Cocktail Jen

Rum Sour

2007-12-28T22:07:00.001-08:00

This isn't really that much different than half the goddamn recipes in the rum section. Rum, lemon or lime juice, a bit of sugar. However, maybe it was the lemon I used, but I found this to be waaaaay too sour. Even after I added some water and some more sugar, it still upset my stomach. Ughhhhhh....

Recipe:
1 oz lemon juice
.5 tsp simple syrup
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled sour glass. Garnish with a half-slice of lemon and a maraschino cherry.

Rum Screwdriver

2007-12-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

It's everyone's favorite college drink, the Screwdriver! Featuring rum this time.

I used to drink screwdrivers and smoke a pipe while sitting on my 4th story window ledge as a college freshman, in an effort to cultivate vices. The pipe-smoking and gravity-defying didn't stick, but look where the screwdrivers got me.

It tastes like alcoholic orange juice, what did you expect? At least the booze didn't come from a plastic bottle this time.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
5 oz OJ

Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled highball glass.

Rum Rickey

2007-12-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

Rum and lime go together great, but honestly, without a little sweetness I find this too harsh. I tasted it a few times, then gave in and stirred in some simple syrup.

Recipe:
.5 oz lime juice
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
Club soda

Pour juice and rum into an ice-filled highball glass and top with club soda and stir. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

Rum Relaxer

2007-12-28T21:46:00.001-08:00

I made this drink and gave it a taste, and it tasted, um, kinda gross. I couldn't figure out what it was, but it didn't make sense to be coming from any of the flavors in it. I tasted the rum, pineapple, and grenadine separately. All fine. I had make the "lemon lime soda" from fresh lime juice, club soda, and simple syrup, and I'd tasted it ahead of time so I knew it was fine too.

So why does this drink taste like...like...

Shit. It tastes like silicone rubber. Which is what my ice cube trays are made of. The trays I hadn't used in my last place, which had an ice maker.

I remade the drink using the regular plastic ice trays, and it was pretty tasty! Sweet and fruity without being very tart--just what you'd expect from a pink drink.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1 oz pineapple juice
.5 oz grenadine (homemade)
Lemon-lime soda (mixed from lime, simple syrup, and club soda until it tasted like 7-Up)

Shake rum, juice, and grenadine with ice and pour into hurricane, parfait, or 24-hrs of Adrenaline giveaway beer glass. Top with soda and garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry.

Rum Old-Fashioned

2007-12-28T21:35:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of the classic Old Fashioned, so I was excited to try this one. The main thing I was surprised at is that there is no muddled orange in this recipe, which I think is key to the drink.

All in all, I don't think this one is worth revisiting. It's ok, but rum just is no bourbon. The 151 on top certainly mimics the bite, though.

Recipe:
.5 tsp simple syrup
Dash bitters (Regan's Orange)
1 tsp water
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1 tsp 151-proof rum (Bacardi 151)

Stir sugar, bitters, and water in an old-fashioned glass. Add ice and light rum. Garnish with a twist of lime peel and float the 151 on top.

Rum Highball and Rum Martini

2007-12-28T21:26:00.001-08:00

Two classics, done with rum. I didn't take a photo of the Rum Highball, since you know what it looks like. (Hint: a tall glass of fizzy water with ice.)

Instead, we have a photo of the Rum Martini and my new dog, Finn! He's not a drinker, but he's totally into that dog biscuit next to the drink.

The Rum Highball is a way to get your alcohol and your hydration in one, with minimal fuss. 2 oz rum in a glass of ice, fill with club soda or ginger ale. If you're feeling fancy, add a lemon twist. Refreshing, simple, nice.

The rum martini is better than I thought it would be. If you don't like gin, I'd recommend this rather than a vodka martini. At least it has some flavor.
However, the recipe in Mr. Boston's for this one is all screwed up. It asks for 4-5 "parts" rum, but a "dash" of vermouth. Don't they mean 1 "part" vermouth? Otherwise it doesn't make sense. Also, they say to serve the drink in a cocktail glass over ice, which just doesn't fit, obviously. So my corrected version:

2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
Dash dry vermouth (Noilly Prat)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a generous twist of lemon.

Rum Fix

2007-12-28T21:21:00.000-08:00

Another rum sour drink here.

Sheesh. I've had so many drinks of this type I don't distinguish them anymore. This one has a straw! Whoo-hoo!

Recipe:
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp simple syrup
1 tsp water
2.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)

Stir together in a highball glass and add ice, then rum. Stir and garnish with lemon and a straw.

Homemade Grenadine

2007-12-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

There exist basically two recipes for homemade grenadine on the web:
1. Add equal parts pomegranate juice and sugar and shake with cold/room temp.
2. Add equal parts pomegranate juice and sugar and boil 20 minutes until reduced.

I think both of these have issues. The first method may keep the "bright" flavor of the grenadine, but you will have to refrigerate the final product to keep it from spoiling. Oh right--another thing--adding a dash of alcohol does nothing as a preservative. You need at least 10% alcohol in order for it to do anything useful preservative-wise, and then you'd be making pomegranate liqueur, not grenadine.

The second method yields a "cooked" taste, and sometimes a brownish color. Based on my recent post about simple syrup, the long cooking with the pomegranate acid will indeed result in a long shelf-life product, but I bet the flavor suffers.

So I decided to make mine by adding juice and sugar 1:2, and then heating until clear--only 5 mins or so. This results in a thicker syrup great for those layered drinks (and partial invert, so it will stay good for a long time unrefrigerated), and yet doesn't seem to compromise the flavor or color. And the syrup is tasty! I need to get some vanilla ice cream immediately to pour this stuff on.

We're back! With a Rum Daisy

2007-12-08T14:59:00.000-08:00

Well folks, it's been about 6 months since the last CocktailJen post, and it's about time to get back to drinking. In the meantime, I finished a half-Ironman, moved back to suburbia from San Francisco, and got a dog. Expect to see more fur in the pictures. If not the dog himself, odds are there will be a hair or two stuck to the rim of my glass. Such is my current life.

Anyway, after considering ditching the rum section to move on to more interesting spirits, I instead decided to stick it out and see this thing to the end.

Therefore, the next recipe is the Rum Daisy. Sadly, it's not anything new. Basically it's a daiquiri/sour variant. For spice it's served in a julep cup. I no longer have my metal cups, so a glass mug will have to do.

My homemade grenadine didn't seem all that fresh, so I may be misjudging this drink. (Immediately afterwards I poured it out and then later made a new batch.) But it's sour, sweet, and otherwise unremarkable.

Rum Daisy
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 tsp simple syrup
1 tsp grenadine (homemade and over-the-hill)
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled stein or metal cup. Add one large ice cube and garnish with fruit.

Rum Cobbler, Rum Collins, Rum Cooler

2007-05-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

These next three cocktails are all pretty similar, so I'm posting them together.

The first is the Rum Cobbler. Not a whole lot to say here--rum, sugar, club soda. The Rum Cooler is just about the exact same thing. The main differences are the kind of ice and garnishes.

Recipe:
1 tsp sugar or simple syrup
2 oz club soda
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)

In a goblet, dissolve sugar in club soda, and fill with shaved ice. Add rum and stir. Garnish with fruits and serve with a straw.

The Rum Cooler is very similar but with cubes instead of shaved ice, which leads to a drink slightly less cold, but very similar in taste. I did have some fun making the really loooong orange peel spiral, showering the glass in orange oil in the process. So my Rum Cooler was distinctly orangey.

Recipe:
.5 tsp sugar or simple syrup
2 oz club soda
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
Club soda or ginger ale

In a collins glass, dissolve the sugar in the club soda. Add ice and rum. Top with club soda and stir. Garnish with a spiral of lemon or orange peel.

The Rum Collins is the same thing but with some lime juice added, which vastly improves things. Rum loves lime, and I love rum with lime.

Recipe:
1 oz lime juice
1 tsp sugar or simple syrup
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
Club soda

Shake all ingredients except club soda with ice and strain into a collins glass. Add ice, fill with club soda, and stir. Garnish with lemon and a marashino cherry.

Robson Cocktail

2007-05-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

The Robson cocktail is interesting. Not many drinks in this vein use dark rum. I made one for my husband as well, which is why there are two.

Not a bad drink if you want something to sip that isn't too dry and has an interesting, exotic flavor.

Recipe:
2 tsps lemon juice
1 tbsp orange juice
1.5 tsps Grenadine (homemade)
1 oz Jamaica Rum (Myer's)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Rain Man

2007-05-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, first triathlon of the season is over, so now I've got a nice backlog of posts to get through, and more to come. I must get through this darn rum section soon. Only about 6 pages left!

I normally don't keep Midori in the house. It's not my favorite liqueur--cloying, without real "melon" flavor in my opinion. This drink doesn't really change my opinion much, either. I don't understand why Midori is so often mixed with orange juice. It makes a ghastly color, and the flavors end up mixing in a way that causes a bit of harshness and some bitterness. But the 151 evens it out by getting you buzzed nice and fast.

Recipe:

1.25 oz 151 proof rum (Bacardi 151)
.75 oz melon liqueur (Midori)
4 oz OJ
Shake and pour into an ice-filled hurricane or parfait glass.

Not So Simple Syrup

2007-04-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while folks, but I have a few drinks backlogged that I will get to very soon. But basically the problem is that it's very difficult to train for a triathlon and drink often. There must be room for both somewhere, so I'll squeeze them both in somehow.

Anyway, to follow on the simple syrup stuff from Alton Brown's show, I've been thinking about simple syrup chemistry. Turns out there's a lot more going on than just dissolving some sugar into water.

First of all is the concept of "water activity". I happen to work at a place that employs a food scientist, and she introduced me to the term while we were discussing the possible shelf life of reconstituted peanut butter powder.

Water activity is basically the amount of water that is in a substance that isn't immobilized or chemically bound. High water activity means fast spoilage, low water activity means slow spoilage. Bacteria and fungi need water, and therefore high water activity, to live and reproduce. From Wikipedia, "Bacteria usually require at least 0.91, and fungi at least 0.7". Wikipedia's list of common foods' water activities show that raw meat and milk with .97 or so water activity leads to quick spoilage, but honey or dry pasta at only .5 will stay good for a long time.

This is where sugar comes in. Sucrose (a disaccharide, made up of glucose and fructose) is a small molecule, and really good at binding up that free water. You can make a sugar syrup by just dissolving table sugar (sucrose) in water, like the commenter in the previous entry said, by pouring boiling water into a bowl of sugar. But you aren't really getting the water activity low enough to prevent spoilage without refrigeration. You can try adding more sugar than water, but at some point you're either going to get a syrup that's too thick, or run the risk of super-saturating the solution and ending up with rock candy in the bottle. What to do?

Monosaccharides like glucose and fructose are smaller than glucose, and are even better at reducing water activity. So if you were making simple syrup, you'd probably want that sucrose, which is made of glucose and fructose, to break up, right?

Turns out there are two super-easy ways to do it: for a 1:1 sugar/water solution, add a pinch of cream of tartar along with the sugar to the boiling water. Or a bit of lemon juice. (1 gram of acid per kilogram of sugar) Acid is a catalyst to breaking up those sucrose molecules into fructose and glucose. You have to simmer for 20 minutes for the reaction to totally finish, but the resulting syrup will have a lower water activity than a sucrose solution, as well as being about 20% sweeter. This stuff is called an partially inverted sugar syrup, or invert syrup for short. The "invert" part is about how it polarizes light, if you must know.

You can also make a partially invert syrup without acid by changing the recipe from a simple syrup (1:1) to 2:1 sugar/water, and simmering for 5-7 minutes until the solution is clear. The result will be a bit thicker since there is more sugar solute.

This stuff can sit out on your bar for a good six months. Although you'll probably have used it up by then, anyway.

I'm definitely going to try the acid version, as my pourers have a hard time with the thick 2:1 that I've been using. Here's to chemistry!

Alton Brown Knows Cocktails

2007-01-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

I'm currently watching a Tivo'd episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats called Raising the Bar. I had held off watching this episode, because I feared that it would be like most other cooking shows--showcase some godawful tiki drinks, Appletinis, or tell you to keep your vodka in the freezer.

However, I should have trusted Alton. He always does his research. Good show, Alton. Good show.

Good stuff to note:
- Breaking down cocktails into "chords"--you have a base note (spirit), a modifier (mixer), and an accent (bitters, citrus, olive, etc). Some cocktails are two notes, some three, some more. The chord idea nicely encompasses the balance and harmony idea of a good cocktail.

-Making "Mr. Bond" a proper martini (gin, stirred). Because "gin is vodka, with herbs and juniper added." I never really thought about adding the olive first, either--it mixes the brine into the drink. Nice touch, even if I will never drink one (olives I can only take in extremely small doses ideally smothered with other ingredients).

- The nutritional anthropologist also likes real daiquiris. With fresh lime juice. And simple syrup. And I didn't know that making simple syrup (2 parts sugar to one water, boil, then simmera few minutes) breaks about the sucrose into fructose and glucose, which is sweeter than sucrose, plus it resists crystallization. From which I infer that if you have crystals in your simple syrup, you either used the wrong proportions or didn't simmer it long enough. You learn something new every day!

Sadly though, with the Mint Julep he made two unfortunate errors: bad southern accent, and he used the wrong end of the muddler.

Quarter Deck Cocktail, and Poker Cocktail

2007-01-21T18:27:00.000-08:00

I seem to have skipped a page of P's in the rum section, which I'll have to go back to. So pardon me if my alphabetizing is out of order.

Anyway, I shamelessly changed this recipe from a stirred cocktail to a shaken one in honor of my new Boston shaker. Look at the frost on the steel part! Woot.

I originally was going to make a Poker Cocktail, but not that long ago I had a Little Princess cocktail, which was also equal parts sweet vermouth and light rum. The only difference between them in the Mr. Boston's Guide is that the Poker is stirred, and the Little Princess is shaken. I didn't think that the difference would be enough to warrant another try, so on to the Quarter Deck.

I appreciate the cream sherry in this drink. It is definitely the dominant flavor in this drink.

Recipe:
.5 oz cream sherry
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
.5 oz lime juice

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Planter's Punch No. 2

2007-01-21T18:17:00.000-08:00

Sheesh, I could have baked a cake in the time it took to make this cocktail.

I do appreciate a fruit salad cocktail, but not when I have to make it. I just so happened to have all the ingredients on hand, so why the hell not? I love the fact that the instructions say "serve with a straw". Duh! There's no room left on the rim to sip from!

Taste-wise, this is a pretty standard fruit juice and rum concoction. If tasty is what you're going for, it's all about the orgeat syrup in a Mai Tai. But this drink wins hands down on presentation.

Recipe:
1 oz lime juice
.25 oz lemon juice
2 oz orange juice
1 tsp pineapple juice
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1 oz jamaica rum (Myer's dark)
2 dashes Triple Sec (Dekyuper's)
1 dash grenadine (homemade)

Stir first 5 ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail glass. Add jamaican rum and stir. Add triple sec and grenadine. Garnish with slices of oragne, lemon, and pineapple, a maraschino cherry, and a sprig of mint dipped in sugar. Serve with a straw.

Pineapple cocktail

2007-01-21T18:02:00.000-08:00

Holy cow, the holidays were in there somewhere. I took a bit of an unintentional leave of absence there, but trust me, there was still drinking.

Note to self: perhaps one day you will learn that one should never get drunk on champagne, no matter how varied and interesting the number of champagne cocktails. I don't remember much of New Year's Day except for a vague sense of having watched a documentary on whales...

Honestly, I do miss the holiday season. At no other time is brandy consumed in such great quantities along with large amounts of saturated fat. And nutmeg! What other time of the year can you add nutmeg to just about any cocktail?

Anyway, back to the Pineapple cocktail. There is absolutely nothing holiday about this cocktail, unless you make it while singing Mele Kelikimaka along with Bing Crosby.

This cocktail is a bit *yawn*. I honestly don't think pineapple is a good cocktail flavor. Fresh pineapple is just about my favorite food ever, and perhaps I just object to it being adulterated with any other ingredient. But good fresh pineapple juice just isn't sweet enough to balance this cocktail. Not to say I didn't drink it, however, since it's still pineapple.

Recipe:
.75 oz pineapple juice
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
.5 tsp lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Passion Daiquiri

2006-12-15T22:48:00.000-08:00

Maybe if I had been more of a lush this year, I could have come to this cocktail at a more appropriate time, like August. Daiquiris in December just aren't right, somehow.

I have to admit, I don't understand the passionfruit appeal in tiki drinks. I find passionfruit a very subtle flavor, and it is usually completely overwhelmed by the lime. This drink is good, but not very passiony. Perhaps juice is stronger than the syrup?

Also, the flash on the beaded fruit makes them look a bit radioactive.

Recipe:
1.5 light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1 oz lime juice
1 tsp simple syrup
1 Tbsp passionfruit juice (I actually used Trader Joe's passionfruit syrup, and slightly less sugar.)
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Snowy Drinks

2006-12-15T22:17:00.000-08:00

From the previously-mentioned holiday housewarming party, I have a handful of favorite holiday drinks to share. The food for this party was inspired by a snowflake theme, so I decided to have a selection of "snowy" cocktails--sweet, creamy white, and cold.

Brandy Alexander
Brandy is often considered the most fitting spirit for the holidays. With the creme de cacao, this drink goes well with sweet Christmas cookies.
.5 oz Creme de Cacao (clear)
1 oz brandy
.5 oz heavy cream
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Snowball
I discovered this drink after making some homemade Advocaat and then not knowing what to do with it. Advocaat is an egg-based liqueur that is similar to eggnog, but with a slight lemon flavor instead of nutmeg. However, there aren't many recipes for cocktails that use it outside the Snowball. However once I tried this, I quickly went through my supply of Advocaat and knew I had to make some more. The taste is creamy and sweet, with the consistency of a root beer float. There are many recipes out there, but I think the fizzy is important, and I like the ease of making this one.

Pour 2 oz advocaat over ice in an old fashioned glass. Fill with lemon-lime soda and stir.

Egg Nog
This is NOT the seaweed-thickened goop you buy in a carton. This nog is delightfully frothy. The recipe comes from Alton Brown's Good Eats show. I'll summarize:

4 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1 pint whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
nutmeg

Separate eggs into yolks and whites. Beat the yolks with sugar, then stir in milk, cream, and 1 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated, of course).

Whip the egg whites with a bit of sugar until stiff peaks form. Stir into the yolk mixture.

Serving tips:
I always triple the recipe for gatherings. It goes fast. Also, serve in a large punch bowl and stir well before each serving, and the nutmeg sinks and the white float to the top. A pitcher will NOT work for this recipe. Ideally the cup of nog will be uniformly frothy when served. Pour in 1.5 oz of your liquor of choice per cup (brandy is popular, as is bourbon or rum) and stir. Grate a bit of fresh nutmeg on the top.

Christmas Russian (aka the Cy Special)
Cy is a Big Lebowski fan. Which means often his drink of choice is a White Russian. But when egg nog is to be had, I mix him up a Christmas version.

1 oz Kahlua
2 oz vodka
Eggnog
Into an ice-filled old fashioned glass, pour Kahlua and vodka. Fill with nog and stir. Garnish with a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg.

The Bernal

2006-12-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we hosted a holiday housewarming party. One of the guests, Dave, is always willing to try a new cocktail, and so he decided that he wanted to invent one with bitters. We decided to start with the Fee's Lemon Bitters.

The best thing to do, I thought, was to stick with a purely original cocktail recipe, and go with a spirit, sugar, and bitters. With the Lemon bitters, it seemed that gin might go well. And I happen to have a couple of bottles of thyme-infused gin still. I mixed one up, and Dave made me taste it first.

It actually turned out really well! Thyme, gin, and lemon are all complimentary flavors. This ended up being a smooth and flavorful cocktail. Dave decided to name it "The Bernal" in honor of our shared neighborhood in San Francisco.

Recipe:
2 oz thyme-infused gin (recipe here: Sweet thyme liqueur
1 tsp simple syrup
2 dashes Fee's Lemon Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Enjoy in a warmed house.

Palmetto Cocktail

2006-11-27T23:06:00.000-08:00

Here we have a rum Manhattan, maybe a little heavy on the vermouth. Also to note, the same recipe as a Little Princess but with the addition of bitters. I think the bitters are a good idea, but probably more a matter of taste. But although it's basically a Manhattan, no cherry. Hm, maybe I'll go get one just for fun.

But ain't it pretty?

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1.5 oz sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
2 dashes bitters (Regan's orange)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

The Old Cuban

2006-11-27T22:49:00.000-08:00

Wow.

Just, wow.

I have found the Perfect Drink.

The Mojito and the Champagne Cocktail are two of my favorite drinks. The Old Cuban is both.

That's right. This drink ROCKS. I must have many, many more of them.

The photo makes this drink look rather muddy. I think that has something to do with the flash and the angle. It's cloudy, but not that murky. Sadly, I had no sugar-dried vanilla bean. Ok fine, I did, but those things are darn expensive and I intend to make cookies with them instead. So there.

Recipe:
.75 oz lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
6 mint leaves
1.5 oz aged rum (Bacardi 8)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 oz champagne (Aria cava)

Muddle lime juice, simple syrup, and mint. Add rum and bitters and shake with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and fill with champagne. Garnish with a sugar-dried vanilla bean and mint.

New Orleans Buck

2006-11-27T22:29:00.000-08:00

After a long day putting up Christmas decorations, a tall refreshing drink just hits the spot.

(That's a little hint to let you know that the rest of the photos in December will be taken next to the various holiday decorations around my house.)

This one is basically a collins recipe (citrus + fizz), with the ginger ale adding the sweetness. I decided to use a more standard ginger ale instead of Reed's, which is pretty intense with the ginger. This one goes down easy.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1 oz Orange juice
.5 oz lemon juice
Ginger ale (Safeway Select)

Shake all ingredients except ginger ale with ice and strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Fill with ginger ale and stir.

Bitters tasting in a Champagne cocktail

2006-11-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

Occasionally I do take a break from rum drinks. Who can blame me?

I happen to have a opened bottle of champagne (ok, technically cava) in the fridge, so I have been trying champagne cocktails with the various bitters I have. No pictures, since one champagne cocktail looks pretty much like the rest--a flute with a half-dissolved sugar cube at the bottom. But bitters does make the difference. (If you don't know how to make one, it's simple: put a few dashes of bitters on a sugar cube, drop into the bottom of a flute. Fill with champagne and enjoy.)

Angostura: the classic, and so far still the best. Balanced herbal aromatic notes that go well with a dry bubbly.

Fee's peach: I thought this might be reminiscent of a Bellini, but not as sweet. It was, sort of, but not in the way I expected. The flavor and aroma is a bit artificial, rather as if peach perfume were added to the drink.

Trader Joe's blood orange: Tasty, adds some color and a bit of tartness. It's not as bitter or herbal as the others.

Regan's orange: complex, and a good contender against Angostura.

Fee's lemon: Really, this is more loosely based around lemon oil and other herbals than "lemon", so don't expect this to be sour, or even the equivalent of a lemon twist. And there are other notes in there too that combined with the bubbly produced a distinct "turkey stuffing" flavor. Was is celery? I don't know, but it was pretty weird to take a champagne drink and think, "Mmmm, turkey." Not completely unpleasant, but very strange. This is definitely a bitters for more savory drinks. Might be good in a bloody mary.

Nightcap

2006-11-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

I've heard someone on TV or in a movie offer somebody else a nightcap and one is never actually made. Imagine my surprise when I came across a recipe for one. It was my understanding that "nightcap" was a word like "aperitif" and it wasn't a specific recipe. But if one wanted an alcoholic drink to put one to sleep, this would be it. It's sweet warm alcoholic milk, with some nutmeg.

I really like things with nutmeg. I get to use my microplane. And whole nutmegs look really cool inside.

Recipe:
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1 tsp simple syrup
Warm milk (I used skim in the microwave)
Pour rum and sugar into an irish coffee glass, fill with mark milk, and stir. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

Malmaison

2006-11-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

In college I used to have a thing for cream sherry. I didn't know any better so I'd just drink it whenever. I don't remember how I was introduced to it, but I blame Anthony on principle.

Anyway, I think this recipe is brilliant for using it as the sweet in this rum sour recipe. The anisette rim is an odd touch, but whatever. It tasted good. The sherry definitely adds an interesting touch. I'll probably have this one again sometime. The proportions are important, though. I didn't measure my lemon juice, and the result was really too sour. I adjusted with more sherry and a dash of simple syrup, but I think if I measured properly the next time it would work out.

Recipe:
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
.5 oz Cream sherry

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled, Anisette-timmed cocktail glass.

In Search of Cocktail/Food pairing book

2006-11-20T11:29:00.000-08:00

Somewhere out there in the cocktail blog community I've seen a reference to a book that is specifically about pairing cocktails and food. Rather than combing through the 50 sites I read or so, I'm hoping one of you readers out there remembers, or at least has a good recommendation?

**Update**
I found the book I had remembered: What to Drink with What You Eat. But I'm still open to other suggestions!

Nevada Cocktail

2006-11-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

Oh my god.

All along I've been posting that my drinks with light rum use Bacardi Silver. Because, you know, it's white, like Bacardi Gold is yellow. Right?

No. Bacardi Silver is the malt beverage under the Bacardi brand name. The correct brand name for the light rum is Bacardi Superior.

Why didn't anybody mention this to me? I feel like I've been walking around with spinach in my teeth or something.

Anyway, back to the drinks!
I'm always excited when I get to use bitters in a drink. I have a small but growing collection of bitters. Basically, whenever I come across a bottle I don't have, I buy it. At only about $5/bottle, it's a cheap habit. And besides, there just aren't that many out there. I think I have all the Fee Bro's by now, Regan's orange bitters, Collins orange bitters, and Trader Joe's blood orange, which annoy me because they have to be kept in the fridge. Not to mention the standard bottle of angostura. I even have a liter (yes a LITER) of angostura-ripoff mexican bitters. It was left in my house by party guests that had recently been to Mexico, bought a random bottle of liquor and discovered it to be undrinkable. No kidding, who wants to drink angustura bitters straight?

I digress. The Nevada cocktail is perfect when you want something daiquiri-like, but a little more complex. The grapefruit and bitters add a nice edge.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Superior)
1 oz grapefruit juice
1 oz lime juice
1 dash bitters (Regan's orange)
3 tsps simple sugar

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Moon Quake Shake

2006-11-13T22:55:00.000-08:00

I have had previous experiences with lemon and Kahlua. They were not good experiences.

But I must have been mistaken. Something else (maybe the coconut rum, which is a crime against nature) must have been to blame.
It went pretty well with the rosemary breadsticks I made, too. Which turned out so nicely that I stuck them in the picture.

This drink was pretty good. However, I must admit I didn't use coffee-flavored brandy, but Kahlua. I had never heard of coffee-flavored brandy. But upon googling it, it seems to be the root of alcohol-related crimes in Maine. So I must be missing out.

Recipe:
1.5 oz dark rum (Myer's)
1 oz Coffee-flavored brandy (Kahlua)
1 tbsp lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Monkey Wrench, and Mojito revisited

2006-11-13T22:43:00.000-08:00

The next drink in the book is the Mojito, which if you aren't familiar with you must have been under a rock for the last couple of years. But I already covered this topic about a year ago. Let me give you Mr. Boston's recipe just for good measure.
2 tsp Sugar
4 sprigs fresh mint
1 lime, halved
2 oz light rum
club soda
Muddle sugar and mint with soda water in pint glass. Squeeze both halves of lime into the glass, leaving one hull in the mixture. Add rum, stir, and fill with ice. Top with club soda. Garnish with a mint sprig.

On to the Monkey Wrench, then.

It's a greyhound with rum. And as rum actually adds flavor, unlike vodka, this drink is probably an improvement. I squeezed fresh juice for this, which added pretty pink pulp. Also, the fresh juice is a little harsh, so I ended up adding a teeny dash of simple syrup to take the edge off. Another way to go might be salting the rim.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
Grapefruit juice

Pour rum into n ice-filled collins glass. Fill with grapefruit juice and stir.

Mississippi Planter's Punch

2006-11-13T22:38:00.000-08:00

I have no idea why Mr. Boston decided to classify this drink as a rum drink. There is as much bourbon as rum, and twice as much brandy. But I'm not complaining, it was a nice change.

Basically, this is a boozy, fizzy lemonade. The liquors blend nicely to give it a good kick.

Recipe:
1 tbsp simple syrup
1 oz lemon juice
.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 oz Bourbon (Maker's Mark)
1 oz brandy (Raynal VSOP)
Club soda

Shake all but club soda with ice and strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Fill with club soda and stir.

Midnight Express

2006-11-13T22:18:00.000-08:00

I caught a bit of Martha Stewart's show over the weekend. Disturbingly, she had Mo'Nique on the show, who insisted that when it comes to the recipes in her cookbook, "I like meat, baby." She kept calling Martha "baby", which was just wrong. But by far, the worst part was when Martha made a whiskey sour. Of course, it being Martha, she has to rim the glass with turbinado sugar and garnish with a dried candied orange wheel. But she shook the drink in a shaker with ice and then poured the whole thing right into the glass. No straining over fresh ice. I guess she likes her whiskey sours pretty on the outside, but watery and with broken half-melted ice on the inside.

Anyway, back to Mr. Boston. Our next drink is a daiquiri variation made with dark rum. Quite nice, and more interesting than a regular daiquiri. But not very photogenic, it appears. Made me take a blurry picture and all.

Recipe:
1.5 oz Dark rum (Myer's)
.5 Triple Sec (Dekyuper's)
.75 oz lime juice
splash simple syrup
splash lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain (you hear that Martha? Strain.) into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass.

Miami

2006-11-13T22:07:00.000-08:00

Finally! We have a string of good (or at least interesting) drinks.

First up is the Miami. Simple enough--rum, Creme de Menthe, and lemon juice. Crisp, refreshing, and the toothpaste-like flavor is better than it sounds.

You might notice a lime in the photo. That's because I made this drink with lime.

I had been getting home late all week, and didn't want to make the trip to the grocery store to buy their overpriced citrus, when the bodega next door has them for a third the price. (Bodega produce around here is remarkably cheap--just usually smaller than grocery produce.) But the bodega was closed. So I went a little further down to the liquor store, which I figured might have lemons. As soon as I walked in, the proprietor walks up and greets me. I ask if he has lemons. He doesn't, but he says he has limes. He opens a fridge, pulls out a plastic bag full of limes, and hands me two. "How much?" I say. "Nothing, take them!" he says. How could I refuse? And how could I not make the drink with my free limes?

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi silver)
.5 oz Creme de Menthe (homemade)
dash lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

A New Bar, and Mary Pickford Cocktail

2006-11-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

My new bar is done! I put together some shelves and a wine rack that I'd had previously, and made a bar top. I am very pleased.

I am not so please that the first cocktail I made on it was the Mary Pickford cocktail. This drink manages to be strong and cloying at the same time. Maraschino Liqueur is difficult to work with in general, but here there really isn't anything to balance it except sweetness. I have to admit I didn't finish this drink. Maybe Maraschino is an acquired taste.

But hey, I have a bar!

Recipe:
1 oz Light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 oz pineapple juice
.25 tsp grenadine (homemade)
.24 tsp Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)

Mandeville and Mariposa

2006-11-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

The Mandeville sounded like it was going to be an interesting drink. After all, not too many of the rum drinks have anisette in them. But in this ase, the anisette was more of a texture than a flavor, if that makes sense.

For some reason I seem to have lost my picture of the Mariposa. However, you aren't missing much.

Mandeville Recipe
1.5 oz Light Rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 oz Dark Rum (Myer's)
1 tsp Anisette (Pernod)
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Cola
.25 tsp grenadine

Shake with ice and strain into an ice-fille dold-fashioned glass.

Mariposa Recipe:
1 oz Light Rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 oz Brandy (Raynal VSOP)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp orange juice
dash grenadine (homemade)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Mai Tai

2006-10-17T00:09:00.000-07:00

The Mai Tai (the one without pineapple, with orgeat) is probably my favorite tiki drink of all time. Plenty has been written about the Trader Vic's Mai Tai, so I' won't belabor the point. But if you have never had one, MIX ONE NOW. You'll thank me later.

Recipe:
1 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 oz gold rum (Bacardi Gold)
.5 oz Orange Curacao (Potter's)
.5 oz Orgeat Syrup (Torani)
.5 oz lime juice
1 oz dark rum (Myer's)

Shake all but the dark rum with ice and strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass. Float dark rum on top and garnish with a cherry.

Lounge Lizard

2006-10-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a decent variation on a rum and coke: dark rum and amaretto.

Recipe:
1 oz Dark Rum (Myer's)
.5 oz Amaretto (Potter's)
Cola (Safeway diet coke)

Pour rum and amaretto into ice-filled colins glass. Fill with cola. Garnish with a slice of lime.

Look Out Below

2006-10-16T23:57:00.000-07:00

Any drink that has 1.5 oz of 151 rum in it should be immediately suspect. It tries to warn you in many ways, much like colored poisonous insects do--the name is ominous, the 151 cap has one of those weird flame-proof thingies on it, and although this is a cocktail glass-sized drink, you are instructed to serve it on the rocks.

I have NEVER been so drunk so quickly on one cocktail before. Beware.

Oh yeah, taste? What taste? I was too busy going "Hoo-HAH!" and wheezing to poll the tastebuds. The lime and grenadine are just trying to take the edge off.

Recipe:
1.5 oz 151 Rum (Bacardi 151)
.25 oz lime juice
1 tsp grenadine (homemade)

Shake with ice and strain into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass.

Little Princess Cocktail

2006-10-16T23:53:00.000-07:00

I have had a growing appreciation for sweet vermouth combined with rum. But this drink cemented it. Very simple--half and half rum and sweet vermouth. A dry drink but with nice, smooth flavor.

This will be a new favorite of mine, I think.

Recipe:
1.5 oz sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Little Devil

2006-10-16T23:47:00.000-07:00

I liked this drink. Not that it was all interesting or anything--I mean it isn't bad, just not unique. Yet it didn't taste like a rum drink, and now halfway through the rum section I think that's just what I needed. The gin makes this drink nice and aromatic.

The name isn't fitting, however. It's not that evil or mischievous, really.

Recipe:
.5 oz lemon juice
1.5 tsp triple sec (Potter's)
.75 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.75 oz gin (Bombay Sapphire)

Shake with ice and strain inot a chilled cocktail glass.

Lemon Coconut Colada

2006-10-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

It's been a while folks, but although I may not have been posting, I have been drinking. We are now moved in to our place in San Francisco, and I'm in the process of putting together an actual bar. I would consider one of those nice standalone ones you can find at places like Pottery Barn, but seriously, they seem to only hold about 5 bottles. I need much more shelf space.

Anyway, back to the drinks. This was the last one I had while we were still back in Redwood City.

I tried to find Coco Lopez, because I really needed to try something with such an interesting name, but to no avail. Instead I used canned coconut creme, which in retrospect must have been richer and sweeter than Coco Lopez, since this was the sweetest thing I've ever made. I did drink it though. I swear, I'll eat coconut creme straight out of the can. That stuff is pure sugary crack. And this drink probably has about 700 calories in it, all told.

Recipe:
1.5 oz Citrus-flavored Rum (screw that, I don't buy that stuff. Bacardi Silver.)
1.5 oz Coconut-flavored Rum (the dregs of my bottle of Malibu. It won't be replaced.)
2 oz Coco Lopez (Coconut creme. I used only about 1.5 oz, but that was still too much.)
1 oz Heavy Cream
4 oz Pineapple Juice
.5-1oz Lemon Juice

Shake all ingredients wiht ice and strain into ice-filled hurricane glass. Garnish with lemon zest.

Knickerbocker Special Cocktail

2006-09-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

I guess the Jamaican Crawler wasn't enough for a full day of packing, so I supplemented it with a Knickerbocker Special Cocktail. Hoo-whee, I thought the previous drink was sweet. Oh my teeth.

Also, I hate drinks that use tiny bits of juice--most drinks use half a lemon or lime, which works out pretty well in the end. 1 tsp of juice just feels wasteful.

Recipe:
1 tsp Raspberry Syrup (Torani)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp OJ
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 tsp Triple Sec (Dekyupers)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a small slice of pineapple. (WTF? There isn't any pineapple in this drink! So I used a lemon wheel instead.)

Jamaican Crawler

2006-09-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

I'm moving! Which means today was dedicated to packing. And that means I needed alcoholic sustenance.

Enter the Jamaican Crawler. I wasn't short on energy after drinking this sugar bomb. I should not that I don't tend to keep Midori on hand, so I substituted Peach Schnapps instead. Also, why do recipes say to "float" grenadine, when it sinks immediately to the bottom? Whatevs. Also, I found it interesting that this drink asks to be stirred--pineapple juice gets foamy when shaken.

Recipe:
1 oz Light Rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 oz Melon Liqueur (Peach Schnapps)
3 oz Pineapple juice
1 splash grenadine (homemade)

Combine first three ingredients and stir with ice. Pour into an ice-filled collins glass and float grenadine on top.

Jade

2006-09-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

This drink was interesting. I was expecting something minty, but the truth is .5 tsp of Creme de Menthe isn't that noticeable. It could be that my homemade version isn't as minty as the commercial version, too. But the lime, mint, and sugar were all pretty subtly balanced.
My homemade Creme de Menthe isn't super-green, so the first version looked mostly like pale lime juice in color, so I added a teensy drop of green food coloring. That was a bit much, however, and my "jade" turned a bit emerald.

Recipe:
1.5 oz Light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 tsp Creme de Menthe (homemade)
.5 tsp Triple Sec (Dekyupers)
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp simple syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Jacqueline

2006-09-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

If a regular daiquiri isn't interesting enough for you, maybe you should try this drink, with dark rum. It's a simple drink, but those are usually the best.

Recipe:
1 oz Triple Sec (Dekyupers)
2 oz Dark Rum (Myers)
1 oz lime juice
Pinch simple syrup
Shake with ice and pour into a chilled cocktail glass.

Hurrican Leah

2006-09-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

Now the Hurricane was a good drink, but this drink is the sort of thing that I tend to think of going with the name Hurricane. It's the Southern version of the Long Island Iced Tea. The color is disgusting, the ingredients seemingly random, but somehow it works. It's not even all that alcoholic, unless you have a generous pour.

Recipe:
.25 oz Light Rum (Bacardi Silver)
.25 oz Gin (Tanqueray I think...)
.25 oz Vodka (Skyy)
.25 oz Tequila (Sauza Hornitos)
.25 oz Blue curacao (Dekyupers)
Dash Cherry Brandy
1.5 oz simple syrup
1.5 oz lemon juice
3 oz OJ

Pour into an ice-filled hurricane glass and stir. Garnish with an orange wheel.

Pegu Club

2006-09-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

Over Labor day weekend, I visited Manhattan for a friend's wedding. Which meant we had to make a pilgrimage to the Pegu Club.

We arrived at 9pm on a Saturday, and it was surprisingly quiet. Things sure picked up at the end, however, and by the time we left (I have no idea when that was) it was pretty packed.

Because we were a large group sitting at a table, we ordered off the cocktails menu. I'll try to remember the names the best I can: I had a Pineapple Pisco Sour, a Roosevelt, and a Pegu Club Cocktail. (I was trying to go from sweet to dry.) But Julian and I approached the bar to see what kind of individual service we could get (sadly, our waitress was a tad on the slow side). Our bartender Brian was quick to suggest new cocktails, and geeked out with us for a while. Soon it got too busy and he couldn't chat any more, but by that time we were beyond intelligent conversation anyway.

I am very sad that the Pegu Club is a few thousand miles away, because I have not had bartenders or cocktails of that quality anywhere.

However, we are moving to San Francisco proper in one short week, and I intend to do more research.

Hurricane

2006-08-27T22:21:00.000-07:00

How I Spent My Summer Vacation.

I'm finally taking some time off work. Much of it is being spent preparing to move, much of it is spent training for the triathlon, but I made sure to reserve some time to do some things entirely frivolous and unhealthy. After all, the September Vogue is a hefty task to undertake, and I needed some support. The hurricane and cigarillos (a gift from friends who went to Greece--think baby cigars) complemented each other well. Dark rum is definitely the thing to stand up to strong tobacco.

Recipe:
1 oz Dark Rum (Myer's)
1 oz Light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 tbsp passion fruit syrup
2 tsps lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Harvest Nectar

2006-08-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

I wish I could tell you more about this drink, but the truth is I made it fairly late in the party, and all I remember is thinking, "Hm, it is kinda nectary." I don't remember how harvesty it was, though.

Recipe:
1.5 oz rum (Bacardi Gold)
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz cranberry juice
1 oz oj
1 oz lemon-lime soda

Shake with ice (?!? shake the soda? No thanks, I like my floor un-sticky. Instead, I decided to add it to the glass later.) And strain into an ice-filled pint glass.

Golden Friendship

2006-08-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

At a recent party, I was offered help in my rum pursuits. The willing victim shown here is Dave. Serendipitously, the next drink on the menu was a Golden Friendship. It received much praise, so later I tried one myself. It's sweet but light, with a full rich flavor. I highly recommend it. In fact, I imagine it would make a fantastic punch, to be shared, say, among golden friends.

Recipe:
Equal parts of the following
Amaretto (Potters)
Sweet Vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
Light rum (Bacardi Silver)
Ginger Ale (Reed's)

Mix first three ingredients in a collins glass with ice. Top with ginger ale. Garnish with an orange spiral and cherry.

Gauguin

2006-08-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

Passion fruit syrup is a remarkably versatile ingredient. It can add sweetness without being cloying or overpowering.

I looked up "Gauguin" to see what this drink was named after. Apparently, a "French artist whose paintings are characterized by simplified forms and brilliant colors..."

Actually, a pretty good description of this drink.

2 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 tbsp passion fruit syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lime juice

Combine all ingredients with a cup of crushed ice in a blender. (I made this at a party, and the blender would have been too much of a pain, so I shook with ice instead.) Serve in a chilled old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Fort Lauderdale

2006-08-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

Well, we'll see if anyone ever sees this post as Blogger has not been kind to me lately. Right now I'm apparently a 502 Server Error. Last week it refused to let me upload pictures. So this here is a gamble.

Sweet vermouth and rum continue to be good friends. I'm running out of things to say about Another Rum Drink With Citrus Juice, however. Let's just say this one is good, but nothing makes it particularly memorable. Try one when you're actually in Fort Lauderdale, perhaps, to make it relevant.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
1 oz OJ
.25 oz lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into and ice-filled old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a slice of orange.

Triathlon for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

2006-08-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

Another way in which cocktails may be good for you: alcohol may lower your risk of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.

So most of you reading this are covered. But there's more you can do to help!
I've signed up for the Treasure Island Triathlon in November, as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training.

All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I'm completing this triathlon in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers.

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance the Society's mission. You can visit it at http://www.active.com/donate/tntsvmb/jendaviswilson.

I hope you'll visit my web site often. Be sure to check back frequently to see my progress. Thanks for your support!

Call for suggestions

2006-08-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

I have two requests from my dear readers:

1. I'm still looking for a good recipe for brandied cherries. If you know of one, please let me know before the cherry season is completely over!

2. I'm going on a bike trip for about 5 days very soon. Any suggestions for easy-to-make, delicious, and wilderness-friendly cocktails to take on the road?

Fog Cutter

2006-08-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

The Fog Cutter is rather ironically named. It may taste like a straight path through the haze, but it quickly creates a fog of its own in your head. Especially if you drink it as fast as I did. And if your brain isn't fuzzy enough, the sugar content ensures that your teeth sure are.

Even so, orgeat syrup + citrus is a wonderful thing, and the blend of strong flavors in this drink is well balanced. But orgeat, lime, rum, plus a float of dark liquor on top...yep, Trader Vic is credited with this one, too.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 oz Brandy
.5 oz Gin
1 oz OJ
1.5 oz lemon juice
1.5 tsps Orgeat Syrup
1 tsp Sweet sherry

Shake all ingredients except sherry and strain into ice-filled collins glass. Top with sherry.

Floridita

2006-08-07T19:35:00.000-07:00

This drink would be unpalatable except for the sweet vermouth. I have to say that this drink was unusual but I quite liked it. It didn't taste like any of the ingredients, but rather like a unique concoction--in that respect it reminds me of the Mai Tai.

Recipe:
1.5 oz rum (Bacardi silver)
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz Sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
.125 oz Creme de Cacao, white (Potter's)
.125 oz Grenadine (homemade)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime twist.
(I wanted a cherry instead, and I think it went quite well.)

Fireman's Sour (and the search for brandied cherries)

2006-07-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

Da-amn, it's hot. As far as I can tell, it's hot everywhere in this country currently, as all my east coast friends are blogging about their melting as well.

Time to put out this fire with a Fireman's Sour.

Now, any recipe that has 2 oz of lime juice has my attention. That's a lot of lime juice. I know from past experience that a drink that is half pure lime is going to give me stomach problems, so I added a good amount of the "optional" soda, and then only drank half the drink anyway. The name isn't lying about the sour.

Recipe:
2 oz lime juice
.5 tsp simple syrup
.5 tsp Grenadine (homemade)
2 oz light rum (Bacardi silver)
Club soda (optional)
Shake juice, sugar, grenadine and rum with ice and pour into a sour glass. Fill with soda if desired, and garnish with a half slice of lemon and a maraschino cherry.

I should mention at this point that I have been stymied by the search for brandied cherries. I bought some lovely bing cherries from a roadside truck with the intent of making them into maraschino substitutes. (I'd had a manhattan with brandied cherries at Hawthorne Lane in the SOMA area of SF, and they were lovely.)

Sadly, the internet recipes I found must have been for brandied cherries sauce, as the cooked recipe I found turned the cherries way too mushy to use. I instead turned to the garnish selection at Beltramos. They had a large bottle of what looked like the right thing--small, dark purple cherries--but the bottle not only was huge, it was over $20, which seemed an expensive and wasteful experiment. I settled for a jar of bright red Miss Scarlett's "Drunken" Brandied Cherries. Tastewise, they aren't really any different than your grocery-store maraschinos. Overly sweet, waxy texture. There is a slight brandy flavor, but not the small sour cherry I was looking for. And it's not surprising, since the main ingredients are water and corn syrup.

Cherries are currently in season, so please please please send me your brandied sour cherry recipes.

Fair and Warmer

2006-07-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

What I've learned from the rum drinks I've had so far is that sweet vermouth is a better companion to rum than dry vermouth. Triple sec helps, too.

That's all.

Recipe:
.75 oz sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
1.5 oz Light Rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 tsp Triple Sec (Potter's)

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Note that I follow directions very poorly and shook this drink, hence the foam.

Mixology Monday: Limoncello

2006-07-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

Mixology Monday over at Jiggle the Handle this month is Lemon. And Limoncello is sooooo predictable, yes. But I just finished a batch and am immensely proud of it, so I'm posting.

I found a whole slew of recipes here, although I can't tell you which I made, since I kind of mixed different recipes. But from what I remember, I used about 10 organic lemons and a liter of Everclear to steep them in.

Limoncello is incredibly easy to make, but the fact you made it impresses the hell out of people when you serve it to them. You all should go make some yourselves immediately.

In the process of searching the internet for recipes, I came across two good tips:
1. You know the peels are done infusing when they are brittle like potato chips. Weird. They also get all pale.

2. Adding simple syrup to the clear infusion while both are cool results in a clear product. Adding it while the syrup is slightly warm makes cloudy syrup. (I discovered this in the Creme de Menthe making.) Since most of the recipes and descriptions of limocello say it's cloudy, I added the simple syrup while warm. Worked like a charm.

I've had limoncello before, and it tasted like artificial lemon candy. This version tastes like sweet fresh lemons.

I bottled quite a bit of it, some in small little lemon-shaped bottles and some in larger bottles. It made much more than I thought it would, actually. The cloudiness of it, and the fact that you keep it in the freezer, lends itself to frosted bottles. A friend of mine just got married, so for his bachelor's party I gave him a large bottle that was sort of special Evian container, which I frosted with glass etching cream.

El Presidente Cocktails No. 1 and No. 2

2006-07-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

The thing is, I'm way too lazy to research the origins of the cocktails I write about. I'm too busy drinking them. So I like to imagine origin stories instead.

For example, Mr. Boston has two cocktails named "El Presidente", distinguished by No. 1 and No. 2. No. 1 is a flavored daiquiri--lime, plus a bit of pineapple and grenadine. I'm thinking that El Presidente No.1 was named after some sort of benevolent populist guy. He threw fabulous parties, gave inspiring speeches, but probably didn't get much done. El Presidente No. 2 was more of a bitter authoritarian.

At any rate, El Presidente No. 1 is sugary and drinkable, along the lines of family restaurant cosmopolitan drinks. El Presidente No. 2 is waaaaaaay too vermouthy, and quite bitter. Rum just can't stand up to both vermouth and bitters. I threw it out after a few sips. I feel sorry for my mother-in-law's housemate, Rover, who asked what I was making at the 4th of July party (hence the red plastic cup) and wanted one.

Speaking of Rover, I should mention that not only is he very entertaining (he is looking very grim in this photo at the prospect of drinking more El Presidente No.2), he is the proprietor of Tea Fountain, which sells wonderful teas. You really must visit the site, at the very least for the tea info pages.

Anyway, recipes:
No. 1
1 oz lime juice
1 tsp pineapple juice
1 tsp grenadine
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi silver)
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

No. 2
.75 oz dry vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi silver)
dash bitters (Angostura)
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Dingo

2006-07-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

One of my former volleyball teams was named "Dingos of George". No one on the team was named George, and the name itself was the result of a long and surreal email exchange. But it's the best team name I've had since. However, none of the league administrators could ever spell it right. Dingoes, Dingo's, Dingoe's...sheesh. Anyway, that ramble was all a preface to this drink, the Dingo.

I can only assume (or hope) that this name was created in some Aussie bar as a refreshing antidote to a long walk through the dusty outback. Or it could be named such because the sandy orange color is very much like a dingo.

All the rum drinks are starting to run together in my mind, but this one has some Tennessee whiskey and Amaretto, which do make it rather distinctive. In general, this one has too many ingredients to ever become a favorite, but it's definitely worth trying once.

Recipe:
.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 oz amaretto (Potters)
.5 oz Tennessee sour mash whiskey (Jack Daniel's)
1 oz simple syrup
1 oz lemon juice
2 oz OJ
Splash grenadine (homemade)
Shake with ice and pour into an ice-filled highball glass. Garnish with an orange slice.

Etc

2006-06-27T23:29:00.000-07:00

A few of you cocktail bloggers out there pointed to the NYT "The Cuke" recipe, the winner of the summer cocktail contest. I wanted to try it out, but it's a pitcher drink. I decided to try to make a single one. I had coincidentally made cucumber salad on Saturday, and so with the Cuke in mind I kept the watery seedy parts and made them into cucumber juice. This juice and some extra cucumber went into a glass with mint, lime, and sugar. The rest was made just like a mojito except with Hendricks.

And I drank it right down, forgetting entirely to take a photo. No more plain mojitos for me this summer, no. Mmmmmm.

Also, I must give another plug for my local wine and liquor store, Beltramos. I just discovered that not only did they have some Falernum, but they also carry Fee Bros. orange and peach bitters! Don't go in right away to buy the peach--I got the last bottle on the shelf.

Those guys know their stuff, and are always ready with a recommendation that has never been wrong. The only problem is that I keep buying stuff there to try out that isn't on my Mr. Boston list. And my liquor storage is overflowing again.

Derby Daiquiri

2006-06-27T23:04:00.001-07:00

I don't like blender drinks. Too loud, too much cleanup, too cold on the palate. A cocktail shouldn't give one a brainfreeze.

So although this drink is tasty, it's not really worth the effort. Especially obtaining "shaved ice", which is another level of labor I'm not willing to provide.

Recipe:
1.5 oz Light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 oz OJ
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sugar

Blend with 1/2 cup shaved ice. Pour into a champagne flute.

By the way, the nasturtium garnish was my own idea. Although it's very pretty, the peppery aroma doesn't really work, so I'd recommend a fruity garnish instead. The recipe doesn't call for a garnish, but for goodness sake, it's a blended daiquiri! At least add a paper umbrella.

Diabolo

2006-06-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

I spent last week in Texas on business. I explained to one coworker that if you consider Dallas to be one buttcheek of Texas, and Fort Worth another, well, Arlington is right in the middle. That's where we were staying.

So given that this was my third trip is as many months, I didn't feel the need to redo the steak/chicken-fried/tex-mex/hushpuppies experience. We also decided to forgo a visit to the bar near that hotel that is known for a trashy experience for each day of the week: bikini contest Mondays, wet t-shirt Tuesdays, mudwrestling Wednesdays...

Anyway, given the environment, the very long meetings and even longer flights we endured, I was happy to get a good stiff drink as my welcome home recipe.

Recipe:
2 oz rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 oz Triple Sec (Potter's)
.5 oz dry vermouth (Martini&Rossi)
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel.

Liqueur update: Advocaat and Fresh Mint-Infused Creme de Menthe

2006-06-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Some of my homemade liqueurs are starting to mature now. I made some Advocaat a while ago, and it's finally reached drinking time. I poured the half gallon (that's a full dozen eggs' worth) into two bottles, one for me, one for Julian. There happened to be just about one liqueur's glass of leftovers, so I had a taste.

All I can say is that it's Super Eggnog. Sweeter, thicker, more alcoholic (depending on how you mix your nog). Deadly addictive. I mourn the fact that currently my Advocaat is in my fridge in the Bay Area, and I am on a business trip in Dallas.
There will be another batch of this, although it's more of a fall/winter drink than a summer one. And I will use brandy instead of vodka as the spirit.

Also, time came to strain and filter the fresh mint infusion version of my homemade Creme de Menthe trials.

I was a bit disturbed by the color. It had taken on a deep greenish gold color that did not lessen with filtering. The extract itself smelled mostly of alcohol, with some mint and some....vegetable smell. The vegetable smell and color makes me worry a bit. But since the commercial mint extract version I made was clear, I think that making this version green Creme de Menthe was the correct thing to do. I added green food coloring to a simple syrup batch, and added this to the infusion. Now this needs to mellow for a while. Then I'll taste test vs. the extract one. I also made a small bit of half-and-half (given that both batches didn't quite fit into their bottles).

Speaking of bottles, if you need some neat ones on the cheap, check out American Science and Surplus. They have decorative bottles, lab glass, and corks for topless bottles you might already have. I bought a variety of sizes and types. All I can say is make sure you match the collective volume of your bottles to the volume of your liqueurs--I think I way under-ordered.

Cuban Cocktail No. 1 and Daiquiri

2006-06-10T01:16:00.000-07:00

The next drink after the Cuba Libre is the Cuban Cocktail No. 1. It contains rum, lime, and sugar.

Wait a minute, isn't that a Daiquiri? And there is a recipe for Daiquiri on the same page! The only difference were proportions.

So I decided to try an experiment and make both.

The appearance is about the same for both. I put a lime spiral in the Cuban, and a wheel on the Daiquiri to tell them apart.

Recipes:
Cuban Cocktail No. 1          Daiquiri
.5 oz lime juice               1 oz lime juice
.5 tsp simple syrup             1 tsp simple syrup
2 oz light rum                1.5 oz light rum

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

It turns out I didn't need the garnishes to tell them apart. The Cuban's predominant flavor was rum. The lime and sugar were just small notes, keeping the drink from being just a cold shot of rum. The Daiquiri's main flavor was lime; in fact, it was overly limey in my opinion, so I added a couple of dashes of simple syrup until it tasted right to me.

But the key think here is that although the ingredients are the same, the proportions make these two completely different drinks. The Daiquiri is to the Cuban Cocktail No. 1 like a margarita is to a martini. Both are good, just very different. I can't even tell you which I preferred, since I liked them both and found that I couldn't really make a comparison. However, I did find myself drinking the Cuban first.

Cuba Libre and Dark 'n' Stormy

2006-06-09T23:56:00.000-07:00

Mr. Boston is coincidentally serving up some basics., in the C-D section of the rum chapter: Cuba Libre, Daiquiri, Dark 'n' Stormy. I'll put the Daiquiri in another post and reserve this one for the rum and soda drinks.

First, the Cuba Libre. Otherwise known as a rum and coke, with lime. Come on, you know what this tastes like. You've had a ton of these in college when the only things on the counter were some off-brand rum in a plastic bottle and some Store 24 cola-flavored beverage.

Still, there's a reason why these are popular. Refreshing and drinkable. Goes with chips and salsa pretty well.

Recipe:
.5 oz lime juice
2 oz light rum (Bacardi silver)
Cola (Safeway Select Diet Cola. )

Combine ingredients in a tall glass with ice.

The Dark 'n' Stormy is a more unique flavor, and I believe I posted about it before but can't find that post now. I did use a very gingery ginger ale, Reed's. You can find it at Whole Foods. I suggest using the yellow label. The red label stuff is so very gingery that it overpowers the drink.

This drink is great because it is easy to make and the ingredients are often on hand.

Recipe:
2 oz dark rum (Gosling's Black Seal)
4 oz ginger ale (Reed's)

Combine in a highball glass over ice.

Creole

2006-06-06T23:08:00.000-07:00

You know how dictionaries put fake words in them to catch copyright-infringers? I think the Creole is a fake drink made by the Mr. Boston's legal department. No one in their right mind would ever think of this, let alone try it and decide that the result was worth writing down for posterity.

I've been dreading it for a while. I couldn't skip it on the basis that the ingredients were too unusual to buy a whole bottle of, or that it was too difficult to make. So I screwed up my courage and mixed it up. Who knows? Maybe it would be good. Like gazpacho or something.

Anyway, for your horror and amusement, here is the recipe:
1.5 oz Light rum (Bacardi)
Dash Tabasco (alright, getting weird here, but not unheard of)
1 tsp lemon juice
1.5 oz Beef bouillon (That's right, it said beef bouillion BEEF. In a DRINK. Oh, and it was Herb Ox bouillon, if you must know.)
Salt and pepper to taste. ("To taste." The most ironic two words in the entire book.)

Shake with ice and strain into an ice-filled old fashioned glass.

It's not like gazpacho. It's like spicy, sour, and salty beef soup, served ice cold. I tried more "salt and pepper to taste". I tried more lemon. I tried having it with dry crackers to make me really thirsty. I tried it with strong cheese. No dice; I gave up after about ten courageous sips.

Cream Puff (and Ramos Gin Fizz)

2006-06-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

Back to the Mr. Boston's journey, it's time for the Cream Puff.

Now that's a tough-sounding drink.

Actually, this is kind of what I expected the Cherry Rum to be like. This drink is slightly sweetened alcoholic milk. The key here is to drink it so as to get an alcoholic milk mustache. Then go find your significant other and ask, "Got rum?"

Recipe:
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 oz light cream
.5 tsp simple syrup
Club soda

Shake rum, cream, and simple syrup with ice and strain into a chilled highball (oops, I used and old fashioned) glass over two ice cubes. Why specifically two? Fill with club soda and stir.

Now, if what you want is a frothy creamy drink, I'd recommend instead a Ramos Gin Fizz. Julian had one of these in a restaurant bar and insisted that I make him one sometime. This Sunday afternoon he came by, and I happened to have two fresh egg whites leftover from my batch of Advocaat. I also had a few ounces of gin leftover in a large bottle from the thyme-infused gin recipe I'd just made. I also had an opened container of cream from the Cream Puff. Obviously, fate was trying to tell us something.

Recipe:
1.5 oz gin (Gordon's London dry gin)
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz lime juice
2 Tbsp cream
1 egg white
1 Tbsp simple syrup
3-4 dashes Orange Flower water (I had none, so I omitted this. I need to try it again after getting some)
.25 oz club soda
Combine all but the club soda in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously for a good long time until foamy (one minute). A blender is also an option. Strain into a chilled wine glass and top with soda. Stir.

When I was pouring the cream into the shaker, I paused. I was afraid it would curdle from the acid, or at the very least, the citrus would clash with the dairy taste. I was so wrong. It was really, really good. Like an excellent key lime pie. Or lemon curd. The lemon and lime blend nicely with the gin to keep the drink from being insipid from the sugar and cream, and instead turn it into a flavorful, refreshing drink. Seriously, I loved this drink. Now I have to figure out what to do with all the egg yolks I'm going to have leftover.

Mixology Monday: Mint

2006-06-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

This Mixology Monday is hosted by Kaiser Penguin, one of the most entertainingly named cocktail blogs out there.

First of all, I am reminded of a certain friend of mine C., who tells a story of the year that his household made a green Creme de Menthe-based concoction to fill the enormous gallon-sized hurricane glass that was the central fixture of their St. Patrick's Day party. Multiple straws were inserted into the glass to allow for group imbibing. C. was loathe to leave the glass full at the end of the party, so did his best to do the drink justice. It ended with him on the bathroom floor, exuding mint from every pore and moaning, "So...minty...sooooo... miiiinty..." It took him a couple of years to tolerate mint again. I guess that lesson didn't completely stick, since now he is a big fan of my mojitos.

I recently went on a liqueur-making binge. I wanted to make some Creme de Menthe, and so I decided to try two recipes. One is pretty quick, and uses mint extract. The other makes it's own extract from fresh mint, of which I have much. Too much, in fact. I dug up my mint this spring and replanted in a buried plastic tub. I'm still pulling up mint stragglers, so I'm never at a loss for fresh mint, and probably never will be.

So the basic recipe for the storebought extract-based: 1 cup simple syrup, 3 tsps mint extract (I used a peppermint and spearmint blend), 3 cups vodka. Shake and bottle, let age 2 weeks.

The fresh mint version is basically the same, except you make your own extract first by putting the mint and vodka together for a couple of weeks, then straining it out and adding the sugar. My mint is spearmint, so it will be sweeter. But based on a tip I read at this excellent liqueur site, I added a peppercorn to the mixture to sharpen the flavor. I'll post again once it's finished.

Now, my Creme de Menthe isn't quite "ripe" yet, but I decided to try it out anyway. I decided to make one with a cream base to balance any harshness. Luckily, CocktailDB has many excellent recipes. I picked a demure-sounding cocktail called Atlanta Belle.

Recipe:
1 oz Bourbon (Blanton's--it has a horsey on the stopper. It just seemed to fit.)
.75 oz Creme de Menthe (mine)
.75 oz Creme de Cacao (Potter's)
1 oz cream
Shake with ice and pour into a sour glass.

Well, it's pretty much what you'd expect. Minty and sweet. The mint was pretty harsh, but I think it was mellowed by the bourbon and cream enough. Also, it is strangely addictive. I kind of want another one. I think it's the mint. But I suppose I should be careful. I don't want to end up on my own bathroom floor with mint-flavored regrets.

Cabinet Meeting #2: The good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye

2006-06-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

For the second Cabinet meeting, my friend Chris and I had the same idea: rye. We both wanted to taste rye against bourbon. The liquor stores have shelves and shelves of bourbon, but never more than 5 or 6 ryes, it seems. So he bought a bottle of Michter's, I bought a bottle of Old Overholt (on the recommendation of the good people at Beltramo's). Michter's is about $30/bottle, Old Overholt is $15. We decided to taste against Jim Beam as a standard bourbon comparison.

I did the pouring, so I knew which was which. The Michter's got the worst reviews from the others, although they may have been reacting to the slightly higher alcohol content. It was actually my favorite. Everyone agreed that they thought the Michter's was the bourbon. They liked Old Overholt best, and JB second. When I tasted blind myself, I couldn't tell which had a "rye" flavor, since they all tasted pretty different. I guess this means we'll just have to drink more ryes.

However, we did all agree that a Manhattan with orange bitters and rye was not the same as a bourbon Manhattan, and is a very excellent drink.

Cabinet Meeting #1: Cognac tasting

2006-06-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

A group of us have semi-regular get togethers in order to cultivate some vices. Much like how when playing hooky to surf is a "board meeting", we decided that this will be a "cabinet meeting".

Our inaugural event was a cognac tasting. The spirits we had to taste were:
A. Claude Chatelier XO Cognac (~$20/bottle)
B. Remy Martin XO Cognac (~$100)
C. Duc du Loussac VSOP Armagnac (~$20)
D. Dartigalongue XO Armagnac (~$40)

We had brought tasting sheets and instructions, but most of the attendees found the actual process of writing down evaulations to be less fun than the process of tasting and talking about it. Which means that the notes I have to go from are incomplete, confusing, and pretty darn amusing. Some just gave numerical notes. So here I'll try to summarize what was legible on the sheets. In the future, however, we won't let paper get in the way of our drinking.

One interesting thing I learned here--apparently snifters are not the appropriate glass for a tasting, as it concentrates the nose too much. Who knew? I was instructed to provide champagne flutes instead. Luckily, due to IKEA and a tendency to throw large parties, I have more than enough champagne flutes on hand for any size tasting. I don't have any snifters. Sometimes things just work out.

Claude Chatelier XO Cognac
Color: fairly light, the second lightest of the bunch.
Nose: turpentine, grape. Many thought it was pretty harsh, but then again, it was the first one we sniffed.
Taste: dry, harsh; astringent, burning; hate hate hate hate hate.
This one rated lowest on average. After tasting them all in various combinations, however, I rated this one #2. I didn't mind the dryness of it, and found the flavor not complex, but good.

Remy Martin XO Cognac
Color-- medium caramel color.
Nose--Nutmeg, mild, musty, spicy
Taste--mild, less harsh, orgainic, peaty, smooth, bitter
Most rated this one first or second. I rated it #3, mostly because I found the flavor to be interesting, but not all that pleasant. However, the other night I had a glass of this with a cigar on the patio, and found it to be incredible.

Duc du Loussac VSOP Armagnac
Color: pale
Nose: mild, sweet, citrus
Taste: dry, weak, wussy, inoffensive
Most tasters, including myself, rated this one low based on its relative lack of flavor. It was my least favorite to sip, however, it probably would be a good ingredient to blend in a cocktail.

Dartigalongue XO Armagnac
Color: rich caramel, the darkest of the bunch
Nose: bright, sweet, mild, vanilla, multi-layered, yummy
Taste: sweet, spicy, complex, cocoa, easy, smooth
This one was a pleasure to drink, and was a favorite of all. I'll be sure to pick up a bottle the next time I stop by the liquor store.

Champagne, and Bitter Anise at The Slanted Door

2006-06-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

My firend Julian is in town, which means I do a lot less drinking at home and a lot more drinking at restaurants and bars.

This weekend we had a wonderful dinner at Rubicon, where we of course started with champagne. They don't list their wine list on the website, so I can't tell you what it was, however! But it was light and refreshing and worked well with the amuse bouches. I suppose since I mentioned the restaurant I should mention that I ate the scallops with pork belly. They were cooked perfectly. The pork belly was good, but we had recently been to the Pig Dinner at Manresa and I was a bit overly pigged, so I mostly tolerated it.

Later we went to The Bubble Lounge, where we had a glass of Krug Grand Cuvee. This champagne was totally different that the one we had started dinner with. It was stong and complex, and perhaps the best tasting champagne I've had. It had a distinctive flavor that I interpreted as dark chocolate. Reading online tasting notes, it seems that most agree with a nutty, toasty, caramel taste.

Yesterday we had dinner at The Slanted Door, which is a very popular Vietnamese restaurant in the SF Ferry building. Upon perusing the cocktail menu, I decide to go for a "Bitter Anise", which sounds a lot like a Sazerac minus the whiskey.
The description: Pernod, Peychaud's bitters, ginger ale and muddled lemon served on the rocks.
Interestingly, the lemon was peeled, so none of the zest was in the drink. It was on the whole a pale orangey pink. The smell was overwhelmingly anise, but the taste was a good blend of anise, bitter, and citrus. However, I found the strength of the anise a bit palate-numbing. After I finished the drink, I experimented by nibbling a section of the muddled lemon, and found it quite tasty. This may have been because of the numbness, though. We decided that it wasn't an ideal pre-dinner drink, but rather would make an excellent summer afternoon one.

Cool Carlos

2006-05-26T00:05:00.000-07:00

In college, the dining hall had a juice dispenser. One side was OJ, one side was cranberry, and the middle was a strangely colored strawberry-orange-pinapple thing.

I also had experimented with hair color in college. It had been blonde, then it was bright pink. As the bright pink faded, I thought I'd try to cover it with coppery red. It didn't really take, so I ended up with strawberry-orange-pinapple colored hair.

That's the color of this drink. Much like how I found hats to be useful with that hair color, this drink feels the need to cover itself with large and colorful objects as well, in the form of fruit garnishes.

Recipe:
1.5 oz Dark Rum (Gosling's)
2 oz cranberry juice
2 oz pineapple juice
Splash simple syrup
Splash lemon juice
1 oz Orange Curacao (Potters)

Shake all but Curacao with ice. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass and float curacao on top. Garnish with pinapple and orange slices and a maraschino cherry.

Continental

2006-05-18T01:56:00.000-07:00

I kissed my husband after having this drink. His response? "Hm, Jen is citrusy."
I think the homemade creme de menthe is losing its mint power. This drink was not really at all minty. But I rather liked it that way.

Recipe:
1.75 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 Tbsp lime juice
1.5 tsp Creme de Menthe, green (homemade, so mine was clear)
.5 tsp simple syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel.

Cocomacoque

2006-05-18T01:43:00.000-07:00

It's fruit, it's sugar, it's wine. Lighter and fruitier than the Burgundy Bishop, still squarely in the sangria family.

God, I love red wine drinks. And this one's pretty.

Recipe:
1 oz lemon juice
2 oz pineapple juice
2 oz orange juice
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
2 oz red wine (Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon)
Shake all ingredients but wine with ice. Pour into an ice-filled collins glass and top with wine. Garnish with a pineapple stick (I didn't have one, more's the pity.)

Material acquisitions

2006-05-18T01:02:00.000-07:00

Item 1: Yet Another Juicer
Up to now I've been using a lovely, classic, wooden citrus reamer on my lemons and limes. Effective, yes. But it also results in a lot of pulp and seeds in the shaker, hands covered in acid, and much difficulty in measuring as the juice ends up everywhere. So I got one of these.
Effective, keeps my hands dry, and the juice goes where one would expect, not all over the counter.

Item 2: Silicone makes everything better (almost)
I'd almost perfected the plastic icecube tray twist and shake, just enough to upend the cubes, not so much that they end up on the floor. Almost. But since silicone seems to be the be-all-end-all in kitchenware these days...it was time to modernize. I was not disappointed. Not only can I get four trays in the ice compartment instead of two, the cubes slide out individually with a push on the bottom.

Item 3: It's all about the bitters these days.
My dear friend Julian just arrived today for a summer-long stint on this coast. He brought with him three wonderful things: pictures of expensive accessories, pictures of cute animals (both in the Barney's New York catalogs) and a beautiful brown bottle of Regans' Orange Bitters No. 6. It's late tonight, but tomorrow there shall be Manhattans.

Chocolate Rum

2006-05-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

The weather here is amazing. So after a tough morning biking through the hills on Sunday, I decided to kick back outside on the lawn chair with a magazine.

So a girly, chocolately, cream-based drink fit right into my afternoon plans. It was pretty strong, but wonderfully frothy and drinkable. The mint was pretty mild, actually. I imagine commercial Creme de Menthe would be more potent.

But doesn't this seem like a boozier Grasshopper?

Recipe:
1 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 oz Creme de Cacao, brown (actually I used white, which accounts for the virginal hue of mine)
.5 oz Creme de Menthe, white (homemade)
1 Tbsp light cream
1 tsp 151 rum (Bacardi 151)

Shake with ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass filled with ice.

Boston Caribbean Coffee

2006-05-08T21:06:00.000-07:00

The Art of Drink blog is hosting a Mixology Monday, topic: coffee.
So continuing with my blog's theme, I checked Mr. Boston for a coffee-based rum drink. In the "Hot Drinks" section, I found the Boston Caribbean Coffee.

I'm a bit late to the game here, howeer. I started this drink around 8pm, which is really too late for me to be drinking coffee, but this one sounded worth it. Dark rum has really been growing on me (this may be a result of the fact that a lot of rum drinks made with light rum in Mr. Boston are unspectacular), so this one sounded interesting.

This was a pretty good drink, actually. The dark rum and cinnamon provided a hint of spice, and the Creme de Cacao provided a decent amount of sweetness--I like my coffee pretty sweet. So even if this drink keeps me up until 2am, I'd say it was worth it.

And I swear there is a cinnamon stick in there. It dived under the cream when I went to get the camera.

Recipe:
1 oz dark rum (Gosling's)
1 oz Creme de Cacao, dark (Potter's)
Hot coffee
Pour first two ingredients into a sugar-rimmed Irish coffee glass. Fill with coffee. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Add a cinnamon stick to stir.

Chinese Cocktail

2006-05-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

As I was making this, I wondered why it was called a Chinese cocktail. None of the ingredients are particularly Asian, after all.

However, the moment I poured it into the glass, the reason became clear. The color is an intense orangish red.

Otherwise, it's ok. Rather like a maraschino cherry. I was surprised that the Maraschino flavor came through so strongly. The dark rum blends nicely with it, too.

1 Tbsp Grenadine (Rose's)
1.5 oz Jamaican rum (I used Gosling's Bermuda black rum)
1 dash bitters
1 tsp Maraschino Liqueur
1 tsp Triple Sec

Cinco de Mayo Margarita Contest

2006-05-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

For Cinco de Mayo, my work had a margarita contest. The "rules" were that we would be provided with margarita basics and were allowed two secret ingredients.

It was a little disorganized, and there weren't nearly enough limes, but here's a summary of the results.

Group 1 made a drink that had tequila, lime, and a sweetener (I don't know which, since I didn't see it made, but it was very sweet), and for their secret ingredient....mint! So not so much a margarita, but a tequila-based mojito. The judges were unimpressed.

Group 2 made a strange concoction that was claimed to be the "real way" margaritas are made in Mexico. I do believe that a similar drink was made somewhere in Mexico, but I suspect it was a specialty drink in some resort restaurant. I observed the making, and as far as the ratios, it seemed to be a 2-3-1 rather than a 3-2-1 tequila-sweetener-lime ratio. The ingredients were as follows, as far as I remember:

Lime juice
Orange juice
Cointreau
Tequila (they used Patron silver instead of the provided Sauza)

All ingredients are shaken over ice, and strained into ice-filled glasses that have been rimmed in raw sugar crystals. Then grenadine is drizzled around the inside of the glass, and a thick spiral of lime is added as a garnish.

The grenadine falls to the bottom in a rather grisly-looking ring. I had a taste, and overall I think it should have been shaken with more ice, which the bartenders agreed but they had made too many servings in the shaker and so didn't get it watered down enough. It was mostly sweet, with the lime tartness finally coming through at the end. The tequila was untasteable. The judges called this one a "margarita-like tequila sunrise", and continued to be unimpressed.

Group 3 was my group, and we had two offerings.
My partner made a margarita the same way he'd had made for him in Cabo. One secret ingredient was Damiana, which is a liqueur made from a special herb. It tasted pretty good by itself, but very unusual. It also has an entertaining bottle. He also had a bottle of Controy, which seems to be a Mexican Cointreau ripoff.

The Damiana, Controy, and tequila were shaken with ice and poured into ice-filled glasses with salted rims. Then a fresh lime was squeezed over the glass. It was a pretty decent margarita, with the dominant taste being the aromatic Damiana.

I decided to wing it, and an hour before the contest I went through Whole Foods looking for secret ingredients. I considered using a fruity rice vinegar for half the lime juice, but in tasting found it to be good but rather un-margarita. So I decided to go with a pretty standard 3-2-1 margarita, but I halved the triple sec and made up the difference with orange honey. This had to be stirred into the rest of the ingredients before adding ice to the shaker, as otherwise it would solidify and not mix with the rest of the ingredients. To counter the earthiness of the honey I also added a dash of ginger juice.

Both versions were acceptably margaritay enough for the judges, and we won the prize. My share was a bottle of Patrón Añejo.

Cherry Rum

2006-05-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

Cream-based drinks are usually sweet. I just couldn't get over the non-sweetness of this one.

It's a very dry drink, but I kept expecting it to be sweet or smooth or at least drinkable. But it was pretty awful.

1.25 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1.5 tsp Cherry-flavored brancy (Hiram Walker Kirschwasser)
1 Tbsp cream

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. No garnish is called for, but since it was called Cherry Rum I added a cherry. Bad idea, since it made the drink taste even more dry and bitter in comparison. Perhaps this drink is just beyond my palate.

Cherie

2006-04-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Lime juice , rum, and triple sec again. Except this time with Kirschwasser.

I think I made mine too limey. It was overly tart. I had intended to do a tasting half shot of the Kirsch as well, but it's late and this drink is strong enough thtat I don't need more alcohol right now.

I finished my drink before I realized that I was supposed to garnish it with a cherry. I am very sad.

R

ecipe:

1 oz lime juice
.5 oz triple sec (DeKyuper)
1 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 oz cherry-flavored brandy (Hiram Walker Kirschwasser)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Limoncello

2006-04-18T00:51:00.000-07:00

My husband and I took our honeymoon in Italy. We spent a week in Venice. We stayed on the island of Murano, the place where they make all the fancy glass, and just a short vaporetto (water bus) ride from the main island.

But outside of tourist hours, Murano is basically a residential community. Which means that there was exactly one restaurant open for dinner after the last vaporetto. I wish I remembered the name of the place, but really, if you go to Murano, you can't really miss it. The island just isn't that big.

Anyway, besides introducing us to some incredible seafood and the wonders of the Affogato tartufo, the waiter one night insisted on offering us a digestif of limoncello, on the house. It was warming and intensely flavored. So linoncello holds a special place in my heart.

So when I read this post at the ReadyMade blog, I knew that I have to try it myself soon. I'll let you know how it goes.

Casa Blanca

2006-04-18T00:36:00.000-07:00

For this drink, I bought a bottle of Maraschino liqueur. I'd never had it before. So for this drink I also poured a tiny bit of pure Maraschino for tasting.

First, the Maraschino. It seemed to have three distinct flavors that each hit the palate about two seconds apart: first, the powerful alcohol kick. Hoo-hah! Second, a sweet cherry-like flavor. Finally, a strange complex bitter? herby? Almond? I don't know how to describe it. I guess it's slightly reminiscent of maraschino cherries, but it's really some inexplicable stuff. Nothing else tastes quite like it. Not something I think I'll be sipping straight much, but I can see how it adds a special something to a cocktail.

The Casa Blanca is of the sour family (margarita, sidecar, for example). Lime, triple sec, rum. But the addition of the tiniest bit of Maraschino makes this drink really unique. It's pretty strong, too.

Recipe:
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1.5 tsp lime juice
1.5 tsp triple sec (DeKyuper)
1.5 tsp Maraschino liqueur (Luxardo)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Crafty

2006-04-18T00:10:00.000-07:00

I've already gone through my light rum. And I'm only in the C's of Mr. Boston's rum section. Time to stock up.

Now, I had a dilemma. I like to buy basics by the large jug, since it often costs quite a bit less than the standard sized bottles. But my pourers don't fit into those bottles. So I decided to get a bit crafty.

I had a bottle of glass etching cream leftover from a past project. I decided to make some cheapo super-easy modern decanters. Très Readymade. Here's how:

1. Wash an empty glass bottle well in hot water, peeling off as much of the labels as possible.
2. Use WD-40 to get the rest of the adhesive off. Wash off the WD-40 with dishsoap.
3. Cover surface with tape. Almost any kind will work--masking tape, scotch tape (harder to peel off), or if you want a reusable stencil get contact vinyl.
4. Sketch pattern onto tape and cut (carefully) with an exacto knife. Peel off areas you want etched.
5. Cover exposed areas with cream and leave for 5 mins.
6. Wash off cream and peel off tape. Voila!

I made two RUM bottles this way. I'm thinking I'll use a different font type for other kinds of alcohol. Like a swirly one for gin, a strong serif-ed font for vodka, etc. It will take me a while to empty out enough bottles, I guess.

Second crafty bit: it seems that most drinks that use a cocktail glass call for a "chilled" cocktail glass. I thought it was pretty unfeasible to keep my cocktail glasses in the freezer. However, since my bartending is rather slow, I've found that putting the glass into the freezer before beginning the rest of the drink (especially if it involves juicing something) usually results in a chilled glass by the time I get a drink into it. At the very least, the freezer puts a nice translucent frost on the glass. Check out the next two drinks as an example.

Caribbean Romance

2006-04-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

I think that if you see multiple juices and grenadine in a recipe, you should be wary. (The Canado Saludo notwithstanding.) Plus Amaretto, though? Hm.

This drink, with the grenadine float, is very pretty. But it's next to undrinkable. Take a look at the ingredients: Amaretto, OJ, pineapple, grenadine...all of these are mostly sweet. There's nothing to balance this drink.
I had to stop and go brush my teeth halfway through because of the quarter inch of fuzz that had grown on them. I didn't finish.

This is where rum gets its bad name, folks. Don't encourage drinks like these. They'll only take advantage.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 oz Amaretto (Disaronno)
1.5 oz OJ
1.5 oz pineapple juice
Splash grenadine

Shake all ingredients but grenadine with ice, and oour into an ice-filled highball glass. Top with grenadine and garnish with an orange slice.

(Note I unintentionally photographed this drink on top of an old-looking book to class it up. Didn't work. Especially since the book is a handyman's guide from the late 40's.)

Captain's Blood

2006-04-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Dark rum is really an unusual substance. It tastes exotic, mysterious, and, well, dark.

This is a great drink for it. And a great name. Sounds spooky. Or piratey. Just as a good rum drink should.

It's a fairly strong drink, but flavorful. It goes with the dark, rainy day today was pretty well.

Recipe:
1.5 oz dark rum (Gosling's)
.25 oz lime juice
.25 oz simple syrup
2 dashes bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a spiral of lemon.

Canado Saludo

2006-04-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

It's silly, I know, but I like the fruit salad drinks. At least when they taste as good as this one.

Given all the juice and fruit, this one is basically a Jamba Juice smoothie. I like that there isn't all that much sugar in this drink--just grenadine. And the color is beautiful. The photo doesn't do it justice. A rich, translucent dark orange.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz OJ
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz grenadine
5 dashes bitters

Combine in a highball glass full of ice. Garnish with an orange slice, pineapple, marachino cherry, kitchen sink.

Cable Car

2006-04-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, a San Francisco classic.

I actually hadn't had one of these before. You see, I didn't know it had a sugar and cinnamon rim. I like the Sidecar (same drink, but with brandy instead of rum and no cinnamon).

Tart, sweet, with a nice interesting flavor.

Recipe:
2 oz spiced rum (Captain Morgan)
1 oz triple sec (DeKyuper's)
1/3 oz lemon juice

Coat the rim of a cocktail glass with sugar and cinnamon. Shake ingredients with ice, strain into glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

Burgundy Bishop

2006-04-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

Back in college, my friends and I used to frequent Viva Zapata in New Haven, CT. It was basically a dive bar, but it holds a special place in my heart for introducing me to sangria--a fruit and red wine punch. There are more sangria recipes out there than you can shake a stick at, but I've never found one to match the simple, Kool-Aid like flavor of the Viva Zapata cheapest-route-to-drunk beverage (and bonus wine-soaked fruit salad) until now.

The Burgundy Bishop is basically a simple sangria, but with added rum. Truth be told, the rum flavor is completely lost in this drink, so I assume it's just there to get you dancing on the table that much faster. Which shouldn't take too long even without the rum, as this drink goes down as easy as Welch's grape juice.

Recipe:
.5 oz lemon juice
1 tsp simple syrup
1 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
Red wine (Turning Leaf Zinfandel--the cheapest red wine I had on hand.)

Shake lemon juice, sugar, and rum with ice. Strain into an ice-filled highball glass and top with red wine. And Boston's actually says "Garnish with fruits". So I did. Lemon slice, orange slice, cherry. And another cherry. I like maraschino cherries, so sue me.

I had to finish the bottle of wine, so I've been drinking variations of this all week. Really, it doesn't matter what fruits you add, as the sugar+wine taste is the strongest. Currently I'm trying one with passionfruit syrup instead of sugar, which is good, too.

Boston Sidecar

2006-03-31T23:28:00.000-08:00

I'm a fan with the regular Sidecar, which is brandy, triple sec, and lemon juice. I don't know what it is about lime+rum that makes this drink more Bostony.

Also, the recipe for this drink ends up being a little under 3 oz. That makes for a pretty empty-looking cocktail glass, so I kept the same proportions and bulked it up a little to fill the glass. It did make me a little tipsy, though. Tee-hee.

Recipe:
.75 oz brandy (Raynal VSOP)
.75 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.75 oz Triple Sec
.5 oz lime juice

The Bajito

2006-03-25T00:24:00.000-08:00

It's springtime in the San Francisco Bay Area, which means that the days are getting longer, the rains are plentiful, and green things start to grow. And in my case, green things include mint. A lot of mint. So much mint, in fact, that I had to dig up quite a bit of it in order to rescue my garden from its threatening advances. But I saved a big bouquet for mojitos, and this drink.

I really like mojitos. Mint, lime, rum. Simple, but delicious. It's why I planted that darn mint in the first place. So this drink already sounded interesting. It's a Bajito.

The recipe goes as follows:

4 fresh mint leaves (spearmint from the garden)
4 fresh basil leaves (from the grocery store--my basil hasn't grown yet)
5 slices lime
1 Tbsp simple syrup
3 oz dark rum (Gosling's Black Seal)

Muddle mint, basil, lime, and sugar in a shaker. Add ice and rum. Shake and strain into an ice-filled glass.

Admittedly, the appearance of this drink is, well, a bit like muddy water. But it was DAMN GOOD. The only downside here is that the drink is pretty strong, so one sucks it right down in about two minutes, lips smacking.

I decided to make another version.
This one was made like a regular mojito, by muddling the herbs and lime right into the glass, topping with ice, rum, and some club soda to stretch out the experience. Still pretty damn good, plus you get to eat the leaves when all the tasty drink is gone.

It looks even worse, though. It looks...as if one just dunked a glass right into a swamp, scooped up some murky water and riverbed plantlife, and added a stirrer.

Boston Cooler

2006-03-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

A classic Collins drink here. Cool and refreshing, it hardly makes you feel like you are imbibing alcohol. I'm a big fan.

Recipe:
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp simple syrup
2 oz Club soda
2 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
Club Soda or Ginger ale to top

Combine lemon juice, syrup, and club soda in a collins glass. Stir. Fill with ice and then add the rum. Top the drink with club soda or ginger ale. Garnish with a spiral of orange or lemon peel. I like using the lemon peel, as you can cut the spiral first and then use the lemon for juice. Nice and efficient.

Borinquen

2006-03-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

Another blender drink here. But this one is at least a natural-looking color.

It wasn't bad, although I think it doesn't need the blending. I should try it again on the rocks. Also, the citrus overpowers the passion fruit flavor, which I think it what makes this drink special. So I must remember, at some point, to remake this on the rocks, extra passion.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 Tbsp Passion Fruit Syrup (Trader Joe's)
1 oz lime juice
1 oz Orange Juice
1 tsp 151-proof rum (Bacardi 151)

Combine with .5 cup ice and blend. Pour into an old-fashioned glass.

Bolero

2006-03-15T23:12:00.000-08:00

After the relative success of the Black Devil, I had high hopes for the Bolero. After all, not only does it have a cooler name, it also has some apple brandy in it. So I don't know why I didn't like it. It was just so very...alcoholic. Maybe it would be a better second, or maybe third drink, and I had it on a sober palate.

This recipe gets the award for Most Precisely Tiny Measurement, in the 1/4 teaspoon of sweet vermouth.

Recipe:
1.5 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.25 oz Apple Brandy (Calvados Morin)
.25 tsp sweet vermouth (Martini & Rossi)

Stir with ice and pour into a cocktail glass. My version was shaken and is therefore somewhat cloudy in the photo. But still a very nice color.

Blue Hawaiian

2006-03-12T23:28:00.000-08:00

After a couple of decent drinks, rum's trashy side is back with a vengeance, in the form of the Blue Hawaiian.

Not only is it blue, it is also cloyingly sweet. And blended.

As such things tend to be, they are fairly yummy but very undignified. The garnish vanishes into the mixture as if into quicksand. And the fact that I have to use a blender not only involves more cleanup but creates an unpardonable interruption to our watching of Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade.

But I did discover that cream of coconut is a fabulous substance. I don't usually care for coconut, but this stuff is a thick, glycerin-like mixture that is wonderful to lick off the spoon. Mmmmmm.

Anyway, t he recipe:
1 oz light rum (Bacardi SIlver)
1 oz Blue Curacao (Hiram Walker)
2 oz pineapple juice
1 oz cream of coconut (Mmmmmmm spoon-licky-licious.)

Blend with 1 cup of ice, and pour into a highball glass. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry. Watch the garnish drown and look forward to rescuing it at the end of the drink.

Black Devil

2006-03-12T23:19:00.000-08:00

After the Apple Pie No. 1, my liver hadn't taken enough yet. So I gave it the Black Devil.

Simple enough here. It's a rum martini. Oh, but with a black olive to make it more...um...piratey.

Pretty damn drinkable. Although I made my husband eat the olive. I just don't like them.

Recipe:

2 oz light rum (Bacardi Silver)
.5 oz dry vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
Stir with ice and pour into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a black olive.

Apple Pie No. 1

2006-03-12T23:04:00.000-08:00

Finally, a drink I can get behind!

In the search for some cherry and apple brandies I finally managed to finally make it to Beltramo's. Now I feel an utter fool. They are maybe a mile from BevMo, but with a vastly better selection and equivalent prices. I shall frequent them exclusively from now on.

Anyway, backtracking a bit again, I am finally able to make Apple Pie No. 1. I am predisposed to like anything served in a cocktail glass, even if it happens to contain grenadine. This one was incredibly tasty, but I mjst admit, as I had it after a number of other drinks my palate was less than reliable. I think I just like Calvados.

Oh yeah, and the foam on the top looks like a scary sideways ghost wearing a hat.

Recipe:
.75 oz Light rum (Bacardi Silver)
1 tsp Apple Brandy (Calvados Morin)
.5 tsp grenadine (Rose's)
1 tsp lemon juice

Bahama Mama, Take 2

2006-03-09T00:10:00.000-08:00

So I decided to give the Bahama Mama another chance. I measured carefully. I used Kahlua instead of the homemade coffee liqueur. The only ingredient not precisely in the recipe was the Malibu + simple syrup instead of coconut liqueur, which I don't think is that much of a stretch.

Still, it's awful. Slightly less coffee-y than before, but the basic taste is the same. I think what I'm objecting to here is the lemon and Kahlua. It has the aftertaste of coffee that's been sitting in the carafe for too long. Acrid and dark.

Lemon + coffee = BAD.