Tonight: Twelve Mile Limit

I had some leftover rum for a punch I'm making for New Years Eve so I turned to my bible, "Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails" by Ted Hiagh and thought this sounded like the best way to put that bit of Jamaican Rum to good use. The drink dates back to prohibition when the government changed the range of interdiction to twelve miles outside the U.S. You could board your steamer passage cruise and let the boozing begin right there on the ship once outside of U.S. territorial waters. Although a bit summery tasting for this cold wintery evening, it is a delicious cocktail that I will revisit often. It could become a summer staple.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz white rum (I used Appleton White Jamaican)
• 1/2 oz rye whiskey
• 1/2 oz brandy
• 1/2 oz grenadine (homemade)
• 1/2 oz fresh meyer lemon juice

Shake in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into cocktail glass. Lemon twist  (or something better than what I managed to carve out with the worst knife ever).

The Elderflower Sidecar

I promised a St. Germain post and got sidetracked. So, as long as I'm just sitting here watching Candy Spelling buy a condo, I thought I'd fix this one up that's been on the back burner.

Incase you don't know, St. Germain is an all-natural Elderflower liqueur. It is made in France and, since it's debut in 2007, has quickly become a bar and tasteful home bartender staple.  If you are unfamiliar with it, visit this site http://www.stgermain.fr/ and then promptly go buy yourself a beautiful bottle.

There are several ways to enjoy St. Germain but my first and favorite is equal parts of gin, St.G, and a nice medium-dry white wine. However, when I was experimenting with variations of the Sidecar last month, I came upon this, and am having it at this very moment.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz St. Germaine
• 1 oz Brandy (I used Courvoisier)
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake vigorously and serve up with a lemon twist or over ice.

Tonight: Remember The Maine cocktail

Kind of like a Manhattan. The Absinthe replaces the bitters and the Heering adds a touch of sweetness. It's a wonderfully balanced drink.The recipe comes from Portland Craft Cocktails.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Rye (I used Old Overholt)
• 3/4 oz sweet vermouth
• 2 barspoons Cherry Heering
• 1/2 barspoon Absinthe

Add all ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Strain into cocktail glass and add orange peel.

Tonight: Broken English

This recipe was taken from "gaz regan's Annual Manual for Bartenders 2011 101 Best New Cocktails". The recipe is adapted from a recipe by Colin Shear at Philadelphia's
Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company. I cannot WAIT to go to this place. In the meantime, I gathered the ingredients and, i have to say, it is amazing. I also have to say, the wrong measurements could completely throw this off.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz gin
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• 1/2 oz Strega liqueur
• 1/4 oz Fernet (I used Luxardo but Fernet Branca is easier to find)
• 1 tsp Benedictine
• 2 dashes orange bitters (I used Regans but Angostura orange bitters are pretty easy to find now)
• 2 dashes Peychauds bitters

Add all ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with grapefruit twist. 

A toast with a "Christmas Shrub"

A delightful, unexpected Xmas cocktail. We started out with some old-school egg nog and have moved onto this. A traditional shrub recipe includes apple cider vinegar and sugar, and hopefully mixed with alcohol. This particular shrub is made with fresh ginger and mixed with Prosecco and a splash of pomegranate juice. Yum.

Ginger Shrub:

• 1/2 cup ginger, finely minced
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup Sugar or artificial sweetener if you must.

Heat the ginger and vinegar in a saucepan over high heat until just boiling. Remove and let cool for 24 hours. Strain the ginger out of the liquid but don't press the liquid out of the ginger.

Put the liquid in saucepan and add the sugar. Bring to boil then simmer for a few minutes.

Let cool then serve with your favorite spirit. (Gin, rum, vodka.) I chose prosecco as the ratio is approx a small amount of shrub to a large amount of booze. It's not nice to be tanked on Christmas.

There is talk of this being served with Sprite instead of alcohol. I haven't quite put the pieces together yet of why anyone would consider that.

Tonight's Cocktail: Black Dahlia 

So tonight i was in the mood for something different and decided to dust off one of the bottles of (lately ignored) vodka and try a Black Dahlia. I have had this in the back of my mind since an episode of "Revenge" (Season 1) I was watching on DVD a couple weeks ago. I have since learned this is not the classic recipe, but this combination sounded good and, although a bit sweet for me personally, it did the trick.

The Gallery Bar at the Biltmore Hotel in LA, where the original recipe was born, was where actress Elizabeth Short (posthumously known as "The Black Dahlia") was last seen before her gruesome murder in 1947 (so the story goes). The drink is still on the menu and is as follows:

• 3.5 oz Citrus vodka
• 3/4 oz Chambord Raspberry liqueur
• 3/4 oz Kahlua Coffee liqueur

Sometimes cocktails take on a life of their own and the ingredients start changing a bit. Tonight I'm doing the "Revenge" version, which is:

• 3 oz Vodka (I used Absolut for the first one and Pinnacle blackberry (seemed appropriate?) for the second...couldn't really tell the difference)
• 1 oz Creme de Cassis (Blackcurrant liqueur- I'm using Joseph Cartron)
• a dash of blackberry liqueur (I decided it would be a good vehicle for the blackberry syrup I made a couple weeks ago. so, while it's not actually a liqueur per say, I didn't really see the need to seek out blackberry liqueur when A)I made syrup already and B) it's not even in the original recipe

Shake ingredients and strain into martini glass. I had no garnish. I suppose a lemon twist would have been nice. Next time.

Drink Of The Month: Manhattan

An undisputed classic. Up until recently I have always been more of a gin or vodka man but, especially now that the months have become cooler, I have been really embracing bourbon and rye.
In the past month or so, I have had several different variations of this with bourbon vs rye but I think I found my (simple) favorite.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Rye Bulleit (though I have been using Old Overholt as well so I don't tear through my Bulleit)
• 1 oz Sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

STIR in glass and pour over large ice cube in rocks glass. Garnish with cherry.

My favorite restaurant in Harrisburg, Bricco has a house version. Angels Envy bourbon with Luxardo maraschino poured over a huge spherical cube. Nice touch.

Tonight: Fantastic wine for 12/12/12

So, tonight being 12/12/12, the last time we will ever see a consecutive date in our lifetime, I decided to open the special occasion wine cabinet (aka "rubber band wines") and uncork this wonderful 1993 Chateau du Perier Medoc. 
To accompany such a nice wine, we split some leftover Tony's frozen pizza and a cheeseburger.

I believe you are what you drink..not what you eat. Though I don't have a bad word to say about Tony.

Tonight's Cocktail: The Liberal

I forgot to get raspberries so not doing the syrup thing tonight. Instead, I am enjoying the bottle of Torani Amer that arrived in the mail today with another old classic.

Amer Picon is a bittersweet French apertif with a unique orange flavor. It is also made with quinine,cinchona, and genetian. Despite being included in a good deal of classic cocktail recipes, it has been unavailable outside of Europe for quite some time. There are a few suitable substitutes, Torani Amer being one. Although just as obscure, it is made in the US and, with a bit of work, not that difficult to secure.

Ted Haigh (aka "Doctor Cocktail"), author of the must-have "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails", prefers Torani Amer to Amer Picon. So there you have it.

UPDATE MAY 2014: NO WAY JOSE. I finally have Amer Picon and Torani Amer doesn't even come close. I would recommend Amaro Cio Ciaro or Bittermans Amer Nouvelle as a substitute instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz rye whiskey
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• 1/4 oz Amer Picon (or substitute)
• 2 dashes orange bitters

Add all ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with lemon twist. 
This is SUPER tasty.

(excuse the torn-up kitchen in the background)

A word about syrups.

I am currently reading "Imbibe!" by David Wondrich and I keep coming across an ingredient that was a bar staple in pre-Prohibition days, Raspberry Syrup. It is used in numerous cocktails as a sweetener, and, much like simple syrup seems easy enough to make. Sugar, water, raspberries. I'm guessing Grenadine has become the across-the-board bar syrup, and the flavored syrups for coffee would probably be ok. I began searching and there are cocktail-geared syrups out there (Royal Rose looks nice), but in the meantime, I'm going to make a batch and try out some of these recipes.
Stay tuned...

Drink Of The Month: Sidecar

As the story goes, The Sidecar was the result of an American Army captain living in Paris during the first world war who was driven to the same bistro every night in a motorcycle sidecar. "On those wintery Paris nights, having been chilled to the bone by his ride in the sidecar, the captain found nothing more warming and rejuvenating than the combination of Cognac Brandy, Cointreau, and lemon juice mixed in equal parts."
All but forgotten for decades, this classic cocktail has been enjoying a regained popularity for a few years now. The first recipes appear in 1922, and although the measurements vary slightly, this one is my favorite.
Note: Do not cut corners on this drink. Using cheap brandy and sour mix will not give you a very nice result, which is surely why this drink fell out of favor in the dark ages of the 70s 80s and 90s.

Some people enjoy this cocktail with a sugared rim. I am not one of those people.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz VS or VSOP Cognac
• 1 oz Cointreau (or a good Triple Sec- I use Luxardo Triplum)
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake with ice and serve up. Classic!

Hurricane Survival Kit

Every now and then, a good excuse comes along to drink all afternoon. I can't think of a better one than Hurricane Sandy.
Or a better drink for such an occasion than a classic. 
A Bloody Mary.Here's how I made mine today (which is not always how I make it, that's the fun of a bloody mary!)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz Stoli Hot Vodka
• 1/2 teaspoon of horseradish
• 2 dashes of Henderson's Relish (or worcestershire sauce)
• 2 dashes of Frank's red Hot (or tabasco)
• 1 dash of Outerbridge's Sherry Pepper sauce
• 1 dash Bitter Truth Celery Bitters
• a few sprinkles of Zeus Greek Seasoning 
• Fill almost to top with your favorite Bloody Mary mix
• fill remainder of glass with Spicy V-8

Add lots of ice, shake and serve with celery stalk (or in this case, a pickle and some cocktail onions.)

Now seeing as we are moving in two days, unless Sandy decides otherwise, I should probably take this drink and go continue packing before the power goes out.

Stay safe and dry....the good kind of dry.

In Search Of Gin

This being the month of Aviations, I decided to explore some different gins and this one just fell into my lap. There is a great new restaurant in Baltimore, The Fork & Wrench, that serves some really wonderful artisan cocktails and their version of The Aviation, Dutch Flyer, uses this very unique gin that was new to me, Boomsma Oude Genever.

This is not your typical London dry gin. Genever (or Jenever ) is the strong Juniper flavored liquor from which Gin evolved. When these Holland spirits first came about in the 1600s by distilling malt wines, they would be infused with juniper berries to cover up the bitter tastes. The Oude ("old") is aged in oak casks for at least a year and has a surprisingly yellow tequila-like color with an even more surprising whiskey element to it. The Jonge ("young") is more neutral, somewhat like vodka with a touch of juniper but closer in taste to that of a London dry gin.
I really enjoyed my Boomsma Oude Aviation, though I did not notice the unique taste of the gin when mixed with the other ingredients. Sipped on it's own is a very different experience.

Tonight's Crush...

Drinking one of my favorite red wines tonight. The Dreaming Tree Crush. A California red blend that is a collaboration between Dave Matthews and winemaker Steve Reeder. For those of you who don't know, Dave Matthews also established Blenheim Vineyards, about 20 min SE of Charlottesville, VA in 2001. It's a beautiful, scenic winery with some amazing wines. This new partnership began last year and you can read more about it here: http://store.dreamingtreewines.com  At around $13-16 a bottle, depending where you are, I highly recommend it.

A Scot classic: The Watson Inn Pickle Martini

Dinner and a cocktail at one of my all-time favorite spots tonight. Watson Inn in Watsontown, PA. The drink? The Pickle Martini, specialty of the house. At least it was when I first discovered this homey little place back in 2002. The drink has long since disappeared from the menu but everyone there knows it and they have been happy to serve it to me, one after the other, for the last ten years.  I have since started seeing this on menus here and there, most commonly called "the dirty pickle" or something along that vein, sometimes made with vodka, sometimes with gin. This particular version is still my favorite.

The recipe is pretty simple, though it never tastes as good at home as it does at Watson Inn. It's all about their pickles and as hard as I have tried, I can't make it quite as good. It's essentially just a dirty martini but with pickle instead of olives. I started out ordering it with Vox, can't remember why. I eventually switched to Ketel One, can't remember why.

Ingredients:

• Ketel One
• splash of dry vermouth
• splash of pickle juice

Shake vigorously and strain into well-chilled martini glass. serve with dill pickle spear. yum.

Sidenote: I'm a creature of habit and my usual bartender wasn't there tonight (for the second time in a row- EEK!) but the same girl who i first encountered last time (about a month ago) knew me and my drink on sight and made it perfectly. 
Bonus points. Big tip.

www.watsoninn.com if you ever happen to be that way...it is worth a stop. In addition to the pickle martini, the crab cakes are delightful. I recommend pairing the two.

Four new friends

Just ordered the following items online from Astor Wines in NYC. I was unaware that liquor could be home-delivered in PA. A whole new world has just opened up. http://www.astorwines.com/  and...your first online order over $100 ships for free!

Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot.

- this will serve the following purposes:

1. will be a nice visual companion to the R&W creme de violette. I will see to it that they are ALWAYS kept side by side.

2. i am interested in apricot as an option with liquor. Plus it's hard to find so I had to have it.

3. it's delicious. just by itself or with gin (that's as far as I've gotten). I saw this for the first time in Louisville, KY at MEAT http://www.facebook.com/meatlouisville. A very memorable bar in a very memorable town.

Creme Yvette.

-this is a new one for me but I have a feeling it will change my life for the following reasons:


1. It is hard to find. In which case  I will always be automatically obsessed and will have to have it no matter what, even if I have never seen or tried it.
2. The bottle is absolutely gorgeous.
3. It is a similar liqueur to Creme de Violette, with a slightly different taste. I happened to have had an Aviation with it last weekend in NYC at a FANTASTIC restaurant http://saxonandparole.com/....check it out. I was excited to see they carried Aviation gin and happened to be watching the bartender make my drink (as I tend to do)  and saw this unfamiliar bottle instead of the tall recognizable R&W CdV bottle. De-lish-ous. So i sought it out. and found it. 

Luxardo Bitter.

-always interested in trying things similar to my beloved Campari. Plus sort of obsessed with Luxardo. AND it's a few bucks cheaper. That being said, I will never stop buying Campari.

Luxardo Triplum Triple Sec.

-Interesting looking bottle and obviously everyone needs triple sec and this is half the price of Cointreua. Plus, I'm sort of obsessed with Luxardo. Haven't even opened it and have already decided it's my new brand.

Drink Of The Month: Aviation.

(Pictured above: my very first Aviation and the reason I am writing any of this)

One of my all-time favorite cocktails. I first had this delicately balanced concoction in Manchester, England earlier this year at a fantastic bar called TROF. www.trofnq.co.uk/
I was somewhat familiar with Creme de Violette and the history of The Aviation but had yet to see it on a menu. And yet to experience its charms.
This was also my introduction to Luxardo maraschino liqueur, which has since become a home bar staple. On a trip to Louisville, KY this past summer i was delighted to find several bartenders that were not only familiar with the Aviation but excelled at the construction.
There are are two accepted recipes. The first, which I use, includes Creme de Violette. The second recipe omits it. In 1930, the popular Savoy Cocktail Book dropped the CdV from the recipe. The drink was transformed and CdV eventually became almost impossible to find until its resurrection in 2007. As far as I am concerned, there is no point in an Aviation without it. Not only does the Violette balance the sweet/sour battle between the lemon and maraschino, but you have that LOVELY light purple hue...


A new discovery for me is Aviation Gin. I discovered it during a quick trip to Portland, Oregon this month and their website is wonderful and lists several suggested recipes including both recipes of the Aviation. This gin was named after the nearly 100 year-old cocktail and is the perfect companion to the Luxardo and Violette.

Aviation Gin is more difficult to find (another plus) but my fallback gin has been Plymouth though they make slightly different cocktails. Beefeater is also a good choice. There are many variations on the recipe but the one below is my favorite. My personal version varies slightly as I prefer a little less lemon juice but otherwise it's the perfect amount of ingredients. I have tried about 8 or 9 slight variations (a 1/4 ounce here and there) but this is the one....

BTW- Very interesting article on this delightful cocktail here:
http://cold-glass.com/2010/06/23/aviation-cocktail/http://cold-glass.com/2010/06/23/aviation-cocktail/

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Gin
• 1/3 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur
• 1/4 oz Rothman & Winter Creme de Violette (a scant 1/4 oz)
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

Shake vigorously with ice and strain and serve up with a cherry (Luxardo also makes their own soaked cherries- definite plus) in a chilled cocktail glass.

Clink!