An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

First note: don’t forget to vote for me in the Mixoloseum blog entry for last week’s TDN!  I’m tied for first!  My drink is “The Derek” if you remember it from last week.

Before I left town on Saturday I’d tried to come up with a drink for the esteemed Mr. Camper English of Alcademics.  I despaired of this task on Friday night as I had to deal with maintenance men cutting holes in my drywall and just a general inability to get the drink where I wanted it.  I went to the other dream which Marshall so generously published for me yesterday and decided to leave it for after the Pink Ribbon Polo match down at King Family on Saturday and hanging out with my parents.

After a long drive home Sunday from Amelia – there was an accident on I-95, it seems, so we got to route over to 301 – I got home and went into a serious vegetative state, getting nothing done at all, for a while.  I eventually went out and got some food – and there’s a chance I did that with my fly down, which means now I get to shoot myself – and definitely stuck one of my fingers deep into a surprisingly decayed citrus fruit of some now untellable type.  Ewwww.

My initial thought  had been to work on a ginger-based drink for tomorrow’s Mixology Monday but I was too distracted.  However, I’d had a mini-epiphany about the drink I wanted to make for Camper, which I knew had to a) include tequila and b) be pink.  This was after watching dad make mom a Cosmo on Saturday night.

I grabbed a non-decayed lemon and my housemade (cold method) grenadine.  Soon I had a drink that was better than I could’ve expected and the only regret I had was not having the perfect garnish for it!  I’ll describe what I wanted to garnish it with and we’ll see.

The garnish would've been PERFECT.

The Camper
2 ounces blanco tequila (Tequila Ocho)
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce grenadine
1-2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
pink Ting
Shake the first four ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with ice.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and top with pink Ting.  Garnish with a piece of pink grapefruit on a skewer.  Your choice the shape it is in; I would’ve done a heart, myself.

I’m really happy with how this drink came out.  If you can’t find pink Ting, you can try regular, or another grapefruit soda.

[Seventh in a series of drinks named after bloggers, mixologists, and random others who'll hopefully be at Tales.  The first post in the series is here.]

This month Mixology Monday is hosted by Matt over at Rumdood and his chosen theme is ginger.  Big thanks for Matt for hosting this month!

Ginger is one of my favorite spices.  For me, ginger is one of those flavors that is just as tasty in the summer as it is in the dead of winter.  During the cooler part of the year, ginger provides a bright, warming flavor to your cocktails.  During the warmer months, ginger tends to cool you down and provides a certain zing that is down right refreshing.

There are multiple ways you can incorporate ginger into your cocktails.  For the freshest flavor and more of that ginger bite, you can muddle several pieces before shaking or stirring up your libation.  You could also make a ginger syrup.  This route will provide a lot of sweetness along with that fresh ginger flavor.

Additionally, you could go the liqueur route.  Currently, one of the hottest new liqueurs on the market is Domaine de Canton.  Domaine de Canton is a mix of baby ginger and French cognac into a wonderful liqueur.  It is fairly sweet and has a nice fresh ginger bite.  Canton is a high quality product and quite delicious.

One of the most surprising drinks I’ve ever had contained Domaine de Canton.  At PS7 in DC, Gina Chersevani has a drink on the menu titled “The Cure.”  Actually, the full name is the “Recession Blues Cure.”  Priced at $5, it is certainly a cheap drink.  So what’s in it?  Miller Lite and Domaine de Canton.  That’s it.  Sounds horrible doesn’t it?  Well, it is fantastic!

The Cure
2 oz Domaine de Canton
4-5 oz Miller Lite
-Build over ice in a chimney glass.  Garnish with julienned ginger.

Now this may not be the same proportions at PS7, but for me, it is the perfect mix.  The sweetness and bite of the Domaine de Canton really highlight what little flavor is in Miller Lite.  A surprising drink indeed!

Once summer starts hitting full force, my drinking habits turn to long drinks, drinks with plenty of ice, tiki and the like.  There is nothing more satisfying on a hot muggy DC summer day than a tall glass of deliciousness with plenty of ice.

Which brings me to my second drink for MxMo.  I wanted to come up with a tall drink that was refreshing, gingery and easily quaffable.  I started thinking of what flavors went with ginger and I remembered this compote I made last summer.  It was a fantastic rhubarb and ginger compote.  Alright, ginger and rhubarb.  Luckily, I have some freshly made rhubarb syrup!  Thinking about the flavors of ginger and rhubarb my mind immediately went to tequila.  The sweet vegetal flavors of the tequila married with the bite of ginger and the tart/sweet rhubarb had my mouth watering.  Now I just needed something to tie it all together into a tall tasty beverage.  Ting!

(In full disclosure, this was the first time I’ve mixed with Ting and I’m very happy with the results.)

Ginger-Rhubarb Fizz
1.5 oz blanco tequila (I used Inocente)
.75 oz Massenez Creme de Gingembre*
.50 oz Rhubarb syrup**
1 bottle Pink Ting
-Build over ice in a tall chimney glass.  Give a quick stir to combine.  Drink and enjoy!

*A note on the ginger liqueur:  For this drink, I used the Massenez Creme de Gingembre.  I’ve had the bottle for a while and think it is a good product.  It isn’t nearly as sweet as the Domaine de Canton which makes it good to use when you want to watch the sweetness of the drink.  However, the ginger “bite” is a little less pronounced as compared to the Canton.  I think the Canton would be just as delicious in this drink, but with the rhubarb syrup, the sweetness will be proportionally greater.

**For the rhubarb syrup, I combined one large rhubarb stalk, cut into one-inch pieces, with one cup sugar and 3/4 cup water.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 20-30 minutes.  Strain through a fine mesh sieve, pressing on the solids to get all of the liquid out.

Thanks again for Rumdood for hosting this month’s MxMo.

Cheers!