Like many of you, I’ve been glued to the (sometimes crappy) coverage of the Summer Olympic Games in London. I really enjoy the Games and have to say I get an up-swell in national pride watching the United States compete against the other nations of the world. Last night we had some friends over to hang out, have some grub, watch the Olympics and, of course, have a few drinks.

For the first drink, I found a tasty punch in the Cocktails+ iPhone app. I changed the recipe a bit so I’ll give you the original first and then my tweaked version. Unfortunately, in all the fervor of the games, I forgot to take a photo of the punch.

Roman Punch
1/4 oz sugar
1/2 oz raspberry syrup
2 dashes lemon or lime juice
1/4 oz curacao
2 oz brandy
1/2 oz Jamaican rum

Build over ice; garnish with various fruits in season and serve with a straw.

(Adapted from Harry Johnson, New & Improved Illustrated Bartender’s Manual. [Author, 1888] p. 166.)

And here’s the version I made. As you’ll see, I multiplied the ingredients by 4 in order to help take this from a single serve cocktail to a group beverage.

Roman Punch No. 2
1 oz simple syrup
2 oz raspberry syrup
Juice of half a lemon
1 oz Mandarin Napoleon
6 oz brandy
2 oz Applejack
2 oz Scarlet Ibis rum
16 oz sparkling water

Stir everything with a few ice cubes to well chill. Serve in small glasses over fresh ice and garnish with mint.

My version of the Roman Punch, although even with the addition of sparkling water, is a boozy punch. You can definitely taste the brandies and rum. Surprisingly the curacao comes through pretty strongly as well. All-in-all a tasty punch for a night of the Games.

The second drink I made is an original creation. I wanted something boozy and stirred with an international feel. You would think with the Olympics being held in London I would grab some gin. And oddly, once the drink was tasted, two out of the three tasters thought the base spirit was, in fact, gin. However, I actually grabbed mezcal. To be specific, I grabbed my bottle of Fidencio Sin Humo. The Fidencio mezcal is an unaged spirit and for a mezcal is very light on the smokiness that is a hallmark of mezcals in general. Upon reflection, an aged mezcal would provide a more golden color, but I would be afraid of too much smoke throwing off the balance. Of course, this is just fodder for more experimentation!

After grabbing the first ingredient from Mexico, I went across the Atlantic ocean to France and grabbed my bottle of Yellow Chartreuse. Ohhh, golden and delicious! Finally, I wanted to give a little bit more sweetness and a rounder flavor so I hopped over to Italy for my bottle of Maraschino. Mexico, France, Italy. Mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, Maraschino. International ingredients for an international cocktail to enjoy during the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Gold Medal
1.5 oz Fidencio Mezcal
.5 oz Yellow Chartreuse
.25 oz Maraschino
2 dashes grapefruit bitters

Stir with ice and serve up. Squeeze lemon peel over top of drink and garnish with peel.

With a slightly golden hue and an herbal-berry roundness to the flavor, this drink soars like the gold medal athletes it celebrates.

Regardless who you are rooting for during the Olympics, give this drink a try and let me know what you think in the comments.

Cheers!

My normal whiskey sour is something like this:

2oz Bourbon (or Rye)
1oz fresh lemon juice
.75oz simple syrup

-Shaken, double strained and served up. If I give it a taste and the particular lemon I used is intensely sour, I’ll pour the drink over fresh ice in a rocks glass.

Ahhh . . . that hit the spot. But I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I am a big fan of Averna. If you attended the 2009 Repeal Day Ball, you probably already knew that. That’s all I’ll say because I have a constitutional right not to incriminate myself.

Moving on . . . I decided to play around with the basic whiskey sour and see if I could come up with something tasty using Averna. There were several attempts that just didn’t work – too sour, too sweet, strange finish, etc. etc. I soldiered on and after the kitchen drain was drunk from my toss-aways, I hit upon a formula that hit the spot. So I give you,

Whiskaverna Sour
1.25oz 100 proof Rye
.75oz Averna
.50oz fresh lemon juice
.50oz simple syrup
2 dashes orange bitters

-Shake, double strain, serve up with a lemon twist.

And I have the share my latest toy. While visiting my mother over the holidays, we went to several antique stores. Always on the look out for cocktail gear, I found some interesting items. There were some glasses, but compared to what I can get at Good Will, they were over-priced. There were a plethora of shakers. Most novelty shakers from the 80′s but a few from the 60′s and 70′s. Eh. They just didn’t catch my attention enough to buy any. But then! While walking through one store, I found IT!

Les Vo?tes
1.5oz Rye
.50oz Sweet Vermouth
.50oz Yellow Chartreuse
1 barspoon of kirschwasser
2 dashes orange bitters

-Stir with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This weekend, DC got another blanket of snow.? They say we’re supposed to get 4-6 inches, but we’ll just have to see what the total is tomorrow morning.? As I sit on my couch and watch the wind swirl the snow about and the slow growing pile of the white stuff growing on the balcony, the urge to have a warm beverage strikes.

Now, I know I missed this past Mixology Monday which was hosted by Fred and Andrea of Cocktail Virgin Slut.? Their chosen theme was tea and that sounded like the perfect way to begin my warm beverage.

I didn’t do any research before throwing this recipe together, so it is quite possible it’s already been done.? Whatever, it’s warm, tasty, sweet, and funky.? And it contains one of my favorite teas and one of my favorite spirits.

Celestial Warmer
5oz Mandarin Orange Spiced Herbal Tea
1oz Yellow Chartreuse
.5oz Batavia Arrack
2 tsp wildflower honey
Garnish with orange peel.

And wow, this hit the spot!? The orange and spice from the tea mixes with the yellow chartreuse to create layers of herbal citrus flavor bombs.? The honey adds an extra complexity of flavor and helps to heighten the flavors of the other ingredients.? Finally, the batavia arrack provides a little backbone and a heady aroma that wafts up with the steam.

One thing I love about warm drinks such as this is the almost infinite ways you can modify it.? Afraid it’s going to be too sweet?? Leave out the honey.? Don’t have batavia arrack?? Use rum (Smith and Cross Jamaican rum would be fantastic!), brandy, or even whisky!? Think yellow chartreuse is for pu . . . wimps?? Use green!? As a matter of fact, my next drink is going to be black tea, green chartreuse, Smith & Cross, and honey.? Or maybe a little vanilla sugar.? Or a splash of Trader Tiki Vanilla Syrup!

So what’s your favorite winter warmer?

With that said, Mixology Monday is again upon us and the lovely ladies of LUPEC Boston are hosting. ? The chosen theme this month is “First Time.”? The theme is inspired by a past experience Ms. Pink Lady had with a cocktail newbie.? She states,

“What drink do you suggest for the delicate palate of the cocktail neophyte? Something boozy and balanced, sure – but one wrong suggestion could relegate the newbie to a beer-drinker?s life. To which go-to cocktails do you turn to when faced with the challenge?”

It is a very interesting conundrum.? I have a few friends who definitely fall into the “cocktail neophyte” category.? Either they “don’t like gin” or are strictly beer or wine drinkers, and one, amazingly, “can’t drink brown spirits.”? To be honest, it is very difficult to make drinks for these folks.? It seems they have preconcieved biases towards certain spirits that is seemingly all mental.? The trick for me is making cocktails that are flavorful, complex, balanced and uses the ingredient they supposedly don’t like.? I’m completely up front with what I’m serving them, and in most instances they have enjoyed the drinks.

One of my favorite cocktails, which is also one I like to give people new to gin or new to cocktails is the Shanghai Gin.

Shanghai Gin
Gin
Yellow Chartreuse
Benedictine
Lemon Juice

Shake equal measures of the four ingredients until ice cold.? Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.? For a small extra kick, flame the peel.

The Shanghai Gin combines a sweet, savory, tart profile all in one little gin cocktail.?? Everyone I’ve made the cocktail for has enjoyed it.

On the other hand, in order to introduce a neophyte to the wonderful world of cocktails, I think a well made highball can be just what the scofflaw ordered.? A gin and tonic, rum and coke, ginger beer and anything, all are good examples as long they are well made and balanced.? In each highball you can vary the type of spirit (london dry v. old tom; silver rum v. gold v. demerarra v. crap-there-are-a-lot-of-rum-types; etc.) or add modifiers such as a splash of lime, a flavored syrup or a muddle of herbs.? Many different variations can teach the new imbiber the importance of balance, creativity and variety.? Just the tools someone needs when walking down the path of potent potables.

Thanks again to Pink Lady and the women of LUPEC – Boston for hosting this installment of MxMo.

Cheers!

The Last Word
Gin
Maraschino Liqueur
Green Chartreuse
Lemon Juice
-Shake equal measures of all four ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
-Use equal measures of the four ingredients. I won’t presume to tell you how much is enough, but equal measures is key here. Personally, I use an ounce each.

This cocktail is tart, sweet, herbaceous, a little funky and down right delicious!

So reading through the thread, a few folks start talking about a variation of The Last Word created and served at the San Francisco watering-hole and restaurant The Slanted Door. It seems that upon finding a recipe for a Shanghai Gin Fizz, the bartender whipped one up, decided he wasn’t a fan of the fizz part, dropped it and came up with what was locally called “Shanghai Gin.” To find the full thread, check out the eGullet link above and go to the “Last Word” thread.

Anyway, last night I decided to whip one of these up. I don’t really know why this one in particular was the winner of my “what cocktail do I want to wind down from the office” contest. Especially since I have about 20 pages of cocktail recipes at home to sift through. But last night, the fates must have really wanted me to have this cocktail.

And WOW! This drink propelled into the top 5 or so of my favorites – sweet, complex, savory, luscious. The only downside is that instead of using my normal one ounce of each ingredient, I’m going to have to use less so my chartreuse holds out . . . that stuff is pricey!

Anyway, enough of my gushing, here is the recipe:

Shanghai Gin
Gin
Yellow Chartreuse
Benedictine
Lemon Juice
-Shake equal measures of all four ingredients over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Sit down. Close eyes and take a sip. Repeat. Maybe open eyes. Smile contentedly.

I am certain that I’ll make one or two of these in the near future.

So there you go. The Shanghai Gin. Give it a try and let us know what you think. Join eGullet and let them know what you think.

Cheers!