Don’t get me wrong, I love beer!  I’m drinking a Rogue right now (the First Growth Dirtoir Black Lager) but like ingredients such as, say, wine (thus, vermouth, natch) while delicious on its own, it can also work as an ingredient in cocktails quite easily.  Cheese is delicious on its own, and you cook with it too, right?

Right.

Another friend of ours, Phil Greene of the Museum of the American Cocktail, let us know about a seminar featuring Tad Carducci talking about spice in cocktails.  I’ve snipped Tad’s bio out of the link, but if you haven’t heard of him – just Google search him.  He’s done a lot.

Spice: The Fennel Frontier

Presented By: Tad Carducci

$45.00 per person pre-register

The ‘at-the-door’ fee will be $50.00.

Thursday, April 22 2010, 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Darlington House
1610 20th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009

From 2500 B.C. to 2010, a look at the importance of spices and herbs; as medicine, as currency, as foodstuffs, and, most notably, as flavoring agents for spirits, liqueurs and cocktails.  Join us on a whirlwind journey back in time and around the globe to shed light onto an exotic and illuminating topic that most of us take very much for granted, while, of course, we “spice it up” with cocktails.

(It’s not that we don’t love you Tad, but hey, we pay by the character here.  What?  We don’t?  Oh well too late, I already cut it.)

Tonight, if you’re not already there, is Thursday Drink Night in the Mixoloseum bar, and we’re doing spiced rum.  Jump in if it’s not too late!

We’ve got some other events and some drinks coming up for y’all, so for now, go out and find yourselves something to drink.

I’m not going back that far.

When I think of punch, I think of a big vat of alcoholic drink – so yes, that’s pretty close to it – that is also pretty light, where you drink large cups of it.  The punches I’ve had at local watering holes, such as the nightly bowl at PS7 or at the late Punch Club, have been delicious but often come in small cups.  I’m not about to go to the college route, dumping a bunch of juice and two liters of soda into a tub with a few handles of vodka and rum, but I’d like something a bit bigger, a bit sparklier.

Yeah, that’s a word, WHAT OF IT.

At least I think it is.

Ahem.

Before I get into my post, I thought I’d cover another one – though I’m not making it.  Why not?  Well, it’s a matter of proportions – I’ve always wanted to make Gary Regan’s recipe for Artillery Punch, but look at how big it is:

Artillery Punch
1 bottle (750 mL) rye
1 bottle (750 mL) red wine
25 ounces chilled strong tea
12 ounces dark rum
6 ounces gin
6 ounces brandy
1 ounce Benedictine
12 ounces fresh orange juice
6 ounces fresh lemon juice
6 ounces simple syrup
1 large block of ice
lemon wheels, for garnish
Pour all of the liquid ingredients into a large nonreactive pan or bowl.  Stir well, cover, and refrigerate for four hours or longer.  Place the block of ice in the center of a large punch bowl, then add the punch and the garnish. – The Joy of Mixology, page 208

That is a lot of stuff to put in there!  I wanted something I could make by the individual drink, as I’m usually not in the mood for 24 six ounce servings (unless it’s a day that ends in “y”).

Thinking about it, I ended up with this drink – and I’ve got to say, I like it.

Celebration Punch
2 ounces Square One Botanical
1/2 ounce triple sec (Combier)
1/2 ounce orange juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce Trader Tiki’s Don’s Mix
1/2 ounce Campari
1 dash Angostura
Pour all ingredients into a shaking tin.  Add ice and shake.  Strain into a collins glass, top with club soda, ice, and a sprig of mint.

This is a fun drink!  It’s all bubbly and fruity and it makes me think of fun days of punch in the past.

The cool thing is you don’t have to use club soda.  Do you want to top it with more spice?  Try ginger beer!  Want to go different route?  Use 7-Up, Ting, or champagne.  I think it’ll hold up well to most forms of bubbly you might want to add – I almost did bitter lemon myself – but I’m really happy with how my punch came out.

And want to do it bigger?  Just remember your rules of batching cocktails!  Try using one fifth (750 mL) of Square One Botanical, and half a pint (or 375, really) of each of the other ingredients, plus make it around a dozen dashes of Angostura.  Mix up into a punch bowl, chill, then put a big ole ice block in it!

Hmmmm – I might just have to do that for my next party…

Anyways, once again, thanks to Mike at Hobson’s Choice for hosting this month, and thanks to Paul Clarke (as usual) for doing this whole shindig type thingamabob.  Cheers y’all!

Ahhhh . . . Mixology Monday XLVI.  I’ve never been good at roman numerals, so I’m not even going to guess what that translates to in normal non-roman number type things.  Regardless, it’s that time again and this month we are being hosted by Sonja at Thinking of Drinking.  Sonja’s chosen theme is absinthe and a fitting theme she has chosen, especially since Sonja is the brain behind North Shore Distillery’s Sirène Absinthe Verte.  Sonja’s instructions:

The topic for February is Absinthe. That much maligned, misunderstood, mistreated spirit, suddenly plentiful again in the US and other parts of the world. Absinthe played a role, whether large or small, in a variety of great cocktails from the 1800’s and early 1900’s – the Sazerac, Absinthe Suissesse, Corpse Reviver No. 2… I’m getting thirsty. So let’s celebrate absinthe’s history, and it’s future, with all manner of cocktails using absinthe.

For this task, I turned to a myriad cocktail books to find a new drink to present to you good folks.  Looking through the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail Recipe Book, I found a very tasty looking tipple.

Green Fairy Sour
1 oz Absinthe (I used Vieux Carre)
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz mineral water (I used plain ole filtered water)
.75 oz simple syrup (2:1)
1 dash Angostura
half an egg white

Dry shake all nice a long.  Add ice and shake like a 19th Century absinthe addict.  Fine strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

First, I’d like to point out that this was the best foam I’ve ever gotten on a drink with egg white.  Woot!  Second, this is a fantastic drink!  It isn’t too sweet or too sour.  The absinthe is front and center but not overpowering by any means.  Honestly, I think I’d like to try it with a little extra absinthe in the mix.  Maybe another dash of bitters.  Regardless, this is a damn fine tasty drink.

I can’t wait to see what other beverages folks write about utilizing absinthe.  But, as is our want, we like to give you at least one more drink for your consumption.

So I’m going to use this opportunity to pimp my favorite cocktail yet again.  Plus there is the added benefit of having the New Orleans Saints as Superbowl Champions to celebrate while drinking this down.

Cocktail a la Louisiane
1 oz rye whiskey
1 oz sweet vermouth
1 oz Benedictine
.25 oz absinthe
3-4 healthy dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Stir all ingredients until frosty cold.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and twist some lemon peel over the drink.  Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a lemon twist.  Yes, I like both lemon peel and a cherry.  Sue me.

There you have it.  A few great uses for absinthe.  Thanks again to Sonja for hosting and I’ll see you at the bar!

Cheers!

Tonight I watched Inglorious Basterds.  Yes, it took me a long time to see it.  Yes, it was a GREAT MOVIE.  I’d like to put in a lot of cuss words to show how much I liked this movie, but I just finished watching it, so I’m high on adrenaline and lots and lots of booze.

How do you do a drinking game for a movie you haven’t seen yet?  It’s called the pause button.

I’d been out with a friend of mine earlier, came in, fired up the movie.  The joys of pay-per-view, though in my case, it took a few tries because, well, FiOS was having “issues”.

Okay, we’re watching a movie with Germans, French, and Americans.  We need a drink, and I make one, declaring it the “Inglorious”:

Inglorious
2 ounces rye whiskey
1 1/2 ounce Belle de Brillet (a French pear-flavored cognac)
1/2 ounce Underberg (I originally used 3/4 ounce, which is the size of a mini-bottle of it, but that’s too much)
Stir, strain into a chilled cocktail glass with a twist of lemon peel.

Actually, that was pretty good.

I kept watching the movie and needed another Lt. Aldo drink.  I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS DRINK.

The Basterd
2 ounces applejack
1 ounce Dolin dry vermouth
1/2 ounce Barenjager
2 dashes Marshall’s moonshine bitters
Shake and strain into a glass with a twist of lemon

Unfortunately, the Barenjager overwhelms the drink in this one.  It needs work.

Notice something on those?  I went for French-German-American.  But I got tired, and the movie went to a scene where they order “33 year old” Scotch whisky.

WARNING SPOILERS

I said “hey everyone is going to die here” and so I got a shot of scotch straight.  You know what?  I was right.

I’ve been trying to make drinks that fit in for the movie and now I end up with a German beer, a shot of Scottish whisky, and … well, Aldo admitted to being a moonshiner, so when I guessed what was going to happen at the end I did a shot of Kopper Kettle “Virginia Moonshine”.

When it comes to movies and a drink – it’s the fun of “do you play it by ear” or “do you have set rules”?  Tonight, I had fun playing it by ear.

I’ve got District 9 on DVD.  And Navy SEALs on TV.  Hmmm….

Snowfall as of 9pm

Now I love snow.  And truthfully, I’m excited to be in my first blizzard warning.  Of course I want everyone to be safe and warm all that jazz, but this is just cool.  And obviously, this kind of weather calls for more warm beverages . . . preferably those of the alcoholic variety.  In my last post, I gave you the Celestial Warmer.

Non-Union
5.0 oz African Roobios Tea, hot
1.5 oz Mezcal, I used Ilegal Mezcal
0.5 oz agave syrup
1 very long strip of grapefruit peel

Pour syrup and mezcal into a glass or mug and stir to combine.  Brew the tea and pour into your container of choice, stirring to combine.  Cut a long strip of grapefruit peel over the glass and throw it in.  Enjoy.

Finally, I’ve had some folks ask me about how much snow we’ve had so far in DC.  I decided to take a little video and share it with everyone.  This video was taken on my balcony around 11pm Friday, Feb. 5 2010. The noise you hear in the video is the wind.

Tomorrow I’ll post another video that shows the overnight accumulation. And, of course, another warm drink!

Cheers!