Mocktail Month: Mocha-fucca-chino

Remember how we talked about coffee-based cocktails? And I mentioned how I had a couple of ideas in the works? Well: here's a trial run. A good one, too!

Granted, it's no Five Watt Coffee, but baby steps...

5 oz cold-press coffee (a medium-dark roast* made with a 5:1 water-to-coffee ratio; )
2 oz hazelnut milk (I'll have to try making my own sometime soon)
3/4 oz lemon/orange oleo-saccharum**
4-5 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake like crazy to combine (necessary to get the hazelnut milk suspended; otherwise it can be a bit grainy) and pour unstrained into your glass of choice. Or, whatever, you could strain it over fresh ice, but you only need to if the little ice chips bother you.

* I can't quite remember, but I think it was a Kickapoo blend, maybe Driftless Dark? The flavor profile sounds about right.

** Full disclosure: I also initially tried a version with blackberry shrub instead, and... no. Just don't.

Mocktail Month: Gunpowder Fizz

Now that we're burned out on sodas, we must find alternatives. While seeking inspiration, I found an article on Imbibe's blog about Five Watt Coffee, a local shop that features a changing selection of coffee-based drinks. I love this as a concept. Good baristas and bartenders both have a common obsession with fine, finicky detail, and it's fascinating to cross the boundaries a bit.

This is not a coffee drink, although I have a couple ideas in the works. Tea is also a great non-alcoholic base, aided by the fact that there are a huge range of varieties. I picked a few different types up and thought that putting them through their paces would be fun. Thus we wind up with this.

4 oz brewed, chilled gunpowder tea (a jasmine variety here)
1 oz lemon/orange oleo-saccharum
3/4 oz half-and-half (you could use whole milk if you prefer, but I wanted a heavier foam and texture)
1/4 oz lemon juice
3 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters

Shake well and strain into a Collins glass over large ice cubes. Top with a couple more dashes of bitters as garnish (I also thought about a smoked sugar, but that's an entirely different post).

More tea-based drinks to come! I have a couple others brewed that I'm itching to try out. It'll likely be a busy last week of Mocktail Month, to end on a high note.

Ronin

I'll admit: this is nothing more than a Jerry Thomas-style Improved Cocktail as applied to a Japanese whiskey. But damn if it isn't one of the most suitable spirits I've performed this treatment on. It's smoky and light and floral; a perfect match for the accenting liqueurs.

2 oz Japanese whiskey (Akashi White Oak)
1/4 oz citrus syrup
1 dash maraschino liqueur (Luxardo, duh)
1 dash absinthe (4-5 squirts from an atomizer)
2 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Stir and strain in a cocktail glass over a large ice cube; garnish with a large strip of lemon peel.

Randicot Punch

Here's just a random punch recipe; it was good at the time, so I'm recording it verbatim.  Upon further review in the cold light of morning (okay, fine: noon) it could do with a bit of tweaking, but that'll have to wait for later.  I'm out of scotch, or at least blended stuff worth infusing.  No way in hell I'm putting apricots in my Glenrothes.

8 oz apricot-infused blended scotch (Famous Grouse, I believe)
4 oz lime juice
3 oz citrus peel syrup
3 oz gin & tonic syrup
16 oz sparkling water

Combine in a pitcher over large but plentiful ice cubes.  Serve in small glasses.

So, the proportions aren't quite there.  I was totally misremembering David Wondrich's recommended balance of sour, sweet, and strong; first thing I'd do next time would be reduce the sugar.  Maybe simplify down to a combined syrup, but I'd also want to do the peel syrup as an oleo-saccharum if working in bulk, and I'm not sure how to integrate the juniper and tonic.  Or perhaps a little black tea, to emphasize the smokiness of the scotch and soak up some sweetness.  And, the apricot-infused scotch could easily be split into regular old blended stuff and some Rothman & Winter apricot liqueur (yum).  I dunno.  We'll get it there.

The name was just from me doodling around with this "random apricot-flavored" punch.  I like the abbreviated combination.  Sounds like an old Maryland vacation spot, someplace where rich fucks keep "cabins" the size of French chateaus.  Right?  That could just be me.  (Not the chateau, obviously, but the mental image.)

Spiced Pear Goodness

I don't normally post specific syrup recipes, mostly because they never really deviate from the standard method, but this one is a little more complicated. Plus it turned out too well not to brag about.

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup water
1 stick cinnamon
8-10 whole cloves
4-5 whole allspice berries
1 large pear

Dissolve the sugar in the water over medium heat. Add the spices, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer (don't boil!) for about 20 minutes, then kill the heat and let stand for another 10 minutes.

Chop the pear into 1/4-inch cubes and place into a French press or other nonreactive vessel. Pour the hot syrup over the pear pieces while straining out the spices. Let stand for about12 hours, then strain again and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

This is calibrated for about 2 cups of syrup, which is about all I ever make for home use.

As a bonus, here's a damned fine use of the above:

1 1/2 oz cognac or French brandy
1/2 oz spiced pear syrup
3/4 oz orange juice

Shake and strain over fresh ice in a double old-fashioned glass , then top with 2 oz dry Prosecco or Cava. Stir gently and serve with a twist of orange peel.