Cynar

[lesliec]

Right - that's tonight's drink sorted out.

[FrogPrincesse]

Did you like it?

 

This one was good too. Urban Anxiety (Aaron Defeo) with cachaca (Leblon), sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes), Cynar, Angostura bitters, flamed grapefruit peel.

Lots of grapefruit, grassy notes from the cachaca, and a bitter caramel finish. Like a lighter/refreshing Negroni variation.

 

 

[Adam George]

Cynar That Time We Last Drank Manhattans? - from the Drinks thread.

 

 

 

The entry is sweet and chocolatey and not just from the bitters; the combination highlights the cocoa notes in the Cynar. Then the bourbon takes the stage, together with a very pleasant crisp refreshing taste from the Punt & maraschino. The Son of a Bourye from High West, which is a blend of bourbon & rye, was a good fit. The finish of the drink has a bitter edge that makes you go back for another sip. My kind of drink, totally.

 

As far as the drink being an original recipe, the closest thing I could find is Toby Maloney’s Maloney No. 2, but it’s much lighter on the Cynar with the vermouth as Cocchi VdT and no mole bitters, therefore a different result overall.

 

Well done for an apéritif-style cocktail. These are not easy to get right.

Thanks for giving it a try.

[FrogPrincesse]

Thanks for giving it a try.

The pleasure was all mine, Adam.

 

I made myself something with Cynar last night, but it was not nearly as successful. It was the Smoke & Mirrors (Neil Kopplin), a Negroni-esque drink with aquavit (Krogstad), Cynar, Campari, flamed orange zest. It was very savory and quite busy, with the strong caraway & anise notes from the Krogstad not meshing too well with the Cynar.

 

 

[EvergreenDan]

I made myself something with Cynar last night, but it was not nearly as successful. It was the Smoke & Mirrors (Neil Kopplin), a Negroni-esque drink with aquavit (Krogstad), Cynar, Campari, flamed orange zest. It was very savory and quite busy, with the strong caraway & anise notes from the Krogstad not meshing too well with the Cynar.

 

I tried the Smoke & Mirrors with Linie aquavit and loved this drink. There isn't much (any?) anise in Linie -- it seems to be pretty pure caraway.

[FrogPrincesse]

Dan,

 

I did an aquavit tasting last year and you are right, Linie is very different and super mellow compared to Krogstad (discussion here). I am sure that they result in very different cocktails!

 

The recipe did not specify which aquavit was recommended, although I had a hinch that, given that the cocktail had been created by Neil Kopplin of Clyde Common in Portland, he would probably use the aquavit distilled locally.

[FrogPrincesse]

Black Lodge (Tommy Klus) which is a Manhattan variation with Michter's Rye (Rittenhouse), Carpano Antica sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes), Cynar, Combier cherry liqueur (Luxardo), Regan's orange bitters.

 

Orange and licorice notes. Not quite right and fascinatingly unsettling, which made it uncannily appropriate.

 

 

 

 

 

[tanstaafl2]

Black Lodge (Tommy Klus) which is a Manhattan variation with Michter's Rye (Rittenhouse), Carpano Antica sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes), Cynar, Combier cherry liqueur (Luxardo), Regan's orange bitters.

 

Orange and licorice notes. Not quite right and fascinatingly unsettling, which made it uncannily appropriate.

 

 

Don't know that the different rye makes any real difference (although nobody really knows for sure where the heck the Michter's comes from, other than presumably Michter's, one bottling to the next although it is probably a slightly older rye than Rittenhouse) but the Punt e Mes and the Luxardo might make a difference. But I have no idea how different the Luxardo Sangue Morlacco and the Combier cherry are as I have had neither one.

 

Perhaps not enough to make it unsettling and yet appropriate!

Edited January 26, 2015 by tanstaafl2 (log)

[Craig E]

I can vouch for this:

 

The Search for Delicious

by Kirk Estopinal, Cure, New Orleans, LA

 

2 oz Cynar

3/4 oz Sweet vermouth, Carpano Punt e Mes

18 dr Lemon juice

6 ds Orange bitters, Regans' orange bitters

2 pn Salt (sea salt)

5 twst Lemon peel

 

Start with one "baker's" pinch of salt in a rocks glass. Add the Cynar and briefly stir. Add the Punt e Mes, bitters, lemon juice and ice. Stir briefly to incorporate. Taste, looking for only the faintest hint of salt. If the drink tastes salty, throw out your first attempt and adjust your salt levels. When the salt level is correct, express the oil from five swatch of lemon peel onto the surface of the cocktail, dropping one in along the side of the glass, skin side facing in. An 1/8 rim of salt will allow your guest to experiment with a few salty sips. Making the following sips pleasantly sweet, which will not make your brain hurt.

 

--

Kindred Cocktails | Craft + Collect + Concoct + Categorize + Community

 

In the directions it seemed like too much is made of getting the salt balance right, but it's because that is indeed the key. When you hit it right this is absolutely superb.

[Czequershuus]

I recently acquired some celery bitters, and first tried them out in this Cynar heavy tipple: The Sanny. Really lovely drink. The celery bitters accent the herbal notes that I love in Cynar. I have been on a beer kick lately, but this is the kind of drink to remind me what cocktail can be.

[FrogPrincesse]

A very nice twist on Audrey Saunder's Little Italy - Jason Schiffer's Brown Bitter Stirred with rye (Willet 2-year), sweet vermouth (Cocchi vermouth di Torino), Cynar, Clement Creole shrubb, aromatic bitters (Angostura). The Creole shrubb adds a brightness that is pretty great.

 

Edited May 19, 2015 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[sbumgarner]

Anyone have any info on when the 70-proof version of Cynar is coming out, or if it's already out where to get it? I saw an ad for it in the latest Imbibe but my admittedly quick and non-thorough Google search is turning up nothing.

[sbumgarner]

Anyone have any info on when the 70-proof version of Cynar is coming out, or if it's already out where to get it? I saw an ad for it in the latest Imbibe but my admittedly quick and non-thorough Google search is turning up nothing.

 

After some digging I found a post on Imbibe's Twitter feed saying it will be released in early October.

 

https://twitter.com/imbibe/status/637002914221981697

[FrogPrincesse]

Fabulous. Can't wait!

[Craig E]

Really enjoyed this Cynar Sour tonight (Cynar, maraschino, lemon, agave). Key was the garnish of cucumber (fresh from my pitiful vegetable garden) and orange zest, which added a most befitting nose. 

[sbumgarner]

My bottle of Cynar 70 arrived on Friday. I did a quick comparison between the two versions, the bitter cocoa flavor is definitely more prominent in the 70 proof version, but besides the alcohol presence the flavor profile is similar. I'll have to figure out the types of drinks where each would work best, more experimentation to come ... Regardless it's definitely worth picking up if you're a fan of the original. 

[sbumgarner]

First attempt at a drink with the 70-proof version, wanted to highlight the Cynar:

 

1.5 oz Cynar 70

.75 oz Dolin Dry

.75 oz St. George Dry Rye Gin

.25 oz Luxardo maraschino (I'd reduce this to a teaspoon next time)

 

Stir/strain/one big rock. Lemon twist.

 

Not bad, kind of a flipped around Old Pal template (.5 oz genever + .25 oz london dry would be a decent sub if you don't have the Dry Rye gin). The extra proof allows for playing around with other non-base spirit flavors without turning the drink into an aperitif.

[Craig E]

Wife's friend just dropped off some of her homemade bitters, so I used them in this To Hell with Spain. Wow! Interesting drink. Started with grape juice flavors, finished with bitterness akin to high-cacao chocolate. In between I swear I got a little peanut butter but I'm not sure what could've accounted for that!

[Rafa]

I get peanut butter from American whiskies sometimes. So maybe the Rittenhouse?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

9 minutes ago, Rafa said:

I get peanut butter from American whiskies sometimes. So maybe the Rittenhouse?

 

Do you mean marshmallows?

 

[FrogPrincesse]

Tonica Al Fresco (Dale DeGroff) with 33 Portland dry gin, Cynar, Fever Tree tonic water, orange bitters. No surprises there, it's a bitter gin & tonic.

 

 

 

[Craig E]

Looking for something to do with some jalapeno-infused blanco tequila I made, I came across this recipe for the Lady Sniper: equal parts tequila, Cynar, and yellow Chartreuse, with a lemon twist.

I think as spec'ed I would've found the Lady Sniper too sweet, since I think of all three of its components as sweet. But I found the pepper in my tequila (which was considerably strong) held its own against the sweetness. I liked how, in the finish, the heat also stood toe-to-toe with the bitterness of the Cynar. 

A successful experiment. 

[FrogPrincesse]

Reading Amaro, so I automatically reached for my bottle of Cynar last night.

Little Italy (Audrey Saunders) with Rittenhouse rye, Cocchi vermouth di Torino, Cynar, brandied French griotte cherries (and a bit of the (boozy, kirsch-flavored) syrup from the cherries).

 

 

 

[FrogPrincesse]

I loved this one which I thought would be similar to the Little Italy, but actually has a different vibe. It's not as bitter and the orange in the Bigallet china-china is a great counterpoint for the Cynar. Really lovely. I used the Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters has they have a very strong clove note.

 

Rock Beats Scissors (Ran Duan via Fred Yarm) with Michter's rye whiskey, Cynar, Bigallet china-china, Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters.