An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

Unfortunately my camera isn’t good enough to catch the fire I wanted, and I wasn’t good enough to get the flames I was hoping for.? But this is a short and easy drink that – honestly – I did drink, and did like quite a bit.

Tiare of “A Mountain of Crushed Ice” is a fan of demerara rum and is the goddess of amazing garnishes.? I can’t match those, so I tried to take a lesson from Marshall and reverse what he does.? First, the drink.

Tiare
1 1/4 ounce Lemon Hart 151
Ting
Ice
Pour the 151 over ice.? Top with Ting.? Stir.? Top with an inverted lime shell with a snowball in the middle.? Float 151 around the lime wedge and set on fire.? You should probably blow out the flames before drinking.

Seriously where are the flames?

Yeah, you can’t see any flames there.

In frustration – the snowball I made out of ice in the freezer kept sinking the lime boat – I filled it with 151 and set it on fire and then, of course, the 151 float caught.? And my not so good camera didn’t catch any of that, so in short, blame it and/or SOMEONE WHO DIDN’T COME OVER TO TAKE PICTURES.

Or really just blame me for having a crappy camera.

Still, it was a tasty drink, if nice and strong.? And, honestly, rum + Ting – I think that’s all tiare.

[Sixth 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.]

Two things you may or may not know about today: today is International Cachaca Day, and one month and one day from now Adam Bernbach will be taking over at Proof - good news to people who were going to miss him after he left Bar Pilar.

Cachaca is a sugar cane based liquor from Brazil.? It’s most commonly associatd with a drink known as a Caipirinha, which I can’t pronounce worth a damn, but it’s finding its way into more and more drinks these days.

I knew I wanted to make a cachaca drink for today but couldn’t decide who to associate it with.? When I got further ideas about what to make with it, taking inspiration from the Pisco Sour, I remembered how Adam likes to work with rhum agricole, and in my humble and probably wrong opinion, there are some similarities there.

Not that it really matters, ’cause I’m making the drinks, and thus the rules, up as I go!

So, anyways, taking inspiration from last night’s TDN (Muddle!), and the Pisco Sour, I present The Bernbach.

The Bernbach
2 ounces cachaca (Boca Loca)
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 jalapeno pepper
1 egg white
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 star anise
Cut up the pepper and remove the white ribs and the seeds – leave a bit in if you like a bit of heat.? Put into a mixing glass and add the cachaca, lemon juice, and simple syrup.? Muddle the pepper, then add the egg white and dry shake for 30 seconds.? Add ice and shake for another 1-2 minutes.? Double strain into a glass and garnish by drizzling the Angostura bitters on the top then adding the star anise.

That's a decorative pattern, I didn't just "drizzle", heathens.

As soon as I cracked the shaker I knew this drink would be good – the aroma of the jalapeno just drifted out of there.? I did a good job cleaning out the ribs and the seeds, so there was very little heat in the drink whatsoever.

There you have it – The Bernbach.? I hope Adam likes this drink as much as I do!

[Fifth 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.]

Well, I’ve started this whole series, can’t stop now!

Tonight, as is usual on Thursdays, is Thursday Drink Night over in the Mixoloseum chat room.? The theme is “muddled drinks” and the other day I had an inspiration.? Like last night, it’s a chance to kill two birds with one stone, as the saying has it – this time, to present a new drink for TDN as well as to make one to honor somebody locally, Mr. Derek Brown.

The drink basically jumped almost fully formed into my head.? I just made one, after posting it in the chat room, and people seem to like it!? Kaiser Penguin was even kind enough to take a picture of it and let me use it:

Pretty, ain’t it?

The Derek
3-4 leaves of mint
1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton
3 ounces Dolin Blanc
1 dash orange bitters (Regans #6)
Lightly muddle the mint and Domaine de Canton in an old-fashioned glass.? Add the vermouth, bitters, and ice.? Stir gently to mix.? Garnish with a fresh sprig of mint.

In my opinion, this is a nice, sweet, light drink.? I think it’d make a wonderful digestif or apertif.? Someone else who made one (Chris aka DJ HawaiianShirt) said that it worked well with a “past its prime bottom shelf bottle of French vermouth”, so you have that, too.? Others who thought it was too sweet (such as JohnTheBastard) I suggested additional bitters, though he went with a bit of tonic syrup and something else (I believe club soda).

Enjoy!

[Fourth 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.]

Day three of the series leads me to do two things – come up with a drink with none other than our own iStevi, hostess of “Two at the Most”, a fellow LiveJournal refugee who found her way out onto a hosted site, but also to write up my article that I promised to the Mixoloseum on cognac.

Cognac, I feel, is often a misunderstood liquor.? People have an impression of it that it’s only for the rich, while that’s not true; on the other hand, when introducing people to the subtypes of brandy that are available, or even for other drinks, cognac is often easily used as an example because people are familiar with it.? All cognacs are brandy; not all brandies are cognac, it depends on where they come from.? (There are other requirements, too, but that’s the big one, at least, in my humble opinion.)

And where cognacs come from is the French area known as, well – Cognac.

I won’t get into Wikipedia-esque detail on VS versus VSOP versus XO, or the other different types.? The important thing to remember when using cognac in drinks, in my opinion, is to remember that while cognacs vary, you can use a cognac to replace a brandy but not vice versa.? Cognacs, in my experience, tend to be richer, and often sweeter – in my opinion – than other brandies from similar areas.? Armagnacs might be able to replace a cognac, but really, if a drink is so specific to request a cognac you should use it.

Not that many do.? You might see a “special” version of a drink using cognac that has it instead of brandy, but only a rare few use cognac as an ingredient, and there’s one in particular that I know catches more than a few eyes.

I know this because on the last, admittedly hazily remembered, night at Hummingbird to Mars I was offered one – and the bartender (I want to say it was Owen) I seem to remember was surprised that I knew what it was (and drank it anyways). ? If you’ve got the Regan’s The Joy of Mixology you might already know where I’m going…

Tremblement De Terre (Earthquake)
2 1/2 ounces cognac
1/4 ounce absinthe
1 lemon twist, garnish
Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.? Add the garnish.

Now, I’ve had that drink, and it’s a killer.? Not bad whatsoever, in my opinion, but oof!

My favorite cognac right now is Chalfonte VSOP.? I just got word that it’s back at my favorite liquor store, Ace in DC, and that makes me very happy.? It’s not expensive but it’s quote luscious in its taste.? My goal is to make sure I have a bottle of two to enjoy in the snow, around a big bonfire, with family and friends next winter.? It was that goal last winter but never happened.

Still, I need a drink for a blogger or mixologist for tonight, and I thought of that drink and Stevi’s blog name.? Hmmm.? It seems to insinuate that you can only have two of her drinks in a night, and what’s a good drink to base that off of, in addition to her love of Peruvian horses, I thought – oh.? I know.

Two At The Most
1 1/2 ounces cognac (Chalfonte VSOP)
1 ounce pisco brandy (Macchu Pisco)
1/4 ounce + 1 dash absinthe (Kubler)
1/4 ounce simple syrup
1-2 dashes Peruvian bitters
Stir and strain into a cocktail glass.? Garnish with a brandy soaked cherry, which sinks to the bottom, and a lemon twist.

Yummy!? But that’s quite a bit of booze there, so be warned – you won’t want to have more than two at the most!

[Third 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.]