Drinks! (2011–2012)

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. fresh passion fruit juice

spoonful light brown sugar

1.5 oz. wray & nephews old tom gin

.5 zo. blackwell's jamaica rum

wow. fresh passion fruits are amazing. this drink reminds me of zingingly dry reislings and ultra crisp chenin blancs. the only thing that could push this further would be angostura bitters.

[Sunny&Rummy]

La Paloma:

• pinch salt in bottom of glass

• 0.75 oz fresh lime juice

• 1.5 oz blanco tequila (Antiguo)

• 4 oz Jarritos Toronja Mexican grapefruit soda

So tasty and refreshing, and so much better than the boozy Kool-Aid most restaurants pass off as margaritas.

[EvergreenDan]

"Honey, you want a little something else?" "Sure."

Didn't measure, but roughly:

2 oz Cardamaro

1/2 oz kick-ass rye (McKenzie, Finger Lakes Distilling)

1/2 oz Fino sherry

Nice flavor and acid balance. Cardamaro up front with enough rye flavor to come through and a bit of alcohol for backbone, bone dry sherry for acid and nut flavor.

This is the first cocktail that I've made with McKenzie where its hyper-assertive flavor was a plus.

[Tri2Cook]

I'm trying to get better acquainted with drinks balanced through spirits and bitters without the use of citrus. I have more difficulty enjoying some of these than other types of drinks so I think I need to make it my mission to learn to appreciate them more. Tonight I tried this one from Imbibe...

The Remaining Balance

1 oz. Grand Marnier

3/4 oz. sweeter single malt whisky (Highland Park 12)

3/4 oz. Islay single malt whisky (Laphroaig Quarter Cask)

2 dashes Ramazotti amaro (Lucano, don't know enough about amari to know if that's a suitable sub but it's what I have)

3 dashes Angostura bitters

1 dash grapefruit bitters

Stir, strain, lemon twist.

Tomorrow will be a break from the above mission. Apparently it's "international talk like a pirate day". I don't plan to talk like a pirate but I think I'll mix up a rum drink or three and drink like one.

[Chris Amirault]

Sounds like an interesting drink! Wouldn't have thought of adding salt. Have not had Junipero but presume it is pretty juniper forward. Would most London Dry gins stand up to the chartreuse in this drink or would you recommend some other gins in place of the Junipero? Interesting that some recipes say yellow and some say green Chartreuse. How much absinthe did you end up using? Recipes I have perused on line suggest 1/4 but that seems like a lot along with the Chartreuse!

It's a Biter, I'll tell you.

Most London dry gins stand up just fine; I usually make it with Beefeater but was out. I add a dash o absinthe; much more takes over, especially with the sort of big-boy absinthes I have around here.

[Tri2Cook]

It's a Biter, I'll tell you.

That one's now on the short list to try. Sounds tasty.

[Chris Amirault]

Be sure to do a straw taste after shaking and have some simple syrup handy in case you don't like being socked in the kisser.

[Sunny&Rummy]

Tomorrow will be a break from the above mission. Apparently it's "international talk like a pirate day". I don't plan to talk like a pirate but I think I'll mix up a rum drink or three and drink like one.

My recommendation for Drink Talk Like a Pirate Day is an authentic pirate Bumbo:

• 2 tsp. demerera sugar

• 1 oz. cool water

• 2 oz. good gold rum (Sergeant Classick gold)

• grated nutmeg to taste

• grated cinnamon to taste

Stir the sugar in the water to dissolve, add rum and spices, stir, drink pirate style without ice.

The Sergeant Classick is actually unbelievably good in this drink. It's actually the only drink I have found where I'd consider Sergeant Classick as the preferred rum. As a pot still but unaged rum I wonder if it isn't somewhat similar to what 17th century pirate would have had access to.

[tanstaafl2]

It's a Biter, I'll tell you.

Most London dry gins stand up just fine; I usually make it with Beefeater but was out. I add a dash o absinthe; much more takes over, especially with the sort of big-boy absinthes I have around here.

Thanks! Definitely a drink I will plan to check out soon.

[tanstaafl2]

Tomorrow will be a break from the above mission. Apparently it's "international talk like a pirate day". I don't plan to talk like a pirate but I think I'll mix up a rum drink or three and drink like one.

I think any self respecting pilot would be drinking his rum straight from the bottle! So should be a good day to break open my newest rum additions and take a swig or three! Particularly looking forward to trying the Rhum Barbancourt 8yo as I think it will be my first Rhum Agricole style that I can recall.

[Sunny&Rummy]

I hope there aren't too many pilots drinking straight from the bottle. Now, Pirates, on the other hand. . . :-)

Barbancourt 8 is a wonderful sipper, but even though it is a cane juice rum it is not particularly vegetal like most of the agricoles. A fine starting point for the agricoles but not very representative of the typical flavor profile.

[thirtyoneknots]

Got any further notes on the Maurin Quina, Dan? I don't think we have that one in TX.

Ha! I first learned about it from the Kindred Cocktail's ingredient editor (Zach Pearson), who lives in Texas.

Got any further notes on the Maurin Quina, Dan? I don't think we have that one in TX.

I was introduced to Maurin Quina by Mike Ryan at Sable here in Chicago a few months back...he's had it in a couple drinks on their menu, mostly sours such as...

Andy,

Maurin Quina is brought in by Preiss, who is brokered in Texas by Momfrey & Associates:

Monfrey & Associates

Mark Monfrey

Dallas , TX 75244

Phone: 972-387-4531

Fax: 972-386-4480

Email: monfrey@artisanal-beverage.com

For personal use, I think Austin Wine Merchant has it.

Thanks,

Zach

Thanks for all the good info, guys.

[tanstaafl2]

I hope there aren't too many pilots drinking straight from the bottle. Now, Pirates, on the other hand. . . :-)

Good point! Although the occasional news report in recent months suggest there may be a few...

Barbancourt 8 is a wonderful sipper, but even though it is a cane juice rum it is not particularly vegetal like most of the agricoles. A fine starting point for the agricoles but not very representative of the typical flavor profile.

My primary store had the Niesson agricole blanc but that was the only Martinique Rhum agricole in stock and indeed the only other brand of Rhum Agricole besides the Barbancort line.

Probably good in its own right but I thought I would go with something that might be better for drinking neat (Although perhaps the blanc is perfectly adequate in that role?). They did have the Barbancourt 15yo but I decided to start with the 8yo and see what I thought first.

There are several other stores in the area I can check with as well to see what might be readily available locally.

I presume I will note some significant differences between the Ron Zacapa 23 and the El Dorado 15. I see many reviews note the RZ23 to be a bit on the sweet side and a few "accusations" made that it has been supplemented to boost sweetness. Obviously not a 23 yo rum but some also seem to dislike the Solera method feeling it is a bit deceptive to suggest it is aged that long as compared to rums which list the true age or go by the youngest rum in the blend like the ED 15yo.

Doesn't matter so much to me as long as they are enjoyable to my particular palate. But given the RZ23 is the most expensive the contents will need to justify the cost compared to others for me to buy the next one.

In fact I think the ED 15yo is the one I look forward to the most at the moment. Most reviews note it to be sweet as well but with a more smokey tone. That sounds like something I would like!

Edited September 19, 2011 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[san]

Bar Eats You

2 oz Del Maguey San Luis Del Rio

1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

.5 oz Demerara Syrup

Shake and Strain over ice into collins glass and top with Sarsaparilla Soda.

[Sunny&Rummy]

Bar Eats You

2 oz Del Maguey San Luis Del Rio

1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

.5 oz Demerara Syrup

Shake and Strain over ice into collins glass and top with Sarsaparilla Soda.

As a person who has a bottle of Del Maguey San Luis Del Rio on hand, and especially as a Lebowski fan I think I am duty-bound to give this one a spin. I even have a Sioux City Sarasparilla at home which the Stranger tells me is a good sarasparilla.

Original drink??

[brinza]

Still hoping someone will answer my question re Aalborg Akvavit as there is more than one and if you are sourcing it in North America.

Anna, sorry I didn't respond to your question earlier, but the item that Sunny&Rummy linked to is the product that I have. The bottle just says Aalborg Akvavit. I can only say that it is decisively caraway-flavored, but how strongly flavored, I can't say, since I've never tasted another one to compare it to. It's like a dry Kümmel. The Pennsylvania LCB still lists it as a "regular" item, and it's fairly widely available throughout the state, so they're getting it somehow.

Edited September 19, 2011 by brinza (log)

[Anna N]

Still hoping someone will answer my question re Aalborg Akvavit as there is more than one and if you are sourcing it in North America.

Anna, sorry I didn't respond to your question earlier, but the item that Sunny&Rummy linked to is the product that I have. The bottle just says Aalborg Akvavit. I can only say that it is decisively caraway-flavored, but how strongly flavored, I can't say, since I've never tasted another one to compare it to. It's like a dry Kümmel. The Pennsylvania LCB still lists it as a "regular" item, and it's fairly widely available throughout the state, so they're getting it somehow.

Thanks. I know that Aalborg stopped exporting to North America for a time as I wrote directly to the distiller and they confirmed that. Also, all the Danish-Canadian clubs in Canada were buying up every bottle in every tiny town and province before it all disappeared. Kerry Beal and I tried to source Taffel Akvavit in North America for a couple of years with no luck. Kerry was able to get a couple of bottles brought back from Europe. Perhaps it is again appearing in N.A. but certainly not in Canada. We are lucky to see a few bottles of the Jubilaeum show up. The Taffel is my akvavit of choice and it is very strongly caraway flavoured.

[Tri2Cook]

Tomorrow will be a break from the above mission. Apparently it's "international talk like a pirate day". I don't plan to talk like a pirate but I think I'll mix up a rum drink or three and drink like one.

My recommendation for Drink Talk Like a Pirate Day is an authentic pirate Bumbo:

• 2 tsp. demerera sugar

• 1 oz. cool water

• 2 oz. good gold rum (Sergeant Classick gold)

• grated nutmeg to taste

• grated cinnamon to taste

Stir the sugar in the water to dissolve, add rum and spices, stir, drink pirate style without ice.

The Sergeant Classick is actually unbelievably good in this drink. It's actually the only drink I have found where I'd consider Sergeant Classick as the preferred rum. As a pot still but unaged rum I wonder if it isn't somewhat similar to what 17th century pirate would have had access to.

Top of the list for this evening... won't be with that rum, I don't have it, but I'll try it anyway.

[san]

Bar Eats You

2 oz Del Maguey San Luis Del Rio

1 oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

.5 oz Demerara Syrup

Shake and Strain over ice into collins glass and top with Sarsaparilla Soda.

As a person who has a bottle of Del Maguey San Luis Del Rio on hand, and especially as a Lebowski fan I think I am duty-bound to give this one a spin. I even have a Sioux City Sarasparilla at home which the Stranger tells me is a good sarasparilla.

Original drink??

It is. We made our own sarsaparilla soda and loved the earthy and woodsy-ness, and thought Del Maguey would work well with it. I kept thinking of 'tumblin tumbleweed' (for the name), and we poured it for a guest and she recommended Bar Eats You, which I think is much much better.

[Chris Amirault]

That bottle of Inner Circle Green keeps staring at me. I'm loathe to drink a drop of it, given that it's unavailable stateside and I bought the last two bottles in the northeast of which I'm aware. I'm down to my last six or so ounces, but... aw, what the hell:

Rough & Tumble

2 oz Inner Circle Green (sub in Brugal Extra Viejo or Smith & Cross for interesting, yet not identical, versions)

1/2 oz Branca Menta

1/2 oz Creole Shrubb

Stir; strain over craked ice in an OF glass; Ti Punch lime or orange slice.

[Sunny&Rummy]

Mixed up a Bar Eats You this evening. The mezcal and sarasparilla are oddly complimentary, both very earthy but in very different ways. I may need to play around with that particular pairing a little more when I get a chance.

[sbumgarner]

Needed to shake myself out of my comfort zone a little last night, gave this a whirl:

1 oz Del Vida mezcal

1 oz Zirbenz pine liquer

.5 Prunier orange

.25 Fernet Branca

Stir, strain, lemon twist

A touch sweet, maybe could have gone to 1.5oz on the mezcal, but the powerful flavors seemed to keep other in check while still coming through on their own. Not a finished product but something worth further tinkering in the future.

[tanstaafl2]

Was looking for a drink that combined Canton with dry vermouth as I thought that might be an interesting combination. Checked several sites with no luck before ending up at the Canton website. They had a number of recipes listed and while none had dry vermouth a couple sounded reasonably interesting.

Many of the typical variations on classic drinks but the Dark and Stormier, Eva Peron, Golden Smoke, Japanese Courage (although a bit specific on ingredients), Jarnac, Manhattan East (I do have a nice dry saki in the bar) and Promissory Note all sounded interesting.

Canton website recipes

But I ended up with this one last night.

East Side Press

1 ½ Parts Domaine de Canton

2 Parts Cognac (My house mixing brand was Chalfonte VSOP)

1 Part Fresh Lemon Juice

1 Egg White

4 Drops of Angostura Drops (although I have it I decided to try the Fee Bros Old Fashioned instead)

1 Tsp of Brown Sugar (I usually have brown sugar available but only had a "light" brown sugar handy this evening)

Serve in a chilled martini glass. Garnish with 5 small pieces of fresh ginger and 2 pieces of candied ginger.

Didn't have the fresh or candied ginger so I did without. No specific mixing instructions so I put all ingredients together and started with a good dry shake before adding ice for an additional shake.

Expected it to be fairly sweet but wasn't as sweet as I thought it might be. Quite frothy of course and seemed like maybe half an egg white would have been enough. The Canton also did not seem to stand out here but rather played fairly nicely. A little more subtle than I might have thought but overall a pretty pleasant drink.

[plattetude]

Cobbled together this last night:

2 oz Laird's bonded Applejack

3/4 oz Bonal gentiane

1/4 oz Cynar

1/4 oz R&W Orchard Apricot

3 dashes TBT orange bitters

Stir, coupe, enjoy. Probably could've bumped up the R&W, or even dashed in a bit of simple, but overall, a winner. I do like the dual but distinct bitternesses of the Bonal and the Cynar.

Christopher

[tanstaafl2]

Going back to the Canton well this evening. Tonight it was the Eva Peron in preparation for our upcoming trip to Argentina.

Eva Peron

¾ Part Domaine de Canton (1.5 oz)

¼ Part Fernet Branca (0.5 oz)

¾ Part Sweet Vermouth (1.5 oz)(Carpano Antica because that was the bottle that was open)

¾ Part Fresh Lime Juice (1.5 oz)

Shake vigorously and strain over ice in a collins glass. Top with ginger beer (ended up using about 1 oz of Fever Tree ginger beer) and garnish with a lime.

Drinks with Fernet can be challenge for me since it is such powerful stuff and I don't deal well with a really bitter drink despite doing my best to cultivate my palate for bitters and amaros. But I guess we need to get used to it now since it is a big drink among the porteños in Buenos Aires (mixed with cola apparently which I am unlikely to ever do!).

Not sure I would have normally gone with the Carpano Antica but I think it proved to be a good choice. The drink needs something to stand up to the Fernet! Even that relatively small amount of Fernet tends to drive the bus here. But it proved to be a delightful bus indeed. I am going to have to add more limes to the shopping list as this is a drink I will want to try again and introduce to friends.

Only down side is I don't care for drinks that require being "topped off" or need a "dash" of this or a "splash" of that as one of the ingredients. Probably just my own OCD but I like to have a specific measure to use to start with. For me a drop is a drop and one of the first things I bought were small dropper bottles to use. A dash I have decided is 1/8 of a teaspoon and my bar comes complete with a few syringes to measure that as accurately as possible. But I still haven't figured out a splash or in this case how much is enough to "top off the drink". The 1 oz of ginger beer seemed to work well but I suppose I will have to experiment some to see if more (or less) makes any difference.

Looks like another sleepless night ahead as I ponder that one...