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.

Summertime Cocktail Experiments, sans Summertime Ingredients

Variations on the Manhattan are all the rage. This Cynar Manhattan will delight you with its bittersweet bliss.

This summer our terrace garden lies fallow. For the third summer in a row, our inattentive landlord has neglected the reconstruction of our outdoor space, not to mention the repairs needed inside, most likely to get us out of here so he could then fix the place up and jack up the rent, in preparation for multi-six-digit-figure tenants. Sound familiar? Normally, we would be making infusions and party food nibbles using organic fresh herbs. Hyssop Julep this year? Sorry, no dice. Borage-garnished Pimm’s Cup? Not a chance. We don’t even have any basil, mint, or rosemary, three summertime staples we’d be muddling, chiffonading, and infusing in order to reinvigorate our library of cocktail and appetizer recipes. A summer barbecue without Gin Stevies and brunches without Adams have reduced us many a night to bourbon and ginger–swilling layabouts.

But enough of that. Let’s look on the bright side. Because of our lack of herbaceous freshness, the two of us have been forced (and we use “forced” the way a lush is forced to accept the offer of a second drink) to use primarily the spirits on our shelves. The results have been elucidative: A good drink is a good drink no matter how many ingredients, common or obscure, fresh or preserved, it takes to make it. Take for instance our new “up” tequila cocktail. In our notebook, it’s simply called “Tequila Martini/Manhattan,” but that will not do for this pale-to-almost-clear, lovely concoction. Let’s call it a

Blanco Nuevo
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces silver tequila
1 3/4 ounces white (bianco) vermouth
1/4 ounce rhubarb syrup (from Ikea)
1 dash Regan’s orange bitters
brandied cherry, as garnish (these were homemade, but any kind you like will do)

Method
Stir in ice for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled glass. Add cherry.

Looking at it, you would indeed think this was some strange hybrid of a Martini and a Manhattan, but the first sip gives away the main ingredient, tequila. You must use silver tequila for this baby or you won’t get that whisper-of-amber hue. The rhubarb syrup adds some bittersweet bliss, and the white vermouth, which is the perfect foil for silver tequila, balances the tequila and the syrup. A dash of orange bitters rounds it out. The cherry is mere folly, but, when you make your own, you end your drink with a boozy reward.

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Another one of our experiments, a variation on the classic Manhattan (if you’ve followed us you know how much we love to riff on the Manhattan), uses Cynar [pronounced chee-NAHR], a dark and bittersweet Italian liqueur, or amaro, in conjunction with the requisite sweet vermouth. Again, we bandy about the phrase ”bittersweet bliss,” because that is what you’ll be experiencing once you’ve drawn this luscious libation to your lips. We’ll just keep the name straightforward and call it a

Cynar Manhattan
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces rye (we used Rittenhouse bonded)
1/4 ounce Cynar (artichoke amaro)
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth (we used Martini & Rossi)
brandied cherry, as garnish

Method
Stir in ice for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled glass. Add cherry.

If you love other amaro, such as Campari, you’ll really take a shine to this one. Cynar is made from artichokes. It sounds odd, but it works so well with rye and sweet vermouth. You don’t need your usual dash of bitters because the Cynar takes care of that. This is the drink we sip on our derelict terrace, while viewing the crepuscular Manhattan skyline. Both drink and view are splendid.

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While messing around with the new-and-improved Galliano (remember Harvey Wallbangers?), we decided that both rye and bonded applejack (American apple brandy) made it taste mm mm good, along with some Carpano Antica sweet vermouth. Some bitters added more piquancy and united all these spirits into a drink we call Willam Tell All (which is what you’ll be doing after just one of these).

William Tell All
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 ounce bonded apple brandy (Laird)
1 ounce rye (Templeton)
1/2 ounce Galliano l’Autentico
3/4 ounce Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
dash Angostura bitters
dash Peychaud’s bitters
expressed lemon peel

Method
Stir in ice for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled glass. Express lemon peel and discard.

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And just in case you thought we didn’t like Manhattans, here’s another variation we have been playing around with that uses aged rum. Right now it’s called a

Rumhattan
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces aged rum (we used Santa Teresa from Venezuela)
1 ounce Punt e Mes vermouth
1 dash angostura bitters
expressed, flamed orange peel, as garnish

Method
Stir in ice for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled glass. Express orange peel through a match flame by holding the match over the drink and, with your other hand, in one quick, sharp squeeze, pinch the peel (outside of peel facing the match) so the oils spurt through the flame, causing a gentle flare-up. Then gently rub the outside of the peel around the rim and drop into the glass.

This aged rum Manhattan is rich and deep, with the slightest bitter edge. We even celebrated National Rum Day with it, and it pleased us immensely.

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If we try to find a common them among these three drinks, the phrase “bittersweet bliss” again looms over  the whole affair. We suppose that phrase can be applied to the way we feel about our digs: We love our pad, but we don’t like the politics that go along with being tenants of neglect. So now you know why these four drinks have been stirred quite a bit during cocktail hour this summer. Despite our whining, we love them all. And don’t forget those bourbon and gingers.

Crafting the Freshest Mojito

Hemingway loved it, as well he should have. Imbibing this Cuban work of art can be a religious experience. 

If ever there was a drink that defined the first decade of the new millennium, hands down it would be the Mojito [pronounced moe-HEE-toe, but you probably already knew that]. Easily recognizable by its limey and minty redolence, the Mojito seemed to pounce on the bar scene in the early aughts as the tropical replacement to the 90’s très façonnable Cosmopolitan. A sigh of relief, really. It seemed time for the vodka-based Cosmo to lose its crown: by the end of the 90’s it had been bastardized to the point where some bartenders were just pouring unmeasured ingredients or prebatched concoctions into an ice-filled glass just to keep the cash register burping contentedly. The Mojito was a welcomed pinch hitter. Light rum, which had always been popular, was due for a resurgence in well-made drinks for the thirsty crowd. Fresh ingredients were a must. But as the decade dragged on, bartenders arms grew weary from muddling, and bar managers saw how long it took to make one. Those life-changing Mojitos you used to imbibe at reputable drinking establishments morphed into sugar-bomb low-rent sludge-fests. We all remember being bewitched by our first, superbly crafted Mojito. It’s high time to return to those flavors, guaranteed by proper muddling with fresh ingredients.

Because we love Mojitos, we’ve been playing around with ratios of ingredients and interpretations of methods for several years. As a result, we never published a recipe. We knew it was the right time to do so when our friend Matt Schepis texted in disbelief. “I looked on your Recipe Index for a Mojito and it wasn’t there.” Sorry, Schepis. We assured him not to worry. The recipe was on its way.

When we make Mojitos with our friends Theo and Curt, we always seem to talk about how widely varying Mojitos can be from bar to bar, party to party, and Theo decries this wide gap that separates a great Mojito—the one that changed your life—from a horrible one. We assured him that ours would be the one to bring back good memories.

Mojito
(adapted by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces light rum
1/2 lime
1 tablespoon sugar

10 mint leaves

mint sprigs, for garnish
soda

ice, preferably crushed or cracked*

Method
Cut lime into wedges. Add mint leaves to shaker, followed by lime wedges, then sugar. Muddle until all the juice is released from the lime, which will dissolve the sugar. Add rum and ice. Shake for 15 seconds and strain into ice-filed highball glass. Top with soda. Garnish with lots of mint sprigs.

* On an exceptionally warm day, if you’re outdoors, you may wish to eschew crushed ice and use cubed ice. Dilution will be slower.

Pairing Suggestions
Guacamole and Chips

Shrimp Cocktail

Baked Coconut Shrimp
Stuffed Grilled Zucchini Bites
Chorizo Sobres

Now Is the Time to Imbibe a Daiquiri

The luminescence of a classic Daiquiri will light up your night.  

Ask anyone from the North Pole to Tierra del Fuego about the Daiquiri, and she will probably say, “I love Daiquiris. I drink them all the time.” Chances are the version she’s drinking is a frozen Daiquiri, and perhaps one with strawberry, banana, or some fruit other than just lime tossed into the blender. This is fine if you like slushy drinks. (Slushy drinks are enjoying a cocktail renaissance at the moment and, during these dog days of summer, may be just what the doctor ordered!) But we’re here to proffer a less noisy interpretation of the original Daiquiri, one that doesn’t involve worrying about having enough ice in the freezer, or a blender that is sturdy enough to grind it to fine crystals; one that goes back to its roots as one of “six basic cocktails” according to David A. Embury is his seminal mid-20th-century classic The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

In his recipe, he mixes two ounces of rum with a half ounce of lime juice, and a quarter ounce of simple syrup, making the finished product a little tart to the uninitiated. No offense to Mr. Embury and his mandate for imbibing pre-prandial drinks on the drier side, but the palate has changed thanks to the disco era’s swirl of cavity-inducing cocktails, and as a result, we crave drinks a little sweeter. But don’t worry, we only use a tablespoon of sugar per drink, which is double the amount Mr. Embury decrees. (And if you wish to keep with tradition and invoke his recipe to the letter, by all means do. It is your drink, after all, and we won’t mind one iota.)

What we discovered when trying to come up with the perfect recipe for the Daiquiri, one that would work with a variety of party food, isn’t really the amount of sugar or light rum in the drink, but the quality of the lime. Pick the freshest one you can find, one so fresh that, when you cut it in half, the oils from the peel mix with the pulpy juice and instantly hit your nose with the smell of its fresh limy essence. After you toss some wedges into a mixing glass along with the white sugar crystals and muddle the heck out of the pair, you will be left with the most delicious juice possible. The oils are released from the sugar crystals abrading the lime peel, and they dissolve in the chartreuse-colored juice.

But what about the strangely spelled name daiquiri? Where does it come from? A little Web-sleuthing reveals that the name derives from Daiquirí (die-key-REE), a beach and an iron mine in Santiago, Cuba, where it was putatively invented by American mining engineer Jennings Cox, who happened to be in Cuba at the time of the Spanish-American War. As the twentieth century progressed, and relations with Latin American countries, such as Cuba, prospered, rum consumption grew, and the Daiquiri, as well as all things Latin American, spiked in popularity.

Although perfect for any time of year, summer feels rather appropriate for a Daiquiri. The commingling of juice and oil from the limes lends itself to rather remarkable food pairings, especially Guacamole with Chips, and Shrimp Cocktail. ¡Salud!

Daiquiri

(adapted by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
2 ounces light rum
1/2 lime
1/2–1 tablespoon sugar (depending on how sweet you like them)

Method
Cut the lime into wedges and add to a shaker. Sprinkle sugar on top. Muddle vigorously, extracting all the juice from the lime, allowing the sugar to dissolve. Add rum and ice. Shake for 15 seconds and strain (or double-strain if you do not want any tiny stray bits of lime pulp – although, if serving with party food, the little lime pulp bits may add flavor nuances) into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe.

Pairing Suggestions
Guacamole and Chips
Shrimp Cocktail

photo © 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

Tasting Spirits & Sipping Cocktails at Tales of the Cocktail 2011, Part II

When bouncing from tasting room to spirited dinner to booze-filled events at Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans’s annual gathering of all things spirituous, one must remember to—well, we already forgot. Oh right. Keep track of all the sips that pass ones lips in order to write about it later. We've waited over a week to jot down Part II of our tasting notes, so forgive us if some information seems fuzzy. We swear we were lucid at the time.

Our friends from Piedmont Distillers, the Makers of Midnight Moon and Catdaddy Carolina Moonshines, were in town to pour their new spirit infusions of Midnight Moon aged with fruit to a very eager public. At 50% abv to extend maximum flavor from the fruits and spices allowed to rest inside the bottles, the flavors are apple pie (apples and cinnamon), cherry, and strawberry (all delicious), but we swear we tried a blackberry or blueberry one too. Sarah LeRoy and Joe Michalak were on hand to answer all our questions and get us a little liquored up before our next tasting, as was bartender/author Joel Finsel, who was sharing his apple-pie mixed drink along with his new book Cocktails and Conversations.

Our spirited dinner at GW Fins was way too long, and featured too many cocktails that did not pair well with the dishes; however, the food was exceptional, and one of our favorite cocktails was created by New Yorker Jason Littrell, who came up with Behind God’s Back. This rum and juice-based drink has a long list of ingredients (it’s allowed to, since it’s a tiki-style drink), and if you’re willing to source all the ingredients, we say go for it. It paired beautifully with chef Mike Neslon’s Spicy Vietnamese Glazed Pork Belly with Jicama Relish and Cilantro Coulis.

Behind God’s Back
(created by Jason Littrell)

Ingredients
1/4 ounce sugar cane syrup
1/4 ounce cinnamon bark syrup
1/4 ounce orgeat
1/2 ounce fresh pineapple juice
1 ounce lime juice
2 ounces Chairman’s Reserve rum
Peychaud’s bitters
Angostura bitters
sprig Israeli mint

Method
Swizzle the syrups, orgeat, pineapple juice, lime juice, and rum with crushed ice. Pour into a Pilsner glass. Top with both the bitters, and garnish with a sprig of Israeli mint.

Imbibe Magazine threw a happy hour party at the Hotel Le Marais, and luckily we were early enough to try several of the drinks on offer, by award-winning bartenders. One that surprised us, and one that we are thinking about driving to Worcester, Mass., for to visit The Citizen Wine Bar is David Delaney’s Charentes Shrub. This tall rye cooler, mixed with Earl Grey–infused Pineau des Charentes (a French aperitif made by blending cognac with a slightly fermented grape must) is topped with India Pale Ale (IPA), and garnished with a rosemary sprig and a chunk of pineapple.

We spoke about Drambuie in our last post, but neglected to print the recipes of the two diametrically opposed flavor profiles in brand ambassador Anthony Caporale’s cocktails, in which he stressed that Drambuie was the only spirit used in both. Quite a feat.

Drambuie Highland Tea
(created by Anthony Caporale)

Ingredients & Method
In a mixing tin with ice, add:

2 ounces Drambuie
2 ounces Fig-Infused Black Tea (steep 8 ounces hot water with loose-leaf Black Tea and 2 sliced Dried Figs for about 5 minutes)
1 Orange Peel, zest only (squeeze to extract oils and drop in tin)

Shake until the tin is frosted, double-strain into a martini glass, float:

1/2 ounce Lavender-Infused Cream (thicken in shaker with Dried Lavender Blossoms and double-strain over bar spoon)

Garnish with a pinch of dried lavender blossoms in center.

Drambuie Krung Thep Nail
(created by Anthony Caporale)

Ingredients & Method
In a mixing tin, press:

1/2 Bird’s Eye Chili Pepper

Add:

Ice
2 ounces Drambuie
1/2 ounce Coco Real
1 ounce Fresh Lemon Juice

Shake until the tin is frosted, strain into a tall glass filled with cubed ice. Top with Reed’s Ginger Brew, stir gently. Garnish with lemongrass spear, bird’s eye chili pepper, and ginger slice.

Everyone Loves Punch During the Holidays (Especially the Host)

Serving punch at your holiday party will take the burden of having to play bartender to your guests. The Pomander Punch, above, tastes of cranberries and spice.

The final fifteen minutes before your guests are scheduled to arrive are always fraught with trepidation. We curse ourselves with nonstop invective. “Why the @#$% did I agree to throw this @#$%ing party. I’m such a @#$%ing idiot.” It’s at these moments, when we all turn into whining teenagers, that we must take a deep breath and rise to the occasion. You threw this cocktail party because you are awesome and your friends rock, and you wanted to share with them some cocktail and party-food pairings that will be remembered forever (and not in a bad way). So that you will be touted as the cocktail-party thrower of the century and not the sniveling spaz you seem to be playing at the moment, you must do the following: make a punch. Not the kind you imbibed as a child—those were sweet and sparkling sugar-rush inducers filled with ginger ale and neon sherbet. No, this punch will be filled with high-quality spirits and liqueurs, possibly champagne, fresh seasonal fruit, and flavors that will send you into adulthood negating any old associations with prom punch ever again. Welcome to the grownup table; you can now fold up that kiddy card table and banish it forever.

Punch is a blessing or, more appropriate, a mangala. The word itself, many believe, derives from the Hindi word panch, meaning five, alluding to the five ingredients that purportedly made up historical punch: spirits, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices. But if you ask the average josephine what she thinks of when she thinks of punch in a historical context, she may describe for you a Hogarthian scene of jack-tars, slinging their flagons while singing a shanty tune honoring the drunken sailor, which isn’t at all inappropriate. Sailors brought the Hindi punch back with them to England, bedazzled by its bold flavors of spice and citrus, and from the early seventeenth to the mid nineteenth centuries, punch ruled supreme. Punch houses dotted the London landscape, filling the hearts and minds of men with merriment. Sharing a bowl was like taking communion: it brought you closer to God, if you let it.

We want punch to bring you closer to a reasonable frame of mind. With a punch at the ready, all you have to do is point your guests in the direction of the chilling bowl and say, “help yourself to a delicious glass of [fill in the blank] punch.” At first they may be surprised that no islands of lime sherbet dot this quaff, but after a sip, you’ll hear their contented sighs, and they’ll hear yours.

Here are a few punch recipes that will brighten up your party and set your mind at ease. Some of them are for 1 serving, but with a little math, you can easily create a bowl full of shimmering panch. Just remember to make a block of ice for the punch bowl (you can freeze water in a freezer-safe bowl).

Global Punch
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Jack Daniel’s
2 ounces amber (medium-bodied) rum (such as Old New Orleans or Mount Gay Eclipse)
1/2 ounce ginger liqueur (such as Domaine de Canton)
1 ounce real pomegranate grenadine
1/2 ounce elderflower liqueur (such as St-Germain)
2 ounces red grapefruit juice (you can substitute pink if red is not available)
1/4 ounce lemon juice
1/4 ounce lime juice
2 dashes Angostura orange bitters (you can substitute with another orange bitters)

Method
Shake in ice for 15 seconds. Strain into chilled glass. Serves 3.

If making a bowl of punch, first make a block of ice in a freezer-safe bowl that’s smaller than the punch bowl. Then, multiply all the ingredients by eight or more depending on the size of your party. Refrigerate until chilled. About a half hour before serving, remove the ice from the bowl and place in the punch bowl. Pour the punch into the bowl. Garnish with lemon and lime wheels. Ladle into punch cups or glasses.

Try pairing with Chorizo Sobres, little deep-fried spicy smoked sausage and peach bites.

Rihanna
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 ounce amber rum (such as Old New Orleans or Mount Gay Eclipse)
1/2 ounce white rum (such as Mount Gay Silver Eclipse)
1/8 ounce Cruzan Black Strap rum
1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
1/4 ounce Velvet Falernum
1/2 ounce simple syrup*
1/4 ounce crème de banana (such as Bols)
3/4 ounce orange juice
1/4 ounce lime juice

Method
Shake in ice for 15 seconds. Strain into chilled glass. If you’re feeling the call of the tiki gods, garnish with cherries and banana slices poked through with a straw. Serves 1.

If making a bowl of punch, first make a block of ice in a freezer-safe bowl that’s smaller than the punch bowl. Then, multiply all the ingredients by eight or more depending on the size of your party. Refrigerate until chilled. About a half hour before serving, remove the ice from the bowl and place in the punch bowl. Pour the punch into the bowl. Garnish with cherries and banana slices. Ladle into punch cups or glasses.

* Dissolve one cup of sugar in one cup of water over low heat, stirring occasionally. When all the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat, let cool, and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a month.

Try pairing with baked coconut shrimp.

Pomander Punch
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces cranberry sauce–infused Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon Carolina Moonshine*
1 ounce bourbon (try Bulleit)
1/2 ounce clementine orange juice
1/4 ounce St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
block of ice

Method
Shake in ice for 15 seconds. Strain into chilled glass. Garnish with a half-moon slice of clementine or a whole pericarp of star anise. Serves 1.

If making a bowl of punch, first make a block of ice in a freezer-safe bowl that’s smaller than the punch bowl. Then, multiply all the ingredients by eight or more depending on the size of your party. Refrigerate until chilled. About a half hour before serving, remove the ice from the bowl and place in the punch bowl. Pour the punch into the bowl. Garnish with clementine orange wheels and star anise pericarps. Ladle into punch cups or glasses.

* In an airtight container, add 1/3 cup homemade cranberry sauce (follow directions on package of cranberries) for every 2 cups moonshine (you can substitute vodka if moonshine is not available). Let infuse for at least five days and up to two weeks (the longer you wait, the better), shaking the container at least once a day. Strain into another airtight container and label.

Try pairing with bacon-wrapped dates.


Blackberries and cinnamon combine to create an amazing flavor sensation. This punch is boozy and bodacious. The bowl will be emptied by nightfall.

Bramble Punch
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
4 1/2 ounces amber (medium-bodied) rum (such as Old New Orleans or Mount Gay Eclipse)
3 ounces cognac (such as Martell VSOP or Hennessy VS)
1 1/2 ounces Jeżynówka (blackberry-flavored brandy)
3/4 ounces Becherovka (Czech spice liqueur)
1 1/2 ounces cinnamon-infused black tea*
1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 1/2 ounces tangerine juice
1 1/2 ounces pink grapefruit juice
ice cubes, preferably in a chunk, or a block with blackberries frozen within.

Method
Add all the ingredients (except the chunk of ice cubes) into a large shaker or capped bottle. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds, making sure the sugar dissolves (if you prefer, you can dissolve the sugar in a little water before adding it to the mix). Place ice chunk or ice block in bowl. Pour punch into bowl. If using a chunk of ice cubes, the ice cubes will start to break apart. When they do, or if you are using a block of ice, stir the punch with the ladle to chill, wait a minute (do not rush, let the ice dissolve a bit), stir again, and serve. Add a blackberry to each cup for a nice sweet-tart surprise at the end of your drink.

Serves 4. You can easily double or triple the recipe.

* Steep a tea bag (with black tea) and a cinnamon stick in 1 cup of boiling water. Remove the tea bag after 3 hours. Remove cinnamon stick after 3 days. If you can’t wait 3 days, then make sure you shake it well before using.

Try pairing with Cheddar Blue Fricos, lacy and crispy wafers of cheese.

photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

Mixology Monday XLV: Teas, If You Please

Bramble Punch marries the flavors of blackberries and cinnamon.

According to tippler folklore, teas played an important role in the history of the cocktail. Many believe that they were one of five ingredients required to make a proper punch, the other four being spirits, sugar, juice, and water. These same people also believe that the word punch is derived from the Hindu word for five (panch is an approximation), so you see how this led the believers (we will call them Panchophiles) to claim that punches should be made with five ingredients. We will accept as gospel the claims of the Panchophiles for the sake of this Mixology Monday post, hosted by Cocktail Virgin Slut. This dual-natured cocktail aficionado has proposed that we all make a drink with tea as an ingredient. Not ones to shy away from a challenge, we share with you our love of communal bowls filled with redolent, spirituous delights, by making you a Bramble Punch.

Bramble Punch lauds the marriage of two bold flavors, blackberries and cinnamon, and highlights the five main elements of Punch (this would please the Panchophiles). First, cognac and a medium-bodied rum give this punch its punch, plus the addition of two more spirits—Jeżynówka, a Polish blackberry-flavored brandy, and Becherovka, a Czech herb-and-spice liqueur. Second, sweetness gets a boost from some rich maple syrup and dark brown sugar. Third, two juices, pink grapefruit and tangerine, unite to tame the heat and bold flavors of the spirits and liqueurs. Fourth, black tea infused with cassia-cinnamon enhances the melding of the flavors, and offers its own unique flavor. Fifth, ice, as it melts, adds the necessary water to make this drink smoother so you can enjoy sipping it as soon as its placed in your hands.

Bramble Punch
(created by Cocktail Buzz)

Ingredients
4 1/2 oz. amber (medium-bodied) rum (such as Old New Orleans or Mount Gay Eclipse)
3 oz. cognac (such as as Martell VSOP or Hennessy VS)
1 1/2 oz. Jeżynówka (blackberry-flavored brandy)
3/4 oz. Becherovka (Czech spice liqueur)
1 1/2 oz. cinnamon-infused black tea*
1/2 T. maple syrup
1 T. dark brown sugar
1 1/2 oz. tangerine juice
1 1/2 oz. pink grapefruit juice
ice cubes, preferably in a chunk, or a block with blackberries frozen within.

* Steep a tea bag (with black tea) and a cinnamon stick in 1 cup of boiling water. Remove the tea bag after 3 hours. Remove cinnamon stick after 3 days. If you can’t wait 3 days, then make sure you shake it well before using.

Method
Add all the ingredients (except the chunk of ice cubes) into a large shaker or capped bottle. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds, making sure the sugar dissolves (if you prefer, you can dissolve the sugar in a little water before adding it to the mix). Place ice chunk or ice block in bowl. Pour punch into bowl. If using a chunk of ice cubes, the ice cubes will start to break apart. When they do, or if you are using a block of ice, stir the punch with the ladle to chill, wait a minute (do not rush, let the ice dissolve a bit), stir again, and serve. Add a blackberry to each cup for a nice sweet-tart surprise at the end of your drink.

Serves 4.

photos © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz

October Is the Coolest Month

For those of you who live in temperate climes, we are deep in the throes of fall and what better way to enjoy the chill in the air than with a cocktail or two. And so far, October has proved to be a harbinger of good things to come in the very near future, so if you need to continue to three or four cocktails, we won’t stop you (unless of course you are trying to get behind the wheels of a motor vehicle).

At the Manhattan Cocktail Classic Gala, New York Public Library.
(photo by Gabi Porter)

1. The Manhattan Cocktail Classic Preview grand gala on October 4 was held at the New York Public Library. Eleven makeshift bars in various locations in the main lobby, halls, and mezzanine touted specific liquors (such as Tanqueray, Don Julio, and Hendrick’s) and boasted some of New York’s most creative men and women behind the stick. According to the Web site:

“Thee Manhattan Cocktail Classic is New York City’s first ever multi-day event celebrating the history, contemporary culture, and artful craft of the cocktail. Part festival, part fête, part conference, part cocktail party, the Manhattan Cocktail Classic brings together the unparalleled talents and opportunities of the bars, bartenders, and restaurants of our great city for five days of activities, both educational and celebratory in nature, championing the common ideals of authenticity, equality, sustainability, service, and pleasure. (There will be some drinking involved, too.)”

We were invited by PR superwoman, Hanna Lee (a vision in a red cocktail dress) who, along with an advisory board of cocktail luminaries, a smattering of New York city bars, and other PR firms, managed to create an aura of old-school celebratory big-band imbibing on a truly orgiastic scale. We ran into the lovely Ana Jovancicevic, from Handcrafted PR, who looked stunning in turquoise (Ana always looks stunning no matter where you see her), and who was responsible for procuring the gargantuan portions of food festooned throughout the library: Henry VIII–sized roasted turkey drumsticks, whole suckling pigs, an endless supply of oysters. At the oyster bar, we chatted with Jaime Salas, Tres Generaciones Tequila Ambassador. We also ran into Dan Warner, Beefeater Brand Ambassador, who the night before made us some delicious drinks at the new Crosby Hotel to celebrate Gary Regan’s new book, The Bartender’s Gin Compendium. The possibility of food running out seemed very slim, as well as alcohol. Some of the drinks we had were insanely good, such as the Brooklyn made with Maker’s Mark bourbon. As we moseyed upstairs to the mezzanine, we spotted Lynnette Marrero who whipped up a Liberty Cocktail for Steve (Zacapa Rum, Applejack Bonded, Demerara sugar syrup) and Toby Maloney who rinsed, sprayed, and stirred a Hungry Manhattan (Bulleit bourbon, Punt e Mes, Zwack, Campari, Angostura Bitters, Lagavulin rinse) for Paul. Both drinks were simply excellent, and no wonder. Their base spirits (Zacapa Rum and Bulleit Bourbon) are some of the best of their kind.

Before we left we chatted with some more friends from the cocktail biz: Danny Ronen, writer, consultant, and ginger-promoting ambassador to Domaine de Canton; Blair Reynolds, Portland, Oregon, cocktail expert; Damon, the man behind the bar at the delicious-in-every-bite Prime Meats in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. No one’s hands were empty; everyone seemed happy as a clam.

We even ran into novelist, Gawker contributor, and Dazzle Dancer Mike Albo and his friend Kimberly Sexton who is developing her own line of skin care using cacao. A marriage made in choco-heaven! As Mike and Steve chatted about this, that, and the other thing, Kimberly slipped Paul a sealed syringe bottle filled with Daniel Preston’s secret cacao-based spirit, aged one year in an American Oak barrel. We later made a drink with it after a few taste-tests, and ooh boy, this stuff is good. We look forward to hearing more from Daniel Preston and his Brooklyn Cacao in the near near future.

All in all, it was lovely, decadent, and mirthful, and if this was billed as “Preview,” what insanity can we expect from the real deal in the Spring? We can’t wait!

If you want to check out some more great photos of the event, click here.


Liqueur d’Orange and Rouge, from Combier.

2. Combier is releasing two new bottlings, Royal Combier and Rouge, and we were on hand at Dutch Kills in Long Island City, Queens, to taste their exquisite Frenchness. Ah, Combier. We love it in a Sidecar. We knew we’d love the new stuff. And that we did. The Royal Combier is sure to rival its competitors in the Cognac-based orange liqueurs, and the Rouge—let’s just say that there is not another cherry liqueur that tastes so, well, so darn cherrylike. And we’re talking real fresh cherries, not the not-so-fresh cherry flavor in those syrupy old-fashioned cherryesque liqueurs. We can’t wait to start mixing with it!


The men behind Combier: Scott Goldman and Frank Choisne.

And do visit Dutch Kills. There is a long bar at which to ogle the sleight-of-hand prowess of bar masters, such as the estimable Giuseppe Gonzalez. And if you want a more intimate setting (with a date, a loved one, a business partner), dark and sexy booths line the walls as you enter this gorgeous establishment started by none other than Sasha Petraske, founder of Milk & Honey. We look forward to a proper visit.

3. Junior Merino recently touted the 100% blue-agave properties of Don Roberto tequila at a tasting he and the Don Roberto people sponsored at Rayuela, one of our favorite restaurants on the Lower East Side. Paul went solo this time and as he walked up the stairs at Rayuela, past the tree that oversees all in the restaurant, Heidi Merino gave him a kiss on the cheek and handed him a Guadalajara Silver, a slightly sweet blend of lime, green apple, and grapefruit juices, shaken with some Don Roberto Plata, a little ginger liqueur and some agave nectar thrown in. Shake it up and off you go. This was such a refreshing bridge drink, easing us from summer into fall, and everyone lapped them up.

Junior then had us seated as he presented to us the three styles of Don Roberto: Plata (or silver or white), Reposado (means rested, aged for several months), and Añejo (aged over a year). [Paul’s now slipping into the first person.] I would have to say my favorite was the Añejo—it had a musky, fresh-wood smell, almost like sawdust (but in a good, piny way), and the sip was smooth, yet deep and full of caramel-woodsy age. The distinction that Don Roberto possesses has to do with terroir: the agave plants grow at the base of a volcano, so the plants take in some of the flavor nuances of the soil. You definitely get that in this tequila, especially in the Plata, but nuttier in the Reposado.

A lot of familiar faces were present, everyone merry with an endless supply of sips and nibbles, aglow with the ruddiness of Mexican spirits running through their veins. I look forward to sharing some Don Roberto Añejo con Esteban.

Guadalajara Silver

(crafted by Junior Merino)

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Don Roberto Plata
1/4 ounce agave nectar
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce fresh pink grapefruit juice
3/4 ounce ginger liqueur
1/2 ounce fresh Granny Smith apple juice

Method
Rim glass with sugar and cinnamon and add ice. Pour all the ingredients into a shaker, shake for fifteen seconds, and pour into rocks-filled glass.

All in all, October has proven itself to be a mighty fine month. Yes indeed. [sip.]

Farrah Fawcett Forever

A Tribute
by Paul Zablocki

Farrah Fawcett, 1947–2009

Farrah was on my radar several years before she batted her eyelashes and smiled that pearly-white grin as Jill Munroe on Charlie’s Angels. To me, she epitomized girlish glamour as she stroked Joe Namath’s chin and cheeks on a TV commercial while cooing, “Let Noxema cream your face so the razor won’t.” If TiVo were around, I would have watched these thirty seconds nonstop (or until at least my brother, Michael, would have changed the channel, threatening a little fisticuffs), but alas, this nonjock would have to slog through Wide World of Sports, and other early-Seventies jock programming, eating Mister Salty pretzel sticks with Michael and my dad just to catch a glimpse of that golden mane and hear that little voice that barely found the right notes. Later, I would discover that her seemingly naïve sexiness wasn’t who she was at all, but just an act, performed by an actor, which she was, after all. Or rather, an artist. When my dad asked me if I knew the name of the woman who stroked Joe’s face, I looked at him aghast. I thought, You mean this vision of glamour and beauty has a name? I shook my head, and when he said, “Farrah Fawcett,” I laughed. “Nuh-uh! No one has a name like that!” Of course, images of sinks and spigots rushed into my mind, and I thought that “Faucet” was just a completely ridiculous last name. It just had to be made up. But “Farrah”? If Faucet was a strange last name to behold, Farrah was even more ridiculous. After all, I was seven years old, and the most exotic name for a girl I knew belonged to a girl in my first-grade class, Danielle. Little did I know that the name Farrah Fawcett would haunt me for the rest of her life. I secretly fell in love with her.

And then the poster. Michael received a puzzle version of the iconographic red swimsuit poster for his birthday from some neighborhood kid who’s mother should probably have known better than to get a young boy a puzzle of a sexy lady in a revealing bathing suit. But I was so glad she did. I quickly took over the puzzle box, set up a folding table in the driveway, and started putting the pieces together. My brother even helped. We were desperate to find the nipple pieces, and when we did, and secured them into place, we were rewarded with a sense of accomplishment at being able to gaze upon her beauty.

Needless to say, I watched Charlie’s Angels religiously, usually with my grandmother who lived with us. It was 1976, I was nine years old, and my parents, who were in their early thirties, were always out for some reason on Wednesday night. So my babci and I would curl up on the couch with some popcorn and juice, and as I watched the Angels use their brains and beauty to foil the lawbreaking evildoers, I would all the time wish that I was Jill Munroe’s little brother, visiting his big sister for the weekend or some undisclosed amount of time. Usually I would be kidnapped by some nefarious yet good-looking criminal mastermind, and Jill (and the other two) would come to my rescue after Jill beat up a thug or two. Ah, a boy can dream.

And I kept dreaming about Farrah, and especially the acquisition of “Farrahnalia.” For example, when TV Guide ran an ad for a necklace in the shape of a faucet (I think one was even encrusted in diamonds or perhaps some other glittering gem), with Farrah wearing one, I wanted to send in my birthday money just to feel it and see it sparkle. Alas, I did not have the courage to do so. I don’t think anyone did, for that matter, because even though I would buy one today, I can’t find one on the Web. You’d think someone would have one on eBay, but searches for faucet jewelry have all come up dry.


Farrah only appeared for a year on Charlie’s Angels, but I continued to watch in the hopes that she would make occasional guest appearances visiting her replacement, her younger sister Kris, as played by the very different Cheryl Ladd. But I had Logan’s Run to keep my Farrah fix alive. This futuristic drama that looked like it was shot in an LA galleria was my favorite movie from 1976. Everyone is young, gorgeous, and hot. Farrah, playing another smiling Barbie, turns out to be part of the resistance against the unseen fascists who run the Domed City. Spoiler Alert: Much to my horror, she died early in the film, but she left an indelible impression.

I followed her career closely during the next few years as she struggled to find her niche in the entertainment world. Movies like Sunburn, Saturn 3, and Cannonball Run were, well, easily dismissible, but she did manage to do some nice work in Somebody Killed Her Husband opposite an intensely hirsute Jeff Bridges, showing that there was more behind the big smile and big hair. But you could sense the yearning to plant her teeth into a meatier role, something that would work her over and help shake off the deep impression that she was just a bimbo. So, what do actors do who need to revitalize a sagging career? They change their look and do off-Broadway. When she appeared off-Broadway as Marjorie, the intended rape victim, in Extremities in a short hairdo, the critics went nuts. Holy Shit, this Angel can really act. I didn’t get to see Extremities (I was still in high school at the time), but I managed to score a promotional half-sheet poster from her appearance, which I treasure today.

Farrah seemed to be on her way up again, garnering major kudos and nominations for her TV movie roles. She showed the effects of spousal abuse in TV’s The Burning Bed [see photo, right]. I still cringe every time I see Paul LeMat raise his hand to her face, she feinting as if the hand already slapped her across her cheek. And I encourage you to see her portray the title roles in Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story and Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story just to understand her range. One of her greatest performances, however, was in a TV miniseries called Small Sacrifice in which she played opposite Ryan O’Neal as a mother accused of killing her children. Her take is creepy and penetrating, the smiling blonde-girl-next-door type mixes and melds with this trashy, tough-talking and slightly sleazy broad to create a real dilemma for the audience: Did this woman who professed her love for her kids really murder them? You’ll have to hunt down the video (which, of course, I have).

During the Nineties, I sort of let Farrah slip a little to the margins of my mind. I was too busy trying to forge a theatre career as a director, ultimately in the Big Apple. Even though I was busy, Farrah was always at the periphery. Her name would buzz inside my head, and lo and behold either I’d hear about some struggle with this lover who was treating her poorly, or her new TV movie would pop on the boob tube. Sometimes, I didn’t watch. I wasn’t much into TV in the last decade. But in the bat of an eyelash, I would defend her vehemently, professing her great skills as an actress and her work as a sculptor. (You can see her work in the film version of Extremities.) She had an artist’s soul and temperament. She was who she was. When she rambled incoherently on Letterman, she undeservedly became the media sensation for yet another fifteen-minute fame blip. As the new millennium rolled in, I found myself reading more about her posing for Playboy, rolling around naked in paint and pressing herself against a blank canvas, giving body art a new meaning.

When I learned that Farrah was diagnosed with anal cancer, I thought, Christ, here come the bad jokes. But to come forward and share her struggle with the world only strengthened the connection she had to people. Why hush up what you can open up? Knowledge is power. So she sought treatments, with long-time partner Ryan O’Neal by her side, hoping and praying that God would intervene and spare his angel. When it seemed as though she were in the clear, the nasty invader came back and decided to stay. It claimed her life on June 25, 2009. I cannot bring myself to watch Farrah’s Story, her final personal account of these last stages of cancer, yet. I have it on TiVo, so there is no rush.

The day of Farrah’s passing, I woke up as usual, the movie poster of Extremities beside my side of the bed. (I know, it’s strange to have this huge poster by your bedside, but that poster meant a lot to me over the years. I directed the play in college, and to me, it symbolizes the struggles we have to endure to overcome whatever it is that oppresses us, fighting preconceived notions of who people think we are, and letting them know that deep inside, there is much more to us.) It was a lovely morning, sun shining through the drapes, casting the den in a rosy inviting glow. Steve had heard that she had been given her last rights while on his way out, but since I was on the phone, he decided to let me find out about Farrah on my own. I didn’t cry, but felt an ineffable loss, sort of like when you hear about the passing of an old friend you haven’t seen in a very long time. I never did get to meet Farrah, live, in the flesh, but in my dreams and memories she still shines, effervescent, complex, and gorgeous. Rest in peace, lady, and if the afterlife is an acting class, may you be not at the top of the class, but the teacher.

Talking and mourning go hand in hand. The great thing about being in a relationship is being able to share Farrah stories. Steve grew up in Kansas; for all intents and purposes his life mimicked mine, except that he lived on a farm, and I in suburbia. Being allowed to stay up late on Wednesday night to watch Charlie’s Angels (8:00PM Central Time) while donning his yellow “faucet” T-shirt was the best night of the week, hands down. Jill Munroe was Steve’s favorite Angel as well. No wonder we stick.

Ah, so how to commemorate this gorgeous, sexy, provocative, sincere, artistic mother. A video retrospective on YouTube? No, someone else could do that much better. How about a drink, Farrah. If Steve and I could make you a cocktail, this is what it would be, based on three things:

1. Your effervescence—your smile, your hair, your beauty;
2. Your love of art—your sculpture, your closeness to clay and the earth; and
3. You once made a coconut cream pie with Queen Latifah on Good Morning America.

So, here it is.

[cocktail photo by Steve Schul]

The Farrah Fawcett, aka Everything But the Faucet

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

Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces white rum (such as Mount Gay)
3/4 ounce crème de banana (such as Bols)
1/2 ounce advocaat (egg liqueur)
1 tablespoon sweetened coconut flakes
champagne
3 blueberries

Method
In a shaker, muddle the coconut flakes in crème de banana. (You can also grind the coconut flakes in a spice grinder.) Add the rum, advocaat, and halfway fill with ice. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Strain (or double-strain if you don’t want coconut bits in your drink) into a coupe. Add the blueberries. Top with champagne. If you’d like, you can rim with ground coconut flakes, but this may be a little too much. Even for Farrah.

The Power of Ginger: Domaine de Canton Tasting at Louis 649

If ever there was a liqueur that captured the palates of mixologists and imbibers alike, it is Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, a bewitching mix of Vietnamese baby ginger and cognac. The other night we were faced with five cocktails celebrating the virtues of this versatile elixir. Not only that, we got to experience a bar that was new to us. Did we drink all five? Yes (but they were not full cocktails—give us some credit). Did we like them all? Yes. And we were even blessed with a bonus cocktail from one of our esteemed bartenders of the evening, our friend from the City by the Bay, Danny Ronen (pronounced Donny), who we’ve recently dubbed our “San Francisco Treat.” Why? Because he is a wit, and after a few cocktails, wit wins the day.

Danny invited us to the event, which was held at Louis 649, located just East of Tompkins Square Park in the mysterious nether regions of Alphabet City. Danny is the newly appointed West Coast Ambassador to Domaine de Canton, and he was eager for us to sip some ginger-spiced drinks, created by some crafty mixology–bartender types. Louis 649 proved to be the perfect location for such an event (they have these events on Tuesdays for you to become familiar with a certain liqueur or spirit, a varietal of wine, or craft beer). Although it’s located far far east of the subway, we hopped on the bus bound for the East River to avoid the bitter cold. As soon as we arrived, there was Danny, at the bar, waving for us to come in to warm up. He proffered his fist in Barack and Michelle fashion, and Paul announced to the bar, “Oh, we’re fisting now?!” A round of laughs, followed by a round of our first drink, the Ginger Rye Toddy, created by the young hipster Chris Raab of Le Poisson Rouge in NYC (he’s there on Mondays). Perfect to defrost our frozen fingers and get the blood flowing.



Ginger Rye Toddy
(created by Chris Raab)

1 ounce Domaine de Canton
2 ounces rye
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
3/4 ounce agave
lemon wheel, for garnish.

Add to a heat-proof glass. Top with hot water. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

❤ ❤ ❤

Our tour guide for the evening, the delightful Gianfranco Verga, explained to us how Louis 649’s Tuesday Night Tastings Series works. (It’s well worth the $25 you need to shell out—you will be taken care of by the knowledgeable bartenders with plenty to imbibe, and Louis 649’s ambience is comfortable, well-lit, unpretentious, and chill.) Thanks to Verga and his association with its affable owner, the welcoming Zachary Sharaga, the two expanded the character of Sharaga’s bar in the past six months by crafting these tasting events, and they have drawn new people to the space to make it a destination for cocktail lovers. Louis 649 boasts both classics and contemporary drinks (a little something for everyone), and, most important, an amazing ice machine that will keep your cocktails nice-cold, but not watered down. They have a wide collection of spirits, liqueurs, and other quaffs to imbibe, many of those which grace our liquor cabinet at home. We think we’re going to like it here!



We then were tempted with the Domaine de Canton Cocktail, a drink that truly highlights the flavors of this spicy yet smooth liqueur.

Domaine de Canton Cocktail

2 1/2 ounces Domaine de Canton
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
splash of soda
lemon wedge, for garnish

Shake vigorously on ice. Strain onto fresh ice, splash with soda. Garnish with a lemon wedge.

❤ ❤ ❤

We then met the East Coast Rep for Domaine de Canton, Jennifer (JC) Craig, who warmed us up with fun facts and delightful tales surrounding the almost devotional ways people use the ginger liqueur. After chatting and sipping for a while, she gave us a delightful book on the history of Domaine de Canton, with oodles of cocktail and food recipes—the Spicy Hamachi Ceviche is already at the top of our list.

Spicy Hamachi Ceviche
(created by Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin)

1/4 cup Domaie de Canton
12 ounces oh hamachi fillet, skinned
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1/2 cup lime juice
1 teaspoon Thai chili paste
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, julienned
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted
fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

Slice the hamachi as thinly as possible and reserve slices in refrigerator. In a mixing bowl, stir together the Domaine de Canton, coconut milk, lime juice, ginger and chili paste. Season the sliced hamachi with salt and pepper and add to the mixing bowl. Gently toss to coat evenly. To serve, divide the ceviche evenly between six small bowls, garnish with basil and toasted coconut flakes.

Serves 6.

❤ ❤ ❤

John Cooper, the developer of Domaine de Canton, arrived and JC introduced him to a crowd that already had three drinks down the hatch. (Chris Raab made us his Canton Kiss [see recipe at end of post], and yes, the cocktail is accompanied by a real kiss, but you have to ask.) John self-effacingly stated, “I can’t mix a cocktail to save my life,” but he clearly knows what he likes. When creating the ginger liqueur, he strove for “something that spoke ginger, but with a neutral pallet.” He “wanted to provide bartenders and mixologists with the right product” that would be easy to mix and draw out the flavors of a cocktail’s components, but allow the Domaine de Canton to shine. And if you’ve experimented with the liqueur, you’ll know how easy it is to work with. Its inherent spiciness is easily tamed by fresh juices, and, of course, ice. Domaine de Canton was used in our “Create Your Signature Cocktail” class, mixed with bourbon and orange bitters, by a couple who had visited India and wanted to create a drink that would remind them if its flavors. We’ve used it ourselves in a riff on the classic, and sadly neglected, Stinger:



Rum Ginger Stinger
(created by Paul Zablocki, Cocktail Buzz)

2 ounces aged rum (try Flor de Caña 18-year)
1/2 ounce Domaine de Canton
1/4 ounce white crème de menthe
1 teaspoon simple syrup
small mint leaf, as garnish

Stir all but garnish in a mixing glass filled halfway with ice for 30 seconds. Strain into ice-filled rocks glass. Add garnish.

The Rum Ginger Stinger starts out with a strong twang of menthol–mint, but as the drink progresses, and the ice slowly dissolves, the ginger quietly takes control, and the finish is a feast for the taste buds.

❤ ❤ ❤

After the speech, we spoke with John Cooper, and while we were making small cocktail talk, Danny slipped us another drink using Domaine de Canton that wasn’t on the bar list. It was developed by his friend and fellow San Franciscan, Jackie Patterson:

Fleur du Monde
(created by Jackie Patterson)

1 1/2 ounces Don Julio silver tequila
3/4 ounce Domaine de Canton
1/2 oz. Riesling

Stir for 30 seconds in an ice-filled mixing glass. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

❤ ❤ ❤

Tequila and ginger make for a dynamic duo [see also Canton Kiss recipe below], spiky upon first sip, smooth in the finish as the flavors meld and mellow. But we had to pace ourselves in this Dionysian orgy, for we had two cocktails to go, and we were already feeling the effects of long work days and little food. At the end of our evening, we were offered another drink by the reps from Domaine de Canton, but, unfortunately, had to refuse. It was almost 10 o’clock, and dinner was awaiting us at home in the form of reheated Chicken Parmesan. We waved good-bye, hopped in a cab, and blathered endlessly about what a good time we had. We’re looking forward to another Tuesday Night Tastings at Louis 649, and a stab at our new Domaine de Canton recipes. Try them and let us know what you think.

Canton Kiss
(created by Chris Raab)

1 ounce Domaine de Canton
1 ounce Partida Blanco Tequila
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
3/4 ounce honey syrup (3 parts honey to 1 part water, heated, then allowed to cool)
soda

Shake first three ingredients in an ice-filled shaker. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass. Add a splash of soda, and top with syrup.



photo © Steve Schul, Cocktail Buzz