% is really inferior. At the same time, the supermarket brand (Waitrose is a good example) is sometimes better quality (in my view) than the cheapest 'French' brand. For white rum, try to keep to Bacardi (and try to buy it in Spain where it costs almost nothing!) - own/cheapo brands can be dire and for none white rums, i.e. the whole gamut from gold to molasses dark, I would suggest trying out and finding what suits your own taste. I like Captain Morgan's dark stuff in my cocktails, but I can well imagine that many would find the taste too coarse and strong.

v

[Kikujiro]

How did I miss this thread?

Vanessa, thank you. More to follow, almost certainly, given that one of my new year's resolutions involves making a lot more cocktails.

[Kikujiro]

Help. Boston shaker hell. I can't separate the parts. They got stuck together when I was making cocktails yesterday and I gave up and started again with another shaker. Now I want to sort out the mess but I assume what's happened is, the ice having well and truly melted, we now have a real vaccuum in there. I've tried and tries but can't get the bastard open. Any ideas?

[StephenT]

Try warming it up, probably with hot water? Sounds a bit extreme so try dunking it into a full saucepan for a bit. The heat should expand the metal more than the glass, making it easier to open. In theory.

[Kikujiro]

Thanks. They parted. I feel like Moses.

[Vanessa]

How did I miss this thread? 

Vanessa, thank you. More to follow, almost certainly, given that one of my new year's resolutions involves making a lot more cocktails.

Kiku - I just thought you were ignoring me

I've had the same problem in the past with the top (small) lid of my older shaker. Learnt the lesson never to jam it on tight again. I also got it off in the end either with very hot or very cold water - can't remember which.

v

[Vanessa]

Other cocktail mishaps to beware of:

1. The opposite problem to Kiku's - when the parts of the shaker decide to separate in mid-air, resulting in sticky liquid and ice flying in all directions

2. Feline/human displacement of full cocktail glass - with same multi-directional results as above. Especially annoying when on-line to e-gullet as the full replacement of computer keyboard is sometimes required.

v

[Charlene Leonard]

Other cocktail mishaps to beware of:

1. The opposite problem to Kiku's - when the parts of the shaker decide to separate in mid-air, resulting in sticky liquid and ice flying in all directions

2. Feline/human displacement of full cocktail glass - with same multi-directional results as above.  Especially annoying when on-line to e-gullet as the full replacement of computer keyboard is sometimes required.

 

v

and just how many cocktails have you had when these things happen?

[Wilfrid]

Let me just throw in here, as it seems a convenient place, that making a vodka martini, shaken over ice, but replacing the vermouth with Amaretto - perhaps a touch more Amaretto than you would add vermouth - can make one happy.