I have a problem with Imbibe!¹ and, in a larger sense, fussy-buns cocktails that require a body to prepare anywhere from 2 days to 4 weeks in advance to make a drink. You see, I’m not a planner. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the publication and think it’s gorgeous, brilliantly designed and edited, and I find you can rarely go wrong mixing up one of its drinks. But, therein lies the problem; I often can’t. This, from a guy with over 200 bottles of spirits and 30+ mixing supplements (bitters, syrups, infusions, etc.) at his disposal. I can’t imagine what a traditional reader faces what with the calls for tamarind syrup, algarrobina syrup, pinot grigio syrup, Ceylon black-tea infused silver tequila, pomegranate balsamic drizzle…I could go on and on, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that another blogger at TotC said it best when he said, “If I’m not able to reach for the bottles and mix it up, it gets a bit tiresome and fussy.”² In other words, I’m in this to make drinks, people. And, I have a feeling this is why I go in for the classic and vintage cocktails so heartily; they simply require, for the most part, you have a well-stocked bar, some juices, and the gumption.

In going through my Tales of the Cocktail recipe cards I find so many obscure liquors and spirits I can’t come near to acquiring³ here (Rain Organics Honey Mango Melon Vodka? I mean, C’MON!)⁴ or esoteric and arcane ingredients such as Bauman’s unsweetened Spice and Sassafras Apple Butter that I just begin to throw my hands up at the byzantine morass I see ahead of me that would make drinking a slog and turn to a nice classic Attention or Jack Rose cocktail and call it a night.⁵ Maybe I can be accused of not being serious or devoted enough, I don’t know.

But, this is why I get so delighted when I see a drink such as the Elan Vital, by Daniel Shoemaker, featured towards the back of the magazine’s July/August 2008 issue. “Alas,” I say, “a drink I can make this very instant, and it looks divine.” Read More »

1. Anita at MWD made a good point that Food & Wine may be a worse offender than Imbibe! about this. When a publication hunts out recipes and features bar/bartender’s “house ingredient” it becomes a barrier to entry to trying, and enjoying, it [↩]
2. I’m paraphrasing, but it was refreshing to hear the same “Dammit, I want to be able to make the drinks I discover.” sentiment [↩]
3. or wanting to acquire, how many damned specific types of vodka do you expect me to have or invest in, bastards? [↩]
4. GOB of “Arrested Development” reference here… [↩]
5. I understand the difference between having a bar where these ingredients can be made in large quantities and used to differentiate your cocktails and make them unique flavors not found elsewhere, that’s awesome stuff [↩]

At the behest of Mark in my ‘Spotlight On: Chartreuse‘ entry, I pulled out my Savoy cocktail book and went to work mixing up the Bijou cocktail as it features two of my favorite ingredients; gin and chartreuse. There are only two basic recipes I’ve found for this (though you’ll find slight variations in garnish and amount of bitters – 1 dash or 2) in my search, the ‘Savoy Cocktail Book’ version which you can find here (with equal portions gin, chartreuse, and vermouth) and another you can find here (with a 3 parts gin to 1 part chartreuse and 1 part vermouth). Now, the first strikes me as being much more likely to retain its balance given the volume of sweet vermouth to offset the gin and Chartreuse. But, being the ever-faithful explorer of libations and other treats, I forged ahead trying both. Read More »

Chartreuse fascinated me long before my foray into classic and vintage cocktails. At my favorite liquor store, the green elixir would stare down at me in a lonely fashion, awkwardly surrounded by grappas to the left of it, fruit brandies to the right of it, and it, stuck in the middle with me. But, at $42 a bottle, I couldn’t justify the expense lest it taste of raspberry and ketchup and I get stuck holding the bag (note to self, generally recipes that have survived for 400+ years don’t taste of ass…). Fortunately, my wife in her telepathic wonderfulness (ok, I may have dropped a few whine-intoned hints) wrapped a bottle for Christmas and made this cocktail nerd a very happy man. 

That evening, upon opening the bottle, I was astounded at the smell; with very strong and complex herbal tones of, well, just about everything (130 ingredients indeed!), I had just never smelled anything like it. ‘I simply must drink this now‘, I thought. But, given the in-laws still hanging around, the kids still opening presents, and it being 10am I thought the better of it. So, anxiously awaiting the witching hour of 4:30pm (my personal mark for when it’s acceptable to begin ‘hitting it’) I researched it instead. Read More »