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Coming soon - Featured recipe
The February Mixology Monday is another broad theme....with an emphasis on fun!
This month's challenge, hosted by
Doug at
The Pegu Tiki Blog
is "Tiki". From the announcement post:
Since Tiki is more than just the drinks, feel free to post on whatever Tiki subject
floats your outrigger canoe. I suspect most of you will want to offer up delectable
drinks, but feel free to wax eloquent on aloha shirts, exotica music, decor, garnishes,
food or whatever else moves you to enter the Tiki spirit!
Alright. I'll leave the other aspects of tiki culture to the
experts and focus on a
drink. I created this one specifically for MxMo, pretty much on the spot hours before
the deadline but its based on a shot I designed last month. Taking the venerable tiki
motif of floating some flaming booze in an inverted lime shell I wanted to incorporate
some drinker participation in the drink. Fire = Tiki and Fire = Fun therefore drinkers
interacting with flaming drinks = Tiki Fun. Drunk people, fire and flammable liquids...
what could possibly go wrong.
All right then. Blood oranges are in season and look hella-cool so we use the blood
orange peel as our shell and include the juice in the drink. Some lime juice since blood
oranges are very low acid and we want our drink to have balance between sweet and sour.
Giffard Abricot du Roussillon
is a super ingredient and if not a classic tiki flavour other sweet liqueurs are so good enough.
Rum, natch. I wanted something richer so went with Ron Matusalem 15 year old.
Finally some Wray and Nephew overproof for the flaming shell and a piece of cassia (true
cinnamon) for the user interaction.
Flaming Boats Don't Float Cocktail
So the lime, apricot and aged rum are shaken with crushed ice and then poured unstrained into
a glass. The blood orange juice is floated on top. The trimmed shell of the blood orange is
inverted and placed to loosely fit the rim (may need to trim to size). The overproof rum is poured
in the shell. A stick of cassia is laid atop the shell. The overproof rum is lit on fire then
the drink is passed to the drinker.
The drinker then uses the cassia bark to "sink" the flaming boat
into the drink, singeing the cassia to release flavour, dousing the flame and mixing the overproof
rum and blood orange into the body of the drink. Fun.....and delicious. Sums up the essence of Tiki to
me anyhow.
Flaming Boats Don't Float
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Anejo Rum
- 0.75 oz Abricot du Rousillon
- 1 oz Blood Orange Juice
- 0.5 oz Lime Juice
- 0.5 oz Overproof Rum
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Prepraration
- Add lime juice, apricot liqueur and aged rum into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with crushed ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Unseal the shaker.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Pour unstrained into chilled glass.
- Gently float the blood orange juice on top with a barspoon.
- Fit the inverted blood orange shell to the rim of the glass.
- Fill the shell with overproof rum.
- Put the cassia stick on top of the glass (over the shell and overproof rum) but towards one side
with the end sticking out so the drinker can safely pick up the cassia stick.
- Light the overproof rum.
- Pass the drink to the drinker and instruct them to use the cassia stick to push the shell (the 'boat')
down so the flaming rum will mix into the drink and be extinguish. A quick stir with the (now singed) cassia
stick to mix the drink together and its ready to drink.
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Glassware
Preferred: Tiki Mug
Alternatives: Old Fashioned |
Garnish
Half shell, trimmed of pulp and pushed inside out- fitted to the glass rim. Blood Orange Peel
Stick Cassia Bark
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Just after midnight on January 1, 2011 I tweeted the following:
"When The Going Gets Weird, The Weird Turn Pro". This of course is a
quote from one of my major influences as a writer, Hunter S. Thompson.
I was using it to signal my intentions to make some changes in my
professional life in the upcoming year. Well, its exactly one year later
and I can safely say that there is also wisdom in the saying
"Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it."
Things got WEIRD, and yes, I turned pro.
Assuming you have an interest in finding a bit about the man behind the drinks
here at A Drinker's Peace read on to find out about what I had in mind and what happened
to me in 2011 as well as some plans for 2012 for the site and otherwise. Sorry, no recipes
or drink history in this one, just a monologue about me. I guess I'm writing this post for myself,
but willing to share this relativively self-honest account with the world. So for those that
stick with me, thanks for the interest and hope that you will learn a bit more about what is
behind my writings.
What I Had in Mind
I am about four years into my journey of exploration about cocktails and spirits. 2006 and 2007 were amazing
years for restaurants and bars in Vancouver. A number of what are now mainstays of the Vancouver dining and
cocktail scenes opened at this time. The number of establishments that were serving proper classic and contemporary
craft cocktails expanded from a handful to more than two dozen. Today that number is even higher of course, but
at the time my eyes were opened to the possibilities in the world of spirits and cocktails. I've appreciated a
well made Manhattan or Martini for quite a long time, but seldom ordered cocktails while dining out since up to
that point they almost always disappointed. Suffice to say after visiting Boneta, Fuel, Gastropod, Market, The
Refinery, George, DB Bistro, Chow, West, Cin Cin, Blue Water Cafe, Uva, Voya, Granville Room and a few other places I went all-in on learning (reading, tasting, making,
talking) about proper cocktails and spirits. I found a community of enthusiastic, talented, inventive bartenders
that were extremely tolerant of my questions and responded to my enthusiasm by making drinks and sharing wisdom
that further enhanced my appreciation of and understanding of cocktails and spirits.
By 2010, another crop of first rate cocktail establishments had arrived in Vancouver including Pourhouse,
the Keefer Bar, Calabash, Refuel, Maenam, L'Abbatoir, The Diamond, Bao Bei and others that only elevated
the overall level of cocktail culture in Vancouver. I decided after the Olympics that I would launch a
cocktail and spirits-centric site to chronicle my own journey through quality cocktails and spirits and
shifted my focus away from food-centric writing. In the Summer of 2010 A Drinker's Peace was born. At the time
I hoped that it might evolve into a viable sideline to my primary career in software development, eventually
providing income and travel opportunities. By the end of 2010 I had reached the point where I was far more enthusiastic
about pursuing cocktail and spirits related endeavours and was looking to develop some software related to
the industry both as part of A Drinker's Peace as well as some mobile applications. I had also been made welcome by local bartenders to a very heartwarming
degree, as a sort of advocate for the local scene and was even invited to join the newly-formed
Canadian Professional Bartenders Association. By this point my heart
was no longer in my day job but I thought I would just keep plugging away, no longer working crazy overtime or
emotionally investing in it. I wasn't ready to walk away from the rather good salary either. I've always been willing
to work very hard, it was just now that the extra effort was going into my own projects for my own benefit rather
that for a big corporation. Since this is effectively what I had been doing for a year or two I thought I could
hang in for a few more years to give the cocktails and spirits side of things time to develop.
Another important decision occurred towards the end of 2010 as well. By this point I felt that I knew quite
a bit about cocktails, spirits, their history and could mix a damn fine drink whether a classic or a
creation of my own. Absolutely I know I still have much to learn, but felt confident that I could
make a great drink for anyone.
I felt that my writing, though often rough, un-edited and prone to run-on-sentences
had merit and that I would move towards writing about cocktails and spirits in emulation of other
serious enhtusiasts like David Embury, David Wondrich, Robert Hess, Jeff "Beachbum" Berry and Paul Clarke.
(At least in the sense that they did not self-identify as bartenders though may have either
some bar experience or done some guest gigs behind the stick.)
These fine gentlemen and
others had made major contributions to cocktail and spirit culture as enthusiasts rather than professional
bartenders.
This approach is perfectly valid, and I felt I was progressing well on that road. Yet, another
path beckoned. A number of enthusiasts have made the jump to get behind the wood, at least part-time. Erik
Ellestad, Rockey Yeh and others come to mind. As mentioned, I felt I could make a good drink, but one of the
most important things I had come to know from sitting at the bars of the many fine local bartenders is that
making excellent drinks is a critical part of the profession but only a small part of what being a great
bartender entailed. The only way to round out my understanding of the craft would be to make that jump,
to cross to the other side of the wood.
And so, at the very start of 2011, I announced (obscurely) my intentions via the aforementioned tweet. In 2011 I planned to
ramp up my writing and software development activities in the field of cocktails and spirits
and to look for a part-time opportunity to practice the craft of bartending. I would juggle this
against my day job in software development as best I could. I expected sleep would be at a premium
this year, but to move forward as I wanted to I was willing to work very hard. I entered the year with great
anticipation and excitement.
What Actually Happened
Two weeks into 2011 my company underwent a restructuring and I was laid off. Initially this was a shock.
I'd been with the company almost 10 years, survived at least 10 previous rounds of layoffs including some
really deep bloodletting during the first .com implosion in the early 2000's. For a solid stretch of 4
years I'd worked crazy overtime, doing heroic things. (Yeah, the H word is justified here. A 44 hour stretch
of being awake and on-site for R9.0 comes to mind. I wasn't the only one to push to the limits but I sure
bled for the company for long enough to pay my dues.) And yet, I'd become more expensive than the newbies,
had stopped working heroically and was vocal enough about trying to improve the innefficiencies that I saw
that in retrospect it made sense to part ways. I lacked the courage to do so. I'm sure that my change
in commitment level from insane to reasonable also registered with management so perhaps that made the decision
easy for them. After my initial shock faded, I viewed it as a great opportunity. I parted on good terms with
the company and given a very fair severance package (which I am legally bound not to discuss) I had
the opportunity to work on my own projects for a while without having to jump back into the software development
job market. Two weeks later I was energized and felt it was the best possible thing to have happened to me.
Heading in to 2011 if you had told me I could have 6 months to work on my own projects without having to
work a primary job I would have said it was the perfect situation. Finding myself in that situation,
I was determined to step up my writing, develop www.adrinkerspeace.com and develop some mobile websites and
applications related to cocktails, spirits and bars/restauranats. Through the first part of the year things
were looking promising. TOTC on Tour - Vancouver was a fantastic event where I was able to make some great
connections and built on that by attending TOTC 2011 in New Orleans as media. I continuted to write,
cover the local cocktail scene, research, make and taste drinks and was working on several applications.
Somehow, the change that had been thrust apon me seemed to be a great blessing and opportunity.
Sadly, in the fallout of being laid off and my new direction in terms of career, my personal life did pay
a severe price. Later in the spring, my marriage of over 10 years broke down. It's not my intent to
go into this in detail, but will simply say a few things. The best things in my life came from
my marriage. My two sons being the absolute most wonderful and important. I also was the first one to say
I could not continue. My intention was to push my ex wife and myself to change in positive ways, but she took
the course that we would make our changes separately. Again, be careful what you ask for.... In this case
I paid as heavy a price as I can think of. Well, no time for self pity. No choice but to move forward.
Lots of pain comes out of this, but some good as well. Focus on being a good father and person. I wish
this part of my life had not changed as it has but I can only move forward.
For the middle part of 2011 I was pre-occupied with the transition in my personal life. Lots of chaos. Moving,
dealing with new living arraingements, custody, etc. I spent a lot of the summer riding my bike. Made some
positive changes in my lifestyle. Feeling better, fitter and more energetic. Weathering the storms of
my changes in personal life and career this year I emerge annealed and feeling strong of purpose.
This fall I had to face the return of normal imperatives, e.g. to earn money to support myself and my family.
I had accomplished less than I had hoped during my window of opportunity. If I want an excuse I could look to the
fallout of my breakup, but it still falls on me. Initially I thought to get back into the software development game,
but found a lack of enthusiasm in my heart. I fell back on my intent to make the jump to bartend professionally
as a means of regular income. At this point my desire was to serve drinks to people as my 'day' job and
continue writing and developing my own software projects as my business.
To that end I started working at a local restaurant as a bartender and server late this fall. Its
a new restaurant and things have been a bit slow to date, so I'll be starting behind the wood
at another restaurant the first week of the new year and juggling the shifts. I think the diversity
of experiences by working two bars will offset the overhead. Time will tell anyhow. I'll save the
particulars of these gigs for another article or twitter but suffice to say that I'm looking forward to
really getting immersed in the role of bartending in the upcoming year.
2012, Onwards and Upwards
So what next? Basically on the professional side its stay the course. Immerse myself in the craft of
bartending. Keep writing on this site. Look to do some writing for other publications as well to
increase my exposure. Keep developing the site. (Other than the web server (Apache) and DB server (Exist XML DB) all
the code for A Drinker's Peace is written by me. So there may be some rough edges and missing features
but I didn't just use wordpress or blogger or tumblr. In the end this approach will enable features
that make this site far more than a blog.) I hope to launch at least two mobile websites related to
the industry in the first part of 2012 with native mobile applications to follow. Ultimately I think
this path will be more satisfying and ultimately more rewarding than going back into the corporate trenches.
Perhaps a year from now I'll write a follow-up post detailing how 2012 goes.
On the personal side, its been a year of massive change. While there has been a lot of pain, there are still
some good things. Its been over 15 years since I have been in a situation where I was not in a long-term relationship.
Dating and getting to know new women makes me both apprehensive and excited. While my role as a parent has
of necessity changed its still what makes me happiest and that which I take most seriously. So on the whole
I hope and expect that 2012 will be better on a personal front than last year.
To anyone still following along. Thanks for your patience. I'll get back to writing about cocktails and spirits
very soon. I have a number of posts in the works and a big backlog of cocktail recipes to post. New features
will be coming soon. Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver 2012 and Tales 2012 New Orleans will both be major focusses
of my coverage this year. I hope to also incorporate some cocktail and spirits related travel this year
and will over course cover that on this site and twitter. So in conclusion, I'd like to offer a toast to
the crazy year that 2011 was for me and a second toast in anticipation of 2012.
Cheers!
"Has Mixology jumped the shark?" This question is effectively pondered in a recent post
by Beachbum Berry ( http://beachbumberry.com/2011/12/03/has-mixology-jumped-the-shark/). I've even heard some suggest that the
term mixologist itself is a sign of things run amok. Locally some of our finest glasswipes
(Thanks @barjonesing) refer to themselves as mixologists, while others prefer to self-label
as bartenders or barkeeps. I don't really care either way but will use the terms bartender/bartending for
the remainder of this piece. However you refer to our profession there are some real issues
to consider about the present and future of bartending.
The revival of bartending in the last decade is a good thing.
We are drinking better than in past decades; we have better products (both new artisanal products
and old products becoming available in our markets again) and we have more
bartenders who have a solid understanding of the craft. The wave of neo-speakeasies was a necessary
step in recapturing the old standards of bartending that existed before prohibition and the war.
The hyper-inventive wave of contemporary craft cocktails is parallelling the exciting developments
in the culinary world, blurring the line between bartender and chef and creating meaningful connections
between the food and beverage programs at many great restaurants and bars across the world.
And yet...
We all knew there would be a backlash. At worst, we will lose momentum and become a cultural fad.
The backlash is arriving and whether we move forward into the mainstream or become an increasingly
marginalized clique trying to constantly one up each other with increasingly obscure products and techniques
may be in the balance. (To wit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0xofEbsHSM)
I do not for one minute suggest we should stop making quality drinks or using quality products.
Rather I want to advocate for a renewed sense of fun. We don't need to take ourselves too seriously
but can still deliver great drinks and more importantly great customer experiences (with great
drinks at the heart of it). To me the way forward for the profession, to chip away at the huge
majority of establishments that deliver shitty drinks made by people who neither know nor care
about the craft and history of bartending is to embrace the mainstream. We can offer drinks that
will not intimidate but use our knowledge of
product and technique to elevate the experience for those who might never order a Red Hook or even
....gasp want to drink a vodka soda. (The wrong response to the previous is "I'm sorry, we don't
carry vodka. Would you like a gin cocktail?") We know better, lets lead the public forward by
making approachable drinks to introduce the fundamentals of proper bartending (e.g. "Can you
taste the difference when we make the margarita with freshly squeezed lime juice?" or "Great to
hear that you are enjoying your drink. We use a
100% agave tequila in the margarita.") Let's also keep
a sense of drama at the fore. (No need to twirl bottles...though I guess there is nothing wrong
with that if the drink is made properly) From there we can lead, educate and convert. Perhaps that
Cosmo drinker might someday order a Lucien Gaudin.
( http://www.adrinkerspeace.com/post.xql?id={75BA2D79-2653-49EF-BB86-2A27E653D6C2})
I'm happy to say that I'm not alone in my feelings here. Many great bartenders, writers and cocktail
enthusiasts are going back to "the dark ages" of bartending and rescuing some of the more regrettable
drinks in the canon. The recent MxMo LXVIII - Retro Redemption
( http://www.jacobgrier.com/blog/archives/5031.html) is a perfect example.
Locally, the recent Southern Comfort Society - Retro Redemption cocktail competition is another.
(A separate post on the SoCo comp is in the works.)
Another specific drink meme that is helping quality bartenders recapture a sense of fun and
engage customers is that of Blue Cocktails. (Finally - the title of the post makes some sense.
Thanks for bearing with me thus far.) The wise bartender @shaunlayton of @labattoir_van came back
from an East Coast trip this summer having been inspired by some New York bars that were reviving
the use of Blue curacao in making drinks. For the last decade, most craft bartenders treated
blue curacao as gimmick that had no business being in a serious cocktail. Most of the drinks created
in previous decades using blue curacao were indeed not great drinks and certainly the blue colour is
artificial which runs counter to the whole local/seasonal/organic credo. Still, the blue color
does not affect the flavour of the drink and of course if the FDA says its harmless... (I guess
people have been eating enough cupcakes and cakes with coloured icing that a few blue drinks won't
make much of a difference.)
In any case, Shaun began making and tweeting blue drinks, and a number of local bartenders, myself
included have taken up a friendly rivalry by reimagining classic cocktails using blue ingredients.
@juniordekker is head barman @1927_bar at the Hotel Georgia. @arthurwynne is head bartender @cascaderoom.
I think the twitter stream says it best:
80s cocktail comp 2nite @ginger62 #soco #RetroRejuvenation @CanBartenders @KaleNori Come watch me make the Blue Monday! Tix $10 starts @6
@shaunlayton I think @juniordekker fired the first shot in this war #SoCo Rocking the bright blue cubes on the way to victory
@shaunlayton blue is back
Hell yeah! @juniordekker RT @ArthurWynne @shaunlayton blue is back
@adrinkerspeace @juniordekker u didnt hear about my blue coral rim drink in aug?? Think that was the first shot;)
@shaunlayton @juniordekker aah... I stand corrected. Lets paint the town blue gentlemen.
@adrinkerspeace @shaunlayton @juniordekker I'll contribute to the wave if blue
@shaunlayton @adrinkerspeace It's true, Marc... Shaun started this, now he has to finish it!
@JuniorDekker @adrinkerspeace there will b no finish I got inspired by blue madness when I was in NY
Awesome!new hashtag #bluedrinks RT @ArthurWynne:My blue nuts @shaunlayton @JuniorDekker @adrinkerspeace on main st bit.ly/tekeyT
@ArthurWynne @adrinkerspeace @JuniorDekker also this weekend came the Pe-Blue Club and the Blue Carre #bluedrinks
#bluedrinks ride the new wave of blue
@shaunlayton @adrinkerspeace @juniordekker December can be #bluedrinks month
@ArthurWynne @adrinkerspeace @juniordekker #blue drinks war continues!Blue-cien Guaden cocktail yfrog.com/gy3kntij
@shaunlayton @adrinkerspeace @juniordekker YES
@shaunlayton @ArthurWynne @adrinkerspeace Behold the "Royal Blue-Muda Yacht Club" yfrog.com/h470dtgj
@JuniorDekker @arthurwynne @adrinkerspeace boom! Nice one!
@JuniorDekker @shaunlayton @adrinkerspeace nice one sir
@JuniorDekker @arthurwynne @adrinkerspeace You missed the Navy-ation last week was $
#RussellCrowe I will dedicate a cocktail for you tomorrow @thecascaderoom and it will be blue oh yes it will #bluedrinks come by 4 a drink
@shaunlayton @juniordekker @adrinkerspeace oh man the navy ation #bluedrinks
Blu Manchu (ref Beachbum berry) - pics soon. RT @ArthurWynne: @shaunlayton @juniordekker @adrinkerspeace oh man the navy ation #bluedrinks
Blu Manchu? Well, thats my first contribution to this party. There is a classic
tiki drink called the Fu Manchu (sometimes called the Fu Manchu Daiquiri). You
can find the recipe online or better yet pick up Beachbum Berry Remixed (The outstanding
tiki book by Jeff Berry) for some historical context along with the recipe.
This drink was originally green, by virtue of the green eyes of the fictional villain and
effected in the drink via green creme de menthe. I found an online recipe which specified
white creme de menthe (of course missing the whole point of the original drink) and thought
if we removed the green colour that way we could introduce blue by subbing blue curacao
for the white curacao in the original drink. Voila!
Well, actually I stuck with Grand Marnier in place of Blue Curacao as its a better product.
A drop or two of blue food colouring in the mixing glass and you have the same visual but with
better taste.
So there you have it. Will blue drinks and re-jigged 70's cocktails save mixology from itself?
We'll have to see. (follow #bluedrinks
on Twitter to see where we go from here...) One way or another, to stay relevant and continue to make inroads against
the lowest common denominator of bartending quality bartenders must avoid isolating themselves
through intimidating ingredients, drinks or atmospheres. After all, today's Navy ation drinker
may well move on to the original...
Blue Manchu Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 oz White Rum
- 1 tsp Creme De Menthe (White)
- 1 tsp Blue Curacao
- 0.5 tsp Cointreau
- 0.5 oz Lime Juice
- 1 tsp Simple Syrup
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Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Unseal the shaker.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Double strain into chilled glass.
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Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
Garnish
Blue dyed, slice Lime
Brandied Cherry
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Mixology Monday for November is a fun one, forcing us to confront the skeletons in our
mixological closet.
This month's challenge, hosted by
Jacob Grier at
Liquidity Preference
is "Retro Redemption". From the announcement post:
Contemporary cocktail enthusiasts take pride in resurrecting forgotten
cocktails of the past - unless “the past” refers to the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, or 90s.
We sometimes refer to these decades as the Dark Ages of Mixology, eras not yet
recovered from the violence Prohibition and a World War inflicted on American
cocktail culture. The classic Martini, a flavorful blend of gin and vermouth,
had morphed into a glass of cold, diluted vodka. Other drinks were just too sweet,
too fruity, too big, too silly.
But still, it wasn’t all bad. People ordered these drinks for a reason. Despite
the now annual “burial” of a disfavored drink at Tales of the Cocktail, not all of
them deserve to die. Perhaps, as they said of the Six Million Dollar Man, we can
rebuild them. We have the technology. So the theme of this month’s Mixology Monday
is Retro Redemption! Your task is to revive a drink from mixology’s lost decades.
Perhaps you feel one of these drinks has a bad rap; tell us why it deserves
another shot. Or maybe the original concoction just needs a little help from
contemporary ingredients and techniques to make it in the big leagues. If so,
tell us how to update it.
Wicked! I had actually been thinking recently about the Harvey Wallbanger.
This one drink has probably singlehandedly kept Galiano in most back
bars when other Italian liqueurs and amari languished in obscurity until
the recent revival of classic spirits and cocktails.
Still, I doubt any 'serious' cocktail bar has the Harvey Wallbanger on the menu.
Hell, some 'serious' bars don't stock poserfluid vodka. Much as I respect bars that
seek to excell by a purist devotion to classic cocktails and spirits,
there are equally outstanding places that embrace the kitsch of the mixological
'dark ages'.
I think the Harvey Wallbanger deserves some love, just don't take
it too seriously. O.J., vodka, galliano. Rocks. Tacky garnish. Actually this
would be a good fit for last MxMo and the morning drink theme. While I think the
Harvey Wallbanger is perfectly fine as a simple long drink, I want to run with
this months theme by transposing the Harvey Wallbanger from its inception in the 50's and
heyday in the 60s and 70s into the 80s. Specifically I'm going to channel a bit of my own young
adulthood when I had drifted from being a skater listening to hardcore, punk and ska
into a long-haired thrash metal listening headbanger at the end of the decade. So without further preamble I
am switching into the internal monologue of a slightly autobiographical buy highly fictional persona. I apologize
in advance for the language but its in the interest of the zeitgeist.
The Hairy Headbanger Cocktail
Shit. My fuckin head. What time is it? 2 in the afternoon? What the hell happened
last night? Oh yeah, that broad came over. Guess she left earlier. Damn, she
was hot. Any booze left? Shit, drank all the beer. Wicked- still some chips left.
Bonus. Barely touched the Jager flask. What the hell is this yellow stuff. Strega? Oh yea, the chick stole this from her
parents. Said the bottle hadn't been touched in years. Theres a bit left. Can't
remember what it tasted like. Ugh.....that's effin gross. Guess ya gotta be right
loaded to shoot this. I wonder if this is the same stuff my uncle drank? He was always
pounding that drink.... Harvey banger or somethin. It was like O.J., vodka and the yellow booze.
Man, lets get the tunes on. Ride the Lightning. Yeah! Call of Ktulu, effin-A. Metallica
were wicked on the Puppets Tour. Ok, still got some O.J., shit, guess we downed the
vodka too. Lets mix the juice and Jager. The Jagermeister will hide the taste
of that yellow stuff. Got some ice. Nice. They put those stupid cherries in the
Harvey Banger. Ef that, thats for chicks. Still got some lime from the Cuervo shots.
Good enough. Woah. The Jager is floating on top of the O.J. that looks bitchen. Guess its
not really like that old drink. Who gives a shit. Jagger rulez! Pound it down. Hell yeah!
Not bad. Looks kinda cool too. Lets call that broad and see if she'll hang tonight. I'll
make her one of these drinks. Kinda classy. This riff is wicked! "I am dying to live - cry out I'm trapped under Ice!" then
Kirk wails on the solo. I wanna go mosh tonight.
Ok, back to the current millenia. That was kind of fun to revisit a very exagerated version
of a much younger me. Well, not sure I ever talked that way execpt when trying to not
get my ass kicked at the Metallica concert. They were a great live band. R.I.P. Cliff. Never forgave
James and Lars for
the black album though.
As for the drink. Is the Hairy Headbanger better than the Harvey Wallbanger? Is it even
a variant. Who cares. I like the up front herbal flavour from the jager, then different
herbal flavours and sweetness from the orange juice and stega. Measurements? Ha. Just pour the
booze in. Its important to
pound the drink back in a single drink to get the effect. Cause, thats Metal. And yes,
Jagermeister was not so popular in 89, but I actually did buy some amaros from old italian
deli's on Commercial Drive since at the time they were not classified as booze. I actually
found I liked the taste of the amaro's and despite seeking a way to get loaded as a teen came
to appreciate this style of drink. The joy of an old school italian espresso and a shot of bitters
as a teenager made and impression on me and was actually one of my formative food and beverage
experiences. Perhaps thats tangential, but perhaps we can reach and connect it with
this month's MxMo theme by noting that even in the 'dark ages' of cocktail culture
many of us experienced drinks or products that would spur us all on to the
rennaisance of drinking that we are partaking of or contributing to. Effin-Eh!
The Craft of Cointreau cocktail competition was held in Vancouver
on November 6, 2011 at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel. The competition
was sponsored by Select Wine Merchants, the B.C. distributor for Cointreau
as well as a diverse portfolio of wines and spirits. This competition
brought together 12 finalists who were selected from a pool of
approximately 50 bartenders who had submitted recipes for the preliminary
competition.
The event MC was Jacob Sweetapple, himself an accomplished bartender who has
won a number of competitions. Jacob was previously head bartender at the Fairmont Pacific
and is currently running the bar at Chambar restaurant in Vancouver. The judges
were Neal McLennan of Vancouver Magazine, Jay Jones, head bartender at Market
by Jean Georges at the Shangri-La and Amorita Bastaja of Legacy Liquor Store.
Cointreau is an orange liqueur made by distilling the peels of sweet and
bitter orange peels with spirits then adding sugar and water. Possessing
a clean relatively dry body, Cointreau has refined orange flavours and
aromas. Despite the intensity of flavour, it is a clear liquid.
Cointreau has been produced for 150 years using a closely guarded recipe.
As is common in cocktail competitions, the bartenders must make their drinks
featuring the sponsoring spirit. In many cases this will be a traditional base
spirit (Gin, Whiskey, Rum, Vodka, Tequila etc.) whereas with this competion
the required ingredient is Cointreau. While Cointreau is a well respected and
essential spirit in any well stocked bar, its most common use is as a modifying
flavour to the base spirit. Being an orange liqueur, it was not used as the
dominant spirit in pre-prohibition mixology. Today, with the rennaisance of classic
and craft cocktails usage of spirits such as cointreau as the primary ingredient
is more common and indeed reveals very interesting possibilities for creating
contemporary drinks.
While Cointreau is a liqueur, it is distilled at 80 proof (40%) so in terms of
drink balance and proportions it can be used in the same volume as more
traditional base spirits. Cointreau is not bone dry, but is far less
sweet than many other orange liqueurs. Indeed, Cointreau was the original
'Triple Sec' or dry orange liqueur but no longer uses the name on the label
in order to avoid confusion with the many generic and inferior imitation
products that are called Triple Sec. To many cocktail enthusiasts, a quality bar would never
consider using generic triple sec and usage of Cointreau should be a given.
In any case, featuring Cointreau as the base spirit in a cocktail presents
some unique opportunities for a thoughtful bartender to create drinks with
lovely orange flavours and aromatics.
Each finalist was required to make four portions of their previously submitted
drink recipe in front of the judges and audience. A time limit of five minutes
was in place. Each round would feature two bartenders making their drinks
simultaneously. The drinks would be judged on a variety of factors including
flavour, presentation, balance, use of the featured ingredient Cointreau and
technical performance in making the drink.
The two bartenders who had the highest scores would then advance to the final
round where they would have a mix off. All the competitors had been provided
with a list of 20 classic cocktails that featured Cointreau leading up to the
competition. Three of those classic cocktails had been chosen before the competion
and were revealed to the competitors during the competition. The finalists would
have to make a single portion of each of these three cocktails within a ten minute
time span. The bartender who best produced the three drinks would be crowned the
winner of the Craft of Cocktail 2011 and would win a trip to France to tour the
Cointreau Distillery.
Gerry Jobe - Raudz Regional Table (Kelowna)
Coincidence
Gerry made a balanced drink featuring Cointreau along with
lemon juice,cognac, aperol, earl grey tea syrup and a vanilla poached
quince reduction. A variation on a Sour, the Cointreau was evident,
along with some complex richness from the quince and syrup.
Jon Smolensky - Hawksworth Restaurant
Appetizer a l'Angers
Jon made a spirit forward drink featuring other French products
in addition to Cointreau. Dubonnet Rouge and Amer Picon (sub Torani Amer)
provide some bitterness to balance the drink. Complex but refreshing.
Joel Virginillo
Canards D'Angers - The Refinery
Joel integrated some interesting techniques in his drink, infusing
bourbon with duck fat and accenting the cocktail with smoke. Cointreau
played a strong role in the flavours and some amaro maintained balance. A play
on duck a l'orange, this drink had complexity and depth.
Lauren Mote - Kale and Nori Culinary Arts
Bartender of Seville
Lauren's drink incorporated a number of culinary elements, infusing
the Cointreau with complementary flavours of cardamom and saffron.
Homemade bitters and a chrysanthemum and long jing tea syrup added more nuances. This
drink built on Cointreau as a base then amplified the flavour profile.
Danielle Tatarin - The Keefer Bar
Shanghai Lady
Danielle incorporated lychee black tea syrup and house made floral
bitters along with rum and Cointreau. Bold flavours in this drink
were balanced by a lovely mouthfeel from the egg white which also provided
a canvas for a striking garnish of rose petals and bitters.
Colin Turner - Cin Cin
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Colin flipped the template for a sour by using a solid dose of
Cointreau as the base, adding additional citrus flavours with Aperol
and complex bitterness through Fernet Branca. Attention to detail
was evident in the use of clarified lemon juice resulting in a vibrant
appearance.
Jason Browne - Calabash Bistro
La Lune Orange Dessus Georgetown
(Left drink in picture)
Jason incorporated El Dorado 15 year old rum along with the Cointreau
providing depth and harmony in the drink. Fresh ginger, cloves and
mango butter added a tropical feel. Voluptuous texture from the butter
and egg white.
David Wolowidnyk
Madame Von Teese
(Right drink in picture)
David created an elegant drink in a classical form
by augmenting the Cointreau with the complex Yellow
Chartreuse and cardamom bitters. A splash of champagne
provided focus and hint of spritz. A thyme sprig garnish added more herbal
complexity to the aromatics. A drink assertive and refreshing
at the same time.
Grant Sceney - Fairmont Pacific Rim
A Clockwork Orange
Grant accented the the Cointreau with the bitter citrus notes of
Campari, creating a dynamic sour type drink. A vanilla fig puree added
richness and balanced the drink. A rich vanilla foam layered on top
of the drink provided a creamy texture and echoed the puree in the
drink itself.
Derek Vanderheide - 1927 at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia
La Difference
Derek created a classically styled cocktail by augmenting the
Cointreau with calvados, the very rare Pimms #3 cup brandy and
late bottled vintage port. Homemade granny smith apple and
mulling spice bitters accentuated the calvados. Intense flavours
and complexity but also balance. Very long complex finish to
this drink as well.
Trevor Kallies - Donnelly Group
Orange Hop-sicle
Trevor took a generous portion of Cointreau and combined with
Driftwood Fat Tug IPA. A bit of simple syrup and Peychaud's
bitters round it out. Clean orange flavours are accented by
grapefruit and pine notes from the IPA. A lively mouthfeel
keeps the sweetness balanced.
After the final competitor in the first round completed his drinks
the judges deliberated and tabulated the scores. This was a good
time to taste the 'house' cocktail for the event, created by Grant
and the Fairmont Pacific Rim bar team. This drink
featured Cointreau, grapefruit juice, lemon ginger beer and aperol. Complex citrus flavours
came through with a refreshing spicy character from the ginger beer.
Jacob then announced the two finalists, noting that there was a very close
finish. I was not surprised, I felt that most of the drinks were
worthy of putting their creator into the finals.
Joel Virginillo of The Refinery was announced as the first finalist and
Trevor Kailles of the Donnely Group the second. A hearty round of applause
and congratulations from the competitors and audience followed. Ultimately, specific individual tastes
decide these competitions. From my perspective both of these competitors were
well deserving of going head to head for the big prize. There were other competitors that
could well have been selected with good reason but it would be hard to argue with
either of the chosen finalists.
Jacob then revealed to the crowd the three classic Cointreau cocktails that the
finalists would have ten minutes to make. In no particular order the drinks were
the Corpse Reviver #2, the Lucien Gaudien and the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. All excellent drinks
that use Cointreau effectively. The Lucien Gaudien is a stirred drink and the other two are shaken. As it
happens I was familiar with all three and already had the recipes up on A Drinker's Peace.
(See bottom of post for recipes) The Corpse Reviver #2 is a fairly common item on better
cocktail lists around town. Famously in the iconic 1930 Savoy Cocktail book the following
is said of the Corpse Reviver #2: "Four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again."
The Lucien Gaudien is a personal favourite, being a close relative
of the Negroni and a tribute to the French Olympic champion in fencing. I had featured this drink
in a previous post.
The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club is also obscure, but a refreshing sour type drink.
Joel and Trevor took their places and the start of the finals sounded. They were mixing
head to head and had 10 minutes to prepare one of each of the above drinks. Furious mixing
ensued. Trevor finished in less than three minutes and Joel not long after. Speed was only
one of the factors that they would be judged on. Correctly mixing the cocktail to ensure
the taste was as expected was the most important factor. The judges had a second deliberation
to determine the winner.
Jacob took the stage to announce the winner - Trevor Kailles! For his efforts Trevor had
earned a trip to France to tour the Cointreau distillery. Joel received a one night stay
at the exemplary Fairmont Pacific Rim for his second place finish and all competitors earned
a mixology themed gift basket including a bottle of Cointreau.
Many congratulations ensued and then a group photo was taken. Although every competitor was
there to win all the bartenders were supportive of each other and happy for Trevor and Joel.
The level of camaraderie and sincere well
wishes that occur during and after every competition featuring Candadian Professional Bartenders
Association ( CPBA) members is a major
reason that I wanted to be part of the association. The rapid growth of the
bartender profession that is occurring in B.C. is largely due to the support
that members provide for each other.
Another great competition showcasing the talents of CPBA members and a quality spirit in Cointreau.
Thanks again to Cointreau, Select Wines, Fairmont Pacific Rim and the CPBA.
Corpse Reviver #2
Recipe
Ingredients
- 0.75 oz Gin
- 0.75 oz Lillet Blanc
- 0.75 oz Cointreau
- 0.75 oz Lemon Juice
- 1 dash Absinthe
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with cracked or crushed ice.
- Seal the shaker
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill)
- Double strain
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
|
Lucien Gaudin
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 oz Gin
- 0.5 oz Cointreau
- 0.5 oz Campari
- 0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Old Fashioned Martini |
Garnish
Twist Orange Peel
|
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Amber Rum
- 0.75 oz Lime Juice
- 2 dashes Cointreau
- 0.33 oz Falernum
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Double strain into the glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
|
Recipe
Ingredients
|
Prepraration
|
Glassware
Preferred:
Alternatives: |
|
Mixology Monday for October has a wide open conceptual theme, Morning Drinks.
This month's challenge, hosted by
Cocktail Enthusiast
is "Morning Drinks". From the announcement post:
Find or create a cocktail for morning consumption. Be as creative as you want,
utilizing common breakfast ingredients like orange juice and coffee, or
branching out with bacon-infused spirits, eggs or stomach-settling bitters.
The drink doesn’t have to be your original creation, but if you borrow,
please credit your source.
I happened to already have some bacon infused rye on hand, so with that
as a starting point I decided that I wanted to make a drink that incorporated
the elements of my essential morning-after recovery meal; the classic
greasy-spoon breakfast. Well, a bowl of pho is also a go-to recovery
mechanism, but I was less inspired to make a drink that tasted like pho.
Breakfast special cocktail it is then!
I had initially thought of calling the drink the Greasy Spoon Flip, but
while accurate, its not the most appetizing name. Eggs and Bacon flip?
I then remembered a Flaming Lips song, "Begs and Achin'". Perfect.
Begs and Achin' Flip
So the required elements for the drink were bacon, egg, potato, toast, coffee,
salt, pepper and hot sauce. No surprise that the egg requirement lead me
to make a flip. I suspect there will be several such drinks in this month's
MxMo. So a bacon-rye and egg flip. So far so good. The coffee was also an
easy one, just make some espresso and add it to the drink.
This sounds pretty good so far (to me at least).
Potato and toast presented some issues though. Potato could be cooked into a
puree to thicken and soften the drink...but really the egg already provides
all the creamy richness needed. I thought of using the potato as a garnish;
thin bird's nest potato theads fried to a crisp came to mind. I then had an
idea that seemed crazy enough to be just right. Potato has a certain natural
sweetness and a mild flavour. A bit of salt to pull out the potato flavour
could also be fit in here. I wondered about using it as a flavour base for
a syrup. This turned out to work better than I had expected.
The toast was another challenge. I had actually heard of toast in a drink before,
via the grilled cheese martini made by Shawn Soole
( @liquidrev) of the celebrated
Clive's Classic in Victoria, B.C.
A very cool idea but I had already incorporated one fat-washed ingredient in
the drink via the bacon-rye. Since I had managed to fit the potato into the
syrup there was a slot open for garnish. A crisp round of toast floated on the
foamy top of the drink could serve as a garnish. I then recalled that toast
squares soaked with overproof rum were often used to make flaming tiki drinks.
(Thanks Beachbum for the info in your excellent books!) so I thought why the
hell not. Flaming toast garnish it is!
All I needed to fit in at this point were pepper and hot sauce. I thought
adding hot sauce to the drink would actually be intrusive and not really a
great flavour match, but that some dried ground chili pepper would be much more
harmonious. As ground nutmeg is a classic option on flips of all sorts I
decided to just sprinkle the surface of the drink with ground pepper and
habanero powder. So the drink design was done- on to preparation and execution.
To prepare the syrup peel a potato and chop 225g (0.5 lb) into small cubes. Place in pot
along with 1.5 cups water, 1/8tsp salt and bring to boil. Cook until potato cubes are very soft but have not
dissolved completely. Skim off any foam or scum that appears. Strain liquid into another pot. Discard potato. Reduce liquid down to 0.75 cup.
Pour into clear measuring cup with spout. Cover and chill until the sediment has separated
to the bottom. Pour 0.5 cup of the clear liquid into a clean pot, add 0.5 cup sugar
and heat, stirring frequently. Skim off any
scum or foam that appears. Bring to boil and take off heat. When cool, pour
into clean syrup container using funnel. Refrigerate.
To prepare the toast for garnish, freeze a piece of bread, then cut out a
1 inch circle. Stand the circle on its end and cut in half (half the thickness
of the bread slice) with a sharp knife (be careful). Thaw the two rounds and then
toast, taking care not to burn. You can use the better looking round for the drink
or if you are making two drinks you have two garnishes.
To make the drink, its a standard cold flip procedure. (Recipe with steps is below)
To garnish, grind some black pepper on the surface of the drink and then
sprinkle a small amount of habanero powder as well. You can use other chili
powders if habanero powder is unavailable or too hot for your tastes. Be careful
not to use too much chili powder and avoid getting it on your hands.
Now carefully float the toast round onto the foam on the surface of the drink.
Carefully pour a bar spoon of overproof rum on the round and light it. Once the flame
has gone out, serve the drink and enjoy.
So how was it? Actually, a rather nice drink. The espresso was the dominant flavour
and matched beautifully with the richness of the egg. The bacon rye contributed
as subtle smoky, meaty flavour which was a nice complement. The potato syrup
was very subtle. On its own, there is a clear potato flavour, in the drink
it was more of a subliminal hint, but certainly did not detract from the
drink. The spices in the garnish added a bit of bite that kept the drink
in balance.
My only disapointment was the toast garnish. I think a more thorough drying out
like a crouton would work better. The bottom of the round became soggy.
In terms of taste the toast was fine, but I disliked the texture. The flaming aspect
did work well, as the top of the round was nicely crisp and the strong rum flavour
also added a complement to the main drink. So I think with some tuning the
toast garnish could be made to work, but I also think it could be omitted without
hurting the drink at all.
So there you have it. A boozy full breakfast in a glass. I'm not sure I'll take the
trouble of making the full drink again unless there is a very appropriate occasion
which is planned ahead of time. Having said that. A bacon washed rye is a useful
thing to make a number of cocktails the basic drink is quite tasty. I can
see myself making a scaled down version with rye (bacon infused or not), espresso,
egg and spices from time to time. This drink would definitely make the world more
faceable after a rough night, but I could see it being enjoyed throughout the day.
Notes:
Flips can be made hot or cold, and while coffee might suggest a hot drink,
I really enjoy the creamy texture of a flip when cool. You can make this drink
hot by pulling a 4oz 'Americano' instead of the
espresso and make immediately with the hot coffee and stirring vigourously without ice.
I had considered incorporating beer into the drink for a while, but in the end
decided to just serve a glass of malty beer on the side. I used the Hermannator
ice bock from Vancouver Island Brewing and it was a great complement to the flip.
Highly recommended to serve a malty beer on the side (Porter, Stout, Bock or similar).
The bacon infused rye for this drink was provided by Rodney Gitzel, who cured the bacon
which was used to flavour the rye.
Begs and Achin' Flip
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Bacon Flavored Rye
- 0.5 oz Potato Simple Syrup
- 1 oz Espresso
- 1 oz Whole Egg
- 1 tsp Overproof Rum
|
Prepraration
- Make espresso, cover and quickly cool in freezer to room temperature or
till cool.
- Add all ingredients except rum into a shaker glass.
- Seal the shaker.
- Dry shake vigourously for 15 seconds to emulsify ingredients.
- Unseal the shaker.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Unseal the shaker.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Double strain into chilled glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Wine Goblet
Alternatives: |
Garnish
Cut into 1 inch circle, toasted, placed on surface of drink, flambeed with 1tsp overproof rum. Bread
Ground fresh, sprinkled. Black Pepper
Sprinkled Habanero Powder
|
Mixology Monday for October has a wide open conceptual theme, Morning Drinks.
This month's challenge, hosted by
Cocktail Enthusiast
is "Morning Drinks". From the announcement post:
Find or create a cocktail for morning consumption. Be as creative as you want,
utilizing common breakfast ingredients like orange juice and coffee, or
branching out with bacon-infused spirits, eggs or stomach-settling bitters.
The drink doesn’t have to be your original creation, but if you borrow,
please credit your source.
I happened to already have some bacon infused rye on hand, so with that
as a starting point I decided that I wanted to make a drink that incorporated
the elements of my essential morning-after recovery meal; the classic
greasy-spoon breakfast. Well, a bowl of pho is also a go-to recovery
mechanism, but I was less inspired to make a drink that tasted like pho.
Breakfast special cocktail it is then!
I had initially thought of calling the drink the Greasy Spoon Flip, but
while accurate, its not the most appetizing name. Eggs and Bacon flip?
I then remembered a Flaming Lips song, "Begs and Achin'". Perfect.
Begs and Achin' Flip
So the required elements for the drink were bacon, egg, potato, toast, coffee,
salt, pepper and hot sauce. No surprise that the egg requirement lead me
to make a flip. I suspect there will be several such drinks in this month's
MxMo. So a bacon-rye and egg flip. So far so good. The coffee was also an
easy one, just make some espresso and add it to the drink.
This sounds pretty good so far (to me at least).
Potato and toast presented some issues though. Potato could be cooked into a
puree to thicken and soften the drink...but really the egg already provides
all the creamy richness needed. I thought of using the potato as a garnish;
thin bird's nest potato theads fried to a crisp came to mind. I then had an
idea that seemed crazy enough to be just right. Potato has a certain natural
sweetness and a mild flavour. A bit of salt to pull out the potato flavour
could also be fit in here. I wondered about using it as a flavour base for
a syrup. This turned out to work better than I had expected.
The toast was another challenge. I had actually heard of toast in a drink before,
via the grilled cheese martini made by Shawn Soole
( @liquidrev) of the celebrated
Clive's Classic in Victoria, B.C.
A very cool idea but I had already incorporated one fat-washed ingredient in
the drink via the bacon-rye. Since I had managed to fit the potato into the
syrup there was a slot open for garnish. A crisp round of toast floated on the
foamy top of the drink could serve as a garnish. I then recalled that toast
squares soaked with overproof rum were often used to make flaming tiki drinks.
(Thanks Beachbum for the info in your excellent books!) so I thought why the
hell not. Flaming toast garnish it is!
All I needed to fit in at this point were pepper and hot sauce. I thought
adding hot sauce to the drink would actually be intrusive and not really a
great flavour match, but that some dried ground chili pepper would be much more
harmonious. As ground nutmeg is a classic option on flips of all sorts I
decided to just sprinkle the surface of the drink with ground pepper and
habanero powder. So the drink design was done- on to preparation and execution.
To prepare the syrup peel a potato and chop 225g (0.5 lb) into small cubes. Place in pot
along with 1.5 cups water, 1/8tsp salt and bring to boil. Cook until potato cubes are very soft but have not
dissolved completely. Skim off any foam or scum that appears. Strain liquid into another pot. Discard potato. Reduce liquid down to 0.75 cup.
Pour into clear measuring cup with spout. Cover and chill until the sediment has separated
to the bottom. Pour 0.5 cup of the clear liquid into a clean pot, add 0.5 cup sugar
and heat, stirring frequently. Skim off any
scum or foam that appears. Bring to boil and take off heat. When cool, pour
into clean syrup container using funnel. Refrigerate.
To prepare the toast for garnish, freeze a piece of bread, then cut out a
1 inch circle. Stand the circle on its end and cut in half (half the thickness
of the bread slice) with a sharp knife (be careful). Thaw the two rounds and then
toast, taking care not to burn. You can use the better looking round for the drink
or if you are making two drinks you have two garnishes.
To make the drink, its a standard cold flip procedure. (Recipe with steps is below)
To garnish, grind some black pepper on the surface of the drink and then
sprinkle a small amount of habanero powder as well. You can use other chili
powders if habanero powder is unavailable or too hot for your tastes. Be careful
not to use too much chili powder and avoid getting it on your hands.
Now carefully float the toast round onto the foam on the surface of the drink.
Carefully pour a bar spoon of overproof rum on the round and light it. Once the flame
has gone out, serve the drink and enjoy.
So how was it? Actually, a rather nice drink. The espresso was the dominant flavour
and matched beautifully with the richness of the egg. The bacon rye contributed
as subtle smoky, meaty flavour which was a nice complement. The potato syrup
was very subtle. On its own, there is a clear potato flavour, in the drink
it was more of a subliminal hint, but certainly did not detract from the
drink. The spices in the garnish added a bit of bite that kept the drink
in balance.
My only disapointment was the toast garnish. I think a more thorough drying out
like a crouton would work better. The bottom of the round became soggy.
In terms of taste the toast was fine, but I disliked the texture. The flaming aspect
did work well, as the top of the round was nicely crisp and the strong rum flavour
also added a complement to the main drink. So I think with some tuning the
toast garnish could be made to work, but I also think it could be omitted without
hurting the drink at all.
So there you have it. A boozy full breakfast in a glass. I'm not sure I'll take the
trouble of making the full drink again unless there is a very appropriate occasion
which is planned ahead of time. Having said that. A bacon washed rye is a useful
thing to make a number of cocktails the basic drink is quite tasty. I can
see myself making a scaled down version with rye (bacon infused or not), espresso,
egg and spices from time to time. This drink would definitely make the world more
faceable after a rough night, but I could see it being enjoyed throughout the day.
Notes:
Flips can be made hot or cold, and while coffee might suggest a hot drink,
I really enjoy the creamy texture of a flip when cool. You can make this drink
hot by pulling a 4oz 'Americano' instead of the
espresso and make immediately with the hot coffee and stirring vigourously without ice.
I had considered incorporating beer into the drink for a while, but in the end
decided to just serve a glass of malty beer on the side. I used the Hermannator
ice bock from Vancouver Island Brewing and it was a great complement to the flip.
Highly recommended to serve a malty beer on the side (Porter, Stout, Bock or similar).
Begs and Achin' Flip
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Bacon Flavored Rye
- 0.5 oz Potato Simple Syrup
- 1 oz Espresso
- 1 oz Whole Egg
- 1 tsp Overproof Rum
|
Prepraration
- Make espresso, cover and quickly cool in freezer to room temperature or
till cool.
- Add all ingredients except rum into a shaker glass.
- Seal the shaker.
- Dry shake vigourously for 15 seconds to emulsify ingredients.
- Unseal the shaker.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Unseal the shaker.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Double strain into chilled glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Wine Goblet
Alternatives: |
Garnish
Cut into 1 inch circle, toasted, placed on surface of drink, flambeed with 1tsp overproof rum. Bread
Ground fresh, sprinkled. Black Pepper
Sprinkled Habanero Powder
|
Mixology Monday for September has a focus on ingredients, but rather than mandating
a type of spirit the challenge is to highlight a product that is produced locally to the participant.
This month's challenge, hosted by
Lindsay at
Alcohol Alchemy
is "Local Color". From the announcement post:
We’ve seen a lot of press for the local craft beer movement
and the “source local foods/ingredients!” movement in general,
but the local craft spirits movement hasn’t seen quite so
much face time. We all know that certainly hasn’t stopped it
from its recent rapid expansion, however! With all the talk
of supporting local in the industry (as well as other facets
of our lives), I felt that the “local” craft spirits scene
would be the perfect backdrop for September’s MxMo LXI.
...
So…pull out your favorite “local” craft spirit (for those of
you not in the US, what hidden gem from your neck of the
woods do you want to give some cocktail press?), tell us a
little bit about it and why you love it, and let it shine in
whichever way (or ways!) you see fit!
Here in British Columbia, the craft distilling scene has been
slowly gathering momentum. I'm actually pleasantly surprised that
there is any craft distilling occurring locally. We are very heavily
regulated and taxed with respect to alcohol in all aspects in BC. I
could go on at length but it would be tangential to the topic.
(And would as Abe Simpson says "angry up the blood".) Suffice
to say that even though the cost and hoops to jump through might be
higher for a new distiller in B.C. compared to other jurisdictions
a number of dedicated people and companies have toughed it out.
While the quality of product and overall state of the B.C. wine and craft
beer industries is quite good (if not well known internationally) things
are a bit different with respect to distilling. The number of distillers
in B.C. is modest, and for the most part the
quality achieved to date when compared to the best examples of each style
across the globe has also been modest. Prices for local
product are also at a premium (partly due to taxes and regulatory overhead)
which may be a factor in the relatively
slow growth of the local distilling industry as a whole as well as
individual brands.
Here is a quick enumeration of the locally distilled products to the best
of my knowledge:
Distillery - Products
The one shining omission from the above list is the distillery that I
would like to feature in this post.
Okanagan Spirits distillery
is a truly
world class distillery, producing a wide range of outstanding products.
Initially founded in 2004 to produce classic European-style fruit eau de vie, the
current range includes a number of grappas, fruit liquers, traditionally made
absinthe and most recently a gin and X-Four vodka. The distillery has won numerous awards for
products throughout their range. To my palate the quality is uniformly outstanding
across the multiple eau-de-vies, grappas and liquers I have tried. The absinthe
is also first rate. But it is one last product from Okanagan Spirits that I would like to
feature for MxMo, perhaps the least known product that they make - a traditionally
distilled Aquavit called
Aquavitus. 
The distillery has this to say about Aquavitus:
Made in the Okanagan with traditional Scandinavian distilling methods,
this Aquavit is a sophisticated blend of Caraway, Fennel, Coriander,
Anis, Dill & Juniper Berry.
This product comes with our guarantee that no artificial flavours,
preservatives or sugars have been added.
Aquavitus is available from the distillery and
private liquor stores in B.C.
. (Also available at Brewery Creek and Legacy Liquor stores.)
Of the remaining Okanagan Spirits products, some are available from
BCLDB, some
from private liquor stores
in B.C such as Brewery Creek, Legacy Liquor, Firefly, Viti and 16th St. Liquor store.
All of their products are available directly from the distillery
www.okanaganspirits.com.
For ordering outside of BC/Canada please contact the distillery to check distribution
or ordering options if any.
This is Mixology Monday after all, so we will definitely mix up some drinks,
but first as with any newly encountered spirit its best to taste it on its own.
My tasting notes for Aquavitus are as follows:
Clear, clean wash lines and tears.
Assertive caraway and fennel aroma - very clean
and well defined on the nose.
Slightly hot in the mouth, slightly syrupy texture.
Big spice flavours, caraway, fennel and dill all come through
along with a hint of some clove like richness.
Finish continues the flavours in the main palate and
lingers very long, fading into almost minty or
pine-like flavours on the gums at the last.
Aquavit is a bit underused in both classic and contemporary mixology. In traditional
Scandinavian usage aquavit is typically taken chilled as a shot. Its strong
flavour profile dominated by caraway seed may have dissuaded classic cocktail
bartenders and authors from using it. It may also have been simply unavailable
in cocktail bars America and the classic hotspots of European mixology
until recently. Nonetheless, there are a few excellent modern recipes that
feature aquavit. Some follow the simple pattern of subbing a spirit not used
in classic mixology (e.g. a Tequila Martinez) or not used in a particular
drink (e.g. an aged Rum Old Fashioned) for other base spirits. The Norwegian Negroni
and Trident (See below) follow
this pattern. Others are contemporary cocktails that are built from the ground up
to use aquavit. The Norwegian Wood (See below) follows this pattern.
I have used the Okanagan Spirits Aquavitus in all of those recipes with great results,
and I encourage you to do so as well. I also wanted to craft a recipe to
feature this great spirit. The Norwegian Wood cocktail uses applejack as a complement
to the aquavit, and the basic pairing of caraway with apple is a good one.
Rather than using applejack again, I thought of different ways to bring an
apple flavour into the drink and was inspired by the excellent apples produced
in the Okanagan. Its harvest time after all. (The quality of fruit produced in the interior of B.C. was one
of the inspirations for founding the distillery). I also had the idea of adding
additional spicing to the flavours found in Aquavitus to amplify the overall
complexity of the drink.
The Johnny Aquasauce Cocktail
This cocktail, as you might infer from the name uses apple puree which is really
all applesauce amounts to. I suppose you could use a commercially prepared version
or even apple baby-food, but please make it yourself. The effort is minimal,
the texture of handmade sauce will be better, you can balance the sugar with
acidity, and you can use a richer more complex sugar than in a commercial version.
We are also adding spicing to the puree. If you must use commercial applesauce
you will need to quickly cook the spices in and adjust for acidity.
- 1.5oz Aquavit
- 0.75oz Bianco Vermouth
- 0.5oz Cardamom Apple Puree
- 1 tsp Underberg Bitters
Garnish: Grated Star Anise
Glass: Cocktail Glass
- Add all ingredients to mixing glass.
- Add ice and seal shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold.
- Unseal shaker and double strain into chilled glass.
(You may need to press the liquid through strainer using barspoon
as the mixture may be thick.)
To make the puree, core (do not peel) 1 apple and cut into small pieces.
Add apple to small saucepan. Add 1 cup water, 1 tsp cider vinager,
1 tsp lemon juice and
2 tbsp sugar (Demerarra, Pilloncillo, Turbinado or other semi-refined sugar
preferred). Crack 2 green cardamom pods and add the seeds to the saucepan
while discarding the husks.
Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook till
apple has dissolved, and consistency of the liquid is thick, adding small
amounts of water if necessary.
Take off heat and press puree through a cone strainer or fine sieve
into a small sealable container. Chill until use.
I really like how this drink came together. The texture is a slightly thick,
but if well strained it is smooth and not gritty. There is a clear
blast of boozy caraway flavour up front then sweet applie flavour comes through.
Lots of complexity from the spices, with caraway and fennel from the aquavit,
cinnamon and clove from the bitters, cardamom from the applesauce and the
star anise also coming through. There is enough acidity to keep the sweetness
balanced and a long spicy finish. Overall I am very happy with this drink and
how the aquavit is incorporated.
Norwegian Negroni Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 oz Aquavit
- 1 oz Cynar
- 1 oz Punt E Mes
|
Prepraration
- Combine all ingredients in shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass up with ice.
- Stir until properly cold and dilute.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
Garnish
Flamed Twist Orange Peel
|
Norwegian Wood Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 oz Aquavit
- 1 oz Applejack
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.25 oz Yellow Chartreuse
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Combine all ingredients in shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass up with ice.
- Stir until properly cold and dilute.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
Garnish
Large twist Lemon Peel
|
Trident Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 oz Aquavit
- 1 oz Cynar
- 1 oz Dry Sherry
- 2 dashes Peach Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Combine all ingredients in shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass up with ice.
- Stir until properly cold and dilute.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
Garnish
Twist Lemon Peel
|
Mixology Monday for August has a broader conceptual theme.
This month's challenge, hosted by
hosted by 12 Bottle Bar
is "Come to your senses". From the announcement post:
We all know that cocktails are supposed to taste good, and for this event,
we’re going to take that as a given. What we’re looking for, instead, are
drinks that truly excite one or more of the other senses: touch, smell,
sight, or even hearing.[...] For inspiration, we suggest the grand garnishes
of Kaiser Penguin, the flaming fantasia of the Pegu Blog’s Halikai Hot Tub,
the sonic symphony of Aviary’s Old Fashioned in the Rocks, the vivacious
visuals of Scott Beattie, ingenious ice, semi-solid shots, jigglingjellies,
or even – if you’re willing to go there – Pop Rock rims. The goal, we hope,
is for everyone to embrace the fun, the challenge, and the potential
absurdity of the event. It’s time to think outside the glass.
I have not had a lot of time to work with this theme,
being busy with various things, but did have some ongoing
ideas that seemed to fit the bill. The first concept I tried
needed some serious tweaking in execution to work but without
much time left I decided to leave it for another day.
A somewhat related idea was attempt #2 and since I'm out of time
it will have to do for the time being. The concept that is behind
this drink is to deliver a base cocktail that includes an encapsulated
secondary set of ingredients that will by intervention of the drinker
mix with the base ingredients to create a new (better) cocktail. The
first cocktail is a subset of the second, but you are delivering first
one cocktail to the guest, then as second, improved cocktail in the same
glass.
For the cocktails I took the fairly basic route of starting with a
postwar gin martini (e.g. stirred gin and a nod in the direction of
the vermouth) and then delivering the remainder of ingredients that
would make a martinez, a much better drink IMO.
For the delivery method, I had long considered gels or other flexible
media that would if punctured allow the subset of ingredients to mix with
the base spirit, but had no time to play so went with the more basic idea of
ice to encapsulate a liquid centre. While this will no doubt seem to be
a riff on the sperical old fashioned at the Aviary its been an idea that
I've had for some time and likely been effected by others as well.
I started with a 2oz stainless steel cup, almost a half-sphere, filled with 1.5
oz water and froze till there was a good crust of ice around the perimiter with a
liquid core. Piercing the top with a heated skewer I then drew out the unfrozen water in
the center with a syringe. 1oz liquid was drawn out, so the volume of the frozen ice was
0.5oz or 14ml. Next a chilled mixture of 0.75oz Punt E Mes, 0.25oz maraschino
liqueur and 2 dashes of orange bitters was added by syringe. I then 'glued' the top
shut with a thin sheet of ice I had cut to seal the liquid in.
A mixture of 2oz Plymouth Gin and 0.25oz/7ml water was chilled in the freezer (based on
test with a conventionally made martinez showing about 20ml water added from ice when stirring).
The initial taste of the drink is a pure gin martini, straight out of the 50's. As the ice shell
melts the vermouth mixture will mix with the gin, creating a lovely martinez cocktail.
A small
spoon can help this along or simply waiting will result in the ice melting and totality of
the drink emerging spontaneously. Once the ice is melted the dilution will be about right, though
the initial taste once the vermouth mixture has joined the gin is intense, almost what a martinez
would be filtered through rat pack sensibilities. In any case the journey from intense gin martini
to balanced martinez takes place as inevitably as the laws of thermodynamics. The end result is
much better than the start. Along the way there are some nice visual effects as the sweet vermouth mixture
blends with the clear gin.
I have to say, I had one shot at this, and while the concept was sound, getting the
thickness of the ice shell perfect may take a few trials. The vermouth mixture started
to seep into the gin martini almost immediately. Then, as all the liquids were cold the
ice lingered in the drink longer than I intended, even with stirring. Still, kind of a
fun, if gimmicky conceptual cocktail. Hopefully this fits the theme. I'd like to have
played with some other ideas for this month's MxMo but given the time I had to do so,
am happy to have had one reasonably successful result.
As American as Apple Brandy
One of the seminars that I attended during Tales of the Cocktail (TOTC) 2011
in New Orleans (NoLa) was "As American as Apple Brandy" moderated by
Paul Clarke. ( Cocktail Chronicls,
Imbibe,
@cocktailchron)
This seminar aimed to cover the history of a quintessentially American,
yet almost forgotten spirit; American Apple brandy or "Applejack".
Lisa Laird-Dunn, the 12th generation head of Laird & Company was also in attendance
and contributed to the discussion.
I had high expectations for this seminar as Paul Clarke is a witty and knowledgeable
moderator (and all around good-guy). Moreover, I had become very interested in
Applejack in the course of my own research into classic cocktails and spirits.
While I took extensive notes, it is not my intention to try to reproduce the seminar in
full. Hopefully this seminar will be reprised at TOTC or TOTC on Tour- Vancouver in
upcoming years or perhaps Paul will write a version of the seminar for one of his
publications. Rather I want to highlight some of the interesting pieces of information
and to call the things which really resonated with me as an advocate for Applejack and
American apple brandy in the hopes of inspiring others to learn more about (and taste) this
wonderful spirit.
I'm taking a break from my TOTC wrap up pieces to speak a bit about summer drinks.
It has been a fairly wretched summer to date in Vancouver, despite heat waves
blanketing the East and Mid-West. We periodically had a day or two of glorious weather
which inclines those of us who enjoy cocktails to summery libations that are long,
fruity, perhaps tart- drinks which under other circumstances would be guilty pleasures.
Through to my departure to NoLa for TOTC though we never truly had a stretch of
Summer weather.
In the last week we have finally had a stretch of hot weather
that has me hoping that summer has finally and definitively arrived.
To that end, I've enjoyed a few summer cocktails recently that I want to share.
While these are appropriate for the hottest weather, they still have some backbone
and would also be tasty under less sweaty circumstances.
Daisy De Santiago Cocktail
I have been reading through a reprint of Charles Baker's infamous "Around the world
with Jigger, Beaker and Flask" this summer. This is an epic work in the history of
cocktail and spirit (and travel) literature, but many of the drinks therein are
considered less than stellar. There are exceptions to be sure - the Fourth Regiment
is a forgotten classic, and Death in the Gulf Steam is a window on what drinking with
Hemmingway was like. Overall though, we value this book more for the
zeitgeist than for specific recipes.
A tweet from Adam Elmegirab
mentioned the Daisy de Santiago, citing its ingredients: White Havana club rum, yellow chartreuse, lime, simple.
I was intrigued. A quick search for recipes
turned up the fact that this was a Charles Baker drink. I also found a post on it
on the excellent Cocktail Chronicles by Paul Clarke.
The original recipe by Baker did supply proportions but had some ambiguities so I mainly
followed Paul's recipe in the version published here.
After making the cocktail, I have to say this is a great summer drink. Long and refreshing but
with some depth from the aged white rum and the yellow chartreuse. Will definitely revisit. I should note
that like Paul, I used crushed rather than shaved ice and omitted the typical daisy treatment of
assorted fruit garnish. The mint (given a brisk slap to release the oils) is a good call though.
Barring a trip to Cuba this is a great way to enliven a summer afternoon.
You're So Cherry
Manhattans (and all the variants named for other boroughs and neighbourhoods of NYC)
are my go-to drink. I make endless variations that provide new diversion yet are still
immediately recognizable as being in the family of this great pedigreed cocktail.
However, hot summer afternoons are not the time when I typically think to make such a drink.
To bridge the gap between a Manhattan and a refreshing summer sipper I looked to the New
York Sour for inspiration. This drink takes whiskey, lemon juice, sugar and red wine. Its
a great drink, (Steve Da Cruz makes a fantastic variation with meyer lemon)but not quite what
I was looking for. I wanted something that really evoked the Manhattan but was
suitable for patio sipping. So along with the red wine, I chose to amplify the cherry aspect of
a Manhattan using fresh cherries muddled into the whiskey. In a Manhattan a quality brandied
or maraschino cherry is an accent. In this drink, cherry becomes a full fledged
component.
So we end up with a drink that is true to its lineage, but adds fresh fruit
flavour via the cherry infused whiskey and a dry, savory aspect from the wine.
(Avoid overly tannic wines, but choose something with decent acidity and structure.
Aged chianti or a sangiovese based wine should work well, echoing the cherry
flavour and adding some rustic leather/woodsy flavours.) This is a drink that
refreshes while in the sun but still has the deep rich flavors of a Manhattan.
Southside Cocktail
The Southside is a quintessential summer cocktail whose origins are lost to
history, yet nevertheless debated and argued over. Both New York and Chicago
claim it as their own. Murky (possibly illicit) origins aside, this is a great
drink that adds a clean mint flavor to the perfect union of gin and citrus. Many
have recommended the Southside as a 'gateway cocktail' to convert vodka loving
neophytes over to the wonders of gin. Fair enough. As a
bonus, the Southside works very well if lengthened with soda (becoming a Southside
Fizz. While the Southside Fizz is similar to
a Collins (or Rickey if like many you sub lime juice for the original lemon)
the mint adds a refreshing touch. Whether you drink the bracing Southside or the
refreshing Southside fizz its hard to imagine a better cocktail in the sweltering
heat.
Junior Cocktail
Having recently acquired a bottle of Rittenhouse bonded rye I was making some classic
rye drinks and tweeting about them.
@mattdaw mentioned that
the junior cocktail was another fun rye drink to make. He provided a link to
the prolific and excellent
cocktail virgin slut
which was enough to convince me to give it a try. (Had a blast meeting Frederic the
primary author of cocktail virgin slut in New Orleans a few weeks ago
during TOTC- but thats another story...or two.)
The junior is a simple enough cocktail. Essentially a whiskey sour with lime juice
and some benedictine as sweetener. These changes from a basic whiskey sour make all
the difference. Lime juice and whiskey is not a common combination, but I like it a
lot. The extra 'green' aromatics compared with lemon juice interacts with the
barrel flavours in the whiskey to create a more complex tartness. I've noted this in
other drinks like the Fourth Regiment and Derby cocktails and again with the junior there
is some extra flavour to be had. The benedictine also contributes a bit more funk and
herbal complexity than basic sugar/simple or even a straight ahead fruit liqueur like
cointreau or curacao. So we have a cocktail that keeps the rye flavours but
has a refreshing tartness. Perfectly in line with my goal of drinking and telling about
summer drinks that still respect their base spirit and have some heft.
I was not able to find any information on the origin of the junior cocktail. Frederic
has a link to David Wondrich's piece on this cocktail in
Esquire. Well worth reading
for the analogy he draws between the junior cocktail and underappreciated older buildings
facing the threat of gentrification. Oddly though (for Wondrich) there is no commentary on where the
drink came from save mention of another name for the same drink- the 'Quick Recovery'. If anyone has more info on the origins of this drink,
I would love to hear about it.
So there you have it. Four drinks that should hit the spot in the heat but are not just tall
soda filled mojito/collins/rickey variants. All of these drinks respect classic spirit forward
cocktails but won't tire your tongue out with pure spirit or over-the-top sweetness. Enjoy
quality seasonal drinking!
Daisy de Santiago
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz White Rum
- 0.75 oz Yellow Chartreuse
- 1 tsp Simple Syrup
- 2 oz Club Soda
- 1 oz Lime Juice
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients except yellow chartreuse and Soda water into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Unseal the shaker.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into goblet filled with crushed or shaved ice.
- Top with soda
- Float with the yellow chartreuse
|
Glassware
Preferred: Goblet
Alternatives: Old Fashioned |
Garnish
Sprig, slapped Mint Leaves
|
You're So Cherry Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Rye
- 3 Cherry
- 0.5 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.5 oz Red Wine
- 2 dashes Whiskey Barrel Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Add the rye and pitted cherries to a mixing glass. Muddle. Ideally leave the
two to macerate for an hour.
- Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the cherry infused rye into another mixing glass.
Press the pulp against the mesh with a mixing spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.
- Add the remaining ingredients.
- Fill shaker glass up with ice.
- Stir until properly cold and dilute.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
Garnish
Cherry
Expelled over drink and rubbed on rim then discarded Orange Peel
|
Southside Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Gin
- 1 oz Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Simple Syrup
|
Prepraration
- Add mint to shaker glass. Gently bruise to release oils (don't over muddle or
green chlorophyl flavours will be extracted as well)
- Add remaining ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Unseal the shaker.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Double strain into chilled glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
Garnish
Slap a sprig, then garnish. Mint Leaves
|
Junior Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Rye
- 0.5 oz Benedictine
- 0.5 oz Lime Juice
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Unseal the shaker.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Double strain into chilled glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
|
I had the pleasure of attending Tales of the Cocktail (TOTC) 2011 in New Orleans (NoLa)
last week. While I had attended Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver
in March, this would be my first pilgrimage to the premiere cocktail and spirits
event. It was also my first trip to New Orleans, a significant town in the
history of the cocktail, more broadly famous for its music, cuisine and
architecture.
This is the first in a series of posts that I will publish in the coming weeks
on A Drinker's Peace. The title, "First Scattered Thoughts" is appropriate
as I'm just going to set out some random thoughts, pictures, observations and memories
among the multitude I have stored in my hard drive, memory card, notepad and brain.
Subsequent articles will be more structured or thematic...this is just what is popping
into my head or what jumps out as I sort through pictures, notes and promotional
copy while I organize for later pieces.
Totally great to meet some of the Cocktail & Spirits writers who I am inspired by:
David Wondrich, Gaz Regan, Robert Hess, Darcy O'Neill, Camper English, SeanMike from Scofflaw's Den,
Frederick from Cocktail Virgin Slut, Tiare from A Mountain of Crushed ice.
Also a blast reconnecting with Paul Clarke and Jeff 'Beachbum' Berry.
I had met both at TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. I had great times and informative
discussions with both of these guys and was really happy to see them again.
Great writers and great persons both.
YVR CPBA crew (Canadian Professional Bartenders Association). Talented bartenders and
great people from Vancouver who came down to TOTC. CPBA president Danielle Tatarin (The Keefer Bar),
Jay Jones (Market by Jean-George at the Shangri-La), David Bain (Uva), Robyn Gray (1927 at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia).
As well, the hard working Trevor Kallies (The Donnely Group) and Heather Yau (Cin Cin) who
volunteered as cocktail apprentices (CAPS) for TOTC. Lots of fun hanging with my fellow
Vancouver bar geeks. Hopefully next year we'll have an even bigger contingent...perhaps a cocktail throwdown
with the Boston contingent.
YYJ CPBA crew. Shawn Soole (Clive's Classic) and Solomon Siegel (Cafe Veneto at the Rialto) ably
represented Victoria, B.C. This city might be the best 'pound for pound' or per-capita place
to eat, drink craft beer and drink cocktails period. Seriously, check these guys out (after
you come to Vancouver). They are also both great guys and had a blast hanging with them.
Yes, sometimes drinking feels like work. For me, that day was Friday evening at TOTC.
Fortunately I skipped the extracurricular events that evening (did not stay up
till dawn) and with a good sleep was back and ready to enjoy again.
Trying to get to everything I had scheduled was a challenge. I felt bad about missing
any event I had RSVPed for or had a ticket for. I think next year I will
be a little more selective and leave room for spontaneous decisions.
Seminars were great! Enjoyed and was informed by all that I attended and heard
great feedback about many other seminars. I'll cover the seminars I attended
in more detail in later posts.
Lots of good food in NoLa which I'll cover in more detail later, but also some
regrettable late night fast food. Necessary to eat but yeah...not so good.
Krystal burger is not my idea of good food.
Seattle peeps! Lets give it up for the indefatigable Rocky Yeh and Jim "Ardbeg float"
Romdal (who nevertheless made a kickass cocktail using Tallisker). Can't wait
for my next Seattle trip.
NoLa bars. Strong classic bars with history and attention to detail (Carosel Bar,
Arnaud's, Sazerac Bar). Strong contemporary bars (Victory, Bar Tonique, Cure, Sylvain's
Bar Uncommon [ok via Chris McMillan that straddles both categories], d.b.a)
Marigny. Man, French quarter has some fantastic spots but most of it is a shitshow.
Frenchman street in the Marigny is awesome. Need more time here next year.
A second line (Jazz funeral procession) for a real person is way more emotional than a second line
for a shitty cocktail. Having said that, the burying of bad cocktails at TOTC
is a cool tradition and does give TOTC attendees a taste of the tradition.
Lots of awesome cocktails, also a lot of mediocre ones. Overall the
bartender driven events were better for the drinks (raw spirit tastings excepted).
"Tails of the cocktail"; was a bit dismayed to see so many scantily clad, gorgeous
women being used as promotional devices by liquor brands. Is this really
needed for this event? Props to brands that avoided this tactic.
Didn't buy any liquor to bring home....amazingly. Did bring back plenty of
Lagniappe booze but the one liquor store with a good selection was closed on
Sunday. Lesson learned for next year: Do your booze shopping early.
Already looking forward to next year for TOTC on Tour - Vancouver Feb 12-14 2012 and
the 10th anniversary of TOTC July 25-29, 2012. Hope to see you there!
Ok, thats it for now. Will probably update the post as more things occur to me.
Apologies for any omissions from the props lists...will add anyone I forgot
later as I review my notes/photos.
Mixology Monday has come again with a challenge inspired by a beverage that many
think of as a summer refresher.
This month's challenge, hosted by
hosted by Frederic at Cocktail Virgin Slut
is Beer cocktails. From the announcement post:
Find or concoct a drink recipe that uses beer as an ingredient.
Discussing a glass of beer alone is best done elsewhere, but drop a shot
of whiskey or gin in there for a Boilermaker or Dog's Nose, well, now
we're talking. Feel free to use beer in a syrup, as the carbonation in
a Fizz, or as the base "spirit" of the drink itself. Old like the Posset
and Shandy or new does not matter. Modifying a soda or Champagne cocktail
to a beer one? Go for it.
I actually had a drink ready for this challenge. I've long been
fascinated with beer cocktails. The earliest bar guides contained
recipes for beer drinks. We are also seeing some sophisticated
beer cocktail recipes today as both craft beer and craft cocktails
are going through a renaissance.
My inspiration for this cocktail was to deconstruct the elements of
beer for use as ingredients in a simple whiskey cocktail using parts
of the brewing process. I set out to make a liqueur from a malt base,
a bittering hop bitters and an aromatic hop bitters. Hops contribute
both bittering and flavours/aromatics to the beer but has to be uitilized
distinctly in the brewing process to achieve each aspect. This is primarily by
adding the hops at particular stages of the brewing process. Selection of
hop varieties also contributes to the extent of bitterness and the type of
flavours and aromas contributed.
For the beer liqueur, you begin as you would a typical brew (though
scaled down). 1lb of pale malt with a bit of crystal malt added for
colour and flavour. Put in mash tun with 1L 90degree C water;
mix and close. Mash for 1 hour. Drain off the wort into a large pot and lauter (rinse)
with another litre of hot water into the pot.
Boil the wort on high heat, cleaning off any foam that accumulates. You don't need
to do a full 1 hour boil but do want to concentrate the wort into a syrupy consistency.
(In terms of gravity you should be well above what a typical 5.0% beer would be).
When desired consistency/sweetness is achieved strain into sterile bottle and chill immediately.
Bear in mind that you will we diluting with vodka so extra concentration is needed.
After 1 day pour the syrup into a new container carefully, leaving the sediment behind.
Add the vodka to bring the liquid up to 20%abv and keep chilled. You now have a sweet
beer flavoured liqueur to use.
For the bitter hops bitter, add 1oz bittering hops (e.g. Centennial) of hops to 2L of boiling water and boil for 1 hour at
high heat (rolling boil required throughout). Add water as necessary in small batches
if water begins to run dry. After 1 hour, strain into clean container and chill.
This tincture will be extremely bitter, capturing one of the essential contributions
of hops to beer.
For the aromatic hop bitters boil 0.5L water and add 0.5oz aromatic hops (e.g. Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade)
and take off heat. Mix the hops in to the water. When water has cooled, strain into
sealable class container which contains 0.5 oz aromatic hops, mix. Leave the 'dry' hops
in the container for 5 days. Strain into a clean bottle. Dilute with vodka to
25%abv. You now have a tincutre that will have hop aroma and flavour but very
little bitterness.
The drink itself is fairly basic, whiskey plus the three beer based
ingredients we have made.
Beer Simple, Hop Complex
- 2oz rye whiskey
- 0.75oz beer liqueur
- 2 tsp bittering hops bitters
- 2 tsp aromatic hops bitters
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
- Garnish with a twist of lemon peel.
This is a cocktail that is similar to Old fashioned cocktails
but uses beer based components to provide sweetness, aromatic
modification and bitterness to the base spirit. Its some
effort to make the ingredients but you then have the means of
incorporating beer flavours into many different cocktails.
Have fun.
Doesn't look like much...but I'm happy with the taste. The whiskey
provides the foundation. The sweet wort liqueur adds sweetness and
toasty malty depth. Then the two hops bitters kick in. I scaled the
proportion of bitters to IPA level, perhaps even Imperial IPA level
so there is a whack of bitterness that hits after the initial sweetness.
The citrussy flavours from the aromatic hop bitters bracket the bitterness
and these two aspects ebb and flow through a very long dry bitter finish.
Totally my style of drink. You could halve both bitters if you wanted more
of a 'Pale Ale' experience. But really, why would you.
Also I realize I am using a beer liqueur instead of a simple syrup but essentially
its a syrup with some neutral alcohol added so I think the name is still valid.
Mixology Monday rolls along with another seasonally inspired challenge for the month of May.
This month's challenge, hosted by
hosted by Dave at The Barman Cometh
is Flores de Mayo – Floral Cocktails. From the announcement post:
The challenge is to feature a cocktail that
highlights a floral flavor profile or includes a floral
derived ingredient, whether home-made or off the shelf.
With the ever expanding catalogue of spirits (and the
kitchen labs of home enthusiasts), there’s a whole host
of directions for you to choose from – elderflower liqueur,
creme de violette, chamomile infused gin, hibiscus
grenadine, rosewater, lavender syrup – or to create.
Unlike some recent MxMo challenges, I knew immediately what I wanted to do. Indeed,
the day I heard about the theme I had already purchased some dried elderflower with the
intent of creating a dry elderflower flavoured spirit to use in cocktails. I was largely
inspired by the explosion of St. Germain based cocktails in Vancouver that had appeared
after the recent introduction of the liqueur into our market. Suddently there are drinks with
gin, St. Germain, citrus and some sweetener on most bar menus in town. I wanted to find a different
way of incorporating elderflower flavour in a drink. Because I was using dried elderflowers
the result is more intense (more herbaceous and less floral) than the fresh flower based
St. Germain and lends itself to a different flavour profile. I was inspired by some classic
cocktails that have a more boozy and intense profile. The excellent Bijou Cocktail
was certainly in my mind when I was creating this drink.
So to start with, the elderflower flavoured vodka was too intense to use as the base spirit.
Gin made sense both from the perspective of the classic cocktail I envisioned and the
affinity with elderflower as evinced in so many contemporary St. Germain cocktails. I ended up
using almost a 2:1 proportion of Gin to elderflower spirit but if you happen to make the drink
its best to taste as your maceration could yield different results than mine.
The elderflower in this drink is standing in for the chartreuse in a Bijou, but
it is much dryer, so I used as a sweetening agent a barspoon of hibiscus tea 2:1 gomme syrup
that I had made a while back. The syrup brings the drink into the classical balance and adds
another floral element to the drink.
To stand in for the sweet vermouth - Cynar. After all, artichokes are the flower of a
thistle variant... So more 'floral' flavour and a nice restrained bitterness. I'll admit
I've taken to subbing Cynar in place of sweet vermouth almost to excess recently but
it works so well in the role.
Finally, in place of orange bitters, orange blossom water. Again, floral but having a strong
orange character. There you have it. All I needed was a name. Since this drink was patterned
off of the Bijou and uses floral ingredients I started bouncing around names with Jewel and Flower in
them. Everyting I came up with sounded hokey until I realized that everyting sounds classier
en Francais. So I present the "Bijou a Fleurs" cocktail.
I have to say, I'm really happy with how the cocktail turned out. It tastes true to the classic
cocktails which inspired it and incorporates 4 floral elements into the drink. The elderflower is
clearly the focus of the drink, but presents a different aspect of the flavour than what we are
used to in St. Germain. The hibiscus and artichoke play supporting roles, adding depth and
sweetness and a subtle bitter/vegetal aspect. The orange blossom water adds citrus balance and
some top notes in the flavour. I've had a few of these as I tuned the recipe and will certainly keep
it in my rotation.
Note: Instructions for making the Hibiscus gomme syrup and elderflower spirit are
included in the recipe details. Just click the link at the top of the recipe box
to see the full recipe.
As usual, I'm looking forward to seeing the roundup post on The Barman Cometh
to see what my fellow participants have come up with. We are still waiting for real warm weather in Vancouver but
the cherry trees have blossomed and many of our streets are carpeted in pink, so even the gray skies cannot
completely erase the feeling of spring.
Thanks again to Dave at The Barman Cometh
and to
Paul at Cocktail Chronicles for starting the
Mixology Monday series.
Bijou a Fleur Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.25 oz Gin
- 0.5 oz Elderflower Infused Vodka
- 0.5 oz Cynar
- 1 tsp Hibiscus Gomme Syrup
- 2 drops Orange Flower Water
|
Prepraration
- Combine all ingredients in shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass up with ice.
- Stir until properly cold and dilute.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
Garnish
Twist Lemon Peel
|
After a brief hiatus in March (Just as well since TOTC on Tour Vancouver was going on) MxMo returns with something different than
the last few seasonal challenges.
This month's challenge, hosted by
Chris at Spirited Remix has
thrown the gauntlet down for all of us aspiring cocktail writers. As he says: Give me the best drink recipe you’ve ever created.
No, I’m not really talking about that awesome drink that
you made under pressure and on the fly for your friends
one evening. I’m not talking about that kickass nightcap
that you whipped up using the last bits from those few
bottles that you needed to throw away. I’m talking about
that one drink that you’ve worked on for quite a while.
The one that you’ve carefully tweaked over time until you
found that perfect recipe. The one you’ve made tons of
times: sometimes alone in contemplation, sometimes for a
guest so that you could get their opinion. If you don’t
have a drink that fits the above mold, then perhaps this
is your excuse to revisit your old “original remixes”,
as I call them, and decide or even tweak one to be your
best. If you’ve never made such a drink before, then
begin experimenting right now! I want to see what makes
your taste buds tick. Use your favorite spirits or
flavors. Show me what your “drink of the house” would be.
Alright then. As usual, this one presented some wrinkles for me.
I mix drinks well. As I suspect for all my fellow MxMo participants,
when I make drinks for friends and family, I'm used to getting impressed
reactions. I doubt anyone is humoring me. I taste cocktails regularly at
many fantastic bars in Vancouver and know where my drinks stand. Hubris aside,
having spent a lot of time reading, talking, tasting and mixing cocktails I
am proud of what I can offer when I make someone a drink.
Still, in large part due to my efforts on this site, I tend to mix drinks that are
from vintage sources as I build up my recipe database on this site. I also mix many
contemporary cocktails that I am introduced to by the excellent cadre of bartenders
that I patronize or that I find online on the many excellent cocktail blogs and websites.
I'm sure that when I read the roll call for this MxMo there will be a few contributors whose
original creations I have tried and enjoyed.
So as a result, I have spent less focussed effort on building my own repertoire of drinks than
I have in understanding the classic and contemporary classic recipes, principles of drink composition,
ingredients, techniques and just generally trying to learn everything I can about cocktails and spirits.
Faced with the challenge at hand, and the high standards Chris has set out, I felt a certain amount of doubt.
My house drink, my go to, clutch cocktail is a Manhattan (or something in the boroughs of NYC anyhow).
The best drink I can serve you will be some variation of a Manhattan, but I have no one recipe for
this. I am constantly tweaking with different whiskies, vermouths, bitters, liqueurs and amaros to create
drinks that are always good, sometimes excellent. Nevertheless I can't say that I have stumbled on any one
permutation that clicked and became "My Drink". Plus, all the best 'Real estate' is already taken and I don't want
to claim a slight variant of any of the vintage or modern Manhattan variations as my own. At this point it
strikes me as akin to domain squatting or registering domains that are common mispellings of top sites.
(Strange analogy perhaps)
So, while I truly think the best drink I can make you will be an off the cuff Manhattan variant, its not a static
recipe. I'll serve you what I think is best based on the ingredients I have (usually
focussing on whatever new whisk(e)y, vermouth or amaro bottles are inspiring me at the time, but a week later
it will have morphed into something similar but distinct. None of that helps much with this challenge.
So here is what I am offering up. The recipe that I christened as the namesake of
this website, the "A Drinker's Peace cocktail". In a very broad sense, this drink does make
some sense when considered as a Red Hook variation, and I think its fitting. Sure,
its rum instead of whiskey and apricot brandy instead of maraschino. The absinthe is a new element to
add some additional aromatics and accents to the richer base ingredients. Is this my best.
I think its the best I have so far that I have a set recipe for, and so I hope any who try it enjoy.
Some notes; While I specify English Harbour 5 year old Antiguan rum, any barrel aged
amber rum that is not too spicy or funky should do very nicely. Jamaican and Martinique rums might be
too assertive here. Something like El Dorado 5 or 12, Ron Matusalem 18 or Havana Club 7 should all work well.
For the sweet vermouth, Punt E Mes is highly recommended but any brand will do if necessary.
The Giffard Abricot du Roussillon is a superb Apricot liqueur. A cheap apricot brandy will really
degrade the drink and throw it out of balance. Unless you have the Giffard product I suggest starting with
a barspoon and taste working up to 0.5oz if necessary. Finally, the wormwood bitters are a nice touch but
abinthe is perfectly acceptable. The drink character will be different but still good. I would also start with
half a barspoon absinthe, as this element can easily take over the drink. As you see below I
actually have two formulations of the recipe, one as the drink is intended and one that used more generic
ingredients. The original is better but the second formulation is still true to the spirit of the drink.
An intermediate version (e.g. Another aged amber rum, Punt E Mes, another apricot brandy and absinthe)
will work as well. I guess in a way this does fit the criteria of the challenge. This drink can be tweaked
according to the ingredients on hand but does have an ideal formulation.
A Drinker's Peace Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Amber Rum
- 0.5 oz Abricot du Rousillon
- 0.5 oz Punt E Mes
- 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
- 1 tsp Wormwood Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: |
|
A Drinker's Peace Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Amber Rum
- 0.5 oz Apricot Brandy
- 0.5 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 1 tsp Absinthe
- 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: |
|
Another MxMo with a wintery theme!
This month's challenge initially took me a bit aback. To summarize,
Nancy at Backyard Bartender has asked us to
come up with any drink - as long as its hot. The theme for MxMo LV will be "Some Like it Hot"
- make anything you want to, as long as it's served hot.
I'm sure this is tremendously seasonally appropriate in
parts of the country that are not Houston, where it is
currently 79 degrees.
I must confess that here in Vancouver, we don't do a lot
of hot cocktails or other mixed drinks. Sure, its not tropical here and yes, it does rain - a lot.
However I think that for the most part I and my fellow Vancouverites slog on through the grey
rainy days of winter consuming strong bitter drinks (The Meat Hook currently featuring at
L'Abbatoir being an excellent example). The occasional interludes of gorgeous weather throughout
our coastal winter provoke paroxsyms of irrationally Summer-themed attire, recreational behaviour and
drinking. Its seldom that we get a prolonged enough spell of really cold weather or snow on the ground
to inspire much in the way of hot spiritous drink imbibing either at home or to make an appearance on even the
most seasonal cocktail list.
So heading into the deadline for this month's MxMo I was still looking for inspiration. Nature
took care of that on two fronts, though I can't say I'm entirely happy about it. Firstly, we had
a rare snowfall this weekend in Vancouver, and I came down with a cold. Suddenly I could use
a hot soothing drink. I remembered back to the holiday season when I was poring through vintage
bar guides at a time when I was also not feeling great, coming across the classic recipes for
hot slings. I availed myself of this medicine at the time. I can't say that it had any
healing effect necessarily, but certainly was soothing. So today I decided to go back and
mix up a hot gin sling for my MxMo post.
The recipe I am using is straight from Harry Johnson's "New and Improved Illustrated Bartender's Manual"
published in 1888. Jerry Thomas' 1862 "How to Mix Drinks" does specifically have a hot
gin sling recipe, though I'm sure the recipe I'm using would be familiar to him. In any case,
the original recipe is as follows:
196. Hot Gin Sling.
(Use a hot water glass.)
1 piece of loaf sugar, dissolve in a little water:
1 wine glass of Holland gin;
Fill up the balance with hot water;
stir with a spoon, and grate a little nutmeg on top,
and serve. Add a slice of lemon if the customer
desires it.
As you can see, I stuck with freshly grated nutmeg. Pre-ground
will do if you have no choice but freshly grated is far superior. Choice of glassware
is fairly wide open, as long as the vessel can handle boiling water being poured into it.
An everyday coffee or tea mug will do in a pinch. Clear glass is nice though this particular
drink is not much to look at. I chose a handmade pottery goblet for its nice heavy feel and
appearance. I do like the lemon slice added for the extra theraputic benefit and to balance the
sugar with some acidity. I just lightly muddled the lemon into the drink with a small barspoon.
I had Genever on hand so was able to stick with the historically accurate Holland gin,
but I think using London Dry gin, Plymouth or Old Tom gin would all work fine too.
Overall this drink is quite straightforward. Its warming and soothing. The gin flavour is diluted but
since the sugar, nutmeg and lemon are all just accents each component of the drink does come through.
I can't say that it will cure your cold, but does soothe the throat for a while. Not an everyday drink for me but under the
right circumstances a simple and welcome balm.
As usual, I'm looking forward to seeing the roundup post on Backyard Bartender
to see what my fellow participants have come up with. I've kept it as old school and simple as possible this month, I'm sure there will be
some inspiring and off-the-charts recipes among the other entries.
Thanks again to Nancy at Backyard Bartender
and to
Paul at Cocktail Chronicles for starting the
Mixology Monday series.
Hot Gin Sling
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Genever
- 1 Sugar Cube
- 6 oz Boiling Water
|
Prepraration
- Put sugar cube into glass and dissolve in a bit of hot water.
- Add the genever.
- Fill glass with hot water.
- Stir
|
Glassware
Preferred: Mug
Alternatives: Ceramic Goblet |
Garnish
Wheel Lemon
Freshly grated Nutmeg
|
Tales of the Cocktail, the premiere cocktail and spirit festival is expanding beyond its New Orleans
roots and launching the Tales of the Cocktail Tour concept with an inaugural event in
Vancouver, B.C. The festival will run from March 13-15, 2011 and will be hosted by the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel.
The tales of the cocktail on tour event will be a yearly event in Vancouver and will
expand to select other cities across the world. The "On Tour" concept will provide a more focussed
experience than the main Tales of the Cocktail event each summer in New Orleans yet will remain true to
the spirit of the original.
First off, I should mention that a limited number of tickets are still available for
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver. (TOTC on Tour - Vancouver) To purchase your ticket
click here. Priced at $155(USD), the ticket offers complete access to the festival over the course of 3 days (and nights!).
For a complete listing of the events that your ticket will provide access to please see the
event listing
and information page on the TOTC site.
This ticket is
a fantastic value. There are only a limited number left so if you plan on being a part of this
informative and spirited event act now!
We are now within 30 days away from the lauch of TOTC on Tour - Vancouver.
To commemorate, A Drinker's Peace will be publishing a
post every day as we count down to the launch. These posts will highlight the history of the
New Orleans event and anticipation for the Vancouver event including participating bartenders and authors, drink recipes, and featurettes on
specific events within the overall festival.
25 Days to TOTC on Tour Vancouver: For the Love of Gin
Today I wanted to mention another of the 6 seminars at TOTC on Tour - Vancouver.
"For the Love of Gin: How the Historic Spirit is Making a Comeback". While I reluctantly
passed on this seminar, it is sure to be popular. It is being co-hosted by Desmond Payne,
the master distiller of Beefeater (including their excellent premium version Beefeater 24).
Several of our local bartenders attended 'Gin School' recently where they received hands on
instruction in the making of gin as well as its history from Desmond. All were incredibly impressed.
Even though this seminar won't afford attendees the opportunity to actually distill their own gin
its sure to be both interesting and delicious.
While there are still tickets left for TOTC on Tour - Vancouver, and as far as I know still some space in all 6 seminars, its worth mentioning
that space in each seminar is limited to 150 attendees so if you wait much longer to purchase your TOTC on Tour - Vancouver
ticket you may not have full choice of seminars as some will definitely be full before the full complement of
tickets are sold. You've been warned so if you plan on attending act now...
The seminar will include information on the styles and history of gin. The current near-hegemony of the
London Dry style has obscured from most cocktail afficionados the various styles of gin that
were historically popular including Hollands Gin (Genever), Old Tom Gin, Plymouth Gin and others. So much so
that the original Martini was made with the robust Hollands gin and would be unrecognizable to the modern Churchill and
James Bond conception of the Martini. All this and more will be covered and a number of classic gin cocktails mixed including
our own civic tipple, the Vancouver cocktail.
This promises to be a great seminar and one I would highly recommend to any cocktail enthusiast who is not already versed
in the range of gin styles from the historical era to contemporary craft distilled spirits. Its sure to provide some
new information and tastes.
Please check back each day as I will be doing daily posts to commemorate the countdown to
TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. I will also be tweeting the links to these posts via
@adrinkerspeace.
Vancouver Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.25 oz Benedictine
- 2 dashes Orange Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
|
Tales of the Cocktail, the premiere cocktail and spirit festival is expanding beyond its New Orleans
roots and launching the Tales of the Cocktail Tour concept with an inaugural event in
Vancouver, B.C. The festival will run from March 13-15, 2011 and will be hosted by the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel.
The tales of the cocktail on tour event will be a yearly event in Vancouver and will
expand to select other cities across the world. The "On Tour" concept will provide a more focussed
experience than the main Tales of the Cocktail event each summer in New Orleans yet will remain true to
the spirit of the original.
First off, I should mention that a limited number of tickets are still available for
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver. (TOTC on Tour - Vancouver) To purchase your ticket
click here. Priced at $155(USD), the ticket offers complete access to the festival over the course of 3 days (and nights!).
For a complete listing of the events that your ticket will provide access to please see the
event listing
and information page on the TOTC site.
This ticket is
a fantastic value. There are only a limited number left so if you plan on being a part of this
informative and spirited event act now!
We are now within 30 days away from the lauch of TOTC on Tour - Vancouver.
To commemorate, A Drinker's Peace will be publishing a
post every day as we count down to the launch. These posts will highlight the history of the
New Orleans event and anticipation for the Vancouver event including participating bartenders and authors, drink recipes, and featurettes on
specific events within the overall festival.
26 Days to TOTC on Tour Vancouver: Who's Your Daddy - A Mai Tai Paternity Test
Well I've fallen a bit off the pace of doing 1 post per day as we count down to TOTC on Tour - Vancouver
but I have hopes of catchnig up. In this series of posts I'll be including one on
each of the seminars that are part of TOTC Vancouver. I'll start with one of the seminars
that I registered for (There are 6 seminars, divided into 3 pairs with each pair running simultaneously.
So you choose 3 of the 6 based on your preffered choice in each pairing.) Frankly,
all 6 seminars are worth attending and all choices were difficult.
While there are still tickets left, and as far as I know still some space in all 6 seminars, its worth mentioning
that space in each seminar is limited to 150 attendees so if you wait much longer to purchase your TOTC on Tour - Vancouver
ticket you may not have full choice of seminars as some will definitely be full before the full complement of
tickets are sold. You've been warned so if you plan on attending act now...
Suffice to say that I did choose to attend the "Who's Your Daddy - A Mai Tai Paternity test"
hosted by Tiki evangelist Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. Tiki cocktails have historically been viewed as a bit of a
sideshow to the 'classic' cocktail lexicon. The general air of casualness associated with tiki
culture certainly contributed to this view as well as the gradual debasement of vintage tiki drinks
into sugar loaded monstrosities. The Mai Tai has suffered as much from this as any other drink.
I thought little of the drink as recently as a year ago, having only had versions made with artificial syrup,
reconstituted fruit juice and inferior industrial rum. My eyes were opened last spring at The Diamond in Gastown
when I left the choice of drink to my able bartender (Sophie Taverner) who said that a proper Mai Tai was what
she would like to be drinking, and so made one for me. The version she prepared was close to the
"definitive" Trader Vic in spirit at least as the iconic Wray and Nephew 17 year old rum is no longer available.
In any case, the drink arrived and it was served short, awash in crushed ice with a muted orangey-brown colour.
No artificial red dye, no forest of fruit garnish, just a small sprig of mint and the hull of a crushed lime.
There is definitely some sweetness here but offset by a good dose of fresh lime juice and balanced by rich
quality rum flavours. A balanced and refreshing classic. My eyes and tastebuds were duly opened by this drink
and since then I've come to appreciate a proper Mai Tai when served at a quality minded bar. If you are not sure,
just ask how they make it before ordering so you don't get stuck with the all too common debased "Mai Tai".
This seminar will focus on the origins and history of the Mai Tai. Beachbum Berry
has spent a tremendous amount of time and effort learning about this drink and its sure to
be informative and tasty. We are also promised "new information learned
after the publication of Jeff’s most recent book, Beachbum Berry Remixed". I can't wait. This history and origin
of classic cocktails is a major focus of my own efforts on A Drinker's Peace and learning from an expert in Tiki drinks
will be a real experience.
Please check back each day as I will be doing daily posts to commemorate the countdown to
TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. I will also be tweeting the links to these posts via
@adrinkerspeace.
Mai Tai
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Amber Rum
- 1 fruit Lime Juice
- 0.5 oz Grand Marnier
- 0.5 oz Orgeat
- 1 tsp Unrefined Sugar
|
Prepraration
- Fill glass with crushed ice.
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Add squeezed lime shells into shaker.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Double strain into the glass.
- Add a half of the squeezed lime shell into the glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Old Fashioned
Alternatives: |
Garnish
Sprig Mint Leaves
|
Tales of the Cocktail, the premiere cocktail and spirit festival is expanding beyond its New Orleans
roots and launching the Tales of the Cocktail Tour concept with an inaugural event in
Vancouver, B.C. The festival will run from March 13-15, 2011 and will be hosted by the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel.
The tales of the cocktail on tour event will be a yearly event in Vancouver and will
expand to select other cities across the world. The "On Tour" concept will provide a more focussed
experience than the main Tales of the Cocktail event each summer in New Orleans yet will remain true to
the spirit of the original.
First off, I should mention that a limited number of tickets are still available for
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver. (TOTC on Tour - Vancouver) To purchase your ticket
click here. Priced at $155(USD), the ticket offers complete access to the festival over the course of 3 days (and nights!).
For a complete listing of the events that your ticket will provide access to please see the
event listing
and information page on the TOTC site.
This ticket is
a fantastic value. There are only a limited number left so if you plan on being a part of this
informative and spirited event act now!
We are now within 30 days away from the lauch of TOTC on Tour - Vancouver.
To commemorate, A Drinker's Peace will be publishing a
post every day as we count down to the launch. These posts will highlight the history of the
New Orleans event and anticipation for the Vancouver event including participating bartenders and authors, drink recipes, and featurettes on
specific events within the overall festival.
27 Days to TOTC on Tour Vancouver: La Lousiane Cocktail
Today I would like to (surprise surprise) talk about another cocktail as we count down
to TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. The La Louisiane cocktail is less notable than some
other New Orleans cocktails, but no less worthy for being less well known.
The La Louisiane was created at the New Orleans restaurant of the same name. This
signature drink does bear a resemblance to the iconic Vieux Carre cocktail, but
it is sufficiently distinctive to discuss separately.
While it seems that this drink will be overly sweet, the absinthe and use of a good
spicy rye will provide enough balance that the drink is rich but not cloying. Truly a
classic drink that deserves more attention.
Please check back each day as I will be doing daily posts to commemorate the countdown to
TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. I will also be tweeting the links to these posts via
@adrinkerspeace.
La Louisiane Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 oz Rye
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.75 oz Benedictine
- 2 tsp Absinthe
- 3 dashes Peychauds Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
Garnish
Brandied Cherry
|
A Drinker's Peace will be contributing to alleviate hunger in a new initiative
to proportionally contribute to the Vancouver food bank based on tweets made by
@adrinkerspeace
I've already made one rambling post about my motivation for starting this
initiative so I'll keep it succinct here. Recently, I had become troubled by some of the
posts being made by local food bloggers detailing some rather excessive eating. (Bragging
about tasting 17 desserts in an evening, eating contests related to burgers of absurd proportions (not
one but two such cases locally) and so forth). I felt that it was really insensitive to
be revelling in excess when so many locally (and throughout the world) were hungry.
It then struck me that I was no different and that my posts detailing tasting 20+ beers
at a cask festival or chronicling a night of eating and drinking through Gastown were
also a reminder of the divide between those of us who consume and critique food as a
job or hobby and those who are more concerned about getting a meal than whether it contains locally raised Non-GMO
organic ingredients / has reasonable sodium content / is preservative free etc...
So I decided that I should make some direct contribution based on the number of times
I tweet about drinking or purchasing alcohol. I have decided that A Drinker's Peace will contribute
at the end of each month $0.25 per qualified tweet (See details below) made within that calendar
month with a minimum contribution of $25.00 each month. I realize this is not a large amount, and that
many within the community do more, but its a start.
I will also be encouraging others who blog and tweet about all the wonderful food and drink that
we have here in Vancouver to make similar commitments. I will provide links to any who do so. (Its not for me
to stipulate how anyone else should contribute but I will acknlowledge any clear commitment on an ongoing basis.)
I'm sure some posting about food and drink are already doing something to help those who are less
fortunate and could also use this as an opportunity to reveal it (if they are comfortable). My goal here is
not to ostracize or shame anyone who does not join in but to encourage towards an overall
greater benefit for those in need.
The Small Print
Starting Feb 14, 2011 A Drinker's Peace will contribute $0.25 per qualified tweet made via
@adrinkerspeace
within a given calendar month. A minimum monthly donation of $25 will be made in the
event that there are less than 100 qualifying tweets. Payment to me made to the Vancouver food
bank by the 15th day of the following calendar month.
Qualified tweets include:
- A tweet where I describe or link to image of a drink
I consume. (Containing alcohol)
- A tweet where I describe or link to an image of bottles of alcohol
that I have purchased.
Tweets that do not qualify include:
- Retweets or descriptions of drinks consumed by others or purchased by others.
- Tweets linking to recipes or articles or other content on Adrinkerspeace.com or other websites.
The tweets made on @adrinkerspeace twitter feed are publically accessible. Proof of payments made
to Vancouver food bank will be provided upon request.
Tales of the Cocktail, the premiere cocktail and spirit festival is expanding beyond its New Orleans
roots and launching the Tales of the Cocktail Tour concept with an inaugural event in
Vancouver, B.C. The festival will run from March 13-15, 2011 and will be hosted by the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel.
The tales of the cocktail on tour event will be a yearly event in Vancouver and will
expand to select other cities across the world. The "On Tour" concept will provide a more focussed
experience than the main Tales of the Cocktail event each summer in New Orleans yet will remain true to
the spirit of the original.
First off, I should mention that a limited number of tickets are still available for
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver. (TOTC on Tour - Vancouver) To purchase your ticket
click here. Priced at $155(USD), the ticket offers complete access to the festival over the course of 3 days (and nights!).
For a complete listing of the events that your ticket will provide access to please see the
event listing
and information page on the TOTC site.
This ticket is
a fantastic value. There are only a limited number left so if you plan on being a part of this
informative and spirited event act now!
We are now within 30 days away from the lauch of TOTC on Tour - Vancouver.
To commemorate, A Drinker's Peace will be publishing a
post every day as we count down to the launch. These posts will highlight the history of the
New Orleans event and anticipation for the Vancouver event including participating bartenders and authors, drink recipes, and featurettes on
specific events within the overall festival.
28 Days to TOTC on Tour Vancouver: New Orleans Culinary and
Cultural Preservation Society
This post is a little late, as I was not feeling well yesterday so I will post two
articles today related to TOTC. For this post, I would like to mention the
New Orleans Culinary and
Cultural Preservation Society (NOCCPS).
Founded by Ann Tuennerman in 2006, the nonprofit
organization seeks to preserve New Orleans’ dining and drinking history, raise funds for
the hospitality industry and produce Tales of the Cocktail® annually. Ann and Paul’s ongoing
work with the Society is to further its mission, generate media attendance and coverage for the
Society and for Tales of the Cocktail® and to encourage a positive image for New Orleans,
ultimately attracting visitors and increasing tourism.
(http://www.talesofthecocktail.com/documents/site/TalesOfTheCocktail2010FactSheet.pdf)
- Trails of the Cocktail (Scholarship)
- Flo Woodward Memorial Scholarship
- Cocktail Apprentice Scholarship Fund
- Bartending by the Book
- Gulf Coast Bar Towel
- Cocktails for a cause
For more details on NOCCPS please see Tales of the Cocktail.
The work done by the NOCCPS is an important part of the rebirth of this classic city during the
recovery from Hurricane Katrina. The Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver event will help
further promote the main TOTC event, being held in New Orleans July 20-24, 2011.
Please check back each day as I will be doing daily posts to commemorate the countdown to
TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. I will also be tweeting the links to these posts via
@adrinkerspeace.
Tales of the Cocktail, the premiere cocktail and spirit festival is expanding beyond its New Orleans
roots and launching the Tales of the Cocktail Tour concept with an inaugural event in
Vancouver, B.C. The festival will run from March 13-15, 2011 and will be hosted by the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel.
The tales of the cocktail on tour event will be a yearly event in Vancouver and will
expand to select other cities across the world. The "On Tour" concept will provide a more focussed
experience than the main Tales of the Cocktail event each summer in New Orleans yet will remain true to
the spirit of the original.
First off, I should mention that a limited number of tickets are still available for
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver. (TOTC on Tour - Vancouver) To purchase your ticket
click here. Priced at $155(USD), the ticket offers complete access to the festival over the course of 3 days (and nights!).
For a complete listing of the events that your ticket will provide access to please see the
event listing
and information page on the TOTC site.
This ticket is
a fantastic value. There are only a limited number left so if you plan on being a part of this
informative and spirited event act now!
We are now within 30 days away from the lauch of TOTC on Tour - Vancouver.
To commemorate, A Drinker's Peace will be publishing a
post every day as we count down to the launch. These posts will highlight the history of the
New Orleans event and anticipation for the Vancouver event including participating bartenders and authors, drink recipes, and featurettes on
specific events within the overall festival.
29 Days to TOTC on Tour Vancouver: The Ramos Gin Fizz
Well, its 29 days left till TOTC on Tour - Vancouver kicks off. For todays post I want to
talk a bit about a classic Louisiana cocktail, the Ramos Gin Fizz. (Recipe below) A fizz is a venerable
style of drink (originally considered a distinct category from a cocktail but these days considered a
category within the now blanket term cocktail). Recipes for Fizzes turn up as early as 1888 in Harry Johnson's "New and Improved Illustrated Bartenders Guide". A fizz had soda, seltzer or some form of sparkling non-alcoholic
liquid added to it to make it effervescent or 'fizz'. Quite straightforward actually. Fizzes come in many forms,
using many base spirits and other ingredients (eggs whether the white, yolk or whole were quite common
historically).
The Ramos Gin Fizz was invented as described by David Wondrich in Esquire Drinks
Henry C. Ramos invented the Ramos gin fizz in 1888 at
his bar in Meyer's Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana.
It was originally called the New Orleans Fizz...
The key thing about this drink was that it included both egg white and cream. Unless
mixed properly these ingredients would fail to emulsify and result in an unpleasant texture
as opposed to the light frothy delight that a proper Ramos Gin Fizz should provide.
Vigorous shaking is required, and Mr. Ramos expected his signature drink to be shaken for several
minutes. Given the number of Ramos Gin Fizzes ordered during Mardi Gras and other festivals
the amount of shaking required would have worn out the bartenders and slowed the service to a crawl.
The solution was to hire a line of shaker boys (young men). As a bartender would finish assembling the drink,
he would hand the sealed shaker to the first in the line of shaker boys, who would vigourously shake the drink
for a bit then hand off to the next in line, thus ensuring properly frothy drinks.
At home you probably do not have a line of shaker boys handy so you can use the 'dry shake' technique to
ensure good results without shaking for multiple minutes. Just assemble the drink and before adding ice seal the
shaker and give it brisk shake for 10 or 15 seconds. Now unseal the shaker, add ice, re-seal and now give a good
strong shake for about 1 minute. The 'dry' (e.g. no ice to add water) shake helps to emulsify the egg and milk as
the chill from the ice will otherwise retard the emulsification process.
In any case, this classic drink is very refreshing and a true New Orleans classic. I encourage you to mix one up
yourself or have one of our talented local bartenders shake you one up during TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. If you want to
learn more about the Ramos Gin Fizz or other classic New Orleans cocktails, the "Famous New Orleans Cocktails"
seminar that is part of TOTC on Tour - Vancouver is a perfect opportunity to do so. Get your
ticket today so you are not left out. Please check back each day as I will be doing daily posts to commemorate the countdown to
TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. I will also be tweeting the links to these posts via
@adrinkerspeace.
Ramos Gin Fizz
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Gin
- 1 oz Heavy Cream
- 1 Egg White
- 1/2 fruit Lemon Juice
- 1/2 fruit Lime Juice
- 2 tsp
- 2 drops Orange Flower Water
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with cracked ice.
- Seal the shaker
- Shake vigourously for at least one minute, preferably two.
- Strain
|
Glassware
Preferred: Collins
Alternatives: |
Garnish
Pour Club Soda
|
Tales of the Cocktail, the premiere cocktail and spirit festival is expanding beyond its New Orleans
roots and launching the Tales of the Cocktail Tour concept with an inaugural event in
Vancouver, B.C. The festival will run from March 13-15, 2011 and will be hosted by the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel.
The tales of the cocktail on tour event will be a yearly event in Vancouver and will
expand to select other cities across the world. The "On Tour" concept will provide a more focussed
experience than the main Tales of the Cocktail event each summer in New Orleans yet will remain true to
the spirit of the original.
First off, I should mention that a limited number of tickets are still available for
Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver. (TOTC on Tour - Vancouver) To purchase your ticket
click here. Priced at $155(USD), the ticket offers complete access to the festival over the course of 3 days (and nights!).
For a complete listing of the events that your ticket will provide access to please see the
event listing
and information page on the TOTC site.
This ticket is
a fantastic value. There are only a limited number left so if you plan on being a part of this
informative and spirited event act now!
Last month Ann Tuennerman and key members of the TOTC team came up to Vancouver for a launch event commemorating the 60 day
countdown to TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. Charlotte Voisey- mixoligist emeritus, brand ambassador for William Grant & Son's and presenter of "The History and Importance of Ice in Cocktails" seminar at
TOTC on Tour - Vancouver was also on hand.
Acclaimed and beloved Boneta restaurant in the historic and cocktail rich Gastown neighbourhood
hosted the event. A great turnout of local bartenders and restauranteurs was on hand. Media whether print, tv or online (including yours truly)
was well represented too.
Ann first led us all in a toast to TOTC on Tour - Vancouver with the classic New Orleands cocktail
Vieux Carre. She then provided
a summary of the inspiration behind the event and overview of what to expect.
Next order of business was to introduce the
cocktail apprentices for TOTC on Tour - Vancouver. The apprentices are an indispensible part of the TOTC infrastructure,
doing all the little things that ensure that the drinks come out just right and the presenters have the tools and ingredients they
need. Generally the apprentices are
newer bartenders so it is a valuable experience for them as well and opportunity to learn from some of the greats who are presenting.
For the Vancouver event the following apprentices were chosen out of many applicants across Canada:
- Adam Robinson
- Colin Tait
- Cooper Tardivel
- Derrek Vanderheide
- Heather Yau
- Jeffrey Van Horne
- Jonathan Smolensky
- Thomak Klus
- Trevor Kailles
See more details about the apprentices on the TOTC site.
Lastly, the three finalists for the official drink of TOTC on Tour - Vancouver were
brought up for the announcement of the winning cocktail. A Canada wide blind contest was held
challenging bartenders to come up with a drink featuring 10+ year old age-stated Canadian Whiskey and
to feature ingredients and inspiration from a specific province of Canada. The three finalists were
Danielle Tatarin, Jonathan Smolensky and Jay Jones. The winner was Jonathan Smolensky with his "Dalhousie
Station" cocktail featuring Canadian plum infused Gibsons 18 year old whiskey. See the recipe
here.
We are now 30 days away from the lauch of TOTC on Tour - Vancouver.
To commemorate, A Drinker's Peace will be publishing a
post every day as we count down to the launch. These posts will highlight the history of the
New Orleans event and anticipation for the Vancouver event including participating bartenders and authors, drink recipes, and featurettes on
specific events within the overall festival.
TOTC on Tour - Vancouver is a very exciting event for the Vancouver cocktail and spirits community. Anticipation is building
among both bartenders and local cocktail enthusiasts. The turn out at the launch event last month is a testament to the
strength of the local cocktail community and the support for TOTC on Tour - Vancouver.
The Canadian Professional Bartenders Association (CPBA)
is a partner for the event, and many of the local restaurants and bars that are fostering the development of craft cocktails in
Vancouver are involved. A stong committment by all the TOTC sponsor brands make both the New Orleans event and the
Vancouver event possible and accessible so their contribution should be applauded.
Here is the list of TOTC on Tour - Vancouver sponsors. On the one hand, Vancouverites will experience
cocktail culture in a way never before seen in this city. Conversely, our local cocktail and spirits scene will be showcased to the world.
There are many exciting things happening here, with a strong nucleus of passionate and talented bartenders, restauranteurs who have built
an audience that increasingly expects and supports excellence in cocktails and spirits in our restaurants and bars. The formation of the
CPBA is a driving force in all of this and a strong partner for
the TOTC on Tour - Vancouver event. Here at A Drinkers Peace, I'm very excited. I think Vancouver is ready for this. I will of course be attending TOTC on Tour - Vancouver and will do my best to cover the event both live (follow
me on twitter at @adrinkerspeace or search twitter using
the #totcvancouver hashtag)
and with summary postings after the event wraps. Please stay tuned
and check back for more leading up to, during and after Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver.
Vieux Carre
Recipe
Ingredients
- 0.75 oz Rye
- 0.75 oz Cognac
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.5 tsp Benedictine
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- 1 dash Peychauds
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Old Fashioned
Alternatives: |
|
I recognize that I am extremely fortunate to be in a position to live
my life as I have, to enjoy the lifestyle that I do and which I chronicle on this site
and elsewhere on the web such as @adrinkerspeace.
Anyone who has followed my postings is no doubt aware that I have enjoyed a level of privelege
to support my developing aesthetic sensibilities in the domains of cuisine and drinks (beer, wine, spirits, cocktails, coffee).
I have never suffered hunger or privation in my life and happily the same is true of my family. I do not
feel bad that my children have never suffered for want of basic necessities and even accept that
their very comfortable existence is warranted. After all, no parent wants anything less than the best for their children. But for myself, its clear that I enjoy a lifestyle far beyond basic needs. Much as I believe that experience of
and reflection and discourse on the finer experiences in life is a noble and worthy endeavour I have always felt that
ignoring the realities that many in our "worlds most liveable city", "best place on earth" province and best damn hockey nation
on the planet, to say nothing of those in many other parts of the world is folly. All of these people have as much right to a comfortable
life as I and my family do.
There is an inevitable tension between revelling in the finer experiences of life and realizing that barring (for lack of a better word)
fate could have dictated a life of privation and suffering despite any efforts that I might make. Indeed, every time I stroll through
Gastown on my way to my favourite places to eat and drink I am reminded that there are many in this city alone who are suffering.
I have been thinking quite a bit recently of myself and others who report/blog/tweet/cover the amazing happenings in the Vancouver culinary
scene. It is an honour and privelege to be participating in the local culinary scene. The experiences available
elevate the experiences and ultimately the understanding of those fortunate enough to participate. I value this highly and
while I do not feel guilty at being able to experience and comment, I have come to the point where I need to acknowledge the broader reality.
Prompted by reading of the experiences others have had and also my own experiences (shared with any who care to pay attention) where such
excess is occuring I have reached the point where I feel it is necessary to make some overt contribution to those less fortunate. Bluntly,
its hard to post all the lovely things I eat and drink without balancing it with some effort to address those who cannot rely on even basic sustenance.
So while I am not changing my own habits (perhaps a subject for a different discussion), I do think that in proportion to my public enjoyment of
aesthetic delights I should contribute to the greater good.
In short, starting on Feb 14, 2011 I will contribute a fixed amount per tweet that I post on @adrinkerspeace that relates to either my
personal consumption of alcohol or purchase of alcohol (so a tweet to celebrate my acquisition of a new bottle of rum would count as one
and a subsequent tweet about the rum old fashioned I made with it would also count). I will (after some analysis of past tweets) determine the amount to
contribute per qualifying tweet (need to find a comfort level here - need to give this part some additional thought. At the end of each month I will
count the number of qualifying tweets and post the total to be donated to the Vancouver food bank. (The count of tweets will be public record and
should anyone want to audit the contribution I will accomodate.)
I am also calling on my fellow food and drink bloggers/tweeter/journalists/commentations/social media gurus - whatever the hell you call yourself to make some
commitment on the same basis. For each of us our circumstances differ, and perhaps someone who simply shares their everyday meals at home and the occasional meal out
is really outside of this discussion. For those of us who eat or drink out more extravagantly (and post about it) and especially those who enjoy substantial free
food or drink (promos / previews / opening / comped meals based on 'reach' etc.) I really think that you should either make a similar
committment or if you are already doing something to help those who need basic food to make this clear.
Need to sleep now - this post needs a good edit and proofreading but for now I'll post as is. The basic commitment stands and I do hope it encourages others to follow
(or at least make clear if they are already doing something).
Well its been over 7 months since the inaugural Cocktail Kitchen series kicked off in July 2010
and I wrote a post detailing the first event ( Read Here).
To put this in perspective, in the context of a single long-running competition we have seen:
- 7 menus.
- 7 featured spirits.
- Over 30 events.
- Over 20 distinct bartender contestants ranging from up and comers
to established luminaries of the Vancouver cocktail scene.
- Over 90 distinct cocktails paired with a dish.
If you are not familiar with the concept behind Cocktail Kitchen here is a quick summary.
The series is the brainchild of Lauren Mote, Ben de Champlain and the management of the
The Refinery. Lauren
is the General Manager of the Refinery reknowned internationally for her history of innovative
culinarily focussed drinks. Ben de Champlain is lead bartender and executive chef of The Refinery drawing on
years of experience in many of Vancouver's best kitchens and several years behind the wood at
The Refinery and other progressive cocktail restaurants. Inspired by a reference in
Imbibe Magazine to The Refinery as being a "Cocktail Kitchen"
the team decided to host a competition at the refinery where guest bartenders would pair cocktails featuring a
given base spirit with dishes from a complimentary cuisine for the spirit. Each month would have
a different spirit and cuisine and once per week a new bartender would compete. Within each month the menu each week
would be the same so each competitor would be matching cocktails to the same dishes as the other competitors in the month.
Tickets for each event would be priced reasonably, thanks in part to the spirit sponsor for each month and the guests would
rate the bartender on the basis of how well the drinks paired with the food. The winner each month would have the opportunity to
compete again the following month. At the end of six months of competition, the 4 bartenders with the highest individual scores
would be invited back to compete one night in January for the finale. The finale wipes the slate clean for the 4
finalists. The bartender with the highest score among the 4 events in January will win the competition and receive a trip to
Napa Valley furnished by the owners of Sip Lounge and The Refinery. Additionally, one guest from the
series will also win a trip for 2 to Napa valley furnished by the owners of Sip Lounge and The Refinery. (Guest must be present
at the finale party to win). The winner of the competition and the lucky guest will be announced tonight at The Refinery
at the Cocktail Kitchen Finale Party on February 7, 2011 (More on that below).
To my knowledge this is the broadest and most ambitious cocktail competition ever staged. (Not trying
to argue or compare it to write in contests or other single-event competitions.)
Vancouver is ready for this. The local cocktail and spirits scene has been developing at a rapid pace.
While there is still a lot of energy with new establishments and bartenders coming onto the scene, there is
also a sense of maturity with some of the more established bars and restaurants and bartenders taking things to
new levels, literally raising the bar with innovative events, industry initiatives, bartender and consumer education
cocktail menu development for restaurants that were previously far off the quality cocktail radar and so on. Some specific
highlights (and one sad development) that have occurred just during the running of cocktail kitchen include:
- Canadian Professional Bartender Association inaugural competition at BC Hospitality Expo.
- Closing of the acclaimed Corner Suite Bistro Deluxe
- Re-opening of the Waldorf Hotel with revived Tiki-themed bar program.
- Announcement of Tales of the Cocktail on Tour - Vancouver
2011 promises to be an even better year for the Vancouver cocktail scene. Among other things, the second round of
Cocktail Kitchen will take place at The Refinery. I'm already looking forward to that after a brief
break for the month of February.
Its worth mentioning that the spirit sponsors for each month have enabled such an ambitious competition
to occur and to be as accessible to the public. This is one of the things that I think is truly great about Cocktail Kitchen.
Many cocktail competitions feature only a small number of judges, and leave most spectators teased by witnessing the creation of
incredible drinks yet unable to experience with senses other than sight. Indeed many cocktail competitions are either not
open to the public to view or otherwise not condusive to showcasing the talents of local bartenders to the paying customer.
In contrast, Cocktail Kitchen has introduced many neophyte cocktail enthusiasts to the potential for cocktails to
be a first-class component of the dining experience along with wine and beer. Even for experienced cocktail enthusiasts and writers
such as myself Cocktail Kitchen was an unparallelled opportunity to taste many custom cocktails in a controlled fashion. This is all
to the good and would not be possible without the sponsors like Bacardi Canada, Beam Global and Corby Distilleries.
Having been to most of the individual events in the Cocktail Kitchen series, my overall impression was one of excellence.
I can truly say of the 80 or so cocktails I had all were good. Many were outstanding. From the perspective of pairing
with the food (after all the point of the whole endeavour) I think that at most one or two of the pairings were a complete
miss for me and I have to say that subjective taste cannot be discounted here. One or two of the bolder ideas did not
enhance the overall experience, to my taste, but could well have sung to another palatte. I am more than happy to try such
bold ideas and even the very occasional misstep is something I celebrate as we learn more about cocktails and cuisine.
On the other hand most pairings were very good, truly enhancing the food or drink - e.g. were better together than separate.
Some of these excellent pairings were following the course of conventional wisdom but just as many were completely off the chart
approaches to matching the drink and the food. At the apex were a small number of pairings that were sublime, which truly
elevated both the food and drink and made the purpose of the event crystal clear. These were the 'aha' moments where
the inspiration Lauren and Ben had in launching the series was paid off in full. These were the tastes that I will
recall vividly in years to come and will serve as compass points in my ongoing exploration of all things to eat and drink.
That I had more than 5 such experiences during the course of Cocktail Kitchen is a testament to the skills of our local
bartenders and excites me tremendously for the future.
I should also mention the food and the service throughout were exemplary. Ben's menus were delicious and more importantly
engaged the participating bartenders. Each menu had some opportunities to pair drinks in obvious ways (which could ultimately
be a risk in taking too safe a course) as well as at least one dish that forced the bartender to really dig deep to find a
good pairing. Given the scale of the Refinery's kitchen and the challenge of banging out courses for up to 45 people at once
both front and back of house really set a high standard and did so with ease and good humor under pressure.
My other overall thoughts on the competition is that by asking bartenders to pair drinks with food, and to explain their
approaches you really learn a lot about the overall personality and bartending style of each competitor. For bartenders I
was well familiar with, the experience reinforced my understanding of their style and with those who were new to me
I felt that I learned more from the 3 courses than I would over multiple nights at their bartop.
On the subject of how the competition was structured I though that having the same menu for all those competing against each other
in a given month was fair and made the competition better. One guest I sat beside during the competition felt it would be
better to have bartenders going head to head on the same night e.g. more than one bartender making drinks to pair with each actual
food course. While this might reduce variance that could occur week to week in the preparation of the same menu item, it would
move the logistics of hosting the event to a truly intense level and even for the diner might be difficult to taste two drinks with potentially
clashing flavours against the same plate of food. As it is I'm satisfied with the format and feel that it was an overall
level playing field for the contestants.
Allowing the public to vote does perhaps open things up to subjective tastes and potentially rewards
safer approaches but again this would apply to the work that bartenders do every day. Balancing current tastes with education and innovation (keep moving
forward but not leaving your clientelle behind) is a general challenge throughout the industry so I think its reasonable to expect more extreme approaches in
pairing drinks to still fly with a wide range of guests is valid. There are also potential challenges related to
guests who only attend one Cocktail Kitchen event. While there may be some variance due to
a group of supporters for a particular bartender attending only one event, I think that things balance themselves out in the end. I would very much encourage my fellow
guests to attend multiple Cocktail Kitchen evenings in order to broaden their perspective but particularly to attend more than one event in a given month to truly see
how two or more bartenders approach pairings for the same menu. To me this is when the guest experience at cocktail kitchen truly
becomes amazing. (The stats geek in me would be curious to see the results if calculating only scores in a given month from guests who had
attended at least two events that month..perhaps it would be in line with overall results, perhaps not. Hard to say.) In any case, I think the experience
of Cocktail Kitchen from both sides of the wood, competitor and guest is extremely informative. Its also fun and delicious. Despite this long serious posting
I have to say that in the end it boils down to good food and drink, interesting people both at the bar and in the audience. All this kept me coming back
every chance I had and leaves me looking forward to the second series of Cocktail Kitchen.
Finally, on a lighter note, I want to mention that in addition to the food and drink, one of the things that I looked forward to were the introductions
by Lauren and Ben each week. Having to go through the same info each time, for an audience that was composed of some first timers and increasingly some guests who
had heard the intro many times has its challenges. Lauren and Ben managed to keep things fresh and fun and informative (even when they forgot something).
Watching these two alone is almost worth the price of admission...I mean that in the best possible way. It clear the team at the refinery has
passion and talent but when you see them act almost like a family it generally is a good sign.
I will add more pictures and some additional commentary later this week. At the moment here are some pictures from the series which
should give some sense of what went on.
July: Hornitos Tequila vs. Central American Cuisine
August: Courvoisier Cognac vs. French Cuisine
September: Bombay Sapphire Gin vs. Vegetarian Indian Cuisine
October: Amaro Rammazotti vs. Italian Cuisine
November: Havana Club Rum vs. Carribean Cuisine
December: Makers Mark Bourbon vs. Southern American Cuisine
January - The Finals: Russia Standard Vodka vs. Russian Food
And so, tonight the grand finale. The winner of the competition, and the lucky
guest who will win a trip will be announced. Russian themed canapes, more vodka cocktails featuring
Russian standard. Stands to be a blast. I'll be there and will tweet live snapshots of the event
(follow me @adrinkerspeace) and
likely do a wrap-up post this week.
Well this is my third MxMo. Not a lot of warning on this one, so I'm down to the wire. Though that would
probably not change even if I had a month to work on it. Still, I've had less time to even think this one
through so its pretty much a case of an off-the-cuff search for inspiration.
This month's challenge is again one I approve of heartily. To summarize,
Josh at Cocktail Assembly has asked us to
come up with Flip recipies that reflect or defy the seasons. (And provide him with Flip recipes
to drink all year).
The flip is one of those cocktails that so successfully defies the seasons. When it’s cold and the icy chill is tearing it’s way through to our bones, the heated flip opens it’s arms and embraces us like a warm blanket. When it’s hot, the cool flip lowers the heat and can bring back that spring day memory of a creamy shake enjoyed on a front porch. There’s never a bad time or temperature to enjoy the frothy glory that is the flip. And that, my friends, is our challenge this month.
I’m sure all of us have had a year full of seasons. Ups and downs; hot and cold. It only seems right to join hands with a cocktail that brings the same variety and say goodbye to the last year, albeit a few weeks late, and welcome the new year.
Well, despite not being a regular flip drinker I was all over this one when I heard it. I'm a big vintage bartender guide geek
and as everyone who knows their JT from their HJ knows, vintage bar guides had only a tiny selection of cocktails
(the word cocktail still largely being applied to drinks made only of liquor, sugar water and bitters) but
often contained hundreds of recipes categorized by the now sadly underapreciated names such as
shrubs, cups, daisies, fixes, sangarees and yes flips. I'm not going to try to distinguish all these
varieties of drinks here or even define a flip (either get a vintage bartenderguide or try this thing called google
if you want to know).
Despite my initial enthusiasm, heading into the deadline day, I only had some vague ideas along the lines of
"How would my favourite Manhattan variants work in flip form?" If any of you are shuddering out there,
don't worry. I was not forced to try (though it would be foolish to dismiss crazy ideas like that out of hand).
I had an idea of doing a spiced rum flip where I spiced the rum myself using nitrogen cavitation (kind of old school meets molecular-mixology riff), but
then saw this tweet by the kickass Derek
of the amazing but still underapreciated Calabash Bistro and knew it was game over
for that particular idea: "@calabashbistro WHose Flip was better?"Jamaican Back Flip" Matusalem 15, pimento dram, demerarra sugar, cream, whole egg and cinnamon".
As mentioned earlier, I was searching for last minute inspiration and it came, as it so often does
around here with the acquisition of a new bottle.
Recently, the outstanding Keefer bar here in Vancouver tweeted that they were down to their last case of
Mekhong and advised their patrons to come in for their signature Milk and Honey cocktail as the Mekhong was not available for re-order and
might be unavailable for an extended or permanent time in B.C. Being a fan of this cocktail I did make it in shortly therafter to
enjoy the lovely blend of Mekhong, Pearl sake, Honey, Rice Milk, Coconut water and Loa Han Gao as concocted by bar manager, cocktail competition winner extraordinaire and CPBA president Danielle Tatarin.
After that drink, I had resigned myself to not enjoying the milk and honey for an extended period of time.
But tonight, I stopped at the liquor store on the way home looking for an ingredient to inspire me for the
MxMo challenge and saw a lone bottle of Mekhong (marked down $15 no less!) and immediately pounced on it
with the idea of giving the milk and honey a shot before I got down to flip makery. Having had a straight shot
of this rum like beverage to get a better feel for the raw spirit I was struck by how well it would work in a flip.
Faintly sweet, hints of spices, tiny edge of funkiness. Many of the best base spirits for flips have some of those
characters (rum, sherry, port, madeira etc...) and I though, well lets run with this...
and so I bring you: The Mae Nam Khong Flip
You will need to infuse some vodka with ground star anise at least one day ahead of time (or use the
nitrogen cavitation shortcut if you have an isi cream dispenser). Once you have the infused vodka ready its pretty straight ahead
preparation for a cold flip. (See recipe below.)
I wanted to make a drink with flavours that were somewhat true to Thailand (eggs aside) but I also have been really enjoying
star anise lately and had some vodka infused with the same. I did a quick search and found that star anise is used in
stews in the north (provinces which abut the Mekong) but also as a flavouring for iced tea in the south. It is also used
to add spice to rum in a drink at the superb local restaurant Maenam
so while its not the first flavour one might think of, it has a place in Thai cuisine and drinks. Likewise the cardamom which does
show up in some Thai dishes and also in a spiced coffee. As far as the challenge goes, my inspiration could best be described as "Christmas in Thailand". Haven't experienced that
firsthand but I think this drink would be refreshing with tropical flourishes and still true to the spirit of
classic flips. Legitimate Thai ingredients but also a taste of winter back at home while on the beach... There is no reason why you could not do this as a hot flip, though I think I might tune the flavours a bit (less acidity, and possibly different
spicing). It may not be as hot as Thailand here in Vancouver right now but its fairly balmy here (14c/57f yesterday) so
I'm actually leaning towards refreshing cool drinks more than rich warmers these days. (Note: A day later, it's chilly again here so I thought I should sort out the hot
version of this drink. Sub the mandarin orange juice for 0.5oz Cointreau and use hot flip process including hot milk - The Dandy)
The name of the drink comes from Thai name for the Mekong River. All rivers are
prefixed with "Mae Nam" meaning mother of waters. So a more literal translation would be Khong, the mother of waters.
I guess thats neither here nor there but more evocative of nature than calling it the Pat Pong Flip.
As usual, I'm looking forward to seeing the roundup post on Cocktail Assembly
(Note: The Roundup post is here and boy there are some genre bending flips that sound really awesome. Need to try a bunch of these soon. - The Dandy) to see what other approaches to this venerable and underappreciated class of drink my fellow cocktail enthusiasts come up with.
Thanks again to Josh at Cocktail Assembly
and to
Paul at Cocktail Chronicles for starting the
Mixology Monday series.
Mae Nam Khong Flip
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Mekhong
- 0.5 oz Vodka
- 1 oz Mandarin Orange Juice
- 1 tsp Agave Nectar
- 1 Whole Egg
|
Prepraration
- Infuse vodka with ground star anise for at least one day (0.5 tsp per oz of vodka)
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Seal the shaker.
- Dry shake vigourously for at least 10 seconds to emulsify.
- Unseal the shaker.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Unseal the shaker.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Double strain into the glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Wine Goblet
Alternatives: Cocktail |
Garnish
Ground, sprinkled on top Star Anise
Ground, sprinkled on top Green Cardamom
|
Having popped my MxMo Cherry Last Month in MxMo LII: Forgotten Cocktails (Check it out
here.) I'm happy to get back into it with the
December MxMo.
If last month was doing the lords work in uneathing worthwhile but forgotten cocktails, this month has a similarly noble goal.
The challenge, as set out by the Chris Amirault at EGullet Forums
is as follows:
At the bar where I now work, I regularly receive requests for the bar staples of the late 20th century, espresso martinis, appletinis, and other things that end inappropriately in -tini. Though these are standard-issue drinks at most bars, Cook & Brown Public House aims for a classic approach that eschews the pucker line, flavored vodkas, and bottled sour mix.
I’ve been talking with other bartenders and they, too, want to find a balance between customer service and stocking products that they can’t or won’t back. In addition, a well-made tweak of someone’s favorite can be just the ticket through the gate to the sort of quality cocktails you want to serve guests at home or at work. Hence this MxMo, devoted to sharing gateway drinks that allow you to say, "If you like that, you’ll love this!"
So, the cocktail that I would like to try to move novice cocktailians past is the cosmopolitan. Much has been said about this cocktail, but in fairness,
the perception of this drink within the cocktail community might be more about the typical cosmo drinker than the drink itself. Yes, its too sweet, even the
De Groff version, but honestly you could do far worse if it is made properly. Still, the perception is that people who drink cosmopolitans will generally not
be drinking classic cocktails. The cosmopolitan is a safe introduction to proper cocktails, but so many of its devotees never evolve into having an appreciation for more
assertive classic cocktails. My goal is to help change that by offering two recipes that might convice a cosmo drinker to expand their horizons cocktail-wise.
Now, I don't want to just do some other vodka-citrus drink and throw in some bitters.
I really want to try to take the cosmopolitan drinker into serious drink territory. First off,
for this to really count for something its Gin or bust. Yeah, others have tried and failed but
really, if you aren't past the whole "I don't drink gin" thing you really cannot appreciate the
true range of classic cocktails. So, we need a gin based drink for the cosmo drinker. Secondly, I want to keep the
drink appearance relatively benign (from the perspective of cosmo drinker). So something with a pink overtone and
something that can be served up in a martini glass.
After some thought I came up with two ideas, both fairly assertive but hopefully not too much of a shock for the novice palate. I decided to
make a cosmo first, then each of the other drinks to be able to compare. I had my wife tasting along side of me.
She is not a cosmo drinker (indeed she is a firm devotee of both gin and absinthe), but did watch sex and the city back in the day, so her opinions about whether my selections
would appeal might have a bit more relevance than mine.
Here is my take on the cosmopolitan. We both found it overly sweet but if you adjust it then its a perfectly nice
light drink. I knew my suggested stand-in drinks needed to have some sugar, but wanted to have a somewhat drier profile.
First up, the Lucien Gaudin. I'm not joking. Gin and campari? Crazy? Perhaps, but the campari is
diluted to the point that some citrus comes out along with bitterness and there is a bit
of sweetnes and more citrus from the cointreau. Likewise the vermouth mediates the intensity of the gin without
masking it. I'm a big fan of this cocktail in its own right, but would it work as a bridge from the
cosmopolitan? Well, its certainly drier and more assertive. It does look lovely and has a very
nice aromatic smell where the gin is evident but integrated into orange and grapefruit notes.
Not a small step, but perhaps there are some cosmopolitan drinkers out there who would respond. My wife
though it was possible, though she did express some reservations.
Next up, the Opera cocktail. I though that the berry flavours in the dubonnet and the intense sweetness of
the maraschino might provide a path forward for the cosmo drinker. Mixing this up, the first impression is
that its a beautiful drink. Jewel like tones and vibrantly clear colour makes a great first impression.
The nose does have some berry, but there is also that funky maraschino aspect that might be a bit much for the
uninitiated. On the palate too, the maraschino adds some assertive funk that is quite prominent. Overall this
drink is more intense with a lot of the gin botanicals coming through. Much as I hoped this would work
both my wife and myself thought it would be a bigger leap from the Cosmopolitan to the Opera than to the Lucien Gaudin. Still,
I'm sure there could be some cosmopolitan drinker out there that would try an opera and have their eyes and palate opened. Perhaps this is step
3 or 4 rather than the first step into classic cocktails.
So there you have it. Perhaps I've been too ambitious, swinging for the fences as it were. But if
even one Cosmo drinking cougar is lead on to appreciate classic cocktails by trying
one of these drinks, well then thats a home run (or fourth base if we want to nod to the SATC angle again). I look forward to see what other
"gateway drinks" the other participants in participants in MxMo LIII have come up with.
Thanks again to Chris Amirault at EGullet Forums
and to
Paul at Cocktail Chronicles for starting the
Mixology Monday series.
Cosmopolitan
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Vodka
- 1 oz Cointreau
- 1 oz Cranberry Juice
- 0.75 oz Lime Juice
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Unseal the shaker.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Double strain into the glass.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Martini
Alternatives: Martini |
Garnish
Twist Orange Peel
|
Lucien Gaudin
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 oz Gin
- 0.5 oz Cointreau
- 0.5 oz Campari
- 0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Old Fashioned Martini |
Garnish
Twist Orange Peel
|
Opera
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 0.25 oz Dubonnet Rouge
- 0.25 oz Maraschino Liquer
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Martini
Alternatives: Cocktail |
Garnish
Slice Orange Peel
|
This is the fist Mixology Monday that I have participated in.
When I started adrinkerspeace.com this summer, I was aware of the MxMo series and
had designs on contributing. However, there was a gap of several months when no MxMo events occurred. In
September, I just missed the
deadline to participate in MxMo LI: Lime and watched as October came and went without
an event.
Happily, with November came a new Mixology Monday and this theme is right up my alley. Much as I like to
play with my own ideas for cocktails, delving through the
vintage bar guides is a major source of inspiration for me.
A number of my favourite cocktails are rediscovered classics
currently enjoying some measure of revival
(Last Word, Hanky Panky, Boulevardier) and I have also found some great drinks that seem not
to be on the radar of the cocktail community (Blackthorn (kirsch version), Deep Sea, Oppenheim). So contributing in some small way to reviving
the great drinks of the past is a noble endeavour in my eyes. Its a real pleasure to contribute something to this effort.
On that note, the challenge, as set out by the good folks at Rock and Rye
is as follows: The challenge this month is to bring to light
a drink that you think deserves to be resurrected
from the past, and placed back into the
spotlight. It could be pre-prohibition, post-war,
that horrible decade known as the 80′s, it
doesn’t really matter. As long as it is
somewhat obscure, post it up. If possible try to
keep to ingredients that are somewhat readily
available. While we all appreciate the discovery
of an amazing cocktail, if we can’t make it, it’s
no fun for anyone.
The recipe I have chosen is one that was introduced to me on a recent pilgrimage to Seattle. On my second
night in town, I had dinner at Tavern Law based on a fantastic meal at Spur Gastropub the previous night as well as
much positive feedback online. Tavern Law did not disappoint. Great food and cocktails,
fantastic service, great atmosphere. Superb on all counts. For my last drink I asked one of the bartenders to make me
something off-menu, wide-open. He made me a Fourth Regiment Cocktail, not telling me initially what it was but mentioning
that it was his favourite drink. As I watched the cocktail being made, I saw rye, sweet vermouth, peychauds, orange bitters
and one dash of house made bitters go into the drink. The drink was served up in an old fashioned glass and
garnished with a twist of lime.
Ok, lime is a bit different and the orange and as yet unknown bitters were also there but
I asked if it was a twist on a Manhattan? The bartender acknowledged that it was in the same family but was a distinct cocktail
with its own history. I tasted the drink, and yes a bit sweeter than modern formulations but still familiar to the manhattan drinker but with some subtle, beguiling differences.
Firstly, the lime added a strange but nice complement to the whiskey and vermouth. Much more prominent than a twist of lemon or orange would be.
Then there was the that unknown bitters. Some spicy, herbaceous aspect that totally stumped me. So close to a manhattan, but very distinctive. Fantastic
really. Spicy, smokey, sweet flavours from the rye and vermouth perked up by bright green citrus. Followed by this accent of herbal funkiness.
Having taken the measure of the drink I replied that this was a spot-on way to finish up but was stumped by the exact nature of the drink.
The bartender relieved my ignorance by indicating that the drink was a Fourth Regiment Cocktail, and that the mystery bitters were celery bitters.
Aha. My delighted confusion was replaced by understanding and appreciation. I was determined to add this drink to my repertoire back at home and
read up on its history.
On returning home I proceeded to make a Fourth Regiment. I did have celery bitters on hand, but only the Fee brothers. I knew that the
character of this version is quite intense so I used a mere drop rather than a solid dash. Even this was right on the edge of being too much.
At the time I had only Canadian Rye (Alberta Premium) which does have some spicy rye character. I cracked the bottle of Antica Formula that I had acquired in
Seattle to see how this would play. I chose to serve this drink on rocks to keep the drink colder.
I was pleased by how my attempt at a Fourth Regiment turned out. The celery was a bit over the top, but the essential balance of the drink was there.
Certainly the version at Tavern Law was superior, but I looked forward to polishing my execution. I've since used other Canadian (Alberta
Springs) and American (Sazerac 6) ryes to make this drink and used Punt E Mes as the vermouth. All fine choices in making a Fourth Regiment.
I reccommend a fairly assertive rye (the big dose of vermouth will round it out), and a quality vermouth really helps. As for the celery bitters, the Fees is very very assertive and not ideal so I hope to get another brand or
make my own soon. The Bitter Truth Celery bitters work perfectly in this drink.
Soon after my effort at home I was on a cocktail stroll of Gastown, the epicenter of cocktail culture in Vancouver
and while enjoying a drink at Boneta noticed that they had a bottle of Bitter Truth Celery bitters.
I asked Bobbi Kay, the bartender on the wood that evening, to make me a Fourth Regiment. She was familiar with the drink, having had H from Revel Room
request it previously. This version used Alberta Springs Rye, Cinzano Rosso Vermouth along with the bitters, and was served up with a lime twist.
Another excellent example of this obscure classic drink. 
Having had the Fourth Regiment at home and several bars, it has become one of my go-to cocktails. I hope that this post will inspire some to try it and perhaps bring a forgotton classic back to prominence. I certainly
look forward to the other forgotten treasures being unearthed by my fellow participants in MxMo LII. Thanks again to our hosts at
Rock and Rye, and to
Paul at Cocktail Chronicles for starting the
Mixology Monday series.
Sidebar
To wrap up, I'd like to speak to the stipulations for this Mixology Monday as set out by our good hosts. Now the Fourth Regiment is not a completely unknown cocktail. First published in the magical
Charles H. Baker tome "Around the world with Jigger Beaker and Flask". Googling this recipe does
turn up a number of links, most notably at Drinkboy. However,
on Drinkboy it is one recipe among many in the database and not the source of a post or article. A spot check of
10 or so of the more prominent cocktail blogs also did not turn up the recipe or posts about the drink so I
felt the obscurity criteria was met reasonably well. I may well have missed a prominent source for this cocktail or it may be more
known that I believe, but it was certainly new to me until recently and seems to be fairly obscure to the cocktail community at large. The other dictum for this challenge is that the ingredients be not
unobtainable. (Hercules anyone?)
I have to admit, on this count, I might be straying close to the line as that one drop
of celery bitters represent an ingredient that was (house made bitters aside) completely
unaivailable for almost a century. Current availability varies by market, but I'm going to say that
if you want to make this drink you will be able to do so. The outstanding Bitter Truth Celery bitters
are available in some markets, as are the Scrappys. Here in Vancouver I have to make do with the Fee's (go very light
on the dash if this is what you have). I'm sure some of the other bitters houses that are springing up all over the world
do celery bitters as well and that most of the world can either buy celery bitters locally or order it from the internet.
Failing that, there are a number of recipes for celery bitters available online so its not beyond the means of a dedicated
cocktail enthusiast to make this ingredient.
Fourth Regiment Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Rye
- 1 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 1 dash Orange Bitters
- 1 dash Peychauds Bitters
- 1 dash Celery Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Old Fashioned
Alternatives: Cocktail |
Garnish
Twist Lime Peel
|
Another edition of my Random Savoy series, where I drink my way
through the Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock, 1930 based on
chance or fate.
This evening, while checking to see if the Dark n' Stormy was
in the Savoy book I found that it did not, but while I was on the page
where the Dark n' Stormy would be if it were present I noticed the
Deep Sea Cocktail.
I've been playing with Gin, Orange (one or more of orange juice,
Orange Bitters, Orange Liqueur, orange peel/oil) absinthe and Dry Vermouth and/or
Sweet Vermouth quite a bit lately. Its actually one of my absolute favourite set
of flavours, so seeing all those ingredients represented here made me want to mix it
right away. Of course, my variations are more modern in taste and are hence drier
but I did want to see what a higher ratio of vermouth would do.
The cocktail apparently originated in WWI and was either in tribute to or
enjoyed by early sub-mariner brigades. In any case, on mixing I saw that the name
was well deserved. The absinth gives a greenish-blue tinge to the drink that does evoke
seawater in certain cases with shallow water and strong light. Very cool.
To taste, yes, an excellent drink. I think I do prefer less vermouth than called for
here but the basic formula is superb. This drink has aromatics, botanical flavours from the Gin,
soft orange undertones and some sweetness from the Vermouth (which also harmonizes with both the
orange and botanical flavours.
The lemon oil spritz in the garnish keeps the sweeter orange flavour in focus. I have to admit, the olive garnish worried me a bit. I'm all for olives in a Dry Martini but
this recipe had enough hint of sugar that it might clash. As it happens, the oils from the olive do
balance the flavours in the drink with the sour and salty notes framing the sweeter aspects of the drink.
Having said that, actually eating the olive in this drink was a bit much. Dare I suggest to pour the drink over
the olive then remove it?
Lots of fun to make and drink the Deep Sea. Ultimately I think I would stick to 3 or
4 parts Gin to 1 part Dry Vermouth but still a delicious and lovely to look at drink.
Deep Sea Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tsp Absinthe
- 1 dash Orange Bitters
- 1 oz Dry Vermouth
- 1 oz Gin
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: |
Garnish
Green Olive
Spritz Lemon Peel
|
Its hot and muggy (by Vancouver standards anyhow). This of course is
having some influence on the choice of cocktails. Some well loved recipes are
on the shelf and some which I might generally consider average are being featured
as they do shine in the heat.
Any of the citrussy Gin classics like Aviation or The Last Word are
still in frequent rotation this season, but boozier and richer drinks (Bijou, Martinez)
are getting a pass. On the other hand, classic whiskey drinks with a strong bitters
presence e.g. the manhattan and its variants are still in the mix. Campari is featuring a lot, as well.
I am definitely indulging in the prototypical 'summer' drinks like
Margaritas, (Hemmingway) Daiquiris, Caiparinhas and Mojitos, though I am mixing them
classically and spare on the sweet while using fresh citrus juice. Rickeys, fizzes and the
like are also featuring prominently. Gin, soda, citrus and perhaps a bit of liqueur or some
fruit/vegetable/herb flavouring is a go-to template in this weather. I've also enjoyed some
Gin punches using both cucumber and melon (both muddled and cubed in the bowl). Above all,
mint drinks are king. Even if I run short of fresh mint, I have house made mint water, mint bitters
and preserved mint puree to add this quintessential summer flavour to my drinks.
Despite the heat its possible to have many excellent and classic drinks. My hope is that
you, the reader, are similarly enjoying the fresher lighter drinks of the season.
I'd written about the Vancouver cocktail recently, mentioning that
since the key ingredient (being Benedictine Liqueur) was not available to purchase at retail in the province of British Columbia
that the civic minded cocktail enthusiast was best to frequent a quality bar to sample our fair city's drink.
While a case of Benedictine can be purchased as a special order from the government stores. This might be
tenable for a bar, but it's a commitment that would likely exceed the reasonable capacity of even the most ardent
cocktail enthusiast. I mean, a case of Gin or Bourbon is one thing, but Benedictine? Most cocktail recipes that
feature it use a dash, a teaspoon, at most a half ounce.... In any case, until recently the options were limited to
bringing a bottle back while on travel to more open markets for booze (or prevailing on someone who was travelling)
or making a nudge nudge wink wink arrangement with someone who happened to have some bottles on hand.
Fortunately and unexpectedly this all became a moot point to me. This evening as I browsed the shelves of
the BCL specialty store at 39th and Cambie I noticed that beside the mocking B & B bottles (of course the diluted
product is readily available in B.C. taunting those who want the undiluted complexity and syrupy goodness of Benedictine) were about
8 bottles of Benedictine along with a hand written note to the effect that this was a one time offering (perhaps a return from
a bar or some other circumstance). Needless to say I immediately grabbed a bottle and
spent the ride home anticipating being able to make a proper Vancouver cocktail at last.
The mixing of this drink is quite straightforward. It is a stirred drink, bearing a strong similarity to
a Martinez. For this particular drink I used the New Amsterdam Gin I recently purchased thinking that a
somewhat fuller bodied gin would be nice with the richness of the Benedictine. I also used
Punt E Mes as the sweet vermouth, thinking that the complexity and increased bitterness compared to say
Cinzano Rosso would also serve the drink well. For the orange bitters I went with one dash each of Fees Orange
bitters and Victoria Spirits Twisted and Bitter thinking that the fairly sweet Fees and the spare Twisted and
Bitter would both add some distinct character.
The end result was very nice, and up to the versions I have had at various local bars. Rich but not overly sweet,
complex, with herbal, nutty earthy notes. A hint of orange on the nose and on the finish. Lots of complexity and flavour in this one.
This may not be a universally known cocktail but it does deserve to be revived and spread to the
new cocktail hotspots across the globe and to be promoted and discussed in the burgeoning online cocktail community.
Well, as I sip the drink and compose this passage I have to say that I am very pleased, and proud, to
be able to do this lovely city's cocktail history justice at home. This is a very classic drink and well worthy
of bearing Vancouver's Name. Perhaps with the resurgence of classic cocktail bars, barkeeps and customers occurring
today we will see a Manhattan like process whereby variations of this drink are anointed with the name of Vancouver
neighbourhoods or suburbs. Hmmn...time to start thinking about the Kitsilano Cocktail, or the Gastown, 'the drive' and so on...
Vancouver Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.25 oz Benedictine
- 2 dashes Orange Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
|
On Thursday July 8, I attended the inaugaral event in the Cocktail Kitchen series hosted by The Refinery.
In essence this is a long running contest, where on each Thursday of a given month a new bartender will compete
by matching 3 cocktails to 3 dishes. Each month has a region of the world to inspire the menu and a base spirit for the cocktails.
Each of the bartenders for the month will be pairing their drinks with the same menu. Each bartender will have 1 week to plan their drinks
against the menu, and will be able to choose 3 of The Refinery's 19 (and counting) varieties of house bitters to use in their cocktails.
Attendees will taste all 3 courses and sample all 3 matched cocktails for the
very reasonable price of $30 including tax and tip.
For the month of July, the regional theme is Central America and the featured spirit is Hornitos Tequila. The competitors are as follows:
- July 8 - Lauren Mote (The Refinery)
- July 15 - Colin McDougal (Blue Water Cafe, The Pourhouse)
- July 22 - David Bain (West Restaurant)
- July 29 - Ben De Champlain (The Refinery, West Restaurant)
The menu is designed by Ben de Champlain.
The schedule for upcoming months will be announced moving forward but the culinary regions are as follows:
- August 2010 - FRANCE
- September 2010 - SOUTH EAST ASIA
- October 2010 - ITALY
- November 2010 - THE WEST INDIES
- December 2010 - INDIA
- January 2011 - Region: EASTERN EUROPE
- January - June 2011 - Countries and Spirits to be determined
I arrived at The Refinery a few minutes before 7 and the room was starting to fill. Over the next
few minutes the remainder of the guest arrived. A full house. Not unexpected but a good
sign for the series. I grabbed a seat at the long table and prepared for an evening
of excellent food and cocktails.
Among the attendees were several local bartenders including Jay Jones (Campagnolo/Shebeen), Shaun Layton (L'Abbatoir)
and David Bain (West). Online and social media were also well represented with representatives from Foodists, Granville Magazine, Urban Diner
and yours truly of A Drinker's Peace and metaCuisine.
Once the crowd had settled in one of the partners from The Refinery introduced the
series, providing the background info, instructions for scoring the event and introducing the July secret spirit: Hornitos Tequila.
Lauren and Ben also provided a bit of background on
what they were doing.
First Course
After the introductory remarks the first course and its accompanying
cocktail were served.
Qualicum Scallop Ceviche (inspired by the WEST COAST)
Chile, cilantro and citrus, braised fennel, guajillo dressing
Aguas Frescas:
(No Picture Available)
- 1.50 oz Hornitos tequila
- 0.50 oz homemade sherry fennel bitters
- 1.50 oz watermelon water
- 0.75 oz lime juice
- 1.00 oz cane sugar
- mint and cucumber foam
The scallop ceviche was delicious, firmly textured, almost meaty. Light heat, with a mellow
citrus flavour. The braised fennel was subtle, with a hint of sweetness. The Guajillo pepper dressing
provided a hit of bright heat that balanced but did not overwhelm the fresh flavour of the scallops and
the sweet tender fennel. This was a very successful first course.
The Aquas Frescas cocktail embodied fresh summer flavours. A very refreshing drink,
with balanced sweetness. The tequila was evident but not overpowering. While the mint and cucumber foam
did decompose into liquid sooner than might be desired, the flavour remained, which added refreshing crisp
herbal and vegetal notes to the watermelon base. An excellent summer cocktail. The only missing ingredient was
the sherry fennel bitters - I was not able to find these flavours in the drink, but perhaps it was
acting in concert with the cucumber and mint. All in all a refreshing start to the evening.
The Aguas Frescas cocktail did pair nicely with the scallop ceviche, though the most overt attempt to
bridge the flavours via the fennel bitters in the drink asserted itself subliminally if at all. I appreciate
the use of watermelon, mint and cucumber rather than a citrus drink to match the ceviche. All of these flavours worked
with the fresh meaty scallops, and the dish rather than the drink provided the acidity. Ultimately, I would say that
the drink and the dish were both very good in their own rights, and pared harmoniously, though no real synergy
occurred. A very good but not sublime pairing.
Second Course
Poached Prawn with Tortilla (inspired by the CARIBBEAN and the Gulf Central American Countries)
Caribbean jerk spice poached prawns, tomato chayote and pineapple salad, pimento dressing (all spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, habanero hot sauce) , avocado crema and homemade soft tortilla.
Pairing: Tamarind Bushy Tree
- 1.50 oz Hornitos tequila
- 0.50 oz homemade house bitters
- 0.75 oz lemon juice
- 1.00 oz tamarind allspice syrup
- 0.25 oz cilantro water
- chili powder & dehydrated mango salt
This second dish, featuring jerk prawns, salads sauces and tortilla provided diners with an
interactive interlude. You could assemble various components onto the tortilla and taste, varying your
experience from bite to bite. The prawns were excellent; earthy spicy with a strong allspice and
clove character, yet the clean fresh prawn taste was not obscured. I'd be happy eating a big pile of
these on their own. The salad was mildly acidic but also had some richness and sweetness. Overall, this
provided a cooling influence to the spice of the prawns. The dressing provided a complimentary note
to the jerk prawns with more alspice and heat. The avocado crema was rich and smooth, delicious in its own
right but I felt a bit too much for the prawns unless used sparingly. The hand made tortilla had a good
texture. I found all elements combined to be a bit too much - but though that the prawns and salad to
be outstanding together.
The Tamarind Bushy Tree is an assertive sweet/sour/spicy drink that packs a lot of flavour in. I'm fond of
Mexican sodas with Tamarind flavour like Jaritos Tamarindo but this is a whole other level of complexity. Still,
a very smart move in finding this flavour that could stand up to strongly spiced food from the region.
By adding allspice to the syrup there is a matching flavour to the prawns. Cilantro water provides a cooling
edge at the finish of the drink. The glasses were rimmed with a mix of chili powder and dehydrated mango salt
which provides more complexity on the sweet/sour/spicy base of the drink. I liked this drink a lot.
This course was the real challenge to match. I think I heard Ben mention he wanted to make sure the
competitors had to really show their skills here instead of giving a more conventional set of flavours with
well established matches. In any case, I think with this drink Lauren went for a complimentary approach, a strong
drink that had complex and dynamic flavours. The allspice in the drink did provide a bit of a bridge for the flavours
but on the whole I'd say the drink stood up to the dish rather than meshing completely. Having said that,
I really think this is a challenge to match and will pay close attention to see how other competitors handle this one.
Third Course
Seared Flank Steak (inspired by the YUCATAN region of Mexico)
Achiote & Driftwood Whitebark beer marinated flank steak, jicama, watercress and cucumber salad, jalapeno and cilantro dressing, grilled onions.
Horchata Picante
- 1.00 oz Hornitos Tequila
- 0.25 oz homemade ancho & chipotle bitters
- 0.50 oz homemade chocolate vermouth
- 4.00 oz almond and rice milk horchata
I had very high hopes for this dish. Flank steak is one of my favourite cuts. I am also
a big fan of achiote paste (annato) and rare meat with an acidic salad or grilled veggies is
one of the classic combinations. Happily, this dish was executed as nicely as it was conceived. The
meat was just chewy enough, rare and still expressing its delicious meaty essence. The marinade
amplified but did not obscure the natural flavour of the steak. The salad was nicely assertive to balance the meat and the grilled
green onions also complimented the meat. Nothing exotic here - just outstanding simple food.
The Horchata Picante seemed to be a real labour of love. Lauren detailed the process to make homemade horchata and orgeat
to the guests, giving us an appreciation of the effort behind the homemade products that taste so much better than
commercial versions. I'm certainly inspired to give the orgeat a try one of these days. The choclate vermouth
and ancho/chipotle bitters gave the rich sweet base a lot of complexity, heat, hint of chocolate, hint of wine.
The tequila was a bit submerged but I think did brighen up the drink, and contributed to the overall flavour even if it
did not star. A very unique drink and worth all the effort put into it.
Individually, both the food and the drink were spectacular. What impresses
even more though is how well they matched up. Not an obvious way to go at all for pairing with
red meat but really this matchup was a triumph. The rich nutty, malty creamy horchata on its own may not
have paired with the spicy, earthy marinade of the steaks but the chocolate vermouth provided a classic Mexican
bridge to the achiote while the ancho and chipotle bitters perked the rich horchata up enough to match well
with the salad and grilled veggies. I will definitely be using this
course as my reference as we move forward in the competition.
Well, at the end of the evening we all wrote our scores down and submitted our scorecards.
It would be a little unfair to reveal my ratings. I can say that while I was very
impressed, I was a little cautious about scoring too high at the first event which
would leave little room for improvement in scores as the event progresses. I will try
to retain a clear perspective over the months ahead and do my very best to rate each
nights food and drink objectively as I build up more notes and scores. Also, I very much
hope to attend at least two events in any given month in order to compare the matching
of the cocktails to the same food - a very instructive opportunity I think. So both the
food and the drink were very good and well matched. Ok, I'll reveal one score; I gave
Lauren a 5 for inspiration. I'm sure that is not a surprise and I very much doubt that
I was the only one to do so.
In summation, the first instance of the Refinery Cocktail Kitchen was an unqualified success.
This type of event is long overdue and I think when we look back this will be one of the things that
we recognize as signals that the Vancouver Cocktail scene has come of age. (I guess the frequent Vancouver podium
domination in national and international competitions might also be a pretty clear signal...) In any case,
this series promises to be an outstanding event and can reward with sublime moments such as the third course pairing
from this evenings event. Long story short - book now.
Note: Pictures really not doing the event justice...only had the iPhone and lighting
was a little low for non-flash photography. Next time I should be better prepared.
I picked up a bottle of Cognac tonight. Courvoisier VS as it happens. Ok, nothing too exciting, but still I wanted to mix
some of the Brandy cocktails I had come across and thought even an entry level Cognac would give decent results. Looking through my
notes and recipe database I found three cocktails that I wanted to make: Between The Sheets, Brandy Crusta and Vieux Carre. I had
had both the Between the Sheets and Vieux Carre before but had never mixed myself. I omitted perhaps the best known Brandy cocktail,
the Sidecar (excepting perhaps the Alexander) as I have found it to be too acidic and in any case not tremendously inspiring.
I mixed the between the sheets first. While I do very much like an Amber Rum in this drink I had also recently picked up a bottle of
the excellent 4 year old Flor De Cana White Rum from Nicaraugua. This is a complex white Rum that brings a lot to a drink so stuck
with the stipulated White Rum rather than my preferred amber. Looking at a number of printed and online recipes for this drink,
the quantity of lemon juice seems to vary a lot (as does the amount of orange liqueur) with historical recipes requesting a dash
and some modern recipes going as far as 1/2 oz and perhaps beyond. I took a more modern approach and used 1/2 oz lemon juice but after tasting
would reduce down to a teaspoon to capture more of the balance of the original drink. Its not that this drink was bad as mixed, far from it,
but it really did seem to lose its distinct charm and become just another lemon dominated cocktail. The richness of the Rum and the
smoothness of the Cognac were a bit lost in this one. Oh well, lesson learned.
Next up, I went very old school with the Brandy Crusta (though following a contemporary adaptation). I sugared the rim and
did the thick lemon peel from the entire circumference of a half lemon. I did not have a completely ideal glass for this garnish,
where a glass that swells then curls in will nicely accomodate the peel to extend beyond the glass rim. Still, a fun garnish.
You can also only rim 1/2 the circumference of the glass with sugar to allow the drinker to make their own mind up about the
sugar, though I think in the classic drink like this a fully sugared rim is just fine. Now this drink was really excellent.
Not much different than straight cognac, the small amount of orange liqueur completely subdues any heat from the Cognac.
(Pretty darn smooth straight, but this takes it even further) Both the orange liquer and the bitters amplify flavours within
the cognac and by drinking through the lemon peel garnish a subtle lemon oil character is added as well. The sugared rim further
softens and sweetens the mix, but truly is not essential. Sans sugar this drink is still exceptionally smooth and nuanced. Yum.
Finally, to conclude the trilogy of Brandy drinks I made a Vieux Carre. Though I have to confess, I do not have Benedictine on
hand and so used a half teaspoon of Amaro Ramazotti. While I recommend the Benedictine if you can get it, any herbal liquer
should somewhat hit the mark. (Or if not hit the mark at least make a good drink when compbined with the Cognac, Rye and Sweet
Vermouth). Well, this is a very complex sippable drink. My slightly bastardized version was pretty tasty but I will certaily
try a proper version once I get ahold of some Benedictine (have a source lined up - just need to follow through).
I've always been a bit hesitant with Brandy based cocktails, probably due to the usage of really cheap harsh brandy by many bars
(At least as far as my early experiences with cocktails go). More recently
I have had some excellent renditions at local bars using Cognac or better Brandies that prompted me to get some Cognac and mix with
it. Overall, I am very happy with the results. The Crusta and the Vieux Carre were both complex and smooth. I felt the Between
The Sheets to be a bit simple given the quality of the rum and cognac but I think this was my fault. I will reduce the lemon to
classical proportions next time and suspect I'll enjoy more as a result.
Brandy Crusta
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Cognac
- 1 tsp Cointreau
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with crushed ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Double strain into the glass as prepared below.
- Add a cube of ice.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Champagne Flute |
Garnish
Rimmed
Thick circular cut of the peel of half a lemon; placed inside the glass to form a funnel for the drink, ideally projecting past the rim
of the glass. Lemon Peel
|
Between the sheets
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 oz White Rum
- 1 oz Cointreau
- 0.5 oz Lemon Juice
- 1 oz Cognac
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill)
- Double strain
|
Glassware
Preferred: Martini
Alternatives: Cocktail |
Garnish
Twist Lemon Peel
|
Vieux Carre
Recipe
Ingredients
- 0.75 oz Rye
- 0.75 oz Cognac
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.5 tsp Benedictine
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- 1 dash Peychauds
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Old Fashioned
Alternatives: |
|
Reading (and mixing) my way through "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails" by Ted Haigh, I came across
a recipe for the Derby cocktail. It piqued my interest as it combined bourbon and lime juice. These are not flavours
that I ordinarily think about joining, but still thought it worth a try.
The proportions of Bourbon and lime are pretty close, and there is also a good slug of Cointreau which might be overly
sweet if not for the acidity in the lime. After mixing and drinking, I have to say - not bad. The Bourbon character is present, but less rich and oaky than
usual, while the lime is less completely sour than expected for three quarters of an ounce. The sweetness of the vermouth
and cointreau help to temper the acidity of the lime and nudge the flavour into a more neutral citrussy direction. While still
a sour (basically a Whisk(e)y sour with lime) this take on a Derby is refreshing without being too tart. It also has depth from the
Vermouth and Bourbon.
While I won't necessarily go back to this cocktail all that often its really good to know that you can do something with bourbon
(or rye) and limes. I've been stuck with lime as my only citrus option before and ended up doing Manhattans or variants (not a bad thing of course...)
rather than risk mixing assertive whiskey and lime. Now I know that some sweet vermouth and cointreau can bridge the gap and
allow me to mix a refreshing sour in such circumstances.
Now I alluded to "this take on a Derby" above, and of course the post mentions two ways of the Derby. Vintage Spirits and
forgotten cocktails mentions that there are several variations, noting that this is the favourite of the author. I had a look
at the Savoy book to see if one or more such variations were documented and found a single, completely different recipe. (Similar
to the Blackthorn where there are multiple completely unrelated drinks with the same name.) Though the recipes are too different to
compare, I can at least mix both and offer an opinion on their relative merits.
Now up, the Savoy version of the Derby. This is a complete 180 degree turn. Gin, augmented by fresh mint and tempered only
by two dashes of peach bitters. In spirit at least this is a martini, and quite unlike the preceding recipe. Using an assertive Gin
(Bombay Saphire in this case) the Derby is a very lean, herbaceous drink, though a clean fresh mint flavour dominates the other
botanicals. The Gin is not hidden by any means but the mint is the up front flavour, with juniper and the other flavouring agents coming
through in the mid-palate and finish. There is a real sharpness, almost a burn on the tip of the tongue from the mint oil released by the shaking.
To get an idea of how assertive the mint is, take 4 large fresh leaves of mint and chew. The peach bitters seem a bit lost but presumably temper the sharpness of all the herbs and spices. On the very end of
the aftertaste there is some sweetness and a hint of peach flavour that comes through, but even so its subtle. The length of the finish is likewise
very impressive.
If you like dry gin martinis and enjoy an assertive mint flavour, this is a good cocktail. In my case, yes, I like this.
Its still a fairly severe drink and one to be sipped and savoured rather than gulped. Still, there are plenty of sweeter mint drinks,
so I'm pleased at the assertive dry character of this Derby. There is an almost medicinal character to this drink and indeed, should you need
the mint oil but not want a tea I expect this would be a good means of delivering the essential oils of the mint. (Possibly even more soluble
in the Gin than in boiling water)
In the end, it would be useless to compare these two cocktails that share the same name. At most, I can assess them individually.
The version from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails is a reasonably tasty variant on a Whiskey sour, and useful when you have
only limes and Whiskey. The version from the Savoy is a solid martini variant but be sure those you serve it to like mint.
If I had to choose a preferred version, well, they are both somewhat 'niche' drinks, very useful in certain circumstances but neither
likely to make it into my core repertoire. I guess that makes it a draw.
Derby Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 oz Bourbon
- 0.5 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.5 oz Cointreau
- 0.75 oz Lime Juice
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Double strain.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: |
Garnish
Sprig Mint Leaves
|
Derby Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 dashes Peach Bitters
- 2 sprigs Mint Leaves
- 2 oz Gin
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker.
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill).
- Double strain.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: |
|
I had just done some book shopping after dinner this warm summer evening, and having acquired
the excellent "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails" by Ted Haigh thought I should perhaps drop by one of the
better local bars to read for a bit. Should I come across a particularly interesting recipe I could
then perhaps have it made for me. Since I was close to The Corner Suite Bistro Deluxe I decided this would
be the best bet. The bar is comforatable and elegant, with lots of natural light when the sun is up.
The Corner Suite Bar is helmed by the knowledgeable Steve Da Cruz whose near encyclopaediac "The Genuine Article"
is itself a pleasure for a cocktail enthusiast to read ( PDF).
Moreover the back bar is stocked with some rare and interesting bottles that might just be the difference in
being able to make a vintage drink. Definitely the right place to go.
I arrived in the in between time, the tables in the dining room were wrapping up but the evening crowds were yet to arrive,
so again good for a quiet read and a quality drink or two. Later the lights are dimmed and as the room fills, a buzz of conversation
rises but on this summer evening before the sun set it was a perfect moment for reflection on the craft of classic bartending.
Steve was at the bar, and knowing my interest in the history of cocktails mentioned that they had just acquired a first edition
printing of Charles Baker's "The Gentleman's Companion Vol II: Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask". Steve was kind enough to let me read this
book while I sojourned at the bar so my original intent of diving into the Ted Haigh book was deferred until later. Interesting though
that the very first recipe in the Ted Haigh book cites "The Gentleman's Companion" as an outstanding resource and contains the
Alamagoozlum cocktail published therein. Rather fun to have the modern "Cocktail Archaeology" book and one of the original source
materials for it in both front of me. Also interesting to read the original recipe and the adaptation side by side. Total cocktail geek fun! Of course,
I was not there to read about classic cocktails alone but to drink them as well.
I started off with a Journalist cocktail. Steve has added a new page to The Genuine Article with a
short list of some of the house favourites. The Journalist stood out for me as the list of ingredients
is right up my alley and also the origin was cited as the Savoy Cocktail book. As I am currently reading
and drinking my way through that fine volume, I thought I should give the Journalist a try.
The drink arrived, briskly cold but with a fine clean citrus aroma and a hint of richness underneath
from the sweet Vermouth. I was very happy with the taste; dry, a bit viscous and an extreme amount of
citrus flavour. Given the small quantities of lemon juice and orange liqueur I was surprised at how
intensely the flavours came through. While not bone dry, this cocktail is fairly crisp and certainly refreshing.
An excellent apertif in all ways.
I had eaten dinner an hour or so earlier so I was not really hungry but was considering some small bites
to go along witht the drinks. I am a huge fan of the massive cheese list at the Corner Suite but today
decided to go with the petite croque mademoisselle - a mini sandwich that packs a massive flavour punch.
The crisp and browned bread is oozing gruyere and good ham, topped with a perfect sunny side up quail egg.
Just a perfect delicious nibble. The rich flavours were nicely offset by the citrus and hint of bitterness
in the Journalist cocktail. So the synergy I was hoping for in having a bite along with drinks did materialize.
Since I was engrossed in reading The Gentleman's Companion I decided to have a second drink, and
on the recommendation of the house had a Vancouver cocktail. This has been described as a Martinez with Benedictine
instead of Maraschino. I think thats a pretty apt summation. A bit sweeter and funkier than the Journalist, the Vancouver
is notheless profoundly flavoured and clean finishing. Definitely one to have while at a better local cocktail bar as the
Benedictine is not available locally in retail stores (barring a case order on spec). Rather than dilute the intent of the drink with B&B (which perversely is stocked at the BCL) best
to save this for trips to Vancouver bars that respect the city's cocktail heritage as does The Corner Suite Bistro Deluxe.
Journalist
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 1/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 1/4 oz Dry Vermouth
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- 1 tsp Cointreau
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: |
Garnish
Twist Lemon Peel
|
Vancouver Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 0.75 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 0.25 oz Benedictine
- 2 dashes Orange Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Combine ingredients in shaker glass
- Fill shaker glass up with ice
- Stir until properly cold and dilute
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled cup.
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Martini |
|
Brazil may have crashed out of the world cup, but in the heat, their national drink is still a refreshing summer cocktail.
Cachaca is the native spirit of Brazil. A close relative of Rum, made with cane sugar rather than molasses (technically could be
considered an Agricole Rum) this spirit is generally smooth and slightly sweet.
The most famous cocktail that features Cachaca is the Caipirinha; basically a variation on a daiquiri using Cachaca in place of Rum.
I've had various Caipirinhas over the years and considered it a refreshing summer cocktail without too much complexity or intensity. Basically
a prototypical summer drink that I'd put in the same boat as basic Daiquiris, Margaritas and the like.
I first bought a bottle of Cachaca a decade or more ago, but if I made Caipirinhas at the time it was only with the most basic tools and technique.
If I did, there was no lasting impression and I had not bought Cachaca since.
Today, given the
heat I decided it was in order to make some lighter Summery drinks so picked up a bottle of Sagatiba Cachaca. This is a very clean, smooth
spirit with a hint of sweetness and only a tiny bit of weight behind it. Less flavour than many white Rums, but does have a very nice smooth character
. While the sugar cane flavour is very mild, it has a delicacy that most molasses based Rums lack. In other words, it won't drive the drink but
will smooth things over on the back end and contribute in subtle ways to the overall richness and flavour of the drink.
I mixed the Caipririnhas pretty much to spec, and my previous opinion of the drink were reinforced; refreshing. Nice hint of
sweetness and an almost grassy flavour that peeks through after the up front citrus fades. Nothing too special but a good sipper in the heat.
I think I would like to revisit this cocktail if I ever source some premium or craft Cachaca. Using first rate Tequila and Rum were revelations
which expanded my understanding of Margaritas and Daiquiris respectively so should I ever have the opportunity to taste some first rate Cachaca I
would love to revisit the Caipirinha as well as sipping it neat. Until then, probably this drink does not quite deserve the fluffy rep it has gained
by virtue of being a trendy/ubiquitous drink often made carelessly. Done properly its a solid summer cocktail and perhaps with the right base could
be elevated into something truly special.
Caipirinha
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Cachaca
- 1/2 fruit Lime
- 1 tsp Table Sugar
|
Prepraration
- Slice the 1/2 lime into wedges and place in glass.
- Add sugar.
- Muddle lime and sugar together.
- Add fill glass with cracked or crushed ice.
- Pour cachaca over ice.
- Stir Briefly
|
Glassware
Preferred: Old Fashioned
Alternatives: Collins |
|
A while back, at the Diamond, Geoff Robinson Served me up a Blackthorn, noting that he had found
the recipe in an older book. The ingredients, in this drink are Gin, Kirsch and Dubonnet. I was truly
impressed by this one. The sweet port and berry flavours of the Dubonnet were accentuated by the sharper
cherry and almond from the Kirsh and underneath the spiciness of the Gin (Beefeater 24 in this case)
adding to the finish. Boozy but drinkable. Fruity but not sweet. As a bonus it looks fantastic, especially
when backlit in a faceted cocktail glass (check the banner image for the site....)
Soon after I decided to acquire the makings of the Blackthorn so bought some Dubonnet and Kirsch (Gin was already
on hand needless to say). Since then I've been able to pull this excellent but obscure drink out from time to time and of
course more ingredients are always a good thing when exploring the diverse world of classic cocktails.
When I went to look up the recipe though, I found that the Blackthorn recipes on Google's first page of results were full of
recipes that cited Irish Whiskey as the base and other's that called for Sloe Gin. To be sure, the version I was after was there as
well.
I could not find much on the origins of these 3 distinct Blackthorn cocktail recipes but was able to get a consistent
picture of the ingredients of the version I wanted and proceeded to make it. I've made it on several subsequent occasions,
most recently tonight and while I am happy with the given recipe you can tweak it a little bit if desired. Orange Bitters or
and orange twist instead of lemon are both nice variations. An assertive Gin works best for this cocktail. I've tried with sweet Vermouth instead of Dubonnet but find that the
berry-like character of the Dubonnet really plays off the Kirsch while the sweet Vermouth falls a bit flat in this context.
In any case, this is a good one to have in your repertoire.
Blackthorn
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz Gin
- 0.5 oz Dubonnet Rouge
- 0.5 oz Kirsch
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Stir until properly cold and dilute.
- Sample and taste. Adjust if necessary.
- Strain into chilled glass
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Cocktail |
Garnish
Twist Lemon Peel
|
My second go at a randomly selected recipe from the Savoy Cocktail book. I opened the book and landed on pp132-133 from Raspberry
Cocktail to Re-Vigorator Cocktail. Several of the recipes were for 6 people, the Re-vigorator called for Kola tonic. Of the
remainder, I settled on the Raymond Hitch Cocktail as it seemed like it would be light and refreshing - also had just acquired
a bottle of Twisted and Bitter Orange bitters from Victoria spirits earlier in the day.
This recipe boils down to orange juice, sweet Vermouth and Orange Bitters shaken. It does call for a slice of pinapple, but
I thought it would be acceptable to omit that. I used half Cinzano Rosso and half Punt E Mes to balance sweetness with bitterness.
This seemed to work well. Overall a tasty light cocktail that is fairly refreshing. Don't know if I would specifically make this
again, but have certainly mixed orange juice with Vermouth before and even topping with soda for a summer refresher and will certainly
do that again.
Raymond Hitch Cocktail
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 fruit Orange Juice
- 2 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 2 Dashes Orange Bitters
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill)
- Double strain
|
Glassware
Preferred: Cocktail
Alternatives: Old Fashioned |
Garnish
Slice Pineapple
|
I came across a reference to Bitters being made on Vancouver Island by Victoria Spirits
who also make Victoria Gin. Apparently its only available in town at the Robson st. location
of Liberty Wines. Today I swung by there, to get a bottle for myself and also one for
a friend as a present.
The bottle contains 100ml, is made of blue glass and proof is noted at 45% abv. The label
is fairly distinctive with a portrait of a young lady, in Victorian garb. The cost for the
bottle is $9.95 CDN. Ingredients listed as water, alcohol and natural flavourings. Was noted as batch #1 on the
label.
On arriving home, I cracked the seal on the bottle. The bottle has a dropper style plastic cap so
that you will dispense the bitters in drops or dashes, though you do need to give a proper shake to dislodge the
Bitters. Only a faint aroma comes through the small aperture. I shook a drop onto my inner wrist to smell and taste.
A faint orange aroma comes out, along with some heat from the alcohol. Tasting it provided a hint of dry orange flavour
and some astringency. Nothing too impressive at this point.
To test drive in a drink, I made a martini in classic 2/3 gin (Bombay Sapphire) to 1/3 dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat),
then added 4 drops of the bitters; stirred and
strained, with no garnish. Immediately after straining, with the drink very cold only a faint hint of orange and bitterness came through,
but as the drink warmed the orange really came out and integrated well with the Vermouth and Gin. There was also a faint orange
tinge to the drink. In the end, these bitters enlivened the drink quite a bit. They are more subtle than Fees Orange Bitters for
certain. Since I have only had Regans in drinks mixed in bars and cannot do any controlled tasting at home I'll defer comparison to
for the time being. Overall I am happy with this purchase and will watch to see what else Victoria spirits may come up with.
The first in my "Random Savoy" series. When searching for inspiration (and something to drink)
I periodically open the classic Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock and open to a random page.
If a drink on that page catches my fancy (and I have the makings for it) I will proceed to mix.
Otherwise I repeat the process till I find something interesting that I am in a position to make.
This series will document my experiences and impressions in making and tasting such random recipes
in the book.
I opened the book to page 66-67, which spans the Elk Cocktail through to the Eye Opener Cocktail.
However, I was immediately drawn to the Eton Blazer cocktail. Seemingly very close to a fizz, this
recipe calls for Gin, sugar, lemon to be shaken, along with Kirsch (hence my interest) strained into
a tall glass then topped with soda. I was looking for something long and cool, but not insipid. I did not
want merely carbonation and acidity with the gin diluted to the point of meekness (all to common in Gin fizzes and
rickeys). The Kirsch gave me hope. I mixed the ingredients and strained into a highball glass. I already knew I wanted
to short the soda to keep as much intensity as possible. Before pouring the soda over the base I inhaled and tasted.
This is tasty. An asertive dry almondy nose and flavour from the kirsh meets refined dry cherry flavour with an underlying
juniper and aromatic base from the Gin. (I used Bombay Sapphire in this case) I'd happily have drank that as is but
did want to get a feel for the cocktail as described in the book and also to hydrate a bit so poured a modest amount of soda
over the base drink (2:1). This did dilute the intensity, but all the core flavours of almond, cherry and juniper with
accents from the other botanicals in the Gin stuck around. At a higer ratio of soda to base drink this might fade into the
indistinct slightly sour province of Gin fizzes and rickey's but keeping a bit of concentation in the final drink results in
a very nice balance between refreshment and flavour. Not sure what any of this has to do with an Eton Blazer but very glad
to have stumbled upon this drink. I will certainly reprise it in both short and sodafied form especially in hot weather.
Eton Blazer
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Gin
- 0.5 oz Kirsch
- 1/2 Fruit Lemon Juice
- 1/2 Tbsp Table Sugar
|
Prepraration
- Add all ingredients into a shaker glass.
- Fill shaker glass with ice.
- Seal the shaker
- Shake vigourously until cold (no longer than necessary to chill)
- Double strain
|
Glassware
Preferred: Collins
Alternatives: Old Fashioned |
Garnish
Twist Lemon Peel
Fill glass Club Soda
|
All Posts
|
Cocktail Recipes By Ingredient
Inspirations
Vancouver
Barjonesing
Poivremedia
The Refinery
The Genuine Article
Spirits and Cocktails
The Diamond
L'Abattoir
Alibi Room
The World
Cocktail Chronicles
MxMo
Rye Patriotism
Bunnyhugs
Underhill-Lounge
Cocktail Virgin Slut
Drinkboy
Oh Gosh!
Kaiser Penguin
Ardent Spirits
Cask Strength
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