88. Mint Julep

On January 30, 2016January 24, 2016 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's Companion1 Comment

In case you hadn’t noticed (since the first recipe was #125), I am indeed skipping around a bit. This is partially due to the availability of ingredients, and partially because I don’t necessarily want to be making punch after punch after punch, and then julep after julep after julep. What is an effective categorization method in a book is not the most fun in the kitchen.

So for this one I wanted something I had heard of before. Was this first version a classic Mint Julep? Short answer: no. It’s pretty different, except for shaved ice and mint, but is a really nice drink on its own. Score another one for Jerry Thomas.

In other news, the U.S. Mint recently announced the national parks that will be on this year’s America the Beautiful (read: fancy) quarters: Shawnee National Forest in Illinois, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in Kentucky, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, and Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument) in South Carolina. The first will be on shelves (in wallets? What do you say?) on February 8th. Riveting news, I know.

88. Mint Julep

(Use large bar glass.)

1 table-spoonful of white pulverized sugar. [Powdered sugar.]
2½ do. water, mix well with a spoon. [do. is “Ditto” in ye olden days.]
Take three or four sprigs of fresh mint, and press them well in the sugar and water, until the flavor of the mint is extracted; add one and a half wine-glass [3 oz.] of Cognac brandy, and fill the glass with fine shaved ice, then draw out the sprigs of mint and insert them in the ice with the stems downward, so that the leaves will be above, in the shape of a bouquet; arrange berries, and small pieces of sliced orange on top in a tasty manner, dash with Jamaica rum, [I took this to mean dark rum] and sprinkle white sugar on top. Place a straw as represented in the cut, [I didn’t have a straw, but we’re getting some! By “in the cut” he means the image on that first Jerry Thomas post, which appears to just be in the drink. Not sure where else you’d put it.] and you have a julep that is fit for an emperor.

Fit for an emperor, eh? Pretty cool. Apart from the spirit choice (brandy instead of whisky), this started out like a pretty classic julep, but then he just goes crazy and adds all sorts of things to it. Only modifications I made (besides no straw) were to use new mint sprigs for the garnish because the muddled ones were kind of gross-looking.

Tasting Notes:

BN: I found it interesting that he didn’t use whisky, as that is a pretty common spirit back then — but I guess that wasn’t how he heard about the drink. I’ll look into when that switch occurred. The addition of the fruit and rum was really delicious though, especially the citrus — it gave it a lot more depth than I’m used to in a simply sweet and minty julep. I wanted a little more mint flavor but I should have just muddled more. I also liked the ombre (PiC is proud of my vocabulary) effect that was made when the rum was added to the top – dark rum to orange brandy to green sugar-mint water.

PiC: A little alcoholic for me, but i like it. Even making it a little sweeter would be good. I especially like eating a raspberry off the top and then taking a sip.

125. Port Wine Sangaree

On January 23, 2016 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's Companion3 Comments

My first thought upon seeing this particular recipe was that it was going to be like a sangria, due to the name. But it turns out that a) it’s not, and b) Sangaree is an older term for a rather vague set of cocktails from either the Antilles or Spain. Apparently, and this makes sense and I can’t imagine why I didn’t notice it before, it’s because they are usually reddish, and therefore look like blood (sangre in Spanish). Yay for etymology!

Anyways, I don’t really like port, but I thought that this might be a good start for good old Jerry, to see if he knows what he’s talking about. And he does! Though simple, this recipe brings out some good flavors and makes it easy to drink the spirit.

And, today, during a demonstration held in support of migrants, a number of protestors illegally boarded a ferry in the PORT of Calais, suspending operations. Just another event in a series caused by more and more migrants streaming into Europe from the Middle East. Luckily, this one does not appear to have been a bloody interchange. So, as the Spanish would say, no SANGRIENTA.

I’m both hilarious and informative.

This, and all recipes will be copied verbatim from the 1862 edition, with comments in italics.

Port Wine Sangaree

(Use small bar glass.)

1½ wine-glass of port wine [A wine-glass is equal to 2 oz., ish, so this is 3 oz.]
1 teaspoonful of sugar.
Fill tumbler two-thirds with ice.
Shake well and grate nutmeg on top.

I’ve encountered this problem where he doesn’t really specify between a mixing glass (I think that’s what he means by tumbler) and the final delivery vessel. Perhaps I’ll figure it out soon, but for now I combined ingredients and shook in a Boston shaker, then poured into ice in the glasses, adding the nutmeg after.

Port Prep

Tasting Notes:

BN: I liked this — it didn’t taste medicine-y like a lot of port I’ve had (which, generally, I hate), and the sugar somehow made me like it better, even though port is usually too sweet for me. I couldn’t really taste the nutmeg, but maybe I didn’t put enough in.

PiC: I liked this. I don’t know much about port, but I could taste the nutmeg at the end of the sip. It’s good!

The All-American – Independence Day

On July 4, 2015July 4, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn Originals2 Comments

One of my two favorite movies is Independence Day. This has nothing to do with that.

When I started to think about making a drink for the 4th of July, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. And then I found the perfect concoction, to represent our country through the lens of alcohol. Also, something that you can make quickly and easily, and go back out to your BBQ, beach, or however you’re choosing to celebrate the Fourth.

The All-American

1 can Budweiser

Open can.
Pour can into a tall glass.
Enjoy, while contemplating our country, and watching some big ol’ Amurrican fireworks.

Tasting Notes:

BN: This really should be called the President of Beers.

PiC: Tastes like beer. And AMERICA.

I was not compensated for my opinions in this post. But hey, Anheuser-Busch, I certainly wouldn’t complain if you chose to send something my way!

The Loving Cup – #LoveWins

On June 28, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn Originals1 Comment

The Supreme Court made a number of good decisions this week, but the one that seemed most apt for drinkifying was the Obergefell v. Hodges case, which is mostly known as the case that decided same-sex marriage was a right in the entire United States.

In honor of this decision, generally (and by me) regarded as a triumph of love over adversity, prejudice, and all that bad stuff, I decided to put things I love into a cocktail and see if it was any good. Slightly less thought through than SCOTUS’ decision, but hey, it ended up working.

The Loving Cup

1.5 oz not-too-intense scotch (Highland Park is great!)
.75 oz St. Germain
2-3 shakes rhubarb bitters (go easy on this)
juice of 1/4 lemon, or to taste
rainbow sour strips, for garnish

Combine ingredients in a Boston shaker, over ice.
Shake briefly and strain into a martini glass
Layer in the sour strip for garnish, gently.
Enjoy, while basking in the good sense (in this case) of this country.
Pro tip: eat the sour strips after they’ve had a good long soak in the cocktail.

Tasting Notes:

BN: I really liked this. Weirdly, I didn’t like the combination of the ingredients before adding the sour strip, and the sour strip itself was pretty cherry-medicinal which is never good. But together, they melded nicely (and you should probably wait a bit before drinking to allow them to do so). It had just the right amount of sweet and sour, and wasn’t too strong on any one flavor. Also, the alcohol-infused sour strip was delicious.

PiC: I really liked this! I mean, I love sour candy and I wanted this to be a good one given the awesomeness of the event that inspired it, but to be honest I thought it was gonna be super alcohol-tasting, which is not really my thing. But it actually was dangerously drinkable and went super well with the sour candy garnish, so yay! #LoveWins!

The Winds of Winter – Game of Thrones Season Finale

On June 12, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn OriginalsLeave a comment

I started this season of Game of Thrones with a drink, and I should probably end it with one too. Now, I’ve made this in advance, so I have no idea whether it will actually have anything to do with the events of this Sunday’s episode, but I imagine we’ll get at least a bit of Jon Snow, and maybe a white walker or two. We’ll see!

An important note about this drink: the base recipe for the White Russian was taken from a good friend of mine, so direct any praise to him. We originally tried it with the official recipe on the Kahlua website which was, well, not very good. Also, I’m doing parts instead of specific amounts in case you want to make a smaller one than we did.

The Winds of Winter

2 parts vodka
1 part Kahlua
1 part cream
1 part Blue Curacao
1/2 part malted milk powder (it was about a teaspoon for a full 16oz glass with ice)

Combine everything but the curacao in a mixing glass with ice. Shake and strain into a tall glass over more ice. Pour the blue curacao in from the top (not necessary, but it makes a cool streaky looking effect at first before mixing in fully.) Enjoy, while watching the finale. Or being cold.

Tasting Notes:

BN: My goal for this was to make it taste like a creamsicle. I thought the orange from the curacao would mix with the malt and of course the cream, and it didn’t really at all. But that wasn’t a bad thing! It was more complex than a normal White Russian and did have a little bit of orange. You could also really taste the malt which is never a bad thing. Also the blue color that it resulted in was pretty cool. A little greener than I expected but still fun.

PiC: Whoa. That’s kinda strong for such a big drink…but I like it. The malt is nice. Plus, it looks great. I don’t think you can taste the Blue Curacao that much, though I’m not sure I entirely know what Blue Curacao tastes like. Or maybe I don’t want to know.

The Summer Daze – Memorial Day

On May 25, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn OriginalsLeave a comment

Happy summer everyone! Right now I’m in Palm Springs and it is appropriately hot and sunny. So, a drink to celebrate the new season, whether it’s already arrived where you are, or if it’s coming soon.

The Summer Daze

2 oz tequila
1 oz key lime juice
10 drops “Lindsay” pecan, habanero, magnolia bitters (I understand if you don’t have this; the spice and nut flavors are the most important so many substitutions can apply)
4-5 oz apple soda (this I found at a craft cocktail festival, but there are definitely many options I’ve seen)

Combine all ingredients in a glass with ice.
Stir gently to mix.
Enjoy, while poolside with a giant inflatable donut.

Tasting Notes:

BN: I liked this more than the individual ingredients. The apple soda which was too strong and candy-esque (tasted just like a Jolly Rancher) was nicely tempered by the lime, and altogether it was a really nice summer drink. Sort of like a slightly appley margarita. The bitters are AWESOME, and if you can get your hands on them, do!

PiC: I love tequila, and I love key lime, so the chances were good that I would like this – and I did. It was almost like drinking sour apple candy (big fan of the sour candy over here) but still crisp and refreshing. I would drink many of these.

The Congratulations, Princess – Royal Baby is Born

On May 2, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn OriginalsLeave a comment

One very important thing happened today — I learned that I don’t have normal champagne flutes in my house. Also, the new royal baby was born to Prince William and Kate! Hurray for the monarchy, God save the queen, and all that jazz. In honor of the as-yet-unnamed baby princess, I give you the Congratulations, Princess (which you would feel silly ordering at a bar but might anyway, because it’s pretty good).

Champagne is for celebrations, pink is for girls (only traditionally, of course), and also these are the ingredients I happened to have around. Enjoy!

The Congratulations, Princess

3 oz fresh-squeezed ruby grapefruit juice
3(ish) strawberries
6 oz champagne

Dice strawberries (reserving one for a garnish) and muddle in a mixing glass with the grapefruit juice. The ratio is about one strawberry for every 2 ounces of juice, maybe err on the side of more juice.
Strain juice/strawberry mixture into a (real) champagne flute.
Pour in champagne; if you want a larger or smaller drink the ratio is 2 parts champagne to 1 part juice.
Slice the remaining strawberry into, well, slices, and use one as a garnish.
Eat the rest of the strawberries.
Enjoy, while imagining what your life would be if you were a member of the royal family.

Tasting Notes:

BN: This is not dissimilar to the Academy Awards drink I made a while ago, but still very enjoyable. As I noted above, I could have used a little more grapefruit in this, as the strawberry was a strong flavor, but it was a very nice brunch drink, something I enjoyed much more than regular mimosas, which are okay but not amazing. In general, I think I need to work on making drinks with all sorts of crazy ingredients, but in this case, a three ingredient cocktail is perfect.

PiC: This is probably my favorite drink so far. This is delicious and I could drink it all day.

The Hubble 25 – The HST’s 25th Anniversary

On April 26, 2015May 2, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn OriginalsLeave a comment

I learned today that this past week (the 24th, specifically) was the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope. Which is pretty awesome! 25 years of giving us cool images like the one at the end of this post (which are public domain, so I can use them. Thanks, NASA!) So, in honor of space, NASA, and all of that good stuff, a drink! Mainly created because the St. Germain bottle is kind of star-shaped. I originally wanted something with champagne (bubbly is like sparkles are like stars) but then decided the champagne would overpower the St. Germain.

The Hubble 25

1.5 oz gin
0.5 oz St. Germain
~10 shakes lime bitters
6 oz club soda (this is a Soda Stream, clearly, but normal stuff will do too)

Combine first three ingredients in a rocks glass. Add ice, and fill the remaining space with the club soda. Enjoy, while staring a) up at the sky or b) at pictures of space on your computer.

Tasting Notes:

BN: Well the fact that this came out clear was a surprise to me. I guess there are clear cocktails, like gin and tonics, and vodka sodas, and so on, but it’s sort of an odd experience looking at it, nonetheless. I can’t decide if I like it. I guess it’s like a big lens, like the one on the Hubble? And it didn’t work exactly as expected, like the Hubble. There we go, justification! Tastewise, I liked this. The gin melded with the St. Germain really well, and though it wasn’t a super strong flavor it was a nice floral note. Nothing too intense, but very drinkable.

PiC: It’s not the most visually arresting cocktail, for sure. It kind of…tastes clear? But not in a bad way. It doesn’t taste like water, it’s just very neutral tasting. I like it. It highlights how good that gin is, and the St. Germaine adds a hint of sweetness that really works well with it. I can’t really taste the bitters, but it’s good.

The Slaver’s Bay – Game of Thrones Premiere

On April 12, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn OriginalsLeave a comment

Some of the first drinks I made as mixology experiments were for a Game of Thrones watching party. Some were better than others, but since the new season is about to start, I thought I should go back to my roots, so to speak.

To that end, I thought about what I would make for today, and I decided to go down the track of not necessarily something related to the show itself (White Walker Russians being the old standby) but rather making a cocktail that, if they had the ingredients, the characters in the show would actually drink.

Everyone loves the Daenerys storyline, and when I thought about where she was, the following came to mind. There are slavers, there are ships, so dark rum seems piratey and appropriate, but it’s also sort of Middle Eastern, so maybe some weirder spices — lavender, and what I wanted to be asian pear but they didn’t have it at the store, so just pear.

And this is what came out! Enjoy. Both the drink, and the premiere tonight!

The Slaver’s Bay

1.5 oz dark rum (Greyjoy brand works! Erm, I mean Kraken.)
1.5 oz dry vermouth
4 oz pear juice (try to get actual pear juice not just a can of pears; this was all the store had)
1 tsp lavender
1 pear slice (for garnish)

Muddle the lavender and the vermouth in the bottom of a mixing glass. Let it sit for a little bit to infuse. Pour in the other ingredients, stir, and double strain the full mixture into a rocks glass over ice. To make the garnish, I rolled the pear slice in the lavender to get it coated, which looked cool but made it kind of gross to drink as it fell apart into the drink. Maybe just use a sprig of lavender and a pear, separately.

Tasting Notes

BN: I liked this a lot. What could have been too sweet was nicely tempered by the vermouth, adding a great smoothness and a little more flavor to the drink. It’s rare to have a dark rum drink that isn’t super sweet and this did the trick nicely. The lavender and pear went very well together (somewhat surprising to me, to be honest) and as the ice melted a bit different flavors came out and it melded even more. A good sipping drink, and a fitting drink for the Queen of Dragons.

PiC: I like this! You can actually taste the lavender – it’s very nice. It’s also really smooth, like it has almost a creamy feel when you drink it. And not too sweet. Very good!

The Ale-Pril Fool – April Fools’ Day

On April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn OriginalsLeave a comment

Happy April Fools’ Day! That’s all I have to say on this one. It looks like a drink that it isn’t! Get it?! Also terrible puns are awesome. Due to the quantities, this is a drink to share. But you could also obviously make less of it.

The Ale-Pril Fool

4 oz dark rum (Kraken!)
16 oz cream soda
2 egg whites, whipped (may be hazardous to your health, &c., &c.)
4 dashes cinnamon

Whip the egg whites, and when almost ready add in the cinnamon. You want them to still be fairly liquid-y (see below) but with lots of foamy bubbles. Pour the rum and the soda into a stein glass, and top with the egg white cinnamon foam, like a head of beer.

Tasting Notes:

BN: I mostly liked this, but I was upset when I was told that it was basically butterbeer because what am I, a hack? Ah well. It was kinda sweet, and also gigantic but it looked great and that was mainly what I was aiming for. Maybe do it yourself in a smaller glass and it will work out better. I also whipped the egg whites too much and while they looked great, they were kind of solid, and unpleasant to drink. Make sure they’re still a little liquid.

PiC: This was good. It kind of reminds me of what butterbeer would taste like but I like the cinnamon in the foam. It’s kind of a giant drink which isn’t necessarily bad but maybe it could stand to be a little less sweet. And yes you were right, we should have whipped the egg whites less.