Annnnnnndddddddd . . . we have a winner!  The rules were pretty simple.  Tell me how you started down the cocktail path, the catalyst if you will, and tell me your favorite cocktail.

And the winner is Helena Tiare Olson from Stockholm, Sweden.  Tiare is also the writer of A Mountain of Crushed Ice.  And without further ado, here it Tiare’s story:

For me it started with a tiny mini bottle of El Dorado 15 year old demerara rum.

It’s a bit odd, I know but that´s what happened. I got that bottle from God knows where and drank a little bit of the rum and discovered that liked it, no – I mean really liked it. Its not the first alcoholic thing I had of course but it was the first alcoholic beverage that really opened my eyes and led me to discover the world of cocktails and this evolved to be where I am today.

This happened a couple of years ago.

So I tasted some of that rum neat and then I took the rest and mixed a ”tropical drink” having not much clue how to mix a proper cocktail – even though I had some vague idea still after my years in the restaurant business. But I threw together some fresh fruit juices, a little simple syrup and the rum with plenty of crushed ice and made some kind of elaborate fruit garnish. All happily served in a hurricane glass!

After that I got myself a big bottle of El Dorado and now I started to experiment more seriously.

I searched the net which eventually led me to tiki drinks,The Ministry of Rum and some of the cocktail blogs where I was a lurker for quite a while, without commenting – I didn´t dare to…but reading and absorbing everything I came over that interested me. I kept experimenting at home with cocktail mixing and ingredient making and garnishing. Eventually the whole thing grew to a lifestyle and I became a cocktail geek.

Then one day (a year ago) I started to write my blog, and the rest is as we say – history.

Today I’m much more into learning the classics, so i have started in a bit of an odd way, otherwise i believe tiki drinks is maybe not usually the first type of drinks you start with.

I will never abandon my first love – the Mai Tai, it will always be my favorite cocktail, but only if its made the way it should be and with good rum. The recipe I use is Trader Vic`s and I use either Appleton Extra, Havana Club 7, St James Hors d´age, Clemènt VSOP and various demerara rums.

Why do I love cocktails? Oh – its the craft, the art, the culinary and experimental aspect, and of course the aroma and taste – and then, they do look so beautiful! And a well crafted cocktail really is something very special.

When I think back I`m quite amazed myself how it all started with a tiny mini-bottle of El Dorado.

Mai Tai
1 oz dark Jamaican rum
1 oz Martinique rum
1 oz fresh lime juice (one lime)
0.5 oz orange curacao (or Cointreau)
0.25 oz each of orgeat and simple syrup

Mix all ingredients and shake with ice.Strain into a double old fashioned glass over crushed ice.Garnish with lime shell and a sprig of mint.Serve with 2 short straws placed near the mint.

Great story Tiare.  Congrats on your win and I hope you enjoy the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail Recipe Book!

Cheers!

Mixology Monday is back and this month we’re hosted by Tristan Stephenson over at the Wild Drink Blog.  Tristan’s edict was to take a classic cocktail and put a twist on it that makes the new version superior to the old.  He also requested for us to tell our favorite song to do the twist to – ACDC’s Back in Black.

The first thing that popped in my head when thinking about twists was my Chichicapa Margarita.  It is simply a margarita with either the addition of a smoky mezcal or a complete replacement of tequila with the mezcal.  But to be honest, I love the addition of the smokiness and don’t know if I’ll make a regular margartia for myself again.

Chichicapa Margarita
2oz Del Maguey Chichicapa mezcal
1oz fresh lime juice
.5oz Contreau
1 Tbls agave syrup

Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled glass.  Or if you want, strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.

The second twist a little more obscure.  One evening while sitting at The Gibson, one of their wonderful bartenders, Tiffany Short, whipped up a drink for me when I wasn’t sure what I wanted.  That drink was an Old Pal.

Old Pal
1oz Rye Whiskey
.75oz Campari
.75oz Sweet Vermouth

-Stir with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

For my twist, I decided to take the spicey, bitter, deep flavor of the Old Pal and make it lighter yet still packed with flavors.  I simply twisted the original ingredients by replacing them with lighter versions of themselves.

New Acquaintance
1oz Bourbon [I used Bernheim - a Wheat Whiskey instead of bourbon, Maker's Mark would be a fantastic choice!]
.75oz Aperol
.75oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth

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

The nose is reminisant of mellon and citris.  You taste the bourbon which is rounded out by a bitter citrus and a roundness from the Bolin.  It is light sweet and flavorful.  Certainly a new twist on a classic cocktail.

Thanks again to Tristan for hosting this month!  I can’t see what the other folks out there come up with!

Don’t forget to check out my Templeton Rye give-away!!!  There’s still another week to enter!

Anyway, while there, I was talking with Joe and he mentioned having a mezcal margarita made with the Del Maguey Chichicapa.  Although he couldn’t remember the exact proportions, I think a basic 3-2-1 ratio would be a great place to start.  If you aren’t familiar with the Del Maguey brand of mezcals you really are missing out on a fantastic spirit!

Del Maguey (pronounced: ma-gay) imports their mezcals from single villages produced by individual family producers.  They truely are small batch local products.  Del Maguey has several bottlings including the Chichicapa that graces my bar.  The mezcal has a strong smokey flavor and nose, not unlike a smokey scotch, with a deep agave flavor.  If you’re not expecting the smokiness, it certainly can catch you off guard.

For the Chichicapa Margarita, you get the sweet tart flavor of a traditional margarita combined with a hint of orange (Cointreau) and the smoke of the mezcal.  For someone who doesn’t like a big hit of smoke or thinks the mezcal is a little too strong, you can always vary the amount of mezcal by adding regular tequila.  Start with a 3:1 ration of tequila and mezcal and alter from there until you get the amount of smoke you like.  However, the as-is recipe is a combination that is perfect for an overcast, cold March day when you’re really looking forward to Spring.

Chichicapa Margarita
2oz Del Maguey Chichicapa mezcal
1oz fresh lime juice
.5oz Contreau
1 Tbls agave syrup

Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled glass.  Or if you want, strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.

Cheers!

I could write about brands of spirits and liqueurs which offer the best quality and variety of purpose for your dollar.  Or, I could write about what I drink when the financial belt tightens.  Or I could just make something up as I go along.  Yeah, I’m pretty much doing that last one if you haven’t guessed.

Now don’t get me wrong.  Articles about the best bang for your buck on the spirit shelf are great and generally contain lots of useful information.  I just feel I’ve read this same story a hundred times since the word “recession” became ensconced in everyday vernacular.  With that said, I can certainly see me writing the same kind of story for Scofflaw’s Den because I feel like it.  Oh well . . .   As far as what I drink when the financial belt tightens, well that’s easy.  I drink the same things I do when I’m not concerned so much about my finances.  Rather, I cut back on purchasing booze and limit my trips to bars/cocktail joints.  I love buying random ingredients and spending an hour or two bellied up at one of my favorite bars having great conversations with the bartenders and friends, new and old alike.  But both of these activities tends to eat into my bank account and by curtailing both, I feel much on much more stable financial footing.

So for this Mixology Monday, I decided to page through some cocktail books and give you two drinks on different ends of the “hard times” continum.  First, we have a cocktail that would perfect for those times when you’re very concerned about your next paycheck.  When your job may fall victim to a lay-off or go to the ATM to check your accounts and the machine laughs at you, I give you;

Gloom Chaser Cocktail
1/4 lemon Juice (.5 oz)
1/4 grenadine (.5 oz homemade grenadine)
1/4 Grand Marnier (.5 oz homemade tangerine ratafia)
1/4 Curacao (.5 oz Cointreau)

-Shake everything until well chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
(The Savoy Cocktail Book, p. 76)

The Gloom Chaser is one sweet cocktail.  Literally.  I was a little surprised at how sweet this came out considering it only has half an ounce of grenadine.  The Cointreau also adds some sweetness but I’ve never considered Cointreau to be a “sweet” liqueur.  The homemade tangerine ratafia is brandy based, like the called for Grand Marnier.  I’ve found the ratafia works admirably well as a replacement liqueur.   Regardless, the drink isn’t bad, just a little sweet.  Then again, I think that is precisely the point for a cocktail called the Gloom Chaser.  The orange reminds you of brighter sunnier days and the sweetness is like a reminder of childhood sweets.  Certainly a drink that would provide an uplifting step during a hard time.

Of course, the old saying goes “it’s always darkest before the dawn.”  Or “every dark cloud has a silver lining.”  The point is even though many of us are weathering this troubling financial storm, eventually things will look up.  When they do, our worry and dread will seem like a distant memory.  Who knows, maybe it will lead you to greener pastures and brighter skies.  Maybe, you’ll even find yourself as . . .

The CEO Cocktail
2oz Brandy
.5oz Chambord or creme de cassis (.5oz Massenez Creme de Cassis)
1oz Lillet Blanc
2 dashes orange bitters (Angostura Orange)
a lemon twist for garnish

-Shake (stir please) with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
The Joy of Mixology, p. 237

A nice brandy cocktail that isn’t too sweet.  The cassis adds just a touch of sweetness and really mellows out the brandy.  I was afraid the brandy and cassis would fight in the glass but the Lillet plays mediator really brings the two together.  I wonder how Chambord would change the outcome of the drink.  Seeing as I don’t have chambord, nor am I inclined to go buy a bottle, I’ll just have to wait until these economic waters even out a bit.

Thanks again for Matthew Rowley for hosting MxMo this month.

Cheers!

Welcome to the first Mixology Monday of 2009!  This MxMo is quite interesting. As I sit here in front of my computer to write this post, the theme of this MxMo causes a good deal of retrospective thought and contemplation of the year to come.  The theme for this MxMo is “New Horizons” and is hosted by The Scribe over at A Mixed Dram.  Our instructions were to use something new in our cocktailian pursuits; a new ingredient, a new technique, anything as long as it broadens our horizons.  So how does this theme cause me to get a little philosophical?

For starters, I have to look through my repertoire of drinks and find something that I haven’t used before.  As a consequence, I’ve looked upon this entire last year and the changes it has brought, especially in the cocktail scene of Washington, DC and the surrounding suburbs.  It has caused me to look at the Scofflaw’s Den and the growth that we’ve had here with the site in the fifteen short months Sean and I have been writing.  I’ve also been thinking about the year to come.  It is easy to get caught up in looking towards the future.  You see, as I write this from the Scofflaw’s Den outpost of the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, VA, I am a stones throw from history.  I can’t help but think of the momentous events that will transpire in a little over 12 hours – when the 44th President of the United States will be sworn into office.  A new President whose call for change was heard around the world.  Being this close to history and having a topic for MxMo that fits perfectly . . . well, I can’t help but be a little excited.

On to the matter at hand . . . As I tried to think of how I wanted to expand my horizons, I only had to go so far as my liquor cabinets to find the answer.  There is one ingredient I have never used.  One ingredient that has overwhelmed me every time I thought of using it – sherry.

Many of the top bartenders in DC and around the world are using sherry in many fantastic drinks.  I’ve had quite a number of sherry cocktails and have enjoyed every single one of them.  But using it myself has been a little daunting.  For starters, there is like twelve different kinds of sherry.  See . . .

Okay, so there are six different styles, but that was still pretty daunting for me.  So I bought one bottle that I thought was in most of the cocktails I have tried.

I bought Osbourne Amontillado Sherry.  I know it probably isn’t the best, but it is what the grocery store had low those many months ago when I decided to buy it.  I know Ace Beverage has many different kinds of sherry and I’ll probably try another style next.  But anyway, on the the cocktails!

The first cocktail I made was named after what is considered the first Broadway musical, Adonis.  Adonis opened in 1884 and ran for over 600 performances.  The recipe is very similar to a martini, with sherry replacing the gin.

Adonis
2oz Sherry
1oz Sweet Vermouth (I used Vya)
2 dashes orange bitters (I used Angostura)

Stir everything with cracked ice and strain in a chilled cocktail glass.

This was simply a beautiful cocktail.  I was amazed at how the orange bitters shown through all the aromatics of both the sherry and the Vya sweet vermouth.  It was moderately sweet and herby with a very clean flavor and finish.  It was wonderful.

My next cocktail of the night, I gleaned from the eGullet Spirit and Cocktail forums.  One of the threads discusses port and sherry in cocktails and someone posts a recipe called the Dewey D from PDT in New York.

Dewey D (PDT, NYC)
2oz Rye
.75oz Sherry
.50oz Aperol
1 dash Angostura

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

This cocktail was a bit of disappointment.  First, to be completely upfront, I used Ri1 whiskey.  Maybe that wasn’t the best choice for rye that I could of used, however, looking at the relatively small amount of Aperol and sherry, I didn’t want something that was too powerful.  I’ll also say that maybe this particular drink needs a different style of sherry than the amontillado I used.  WIth those caveats, this drink basically tasted like watered down rye.  The sherry and Aperol were completely lost in the drink.  Unfortunate, but I still have hopes that with some adjusting on my end, this could really sing.

The next cocktail I tried was the Chaplin Cocktail.

Chaplin Cocktail
.75oz bourbon
.75oz sherry
.75oz Ramazzotti Amaro
.125oz Cointreau
2 dashes orange bitters

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

This was another cocktail that sang.  The Ramazzotti, Cointreau and orange bitters gave the bourbon and sherry a wonderful bitter orange note.  It was sweetened by the sherry and Cointreau just enough to tame the bitterness from the amaro.  And the caramel sweetness of the bourbon just threaded throughout the drink.  Very tasty indeed!

Well, there you have it.  My first foray into sherry as a cocktail ingredient – a change that is positive and hopefully.  Much like the history being played out before our very eyes in the days to come.  I can understand why sherry has been in the repertoire of many and I’m looking forward to trying different styles and finding the one that will work best for my palate and recipes.  Many thanks to The Scribe for hosting this MxMo – a fitting subject for a fitting time.

Cheers!

The gallery for all the photos for this MxMo can be found here.