Anew

Happy belated new year. Sometimes taking the next step forward requires a bit of effort and time. It doesn't always fall on pre-scheduled symbolic dates, or as the rosy fingers of Dawn warm the sky.

Case in point, this ditty was meant to be a New Year's Day recipe, full of sunshine as gin spice mimicked the icy clash of cold on skin and tongue. Granted, we've still got the weather about right, even if daylight doesn't herald the near-guilt of back-to-work and champagne hangovers. (though I imagine we may want to check in with a certain groundhog..)

So here I am, at it again, with a new bottle sending out recipe bunnies from first taste. The real reason I picked it up is a little ways down the pike yet, but I promise it shall be both intriguing and astrological. In the meanwhile, let me tell you about it, so the right sensations hit you when you read the recipe.

Within the past few years, the Philly area has seen craft distilleries pop up almost at the rate of craft breweries. We've had Philadelphia Distilling around for awhile (proprietors of Bluecoat gin and Vieux Carre absinthe) and the same with Dad's Hat, and since then I've had a chance to try offerings from Kinsey, Bluebird and now Five Saints (to speak of brands I've enjoyed). Of all things, I happened to be in the market for a gin or other spirit with eucalyptus. You read that right. Five Saints' Savory Tuscan Gin has notes of eucalyptus, in addition to rosemary and other herbs, and classic gin notes of juniper and citrus. It has this creamy, lemon-almost-vanilla nose with the botanicals lingering complexly underneath. The green herbs come to play on the fore-palate, with the creamy lemon playing throughout and eucalyptus emerging on the finish.

One of the things that particularly grabbed me was the spirit base quality. It seems like half of the brews or distills I've tried that have come out of the Philly craft scene have been half-assed where quality is concerned - a lot of "throwing things at the wall to see what sticks", and getting away with it because it was the only game in town. There's too much competition for that now. When tasted neat, this 90-proof gin is surprisingly tame and smooth - almost buttery; it broke the stereotype in my head for the quality I could expect from local distillers. The eucalyptus does bring some fire, but at the same time I appreciate the uniqueness of the flavor note. It all creates some unique spaces for quality cocktail creation, which delights my sensibilities best.

So, while I was tasting and pondering my original idea, this creamy-lemon little bunny hopped into my lap and did a binky dance: since we're trending with these flavor notes, how about a riff on the original (gin) Alexander with limoncello?

Anew

1 1/2 oz gin (Five Saints)

3/4 oz cream

1/2 oz limoncello

1/4 oz blood orange liqueur (Solerno)

Shake, strain, garnish with a mint leaf.

What can I say? Creamy/milky citrus and green herbs. A treat, from a different angle.

So why the extra liqueur? The limoncello all on its own was good, but it felt like it needed a little flavor-rounding with a similar note. Hence blood orange liqueur, with a bit of red fruit notes.

And before you point it out, Five Saints also produces a blood orange liqueur - it's very tasty and very bold. The unfortunate thing is that it tends to dominate anything to which it's added very quickly. What drove me to pull out the Solerno here was that between the 90-proof gin and the limoncello, this cocktail was already running hot - and the fire was getting in the way of some of the subtlety expected for an Alexander. Sweet, triple sec-y Solerno tamed things just right but let the lemon stay on top.

As for the Five Saints liqueur? Different spirit, different application. My sense is this one would fare best in a brown, bittered and stirred recipe, or maybe a punch. It'll be worth playing around with especially as we get into warmer months.

Cheers, y'all! Keep trying to move forward, even if life gets in the way.

Grandeur of the Season

Herald trumpets,
Holly berries,
Pine needles,
Spice cake,
Bright Christmas oranges,
And glass jewels for the tree.

Grandeur of the Season

1 oz cognac

1 oz pear eau-de-vie

1 oz ruby port

1 tsp Solerno blood orange liqueur

1 tsp Campari

1 tsp crème de cassis

1 dash Pernod

2 dashes pimento bitters

festive aromatic ice sphere

Rolling ribbons and great globes of grape and orange and berry.

Anise accents.

Gentle emerging pine and spice.

Opulence for jubilant jovial occasions.

Step 1: Festive aromatic ice sphere.

Add water to an ice sphere mold.

Arrange ginger coins, cloves and rosemary sprig (a bit of orange zest and red currants also welcome).

Add top and freeze.

Step 2: Mix the cocktail

Three spirits, three liqueurs, three accents.

Batch and bottle in the fridge days ahead for parties and something even smoother.

Measure 3 1/2 ounces per serving (1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon).

Pour over ice sphere in large balloon glass.

Swirl, take in the aromas and let dilute for 5-10 minutes.

Sip!

Step 3: ???

There's still some left in the bottle. What's next? New Year's!

Mixology Monday, June 2013: Cherry, part 1

Rise and shine, early birds! It's Mixology Monday!

Andrea of Gin Hound is our host for the month, with the theme Cherry.

Singapore Gin Sling, Blood and Sand and the Aviation wouldn't be the same without them. They are brilliant in pies, go great with pork dishes and may even be a super food able to combat insomnia.

But cherries in cocktails are also horribly abused, few things taste worse than artificial cherry aroma and the description of how most maraschino cherries are made can make you sick to your stomach.

So it's my pleasure as the host of Mixology Monday number 74 to challenge you to honor the humble cherry.

However you choose to do that, is entirely up to you. You could use Maraschino Liqueur, Cherry Heering, Kirchwasser, Belgian Kriek Beer, cherry wine or any spectacular infusions invented by you in a cocktail. Or make your own maraschino cherries for a spectacular garnish.

When active, these 2 links will send you to the summary posts of this month's festivities.


I'm going to divide this post in twain, if only because I'm only allowed 200 characters of labels per post.

My first offering came about after noting the interesting flavor combination of Solerno and marzipan (or orgeat, as one would have to translate to cocktails). Some noodling and taste-association led to a classic-styled wine-based cocktail featuring kirschwasser, the cherry-and-pomace eau-de-vie. I think the name sums it up quite nice:

Sweetness and Light

1 1/2 oz Lillet Blanc

3/4 oz kirschwasser

1 bsp* Solerno blood orange liqueur

1 bsp orgeat

3 dashes Bokers bitters

lemon twist

*I use 3/4 tsp as my barspoon measurement, precision being important here for how easily this could be oversweet vs. the bitters taking over.

Shake and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.


Notes:

For as intriguing a combo as Solerno and orgeat are, they're also highly sweet cocktail elements, limiting their usage in a balanced drink: proper spirit bases would be needed. Kirschwasser seemed a natural start, particularly with orgeat's almond. But given how intense kirsch could be, only so much could be used of it too. And I didn't want to make this too heavy a drink, so, eschewing a natural fit like gin, a wine base seemed a good final component. Dry vermouth's herbals were ok but didn't mesh the best, so I opened my first bottle of Lillet Blanc and hit paydirt. With each of the elements being sweet in body or sweet in taste, and the combined drink reading like something out of a classic cocktail book (kinda similar to this one, in fact), a few dashes of Bokers and a lemon twist turned in elegant finishing stylings.

The kirsch dominates on the nose and palate. Lemon joins on the nose in a lemonade-like way, while Solerno and orgeat pull the kirsch in two different directions. Solerno volcanically undergirds the cherry in the kirsch, while orgeat grabs hold of the pomace and seduces it away in waves of satin. Undersung base Lillet serves as a canvas, with gentian notes pairing with Bokers to keep everything in line.

And please look to the following post for an additional MxMo recipe, this time with Jack Daniels.

Rudolph Steps Out & Maccabee Sling

It's company holiday party time, and as resident Cocktail Girl I've been asked to whip up a few recipes with some bare requirements: a Christmas cocktail with red and green colors, and a Hanukkah cocktail with blue and white colors. In addition, we were pairing drinks with the beginning of a lovely multi-course Italian meal at a local culinary school, so I wanted to include Italian spirits and elements where possible. Here's what I wound up doing.

Rudolph Steps Out
1 oz bourbon (Elijah Craig 12 year)
1 oz sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
7/8 oz Ramazzotti
1/8 oz (barspoon) Solerno
bourbon cherry skewered on rosemary sprig*

Stir ingredients on ice and strain into a(n ideally chilled) cocktail glass. Garnish with a bourbon cherry skewered on a rosemary sprig. Bonus points if garnish is twisted reindeerly and Rudolphly.

*bourbon cherry a modified take on Dr. Adam Elmegirab's cocktail cherries, using Buffalo Trace and subbing half an orange's zest for vanilla bean

I originally wanted to use Cynar instead of Ramazzotti in the drink because in coordinating with dinner there were several earthy rustic-style options, including some artichokes in the appetizer course. Trying to think to my audience, however, Cynar has a particular long bitter finish, which, while good as an aperitif function, might not agree with the audience (also, that drink veers very close to a Colonel Carpano). I've had Ramazzotti on my to-get list for awhile now, so testing was a great excuse to bring it into the fold. Ramazzotti's bitter/sweet ratio is on par with Averna and the gentian similarly stands out among its bittering agents, but I like how its famed cola flavor comes through. Some would say it's more root beer/citrus, but while I do get root-i-ness, it's, well, less dour than Averna. That cola note (and, if we're getting highly aesthetic, the red and white label coloring -- and the word "cola" with its rounded shapes evoking images of red glass ball Christmas tree ornaments) just has a friendly let's-get-down-and-boogie feel to it that finishes a sip on par with the bourbon and vermouth, perfect for a holiday party.

So overall, this is a Boulevardier variation, along the lines of my Doe's Path. Solerno is the orange liqueur here - opulent, regal, ornament-invoking. Along with the green rosemary, red cherry and general red tint of the cocktail, this fit the Christmas criteria


Maccabee Sling
1 oz Magellan gin
1/2 oz honey-ginger-lemon sour mix
top with prosecco (about 3 oz)
Fuji apple garnish

Shake gin and sour mix with ice, strain into a champagne flute and top with prosecco. Garnish with Fuji apple cutout or sliver.

While not a "sling" cocktail per se (more of a champagne cocktail), the Maccabee Sling riffs on the French 75 using classic Jewish flavors apple and honey. With this drink I wanted a lighter and drier cocktail to provide variety up against ol' Rudolph up above. Magellan gin is a French-style gin that utilizes orris root and blue iris flowers during its final distillation, rendering the gin a pale sky blue (if unavailable, substitute Citadelle gin and a smidge blue food coloring). To add white to the equation: delicate-flavored Fuji apple. The apple along with the ginger-honey add hints of flavor around the edges but not as to dampen the gin's multitudinous aromatics.

Honey-Ginger-Lemon sour mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey (a lighter honey helps the cocktail remain gin-forward)
1/2 tsp powdered ginger (McCormick has a new interesting roasted ginger powder out at the moment)
1 cup lemon juice

Blend water, honey, ginger in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Immediately strain through a coffee filter into a container to cool. Refrigerate until ready to use. Blend syrup half-and-half with fresh-squeezed lemon juice just before cocktailing.

Sun King's Crown

The K'inich cuts where blood is sweetest and catches it in the offering cup:

Sacred sacral sanguine saccharum sangraal.

Dank halls call for a vital quaff -- spiced burnt wine for the song-haunted liege:
Bejeweled brow troubled by the riddle of steel.

In the shadow of the Omphale, Pythia upon her tripod chews laurel amid the foul vapors:
 Voyez-vous le crève des rêves révélatrices!

Richness layers in words and drink alike.
If you think you can improve, then by all means create!
To both king and god make fit.

 Sun King's Crown

1 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Ambre cognac

3/4 oz Lustau Palo Cortado Solera Reserva Peninsula sherry

1/2 oz The King's Ginger

1/4 oz Solerno blood orange liqueur

Usquebaugh-filled Lemon-Herb Iceball with lemon twist circlet (see recipes below)

*looks up* Do I sense a theme here?

Stir the first four ingredients without ice in your serving goblet. Carefully add the iceball, lemon-crown up.

You may sip when the outside of the glass has become frosty (not very long, but enough to let some dilution occur).

The drink itself is a study in liquid gold. It begins a noble quaff, each of the base spirits presenting in turn: hearty with an unmoving cognac anchor, rich and maple-nutty with sherry, the spice of ginger and faint smoke around the edges an accent bell's rattle, opulent with blood orange and just the right bright lemon note. It grows honeyed as the ice melts, until it gives way to a meditative pilgrimage through the mystic desert of bitter herbs and tea, paling in clarion call of faint lemon. And then, on last sip, you taste the lion's growl in your throat: spicy Usquebaugh.

And just when you thought I was going weak on my art pieces.

Would you believe the idea for this drink originated with this recipe? Yes it did, yes I did (or at least managed for 5 of 7 days). Vegan with a quaff of salad dressing every morning. The fresh ingredients made up for a lot and it worked, inflammation-wise. But that's not the point.

That entire ingredient list for the cleanse drink? Sun Medicine, as pertains to the astrological sign Leo. And the Sun King's Crown ingredient list? You see the regal, Sun (Sol), citrus and ginger refs? How the ice sphere is a glowing yellow orb (perhaps with a noticeable orange core if the ice is clear enough)? The Greek word for king: Basil? The allusion to the myth of Apollo and Daphne (the bay laurel tree)?

Have I mentioned that it's ok for you to call me completely farschtunken nuts? I'm fine with it and I think you'll feel better for airing the truth.

And if you have rotten tomatoes I'll take those as well. I know, I kvetch on Twitter about PLCB stock limitations at the same time I include bitters only obtainable through mail-order and other oddball ingredients. Well, I'm sure NONE of you have homemade Usquebaugh* in your cabinet, or at least won't for several months. (although if you do, I would like to meet you and buy you a drink) Other thematic, spicy, brightly-colored 80 proof spirits would work fine as substitutes here.

*which you can improve upon by adding culinary gold flake to make...wait for it....Royal Usquebaugh. (would it be gilding the lily to suggest a dash of King Cocktail's new aromatic bitters wouldn't be out of place in the cocktail either?)

For lemon-herb water:

4 cups near-boiling water
zest of 2 lemons, heavy with pith, chopped into 1" pieces (may be post-juicing spent rinds)
2 cups lightly-packed fresh basil leaves and stems
4 fresh bay leaves

• In a heat-safe non-reactive container, add the latter 3 ingredients followed by the hot water.
• Cover and let steep an hour.
• Once an hour has elapsed, remove the basil and bay leaf and cover to continue steeping.
• Once cool, transfer liquid and lemon to the fridge, the point being to let the pith bitter the water.
• I found about 10 hours after removing the herbs produced the right bitterness. At this point I strained out the lemon, then returned the liquid to the fridge until I was ready to use it.

Some influences.

Notice the lemon twist circlet in the ice.

For the Ice Ball:

• Make lemon-herb water.
• Cut a lemon twist that, circled with ends crossed, makes a circlet to go about the circumference of the ice ball.
• Add the twist upside down and then the lemon-herb water to a Tovolo ice ball mold. Freeze until it's a sphere with a small core of water and a thick sturdy outer shell.
• Drain the water core, freezing the sphere again to firm up if needed, then fill with Usquebaugh and plug up the hole. Keep in freezer until needed.

You want to experiment here with regular water first to observe how fast your freezer will do this, and then with some sort of cheap alcohol to practice filling the sphere without the alcohol wearing a hole through the bottom. I've found, with my old-old freezer at maximum, the process will take about 3.5 hours (and not a minute more) to freeze to the right thickness.

It's something to keep an eye on until you get a sense of how it works for you. For me, sometimes the ice will freeze unevenly (top heavy). Not to mention it's more difficult to drill a hole when the sphere is at the correct thickness instead of starting it before. You may want to simply add a fill-hole placeholder at the beginning, or, as I did, at 2.5 hours I flipped the sphere upside-down in the mold so the new bottom had the better supportive thickness and started the fill-hole through the thinner top with a very miniature funnel (also good as a placeholder through the hole at the top of the mold).

As for adding alcohol, regardless of what you use, Usquebaugh or a substitute: 1) Add water to dilute the proof and help the refreezing take. Doing this at home without a special blast freezer (as opposed to something like this) means you'll need to compromise the filling, but if you choose a filling with potent flavor and color, dilution won't take away much from it. 2) Chill the filling beforehand. 3) Add the filling on a bias to your drilled hole with an eyedropper - there isn't going to be much room in there with the correct ice thickness anyway - and rotate the sphere as you fill to minimize erosion in any one place.

The plus side to all this practice and work? You've just been given techniques you can use to your creativity's unlimits.









Et pour les pédants, je sais que mon français est impropre. Je vous dis: Considérez-vous Apollo, Apollinaire, les deux sexes de Pythie (pace Camille Paglia), et le proverbe célèbre de Delphi. Je le déforme et abuse avec intention.

Hebe

Upon Olympus, deathless white pillars support a sky as blue as the wine-dark sea, and the gods gather to feast. Phoebus strums. The Muses sing. The Charities grace.

At the backbar, krater-mixing Hebe combines water of life, wine, and sweet nectar to create ambrosia. 

Then fills the cups, one by one.

Will YOU taste of her immortality-bestowing cup?

Hebe

1 oz white rum

1/2 oz Solerno blood orange liqueur

1/2 oz apricot-Meyer lemon shrub

1 dash lemon bitters

3 oz Martini & Rossi Sparkling Rosé

grapefruit zest

Shake the first four ingredients in a shaker half-filled with ice. 

Strain into a chilled tulip glass over a few decorative larger ice cubes. 

Top with the rosé and garnish with a thick swath of grapefruit zest.

This one's another remake from my BIGSWiM period (original recipe: Bacardi Limon, triple sec, X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, apricot nectar). I think of it as a testament to the power of the individual wanting to learn and grow and acting in order to do so.

Notes: Feminine, summery, sweet yet crisp: refreshing as befits Ganymeda, the cup-bearing goddess of youth. In a word: nubile.