MxMo CVII: Bahia Cocktail

A full year after my first participation in Mixology Monday, I finally managed to catch another round with a few days to go before the deadline! The fact that this took a year should tell you everything you need to know about my knack for timing.

Fortunately, this one is a doozy. Dagreb of the Nihil Utopia blog explains his choice for this month's theme as follows:

My theme this time is overproof. Or rather how you utilize overproofs.  Do you sub them into your standards? Save them for accents in particular recipes? Pour them into ceramic volcanoes and set them on fire? Reserve them only for making liqueres? Whatever it be I'm looking for your recipes that use overproofs as base or as modifier in a noticeable-

      -WAIT-

"What's an overproof," you ask? "Well, uh, yeah..."

First let's decide what is proof. It's my party so I say 50% abv is proof. Above that is overproof. You disagree? Host your own party! (No really host a MxMo it'll be fun.) So BIB liquors are exempt this month but lots of bottles are fair game! Whether it boldly proclaims its strength on the label or nonchalantly lets you discover its strength for yourself use that bottle that packs a punch in a drink this month. 

Astute readers may recall a rather ludicrous number of navy-strength gins rattling around my growing, eclectic collection of gin samplings. So while I could have selected a high-test rum or whiskey, gin is nearest and dearest to my heart, and was the only logical choice when organizing my thoughts on "overproof".

Frequent MxMo participants (MxMites? MxMolians?) will most likely know this already, but whence the term "navy strength"? Well: like rum before it, gin was popularized by the sailors who drank it. In the days before refrigeration, pasteurization, or filtration, spirits were some of the few beverages that would remain potable on long ocean crossings. Combined with citrus to make grog, they also helped to combat scurvy. Naval ships had one additional requirement: in the event of a burst barrel or clumsy sailor, the spirits had to contain enough alcohol that soaked gunpowder would still ignite. That takes at least 114 proof (57% ABV) which then became the benchmark for spirits suited for naval use. (The picture shown here is obviously more recent, but demonstrates how this tradition carried on even into the Second World War.) Such navy strength gins fell out of favor for a while, but they've come roaring back in recent years; nowadays it seems that just about every gin producer makes an overproof product, though they're often harder to find than the standard editions.

My usual inclination with these is probably a dangerous one, though I'm sure sailors would approve: I just sub them in for a typical London Dry in whatever I'm making. Some people like to increase the amount of gin in their Negroni, but I'll stick to the equal-parts ratio and just use a stronger gin. If it's been a long day, I've been known to make a Martinez or other gin-base cocktail with navy-strength product. This is usually an experience that's equal parts rough, bracing, and deeply satisfying.

Which leads us into my submission. While considering recipes for overproof substitution, I hit on the Bijou Cocktail, which is perfect because it also utilizes green Chartreuse, another overproof product by Dagreb's standards at 110 proof (55% ABV) and one of my perennial favorites.

Now, a traditional equal-parts Bijou is a reasonably burly cocktail to start with, so replacing the gin with a navy-strength version is gilding the lily a bit. But hey, I finally caught a MxMo; we'll call that a special occasion, worthy of a strong drink. It's probably a good thing that no appropriate overproof substitution for the sweet vermouth comes immediately to mind, or this post would never make its way out of draft status in a readable form.

For the gin, I defaulted to a product I've been obsessed with lately: Far North Spirits' Gustaf Navy Strength Gin. It's produced from rye, which gives a faintly sweet-spicy character, and it's then infused with botanicals that edge into vegetal territory reminiscent of Scandinavian aquavit. The focus is less on sharp juniper, more on a very rounded profile that blends spice, herb, and sweet citrus. Pairing it with Chartreuse seemed like an obvious slam dunk. I really wanted to try this with Punt e Mes, thinking that some additional bitterness would balance the sweeter notes of the gin, but it was out of stock at the couple liquor stores I visited. I tried a couple of vermouth alternates (including Dolin Blanc, which was tasty but a little too light, and Cynar which was too herbal and rooty) but settled back on good old Cocchi Torino, which was the closest match in my mind to the absent Punt e Mes. (I'd still really like to attempt that version, but we've got a deadline to hit.)

The normal construction for a Bijou is an ounce of each ingredient, which is already pretty sweet and assertive; using the Gustaf, it simply became overwhelming. The recipe I linked above also provides a more "modern" version with three parts gin to one part Chartreuse and vermouth. With that ratio the Gustaf just took over. I landed on a middle ground of 2:1:1, which curiously enough is how I usually recall the Bijou recipe. Perhaps there's a reason for that, because it worked brilliantly here. I started with orange bitters as called for in the original recipe, but the drink really hit its stride when I subbed a large dose of a homemade cinnamon-orange bitters instead.

Here, the result:

1 1/2 oz Gustaf Navy Strength gin
3/4 oz green Chartreuse
3/4 oz Cocchi Torino (or Punt e Mes...)
1 eyedropper homemade cinnamon-orange bitters (call it 4 dashes of orange bitters, supplemented by 2 dashes of a spice-laden aromatic bitters like Fee Brothers)

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass; garnish with a lemon twist, or if you feel like showing off, score a lime peel into a jewel-like shape and drop into the drink.

Since the original French name "bijou" translates to "jewel" I decided to name this one after the much-disputed world's largest emerald, known as the Bahia Emerald. Its contested history seems a good fit for a drink that took a couple iterations to get right, and which still stuns with its weight.

I had a lot of fun putting this together, so I'd like to thank Dagreb for coming up with this month's theme, the geniuses behind MxMo for keeping this event alive and well, and my wife for tolerating my cocktail mixing even with a new baby boy at home. Cheers!

Here's the accompanying roundup post from Dagreb, which features quite a few tasty-looking drinks. I can't wait to try some of these, and their photography game puts my own to shame. Nicely done, everybody!

Antonin's Black Heart

Here's a commemorative drink, in the grand tradition of bartenders naming cocktails after memorable people. The person in question is one who I disagreed with on almost everything, but he was certainly influential and he seemed like a guy who would enjoy a stiff drink.

And I think we all need one of these now that an already insane election season just got crazier.

1 1/2 oz Laird's Straight Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Cynar
3/4 oz red vermouth
1/4 oz ruby port
1/4 Islay scotch (or similarly peaty, briny monster)
2 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters
2 dashes Fee Brothers Black Walnut bitters

Stir and strain into an old-fashioned glass over a single large cube. Garnish with a large coin of orange peel (I used blood orange, appropriately enough) and a few grains of sea salt.

All In

Here's a drink named after its construction. This started when I couldn't decide between a Negroni and a Boulevardier, and things escalated from there. The genever is a beautiful midpoint between gin and whiskey, and while I was at it I decided to split the modifiers as well.  The result looks overly complicated but is tasty as hell, enough to warrant its own post (which is kind of an event these days!)

2 oz Bols barrel-aged genever
1/2 oz red vermouth
1/2 oz rainwater Madiera (a medium-dry sherry might work too)
1/2 oz Cappelletti Aperitivo
1/2 oz Cynar
4 dashes orange bitters (Regan's No. 6)
1 dash maraschino liqueur (Luxardo)

Stir and strain over a large cube. A bit of lemon or orange peel would make a nice garnish here, but as you can see I skipped it (having neither readily available). A fancy glass sufficed for me.

Negroati

I had to write this one down immediately.

1 1/2 oz Koval White Oat Whiskey
3/4 oz Casoni 1814
3/4 sweet vermouth

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass over a large cube.

Really, this is more of a Boulevardier, but the unaged whiskey makes it something else. Yum.

Plaza Nueva

So you've got all this god-damned weird booze hanging around and you're wondering what to do with it. The answer, of course, is to make several of these. Okay, it's a partial answer, but it'll take care of half the bottles.

Regular readers (all 3 of them) may recognize this name as a throwback to one of my earlier personal recipes, one of the few that's ever actually made it onto a menu. Plaza Vieja, meet Plaza Nueva. I think I would tout this one as both a more faithful and much tastier take on the original Vieux Carre, but my past self might accuse me of bias.

Also, linking back to those older takes makes me realize that I've been keeping this little blog for over three years. God damn.

1 oz Fidelitas Obstler
1 oz Espolon Anejo
1 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica)
1 dash green Chartreuse
2 dashes Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters
2 dashes Bitter Truth Xocolatl Bitters
2 drops salt solution (or a couple grains of sea salt sprinkled into the mixing glass)

Rinse a cocktail glass or small snifter with mezcal (which I keep in an atomizer, same as the absinthe, for just this sort of application) and place in the freezer. Stir the remaining ingredients and strain into this glass, then garnish with a lemon peel expressed over the top and discarded (so that it doesn't get in the way, you see).

Mocktail Month: Provisionally Accepted

Another recent notion of mine is trying to replicate serious cocktails in a non-alcoholic format. I recognize this as a losing battle in a lot of cases; without the burn of proper whiskey, there's no way you're going to successfully produce a booze-free Manhattan, for example. Just about anything with citrus is almost too easy. Perhaps there's a middle way; something more challenging, a way to mimic a stirred drink, but one within the realm of possibility.

A Negroni isn't necessarily the most logical of options, and to be honest this isn't quite there. Another edition found online is probably strictly a closer match, but this one doesn't mess around with non-alcoholic wine (because fuck that nonsense, although they did have the bright idea to toast the spices, which I'll have to try next time around) nor does it require that you purchase Sanbitter. Instead, um, you only have to make a few different things at home.

Fine. It's not any more convenient and it's not particularly close. One thing it does manage is a lot of flavor in a compact format, with the balance of bitterness, spice, and sweetness to be found in a good Negroni. It's a step in the right direction. Too bad Mocktail Month is just about over and we can get back to the real deal before long.

2 1/2 oz over-steeped tea (a mix of green and black here; essentially, just simmer 6 oz of water per teabag in a saucepan until it reduces by about half, then squeeze out all the resulting liquid and allow to cool)
1/3 oz "red vermouth" syrup (recipe to come)
1/3 oz gin syrup (like the G&T syrup I've shared before, but with the tonic part stripped out)
2 dashes Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters
2 dashes Fee Brothers Gin Barrel Aged Orange Bitters
2 dashes Bitter Truth Tonic Bitters

Stir and strain over fresh ice; garnish with a wide strip of grapefruit peel to make it feel a little more like the real thing.

It's really much closer to the Teagroni from Craft Cocktails at Home, but whatever, it's still tasty. Further renditions of this one to come, I think. Oh, and I deliberately chose not to include a picture of this one. In its current form, it ain't pretty; not much chance of mistaking it for a Negroni by sight. Ah well, let's accept what progress we can.

Right Thuir

I found a bottle of Byrrh Grand Quinquina today! I've seen it listed on blogs, but never found a bottle locally until now. Intriguing stuff - not quite sure if it'll join the regular rotation yet, but this drink was a good first crack at cocktail use.

2 oz Temperance Trader Chinato Barrel Aged Bourbon (remember this stuff?)
1/2 oz Byrrh Grand Quinquina
1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica, because only the best!)
1 (small) dash cinnamon syrup
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
2 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters

Stir and strain into a rocks glass; garnish with an orange peel, if you must.

The name of this one comes from the town at the southern tip of France where Byrrh was invented.

Master Martinez

In the vein of the Best Boulevardier, here's a revised take on a classic that absolutely dominates other drinks that share its name. I'm a big fan of the Martinez, but this is the best one that I've come up with yet.

1 1/2 oz Tanqueray Malacca (there is no substitute)

1/2 oz barrel-aged kirschwasser

1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica, because it's worth it)

1 dash maraschino liqueur (Luxardo, duh)

1 dash cinnamon syrup

3 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir well and strain into a cocktail glass; garnish with a lemon twist (check out the channel knife; haven't used that in a while!) and sip slowly.

Sorry about the kirschwasser; it's something you'll have to make age at home yourself, but it's totally worth it. Some brief time in oak really does help to round off the raw edges of the kirsch and mixes very nicely with the vermouth.

Negroni Bastardo

A nice, easy take on a Negroni Sbagliato, one of my favorite little-known low-proof wonders. A great patio drink, or a tasty way to avoid getting too drunk - your choice.

3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz Casoni 1814 (or comparable; Aperol would actually be best)
3/4 oz reposado tequila (Espolon)
3 oz sparkling wine (a lovely gifted blanc de blanc this time; normally I'd be using cava)
3 dashes Bitter Truth Xocolatl Bitters

Build over copious ice in a tall-ish glass; doesn't really matter what kind as long as it will hold your beverage. Garnish with a grapefruit peel (that's lemon in the picture, because I didn't have any grapefruit around, but I'm expressing a preference for once).

I'm making this as a pitcher-sized cocktail for the first warm day when we have people over - just you watch. Nice easy proportions make this easy to scale up or down.

Honey Nut Manhattan

Another walnut bourbon drink. This took a bit more tweaking and I'm not quite sure if I'm happy with it yet. There may be some future versions of this one...

1 1/2 oz walnut-infused bourbon
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz amontillado sherry
1/4 oz honey syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash Bitter Truth Xocolatl Mole bitters

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry, an orange twist, or nothing at all.

(Update: I hate this name, for the record. This is what happens when you try to name drinks after having a couple.)

Peat & Molasses

We had what I'd have to describe as a dinner party last night, and in planning the menu I had a bit of a revelation. Instead of driving myself nuts trying to create individual cocktails for our guests while cooking at the same time, why not use what I learned about creating bottled cocktails and batch something out to keep everybody happy? This worked out as well as I'd hoped, though it was a thirsty bunch, and I had to refill the pitcher with my mystery cocktail and a pitcher-sized Corey Taylor in short order. Still, kept everybody's glasses full and kept me sane. Might be a new party trick!

I'll include both the full bottled proportion and a single-serving recipe below.

16 oz (2 oz) amber rum (Appleton VX)

6 oz (3/4 oz) blended scotch (Famous Grouse)

6 oz (3/4 oz) sweet vermouth (Cocchi Torino)

2 oz (1/4 oz) amontillado sherry

2 oz (1/4 oz) Casoni 1814 (Aperol or Cappelletti would work too)

8 oz water (omit for single-serving)

For the bottled version, combine everything and keep refrigerated until ready to serve, then add to a pitcher with several large ice cubes. For the single-size version, stir and strain over a large cube in an old-fashioned glass.

Quiet Spot

Oh, shit - the bar's getting packed with bottles again. I have a feeling we might repeat our semi-regular Friday pattern.

The name of this one is kind of a horrible pun (although as I explained to the wife when I announced it, I think all modern cocktail names are basically puns, or song lyrics). It's a version of a Tipperary cocktail, the original being named after a beautifully green town and county in Ireland. Appropriately, I used the fantastic Green Spot whiskey to make it, and what with all the greenery I couldn't help think of an old concrete bench with inlaid tiles that used to reside on my grandparents' porch. It was a rough, heavy thing, but when they decided to move out of their split-level house to a more reasonable condo, my mother decided to take it in a fit of sentiment. We set it up in our backyard next to an old tire swing, among a line of wild-growing bushes next to her garden, a little patch that we call "Mom's quiet spot" to this day.

1 1/2 oz Green Spot Irish whiskey
1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Cocchi Torino)
1/6 oz Green Chartreuse (basically a barspoon's worth)
1/6 oz Amontillado sherry (ditto)
2 dashes Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters

Stir and strain over a large ice cube in an old-fashioned glass; garnish with a large lemon coin expressed over the top of the drink. Sip and contemplate.

Down to Business

This is probably the most unabashedly, intensively, lovingly alcoholic cocktail that I have yet created. It also happens to contain most of my favorite booze items.

2 1/2 oz barrel-proof bourbon (Wild Turkey Rare Breed)
1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Cocchi Torino)
1/4 oz Luxardo maraschino
1/4 oz Casoni 1814
3 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Old Decanter Bitters

Stir and strain over a large ice cube in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a large expressed coin of lemon peel and a brandied cherry.

I worked a solid 11 hours today. Don't judge me.

Poison Apple

I think I'm about ready to go back to work. It's not like I have a problem with day drinking (as in, I don't completely frown on the practice) but I'm pretty sure that drinking scotch while the sun's up is some kind of warning sign.

2 oz scotch (a blended Speyside; Pig's Nose would do)
1/4 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz Cynar
1/4 oz pineapple syrup
2 dashes Bitter Truth Xocolatl Bitters

Stir over a large ice cube in an old-fashioned glass. If we were going all-out here, I'd say garnish with a dehydrated slice of cacao nib-crusted pineapple, but anything less would be foolish.

Don't worry about the name - I realize there's no actual apple in this. Like most of my cocktail names it's derived from a whole chain of barely-coherent puns that rattle around my skull whenever I think about such things.

Northwoods

A very incise, woodsy, herbal drink. I think I'm gonna make quite a few of these.

1 oz rye whiskey (Bulleit)
1/2 oz Loonshine
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Cocchi Torino)
15 drops Bittercube Door County Hops Bitters

Stir and strain over a large ice cube in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a strip of lemon peel.

Cedar & Gold

Here's another fun Ampersand riff for you, this one closer to traditional than our last.

We've dealt with this Boreal Cedar Gin before - I like it, but think it works best when paired with another spirit. It's pretty cedar-y (to coin a word) and richer flavors help bring it into balance. The term unique applies, but that's not a problem.

1 oz Vikre Boreal Cedar Gin (I'm gonna have to make the drive and see the distillery soon!)
1 oz Laird's Applejack (in lieu of proper brandy)
1 oz sweet vermouth (Cocchi Torino)
1 dash Regan's No. 6 orange bitters

Stir (using a chopstick if you're classy like me) and strain into a cocktail glass. Eschew garnish in all its forms.

Old Hat

Merry Christmas! We had a blast of a party this year, but one of my favorite bits was presenting this year's booze-themed gift, a fully-fledged cocktail in its own right. Eric & Sam's "Old Hat" Handmade Bottled Cocktail! Coming soon to a store near you!*

*never actually coming to any stores anywhere

I dig the concept of bottled cocktails. They don't tend to work well with citrus or egg, neither of which hold up to extended storage, but most spirit or liqueur-based drinks do quite well in the bottle. Batching in advance this way provides a couple useful features: bottled cocktails are consistent, easy to serve, and easy to transport. They're increasingly popping up even in good cocktail bars, primarily for those first two reasons, but the third makes them a quality party favor too.

At its core, this is a modified Vieux Carré, a cocktail that I've loved and riffed on for a while. In addition to rye, brandy, and sweet vermouth, the original features Bénédictine; this version swaps that out for Casoni 1814, which we discussed recently. Along with some hefty dashes of bitters for balance, and a little absinthe to add back the herbal component, this makes for a drink that manages to be both subtle and complex (though I'm starting to brag now). And now, the recipe, so that it can be recreated in perpetuity!

Here's the cast of characters, with one important exception. The thing about bottled cocktails is that unless you're going to serve them over ice, they don't get diluted in the same way that stirred or shaken drinks do, so you've got to add the water missing from the final product. Without it, the balance won't be right at all. (Update after extensive testing: I've found that I like my Old Hat best over a large ice cube with a lemon twist; I probably could have upped the water content a bit more for serving neat.)

So, to produce 1 liter of bottled cocktail, you'll need:

300 mL rye whiskey (I used the mild Old Overholt here, so I bumped up the proportion a little)
250 mL French brandy (I'm not going to insist on cognac, but it must be quality stuff, and French is a reliable indicator of smoothness)
250 mL sweet vermouth (that's Noilly Prat in the picture, but I actually used Cinzano in the finished product)
50 mL Casoni 1814
10 mL absinthe
10 mL thyme syrup (any syrup would be just fine, it's mostly for texture)
150 mL filtered water
10 dashes Peychaud's bitters
5 dashes holiday spice bitters
5 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas bitters (7-8 dashes of Angostura would be an acceptable substitute for these last two)

Stir all of the above and bottle (a funnel is helpful). It will taste differently when chilled, and you'll overdilute if you stir it with ice, so leave it be for now. Astute readers may have noticed that this yields slightly over 1 liter; that's because you should pour off a tasting portion once the bottle cools down. Strictly to check your work, you see.

Here's a nice bonus picture of the labels, which were painstakingly handwritten out by yours truly. Like garnish, I generally discount labeling, which just doesn't seem all that important - except when it is. Handing out unlabeled bottles of high-proof booze seems a little bit shady to me. And if you're gonna have labels, they might as well be classy, old-school styled, hand-lettered ones, right?

Best Boulevardier

The picture says it all on this one! The only thing original here is the specific combination of brands, which wound up being such an impressive one that it deserved recording.

The formula here is pretty much a standard Boulevardier, though as with a Negroni I dial up the spirit a bit.

2 oz Bernhein Original wheat whiskey
1 oz Casoni 1814 (think a softer version of Campari)
1 oz sweet vermouth (obviously Noilly Prat here)
7 dashes Bitter Truth Tonic Bitters (the 1814 isn't as bitter as Campari; this helps to fill the gap)

Pour over ice and stir thoroughly. If I'd had some, I would have garnished with a big strip of grapefruit peel.

Applewood

The highly-effective pairing of scotch and apple brandy in that last drink got me thinking about other options.  I'm pretty sure I've combined tequila and applejack before, so why not mezcal?  In fact, why not all three?

3/4 oz scotch (Dalmore 12 Year this time)
3/4 oz Laird's Straight Apple Brandy
1/4 oz mezcal (Del Maguey Vida Mezcal Joven)
1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Cinzano again)
1 dash Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters
1 drop orange blossom water

Stir briefly over ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass.  I don't understand this "garnish".

I tried this originally as a scaffa-style unchilled drink, but the dilution (more than the chilling) really seems to help take the edge off.  I might try this with a bit of chilled water rather than ice next time.

Back To Normal

We had a few friends over yesterday for an evening of food and drink, including some couples that haven't joined us before.  I got to sling drinks all night, and at one point I assembled this one as a change from our pitcher of punch and the mostly bourbon-based cocktails I'd made up to that point.

A couple guys joined me in the kitchen during the processed and looked overly impressed, so I started explaining to them my theory of cocktail remixing.  I'll have to put together a detailed post on this sometime soon, but in brief: you can make any number of "original" drinks simply by swapping similar ingredients out for one another.  A lot of classics were created this way: bartenders started with the Manhattan, swapped out the whiskey for gin to make the Martinez, and then swapped out the sweet vermouth for dry to make the Martini.  It happens all the time!  I actually have a pretty neat book that lays out this entire concept (they even boil it down to about 10 master ratios) which I quite like.  It's a really good pick for novices and I really wish I'd come up with the idea first.

Anyway, this one's a remix of a Manhattan, or a Rob Roy, I suppose.  It substitutes scotch as the core spirit (I'll have to do a single malt scotch post soon...) with a touch of apple brandy for character, and splits the standard sweet vermouth with Cocchi Americano.  Easy.  Assemble as follows:

1 1/2 oz scotch (I used my Macallan 10 Year Fine Oak, but a decent blend's fine too)
1/2 oz Laird's Straight Apple Brandy
1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Cinzano, which is a pretty standard example)
1/2 oz Cocchi Americano
2 dashes Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters

Stir over ice and strain over a large cube in an old-fashioned glass; garnish with a large swath of orange peel.

The name is a hopefully-recognizable tribute to Mitch Hedberg, specifically one of my favorite one-liners: "I remixed a remix, it was back to normal!"