An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

Thanks to some kind of lame excuse that I couldn’t be bothered to remember, Kaiser Penguin had to relinquish control of Thursday Drink Night this week.? Laughing maniacally, I seized the opportunity to run it with an iron fist in an iron glove, only if by iron you mean “flabby white flesh”, but also to use the week to try the theme of “Irish whiskey”.

If I’m doing shots at a bar, it seems like they’re almost inevitably Jameson’s.? Part of that is that I hang out with my neighbor Conroy a lot and he loves him some Jameson’s (and Redbreast, which I introduced him to).? The other part is that as a shot, it’s a smooth whiskey to drink.? I could drink a ton more of those than I could of, say, Southern Comfort (a shot that almost put paid to your humble narrator last weekend in Pittsburgh when he was trying to get a SoCo shirt for a rather drunk guy in his party) or Jim Beam (which I haven’t been able to stand since I drank a handle of it on a bus ride from Charlottesville to Miami for a bowl game, but that’s a story for another day).

Conroy pointed out to me the other day, however, that there are very few cocktails seem to use the Irish whiskey.? Sure, you have some, a few of which are just variations on drinks using other whiskeys, but I wanted to see what the mixologists on TDN came up with.

We started with one from someone (Will) in my Wednesday night cocktail class, a drink he called the Irish Ambien.

Irish Ambien
1 oz. Irish whiskey
1 oz. vanilla vodka
1 oz. Bailey’s Irish cream
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass

First “real” drink of the night was from jimmyp – and it’ll be after the cut.

First off, before I forget: I’m hosting Thursday Drink Night tonight.? We’re starting at 7 PM EDT and the theme is “Irish Whiskey”.? Get out that Jameson’s, the Bushmill’s, Powers, Tullamore Dew, and come up with a drink – preferably with as little fruit juice as possible – for us to try out.

With the help of my neighbor Conroy we’ll be trying out the drinks and the best one of the evening will win a great prize!? You’ll get your choice of:? Gary Regan’s The Joy of Mixology, a book that I believe any true cocktail fan must own, A.J. Rathbun’s Good Spirits, which I got as a birthday present and enjoyed a good bit, or, since tomorrow is Halloween, I’m friends with the owners, and they’re making a video game of it, a copy of Twilight Creations’ ZOMBIES!!! board game.

Last night was our “Halloween” – actually more like “Molecular Mixology” – cocktail class at EatBar under the direction of the irascible Gina Chersevani.? Like the first class, I had a great time, and this time I didn’t fall and bust myself up afterwards.? It was also great meeting Kristen (again), along with Lisa, Will, Stephanie, Jamie, and others whose names I’m either not remembering or misremembering in all odds.

Speaking of that class and Irish whiskey tonight, Will gave me a drink that he makes with it:

Irish Ambien
1 oz. Irish whiskey
1 oz. vanilla vodka
1 oz. Bailey’s Irish Creme
Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.? If you wanted to experiment with a dash of maybe mint bitters or something like that, who am I to tell you not to do so?? Heck, if you had some chocolate bitters, or wanted to grate some chocolate or nutmeg or cinnamon on top, I’d bet that’d be money.

As for recovery period…

I’ve been extremely brain dead recently thanks to the events of last weekend – I, in my role of official brother and best man to my roommate and (uh) brother Matt – had to plan the Bachelor’s Party.? We went to Morgantown, WV, on Friday to visit our cousins and granddad, then up to Pittsburgh, PA, on Saturday to meet up with the rest of the group (eight of us, total) to hit the town and the Giants-Steelers game on Sunday.

Perhaps unfortunately, we watched a YouTube video about “My New Haircut” (caution: NSFW, language) before going out.? Which meant more than a few Jager bombs.

Saturday we killed a bottle of JD, there were multiple Bloody Marys made (from a mix, I didn’t want to bring the material prep), and no matter what anyone says, the combination of vodka, cranberry juice cocktail, and Red Bull is not a good idea.

I did have one good cocktail while in Pittsburgh, not counting the Shirley Temple I was sent during a froo-froo shot war (don’t ask, we sent back white wine spritzers).? At the bar in the Omni William Penn I had a martini, specifying the gin (Plymouth), heavy on dry vermouth, slightly dirty.

Perfectly made.? And it cost – after tip – around eight times as much as the beers we’d been drinking at the first bar of the night (and I’m not counting the $.26 ones we also had) and over twice as much as the huge IC Lights, Rolling Rocks, and Miller Lites they had at Heinz Field.

Also, I had rum out of a plastic “pocket“.? More on those later.? Maybe.

Also, Jim Beam shots after the game.? Not a good idea, either.

Anyways, I’m going to cut this off.? Hope to see y’all tonight at TDN!

Last Sunday, October 19th to be exact, I attended the fall pot-luck picnic with the kind and generous folks on DonRockwell.com at the Fort Hunt Park in Alexandria, Virginia.? This was the first event I’ve attended with these folks, though SeanMike has been to several events.? Prior to this picnic, he told me that at the last one, he was good-naturedly ribbed for not bringing any “Scofflaw-esque” beverages.? This was something he didn’t want to repeat at this picnic.? Naturally, I decided to take something “Scofflaw-esque” as well.

But what to take?? Taking various bottles of spirits, mixers, mixing tins, strainers, jiggers, etc. would be a hassle and too labor intensive.? So I decided to make a bottled cocktail.? For those of you looking for more information on bottling cocktails, I highly recommend reading this post.? But what cocktail to bottle?? I wanted something that said “HEY IT’s FALL AND KIND OF CHILLY.? DRINK ME BECAUSE I’M LIKE FALL.”? Okay, so maybe not so much with the yelling, but you get my gist.

I searched through my cocktail books and even tried out the Virginia Autumn that I made last year but nothing was really tickling my fancy.? I then came across Paul Clarke’s site and more specifically, this post on the Northern Spy.? Now this little number had promise.? So I whipped one up to give a try before committing to an entire bottles’ worth.? It was good.? But still wasn’t exactly what I wanted.? I was afraid that the dryness of the cocktail, and the inherent boozyness, would be off-putting to some people.? I wanted something that was a little sweeter, mainly because I wasn’t sure of my audience.? Usually, sweeter things are more appealing to the masses and I certainly wanted my drink to be a hit.

Paul mentions that the Orchard Apricot can be replaced with ginger liqueur, pimento dram or another flavor enhancer.? Well, I don’t have Orchard Apricot.? I know, I know!? I should have some, but every now and again, something slips through the cracks when I go booze shopping.? (Shhhhh . . . don’t tell Joe at Ace Beverage.? He’ll have me buying some within 15 minutes of reading this!)? Anyway, I do have the Orchard Pear, so I figure that’s a good place to start.? I also wanted to get some extra fall flavors into the drink, so I thought about a few dashes of Fee’s Whiskey Barrel Bitters.? But then again, Paul unknowingly guided my hand with his suggestion of using pimento dram.

So after a few tasty trials and errors, here is the recipe for my finished cocktail.? Which I have called,

Fort Hunt Fall
2oz Applejack
1oz Apple Cider*
.5oz lemon juice
.5oz Pear Brandy (I used Rothman & Winter Orchard Pear)
.5oz Pimento Dram
.5oz Apple Cider Syrup**

-Shake everything with ice and strain into an ice filled rocks glass.

*For those of you not in the US, by “apple cider,” I’m referring to fresh pressed apple juice.? Not the hard stuff.

**To make apple cider syrup:? Take one cup of apple cider and reduce by half on the stove.? Stir in a quarter cup of sugar.? Let cool and bottle.? You can play around with the sugar you add to get a sweetness you like.? The cider will have a lot of residual sugar already so you may not need too much.? This is a great syrup to add an intense apple flavor wherever you like.

I’m happy to report that this drink was very well received.? In fact, the bottle was empty when I went to gather my belongings.? Some even topped it off with champagne; which was very delicious as well.? I saw a few people (cough, cough Heather) go back for seconds.? I was just happy that those who tried it, seemed to enjoy it and that their introduction to my cocktails was a pleasant one.

Of course, in true Scofflaw fashion, I couldn’t just show up with one drink.? I also brought along a small bottle of Trader Tiki’s Primitiva which I had just bottled a couple of weeks prior.? If you want to make a tasty liqueur, this stuff is money!? The Trader knows his spirits and is second to none in concoctioneering.? Seriously.? Make this stuff.? It’s fantastic.? Anyway, back to the picnic.? I brought a small bottle of primitiva and was pouring about an ounce in a small, ice-filled plastic cup and topping it with champagne.? Fantastic!? Mixed together with a Fort Hunt Fall – fantastic.? Swigging straight from the bottle maniacally laughing at the poor poor people who couldn’t fathom the tasty treat they were missing out on – fantastic.? You catch my drift.

As we’ve already written about here and here the picnic was awesome.

Next up on my calender is the second cocktail class by Gina Chersevani at EatBar.? This is the Halloween themed class and I’m really excited about it.? Friday night, I have my Halloween party and am in the process of creating the cocktail menu for it.? I need two more cocktails for the menu and I’m hoping Gina gives me some good ideas.? I won’t give anything away until after the party, but expect to see plenty of pictures and the recipes for all the drinks from the menu later that weekend.

Hope everyone has a frightful (and safe) Halloween!? Cheers!

Phil Greene of the Museum of the American Cocktail sent around these recipes a bit ago and I made sure it was okay with him to post them.? They’re the recipes of the drinks we tried last Tuesday night at the Tabard Inn and the Great Drinks from Great Hotel Bars seminar.? We had all of them except the Bloody Mary.

I’m going to give some notes on the recipes as I post them.

The Rob Roy Cocktail
2 1/2 ounces blended Scotch whiskey
3/4 ounce Italian (sweet) vermouth
1-2 dashes Regan’s orange bitters
Build in a mixing glass with ice, stir, strain into a cocktail glass.

This is a drink that I’ve made a few times.? I’d suggest playing with the ratios depending on the Scotch and the vermouth; it’s VERY easy for the Scotch to overpower the vermouth.? I believed they used Famous Grouse Scotch at the Tabard Inn and Noilly Prat sweet vermouth; I would’ve used more vermouth, personally.

The Tabard Cocktail (by Chantal Tseng)
1 1/2 oz. Milagro Reposado tequila
1/2 oz. Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/2 oz. Drambuie
Dash of orange bitters
Stir, garnish with orange twist and a sprig of fresh thyme.

This was an absolutely delicious drink.? I’d suggest trying one at the Tabard Inn or making one yourself before really experimenting with it.? The Milagro Reposado tequila is one that I should buy for myself now, and I’ve been still meaning to get some sherry.? The Drambuie – well, that might be a topic for a post all on its own.

The Bloody Mary
2 oz vodka
4 oz tomato juice
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
4 dashes Tabasco sauce
Pinch of salt and pepper
1/4 oz of lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in mixing glass and roll back and forth to mix. Strain into an iced goblet. Garnish with wedge of lemon and lime on a side plate.

You’ll notice that this drink isn’t as spicy as many you see nowadays.? That’s not necessarily a bad thing.? Then again, I’m a big fan of hot sauce and horseradish in mine – even if the original was even weaker (spice-wise) than this!? (And even worse if you believe one claim that the original was half vodka, half tomato juice.? Ick.)

The Vieux Carre Cocktail
3/4 oz rye whiskey
3/4 oz Italian (sweet) vermouth
3/4 oz Cognac
1/8 oz Benedictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Build drink in rocks glass with ice, garnish with lemon peel.

They don’t say it here, and maybe it’s going against the drink, but I’d stir it, personally.? If you take out the Cognac, up the Benedictine, and add a bit of absinthe this becomes a Cocktail a la Louisiane (about) – I wonder if there’s any history between them.

Speaking of history in between drinks, we were given minis of Domaine de Canton and asked to add a splash of it to our Vieux Carre cocktails.? I had drank too much of mine already (you should tell us AHEAD of time that we’re going to do something like that) so it was overly ginger, but here’s the recipe for what they’re calling the Nouveau Carre Cocktail, thanks to Walter Bergeron, Derek Brown, and Phil Greene…

Oh.? It’s the same thing but with 3/4 of an ounce of Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur added.? Okay.

(Mental note to keep bugging Derek about samples of Domaine de Canton!)

Singapore Sling (original version, per Ted ?Dr. Cocktail? Haigh)
2 dashes of Orange Bitters
2 dashes of Angostura Bitters
The juice of half a lemon (1/2 oz)
One-eighth gill of Benedictine (1/2 oz)
One-eighth gill of Dry Cherry Brandy (1/2 oz, Cherry Heering)
One-half gill of Gin (2 oz)
Pour into a tumbler and fill up with cold soda water.

I’d suggest at least stirring, if not going ahead and shaking.? Come on, it’s Dr. Cocktail, shake that bad boy up!

A number of people drank theirs before the carbonated water was added to theirs.? They seemed to like ‘em that way fair enough.

The Side Car
1 1/2 oz Cognac
1 oz Cointreau
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
Shake well with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass, optional garnish of sugar crusted rim

Come on, sugar coat that rim!? It’s good!

Anyways, if you didn’t come to the seminar, you missed a good time.? Keep your eyes open for the next one!