Sunstone Cobbler

Mmm... Leave it to seeing what a true master can do with peanut orgeat on Twitter and suddenly you find yourself back in the game with a recipe you've been holding for some time. The balance had been tricky on this one, and the particulars of the individual ingredients and the timing of quickly-melting pellet ice made development a bit of a shapeshifter.

We have a somewhat standard Sherry Cobbler. Deepened with bittering ingredients and an oh-so-savory peanut orgeat. You might think that nuttiness on top of nutty sherry would be overkill. That would be incorrect. Still, a simple recipe, because you don't need an ingredient more than the below.

Sunstone Cobbler

4 oz dry oloroso sherry

1/2 oz peanut orgeat

1/2 oz - 3/4 oz cold brew coffee

2 dashes Mexican chocolate bitters (Bittermen's Xocolotl Mole, 12 drops)

Mint, orange wheel, berries for garnish

Combine non-garnish in a shaker with a few cubes ice. Shake to blend. Add mint and orange to tall pellet-ice-filled glass and pour in mixture. Add extra ice if needed and couch berries oh-so-cutely on top.

The rest of your summer afternoon will have a genuine summer afternoon feel in these hectic-paced days.


Your recipe balance mileage may vary depending on whether you use a dry oloroso or a sweeter amontillado. I think you can get away with up to 3/4 oz coffee despite it being such an ice-loaded drink that will take down the sweetness levels over time, but it depends on your sherry, orgeat and coffee densities.

Berries are a must, if only for the PB&J effect.

Punchatawny Phil

Pellet, who much resembles one of Boomer's fore-hamsters, Philo.

On to #101 and the weekend! And all I have to say is, really David Wondrich - I can grok pun-avoidage but this one is square in your wheelhouse and virtually writes itself!

Folks, I give you a little ditty over a year in the making [Boomer: G'night! (again)]. With all your prep for the Super Bowl this weekend, don't forget about Groundhog's Day Monday morning. You may need an eye-opener. Or, y'know, given the line-up this year you may skip the festivities entirely and go straight toasting the rodent [Boomer: yay!] the night before.

Punchatawny Phil
1/4 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz hickory syrup
1/2 oz cinnamon-infused Pennsylvania rye whiskey
1 1/2 oz tawny port (Sandeman)
1 1/2 oz hard cider (Woodchuck "Amber")
1 oz boiling water
nutmeg or orange slices for garnish

Ideally, fill a thermos with boiling water ahead of time, mix all your ingredients (save the boiling water) in a pot on the stove for a quick heating, then empty the thermos and add your punch mix plus the boiling water called for in the recipe. Twist on the lid and head off to Gobbler's Knob with the family to enjoy the festivities, sipping from little thermos cups.

If for some reason you're planning a viewing party spread at home, set out orange slices and nutmegs to grate for garnish - your guests can make their own prognostications! Orange slices for bright sunny spring around the corner, sleepy punch-y nutmeg for 6 more weeks of winter. Let the punch rest in a crock-pot set to Low for an hour or two before serving.

You get warm hickory and cinnamon on the nose with a dance of citrus. For such a small amount, the hickory grabs your tastebuds from the get-go and provides a lovely body to the sip. Afterwards you pick up the cider-y tang undergirded by the lemon juice, and then a rolling creaminess from the port - the apple and grape dance well together. A hint of menthol and spice from the rye comes through last, but is not so overt that it throws all the other ingredients off - in fact it pairs nicely with the hickory. Wonderful dry finish from the cider. It's not Chatham Artillery by any means, but it works.

On the ingredients: despite the name, I would avoid Rittenhouse rye here: too potent and not rough-spicy enough. Local PA distillers Dad's Hat and super-new reboot Kinsey, or even Old Overholt fit the punch. If without hickory syrup, maple will do in a pinch, though it has a wonderful quality all its own; you don't have to make it either do a quick search for local providers such as Razz's. The port? I like Sandeman for its black pepper note - it makes me think of the Pittsburgh area for some reason.

Impromptu: Falling Sun Manhattan

I might as well face it: I'll always be trying to remake the Manhattan.

The Manhattan itself a dark seasons classic, I wanted to add some autumnal/festive-seasons richness with a brooding quality to the mix. The cassis and nocino had been calling out to me, so I chanced it:

Falling Sun Manhattan
2 oz Buffalo Trace bourbon
1/4 oz crème de cassis
1/4 oz nocino
1/4 oz sweet vermouth (Vya)
1 dash Bittercube Bolivar bitters
1 dash Regan's orange bitters
orange twist

Stir, strain, large ice cube, rocks.
Express and garnish.

It's a bit sweet, but it rises to blog-worthy status based on its well-illuminated complexity; the tart and bitter turns of each liqueur opens up the cocktail well beyond the standard Manhattan. (oddly enough, I tried subbing in Rittenhouse rye for half the bourbon for balance only to find the flavors collapsed) Buffalo Trace's structure and....I wanna say flavor clarity, it interweaves so well...does some heavy lifting, bringing not only its own wood notes as a foundation but enunciating the cassis and the bitter herbs underneath. Not every bourbon will be as successful, either; I know of several in my cabinet which would just be too blunt and inarticulate here. 

Also, keep the orange away from the cassis, lest you find them on honeymoon in your mouth! As if it weren't bad enough already with the bitters adding a degree of spice...

This would be perfect to drink while enjoying a Sagittarian sunset (which, come to think, start today). The dark hours grow earlier and the landscapes bleaker, but those sunsets... Royal blue and shaded gold melded into a full jewel-toned rainbow. The weariness in body and soul comes easier now, but the world and the year show us they are still pregnant as currant berries with unspent meaning. And that satisfies.

Magus

The portals fly open:
Ruffled sleeves and legerdemain
Seize the essences
      occulted in dark woods.
A flow of claret velvet,
A splash of unctuous green,
Zaps of black to quicken,
Receive the sacred transfigurer.
Made new substance.

Just a quick nip before dinner.

Magus
2 oz armagnac
3/4 oz ruby port
1/4 oz green chartreuse
1 bsp nocino
1 dash pimento bitters
1 dash vanilla bitters
flamed orange zest

Stir all on ice.
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Flame an orange zest over top, anoint the glass's rim, and discard.

The armagnac is a knowing armchair of vanilla and dark dried fruit -- rustic where cognac would be mannered -- and ruby port (Noval Black) rounds with fresh berry. The Chartreuse dominates, as is its wont, a geste of spicy herbs and deep magic. The nocino, along with the pimento bitters, takes those herbs down a deep and rich path. The vanilla bitters (Vanilla Lace or otherwise) and orange zest are all finesse.

Impromptu - Bourbon and Aperol

Last night, I had a hankering for Bourbon and Aperol. Well, I've had an unsated hankering for whiskey all week, but rather than doing the Rumdood-suggested Sherman Cocktail, (which was my idea the night prior), I wanted bourbon and the Orange Crush-y notes of Aperol. But how to flesh out that drink?

There were a fair number of Bourbon-Aperol drinks on Kindred Cocktails to start*, but none quite met the picture in my head (A Clockwork Orange and The Lemony Pabla weren't too far-off, though). I was seeking something with the red and floral of Peychaud's bitters, which seemed like an interesting contrast to the Aperol. And some kind of wine to lengthen seemed appropriate. When all of a sudden, a new post came through from Bartending Notes on an Earl Grey MarTEAni.

*(the research always tends to take about an hour before I get a solid recipe in mind)

*ping!* Earl Grey-infused madeira. Verdelho for dryness, and a bit more body than Sercial (and exactly what I had on my counter that needed using up). 1 tea bag in 1/2 cup for 10 minutes (tops - keep tasting drops) works quite well. Make sure to wring out all the bergamot-y goodness.



Impromptu Bourbon & Aperol (& Earl Grey)
1 1/2 oz overproof Bourbon (Wild Turkey 101)
1 oz earl grey-infused verdelho madeira
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz Aperol
3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
3 drops orange blossom water
orange zest

Stir all but the zest on ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Express an orange zest over the drink, rub around the rim, and discard.






The floral soft qualities are what you encounter first with a whiff of cherry and almost a lemon or citron edge on the palate, followed by a touch of sweetness and then drying bitterness from the tea and other bitter ingredients. You seriously need at least a 100-proof bourbon for this one. 90-proof Bulleit didn't quite hold up, but Wild Turkey 101 did the trick.

I added the dry vermouth for an extra herbal quality and some lengthening to better taste all the ingredients. The orange blossom water I stole from A Clockwork Orange: the more pronounced florals, the less the cocktail resembles a Boulevardier or Old Pal -- and it's a nice augmentation to the Peychaud's and bergamot.

As always with these impromptus, dear reader, if a name strikes you I'm all ears!

Mixology Monday, August 2013: FIRE! part 1

It's time for Mixology Monday (number LXXVI if you're keeping count) once again! As host this month, I'll keep it simple this time around. The announcement post is here, just a few posts down, and our theme? FIRE! (round-up post here)


My inspiration this month? In addition to the Fire element, the concept of split-spirit cocktails has been bouncing around in my noggin' ever since the return of MxMo a year ago, with the Equal Parts theme -- I even considered making that the theme (but that seemed a bit too close on the heels of another cocktail structure challenge, Flip-Flop). Also? I just added my first bottle of ouzo (Metaxa) to my cabinet and I'm liking it quite a lot, so that's going in the hopper as well for both of my Fire cocktails.

This first cocktail keeps the flames neat and tidy, utilizing a flamed orange zest not just for finesse, but for
those tiny little sparks that make all the meaning*.

Apollo's Arrow

3/4 oz blanco tequila

3/4 oz ouzo

3/4 oz fino sherry

3/4 oz white grapefruit juice

dash Benedictine

flamed orange zest for garnish

Shake all but the zest on ice and double-strain into a chilled pillar-like flute glass.

Flame a bow of orange zest over the drink and shoot sparks on it.

Everything emerges on the nose, the flamed orange zest not so overpowering in that regard. On the palate, the ouzo is a smooth, rolling anise on a tequila-sherry base with grapefruit softening; the anise doesn't knock out your tongue in the process, nor do the zest oils or grapefruit bitterness. The Benedictine adds a slight herbal depth which develops with more time in the glass. It depends on your choice of spirits, but while intending for this to be a light, crisp and refreshing libation, the more time elapses you might get a trace of jamminess from the zest or the maple-like notes from the sherry might assert themselves.

As you can see from the structure of the drink, this is a riff on the grand old classic Corpse Reviver #2, but switching flavors to be tequila-focused. I had all my components assembled, so when it came time to mix this structure seemed like a good starting point...and ended up being a good finishing point too. You might also note the liqueurs are also switched up in that anise-noted ouzo is a larger component while sweeter Benedictine adds a grace note, all while not unbalancing the grapefruit. I should also mention there is an earlier, more pineappley, tequila riff on the recipe, Corpse Reviver #5 -- one of the fortunate things about working with ouzo is how it guarantees some toe-free step space!

Stayed tuned, one more cocktail for MxMo is yet to come! Where there's fire, there's smoke!

*[Updated to add: while not turning this into a book, if you get the Paglian imagery/references, bug me, will ya? I'm sure we could talk our ears off.]

Smoky Mountain Salamander

So once again, after the Smokemont and the So We're Havin' a BBQ, huh? I find myself returning to my Great Smoky Mountains muse, perhaps even to the initial cocktail idea that got me started on this theme to begin with. I'm not entirely sure what got me going -- it was probably the Courting Rachel recipe mentioned in that NYT article on smoke in cocktails two autumns ago.

Wandering in that misty mental space, it was a hop and a skip. There needed to be a smoke element and a native spirit...and perhaps a native fruit? I started reading up and looking for interesting angles...like, say, how the Smokies are the Salamander Capital of the World. And, huh, one of the native trees featured were these pin cherries circling the balds, the trees some of the quickest to rise up in the wake of forest fires...earning them the nickname fire cherries.

Hmmmmmmm....

I'd call it the Hellbender, but someone decided to go and make a Scotch tiki drink with that name for a book launch.

Smoky Mountain Salamander

2 oz Salamander Moonshine

shot glass full of sour/pie cherries (8-9)

1/2 oz sweet vermouth

1/4 oz allspice dram

3 dashes Swedish bitters

cherry wood smoke

cherry + cherry pepper garnish

Smoke a chilled cocktail glass with cherry wood and set aside. In a shaker, muddle the sour cherries. Add ice, Salamander Moonshine, vermouth, allspice dram and bitters. Shake to mix and chill. Double-strain into serving glass. Garnish with a moonshine or sour cherry on a pick, encircled by a cherry pepper twist.

This is a difficult cocktail to write about: it's on the borderline between passable and don't post, but at the same time I experienced some magic moments with it too. It all boils down to how much you like the flavor of peppers in your drink. But for however much pepper flesh is the dominant flavor, everything else rallies to round it into something savory, bright and scintillating. The odd herbals offered by the Swedish bitters might even get you to wondering if there was a secret ingredient to the Salamander Moonshine, or at least a bit of brimstone.

You may want to serve this on the rocks with the muddled cherries because their flavor better emerges over time and helps the balance. Whatever you do, don't skimp on the Swedish bitters: their aloe note makes the pepper flavor quite palatable. Though for all that's said about bitters being a crucial binding element in cocktails, it's the vermouth which knots the bow here, reaching out to bright cherry on one side while snaring the more savory elements with its herbs and aromatics on the other. The cherry wood smoke, beyond being a nice little touch, situates the cocktail in a barbecue context such that the heat make more sense on the palate. And the allspice dram? A nice brooding bit of dark-flavored sweet spice. Pimento spice matched with pimento/cherry pepper heat matched with cherry smoke matched with cherry sour.


Salamander Moonshine
4-5 (hot) cherry or red fresno peppers - stemmed, seeded, quartered
1 tsp allspice berries, crushed
1/2 tsp roasted chicory root
3"x1/2" orange zest
1 cup moonshine

Add all to a mason jar. Store in a cool dark location for two weeks (or less if your desired heat level is reached), shaking daily. Strain off the large particles with a sieve and use a coffee filter to get the minute bits remaining. Store in a bottle/jar and let rest in a cool cabinet a week before using to let the flavors mellow and meld.

Mixology Monday, April 2013: Drink Your Vegetables

Welcome back to April's Mixology Monday event, the 72nd by Pan-Galactic Reckoning. Rowen of Fogged In Lounge, home of elegant gourmet morsels of cocktail blog reading, is our host for this go-round. The theme? Drink Your Vegetables.

Want to get more vegetables but you’re always eating on the run? Maybe you hate vegetables but feel you should get more of them? Well then, how about a vegetable cocktail? No, not that nice little glass of red stuff Grandma put at each place setting—we’re talking something with a kick in it. You can definitely start with the little glass of red stuff and expand it to a Red Snapper-style drink like a Bloody Mary. Or how about a cucumber-scented cooler like a Pimm’s Cup, or maybe a cocktail featuring a vegetable-based ingredient like Cardamaro or celery bitters? Maybe you’ve been wondering if you can get more mileage out of that juice extractor before consigning it to the garage sale. However you get them in that glass, be prepared for the most fun with vegetables ever.

 When active, this link will send you to the summary post of this month's festivities.


So I'm home late last night, checking on my red cabbage shrub for MxMo: it just doesn't have enough cabbage-y flavor. And as I'm standing there playing with it, removing the now-pickled cabbage to add in fresh plus a little sugar to turn it into a proper shrub, I'm munching on a very late dinner of McNuggets while racking my brain for an alternative in case it doesn't work out.

Huh, well ketchup's a vegetable right? [depends on who you ask]

*explosion* [because added explosions are excellent ways to jazz up re-tellings]

I eyeball my McNugget, covered in thick bright red sauce. I eyeball my berry-bright shrub in its mason jar.

Aside from the salt, ketchup's basically a tomato shrub, right?

You look at the label: tomatoes, vinegar, sugar corn syrup, various spices. It's everything I was doing with my cabbage, albeit I wasn't pureeing that vegetable into the final result.

Ha, well I laugh to myself: but what on earth would you pair it with? Potato vodka? Tequila, in some sort of riff on a Bloody Maria? Mezcal? Nyeeeeah.. I'm not feelin' it, and not just because I'd have to run out and get a bottle of mezcal.

But the Bloody Mary riff doesn't quite lose its grip, and the ketchup visual right in front of me, is, well, blood-like.

Blood and Sand..

Hah, but how would I work that in? Would it sub for the cherry or the orange? ...

SMOKEY SCOTCH!

I'm not feeling the mezcal, but suddenly there are visions of peaty barbecue in my head and a good weighty blended scotch could definitely hold its own against the dense tomato.

I sleep on this, do a little googling this morning for food pairings and start drifting in a North African direction: if we're playing on some savory elements, let's dig deep.



I Stubbed My Toe on the Way to the Arena
3/4 oz blended scotch
3/4 oz bianco vermouth
3/4 oz orange juice
1/2 oz brandy
1/4 oz ketchup
1/2 tsp fresh crushed coriander
Cherry tomatoes (or bacon) for garnish

Shake the ingredients on ice and double strain into a chilled coupe.

Garnish with skewered cherry tomatoes or perhaps a nice crispy, smokey piece of bacon.



It's very much similar in taste to a Blood and Sand, but for what you gain in body, you lose in subtle nuance via the Cherry Heering to ketchup switch. The ketchup I used, Heinz, you probably get a very salty vinegar-y taste sensation when thinking about it, but when working with it tonight it came off mellow with lactic acid. With any major brand you can probably be guaranteed that the food scientists and statisticians have honed the formula to something intense in flavor, but never-overmuch in any aspect. The saltiness doesn't cause a problem, either: you know how it's recommended to use a pinch of salt in drinks with citrus? Same principle here.

The ketchup flavor doesn't come on strong at these proportions (at 1/2 oz, it would), but it's a subtle savory fruitiness in the background, while the general Blood and Sand dynamics happen. It's hard to overdo the intensity of scotch in the recipe, given what it's up against, so go bold! I find bianco vermouth, though very similar to rosso, to be a bit more aggressive, herbal and savory - in most cases it'll dominate my drinks, but here it holds its own without overdoing. Beyond that, the brandy keeps the overall proof up to expected levels (because a full part of ketchup, er...) and orange juice's brightness offers a sensory respite from the heavy ingredients. The coriander I included to help bridge the ketchup to the more complex ingredients while upping the smokey and savory qualities that much more.

Many thanks to Rowen for hosting with another wonderful challenge, and Fred of Cocktail Virgin Slut for herding us crazy cats for yet another month!

Mixology Monday, March 2013: From Crass to Craft

Once again it's Mixology Monday! (on a Sunday. Yeah, um.. it'll still be here on Monday.)

Our host this month is Scott Diaz of the quite snazzy Shake, Strain & Sip blog, who gives us the theme From Crass to Craft:

"The evolution of the cocktail has been a wondrous, and sometimes, frightful journey.  From its humble beginning, to the "Dark Ages" of most of the later 20th century, to the now herald "Platinum Age" of the cocktail,  master mixologists and enthusiasts alike have elevated its grandeur using the best skills, freshest ingredients and craft spirits & liqueurs available.  But with all this focus on "craft" ingredients and classic tools & form, it seems we have become somewhat pretentious.  The focus on bitter Italian amari, revived and lost ingredients such as Batavia Arrack or Creme de Violette, the snickering at a guest ordering a Cosmopolitan or a Midori Sour; has propelled us into the dark realm of snobbery. Many scratch bars and Speakeasies have gone as far as to remove all vodka and most flavored liqueurs from their shelves.  Some even go as far as to post "rules" that may alienate most potential imbibers.  Remember, the bar was created with pleasing one particular group in mind: the guest.  As such, this month's MxMo LXXI theme, From Crass to Craft,  will focus on concocting a craft cocktail worthy of not only MxMo but any trendy bar, using dubious and otherwise shunned ingredients to sprout forth a craft cocktail that no one could deny is anything less.  There are a plethora of spirits, liqueurs and non-alcoholic libations that are just waiting for someone to showcase that they too are worthy of being featured on our home and bar shelves.  So grab that bottle of flavored vodka, Jagermeister, cranberry juice, soda, neon colored liqueur, sour mix or anything else deemed unworthy of a craft cocktail, and get mixin'!

When active, this link will send you to the summary post of this month's festivities.


Uh....fellas? (ladies?) I never got the memo on prohibited ingredients. Granted, I understand how high quality ingredients simply taste better and produce more interesting harmonies and contrasts between themselves, but if I need a precise certain ingredient for a recipe I've never seen why I shouldn't use it. It's why I've never considered myself "Craft" to begin with. Cocktailian, yes; Craft, no.

For instance, I've worked with Rumple Minze, and Black Haus and Cask & Cream liqueur before (and have a healthy love of Galliano). Given all that, I figure I ought to pull out one of the lesser schnapps in my girly-girl cabinet and go to work. Buttershots, you're up!


I first tried the Buttershots out in a Scotch sour, but that seemed a bit too on the nose as far as obviousness. However, fresh off of making the T. T. Punch in the past week with a new fascination for the form, plus staring at a cooling mug of Tension Tamer tea as I was making the sour, a punch seemed like a more interesting drink. At that, a punch would need less Sharp citrus and instead use its hefty Weak part to keep the Sweet Buttershots in check.

May David Wondrich have mercy on my soul.

Butterscotch Punch
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz Buttershots schnapps
1/4 oz simple syrup
2 oz blended scotch (Famous Grouse)
1 oz Tension Tamer tea
1 oz ginger beer (Fever Tree)
fresh ground black pepper

Shake the first four ingredients then double strain into a chilled serving glass.

Top with ginger beer.

Garnish with a faint grind of black pepper.



Quite frankly, this works AMAZEBALLS. The schnapps has an over-eager puppy way of being out front wherever it's used (typically). But here you get the butterscotch flavor without a dominant sweetness, as all the other ingredients do an excellent job of drying the punch out and achieving a balance (the simple syrup was a late addition: it helps with the body and balance while managing the combined astringency of some of the other ingredients). The schnapps is still prominent, but there's a lot of interesting flavors happening around it. The Scotch holds its own and (of course) works with the schnapps. The Tension Tamer tea is a good flavor complement, and including it works better than an all-ginger beer Weak component, as 1 oz ginger beer is pretty spicy already. The black pepper seems a natural fit, better even than the darkest baking spices (clove, cardamom) or punch-traditional nutmeg.


The sour cocktail worked rather nicely as well, so here's the recipe for those interested:

Butters' Sour
1 1/2 oz blended scotch (Famous Grouse)
1/2 oz Buttershots schnapps
1/2 oz lemon juice

1 tsp Averna
orange twist

Shake on ice and double strain into Professor Chaos' chilled chalice of choice. Twist an orange zest over top and drop in. Mwa ha ha ha ha ha!

Mixology Monday, February 2013: Inverted

Chill your glass..

A tasty little ditty, with loads more flavor thanks to the rye, plus citrus, spice and pomegranate. Life's too short to drink vodka - the clock just keeps ticking.

You'll want to use just the liquid from the cranberry sauce to ensure the flavor is modified in the correct proportion. For pomegranate liqueurs, PAMA or an aromatic pomegranate juice grenadine would both work well.


Shake all on ice. Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

This sand's just gone all to my rear..

Biological Clock
2 oz rye whiskey
1 oz Spicy Cosmopolitan Cranberry Sauce
1/2 oz pomegranate liqueur
1 dash Angostura bitters
lime wedge

But now then, if the cranberry sauce is any indication, we're going to invert the Cosmopolitan. This Sex in the City-beloved cocktail normally comes entirely out of bottles, so, that aspect gets chucked in favor of fresh ingredients -- albeit cooked ingredients combining the Cosmo's cranberry, citrus and lime. Also, flavor-packed rye whiskey, the mortal enemy of vodka in cocktailian circles and what you might get from vodka if it weren't so filtered, serves to invert the nature of this drink more. To round out this new mixture, since citrus flavors and acidity are already well-incorporated in the cranberry sauce, pomegranate liqueur balances the flavors just right.

Ok, so the feminine obsession with "super foods" doesn't entirely extricate this new drink from the old's gestalt, but it's what worked in this case.


3. Remove ginger coins (if applicable) and add orange liqueur, orange juice and bitters. Cook until combined and appropriately saucy in thickness.

2. Reduce to a simmer and add all but the orange liqueur, orange juice and bitters. Stir and cook until all the berries have burst and sauce has come together.

1. Heat the cranberries, water, and sweetener in a pot on high heat until the berries start to pop.

Spicy Cosmopolitan Cranberry Sauce
6 oz fresh or frozen cranberries (half a bag)
3/4 c. water
2 1/2 T agave nectar or sugar
finely grated zest from 1/3 lime and 1/8 orange
pulp of a lime wedge, sans pith
3-4 ginger root coins or 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
small pinch sea salt
2 T orange liqueur
2 T orange juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters

To start, let's have dinner! Let's not just make cranberry sauce, but a Cosmopolitan-flavored cranberry sauce, then load it up with lots of dark spices, just 'cause it's winter and tasty. Granted, this would be better in the aftermath of the holidays if you have an extra half a bag of cranberries, but if you have to pull them out of the freezer, that works too. This cranberry sauce is excellent on chicken or pork, natch.

Wow, Inversion is a serious challenge for thinking up something new on the spot. But...to invert my normal m.o., I think I might have an ace up my sleeve, and it's one I've been sitting on for a few Thanksgivings now. It all has to do with how, much like cachaça opposes cognac, rye is the opposite spirit to vodka. *rubs hands together* Follow along, will you?


When active, this link will send you to the summary post of this month's festivities.

A while ago, while researching Julia Child’s recipes, we noticed that she was well-known for enjoying “upside-down” or “inverted” Martinis. This is a version of the classic cocktail that swaps the ratios of gin and vermouth, turning the Martini into something of a “long drink”… We wondered if we could apply the same “inverted” approach to Mixology Monday and, at first, didn’t think it would work. But then we asked ourselves, what does “inverted” really mean? Well, here is the definition, “To turn inside out or upside down; to reverse the position, order, or condition of.” Hmm…it appears that the definition is pretty broad. It seems that “inverted” really just means something “flipped on its head”. And that can mean almost anything, and leaves plenty of room for creativity… You can invert the ratios of spirits, liqueurs or bitters in a cocktail, but we suggest you go beyond that and “invert” whatever you want. Spirits, name, ingredients, proof, color, geography, garnish and glassware are all fair game.  An apéritif made with Navy-Strength booze? Give it a try. A beer-based cocktail that tastes like champagne? Sure. A clear Manhattan? Worth a shot (and good luck with that). The only thing we expect is the unexpected. Have fun.

Our host for this month's Mixology Monday: the Renaissance folks behind food, drinks and gorgeous photography at Putney Farm. Our theme: Inverted Cocktails:

Let's get ready to MxMooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

Mixology Monday, October 2012: Bein' Green

It's that time again: Mixology Monday! Thoroughly back into the swing of things, this month's shindig is hosted by Ed of Wordsmithing Pantagruel with the theme Bein' Green:

With the warm days of summer now fading off into the distance in our rear view mirrors, let's pay one last tribute to the greens of summer before the frosts come and our outdoor herb gardens give up the ghost for the winter. For our theme for this month, I have chosen: (it's not easy) "Bein' Green." (Perchance due in no small part to my predilection for Green Chartreuse.) I'm giving you a wide berth on this one, anything using a green ingredient is fair play. There's not only the aforementioned Chartreuse; how about Absinthe Verte, aka the green fairy. Or Midori, that stuff is pretty damn green. Crème de menthe? Why not? Douglas Fir eau de vie? Bring it! Apple schnapps? Uh...well...it is green. I suppose if you want to try to convince me it makes something good you can have at it. But it doesn't have to be the liquor. Limes are green. So is green tea. Don't forget the herb garden: mint, basil, cilantro, you name it - all fair game. There's also the veritable cornucopia from the farmers market: green apples, grapes, peppers, olives, celery, cucumbers...you get the idea. Like I said, wide berth. Base, mixer, and or garnish; if it's green it's good. Surprise me. Use at least one, but the more the merrier.

When active, this link will send you to the summary post of this month's festivities.

Oh goodnesses, truly, when the nights are getting down into the 30s and 40s, I'm all about the maize and apples and pumpkins and all I want to do is hibernate (a good thing in my book - we had a lousy fall 'round these parts last year). There's still plenty of greenery around, though, so all is not lost on that front. Autumn may be in full swing and the flavors may be abundant, but there's no reason why we can't invoke a summer form: the tiki cocktail.

And to up the ante: raise your hand, anyone else think "pumpkin spice" has gotten officially overblown this year? I think it's about time we give some other squashes some love. In this case, the Carnival Squash. You heard me right: harvest tiki with squash!


I need to give some big shout-outs. If it weren't for the years of hard work of these fine cocktail bloggers and others, it would be impossible for a complete Tiki novice like myself to do a crash course in the scope of about a week. I still have a ton to learn and try, but I feel like I have a decent grounding now. So, many thanks to Doug at the Pegu Blog, Jordan at Chemistry of the Cocktail, Tiare at A Mountain of Crushed Ice, Matt at RumDood, Mike at Cocktail Democracy for pointing me to PKNY's recipe menu, and particularly this one tiki-breakdown post by Joseph at Measure & Stir that started me down the path.


Fall Carnival
1 oz gold rum (I used Mount Gay Eclipse)
3/4 oz aged rum (I used Appleton Reserve)
3/4 oz pear eau-de-vie (I used Schladerer Williams Birne)
3/4 oz carnival squash syrup (recipe below)
1/2 oz hazelnut orgeat (sub orange blossom water for rose water)
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz pineapple juice
1/4 oz orange juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash Urban Moonshine maple bitters

Blend all ingredients with 8 oz ice. Pour into a large glass and garnish with a pineapple-squash Ferris wheel and straw for sipping.

I am very green when it comes to Tiki, so please feel free to experiment with rum choices. Overall, though a less-elegant recipe than, say, a Mai Tai, when fine-blended with ice it comes off creamy and delicate. I think balance has been achieved here as far as each flavor getting its due, though it trends sweet. I toyed around a lot with the ratios, trying to pull out ingredients to simplify or pull them back to let the others shine, but the mix wasn't stomaching much alteration from the above. That said, I'd welcome any thoughts from the Tiki aficionados out there.

On the spirits: I wanted a good low/medium note rum combo to go with the pear's light notes. A dark/blackstrap seemed like too much for some of the more delicate flavors going on, so I opted for something aged - you could go even further aged than the Reserve with better results, my own spirits cabinet is just underdeveloped on rums. The gold rum's medium note holds it all together, Eclipse's dryness is good for balancing the sweet. The pear? Another way to bring in some autumn flavors.

On the syrups: Autumnal tweaks to tiki staples. We swap hazelnut for almond orgeat, and as odd as it sounds the lemon and creamy vanilla notes in the carnival squash syrup aren't too far off from passion fruit.

On the citrus: Lime is the natural match for rum and makes a better sour foundation than lemon. I added the bit of orange to help round the citrus flavors. And pineapple? Pineapple, pineapple, pineapple... This is one ingredient I thought could be cut back, but it turns out that it boosts the carnival squash flavor and gives a nice overall body to the cocktail, despite it being show-offy.

On the bitters: Autumnal flavors to help break up and point out all the other flavors going on. You don't get much of them, but they fit in and add a good finish.


I think that's about i... [backstage assistant hands her a card] Oh yeah! The theme! Well, I did use lime.. ...shakin' your head on that one, aren't you? Well, ok. How about..while I was at the farmers market a few weeks ago, poking around to see what interesting things there were, I came across these:

How do you not use these little critters for garnishes?

So...trying to figure out a name and garnish idea, the "carnival" theme seemed appropriate. And with Tiki, you've got to have extravagant garnishes..

...right? I mighta mentioned something about a pineapple-squash Ferris wheel up above.. (consider the squashes as gondolas)

Here, let me get you some other views, I know you're curious:


On the left, you can see, top-down, the pineapple core peg into which the wheels are double-skewered from both directions. The peg nestles securely in the neck of the squash-shaped glass, its woodiness sturdy enough to support the entire structure.

On the right, you can see how the gondolas on single skewers are secured: screw a (hazel)nut on the end!


Needless to say, I have a fair amount of extra pineapple juice on my hands.



So, happy harvest tiki: autumn greens, but still very much reminiscent of summer.



Carnival Squash Syrup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup cooked/packed carnival squash*
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

*¹ To cook squash: halve it from top to bottom. Remove seeds and pith. Lightly coat cut sides with butter, oil or maple syrup. Prick the hull to release steam if desired (not wholly necessary). Place cut sides down on a foil-covered cookie sheet and bake at 350 F for 30-45 minutes or until the hull has softened and squash has caramelized a little at the bottom.

Click to enlarge

² Quick note on Carnival squash: they're rather similar in appearance to Sweet Dumpling squash, but a bit bigger, so make sure to check the label. Carnival is yellow-fleshed with a lemon-vanilla character whereas Sweet Dumpling is orange-fleshed and nutty like Butternut (but less smooth).

Combine squash and water in a blender until smooth (it beats trying to purée just the squash). Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes until sugar is dissolved and mixture comes together. Pull from the stove and fine strain the syrup to remove the fibrous bits you don't want to cook further. Return the syrup to the stove, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, whisking frequently. You'll know the syrup's ready when the thickened sugar begins to collect on the sides of the pan and it's taken on the opaque/glossy appearance of vanilla pudding (but should still be pourable, like a liquid caramel sauce). Remove from heat, let cool. Pour into an air-tight container to refrigerate until ready to use. Feel free to add half an ounce of neutral spirit to fortify if you feel like (emphasis on the neutral - add something like Sailor Jerry and you really will have vanilla pudding on your hands).

In addition to this cocktail, try adding carnival squash syrup to some chai tea!


But MoD? What about all this leftover squash I have, including the purée strained out of the syrup? It's not the standard acorn, butternut or pumpkin, so what should I do with it?

Funny you should ask! Have a nummy (and festive) recipe:

Carnival Squash Mash
Pre-soak 1/2 cup craisins in pomegranate juice (or pomegranate craisins in cranberry juice, or...). Sauté a minced shallot in olive oil until translucent. Add your squash, a bit of fine lemon zest, 1/2 tsp powdered ginger, maybe a little butter if you like. Mix and mash to lumpy potato consistency. Mix in pre-soaked (and drained) craisins and serve topped with basil chiffonade. Goes well with Italian-seasoned chicken/pork and couscous.