Archive for the ‘flavored and fortified wines’ Category
Sunday, June 15th, 2008

Mixology Monday (hosted at Scofflaw’s Den) has suddenly sprung on me, bringing the theme of bourbon. I feel a bit inadequate about my effort this time round. Recently I have hardly been drinking bourbon. Mostly it has all been gin, with occasional detours to explore French aperitifs. This state of affairs is a bit odd now I come to think about it. When I first got into cocktails I drank plenty of bourbon drinks (mostly Manhattans and Old Fashioneds), with rum thrown in for variety. Things seem to have changed, and consequently I am low on creative ideas for bourbon. Mind you, when it comes to bourbon I sometimes wonder how creative you need to be. Isn’t an Old Fashioned about as good as it gets? Posting about the Old Fashioned seems redundant though, so I am going to throw together a new (to me) bourbon cocktail from Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. (more…)
Posted in Blogsphere events, bourbon, curacao, lime, Recipes, sweet (Italian) | 1 Comment »
Sunday, June 15th, 2008

To assist my anticipatory salivation ahead of Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown’s Tales of the Cocktail presentation on “The Cafes of Parisâ€, I have been taking a look at a few lesser known French aperitifs. Several weeks ago I took a look at Pineau des Charentes. Today I focus on a pair of fruit quinquinas.
(more…)
Posted in aromatic bitters, eggs, Exploring tastes, genever/geneva/jenever, gin, Lillet, lime, maraschino, Orange Colombo, pisco, quinquina, RinQuinQuin, sweet (Italian), Tastings and comparisons, vodka | 3 Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
I said I would follow up my recent Genever post with a post on Genever cocktails. Here are five recipes for traditional Genever cocktails. These are all drinks you could have ordered in an upscale bar in the Nineteenth Century United States. In other words, these are the drinks that got gin cocktails started. The recipes come from Jerry Thomas’ Bartender’s Guide. Darcy O’Neil from the Art of Drink kindly put the entire book online, accessible here.
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Posted in absinthe & pastis, aromatic bitters, Cointreau (triple sec), creme de framboise, curacao, Drambuie, genever/geneva/jenever, gum syrup (gomme syrup), lemon, maraschino, orgeat, Peychaud's Bitters, sweet (Italian) | 12 Comments »
Saturday, April 26th, 2008

Pineau Experiment No. 6 was perhaps the best of the bunch. . .
The next step was to try mixing some drinks of my own using Pineau des Charentes.
Pineau turned out to slightly awkward stuff to mix with, probably on account of it having such a mild taste. My natural inclination was try substituting pineau in recipes that traditionally call for other aperitif wines (i.e. following well worn patterns like Manhattans and Martinis). This approach did not work well.
While I did not come up with anything truly exceptional, several experiments yielded one or two promising results. (more…)
Posted in apricot brandy (dry - Barack Palinka), aromatic bitters, bourbon, Bunnyhugs originals, calvados, creme de framboise, Cynar, Exploring tastes, kummel, lemon, orange bitters, peach bitters, Peychaud's Bitters, pineapple, Pineau des Charentes, pisco, Recipes, rum, rye, Suze, whiskey/whisky | 3 Comments »
Thursday, April 17th, 2008

It looked better full. . .
Pineau des Charentes is an interesting aperitif from France that I have only recently tried. It seems to be relatively unknown outside of France. Pineau des Charentes is generally drunk straight rather than being used used in cocktails. However, since I am interested in aperitif wines as cocktail ingredients I picked a bottle up to try it out. (more…)
Posted in champagne, cognac and brandy, creme de framboise, Exploring tastes, French/agricole, gin, Grand Marnier, grenadine, lemon, pineapple, Pineau des Charentes, Recipes | 5 Comments »
Monday, March 31st, 2008
I picked up a big bag of passion fruit and did some experimenting with passion fruit juice cocktails. I started with some ‘classical’ recipes from the early 20th Century. I have not personally checked the origins of these drinks, but I am guessing the first three are from the 1920s pr 1930s.

(more…)
Posted in absinthe & pastis, aromatic bitters, blossom water, bourbon, calvados, cocktail bitters, Cointreau (triple sec), Exploring tastes, gin, grenadine, lemon, Lillet, passion fruit, quinquina, Recipes, whiskey/whisky | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Having made some quality grenadine, the next step is to find some drinks to try it in. Three drinks immediately come to mind, the Clover Club, the Pink Lady, and the El Presidente. The Clover Club and Pink Lady are simply grenadine sweetened and flavored gin sours, while the El Presidente is a complex rum, orange Curacao and vermouth affair that gets a gentle lift from a teaspoon of grenadine. (more…)
Posted in calvados, Cuban, curacao, dry (French), eau de vie, eggs, Exploring tastes, gin, grenadine, lemon, lime, Recipes, rum, vermouth | 4 Comments »
Friday, March 14th, 2008
I found this martini variation in an old Gary Regan book called New Classic Cocktails. I decided to give it a whirl since I had some thyme lying around after trying out Jamie Boudreau’s Old Man Thyme – recommended by the way.

This one is simplicity itself. (more…)
Posted in Chartreuse, dry (French), gin, herbs, Recipes, vermouth | No Comments »
Thursday, March 13th, 2008

So this time round, Mixology Monday (hosted at Kaiser Penguin) is about wickedly potent drinks – i.e. drinks you cannot safely drink more than one of. I didn’t have to think too long about what drink to write about. Since picking up a copy of Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, the Early Fogcutter has been a big favorite of mine, and one too rarely enjoyed. That being the case, Mixology Monday gave me a great excuse to mix one up.

Recipe follows: (more…)
Posted in Blogsphere events, Cocktails and Giggle Water, Cuban, gin, lemon, orange, orgeat, pisco, Recipes, rum, sherry | 13 Comments »
Thursday, February 28th, 2008

So today marks a leap year meaning we get that rarest of experiences – February the 29th. This may not seem hugely exciting. However, back in the 1920s, when Harry Craddock was mixing cocktails at the Savoy, leap year celebrations were quite the thing. Harry Craddock even created the Leap Year Cocktail to mark the 1928 celebrations at the Savoy. The Leap Year Cocktail isn’t a bad drink either, being sort of a lightweight cousin to the Burnt Fuselage. (more…)
Posted in China, cognac and brandy, dry (French), gin, Grand Marnier, lemon, Recipes, Shanghai, vermouth | 1 Comment »