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Monthly Archives: March 2012

Cocky Yamazaki

1 Comment Posted by on March 26, 2012

This is the first of what I hope to be many barrel aged cocktails, I used a two liter once charred new american oak barrel for the first batch of this. As time goes on I imagine that I will have to allow for more time for this to reach its peak, but for the first go around I only had to keep this in for three weeks:

  • 1 Yamazaki
  • .5 Canton
  • .25 Fernet Branca

After this aged I re-bottled it and then added .25 coriander ginger syrup (you can find this recipe under the Bastard Child post), stirred over ice, and served up. Mind you, I didn’t just aged one drink worth of this, I used a whole bottle of Yamazaki and proportionate measures of the remaining ingredients.

This drink, before being aged, is still a good one, but does taste a little raw with so much Fernet coming through. After aging this though, everything mellows and blends into what tastes almost like an unfiltered, fresh pressed apple cider with a small pull of whiskey in it. It is light enough to be considered a spring and summer cocktail, but it can also hold up to the heavier foods served in fall and winter.

barrel aged, Fernet Branca, Ginger ,

The Seven-Jack-Deuce

1 Comment Posted by on March 21, 2012

This is an interesting drink for me, its the first time that I’ve intentionally introduced smoke into a drink. This starts with a light gin and citrus base and slides into a light herbal finish:

  • 1.75 Hendrick’s Gin
  • .5 ginger coriander syrup
  • .5 basil infused limoncello
  • .5 fresh lemon juice
  • 3 dashes Regan’s Orange bitters
  • sprig of rosemary

Take a large wineglass and turn it upside-down, burn the rosemary underneath it and catch the resulting smoke, do this until smoke is cascading out of the glass, then cover it with a napkin or coaster. Stir over ice the remaining ingredients until well chilled, carefully slide the cover of the glass open just enough to strain the drink into it, re-cover and let sit for at least 30-60 seconds. Serve. 

As this drink sits on your table more and more smoke is absorbed into it taking away the intense rosemary aroma and turning it into taste. Overall, this drink should be slowly enjoyed to get the full progression of flavor and aroma.

Bitters, Citrus, Cocktails, Fire, Gin, Ginger ,

Bitters #2: Black Peppercorn, Rosemary, Grapefruit

4 Comments Posted by on March 6, 2012

I said before that I would let you know about the addition of butternut squash into the base bitters posted some time ago. Well, that didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped. Thankfully I didn’t use the whole 750 for that experiment. I batched off 250ml of the base and decided to try another combination: Black peppercorn, rosemary, and grapefruit. 

I soaked six cloves and 2 tablespoons of black peppercorns for 10 days, then strained them out; soaked the peel of one large pink grapefruit (sans pith) for another 10 days, strained it; and then put an ounce of rosemary into the bottle for a week. After straining the rosemary out the bitters are now sharp on the front from the grapefruit, have very nice aroma throughout from the rosemary, and finish with a little bit of burn on the back of the throat from the peppercorns.

These work quite well in whiskey drinks as the pepper brings out a lot of the darker flavors, especially in a good rye. I have yet to work with this in any gin or rum drinks, but soon enough it will be the right weather for that.

Bitters

The Rosy Crucifixion

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 1, 2012

For the impending start of spring I figured that I would put out a champagne topped cocktail, but would keep it true to my own heart with a strong measure of whiskey:

  • 1.5 Bulleit bourbon
  • .5 Cointreau
  • 6 dashes Angostura
  • 6 dashes Peychauds
  • 4 champagne

Stir the first four ingredients over ice and pour into a white wine glass (a flute won’t hold the whole cocktail), top with the champagne, and garnish with a healthy lemon twist. Cheers.

Bitters, Bourbon, Bubbly, Cocktails ,

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