Alright, it’s Tuesday, so sue me. ?We had some site issues that kept me from posting this yesterday and hey, look, content!!!

I was sitting at work the other when my phone beeps alerting me that someone on Twitter mentioned me. ?I check the tweeters and it was my buddy Chris?informing some of us old fogies that this MxMo would be the last. ?He sent along Fred’s announcement on Cocktail Virgin Slut?that after almost 11 years, MxMo would be ending. ?I tested Sean and we decided that the occasion called for an old-school Scofflaw cocktail makin’ hootnany. ?Scofflaw’s Den has posted 52 articles for MxMo over the years and we’re happy (and a bit sad) to participate in the final one.

The theme is “Irish Wake” and as you can read from Fred’s post, the goal is to uncover or create a new recipe using Irish whiskey or tell a story where Irish whiskey played a role. ?If you know Sean or I, or have read this site before, you know we like our whiskey and Irish whiskey is no exception. ? Sean brought over a bottle of Powers and a bottle of Writer’s Tears. ?I contributed a bottle of Redbreast 12 Year Old and Slieve Foy.

Sean brought over a bottle of BG Reynold’s Orgeat?which we simply had to use. ? Considering a theme of an Irish Wake, it only seemed appropriate to use an amaro as well. ?Something dark and bitter just seemed appropriate. ?We started with Nardini Bassano Amaro. ?The roasted and coffee notes seemed perfect for a sad theme. ?So after several drams of Irishwhiskey, we started mixin.

2

The Nardini Amaro was determined to be too complex for the drink. ?We needed something just as dark and bitter with just a little less going on. ?Sean and I looked at each other and both said “Averna!” ?After a couple of attempts we had a cocktail that we both really enjoyed. ?I give you . . .

The Irish Goodbye
2 oz Irish Whiskey
.75 oz ?Averna
.5 oz ?fresh lemon juice
.5 oz orgeat

Mix all ingredients in an ice filled shaker and shake it like you’re hoping a potato will pop out. ?Strain over ice and garnish with a maraschino cheery.

Now, of course, we can’t leave well enough alone. ?When we go out there is a phenomenon we call the Irish Goodbye where a person simply disappears. ?One second they are talking with you at the bar and then next, POOF, they are no where to be found. ?The thing about the Irish Goodbye though is that you’ve still had quite an enjoyable night and you know that you will see your compatriot soon and bend elbows again. ?With this in mind, I wanted to make the Irish Goodbye something eye catching for the final MxMo.

My freezer contained several hollow ice spheres I made for a party. ?Using my smoke gun, I filled the ice sphere with apple wood smoke and plugged the hole with a maraschino cherry. ?I then poured the cocktail over the ice sphere in a double old fashioned glass. ?After the drink is served, using an ice pick you crack the ice sphere and POOF a puff of smoke rises from the cocktail and disappears into the ether. ?A true Irish Goodbye.

Pictures!

Pouring the drink

Tapping the first ice ball

Tapping the second ice ball

Smoke on the cocktail

Ragtime!

Before I even moved up to the northern Virginia area, I knew Ragtime – it was the bar we always seemed to end up at in Courthouse around 1 AM, just before last call, with a “surprise” tray of shots and a hangover the next day. Indeed, that reputation stuck with me for a while after moving to NoVA, mostly courteous of one friend who was always giving his number to the servers.

When I moved into Courthouse, though, I discovered that it’s actually a fantastic bar – not just because it’s a WVU Mountaineers bar (which made my parents happy when we went there just after my move) but because of a great staff and a constantly improving beer selection. I’ve been there hundreds of times (according to Foursquare, nearly 400 times) and probably had just about everything on the menu.

The one thing I never really drank, though, were the mixed drinks, with just two exceptions. One was when they did a martini night, and I could get a nice big glass of cold gin with extra vermouth for cheap. The other was the infamous (to us) pomegranate martini, which despite being called a martini was based off tequila. We (we being the guys) would go to Ragtime claiming girlfriends/wives wanted the pomegranate martini, but really we’d end up drinking lots of them. They were kind of addictive.

The latest restaurant by the same owners had a more focused cocktail program and Ragtime went through a time of doing flavored liquors, but still I was surprised recently when they announced their new cocktail program, focusing on classic drinks and fresh ingredients, including squeezed to order juices and housemade syrups such as orgeat. I, of course, needed to check this out as soon as I could, on a night when I wasn’t doing something stupid like drinking two or three pitchers of Blue Point Toasted Lager.

Death in the Afternoon

Fortunately, I got my chance last night finally when I was meeting a friend there (like I’m going to drink all nine cocktails in one night!).

The first thing that really surprised me was the cost of the drinks. The most expensive drink on the menu was $10, and most were $7-$8. In this town that’s a steal! But still, I’d have to try them first. Just to note: I wasn’t sitting at the actual bar, but at a high top near it. I could see the bartenders making my drinks, but I did not notice brands being used.

Death in the Afternoon – $8 – absinthe, lemon, simple syrup, champagne. I’ve had these before and never been a huge fan, but this one hit me just right – the absinthe taste was prominent, and I’m not a fan of absinthe for the most part, but the combination worked out really well. It was served in a traditional champagne coupe (see right) and was exactly the drink I needed to start off the night.

Vieux Carre

Vieux Carre – $10 (only $10 drink on the menu) – rye, cognac, Dolin Rouge, green Chartreuse, Angostura, Peychauds, lemon. First off, I was glad to see Dolin listed! That’s my favorite vermouth. As you can see in the picture, it’s served over one large ice cube and felt like a substantial drink (I did not measure, so that’s why I said “felt like”). I sipped off the top first and wasn’t impressed but liked it more as I drank out of the straw. For me, personally, it could’ve used a bit more bitters in it, but I also know the environment they’re working in – a super-bitter drink probably ain’t gonna work in a sports bar. (Really, the fact that they’re doing this menu at all is amazing and exciting to me, and makes me even more excited about football season!)

Unfortunately, they were out of mint, so the?mint julep and the?Queen’s Park Swizzle weren’t available (the latter being my next choice). So let’s stick with Hemingway!

Hemingway Daiquiri and Pimm’s Cup No. 1

Hemingway Daiquiri – $8 – white rum, maraschino, grapefruit, lime, simple syrup. This came out well-balanced as well, with a solid taste of maraschino in the back end that I thought brought the whole thing together nicely. My companion didn’t agree, as she felt it tasted more alcohol-y, but I’ve grown an appreciation for the taste of maraschino recently. It’s very easy for maraschino to overwhelm a drink so someone newer to those flavors might be hesitant at the flavor but I think after a drink or two they would really enjoy it.

My friend got a Pimm’s Cup.

Pimm’s Cup No. 1 – $7 – Pimms, rosemary syrup, lemon, ginger beer, garden garnish. Yes, technically the “Pimm’s Cup No. 1″ is the name of the liqueur in the drink, as Pimm’s makes a few varieties (which you really can’t get any but #1 in the US). I’ve never had one with rosemary syrup in it and at first was hesitant, but I grew to like it – it gave it a dry herbaciousness (is that a word?) which I think would make it more easily drinkable in quantity on a hot summer day than a sweeter version may be, though it still had a sweetness to it.

…and with that, I switched back to Toasted Lager, because I didn’t really need more liquor.

Tomorrow (Friday, May 30th) at 7 PM in the back bar they’ll be releasing some barrel-aged cocktails: Basil Hayden Manhattans and Makers 46 Sazeracs. I’m going to try to swing by because I’d like to see how they come out, so say hi if you see me!

– ?SeanMike

So we’ll start with that:

The Express
2 oz Cruzan blackstrap
1/2 oz Flor de Ca?a 4 yr old
1/2 oz Wray & Nephew
3/4 oz orgeat
1/2 oz? lemon juice
1 oz lime juice
1 dash Bitter End Bitters Thai Bitters

Shake with ice, pour unstrained into a cored out pineapple.? Garnish with a bit of mint if you’d like.

From there it was time for my trip.? I was off to Portland, Oregon, for Drink.Write 2010, our CSOWG conference, coinciding with Portland Cocktail Week and the Great American Distillers Fest.? I’d never been to Portland before and I was very eager to experience it.

I’m going to put it in short: it was awesome.? Hanging out with Darcy O’Neil and Ryan Magarian at the Driftwood Lounge, which turned into a visit to the House Spirits distillery; seeing Jeffrey Morgenthaler in his native Clyde Common slinging drinks; hanging out with folks like John The Bastard, Stevi Deter, Rick Stutz, Matt Robold, and Gabriel Szaszko; meeting tons of new folks (too many people to list here), and in general, I had some of the best drinks, food, and fun I’ve had in a long, long time.

Who are those sexy people? HINT: ONE IS ME

(Picture stolen from the Mixoloseum Facebook page.)

All kinds of folks gave lectures – Erick Castro, the aforementioned Rumdood, Morgenthaler, Darcy, the ever-fabulous Camper English, Craig Hermann, and, of course, Blair “Trader Tiki” Reynolds.? I could go on and on and on about the in-jokes, the fun, how to make ingredients, but hey.? I did name one drink after Craig, and I have an idea for another one; once I dig them both up, I’ll post them on here.? Just to warn, the first one is named “The Grapefruit Fleshlight” (please don’t Google “fleshlight” from work) and the other one is similarly mature.

Unfortunately, I had to leave on Saturday to fly to Orlando, Florida, for work, where the best I can say (drinks wise) is that I explored almost the entire Scotch selection at the Doubletree Resort – though I did have dinner one night at a place called Hannibal’s, and the wine there was very tasty.? I was at the IACP show, then by Wednesday I could head back to my home just outside of Washington DC in Arlington, VA.

Saturday, of course, there was a ton of Halloween parties out and about.? I went to my co-blogger’s house and he had a a whole menu worked up with the Halloween theme.? Hopefully he’ll be posting those on here soon.? Sunday I spent a good bit of time wandering Clarendon with a friend before watching my beloved Steelers lose.

So now I’m back home, watching Monday Night Football.? I’ve got a brain full of ideas that I need to get articulated and out onto the blog.? Repeal Day is coming up on December 4th, and of course, your Scofflaws will be there along with an all-star cast such as Derek Brown, Gina Chersevani, Todd Thrasher, David Wondrich, Beachbum Berry, Jeffrey Morgenthaler (man, that guy gets around!), Dale DeGroff, and possibly, quite possibly, some other cocktail bloggers.

Maybe.

Me, right now, I’m finally feeling like I’m home for a while – and I’ve got entire WEEKS before I have to travel again.? I’m sipping a Tempranillo that I used to wash down my porterhouse and baked potato, thinking about having a cigar – I’m running low again finally, and realized I won’t be able to go to the Rocky Patel event tomorrow at Virginia Pipe & Tobacco in Seven Corners – and thinking about working with some of these new bitters to come up with some more drinks.

What have y’all been up to?? Have any good cocktails lately?

Feel free to chuckle or what have you.

Obviously, I was posting pretty hardcore up until Tales last year.? Then we hit Tales, then soon after that I was sent to Korea for a month, and then…well, it’s been busy.? However, I’ve been redoing a few things the past few weeks, one of which means cleaning and redoing a lot of my apartment (thanks to mom and dad a lot for that) and it’s made it much easier for me to cook and make drinks in my place.

Thus, right now, I’m sipping a freshly made mai tai while smoking a Rocky Patel Edge Lite on my balcony.? Why a mai tai?

I’m using the Mr. Boston recipe for it, not the original Trader Vic recipe: 1 ounce each light and gold rum (I used El Dorado 3 year old and Scarlet Ibis), 1/2 ounce orange curacao (Creole Shrubb), 1/2 ounce lime juice (fresh squeezed mojito lime from Wegman’s), and 1/2 ounce orgeat, shaken, topped with one ounce of dark rum (Coruba) and garnished with a maraschino cherry (Luxardo – mine didn’t go bad like Marshall’s did).? But it’s the orgeat that made the drink for me.

For Christmas I bought myself (and Marshall) a selection of Trader Tiki‘s syrups.? He’s even having a TDN using the syrups February 11th – be there, or be square, or something like that.? Oh shoot – I’ll be in San Francisco that week!

Trader Tiki, of course, is a friend of the Den and a member of the CSOWG, and so when I saw he was making the syrups, I had to get some.? Also, the only orgeats I’ve had were from Fee’s, and I really wanted to try someone else’s.? I had bought some almonds to make my own but hadn’t gotten around to doing it yet.

Well, tonight I decided I wanted a drink with orgeat in it.? A mai tai came to mind, and a mai tai I did make it.? It wouldn’t fit in a lot of the smaller, vintage cocktail glasses Marshall got me for Christmas but that’s okay.

It’s still quite delicious.

Other than that I haven’t done much non-beer home drinking.? I’ve gone out to the Passenger a few times – and Eventide a few times, PS7 once or twice.

Repeal Day was at the beginning of December and if I thought last year’s was good, this year’s was even better!? Jeffrey Morgenthaler was the MC for the event, we had drinks from all over DC – and bartenders from all over the country – making fabulous drinks, great food from PS7, I wish I’d written this earlier so I could remember more of it.? One of my favorites was a thick, scotch-based drink with oats and I can’t remember what all else, made by the kilt-wearing Dan Searing (and which went great with my cigar from Curtis Draper in the heated cigar tent).? All in all, it’s a night that you shouldn’t miss.

I was also happy to introduce people to stuff that I can get readily in the DC area lately.? I gave my buddy Dan a bottle of Chairman’s Reserve rum, which is a great, well-priced rum that just hit the market (and for the next few months, a portion of its proceeds will go to help Haiti).? My granddad got a bottle of Highland Park 15 year old Scotch which it sounds like he’s enjoying a lot, and I gave my parents a couple of nifty bottles.? That’s my favorite thing about this whole hobby, to be honest – introducing new people to all the stuff that’s out there (like getting my brother hooked on Dark & Stormy-s) that they might not have known about.

I’ve also got a bunch of samples I really need to work up write-ups about, so hopefully you’ll see some of that coming up.? That being said, let me make sure I caveat something just in case you didn’t realize, and also to help cover our butts with the FTC.

From time to time, marketing folks like to send people free samples.? For the most part, we accept almost any samples, though Marshall is a bit pickier than I (and I still feel really guilty about drunkenly making fun of one offered sample back to the marketing person involved – I mean, I just feel bad about that, that’s unprofessional, though “unprofessional” is not an uncommonly used adjective around me).

HOWEVER, a sample does not mean we will necessarily cover it unless we specifically agree to ahead of time and NEVER means we agree to give it a good review.? We will review it as we find it.? We will review stuff we buy on our as we find it.? We will talk about drinks and products from bars, people, etc., that we get, no matter how it’s gotten, truthfully.? The advantage of us accepting samples from marketing folks is that it gives us more of a chance to tell you, our readers about it, and also to use our own money to “fill in the gaps” as it were.

And sometimes it’s also a second chance to try something we might not have wagered the money on again.? I’ll use Bulleit bourbon for an example.? I’d only tried it straight, from a mini bottle, and wasn’t impressed with it.? Mike Manning hooked me up with a sample of it, and I experimented a bit more and found it rather useful in a number of cocktails thanks to its flavor profile.? It’s not a straight-drinking bourbon, it’s a mixing one, but it works well as long as you keep in mind that it’s also not a SWEET bourbon.? The folks representing Bulleit have been very nice and generous, but if someone asks me for a bourbon to drink on the rocks, I’ll be suggesting something else.? If someone asks me for a bourbon to use in a Suffering Bastard, though, or a bourbon that likes to act like a rye, then I’ll say Bulleit.

Okay, enough of that.? It’s making me thirsty for whiskey.? What time do the Saints play?? That sounds like a good time for some Sazeracs…

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, Clem?nt 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!

And yes, I realize that it is now June and spring and sprung and we are on the verge of summer.? Well, sue me.? But the good news is we now have the winners!!!

Before announcing the winning cocktails, a note about the grading process.? Each submission was graded on a ten point scale for the following categories:

-Does the cocktail have a spring theme?
-Is it a rye whiskey base?
-Taste
-Color/Presentation
-Uniqueness

Sean and I both tasted and judged the cocktails on the aforementioned scale.? This meant each cocktail could score a maximum of 100 points total.? When Sean judged the cocktails the only info he was given was the name of the cocktail and the recipe, he didn’t know who submitted what drink.? The combined scores determined the winners.

And now without further ado:

Third Place Prize – Recipe and photo featured here.

The Revivalist by Gabe Szaszko
2 oz Rye
.5 oz Tarragon-Bergamot Syrup*
.5 oz Amer Picon
.25 oz lemon juice
.25 oz Maraschino liqueur

Shake all and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.? Twist lemon peel over drink and garnish with a lemon peel

*Bring simple syrup (1:1) just to boil and remove from heat.? Add tarragon and bergamot leaves and leave to sit and cool in syrup for at least one hour.? Strain all into a sterilized container.

The Revivalist

Second Place Prize -? Same as third place and a 50ml bottle of ?Marshall?s Mountain Moonshine Bitters.?

The Capone Sour by Jeff Fulcher
1.5 oz Rye
1 oz grapefruit juice
1 oz brown sugar syrup
1 bar spoon orgeat
1 dash Angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters (I used Angostura Orange)

Shake all with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The Capone Sour

First Place Prize – Same as third place and a 100ml bottle of ?Marshall?s Mountain Moonshine Bitters? and a bottle of Templeton Rye.

Jetpack by Craig “Dr. Bamboo” Mrusek
1 oz Rye
1 oz Zubrowka Bison Grass vodka
.5 oz Schladerer Kirschwasser (I used Clear Creek)
.5 oz simple syrup
.5 oz lime juice
1 dash Fee’s Mint Bitters

Shake all with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The Jetpack

Congratulations to Craig, Jeff, and Gabe!!!

There you have it.? Mix up one or all of these drinks and let us know what you think in the comments.

Cheers!

It’s not that I haven’t had tiki drinks before.? At Trader Vic’s in Atlanta I’d had plenty of them, and occasionally at other random places or made by other people.? I never quite understood the tiki obsession that some bloggers have, but mostly, that was an excuse to make fun of them.

The big thing was, really, my perpetual lack of ice.? I lived in a house with a single ice cube tray – it was hard enough to have to make a few cocktails, much less drinks requiring lots of shaved ice or the such.

Also, while I have a variety of rums, I’m nowhere near as knowledgable about rums as I am about other spirits.? Couple that with a lack of tiki-focused recipe books (all of which I’d bought have gone to friends as presents) and, well, there we are.

So I was sitting at home in my new place and I realized something – I have plenty of ice now!? I have juices!? I have lots of rum!? I can make a tiki drink or two!

But…what to make?

There be the question.

I thumbed through a couple of books and saw one I wanted to try – but then I realized I didn’t have any passionfruit syrup.? Sigh.? I continued to look and saw one I hadn’t seen mentioned before but it sounded tasty so I pulled out the ingredients for the Doctor Funk #2, as listed in the Mr. Boston Official Bartender’s Guide.

Doctor Funk #2
1 1/2 ounce dark rum (La Favorite Vieux rhum agricole)
1/2 ounce falernum (Velvet Falernum)
1/2 ounce grenadine (homemade)
3/4 ounce lime juice
1 dash absinthe (Lucid)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Club soda (Fever Tree)
Shake first six ingredients with ice and strain into a hurricane glass.? Top with club soda and garnish with a lime wedge.

As you can see, I used a rhum agricole for the dark rum.? As I sipped on this drink I found that I absolutely loved it, for one thing, and for the other that I, well, I understood. There’s something about sipping a nice, tall tiki drink that was relaxing.

Also, for any type of fluids, I tend to drink a lot and want something around.? The Doctor Funk #2 gave me a nice tall drink that I could sip on and maybe it didn’t last as long as a beer (because it was goshdarn delicious, that’s why!) but it definitely lasted longer than a lot of cocktails do for me.

I wanted to try something else and since Marshall had made a mai tai the past weekend I decided I’d give that a shot.? I’m still a bit fuzzy about the differences between gold and dark and aged rums, so I just kind of guessed.

Yes, I stuck with the rhum agricoles.

Mai Tai
1 ounce light rum (I used Neisson Rhum Agricole Blanc)
1 ounce gold rum (Scarlet Ibis)
1/2 ounce orange curacao (Creole Shrubb)
1/2 ounce orgeat (Fee’s)
1/2 ounce lime juice
1 ounce dark rum (La Favorite Vieux rhum agricole)
Shake all but the dark rum and strain into a chilled old-fashioned glass.? Top with the dark rum.? Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

I’ve been lazy and haven’t gotten around to making a new batch of maraschino cherries, natch.

This one wasn’t as good as the one Marshall made but it wasn’t bad, especially as the ice melted a bit (I added ice to both drinks) and the flavors integrated a bit more – i.e. I swizzled the dark rum into the drink with a swizzle stick.

Still, what I need to get is more rhum agricole so I can make the “Ed Hamilton” version that uses all three types of rhum agricole.? And also maybe better orgeat.? I’m quite lazy about making that though.

Thus, my first foray into tiki drinks.? They were quite good.? In fact, I’m getting thirsty just thinking about them – I might have to make another Dr. Funk, but before I do I should go out and get some passionfruit syrup…

This past Friday my mood was no better and I was just watching the clock inch towards 6:00pm so I could go home, have dinner and attempt to relax.? Around 5:45pm, I received an email from Sean saying “Had a bad week, going to PS7.”? Well now, that sounded like an excellent idea!? So after braving a torrential downpour which soaked everything below the waist, I soon found myself at PS7 enjoying a drink.

The Bar at PS7

I know Sean and I have written about PS7 before, but it bears repeating that we love this place.? Chef Peter Smith consistently puts out some of the best food in the city.? Gina Chersevani has some of the most interesting and tastiest cocktails around.? The rest of the staff are great and I always feel welcome and comfortable.? Quite possibly, PS7 is my version of “Cheers.”

I had heard that there was a “Chef’s Burger” that wasn’t on the menu but available if you asked.? Of course, I was starving and about 2 cocktails in so I asked Gina about the chef’s burger.? She replied that there were two versions!? One was “bacon, egg, & cheese” that had gouda, a fried egg and pork belly.? The other was a reuben burger which was topped with pastrami, russian dressing and slaw (it may have been sauerkraut . . . )? Sean ordered the reuben and I ordered the bacon, egg & cheese and we split them.

Oh.? My.? God.? These burgers were decadent.? They also hit the spot perfectly.? Peter came by and asked what we thought.? He genuinely wants people to enjoy his food.? Again, this is an awesome place.

Anyway, a while later our friend Roy came downtown to have a few drinks with us and hang out.? He also ended up with a chef’s burger.? It was devoured in the blink of an eye.

Now, having had some great drinks and food my mood had improved considerably.? I was happy.? My concerns were a distant memory and I was enjoying the moment.? We started talking about cameras and photography and I showed my camera to Roy.? There were a few pictures on it, including my Kentucky Derby party and my flaming mai tai.

I showed the mai tai photo to Gina.? Her reaction was, “Why didn’t you make me a mai tai?? I want a mai tai!? Make me a flaming mai tai.”? She then invited me behind the stick to make her a mai tai!? My first time behind a professional bar.? <gasp> <swoon>

So, away I go!? Gina gratiously offers to be my bar-back.? Actually, it was probably to make sure I didn’t screw anything up or mess with her station.?

Gina and I

Carefully measuring . . .

Giving it a good shake!

The strain!

Lighting of the lime shell.

The Flaming Mai Tai!

Gina and I

Roy, Me, Sean

Here is the recipe for the Mai Tai as I made it:

1oz Cruzan Single Barrel
1oz Ron Zacappa 12yr Old
.5oz lime juice
.5oz orgeat syrup
.5oz curacao

-Shake and strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.
-Float a dark rum on top.? Goslings Black Seal or Cruzan Blackstrap would be preferred, we used Mt. Gay Extra Old at PS7.
-Invert the spent lime half and clean off the pulp.? Pour 151 proof rum in and light on fire.
-Enjoy.

As I said, the night was wonderful.? Everything was great and I even got to step on the other side of the bar for the first time.? There were a few more surprises Friday night, but I’m going to hold off on them until later in the week.

Cheers!

To see all the photos from Friday Night at PS7, click here!

Thanks to SeanMike for taking the photos!

Anyway, I wanted to use my spiced lemonade as a mixer and remembered that I haven’t shared the recipe yet.

Spiced Minted Lemonade
3/4 cup demerrara sugar
2oz cane syrup
peel of one lemon
peel of one lime
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
1/4 tsp cardamom seeds
6 sprigs of mint
1cup lemon/lime juice
6 cups water

1.? In a sauce pan, combine the sugar, syrup, lemon & lime peel, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and 2 cups of water.
2.? Stir over medium heat and bring to a simmer.? Simmer for 10 minutes.
3.? After the simmer, strain this mixture into a bowl and discard the solids.
4.? Put the mint sprigs in the hot syrup and infuse for about 5-6 minutes.
5.? Discard the wilted mint and allow the syrup to cool to room temp.
6.? Combine the juice from the lime you peeled with fresh lemon juice until you have a cup of juice.
7.? Combine your juice, syrup and remaining four cups of water.
8.? Refrigerate and enjoy!

The lemonade isn’t a bright yellow like one would expect lemonade to be.? It’s color comes from the demerrara sugar and the trade-off for the depth of flavor the sugar adds is fantastic.

As well as straight, I’ve been enjoying in the following libation.

Mexican Sun
2oz reposado tequila
.75oz orgeat
2 dashes peach bitters
spiced minted lemonade

-Shake the tequila, orgeat and bitters with ice.? Strain into an ice filled chimney glass and top with the lemonade.

Cheers!

One thing I always try to do – be it in the relative chaos of a TDN or just when sitting around, plotting a drink – is try my best to figure out where the initial idea for a cocktail came from, where the genesis of the taste, in my brain, was inspired.? This could be relatively simple – “Let’s sub this ingredient for this one”.? It could be a bit more cloudy, leading to me thumbing through Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails or The Joy of Mixology just to say “Ohhhhh, that’s where I’d heard of doing that before.”? More rarely, it’s something completely random, usually in an attempt to use an ingredient that I’m having issues with or because I like something that no one else does.

Both of those were shown in my last drink of TDN Chartreuse the other week when I came up with The Slimer.? Clearly, its name derives from the Ghostbusters character and I mostly only picked it out because of the color of the drink.? The idea, though, came from the desire to use two disparate ingredients, one of which was the theme of the TDN and the other an ingredient I haven’t cared for much so far but I think might have potential.

The Slimer
1.5 ounces green Chartreuse (it must be the green!)
1 ounce Zen green tea liqueur
.5 ounces orgeat
Shake and strain into a chilled glass, garnish with a flamed lime peel

Now, that was one of my weaker drinks of that night – in my not-so-humble opinion – but I didn’t think it was that bad. It is a bit sweet, and could easily be perhaps seen as one of those college bar shooter type drinks, but hey, whatever.? At the end of that TDN I enjoyed it and my tastebuds typically work pretty okay even while drinking.

My second drink of the night (and I’m not counting my mostly-joke of a drink, the Chartreuse Bomb, where I suggested dropping a shot of chartreuse into a hefeweizen) has a rather poor name, I think, mostly because – well, I can’t remember why I came up with the name for it.? However, it has a distinct evolutionary path.

The Initech Cocktail
2 ounces Dolin dry vermouth
1 ounce Anchor Junipero gin
1/2 ounce green Chartreuse
2 solid dashes Bitter Truth Orange Bitters
Stir, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The evolution of this drink came like this: when Dolin vermouth came back to DC just recently, a friend of mine (Jake) started drinking “reverse martinis” with it.? At some point, he told me he was basically just drinking Dolin with a float of Junipero.

Remembering that the original martini recipe included orange bitters, I first tried to recreate the float with an addition of chartreuse.? Unfortunately, I could not get the drink to float right, so I just made it a stirred, reverse martini style drink, and I thought it came out quite tasty.

Thus we have:? martini -> reverse martini -> Initech Cocktail via the ideas of multiple people.

My first drink of the night, however, is probably one of the two best received drinks I’ve ever come up with since I got into this whole cocktail thing.

The Chartreuse Blanc
1/2 ounce green Chartreuse
1 1/2 ounces Dolin blanc vermouth
2 dashes Regan’s #6 Orange Bitters
Stir and strain.

The evolution of this one, really, was based off a single ingredient tasting.? I knew that the theme of TDN was Chartreuse, obviously, and when I tasted Dolin for the very first time I was amazed at how it had some of the floral/herbal taste of Chartreuse in it.

I feel like the Dolin can eat the Chartreuse right up; I kept the proportion down to keep this as a lower proof drink (remember that Chartreuse is pretty strong!) but from what I’ve heard you can really crank it up.? I wouldn’t suggest that, though, if you’re using the Martini & Rossi bianco (which is just not as good, by any means).

But why did I get to all this?

Last night I was sitting at The Gibson, chatting with Derek and a visitor to DC named Rich at the bar.? We were talking about drinks in general, and how there are so many ingredients that you can always seem to come up with new combinations.? I mentioned how after I come up with a drink, I try to do some research to see if I can find similar ones that might’ve unwittingly inspired me, and if I know where the inspiration comes from, I do my best to credit all involved.

Our conversation drifted through a number of different topics in addition to that, including football (go Steelers!), work, travel, etc.? At one point, Derek decided to make a Manhattan variation for Rich that we tentatively called the Pittsburgh.? Simply put, it was a standard rye whiskey Manhattan with port instead of the sweet vermouth and also used a dash of whiskey barrel aged bitters from Fee’s, garnished with a cherry.

I sipped on one as well until my ride showed.? From The Gibson, my friend Mary and I headed down to the Verizon Center to visit Gina Chersevani at PS7.? I hadn’t been able to make it there since she moved from EatBar to there (having bailed last Friday to hang with my brother instead) and so we wanted some place that would be cool to check out.

First off, that is a GREAT place to do so, and the drinks that Gina is coming up with there are awesome!? There was a bit of a crowd when we got there but it emptied quickly and soon it was just a few of us – Gina and Lauren behind the bar, a few people who mostly knew each other at the bar, and chef Peter Smith coming in and out to try out things – when I mentioned to Gina about the Pittsburgh.

She took the opportunity to point out one of the drinks I’d already tried that evening: the “Across the Pond”, made with Bulleit bourbon, Six Grapes Port, and lemon.? Still, the drinks tasted nothing alike, in my recollection – and then I remembered the Sandeman’s sponsored TDN back in December.

The Portugese Manhattan
2 ounces rye or bourbon
1 ounce Sandeman’s Founder’s Reserve Port (ruby port)
2 dashes cherry or orange bitters
Stir, strain, garnish with either cherries or a twist of orange peel – or flamed orange peel, if you’re into that kind of thing.

That was at 10:52 PM EST on December 18th.? What am I, prescient?? No…it just seemed, to me, to be a fairly obvious substitution:

SeanMike -> I can’t believe we haven’t had something like the “Portugese Manhattan” – 2 ounces bourbon/rye, 1 oz Sandeman Founder’s Reserve port, 2 dashes orange or cherry bitters
rumdood -> SHUT UP SM
BonzoGal -> So logical
rumdood -> Damn you you bastard
DrinkPlanner -> no-brainer
SeanMike -> that’s why rumdood also thought of it

Now, I will admit – I wouldn’t have thought of this had it not been a Sandeman’s sponsored TDN, and probably wouldn’t have tried it if I hadn’t had an open bottle of such port.? Still, my memories of that drink are still at odds with the Pittsburgh and the Across the Pond – which also shows how three different drinks of nearly the same ingredients can be completely different due to the styles of the ingredients.

Cocktail recipes are interesting beasts.? Like in music, there are tons of combinations, but not all are harmonious.? It can be hard if not impossible to properly attribute all of the influences on any new cocktail and every trip to a good bar, every read of a new cocktail book (no matter how old), every discovery of a new ingredient and even every conversation with a fellow cocktail enthusiast can lead to new or only-thought-new cocktails.? Short of direct, clear plagiarizing – something that I, personally, haven’t seen a lot of in the community, as most cocktailians seem eager to give proper credit for recipes – inspirations are everywhere.

It can be an interesting challenge though: much like Matt Browner-Hamlin showed us in terms of the Adam Bernbach‘s “taste of a drink evolution” post, the actual inspirational heritage of a drink can be greatly illuminating.