Drinks! (2011–2012)

[Sunny&Rummy]

Looking forward to a good old Mai Tai is a couple of hours when my new batch of fresh orgeat is bottled up and ready to go. Time to hit the store for some fresh mint!

[jsmeeker]

Summer Negroni

Equal parts of the following

Aperol

Gin

Lillet (blanc)

Served on the rocks.

This is great.

[JulianZoetmulder]

40ml Tanqueray

10ml Maraschino (luxardo)

10ml Apricot brandy

10ml Grapefruit juice

10ml Simple syrup

2 dashes Dandelion & burdock bitters (optional)

12 mint leaves

Build as a over crushed ice, garnish with mint and a grapefruit twist.

Another bartender and I put this together trying to escape a the heat with some friends.

[haresfur]

French 75 with pear cider instead of champagne. The pear clearly comes through. A bit sweet for my taste but it was a hit.

[bostonapothecary]

1 oz. lime juice

1 oz. maracuja do ezekiel (azorean passion fruit liqueur)

2 oz. batavia arrack van oosten

dual float of mezcal & lemonhart 151

a righteous sour.

[Kohai]

For the past several months I have been using egg whites to emulsify oils into cocktails. I think there is interesting potential for a new category of emulsified oil cocktails. The meringue of these drinks is velvety and unique, and many oils have a fascinating flavor when used in with egg white sours and silver fizzes.

Here is one such emulsified cocktail.

Oliveto

60 ml gin

30 ml lemon juice

10 ml 2:1 invert syrup

10 ml Licor 43

1 egg white

15 ml olive oil (California Olive Ranch sustainable extra virgin)

Preshake, shake again with ice, strain.

The olive oil brings an almost mallic acid quality to this cocktail. It tastes fruity, like an apple or kiwi. If made correctly, this cocktail will not separate for a long time - much longer than the drink usually lasts. A quick stir with a spoon will re-emulsify the drink again, if it does begin to separate. I have searched the internet for drinks like this but haven't been able to find any. Though there is nothing new under the sun, I flatter myself that it may be the first of its kind.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Kohai (log)

[Tri2Cook]

I don't know about oil drinks in general but the guys at Cooking Issues did some experimenting with emulsifying fats into liquids for drink purposes a while back. I have the Ticaloid, a blend of arabic and xanthan gums, and it does the emulsifying job nicely but I haven't done any drink experiments yet. Of course you mentioned the meringue as an attribute you desired so I wonder if the Ticaloid and egg white could be used in tandem for even greater stability...

[Tri2Cook]

Did a Mai Tai tonight. Not completely true to Trader Vic's, I used Appleton Extra and El Dorado 12 for the rums and the only curacao available where I live is blue so I used Cointreau instead.

[FrogPrincesse]

"Ti Punch"

I use parentheses since it doesn't match what I understand a real Ti Punch to be. Nevertheless, it's based off the Ti Punch recipe in The Joy of Mixology, so that's what I'm calling it:

1.5 oz. Appleton Reserve*

3/4 oz. lime juice

1/3 oz. falernum

1/3 oz. Demerara sugar syrup (1:1)

Shake with ice and a drop of water.

*I've tried both Appleton Reserve and Appleton Extra and prefer the former.

That's funny, I can't find a recipe for Ti Punch in my copy of Joy of Mixology.

And you are right, although the above cocktail does look tasty, it's not a typical Ti Punch (you'd have to use rhum agricole for a start!). What kind of falernum did you use?

[EvergreenDan]

I looked too and didn't find it in Joy of Mixology. I did find this in Robert Hess's Essential Bartender's Guide:

1 1/2 oz rum (rhum agricole traditionally)

1/4 oz simple

thin slice of lime peel

Build in small rocks galss with a small piece of ice. Stir.

What's an authoritative recipe? I thought it had a lime coin as a garnish?

[sbumgarner]

Now equipped with a large wooden mallet and a Packard bag (http://store.thebostonshaker.com/index.php?product=CTJP-PICB-HVY) I've been trying to catch myself up on Tiki drinks that previously were too much of a pain in the ass to enjoy. Tried the Bitter Mai Tai (from Dram in Brooklyn) out of this month's Imbibe:

1.5 Campari

.75 Smith and Cross (or other Jamaican rum)

1 lime juice

.75 orgeat

.5 orange curacao (I used Creole Shrubb)

Shake and strain over crushed ice.

Absolutely delicious.

[FrogPrincesse]

I did find this in Robert Hess's Essential Bartender's Guide:

1 1/2 oz rum (rhum agricole traditionally)

1/4 oz simple

thin slice of lime peel

Build in small rocks galss with a small piece of ice. Stir.

What's an authoritative recipe? I thought it had a lime coin as a garnish?

The Robert Hess version sounds fine. A small wedge cut from the side of the lime (coin) can be used instead of just the zest - see Ed Hamilton's version in RecipeGullet.

ti punch

From the French word petit, or small, the ti punch is a small punch. This is the traditional drink served in the French Antilles.

teaspoon sugar cane syrup or raw sugar

wedge of lime

white rhum agricole

ice

Pour a teaspoon, or so, of sugar cane syrup, or raw sugar in a glass. Squeeze a small wedge of lime into the sugar and mix, then pour a measure, to your taste, of white rhum agricole on top of the sugar and lime.

When thoroughly mixed, I add some crushed ice and stir.

Since rhum agricole is bottled at 50% abv or more, this is a potent drink, and a great aperitif.

There is also this extensive thread about Ti Punch.

The ice is actually optional but quite common.

[EvergreenDan]

Scotch and Bonal on the rocks. It's easy. It's good. I used Balvenie Doublewood.

After working on my Cynar sour with muddled this and dashes of that, it was rewarding to dump two ingredients in a glass and have it taste delicious.

[mukki]

"Ti Punch"

I use parentheses since it doesn't match what I understand a real Ti Punch to be. Nevertheless, it's based off the Ti Punch recipe in The Joy of Mixology, so that's what I'm calling it:

1.5 oz. Appleton Reserve*

3/4 oz. lime juice

1/3 oz. falernum

1/3 oz. Demerara sugar syrup (1:1)

Shake with ice and a drop of water.

*I've tried both Appleton Reserve and Appleton Extra and prefer the former.

That's funny, I can't find a recipe for Ti Punch in my copy of Joy of Mixology.

And you are right, although the above cocktail does look tasty, it's not a typical Ti Punch (you'd have to use rhum agricole for a start!). What kind of falernum did you use?

Sorry, I referenced the wrong book! It's in The Craft of the Cocktail on page 192.

I used Taylor's Velvet Falernum.

Edited August 9, 2011 by mukki (log)

[deensiebat]

Tried out the Lee Bros. recipe for celery julep.

[Sunny&Rummy]

That is really interesting. How was it??

My nightcap yesterday was a Basil Smash with Martin Miller's gin. A Celery Julep may be a perfect followup to that.

[deensiebat]

That is really interesting. How was it??

I liked it a lot -- very clean and green, sharp and vegetal and sweet (and boozy) at the same time.

[Tri2Cook]

Can't give credit where it's due because I don't remember where I grabbed this recipe. While trying to see if I could dig up the source (without success), I found that there are a lot of variations on it and I don't know which is authentic. Anyway, last night I decided to try this version of the...

Black Manhattan

2 oz Bulleit

1 oz Averna (don't have Averna, used Lucano)

2 dashes cherry bitters

2 dashes coffee bitters

[EvergreenDan]

I got my Black Manhattan recipe from a Washington Post recipe referencing Bourbon and Branch. I believe the B&B recipe calls for only Angostura, although this is only implied in the Post.

Did you like it? Averna is very sweet, and I found it a bit on the sweet side for me.

Edited August 10, 2011 by EvergreenDan (log)

[KeystoneNate]

I recently picked up a copy of Dale DeGroff's The Essential Cocktail hoping to get a better understanding of some classic cocktails. Last night's drink was a Negroni using the recipe in his book. I've never ordered one at a bar (my local haunts don't make good cocktails, so I stick to craft beer or bourbon - both fine with me) so I have nothing to compare it to, but I think his 1-1-1 version is great. I definitely like how the Campari dries out after each sip. I'm also a fan of hoppy beers, so the bitterness appeals to me.

[EvergreenDan]

Nate - If I may be so bold, try a perfect Negroni, splitting the 1/3 sweet equally into 1/6 sweet and 1/6 dry vermouth and let us know what you think. One of my all-time favorite drinks.

[KeystoneNate]

Definitely, I'll give that a shot tonight. Any preferred gin for a Negroni? I have Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire, and Hendrick's at home (not to say I wouldn't run out in search of something new). I've only used the Tanqueray so far - I thought the Hendrick's might be too subtle with the vermouth and Campari.

[KD1191]

Definitely, I'll give that a shot tonight. Any preferred gin for a Negroni? I have Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire, and Hendrick's at home (not to say I wouldn't run out in search of something new). I've only used the Tanqueray so far - I thought the Hendrick's might be too subtle with the vermouth and Campari.

It's hard to beat Tanqueray, but Beefeater, Bombay Dry and Broker's are also excellent in a Negroni. I don't really care for Sapphire, and I think some of the more delicate/different flavors of Hendrick's could clash with the other ingredients.

I was always very happy with the 1:1:1 drink, but Toby (Alchemist) introduced me to the joys of a boozier, gin-forward one, and I haven't really looked back. These day's it's usually 3:2:1 or even 6:4:1 (Gin, Vermouth, Campari), at which ratio even softer gins like Plymouth tend to work just fine. I frequently rinse the glass with orange bitters, to punch up some of what's lost by scaling back the Campari without the syrupy liqueur-ness.

[EvergreenDan]

I like Tanqueray too. I like the bitterness of the drink, and use Punt e Mes if it's available to me. I've tried using more gin. I like the lessened sweetness, but I miss the bold flavors. It's like Miss Negroni married Mr. Martini. Not a bad thing necessarily.

KD -- have you tried a perfect one? The Negroni d'Or has more your ratio, BTW (3:1:1 gin:dry vermouth:gran classico).

[Tri2Cook]

I got my Black Manhattan recipe from a Washington Post recipe referencing Bourbon and Branch. I believe the B&B recipe calls for only Angostura, although this is only implied in the Post.

Did you like it? Averna is very sweet, and I found it a bit on the sweet side for me.

I liked it well enough. Not enough that it's likely to become a regular but I'm not unhappy I tried it. I didn't find it offensively sweet but that's with the disclaimer that I've spent the past two weeks or so exploring various tiki drinks so the palate is skewed a bit to the sweeter side right now anyway.