The Do-si-Do⁴

• 2 oz gold rum (used Angostura)
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz agave nectar
• 1/4 oz Allspice dram
• 3 fresh peach slices (approx. half of a peach)
• 4 fresh raspberries
• 2 oz Prosecco sparkling wine

Place the agave nectar, peach slices, and raspberries in a mixing glass and muddle well. Add all remaining ingredients except sparkling wine and shake well with ice. Fine (or double) strain into a chilled cocktail glass and top with prosecco. Garnish with dirty looks in the watermelon’s direction.

This is my first time working with agave nectar and it has an interesting effect in that it gives a more earthy and rich sweetness than simple syrup or granulated sugar. It reminds me of a heavy demerara simple syrup. It, along with the high amount of muddled fruit, give this drink an extremely thick and heavy body prior to the addition of the sparkling wine. I wouldn’t use Brut or Extra Dry with this as they will push the drink a little too much toward the dry category and mask the spiciness of the allspice dram and tartness of the raspberries.

When Joana tried this she said, “I think you have a winner; there’s a lot going on there but it all comes together.” And that’s what I noticed as well, that all the constituent parts retain their character but ultimately balance and bounce around the palate without clashing. I’m not a huge raspberry fan but seeing as how blackberries and mulberries weren’t on-hand, though they grow well here too, I went with them and it paid off handsomely. This is a cousin to the Bramble or Blair’s Shamble but being served up and with the sparkling wine floater it takes on different character from that family.

Thanks to Kevin of Save the Drinkers! for hosting. We didn’t get to cross paths or formally meet at Tales, mainly because I was intimidated by his well-coiffed hair and very clean t-shirts. I’ll have to not make the same mistake twice next year.

MxMo XXX: The Do-si-Do is a post from: cocktailnerd

1. part of the reason for this post’s delay
2. these are the sorts of things that get us International attention, folks
3. more on this soon
4. named such because the two fruits are “back-to-back” and it does seem to dance a bit on the palate

Now this here drink I’m about to tell you about came about in the early twenty aughts – just about the time of our conflict with Sad’m and the I-raqis. I only mention it because sometimes there’s a drink… I won’t say a classic, ’cause, what’s a classic? Sometimes, there’s a drink. And I’m talkin’ about the Union here – the Union from Seattle. Sometimes, there’s a drink, well, it’s the drink for its time and place. It fits right in there. And that’s the Union. The Union, from Seattle. And even if it’s a fine drink – and the Union is most certainly that. Quite possibly one of the more finest in all of King County, which would place him high in the runnin’ for worldwide. Sometimes there’s a drink, sometimes, there’s a drink. Well, I lost my train of thought here. But… aw, hell. I’ve done introduced it enough.¹²

Union

• 4 mint leaves
• 2 drops rosewater
• 2 barspoons creme de cassis

Muddle the above in a mixing glass.

• 2oz Hendrick’s gin

Fill mixing glass with ice and stir. Strain into a cocktail glass and top off with 1oz prosecco or other light sparkling wine. Garnish with a single rose petal³ .

This drink was developed by Keith as a way of reviving an old cocktail at Union as well as a way to honor his recent betothral to his fiancee’, Christine⁴ . A wonderful story and a wonderful drink, if you take a few precautions. See, there is a lot going on in this drink. Everyone that tried it that evening immediately commented on two things; the floral aromatic and the mouthfeel. An extemely important, but easily overlooked, component in this drink is the rosewater. I’m not sure what they use at Keith’s bar, but the store-bought, if overapplied, creates an oily feel to the drink which can turn some people off. So, when it says ‘two drops’, grab your eyedropper and use exactly that, two drops. An incautious pour will send this over the edge like Walter Sobchak at a bowling tournament.

Also, I think Hendrick’s is an ideal gin for this; I wouldn’t change a thing in the gin but understand that this is a gin-lover’s drink. People unused to or put off by gin will not find many charms here, which leads me to my next warning: use an artisanal creme de cassis if at all possible. I’m forced to use Hiram Walker Creme de Cassis in this cocktail backwater and it drags the drink down a touch with its tacky and sachharine quality. Using Massenez Creme de Framboise did wonders for it, but changed the drink’s character significantly.

Other than that, the mint and gin play together like young lovers (as they almost always do) and everything else at the gathering can be made to swing in style with them if handled properly. It has a high degree of complexity but loses its depth when a cheap liqueur is used or the rosewater is allowed to overrun things.

I’d be curious what rosewater they use at Union for the drink and what Keith has to add regarding the drink’s construction. That is, if he’s not too busy packing and can forgive my using, and enhancing, the picture at the top of the page.⁵

Last night's dogbite: Union is a post from: cocktailnerd

1. this is, hopefully obviously–if not, go rent, buy, or download ‘The Big Lebowski’ this instant and see what genius the Coen brothers make of a Raymond Chandler crime story, NOW–a riff on the opening monologue by ‘The Stranger’ at the beginning of the film. A film a deep affinity for which I share with Keith
2. explaining the heart border is a little tougher, keep reading if you haven’t already
3. or an impatiens as supplies allow
4. hence the hearts above
5. i.e. I hope he doesn’t whoop my ass at Restaurant August next week…
6. kick this to 3.5-4 if it comes together perfectly, but it’s a delicate drink

Among the many she found were the winners of last year’s Tales of the Cocktails competition; the Crescent City Blossom, the Starfish Cooler, and the Sparkling Sakepom as well as several from the Food Network and Martha Stewart websites including the Laughter in the Rain¹ , the Killer Mango Champagne Cocktail, the Grand Champagne Cocktail, and the Frizzante Mojito. Now, many of these require more work than I’m immediately willing to put in sight unseen² but several of these I could try with little pre-work and had the right ingredients ready, and willing, to go. We tried the Starfish Cooler, the Crescent City Blossom, and the Frizzante Mojito. Each had their considerable charms, and none fell flat or disappointed.

Crescent City Blossom

• 2 1/2 oz Moet & Chandon White Star
• 1 oz Plymouth Gin
• 1 oz St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 1/4 oz Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters

Combine all ingredients in an ice filled mixing glass. Stir until well chilled and strain into a Champagne glass. Top with Moët & Chandon White Star. Garnish with a thin, 8 inch orange peel spiral.

This drink is by Martin Cate of the Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge in Alameda, CA and my hat’s off to him. When looking at this recipe for the first time my eyes popped at the high volume of St-Germain. As I mentioned in my last post this has been a problematic ingredient for me that has only come together perfectly well when put with champagne. This drink changed that. Everything else in the drink is designed to tone that syrupy sweetness down and tame the liqueur into a floral accent instead of an overwhelming, but well-meaning, brute.

A couple of notes on the other ingredients though. I think it’s important to use Plymouth Gin specifically here as most London Dry gins will bring a cymbal crash of juniper down on this drink that may not be entirely helpful. You might get away with another non-London Dry such as Citadelle, Van Gogh, or Hendrick’s but I’d stick with the Plymouth. Also, don’t mess with the bitters. Stirrings’ bitters are a whole different beast than your Fee Brothers or Regan’s No. 6 Orange Bitters and replacing the Stirrings’ with a full 1/4 oz of one them is suicide.

This drink really impressed me and I loved how balanced it came across without sacrificing depth (my main complaint against a lot of Collins/Fizz/Mojito-style drinks). The proportions were perfect for a standard champagne flute and I’m definitely going to be back to this one again and again. I don’t think the Moet & Chandon is particularly important, and certainly not as important as the type of gin and bitters, but my oh my it sure was nice.

Starfish Cooler

• 1 oz Moet & Chandon White Star
• 1 oz Lemoncello
• 1 oz PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
• 1 oz Unsweetened Iced Tea
• 1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Muddle orange slice and mint leaf in a collins glass. Combine all ingredients.

This drink was submitted by Stacey Smith of GW Fins in New Orleans and it won the competition in last year’s competition. I’m going to give Stacey the benefit of the doubt and assume that there’s ice involved in there somewhere. Now, in buildingthis drink and looking at my collins glasses there was no way 4 1/2 oz. of ingredients were going to look anything this side of pathetic in my 12oz glasses. So, from my Gin & Tonic experience I knew that this volume, with ice, would fill a double old-fashioned glass nicely and it certainly did. So, if your collins glass are anything like mine they’re hell to muddle in and poorly suitedd to this drink. But, logistics aside, how was it?

This is a nice low-octane drink that brings rarely paired ingredients together and lets them play. I love the use of Unsweetned Iced Tea as, for me, it was the ingredient that really stood in the center and made this unique. The PAMA, Lemoncello, and champagne all do their thing but none of them really have enough character to make the drink completely sing. My wife and mother-in-law really enjoy this and it held up well when I made a pitcher of them for the Easter brunch we served ourselves. A good mid-morning to early-afternoon starter, but, all in all, too sweet for my tastes. I dialed back the simple syrup and upped the champagne quotient and it was less tacky but lost some of the iced tea punch that made it special. So, a couple of notes on this one, for me, are to ensure the tea is nice and strong and pull back on the simple syrup; between the PAMA and Limoncello there’s plenty of sweet to go around in this one. I also went with a Lemoncello that has a sharper lemon rind tang to it, versus a sweet lemon juice focus, and it also helped. So, if you have the luxury of selection, go with a drier one. Also, you should click the link above to see the picture on the Tales of the Cocktail site, it’s quite pretty and significantly superior to mine.

Frizzante Mojito

• 1 1/2 oz light rum (preferably Cruzan)
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 3/4 oz fresh lime juice
• 6 fresh mint leaves
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 oz champagne or prosecco (chilled)

Muddle together mint, lime juice, and simple syrup to release mint oils in a mixing glass. Add rum and bitters; shake over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass or coupe; top with Champagne.

This starts as a fairly standard mojito with the addition of Angostura bitters and champagne. However, the uptick in simple syrup, alarming to me at first, turns out to bring all this together to retain the spirit of the mojito despite the heavy addition of champagne. This is really refreshing, as you’d expect, and the addition of champagne and bitters really provides some complexity that a straightforward mojito lacks.

An interesting thing about this drink though; I’ve made two pitchers of this for parties and whatnot since initially trying it and in my first attempt grossly overcalculated the amount of bitters a pitcher would call for (we’re talking about orders of magnitude 10x or more here) and managed to cut it down by increasing the remaining ingredients so it was only 3-4x as much called for and, shockingly, it was a huge success. Naturally I took the Julia Child route, acted as if the recipe were spot-on, and never made mention of my mishap to my guests until long afterwards, but the second pitcher, made to spec, wasn’t as good in my opinion. It was good, but upping the bitters even further seemed to take this to another level. Worth a shot at least should you try it.

As a side note, a cat named Allen Katz³ provided this recipe to Martha Stewart’s site along with the Laughter in the Rain cocktail above and I’ve yet to run into a recipe of his that hasn’t rocked my socks off. And, in googling him the instant I’m typing this I’ve come to find out there’s a fine reason for that. Apparently he knows what the hell he’s doing and we should all damned well pay attention when he recommends something. Well done, sir, well done. I can’t wait until Tales of the Cocktail 2008 to meet or see all these fine people.

Fizzy Lifting Drinks: Redux is a post from: cocktailnerd

1. this is another drink that uses cucumber in its preparation, like the Flying Cucumber, to good effect; bit too sweet for me though
2. I’m looking at you Killer Mango thingy
3. yuk yuk

Champagne Cocktail

(Pint bottle of wine for three goblets.)

(Per glass.)

Take 1 lump of sugar.

1 or 2 dashes Angostura bitters.

1 small lump of ice.

Fill the goblet with wine, stir up with a spoon, and serve with a thin piece of twisted lemon peel.

A quart bottle of wine will make six cocktails.

Basically, all roads to the Champagne Cocktail lead from this, the recipe from Jerry Thomas' quinessential book, 'Bar-Tender's Guide or How to Mix Drinks'. These days we typically build this in the champagne glass in the order given; take a sugar cube, douse (well, I douse) with Angostura bitters, place the soaked cube in the flute glass, top with champagne, and voila! For me this is a very simple cocktail that acts as a wonderful palate cleanser which I serve as an apertif before meals, as a morning/brunch drink, or as a light drink between heavier cocktails. In fact, unless we're drinking actual capital-c Champagne, we rarely drink our bubbly straight-up anymore and drink this instead. However, I have two stylistic peculiarities with this drink, and everyone I have served the version above to, as well as my own, have preferred mine. Ok now, staunch purists with the pitchforks, cover your eyes. Done? … no? Seriously, cover them or skip over this section… Still here? Look you rat bastard, I can't help the palpitations you're about to experience so sign this waiver here: ________________________. Did it? Clean your screen afterwards? Good.

I vary the technique above in two ways. First, I place the sugar cube in the bottom of the flute or glass and then douse the sucker with bitters until it's dark brown throughout and there's still puddle to spare at the bottom of the glass (Note: I do vary the amount based on the volume of the glass I'm working with so as to not completely overwhelm the champagne). Next, and this is where it gets ugly – hold on to your socks – , I muddle the cube into oblivion. There, I said it. Hello, my name is Gabriel and I muddle the sugar cube in my Champagne Cocktails. 'Hi Gabriel…' Thanks guys. This process does two things for me; it really brings out the Angostura flavor and the sweetness from the sugar takes much more quickly into the drink to balance it so you get a much more intense set of flavors, and it prevents the champagne from fizzing up as quickly and potentially spilling over, thus reducing the amount of time it takes to pour the glass. That's my experience at least. And, again, I've tried all sorts of variations on technique (place the cube on the Angostura bottle then tip over and count to 3, place the cube in the bottom of the glass and dash from above and pour the champagne without muddling, altering pouring angles, etc. etc.) and everytime I've served another style against this one, people have preferred this technique. So, go crazy folks! Be a rebel! Try it, you might like it. And as long as we're here, check out two other very fine posts and videos regarding the Champagne Cocktail to be found at Erik Flannested's site 'Underhill Lounge' here, and at Drinkboy's 'The Cocktail Spirit' show here. Now, on to the big guns.

French 75²

• 2 oz gin (used Tanqueray)
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 tsp simple syrup
• Champagne

Shake all but the champagne in an iced cocktail shaker. Pour into a tall glass (collins, zombie, or Champagne flute). Fill with champagne, stir gently, and garnish with a long, think lemon spiral and a cocktail cherry.

Gin…goooooood, lemon juice and simple syrup…gooooooooood, champagne…gooooooooooooooooood. Together… holy batcrap is that a dry drink! Big guns indeed! Naturally, my wife loved it. For me, t
he dryness of the champagne and the whole 2 ounces of gin fought together and never quite settled down on the tongue leaving the lemon juice and simple syrup to play alone in the background, forlorn and muted. I will say that serving this in a collins glass (I typically use a 13.5 ounce) helps it out a bit. The additional champagne required to top it off seemed to level it out. However, in the future I will adjust the recipe more towards Robert Hess's version here or Gary Regan's which both reduce the other three ingredients against the champagne. This, to me, is an improvement and my heart cries out to serve this in a champagne flute instead of a collins glass (though it is awfully close to a Tom Collins with champagne instead of club soda) which will be more easily achieved with their reduced proportions. And now, let's gamble, or do an Ian Fleming impression, or something…not sure.

Casino Royale³

• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz fresh orange juice
• 1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
• 1/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• Champagne

Shake all ingredients except the champagne and strain into a chilled martini [sic] glass. Fill with champagne and garnish with an orange peel.

The first thing I notice about this drink is that the appearance isn't much to look at; it's fairly dull and unremarkable. I skipped the orange peel garnish because 1: that was my last orange there in the picture and I didn't want to ruin it (sacrificing for asthetics) and 2: I wasn't sure what he meant by 'peel'. Even in DeGroff's own garnish section of the book everything is referred to as 'zest', either for flaming or as a spiral, so rather than worry about it I skipped it. And, I must say, the drink must not have suffered a bit. The scent of the drink was fresh and citrus-y with the dryness of the champagne and herbals of the maraschino liqueur just peeking through. The drink only suffers from being a little overly sweet, but it is very refreshing and a nice use of champagne in a mixed drink as the effervesence adds to its refreshing quality. This is a good drink to offer those who like sweeter drinks but you just can't get yourself to make them another pina colada, coco loco, or other sickly mixture to save your life. I think a larger cocktail glass assists in drying out the drink a bit and, if possible, should be used. The number of fresh fruits to squeeze and the small proportions of lemon juice and maraschino liqueur make this a bit of a labor-intensive drink so it's not a good party drink unless you want to get stuck behind the bar, but this will go into our private regular rotation for Summer. And, for my wife, so will the French 75, though she will probably reduce the number of those she has in one sitting…wow.

Champagne Cocktail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

French 75 Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars (as made above)

Casino Royale Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Last night's dogbite: Fizzy Lifting Drinks is a post from: cocktailnerd

1. I'm using the term 'champagne' for sparkling wines as well but I know and appreciate the difference I assure you
2. from Ted Haigh's 'Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails'
3. from Dale DeGroff's 'The Craft of the Cocktail'