This is the day before Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, everybody make a Warlock, drink it down till the neighbors gonna die of delight; it’s your drink, everybody scream, on the day before Halloween.
Okay, as you know, every year near Halloween I do three things – sing the above song, have a Warlock (made with brandy, Strega, limoncello, orange juice, and Peychaud’s bitters), and turn into a zombie magician. This year is no different.
This is a nice fall number, with a bunch of umph and layers upon layers of flavors sure to make the chill recede and the happiness take its place. It has some intriguing players sharing the spotlight, including Woodinville Whiskey’s newly-released straight bourbon whiskey, Salish Sea (a distillery on the edge of Lacey, WA that makes a whole host of really awesome liqueurs) Ginger liqueur, which has a whole lot of wonderful ginger kick and not too much sugary-ness, Alessio Chinato vermouth, made with Cinchona bark and other herbs, and a tiny bit of orange legend Grand Marnier. A combo I’m guessing you’ll love, but hey, there’s only one way to find out for sure.
This drink comes from one of my favorite old cocktail books, Crosby Gaige’s Cocktail Guide and Ladies Companion. If you can track it down, it’s well worth investing in, as it’s jovial as a good cocktail party, and it has some random but delicious recipes that I haven’t seen elsewhere. One of those is this one, Headlong Hall.
It’s really a distant cousin of the Martini, as it’s heavy of gin and half-as-heavy of vermouth, but then taken down a curvy boozy road by the addition of two whispers: one of Bénédictine, and one of absinthe. Which gives it a personality all of its own.
Of course, with the main players being such to the front of the stage (wow, I am all over the place on the metaphors and such), however, you need some serious actors – or, seriously flavorful gin and vermouth. Recently, I was in the UK, and in the lovely city of Bath, in a lovely little wine and liquor store, I picked up a bottle of Psychopomp Wōden gin, which is made at a “micro-distillery” in Bristol, not far from Bath. The gin is singular – don’t get me wrong, it starts with a rich juniper, but that’s backed by a mingling of coriander, grapefruit zest, angelica root and cassia bark, and fennel seed, the last of which really delivers on the back end when sipping. If you’re in the UK, track it down.
To go with it, I picked La Quintinye Vermouth Royal, the extra dry version (full disclosure and bragging – I received this in the mail not too long ago). Made in the Charente region of France, La Quintinye extra dry vermouth is crafted from 27 plants and spices on a base of white wines and Pineau des Charentes Blanc. Lush is a good way to describe it, with floral and citrus notes all coming together and delivering a result that’s fantastic in cocktails (especially I think matched with a flavorful gin), but also dandy before dinner over one or two pieces of ice. Combined with the Wōden gin and our two whispers in this drink? Well, try it, but I sure found it all fantastic.
Headlong Hall
Cracked ice
2 ounces Psychopomp Wōden gin
1 ounce La Quintinye Extra Dry Vermouth Royal
1 teaspoon Bénédictine
1/2 teaspoon absinthe
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Drink, but not in a headlong manner (no matter the title. Sorry Crosby).
I’m not afraid (of anything except spiders, robot gorillas, driving tests, the dread Dormammu, and old lemons). That means, I’ll try to make cocktails with all kinds of ingredients. Recently, I was lucky enough to get some fermented probionic “tonics” from Seattle’s Firefly Kitchens. And I made a delicious cocktail using one!
If you don’t know, Firefly Kitchens makes raw and naturally-preserved fermented foods, which are freakishly healthy due to the good bacteria proliferating during fermentation, producing lactic acid, keeping the goods naturally fresh, keeping out bad bacteria, creating enzymes and more good bacteria or probiotics. What’s that really mean? The Firefly kimchis, krauts, and more are good for you. Really good! And now, they’re also producing Probionic Tonics, made during the fermentation process (they also have a book, Fresh & Fermented, you should get so you can learn more).
The tonics are where I came in – specifically in this case the Emerald City Kraut tonic. Zesty! Brine-y! Organic! This tonic is great as a daily shot, dressing, marinade, all things you’d expect. At first, it might (between us) seem too powerful and personality-filled to play well in cocktails. But after a fair amount (between us, again) of testing, I found a mix of ingredients that’s not only full of flavor, but I’m thinking healthier than you could imagine. The key was realizing the tang would go good with lemon, and perhaps better with juniper than other, more obvious spices. Well, that and deciding to go all local! Local things seem to play better together.
You might have to work at it, but track yourself down some Emerald City Kraut tonic, some Kur gin, and some Letterpress limoncello. And start your day right*!
A couple years back as many know, my wife and I loaded up the dogs and we moved to Italy. It was great (of course), and if you want to know more, go to my Italy blog and start at the beginning. But when moving back, I needed a drink to take the sadness down a little, a drink that brought me back while reminding me of the Italian hours. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to see the Seattle pals and sights and bars I also love. But hey, sometimes coming back is hard, and you need the right drink to accompany it. And this is that drink! Why am I having it again today? Well, October 2nd was the very day we flew out to start our adventure, those years ago.
I am very sorry, dear readers, for what’s to come in the next few sentences. The kids these days call it “venting,” and I shouldn’t do it here, but we’re all in this together, and trust me, the payoff is good. So, tally ho! To all those who feel that they need to have early morning work meetings where they can be totally self-centered, churlish, idiotic, preening, demanding, aggressive, annoying, smelly, rude, obnoxious, piggish, full of sophomoric one-up-manship, self-absorbed, beastly, un-jovial, un-jolly, un-jiggy-with-it, grabby, grandstanding, stinky, vainglorious, un-fun, stoopid and stupid, pompous, jealous, vindictive, douche-y, territorial at a level way beyond petty, pushy, primpy, powermad, and just plain fatheaded, to all y’all that fit that – please, just let me know far, far, in advance when you’re scheduling your morning meetings, so I can make a Morning Call, or two, and thereby just ignore your sorry ass.
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add the absinthe, maraschino, and lemon juice. Stir well, and hang up the phone.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass.
PS: Sorry about the rant. But the drink is worth it, one hopes.
The other day, some whippersnapper said something like “but you’d don’t like Martinis, do you?” If I wasn’t a gentleman of the old school, I would have shown them the back of my hand, all close up like. I may not have Martinis that often, but of course I love them (when made right and all that)! Martinis are lovable. Since I don’t have them super regularly though, I try to make my Martini-ing a memorable affair. When at home, that means I use a gin that’s really going to bring some personality. Today, that’s Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin, which is bursting with a host of flavors: juniper, spice, botanical, berry, monkey. You can read more about it in this post on The Lord Suffolk (a worthy drink). But let it be said that when connected amiably with Dolin dry vermouth and a lemon (I’m a lemon guy, like all right-thinking people), that’s a memorable Martini, friends. And I loved it. You should try the same, and if any silly person has the temerity afterwards to intimate that you don’t like Martinis, punch ‘em in the snoot.
There are nights when inspiration hits like lightening, or like a very fast snake on the prowl, or like bowling ball dropped off a tall, tall building. On nights like that, you, if you’re like me, realize that if you subbed Ancho Reyes (the ancho chile liqueur, which I go much deeper into in the recipe for the Summer Near Puebla, if you missed it) for sweet vermouth in a Bobby Burns, you’d have a drink of genius. Of genius! Especially if you perhaps twisted the proportions just a little, and then added a dash of Peychaud’s bitters, and served it over a giant piece of ice. Double genius! Don’t believe me? Try the below recipe, as you watch for lightening, snakes, and falling bowling balls. After one sip, you’ll realize how lucky you are and forget all the rest of that stuff.
Oh, one thing. I used Speyburn 10 year old Scotch here. Its slight fruitiness and balance and friendliness make it a good match. It’s also not super expensive, so you won’t feel bad mixing it up with other powerful personalities.
The Bowling Roberto
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces Speyburn 10 Year Scotch
1/2 ounce Ancho Reyes ancho chile liqueur
1/2 ounce Bénédictine
1 dash Peychaud’s bitters
Big ice cubes (or a couple sorta big ice cubes)
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full of cracked ice. Add everything but the second piece of ice. Stir well.
2. Add a big piece of ice to an Old Fashioned or such glass. Strain the mix over the ice.
