Cocktail Experiments 2018

We always record cocktail experiments we would make again. Here are the ones from 2018 we deem delectable. Some of the ingredients may be hard to find in your area, in which case substitutions may be made. We always encourage messing around with ingredients.

Farewell, 2018. We are not sorry to see you go.

From Ginger to Cinnamon to Galangal: Traversing the Globe in Search of the Right Amount of Spice for Friday Night Drinks, Dinner, and Dessert

by Paul Zablocki

If we’re going to have a vodka cocktail, it better taste good, like this one. The Lemonade Ginger Fizz. Sweet, sour, and fizzy. 

Friday night is pizza night. You know the drill: one of you picks up four different slices from your local pizzeria; the other makes cocktails, which sometimes linger well into pizza time.

This Friday was different. Steve made, to my amazement, what could only be called a glorified vodka and soda.* Of course he had to make it special, or why bother?

* The following is a short rant against the vodka and soda, the most boring, stupid, worthless cocktail in the world: It means you want to get drunk and you don’t care how you get there. You might as well hammer a sign to your forehead saying I enjoy the taste of nothing. Why are you cock blocking your taste buds? You’re having a drink; why not actually taste and enjoy the spirits you are imbibing . . . okay, I’m done kvetching—for now.

Steve chose vodka as his base Friday night because he didn’t want to get whiskey-tired. It’s the perfect spirit to mix with when you still have dinner and dessert to contend with. So after he handed me the highball and I tried it, I said, “Wow, that’s really good. A little spicy. What did you put in it, besides the obvious?”

“A little ginger syrup we already had in the fridge and a lot of lemon juice.”

(So, It really wasn’t a vodka and soda. But I’m not sorry for the rant.)

Steve doesn’t like his drinks too sweet before dinner. But he does love sours, with just the right amount of sweetener so you still get that pucker after you take a sip.

Lemonade Ginger Fizz
(created by Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz)

Serves 2

Ingredients
3 ounces vodka
1 1/4 ounces lemon juice
1 ounce ginger syrup*
soda

Method
Shake the vodka, lemon juice, and ginger syrup in ice for 15 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled highball glass. Top with soda.

Enjoy with potato chips.

*Ginger Syrup
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 piece of fresh ginger, about 8 inches
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of water

Method
Wash then mandolin or thinly slice the ginger (no need to peel). In a medium saucepan combine sugar, water, and ginger. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Be careful not to bring to a roiling boil at this point as this will cause the syrup to harden. Allow to cool with ginger in syrup. Strain into jar. Press down on ginger to get all the syrup out. This keeps for about 1–2 weeks, and longer if you add a tablespoon of vodka or other spirit.

❤ ❤ ❤

The ginger stimulated our appetites, so after a few of those fizzes, we decided to make dinner. Steve found a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated, July/August 2016, for the classic Mexican dish tinga de pollo and riffed on it. Normally, you plop the shredded chicken—cooked with cinnamon, cumin, and chipotle chiles in adobo sauce—on a corn tortilla, but since we only had flour tortillas, tacos transmogrified into burritos. Each spice had its moment to shine, but ultimately the smoky adobo sauce makes the dish. You get addicted. Sour cream and lots of Cotija cheese are good foils for the piquant heat of the chiles in the adobo, so we added the sour cream for its cooling effect and the Cotija for its funk. As burritos, they are filling, so we stopped after one, knowing full well that dessert was just a belch and an expectant smile away.

And so dessert. I actually made something I had been pondering for several weeks: galangal ice cream. Just to make sure I wasn’t barking up the wrong tree, I googled galangal ice cream and found one recipe, on the New York Times Web site, then riffed (riffing is a common theme in our kitchen). For those of you new to galangal (pronounced GAL-in-GAL), it’s a rhizome similar to ginger but not as spicy. When you take a whiff of one of the gnarly bulbs, which look like the shiny, articulated segments of a giant insect, you instantly smell camphor, with an undertone of sweet mustard. How can this possibly make for a delicious ice cream? Well, when you add the divine Hawaiian lehua honey (I also used honey from its relative the New Zealand rata) and an udderful of cream and milk, you can’t lose. If you can find fresh galangal (look in Asian markets) and you own an ice cream maker, I say go for it. When you serve it, grab some gourmet—or, better yet, homemade—cookies and make some sandwiches.

Galangal and Honey Ice Cream
(adapted from William Grimes, New York Times)

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup lehua or rata honey (or a combination of the two)
3 ounces or 1/2 cup fresh galangal, peeled (as much as you can) and chopped
6 large egg yolks

Method
In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, heavy cream, honey, sugar, and galangal. Bring to a boil and immediately remove from the heat. Allow the mixture to cool, then transfer to a covered container. Refrigerate at least eight hours, or overnight, to infuse the flavor of the galangal.

Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl, whisk until blended, and set aside. Return the galangal mixture to a metal bowl placed over a pot of boiling water (make sure the water level does not reach the bottom of the metal bowl filled with your mixture; I like to use a medium-size “industrial” salad bowl that hangs well over the perimeter of the pot below, so I can easily manipulate the bowl; however, if you have a double boiler, use the double boiler) over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer, and reduce heat to low. Slowly mix about a cup of the hot galangal mixture into the egg yolks. Add the yolk mixture to the bowl. Cook over low heat, stirring slowly, until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat.

Strain the custard into a mixing bowl, and place in a container of ice water to cool. When the custard is chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Galangal and honey ice cream is easy to make and unique. It's also delicious.

A “Brilliant” Cocktail Keeps a Roomful of Book Critics Happy

The “Brilliant” cocktail shines with the flavors of spicy ginger, lime, and Junípero gin. Make our spicy ginger syrup and you’re ready to dazzle your guests at your upcoming spring/summer party. Photo by Steve Schul.

We’re thrilled now that warm weather has returned — especially after such a long, cold winter. To combat memories of the abominable blizzards, we came up with a “Brilliant” solution. This drink was created for the National Book Critics Circle spring cocktail party 2015, held at the Center for Fiction, in East Midtown. Sarah Russo — a terrific publicist and advocate for the NBCC — gave us only one requirement for the cocktail: we must use Junípero gin, by Anchor Distilling Company of San Francisco. We love this juniper-heavy dry gin, laced with many other herb and bark flavors, and were thrilled to have it as a starting point. The evening’s forecast was warm and very humid, so a cool refreshing drink was in order. We started out with the French 75 as inspiration, and as the basis for the proportions. Lime juice with ginger sounded tropically thirst quenching—a good pairing for the gin. We mixed up a batch of our own Cocktail Buzz spicy ginger syrup, added gin, squeezed some fresh lime juice, shook it up with ice to chill, and topped it all with champagne. Delicious and refreshing—a new summertime favorite! We served it that night to the thirsty literary crowd of book critics and might have heard a murmur, or perhaps the review . . . “Brilliant!”

Paul and Steve mix up some “Brilliant” cocktails for the National Book Critics Circle spring cocktail party. Photo courtesy Sean Sime.

“Brilliant”
(created by Cocktail Buzz for the NBCC)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Junípero gin (or one redolent with juniper)
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce Cocktail Buzz spicy ginger syrup*
2 ounces champagne

Method
Shake gin, lime juice, and ginger syrup in an ice-filled shaker for 15 seconds. Strain into a champagne flute or highball glass. Top with champagne. (You can add an ice cube or two if it’s a particularly close night.)

*Cocktail Buzz Spicy Ginger Syrup

Ingredients
6 ounces fresh, unpeeled ginger, washed and diced (or sliced with a mandoline or pulsed in a food processor)
3 cups of water
1 1/2 cups sugar
pinch salt

Method
Combine the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool completely. Strain mixture into a jar and store in refrigerator for about a week.

Cocktail Buzz Spicy Ginger Syrup Is Your Best Friend This Summer

Homemade ginger syrup is easy to make and will brighten up your cocktail hour. Try this Ginger Pear Highball, made with Berentzen’s light and fresh-tasting pear liqueur.

Crisp ginger ale and its spicier cousin ginger beer are tried and true mixers at your home bar, and for good reason. They combine so well with so much. We love ginger beer in our Zul Mule or in a simple fizzy Presbyterian. These are the perfect drinks for sunny, breezy days. But if we’ve run out of ginger beer, or have some fresh ginger lying around, we love to make ginger syrup to mix with soda. Our homemade spicy ginger syrup is versatile for both cocktails and nonalcoholic “mocktails.” The best part is it’s simple to make.




Cocktail Buzz Spicy Ginger Syrup

Ingredients
6 ounces fresh, unpeeled ginger, washed and diced (or sliced with a mandoline or pulsed in a food processor)
3 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of sugar
pinch of salt

Method
Combine the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool completely. Strain mixture into a jar and store in refrigerator for about a week.

❤ ❤ ❤

Now you can start mixing. Combine the syrup with soda water, to taste, for your own homemade version of ginger beer. It’s really good with some fresh lime juice as well. Or add a little grenadine and the kids have a zestier version of a Shirley Temple we call the Shirley Temple Black.

Ginger Soda

Ingredients
1/2–1 ounce Cocktail Buzz Spicy Ginger Syrup (depending on how sweet you like your drink)
soda, chilled

Method
Fill rocks glass or highball glass with ice. Add ginger syrup, then soda. Stir. You can always add a lemon twist, or perhaps a spring of mint, if it pleases.

Shirley Temple Black
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1/4–1/2 ounce Cocktail Buzz Spicy Ginger Syrup (depending on how sweet you like your soda)
1/4–1/2 ounce grenadine
club soda, chilled

Method
Fill rocks glass or highball glass with ice. Add ginger syrup, grenadine, then soda. Stir. You can always add a lemon twist, if it pleases.

❤ ❤ ❤

Now it’s time to make a cocktail. How about a Dark and Stormy: dark rum mixed with ginger beer and perhaps a little fresh lime juice in a tall glass of ice.

Cocktail Buzz Dark and Stormy

Ingredients
2 ounces dark rum (traditionalists use Gosling’s Black Seal)
1 ounce Cocktail Buzz Spicy Ginger Syrup (recipe above)
1/2 ounce lime juice (optional)
4 ounces soda water (to taste)

Method
Shake first three ingredients with ice and strain into an ice-filled highball glass. Top with club soda. Stir.

❤ ❤ ❤

If you desire something less alcoholic, use you’re favorite liqueur, like the light apple or pear versions that Berentzen sent us recently. Their flavors are crisp, not at all cloying. Add a little of our ginger syrup and soda water and you’re ready for some backyard barbecue festivities. Their low alcohol content makes them the perfect choice for when you want more than one cocktail; we’ll be reaching for these liqueurs again and again this summer.

Apple or Pear Ginger Highball

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Berentzen Pear or Apple Liqueur
1 ounce Cocktail Buzz Spicy Ginger Syrup (recipe above)
4 ounces soda
ice

Method
Stir first two ingredients in ice for 15 seconds ice and strain into an ice-filled highball glass. Top with soda water.

❤ ❤ ❤

We’ve also been adding ginger syrup, in lieu of plain simple syrup, to a lot of classic cocktails. One of our favorite iterations is the Ginger Whiskey Sour. Just add a warm summer night. We think it’s a winner.

Cocktail Buzz Ginger Whiskey Sour

Ingredients
2 ounces bourbon or rye
3/4 ounces Cocktail Buzz Spicy Ginger Syrup (recipe above)
3/4 ounces lemon juice

Method
Shake with ice for 15 seconds and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

❤ ❤ ❤

Pairing Suggestions
Halloumi with Fig Jam
Braunschweiger Spread
Smoked Eel
Sweet Potato Crisps
The Chick’s Peas
Smoked cheeses, such as gouda

photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Halloumi, Meet Your Best Friend, Commandaria

Our Cookbook Challenge Continues with a Provocative Pairing . . .

by Paul Zablocki

Halloumi, a semihard Cypriot cheese, with dollops of white truffle honey and fig jam, pairs so well with a St. John Sour.

We can’t believe almost an entire year has gone by since we started our Cookbook Challenge, for which we take a collection of cookbooks and use one or more recipes for inspiration to develop our own dishes or small bites. For our last challenge, we were to use two Nigella Lawson cookbooks, Feast and Nigella Bites, as our sources. Perusing her easy, homespun recipes, we noticed that Ms. Lawson seems to love the semihard, brined cheese from Cyprus called halloumi: Grilled Halloumi with Oozing Egg and Mint (what a title!); Halloumi with Chilli (the picture is enough to send you to the store searching for this Mediterranean hard cheese). A decision was made; Steve and I decided halloumi would be the focus, but we agreed to go one step further: come up with a cocktail–party food pairing and make sure the cocktail is low in alcohol. (Who doesn’t want to have a second drink at a cocktail party without getting loopy?)

But first, some words on Mediterranean cuisine.

If asked to name their favorite Mediterranean cuisine, most Americans would answer Italian. With good reason, too. How many of us have begun our evenings with some antipasti, paired with an Americano or a less bitter Aperol and soda? Italian restaurants—or Italian-American, rather—inhabit every city in this nation. You’d be hard-pressed to find one that doesn’t. Even Makawao on the island of Maui boasts a bistro that serves cioppino made with fresh local fish.

But putting Italian aside, let us look into less-explored Mediterranean cuisine, that of Cyprus in particular, and its treasured cheese, halloumi.

But first some words about Cyprus.

I was fascinated by Cyprus as a child. To me, this island nation looked like a fish, with a stingray-like tail. If you gaze at a map, you’ll notice that this “fish” has just broken free from the maw of Turkey’s Gulf of İskenderun and is now swimming freely in the clear blue waters of the eastern Mediterranean. While the average Cypriot eats about forty-eight pounds of fish annually, this staple does not make an appearance in this post’s appetizer. It’s mostly just halloumi. But what we do to it . . . .

For our purpose, we will talk about halloumi that is available prepackaged from the grocery store. Briny and sometimes flavored with a hint of mint, halloumi originated on the island of Cyprus, probably over a 1,000 to 1,500 years ago. It’s rubbery and behaves like cheese curds, so that when you bite into a slice, you can hear a little squeak emanating from your maw. Because it doesn’t melt when broiled, fried, or grilled, this block of semihard succulence delivers supreme satisfaction on both taste and texture counts. How? The Maillard reaction, the one created when heat hits proteins and their ilk, and whammo, countless new flavors are born, making your mouth and brain very happy.

If you slice the halloumi into 1/4-inch-thin rectangles (on the short side of the block), you can fry them over medium-high heat in a nonstick pan, à la Nigella, about 2–3 minutes per side. They should ooze their liquid and then brown a little. Check that they don’t get too brown and flip, browning the other side as well. Remove from heat and spread with a mixture of fig name and white-truffle honey. This pairs beautifully with the St. John Sour. If you don’t have white-truffle butter (and we don’t blame you if you don’t), you can use the fig jam alone, but it would benefit the pairing if you sprinkled on some chopped chives or a few thin slices of scallion greens. You can also make your own white truffle honey by mixing some white truffle oil into some thick honey, preferably natural, and combine thoroughly.

Halloumi with Fig Jam and White Truffle Honey
(adapted from recipes culled from Nigella Bites and Feast)

Ingredients
1 8-ounce package halloumi
2 tablespoons fig jam
1 tablespoon white truffle honey

Method

In a small bowl, mix the fig jam and white truffle honey thoroughly and set aside.

Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Remove halloumi from package and cut into 1/4-inch-thick rectangular slices (your rectangles should be about 1 x 2 inches, so make sure you slice along the shorter end). Add slices to frying pan, making sure not to crowd them (you may have to work in two or three batches depending on the size of your frying pan). Check your slices after 2–3 minutes. When they are golden brown in patches, flip and cook for another 2–3 minutes. remove from heat and arrange on a platter. With a spoon, add dollops of the jam mixture to the halloumi, or arrange the bowl next to the halloumi platter and allow your guests to take as much as they want. Serve with a St. John Sour or a St. John Paddy Sour, two cocktails we created using a very special Cypriot wine, commandaria.

❤ ❤ ❤

Commandaria is a nutty port-like dessert wine that originated on the island of Cyprus and is the oldest-named wine still in production. It’s made from two types of grapes, Mavro and Xynestri, which are picked when they have overripened on the vines so that the sugar levels are high. After fermentation and the addition of neutral spirits, commandaria’s alcohol content lies somewhere between 15–20%. That’s especially good for when you want a second drink. And it mixes beautifully with citrus and other bold flavors like ginger. The commandaria shines in these two drinks.

St. John Sour
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces St. John Commandaria (Cypriot wine)
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce ginger syrup*
soda

Method
Shake first three ingredients in ice for 15 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Top with soda. Stir. Add a lemon twist, if you’d like.

*Ginger Syrup
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 piece of fresh ginger, about 8 inches
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of water

Method
Wash then mandolin or thinly slice the ginger (no need to peel). In a medium saucepan combine sugar, water, and ginger. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Be careful not to bring to a roiling boil at this point as this will cause the syrup to harden. Allow to cool with ginger in syrup. Strain into jar. Press down on ginger to get all the syrup out. This keeps for about 1–2 weeks, and longer if you add a tablespoon of vodka or other spirit.

❤ ❤ ❤

You might not think that Irish whiskey and Cypriot wine would go hand in hand, but when mixed with some lemon juice, this drink makes for a smooth ride.

St. John Paddy Sour
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces St. John Commandaria
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce Irish whiskey (Jameson)
soda

Method
Shake first three ingredients in ice for 15 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Top with soda. Stir. Add a lemon twist, if you’d like.

❤ ❤ ❤

For our next cookbook challenge, we will explore Ina Garten’s The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (we love this one) and Robert Carrier’s Entertaining, from 1978 (this one should be fun).

photos ©Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

We Found These Amazing Cocktails on Maui and Bring You the Recipes

The Na Ka Oi Cocktail and the Rain Tree Elixir will wow you with their tropical flavors.

Finding a restaurant on Maui with both creative food and a decent cocktail program can be challenging, but we found such a place in Wailea called Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman, or simply Monkeypod. We dined al fresco, which in Hawaii is practically de rigueur, and were waited on by the expert server Nicole, who made our experience there one of the best we’ve ever had while visiting the fiftieth state.

Steve started out the evening with a Ho‘opono Potion, a bewitching brew of tequila and lime juice mixed with a little Aperol (a bittersweet neon orange aperitif made with bitter oranges and rhubarb, among other botanicals). It paired beautifully with his Hawaiian version of a traditional beet salad (sweet Maui onion, arugula, crispy bacon, chevre, orange ginger dressing), the citrus bringing out all the potent flavors in the tequila, the cucumber taming the light heat.

Paul craved an American whiskey drink, so the Makawao Ave. cocktail, a sort of whiskey sour/old-fashioned hybrid, but with ginger liqueur, fit the bill nicely. It was a perfect partner with the slight bitterness of a simply dressed kale and citrus salad.

We asked for the recipe for the No‘opono Potion, which the lovely Nicole happily wrote down, and while we ate our Pumpkin Patch Ravioli and Fish Tacos, the man who created the drinks, Jason Vendrell, introduced himself. Jason, Monkeypod’s sommelier and beverage manager, explained to us that the owner requested an excellent cocktail program, and the drinks we had before us were the fruits of his labor. He later surprised us with two tiki-inspired cocktails: The fruitjuicy Rain Tree Elixir, made with an açai spirit, coconut water, and kaffir lime leaves, put an instant smile on Steve’s sun-kissed face; the silky smooth No Ka Oi (which means The Best) won Paul’s heart with its explosion of passion fruit and thai basil flavors. Jason told us that he would not be insulted if we didn’t finish the drinks, but who was he kidding? We kept sipping and passing them back and forth, and the only reason we stopped was our rental car’s need for sobriety.

The next night, as we searched for other places to get a cocktail, we decided to return to Monkeypod to try Jason’s famous Monkeypod Mai Tai. A beauty to behold, this rum classic is topped with a lip-smacking honey–lilikoi (passion fruit) foam enhaloed by a ring of golden pineapple. As the bartender prepared the whipped cream gun, fellow imbibers who sat at the bar all watched in admiration as the froth filled the top of the glass. Mahalo Jason for your recipes.

You can re-create these recipes at home. Don’t let the tropical ingredients daunt you. In this day and age, most towns have an Asian or Latin market with fresh or frozen produce, and if that’s not the case, an order from an Internet store can be delivered to you sometimes quicker than it takes to get from Brooklyn to Maui.

Ho‘opono Potion
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Sauza tequila
1/2 ounce Aperol
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
fresh cucumber
lemon wedge, as garnish

Method
In a shaker, muddle a slice of cucumber. Fill with ice and add tequila, Aperol, lime juice, and simple syrup. Shake and strain into an chilled cocktail glass. Add lemon wedge.

Rain Tree Elixir
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces VeeV Açai Spirit
1 1/2 ounces coconut water
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
3 kaffir lime leaves

Method
Muddle kaffir with lime and simple. Add coconut water and VeeV with ice, shake and pour into highball.

Makawao Ave.
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Makers Mark bourbon
1/2 ounce housemade ginger syrup
2 squeezed lemon wedges
3 dashes Angostura bitters
soda
lemon twist, as garnish

Method
Add bitters, syrup, lemon and bourbon to mixing glass with ice. Shake and pour into a highball glass. Top with soda. Add twist.

No Ka Oi
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Ocean Vodka
1 ounce lime juice
3/4 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce honey-lilikoi foam*
5 muddled thai basil leaves
thai basil leaf, as garnish

Method
Muddle thai basil with lime juice. Add all other ingredients with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with thai basil leaf.



Monkeypod Mai Tai
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)

Ingredients
1 ounce Old Lahaina Light Rum
1 ounce Maui Dark Rum
1/2 ounce orgeat syrup
1/2 ounce Dekuyper Orange Curaçao
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
honey–lilikoi foam*
pineapple wheel, as garnish

Method
Add lime, orgeat, orange curaçao and light rum to a mixing glass with ice. Shake and strain over ice into a highball glass. Float dark rum on top. Place pineapple wheel against the side of the glass so it sticks out. Top with foam from whipped cream gun. [SEE PHOTO ABOVE.]

*Honey–Lilikoi Foam
(created by Jason Vendrell, Monkeypod, Maui)
2 parts liliko‘i (passion fruit) puree
2 parts simple syrup
2 parts egg whites
1 part honey
4 parts cold water

photos (taken on an iPhone 4) © Steve Schul

Louis Royer “Force 53” Cognac Makes Its Mark in NYC

A bee, symbolizing the natural world, is the perfect logo for Louis Royer Cognac. For M Royer, it was a symbol of “diligence, an efficient and lively organization, and regional and craftsman work.” We like bees as well.

Last week we were invited to a Cognac tasting at New York City’s Daniel, the Michelin three-star restaurant led by the esteemed chef Daniel Boulud. Master Selector Jérôme Royer and Master Blender Laurent Robin from the award-winning Louis Royer Cognac distillers flew in from Jarnac, France, to regale 75 of us with the history of the Louis Royer company. They also offered us tastings of three Louis Royer cognac expressions, including its latest, “Force 53º,” a high-proof cognac developed especially for the American market, and a total of nine different Force 53º cocktails, created by local bar chefs.

It was our first time at Daniel, and the mood was decidedly festive. Four different cocktail stations were set up in the front dining rooms as mixologists whipped up their creations and waiters passed by with tiny bites of fish and other tasty hors d’oeuvres. Barman Jason Littrell, who was standing in for an absent mixologist Jonathan Pogash (he was busy becoming a new dad—congrats, Jonathan!), offered us each a Commes les Français, a champagne and Force 53º cocktail, mixed with a little Combier Liqueur d’Orange, Lillet blanc, and passion fruit juice, and a rinse of pastis. A lot of ingredients? Yes. But bewitching, indeed. It was the perfect way to start the evening. After about a half hour of sipping and chit-chat (Paul met the lovely Eleanor West from Food Republic, the brainchild Web site from chef Marcus Samuelsson, that caters to men’s taste), we were ushered into the private dining room where we parked ourselves at a table with some of the most delightful ladies on the planet: Jen Pelka, managing Editor of Gilt Taste, and Whitney Chen, also of Gilt Taste, and a current Food Network Food Star finalist.


Four of the nine or so “Force 53” cocktails. This photo reminds us of an old-school paper cocktail menu. Bottoms up!

A collective insobriety hung over the event once we were seated and the gentlemen from Louis Royer began their chats. Jérôme Royer, a fifth-generation distiller, charmed us as he gushed about the family business. “My blood is cognac,” he added before guiding us through tasting his VSOP Preférence and XO expressions, along with the Force 53º. All were incredibly smooth (water had been added to each to open them up), and elicited aahs throughout the room. We could tell right away that the Force 53º would be an excellent base for cocktail creations, and the bar chefs on hand crafted some beautifully redolent and tasty concoctions. Hands down our favorite offering by Jonathan Pogash was his Spice Is Nice, a rocks drink made with Force 53º, Cinnamon Syrup (courtesy of Trader Tiki), some ginger syrup, and some lime juice. What made the drink so special was not its first few sips (which had us hooked), but the garnish: a lime wheel dusted with cayenne that lay perched above the drink. When tipped, the cayenne added a new layer that was surprisingly tasty, without being too spicy.


Three Expressions of Louis Royer Cognac (from left: VSOP Préférence, VSOP “Force 53,” and XO).

As sipping continued, we discovered that Whitney used to be a total science geek (a lot of chefs have admitted to being science geeks—cooking has a definite geek factor that appeals to us); and also that Jen used to be a chef at Daniel. After more getting to know each other and four new cocktails to try, she offered us a dip into the kitchen. We quickly followed her into the heart of Daniel. To behold the hive-like activity that awaited us behind the doors was exciting and entertaining. If you would indulge us with an oxymoron here, a bustling calm canopied the chefs as their hands and tools worked in harmony to make click-clacks on the wood and stainless, and the penetrating gaze of their eyes focused on the final touches of the courses they prepared. The celadon glow of the tiles that line the walls perhaps added to this mood.

Thanks to Hanna Lee from Hanna Lee Communications for the invitation. She brought together formidable talent from all over the world to a magical place in the heart of the great City of New York.

Commes les Français
(created by Jonathan Pogash)

Ingredients
1 ounce Louis Royer “Force 53” cognac
1/2 ounce Combier orange liqueur
1/2 ounce Lillet blanc
1/2 ounce Boiron passion fruit juice
rinse of pastis
2 ounces champagne
lemon peel, as garnish.

Method
Add ingredients to mixing glass with ice and gently fold. Strain into chilled champagne flute that has been rinsed with pastis, and top off with extra champagne. Add lemon peel garnish.

Spice Is Nice
(created by Jonathan Pogash)

Ingredients
2 ounces Louis Royer “Force 53” cognac
1/2 ounce Trader Tiki Cinnamon Syrup
1/2 ounce ginger syrup (from the Ginger People)
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
lime wheel dusted in cayenne pepper, as garnish

Method
Shake ingredients well in ice and strain into an ice-filled old fashioned glass. Add garnish.


Waiters and Chefs, at Daniel, NYC.


Pastry Chef, at Daniel, NYC.


The Kitchen at Daniel, NYC.

All photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz