An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

 So as you know (if you’ve been reading along), I’ve got a slight aversion to vermouth.  It’s been chronicled before so I won’t get into it.

BUT!!!  I had a cocktail in it a few days ago and made another one last night (in celebration of Repeal Day) that has begun my road to recovery.  

Cocktail a la Louisiane
1 oz Rye
1 oz Benedictine
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
1/4 oz Absinthe (I used Pernod)
3-4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Stir everything in a mixing glass with cracked ice for a slow 20 count.  Counterclockwise is preferable.  Strain into a chilled cocktail class and garnish with a cherry.

This is one fine cocktail.  In fact, may even be one of the best drinks I’ve ever had.  It’s spicy yet smooth, sweet and herbacious.  The pastis gives it a certain warmth that makes me wish for a snowstorm and a roaring fireplace.  Quite frankly, WOW!

I made my first attempt with a Baby Saz (Sazerac 8yr).  Last night, I decided to gild the lilly a bit and went with the Sazerac 18yr from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection.  Of course, you already know how the drinks turned out.  I’m contemplating making one using the Thomas Handy Rye, but I’m afraid that the increased potancy of the Handy will throw the drink out of balance.  I could always play with the proportions, but the Antique Collection is not something you do experiments with . . . 

Sorry no pics today.  Next time I make a Cocktail a la Louisiane, I’ll snap a few.

Cheers!

So if you haven’t put two and two together, I love Halloween!  I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  My spooky decorations will probably still be set up until Christmas.  But hey, what’s a little macabre here and there.

I was trying to decide what to make to drink tonight that was appropriately themed.  Of course there is Satan’s Whiskers or a Zombie.  Maybe I could try to mix something up myself or use a little food coloring to make a drink more forebodding, but honestly, I didn’t want to take the time and effort to do that.  But I did want to find something that was new to this blog.

Over at Jamie Boudreau’s blog he posted several halloween themed drinks.  I saw these earlier in the day and filed them away to try at some point (not necessarily tonight.)  Then after reading Sean’s post below, I started thinking about shaking versus stirring.  Two of the drinks Jamie posted, the Corpse Reviver #1 and the Corpse Reviver #2, used different mixing strategies.  The #1 was stirred while the #2 was shaken.  Hmmmm . . . seems that multiple forces are telling me I should try these drinks . . . and who am I to argue with the etheral specter compelling me to imbibe.

Quick aside:  Plus there has been the pint glass that mysteriously cracked while sitting in the sink . . . seriously, the bottom of the glass sheared off in a perfect cut.  And my clock radio deciding that it wanted to display time one hour earlier than it should . . . a week before we normally change the time.  So maybe my apartment has a friendly spirit roaming around.  Or maybe I’m just reading too much into those happenings.

Back to our regularly scheduled program:  With apologies to Mr. Boudreau, I decided to use the two versions of the Corpse Reviver which he posted yesterday.

So I actually made the #2 first.

Corpse Reviver #2
3/4 oz gin (I used Plymouth)
3/4 oz lemon juice
3/4 oz Lillet
3/4 oz Cointreau
dash of absinthe (I used Pernod)

Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Here is the final product:

The drink was really good.  No particular flavor stood out, as should be the case in a well balanced drink.  It was tart, sweet, slightly fruity with that back flavor of the pastis that worked very very well.  Doing a little reading on several websites and in a book or two, I learned that both corpse revivers were originally a “hair of the dog” type drink.  One usually drank them in the morning to give energy and shake of the effects of the prior evenings festivities.  The #2 would definitely go down easy in the early morning and could lead to some seriously interesting hours after that!

I then tried the Corpse Reviver #1 containing:

1.5 oz brandy
3/4 oz apple brandy (I used Laird’s Applejack)
3/4 oz sweet vermouth

Stir over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Here is the #1:

This cocktail was pretty good.  I think my main issue with it is the sweet vermouth.  I have been using M&R vermouth exclusively because that is what I’ve been able to find easily.  This weekend I’m going to see if my grocery store as the Noilly Prat (keeping my fingers crossed).  But I tend to get turned off by drinks with vermouth in them.  I think it is the slightly musky aroma and taste that the vermouth has.  Anyway, other than that, the cocktail was nice.  You can taste a nice sweetness from the vermouth and the applejack that slices through the brandy very nicely.  Stir this drink very well to get it as cold as possible.  It really rounds out the edges and makes if go down easy.  (Insert inappropriate joke here.)

Notice the difference in textures of the two drinks.  The #2 is cloudy while the #1 is clear.  This is because the #2 contains lemon juice (an opaque substance) so shaking to chill it is appropriate.  Shaking also incorporates a lot of air into the drink which gives it a bit of froth (which disappears fairly quickly, unless you add some egg white) and clouds up the drink.  The #1 is not cloudy because by stirring, less air is incorporated into the drink.

So what are ya’ll drinking on this most Hallowed of Eves?  Leave a comment and let us know!