Impromptu: Martine à la Louisiane

Oh, the woes of the impromptu MxMo cocktailer, when hit by an idea from the gods late Monday afternoon only to realize that not only did one not have a key ingredient, but that it wasn't in local stores, there were only 2 bottles total in stores in-state (PA, go fig)...

[*hears a tiny scratching whine sound coming from nearby* 
Boomer, playing the violin: Keep going!]

...on the other side of the state, and it was Presidents Day and the stores were all closed anyway! Argh!

[Boomer: Excellent flourish!]

Eh well, but at least in PA there are such things as online orders from the in-state system (and they actually had the bottle I was looking for - plus a $7 delivery fee and tax).

[Boomer, beret and black Lennon-shades aplace at his red-check-draped bistro table, waves his goblet: More wine please!
MoD: Is that your best 3 Blind Mice impersonation?
Boomer: Zut alors! Ze help at zis bar.. No tip for you!
MoD: You're in France. It comes included, prix-fixe.
Boomer: grumble grumble..]

So anyway, bottle was had Thursday night, and, having tasted it for the first time after seeing years of fine reviews on the Twitters, it made me grin and go "yeah, that'll do just fine." (not always the case with blind buys, even if a bottle seems on-paper perfect for a recipe) Now, back to MxMo (or rather, an entry too late for MxMo).

Our host Dagreb's theme for this past month was That's not a Martini! (recapitulation here) and, with Mardi Gras looming the day after, a cocktailian's mind naturally falls to New Orleans with its triumvirate of Peychaud's-inflected tipples: the Sazerac, Vieux Carré and Cocktail à la Louisiane. At which point the recipe kinda writes itself, though one should always be wary when doing straight-out-the-bottle recipes - there's a very good chance it already exists as a classic pre-Prohibition recipe. Case-in-point, search "gin, vermouth, benedictine" for ingredients on cocktaildb.com. Yeah. Very close to a Vancouver and a Merry Widow(er). In my defense, I plead special gins.

[Boomer, lounging in a cloth folding chair, sun-mirror in place, fur slightly singing: SIMPSONS. DID. IT!
MoD: Malacca! Tiki-spirit-blend Malacca! Begone!
Boomer: *cackles*]

(also a reason this recipe is a mere Impromptu)

Despite the "à" in the name, this drink is more about NOLA flavors in general - that and both the "à" and "de" versions of the Louisiane have a whopping 3/4 oz of Bénédictine, which completely throws off the Martini structure. The Vieux Carré, however...that has the makings of a hatty 2-1 Martini.

Martine à la Louisiane

1 oz St. George dry rye gin

1 oz Tanqueray Malacca gin

1 oz sweet vermouth

1 tsp Bénédictine

2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

2 dashes orange bitters (Angostura)

absinthe rinse

lemon twist for garnish

Rinse and chill. Stir. Strain. Garnish.

Orange, lemon, malt and a hint of anise rise to the nostrils. The caraway and juniper malt have a tendency to dominate, but once you slip under those, it's like a gently-heated pool. A faint pineapple note from the Malacca merges with the dry rye's malt into something richly tropical trending through Peychaud's soft cherry to a slow bitter finish. You forget you're drinking gin. Between all the other herb notes, the absinthe is actually subtle here, a mere frisson.

This could be an exquisite candidate for a barrel-aged cocktail, or, as an extension, aged gins.

The dry rye gin explains itself, whereas, to substitute for cognac, a more melodious gin was needed. My bottle of Hayman's Old Tom itself wasn't quite right for this, the creaminess was nice but the juniper was too sharp. Instead I turned to a quasi-Old Tom/sweeter style, Malacca, whose rolling tropical mellowness sets a lovely rhythm. The absinthe? Granted, the Vieux Carré doesn't have it, but its brethren bevandes Sazerac and Louisiane do -- and it is à la Louisiane.

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.

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.

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.

Everything's Coming Up Roses

In honor of the Customer Service folks at KegWorks.com.

LIBATIONS!


Once upon a time, this one little muse was refining her pièce de résistance: The Rose.

2 oz Gran Centenario Rosangel reposado tequila

"Oh my, that's lovely," she thought. "But it could stand for some more acidity to enunciate the flavor. Yet I don't want to add lemon or other citrus juice.."

slightly more than 1/4 oz sweet vermouth

The muse then remembered how a few good dashes of orange bitters(Fee Bros., for those wondering) had enhanced the acidity of another cocktail just that week. "To the interwebs!" she cried. For, you see, this muse lived in a land where the spirits were not permitted to roam free at market, and the little bitters which had once frolicked under moonshine with the spirits and cordials, instead dashed away in fright. But, she knew where beyond the borderlands she could obtain them. A few clicks and a tacka-tacka-tacka later, the lemon bitters she so craved for her recipe, as well a host of other bitters to accompany, had mounted up and set off on a perilous quest to her doorstep.

slightly less than 1/4 oz dry vermouth

They made quick work - not even 4 whole days had passed when the muse found them squatting on her stairs. She eagerly took them in and helped remove their journey-wear, but as she did, she studied one's label. "I don't think I ordered you," the muse said.

one dash Grapefruit bitters, Fee Bros.
"Well, um, we had an incident along the way," drawled Old-Fashioned Aromatic.

"Yeah," piped Mint, "we were accosted by a rampaging Kumquat Beast. Y'know, the kind that eat bark and make weird faces?"

"It took Lemon!" exclaimed a glum Plum.

"But not to worry," said Gary Regan (a big No. 6 around his neck). "I sent word back and they've sent out a search party. Lemon's a good'un. Just you wait and see."

"Okay," nodded she. "But where'd you find this guy then?" setting Grapefruit down, who, up until this point, had been waiting patiently in her hand while broadly clenching his teeth in something resembling a smile, but now began to inch towards the liquor cabinet while muttering in a pirate-like accent.

"Facing off against another Kumquat Beast," offered Old-Fashioned Aromatic. "Was bruisin' it mighty fierce when we showed up." ["To win against the enemy, you must be-Kumquat the enemy! Arr..!"] "We figured we should keep the funky wild-bitter close after Lemon.."

"Arr, ye swabby dogs! Moisten the decks and.."

"Ooh-kay then..", said the muse. "We'll just hang tight until we find out about Lemon."


They did not, in fact, have to wait long at all, just a weekend (and a good thing too. Grapefruit had quickly picked a fight with Sailor Jerry then paired up with the bottle of vodka in the muse's cabinet Saturday night and was now asking her to get some cranberry juice in to "make it a Trio"). On noon of that Monday, a grizzled but quite intact bottle walked through the front door.

one dash Lemon bitters, Fee Bros.

Carrying the smiling head of the Kumquat Beast on a stick.

Everyone gasped. ["Ah thinka maya squirted a wee bit!" "You're a bottle of bitters, you're supposed to do that!" "Since when did you go Scottish, mate?" "Go wash up, you'll feel fresca."]

"Lemon! You made it! What happened?" said Mint.

"Well, after the beast got me, he dragged me back to his lair. I don't even want to think about his plans for me. When I awoke, he was in an argument with his mother-in-law. Apparently his name is Pietro. After she left, I zinged him good."

"But wait, you did this all by yourself? We sent the Bittermens after you!" cried Gary Regan.

"Oh, I met up with them after. I imagine they're off to the next big thing by now."

"And," said Lemon, turning towards the muse. "They say you should keep Grapefruit. Between the two of us, you'll never have to worry about Kumquat Beasts."

"You know," the muse said, proudly looking around at her new acquisitions. "I think we can do something quite nice with all of you..."

Everything's Coming Up Roses
2 oz Gran Centenario Rosangel reposado tequila
slightly more than 1/4 oz sweet vermouth
slightly less than 1/4 oz dry vermouth
one dash Grapefruit bitters, Fee Bros.
one dash Lemon bitters, Fee Bros.


Shake on ice until quite cold.
Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with the head of Pietro the Smiley-Faced Kumquat Beast on a pike.
Savor the bouquet.

(NOTE: Pietro, the Smiley-Faced Kumquat, isn't just a fun visual. The complex citrus and spice oils he imparts are a surprisingly good match for the resulting drink. No worries if you don't want to do his clove-eyes and cinnamon-stick mouth. You can still flame his head if you prefer.)

I can't start posting recipes on here without first properly thanking the crew at KegWorks for that small bit of generosity and their help with the order mix-up - call me naïve of business practices, but I was expecting to exchange the grapefruit bitters back rather than keep them. In light of that, I offer you this aromatic bouquet in thanks. As with the original order, it's not quite perfect, but I really like how it turned out in the end. Cheers!

Never underestimate what a good set of bitters can do!