2070 Swizzle

• 1 oz Angostura 1919 Rum
• 1 oz 151 Demerara Rum
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz rich simple syrup
• 1/2 oz honey syrup
• 1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
• 4 drops Pernod
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• 1 pinch freshly-ground nutmeg

Add all ingredients to a glass. Fill with crushed ice. Insert barspoon and swizzle until frost forms on the glass. Top with extra ice if needed. Serve with a straw.

The honey syrup is a simple 1:1 honey-to-water combination that is stirred over heat until all of the honey is fully dissolved and it lends a fabulous backbone to this drink that everything else hinges to. This is, I’m sad to say, the first swizzle I attempted and it was highly rewarding. So much so that at my mother-in-law’s birthday party, after a good number of Sazeracs and Lion’s Tails and John Collins and you-name-it, I made a couple of these and shoved them in everyone’s face demanding they try it, NOW!, and sing the praises of Martin lest I limit them to the slightly-warmed Heineken mini-keg I had in waiting. Needless to say, I had many takers, with many smiles. I must say, I can be an intense host when serving drinks.

Martin Cate notes the Twenty Seventy is influenced by the classics, and soon after making this, I found the 151-Swizzle in Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log to be closely-related though I have yet to try it. Of course, upon entering the Mixoloseum Bar and lauding the 2070 I was met with a knowing, and accurate, analysis by Craig who said (and I’m paraphrasing), “Ah! The honey and lime or grapefruit combination or a punch of pastis and bitters is classic in Don the Beachcomber-style drinks.”³ See, I told you I left these things up to better people than I.

The final word on this, for me, is that the rums are critical (another sign of a well-constructed tiki drink). I’ve tried several iterations of this and none match the Angostura 1919 (one of my favorite rums right now) and 151-Demerara combination. In the interest of saving my 151-Demerara, which I can’t replenish here and should tell you just how many of these I’ve downed, I have replaced it with a split of 151-Bacardi and 80-proof Demerara rum. But, as you’d expect, it’s not quite the same. Barring any Demerara at all, well, the Barbados rums are the closest I’ve gotten. A dark Jamaican rum just kills it entirely I’m afraid. I’d be interested in any thoughts any of you have on rum replacements absent Demerara. Also, in my first attempt at this, I dumped a bit too much Pernod and really went heavy on the nutmeg – I didn’t, and still don’t, regret it one damned bit.⁴

I’ve become such a fan of Cate’s creations that I featured the Dead Reckoning in my November Oklahoma Magazine article and find the architecture of his drinks to be extremely-well done. You can almost taste the time and care he spent in constructing them, and that’s always a great and rewarding thing. Too bad he makes for a terrible Elvis.

And, for the record, the second swizzle under my belt, which is surprisingly good, is the Cilician Voyage that came out of the 10/02 Thursday Drink Night! via the addled brains of Rick and Marshall⁵ . If you have Strega, check it out.

Last Night's Dogbite: 2070 Swizzle is a post from: cocktailnerd

1. god bless you, Paul
2. Martin, I only got to meet you briefly on the Saturday night of Tales gallivanting about with Jeff Berry, but you were a fine, and tired, gentleman
3. see the Test Pilot, Montego Bay, or Never Say Die as object lessons
4. however, this does lead most people to look at the drink oddly the first time and wonder, based on my usual taste, why I like it
5. good work gentlemen
6. I kid, of course. Paul is a prince among kings.

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

Jeff blows the conch shell, and it’s all eyes up-front

10:40- Jeff asks for his “laser pointer” to point to his presentation, turns out it’s a harpoon. Good quick overview of where tiki cocktails were made and migrated through the “New Riviera” to Hawaii in the 60’s.

10:41 – Punch and Pirates

Meeting House Punch

• 75 oz Cruzan Estate Light Rum
• 112 1/2 oz Rhum Clement VSOP
• 400 oz Red Stripe beer
• 25 oz Fresh lemon juice
• 25 oz Muscovado Syrup

Mix in a large punch bowl fill with ice and lemon wedges

Beer really comes through in this, but it is refreshing in its citrusy and bright character.

10:45 – Jeff relates the story of ‘Sucking the Monkey’, don’t ask…¹

10:48 – Prohibition drove everyone to Cuba and Tiki drink culture thrived…and to drove them to drink at Sloppy Joe’s bar-then immediately fly back to the States. See the movie Our Man in Havana for shots from the original Havana bar-amazing stuff.

10:53 – But don’t drink in Sloppy Joe’s in Key West. But do have:

La Florida Cocktail

• 1 oz Rhum Clement VSOP
• 1/8 oz Rhum Clemente Creole Shrubb
• 1/2 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso Vermouth
• 1/4 oz BOLS White Creme de Cacao
• 1/8 oz grenadine
• 1 oz Fresh lime juice

Shake with ice, strain and drop in orange peel.

Very tart, the volume lime juice really push this high on the tartness scale² .

10:58 – History of the expansion of tiki drinks in the US when Conrad Hilton retooled many of the Hilton bars to serve tropical drinks in Hilton bars.

11:02 – Two prizes given out, and a Big Lebowski reference…nice.

11:05 – Wayne Curtis talks about the mob (Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky (sp?)) and how it influenced the design of tiki bars, shows the Havana Hilton’s Trader Vic’s interior-very ornate, dense, and looks like a good time. Until Castro came in and used it as his headquarters for the Revolution. Bad investment for Conrad Hilton…

11:08 – LEGO version of Fidel Castro on the slide, they left out the falling off stages and dying parts in the LEGO recreation. Wayne ordered a Mai Tai in the current bar there, and was served a neon-red cheap punch-looking thing³ and said, “…this is not a good argument for Socialism.” Too true.

11:11 – Rum Pot (adapted) is served and Jeff Berry walks through the original Rum Pot and the taste differences

Rum Pot (adapted)

• 1 1/2 oz El Dorado 12-year Demarara Rum
• 1/4 oz French Vanilla Syrup (Fee Brothers)
• 1/2 oz passion fruit puree
• 3/4 oz orange juice
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake well with ice and pour unstrained into glass.

This is really interesting, the vanilla and passion fruit work together really well without creating too heavy a body.

11:17 – Martin Cate takes over and discusses how the modifiers available in the Caribbean influenced Don the Beachcomber’s approach and recipes. Soil and moisture in the West Indes creates a high amount of oil, and thus intensity, in the native spices. neat!

11:18 – A “hardwood” tree in Grenada helps men with impotency…Martin manages to shame a couple of men in the audience by offering them several pieces of bark…then we all get a sample a bit⁴ -it tastes like, ummmmmm, wood.

11:22 – Jasper’s Jamaican Cocktail is handed out, and get to see fresh pimento berries…negates the effect of the bark..

Jasper’s Jamaican Cocktail

• 1 1/4 oz Cruzan Estate Dark Rum
• 1/2 oz St. Elizabeth allspice dram⁵
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon rock candy syrup⁶

Shake well with ice and strain. Dust with nutmeg

loody hell, this is good-like a falernumy/pimento syrup mixed with rum, just delicious with a great balance of spiciness and sweet. And, the Dark Rum works very well, I wouldn’t replace it with gold per the original recipe.

11:23 – best set of slides thus far in any presentation I’ve seen, Martin does an extremely funny take on the preparation a pimento cocktail that’s buried for 6-8 weeks…really good stuff.

11:27 – Stephen Remsberg walks through Jasper’s Jamaican mix and is very charming in talking through the effects of rum on the cocktails such as the overproof Jamaican rum against many of the regular-proofed and lighter rums served to the tourists.⁷

11:33 – Stephen’s final thought- “Pay attention to the rum, and take note of what difference they make in your drinks.”

11:35 – Jeff Berry walks through several caribbean bars and then has a very funny take, since there are no damned tiki bars in New Orleans, on having a wonderful Daiquiri at one of the slushy stands here⁸ .

Q/A: Berry’s “favorite” rum is Cruzan Estates for mixing and Demrara as a style and sipping rum.

(Will add photos later-cheers!)

Potions of the Caribbean (almost live-blogged) is a post from: cocktailnerd

1. but if you must, they stored monkeys they’d shot in alcohol for the trip back and, well, being sailors, got thirsty and would eventually be driven to tap the cask storing the dead monkey…told you not to ask
2. this sentence edited from the original for stupidity and ignorance…
3. much like the Pat O’Brien Hurricane
4. lady handing them out did a double-take and gave me 12 pieces-dammit
5. or any pimento liqueur
6. a heavy simple syrup
7. it’s also endearing that the mic keeps wondering from his mouth and Berry has to remind him
8. there’s literally a ‘Daiquiri Dogs’ stand on the way to the hotel

I made my first batch of Pimento Dram (Allspice Liqueur) last Fall and, given that it takes a month-and-a-half to make it properly, set it on the shelf, tried the occasional tiki drink that called for it, added it to a batch of Egg Nog or two (delicious), but otherwise found it a fantastic ingredient for which I had yet to find a natural, recurring, and fitting home for. Until, that is, I came upon the Ancient Mariner in Jeff Berry’s Grog Log. This is the rare life-changing drink. My secret shame is that it’s taken me this long to write about it and Pimento Dram¹ . Let’s look at the secret weapon of the drink, the Pimento Dram, first.

I’ve used the recipe presented by Paul Clarke in his post Adventures in Kitchen Mixology: Pimento Dram which is also the same recipe he presents in the July/Aug 2007 issue of Imbibe as ‘Chuck’s Pimento Dram No. 3’. So, between Dr. Cocktail’s, Paul’s, and Chuck Taggart’s endorsement, I figured it was a helluva safe bet. You can find alternatives like Darcy O’Neil’s, Robert Hess’s, and Rick Stutz’s which mainly vary the type(s) or rum, add citrus, or add and change up the spiciness of the liqueur to various degrees. Try them all and write the definitive Allspice Liqueur showdown, I dare ya.

Chuck/Paul’s Pimento Dram 3.14159265

• 2¼ cups 151 Demerara Rum
• ½ cup whole allspice berries (crushed)
• 3 cups water
• 1½ lbs. brown sugar

Step 1:
Crush the allspice berries (I’ve tried using a blade coffee grinder and a mortar & pestle, go with the mortar & pestle) and add to a sealable jar with the rum and let steep for at least ten days (I get the best results when I push that out to 14 or so). Shake the mixture daily and then strain through as fine a strainer as possible, pressing the solids to extract as much of the liquid as you’re able. Then, strain that through a coffee filter to remove sediment. Plan, more accurately, to use about 5 coffee filters.

Step 2:
Make a simple syrup with the sugar and water by heating them until all of the sugar is dissolved. Once it’s cool then add the resulting infusion from step 1 and allow to sit, sealed, for a month or more. Put it into whatever jars or bottles you like.

If you taste this immediately upon mixing you will question not only your own, but all of our judgments in suggesting you go through the process of making this. It’s quite harsh and, while not unpleasantly spicy, simply doesn’t seem like it belongs anywhere near a drink that depends on balance for it to be classified ‘non swill’. Taste it, but trust the process and come back to it a month or more later and it’ll be much more refined and friendly.

Some notes on this:

The Rum: Since I don’t have regular access to Lemon Hart Demerara rum my first batch was made with Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum which, besides its high proof, has a rich and almost musty character not unlike a cachaca. Once I got my hands on Lemon Hart 151, though, I was able to compare the two and found the Lemon Hart lends a much spicier and biting profile to the liqueur. Not a bad thing, but it needed a little more rest before serving than the Wray & Nephew did. I refuse to go near Bacardi 151 for this, I just think it’s awful.

The Sugar: With this much sugar your choice has a lot to do with how the final product comes out. I’ve used both brown sugar and, because I had to use Wray & Nephew in my first batch but wanted to assure a Demerara character, I have also used Demerara sugar. I highly recommend the Demerara sugar if you can get it. It makes it even more itself versus simply acting as a sweetener. And, if you’re unable to get Demerara rum, I suggest using it even more strongly.

Everything else is time, or in the case of the alternate recipes, taste. Now, on to the Ancient Mariner:

Ancient Mariner

• 1 oz 80-proof Demerara rum
• 1 oz dark Jamaican rum
• ¾ oz fresh lime juice
• ½ oz grapefruit juice
• ½ oz simple syrup
• ¼ oz pimento dram

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and pour into a double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wedge and a sprig of mint.

This is simple to build but suprisingly complex and deep. As I mentioned earlier, this drink rocks my socks and has kept a standing order for grapefruit on the grocery list for the past half year because there’s a certain blend of complexity and balance that you rarely get in a drink. I mean, I love a good Negroni or Bronx or Pink Lady as much as the next guy, but they’re not particularly complex; distinctive, yes. The Ancient Mariner is both. Also, if you’re throwing a party and really want to show off your pimento dram ‘killer app’ usage, it’s extremely easy to make a pitcher of these and let the ‘oooooooohhs’ and ‘aaaaaaahhhs’ commence. Making a pitcher is also serves to tear through your pimento dram because, seriously, you end up making a lot of it and it goes slowly at ¼-1/2 oz per drink (it easily overpowers a cocktail so it’s almost always used sparingly).

I thought I’d be clever and up the pimento dram proportion in this because, hey! more of a good thing, right? Wrong, it completely kills it. Follow those damned proportions above, they’re fer yer own good, ya bastard. That being said, not everyone can get their hands on Demerara rum, myself included² . The best combination of dark Jamaican and non-Demerara rums I’ve found thus far are Coruba (though Appleton will do) and Angostura Gold (a very molasses-profiled rum). Barring Angostura Gold, go with Cruzan. It’s light and sweet and stays out of the way, though it gives the drink less zing.

The only thing I’ve found that improved on this drink is using simple syrup made from demerara sugar (a tip I picked up from David Wondrich in his wonderful book, ‘Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash…’). It adds a little more intensity and rich spiciness to the drink and helps makes up for the lack of demerara rum. Other than that, muck about with this drink at your peril. Oh, and pay attention to that crushed ice thing. It’s important. I let my Ancient Mariner sit and think about just what he did wrong for about a minute before devouring him. Sometimes I pretend I’m Davy Jones while doing it, too.

The Ancient Mariner Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars³

Now, don’t even get me started on the Amer Picon I’ve made.

More Mariner, Less Albatross… is a post from: cocktailnerd

1. It’s featured by Ted Haigh in the March/April ’08 issue of Imbibe, excellent taste, that man
2. getting the one bottle of Lemon Hart was a minor act of [insert deity here]
3. it barely misses 5-stars because it’s very delicate and, therefore, an inconsistent drink-even the season of the lime will throw this into just better than average terrotory