Number Two in my Stephen King flight. This one was obvious, in reference to The Shining. This is one of the ones chosen for the night, but I might modify it a bit before full release.
Tag: lemonade
184. Knickerbocker
Such a great name. I only know it from this, and the TV show “The Knick.” But Wikipedia there was also a Barney song. And some other things. I also like that there’s no “The” in the title. Anyway. On to the news!
It’s obviously tricky to find a news article for this one… So instead, let’s just talk about this. I’d make another joke about needing a drink, but, seriously, guys, let’s just elect the right person president and use all of this as an opportunity to learn how to treat all people (women, African-Americans, immigrants, Latinos, the list goes on and on) with respect and care about them. Ugh.
222. Lemonade
Who says a cocktail has to be alcoholic? Certainly not Jerry Thomas. He has a whole section of “Temperance Drinks” (oddly, the section itself is numbered 221, so I’m not entirely sure what his system is). We’ve actually seen one of these before, the Soda Nectar (228), but this one is a little more involved. He is definitely playing fast and loose not just the definition of lemonade, but also the more common definition of “temperance,” as this actually does have alcohol in it, if only a small amount. It’s also nice to be able to make this on a per glass basis, instead of a big pitcher all at once.
Interesting to note that there’s a footnote after the title of this drink which directs people to some other lemonade recipes in “The Manual for the Manufacture of Cordials, etc,” in the “latter part of this work.” I don’t actually have this part, but I think it’s okay — I saw it online, and it’s more about the ingredients than the actual cocktails. Which is cool, but not the goal here.
In the news-I-know-little-about vein, apparently Beyonce’s lawyers are trying to dismiss a filmmaker’s claim that she stole elements of his short film in her video album, Lemonade, that was released recently. Presented mostly without comment, as I feel like rights are such a messed up issue that it’s really hard to come down on one side or the other.
228. Soda Nectar
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!)
The Deep Blue Sea – Shark Week
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 Boozy Newsie 