Stomping Through the "Savoy" (2006–2007)

[eje]

I did an experiment a while ago hard shaking a cocktail with mint and another rolling.

It wasn't blind; but, well, there ya go.

To me the hard shake one had a bitter, sour, plant flavor.

The rolling shake one only had the mint fragrance.

Kind of like pulverizing the mint or not with juleps and mojitos.

In a cocktail as simple as the derby, it would be pretty darn noticeable.

Edited October 25, 2007 by eje (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

[...]

In this drink I would think the bitterness to balance the sweetness of the bitters (heh) is being provided by the mint stalks from hard shaking.

-Andy

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Rolling shake with cracked ice, unless you want mint pieces in your teeth.

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I love mint pieces in my teeth

[slkinsey]

I did an experiment a while ago hard shaking a cocktail with mint and another rolling.

It wasn't blind; but, well, there ya go.

To me the hard shake one had a bitter, sour, plant flavor.

The rolling shake one only had the mint fragrance.

Did you use the stems of just the mint leaves?

I think that shaking hard does impart perhaps a little bitterness, but not too much.

[thirtyoneknots]

I did an experiment a while ago hard shaking a cocktail with mint and another rolling.

It wasn't blind; but, well, there ya go.

To me the hard shake one had a bitter, sour, plant flavor.

The rolling shake one only had the mint fragrance.

Did you use the stems of just the mint leaves?

I think that shaking hard does impart perhaps a little bitterness, but not too much.

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Could also have to do with time of year and, by extension, the quality of the mint.

[eje]

I do remember it was just mint leaves I shook in my experiment cocktails. I don't remember if they were from the garden, supermarket, or farmers' market.

I think it was the Kentucky Colonel Mint that I planted in the backyard garden this spring; but, I could be wrong.

[Splificator]

I think that shaking hard does impart perhaps a little bitterness, but not too much.

I hate to disagree with you, Sam, but I have to go with Erik on this one. I've found that a longish but very gentle shake works best with mint for me. It brings out the clean, floral notes ond obviates the need to double strain. When I shake the bejeezus out of mint, it always turns the drink brackish and bitter.

[slkinsey]

The only "shaken with mint" drinks I have tended to shake hard are either those with other things in the shaker (e.g., muddled lime quarters) that "protect" the mint from over bruising, or drinks with a lot of other strong flavors and plenty of sweetness (e.g., the Juniperotivo) where bitterness is not particularly apparent and I want maximum expression of mint flavors. This does, I suppose, account for most of the "shaken with mint" drinks I make regularly. Maybe that's why I don't think it's as big a deal. I can certainly tell the difference in a julep.

To my thinking, though, there's some room between "shaking the bejeezus out of it" and a "rolling shake." I would understand a "rolling shake" to be more less like rolling (pouring from one tumbler to another with ice), only in a closed shaker, which would be very gentle indeed -- although perhaps not what Erik is describing. There are certainly drinks both with mint and without that I think benefit from a gentler shake.

Edited October 26, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[eje]

I would understand a "rolling shake" to be more less like rolling (pouring from one tumbler to another with ice), only in a closed shaker, which would be very gentle indeed -- although perhaps not what Erik is describing.

No, that is exactly what I mean.

[eje]

De Rigueur Cocktail

1/2 Whisky. (1 1/2 oz Famous Grouse)

1/4 Grape Fruit Juice. (3/4 oz Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice)

1/4 Honey. (1 teaspoon Jan C. Snyder's Blue Curls Honey.*)

Cracked ice.

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Another cocktail ripped from the pages of Judge Jr.'s "Here's How".

Hark, ye lads!  Here's the very latest drink!  Three of these will knock you for a row of aspirins:

1/2 scotch;

1/4 grapefruit juice;

1/4 honey;

cracked ice.

I first tried this with the usual Compass Box Asyla and California Buckwheat Honey. The California Buckwheat honey was a bit much for the Asyla.

The second version with the nominally milder Blue Curls honey and Famous Grouse was better. I've no idea about the ridiculous amount of honey this recipe calls for. A teaspoon was, if anything, still a bit too sweet for me. Oh yeah, "Wooly Blue Curls," I just have to type that again, if there is a better plant name than, "Wooly Blue Curls," I don't know what it is.

*

[Keith Orr]

How are you going to make the orange gin? I've occasionally tried to fake that up by microplaning an orange's worth of zest into several ounces of gin for a brief infusion.

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Yeah, that's exactly what I will do.

I've heard there are some brands of around, but I don't see much point in searching them out for a couple cocktails.

Prolly, the quick orange infusion is superior, anyway.

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I'd been looking for an excuse to make something with my homemade apricot brandy and this drink looked interesting. I didn't have any orange gin so I used a couple of dashes of Angostura Orange Bitters.

I liked the drink. A bit sweet but the flavors worked well together.

Moderator note: This topic continues in the Stomping Through the "Savoy" (2007–2008) topic (The original 'Stomping Through the "Savoy"' topic became too big for our servers to handle, so we've split it up).