You see, I figure this would be a great time to strategically use all this combined creative and crafty brainpower to build up a list of recipes to keep me loaded up on flips the entire year.

So I did some poking around. Paul Clarke (he who done gone and created Mixology Monday, amongst other accolades and general Internet sexiness) wrote an article for Serious Eats about flips. In it, he mentions some other ones created (thus seeing my idea of a Fernet Branca flip is already done) but mentioned this about modern flips, something I took to heart:

Contemporary flips are relatively simple: a base of spirit (preferably dark & rich), a little syrup and/or liqueur, and a fresh egg, all shaken together and served with a little nutmeg grated on top.

Okay, enough of the blockquotes.

Here we go Steelers Here we go

I’m lucky enough that my favorite NFL team, the Steelers, is going to the AFC Championship next week. My idea initially was to use Fernet as the “black” in a Black & Gold Flip, but as I just mentioned, the Fernet Flip has been done. I thought about using Averna, in a bit of honor to Dr. Bamboo, but decided against it. Still: what would be an appropriate Pittsburgh area liquor?

Ahhh, screw it. Let’s Google “Pittsburgh Steelers liquor”, look at the first few liquor pictures that show up in the image search, and see if I’m inspired. A few clicks, avoiding stories about Santonio Holmes throwing liquor at someone, and there we go – Kraken black spiced rum and Strega.

Oh. I can work with that.

I love the idea of whole eggs in drinks anyways, so now it was just time to tweak proportions. I think what I came up with is pretty good, and a bit of a solid drink, if I do say so myself.

Black & Gold Flip

The Black & Gold Flip
2 ounces Kraken spiced rum
1 ounce Strega
1 whole egg
Put the ingredients in a glass with a bunch of ice. Shake for 60-90 seconds. Strain into a chilled glass, top with some fresh grated nutmeg.

Ahhh, delicious! If you’re feeling really ambitious, try topping it with some brown ale or a black stout and give it a quick stir. I haven’t tried it yet, though I was thinking of giving it a shot with some Guinness or Bell’s Hell Hath No Fury beer. But first, I’ll finish the one I have.

Cheers folks, and thanks again to Josh for hosting!

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 Sir?ne 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!

Last night in TDN was “Bad Names” and Rachel Sergi had pointed out the names of two drinks she and Ted had come up with – the Canker Sour and Tuna Colada.? Now, I ain’t even gonna THINK about a damn tuna colada because just the thought of it makes me nauseated.? But we brainstormed on the Canker Sour and came up with what ended up being a very delicious beverage.

And thanks to his help with the name, and the fact that cocktail bloggers haven’t seen this level of excitement since the last time a new bitter came out thanks to his upcoming 2nd edition of Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails (hope you’re bringing a ton of ‘em to Tales!) I thought we should make the Canker Sour the official Dr. “Ted Haigh” Cocktail.

And lookee at this:

yummy yummy yummy I've got Chartreuse in my tummy

The Canker Sour
1 1/2 ounces mezcal (Ilegal)
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce agave syrup
1 whole egg (minus shell, of course)
Dry shake the first four ingredients to incorporate, then add ice and shake for at least 2 minutes.? Strain into a green Chartreuse-rinsed unchilled coupe glass and top with a drizzle of green Chartreuse.

Admittedly we invented it last night – but we thought it was GOSHDARN DELICIOUS HECK YEAH.

[Nineteenth 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.]

Making a drink for Gina Chersevani would be difficult for me, I knew, because I’d be so wanting to get it just right.? I’m not saying that it’s any different than anyone else – really, I want everyone to enjoy their drink, or in the case of a few coming up at least get the joke – but of all the mixologists here in DC Marshall and I have probably spent the most time hanging out with Gina.

That started with her cocktail class and continues with her at PS7.? There, it’s not just her, but the delicious food that Peter Smith makes up in the kitchen, and he’s been a great guy to meet.? So I had to work on it.

I actually had to write down the genesis of this drink before I could sleep the other night.? When I went to make it tonight for Thursday Drink Night I realized I had to make a different variation.? That, basically, led to two drinks named after Gina.

Though that’s actually three, because the third one – with its name – was one I couldn’t resist, and a variation off the second.

For some reason for this drink I’ve had creme de cassis stuck in my head.? Gina, I don’t know why, but for some reason, your drink demanded creme de cassis.? We first start with the Gina Fizz #1.

Oh you see a hint don't you?!

Gina Fizz #1
2 ounces gin (Martin Miller)
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce creme de cassis (Lucien Jacob)
1 dash Angostura
Miller Lite
Shake everything but the Miller Lite together.? Strain into a double old fashioned glass (chilled) and top with Miller Lite.? Yes, you can use club soda if you want, but if you love Gina, you’ll use Miller Lite.

It was on my way to make the first drink for TDN tonight that I realized “Gina’s drink needs beer in it, and it should be a Miller brand!”? I don’t keep High Life in the house but you could use that, too, though I do have Miller Lite.

Originally when making this I used 1/2 ounce of lime juice instead of the Angostura bitters; I think this change is better.? In the chat room, one person had this suggestion:

9:33 PM [Buffalonian]: SeanMike, really liking your Gina Fizz #1; subbed lime juice for lemon and almond syrup for simple. added ice because my lemon lime seltzer wasn’t chilled

That’s quite a bit of a change but sounds good to me!

oh my goodness!

I went to go back and make a drink that JohnTheBastard made but realized I still must, had to, gotta do it – make the original idea for the Gina Fizz.? This is basically a straight riff off of a Ramos Gin Fizz, with a slight change.? Maybe not enough to make it a full drink on its own but I’ll tell you what – it was DELICIOUS.

Gina Fizz #2
2 ounces gin (Martin Miller)
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce creme de cassis (Lucien Jacob)
1-2 dashes orange flower water (Fee’s)
1-2 dashes orange bitters (Regan’s)
1 egg white
1 ounce cream
Combine the ingredients in a shaker and shake the living heck outta of them for longer than you want, longer than you expect, until it hurts.? Strain into a chilled double old-fashioned glass, top with club soda, then shake on chipotle chocolate powder on top.

McCormick’s makes a chipotle cocoa powder that I’d add sugar to if using for this; also, I’d double the amount you see on my drink, as I ended up doing, and I also stirred it into my drink.

I’m using a powder that Gina made for the cocktail class and so I might be a bit wrong on the description of it but that’s basically it.? I’d originally planned on using the? McCormick’s but realized I was out.

Finally, I came up with a third variation.? This is based off the second one.? Instead of a garnish, make a dark chocolate cup with chipotle in it and serve the drink in that.? Also, take out the egg white, make it a merangue (I know, spelling), and shake and strain the other ingredients into the chocolate cup, topped with the merangue.? I call it “Peter’s Lament” because I’d imagine that it’d give Peter Smith even more to do in the kitchen to help out Gina!

Cheers and enjoy folks!? If you try ‘em, make sure you let me know what you think!

[Eleventh 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.]

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.]

]]> http://scofflawsden.com/blog/2009/06/12/international-cachaca-day-and-a-new-bar-manager-at-proof/feed/ 0 http://scofflawsden.com/blog/2009/01/20/mixology-monday-broaden-your-horizons/ http://scofflawsden.com/blog/2009/01/20/mixology-monday-broaden-your-horizons/#comments Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:58:12 +0000 SeanMike http://scofflawsden.com/blog/?p=744 The theme for this month’s Mixology Monday was “Broaden Your Horizons”.? The first one for 2009, it’s being hosted by The Scribe over at A Mixed Dram.? So, before I forget – thanks “The Scribe” for hosting this month!

It was kind of a tough topic.? Basically, The Scribe wanted us to think of an ingredient or technique we hadn’t used before and explore it.? I don’t want to act all jaded and like “oh, you know, I’ve been there and done that, har!”? But I was also like “uhh…what to do?”

That’s ’cause I’m typically the type of guy that if there’s something I want to try I just go ahead and try it.? I do the same thing with buying stuff, so it makes me hard to buy presents for, I’ve been told.

There’s one recipe however that I found in Harry Johnson’s classic bar guide that I’ve been wanting to try mostly for one big reason: it uses an egg yolk.? Not the white…just the yolk.

He has pictures in his book of various drinks and there’s one picture of a layered drink with an egg yolk in it so I knew exactly how I wanted it to look.? I had the liquor ingredients – green Chartreuse, maraschino, and Benedictine – so I went to the store, bought a fresh batch of eggs, and got ready to make the drink!

The recipe:

Widow’s Kiss
(Use a medium size wine glass)

1 yolk of a fresh egg;
1/3 glass of maraschino;
1/3 glass of green chartreuse;
1/3 glass of benedictine, and serve.

(Courtesy of Harry Johnson’s New and Improved (Illustrated) Bartender’s Manual and a Guide for Hotels and Restaurants, copyrighted 1900, reprinted 2008 by Mud Puddle Books.)

Wow.? Hit a few issues right away.? I didn’t have a great cordial glass for this (like the ones in Harry’s illustrations).? I wasn’t certain how much to use of each liquor and couldn’t be bothered to look that up in something like David Wondrich’s Imbibe!.? I also wasn’t certain which order to layer them in because Gary Regan’s The Joy of Mixology only had Benedictine listed of those three drinks.? His book did list ingredients in order to layer them in so I figured, hey, what the heck, I’ll try it that way.

But before I actually made the drink, I thought I’d get the yolk out first.? The first egg I managed to break the yolk of and so I didn’t want to use it.? The second egg I was much more careful with and the yolk was intact.

Then it was a glass.? I ended up grabbing a tasting glass from Horton vineyards; it was one of the smaller glasses I have and it seemed like it’d be a good shape and size for the drink.? It holds six ounces, so in a bout of not-thinking-things-through-completely (see below) I decided to use one ounce of each liquor.

Grabbing my bar spoon and measuring glass, I poured out the drink.? I put the maraschino in first, then the yolk – basing that off some random thing I’d read during the day – then the Chartreuse and last the Benedictine.? Looking at the picture, it might’ve been the wrong order to do them in.

But the drink looked neat!

As you might be able to tell, the chartreuse appeared to float up to the top right away.? The egg yolk didn’t stay perfectly in the middle – there might’ve been a bit of egg white left – but hey, I thought it looked kind of cool.

Then I realized something.

How in the name of Captain Tightpants was I supposed to drink this monstrosity?!

I took a sip off the top and really, that just gets you Chartreuse.? Not that I mind a nice dose of Chartreuse, but it wasn’t going to work (particularly when I’d get to the maraschino – ick!).

So I manned up, took a deep breath, and drank that #%()!-ing thing in one long pull.

THAT WAS THE WRONG THING TO DO AND DON’T DO THAT UNLESS YOU USE SMALLER PORTIONS.

Let me reiterate that:

DO NOT DO THAT.

My eyes watered.? My throat choked up.? I haven’t reacted that poorly to a shot in a long, long time.

I can’t even tell you what it tasted like – let’s just say, uh, wow, it was intense, and I would consider trying it again if I made it smaller.? (And if you want to make a “that’s what she said” joke, go for it, just … well, that’s the kind of thing that’d happen more likely maybe over in the Mixoloseum chat room, I’d bet.)

While I had gone through all that I’d made up a new batch of simple syrup.? This syrup I was going to modify a bit.

You see, I love vanilla.? I don’t know when that happened – I guess as I grew up, I discovered a big love for vanilla.? Kind of like when I realized that my favorite color was no longer black or blue (emo SeanMike for the win!) but red.? Weird.? And — I’ve never used vanilla simple syrup in a cocktail.

I tried my best to polish off my demerara sugar and let it cool off as a simple syrup then I added some Penzey’s double strength vanilla extract.

It cooled, I added an ounce or so of 100 proof vodka to help preserve it and add in about 1/4 of an ounce or so of the vanilla.? Tasting it straight, I thought it tasted pretty vanilla so I decided to try a drink with it.

In the middle of my debates inside the aforementioned chat room, wondering what to make with it (and getting very good suggestions from Stevi for dacquiris and French 75s) a horde of future in-laws showed up and I was forced to shut down my computer rapidly less they see some of the less-than-family friendly site titles in my Windows bar.? DARN YOU VISTA!

I thumbed my way through The Joy of Mixology and through Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails before suddenly thinking: HEY!? A Sazerac!

You know how I love a Sazerac.

I grabbed my Old Overholt, the Peychaud’s bitters, my little dripper bottle of absinthe, and a lemon.

If you know my favorite recipe for a Sazerac, you know how I made it.

Sazerac

3 ounces rye
3/4 ounce simple syrup
2 solid dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Mix the rye, simple syrup, and Peychaud’s over ice.? Rinse out a chilled rocks glass with absinthe, dump out the absinthe, and strain the stirred mixture into the glass.? Squeeze a lemon peel over it and toss out the lemon peel.

(Recipe based off Gary Regan’s in The Joy of Mixology.)

The drink wasn’t bad – though the vanilla tones to it were really wiped out after the bitters and rye.? I might need to add more extract to the mixture.

But before I do that, I’ll probably have to go ahead and make a French 75.

I’m sure it’ll be delicious.

Anyways, thanks again to The Scribe over at A Mixed Dram for hosting this month.? Me, I’m going to walk back over to my precious, precious vanilla syrup.? What?? You want me to mix you up with an egg yolk in a some kind of layered drink that doesn’t have the same ingredients as before?? Hmmmm….

You see, one of our neighbors had a Christmas party on Saturday night.? When we were talking about he expressed interest in having eggnog.? None of us had really had eggnog before and his plan to buy some from the store and spike it.

Whoa whoa whoa, I said.? Give me a chance first.

I’d seen Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s recipe for eggnog and decided to give it a shot.? I went out to the store and bought all the stuff I didn’t have so that I could make up a batch: mostly, I needed whole milk, heavy cream, and fresh nutmeg.? Spice connection is a GO!? (Huzzah.? Nutmeg.)

I grabbed the sugar, Foursquare spiced rum – which I’d never opened, and some Chalfonte cognac.? I don’t have a traditional blender but I did have a stick blender.

Now I’m going to tell you something – this recipe is a pain in the butt to make by yourself with a stick blender!? I was smart enough to grate the nutmeg ahead of time, as well as to portion out all of the other ingredients involved.

When I was done blending everything I was tempted to try it right away.? Two reasons came up that kept me from drinking it: a) I wanted to let it cool first and b) I fell asleep.

For whatever reason I was busy the next night.? So it was yet another night before I could take a taste.

The eggnog kept torturing me and I finally got to take a taste.? I shook up the concoction, poured it into a glass, and topped it with a bit of fresh grated nutmeg.

Sip.

Wow.

I mean – great googly moogly!? This was some awesome stuff.? It reminded me in a lot of ways of a vanilla milkshake, though without an obvious vanilla taste (I did, however, strongly consider adding vanilla extract to the recipe).? At the same time, it wasn’t heavy while being as amazingly rich as it was.? Telling my friends who were dietitians what was in it was quite amusing – and one of them still slugged back a full cup of it!

It ends up for the party I stocked up to make a bunch of it.? My friend suggested how much we should make – I ended up buying two fifths of Sailor Jerry’s and two of St. Remy XO brandy, a gallon of whole milk, six pints of heavy cream, and four dozen eggs.

Uh…yeah.? We didn’t make that much.? We went through a dozen eggs, so we made six “batches”.

Still, everyone who tried it – from seasoned drinkers to lightweights – loved it.

This is the Scofflaw’s Den, though, and to make up for lack of a drink recipe from Marshall I figure I should post another one.

At the same neighbor’s house a couple of weeks before my brother and I had visited to watch the Redskins play – uh – somebody.? (Hey, I’m a Steelers fan.)? The neighbor asked that I bring a “tasty beverage”.

Initially I hadn’t really planned on anything but while I was at the store I had an idea.? I picked up some fresh apple cider and went home.?? While I was at home I grabbed a bottle of Laird’s Applejack (the non-bonded kind), some St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, and a bottle of Fee’s Aromatic bitters.

See the spice connection?? If you can’t consider allspice dram under the “spice” category I don’t know what counts!

I experimented a bit while I was over there but the general recipe ended up being as follows.? Our neighbor gave the drink its name:

Apple Cider Heaven
4 oz. fresh apple cider
2 oz. Laird’s applejack
1 oz. Jameson’s Irish whiskey
1/2 oz. St. Elizabeth’s Allspice dram
1-2 dashes bitter
Shake all together and strain into a double old fashioned glass.? If you’d like to garnish it, I suggest an apple slice with a light dusting of nutmeg.

You could make the drink a number of different ways.? For instance, it could be made hot (in which case I’d shake just the liquor ingredients, then pour it in a glass and add hot apple cider).? We made them in pint glasses, more like shooters, and free-poured most of them.

For the party I made more of them but I made one rookie mistake – we were short on space in the kitchen, so I went outside.? Yeah, you know, when it’s less than 32 degrees outside it’s going to lower the amount of water you get into a shaken drink, and thus, it’ll taste stronger.

Still, people loved them!? The combination of apple cider and allspice dram, in my opinion, is KILLER.? From there you can work on all kinds of combinations!

Anyways, thus goes Mixology Monday: Spice.? I’d like to thank Craig at Tiki Drinks & Indigo Firmaments for hosting it, Paul as usual for setting up Mixology Monday, and Jeffrey Morgenthaler for that killer eggnog recipe.? After making all that nog, and eating deviled eggs with it, I will be avoiding eggs for a while.? Probably until Saturday.

For this year’s party, I decided to print up a cocktail menu.? The reasons were simple.? First, I didn’t want to end up making forty-five different drinks or deal with the inevitable “Make me something fruity.”? Number B, I didn’t want drunk people rummaging around my hooch.? (Wow, that sounds kind of scandalous and dirty.)? Finally, I wanted to have a little something for everyone in addition to wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks.

Here is what the menu looked like:

Once opened, guests were treated to six possible drinks, the non-alcoholic options mentioned above and, for the brave, a traditional absinthe drip.? (Or as traditional as I can get without having the huge water faucet drippy thing.)? Below are the drinks, their descriptions as printed on the menu, and the recipe.

Devil’s Daughter
Sugar and spice and everything nice with a heart as black as the night.
Vodka, Lemon, Lime, Egg White

This cocktail is actually a riff on Eben Freeman’s Bazooka Bubblegum Cocktail served at Tailor.? You can find the original recipe here. I followed Eben’s recipe to the letter, except I replaced the regular vodka with Blavod.? The resulting cocktail was dark violet in color but tasted just like bubblegum.? It was a hit with everyone who tried it.

Corpse Reviver #2
The dead will rise over this little refresher.
Gin, Cointreau, Lillet, Lemon, Absinthe

This was the basic Corpse Reviver #2 recipe.
Corpse Reviver #2
1oz Gin
1oz Cointreau
1oz Lillet Blanc
1oz fresh lemon juice
2-3 drops of absinthe

Shake everything with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.? Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Murderous Manhattan
Reportedly the very recipe drunk by David Berkowitz after each kill.
Bourbon or Rye, Vermouth, Maraschino, Bitters

The twist on this Manhattan was that I used Bianco vermouth and added a barspoon of maraschino to the mix.? I also used some cherry bitters and aromatic bitters.? Here’s the recipe:

2oz Bourbon or Rye
1oz Bianco Vermouth
1 barspoon maraschino liqueur
dash of cherry bitters and aromatic bitters

Stir over ice, strain and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Ignis Fatuus
The hellish flames found in the dark deadly swamps.
Chardonnay, Cognac, Pumpkin, Cider

This is another borrowed recipe.? This time from that crazy Canadian media hound Jamie Boudreau.? His original recipe is here.? This is another cocktail that went over really well.? A few months ago, our friend Roy tasked me with finding a cocktail using pumpkin.? His wife Danielle loves pumpkin and he wanted something that he could make for her.? At the time, he wanted me to use this “Pumpkin Spice Liqueur” that will remain nameless.? But you know what I’m talking about.? Yes, you do.? Well, I toyed around with playing with an actual pumpkin and doing an infusion of some sort, but then Jamie came along with this little number.? I’m still planning on doing a pumpkin infusion this fall/winter (keep your eyes peeled!) but Jamie’s creation was spot on.? Great drink.? Go to his site and see how it’s done.? You won’t be sorry.

Charon’s Dingy
Only the most damned have to cross the River Styx in this leaky vessel.
Brandy, Amaro, Lemon, Cinnamon, Honey, Bitters

This was actually a renaming of a drink I created during Thursday Drink Night at the Mixoloseum.? I based the drink off a standard Sidecar recipe – with a few tweaks of course.? First, I substituted the Cointreau with Ramazzotti Amaro.? Then, to compensate for the lack of sweetness, I added cinnamon and honey syrups.? I also guilded the lilly with whiskey barrel bitters and a flamed lemon peel.? I called the drink “A Sidecar to Milan” to highlight the origin of the Ramazzotti.? For the Halloween party, I simply renamed the drink.? Charon ferried the dead across the river Styx and I thought what would the the sidecar equivalent to a ferry?? A dingy!? So you’ve got Charon’s Dingy.? Here is the recipe (and the original name):

Sidecar to Milan
1.5oz Brandy
1oz Ramazzotti Amaro
.75oz fresh lemon juice
.50oz cinnamon syrup
.50oz honey syrup (or can substitute rich simple syrup, but may need to adjust proportions)
2 dashes whiskey barrel bitters

Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.? Garnish with a flamed lemon peel.? After flamed, rub peel around edge of glass and drop in.

Luckily, one of my guests, Victor, brought along his video recorder and through the magic of the interwebs you can see the flamed lemon peel.? And before any of you say it, I was using plastic cups for the cocktails.? I don’t have enough nice glassware for everybody and plastic is a lot easier to get rid of.

Halloween 2008 from Marshall on Vimeo.

Kill-Devil Punch
A misnomer: The Devil will kill YOU over this punch.
Rum, LIme, Pineapple, Bubbly

I found this recipe at Epicurious and it turns out to have been supplied by Phil Ward of Death & Co.? Everyone seemed to really like this punch and by the end of the night I had gone through an entire bottle of prosecco.? The recipe makes enough for six drinks.

Kill-Devil Punch
9oz Rum
6oz Pineapple Juice
5oz Simple Syrup
4oz Fresh Lime Juice
5oz Champagne/Cava/Prosecco

Combine everything except the bubbly in a container and chill in the fridge for a few hours.? Pour over ice and top with the champagne/cava/prosecco.? Garnish with lime wheels, frozen raspberries, blackberries or other fruit.? Or garnish as I did, with a stick of sugar cane.? One note regarding the recipe, depending on how sweet/dry your bubbly is, you will probably want to adjust the amount of simple syrup.? For a dry champagne, leave at 5oz.? If using a sweeter sparkling wine, you may want to use less.

There you have it.? My Halloween 2008 cocktail menu.? Give these drinks a try and feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think.

I really probably wouldn’t have thought of this as a big gin week except for two major things – one related to a certain gin cocktail, the other a gin itself.

First off, I was at Marshall’s and decided to have a negroni.? Now, ever since I did my miracle fruit tasting of Campari I’ve been in love with it.? A Hendricks negroni in NYC was quite wonderful, but we went more traditional at Marshall’s – just Plymouth, I believe.? The trick was the additional ingredient.

You see, Marshall had gotten himself a bottle of the new Fee’s Rhubarb Bitters and added that to the negroni.? WOWZERS.? That added a whole new dimension to it which I loved.? I’d planned on getting some from Kegworks but our friendly local liquor store said that he’d be getting some in soon so I decided to wait.? He’ll also be getting in some of their new cherry bitters.

The other big thing that happened this weekend was a new kind of gin.? One I should’ve been expecting but had forgotten about it.? Something that made me very, very excited.

See how excited I was?? Hayman’s Old Tom Gin!? HUZZAH!

The first thing I made with it was what Jay Hepburn over at Oh Gosh! recommended, which was Jamie Boudreau’s recipe for a Martinez.? That is:

Martinez
1 1/2 ounces Hayman’s Old Tom Gin
1 1/2 ounces Carpano Antica
2 bar spoons Luxardo maraschino liqueur
2 dashes Fee’s West Orange bitters
Stir with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.? Garnish with a twist of orange, if you have it, I didn’t, so whatever.

Wow.? What a great drink.? I made the second one with the Bitter Truth orange bitters and honestly, I think it made it better – I bet the orange Angostura bitters would work also.

The second drink I made with it was a Ramos Gin Fizz.? I used the recipe out of Gary Regan’s _The Joy of Mixology_.

Ramos Gin Fizz
2 ounces Hayman’s Old Tom Gin
1 ounce heavy creme
1 raw egg white
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/4 ounce orange flower water
club soda
2 half wheels of orange, for garnish
Combine everything but the club soda and garnish into a shaker with ice.? Shake for a long time.? Until your hands hurt and arms get tired.? Keep shaking.? Don’t be a wimp.? When you finally do wimp out, and you better have gone for at MINIMUM 60-90 seconds HARD, strain into two champagne glasses if you’re the kind of person who does that kind of thing, or just strain it into one white wine glass if you’re me.? Top with club soda (I used Stirrings) and garnish (I did not).

Wow.? That drink hit the SPOT on a Sunday afternoon!? It was fan-freakin’-tastic.? I can’t get over that, even if I did have to walk outside to shake it so I wouldn’t wake up the future sister-in-law from her nap.? One recommendation I’d make: maybe go a bit less than 1/4 ounce of the orange flower water.? That’s very potent stuff.? You might also want to measure out the creme last; it can coat the measuring cup and make it hard to see for other ingredients until you thoroughly wash it.

The final gin drink was actually a bit later.? I was walking over to a friend’s house to watch the ‘Skins-Cowboys game and wanted a drink for the walk.? I made a double (almost) Negroni, using Zuidam genever gin, added in a couple dashes of orange Angostura, and topped it with the club soda I had leftover from the Ramos Gin Fizz.? Ahhhh – a tasty travel drink that set up as a nice apertif for the dinner later.

If you have the chance, I highly, strongly, almost blasphemously recommend that you go find yourself some Old Tom Gin.? The Hayman’s that I have is fantastic, and now I want to get more kinds and try them out, too.

This month our Mixology Monday is being hosted by Paul Clarke over at The Cocktail Chronicles. Paul decided that the theme would be New Orleans. Since most cocktail nerds attended Tales of The Cocktail 2008 (held in the Crescent City) many posts will contain delicious drinks from one of the wonderful sessions, some hilarious stories about drunken tom-foolery and possibly pictures of Jeff Morgenthaler camped out by the pool. (Seriously, did Morgenthaler really spend *that* much time by the pool?!?!?!?) Anyway, for those of us that weren’t lucky enough to attend this year, our instructions were to write about cocktails that originated in New Orleans or that are inspired by New Orleans.

The first drink I really wanted to make was a Brandy Crusta. A straightforward cocktail of brandy, curacao, lemon juice and bitters, the defining aspect of the Brandy Crusta was the garnish. We learn from Ted Haigh’s “Vintage Spririts & Forgotten Cocktails” that Joe Santini, a barman in New Orleans, invented the crusta style of cocktail. Taking a long strip of citrus peel and crusting the edge of the glass with sugar, a basic cocktail (spirits, water and bitters) was now something with a bit of flair and pizazz.

Brandy Crusta
2 oz cognac
1 tsp curacao
.5 tsp lemon juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Use a peeler and get a long strip of lemon peel. Moisten the rim of your glass with lemon juice and dip in sugar. Then roll the peel so it fits into the mouth of your glass. Shake all of the cocktail ingredients and strain into your prepped glass. Add one small lump of ice.

Again, this is a very simple cocktail with the garnishing really being with show-stopper. As for taste, it’s a bit like a Sidecar, although less sweet and with less citrus swinging about. This would be a great small cocktail to serve to someone who likes pretty looking things. But honestly, a bit too labor intensive to make a bunch. Just make a garage full of sidecars. An interesting note, both the Brandy Crusta and the Sidecar are within the family of cocktails named New Orleans Sours. Ha! Another New Orleans reference!!! This family includes margaritas, corpse revivers and cosmopolitans.

In keeping with tradition here at The Den, I wanted to leave you with another cocktail. If you have been following our exploits around here you know how much I love the Sazerac and how all seems right with the world when I’m drinking a De La Louisiane cocktail. But for this outing, I decided on another thoroughly New Orleans cocktail – Ramos Gin Fizz.

History tells use that the Ramos Gin Fizz was invented around the late 1880s by a New Orleans barkeep by the name of Henry Ramos. In The Joy of Mixology, Gary Regan tells us of how Mr. Ramos would hire multiple bar-backs to shake a single fizz, even to the point where it is reported that some customers would wait up to an hour to receive their drink! Well, I won’t make you wait an hour for the recipe, so here you go.

Ramos Gin Fizz
1.5 oz Gin (I used Plymouth)
0.5 oz Lemon Juice
0.5 oz Lime Juice
2 Tbls Cream
1 Egg White
0.25 oz Seltzer Water (to be honest, I didn’t measure this, just using a short burst from the iSi)
1 Tbls Powdered Sugar
4 dashes Orange Flower Water

Combine everything except the seltzer water into a mixing glass. Top with the mixing tin and shake, without ice until your arms hurt (or for as long as you can stand.) Then fill the mixing tin with ice and shake until the drink is properly chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe or wine glass and top with the seltzer.

The reason you do the first shake sans ice (also called a dry shake) is to emulsify the egg and achieve a nice thick foamy meringue that will eventually float on top of the drink. Speaking of the foamy meringue, once you strain about 3/4 of the drink into the glass, swirl the remaining inside the mixing time before straining it into the glass. This allows the remaining liquid to pick up the foamy meringue that has been sticking to the ice cubes inside the tin and will give you a better head on the drink.

Even though I wasn’t able to attend Tales this year, I’ve been reading everyone’s accounts and living vicariously. One of the sessions I know I would have loved was the one on garnishes. I like to think I garnish my drinks appropriately and with something my guests find interesting, edible or both. For this MxMo I wanted to do a little something special garnish on my Ramos Gin Fizz. Keep in mind that it is my first attempt and hopefully something that as I practice, I will improve. With that, I give you the MxMo Ramos Gin Fizz.

That’s it from this Scofflaw. Hope everyone enjoyed this MxMo. Thanks again to Mr. Mixology Monday himself, Paul Clarke.

Cheers!