SPLASH MIX COCKTAILS with TODD APPEL

APPLE CIDER and STEEL CUT OAT CREAM

2011-11-18T10:27:00.001-06:00

Steel Cut Oats

About one year ago I wrote about exploring Orgeat and Horchata. (Steel Cut Oat Orgeat)

This is a whole branch and style of drink or beverage based on grains or nuts. Horchata being made with rice in the Western Hemisphere or chufa in Spain (earth almonds, tigernuts) and Orgeat generally being made with Almonds in France.

Usually it is purchased pre-made in a syrup form, at your local latin grocer. Just add water and chill. It is a refreshingly sweet summer beverage with maybe a hint of cinnamon or orange flower water. But it is easily made at home from scratch. The almond orgeat is most frequently used in Tiki drinks in North America. The Mai Tai being the most identifiable cocktail using Almond Orgeat.

I experimented with some different grains and nuts last year and was very happy with most of the results. My favorites were the ones I made with Cashews or with Steel Cut Oats.

Oats have been used for years in Ireland, Scotland and England in beverages that led to it being the basis for many ales and whiskys.

Cider

This year I tried making the oatmeal orgeat ( I will call it oatmeal cream from now on, I like the sound of that better for some reason) with apple cider instead of just water. This adds some acid (tartness) to the cream, along with the great apple taste that just goes so well with oatmeal.

Here is the recipe along with recipes for using it in a cold drink and a hot drink. This can always be used by adding water and ice for a delicious non-alcoholic drink too!

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Irish Style Steel Cut Oats

5 Cups Apple Cider

2 Cups Sugar

4 Cinnamon Sticks or mixed pieces of Cassia Cinnamon bark ((Vietnamese Cinnamon)

TOOLS

Large deep sauce pan

Hand Held Immersion Blender

Fine Strainer

The idea here is to make the oatmeal like you would normally do it, only add a lot more liquid than you would if you were just making oatmeal for breakfast. This allows the oats to soften and lose much of their proteins which making a sticky and thick cream. Everyone knows how sticky and gooey oatmeal can be. But in this recipe we are straining out the oatmeal and keeping the cream.

STEP 1

Cider and Oats

Add oats and apple cider and bring to a simmer. Stir frequently. Add more cider or some water if it gets too thick. This process should take about one hour. Don't cook at too high a temp.

After about one hour take you immersion blender and blend up the oats and liquid. Again, add more liquid if needed. Simmer for 10 more minutes and then strain the liquid. Discard the oats, or use them in oatmeal cookies.

In a clean deep sauce pan (you can clean the one you just used) add the oatmeal cream and sugar and cinnamon to the pan and bring to a simmer again. Again, stir frequently. 10-15 minutes.

Allow to cool, covered. The cream will probably form a kind of skin on the top as the liquid evaporates and the proteins gel. This is why you cover it to keep moisture in. Just stir it to get rid of that.

Store covered in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

HOT BUTTERED RUM

Serves 4

8 oz Quality Aged Rum

16 oz Apple Cider Oatmeal Cream

4 Tblsp Unsalted Butter

In saucepan, heat Oatmeal cream to a simmer. If too thick (it happens) add a few ounces of water or more cider is even better. In coffee mug or hot drink mug add 1 tblsp of butter, 2 oz of rum and top with the oatmeal cream. Grate cinnamon on top or use cinnamon stick stirrer or just a spoon for stirring.

This drink will be fairly sweet so be prepared. It is supposed to be. A pinch of salt really helps balance that and bring out some flavors. You can also add a splash of lemon juice for acid, as well, if you desire.

This is silky smooth and satisfying.

RUM BREAKFAST COCKTAIL

1.5 oz Aged Rum

3 oz Apple-Oatmeal Cream

.5 oz Fresh Strained Lemon Juice

Add all ingredients to shaker tin filled with ice. Hard shake and strain over fresh iced rocks glass.

Try a dash Angostura Bitters on top.

This is really just a riff on a Mai Tai. The oatmeal cream instead of Almond orgeat. Lemon instead of Lime. and the rum speaks for itself.

JIGGER VS FREE POUR: TAKING THE TRAINING WHEELS OFF

2011-10-07T09:17:00.003-05:00

Recently I assisted a class given by Tobin Ellis at Bridget Albert's Advanced Academy here in Chicago. The class was not about "mixology" or spirits...it was about efficiency and service behind the bar.

I don't think there really is any debate on giving good service to ones customers, just a growing emphasis on the lack of it in the bar industry in general and especially the pretentious nature of many of the "craft" cocktail bars that have grown along with the cocktail renaissance.

But, the subject of free pouring and using a jigger behind the bar came up and this caused a ruckus. I have wanted to write on this subject for quite a while now, and this class gives me the perfect opportunity to weigh in on this subject, and agree with and support many of the the assertions made by Tobin, that jiggering is not as accurate as one would think, that jiggering at any speed is not as accurate as a trained free pour, and that it doesn't offer any special service, in fact it offers slower and even less service in busier bars. This also has the effect of lower bar rings, lower bar tabs, and less money being made by everyone.

I have been in many debates with colleagues over the use of jiggers at bars, especially at busy bars. After having worked in this industry in many varied venues for over 10 years here in Chicago, I can't think of any reason most bars...busy or not...would employ the use of jiggers to make the bulk of their cocktails and other drinks.

The standard argument for the use of jiggers comes in two forms: They are more accurate and consistent, and they offer a better show or service to the guest.

Let's look at the idea that they are more accurate and more consistent a little deeper.

On face value it seems to be obvious that a jigger would always be more accurate than free pouring, and it would be more accurate if it was up against a person that wasn't trained in free pouring. But let's look at the problems we will encounter in the real world of bartending. Cocktails that use all kinds of measures from 1/4 oz to 3 oz. Standard jiggers have 2 sides that can vary from 2oz/1oz, 1.5 oz/.75 oz, and many other combinations. Small graduated measuring cups are also often employed that allow a little more freedom than non graduated sides.

The accuracy problem with this is threefold. The first is that under stressed/busy conditions, mistakes are prone to happen searching for the correct jigger measure to use. The other is the temptation to start guessing, e.g when you only have a 1.5 oz side, only need an ounce, and just pour to where you think an ounce is. The other is when you do need 1.5 ounces and fill it to the top, making some spillage almost a certainty, or not filling it to the top, to avoid spillage, thus making the pour low. And, finally, the issue of grabbing the wrong jigger in the first place and not catching your mistake. If you have 5 jiggers, and they are only different by .25 or .5 oz, the closer ones start to look pretty much the same, and under stressed conditions mistakes, again are very likely. And, once one starts guessing at all, it makes the entire accuracy and consistency argument moot. In this case the pour is either under or over. losing money for the house if it is over, and cheating the customer if it is under, making the drink inconsistent, and, again, in all cases inaccurate.

To address the issue of these inevitable mistakes, the jiggering process must have a speed limit that can quickly be overwhelmed in busy bar situations or will not be able to keep up with the orders. That issue will be addressed.

The show and service part of jiggering a drink also doesn't stand up to scrutiny. A bartender can still take his/her time to stir a cocktail and free pour it. In fact, they have more time to attend to the customer and add the truly important steps to building a beautiful cocktail. It still is also a bit of an insult in many circles to jigger a drink for a customer as it looks like you are demonstrating the inhospitable step of measured pouring, ala the Berg System (Berg System Auto Pourer). The level of this indignation is debatable in many places, I grant you, but not the fact that it doesn't exist to a degree that should be taken in to consideration by any bar owner or bar staff member. Jiggering in a service well, when the bartender is not serving guests, does not make sense from a service stand point again, when the only thing that counts in the well is speed and accuracy of the cocktail.

From the free pour point of view, the first non-truth that jiggering is more accurate is clearly that, not true. Again, at first glance to the layman or untrained free pourer, it looks like a measured pour using a jigger would be laughably more accurate than the "non measured" and unregulated free pour. With a closer look, though, measuring 1.5 oz in a 1.5 oz side of a jigger does not always give you 1.5 oz. Why would that be? In part it is because the measure has to go to the top. This, as I stated earlier, is very difficult to carry to the mixing glass, and if done over the glass, has the effect of nearly forcing the bartender to over pour and spill pour into the glass (by flipping the jigger while still pouring), or under pour if they become aware of this. To get your pour to the top exactly, and on a non flat surface, is not easy at a slow pace, let alone a fast one. But, at any level of speed, free pouring by a trained bartender (it must be a trained professional bartender) is at worst on par with a jigger, but in most real life situations, far more accurate than the jigger. Not only is it more accurate, but it is multiple times faster in busy and chaotic situations, allowing for the bartender to tend to customers and transactions much faster while maintaining that accuracy, and have a more natural flow of service that can easily be accelerated when necessary. It is just so much more natural.

The speed of free pouring is very important to maintaining the bartender's natural level of concentration and not be a bottleneck that jiggering so often is.

Another question is trust in the free pouring bartender. That again is made moot by the fact that jiggering bartenders can be just as shady or incompetent as any free pouring bartender on giving away the house.

Of course the free pouring bartender must be trained, and tested from time to time. But isn't this what should be expected of a professional bartender in the first place? Especially in bars where they are looked at as craftsmen. But, unfortunately, the opposite is more often true.

One question keeps popping up to me about this whole issue. Where did this jiggering thing come from, anyway, when most bars were free pour trained 10 years ago? I believe it came from the influx of truly untrained bartenders from the back of the house i.e. cooks, chefs etc.. laymen owners of the new bars who have the same lack of training and knowledge, and the pre-prohibition/craft/mixology cocktail trend and new cocktails with laundry lists of ingredients. It is also an obvious control issue to those who do not understand free pouring or the business of running a busy bar. This is pure speculation, but it comes from a lot of experience in this business.

At the very least, as a fail safe, bartenders should be trained to free pour, even if they work at a jigger only bar. This will allow them to know the accuracy of their pour, even if they are pouring into a jigger...and then they do not ever have to guess what an ounce is in a 1.5 oz jigger.

Free pouring doesn't have to conjure visions of spring break bartenders, 4 deep bars making buttery nipples and jager bombs, it is for nearly any bar and any clientele. There are always exceptions and places where things may work or not. Every location is unique in taste, image, and environment and clientele. That goes for the Berg measured pour system as well. High volume and high bartender turnover would be one place I could think of immediately for that system. But the Berg is even not as fast as true free pouring. Blindly inflicting a jiggering system on your staff and clientele without weighing these details is not good business.

As for me, after free pouring for 10 years, I absolutely could not work in a bar that was jigger only. It would be like putting training wheels back on your 10 Speed, and would be complete frustration.

This really has been a subject in need of deeper investigation and debate, and I welcome all comments and rebuttals.

DOOR COUNTY SOUR CHERRIES 2011 : CHERRY BOUNCE

2011-09-06T16:28:00.001-05:00

RYE WHISKEY CHERRY BOUNCE

The beginning of August in Door County Wisconsin is sour cherry season. Time to snatch up the cherries while they last. But what does one do with all those cherries once you have picked them??

8 Gallon Cherry Harvest

I have a few suggestions that I recently explored after my 2011 cherry harvest: Cherry syrup, cocktail cherries, cherry butter...and cherry bounce. You can also freeze them for later use in cherry pies and cobblers or other recipes.

Let's first start with Cherry Bounce. There are many cherry bounce recipes that you can find online by googling. One tactic I use when looking for a recipe online that I have never tried, is to look at as many as I can and then filter out the nonsense or oddballs. This is like a quick statistical approach by using your own experience, knowledge, and common sense. You can find cherry bounce recipes that call for cheap whiskey or brandy or vodka. But then you have to ask yourself what it is you are trying to do.

Macerating Cherries

Cherry Bounce is something that one makes in August and is ready for the holidays. It is great as a gift and as a special drink for guests. So it is worth using a quality spirit. It doesn't have to be outrageously expensive, nor should it be. But it shouldn't be rotgut, either.

The next step is to ask what spirit you want to use and why. Vodka would be great for a neutral, all cherry flavored infusion. Use a higher proof Vodka, since it will have the addition of cherry juice and sugar. This really ends up being a nice, high proof sour cherry liqueur.

I consider American Whiskey (Bourbon or Rye) the best for infusions like these. They take the addition of fruit so well, and have characteristics akin to cognacs and brandies. Not that you couldn't use Canadian or Scotch whiskies, but the peaty or iodine tastes don't agree with my taste for fruit, nor does the bland nature of most Canadians appeal to me either.

Cherries brought to simmer

I used Templeton Rye Whiskey (Templeton) and Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac (Cognac Ferrand, Ambre) this year for 2 different versions.

The Rye generally has a drier, spicier flavor and aroma than bourbon, but bourbon is excellent in a Bounce. The brandy or Cognac is a Wisconsin favorite, and the fruity vanillas and almonds is a natural for cherries, especially Wisconsin cherries.

The flavors and tastes we will be deriving here are the Rye whiskey or Cognac and what they bring, the sour nature of the cherries, the distinctive sour cherry aromas and flavors, and the sweetness of some cane sugar.

4 cups of fresh unpitted sour cherries

2 cups of cane sugar

In a non reactive bowl add cherries and sugar and allow to macerate for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

After 30 minutes add this to a sauce pan and heat until just a simmer, always gently stirring or turning the cherries and the sugar has completely dissolved. Allow to cool.

In the jars!

Add this to 750 ml Templeton Rye or Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac, in a large non reactive jar of about 3 quarts or into 3 quart glass jars. Mason/Ball jars work great.

Put the jars in a cool, place, with no direct sunlight...A cellar or pantry would be ideal. Once a week do a turn of the jars to mix up the contents. This will be ready on Thanksgiving Day. Really it can be ready earlier, but that is a great way to remember and to have a goal for the holidays.

IL POSTINO

2011-06-28T12:50:00.000-05:00

I recently created this simple cocktail for the Cynar competition June 2011

Didnt win, but I really liked this drink. Great aperitivo for the summer. Refreshing, bitter, some acid, great finish.

1 part CYNAR
1 part BEEFEATER GIN
1 part Bitter Lemon Cordial

Stir chill Cynar, gin and cordial and strain into tall glass with 1 inch cubes.

garnish with lemon peel an cherry. Top with club soda. Long straw.

PRESERVED LIME JUICE CORDIAL AND THE GIMLET

2011-03-15T20:47:00.304-05:00

Finished Lime Cordial

Zested Limes ready to be juiced

PRESERVED LIME CORDIAL AND THE GIN GIMLET

I had a conversation/debate a few years ago about what a proper Gin Gimlet is and we focused on Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice/ Cordial vs. Fresh Lime Juice. While this seems like a modern version of the inane philosophical debate over how many angels could dance on the head of a pin, my interest was piqued as to the origins of the gimlet and what a Gimlet should be, and if there even was a definitive answer.

The changing climate of the cocktail world in the US over the last 10 years has created a bit of a mixing dilemma when it comes to the Gimlet. Whether to use the plastic bottle of Rose's Lime Juice made with food coloring, lime juice from concentrate, and high fructose corn syrup..the classic ingredient in a Gimlet...or real fresh lime juice and sugar.

While I love fresh lime, it just doesn't make a Gimlet for me. Familiarity is generally what we base our convictions on, and most people are familiar with Rose's. But it seems to go against our new convictions of using high quality, crafted or fresh ingredients in our food and cocktails.

There are huge differences between the two styles of ingredients. The taste of preserved lime juice cordial is distinctly different than fresh lime juice and has a similar taste to that of lime curd or lime marmalade (Rose's has made lime marmalade since 1865).

But how do we get that lime cordial flavor we want (or many of us anyway), without the high fructose corn syrup and the brown juice? We make it ourselves!

LIME CORDIAL AND GIMLET BACKGROUND

There is ample historical evidence for the case that Rose's style cordial was the ingredient of choice in Gimlets around the world, but there isn't really a definitive answer or "smoking gun" for the invention of the Gimlet or the first ingredients and ratios.

The origins of the Gimlet lie, rather, in the general time line of history from the use of lime juice in the Royal Navy as a preventative and cure for scurvy, the attempts to preserve lime juice for future use, the attempts to make it both palatable to the sailors (who were required to drink it) and to the general public and their growing tastes for non-alcoholic beverages and mixers in England in the later 19th century, and, finally, that gin was the spirit of choice among the officer class and aboard ship.

Citrus cordials and sodas ( lemon squash, bitter lemon soda, tonic water, etc..) became quite popular and were natural mixers with spirits during the 19th century.

Plymouth Navy Strength (114 proof) gin was the gin of the Royal Navy from the early 19th century onward, (Black Friars Distillery, Plymouth, 1793). It was produced at that strength for the Navy, not in small part, because if it was spilled on gun powder during battle, the powder would still flame, and the cannon could still be fired..(A real example of Dutch Courage at work!)... Gin would also be the choice at officers clubs and bases around the world.

But it really isn't cut and dried that a Gimlet would never be ordered with fresh lime. Gin yes, but what kind of lime? There is ample evidence to show that it was made with fresh lime as well as lime cordial, but that lime cordial was something that was always around and could be counted on when fresh limes weren't available.

For example, at an officers club in Bombay or Hong Kong the bartender might use gin, fresh lime and sugar, or preserved lime cordial, depending on availability, but both might be called a Gimlet. This would be a common occurrence in Royal Navy, Army, and government outposts around the world. In lieu of fresh mixers, a bottle of lime cordial could always be counted on and would be a common denominator in bars around the British Empire.

Royal Navy Lime Juice Bottle early 19th Century (British Military Bottles)

THE LIMEYS

Up until the late 18th century there was no real scientific data on anti-scorubics (anti scurvy). The scientific method of studies were not really used until we reach the early 19th century, so the use of citrus (lemons or limes) was sometimes used on just anecdotal evidence. Use of citrus, or other remedies, depended on the captain of the ship. There was no mandate or general consensus that citrus would ward off scurvy, and getting sailors to drink the usually noxious oxidized lime juice was also a difficult task.

But in 1747, British Dr. James Lind experimented with lemon juice on some of his men suffering from scurvy that pointed strongly to the use of citrus as a "medicine". It still took until 1795 for the British Navy to mandate the use of lemon juice on board naval ships and not until 1867 with the general Merchant Shipping Act was the use of citrus on all British commercial shipping mandated.

Lime or lemon juice was rarely, if ever, fresh aboard ship. Lime juice was preserved in several ways, most common being the addition of spirits and sugar as a preservative and to make it somewhat more palatable. It was usually stored in large bottles, not wooden casks.

Other methods were making a lime concentrate or syrup, called a rob, by cooking the juice at low heat in a double boiler and evaporating the excess water until it was oily at room temperature and thick when chilled. Lemons or limes were used.

By the 1840's, though, limes essentially replaced lemons (there was not much of a distinction back then) because of the influence of British lime growers in the Caribbean and the sporadic sources of lemons from the Mediterranean due to war or instability. Unknown, though, was that lemons were a far more effective anti-scorubic than limes.

PRESERVED LIME JUICE CORDIAL

This brings us up to commercially produced preserved lime juice cordial and Lachlan Rose and the likely origins of the modern dry gin gimlet. Rose worked on a method of preserving lime juice, without the use of spirits, for use in the military and merchant marine with an eye on the home market in England its the growing in taste for lemon and lime soft drinks, sodas, and mixers. It was also a product that could be used by the Royal Army or other government and commercial posts around the British Empire.

One of Rose's ideas was making his lime juice actually palatable and tasty, as well as preserved. For example, he discovered that juice, more often than not, was made from limes that had fallen onto the ground and begun to decompose, rather than ripe, freshly picked limes. (Birmingham Daily Post, 1870)

It was almost always the case that "regular" lime juice was musty and foul to begin with. Rose was one of the first to ensure that the limes his company juiced would be picked from the trees. Something we think would be obvious today, but had to be directed at that time.

The method of preservation that he patented used a version of sulfites. He patented the use of sulfurous gas and acid to treat the lime juice. Rose's still contains metabisulfate and sulfites are used today as a preservative in much of the worlds wine.

Rose also looked to the large potential commercial market for selling his lime juice on an even larger scale and was very successful marketing his flagship product, using distinctive bottling to capture the consumers eye and business. Slews of competitors popped up, copying even Rose's distinctive bottle shape and style.

Rose's Lime bottle found in Boer War dump (Antique Bottles)

THE GIMLET

The popularity of this style of lime cordial around the British Empire was certain. But can we say that this the classic ingredient in a gin gimlet?

I think we can surely say it was, but we have to be careful to not be dogmatic about things such as cocktail recipes, or we take the fun and truth out of them. Exceptions always exist and people mold recipes to their own tastes over time.

The first recorded recipe for the gimlet, according to Dave Wondrich, was in Harry MacElhone's ABCs of Mixing Cocktails from the early 1920's. Gary Regan throws his hat in the ring voting for Rose's as "the ingredient that defines the drink.." The Savoy Cocktail Book lists Rose's in it's Gimlet, but not in its Gimblet. However, Embury writes in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks that a Gimlet has fresh lime juice and often it was made in the US with fresh lime. Rose's began exporting to the US in 1901

There are also many other issues at hand when discussing cocktail history. Ratios, ice, technique, tools, glassware, and other issues can make two completely different cocktails with the same ingredients. Again these are things that almost always make definitive answers to what a cocktail is or was nearly impossible and is why I generally leave that dogma at the door and make room for legitimate variations on the same theme.

In the end, drinks should be made to your own personal tastes. In the case of the Gimlet, I prefer much more gin to lime. I enjoy the taste of good gin, and want the gin to stand out and the lime to simply enhance it.

The gin is like the nucleus and the cordial like an electron.....

Now my rationale and recipe for Preserved Lime Cordial.

Lime zest, limes, zested limes

I tried some experimenting but wanted to stay as simple as I could. I wanted it to be real and impart the lime flavor I was looking for. I studied a few old 19th century recipes for cordials and syrups in England. I looked at making a "rob", the cooked citrus juice used on board some Royal Navy ships.

I settled quickly on the simple combination of fresh, strained lime juice and white cane sugar. I tried citric acid and tartaric acid as a preservative, but found that it was unnecessary.

The sugar, acid, low water content, and heating to 212 degrees, makes for a very stable product. It also tasted exactly the way I wanted it to taste.

Zested Limes

Lime Zest steeping

Zest all of the limes that will be juiced. Add the strained juice and sugar to a deep pan and then bring to a boil slowly. The lime juice becomes naturally opaque with the sugar during the cooking process.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Then add the lime zest and steep like tea for about 15 minutes. Strain and cool further. Done.

This cordial will be thick like a rich simple syrup. This has several advantages over fresh lime juice in the Gimlet. One is the water content is extremely low and the flavor is very concentrated. You don't need to use much to impart a lot of flavor and you won't water down your cocktail. The only water is the melt from the ice. The texture is perfect. The balance is perfect and the gin really stands out.

This lime cordial is not meant to ever replace fresh lime in any cocktail that requires it...I love fresh lime, but in certain cocktails, like the Gimlet, adding fresh lime and simple syrup creates a huge balance and texture issue. Not that it is bad, but it is very different. You can get all the flavor you need out of a 4-1 gin to cordial ratio.

To do that with fresh lime is tricky at best. Using sugar has mixing issues. Using simple syrup has liquid ratio issues that would most likely bring the gin to mixer ratio quickly to 2-1 by only using .5 oz lime and .5.oz simple. If you use 1-1 simple syrup, you really are again cheating your cocktail because water is taking the place of the sugar that should be in your drink. The sugar is incorporated directly into the lime juice..ala a homemade sour...only different.

See my rationale for using rich simple syrup over 1-1 (Rationale of Sugar Syrup in Cocktails)

One could make an uncooked lime sour, with just lime and sugar, but then it must be stirred and mixed at room temp to make sure the sugar has dissolved, but it quickly begins to lose it's fresh lime advantage after this much manipulation.


Lime Cordial coming to boil

APPEL'S LIME CORDIAL

1 Part Fresh Strained Lime Juice

1 Parts White Cane Sugar

Zest from Limes

I have updated this recipe to reflect some discussion with Toby Cecchini over the infusion of the zest, and cooking versus not cooking. I do heat the syrup, but allow the syrup to come to room temp before adding the zest. I think this brings a blend of preserved and fresh that really worked. I also lowered the sugar to lime ratio. Heating the syrup creates some evaporation of water that I want to get so as to create a concentrated lime syrup.

Bring juice and sugar just to a boil slowly. As soon as it is about to boil, remove from heat. Allow it to rest and come to room temperature minutes and add zest. Allow to steep for 15 minutes and strain. Allow to cool and store in refrigerator. It lasts for months and never discolors like Rose's does. I have never had it go bad. If you like it more tart, add less sugar or vice versa.

DRY GIN GIMLET

2 oz Plymouth Navy Strength Gin

.5 oz Homemade Lime Cordial

All ingredients to shaker filled with ice.

Hard shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Lime Wheel garnish

I often drink this cocktail on the rocks. I build my Gimlet in a rocks glass filled with ice.* I pour contents into shaker and shake very hard. Return all contents back to rocks glass. It has a little bit of a Daiquiri thing going on as the ice becomes cracked and in shards and pieces. Frozen humidity immediately forms on the outside of the glass.

I also do it in this same manner or just build in the shaker, hard shake, and then strain over fresh large cube style ice for slow melt in my glass or just up, old school.

*I do not use Kold Draft style large cube ice for shaking any cocktails, the total surface area of the ice is improper for super chilling fast and the cubes are too big for the shaker.

Cà phê sữa đá...Large Batch Vietnamese Iced Coffee made easy

2011-03-07T13:59:00.007-06:00

Individual Stainless Brew Filter and glass

There are some food and drink styles I have been passionate about over the years...or addicted to...depending on point of view...and one is when I drink coffee I like a very strong brewed coffee, espresso strength and roast. Either full strength with sugar or with a little hot water, Americano style, or my favorite; cà phê sữa đá...Vietnamese style iced coffee.

When I discovered this way of drinking coffee, I realized I just couldn't do the American style giant mega coffee ever again...like the giant swimming pool martini and the other monsters of our super sized world, it feels like consumption to excess.

As a fan of "bigger isnt always better" and the "good things come in small packages" philosophies I have used this to try to pack a lot of flavor, simplicity and complexity in my drinks and cocktails ..

I want to enjoy and play with those flavors for the short lifespan of this coffee...the perfect temperature throughout the experience and eschewing the oral fixation and security blanket of that giant coffee "thing" that lasts all day and is carried with you everywhere throughout your day...

There is actually a lifespan to this coffee monster...the "Venti" is born..starting out too hot to sip...moving to the optimum temperature for a while (the pinnacle of this creature's life)...but the giant's springtime goes straight to autumn as it fades into the stages of warm, luke warm and finally cold....the corpse of this dead Behemoth being dragged around the office or embalmed in a car cup holder. Often there are attempts to revive it with mouth to mouth or even the shock treatment in the microwave...But no attempt to call forth a Zombie Venti Latte ever meets true success. A burned tongue on stale burned coffee needs no reminder.

My disdain for the giant American brew began on my travels to Brazil and cooking parties with good Vietnamese friends in Minnesota. Cafezinho, in Brazil, is a small, very sweet espresso that is everywhere from office buildings and banks in airpots, to little cafes and bars. This style is sipped all over the Caribbean and South America.

But my visits to Vietnamese restaurants when I was younger led me to ca phe sua da (basically, this means "iced coffee with sweet condensed milk") which is traditionally brewed table side into a glass tall glass with ice and sweet condensed milk at the bottom, or into a glass with no ice and then mixed and poured over ice.

An individual coffee press full of dark french roast with hot water is brought to table. Brewed and mixed and iced and done.

3 Pieces of Brew Cup

Coffee ready to be tamped

The style coffee that is very traditional here with the Vietnamese community in the US is Cafe Du Monde of New Orleans fame. A blend of drip grind coffee and chicory that is dark French roasted. It really is the perfect coffee for this drink. There are other coffees from Vietnam, most popular of which is Trung Nguyen. It actually has cocoa already in the ground coffee. But I find it a little sweeter than I want and the balance of bitter to sweet that I get from Cafe Du Monde isn't there.


Milk, coffee, cassia, cocoa nibs

This style has notes of burnt chocolate, cinnamon, dark coffee, the silky smooth texture that isn't watered down. There is a rich, complex flavor and the balance of bitter and creamy and sweet that calls for sipping, not gulping.

I would crave one of these on a hot summer morning, but doing the whole brewing thing each time I wanted one was just not going to happen, so I thought "why not make a huge batch already mixed and keep it in the fridge?"

That was that.

Anyone can do it with no special tools or equipment.

Here is the large batch version of ca phe sua da:

I use a regular crappy 10 cup drip coffee maker which goes to 11 if you push it.

I do two brewings to get two about 1.6 litres. In my 10 cup i do one full brew, and one half) This is the perfect amount for exactly one whole can of sweetened condensed milk in an ARC Quadro 2 Litre Carafe and brewed Cafe du Monde.

I fill the filter as full as possible and then dust some cassia cinnamon and cocoa nibs on the grounds. The cinnamon and cocoa are optional.

Filled filter with cinnamon and cocoa

I brew the first batch and add to the carafe.

Carafe with first brew (hot)

I then add the whole can of sweetened condensed milk to the hot coffee and mix.

Mixed first brew

Then add the next brew to top off the carafe.

Full batch of ca phe sua da

This is delicious hot too. If you dont want to sip on any of it hot, then allow the container to come to room temperature and then refrigerate.

To serve pour over ice in small glass.


Ca Phe Sua Da on ice

This can easily be made into an iced coffee cocktail by adding any of the following or use your creativity dark rum, Kahlua or coffee liqueur, chocolate liqueur, hazelnut, mint etc...

Can also be made into a frozen blender drink..ala the "Frappuccino"

COCKTAIL COMPLEXITY THROUGH SIMPLICITY

2011-01-13T14:19:00.004-06:00

Over the many years I have been behind the bar and designing cocktails, and drinking cocktails....My philosophy has followed the path to a sort of minimalism in cocktails.

This doesn't mean there is not a place for many different styles or types of cocktails that may not follow this...Tiki, dessert, frozen, long drinks, some hot drinks, festive drinks and most punches or other tropical drinks...

I am just trying to emphasize a style that I think really needs to coalesce and be thought of when one creates a drink or makes one for a customer.

By saying minimalism, I do not in any way mean simple or minimal in taste. Playing with the taste profiles, textures and aromas of, say, 3 different ingredients can create a masterfully complex and delicious cocktail. A cocktail that celebrates the base or main spirit. Dances around it and pays homage to it, rather than overwhelm it or cover it up.

A Manhattan cocktail is a beautiful example of this philosophy. Base spirit, say Rye, secondary spirit, say Italian vermouth, a 3rd bittering agent, being bitters and a simple useful garnish, say a cherry or lemon peel.

These simple ingredients can be made into a wonderful cocktail or destroyed depending simply on technique, quantities, spirits, glassware, or ice.

There has really been such an influx new bartenders and "mixologists" that the whole movement has taken a few ugly twists and turns and has experienced the typical pains of something growing too fast for the creators and the consumers to keep up. The culinary world has experienced this and still is experiencing much of this nonsense.

There has also been the forced search for somebody, anybody, who can be the "startender", darling of the media and among the top echelons of the new bar movement. Reminiscent of High School cliques with an emphasis on flash, buzz words, fad ingredients, fad styles and the cult of personality, rather than on substance.This has attracted too many who focus on being a star and not on polishing their craft. Trying to "one up" each other than make a good cocktail.

The first questions I ask myself are "would I drink this cocktail I just made?" and "is this drink balanced and what I had envisioned it to do?" Even if it isn't my style or I wouldn't tend to order many of them...I often wonder if many drinks are even tasted before being included on a menu or offered up for competition. I can't tell you how often I have tasted a drink and asked myself the question "Have you tasted your own drink?" and "do YOU like this drink?"

We all have unique palates. If someone likes something I find it hard to argue with them. The only thing you can do is ask people to try new things and expand the things they like...That is how we all grow and mature and everyone is capable of it. A mature palate shouldn't be used as a source of superiority, but an opportunity to teach and share by example. And we all live in glass houses. The "mixologist" who rants against vodka or light rum is often the bartender who asks for a Miller High life when off the clock.

While I don't think personal or divisive attacks are useful, I do think real criticism and debate are important for all levels and expressions.

The fast growth in the cocktail and spirit world has created an alarming amount of bad drinks, group think and smarmy bartenders. The inevitable backlash is brewing.

Menus around the country offer a litany of cocktails with 5 or more ingredients where balance has been forgotten, along with the base spirit if you can tell what that is. Even if the base spirit is, say 2 oz, if you have 4 other ingredients, at a mere .5 oz, you now have overwhelmed that base spirit. If you increase the quantity of base spirit, you risk creating too large a drink, or diminishing each remaining ingredient to a splash or eyedropper.

The other issue here is forcing 5 ingredients to join in harmony in one glass. Not that it can't be done, but real care has to be used in thinking how, say, Rhum Agricole, Yuzu, Root Beer-Chocolate-Chipotle-Mole Bitters, spanked Sage and a float of Mezcal really work together. Or is it just a flavor wheel gone mad.

Personal minimalism can have roots in just purely enjoying a base spirit neat or on the rocks. Add a lemon peel and you now have 2 ingredients in a simple cocktail. Just adding another dimension to your spirit. Simply adding ice changes your spirit and is a first step toward making a spirit forward simple cocktail.

Let's take "GIN" and go a bit further.

You have a taste for gin. You add some ice to your gin. You may stir it which adds another dimension via technique. You want just a little more to enhance your gin. You add a splash of vermouth or Lillet and a lemon peel. You still have your gin, but just enhanced by the two added ingredients.

You can make a beautiful Margarita with an emphasis on the tequila balanced with Cointreau or Grand Marnier and a splash of lime...all working together to be a refreshing cocktail, not an over soured acid bomb.

You can make a Sidecar in the same manner that emphasizes the cognac with Cointreau or Grand Marnier and a touch of acid in the lemon for balance....or make the usual mess that amounts to a cognac sour lemonade up...they both have the same ingredients, but are vastly different drinks.

You can take another glass of gin, rocks, splash of fresh OJ or fresh Clementine or Tangerine and maybe a splash of Aperol. It is all about the gin, but then you get the hint of sweet fresh orange and a bit of the orange bitter...far from overwhelming, this is now refreshing and simple and a complex cocktail that is in harmony with the botanicals of the gin.

I really enjoy drinking and creating spirit forward cocktails that emphasize the base spirit that goes back to the roots of the original cocktail, modified spirit or "bittered sling" from a philosophical standpoint. Spirit, a little sugar and bitters.

HOMEMADE ROMPOPE WITH BARREL AGED TEQUILA and PAPA NÖEL

2010-12-11T13:50:00.004-06:00

Rompope is a classic sweet egg based liqueur from Mexico with roots from Spain. There are many similar egg based liqueur style drinks around the world. Advocaat in Netherlands, Coquito in Puerto Rico, Egg Nog in England and the US...They are usually based on Rums or Brandy's, but many other aged spirits can be used such as bourbon or even aged tequila...Rompope is usually made with rum. But I love the way the natural aged agave spirit of Mexico mixes in this recipe.

Rompope is very similar in recipe and method to pastry cream. Only the egg yolks are used and it is cooked so the eggs are not raw. This can then be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for later use.

1 quart whole milk
2 cups white cane sugar(or to taste)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cinnamon sticks
1 Cup Homemade Almond Orgeat (Cashew Orgeat Recipe...Substitute Almonds)
12 egg yolks
3-4 cups (your taste) quality Añejo or Reposado Tequila ( Don Julio, Tres Generaciones, Partida, Olmeca Altos)

Add milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and orgeat to large sauce pan.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, add egg yolks. With a ladle, add hot milk to egg yolks a little at a time while whisking it in. This will keep the eggs from curdling with the hot milk...once it is all incorporated, pour this mixture back into the sauce pan and simmer slowly while stirring. The mixture will thicken. When it coats a spoon, it is done...should be about 10-15 minutes.

Pour into bowl or other container and allow to cool. Add Tequila. You can place this into bottles or other container and store in the refrigerator. It will be a nice creamy yellow color.

This can be made ahead for holiday parties and will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

This can be served over ice or shaken and served up with fresh grated cinnamon or served over ice cream, cake, or shaved ice.

Papa Nöel

STEEL CUT OATMEAL HORCHATA/ORGEAT AND HOT APPLE AND OATMEAL BUTTERED RUM

2010-11-29T18:29:00.002-06:00

Steel Cut Oats

OATMEAL ORGEAT/HORCHATA

After working on homemade almond orgeat and understanding the basis and history of it, I decided to try some other versions. Originally a grain based beverage using barley, Orgeat, or Horchata, it is made with rice in Latin America, Chufa in Spain, and widely known using Almonds for the important "secret" ingredient in a classic Mai Tai.

I figured I would try some other grains and nuts and see how they worked in an Orgeat. The Orgeats that I liked the most were made from cashew (CASHEW ORGEAT)and steel cut oats. The steel cut oats being somewhat of an epiphany. The yummy creaminess of oatmeal or oatmeal cookies that goes perfectly with cinnamon and apples is the perfect ingredient to many winter drinks and is my new favorite ingredient in Hot Buttered Rum. (APPLE BUTTER/HOT BUTTERED RUM)

The recipe is very simple and worth the small effort. Like making homemade oatmeal, but saving the creamy oatmeal syrup, and throwing away the actual oatmeal. The essence and flavor is saved, however!

STEEL CUT OAT ORGEAT/HORCHATA

1.5 Cups Steel Cut Oats

32-48 oz Water

2 Cups Sugar

3 Cinnamon Sticks

Cooking oats and water

In large saucepan add oats and 32 oz of water. Bring to simmer and cook for about 45 minutes. Add more water if necessary (the oats soak up a lot of water and this gets very thick). It will get very thick and needs to have enough liquid to strain and so as not to stick to saucepan. Stir frequently. This is exactly like making homemade oatmeal, but with extra water. When it is done, very creamy, take an immersion blender and blend mixture. Again, add more water if necessary. Allow to be cool enough to handle and strain the oatmeal from the oatmeal cream. Consistency should be like a heavy gravy.

Hand Blender mixing

Add this cream to clean saucepan and add sugar and cinnamon sticks. Again, add more water if necessary. Simmer on very low until sugar is dissolved and cinnamon is infused into the orgeat. about 20-30 more minutes should do.

Strained syrup with sugar and cinnamon

Allow to cool and strain out the cinnamon sticks. Store in refrigerator. It will get very gooey thick in the refrigerator.

This can be used in cocktails in place of almond orgeat for those with nut allergies. It can be used mixed with water and shaken for a delicious and refreshing non-alcoholic long drink in the summer. My favorite way to use it this winter is in an apple butter, hot buttered rum. It makes the hot buttered rum so satisfying and very rich and creamy. Just what you want when coming in from the cold!!

Cooking apple butter, oat orgeat, butter, water...and more cinnamon

HOT APPLE and OATMEAL BUTTERED RUM

1/2 Cup of Unsalted Butter (1 Stick)
3/4 Cup Apple butter (apple butter recipe)
1 Cup Oatmeal Orgeat

2-3 Cinnamon Sticks

3 Cups Water
Pinch of Salt

5-8 servings

Add all ingredients to sauce pan. Bring to a simmer. Stir frequently.

In hot drink mug or coffee mug (8-10 oz) add 2 oz of aged rum. Top with hot butter, apple and oat mixture. The butter will stay at the top so serve with a ladle, stir mixture first with ladle so as to mix the butter in evenly.

Serve

APPLE BUTTER AND HOT BUTTERED RUM FROM SCRATCH

2010-11-16T11:07:00.000-06:00

Autumn in the Midwest leading to the holidays means it's time for hot drinks. Apple Butter is a great fall ingredient to Hot Toddies, Hot Buttered Rums and hot teas...as well as toasted muffins, waffles and pancakes.

From start to finish it will take about 48 hours in your oven, but the concentrated and caramelized flavor of the apples and spices is well worth the time. The ingredients are simple. The process is the magic. Investing the time and attention to bring something special out of these simple ingredients is well worth it. It will also make your home smell like spiced apple pie for a few days. Not bad dividends.

INGREDIENTS

10 pounds of assorted Apples

1 quart of Fresh Pressed Apple Cider

1/4 cup of brown sugar

pinch of salt

4 Cinnamon Sticks

6 Allspice Berries

6 Whole Cloves

1 Tblsp Mace

Bamix Immersion Blender


Kuhn-Rikor Peeler

TOOLS

Peeler (Kuhn-Rikon Swiss peeler is best I have ever used)

Dutch Oven (aprox 9.5 qts, I use the Le Creuset 9.5 qt French Oven)

Sharp Chefs Knife

Cutting Board

2 qt Sauce Pan

2 Large Mixing bowls

Immersion Blender

You can use many different apples for apple butter. I like to use an assortment of sweet and tart apples. My ratio was about 2/3 sweet Braeburn apples to Granny Smith.

Cinnamon, Clove, Allspice, Mace

There are many ways to go about starting the process and most recipes I have found add chopped whole apples to the dutch oven and then use a food mill to clean the apple from the peels and cores. That is a messy process that sucks. But the peels provide flavor and natural pectin, so we don't want to just discard them. I decided to split the process by peeling the apples and coring them. I discarded the cores with the seeds as they are bitter. I kept the ends and peels of the apples, putting them in a mixing bowl or into the sauce pan to await the cooking process.

Apple Slicer/Corer

All the cleaned apple goes straight into the large dutch oven. Add 1/3 of the apple cider to the apples in the dutch oven and cover. Put into an oven at 300 degrees.

Cleaned Apples in Dutch oven

To the peels in the sauce pan add the remaining cider and all spices and simmer, covered, on low on stove top. Stir occasionally and simmer for about 45-60 min. Until the peels and apple bits are very soft and mushy. Allow to cool and strain the juices. This does not need to be fine strained. Just separate the peels and spices from the juice and apple.

Peels, ends, spices, cider

Add this juice now to the cooking apples. This should be already about 1.5 hours in oven after cooking the peels and straining. Cook this for another 3 hours covered.

Strained spiced juice

After 3 hours, the apples should be very soft and mushy. Remove dutch oven and use an immersion blender to puree the apples until smooth. Add a pinch of salt, the brown sugar and stir into apples.

Cooking apples with spiced juice

Cook one more hour covered. After one hour you will remove the top and stir and return to the oven uncovered. Lower heat in oven to 250 degrees. This will now enter the longest portion of the process.

Periodic stirring is necessary to keep the apple butter uniform in the slow dehydration and carmelization process. The apples will eventually reduce by about 2/3. When the top of the apple butter begins to brown, it is time to stir. Probably about once every 30-45 minutes or so.

Pureed apples cooking with top off

Overnight the oven should be set low about 200 degrees or turned off if you plan to be asleep for a long time or are away. You can set the oven to 200 again in the morning.

The apple butter will continue to brown, thicken and reduce.


Apple butter midway through process

This process cannot be rushed by turning up the heat. There is too much of a chance that the apple butter will burn. You can turn off the oven if you will not be home for several hours. You can resume the process when you return. The Apple Butter will be chocolate brown when down.

Finished Apple Butter


Apple Butter in clean 12 oz jars

The Apple Butter will be stable indefinitely. Store in refrigerator.

HOT APPLE BUTTERED RUM

You can do this several ways. One is to make a compound butter with the apple butter, unsalted butter and some brown sugar. The other is to add the apple butter, butter, brown sugar and hot water to sauce pan and bring to a boil.

COMPOUND APPLE BUTTER
1/2 Cup of Butter (1 Stick)
1/2 Cup Apple butter
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

3-4 servings

Butter and Apple butter at room temp. Add all ingredients to a food processor. Store covered in refrigerator.

In 8-10 oz hot drink mug add 2 oz aged rum, one or two large spoonfuls of the compound butter. Top with boiling hot water and stir.

With this method and an airpot of hot water you can make drinks to order.

SAUCEPAN METHOD
Same Quantities add to sauce pan. Add 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil.
In hot drink mug or coffee mug add 2 oz of aged rum. Top with hot butter mixture.

TIP
Try a big spoonful of Irish Oatmeal Horchata in the cup for the most creamy and velvety satisfying buttered rum I have ever had. Substitute for the brown sugar.

Recipe for Irish Oat Horchata/Orgeat coming soon!

BACKHAND

2010-10-27T00:51:00.000-05:00

2 oz PLYMOUTH GIN

.5 oz LEMON CORDIAL

.75 oz PIMM'S

Brunoise (julienne diced) of hot house cucumber (2 slices about 1/8 inch thick, then brunoised)

Add all ingredients except cucumber to rocks glass filled with ice. Pour contents of glass into Boston Shaker. Hard shake and strain into original rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Add diced cucumber and stir.

THE JOY OF MIXING GLASSES!

2010-10-05T19:08:00.000-05:00

XL Cobbler Shaker

All Metal Boston Shaker

The emphasis in the modern cocktail world has been on Boston style shakers and mixing glasses.

The 2 part Boston shaker/glass/Hawthorne strainer set is the pro bartender's all around choice.

But there are other choices that can be more specialized, esthetically pleasing, or just a personal choice.

My choice for making many cocktails at home is the free standing mixing glass.

The emphasis of this article is to show some alternatives for the home bartender and the benefits or reasons for using all of these tools in mixing cocktails.

The two most common sets for mixing drinks are the Boston shaker set and the Cobbler Shaker set.

The origins of the names for these sets are debatable. But the Cobbler shaker is most likely named after the pre-prohibition classic style drink, "Cobbler", that were made generally with wine, syrups and other spirits and decorated with fruit. Shaken and strained over cracked ice for a refreshing summer tipple. It was a very popular, and very old, drink style that most likely lent it's name to this shaker style.

It consists of 3 pieces. The base in two pieces that open to allow all ingredients to be added easily. The third piece is a cap that finishes the enclosure. This set is made for shaking drinks.

Positives are aesthetic appearance, clean pour, and all in one unit. Negatives are it doesn't lend itself to making stirred drinks, can easily stick shut making it a poor choice for busy bartenders, caps can be lost thus rendering the whole unit useless. Best for the home bartender.

Classic Boston Set

The Boston shaker. Two pieces that easily separate along with either a Hawthorn strainer or Julep strainer. The Hawthorne being used to strain from the metal shaker tin, and the julep from the mixing glass.

There is a new breed of bartender using metal on metal shakers these days. While it is generally just a personal choice or statement, there are drawbacks to the double metal set. The metal shaker tins are exactly the same. The difference comes in the mixing glass versus the metal replacement and why you would want to have one or the other. There are benefits to the glass and none for the metal except style points.

The metal tin is not a versatile mixing glass. The tin is thin. It makes an unpleasant tinny noise while shaking. The tin is light, the piston motion for a hard shake is less powerful than the heavier mixing glass. The heavier glass is also well insulated, and the melt of the ice, while shaking, is controlled better. We don't want our warm hands melting the ice. We want the drink inside to do that.

The mixing glass is just that, a mixing glass. You can build and stir your drinks in the glass and strain them with a julep strainer. You can see your drink being built, which can help in avoiding mistakes.

So while it is mostly a style thing, the metal on metal really does have its drawbacks.

This now brings us to the free standing mixing glass that has been kind of lost in our modern world. Familiar in many old movies with a host making "pitchers" of martinis, the free standing mixing glass really is a beautiful idea.

Either for entertaining or making several cocktails at once that may not fit in the Boston or Cobbler shaker or just for aesthetics as the mixing glass can come in various sizes and be beautifully designed, adorned, shaped, colored and cut. And for simplicity, the pinched lip on many of the old mixing glasses acts as a strainer to keep ice out of your drink. Most of these shown aren't great for muddling, or for drinks that really need to be shaken, so they have a bit more specialized purpose. The tall pinched lip mixing glases are ideal for Martini's and Manhattans. Cocktails that are spirit heavy that require stirring.


	Tall pinched lip mixing glass with glass stirrer

Old 50's style free standing mixing glass with measurements for cocktails

Snifter style mixing glasses with pinched lips


Old style mixing glass that can act as a shaker. Similar to a Cobbler

Japanese Yarai Mixing glass from Cocktail Kingdom

Many of them do not require a strainer because the lip is designed to trap the ice and let the drink flow. Some have tops with valves that open after shaking to strain cocktails. And some are just beautiful mixing glasses meant to stand alone, but do require a julep strainer such as the Yarai mixing glass above.

MAKING THE CLASSIC AND TRADITIONAL BRAZILIAN CAIPIRINHA

2010-09-01T20:20:00.000-05:00

Since Americans were introduced to Cachaça in a big way over the last 15+ years in the form of the Caipirinha, there has been lot's of confusion with the method of making a proper one from even the best bartenders around the country and the world.

Some things don't fundamentally change the cocktail, like using sugar syrup instead of fine sugar. But some things do, like using brown sugar or sugar water instead of super fine sugar.

I have spent a lot of time traveling and living in Brasil and have seen Caipirinhas made from Rio to Recife. There are always some subtle differences to each person making one but there are common denominators to making the classic Caipirinha like a Brazilian.

There are always 4 things that go into a Caipirinha in Brasil. Lime, white sugar, cachaça and ice. Nothing else.

On a beach it most likely will be made in a makeshift plastic container/shaker and served in a plastic cup.

But in a bar it will more likely be served in a small rocks glass.

The proportions will vary depending on the size of the cup or glass. We will be using an 8 oz rocks glass in the demonstration here.

There are a few important nuances to making this cocktail that I will explain. I am not going to give amounts of the ingredients, it will vary according to glass etc..and it is a good way to get a feeling for making this without measuring tools...the natural or every day way!

The glass should contain lime pieces to at least half full. An 8 oz rocks glass is perfect for 1 small lime. After that it all flows naturally. If you use a bigger glass, you will need more lime...and sugar.

SUGAR

The table sugar in Brasil is comparable to super fine, or "bar sugar" in the US. It melts and mixes easily. "Bar sugar" is kind of a lost item in bars these days with the prevalent use of simple syrup. Regular table sugar in the US is a bit too coarse for making cocktails, hence the use of bar sugar or simple syrup in cocktails here in the States. It grinds up what you want to muddle too much, and is also not as soluble as the fine sugar. Brown sugar or turbinado is almost non-existent in Brasil and, although it makes a rich Caipirinha and seems rustic, it isn't used in making a classic one. The use of fine white sugar in this case has one more important effect and that is it finely draws out the juices and oils of the lime in a subtle way that simple syrup does not do quite as well It is also much gentler and doesn't rip up the limes like coarse sugar does.

Brasilians like things sweet. I try to make my cocktails balanced, but typically more on the sweet side than the tart side. Adjust to your own taste.

LIMES

Regular Persian limes in Brasil tend to be smaller than in the US. In the US they sometimes get as big as lemons. That large size can throw off your Caipirinha if you use a giant one in a small glass. So try to purchase medium to small limes. Always adjust to the size of glass. When buying Persian limes, choose limes that are rounder and have smooth skins, with hardly any dimples. The skins of these kinds are thinner so there is more juice, less pith and less bitterness. They are also much easier to juice and muddle. The more elongated limes with dimpled skin tend to have very thick skins and interiors. This means less juice and makes the limes more difficult to juice as well. The extra pith makes them more bitter as well. A few trips to the grocer and you will be able to verify the difference easily.

Notice the two limes pictured above. The top lime is elongated and dimpled. Inside the pith and skin is much more prevalent, making the lime harder and less juicy. The one on the bottom is nearly spherical, and inside the pith and skin is hardly noticeable.

CACHAÇA

Cachaça is made from sugar cane. It is a style of rum called rhum agricole. The most recognizable rum to most Americans is rhum industriale. Bacardi, Myer's, Appleton Estate, etc..are all this style. The difference between them is that rhum industriale is distilled from fermented molasses and rum agricole is made from fermented cane juice. The flavors are completely different. In the French Carribbean, rhum agricole is used in a cocktail similar to the Caipirinha, Ti Punch, which is lime juice, cane syrup and rhum agricole.

rhum agricole

There are many cachaças in the US market today. Some are old standards from the large distilleries in Brasil like "51", Pitu, and Velho Barreiro. There are also many home distilled or artisanal cachaças made all over Brasil that may have nothing more than a hand written label. There are also some larger and more artisanal brands of cachaça being produced now such as Sagatiba. Finally we have the cachaças made for the US or international markets such as Cabana and Leblon. If you are at a beach or barzinho (bar-zeen-yo) in Rio, you will almost assuredly get one of the big national brands like "51" in your caiprinha. There are bars in Brasil now with where you can get amazing cocktails and caipirinhas made with a huge array of different cachaças; aged, flavored, from different regions..etc..

For this classic we will use the old standard. But my aim here is not to stifle creativity or experimentation with aged spirits, other fruits, flavors, different sugars etc....It is just to show the classic form of Caipirinha in Brasil...But Please Be free!

ICE

This drink is always made with cracked or chunks of ice. Clear bag ice from the grocery store is perfect. If you are using something like Kold Draft, then you will have to crack it. It is important that the ice melts some with the drink. The drink is muddled and built in the glass, then shaken and poured back into the glass or cup. There are always exceptions when at the beach depending on tools and cups and makeshift shakers. It is important that your glass be FILLED with ice. This brings the temperature down fast, making sure that there isn't too much melt in your Caipirinha.

INGREDIENTS/TOOLS

8 oz Rocks Glass
Wooden muddler

1 Small Lime

2 Heaping spoons of Super Fine sugar

Ice to fill glass
Cachaça to fill glass

Your lime

Cut the ends off your lime

Cut the lime lengthwise into quarters

Cut the center white rib out of each quarter

Cut the pieces into eighths

Add to glass

Add sugar to taste (2 regular spoons)

Muddle until sugar is melted and all juice extracted

Fill glass with ice

Fill glass with cachaça

Pour contents into shaker and shake hard

Return all contents, unstrained, back to glass. Top with more ice if needed.
short straw

!!!VOILA!!!
This is the classic Brazilian Caipirinha

A RATIONALE OF SUGAR SYRUP IN COCKTAILS

2010-08-24T14:00:00.000-05:00

A RATIONALE OF SUGAR SYRUP IN COCKTAILS

Todd Appel

What should the sugar to water ratios in syrup for cocktails be?This has been a very important subject and one that for some reason still has some controversy over in our new world of drink mixing. One would think sugar syrup wouldn't be a hot button issue, but whenever I have brought it up, I get some pretty hot responses and like I am a heretic that I should even question such a law of "mixology". But there are some very good historical as well as logical reasons for my disdain of 1-1 simple syrup in cocktails.

For years I have wondered why my taste buds seemed to be at odds with many of the classic and new cocktails being offered around the country in during the renaissance of our modern cocktail world.
And I thought about something important that I realized many years ago.
Syrup in cocktails should be sugar heavy. Not to make the drinks sugar heavy, but to balance the sour ratios to their proper place and lessen added water.

I am not here to say drinks should be made in any way other than what the drinker wants. That takes precedent over anything. So if they want a sweet or sour or "balanced" drink, or a watered down drink, that is their prerogative. and you can do all of those things with a rich syrup, but once you have made your syrup 1-1, you can't go back and you can't get the balance that I believe is needed and was intended from the beginning and in most classic cocktail recipes calling for simple syrup.The original reason for making syrup for cocktails and other drinks was to make the sugar soluble. Pure and simple, no pun intended. One doesn't need an equal amount of water to dissolve sugar, and I can only speculate as to how this practice came to be. But I believe it was out of a bit of laziness and expediency, both very human traits, but traits that unfortunately lead to things like "White Whiskey" and "Hamburger Helper".

Many of the oldest drink recipes call for lump sugar to be dissolved by crushing or mixing. This became impractical as the cocktail evolved and pre-melting the sugar into a syrup became a standard.
That being said, the logical conclusion would be to nudge the solid sugar into liquid sugar. But we can't realistically have that so we must add water to melt the sugar. Logic would have us add only as much water as needed to melt the sugar to be as close to liquid sugar as possible. But that logic has, for some reason, eluded far too many in our modern cocktail world.

Some basic premises, first.
1 When making cocktails, the general rule is that any outside water that gets into the drink, that isn't added on purpose, will come from the ice melt and/or any juice. This is very important to getting the correct dilution for spirits in cocktails.
2 The more water you have in your syrup ratio, the less sugar you have in your measurements and the more water you have in your cocktail, and the reverse.

3) The more water you have in your ratio, the less sugar you have in your syrup to balance the acid (lime or lemon juice) 1 oz of 1-1 simple is only .5 oz of sugar.

These two points are incredibly important to making a balanced cocktail, particularly when trying to recreate classic recipes that call for sugar, sugar syrup or gomme syrup.
But points that I realized have been lost on nearly the entire renaissance of cocktail culture in the US.
While there is a definite demand for quality ice and attention to ice melt today, there hasn't been that same attention to the water and sugar in 1-1 sugar syrup.

It is also the reason, I believe, that far too many cocktails in our new cocktail world are terribly unbalanced, even though they seem to be following classic recipes to a tee. And those erroneous ratios are also translated to many modern originals today with the same poor results.
In Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks, (William Terrington, 2nd edition,1870, pg. 60) for making syrup..."..(sugar) ...should be close in texture and hard to break. It requires for its solution one-third of its weight in cold, and less of boiling water." This is a 3-1 sugar to water ratio.

When reading the classic Embury tome, The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (David Embury,1948), some time ago, I was very disappointed to see his ratios of citrus juice to syrup up to 2-1 in his cocktail recipes, until I read his ratios of sugar to water in his syrup. Now it made much more sense and was important historical and logical evidence to support the use of heavy sugar syrup in cocktails..
He used almost pure liquid sugar and not the 1-1 sugar water that so many of today's mixologists blindly use and not adjusted to the ratios that Embury might suggest. This leads to a complete disaster in the final product..

The problem here is twofold. 1-1 syrup offers more water and less sugar. This leads to more dilution and/or overly acidic drinks. Another problem is that if you are using measuring cups and not using a scale, you will have even less than a 1-1 ratio since a cup of dry granulated sugar weighs less than a cup of water.

Embury goes on about the sugar to water ratio to my absolute delight.."The object to determining the ratio of sugar and water is to make the syrup as heavy as possible without getting later crystallization. I have found that a mixture of 3 cups of sugar to each cup of water yields very satisfactory syrup."
EUREKA!!!

Embury also goes on to state he uses only syrups in even his Old-Fashioned cocktails and other cocktails that call for granulated or lump sugar and that there is absolutely no need nor desire to use gum arabic in syrups (pg 83-84, Art of Mixing Mixing Drinks, Embury)
The 1-1 ratio for simple syrup in cocktails is the elephant in the room of bartenders and mixology today.
I can't think of one cocktail that would be better served with a ratio of more water, less sugar and/or more acid than what is called for in it's recipe, and that is exactly what is happening in even some of the best cocktail bars in around the country.

The idea of delineating "rich" simple syrup vs "regular" simple syrup use in cocktails today is rendered inane with this realization.

All cocktails that use sugar really should use at a minimum a 2-1 ratio and the days of blindly using 1-1 sugar water in any cocktail needs to be a thing of the recent past.

A Philosophy of the Manhattan Cocktail

2010-08-20T11:36:00.001-05:00

A PHILOSOPHY OF THE MANHATTAN

Todd Appel

Origins of the Manhattan date back to New York of 1870’s. A different world existed back then. A time when Ulysses S. Grant was President, Stanley met Livingston, and the first Kentucky Derby was run and a time when the cocktail was still in its infancy in the U.S. It was the Manhattan that was born and sired may offspring while staying important and popular above the thousands of cocktail ghosts that litter old bar books today.

It is my favorite cocktail. This is the quintessential drinking man and woman’s cocktail and for good reason. The simple blend of dark spirit, Italian vermouth (sweet) and bitters yields a cocktail that is very complex and rich in flavors and aromas. It was born for the sophisticated drinker, the one who wants to enjoy each sip with a smile, as it rolls gently over tongue and mouth.

It is excellent in either summer or winter. By adding a dash of orange or peach bitters it becomes the perfect summer evening cocktail. A hint of allspice makes it a special winter sipper.

While tobacco products are certainly becoming taboo, the Manhattan does blend perfectly with a wonderful cigar or slow burning clove scented cigarette.

Recipes abound for this drink, yet the basics are simply a dark, barrel matured spirit, Italian vermouth and bitters mixed over ice and served up in a cocktail glass.

Many other cocktails are derivatives or themes on the Manhattan. The Old Fashioned is a very close relative to the Manhattan, born some years later in Kentucky. Whiskey, bitters, sugar, ice and citrus garnish make the Old Fashioned a very similar play on the theme built by the granddaddy of all these drinks, the Manhattan.

Some variations have actually taken on names of their own. A Manhattan made with Scotch whisky is a Rob Roy and a Manhattan made with Brandy can also be called a Harvard. The Brandy Manhattan is most popular in the state of Wisconsin, where they do call it a Brandy Manhattan and also drink their Old Fashioneds with brandy as well.

Acceptable variations that can be put together like a jazz improvisation on a melody can include any of the following.

Dark Spirit: Canadian Whiskey, Bourbon Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, Brandy or Cognac, Scotch whisky or any other whiskey that you may desire. Añejo tequila and rum are now accepted dark spirits that makes a delicious Manhattan style cocktail.

Vermouth or Amaro could be dry, sweet , bitter or a combination.

Liqueur Modifier Try a splash of Maraschino, Peach, Pear etc. to add some fruit and depth to your manhattan style cocktail

Garnishes could include lemon peel, orange peel, maraschino or brandied cherries, or olives.

Bitters could be any of a multitude of homemade creations or prepared variations, such as Angostura, Fee Bros. Orange or Peach, or Peychaud’s.

Ice Try it on the rocks for a cool slow sipping cocktail.

Ratios for any or all of the above can be varied to taste, but the dark spirit should be dominant in the drink.

Mixing the Manhattan is as important as deciding on your ratios. Ice is the unnamed and unseen ingredient that mellows and smoothes your Manhattan while the overt ingredients are blended together perfectly. Whether you drink your cocktail up, or on the rocks, an easy shake, stir, or tumble is essential to finishing your Manhattan.

My current favorite recipe for a Manhattan on the rocks:

3 parts PIERRE FERRAND RESERVE Cognac

½ part Dubonnet Rouge

½ Part Italian Vermouth

2 dashes of Angostura

1 dashes of peach bitters

1 Homemade Maraschino Cherry with stem

Build in your favorite rocks glass filled completely with ice and pour all contents into shaker and gently roll or swirl the cocktail and ice together. Do not shake. 15 seconds should do. Strain over fresh clear ice and add garnish. I sometimes swirl all ingredients including the garnish and pour all contents back into my rocks glass without straining. This adds some seasoning to the garnish and also extracts some subtle flavors from them into the cocktail.

Forward

SPIRITED DINNER AT BACCO 2010

2010-08-06T14:37:00.001-05:00

This is the menu I offered at the spirited dinner at Bacco at this year's Tales of the Cocktail. I added a rationale for my pairings at the end of this menu.

Bacco Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Dinner Menu 2010

1^st Cocktail Welcome

SUMMER CHERRY BOUNCE

1.5 oz Citadelle Gin

.75 oz Dubonnet ROUGE

Fresh Pitted Sweet Cherries for muddle and garnish

Peychaud’s Bitters

Homemade Bitter Lemon Cordial

Club Soda

12 oz Zombie Glass

KOLD DRAFT Ice

1^st course

Carpaccio tuna belly with arugula, ponzu and citrus aioli

2^nd COCKTAIL Appetizer

Santa Catarina

2 oz LEBLON CACHAÇA

.5 oz MATHILDE Pear Liqueur

.5 oz Perfect Puree Pear Puree

.5 oz Spiced Syrup*

.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

Cracked Ice

Candied Lemon peel

8 oz Rocks Glass

In iced mixing glass add all ingredients except garnish. Hard shake and strain into fresh iced 8 oz rocks glass. Garnish with pear slice and candied lemon peel.

*Spiced Syrup is infused with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, wintergreen, mace, vanilla

2^nd course

Gulf seafood minestrone with saffron and pancetta

3^rd COCKTAIL Interlude

PINK CHEMISE COBBLER

1 oz PIERRE FERRAND AMBRE Cognac

1 oz DUBONNET ROUGE

.5 oz LUSTAU MANZANILLA Sherry

.5 oz Pineapple Shrub Syrup*

Dash Angostura Bitters

Pineapple Ball Garnish

4.5 oz California Style Cocktail Glass

Add all ingredients except garnish and bitters to iced mixing glass and stir. Strain into small chilled cocktail/cordial glass and add pineapple ball and bitters.

*Pineapple-Cane Sugar- rice wine vinegar syrup

3^rd course

Quail with Serrano ham, Mission figs and farro risotto

4^th COCKTAIL Main

LAFAYETTE COCKTAIL

In honor of the Marquis de Lafayette and French assistance in our rebellion against English tyranny

1 oz WILD TURKEY RYE WHISKEY

1 oz FERRAND AMBER COGNAC

.5 oz LUSTAU MANZANILLA SHERRY

.5 oz Vinagre de Jerez Reserva Solera 1970 and Vinagre de Pedro Ximenez 25 year syrup and Mathilde Orange XO reduction

Bitter Truth Decanter Bitters

1 Large Caramelized Cocktail Onion*

5 oz Antique Coupe Cocktail Glass

*Pearl onions caramelized in bacon fat from Maplewood Meats, Green Bay,WI packed in orange peel and sherry vinegar syrup

Add all ingredients except garnish to iced mixing glass and stir. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with cocktail onion.

4^th course

Braised wagu short ribs with creamy polenta and chocolate stout reduction

5^th COCKTAIL COURSE Dessert

GABRIEL’S SHARE

2 oz PIERRE FERRAND

Sélection des Anges 1er Cru de Cognac

1 oz Sauternes Wine
3 Tellicherry Black Pepper Corns
3 Fresh Pitted Sweet Cherries

Tulip Glass

Muddle 3 pitted sweet cherries with 3 Tellicherry black pepper corns and .5 oz Sauternes in an un-iced mixing glass. Add rest of Sauternes, Sélection des Anges and stir. Add ice to mixing glass. Stir very briefly just to bring a chill and double strain into unchilled Tulip glass. No garnish.

This drink is chilled just slightly to ensure aroma and nose, and yet be refreshing and playful with dessert. The fruit, spice and young wine bring some youth back to the masterly matured cognac!

5^th course

Chocolate glazed chocolate Barolo cake with Louisiana blackberry sauce

About this menu

We begin with a few themes and threads through this cocktail pairing.

First is the use of fine Ferrand Cognac in two different ways. The young Ambre in a chilled traditional cocktail, the Pink Chemise, and a luxurious use of very mature master crafted Selection des Anges in the Gabriel’s Share. Not wishing to diminish the 30 year masterpiece of cognac, we wanted to create a cocktail that would focus on and respect this amazing Cognac. Just a bit of fruit, spice and mature sweet wine. All quality ingredients, but they pay homage to the star: The Ferrand Selection des Anges Cognac.

Cherries are used in two cocktails, the Cherry Bounce and the Gabriel’s Share to contrast the use of the same fruit in different ways. We are also using a Fino Sherry in the Pink Chemise and LaFayette cocktail, the former also including a Sherry vinegar syrup reduction for acid and sweetness and further depth for the main course.

Another theme is the inclusion of two vinegar shrubs/syrups in the Pink Chemise and Lafayette Cocktail; the Pink Chemise being fruitier, and the Lafayette being earthier. To contrast the use of general use of citrus fruit as the acidic part of a cocktail, we hope we can show the earthy tones in vinegar can be quite pleasant.

Two cocktails will also use Dubonnet Rouge, the Pink Chemise and the Cherry Bounce.

We begin the evening using white base spirits in two cocktails and follow with brown base spirits in the last three cocktails. The welcome cocktail is a gin long drink designed to refresh guests and quench thirst before dinner. The second slows down a bit, but stays refreshing by playing on a short Brasilian style batida; The Santa Catarina.

The third is a fun bridge between the previous cachaça based fruit drink. The Pink Chemise uses cognac, Dubonnet and pineapple vinegar reduction and a complex, deeper flavor emerges at the heart of the dinner menu.

The fourth, and main course is a bigger earthier cocktail, the LaFayette, with Rye, Cognac, Fino Sherry, Sherry vinegar syrup reduction and caramelized cocktail onions. The Rye anchors and adds some sharpness; the Cognac some softness, the Fino Sherry adds the dryness to balance the acidity and sweetness of the Sherry vinegar. The cocktail onion adds earthy tones with orange, the smokiness of bacon, sweet acidity, and, well, onion. The Rye and Cognac symbolize French assistance to America in our rebellion against the British.

Finally the Gabriel’s Share uses one of the finest cognacs in the world to end the evening. While the Selection de Anges stands on it’s own in exquisite complexity, we wanted to go against protocol and make a singular and luxurious cocktail as a grand finale to pair with the bitterness of chocolate and sweet/tart blackberries in the dessert. The grandfather gets out and plays with cherries, pepper and Sauternes.

Enjoy!

BITTER LEMON SYRUP/SODA

2010-06-10T13:24:00.000-05:00

BITTER LEMON SODA AND GIN

1 oz BITTER LEMON SYRUP
2 oz Gin
Club Soda

Chill gin and syrup together briefly in a mixing glass. Strain into tall iced glass along with club soda. Garnish with lemon peel.

Variation: dash of Angostura

After experimenting with many different homemade syrups, I had an idea to make something that I remembered from when I was a kid. My parents made tom Collinses, Sours etc...and soda companies made things like Tom Collins mix (a citrus soda really) and BITTER LEMON by Schweppes. They would let us drink those, minus the gin of course...somehow I remember what gin tasted like though..Go figure. I dont remember anyone drinking Vodka back then.

So I Wanted to try my hand at making bitter lemon syrup and soda. There has been much experimentation in the mixology world with homemade quinine or tonic water. And I will be making a version of tonic soon, but bitter lemon was on pressing on my mind.

My idea really was to not get crazy with too many ingredients, but get the essence of the cinchona (the bitter) and the lemon.

So I went about making my lemon cordial/syrup and went a step further by steeping cinchona bark in that freshly made hot syrup, as you would with tea.

Double strain and you have a sweet, tart and bitter lemon that reminds you of good tonic and lemon.

Just mix with club soda or soda from a siphon and with a good quality gin, like Plymouth, Beefeater, Bombay (regular) or Tanqueray 10....or splurge with some Old Raj...Chill gin and syrup together and strain into a tall iced glass with soda and you have the long drink of the summer!

I ordered 1lb of cut cinchona from FEELGOOD HEALTH (CANADA) for about 35$. It was true cut cinchona bark, not processed.

1 quart of LEMON CORDIAL
1/4 Cup natural cut Cinchona Bark

Steep bark using a large tea strainer to hold the bark. steep for about 1 minute. It doesnt take long to get the essence from the bark into the syrup. Taste and adjust to your taste for bitterness. Everyone is different so do it the way you like it!

The bitter lemon syrup will take a dark tan color to it from the cinchona bark. It is normal and the color actually dissipates when mixed with gin and soda and ice...giving a nice yellowish tint to your cocktail.

Variations will be other bitter citrus fruit syrups, combination citrus fruit syrups, addition of herbs or spices. I have seen Lemon grass used in some tonics. I could see cucumber, rosemary, mint. Coriander and other gin botanicals.

NOTE: I do not use any preservatives, like citric acid, in my homemade syrups . After using it when i started making them I found that it was really unnecessary in homemade versions. I get all my acid flavor from the citrus fruit and it stays fresh in the refrigerator, sealed, for at least a month without preservatives.

FERNANDO COCKTAIL or FERNET AND COCA COLA

2010-05-24T16:55:00.000-05:00

There is a little wave of shift shots in the mixology world...Fernet Branca with a ginger chaser...ginger beer, or what I do is ginger syrup, lime and soda. It really is good and the bitter amaro, Fernet, is balanced by the sweetness of the ginger...and a little acid from some lime.

I was in Buenos Aires last year visiting friends, and something jumped out at me that I didnt expect. Argentina drinks more Fernet than anyone in the world.

Once I thought about the Italian heritage of the majority of Argentinians, I totally understood its place in Argentinian culture.

The drink of choice made with Fernet is the FERNANDO...Simply Coca Cola and Fernet. Fernet can be found in virtually every location that sells spirits from the corner bodega to the cafe down the street.

I tried one and was pleasantly surprised at how good it really is. While I wouldnt drink more than two in a sitting, it certainly would be on my list of cocktails I would order.

Fernando Cocktail

1.5-2 oz FERNET

Coca Cola (classic) with sugar instead of corn syrup if possible

Tall glass filled with ice. Build in glass

SOLLEONE

2010-05-01T12:34:00.001-05:00

This cocktail is a perfect midsummer afternoon cooler. Clean, refreshing, sweet and bitter with a hint of acid.

2.5 oz BEEFEATER 24
.5 oz CAMPARI
.75 oz APPEL'S GRAPEFRUIT CORDIAL

Hard shake all ingredients and strain into iced rocks glass.

VARIATION: Serve as a long drink topped with club soda or splash of tonic or served up in a cocktail glass.

Grapefruit syrup is made in the manner of the lemon and lime syrup (LEMON CORDIAL). The difference being I add lemon juice to the grapefruit juice to bring up the acidity.

5 parts Grapefruit juice to 3 parts lemon juice. The syrup is still a sweet syrup.

Solleone means mid day sun, or dog days of summer in Italian.

COGNAC 2010

2010-04-30T14:17:00.000-05:00

CHEERS ON COGNAC

An interview on cognac in cocktails and at the bar.

I was recently invited by the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) to visit Cognac for the COGNAC SUMMIT 2010 and many of the Cognac houses, including, Pierre Ferrand, Hine, Hennessy, Remy-Martin, and Courvosier.
We did daily tastings of many cognacs from bland mixtures of regional grapes to perfectly aged and crafted cognacs showing off the essence and heart of what cognac really is.

We were also invited to reinvent some classic cognac cocktails with a new or creative touch. The Sidecar, Sazerac, Alexander, Mojito, Stinger, and julep were improvised by some of the best in the business from the US and Europe. The recipe for the Mojito No. 3 follows.

I am from Wisconsin where the folks drink brandy in all their Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. While they are generally not what one would call haute cocktails crafted by creative mixologists for the most part, it does point out the wonderful array of choices for using brandy, specifically cognac, in great cocktails.

Good cognacs contain flavors and aromas of vanilla, almond, caramel, wood, fruits, stone, to name just a few. Those flavors along with a touch of sweetness make cognac amazing to mix with aromatics like vermouths, bitters, and fruits of all kinds. Particularly great with fruit, cognac has long been used as a base for liqueurs like pear and orange (Grand Marnier) and in early cocktails like the Crusta.

A more recent classic, the Side Car, uses lemon and orange. Amazing variations on that theme could incorporate pear, ginger, peach, apricot, passion fruit...the list is nearly endless.

Another great fruit use in cocktails/coolers is in sangria. A white sangria variation that I use includes a lot of cognac to steep the fresh cut fruit that we will put in the sangria. This allows the cognac and fruit to share flavors and essences with each other and create something unique in the process. Fresh juices, a good solid dry white wine, like an albariño, and an orange liqueur and you have a special summer cooler!

As a basis for preserving fruit like cherries, cognac is perfect. Again you end up with the fruit and cognac sharing with each other their flavors and essences creating something amazing in the process. A cherry cognac that you can use in cocktails and cooking, and cherries that you can use in the same things.

A general rule is that you don't use a very fine cognac for infusions and cocktails. Generally speaking that is true. For soaking fruit for a sangria, you would not want to use anything more than a VS. The VS is perfect for such fun and inexpensive summer drinks and doesnt overpower the fruit and white wine. They are supposed to be accessible, young, vibrant and unpretentious. VS is the perfect choice for many drinks; generally fruit based.

Cocktails: Side Car variations, Crusta variations, Juleps

When making a cognac Manhattan, though, you will usually want to use a quality VSOP. More depth of flavors and aromas can stand up to the bitters and vermouth and create a masterful cocktail.

Cocktails: Old Fashioned, Sazerac, Stinger, Alexander, Hot Toddy

COGNAC MANHATTAN

3 parts VSOP COGNAC

1 Part Italian Vermouth

Bitters to taste

*2 Cherries

Serve up or on the rocks...either way this drink should be stirred and strained into a chilled cocktail glass or over ice in a rocks glass. Use large cubed ice if possible for slow melt.

Variations are using different brands or styles of vermouth and bitters. Blends of Whiskey and Cognac.

* Cherries can be made in many ways. I have a different recipe for homemade cherries that I use for cocktails that I will post. Also you can just take fresh sweet cherries, pit them, warm them in cognac on the stove in a saucepan. Add to jar(s) and top with cognac. They keep well all winter for your cocktail and dessert enjoyment.

COGNAC OLD FASHIONED

2 oz VSOP COGNAC

Bitters to taste

Rich Simple Syrup to taste

Lemon and Orange Peel Disc

Press orange and lemon disc into syrup and bitters to release oils and flavor.

Add cognac and add large cubed ice. Stir.

Chill and serve in chilled rocks glass, ala sazerac or over fresh ice in an old fashioned glass

COGNAC ALEXANDER

2 oz VSOP Cognac

1 oz QUALITY CREME DE CACÃO

1 oz HEAVY CREAM

Hard shake all ingredients and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Fresh grate nutmeg garnish.

Variations. add Nut liqueurs, Benedictine, amaretto, orange liqueurs, grated cinnamon

MOJITO No. 3

This cocktail is the variation I worked on at the Cognac Summit 2010 with Ago Perrone, Sasha Petraske, and Kerrin Egalka and others. It turned out fantastic. The funky, pungent addition of arrak really lends to a balanced and aromatic cocktail.

2 oz VS COGNAC

6-8 FRESH MINT LEAVES

.5 oz RICH SIMPLE SYRUP

.5 oz FRESH LIME JUICE

.5 oz FRESH GRAPEFRUIT JUICE

.5 oz SWEDISH PUNCH or ARRAK...you could also use Pusser's British Navy Rum

Muddle mint in syrup in rocks glass. Add juices to glass and fill with ice. Add cognac and pour into shaker tin. Hard fast shake. Return to rocks glass. Top with soda if desired

VOILA!!!

INFUSED SYRUPS

2010-04-14T13:03:00.000-05:00

Just a note about infused syrups.

I just posted a detailed recipe for lemon syrup/cordial on April 13...along with variations.

I read an article today in one of my favorite magazines, IMBIBE, (http://www.imbibemagazine.com/Ginger-Syrup-Recipe), about making Ginger syrup and I had an important issue with a part of the process.

First, I will explain my method of making infused syrups. It generally begins with making a rich simple syrup. That means more sugar and less water. We are making a syrup, not sugar water. The reason for this is that we are trying to just make the sugar dissolved. The reason for this is that granulated sugar does not dissolve well in cold or even room temperature spirits or drinks. The idea is to make liquid sugar. Ready to go.

So the less water, the more it is like liquid sugar...like pure sugar. What you really want in any drink that would originally call for granulated sugar.

That said, we can now proceed to play with that base of liquid sugar by using things like ginger to flavor the liquid sugar, or using something like lemon juice or rice vinegar instead of water thus creating an acidic sugar....or cordial type syrup.

When making an infusion such as lemon syrup or ginger syrup, you have to cook the syrup to help dissolve the sugar and to cook off some of the water. This forces the sugar and water to melt and become one.

The problem here is that when we cook things we can lose some of the fresh qualities and flavors that we are trying to capture.

Peeled Fresh Ginger

Minced Ginger

That brings me to a basic tenet I have when making these syrups and that is I cook the syrup without the ginger or lemon zest. Those things do not need to be in the syrup while cooking and will ruin that flavor you are trying to capture.

REMOVE THE SYRUP FROM THE HEAT before you add the grated ginger or lemon zest and allow to steep like tea and cool. Then strain.

This makes your ginger syrup taste like real fresh ginger and your lemon syrup like lemons.

That brings me back to the article on ginger syrup. It calls for adding the ginger during the cooking process and making it one step, when it should be a two step process.

That one step makes a huge difference in your ginger syrup tasting and smelling like fresh ginger, and not candied ginger...But of course if you want a candied ginger flavor which is a great, but totally different, flavor then you would want to cook the ginger with the syrup.

Steeping Ginger in Cooled Syrup

Also, this 2 step process only applies to fresh ingredients, not dry spices like cinnamon or allspice which actually benefit from cooking during the process

PREPARATION OF LEMON CORDIAL

2010-04-13T10:02:00.001-05:00

Peeled Zest

LEMON CORDIAL

This is the lemon version of the same recipe. It is really like a lemon or lime curd without the eggs. That is another article to come. I generally list my recipes in parts so you can make as much or as little as you desire. As long as the proportions are correct the recipe will be perfect.

RECIPE

Strain Lemon Juice

1 part lemon Juice

1.25 parts white sugar

Zest from Lemons Used

STEP ONE:

Peel Lemon Zest from lemons. Leave white pith on the lemons. You want just the yellow part containing the essential oils. Chop zest peels with knife or in food processor. This give the lemon more surface area to extract as much of the essential lemon oil. The zest is where all the lemon flavor is. It is important to the syrup to have the juice and the lemon oils.

Add sugar to juice and simmer

STEP TWO:

Cut and juice peeled lemons. Strain pulp from juice.

STEP THREE:

Add juice and 1.25 parts sugar. Very slowly bring to a rolling boil. Stir often. When bigger bubbles appear it is close to boiling and is a syrup. Generally 15 minutes. Do not overcook.

Remove from heat and add zest

STEP FOUR:

Allow to rest for about 5 minutes, add chopped zest and steep for 15-20 minutes to remove lemon oils. Strain zest and Voila! Lemon Syrup. This is very concentrated flavor. A little in any recipe goes a long way

Variations: Lime, Grapefruit, Orange, Spiced Orange, Lime-Ginger, Lemon-Tea (great for making iced tea on the run!) Bitter Lemon, Lemon-Ginger, Sour Cherry and many more

Strain Zest

Ways To Use Your Syrup:

Cocktails- Lemon gimlet, Lemon Drops, hot toddies, sours
Drinks- Lemonades, Teas, hot and iced, Sangrias, spritzers,

PERSIAN GIMLET

2 oz PLYMOUTH GIN

.5 oz LEMON SYRUP

Hard shake. Strain into chilled cocktail glass or on the rocks. Lemon peel garnish

VOILA! Lemon Syrup

RYE WHISKEY SOUR

2 oz Bulleit Rye Whiskey
.5 oz Lemon Cordial

Prepare same as lemon gimlet

MISTRESS MARTHA WASHINGTON'S BRANDY PEARS

2010-04-06T17:44:00.000-05:00

Taken from "The Art of Mixing Drinks" 1935

"Ye pears shoulde be very freshe. Washe and put yhem into boiling lye for a minute. Remove and place yhem into a prepared sirupe of sugar and water. Use an half pound of sugar for everie pound of ye fruit, water to dissolve. Now cook for an quarter of an hour. Remove and put on plates to cool. Boyle sirupe down to one half its original quantitie. Put sirupe and pears into jars and add brandy. Seal while hote"

Interesting style. Incomplete for sure on the method, but a great insight into using spirits to preserve fruit...or rather, fruits to flavor the spirit...and make a side liqueur that you know was the important part of the final product. A pear brandy liqueur.

LA CITLALLI (COCKTAIL)

2010-03-25T18:42:00.000-05:00

I came up for this recipe after experimenting with making orgeat and horchata...all deriving from the same word and basic idea. Making a "milk" from a grain or nut and sweetening it. By itself it is a refreshing cool summer drink when mixed with water and ice...But it is also a great ingredient in cocktails.

The classic Mai Tai is the best example of a cocktail based on almond orgeat.

Most commercial orgeats are not made with almonds though and are artificially flavored. I wanted to make my own and use real almonds. I then wanted to try other grains and nuts and did one made with cashew, oatmeal, and barley. Barley was one of the original ways of making orgeat in France.

CITLALI

2 oz of Tres Generaciones or Partida Blanco Tequila
1 oz of Homemade Almond Horchata(cinnamon spiced orgeat)
.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

The Lime is for extra acidity to balance the sweet orgeat. The Orange juice is too sweet to do this on its own.

Hard shake all ingredients. Strain over fresh iced collins glass. Try over crushed ice. or serve up and a dusting of cinnamon. garnish with an orange triangle or a roasted almond soaked in tequila

Use the recipe for Cashew orgeat from the january posts...substitute raw crushed almonds for the cashews...add cinnamon sticks to syrup, steep and strain...

this recipe is great with the cashew orgeat as well...

I named this after a very good friend...Citlalli Martinez...

ABSOLUT BERRI-AÇAÍ LAUNCH CHICAGO/ BERRI PIXIE

2010-03-17T20:07:00.000-05:00

Had a blast at the recent launch of ABSOLUT BERRI-AÇAÍ at the W Hotel in Chicago.

Here is what I created and offered that evening.

The Berri Pixie

ABSOLUT BERRI-AÇAÍ
Unsweetened Açaí Puree (Sambazon sells one, frozen)
Vanilla Kefir
Cinnamon Syrup

Easy shake. Strain over ice or serve up.

I wanted something delicious, fun, creamy and actually healthy. Something that you could have anytime...but would really work for brunch.

Acai has some berry and chocolate tones and the cinnamon really goes well with it. The Kefir could be plain or vanilla. I actually blended both. The Acai needs to be sweetened and the Kefir is acidic so the syrup really works without over sweetening.

This was very well received and I was very happy with this drink and it has the taste of real acai that you dont usually get.

DAIQUIRIS and Lime Sours

2010-02-01T10:27:00.000-06:00

Essentially the rum version of a lime sour ala the caipirinha or margarita...

In the tropics, limes and sugar cost almost nothing. It is clear that the drinks of the populace would make use of local spirits and limes and sugar...Anyone could make this drink or cocktail..

The Caipirinha was clearly a drink of the lower classes that has only now been gaining status to national pride in Brazil and haute cocktail in Europe and America.

Rum and tequila were both staples of local populace in the Carribbean and Mexico. You didnt import or use imported spirits unless you were rich.

The Daiquiri has been a cocktail I have been championing for many years now. Mostly as an alternative to the painfully over extended Mojito, and as a personal cocktail crusade to have people enjoy a true classic that had morphed into the sweet colored frozen mess we all know today. (another of my crusades being the Brandy Alexander)

Stories abound as to who invented the Daiquiri and the Margarita. But logic really should put the creation to exactly what I have mentioned above...to the people who drank the local spirits and used the most abundant mixer available, limes and sugar, and didnt drink in hotel bars.... To all of them, not one person or place, should credit be due. Like a debate over who "discovered" America, these drinks were already known to those who lived there.

Lime sours like the Daiquiri lend themselves to easy adaptation from the simple lime, sugar and rum version. Adding other fruit would be the next step (pineapple, berries, and other tropical fruits). Adding a modifying spirit or flavor like mint (mojito) or Maraschino Liqueur (Hemmingway Daiquiri with grapefruit). It is also the base for Planters Punch.

The look of astonishment on a customers face when I offer to make a Daiquiri makes me smile. The look on their face when they actually taste a well balanced Daiquiri (usually after telling them they can change their mind of they dont like it) is a feeling of accomplishment and pleasure. And I have never had one turned back in.

Here's a variation using the very popular Elderflower Liqueur, St. Germain. Something I usually eschew for the over use, but really is good. And that's all that matters.

ST. MORITZ DAIQUIRI

2 oz oz Bacardi White Rum
.75 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
.5 oz Fresh Lime juice

All ingredients into Boston Shaker. Hard shake. Strain into chilled coupe.
Lime wheel garnish

or

All ingredients into boston shaker, regular shake, strain into collins glass filled with crushed ice. Lime wheel or half moon.

CASHEW ORGEAT

2010-01-31T17:51:00.000-06:00

Variation on the Almond syrup called Orgeat (or-zha(t))

I wanted to try something in the same genre as orgeat and cashews seemd a logical choice. They have similar consistency in a raw state. Creamy texture and flavors, but distinct from one another.

Orgeat was a way to make a milky sweet beverage from almonds. Rice or chufa (http://www.chufas.net/) can also be used and is used to make horchata (or-cha-ta). Orgeat and horchata are derived from the same latin stem meaning barley. Barely can also be used to make the milky white drink base.

In Goa in India cashews are cultivated. It was a logical step then to make this drink from cashews there.

Cashews grow in the tropics. The nut part is actually attached to a large fruit which is used to make cashew juice as well.

I use raw blanched unsalted cashews for this recipe.

12 oz Raw Cashews
2 quarts of fresh water
12 oz Cane Sugar

Crush the cashews in a food processor to almost powder.

Add cashew crumbs to water in large pan and simmer for aprox 1.5 hours. This will release all the flavors and oils and also cook off some of the water to make this more concentrated.

Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain and add strained cashew milk back to pan and add sugar. Simmer again on low for another hour or until reduced by 1/3 more. Allow to cool and store in jars in the refrigerator.

You can add a few drops of vanilla or orange flower water before adding to the jars.

A touch of cinnamon is also a great accent. I prefer the pure cashew or almond flavor. But once you are finished and ready for the containers, you can make a cinnamon version in one container, vanilla in another, plain...use your imagination.

This recipe can be used for making almond orgeat as well, using raw blanched, skinless almonds

SNIFTER COCKTAILS

2010-01-13T21:23:00.000-06:00

A few years back I was sipping on a cognac in a snifter. I wanted some fruit, so I mixed some creme de Apricot with it...IT was delicious!

Grand Marnier and B&B are cognac based super liqueurs based exactly on that idea, so why not others? and why not at home or at the bar or while dining?

I had the idea of snifter cocktails. They would be served neat. Unchilled.

There are a myriad of combinations.

Simple ones range from a quality cognac mixed with a quality liqueur.

For example:

Pierre Ferrand Reserve and Mathilde Pear Liqueur

or

Hennessy VSOP and Creme de Cassis de Dijon

But you could also use a good bourbon or a mezcal..

Basil Hayden's and Peach Liqueur

or

Chichicapa Single Village Mezcal, honey and benedictine

Really the combinations are endless.

The idea of a simple sipping cocktail that is served neat to bring out full flavors and to allow for a slowed enjoyment of the drink is not new...

But should be rediscovered by a new generation of drinker and open up a whole new variety and manner of enjoying your spirits.

ABSOLUT ON THE ROCKS 2009

2009-12-17T11:20:00.000-06:00

MY PROFILE FOR "ON THE ROCKS"

A day in my life...heh heh

This was a blast! I competed with top bartenders from around the country in Las Vegas!

Check it out!

WINE BASED DESSERT COCKTAILS

2009-08-31T17:35:00.000-05:00

I created these cocktails in my advanced mixology class here in Chicago at CHIC recently. We were asked to create some wine based cocktails to pair with desserts.

While I don't usually think cocktails should be paired with entrees or meals in general, they can lend themselves to desserts very well given the plethora of desert wines and liqueurs to work with and the nature of dessert course.

I always stir wine based cocktails to give them a chill, but not over dilute them.

I don't have names for these...not my forte!

1)
GOSLINGS Black Seal Rum
PIERRE FERRAND Ambre Cognac
Black Pepper Corns
Fresh Sweet Cherries
Muscat Wine

Muddle cherries, pepper corns and 1/3 of muscat. Add remainder of muscat, spirits and ice and stir. Strain into small chilled coupe.

2)
DOLCE Sweet Dessert Wine
PIERRE FERRAND Ambre Cognac
Fresh Plum
Grapefruit Peel

Muddle plum and peel from grapefruit and splash of DOLCE wine. Add wine, cognac, and ice and stir. Strain into chilled coupe. Grapefruit peel/disk garnish

3)
VEUVE CLIQUOT Demi-Sec champagne
Yellow Chartreuse
Green Grapes
Grapefruit Peel
Grapefruit Juice

Muddle green grapes with a 1/3 of demi-sec and splash of fresh grapefruit juice. Add Chartreuse, ice and stir. Strain into chilled coupe and top with remainder of champagne.

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE SUMMER CHERRY BOUNCE

2009-05-22T17:17:00.000-05:00

My entrance to the latest competition sponsored by BOMBAY SAPPHIRE GIN

1.5 oz BOMBAY SAPPHIRE GIN
.5 oz CARPANO ANTICA ITALIAN VERMOUTH
.5 oz FRESH LEMON JUICE
SPLASH SIMPLE SYRUP
5 FRESH PITTED SWEET CHERRIES for muddling
3 PITTED FRESH CHERRIES FOR GARNISH
CHILLED CLUB SODA
LEMON TWIST

In mixing glass muddle cherries and syrup. Add BOMBAY SAPPHIRE, lemon juice, and vermouth. Fill tall zombie glass 1/3 full of ice and add one pitted cherry…Continue to fill glass ice with cherries until glass is full. Shake and double strain into glass and top with chilled soda and fresh lemon twist.

Cherry pitters are available at most hardware stores and Sur le Table and are very handy.

If Carpano is not available, use any high quality Italian vermouth.

Papa Nöel

2009-04-16T11:44:00.001-05:00

This is a very simple cocktail that I did for the TRES GENERACIONES event at CRIMSON AND HOTEL SAX April 28, 2009

2 oz TRES GENERACIONES ANEJO TEQUILA
1 oz ROMPOPE Vanilla-Egg liqueur
.5 oz Rich Spiced Syrup

Stir and strain into rocks glass filled with fresh ice or up in a chilled cocktail glass.

Grate fresh cinnamon for garnish

CINNAMON ALMOND SYRUP

1 part Water
2 Parts Cane Sugar
Cinnamon sticks
Blanched slivered Almonds

In dry saute pan, add slivered almonds and heat until almost toasted. Remove. Add to food processor and chop.

Add water and sugar to pan and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Add cinnamon sticks and almonds...simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and strain.

If there are any food allergies to nuts, you can omit the almonds. In this case add a little splash of Amaretto to the cocktail.

LA LUNA

2009-03-14T17:12:00.000-05:00

I entered this cocktail in the ST. GERMAIN cocktail campaign/comp in february 2009

Didnt win, but got 3rd place...

It is delicious and fresh.

1.5 oz Pisco
1 oz ST. GERMAIN ELDERFLOWER LIQUEUR
.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Small Egg White

Sophisticated variation of a Pisco Sour.

All ingredients into shaker filled with ice.

Shake extra vigorously to ensure foam on top of cocktail.

strain into chilled coupe glass

DELICIOUS!!

10 CANE SPICED PEAR DAIQUIRI

2009-02-24T13:00:00.000-06:00

I made this cocktail for a cocktail dinner hosted by Anna Kimball and 10 Cane at Le Lan in Chicago spring 2009.

1.5 oz 10 Cane Rum
.5 oz oz Spiced Simple Syrup
.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz Fresh Pressed Pear Juice

Spiced candied pear slice for garnish. I used Comice pears for the juice and garnish.

Shake all ingredients and strain into chilled coupe. drop slice of pear into cocktail as edible garnish.

To make the spiced syrup:

2 cups sugar
1.5 cups water
1/4 cup allspice berries
1/4 cup clove
2 cinnamon sticks
3 nutmegs
1 tbsp black pepper berries

cook all together in sauce pan over low heat until boiling..make sure to watch so it doesn't boil over..

turn off heat allow to steep until cooled. Strain off spices..add a splash of vanilla extract and voila!..spiced syrup.

Can be used in many other drinks, iced teas etc.. particularly yummy in hot toddies.

Spiced pears are a bit more tricky.

peel and slice 1 pear...add lemon juice immediately to slices to help stop browning.

make another small batch of spiced syrup...but this time do not cool...strain hot syrup over pears to steep and par cook...they will be tender but al dente and hold their shape.

cool and let steep in air tight bag. This should maintain the color and keep them from being brown....which is a bitch.

The juice will have a tan color and there is no natural way around that. It gives the cocktail a honey like appearance which is appealing.

I was very very happy with this cocktail. It was easy to drink.

OLD ORLEANS JULEP

2009-02-14T11:54:00.000-06:00

I submitted this cocktail to the judging for the official cocktail of Tales of the Cocktail 2009.

They didn't leave a lot of official room to differentiate the Juleps. Spirit, sweetener, Mint...and something else.

In the spirit of the Julep I wanted this cocktail to maintain the old tyme lineage for sweetening up your spirits and medicine.

This Julep uses cognac as the base spirit...the only spirit.

I used azucar moreno for a subtle lift in flavor in the sweetener.

I wanted to get some other southern flavors and thought about medicinal things surrounding root beer and "erva mate".

I decided to use wintergreen extract...a main ingredient in root beer...and Matte Leao, Brasilian style mate. It is a robust smokey flavored tea. perfect for this drink.

I didn't want it to be root beer julep..but I wanted the subtle tones of root beer and iced tea. Southern flavors.

I think it works

3 oz PIERRE FERRAND AMBRE COGNAC
2 oz SIMPLE SYRUP of AZUCAR MORENA (unrefined cane sugar) or LIGHT BROWN SUGAR
12 MINT LEAVES
1.5 oz ERVA MATE BRAZILIAN STYLE (MATTE LEAO) or LUZIANNE ICED TEA BREWED TRIPLE STRENGTH
3 DROPPERS OF WINTERGREEN EXTRACT

Directions: Muddle mint and syrup in mixing glass. Add all other ingredients and stir with bar spoon. Add cubed ice to shaker. Add all ingredients and stir briefly to chill.

Strain into 14 oz Zombie glass and add cracked ice to top of glass. Garnish with fresh mint sprig, lemon wheel and long straw.

Matte or tea must be made strong to get maximum flavor in a small quantity. Matte has very strong smoky flavors that are excellent in this drink. It is readily available at many Latino markets and all Brasilian stores.

Wintergreen extract or tincture is available at most apothecaries and many health food stores. It is also very simple to make in large quantities. 1 part by volume dry wintergreen to two parts Grain alcohol (Everclear).

The wintergreen and Matte give this a drink subtle tones and nuances of old time root beer. It also blends well with the vanillas of the cognac and the fresh mint and caramels of the syrup.

GRAND MARNIER NAVAN SUMMIT 2009

2009-01-30T11:47:00.000-06:00

Here are my 4 entries for the 2009 Grand Marnier/Navan Summit in Vail Colorado.

NORTHWOODS CORDIAL

2oz GRAND MARNIER
1 oz FRESH ORANGE JUICE
1 oz SPICED CRANBERRY SYRUP
1 DASH ANGOSTURA BITTERS

Shake all ingredients and strain into coupe

SUPPER CLUB COCKTAIL

2 oz GRAND MARNIER
1.5 oz FRESH PRESSED APPLE JUICE
.5 oz PIMENTO DRAM
1 DASH ANGOSTURA BITTERS

Shake all ingredients and strain into chilled 5oz Coupe glass Is great as a hot drink...heat apple juice and spiced syrup...increase quantity to 2.5 oz apple juice. Add Grand Marnier to hot drink mug and add hot spiced cider...cinnamon stick stirrer for garnish

GRAMMA'S YULEWEIN

2 oz GRAND MARNIER
2 oz FRESH PRESSED APPLE JUICE
2 oz FULL BODIED RED WINE
1 oz PIMENTO DRAM

In a sauce pan, heat red wine and apple juice. Add Grand Marnier and Pimento dram to mug...pour hot wine and apple juice into mug.

Garnish with Cinnamon stick

SNOW VIOLET

1 oz NAVAN
.5 oz CREME DE VIOLETTE
.5 oz LEMON JUICE
3 oz DEMI SEC CHAMPAGNE

Garnish with edible flower..violet or lemon twist

Chill Navan, Creme de violette, and lemon juice over ice...Strain into Champagne flute or Coupe...top with champagne and garnish.

ABSOLUT MANGO MASALA

2009-01-24T13:47:00.000-06:00

I just created this cocktail for the ABSOLUT MANGO launch event in Chicago at the HOTEL SAX on January 26th, 2009.

It is a sweet and savory cocktail...I wanted a cocktail to go with spicy Indian food.

Mango is a very common ingredient in Indian cuisine. It also is wonderful in sweet and savory dishes and salads. I thought the pungent aromas blended with sweetness of ginger syrup and orange juice would combine beautifully with the savory of garam-masala and a touch of salt.

Onion and lime would also be good choices with mango.

1.5 oz ABSOLUT MANGO vodka
1.5oz Fresh Orange Juice
.75 oz Garam-Masala Scented Ginger syrup
a few grains of salt

Shake all ingredients and strain into chilled coupe or other cocktail glass...garnish with candied orange peel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evbbh-ZtX8k

PINK CHEMISE

2009-01-19T15:00:00.000-06:00

I created this cocktail in the fall of 2008 for Lindsey Reisinger of MAESTRO DOBEL in Chicago.

I wanted it to be a sweet cordial.

1 oz MAESTRO DOBEL DIAMOND TEQUILA
.75 oz PINEAPPLE SYRUP
.5 oz DUBONNET ROUGE

Shake all ingredients and strain into small coupe or cordial glass.

I make Pineapple syrup with a base of rice vinegar syrup. To it I add the juice of a pureed fresh pineapple. I cook that down to a syrup. Allow to cool and add the rest of the pureed pineapple. Add fresh grated ginger for an amazing sweet and sour dipping sauce for egg rolls or other fried delicacies.

VERACRUZ

2009-01-15T11:01:00.000-06:00

I created this cocktail two years ago.

Chocolatey, tropically warm feelings on a -40 degree windchill day in Chicago!

THE VERACRUZ

2 oz Partida Añejo Tequila
1 oz Benedictine
1 ½ oz Chile Ancho-Chocolate Sauce*

Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with Cinnamon stick.

*Ancho-Chocolate Sauce

Puree of chile ancho, Mexican chocolate and cinnamon.

rehydrate chiles...puree...double strain...puree should be smooth as silk with no skins. Melt mexican style chocolate with splash of milk and ancho chile puree...2 parts chocolate to one part chile...pinch of cinnamon to taste...

ITALIAN EGG CREAM

2009-01-09T11:25:00.000-06:00

I recently had some friends at the bar and was paging through my new copy of The Essential Cocktail by Dale De Groff to maybe try something new, fun and sweeter for my friend Deborah from France...I love champagne cocktails and frequently use champagne or some other sparkling wine in my cocktails.

At the dinner Dale gave here in Chicago in conjunction with the release of his new book he made a sgroppino al limone....I never had one and really loved it..

Blending the sweet, the cream, and then the dry/acid of a sparkling prosecco was wonderful.

I thought this would be a good cocktail for her to try...but we didnt have any sorbetto...

I saw another cocktail titled Italian Egg Cream....amaretto, creme de cacao, cream and prosecco...i had the ingredients for this and tried it...she loved it!

It is actually a very good cocktail.

The sweetness of the amaretto and cacao are definitely offset by the prosecco creating a very nice balance to a fun and beautiful drink.

ITALIAN EGG CREAM

.75 oz AMARETTO
.75 oz WHITE CREME DE CACAO
1 oz HALF AND HALF
3 oz PROSECCO OR BRUT CHAMPAGNE

shake the first 3 ingredients well and strain into a flute or coupe.
top with sparkling wine...slowly so as not to create too much foam...use a straw or spoon to gently fold or mix the ingredients.

I served it with a straw...they preferred it for sipping on.

MATHILDE BELLE DE JOUR Todd Appel

2008-10-09T11:59:00.000-05:00

INGREDIENTS

2 oz PIERRE FERRAND RESERVE Cognac
½ oz Fresh Bosc Pear Pureé
1½ oz Mathilde Pear Liqueur

GARNISH

Spiced Port/MathildeCreme de Cassis syrup
Ramekin of Bleu d'Auvergne stuffed Kalamata Olives

TOOLS

Boston Shaker and strainer
6 oz Cocktail Glass
3 oz Ramekin

Bosc Pear Pureé
1 fresh ripe Bosc pear, peeled and cored
Juice of half lemon.
Add to food processor and pureé. Strain through double strainer.

Spiced Port Syrup
¼ cup Ruby Port
¼ cup Mathilde Crème de Cassis
1 tsp of each Allspice berries, cloves, black pepper corns

Simmer in saucepan until reduced to half. Remove and strain spices. Pour syrup back into saucepan and reduce another quarter. Pour into small bowl, cover with plastic and cool in refrigerator.

Bleu d'Auvergne Stuffed Olives
Large Pitted Kalamata Olives
Bleu d'Auvergne cheese
Reserved Pear Puree

Allow cheese to come to room temperature. Two tablespoons will be enough for 10 olives. Add small amount of pear puree to mixing bowl and cheese. Just enough puree to help soften the cheese with a wooden spoon. Carefully stuff olives with the back of a small spoon. Wipe olives clean of remaining cheese. Chill in refrigerator until needed.

METHOD

Chill a cocktail glass in freezer. Remove and drizzle Port/Cassis syrup into glass creating a beautiful design. To mixing glass filled with ice, add cognac, pear liqueur, pear puree. Hard shake. Strain into syrup coated glass. Serve with ramekin of olives. About 3-5 Olives per cocktail.

WINNER USBG IL MATHILDE NO LIMITS COCKTAIL COMPETITION 2008

SURFISTA BATIDA COCKTAIL todd appel

2008-10-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

INGREDIENTS:

2oz SWEETENED AÇAÌ PUREE
1 ½ oz 10 CANE RUM OR CACHACA
½ oz CRÈME DE CASSIS
½ oz HONEY
½ oz CREAM
LIGHT DUSTING OF VIETNAMESE CINNAMON

METHOD:

Fill Boston shaker with ice. Add all ingredients to shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and add cinnamon stick garnish. The drink will be rich and thick and flavorful.

Açaí (ah-sah-eee) is a small fruit from the Açaí palm tree that grows in the Amazon rainforest. It tastes like a mixture of berries and chocolate. It has become extremely popular with Cariocas in Rio de Janeiro, and especially with the surfers. Usually made into a smoothie with guarana at the local juice shop by the beach or served in a bowl with fruits for breakfast. It is very thick and has an interesting texture and flavor.

“A Surfista” (ah surf-eesta) means “the surfer” in Portuguese

I made this for a 10 Cane Rum competition a couple years ago.

It is a nice creamy, almost chocolaty, cocktail

BRAZILIAN COCKTAILS AND BATIDAS Todd Appel

2008-10-07T12:24:00.001-05:00

Brasilian Cocktails at Academia da Cachaça in Rio

The Caipirinha is now a well known cocktail here in the
US, and the “national” drink of Brazil has introduced
cachaça to the American palate and bar.

Brazil is rich with flavors, tastes, and perspectives that
have been blended with cachaça in an amazing array of
cocktails unknown in the US. Exotic fruits like açaí (ah-
sah-ee), graviola (soursop), acerola , cajú (ka-zhu,
cashew), maracujá (mara-ku-zha, passion fruit), agua de
coco (coconut water), caldo de cana (cane juice) and
flavors like cinnamon, honey, milk and amazing
concoctions like pau do índio (can be translated as stick
or club or male appendage of the “Indian”) a type of
drinkable bitters made from cachaça infused with many
herbs, spices, and barks.

The batida (bah-chee-dah) is loosely translated as
“beaten”: a cocktail that is either shaken hard or served
as a frozen blender drink. They are almost always made
with cachaça, fruit, milk, sugar and ice as a base mixture.

The place for the batida is not usually the hotel or fine
bar, but rather a barraca (ba-ha-ka, a tent and mobile
bar and/or restaurant) on the beach where you can
order sodas, beer, beach chairs, iced coconuts etc…and
of course a batida made from scratch.

Barraca and mixologist!

Each barraca on a beach has a place of business that
surrounds them for a good acre or so. It is their
territory, so to speak. Walk up to the barraca and ask for
a batida de maracujá or a caipi-uva (a Caipirinha made
with fresh grapes) or ask what kinds of fruits they have
and they can make one from any of them.

Usually a batida will be more like a milkshake and
putting the “caipi” in front of any fruit will get you a
cocktail without the milk, in more familiar Caipirinha
form.

BATIDA DE MARACUJÁ
1 Ripe Passion Fruit
1 ½ oz cachaça
¼ can of sweetened condensed milk (leite moça)

Passion fruit is ripe when its skin is wrinkled and looking
almost like it is going bad. The intense aromas are
released immediately upon cutting.

Cut the passion fruit in half and scoop out the inside.
(Passion fruit is very tart and needs to be sweetened for
consumption). Add to shaker with ice and shake and
pour contents into a highball or double Old Fashioned.
Another common method would be to use a blender and
make it a frozen drink or to just blend the ingredients
and pour them over ice. On the beach it would be served
in a plastic cup of whatever type they could get, but just
as delicious! To make this a Caipirinha de maracujá, just
use sugar or simple syrup to taste instead of the
condensed milk. The black seeds of the maracujá make
this a beautifully appealing drink.

During Carnavál in the Salvadór or Porto Seguro in the
state of Bahia (bah-ee-ah), there are rows upon rows of
street barracas on each corner or sidewalk. They are
literally right next to each other competing for dinheiro
(money!) and to be the best cocktail at Carnavál and will
make batidas and other drinks around the clock to the
revelers.

One favorite fruit is the Acerola (ah-se-rola). Acerola is
not common in the US outside of Puerto Rico and is
otherwise known as a Barbados cherry or West Indian
cherry. It has one of the highest contents of vitamin C
any fruit. All the fruit in Brazil can be made into a non-
alcoholic smoothie or drinkable fruit “water”. Just walk
up to a lanchonete (lan-cho-neh-chi…a twisting of the
word luncheonette) and say “uma acerola, por favor”!

But you can easily make the acerola into a Caipirinha de
acerola or batida de acerola.

Simply create the necessary combination of cachaça,
sugar, acerola, milk, or sweetened condensed milk,
minus the extra sugar.

Brazil is made up of many different regions and cultures.
The northeast of Brazil is the land of forró (foe-hoe, a
very energetic polka-esque style dance) and frêvo (fray-
voo, another dance style famous during Carnivál in
Pernambuco). Samba takes a backseat to frêvo and forró
in the hot northeast in the big cities of Recife (he-see-
fay), Maceió, Natál and Fortaleza.

Carnavál in Olinda is one of the best in Brazil. Olinda is a
colonial Portuguese town in Pernambuco near to Recife.
The city is cut off to all automobile traffic during
carnival. An all night excursion up and down its
cobblestone streets dancing and drinking will eventually
lead you to a very interesting drink called Pau do índio.

A homemade concoction that is sold as an aphrodisiac
and stimulant during carnival and made up of cachaça
and 32 herbs and other ingredients, Pau do índio is black
in color and is vaguely reminiscent of Jagermeister.
Little “bodegas”, or cantinas, serve it by the shot to
passing partiers.

A famous cocktail of the northeast is the Capeta (imp or
little devil). At least it is famous in Brazil. A mixture of
cachaça, sweetened condensed milk, guaraná (gwar-a-
na), cinnamon, honey, and Nesquik. The guarana (a
berry from the amazon) is a stimulant containing
caffeine and is easily attainable in the US now and is also
the base for a very popular soft drink by the same name
in Brazil,!

CAPETA
2 oz Cachaça
2 tblsp. Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tblsp. Honey
1 tblsp. Powdered Guarana
1 tblsp Nesquik
½ tsp. Cinnamon
ice

Put ingredients into blender and froth it up! Pour into a
rocks glass and enjoy.

Two somewhat unusual cocktail ingredients used in
Brazil are the fruit of the cashew (cajú) and peanuts
(amendoím). The cashew nut grows on the end of a large
fruit. Cashew juice is very tart, but is still reminiscent of
the cashew nut. In larger US cities, concentrated cashew
juice, as well as other concentrated juices, can be found
at stores that cater to Brazilian expats. But nothing is
beats fresh which is almost always used throughout
Brazil.

Cajú (cashew fruit)

BATIDA DE CAJÚ
1 ½ oz Cachaça
1 oz Cashew Juice
1 oz Simple syrup
ice

Shake and strain on ice in rocks glass

The batida of peanuts may sound odd, but it is delicious.
Peanuts are a favorite snack in Brazil. I substituted
peanut butter for peanuts. It is hard to find peanut
butter in Brazil, but when available, it is used in this
cocktail.

BATIDA DE AMENDOIM (ah-men-doe-een)(peanuts)
1 ½ oz Cachaça
1 oz Peanut Butter (or ground, roasted peanuts)
1 ½ oz Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 oz Milk
½ oz Nescau or Toddy (toe-jee) (types of Nesquik in
Brazil)

This is better made in a large batch, because the milk
must be heated to mix the peanut butter and the other
ingredients, so multiply this by the quantity of drinks
you need.

Heat the milk in a sauce pan and add all ingredients
except the cacao and cachaça to blender and mix.

This mixture should be cooled when it can then be
mixed with the spirits, shaken and served on ice, made
into a batida smoothie, or stored in the refrigerator for
use later.

There are literally thousands of combinations and
flavors in Brazil that the US has not really been exposed
to. A wonderful trend in Brazil is the use of artisanal
cachaça.

Hundreds of different small batched, aged, infused and
high quality cachaças are being used in cocktails or just
for sipping. The culture of cachaça is mature in Brazil
and a great frontier of capricious and creative new
cocktails and cachaças are waiting to be explored by
others in the US and around the world.

One important note of emphasis is that Brazilians always
use fresh fruits and juices in everything they make. At
home, on the beach, in the bar, fresh fruit and juice is the
only way. They are plentiful and available all year round
and Brazilians make use of all of them. Any other way
would not even be considered. The fruit is cheaper than
any pre-made mix anyway….a no brainer!

Links

http://www.academiadacachaca.com.
br/abertura/index.htm Acadamia da Cachaça, menu
and recipes and events

http://www.cachaca.com/frmreceitas.asp Cachaça and
Company… Lists of artisanal cachaças and recipes

http://www.malamados.hpg.ig.com.br/drinksgeral.htm
Recipes

http://www.alambiquecarioca.com.br/receitas.htm
Recipes