205. Scotch Whiskey Skin

On February 20, 2016 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's Companion2 Comments

Hoo boy. Well, you can’t win ’em all. That’s really the only intro I have for this drink.

On the current events front, in something that will be old news by the time this goes up, Scotland is really sucking in the Six Nations rugby tournament. Sucking almost as bad as this drink does (eight straight losses). Rugby, though, is really cool actually, and the USA’s own Pro Rugby league is starting up this spring! Just don’t drink this while you’re watching.

205. Scotch Whiskey Skin

(Use small bar glass.) [Or a mug, because it’s hot. Or just don’t make this.]

2 oz. Scotch whiskey.
1 piece of lemon peel.
Fill the tumbler one-half full with boiling water.

Tasting Notes:

BN: In case it wasn’t abundantly clear, I hated this. It tasted like really hot watered-down scotch that was slightly bitter (from the lemon peel). So, exactly what it was. I generally like toddies, but they really need a sweetener in there. I’m not sure how anyone can drink this. There’s a small chance a stronger-flavored scotch could have made it better, like a Caol Ila, but I sincerely doubt it.

PiC: Eugh.

228. Soda Nectar

On February 13, 2016February 9, 2016 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's Companion2 Comments

This was a very exciting drink for me, less for the particular flavors and mix itself, and more for the interesting technique it allowed me to learn. In short, if you put a little baking soda into an acidic drink, it makes it bubbly! Which totally makes sense, but it’s not something I had ever thought about before. Who needs a SodaStream when you have baking soda? (But note that I still do have one.)

The Soda Nectar is also notable for being non-alcoholic. Thomas actually has a number of non-alcoholic concoctions in his book — a lot of various lemonades, among other things — and I’m excited to go through those as well. Especially the orgeat lemonade, but that’s another entry.

One note about this one: he uses “carbonate of soda” which is technically different from baking soda (Na2CO3 versus NaHCO3) but may not actually be edible? Obviously it’s basically edible (you can actually make it just by heating up baking soda for a while) but there were enough conflicting sources online that I chose not to use it. Also it’s hard to find. “Washing soda” is the other name for it.

In a surprisingly relevant piece of soda news, Pepsi is going to be opening a restaurant in New York Meat Packing District this spring called the “Kola House,” with cuisine “inspired by the exploration of the kola nut.” Which actually sounds kind of cool, as long as they’re open to serving Coke instead of Pepsi.

228. Soda Nectar

(Use large tumbler.)

Juice of 1 lemon.
¾ tumblerful of water.
Powdered white sugar to taste. [I probably used about 3 tablespoons, which shows you how sweet sodas are.]
½ teaspoon of carbonate of soda. [Again, I used baking soda here.]
Strain the juice of the lemon, and add it to the water, with sufficient white sugar to sweeten the whole nicely. When well mixed, put in the soda, stir well, and drink while the mixture is in an effervescing state.

Tasting Notes:

BN: As I mentioned before, the drink itself was not super fascinating; it’s basically just bubbly lemonade. However, I just can’t get over the baking soda thing. It kept it bubbly for a while, too — it wasn’t like a grade-school volcano — and I definitely want to try it again in other circumstances!

PiC: It was cool! It was basically like a lemon soda — it’s a cool way of doing that and it didn’t taste like baking soda which was good. Let’s try it with other flavors! (And can we do it with non-acidic flavoring? SCIENCE!)

2. Brandy Punch

On February 6, 2016February 7, 2016 By The Boozy NewsieIn Bon Vivant's Companion4 Comments

In theory, I would start with the first recipe. But this book has the confusing method of starting the section with a vague description of how best to make whatever particular type of drink it’s discussing (in this case punches) and then with the first real recipe ignoring everything that came before. But since this is the first concrete recipe, I’m going to do it, and then maybe go back to #1 once all of the punches are complete. Then maybe I’ll understand what he’s trying to get me to do. Maybe.

In the real world, Brandy Clark released a new single on Friday. Brandy Clark is pretty much the greatest — she’s written songs for essentially all of the biggest country stars (and the ones who are less huge but probably better, like Kacey Musgraves), and also has a really good album, 12 Stories, which you should check out. It’s on Spotify! Her new album is coming out in April. This has been a PSA from your friendly Boozy Newsie.

2. Brandy Punch

(Use large bar glass.)

1 table-spoonful raspberry syrup. [Made this from this Imbibe recipe.]
2 do. white sugar. [so as not to have to put a note every time from now on, I’m going to replace the do. (ditto) with the actual amount.]
1 wine-glass water. [2 oz.]
1½ wine-glass brandy. [I’m also going to adjust to modern measurements. This one’s 3 oz.]
½ small-sized lemon.
2 slices of orange.
1 piece of pine-apple.
Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, shake well, and dress the top with berries in season; sip through a straw. [Again, no straw, and I used some raspberries to match the syrup.]

Only thing I’d add here is that I decided rather than using the lemon as a garnish, he meant to squeeze the juice in. The pineapple I put in the glass early so some of the juice should have gotten in as well, but everything else was garnish.

Brandy Punch Prep

Tasting Notes:

BN: You can taste all the elements and they meld well. It’s not super sweet, which is odd because there’s both syrup and sugar in there, but I really like it! The best of the ones I made today.

PiC: It’s almost whiskey sourish, but fresher. That’s GOOD. It’s like a Sour Patch Kid in a drink! The raspberry and the sourness match to be just like the candy. We should remember this one.

Bonus shot of raspberry syrup:

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 Deep Blue Sea – Shark Week

On July 10, 2015July 10, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn Originals1 Comment

It’s Shark Week, the only time people care about the Discovery Channel! And so, to a drink.

I tried something a little bit different this time, taking a pre-existing drink more specifically and modifying it. And I think it worked out well! The original recipe is the “Fred Collins Fizz,” from the New Guide for the Hotel, Bar, Restaurant, Butler, & Chef (that’s a mouthful) by Bacchus & Cordon Bleu, 1885. Instructions are copied verbatim, except for the last two. Adjustments were made by the replacement of orange with blue curaçao, as well as the addition of grenadine. To bring the blood into the blue ocean water.

The Deep Blue Sea

2 ounces bourbon
1/2 ounce simple syrup
juice of 1 fresh lemon
1 teaspoon blue curaçao
6 ounces fizzy lemonade
a dash of grenadine

Mix the bourbon, simple syrup, and lemon juice in an iced cocktail shaker and shake.
Strain into a large bar glass that is half filled with shaved (or finely crushed) ice.
Add the curaçao
Pour the lemonade into a collins glass, and pour the contents of the bar glass into it.
Dribble a little bit of grenadine into the top of the glass, and watch with satisfaction as it settles to the bottom
Enjoy, while deciding that you won’t go into the ocean for at least another year. Maybe July of 2016 you’ll give it another shot.

Tasting Notes:

BN: This was really good. Normally I say that because I’m proud of myself but this was awesome. It wasn’t super alcoholic, and the tartness of the fresh lemon worked incredibly well with the hint of grenadine. I tried it without the grenadine and it wasn’t quite the same. Well done, bartenders of 1885. Only disappointment was that it ended up green and red instead of blue and red, and kind of looked like it should taste like watermelon.

PiC: YUM. So tart and so tasty. *dives face into glass for more*

The Silverlake Craft Beer & Cocktail Expo – Boozy Newsie News Flash

On June 6, 2015June 9, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn ReviewsLeave a comment

On a rainy day back in April, I visited a new event held in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, showcasing local bars, restaurants, and breweries, and what they had to offer in the line of food and drink. This had a pretty awesome lineup, and I both ate and drank too much… What better way to relive those memories than to tell you about it!

The host of the event, the 4100 Bar, had two house cocktails. On the left, the gin-based one, with TRU organic gin, cucumber, basil, lemon, and sugar. On the right (I got a little carried away drinking it before we took the picture), the scotch-based cocktail – scotch, agave, ginger, lemon, topped with Island single malt (I believe it was Oban but I don’t quite remember). Both of these were good, although the gin one pretty much just tasted like lemonade, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Next, we braved the outside tents in the surprisingly powerful rainstorm.

The Thirsty Crow offered up a classic Old Fashioned, nicely mixed and not too sweet, including a real Maraschino cherry and juice (not the bright red stuff) and a ton of bitters, just the way I like it.

Next stop was Angel City Brewery, where we “sampled” (full glasses) their IPA and West Coast Wheat. Angel City tends to be a little hoppy for me — I know, I know, I should appreciate the bitterness, but I don’t — but I imagine if you like that sort of thing you’d be happy with these.

The Black Cat was churning out these nicely spicy cocktails — Ancho Reyes ancho chili flavored mescal, Lillet, grapefruit, lime, and a pinch of salt on top. Depending on the sip, the salt was a little strong but the flavors were great.

Malo had not only some delicious cocktails (we didn’t have three, I swear) but also amazing, seemingly deep-fried tacos and chips. The cocktails had Mexican Squirt soda, simple syrup, lime, grapefruit juice, tequila, and a pinch of chili salt, and were called “The Paloma.” Yay for names! I blacked out from how good the tacos were so I don’t remember what was in them, specifically.

We also got far too much to drink from Golden Road, a brewery I love. The 329 was an easy-drinking, not too flavorful lager, and the IPA was, well, an IPA. Sorry I can’t be more specific about that, but so it goes.

Doubling up at this point, Akbar had a Moscow Mule (left) that included the surprising addition of Chinese bitters, which apparently just tastes like anise. I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not, which is usually the case with anise-flavored liqueurs. Mohawk Bend, my favorite restaurant of all time, had essentially a vodka lemonade with California poppy bitters. I was sad that you couldn’t taste the bitters very much, as it sounded like a cool touch.

After all the alcohol, we needed a break — and Garage Pizza delivered. I know this is a drink blog, but this pizza was great, so you should go there. Perfect balance of grease and cheese.

The Virgil was giving out “The Caravan,” with rye, lemon, ginger, honey syrup, and angostura bitters on top. Nicely sweet and easy to drink.

A very similar-looking drink was made by Barbarella, with Makers 46, chipotle honey syrup, lemon syrup. Nicely spiced and the lemon cut the honey well.

Charcoal BBQ gave out some delicious pork ribs, pickled cauliflower and normal pickles. We went back later in the day and told the chef we really liked the pickles and he dumped out literally the entire container (at least a quart) onto a plate for us. This was slightly excessive, but we still ate it.

The last drink of the day came from El Condor, which gave out a perfectly normal but perfectly good margarita. Sampled this with some good old Mexican coke (or cola, in this case).

And then for the sad part of story. Apparently there was a pizza-eating contest at this event but SOMEONE (who will remain nameless) did not inform me of this fact until it was too late and it had already begun. Now how will I claim my pizza eating crown? I suppose I wouldn’t be able to compete with at least the beard of the winner (last picture) so it’s okay.

The No Power Hour – Earth Hour

On March 28, 2015March 28, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn OriginalsLeave a comment

If you know what Earth Hour is, hopefully you’re not on your computer reading this right now! That is, if I manage to post it in time. For those of you that don’t, it’s basically a world-wide (supposedly 7,000 cities) show of support for conservation, climate change awareness, etc., sponsored by the WWF. For an hour (8:30–9:30 local time) everyone shuts off the lights, both in their own homes and on big monuments like the National Cathedral, the Santa Monica Pier Ferris wheel, and so on. And so it’s cool! The first one I took part in was in 2009, I think, in London, and it was surprisingly cool to wander around and see things like Nelson’s column and the National Gallery all pitch black. So, to commemorate the occasion, here’s a drink, with ingredients that seem somewhat natural and earthy (including limes from a bush that grows in my yard!).

The No Power Hour

2 oz vodka
4 oz coconut water
2 oz pomegranate juice
0.5 oz lime juice (fresh is best)
lime wedge for garnish

I initially mixed everything but the pomegranate juice together, in hopes of layering the pomegranate on the bottom and making a cool sunrise-y type look, but that didn’t work at all. So, you can ignore that, mix everything together and garnish with the lime wedge. I really need to work on drinks that have more fun techniques.

Tasting Notes:

BN: I like this! The weirdest thing is that it doesn’t taste like alcohol at all, when I specifically made it a little stronger so that it would get you through that dark hour of potentially nothing to do… But it tastes good! A lot of coconut flavor with a little acid from the pomegranate and lime. I wish it looked a little more interesting, but then again if you’re drinking it in the dark it shouldn’t matter too much.

PiC: I think coconut water tastes like human sweat, so I didn’t love that part of it… But it was better than coconut water usually is, and if I liked coconut water I’d probably be super into it. As it stands, it’s very pretty.

The First Round Upset – March Madness

On March 20, 2015March 20, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn OriginalsLeave a comment

It’s that time of year again! The time of year where I pretend to care about sports, and more importantly basketball, when all I really care about is gambling and looking at statistics. Or something. In any case, although my alma mater is already out of the running (it was not, sadly, a first round upset), I’m enjoying this wholeheartedly so far. Lots of upsets, lots of weirdness, and great close games.

So what better way to celebrate than to drink! Although this particular cocktail came out pretty well, its connection to March Madness is a bit of a stretch… Basketball… The ball itself… Round, and kind of orange… Oranges! And, well, that was it.

The First Round Upset

1.5 oz gin (I used this amazing gin we found in Prince Edward Island, which is smooth and not super-junipery. If you’re ever there, go here!)
3/4 oz amaro (It was in a jar, but I swear that’s what it was)
4 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
3 dashes cardamom bitters (not pictured… reason to be discussed below)
orange peel

Combine elements in a mixing glass and stir. Pour out (strain if you haven’t strained the orange juice already) into a martini or rocks glass, and garnish with the peel for a little extra bitterness.

Tasting Notes:

BN: I liked this! In the end, that is. I first pulled it together without the bitters (as pictured in the ingredients shot) and it was just a little too sweet. This may be because of the drink, but I actually have a sneaking suspicion it was because of the oranges. One of the ones I juiced was super red and I think a lot sweeter than you would normally want a plain orange to be (I don’t think it was a blood orange…). The drink needed something to cut that sweetness, and my thought went to the cardamom bitters I don’t generally use enough. When I added them in it was much better, and with a more complex flavor. Still would have liked a little more bite, I think, but it was a pretty nice drink overall.

PiC: This is very drinkable. It’s super tasty, but could maybe use a tad more punch. Maybe the orange that was used was a bit sweet? I do like it, though, and the aftertaste of the bitters adds nice complexity.

Intolerable Heat – Heat Wave #2

On March 15, 2015March 15, 2015 By The Boozy NewsieIn Originals1 Comment

It’s that time of year again, I guess. Spring has sprung and therefore it’s in the 90s here in Los Angeles. For some of you, this may be a good thing, but for people like me, I am unhappy. Therefore I took it upon myself to make a drink that embodied my feelings about the heat. That is, I set out to make a drink that I was pretty much certain I wouldn’t like. It’s a shot (not my favorite method of alcohol consumption), and contains two things I’m not a huge fan of. The result? Well, let’s see.

Intolerable Heat

2 parts Fireball cinnamon whiskey (shudder)
1 part Southern Comfort Pepper (now I’ve never had the pepper version before, but Southern Comfort is pretty gross. So, shudder)

Mix ingredients together in a shot glass. Enjoy?

Tasting Notes:

BN: Wow. This was, weirdly, actually kinda good! While both ingredients by themselves were not pleasant at all, the two heats of the cinnamon and the pepper cancelled out the sweetness of the whiskeys. I’m not going to go around making these every day, but I was pleasantly surprised, and I liked it much better than going outside this weekend. It wasn’t the prettiest drink, but it served its purpose.

PiC: It’s not bad! I mean, it still totally makes me make my “shot face,” but as far as shots go, I sort of enjoy the aftertaste. The spiciness is kind of like a built-in chaser.