An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

Well, it’s been a while, but it was time for Mixology Monday again!? This time it’s being hosted at Rock & Rye by Dennis.? Thanks, Dennis!

The theme is “Forgotten Cocktails”.? Given the resurgence in cocktail culture, and my relative lack of scholarship done “on my own”, I did what I figure most folks would – grabbed my copy of Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails (2nd edition, natch) and started thumbing through it.

I didn’t have to thumb through it for long.

Bourbon has always been a passion of mine.? Lately – and I blame Harry Turtledove’s “American Empire” series of books for this – I’ve been on a Calvados kick.? I don’t make a lot of drinks using Calvados because I tend to drink it straight (and usually while smoking a cigar) that doesn’t mean I avoid Calvados cocktails.

Speaking of sexy, it's Trader Tiki stuff!

The Avenue is one of the first cocktails in the book.? Immediately I noticed the bourbon and the Calvados, but what really got me interested was the third ingredient listed: passion fruit juice (or nectar), which Dr. Cocktail suggests can be replaced with passion fruit syrup.

Why, I have passion fruit syrup – the ever-so-delicious Trader Tiki variety – and I even have Trader Tiki grenadine!? Let’s see here.

The Avenue
1 ounce bourbon
1 ounce Calvados
1 ounce passion fruit juice (or nectar)
1 dash real pomegranate grenadine
1 dash orange flower water
Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass.? Garnish with a carnation boutonniere.

Sorry.? I ain’t got no boutonniere, carnation or otherwise.

Oooo, golden! But no flowers.

The book suggests that you replace the grenadine with a dash of lemon juice if you use passion fruit syrup.? I really wanted to use the hibiscus grenadine, so I used a dash of it ANYWAYS and DAMN THE CONSEQUENCES.? Actually, I also added a dash or so of lemon juice, too.

The drink ended up still a bit sweet but tasty.? The texture is actually quite silky and I’m really digging it.

In fact, I’m very happy with how this drink came out!? It’s a departure from what I usually look for in a cocktail – it’s not bitter, for one – but on a cool fall evening, it works well.

I’m glad I went looking for a new forgotten cocktail, and I guess that means I have to thank Dennis for hosting this month’s MxMo!? I’d thank Paul, too, but don’t want it to go to his head too much.

What little-known or forgotten cocktails do y’all like?

First I need to say:? happy Veteran’s Day out there to everyone who served.

We have one brand new feature to the Den, and one changed feature, to show y’all today.? I’ve been working on these a lot lately and so I hope you find them as cool as I do.? And if you don’t…well, whatever, MAN, you just don’t get it!

Kidding, kidding, of course.

First, look up at our header.? You’ll see a new menu there – “Menus”!? We’ve started working with LOCAL DC-area restaurants to put their cocktail menus online.? We’re not trying to do food, or beer & wine (though for right now I am putting beer & wine on if it’s on the same sheet of paper as the cocktail menu – that’ll of course depend on how much work it ends up being).? The menu is there in both PDF format (to print, or to take with you on another device) and in HTML so you can search it.? Any mistakes are my fault.

So just click on up there to see our first two restaurants, PS7 and Eventide.

If you’d like to see about being included on this page, read up on it first, and e-mail me at seanmike -at- scofflawsden.com.

Second is a re-tool of a feature I never really updated.? If you look up top, or to the side, you’ll see a bit about our bars.? Mine hasn’t been updated since I moved about 1.5 years ago, so I decided to do something new.? I set up an automated Tumblr blog that’ll show you one new bottle a day with some notes on it.? Feel free to check it out!

Hope you guys like the new bits!? Let us know if they’re working okay, what you think, what else we can do, etc., in our comments or by e-mail.

13 days ago, I was frantically doing laundry and packing.? Suddenly I hit a point where all I could do was wait for an hour or so; I’d just gotten a five pack of bitters from Bitter End Bitters in Santa Fe, New Mexico, so I threw together a drink using a pineapple that I didn’t want to have to throw out before my trip.

So we’ll start with that:

The Express
2 oz Cruzan blackstrap
1/2 oz Flor de Ca?a 4 yr old
1/2 oz Wray & Nephew
3/4 oz orgeat
1/2 oz? lemon juice
1 oz lime juice
1 dash Bitter End Bitters Thai Bitters

Shake with ice, pour unstrained into a cored out pineapple.? Garnish with a bit of mint if you’d like.

From there it was time for my trip.? I was off to Portland, Oregon, for Drink.Write 2010, our CSOWG conference, coinciding with Portland Cocktail Week and the Great American Distillers Fest.? I’d never been to Portland before and I was very eager to experience it.

I’m going to put it in short: it was awesome.? Hanging out with Darcy O’Neil and Ryan Magarian at the Driftwood Lounge, which turned into a visit to the House Spirits distillery; seeing Jeffrey Morgenthaler in his native Clyde Common slinging drinks; hanging out with folks like John The Bastard, Stevi Deter, Rick Stutz, Matt Robold, and Gabriel Szaszko; meeting tons of new folks (too many people to list here), and in general, I had some of the best drinks, food, and fun I’ve had in a long, long time.

Who are those sexy people? HINT: ONE IS ME

(Picture stolen from the Mixoloseum Facebook page.)

All kinds of folks gave lectures – Erick Castro, the aforementioned Rumdood, Morgenthaler, Darcy, the ever-fabulous Camper English, Craig Hermann, and, of course, Blair “Trader Tiki” Reynolds.? I could go on and on and on about the in-jokes, the fun, how to make ingredients, but hey.? I did name one drink after Craig, and I have an idea for another one; once I dig them both up, I’ll post them on here.? Just to warn, the first one is named “The Grapefruit Fleshlight” (please don’t Google “fleshlight” from work) and the other one is similarly mature.

Unfortunately, I had to leave on Saturday to fly to Orlando, Florida, for work, where the best I can say (drinks wise) is that I explored almost the entire Scotch selection at the Doubletree Resort – though I did have dinner one night at a place called Hannibal’s, and the wine there was very tasty.? I was at the IACP show, then by Wednesday I could head back to my home just outside of Washington DC in Arlington, VA.

Saturday, of course, there was a ton of Halloween parties out and about.? I went to my co-blogger’s house and he had a a whole menu worked up with the Halloween theme.? Hopefully he’ll be posting those on here soon.? Sunday I spent a good bit of time wandering Clarendon with a friend before watching my beloved Steelers lose.

So now I’m back home, watching Monday Night Football.? I’ve got a brain full of ideas that I need to get articulated and out onto the blog.? Repeal Day is coming up on December 4th, and of course, your Scofflaws will be there along with an all-star cast such as Derek Brown, Gina Chersevani, Todd Thrasher, David Wondrich, Beachbum Berry, Jeffrey Morgenthaler (man, that guy gets around!), Dale DeGroff, and possibly, quite possibly, some other cocktail bloggers.

Maybe.

Me, right now, I’m finally feeling like I’m home for a while – and I’ve got entire WEEKS before I have to travel again.? I’m sipping a Tempranillo that I used to wash down my porterhouse and baked potato, thinking about having a cigar – I’m running low again finally, and realized I won’t be able to go to the Rocky Patel event tomorrow at Virginia Pipe & Tobacco in Seven Corners – and thinking about working with some of these new bitters to come up with some more drinks.

What have y’all been up to?? Have any good cocktails lately?

UPDATED:? HEY GUYS, it’s all fixed.? COMMENT AWAY!

Hey folks, we’re having an issue with our comments. We’re trying to get them worked out and we’ll let you know when it’s fixed.

Cheers!