Classics: The Manhattan

This post was ported over from an aborted second blog; please ignore the highfalutin tone.

I think it only fitting that our exploration of classic cocktails should begin with one of the grand masters: the almighty Manhattan, a drink that anyone with any pretension to mixology ought to know backwards and forwards.  Perhaps second only to the Martini in popularity and name recognition, this is an older and richer formula, one that has spawned many offshoots and variations.  Learn the Manhattan, and you learn whole categories of cocktail.

Legend has it that this drink was originally invented for a banquet hosted by Winston Churchill's mother to celebrate the election of Samuel J. Tilden (who would later run unsuccessfully in the 1876 Presidential election) as governor of New York.  The trustworthy David Wondrich debunks this by noting that Baby Winston was being born and christened across the Atlantic at the time, but it's an interesting story.  It is conceivable that the name derives from the Manhattan Club where this supposed party was held in 1875; that's much harder to disprove and quite reasonable besides.  Regardless of its origin, the eventual marriage of vermouth and whiskey was almost inevitable; whiskey was one of the few spirits commonly available, and "vino vermouth" was becoming quite faddish by about 1870.

It wouldn't have taken much experimentation, either, since the Manhattan can be crafted using a bare handful of ingredients.  Despite its simplicity, one of my favorite aspects of this cocktail is its receptivity to further recombination by swapping out one of its constituents.  Some of these are classics in their own right, and will be discussed further below.  For now, let's stay on task, with one of the easiest examples of high-proof perfection to be had.

Assemble as follows:

2 oz American whiskey
3/4 - 1 oz sweet/red/Italian vermouth
2 dashes bitters

Combine the above over ice, stir briefly, and strain into a cocktail glass.

Now, as with anything so simple, there are a few caveats.  Or maybe we'll call them considerations, since you can combine pretty much any whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters in the above proportions and have a palatable beverage.  But this is my guide, and I'll be damned if I stop anywhere short of the cream of the crop, the tip-top, the absolutely superlative Manhattan.  So, if you aim for the same, here are a few things to think about when you mix:

Consideration #1: Whiskey

Quite simply, what kind?  I specify "American" above only because this is an entirely different animal with Irish or Scotch whiskeys, which we'll get to later (side note: I take no notice of this "whisky" nonsense, so just deal).  That still leaves the field pretty open.  Indeed, there is considerable variation in the miscellaneous guides I dug through as research; some specify bourbon, others rye.  The aforementioned Mr. Wondrich also offers advice on proof, recommending a 100-proof variety (or 50% alcohol by volume) over more common 80-proof models.  I think this is extremely sound advice, and I also suggest that you use a whiskey worth drinking straight.  There's not enough accent here to cover up cheap flavors, but there is enough to make a great whiskey really sing.  If you're going to mix with the good stuff, this is the cocktail to make.  Higher-end whiskeys also tend to be bottled at higher proof, so that's two birds with a single (if somewhat expensive) stone.

On the question of bourbon versus rye, call me indecisive.  Quality and proof are the more important factors, so if you're faced with a middling 80-proof bourbon against a quality 100-proof rye, take the latter.  The drink is old enough that it was certainly first made with rye, but most modern guides reference bourbon (probably due to the dearth of good rye whiskey over the last 30 years).  Both bring good flavors to the party; bourbon its classic oaky-smoky sweetness, rye an assertive spicy edge.  I like both of these, so all things being equal, I take indecisiveness to a new level and either split the volume between both varieties or use a so-called "high rye" bourbon.  Notable high rye brands include Wild Turkey, Four Roses, Knob Creek, and my personal favorite Bulleit. Top-shelf "single barrel" varieties are available for them all and come highly recommended.

Consideration #2: Vermouth

The next ingredient in line is of course vermouth.  There are a few important points to consider.  For a classic Manhattan, it must be the Italian (red/sweet) style; yes, there are "Dry Manhattans" made with French style (white/dry) vermouth, but that's an entirely different drink.  The Italian variety is almost certainly the kind originally used, since the other type wasn't in widespread circulation on the American continent at the time of the Manhattan's birth.  It's a fortunate combination, since few others have quite the same synergy.

Even more so than with whiskey, quality is key to success with vermouth.  There are plenty of cheap no-name brands, and I encourage you to avoid them in all your mixological ventures.  There's simply no excuse when the good stuff doesn't cost that much more.  Martini & Rossi is a reasonable standby, but the delightful Dolin is my go-to if you can find it.  Should you wish to pull out all the stops, a top-shelf vermouth will be very welcome here; Cocchi Torino is a good choice, and even better is the venerable Carpano Antica (though keep in mind that you'll be spending for the privilege).  Regarding storage, I always keep mine in the fridge, tightly capped.  Remember that vermouth is a fortified wine, and like other wines it will go off if exposed to sufficient light, heat, and oxygen.  Italian vermouth is more protected than French vermouth by a higher sugar content, but it will succumb eventually.  Refrigerated storage will buy you more time and keep your product fresher for longer, avoiding the muted flavors and bitter twang of the dreaded oxidation.

One final point on vermouth is proportion.  You'll notice that I provide a range above.  You want your vermouth to counterpoint the whiskey without overwhelming it; a good Manhattan is all about this lovely dynamic tension.  So it makes sense that using a softer whiskey or a more assertive vermouth means adjusting the ratio.  When using an 80-proof whiskey, dial back the vermouth to about 3/4 oz; to balance a higher proof, use a full ounce.  If you're using a high-end, more aromatic vermouth (Cocchi Americano or Carpano Antica again) you can get away with 3/4 oz no matter your whiskey.  If you've got an 80-proof whiskey and a full-flavored vermouth, you may want to go as low as 2/3 oz, though this combination would really just be wasteful.  As a rule of thumb, I keep the ratio of whiskey-to-vermouth between 2:1 and 3:1, with minor adjustment for your specific brands and personal preference.

Consideration #3: Bitters

It's a testament to the flavor-boosting abilities of bitters that we need to mention them at all.  Even though there are just a couple dashes present, a Manhattan falls completely flat without them.  There are a lot of middling Manhattans mixed every day, but most of the truly terrible ones are the result of missing those key dashes of spicy, aromatic bitters.  Don't make the same mistake.

The standby in 99% of American bars is good old Angostura, easily recognizable by the oversized white paper wrapper (often stained with red-brown smudges of errant elixir) and bright yellow cap.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with this stuff, as proven by its prominence and near-singular survival into the modern age.  It's rich and spicy, and in a Manhattan brings out the same characteristics of your chosen whiskey.

On the other hand, our modern mixological revival has brought a huge number of fine craft bitters into circulation, most of which I won't mention in posts here because most classic cocktails predate them.  One making a comeback is the previously extinct orange bitters, an ingredient found in a surprising number of old recipes but which apparently fell prey to Prohibition.  Before you proceed any further, go make sure you have orange bitters in your arsenal.  My personal favorite is Regan's No. 6, which has a spicy and complex flavor; also common is Fee Brothers' version, which is bright and fresh.  Plenty of others exist; no matter what kind you use, they lend a slightly sweet and citrusy character.  Since vermouth is often flavored with citrus peel, this tends to play very nicely in a Manhattan.  However, you still want that nice rich Angostura character to go with your whiskey, so in the spirit of indecision (yet again) I tend to use a single hearty dash of each.  Because the bitters are an accent (albeit a crucial one) you can do the same, use all Angostura, or pick another aromatic bitters of your choice.  As with vermouth, feel free to add more if that's what it takes to balance your brands at hand.

Consideration #4: Technique

One last very important thing when making a Manhattan is exactly how you assemble it.  Here is a fundamental, non-negotiable principle: this cocktail must always, always be stirred.  If the majority of poor Manhattans are ruined by omitting bitters, the remainder are ruined by shaking them (some bartenders are just shaker-happy, and they are dead wrong, especially here).  There are two reasons for this ironclad rule, both based on preserving the quality of your whiskey.  First, you don't want this drink to be too dilute.  Too much water softens the whiskey's bite, batters the vermouth into a shadow of its former self, and takes away the silky texture of the finished product.  Second, you don't want it to be too cold.  Over-chilling has a way of dampening the pleasant spicy-sweet flavors of good whiskey, which you don't want.  Yes, you could just wait for your drink to warm up, but who wants that?

So, you stir, and you don't stir too much either.  Stirring chills less rapidly and introduces water less quickly than shaking.  It also leaves the final product pleasantly crystal-clear, without any of the hazy air bubbles caused by agitation.  I also suggest that you use the largest ice cubes you can, to chill with minimal surface area and dilute as slowly as possible.  I like 2-inch square cubes (for this and many other applications) but you can use average-size freezer-tray ice too.  Just stay away from those little chips churned out by commercial machines, or the cracked cylinders sold in bags at liquor stores and convenience stores.  Those will dilute way too quickly, throwing off the composition of your Manhattan.  I'm not a man who counts the number of revolutions when I stir, but I'd estimate about 25-30, which is probably about half of that required for a properly chilled Dry Martini.  In general, aim for chilled, not cold.  Don't be afraid to pause every ten rotations or so to check the temperature.

Once you've hit the sweet spot, strain this into a chilled cocktail glass, or a small old-fashioned glass if you prefer.  I've been in some bars that use the latter because it's a "man glass", which seems specious but is fine by me.  You can garnish, if you want; I like a good brandied cherry (not those neon-red orbs of glucose masquerading as "cherries") and a twist of orange peel works too, particularly if you've used an orange bitters.  You also want to leave it untouched by additional ice, for the same reasons that you don't shake.  A single large cube is okay, but I find it brings the temperature down too much.

Thusly assembled, sip slowly; live so rarely affords such perfection, and the universe demands that you enjoy the moment.

Worthy Variations and Substitutions

As I said at the beginning, the Manhattan opens up whole classes of cocktail.  Here are a few close cousins to try:

• Rob Roy: Swap out the American whiskey for Scotch and assemble as above.  Either single malt or blended is fine, just use something you like and stay away from anything too peaty.  Aromatic bitters such as Angostura are preferable to orange bitters.
• Dry Manhattan: As mentioned above, swap out the red vermouth for a quality white.  More assertive varieties are good here; I will also sometimes add a little dash of simple syrup to balance things out.
• Turf Club: This is one unearthed by David Wondrich in Imbibe! as an example of a proto-Martini, probably the result of bartenders plugging varied spirits into a basic recipe.  The original calls for equal parts Old Tom gin and sweet vermouth with a few dashes of aromatic bitters; adjusting for modern proof, I think 2:1 is preferable.  I would identify this as the parent cocktail of both the Martini and the Martinez (which adds a dash of maraschino liqueur to excellent effect).
• Star Cocktail: Another very easy substitution; simply replace the whiskey with apple brandy.  This would classically be applejack, another American spirit, but French calvados would be nice too.  Aromatic bitters or a creole bitters such as Peychaud's are best; both make for interesting variations, but I wouldn't suggest both at once.

Conspicuously absent from this list is the Martini, but that's a completely different drink and separate post.  Don't worry, we'll get there.  For now, fix yourself a Manhattan and relax.

Scope Creep

I realized today that I want to start doing some different things with this blog.  Of course, this idea did come to me while out and about this afternoon, and I'm not exactly the most regular with my updates anyway, so we'll see how long it lasts, but... Worth a try, I think!

First off, I'm going to kick off a semi-regular series of in-depth examinations of classic cocktails.  When I first started this up, I wanted it to be more of a personal log of original cocktails, but I'm now seeing that as a strategic error.  Bartenders and enthusiasts alike draw a lot of inspiration from the days of cocktails past, and I think it's important to remember your roots.  Classics are classic for a reason - many of them far surpass my own original work, and when made well they can be incredible.  But execution's critical, and I'm coming to see that as a marker of mixological skill.  A good bartender (or enthusiast, or mixologist, or whatever) will know the proportions and assembly of your beverage of choice, be it Manhattan, Negroni, or Sidecar.  But a great bartender has put enough thought and experimentation into those drinks to make them really memorable again.

That's what I want to do, as a means of pushing myself to the next level.  I sort of haphazardly started on this on a brand-new, totally unadvertised second blog, but I wound up with only a single overly-verbose post on the Manhattan before trailing off.  I'll be moving that over here shortly as a starting example, but I'm determined to restart the series - if only to keep me busy during my periods of lassitude.

Second, for a lot of cocktail posts I've included information on the spirits and what-have-you used to create them, and I've done a couple of dedicated posts on some funky spirits that I enjoy.  Digging up this information is always fun for me, nerd that I am, so I'd like to make this a larger focus too.  I've got a sporadic habit (my wife would say a terrible one) of pouring small samples of different spirits to taste them side-by-side.  This was always intended as an exercise for myself, but in retrospect I don't know why I didn't post my notes here.  We'll fix that soon enough.  I've got a couple bourbons picked out that I'd like to sample against each other, which would complement the Manhattan post nicely.

Third: pictures.  This blog is visually boring, I know that.  Frankly I just haven't really cared before, since attracting readers has never been my intent.  But, you can't get better without feedback, and you can't get feedback without an audience, so I'll be doing my best to spruce things up and including pictures with my posts (where relevant) from here on out.  Most of them will be as amateurish as the recipes themselves, but that's okay, we all have to start somewhere.

Obviously, the core focus of the blog won't change.  I am hopelessly committed to cocktails, and most of my posts will continue to be the same terribly-named, occasionally-successful stuff that has come before.  I'm not going to suddenly start reviewing wines or anything like that.  If I had anything like a mission statement (which would be pretty fucking bold for so casual and hobbyist a place as this) this would be an amendment, not a rewrite.  I'm sure all none of my regular readers will be disappointed.

Cold Smoke Punch

I feel like I've been neglecting you guys lately.  Not my normal sort of mixological rut lately - just a lot of classics, unintentional self-cribbing, and unsuccessful experimentation.  Happens to the best of us, I guess.

At any rate, here's something finally worth sharing: a fairly old-school style punch that still appears to be somewhat original, at least based on a quick perusal of David Wondrich's indispensable reference.

1 1/2 oz scotch whiskey (again, I'll call it what I damn well want)
1 1/2 oz brewed black tea (pretty standard English Breakfast, cooled to room temperature, on its way to becoming iced tea)
3/4 oz peach-brown sugar syrup
3/4 oz lime juice

Combine over a large ice cube and stir vigorously.  Grate some nutmeg on top in classic punch style, if you insist.

I originally reached for bourbon when putting this one together, because it seemed like a natural fit for the peach syrup, but I happened on a new bottle of Macallan 10 instead.  This turned out to be a happy accident.  You could probably use just about whatever blended scotch you like.

Captain Gin & Cousin It

This really is a silly bartender's name for this drink, but I love it all the same.  Really, it's a simple take on the very old-school Gin & It, supposedly a predecessor to the Martini - and given the formula, just 2 parts gin to 1 part sweet vermouth, a pretty safe assumption.  Yet while trying to find a good reference recipe, I was surprised by the number that included a dash or two of bitters, and even more surprised by the number that recommended no ice at all.

I tried this stirred at first, but I have to say, this Scaffa-style approach is on to something.  Built without ice, this is a full-flavored drink, with alternating layers of sweetness, nuttiness, and herbs - kind of like neat Chartreuse, which I can't argue with at all.  With ice, it's stuck halfway between Negroni and Martinez territory.  Not a bad thing, but less is more in this case.

1 1/4 oz navy-strength gin (Hayman's for me)
3/4 oz Bonal (which I've become addicted to)
1 dash Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters (I found a new source!)

Place a maraschino cherry in a chilled old-fashioned glass (unlike most of my garnishes, this one's actually required) then pour in the remaining ingredients (I kept the Bonal chilled) and stir to combine.

As an optional exercise, repeat the above, but stir the gin, Bonal, and bitters, then strain.  Sip and contemplate what a difference dilution makes.

The Remington (and sundry derivatives)

I was quite surprised by this relatively simple combination, which seems like it ought to be a well-known classic.  Granted, in proportion and construction, it's basically a Collins, but with some signature ingredients.

2 oz white whiskey (I used the local MN13 - good stuff!)
1 oz peach-brown sugar syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice

Combine in a tall glass over large cubes, stir, top with about 2 oz soda water, and stir again.

This version, the Remington, is quite a good one.  However, the simplicity of this combination makes it easy to swap out the peach for other flavors.  To wit:

For a Derringer, use cinnamon-brown sugar syrup.

For a Palomino, use vanilla-brown sugar syrup.

For a Caballero, use ancho chile-brown sugar syrup (yum).

How that's for a post - not just one cocktail, but 4 in one go!  Don't be silly, it's not cheating at all.

Right Hook

Remember that Red Hook variation?  It turned out well...

2 oz rye whiskey
1/2 oz Bonal
1/4 oz maraschino liqueur (Luxardo)
1 dash Fee Brothers Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter Bitters

Stir over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a brandied cherry.

Yes!  Absolutely delicious.

Manhattan Boulevard

Have you tried this Bonal stuff?  I chanced upon a bottle down at our local wine shop a couple days ago, and as I'm liable to do I brought it home knowing almost nothing about it.  Turns out, it's right up my alley!  It's generally similar to other "Kinas" like Cocchi Americano, with a robust bittersweet flavor.  It's also infused with a bunch of mountain herbs, and as a result it's got a complex flavor similar to good vermouth.  The closest comparison I can make is to Punt e Mes, but I think it's a bit more subtle.

In any case, Bonal is damned tasty, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world to me to work it into a Manhattan variation.  This wound up being a superb idea - more punchy than a Manhattan, more subtle than a Boulevardier, this one nestles perfectly in-between.

1 oz bourbon (Booker's - I kept the amount low since this is fairly high-proof, you might want to bump it up if you're using something closer to 80-90 proof)
3/4 oz Bonal
3/4 oz sweet vermouth (Dolin)

Stir over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a brandied cherry.

I think my next stop is going to be a Red Hook variation...

Balmy-Barmy

So, I just had one of my less-proud mixological moments.  After picking up what I thought was a lovely bunch of mint over the weekend, I pulled it out of the fridge today, and only after I started picking off leaves to make a pair of juleps did I realize that it wasn't mint at all.  Instead, I had a massive bunch of lemon balm.  The fact that it's also known sometimes as "lemon mint" wasn't much comfort.

What to do?  Well - in it fucking went anyway, with some course corrections.  It took a little tweaking to get just right, but I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by the results.

Keep in mind, this isn't really a julep at all, even though it looks like one.

2 oz gin (I used Letherbee because I like it, but you could use a London Dry)
1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz watermelon-strawberry syrup
3 dashes rhubarb bitters (homemade, batch #2!)

Muddle a large handful of lemon balm and the syrup in the bottom of a glass; add ice, gin, and Cocchi, then stir to combine.  Garnish with a few extra sprigs of lemon balm and a straw.

Maybe I will just have to try something similar with bourbon...

Tall and Cool

I'm back!  Yes, friends - it's the first cocktail I've felt worth recording in the last couple weeks.  It's a pretty dang good one, though.

2 oz white rhum agricole (J.M.)
2 1/2 oz watermelon juice
1/2 oz watermelon-strawberry syrup
1 oz lime juice
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Shake and strain over large cubes in a Collins glass.  Top with ~2 oz soda water and stir.

One of my favorite things about this drink is how well the anisette component of the bitters mixes with the freshness of the watermelon and the funk of the rhum.  It's a damn fine highball, I must say.

Baby Blue Punch

One last stop before we break the non-alcoholic streak, I promise.  This is a recipe that I've been meaning to record for some time; it was the first large-scale non-alcoholic punch that I produced and presented in my beloved self-mix format.  Seemed appropriate since it was being served at a baby shower (also hence the name).  Alternative name: Caias' Punch, after the baby in question.

For once, a picture!  I can't take credit for the punch bowl, unfortunately, but I can claim the garnish.

I'm recreating this as best I can - I didn't write down the recipe at the time, which I regret, but I did a lot of adjusting on the go anyway.  Consider this a consolidated, streamlined version.  This also makes a lot of punch - about 9 liters in total - and I'm not going to scale it down here, but it's pretty easy to cut in half.

8 cups water
4 lbs sugar (a standard bag of the regular white stuff)
2 lbs frozen blueberries
2 vanilla beans, split
2 tbsp black peppercorns
Rind from 4 medium lemons
16 oz lemon juice
12 mint sprigs

Place the lemon rinds in a non-reactive bowl and pour a couple ounces of sugar over them.  Muddle the peels until the sugar begins absorbing the oil and set aside.  Combine the water, sugar, vanilla, and peppercorns in a large stock pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add the blueberries and lemon peels, including the oil-soaked sugar, and bring back up to a simmer.  Turn off the heat, add the mint sprigs, and let stand and cool for 2-4 hours.

Add the lemon juice and adjust to taste; you can easily add a bit more lemon juice, sweetener (honey would be nice here) or vanilla extract if desired.  Carefully strain the whole concoction into the storage vessels of your choice - I love my reserved pair of 1.75L Tanqueray bottles, featuring convenient transport handles!

To serve, pour your storage vessel into a large punch bowl over ice, and add an equal volume of cold water.  Top off with soda water to taste; a full liter was just about right for 1.75 liters of syrup plus 1.75 liters of water.  Yep, that's 4.5 total liters, and that's why you want a large punch bowl.  Keep refreshed with plentiful ice and serve next to some chilled white wine for spritzers, a bottle of gin for highballs, a couple of jiggers for measuring, and brief instructions.  My personal favorite combination wound up being about 1 oz gin, 3 oz wine, and 5 oz punch.

Optionally, garnish with lemon wheels, speared with mint sprigs for a nice flowery look.  I took some pictures of this one which I'll add here later.

Mocktail Week Afterthought: In-Law Cooler

This is getting a bit freaky - this is about the 8th post in a row dealing exclusively with non-alcoholic beverages.  WTF?  I'll have to get back on track soon.

A request from my sister-in-law prompted this one.  I wasn't aiming for anything too fancy but it turned out interesting enough to merit recording...

1 1/2 oz lime juice
2 oz strawberry-watermelon syrup (turned out relatively dilute thanks to the water content of the melon)
2 oz iced white tea
2-3 dashes rhubarb bitters (homemade)

Shake and strain over fresh ice, then top with about 2 oz chilled cucumber water.  Garnish with whatever's handy - watermelon would be particularly appropriate.

Independent Island Punch

Why hello!  I hope you didn't think I poisoned myself upon returning to booze post-Mocktail Week.  Nothing so unfortunate, I assure you - just didn't have much in the way of free time between painting half the house and preparing a massive spread for the 4th of July last week.

In addition to the food, I figured I couldn't just get away with a cooler full of beer.  Got a reputation to uphold and all!  So I decided on what's rapidly becoming my favorite party trick: a non-alcoholic punch base, served along with a basic white wine for spritzers and a variety of spirits for sundry highballs.  Ingredients wound up being dead simple, too; this is probably the easiest punch that I've assembled to date.

The listing below just about fills up a 1-liter bottle of punch base, which makes 2 liters total once combined.  I went through about 2 1/2 of these for a mixed group of 14 people, which included some non-drinkers and those who stuck only with the aforementioned cooler of beer.  Call it a 1-liter bottle for every 6 people in your party.

8 oz lime juice (you could use fresh, but I used a bottled not-from-concentrate version from the co-op)
8 oz pineapple juice (ditto)
4 oz mint syrup (homemade)
4 oz pineapple-lime syrup (ditto)
8 oz ginger beer (back to my usual Reed's here)

Combine in a 1-liter bottle (or 1-quart mason jar), stuff in a large mint sprig, and fill up the balance with soda water.  When ready to serve, pour over ice (straining out the old mint) and top with 1 liter of soda water.  Stir to combine, garnish with some fresh mint sprigs, and park next to a couple bottles of chilled white wine, plus whatever spirits you have at hand (gin, white rum, and bourbon in my case).  A couple of signs with instructions and some jiggers or shot glasses are helpful too - these will encourage your guests to measure, rather than free-pouring.

Happy belated Independence Day to my fellow 'Mericans!

Mocktail Week #6: Magic Mix

Here's something of a bonus - a bit shy of an actual drink, but a sufficiently impressive discovery to merit posting.  Think of it as a sort of super-mixer; drink straight if you like, or just add booze for an awesome highball.

Another advantage is that this is completely scalable - make as much or as little as you like.

4 parts carbonated cucumber water
4 parts Q Tonic water
4 parts passionfruit juice
1 part lime juice

Combine and serve immediately, or bottle in a sealed container and store in the fridge.

Mocktail Week #5: Raised Bed

Today was another hit-or-miss one - I'm starting to feel like I'm treading over the same ground here.  Fortunately I found at least one good combination tonight!

1 1/2 oz lemon juice
1 1/4 oz strawberry-saffron syrup
8-10 mint leaves

Muddle the mint leaves in the syrup; add the lemon juice, shake, and strain over large ice cubes in a tumbler.  Top with about 3 oz tonic water to taste (Q Tonic) and stir.  Garnish with a mint sprig if you must.

Frankly, I'm glad that this week is just about done.  It was a welcome break, but I'm starting to really want a drink, you know?

Mocktail Week #4: Sam's Bitter

This one wound up being something like a take on Sanbitter (which is something like a non-alcoholic Campari & soda) with some intriguing added flavor notes.  It was a nice variation from other more citric mocktails so far, veering instead into highly bitter territory but with enough sweetness to balance.

1 1/2 oz mixed berry syrup (leftover from Kader Punch - no shame in recycling)
1 1/2 oz chilled black tea (a fairly mild Darjeeling here)
1/2 oz red grapefruit juice

Stir over ice and top with about 1 1/2 oz each ginger beer (Regatta again) and soda water.  Stir again, garnish with a grapefruit twist if you must.

It's too bad that I ended on this one, because it'd be a fantastic apertif.  Might have to revisit this one tomorrow.

Mocktail Week #3: Pineapple Fauxito

After my early break yesterday, I figured I'd probably be able to turn out another success, but nothing much stood above the rest.  Today was a much luckier day!  I didn't do much experimentation at all, really (for one thing, I'm running out of citrus) but I did manage to turn out multiple winners.  All of which is to say: you get two today.

Full disclosure, this one is fairly similar to a non-alcoholic beverage that was featured for years on my old restaurant's menu - similar mix of flavors, distinctly different construction.

1 1/2 oz pineapple-lime syrup
1/2 oz lime juice
8-10 mint leaves
3-4 dashes Bitter Truth celery bitters

Muddle the mint in the syrup, add the juice and bitters, then shake and strain over large ice cubes in a large tumbler.  Top with about 1 oz ginger beer (deviating from my usual Reed's here - I found instead a much spicier version called Regatta) and about 3 oz carbonated cucumber water, then stir gently to combine and top with a sprig of mint or a lime wheel.

Overall a very tropical feel - somewhere between a Mojito and a Mai Tai with none of the booze.  I'd go so far as to say that this exceeds the original (though to be fair, it could use a better name).

Mocktail Week #2: Wondermelon

This is only my first attempt for the evening, but I tried it and went full stop - this is fantastic, it's getting posted.  It's a little more complicated than some of my attempts from last night, but it works marvelously together - a little sweet, a little sour, a bit bitter, expressive of watermelon and summer, and very refreshing.

1 1/2 oz cryo-watermelon juice (a great way to use up all your leftover watermelon)
1 oz strawberry-saffron syrup (the saffron adds a certain deep, herbal quality that is entirely worth the expense, believe me)
1/2 oz lime juice
3 dashes rhubarb bitters

Shake well and strain over large cubes in a Collins-style glass.  Top with about 2 oz each tonic (Q Tonic for me) and carbonated cucumber water (don't use regular soda, the cucumber really brings out the watermelon flavor).

I'm gonna go have another.

Mocktail Week #1: Clover Field

As it turns out, I can't drink old-fashioned cocktails forever - or, indeed, cocktails forever.  I think yesterday's Briny Deep put me over the edge.  My poor, overloaded liver needs a (brief) break, and so this week I'm beefing up my repertoire of non-alcoholic beverages and sharing the best of the evening here.

Even though in terms of ingredients this one doesn't share much with the Clover Club, but its pretty color and foamy cap reminded me so much of one that I wanted to capture that in the name.  Oddly enough, it achieves this without any egg white at all; it turns out that cryo-cucumber juice retains an exceptional foaming power.

2 oz cryo-cucumber juice
1 oz rhubarb syrup (accented with lemon peel and peppercorn; raspberry syrup would work too)
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
5 dashes celery bitters (Bitter Truth's version is the best I've found)
4-5 drops white balsamic vinegar

Shake and strain over large cubes in a Collins-style glass; top with 4-5 oz soda water, stir gently, and garnish with a small bunch of mint, slapped between your palms to express the oil.

That's a damn good way to start this mini-series!

Briny Deep

Okay, fine, I admit it - I wanted a Pitch Black, I was out of vermouth, and I subbed in another amaro instead.  So what?  It's tasty enough to merit its own name anyway.

1 1/4 oz Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition
1 oz Averna
1 oz Cynar
1/4 oz overproof dark rum (did you know that Gosling's makes a 151-proof version?)

Stir over a large ice cube in an old-fashioned glass; garnish with a small pinch of salt on top of the cube.

This makes for an impressively dark and sultry drink.  Worth hunting down the amaros for, if you ask me.

Harder Than It Looks

My mixological rut continues unabated.  Most of my experimentation recently has been more culinary in nature, but I've been re-reading Craft Cocktails at Home and picking up some ideas.  I'll likely have a bit of general experimentation to post about soon.

In the meantime, there's been one spot of mixological success that deserves mention here.  I've talked about the cryo-juicing method here before, and I recently applied it to a bag of leftover watermelon slices.  The result is absolutely beautiful - slightly sweet, very subtle, and extremely refreshing even in small doses.  It just so happened to find its way into a Negroni remix and it couldn't have been more welcome.  The navy-strength gin here made up for the extra volume and retained the incisive flavor of the juniper.

1 oz navy-strength gin (Hayman's Royal Dock)
1 oz Aperol (Campari or Capelletti would work too)
1 oz Cocchi Americano
1 oz cryo-watermelon juice

Stir with a single large ice cube in an old-fashioned glass; garnish with a strip of grapefruit peel.

I named this after its very pretty pink color, combined with the fact that it retained a pretty fair punch from the gin.  Handle with care.

Kader Punch

Well, I'm into another mixological rut, hence the lack of new posts.  Early last week I checked my fridge and found that four different syrups had collected in their squeeze bottles, tucked away on a shelf in the door.  Waste is despicable, especially after putting such hard work into each of them (okay, not really hard work) and so it became old-fashioned time, all the time.  Not that I object; the old-fashioned is one of the easiest cocktails, and I find almost any variety to be a paragon of virtuous simplicity.  But they don't make for interesting blogging.  So, instead, today I bring you a rare adventure into non-alcoholic beverages.

One of my favorite things to assemble for a party is punch.  Like old-fashioned cocktails, punch is amenable to endless variation, and has a huge advantage in that it can be prepared in advance and without alcohol.  Once you arrive, it's just a matter of assembly and ladling, and guests can keep themselves happy the whole night through, including by spiking their cups (or not!) as they prefer.  I've retained a couple of large Tanqueray 1.75L bottles with handles, which makes the whole shebang exceptionally portable.

My latest version wasn't assembled especially far in advance, but that's okay too.  Some good friends of ours were having a party; I'd offered to bring a specialty beverage, but they forgot to confirm with me until about 6 hours prior to the event.  What to do?  Rummage around for some frozen berries and tea leaves, and tell them to grab whatever at the liquor store?  Yep.

This is a little more involved than some of my other recipes, and it requires larger equipment, mainly a big pot with a lid.  But it produces enough for a party: about 4.5 liters once assembled, which has proven to be just about right for a mixed group of 15-20.  Bring along a couple 5-pound bags of ice to keep it cold, too.

2 pounds white sugar (the unbleached kind or a light raw sugar like Turbinado would be okay too, but will produce a muddier appearance)
1 pound frozen mixed berries (mine came from a couple half-used bags, and included a mix of strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, and cranberry)
48 oz water (or 3 pints, for those inclined)
1/4 cup loose black tea leaves (I used a fairly mild, floral Darjeeling)
1/4 cup unpeeled, chopped ginger
Peel of 2 large or 3 medium lemons
8 oz lemon juice
1 oz honey
1 12-oz bottle ginger beer (I like Reed's)
1 1-L bottle soda water (or use your siphon)

In a non-reactive bowl, pour about 1/4 cup of the sugar (precision is unnecessary) over the lemon peels.  Lightly muddle them until the sugar adheres to the peels and set aside.  This is a trick gleaned from David Wondrich's Punch, known as "preparing the oleo-saccharum".

Bring 1 pint of the water to a simmer, then remove from the heat and add the tea leaves.  Stir a few times and let steep for 6-7 minutes.  Don't let this go too long or it will become bitter.  Filter into the storage vessel of your choice (a clean 1.75L bottle is very convenient!) and set aside.  Discard the used tea leaves.

Bring the remaining 2 pints of water to a simmer and add the sugar; stir until this dissolves.  Add the mixed berries and ginger, and bring just back up to a simmer.  While this heats, add about 2 oz of the lemon juice to the oleo-saccharum and stir to dissolve the sugar.  Add the remaining lemon juice to the storage vessel.  When the syrup returns to a simmer, kill the heat, add the lemon mixture, stir, and cover.  Let this stand and infuse for anywhere from 2-4 hours as time permits.

Filter the syrup through a couple layers of cheesecloth or a fairly coarse strainer into the final storage vessel.  If you wind up with extra syrup, keep it in a separate, airtight container to bring along for the ride.  You can use this later like any other flavored syrup.

When ready to serve, break out your finest punch bowl (or relatively clean bucket; I won't judge) and pour in the contents of your transport vessel.  Re-fill the vessel with cold water, and pour that into the bowl/bucket as well.  Add ice, soda water, and about half the ginger beer.  Stir to combine, taste, and adjust with the remaining syrup and ginger beer as desired.  Remember that the flavor will become gradually diluted, so you want it on the strong side to begin with.

Serve with white wine on the side (something relatively subtle, like a vinho verde) for the assembly of spritzers (1 part wine, 1 part punch) and with whatever liquors are handy.  Provide a shot glass for measurement, so that your guests don't accidentally overpour.  This particular punch goes especially well with a mild gin or with brandy.  Top off periodically with ice as needed.

Now that makes for a good time.  I've got a couple more of these that I've developed, and which I'll be happy to share in future posts.

Different Drum Drinks

A good friend brought over a bottle of Different Drum, which he'd somehow snapped up in a truly insane rush to order the first 1,500 bottles.  After a first tasting, he decided that he wanted to try it in a cocktail.  I was happy to oblige!

This is funky stuff - rich, smooth, slightly sweet, redolent of roasted coffee.  A lot like a quality coffee liqueur but without that cloying sugar component.  I dig it, although I think it really shines when paired with another base.  Like so:

Fine Grind:

1 1/4 oz Different Drum rum
1 oz armagnac brandy (I used Tariquet VS Bas-Armagnac; a mild bourbon would work too)
1/2 oz red vermouth (Primitivo Quiles again)
1/4 oz Licor 43 (you could scale this back or omit entirely depending on your taste)
1 dash Fee Brothers Black Walnut bitters
1 dash orange bitters (Regan's No. 6)

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass; garnish with a strip of orange peel.

This wound up being the winner in our small tasting group; it's a Manhattan-esque sipper (or more properly a Saratoga Cocktail) that highlights the flavor of the Drum without letting it dominate everything else.  But I also wanted to try something less spirit-forward, resulting in this take on a Dark & Stormy:

Drumming in the Dark:

2 oz Different Drum rum
1/2 oz Mathilde Poire liqueur
1/2 lime juice
2-3 oz ginger beer (Reed's Extra Ginger is my favorite)

Shake the first three ingredients and strain over fresh ice; top with the ginger beer, stir, and garnish with a lime wheel.

Overall, I'm sold.  Different Drum seems like a solid and interesting way to bring coffee flavor into cocktails without the added sweetness of coffee liqueurs.  I'm not sure about the tagline ("A rum for the bourbon drinker") as it seems more like a rum for the espresso aficionado, but I like both those things so it works out.

Be warned, this clearly isn't a simple substitution for other rums, whiskeys, or what-have-you.  This occupies a place in my mind next to quality spiced rums (Sailor Jerry's all the way) and overproof dark rums (like Lemon Hart 151): too potent to use as a base in a simple cocktail, but bringing very unique flavors for which it's tough to substitute.  Also, Different Drum only seems to be available direct from the La Colombe distillery, so don't go seeking it out at your local liquor store.

Death in the Alps

On my recent amaro adventure, I also grabbed a bottle of Genepy des Alpes liqueur, thinking it belonged in the category.  In my defense, I'd never tried it before, but it most certainly is not.  I believe I was thinking of Aveze, which I've tried only on one drunken evening at the lovely Pouring Ribbons and can't find locally.

It's not bad, mind you - kind of a milder cousin to my beloved Chartreuse, but its only advantage is price point.  Still, can't let it go to waste.  I thought its sweetness would align nicely with bubbly, and the use of wormwood reminds me of absinthe, so I plugged it into a Death in the Afternoon, a drink which I shudder to recall.  Let's just admit already that Hemingway was an excellent writer and superb drunkard, but a middling mixologist at best.

1 1/2 oz Dolin Genepy des Alpes
3 dashes Bitter Truth Celery Bitters
5 oz sparkling wine (Cava for me, which I always choose for mixing over champagne)

Pour the liqueur and bitters into a champagne flute and top with the bubbly.  Per the original directions: "drink three to five of these slowly".  Wake up the next morning with regrets.

Pitch Black

I've been keen to try other scotch-based renditions of the Negroni/Boulevardier since the wonderful success of the Real McCoy.  Since I had a newly-purchased bottle of Averna at hand, this seemed like a natural substitution for Campari.

1 1/2 oz Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition

1 oz Averna

1 oz sweet vermouth (Primitivo Quiles this time)

1 dash orange bitters (Regan's No. 6)

1 dash Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter (from my rapidly-dwindling supply)

Stir and strain over a large cube into an old-fashioned glass; add a pinch of salt on top of the cube and gently stir again.

Grandfather Cocktails

I somehow managed to delete this post!  I'll reconstruct it as best I can...

I recently re-read Jason Wilson's Boozehound - a very entertaining exploration of unusual booze categories.  One of my favorite chapters goes into detail about amaros, the Italian bitter liqueurs best exemplified in this country by Campari.  I've included Cynar (wonderful, bizarre, artichoke-y goodness) in a few recipes, but haven't explored many other amaros on my own before.  A few weeks ago, I decided to splurge and try a couple that I'd never worked with before.

I wound up with bottles of Averna and Zucca.  These share a dark, intense, herbal quality but have very different takes.  Averna is appropriately Sicilian, full of black liquorice, orange peel, and a hint of walnut.  Zucca focuses on jammy red fruit, dark spices, and an interesting astringency (possibly from the inclusion of rhubarb).

Both of these are quite pleasant on their own over ice with a liberal splash of soda water; this makes for a simple, bittersweet apertif.  I've also seen them used in recipes like the Black Manhattan, but thought they might really shine as supplements in a classic old-fashioned.

#1 (Papa Averna)

2 oz aged rum (Plantation 20th Anniversary, because that's how I roll)
1/2 oz Averna
1/4 oz orgeat (homemade)
2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's No. 6)

Stir over ice in a cocktail glass.  Garnish with orange peel, if you want.

#2 (Papa Zucca)

2 oz bourbon (delicious Willett Pot Still Reserve)
1/2 oz Zucca
1/4 oz orgeat (I had a bunch left over from some as-yet-unposted Easter cocktails)
2 dashes aromatic bitters (Angostura)

Stir over ice in a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a cocktail cherry, if you're feeling fancy.

These are both old-fashioned and bitter - hence the term "grandfather cocktails".  Get it?!?  (Sorry, I occasionally fall victim to compulsive punning.)

Improbable Tonic

One of the things about making your own tonic syrup is that you really don't use much for each drink, and the potential uses are admittedly more limited than a straightforward flavored syrup.  So what do you do with a whole ton of tonic syrup, with nary a drop of gin, aquavit, etc. in sight?  You do insane things, that's what.

Before you go judging this recipe on the merits of its appearance, try one.  This is bizarre, unexpected synergy in a glass.

2 oz medium-dry sherry (rainwater madiera might work too)
1 oz white rum (Plantation 3 Star; I wouldn't use anything too dry, i.e. Bacardi)
1/3 oz spiced tonic syrup (up to 1/2 oz depending on your batch)

Combine over ice and stir, then top with 1-2 oz soda water to taste.

I know, I know - that looks like a fucking train wreck.  It was only through the miracle of multiple previous drinks that this combination even occurred to me, and then just as a sort of befuddled curiosity.  I've never been more pleased to be proven wrong.

Spiced Tonic Syrup

Once even the first inkling of warm weather starts cropping up after such a long and vicious winter, my thoughts immediately turn to tonic.  There are some bottled versions that I like (though nothing that comes in plastic will do) but assuming you possess a soda siphon, the real way to roll is making your own.  This also allows for creative license to help deal with things like snow while you're trying to make tonic, by upping the warm, wintery spice profile.

The basic recipe here comes courtesy of Maggie Savarino's Seasonal Cocktail Companion, which is a great source for creative homemade booze-projects.

4 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cinchona bark
3 tablespoons citric acid
3 tablespoons dried citrus peel (homemade is easy; mine was an equal mix of lemon and orange)
1 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon juniper berries
1 teaspoon cracked grains of paradise (use 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper if you can't find these)
1 teaspoon crushed cinnamon

Bring the water to a boil, add the sugar, stir until dissolved, then reduce the heat to low.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.  Let cool, double-strain, and keep refrigerated in an airtight container.

Applications are obvious - gin and vodka would be the most straightforward, but I encourage you to explore others.  Pisco and aquavit are among my favorites.  For any of the above, use about 1/2 oz of tonic syrup to 2 oz spirit, topped off with 3-4 oz of soda water to taste.

Cool Cucumber

Here's a random, tasty, and simple highball.  You're welcome.

2 oz pisco (Capel)
2 oz cryo-cucumber juice
1/2 oz cilontrastic syrup (yum)
1/2 oz lime juice (fresh, duh)

Shake with plentiful ice, then pour unstrained into a pint glass.  Top with 3-4 oz soda water to taste.  Top with a dash of your favorite bitters (I used a homemade spiced-apple bitters).

I love spring!

Tasting #2

In the wake of my first, wildly successful cocktail tasting, I was incredibly pleased to have the chance at another.  This wound up being a much rowdier time, with a surprising amount of yelling and karaoke.  It was also a shitload of fun!  A big thanks to Chris and Bridget for inviting me and hosting.

DRINK #1: AVIATION
2 oz gin
½ oz maraschino liqueur
¾ oz lemon juice
To build: Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.
Other notes: The original recipe adds a dash of violet liqueur (crème de violette) for a pale, light blue color, hence the name. But this simpler version is just as tasty.

DRINK #2: SPRING MARTINEZ
2 oz gin
½ oz Dolin blanc vermouth
¼ oz maraschino liqueur
2 dashes Regan's No. 6 orange bitters
2 dashes Bitter Truth celery bitters
To build: Rinse a cocktail glass with absinthe and place in the freezer. Stir with ice and strain into the prepared cocktail glass. Garnish with a strip of lemon peel.
Other notes: The Martinez is an early version of the Martini. This version uses an unusual style of sweetened white vermouth; regular red vermouth works too.

DRINK #3: PISCOJITO
2 oz pisco
½ oz pineapple syrup
¾ oz lime juice
2 large sprigs mint
To build: Strip the mint leaves except for the top of one stalk.  Press the leaves in the bottom of a glass with the syrup; add the pisco, lime juice and ice.  Shake, strain over fresh ice, top with soda water, and insert the mint sprig as garnish.
Other notes: This Cuban classic would normally use white rum, but pisco makes an interesting substitution. If you get lazy and drink this out of the glass you mixed it in, nobody would blame you.

DRINK #4: PERFECT PISCO PUNCH
2 oz pisco
1 oz pineapple syrup
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz lime juice
½ egg white
2 dashes Bitter Truth celery bitters
3-4 pineapple cubes
To build: Muddle the pineapple in the pisco and syrup; add the remaining ingredients, shake very well and strain over fresh ice.
Other notes: Nobody quite knows the original recipe for this renowned San Francisco specialty; this is my own tricked-out version.  It’s hard to separate an egg into equal halves, so you’ll just have to make two!

Holy crap did that last one ever take off.  I wound up making at least a couple for everyone present, in addition to the tasting portions and a whole slew of off-the-cuff requests.  Like I said: rowdy.  In the words of one attendee: "You bring such joy to people with kids."  I'll take the compliment, but by the time I left they were doing just fine on their own.

My only problem is that now, I've got a whole bunch of research to do into the legal side of making this a real, grown-up business.  People seem to dig the concept, especially as I focus on the fact that it's really not that difficult, and that anybody can make a good cocktail.  This seems to be not only a viable niche, but something that I really enjoy; there are such incredibly fun moments of engagement and learning that I can't help but look forward to the next event.  But if I want to get paid for this, all the sudden I need to start thinking about contracts and liability and scheduling.  So maybe I'll pull up the reigns for now, do some serious investigation, and keep hosting preview parties at home in preparation.  Someday we'll get there.

Two Dutch Sours

I'll state right away for the record that neither of these are exactly originals (and in fact, they're pretty much the exact same drink) but I don't think that should stop you from trying them.  Both are being included here precisely because they turned out very nicely.

The basic question of the hour: what happens if you use genever in drinks which typically call for dry gin?

The Flying Dutchman
1 1/2 oz genever (Bols Barrel Aged, my hands-down favorite)
1/2 oz Luxardo maraschino
1/2 oz lemon juice

The Dutch Lady
1 1/2 oz genever (same as above)
1/2 oz triple sec (another Luxardo product)
1/2 oz lemon juice

For both, shake and strain into a coupe; garnish with a strip of lemon peel.

It's pretty impressive how well these work despite the Bols being a completely different spirit than a London Dry gin.  I should admit that "Flying Dutchman" isn't even my name for the first of these; there's a local bar that serves the same beverage, done up with creme de violette for color in classic Aviation style.  Frankly, I see very little need to keep such a specialized liqueur in my home bar, and make my Aviations without.

Cilontrastic Syrup

I don't normally post recipes without booze in them, but here's a rare and deserved specimen.  Friends, I present to you: tequila's best friend ever.

8 oz agave nectar
4 oz water
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Zest of 2 limes

Heat the agave, water, and coriander in a small saucepan over low heat until the syrup comes to a gentle simmer.  Add the cilantro and lime zest, remove from heat, cover, and let sit on the stove to infuse for an hour.  Pour through a fine sieve and keep refrigerated in a sealed container.  Optionally, add 1/2 oz of 100-proof (or higher) vodka for longer storage - though note that this technically makes it non-alcoholic.

My favorite usage thus far:

2 oz blanco tequila
1/2 oz Cilontrastic Syrup
1/2 oz lime juice

Shake and strain into an old-fashioned glass over crushed ice.

This works equally well with other robust white spirits, like white rum or pisco.

Cedared Martinez

It's time once again for the Weird Gin Cocktail Hour!  Seems like there's not a month where I find some new, unusual gin that just begs to be taken home.  This time, it's Vikre Distillery's Boreal Cedar Gin, which I almost feel bad for mentioning; it's brand-new, hyper-local, and near as I can tell not yet distributed outside my home state.  It's an interesting spirit, very subtly colored and flavored with cedar wood, which is probably a first. The cedar is most definitely prominent, sharing space with some classic botanicals as a somewhat piney presence before ballooning out into campfire smoke with a mild forest-berry backdrop.  It's a little bit hot at the end (campfire in more ways than one) but despite all that cedar manages to be more restrained than other evergreen-infused gins like St. George Terrior or Rogue Spruce Gin.

That unique smoky presence makes this a dead-on match for Cynar.  After some experimentation, here's a Martinez rendition designed to make use of this potent combination.

2 oz Boreal Cedar Gin
1/4 oz Licor 43
1/4 oz Cynar
1/4 oz red vermouth (plain old Martini & Rossi, this time)
1 dash Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a thin strip of orange peel, or nothing at all.

If you're adventurous, you can swap out some or all of the red vermouth for additional Cynar (in which case you might want to drop the bitters) but I like this more balanced approach.  From experience I can also tell you that Luxardo, Benedictine, and even Rothman & Winter's Apricot liqueur all make interesting substitutions for the Licor 43.

Hemingway's Lady

This recipe is a bit of a cheap slam-dunk, but what else should I have done with an abundance of Luxardo and grapefruit juice?  I'll plead for an exception based on the name, which perfectly captures this hybrid of a Hemingway Daquiri and a White Lady.

2 oz gin (Old Tom was a nice choice for this one)
1/2 oz Luxardo maraschino
3/4 oz red grapefruit juice
1/2 oz lemon juice

Shake and strain into an old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice.  Garnish with a cherry if you feel fancy.

In the end, this is a lot more like an Aviation than either of the parent drinks.  It's a bit too obvious a combo, really; there's got to be another name for this, but I like mine.

The Real McCoy

After suggesting a scotch-based Boulevardier/Negroni variation in my last blended scotch review, I just had to try one.  It took a couple tries, but this turned out very nicely.

1 1/2 oz Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
1 dash orange curacao (Pierre Ferrand, always)

Stir and strain over a large ice cube; garnish with a wide swath of orange peel and top with a scant pinch of salt on top of the cube.

I'm departing with myself in requiring a garnish on this one, but you really must try it with the salt.  I dunno what it is, exactly - the salt reinforces the slightly briny, peaty character of the scotch and keeps the dash of liqueur from making the drink too sweet.  I may try a careful use of salt in other cocktails as well...

Spirits: Worthy Blends to Try

I enjoyed my previous experimental gin review so much that I just had to try another.  We'll keep to categories that I think are somewhat neglected by mixologists, this time blended scotch whiskey.

Hold the howls of outraged derision while I reiterate that I don't fuck around with this "whiskey" vs. "whisky" nonsense.  According to David Wondrich, who I consider a sage and reliable source on all historically spiritous matters, this is a purely modern convention, and to me it doesn't have any logical basis either.  Therefore I choose to consider it along the same lines as the minor spelling differences you find between standard UK and US English, and go with my personal preference.  I won't dispute your right to spell the word however you damn well please, but I insist on the same basic courtesy.  So, yeah: I'm reviewing blended scotch whiskeys here, deal with it.

Ahem.  Let's review some other terminology.  For those not in the know, scotch whiskey comes in a couple of different tiers, labelled by regulated terms (the same way that terms like "bourbon" or "Champagne" are subject to specific standards).  Single malt can only be bottled from a single distillery and is generally considered higher quality, while blended scotch can be mixed from multiple distillers and can contain some proportion of grain spirit.  There's also the somewhat controversial "blended malt", which indicates a blend of single malts without any grain spirit.  The products I'm drawing from here all come from the latter two categories.  Why bother when single malt is generally considered best?  Well, here are three good reasons:

1. I'm primarily focused on cocktails here, and it makes little sense to use a top-quality spirit known for its nuanced flavor in a mixed drink.  If you insist on single malt, you're probably going to drink it straight anyway, and I complement you on a fine choice.
2. Blends are typically less expensive than single malts.  Most of the products covered here cost about $30 at retail, and it's tough to find a decent single malt at that price, let alone a really good one.  Like cognac and other popular spirits, premium quality costs a lot with scotch.  I like using top quality when I can, but I don't have an unlimited budget and I doubt you do either.
3. The challenge of finding a diamond in the rough!  I consider this one reason enough.  Scotch is a pretty wide category, and there are plenty of poor selections out there.  However, the popularity of single malt and its escalating price point means there's healthy interest in affordable alternatives, and much better stuff hitting the market than in years past.  I for one am happy to give the various offerings a try and share my experience with you here.

So, without further ado, let's review.

#1: Pig's Nose

Pig's Nose is not an especially complex whiskey, but it's certainly a well-balanced and effective one.  Part of that comes from its mixed heritage, which cross-breeds Speyside, Islay, and Lowlands malts to great effect.  On the palate it's got a bit of soft grain, some floral character akin to chamomile, that classic scotch peatiness, and a hint of black tea bitterness.  All of that is carried by a moderately rich, smooth body, much more so than with bigger-name blends (hence the tagline "smooth as a pig's nose").  One of the main reasons I like this is that the body stands up to mixing the same way that a decent bourbon or brandy would.  This makes for some interesting substitutions; a Scotch Sour is certainly fun to try, especially if you go all-out with a Penicillin Cocktail.  Or keep things simple with a scotch & soda or Mamie Taylor (perhaps my favorite highball, and Pig's Nose does it right).

#2: Great King St. Artist's Blend

If Pig's Nose lies at one end of the blend spectrum, Artist's Blend lies at the other; it's still smooth, don't worry, but far more subtle.  It's primarily composed of very soft Lowlands whiskies; the very pale, slightly greenish color is a dead giveaway.  The palate starts off slowly, and gradually escalates into a complex wave of green apple, pear, almond, and dried herbs with a bready feel.  The finish winds up being modestly grainy with a bit of smoke thrown in, and a little more subtle herb character (bay leaf, maybe?).  Subtlety makes this probably my favorite of these blends; when I drink this, it's usually neat.  However, it also makes for one of my all-time personal favorite creations, the Golden Carriage.  Looking back at that recipe, I'm really surprised that I didn't write it for this specific brand, as I did with this one; should probably go back and fix that.  

#3: Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition

This is an interesting blend, one that I probably wouldn't have tried were it not for a rather positive review.  Supposedly commemorating a famous rum-runner, this is bottled at a nice punchy 100 proof, probably for the sake of novelty.  Same goes for the pitch-black bottle.  Despite this, it's got an interesting profile, with intense sweet toffee flavors, hazelnut, and orange peel, capped off by a hint of coffee bitterness and a classic, tarry finish.  All of that puts me a bit in mind of bourbon, suggesting substitutions like a scotch-based Boulevardier.  If you'd rather simplify, strip out the Campari for a straightforward Rob Roy, or dial back to an Improved Cocktail in the spirit of Imbibe!; this blend gets along really well with orange curacao.

#4: Monkey Shoulder

Monkey Shoulder is one of those controversial "blended malts", being a mix of three individual malts that includes some well-known names (Balvenie and Glenfiddich).  All of its constituents come from Speyside, so you could consider this a sort of regional blend if you like.  The name sounds cute, but it actually comes from a sort of repetitive stress injury (think tennis elbow) that sometimes happened to the guy with the important job of stirring the protean whiskey with a big wooden paddle.  It's got a very nice, classic grainy character throughout, spiked with a little bit of orange, mango, and... yep, banana on the palate.  The finish is spicy with a hint of raisin and smoke behind it, but very classic Speyside.  This is really the closest you can get to single-malt quality out of a blend, and it's hard to argue with the price point.  For that reason I use it in spirit-focused scotch cocktails like the Rob Roy, Remember the Maine, or Affinity Cocktail.

Well, I was hoping for a total of 5 again, but unfortunately I've exhausted my knowledge of actual quality blends.  I'm sure there are plenty more out there.  Scotch is a growing category in the spirits world, and with prices rising for top-quality single malts, more blends are rising up to fill the middle shelves.  Compass Box (the company behind the Artist's Blend) makes quite a few that I would love to try and which I'm sure would qualify for recommendation here.  Maybe I'll get back to expanding this list in future.  For now, enjoy.

22nd Century

The 20th Century cocktail is one of my personal favorites (I included it on my first drink menu) and I also quite appreciate PDT's riff, the 21st Century. I thought I was making one but mis-remembered the recipe and wound up with this.

1 1/2 oz reposado tequila

1/2 oz Cocchi Americano

1/2 oz creme de cacao

1/2 oz lime juice

Shake and strain over a large ice cube. Garnish with a lime wheel, I guess?

This is actually more faithful to the original recipe, I think. The 21st Century is fun, but I dig this version quite a bit.

Housecat

I have to admit that this is not strictly an original creation.  A recipe for the Horsecar popped up in one of my feeds, and I misread the name, but liked the new one so much that it needed a cocktail to suit.  The original is a tasty sort of inverse-proportions Perfect Manhattan, but I thought the new name deserved something plusher.  This being a very old-school drink, I figured on an old-school treatment of swapping the core spirit, and the result turned out well indeed after a couple additional tweaks.

1 oz brandy (Cognac would be a fine choice, but Armagnac a better one; don't skimp on quality here)
1 oz dry vermouth (Dolin for me)
1 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica; again, not the place to go cheap)
1 dash Cherry Heering
3 dashes aromatic bitters (Angostura)

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a cherry or orange peel (or both) but only if you're not feeling lazy.

House of Gin Old-Fashioned (#2)

My recent foray into reviewing weird gins made me realize that I had (gasp!) only one partially-emptied bottle of Tanqueray Malacca.  I quickly remedied the situation, which also gave me an excuse to splash that open bottle around.  One astonishingly simple combination caught my notice - I'm amazed that I didn't stumble upon it already.  Yet it's so damned tasty that I feel it's earned a spot as my second House Old-Fashioned.

2 oz Tanqueray Malacca
1/4 oz thyme syrup
4 dashes Angostura bitters (try other aromatic bitters at your discretion)

Build in an old-fashioned glass over a large ice cube.  Garnish?!?  Hah!  Try a lemon peel if you must.

Thyme syrup, man.  I think we have a trend here.  I might try this with a bit of dry vermouth once the weather warms.

The Remedy

Keeping with the trend of slightly-fancified classics, here's a twist on the Negroni.  I named it after the hue, which looks to me precisely like that of cherry-flavored cough syrup (tastes better though, I promise, and it'll still make you feel better).

1 1/2 oz London Dry (Beefeater 24 this time, because it was on sale)
1/2 oz orange curacao (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao is my new hands-down favorite)
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's No. 6 recommended)
2 dashes The Bitter Truth Celery Bitters (another hands-down favorite brand)

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lemon twist.

I have to admit, I thought this was a really clever idea until a finicky little voice reminded me that it's basically identical to the Lucien Gaudin Cocktail found in Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails.  Crud.  But I will still take credit for the minor differences.  To make the former, use triple sec in place of curacao, dry vermouth in place of Cocchi Americano, omit the bitters, and garnish with orange peel.  I like this better; it's got a nice bitter edge and isn't quite as sweet.  Sorry, Lucien.

Sidearm

Here's a very simple remix on the Sidecar that used up a lonely remaining Seville orange.  I kinda wish I'd been able to get this out earlier for Mixology Monday, since it seems to fit this month's criteria pretty well.  It's not particularly fancy, but it turned out well for all its simplicity.

2 oz cognac (grade not too critical here, but I used a cheap-ish VSOP)
1/2 oz Mathilde Poire
1/2 oz Seville orange juice
1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a thin orange slice, if you have any left.

Spirits: Weird Gins to Try

I thought we'd try a little something different.  I'll admit that lately my mixing has tended toward the cheap and cheerful, relying on value brands and expedient highballs.  Simplicity has its virtues, but it can make for uninspired writing, especially on a cocktail blog.  Yeah, I've worked out my favorite brand of ginger beer (Reed's, by a mile) but I refuse to write the 10,000th post about the Moscow Mule.

Rather than being used in more creative pursuits, my collection of quality liquors has slowly gained a critical mass, where it suddenly feels almost sacrosanct to touch them.  But I will happily accept an excuse to dip in and turn my drive for simplicity into an advantage.  What's simpler than straight booze?

Now, okay, this is probably not all that simple.  These are not all easy brands to find (I know, having spent weeks hunting for some of them at my local shops, and stumbling quite accidentally across others only to see them vanish from the shelves) and none are your standard London Dry.  I enjoy them more for their character than for being a "perfect" gin and encourage you to seek them out, if only to broaden your concept of gin.  I've mentioned most of these before and where applicable will point out various of my previous recipes that utilize them.  It'll be fun, or at least a reasonable approximation.

So here we go, in no particular order:

#1: St. George Dry Rye
I've espoused this one several times before as a superbly unique creature, one that successfully finds its own niche between modern dry gins and the much older genever style.  Its style really hits a spot I didn't know I had, and earns the title of my absolute favorite domestic gin.  True to the name, the base spirit is copper pot-distilled 100% rye, which lends a spicy, malty flavor... like that of a good rye whiskey, unsurprisingly.  More interesting is the botanical mix, which leads off with an extra dose of juniper, plus black pepper and only four other ingredients (!) designed to emphasize that juniper essence.  All of this makes for a burly and assertive gin that maintains its distinct flavor in cocktails.  I particularly like this in an old-fashioned or Double-Dry Martinez, where the modifiers complement but can't possibly overwhelm that intense peppery character, but it can also stand tall in less spirit-forward drinks.  Raspberry syrup is an especially good choice to use in combination.  Or, dispense with the cocktail frippery entirely and pour a shot for use in a kopstootje (which I often do).

#2: Tanqueray Malacca
I remember first reading about Malacca in Ted Haigh's seminal Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, in a passage mourning its loss and practically begging the company to bring it back.  Apparently they heard the same from others, because after a decade-long hiatus Tanqueray released a new limited run and bartenders everywhere rushed to grab a bottle.  I turned around and bought two more after sampling mine.  This is a surprisingly old style, apparently based on a recipe from around 1837, similar to an Old Tom gin in that it dials back the juniper compared to a traditional London Dry.  It's not quite as sweet as an Old Tom, though, and has a more complex botanical profile that leads off with citrus and a distinct cinnamon note.  For this reason and for its historical appeal, one of my favorite applications for Malacca is in a Winter Martinez (a standard version with the addition of cinnamon syrup) but it works in just about any pre-Prohibition recipe that calls for Old Tom.

#3: Few Standard Issue
I appreciate the intensity of navy-strength gins, and this one really takes it up a notch.  Few is known, at least to me, as putting out products with a distinct raw, unaged, grainy character which works well for some and less for others.  Here they put it to good use in a 114-proof gin which celebrates its funkiness.  There's an initial burst of citrus and juniper, followed quickly by an intense and complex wave of savory botanicals, almost like an aquavit, plus a marshmallow-cherry-grain character that immediately reminds me of maraschino liqueur.  It's unique and very bold, though a little rough for drinking straight.  The similarity to maraschino makes it great in an Aviation (a drink that I like to call the Harrier, after the iconic US Navy jet) but also a very fine gin & tonic, especially if you go the GMT route and add couple dashes of maraschino.  The main success that I've had in a more spirits-focused drink was in a reverse-proportions Vesper, with more vodka than gin, an idea that I picked up reading Speakeasy.  Pair this gin with Russian Standard, and I guess you'd have a Russian Navy Standard Issue?

#4: The Botanist
This is probably the most classically styled of the gins described here, which is interesting because it comes from an Islay-based distillery primarily known for making scotch.  It starts off with classic gin ingredients and then adds a ridiculous 22 further locally harvested botanicals (also known as the "Chartreuse method", or picking every damn thing you can find to toss in the still).  The first standout notes include lemon peel, fennel, and thyme, but then transitions to a spicy wash of juniper, white pepper, clove, grapefruit, honey, and just a little lingering malt.  All of which is to say that it's as complex as the 30-plus ingredients would indicate, staying close to the traditional London Dry balance but with way more depth.  That makes it a standout choice for classics like a Dry Martini or Tuxedo (the gin-and-dry-sherry version described in Imbibe!) and anything else where gin plays a primary role.  A Negroni or a Pink Gin would be a little more offbeat but still excellent.

#5: Damrak
I include Damrak in this list not so much because it's a dazzling product, but because it's milder than a standard dry gin and very easy to mix with.  It's produced by the powerhouse Bols, importers of the absolute best genever that you can find locally, which surprised me until I remembered that Bols also makes a "yogurt liqueur", a combination of words that is both repellent and depressing.  Damrak is intended as a mid-to-entry level product, somewhere between a London Dry and a jonge genever, and it settles into that role nicely.  The juniper is restrained in favor of a good deal of citrus, a bit of rosemary/sage dark herb flavor, a nicely rounded mouthfeel, and not too much else to distract.  It's a good gin for people who think they don't like gin, especially at a price point that's midway between value and premium brands.  Now, you get what you pay for, and this isn't complex enough to be desirable in spirits-focused drinks, but it's very nice in gin-based sours like a White Lady or Corpse Reviver #2.  Makes for a damned fine Tom Collins on a hot day too, which tastes even better when you're not breaking the bank.

So there we have it, my very first spirits review.  I think that worked out pretty well.  Let's do this again sometime!  We'll continue to stay off the beaten track; I could see my way to doing a blended-scotch review or perhaps an unaged brandy tasting (covering pisco, kirschwasser, slilovitz, himbergeest... sounds like fun).  For now, back to our regular program: sporadic recipes punctuated by self-loathing apology!

ADDENDUM #1: More weird gins.

Stupor Ball

Here's a long drink for everyone else who's watching the Super Bowl without a team in the game.

2 oz bourbon (Cabin Still)
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz cranberry grenadine (regular grenadine would be okay too)
1/2 oz grapefruit juice
1/2 oz lemon juice

Shake and strain over ice in a tall glass and top with soda.

House of Gin Old-Fashioned (#1)

I don't know why I've never posted this before, because it may be one of my personal favorite creations.  Granted, it's a weird drink, intensely herbal and funky, but I make it every time I have its constituent ingredients on hand.  It doesn't hurt that I'm a Dry Rye evangelist.

2 1/2 oz St. George Dry Rye
1/4 oz thyme syrup
1 dash Luxardo maraschino liqueur
2 dashes Regan's No. 6 Orange bitters
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
2 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters

Stir and strain over a fresh large cube in an old-fashioned glass.

Genever (especially the Bols aged variety) is a decent, though imperfect, substitute for the Dry Rye.  You might want to save some for a Dutch Quarter.

Jalisco Fashioned

Here's a random tequila-based old-fashioned cocktail, named after the origin of the spirit.

2 1/4 oz aged tequila (I used El Mayor Anejo; another anejo or even a good resposado would be nice too)
1/4 oz creme de cacao
1 dash Regan's #6 Orange Bitters
1 dash Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters (which I'm sadly having trouble finding now...)
1 dash apple bitters (homemade as previously covered)

Stir and strain over a large cube, blissfully ungarnished.

Dual Highballs

Two fairly straightforward highballs, constructed along the same formula.  Nothing too unusual for nightly mixing, but these turned out well enough that I thought they deserved recording.

#1:
1 oz pisco (I used Capel; not necessarily my first choice, but a good value selection)
3/4 oz beet liqueur (homemade)
3/4 oz Mathilde Cassis
3/4 oz lemon juice

#2:
1 oz aged rum (I used Plantation 5 Year)
3/4 oz apricot liqueur (again, homemade)
3/4 oz Mathilde Poire
3/4 oz lemon juice

For both, shake and strain over fresh ice in a highball glass.  Top with ~1 oz ginger beer to taste and stir.

Red Gatling

Another easy riff on the French 75, so I had to name it after another piece of old-school field weaponry.

1 1/2 oz dry gin (Boodles is always nice)

1 1/2 oz cranberry sauce syrup*

1/4 oz lemon juice

Shake and strain (over ice only when there's none outside) then top with 2-3 oz rose champagne or cava.

In the interests of proper logging, I should note that I initially made this with pisco, which was nice, but didn't have quite the snap I was looking for.  Something about that gin-champagne cocktail is just so delightfully speakeasy.

*This was essentially leftover homemade cranberry sauce (made with real cranberries!) that I pureed until smooth, stretched out until pourable again, then ran through a fine strainer.  You may wish to sweeten or tweak this further to your liking.  Mine was still fairly tart, courtesy of fresh cranberries, hence the hefty amount.  You may also wish to double-strain any cocktails you make with the stuff depending on its final texture.

The Great Frost

It's hellishly cold here, and that means cocktails are in order to warm the bones.  Scotch is always an appropriate choice in such matters.  I'm sorry that this one is so brand-specific but I can't imagine this combination working quite any other way.

2 oz Great King Street Artist's Blend scotch (good, good stuff, very mellow)
1/4 oz squash-sage syrup (roasted squash with fresh sage and brown sugar; tastes like Thanksgiving)
1/4 oz sweet vermouth (I used Dolin)
1/4 oz homemade apple bitters (yeah, sorry; I used the apple bitters recipe from Brad Parsons' Bitters book, which I will no doubt be experimenting with further)
1 dash Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters (yum)
1 dash Bitter Truth Celery Bitters (also yum, easily the best celery bitters on the market)

Stir and strain over a large cube in an old-fashioned glass.  Do not let garnish cloud your judgment.

Tasting #1

Well, friends, I've been busy.  On Thursday I conducted a cocktail seminar for a friend's holiday party. I hope it'll be the first of many, because I had a ridiculous amount of fun!  An hour to blather on about cocktails for a captive audience?  Yes please.

In honor of the occasion, here are my drink notes from the event.  I turned this into a little menu/brochure (also including some recommendations on cocktail books and local bars) to provide as a handout and reference.

DRINK #1: KIR ROYALE
1/2 oz creme de cassis (Mathilde)
~5 oz dry sparkling wine (Cava)
To build: Pour the creme de cassis into a champagne flute and slowly add the wine.
Other notes: Bubbles are always a great pre-dinner or special event beverage.  This is a very easy drink which you can adjust to your personal taste.

DRINK #2: SPICED SAZERAC
2 oz rye whiskey (Bulleit)
1 tsp holiday spice syrup (a simple syrup with cranberry, cinnamon, and other spices)
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
2 dashes Angostura bitters
To build: Pour a small amount of absinthe into a short glass and swirl to coat the inside (or spray with an atomizer) then let the glass chill in the freezer.  Stir the other ingredients over ice and strain into the prepared glass.
Other notes: The Sazerac is a very old-school drink, and is the official cocktail of the city of New Orleans.  Don't be afraid of the absinthe.

DRINK #3: WINTER DAQUIRI
1 1/2 oz white rum (Plantation 3 Star)
3/4 oz creme de cassis (Mathilde)
3/4 oz lime juice
To build: Shake over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Add a lime wheel if you like.
Other notes: This is a great example of the Sour genre of drinks, and can be remixed with almost any spirit and liqueur you have on hand.

DRINK #4: 20TH CENTURY COCKTAIL
1 1/2 oz dry gin (Tanqueray)
1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz creme de cacao (any brand)
1/2 oz lemon juice
To build: Shake over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Add a strip of lemon peel or a bit of grated chocolate as garnish.
Other notes: This makes an excellent test if you want to see how knowledgeable your bartender really is.

DRINK #5: CABIN FEVER FLIP
3/4 oz rye whiskey (Bulleit)
3/4 oz white rum (Plantation 3 Star)
3/4 oz Cocchi Americano
3/4 oz creme de cacao
3/4 oz holiday spice syrup
3/4 oz heavy cream (or half-and-half)
1/2 egg (or egg white)
To build: Shake all of the above without ice until frothy, then shake again with ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass.  Garnish with a dusting of nutmeg.
Other notes: 1 large egg is usually enough for 2 drinks, or use smaller eggs for a single serving.  The silky texture of this drink makes it a perfect liquid dessert.

I made half-size versions of each of these, to share between each of the couples in attendance.  That worked out perfectly, providing just enough to taste, but not enough to completely inebriate.  The Winter Daquiri wound up being the crowd favorite, but the Flip was well-received too.

This whole experience has me very seriously thinking about how to monetize (or at least subsidize) this little hobby of mine.  A few of the folks in attendance expressed interest in events of their own, and I sincerely hope that we can make it happen, because I'd love to do this again.  I was also asked about wedding consulting, personal liquor shopping... seems like the sky's the limit!  Stay tuned, because I'll most certainly post about it.

Gondola Hook

The merging of two cocktails: the Gondolier and the Red Hook.

2 oz blended scotch (I've been digging Pig's Nose lately and it works well here)

1/3 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1/3 oz Punt e Mes

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with lemon peel if you like.

I really enjoy this particular combination of accents.  I could see a number of different "Hooks" with different bases - the Boat Hook with navy-strength gin, the Captain's Hook with rum, the Golden Hook with cognac...