Post Your New Cocktail Creations Here

[mbanu]

Figured I'd try to do something fun with some of the more obscure stuff that's been gathering dust in the cabinet. A name escapes me for the moment.

2 oz. tequila

1/2 oz. starfruit syrup

1/2 oz. lemon juice

5 oz. soda water

A few dashes Swedish bitters

Build in a glass over ice.

[bostonapothecary]

while i work i drink pilsners with grapefruit juice.

i get my flavor fix so i don't crave a cocktail and i don't get even buzzed because its mostly fruit juice.... i became enamored with the hop / grapefruit flavor contrast so i wanted to stiffen it for after work. to do so i dry hopped some rum....

the bitter principles were able to dissolve in the alcohol and were pretty interesting. it is very aromatic. i added a pinch of salt to supress the bitter and promote any sugar i would use....

the cocktail is....

flor de fuerza

1/1/2 oz. hopped rum....

1/2 oz. creole shrub....

3oz. grapefruit juice....

if i carbonate the grapefruit juice i might be where i want to be. or maybe an egg white? now i need to sober up so i can try again....

[judiu]

Figured I'd try to do something fun with some of the more obscure stuff that's been gathering dust in the cabinet. A name escapes me for the moment.

2 oz. tequila

1/2 oz. starfruit syrup

1/2 oz. lemon juice

5 oz. soda water

A few dashes Swedish bitters

Build in a glass over ice.

←

I suggest the name "Shooting Star" for the starfruit and the sparkle in the soda water!

[plattetude]

Playing with my new bottle of St. Germain Elderflower liqueur and came up with this:

2 oz rum (10 Cane)

1/2 oz St. Germain

1/2 oz lime

splash (1/2 tsp or so) Creme de Cacao

The Cacao was a late addition after I'd had a few sips, and it really brought the whole thing to life.

[Nathan]

riffing off the category of rye and raspberry syrup drinks, I've found that bourbon and blueberry syrup have a similar affinity.

for example:

The Blues

2 bourbon

.5 blueberry syrup

.75-1 lemon

2 dash peach bitters

(if it comes out too acidic a dash of violette or parfait amour adds an interesting element)

or, with rum you can do:

Blueberry Spring

2 white rum

.5 blueberry syrup

.5 cointreau

.75-1 lime

[plattetude]

Another in the continuing (and highly enjoyable) experiments with St. Germain --

2 oz rye (Wild Turkey)

1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower

2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's)

Holy moley this was nice. It came out a bit sweeter than I expected, but the floral/citrus notes played very well with the spice of the rye. This is gonna be a keeper. I considered adding a bit of yellow Chartreuse, but it really didn't need anything more at ALL.

Christopher

[edit for verb tense idiocy]

Edited June 6, 2007 by plattetude (log)

[eje]

Another in the continuing (and highly enjoyable) experiments with St. Germain --

2 oz rye (Wild Turkey)

1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower

2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's)

Holy moley this was nice.  It came out a bit sweeter than I expected, but the floral/citrus notes played very well with the spice of the rye.  This is gonna be a keeper.  I considered adding a bit of yellow Chartreuse, but it really didn't need anything more at ALL.

Christopher

[edit for verb tense idiocy]

←

Excellent! A nice simple classic style cocktail for the St. Germain Elderflower.

It does sound good. I can see how the citrus/grapefruit/floral elements of the St. Germain would be really interesting with a spicy rye and some orange bitters.

[mbanu]

Think I'm coming down with something, so...

Recupérate Cocktail

2 oz. tequila

1/2 oz. Broncolin honey syrup

1/2 oz. lemon juice

Shake and strain.

[KatieLoeb]

Another in the continuing (and highly enjoyable) experiments with St. Germain --

2 oz rye (Wild Turkey)

1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower

2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's)

Holy moley this was nice.  It came out a bit sweeter than I expected, but the floral/citrus notes played very well with the spice of the rye.  This is gonna be a keeper.  I considered adding a bit of yellow Chartreuse, but it really didn't need anything more at ALL.

Christopher

[edit for verb tense idiocy]

←

I tried a riff on this last night with IKEA Elderberry Flower Syrup. The St. Germain is imported by a company right here in Philly and I still can't get it here.

I just added a tiny splash of grapefruit juice to the rye, (non-alcoholic) syrup and Orange bitters to dial back the sweetness and add the citrusy note and it was very tasty. Definitely adding this to the rotation. Do you have a name for it yet?

[thirtyoneknots]

Another in the continuing (and highly enjoyable) experiments with St. Germain --

2 oz rye (Wild Turkey)

1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower

2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's)

Holy moley this was nice.  It came out a bit sweeter than I expected, but the floral/citrus notes played very well with the spice of the rye.  This is gonna be a keeper.  I considered adding a bit of yellow Chartreuse, but it really didn't need anything more at ALL.

Christopher

[edit for verb tense idiocy]

←

I tried a riff on this last night with IKEA Elderberry Flower Syrup. The St. Germain is imported by a company right here in Philly and I still can't get it here.

I just added a tiny splash of grapefruit juice to the rye, (non-alcoholic) syrup and Orange bitters to dial back the sweetness and add the citrusy note and it was very tasty. Definitely adding this to the rotation. Do you have a name for it yet?

←

Maybe with a syrup, reduce to a tsp and serve on the rocks, OF-style? If you liked what the grapefruit did for it, use the peel as a garnish in lieu of lemon. Donno if your syrup has a strong enough flavor to have a presence at that level though. I'm mostly just blabbing here, I don't think I'd know elderflower flavor if it slapped me in the face

-Andy

[bostonapothecary]

i had heard of a peruvian specialty long ago of putting eggs in acid for two weeks then blending it all to make a sour with some pisco. the idea sounded delicious but then i forgot about it. i was reconnected with the idea after reading about the chemistry of hundred year old eggs from Herve This. The hundred year old egg does not just have to be alkaline and purchased in china town. you can use acid too. it is just about any PH reaction with an egg.

hundred year old egg sour....

2 oz. jungle brandy (pisco)

1 hundred year old egg

shake with plenty of ice then tea strain.

i made four eggs and this is just the first. the eggs are only five days old. the shell didn't totally dissolve but burst and stayed in more or less one piece in the shaker. i should have put more of the lemon juice in the shaker with it. i think i need to add more spices so they can diffuse through the membrane. i added black tea to the lemon juice but could not really taste it in the cocktail. the eggs definitely swelled up and absorbed the acid and sugar i added.

next time i will do it scientifically testing the brix and ph of my lemon juice sour before i add my eggs then after to see what happened through diffusion and chemical reaction.

for those that like eggs.... a delicious indigenous curiosity.

[BTR]

A friend of mine is having a French Revolution-themed cocktail party in honor of Bastille Day & asked about suitable drinks (she's come up with some of her own that sound quite nice, too bad it's going to be halfway across the country from me), and, having just bought some Lillet, I thought I'd try to come up with something using that. For some reason having it be the predominant ingredient, by volume, anyway, appealed to me, sort of like a reverse cocktail, except it's not the reverse of anything. After not enough experimentation I came up with this:

1.5 oz Lillet

.75 oz cognac

.5 oz orange juice

1 tsp Pernod (I have Herbsaint, but one would want to use something properly French, of course)

2 dashes orange bitters (ROB)

Which I found perfectly tasty, though I intend to tinker a bit. (Actual absinthe instead of the sweeter Herbsaint would probably be nice, but isn't really a realistic option.)

[bostonapothecary]

all the cocktails i've been drinking in the past couple days have been derived from the vieux carre....

two liquors fighting it out....

a vermouth

a spoonful of something....

two aromatic bitters (peychaud's requisite)

some sort of citrus oil

i usually go classic and only switch up the rye or cognac.

at the beehive scott surprised me and tossed out the cognac and put in an anejo. i thought he tossed out the rye but i was wrong.... he had no peychauds.... (i guess i will bring them some). results delicous.

at no.9 park i was curious about single malts so i had john toss out the rye and throw in some talisker, he also put in a spoonful of pastis. and surprised me with a couple drops of the now imfamous 21rst century abbots. my own curiosity brought this drink on..... the talisker clobbered the cognac which isn't optimal. what you really want is the liquors dead even. and changing their proportions breaks the rules.... if an ounce to an ounce doesn't work the combo doens't work. the pastis generated interesting results. at first i didn't really detenct it then it all the sudden came into focus in my mouth and kind of dominated the drink. you need to be careful with the peychauds in the same way too much and it will come into focus too easy. it must be a subliminal flavor.... i guess i need to scheme on what i can pit against talisker in the future.... (i do have some davidoff cigar orientated cognac that needs a use) john also thought dubonnet might be good next time instead of sweet vermouth.

last night at work i tossed out the rye and threw in some macallan for some spice to up against some mason surreine cognac. i flamed some orange twists and the results were beautiful.

i've had way to much fun with this.... if anyone else is into the vieux carre bring forth some good combos so i can imbibe.... never will i drink a simple manhattan or rob roy again....

[Amarantha]

Hosted a shot night with a flatmate many years ago, and had a flash of inspiration regarding amaretto, peach schnapps and cranberry juice. A little experimentation came up with the perfect ratio:

1 part amaretto

1 part peach schnapps

2 parts cranberry juice

It tasted a bit like cherry cough medicine, only much nicer. The guests refused to shot it; they said it tasted too good and sat there sipping it instead. I called it a "Cherry Bomb", but my flatmate preferred "Cherry Slide". Many years later I've gone off both names, so it's kinda nameless. I don't drink it much anymore anyway, because my sweet tooth is diminishing over the years. I used to also drink variations on the basic shot, such as on the rocks with soda or with extra cranberry, or layered inna champagne glass with a long spoon or stick for mixing.

More recently, I felt like something salty and sour but light and refreshing, and nothing in my admittedly limited repertoire was tempting. So I had a think and came up with:

tequila (couple shots)

lemon juice (few squirts)

soda (maybe half a cup)

ice (handful cubes)

inna salt-rimmed glass (actually a Leffe chalice)

Can't remember the exact amounts; I kinda make it up as I go along. Couldn't think of a name, so for now it's just the Quarry Rd Cocktail, since that's where I made it.

I think these are original creations - I've checked several books and websites and found one or two things similar but nothing quite the same. But it wouldn't surprise me to learn that someone, somewhere has made them already. Convergent evolution, nothing new under the sun and all that

I've also made a variation on someone else's cocktail. Readers of Kinky Friedman will be familiar with the Vodka McGovern, as created by Kinky's friend Mike McGovern. It's equal amounts vodka, freshly-squeezed orange juice and soda, with a little freshly-squeezed lime juice to taste. I make these from time to time, except I don't squeeze my own orange juice. One day I was very low on all my drink ingredients, so I improvised a McGovern-based variation using:

1 part chilli vodka (home-made with a pricked Locoto)

1 part cranberry juice

1 part soda

lemon juice to taste

The combination worked quite well. I call it a Cranberry McGovern for want of a better name, but I don't know if McGovern himself would approve.

[TBoner]

while i work i drink pilsners with grapefruit juice.

i get my flavor fix so i don't crave a cocktail and i don't get even buzzed because its mostly fruit juice.... i became enamored with the hop / grapefruit flavor contrast so i wanted to stiffen it for after work.  to do so i dry hopped some rum....

the bitter principles were able to dissolve in the alcohol and were pretty interesting. it is very aromatic. i added a pinch of salt to supress the bitter and promote any sugar i would use....

the cocktail is....

flor de fuerza

1/1/2 oz. hopped rum....

1/2 oz. creole shrub....

3oz. grapefruit juice....

if i carbonate the grapefruit juice i might be where i want to be. or maybe an egg white?  now i need to sober up so i can try again....

←

Just curious if you're familiar with Sierra Nevada's hop liqueur? I saw a bottle this week, but didn't pick it up ($ went to a dusty bottle of Cherry Marnier and a new bottle of Benedictine instead). At any rate, the hop variety isn't specified on the bottle that I could see, but assuming it's a grapefruity hop such as Cascade, as that's mostly what SN uses in their beers. Could be a worthy addition to your experimentation (or mine when more funds are available).

[eje]

TBoner... I've never seen a hop liqueur. I believe I've seen dusty bottles of a beer eau de vie from Sierra Nevada from time to time. Is that what you mean? I forget what it is called. I don't think they still make it.

[TBoner]

TBoner...  I've never seen a hop liqueur.  I believe I've seen dusty bottles of a beer eau de vie from Sierra Nevada from time to time.  Is that what you mean?  I forget what it is called.  I don't think they still make it.

←

Hmmm...well, I truthfully wasn't all that attentive to what I was looking at (I'd been out for some hours hunting up bottles). I do seem to recall the term "BierSchnapps", which I found in a Google search just now. Apparently, the SN BierSchnapps was a product from the early part of the decade, distilled from SNPA, supposedly. So, more likely, you're right about it being a beer eau de vie. Don't know why I had hop liqueur in my head. I'll check the store again soon just in case. If it's a dusty bottle, I may not be able to resist.

[bostonapothecary]

hop liqueur sounds pretty cool. my rum worked out ok. i gave the rest of the hops i had to the pastry chef and he made me a hop grapefruit sorbet that came out very well.... it was either loved or feared but such is life. = )

[TBoner]

hop liqueur sounds pretty cool. my rum worked out ok. i gave the rest of the hops i had to the pastry chef and he made me a hop grapefruit sorbet that came out very well.... it was either loved or feared but such is life. = )

←

I checked on that liqueur - it was, in fact, Bierschnaps. The product is an 80-proof eau de vie distilled from SNPA, so some hop character carries over. I've read varying opinions as to how much, but I didn't shell out $45 to find out for myself.

The sorbet sounds interesting - what hop variety did he/you use? I would imagine there are several varieties that would work nicely besides citrusy American varieties.

And, now that we're on the subject, I wonder if a homemade hop liqueur is a possibility. I would think the way to go would be to make a hopped simple syrup, as extracting bitterness from hops requires boiling. Additional hops added to the spirit base and steeped for aroma, perhaps? Maybe no bitterness is required if you're just looking for the aroma and a hint of flavor... I think this warrants some experimentation. I'll probably wait until September and get fresh hops from this year's harvest.

[eje]

I have seen recipes for and bottles from "Hop Bitters".

For example towards the bottom of this page on botanical.com: Hops

HOP BITTERS, as an appetiser, to be taken in tablespoonful doses three times in the day before eating, may be made as follows: Take 2 OZ. of Buchu leaves and 1/2 lb. of Hops. Boil these in 5 quarts of water in an iron vessel for an hour. When lukewarm add essence of Winter green (Pyrola) 2 OZ. and 1 pint alcohol.

Another way of making Hop Bitters is to take 1/2 oz. Hops, 1 OZ. Angelica Herb and 1 OZ. Holy Thistle. Pour 3 pints of boiling water on them and strain when cold. A wineglassful may be taken four times a day.

I guess they were a popular patent medicine for a period.

I'm unaware of any cocktail use which has yet been devised.

I've intended to make them one or something like them one of these days.

[TBoner]

I have seen recipes for and bottles from "Hop Bitters".

For example towards the bottom of this page on botanical.com: Hops

HOP BITTERS, as an appetiser, to be taken in tablespoonful doses three times in the day before eating, may be made as follows: Take 2 OZ. of Buchu leaves and 1/2 lb. of Hops. Boil these in 5 quarts of water in an iron vessel for an hour. When lukewarm add essence of Winter green (Pyrola) 2 OZ. and 1 pint alcohol.

Another way of making Hop Bitters is to take 1/2 oz. Hops, 1 OZ. Angelica Herb and 1 OZ. Holy Thistle. Pour 3 pints of boiling water on them and strain when cold. A wineglassful may be taken four times a day.

I guess they were a popular patent medicine for a period.

I'm unaware of any cocktail use which has yet been devised.

I've intended to make them one or something like them one of these days.

←

Erik,

Interesting info. I have read in homebrewing resources that the absence of any sugars in the boiling liquid will interfere with the extraction of bitterness. I'll check the sources for more info. At any rate, I do know that hops and hoppy beers tend to stimulate the appetite.

Thanks for the information. Let me know if you make some one of these days.

Tim

[Chris Amirault]

I've been screwing around with this spicy vodka infusion and came up with the following unnamed concoction:

• 1 oz Laird's 7 1/2 apple brandy
  1 oz Knob Creek bourbon
  1 oz infusion
  3/4 oz demerara syrup
  dash Angostura bitters
  

It's a bit sweet, so I'm thinking of cutting back on the syrup or using rye instead of bourbon. But it moves nicely through the spice into the apple at the finish. It might be a good Thanksgiving cocktail....

[bostonapothecary]

i escaped work early and set out for no 9. park to have a cocktail...

ryan and ben were there and sorta busy but then still can give you what ever you want effortlessly....

vieux carre "blanc"

1 oz. fruit brandy... hoped for famboise or peach settled for a simple calvados.

1 oz. gin... hoped for something roughneck like old raj... got beafeater.

1 oz. dry vermouth

1 nice spoonful of coffee liqueur... hoped for tia but settled for kahlua...

2 different bitters... never paid attention to see what i got...

i think he put a really nice lemon twist in there...

the drink aspires to be dry and broadly rolling across the tongue... it totally achieved it while relying on no particular brands.... as cool as a vieux carre but "blanc"... hopefully someday i can try it with my ideal indredients...

i also drank earlier in the night...

1 oz. lemon heart 151... (need to pick up another bottle)

1 oz. clayton's kola nut tonic (need another case) *only 25 brix i bet...

1 oz. juice of the granadilla

1 spoonful of simple syrup

quite the intriquing sour.... it even went over well with the cocktail waitress who is not much of a roughneck.... the hostess thought it was "the chronic"....

[TBoner]

Inspired by your experiments, bostonapothecary, this evening begins with a Vieux Carre variation of sorts:

3/4 oz. Laird's bonded apple brandy

3/4 oz. Old Forester bonded bourbon (this is a bonded bottle from the 80s: very fruity, especially cherries and oranges; also floral as heck)

3/4 oz. Cinzano sweet vermouth

1 tsp. Cherry Marnier (because I just got some and want to use it, because cherry and apple seemed right, because the brandy base links it vaguely to Benedictine, and because it echoes some of the fruit in the Old Forester)

2 dashes Peychaud's

2 dashes homemade bitters (in the vein of Hess' House Bitters, with a couple of minor tweaks)

I flamed a large piece of orange peel over the glass, but I think lemon might work better

This is a terrific cocktail, very autumnal in a sense (might work well for Thanksgiving). I like Laird's a lot, and the symmetry of two bonded products appealed to me. I think Benedictine would be quite nice here instead of the Cherry Marnier, but I wanted to take this in a more experimental direction. Changing either that or the twist as mentioned above would be worth playing with.

[bostonapothecary]

you are so lucky to get the laird's bonded apple brandy.... i've never seen it in boston and its nearing the top of my list of things to try....

i've been making carribbean drinks lately with clayton's kola nut tonic but can't wait to get back on the vieux carre path....

i just made some killer wormwood sweet vermouth that i can't wait to mix up. so far i've just been drinking it with some of reagan's orange bitters and have been really into it....

for the vermouth i used wormwood, gentian, orris, and coffee to bitter. it hits about the level of punt y mes. to give a fruit body i used plums, apricots, and bing cherries. i took the sugar content to that of other sweet vermouths using a refractometer and the fortifying spirit was grappa.

beautiful rolling flavors with a sexy bitter element....

i want to learn more about the philosophies of different vermouths and what peoples theories are of how they should integrate into a spirit....