Casa delle Streghe

There are an untold near-infinite number of pumpkin or butternut squash-and-something cocktails at this point gathering up on the interwebs.* Which seems downright anti-foodie, frankly. There are dozens of winter squash varieties out there, all with varying flavor profiles (no, they are not interchangeable, the flavor pairing guide you're reading is just frickin' lazy). You have yellow-colored squashes that pair with lemon, basil, nutmeg, and ginger notes. Next are medium-colored/light orange squashes that get mellow and nutty, and a bit of orange juice or cinnamon wouldn't be amiss. Finally you have the darker colored squashes trending borderline red which do dip into full-on savory territory (think Thai or Mexican or African flavors).

*The lone exception of course being the elegant pumpkin-buttery Mai Chai served in a delicata squash. Big muse-favor for that one!

Or rather, the above doesn't do it justice. Honest to goodness, folks, wouldn't you prefer a world where seasonal flavors were more integrated with what's going on outside? Where flavor changes weren't dictated by quarterly earning statements? Where your pumpkin spice fatigue doesn't start in late August? [insert rant on short-term thinking corporate artificialization of all culture]

Get out of that cubicle! Don't let life pass you by! You're stressed because you live a life that doesn't coincide with Mother Nature and is drowned in light pollution that makes you forget there are billions of stars in the sky! Yaaaaaaawwwwwwppp!!!!!!!

ahem.

Ok then, class, let's turn back to the blackboard and go over the details for the new fall flavor regime management plan guidance..

MoD's rules for fall flavors

September: hazelnuts, fresh apples, banana bread ebbing over from August, light lemony squashes like Acorn, Carnival and Delicata; light hints of maple; granola
October: full-on tart red apples like McIntosh; medium squashes like Kabocha, Butternut, Buttercup; Pumpkin late month extending to Thanksgiving; walnut and rosemary (to bring back around at Christmas for Jupiterian symbolic reasons); start bringing in the spice cake flavors, perhaps blended with squash to begin integration
November: pecan and heavy maple, heavy squashes like red kuri (which extend into January flavors), smoke, sage and darker flavors with an eye towards maced fruitcake and game meats at the holidays

Don't blame me, blame my synaesthesia and affinity for assigning colors to months based on the visual calendar scheme from the end of that one Richard Scary book when we were all 3. 
Simply put, September: yellow-fading-tan, October: robust red-orange, November: bare tree and roasted turkey brown. Voila!


But now then, frankly this is much more of a September recipe than on October one, but time has not been on the blog's side of late. (though then, I also wanted to do this recipe back in 2012 - perseverance!) You should still be able to get carnival squash at the grocery store, though.

Please your palate! Give it a new flavor beyond pumpkin or butternut! (and follow the link to get the recipe for Carnival squash syrup, plus a bonus recipe for Carnival squash mash)

Casa delle Streghe

1 oz reposado tequila (Herradura)

1/2 oz brandy (Spanish)

(short) 3/4 oz lemon juice

1/2 oz Carnival squash syrup

1/4 oz Strega

lemon ring for garnish

Shake, strain, garnish.

The tequila shines through, rounded and deepened by the brandy, with an added lilt of vanilla. The squash syrup adds a gentle lemony creaminess, accentuated by Strega's untamed herbaceous mix. Perfectly witchy.

Just don't overdo the lemon, the squash syrup gets a little shy with the sweetness.

I'd reference the tequila-Strega Acapulco #2 cocktail on Difford's Guide, but the ratio on that with an ounce of lemon juice shows that could have been thought-through better.


My original idea was something along the lines of a Squash Flower Sour. Except squashes and squash flowers don't coincide seasonally for some strange reason.

[Boomer: And you were going to go on a rant about non-local artificiality?]

Oh. Yeah. So we had to make our own fun do.

I tip the hat to Kythera, for sending her dove to let me know the recipe was finished as-is, then to Eriounes (Mousagetes!) for sending me the perfect name as soon as I asked. Casa delle Streghe: the ghost mansion.

Impromptu: 64320:1

When the first sip of the wine has you thinking vanilla boardwalk fudge and your tastebuds cry out for the tiniest accent of sea salt, you know you're enjoying a cocktail-worthy ingredient. Such is the case with Robert Mondavi Oakville fumé blanc.

And when you're working with an actual non-fortified, non-aromatized regular wine (and you're not making New York Sours, sangria, or Kalimoxto) your go-to template has to be PDT's Against All Odds.

I love how specific a request of "non-chardonnay oaked white wine" can get. 

64320:1
1 1/2 oz Plymouth gin
1 1/2 oz Oakville fumé blanc
1/2 oz Combier pamplemousse rose liqueur 

1/4 oz orange liqueur (Gran Gala)
rinse Green Chartreuse

Rinse. Stir. Strain. ooooh..

The combo of Plymouth and grapefruit harks to Salty Dog territory, gin perfect for a summertime seaside splash. Chartreuse adds frisson while Gran Gala rounds and lends an underlying orange zest sharpness. Such a showcase.

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.

The NOLA Variations: Moo Carré

'Cause now you can lawfully eat King Cake!

Moo Carré
1 oz rye whiskey
1 oz cognac
1 oz bianco vermouth
1/4 oz Galliano
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 1/2 oz milk stout
lemon twist for garnish

Build, stir, fizz, twist.

As our dear MoD was finding out on Anadyomene's Waves, choice of spirits makes all the difference. Despite use of a milk stout -- the lactose is the hinge holding it all together -- you want a good roasty bitter-ish beer, because then the caramel-vanilla flavor note axis emerges and isn't drowned out by sweet. Left Hand and Duck Rabbit make great well-rounded milk stouts that fit the bill. You can taste the Vieux Carré (or at least the Saratoga) underneath, but the axis takes it on its own path.

White Bull

Ah, finally, we've hit the last third of April and a recipe that has been lingering for a few years can now be published. There's a method to this madness. First there was Bucentaure (and a lot of the concept is laid out there). Then there was Bull with a Barette. (then there was Chimaera taking the base in another direction) And now we complete a trilogy --and a promise-- that sprung from trying to fit too many ideas into one glass: the White Bull.

(granted, I may have one more in me that incorporates egg white, saffron, and Suze, but we'll have to see how that goes..)

As tasty and structure-playful as Bucentaure and Bull with a Barette are, they're friggin' heavy aged-spirit cocktails hitting at a point when all the flowers are popping open. I consider White Bull to be somewhat more Aries-inflected, and not just because we're only a couple of degrees into the month of Taurus at time of posting: it's leaner, cleaner, small red berry-noted -- perfect for a spring that's still emerging in fits and starts from chilly breezes and drizzles that prolong the blooms. Not for nothing, it still possesses Taurus' sensuality. You could say it's an elaborate riff on summery Douro Valley sipper White Port and Tonic. And, whichever incarnation, it's still a Vieux Carré at core.

White Bull
1 oz Wray & Nephew Overproof rum
1 oz white port
1/2 oz pisco
1/2 oz Mahia fig eau-de-vie
1/4 oz Skinos mastiha liqueur
3 drops Fee Bros. cherry bitters
1 dash Dr. Adam Elmegirab's Spanish bitters
1 oz tonic water
lemon twist garnish

Build on good-sized rocks, give a little stir, and garnish.

Frankincense, sweet lime, clear golden light bitter, cherries, spiced figs and bright fruit, green ginger, grassy Jamaican funk as it evolves. Ethereal, fresh in a perfectly springtime manner, but packs a wallop.

Enjoy with Marcona almonds - you'll thank me.




I leave it to your imaginations and tastebuds, but I do invite consideration for ingredient evolution - particularly the bitter ingredients.

Mahia fig eau-de-vie is an underused, brilliant and rare flavor that needs to get a lot more love. As in La Primavera nella Campagna, I find that clear eau-de-vies offer delicate spring-like approaches for otherwise autumn-oriented fruits.


Thank you dear reader - a little over 5 years and now 100K hits. :) Hope I can keep being productive and worth your valuable time.

Anadyomene's Waves

Happy Tiki Month, folks! We here at Feu de Vie* are getting back into the swing of things and boy are there a ton of recipes yet to refine and post, let alone the recipe bunnies that pop into the head unbidden. Above all, we had to squeak this next recipe in before Tiki month ended for a whole 11 months.

*and I truly mean We - check out Boomer's first official attributed post!

For those not in-the-know, one of the best internet cocktail parties of the year is always Tiki Month, hosted by Doug at The Pegu Blog each February. Doug explains the origins in the first link better than this Jane-come-lately can. But, quite simply, Tiki is the advanced thermonuclear global timeshare, the Indiana Jones adventure of cocktails. The wistful sunsoaked beaches and hula skirts of Tiki were meant for the dreary, snowy winter months (that were yet chock-a-block with fresh winter citrus!). While some crazy spirits saddle up with NOLA cocktails like the Vieux Carre or Sazerac for Mardi Gras, others party the whole month with Jet Pilots, Mai Tais and Missionary's Downfalls. So while you may be doing Orpheus-knows-what with beads and the Krewe de Muses tomorrow, join the party and make yours Tiki!


Now then, way back when I promised all of you a second cocktail using my ethereal Meyer lemon falernum. My first, the Telesto (with falernum recipe ready and available for cri-Tiking), was an odd gin-rum-arrack riff on the Saturn style of low-proof blended recipes with orgeat. This time around, we're expanding the spirit range and attempting a tequila-based recipe using a tequila blend. Granted, tequila doesn't quite have the range that rum does, with all the variation in and around the Caribbean alone, but there are still altitude- and aging-based nuances available to play with.


The sinking sun glimmers gold and pink on the placid surf, her shell drifting towards shore....had she always been there, coasting the waves? The sailor watched in trepidation, the foam drip drip dripping from her locks. Her long fingers reached back and wrung kinks into the flax. The land was not her natural state.

Why yes, this is a Tiki cocktail in a clamshell birdbath. Why do you ask? #garnish

Anadyomene's Waves

3/4 oz blanco tequila

3/4 oz reposado tequila

1 oz Don's Mix #2

1/2 oz Meyer lemon falernum

1/2 oz lime juice

6 drops Bittercube Jamaican #2 bitters

Shake with crushed ice and strain over over larger cubes.
Garnish with untold waves of citrus zest (Meyer lemon, lime, grapefruit).

If using falernum without Meyer lemon juice added in, add 1/4 oz ML juice to the mix. As when working with all citrus, check the tartness, especially with the grapefruit, and adjust accordingly.

Go big with flavor here - you won't regret it. You want tequila with hogo, if you can find it. Get a big grassy, peppery blanco (i.e. Siembra Azul) and a rich, earthy funky lowlands reposado (i.e. Corralejo). Bottles bold in tequila flavor (and perhaps less sweetness) win in this cocktail.

Proboscis: candied pink butterflies made of crystalline sunbeams. Meyer lemon, pink peppercorn, ginger, grapefruit, faint grassy agave.

Tastebuds: a burst of sweet pink spice on the tongue dries to tartness over the palate. Agave emerges sip after sip. Even as it dilutes, you find more layers revealed. Pink lemonade, weak cinnamon, shimmer of dark spices cooking underneath.


That thing with the name? Let just say an ice strategy of crushed ice pressed into the form of a scallop shell in the glass would not go amiss. It came to me while breathing in my seaweed/sea air shampoo a year and a half after getting the recipe down. Darn Venus combust sneaking out through the art - and here I thought I was a tomboy..

Seriously, though, if you look at the structure, there are far more variants out there than you can swing a drunken Kermit at. The Golden-Eyed Tree Frog for one. So glad I didn't name this one after a Bajan lizard.

The NOLA Variations: Infernal Negotiations

Infernal Negotiations
1 oz rye whiskey
1 oz Maker's 46 bourbon
1/2 oz tawny port
1 tsp falernum
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
1 dash smoke tincture
1 rinse absinthe
lemon twist for garnish

Rinse and freeze. Stir. Strain over a big rock. Garnish.

The smell of a humid backroom, damp with smoke as the antique wire fan lazily wafts across the room. The men who gather there -- spared half the sun by heavy wooden Venetian blinds, eyes glinting against the black slats of shade -- mutter with grizzled vulgarity.

Ah, but the taste in the glass.. The Sazerac is too pure, too friendly. The lemon, the Peychaud's, the moody frisson of absinthe -- all these linger yet, but underneath a black stake of sternness, spice and smoke swirling through red fruit, caramel and 46 drops of black soul.


A handy method for all kinds of revenantion. I been dead longer than this blog's been around. Howdya THINK I came back, huh? *itch itch itch*

MxMo CXVI: Irish Wake

Life's been what it is, old paths dwindling, new paths glimmering before. One's personal approach to the spirits has undergone some re-evaluation and is beginning to peek through on the other side. But the old camaraderie burns strong and bright yet, and for that you take the time - because being able to slip back into the old groove like no time had passed and the great shake-up that was 2016 never happened is not something that should have been taken for granted.

Today is the last Mixology Monday. Our ringmaster and professional cat-herder Frederic makes the final call, with the theme Irish Wake.

So it is time for the final theme, the Irish wake. The Irish wake is a funeral tradition that is a send-off that begins at the time of death until the body is handed over to the church. It is viewed as a crucial part of the grieving process. My first Irish wake was a little over a year ago when Boston barman Ryan McGrale met his untimely demise. While the wake part with the family was sober, the mourning process with the Boston bartenders and the New York City ones who traveled up was most certainly not. Irish whiskey flowed. I remember getting home and wondering why my key would not work and I considered sleeping in the garage. Turns out, it was the wrong key on my key ring and it took awhile to figure that out. So what better way to celebrate the life and times of Mixology Monday and its 11 year run as the premiere "monthly online cocktail party" than with Irish whiskey.

For this theme, the approach is two fold. You can go traditional and generate or uncover a cocktail recipe calling for Irish whiskey. Alternatively, you can talk about a personal moment either where  Irish whiskey played a role in life or where drinks in general helped the grieving process. Such stories were actually rather cool for MxMo 41 "Vodka is Your Friend," so there is precedent for that, but it's not like we can break Mixology Monday for future events by straying from the rules.

Follow the link here to see the round-up for how everyone else took the time to salute.


It's been my experience that one happens upon certain communities during the course of one's wanderings in life, where your own interests intersect others' in such a way that the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. Usually it's a confluence of an objective topic like a fandom or other source of geekery burning so bright that all the best naturally gravitate like moths to that siren fire call: X-Files on wbs.net back in the day, the Whedonverse or comics on AICN during the 'naughts, cocktails on Twitter during the Great Cocktail Renaissance for the past decade or more.

Feu-de-Vie didn't start up in time to participate during Paul Clarke's tenure, but by the time Fred Yarm took up the reins I was very well clued-in that this was the thing to do. And my was it ever. September 2012 revealed an intense count of young gun cocktail blogs with more yet to rise, and the feel of the cocktail blogosphere in general throve on rapid output from all quarters. The number of vibrant postings in a week would make your head spin. Skip participating in MxMo for the blog hit boosts - the sheer number and quality of outputs, and the sense that you were part of a community keen to the idea that "what before had been unthinkable was now both do-able and transcendable (and delicious!)" - there's no greater oxygen for a creative spirit. Put that between your cheek and gum, dadgummit.

What's more, beyond the privilege of getting to host two monthly events (Fire and Ice, natch) and generally always having my best brought out by the events, I've had the great muse-ly pleasure of inspiring others. Pineapple-squash ferris wheels aside, I'm just glad the combination of Irish whiskey and Tiki proved so appealing to encourage folks to come back to MxMo one last time. Mind, an Irish whiskey Tiki Mardi Gras/NOLA cocktail would be the ne plus ultra for this month, naturellement.

And yet, as the old maxim goes, "those who burn brightest also burn shortest." So many of those young guns faded before too long. Cocktail blogging is a difficult enough endeavor, even if one has a plan to balance recipe development and output with moderation and self-care. And, alas, we (and our livers) all do get older and life does have a way of getting in the way. Take it from someone who's struggling with senses of imminent turning points of late and whose other Piscean pursuits also include astrology - there's literally something in the stars happening right now; we're in a year characterized by Uranus, planet of radical unexpected change. The Cocktail Renaissance moment has passed; it's mellowed and in the process of maturation. There's still plenty of room for new recipes and ideas, but, man, would I love to see everyone's recipes get some re-love and appreciation rather than be lost to the ether. For all the joy and fire shared during the best of times, as MxMo rests I do hope our fellowship continues.

So, a toast is in order for all the Mixology Mondays of the past, and those One True dreams of a distant future when the cocktail renaissance may yet be needed and come again.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for some comfort food.

Cinnamon Toast Old Fashioned

2 1/4 oz butter-washed Irish whiskey (Writer's Tears)

3/4 oz cinnamon syrup

3 dashes bitters (Fee Bros Whiskey-Barrel-Aged OF bitters)

cinnamon stick & cinnamon-sugar toastette for garnish

Stir with light ice and strain over a big rock. Garnish.

The cinnamon syrup is 1:1 syrup following JFL's method.

The infusion uses Don Lee's method for the Cinema Highball (also in the PDT recipe book) - make sure you're using clarified *unsalted* butter (no need for popcorn).


Pretty much exactly in-line flavor-wise. You could probably split hairs with the ratio to suit your taste, but 3 spirit : 1 sweet : 1 dash bitters produces a rich, sweet full mouthfeel that is immistakeable for real cinnamon toast. You might be able to dial down the sweet by subbing some cinnamon tincture or adding a neutral bitters like Abbott's or Boker's, but you also have to keep a tastebud open to what whiskey you're infusing. High-quality Writer's Tears, apart from being a classy way to send off our beloved (please do NOT scold on infusing such a dram - I KNOW I know..), has a distinct full body to it, which only enhances the overall cocktail.

Yes, Writer's Tears is a rich dram. Yes, we're loading it with butter also. Such occasions call for decadence like this.


Much love to all participants and hosts past and present, and especial gratitude to Paul Clarke and Fred Yarm for keeping the torch burning as long as it has. I'm grateful for the luck of sharing such a bright moment with you all, pushing boundaries and sharing in mutual bedazzlement. May your paths run true, and may ours cross yet again in the future, for a drink or two!


And, for the future, keep an eye out. We might just get back into the swing of things enough to get some settled recipes published. [Boomer: Stay tuned...]

Impromptu: Peach Sunshine

Bear with me folks. Right as I was writing up my MxMo 100 post a month ago, I got a call that sent me into a tailspin (but from which I've largely recovered). Sitting down to type has been difficult since, though. I'll have more thoughts to share as I work through my backlog, but for now I figure the best way to stretch the blogging muscles is to dash off some of the less-than-prompt impromptus that have been piling up in the meanwhile.

So what do you do when you've hit the dog days of summer, have (at long last) just gotten a stack of Beachbum Berry books from Amazon, and are craving the mother's milk panacea known to man as coconut cream? You blend, baby, blend!

Then, once you work (ha! "work") through the Pain Killer, the Aurora Bora Borealis, several variations of the Pina Colada, and skip over the Chi Chi, you're left with half a can of coconut cream and a big blinking "what next?" sign over your head. It was about then that I posed the "coconut cream and a spice element" challenge to JFL over at Rated R Cocktails (I need to get some coconut milk so I can try the Lono Cup!). I had been noodling perhaps a more floral coconut-pisco-allspice dram recipe, but that'll have to stick in the back-craw of my brain for another time.

Instead, my eyes alighted on the good Jersey peaches my bf had brought over and that blinking slightly-fritzy sign over my head turned into a lightbulb!

It's time for this recipe to get published. It got a bit of a highlight over Labor Day weekend (cheers @MacCocktail!) and just today I got a needed kick in the rear when this sweet ditty showed up over on Stir & Strain. Elana's been doing great stuff with coconut cream this summer and completely hit it out of the park with a Pina Colada royale-type recipe. But yeah, there's a lot of similarity and here I am stewing around as a creative Hamlet (not in a good way) in the background.

The only nit I might have to pick is that, while both cocktails are perfectly good in their own right, this is annus 2015 of the Cocktail Renaissance and this is the cocktail blogosphere we're talking about. If a "Tropical Rum Peach Frozen Blended Cocktail" recipe hasn't been done yet, it and several similar ones (that arise from their concocters being in the same social and mind spheres) might well come along anyway, in short order or years down the road. Seriously, how many of us socially-networked cocktailians have absolutely delighted to see Tiki getting a huge spotlight this year, and wanted to go on a tear when the latest Tiki tipple from Rated R or cocktail virgin pops up in their feeds? If you expect a recipe to have lasting value, it would behoove it to have a proper name instead of being a generic no-name so people know what they're talking about. Besides, the T.R.P.F.B.C. is a mouthful of a name - surely there's something zingy that would suit the glassful of win that the cocktail is?

Peach Sunshine
half of a ripe peach, peeled, stone removed, slightly chopped
1 oz coconut cream (Coco Lopez or Goya preferred)
3/4 oz white grapefruit juice
1/2 oz lemon juice
1 oz gold rum (Prichard's)
3/4 oz madeira (Malmsey)
1/2 oz pisco
2-3 dashes allspice bitters
grated cinnamon and peach slice for garnish

Blend all but garnish with 4 oz crushed ice until smooth (add ice last as you're building).
Pour into goblet, garnish, ooooh..

Bright, fluffy, dreamy. Slightly-sharp peach powerhouse, resting on a luxurious coconut satin sheet, with warm hickory-noted rum, writhing Madeira-maple and spice beneath.

Moreover, while with some coconut cream cocktails you want nothing to get in the way of the mouth-coating richness as you sink into tropical paradise, sometimes there's more to it. Rated R Cocktails did a Pina Colada Redemption series a couple years back, whose recipes I tried out when working through that first half of the coconut cream this year. The Pina Colada (JFL Style) isn't entirely to my tastes - the lime juice is a tad too sharp, lemon might work better there. But there's a lot to consider in the entire series*, particularly the point about the Pina Colada not being a properly Tiki cocktail for its lack of balance. It's a total sweet bomb. The JFL Style adds more sour and a dash of bitters to the mix, which turns the drink more refreshing in nature. I kept that in mind for this recipe, not just with the citrus fruit but with the madeira as well, and it helps the peach pop like nothing else.

*go check out the Shipwreck, named after one of the best G.I. Joe characters!

The name itself is pure off-the-top-of-the-head when trying to combine peach and Tiki worlds, though on later checking I see it's been used in a lot in preserve and quickbread recipes too. A natural connection for many, no doubt. I almost considered calling this Twilight Peach for the darker spirits used, but the unfortunate young adult book linkages and perhaps getting called out as confusing Nintendo's two biggest franchises put the kibosh on that. Apropos and for the record, Gamecube enthusiasts, I do think this recipe would be fit for a 3-D Mushroom princess on vacation.

Mixology Monday XCIX: Ice, Ice Baby Round-up!

Hello everyone - it's round-up time! July seems to have been a busy month for a lot of us, what with Tales of the Cocktail, vacations and plenty of other things going on. Turnout was a little on the lighter side compared to recent events, but general excellence reigned as well. In addition to several old-pros, we welcomed 3 newtimers to the fold, and what struck me most about all the entries was how everyone ended up picking a unique angle on how to either handle or present our theme, Ice. Without further ado, on with the Ice-Capades!



Marius of Arcane Potions starts the festivities off with the Rejuvenation Orb, an ice-spherified cocktail featuring Monin apple syrup, citrus, and, oh the possibilities, gin. What's more, he offers two different options on how to handle the cocktail, with the logistics of a cocktail-in-ice-sphere and the small serve size it presents. Fascinating and gorgeous.



New to MxMo and cocktail blogging in general, Pete of Meticulous Mixing gazes deep into the crystal ball and returns with the best ways to make big perfectly-clear blocks of ice perfect for hand-carving. He also offers the Crystal Pear Gin cocktail as a way to show off the blink-and-you'll-think-it's-not-there ice. Keep an eye out, folks, he's clearly off to a good start!



Next, Julia of A Bar Above gets indulgent with frozen cream cubes for a decadent Bourbon Milk Punch. Anyone up for a pitcher of these, a set of inner-tubes and a lazy winding river?




Also new to MxMo, one of the ice experts at Ice Cubed Manchester joins us via egullet to showcase a biblical-themed ouzo/raki/calvados mix, In a Gadda Da Vida, featuring a hand-carved and bandsaw-cut ice apple (with a grapefruit peel serpent for good measure!). For more cocktail ice showcases, check out their Twitter feed (@Ice3MCR).
  




Next on deck, our favorite catherder-in-chief, Frederic of cocktail virgin slut, pulls out the Liquid Intelligence by Dave Arnold to design an in-your-own-home-freezer frozen cocktail. Instead of a plain-jane frozen daiquiri, he takes it to the next level with an apricot-and-orange daiquiri variant, giving us the Frozen Periodista.




From Kitchen Shamanism, Kafka turns what others might consider a flaw, a hand-crank ice crusher missing a single tooth, into a visual explosion with larger "rustic"-looking ice pieces. He showcases them in an equally-striking Gunroom Swizzle, with Gunroom rum, grapefruit, cinnamon, and Pernod.






Over at Southern Ash, Joel takes the fight to the summer heat with a full-on Gin & Tonic Float featuring a Gin & Lime/Gin Gimlet Sorbet whipped up in the ice cream maker. My mouth waters wanting to try that (and just imagine all the highball/float variants you could do with that model).




Meanwhile, back at the farm, Putney Farm to be precise, the Putneys have apparently been quite busy in the art and science of ice in preparation for their upcoming restaurant! Stewart takes a tangent on that to discuss proper crushed ice and how essential it is to Tiki drinks. Then, he mixes up The Reef Pass, a Mai Tai variant with Santa Maria al Monte amaro in place of simple syrup and basil in place of mint. Herbaciously intriguing..




Our last first-timer is Dy, from her eponymous site dygodsey.com, though other might know her as @dy_mixes on the Twitters. She goes the full-on Il Palio route, creating a morphing cocktail that turns a vodka seltzer into a gin and tonic via some special ice cubes designed to quick-melt. How's that for legerdemain?





Mike from DrinksBurgh breaks the mold a little to give a rundown of various ice-making tips, from frozen pineapple mugs, to small batch incubated crystal clear ice spheres, to the feature shaved ice daiquiri. Look how fluffy, refreshing and versatile! And so simple to make with the right tools. Go. Look!




And then as Doc Elliot or the Russians might say, you don't break the mold - mold breaks you. Go watch in real time as a monster of a gravity-powered ice-sphere-maker slowly and elegantly sinks down onto a crystal-clear block of ice, leaving nothing but perfect roundness in its wake. Then stay to read Doc's tips on how to get that crystal-clear ice block to begin with. Purty..





Next up, Laura of Sass & Gin gets....what's the word? Slushy! And boy howdy does she ever. She starts off with a Sangria Slushy including red wine, Pimm's Blackberry & Elderflower liqueur, and fresh fruit. Next she chases that with a ga-ga New York Sour Granita duo, with rye and madeira. *passes around spoons to everyone*



Penultimately, Dagreb of Nihil Utopia slips off into the exotic ethers of Tiki and wends his way to the temple of Blendraka (Boomer: settle down Muse, you gotta finish the post.. MoD: But it's in Tahiti! Right next to the 7-11. Ahem.) There he receives sacred words of wisdom by being buried under an avalanche: ye shall not underdilute your Tiki drinks! He returns to demonstrate to us blended perfection with the Cocoanaut Flaming Re-Entry: you put de rum en de lime in de coconut - and set it on fire!




Finally, I put together two recipes to play off different icy styles. First, I froze up some teeny Hedgehog Pops with rum, coconut water and other tropical accoutrements. Next, I riffed on the Corpse Reviver #2 with gin, bianco vermouth and crème de violette while extending it with special honeydew juice ice in the shape of a lily pad: Nymphéas.




Thanks to everyone here who participated and made this event a success!
Thanks also to Commander Catherder, Fred of cocktail virgin slut, and founder of our beloved institution, Paul Clarke. I can't wait to see what MxMo 100 will be like! (oh the excitement!)

Cheers, and word to your mother.. Peace out.


P.S. That Cocktail Ice Pinterest board I put together? It's now a Cocktail Ice/MxMo Ice, Ice Baby board, with (mostly) everyone's posts (some are not pinnable, and I respect the copyright)! Check it out and pin away!