Check out this beauty! B&Cs are UVA traditions.

The other night I was taking an UberX home from Marshall’s house after watching football, clutching my new bottle of Bulleit Bourbon in a 1.75 L container that his wife had very considerately picked up for me at Costco (with reimbursement, of course). I had a super awesome driver named Diana (or Diane, I apologize if she’s reading this and I get it wrong) who was jealous of it. Our conversation also made me realize I needed to update the blog.

(And also hope that she emails me at seanmike – at – scofflawsden.com sometime!)

The biggest thing I thought I’d post about was the punch I helped make for Marshall’s birthday. Just a note: it was partially inspired by a gift from Torani of some of their new “Sweet Heat Syrup”, made with ghost peppers.

Ya see, Marshall’s birthday was a big cookout, and his wife asked me to make punch. “Sure,” I thought, “that’ll be easy.” Then she said the numbers of people: 30-40.

Oof!

Now, you can go the fancy David Wondrich method and make oleosacchrum (I am sure I misspelled that) and what-have-you, but this was a mid-August out in the sun party for lots of folks, most of whom aren’t cocktail geeks. So I ended up with two inspirations: a bit of heat and mango.

I don’t own a juicer or even a big blender so I had to be careful about what I wanted to do. I then thought watermelon juice would also work. Since no one makes (that I could find) pre-juiced watermelon, I ended up taking a plastic container of cubed watermelon, smashing it repeatedly with a wooden spoon, then double straining it through mesh strainers to make a liter of watermelon juice. It took…a lot of work.

And mango juice on its own wasn’t so great. I ended up using “Simply Lemonade” but the version with mango in it.

Finally, I had originally planned on using gin in it, but a friend suggested the smokiness of mezcal would work better. I had some Sombra mezcal at home, but I needed more. Joe at Ace Beverage suggested the?Mezcales de Leyenda “El Peloton de La Muerte”, which at $30 a liter, wasn’t just a great deal but really damn good as well. I also discovered there that buying the 16 ounce bottle of Angostura, at about twice the cost and four times the size of the “normal” bottle of Angostura, is so much better of a deal.

At the party, we tweaked the recipe a bit, but it came out darn good (thanks to James Lindahl for the Meyer lemon juice suggestion).

Marshall’s Birthday Punch from SeanMike
Mix to taste:
Around 2 parts Simply Lemonade with Mango
Around 1 part watermelon juice
Around 1/2 part mezcal
Around 1/4 part Meyer lemon juice
Around 1/8 part each Torani Sweet Heat Syrup and Angostura bitters.
Depending on volume, stir or shake, serve over ice with a mint garnish.

UNRELATED CIGAR NOTE!

The next weekend I was at the GWAR-B-Q in Richmond, VA, for an amazing show. While there I picked up some of the Tatajue “CiGWARs” – a three pack for around $30 (IIRC, that was a long day of sunshine and beer). They’re not bad cigars at all, milder than I expected. I’d definitely pick some up if you see them (especially if you’re a GWAR fan).

FINALLY!

If you’ve heard me talk about depression in the past, here’s more of it, in case you care.

Anyways, now I need a cigar and something other than red wine. CHEERS!

– ?SeanMike

Well, that’s a whole lotta sodas!

I don’t remember when I stopped mixing with sodas for the most part, but by the time we started this here site I didn’t really do it a lot. That doesn’t mean others don’t – my brother, for instance, and my dad are big fans of it. I’ve also tried to cut back on most of my sodas with the whole “diabetes” thing I’ve gotta deal with.

The other night one of my friends I play Borderlands 2 with online asked about what to mix with his bottles of Bulleit and Eagle Rare. “Don’t mix the Bulleit!” I cried, but he pointed out that he wanted something he could drink for a while. I thought about it a bit and said, hey, this could make a post.

Let’s break them down a bit by types of soda, really.

Ginger Beer – man, I do love me some good ginger beer. Bourbon and ginger beer is a great combo, in my opinion. Obviously, the traditional however is rum and ginger beer (plus a bit of lime, and you’ve got yourself a stew a Dark and Stormy). With vodka, that’s a Moscow Mule, and if you’re a type of drinker who doesn’t dig on the taste of alcohol that might be the way to go – or use a lighter ginger beer/ale, like Q.

Cola – There are so many colas out there that this can be problematic. The Fentiman’s CherryTree cola is dying for some rye, in my opinion, but I don’t know if I’d mix their Curiousity Cola (I do like to give it to non-drinkers, as it’s quite delicious). Obviously, the “…and Coke” combo is a common one, and unless you’re still in college, I don’t want to hear about vodka and Pepsi. I would consider white whiskey and RC cola, but only if you eat a Moon Pie with it too (which I have done). Fernet and Coke is a popular South American combo.

Root Beer and Cream Soda – Spiced Rum. Or most kinds of rum.

Various specialty sodas – Now here’s where it gets fun. Vanilla bean soda? I’d do bourbon, or dark rum. Victorian lemonade? Bourbon for a riff off the “Lynchburg Lemonade”. Cola made with coffee? Spiced rum or maybe tequila or Mezcal.

Sprite or other lemon-lime sodas – Well, you can make SpriTequilas, but you better be good at your mixology game. Also try gin, Pimm’s and gin, or Calvados.

Soda water – Don’t make me punch you in the throat. Really. Asking me a question like that. Just add bitters to it, I GUESS.

What combos do you like? Comment to me on Facebook or on Twitter!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cheers!

Whenever someone has offered to send a sample of their product to us – or anyone else in the CSOWG, for that matter – I always say two things.? 1, “Thank you very much!”? 2, “Please send us a fifth (750 ml).”

Why a fifth?

Well, you see, let me give an example.? One thing you have to remember is that we’re COCKTAIL bloggers, for the most part, mixologists by hobby or trade, and we like to play with the spirit to see what we can do with it.? But even without that, the example might illuminate.

Recently we were sent a mini of Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon.? I’m not going to deny how much I liked the vodka version and I’ve bought a good bit of it.

Unfortunately for me, the night that I tried the mini they sent me I also got some kind of stomach bug.? I won’t give you the details of what happened a few minutes after drinking it but – uhhhh – yeah.

And that’s it.? I’m out of Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon.? Unless I pay for my own – and really, I have LITERS of the vodka version at home, so why should I? – that’s my chance to try it.

Now Firefly lucked out.? I found some samples at $1 a bottle, and I tried it.? Now I know how I feel about it (which is generally “meh”, right now, because I only bought a little).? If I had more, I could experiment with some drink making, but to be honest, I can’t be bothered to do so.? I have so many other things I need to work on…

Let’s use another example.? The other day I was out with my brother and a friend, and we ran into another friend at a local bar (Harry’s Tap Room).? He was there with his boss who insisted on buying us shots of Cuervo Reserve de la Familia.? These shots were $25 a PIECE.? No way we’d buy them on our own!

And they tasted like ass.

If I could find a nicer way to phrase it I would, but that’s what happened.? He asked the waiter for them chilled, so maybe it was the ice, but that was some of the worst tequila I’ve ever had – and for $25 a shot, I’m not going to risk it by ordering it again somewhere else.

One chance, one try, one fail.

Finally, sort of the opposite.

I love the Del Maguey Crema de Mezcal.? Ever since I first had it – having made fun of Marshall for buying it – it’s been a staple in my bar, especially post-cigar.? Then, the other night, I left the bottle out on the porch after my cigar.

Oops.

We’ve had a lot of really hot days out.? And it’s 80 proof – but 10% agave.? Would it be okay?

Let me put it this way – if it’s been a mini, it’d have been thrown out.

Knowing it’s something I like, I paid the $40+ for another bottle just so I could compare them.? I do sacrifices like this for you, our dear readers, because I love you so much.

And yeah, it’s okay.

So there’s a lesson here.? When we ask you for a full fifth of a drink, we’re not being greedy or drunk.? We just need room to experiment.? Booze gets drank in a number of different ways, sometimes spilled, sometimes straight, sometimes mixed.? We appreciate and thank everyone who gives us stuff to help us help YOU find what’s good out there – but honestly, give us some room to work!

Snowfall as of 9pm

Now I love snow.? And truthfully, I’m excited to be in my first blizzard warning.? Of course I want everyone to be safe and warm all that jazz, but this is just cool.? And obviously, this kind of weather calls for more warm beverages . . . preferably those of the alcoholic variety.? In my last post, I gave you the Celestial Warmer.

Non-Union
5.0 oz African Roobios Tea, hot
1.5 oz Mezcal, I used Ilegal Mezcal
0.5 oz agave syrup
1 very long strip of grapefruit peel

Pour syrup and mezcal into a glass or mug and stir to combine.? Brew the tea and pour into your container of choice, stirring to combine.? Cut a long strip of grapefruit peel over the glass and throw it in.? Enjoy.

Finally, I’ve had some folks ask me about how much snow we’ve had so far in DC.? I decided to take a little video and share it with everyone.? This video was taken on my balcony around 11pm Friday, Feb. 5 2010. The noise you hear in the video is the wind.

Tomorrow I’ll post another video that shows the overnight accumulation. And, of course, another warm drink!

Cheers!

Second off – Phil Greene alerted us to this post covering the cocktails from the DC bracket of the Domaine de Canton competition.? I know I’ve tried a couple of those – the Domainatrix by Rachel Sergi, now over at Againn, and the Thai’s the Limit by Gina Chersevani of PS7 (which also features your Scofflaws in the Washington Post video about it).? I want to say I’ve tried the Owen Thomson (of Bourbon) Jack O’ Ginger but I might just be confusing it with another drink.

So – now to drinking and reading.

When I moved into my current apartment my parents commented on how it seemed like all the boxes I brought in had one of two things in them – either books or liquor.? Well, duh, I thought – what are my hobbies?? Cocktails and reading!

Them's a lot of words!

As I settled down recently to reread a ten part alternative history by Harry Turtledove (the Timeline-191 series, if you must know, where the South won the War Between the States thanks to not losing Lee’s Special Order 191 to McClellan), I did it my usual way – most of the time outside, on my balcony, drinking a beer and smoking a cigar.

mmmm, beer and a cigar

As I read through the first book How Few Remain that was mostly fine, but then I got into the Great War series with American Front.? That series introduces what has to be my favorite character in the entire series, Quebecois farmer Lucien Galtier.? Unlike most of the characters in the book (slight spoilers here, I’m afraid) his life doesn’t entirely suck.? In fact, his often humorous sections really help out through the grimmer parts of the series.

It was also his sections quite a while ago that got me introduced to Calvados.? Calvados is an apple brandy produced in France, and while the character drank basically a moonshine variation of it – after all, he’s a farmer in Quebec, not in the Calvados region of France, and it’s so often wartime with occupation forces etc yadda yadda yadda – that I had finally managed to get a bottle a few years ago.

I still remember the first time I actually tried Calvados.? It was on a date at a place called Sonoma here in DC and I was so excited to see it on the menu that I spilled red wine on my shirt.? (Hey, that was like over 2 years ago!? I had no idea what I was getting myself into.)? I didn’t care for it much straight, and the bottle I had tended to only be used in cocktails for a number of years (that number being two).

As I started rereading the series, I thought, hey, I should drink appropriately for the books.? Cigars are fine, a lot of the characters smoke them though the US characters will remind you repeatedly that their cigars are bad compared to Confederate ones (the Confederacy, in these books, own Cuba as well as the prime tobacco growing parts of North America).

At first this started with sipping on Calvados while reading them, which helped with the Galtier parts to feel more “into it”.? Depending on night of the week and compunction, I started adding in other things.? Whiskey, for instance, is an easy choice for a lot of the characters, as well as beer – which I had before, naturally – and occasionally for the characters from Sonora and Chihuahua some mezcal, specifically, Del Maguey crema de mezcal.

Of course, you can’t keep up with the characters in the book, but on the other hand, keeping it close to what you’re reading helps a lot.? I feel an urge to read The Great Gatsby again, since I think it’d fun to drink appropriate cocktails to that – though it is kind of funny to try to figure out what to drink while reading my Warhammer 40K novels.

Right now?? Well, I’m reading The Space Wolves Omnibus and therefore drinking ale.? In fact, I started tonight with a Sam Smith Yorkshire Stingo.? Sure, I probably should drink something more viking, but they drink ale in the books, and I don’t have any Skullsplitter.? A lot of the characters drink amasec in 40K, and the description of that seems to be “brandy” as it’s distilled wine.? Hey, I’ve got plenty of brandy in my house…

What do you drink while reading?

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.]

I guess I can't deny it! It has my name on it!

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!