May We Present You The Most Esoteric Cocktail You Will Never Make

MxMo LLXXII: Drink Your Vegetables
Hosted by Fogged In Lounge

The Logan 5: Parsnips and Carrots in a way you’ve never seen them before.

Cocktails, like fashion, follow trends. One day you’re sipping classics, like a Daiquiri or Manhattan, while sporting steampunk regalia; the next, you’ve back-closeted these for something trendier, perhaps a barrel-aged mastic-infused brandy cocktail that looks great on you along with your latest flight of sartorial fancy. This month, for Mixology Monday, a monthly online cocktail challenge that has been known to follow such trends, we are invited to create a new, or extol the virtues of an extant, drink that shines because of its vegetable matter.

Parsnips infusing in moonshine

A year or so ago we started infusing spirits like crazy, and many of our mad scientist experiments have paid off. One cocktail that we have not yet shared with our readers for obvious reasons involves three infused spirits. This one-off would be ideal for a bar or restaurant that can highlight this on its menu, but for home? Who, besides a total cocktail geek, is going to wait a week or so for all these infusions to reach their peak flavor profiles? Patience, one of the most difficult virtues for us 21-centurists to follow, is needed.

Parsnips in moonshine
 (closeup)

We had infused some Korean soju over a year ago with carrots for a Korean barbecue fest, and also some clean moonshine with parsnips for God knows what reason. Combined with some ginger tincture we had brewing, along with some Quebecois maple liqueur and Vermont maple syrup, this seemingly ill-conceived concoction actually tasted great. Especially with the addition of some organic egg white to give the libation a silky mouthfeel. The entire affair tasted like springtime, so we started riffing and free-associating on this fact to come up with a name we liked. Spring’s Bounty led to Spring Meadow, which made us think of Easter, and then the godawful Renewal. But it was Renewal that led us to Logan 5. Science fiction aficionados will get the reference, but for those of you who do not remember the 1976 film Logan’s Run (we will not discuss the remake), the lead character’s name is Logan 5. He is a Sandman, or rather, an officer of the futuristic domed city, charged with preventing people who are 30 years old from trying to escape their fate: Carrousel. You see, Carrousel is a bullshit event whereby 30-year-olds are destined to achieve Renewal, i.e., the afterlife. Just watch the movie with one of these. It will all make sense.

Logan 5
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces parsnip-infused moonshine*
1 ounce carrot-infused soju**
1/2 ounce maple liqueur (such as Sortilège)
1/2 egg white
1/2–1 teaspoon ginger tincture***
1/2–1 teaspoon maple syrup

* Infuse 1/4 cup shredded parsnip in 1 1/2 cups clear moonshine (you can substitute vodka) for up to a week, shaking once or twice every day. Strain into a clean jar or bottle. Label.

** Infuse 3 to 4 carrots, cut into pieces, in 2 cups soju (at about 20% abv) for up to a month, shaking once or twice every day. Strain into a clean jar or bottle. Label.

* Infuse 1 large knob of ginger, peeled and cut into pieces, in 1 cup clear moonshine (you can substitute vodka) for up to 2 weeks, shaking once or twice every day. Strain into a clean jar or bottle. Label.

Method
In a Boston shaker, add all the ingredients except ice and shake vigorously for about 30seconds. Then add ice and shake vigorously for another 15–30 seconds. Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Variations
If you don’t want to use egg white, you can shake all the other ingredients in ice, strain into an ice-filled highball glass, and top with soda. Add a brandied cherry, or something akin to that, cupped in a half-moon orange slice, and speared with a pick. We’ll call this one the Jessica 6.

Further Exploration 
And, if you’ve caught the creativity bug, start your own infusions. Just walk around the produce aisle of your local grocery store for some inspiration. Then make a beeline to the liquor store for the perfect vehicle for whatever produce you just bought. Soju or some clear moonshine are a good start.

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Now, the next time you have a Manhattan, you’ll hit your forehead with the palm of your hand and exclaim, “Wow, I could’ve had a Logan 5.”


Other cocktails that use veggies:
Adam and Srirachacha (tomatoes)
Gibson (onions)
Ruby (beets)
Zul Mule (cucumbers)
Clear and The Wink (celery)
Martini (olives)

Mixology Monday XLVI: All About Absinthe! (and mules too!)

The Old Mule blends aged rum and ginger beer with a touch of absinthe.

Lucid was the first legal absinthe reintroduced to the United States a few years back, and since then, dozens of brands of the green-eyed fairy have been appearing on the shelves of liquor stores across this nation of discriminating and indiscriminate drinkers. For those who are discriminating, such as Sonja Kassebaum, distillery owner, blogger, and host of this month’s Mixology Monday, Lucid is a perfect start for mixologists and dabbler’s alike. We bought a bottle of it at Lenell’s in Red Hook, Brooklyn, for 60 bucks right when it came out, and starting looking up old-school recipes that called for a dash here, or two dashes there. The Rattlesnake is a perfect example of what absinthe can do using such a small amount: rye, egg white, lemon juice, simple syrup, and last, but not least, absinthe to give the Rattlesnake its bite.

Alone, absinthe can be a bitter comfort for some who like their way-high-in-alcohol spirits to lull them into a sleepy state of confusion. But turning the high-octane of this anise-flavored spirit into a louche will turn any pre-dinner or postprandial tippler into a believer. Recently, at Hotel Delmano in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Paul ordered some St. George Spirits absinthe verte, and it came complete with the multi-spigoted urn filled with icy tap water, holey decorous absinthe spoon with a sugar cube placed atop it, and a glass of absinthe poised under the spigot to collect the water slowly dripping onto the eagerly awaiting cube, and then through the spoon. Watching the sugar cube slowly dissolve is half the fun; the other half is watching the absinthe turn opalescent. It does this because of insoluble components in the spirit. It’s a neat effect, and with the addition of the sugar water, the bitterness naturally abates. Drink slowly or you’ll be drunk faster than you can say “Oscar Wilde.”

A big fan of both playing with absinthe and coming up with mules (highballs with ginger beer), Steve plied his mixology skills by coming up with two devilishly delicious drinks. We’ve written about his Lancaster’s Mule, named after a character in Allan Gurganis’s White People, and how rum and absinthe marry well when ginger is introduced. This mule is made with white rum, but what if you’re jonesing for an aged-rum libation? Look no further, for the Old Mule delivers lots of deep flavors and a nice bite.

Old Mule
(created by Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces aged rum (try Flor de Caña 18 yr.)
1 teaspoon absinthe (try Lucid)
3 dashes Angostura bitters
4 ounces ginger ale, or a mild ginger beer
ice

Method
Stir rum and absinthe in ice for 30 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled highball or double rocks glass. Top with chilled ginger beer.

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Does absinthe make you hallucinate? Not in the LSD sense. But at about 124 proof, if you drink it enough at one sitting, you may start seeing Salome dance for the head of John the Baptist. You’ve been warned.

Mixology Monday XLII: A Dairy Drink That Will Surely Make You Dizzy with Delight

The Maltese is a creamy, bittersweet delight.

Egg whites bestow cocktails with a silky smooth texture that makes for a magical mouthfeel. Cream adds a richness that instantly puts cocktails in the category of “dessert” or “breakfast.” (How many of us have enjoyed a Ramos Gin Fizz in the AM hours, before putting food into our gullets?) And speaking of gullets, this month’s Mixology Monday is hosted by Chris Amirault at eGullet Forums. Chris has asked us to use dairy products in our cocktail, and we have decided to put forward one that uses two just like our friend Ramos: heavy cream and egg whites.

We came up with the idea for our cocktail this summer when we were working with Piedmont Distillers for a special Spirited Lunch at Bourbon House during Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. The dessert in question: molasses and cornmeal custard with creole cream cheese ice cream. Instead of finding something complementary to pair with the cornmeal custard (which has the breadlike consistency of an Indian pudding), we decided to go all-out dairy and try to match the flavors in the dish with the flavors in the drink.

Since we were making the cocktail for a Southern dish, why not use Southern ingredients. So we brewed up a pot of chicory coffee (perfect for morning or postprandial sipping), and reached for the bottle of Grandma’s Molasses. Catdaddy, the flavored moonshine we used in our cocktails for the lunch, has just the right sweetness to marry the bitterness of the coffee and molasses, and by adding cream and egg white, the frothiness you get from shaking the hell out of the mixture makes for a pretty, layered concoction. We couldn’t just stop there though and had to add some orange-scented chocolate shavings just to give it another dimension.

The Maltese

(created by Cocktail Buzz)

2 ounces Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine (now Catdaddy Spiced Moonshine)
3 ounces chilled strong coffee (try one with chicory)
1 ounces heavy cream
1 tablespoon molasses
1 egg white
orange & spice-flavored chocolate shavings, as garnish (we use Green & Black’s Organic Maya Gold, but you can improvise)

In a shaker, add all the ingredients except garnish and shake vigorously for about a minute until the mixture gets slightly frothy. Then fill with ice and shake again vigorously for another minute. Strain into glasses. Grate chocolate over each to taste.

Serves 2.

Photo © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Mixology Monday XLI: Vodka Is Your Friend

The Universe Cocktail. A Studio 54 Classic.

Vodka, the most loved and most hated spirit known to us. Flavorless, odorless, colorless. It’s like water with a kick. It can be the darling of the sorority house party or the butt of every serious cocktail-creators joke. Are the young ladies of the former drinking just to get drunk with the least amount of calories and flavor? Probably. Are the latter really snobs, poo-pooing the former’s love for such a boring way to get drunk? Most likely. But for some reason, vodka is the go-to spirit when you need to reacquaint yourself with an old friend like the Harvey Wallbanger. The Vesper. The Vodka Martini.

One of our favorite vodka drinks is perfect for a hot summer night, harking back to the age it was invented in 1978. The Universe, as our esteemed vodka cocktail is called, was unveiled at Studio 54, winning First Prize in the the U.S. Bartenders Guild Annual Competition.

The Universe
(adapted by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1/2 ounces Midori melon liqueur
1/2 ounce vodka
1/2 ounce Dumante pistachio liqueur
1/2 ounce pineapple juice
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

Method
Shake for 15 seconds in an ice-filled shaker. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

If you want to know what pairs perfectly with The Universe, watch our video that places baked coconut shrimp side by side with this disco classic. A great combo for a summer barbecue.

Variation
The original Universe had 1 1/2 ounces of pineapple juice. If you’re a big fan of pineapple juice, why not give it a try. Have one with brunch or with a group of friends on a lazy afternoon.

photo © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Mixology Monday XXXIX: Bitter Is Better with Amaro

Our taste buds love to be licked by a little bitter now and again, and cocktails are the perfect gateway to explore how bitterness intermingles with sweet and sour flavors. Amari, or bitter liqueurs used historically for digestive and other medicinal purposes, now find themselves the stars in many a bar chefs creations.

Count Niccolò Branca visited New York City recently, and we attended a luncheon wherein he told us a little bit about the history of Fernet Branca. Not only is this extremely bitter fernet popular in Italy, as one would assume, it is huge in Argentina, where folks like to take it with Coca-Cola. (Perhaps you can come up with a new highball using these two ingredients.) Steve was inspired by the Count, and the drink that was served, so he decided to come up with his own cocktail. We liked it so much we decided it would be a great contender for the Monteleone Cocktail contest sponsored by the Monteleone Hotel. (Today is the deadline, so read here for where to send your entry if you happen to be staying at the Hotel Monteleone during tales of the cocktail this July.)

Monteleone Cocktail

(created by Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces cognac
1 ounce Carpano Antica vermouth
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/8 teaspoon Fernet Branca
lemon twist, as garnish

Method
Shake in ice for 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled glass. Add twist.

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One of our favorite amari is Nonino. Why? Well, according to our taste buds, we find that its perfectly balanced blend of sweet–sour–bitter, and gentle orange notes, needs no mixing (even though we like to mix it now and again in a Brooklyn Nonino). As the old ad rationalizes, “It costs a little more, but it’s worth it.”

Another favorite digestif of Paul’s is Unicum. Not so much for mixing, but with soda. A few splashes, on the rocks, with a lot of soda (lemon twist, if you prefer), and you’ve got a refreshing tummy-soother. Unicum is very similar to Fernet Branca, but not as dry. If anyone has a cocktail that uses Unicum, please share it.

Why do some people like bitter more than others? Just ask Darcy O’Neill, from Art of Drink. Last year at Tales of the Cocktail, he explained to us in the session titled “Sensory Perception in Mixology/What your taste buds are telling you,” that most of us are Tasters. That is, we have a a certain number of receptors on our tongue (papillae) that tell us if the food we are eating is bitter (our ancestors equated bitter food with poison). There are also nontasters who have fewer taste buds, so they don’t have as strong an aversion to bitter foods. Those dubbed supertasters have the greatest number of bitter taste-bud receptors, and usually hate bitter foods and drinks. These peeps are labeled “picky” or “fussy.” Though, there is hope for the supertaster: If you can’t find balance, try training your taste buds to accept bitterness one drop at a time. Start with some Nonino, then work yourself up to, say, Campari, and then, for the ultimate challenge, a few drops of Fernet Branca or Unicum. If you can handle the fernets, then we think you’ve trained yourself pretty well. Congratulations.

Monteleone Cocktail photo © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Mixology Monday XXXVI: Drink Tips for the Recession-Addled Tippler

A new highball finds its way into the hearts of two guys from Brooklyn.

Matthew Rowley of Rowley’s Whiskey Forge has lost his job. As a man of the spirituous world, he will need some helpful hints to get him through his hard times. Cocktail Buzz offers four easy ways to help stretch your wallet while we try to rid ourselves of eight years of misguided legislative decisions. Follow these simple Steps and you will find peace, enlightenment, and super savings as we battle the pernicious spread of recession.

Step #1: Drink (and eat) at home. The price of a fancy cocktail at boutique bars is, well, exhorbitant during these trying days. You may find that staying at home to drink will save you big time. Don’t stop going to your favorite watering hole altogether (you’ve built cherished relations with the men and women behind the bar and they will surely miss your meticulously researched inquiries into their craft). Drinking at home all the time will definitely raise eyebrows, though. You will want to keep your communication skills active, so head to the bar on payday. And regarding dinner, we put eat in parentheses above since many times you would forgo dinner if too much effort was involved in eating at home; after all, if you’re used to making three separate Manhattans using the new fancy whiskeys you picked up during your trip to Louisville, you won’t be doing much of that anymore, so dinner at home is not only viable, but practical. (And put down that phone—we are not talking about delivery.)

Step #2: Split your drink. And if you don’t have anyone to split your drink with (since you’re drinking more at home now), make half-cocktails. This will help improve your math skills when you are trying to figure out how much half a dash is. If you’ve lost your job, add math skills to your resume. We know you want to drink more to cushion the blows that your 401(k) keeps inflicting on your future, but you must replace foolish notions with mature practice. Drinking less will lower your tolerance; therefore, less is needed to get you to the point of feeling that click of peacefulness, as Brick so eloquently puts it in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Step #3: Use Paper Towels. Use a paper towel to soak up any spills, then squeeze the spirits back into the bottle or glass that has lost its precious cargo. (Make sure you buy them in bulk at Costco or Sam’s Club for more savings.) For extra credit, rinse your paper towel and hang it over a makeshift clothesline in your bathroom that you’ve McGyvered using a piece of string and two screw hooks. If guests ask, “What gives?” tell them you are creating a backdrop for your next cocktail photo shoot. Their initial horror will turn to admiration.

Step #4: Make Highballs. Highballs are a perfect way to stretch that bottle of booze. Just add an ounce ora n ounce and a half of your favorite (or available) spirit, fill that glass with some seltzer (very cheap if you buy the no-brand brand), and forget the garnish. If you need extra flavor, try some of those old spices that have been hanging out in your cupboard. You know, the ones that you’ve been using a little more of now that you are cooking at home. This is also a good opportunity to use some of those dusty-bottled liqueurs that have lain hiding in the back of the sideboard. Mix two together, add soda, and voilà, you have yourself a new cocktail. Give it a fun name and serve it to guests who are awed by your knowledge of spirituous arcana.

We hope that our tips have been helpful. And if you’r eever in Brooklyn, and want to get together for a drink please bring over a bottle. We’ll be happy to add some soda and forgo the twist.

photo © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Mixology Monday XXXV: Broaden Your Horizons with Moscato d’Asti

The Wink, fruity, crisp, and slightly effervescent.

We decided that this Mixology Monday we would chose Door No. 3 and use an ingredient we haven’t used before in a new cocktail. Our newbie: Stout. We tried mixing it with Scotch (ugh), Drambuie (better), Old Krupnik honey liqueur (interesting), Tuaca (self-effacing), crème de violette (beguiling), crème de cacao (sorority), crème de violette and crème de cacao (now we’re onto something)—then a DEAD END. We decided we just didn’t like stout enough to give a rat’s ass, so we ditched the idea and searched for something new.

Upstairs, in our mini fridge lay a bottle of Moscato d’Asti. Why not Moscato d'Asti? It’s fruity, light, and slightly effervescent. After trying different spirits mixed with the Moscato, such as dark rum (double ugh), and Hendrick’s gin (very interesting), we thought pear brandy (eau de vie) interplayed well with the green apple and apricot notes in the Moscato d’Asti. And to take the ever-so-slight cloying sweetness away, we added a few drops of the Bitter Truth celery bitters. You can even place a single celery leaf to float atop this winey delight to add a hint of celadon. Crisp, slightly sweet, and oh so refreshing. Serve it with appetizers and hors d’oeuvres at your next cocktail party, such as spiced nuts or bacon-wrapped water chestnuts drizzled in a soy–caramel glaze.

The Wink
(created by Paul Zablocki and Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces Moscato d'Asti
3/4 ounce pear brandy (we like Clear Creek)
dash of celery bitters (The Bitter Truth)

Method
Pour chilled ingredients in wine glass in order above. Garnish with celery leaf.

Using the Moscato has opened a new door for us: wine-based cocktails, and not just those using quinquinas, sherries, or ports, but cabernets, pinots, and chablis. Stay tuned.

text by Paul Zablocki
photo © Steve Schul

Mixology Monday XXXIII: Gay Caballero, or Infused with Walnuts

The Jack Twist . . . a sweet, nutty Cowboy drink.

As bartenders, bar chefs, mixologists—call us anything you’d like—we like to tinker. Something deep inside prevents us from ever being satisfied with settling for labeled distilled spirits. So what do we do? We strive to create flavors that excite, challenge, and hopefully satiate our ever-exploring palates by changing a spirit’s flavor profile. Like Byrd searching for the South Pole, we bravely face adversity as we taste-taste and mix old reliable spirits with a dash of this and a pinch of that, wait a few days (or weeks . . . or months), and blammo, we’ve created a liqueur.

Enter walnuts. Walnuts are one of our favorite nuts. They add a perfect complement to chocolate in a Toll House Cookie. Their marriage with bananas are a classic to-die-for component in many breads, desserts, and breakfast fare. Why not go all walnut on some whiskey such as Jack Daniel’s? After all, Jack is filtered through sugar maple charcoal. Perhaps maple and walnut would do the two-step with some tasty results. Well, after toasting some walnuts in the oven, and then infusing the darkly aromatic bits in some Jack for three days, the whiskey acquired a pleasant viscosity that made for a more pleasurable mouthfeel. Add some walnut liqueur and a little bit o’ dark brown sugar, shake it all up, and strain into a very receptive rocks glass, eager to feel the pulse of your waiting lips. Don’t forget to throw in a tiny twist of lemon, so it’ll kiss you with every sip.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the drink was named after the character in Brokeback Mountain, as portrayed by the inestimable Jake Gyllenhaal. Add a little bit of advocaat to the mix (about a 1/2 ounce), and you’ve got yourself a Jack Nasty.

Jack Twist
(created by Paul Zablocki, Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces toasted walnut-infused Jack Daniel’s*
3/4 ounce walnut liqueur
1/2 tablespoon dark brown sugar
small lemon twist (about 1/2 inch)

Method
Shake vigorously with ice for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled rocks glass. Garnish with the twist.

* Walnut-infused Jack Daniel’s
2 cups Jack Daniel’s whiskey
1/4 cup walnuts

Pour Jack Daniel’s into an airtight container. Toast walnuts in 350°F oven, or on stove top in skillet, for up to 12 minutes, careful not to burn (shake skillet occasionally). When walnuts have started to brown and you can smell their oils being released, remove from heat and add to Jack Daniel’s. Cover. Infuse for 4 days, shaking occasionally from day to day. After four days, strain Jack Daniel’s into a clean container, and discard walnuts.

photo © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Mixology Monday XXXII: A Guilty Pleasure Disclosed

Ah, the guilty pleasure. For some it involves French Fries and a Big Mac, purchased at a rest stop after long-distance stomach grumbling. We try justifying our purchase by telling ourselves, “Well it’s either a Big Mac or some pizza that looks like it’s been sitting under that orange light for eight hours, at least the Big Mac is fresher.” For others, only the guilty pleasure of a pint of Häagen-Dazs Rocky Road will do. And at over 1,000 calories, the guilt really slaps you across the face before depositing itself in your butt, thighs, and stomach. If only we could extract the guilt from these pleasures. Why are we so ashamed to let the cat out of the bag when it comes to the stuff we really like? Because people are mean. Plain & simple. “You ate a Slim Jim and washed it down with a rum and Caffeine-Free Diet Coke? What are you, some sort of culinarily challenged rube?” The one thing we don’t do here at Cocktail Buzz is judge you for what you like or dislike. Granted, if you don’t like us, you clearly have no taste. But if you do, then by golly, we like you too.

That said, we like Harvey Wallbangers.

According to absoluteastronomy.com:

“The Harvey Wallbanger is an alcoholic drink or cocktail made with vodka, Galliano, and orange juice. This well known tipple was one of many cocktails invented by renowned and two times world champion mixologist Donato ‘Duke’ Antone. Other notable ‘Duke’ creations are the Rusty Nail, The Godfather and the Flaming Caesar. This is one of many cocktails invented by ‘Duke’ in Los Angeles during the 1950s. According to legend, Harvey was a California surfer. After losing an important contest, he consoled himself in Duke’s Blackwatch bar with one of his ‘special’ screwdriver cocktails.”

Thank you Mr. Antone.

Our parents drank Harvey Wallbangers in the 1970s, and if they were good enough for them, they’re good enough for us. Who can resist the sweet and tangy goodness of fresh-squeezed orange juice. And Galliano? Just envisioning the chartreuse, tapered bottle is enough to send us into paroxysms of liqueur-lust when there are Florida oranges in the fruit bowl waiting to be deflowered. Unscrewing the cap of Galliano and smelling that vanilla-anise whiff is another step on the road to insobriety, and because the Harvey Wallbanger is a terrific brunch drink, you can feel guilty (or not) about drinking before you’ve even thought about what you’re going to make for dinner. Try having two Harvey Wallbangers . . . you’ll stop thinking about dinner altogether. We encourage having several with friends. It makes for such a fun meal. (Click here to read about our Wallbanging escapades with two delightful dining companions.)



Harvey Wallbanger
(adapted by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces vodka (try Sobieski)
3 1/2 ounces fresh-squeezed orange juice
1/2 ounce Galliano
small ice cubes

Method
Stir vodka and orange juice in an ice-filled highball glass for 5 seconds. Float Galliano on top. Add a straw if you so desire. For a twist, try fresh-squeezed tangelo juice.

photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Mixology Monday XXXI: Imbibing Old School with Old Tom

In C. F. Lawlor’s 1855 The Mixicologist, or How To Mix All Kinds of Fancy Drinks, there appears a recipe for The Improved Tom Gin Cocktail. For those of you who are not familiar with Old Tom Gin, or are but have never tried it, we direct your attention to Hayman’s Old Tom Gin, a botanically nuanced, balanced gin that is pleasantly sweet. Old Tom gin is called for in a lot of 19th-century cocktails, and has always been available in England, but in the U.S. it has only been recently made available since departing some time in the 1950s. Imagine taking your favorite London Dry Gin and adding a little simple syrup to it. That’s Old Tom gin in a nutshell. So we thought it would be fun to pick up a bottle and make one of Lawlor’s recipes, and see what happens.

The Improved Tom Gin Cocktail differs from its predecessor, the Tom Gin Cocktail, by requiring Curaçoa [sic] in place of simple syrup. We decided on l’Original Combier Liqueur d’Orange for our Curaçao, a perfect match since Combier touts itself as being the original triple sec (from 1834). It’s also delicious, with intense orange aroma and taste. Add to that a few dashes of The Bitter Truth Orange Bitters, which gives the drink a jolt of sharpness, and you've got on your hands a 19th-century recreation that will pack quite a punch. A few sips of this, and you'll feel like your brain’s taken a mini-vacation (both spirits are 80 proof.) As far as garnishing goes, we had some blueberries left over from a blueberry-stout salsa we had just made, so we threw in a few to give the drink a little color (and it’s always extra nice to bite into a gin-soaked berry once the drink has been imbibed).

So here’s our recipe for this 19th-century spirituous delight, based on C. F. Lawlor’s:

Improved Tom Gin Cocktail
(adapted by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces Old Tom gin
1/4 ounces triple sec
3 dashes orange bitters

Method
In a mixing glass filled halfway with ice, stir the ingredients for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish. Sip. Get carried away.

Further Exploration
We are happy to report that since posting this, a new Old Tom gin, developed with the collaboration of cocktail guru David Wondrich, has hit the market. It’s from Ransom, and it touts itself as being historically accurate, the way gin was made before Prohibition. Its hue is a deep gold, and the smell and taste of the botanicals and slight maltiness will definitely win you over, tempting you to make old school pre-bathtub gin cocktails, like the one above. Seek it out today and start stirring tonight.

photo © Cocktail Buzz

Mixology Monday XXX: It’s a Brooklyn Thing

The Brooklyn Nonino, perfect for a Brooklyn sunset.

So, what better way to celebrate the place we live than riff on the classic Brooklyn Cocktail, which unfortunately contains the unattainable Amer Picon (and we had no time to create Amer Boudreau . . . but perhaps next time).

Ah, Brooklyn. The borough we love. Our Brooklyn Cocktail variation, which we imbibed tonight while overlooking the Brooklyn (and Manhattan) skyline, is made using another amaro, one of our favorites, Nonino. Bittersweet bliss. And with the addition of a bit of orange rind, the complexity of all of its components reveals itself exposing a bright New World essence that is this great borough. You’ll already have all the other ingredients at home, so go out and get some of that Nonino, stir until cold, and fuhgettaboutit.

Brooklyn Nonino
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces rye (we used Wild Turkey)
1/2 ounce dry vermouth (we used Noilly Prat)
1/4 ounce Amaro Nonino
1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur (we used Luxardo)
orange peel, as garnish

Method

Stir all but garnish in a pint glass 2/3-filled with ice for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled cocktail glass. Add garnish.


Greetings from the Buzzed Boyz in Brooklyn.

photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz