July 29, 2016
You might think, to yourself, “A Manhattan-y cocktail is not quite the thing, old boy, for summer.” You would be wrong. Sorry! Exhibit A: The Tranquil Hills. How does this rough-and-tumble rye beguiler manage to hold its brown likker umph while still navigating the higher temperatures of summer? Well, I’m glad you asked. First, it’s just a good drink, and good drinks are always good. But, it’s helped along by using a key summer fruit, the blackberry, here in the form of Sidetrack Distillery’s lovely Blackberry liqueur. The rich berry taste covers for the Manhattan’s regular sweet vermouth, bringing enough depth, but also the very core of summer along for the ride.
Sidetrack’s Blackberry liqueur also mingles in a manner most wonderful with the rye I used, Templeton’s The Good Stuff rye. A rye made with the idea of matching the taste of an old prohibition recipe, one that was once, as legend has it (and nothing is better than drink legends) loved by Al Capone himself, Templeton has a spiciness, and a combo of dried fruits and caramel, that hit the spot here and now. A little of Scrappy’s Orange bitters (Scrappy being Seattle’s favorite son, and now an international bitters of renown, because, well, they’re great), and you have a whiskey cocktail that can help you survive the summer in fine fashion.
The Tranquil Hills
Cracked ice
2-1/4 ounces Templeton rye
3/4 ounce Sidetrack Blackberry Liqueur
2 dashes Scrappy’s Orange bitters
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything. Stir well, but don’t get sweaty.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Drink it up.
Tags: cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Friday Night Cocktail, Scrappy’s orange bitters, Sidetrack Blackberry liqueur, Templeton rye, The Tranquil Hills, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: bitters, Cocktail Recipes, Distillery, Liqueurs, Recipes, Rye, What I'm Drinking, Whiskey
June 10, 2016
As any truly worthy encyclopedia tells us, poets love gin. I mean, poets (most poets) love drinking most anything. Trust me, I’ve known my fair (or unfair) share of them. But gin is up there with things they love. Which is why having a Poet’s Dream on World Gin Day, which is tomorrow, makes lyrical sense, both for those of you that are poets (like Ed Skoog), and those who like a little poetry now-and-again, and those who really just want a good gin drink to celebrate the day. I’m having mine today, along with one tomorrow, because I’m on the ball. Or because I just can’t wait!
Oh, this liquid quatrain of a cocktail dates at least to The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book, one of the true legendary drink manuals (by Albert Crockett, and originally published in 1935), which is where I first found it. There are, in a sorta rarity, three ingredients in it in equal amounts. To make it work, you must have a gin with a lot of flavor and one that’s nice and dry, or the Bénédictine and French vermouth push it around. I’m using Cadée Gin here, and if you can get it, get it. If not, find another sturdy gin. Oh, and don’t forget the twist, or my “liquid quatrain” line above doesn’t work, and we wouldn’t want that.
The Poet’s Dream
Cracked ice
1 ounce Cadée gin
1 ounce Bénédictine
1 ounce French (aka Dry) Vermouth
Lemon twist, for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything but the twist. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail shaker, and garnish with the twist.
Tags: Benedictine, Cadée distillery, Cadée gin, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, dry vermouth, French vermouth, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, The Poet’s Dream, Washington distillery, What I’m Drinking, World Gin Day
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Distillery, Gin, Liqueurs, Recipes, What I'm Drinking
April 1, 2016
I’m pretty blessed to live in a state full of swell distilleries: big-ish ones, little-ish ones, medium-ish ones. And so many of them are doing their own, interesting bottled thing – it’s awesome! And during the course of one recent evening, I wanted to celebrate this particular WA-blessing by making myself a drink using all local booze. It wasn’t hard really (due to the many choices intimated at above), outside of narrowing it down – cause I like so many of them! Another night, it’d be completely different. This particular evening I was feeling rummy, though, and went with Skip Rock’s Belle Rose rum, the light-ish rum version, which was aged in white wine barrels, and has a nice vanilla-oaky-ness. I introduced it (hopefully not for the first time in history) to broVo spirits’ wonderful new-ish Lucky Falernum liqueur (especially good today). A lot of falernums available are a little cloying to me, but Lucky is higher-proof and more mighty than cloying, without losing its underlying ginger, lime, pineapple, star anise profile. Those two locals together is a good start, but I wanted a wild card, something to bring one more zing – I went with Salish Sea’s Hibiscus liqueur, made from Egyptian red hibiscus flowers, and carrying a lovely tangy tartness. Together, they made for a wonderful Washington evening indeed. No fooling!
The Course of the Evening
The Course of the Evening
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces Skip Rock Belle Rose light rum
1 ounce broVo spirits Lucky Falernum
1/2 ounce Salish Sea Hibiscus liqueur
Orange wedge, for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add the trio of Washington-state delights. Stir well (I really wanted to say “just right” there).
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Squeeze the wedge over the glass, then drop it in.
Tags: broVo spirits Lucky Falernum, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Falernum, Friday Night Cocktail, Rum, Salish Sea Hibiscus liqueur, Skip Rock Belle Rose light rum, The Course of the Evening, Washington distillery, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Distillery, Liqueurs, Recipes, Rum, What I'm Drinking
March 25, 2016
Okay, let’s start with another drink – the Martini. Don’t worry, I’ll get to widows. But recently I received (poor me!) a bottle of Ransom Gin and a bottle of Ransom dry vermouth in the mail. If you don’t know (and, if so, why don’t you?), Ransom is a farm-to-glass distillery and winery in Sheridan, OR, started up by owner and distiller Tad Seestedt. With the f-to-g earlier, you can probably guess that they use local ingredients by the bucketful, including in the gin alone, hops, marionberry, coriander, fennel seeds, and chamomile all produced on the Oregon farm where the distillery is, which is fantastic. And the vermouth also features wine and brandy made on the farm, using OR ingredients, too. That’s pretty darn awesome, and means these old pals (gin and vermouth, that is), in this situation are old, old pals, down to the ground. So, when one (if you’re one like me) gets a bottle of gin and a bottle of vermouth from the same spot and sharing the same agricultural legacy, the first thing that happens is opening the bottles. Then making a Martini, of course.
Mine are made in old school style, 2-1/2 parts gin to 1/2 part vermouth, with a twist of lemon. The end result here – darn delicious. Hints of herb and spice, but with a really lovely smoothness overall. Everything, as you’d expect, plays so nicely together. Of course, me being me and all that, I couldn’t just try the Martini, I had to push the envelope beyond the obvious with a lesser-in-the-road’s-middle cocktail. And that cocktail was the Merry Widow, which I’d recently re-discovered (I can’t remember if this is where I saw it first, honestly) in a fun book from 1936 called Burke’s Complete Cocktail and Tastybite Recipes – a fine read if you can find it. Anyway, the Merry Widow lets the vermouth shine a bit more (which is good here, because the Ransom vermouth is very drinkable all alone, with an balanced herbal, citrus, combo), and also introduces just a hint of a few other players, all of whom played well. Give it a whirl, and see if you can taste that good Oregon terroir coming through. I served a round to some pals, and they all could – and thought the drink would make any widow get up and dance.
The Merry Widow
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces Ransom gin
1-1/2 ounces Ransom dry vermouth
2 dashes Absinthe
2 dashes Benedictine
1 dash Angostura bitters
Lemon twist, for garnish
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything but the twist. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Now, bring that twist to the OR party.
Tags: absinthe, Angostura bitters, Benedictine, Burke’s Complete Cocktail and Tastybite Recipes, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, Martini, Ransom dry vermouth, Ransom gin, The Merry Widow, vermouth, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: bitters, Cocktail Recipes, Distillery, Gin, Liqueurs, Recipes, vermouth, What I'm Drinking
March 15, 2016
Spring has nearly sprung, or maybe is in mid-spring, though that could be mid-sprung-ing? Either or, things are budding, including my most recent blog posts for the swank Seattle magazine, which you probably already know, having read them all, right? RIGHT? Well, if not, there’s no need for shouting (that was just me kidding around). Read them now, before the web explodes**.
• New Greenhorn Whiskey and Other Local Distillery News
• Top Five Drinks for Celebrating a Birthday
• Valentine’s Day Drink Picks from Seattle Bartenders
• Support Your Local Female Bartenders at Speed Rack
*See all Seattle magazine posts by me
**This is not happening, and I don’t want to be the start of any “the web’s exploding” rumors for gosh sakes.
February 26, 2016
I tend to make up, uncover from old books, try out, play around with, guess at, and just generally have a fair amount of cocktails. And usually when making them up, or trying to modify up an older recipe found in a deliciously dusty tome, I have good luck from the get-go. Which of course makes me cocky, and probably annoying to friends and family and dogs. However, fairly regularly I get reminded that I make lots of mistakes, too, and sometimes just can’t find that right proportional mix no matter what. Recently, I went through an evening like this, where I was (gasp!) throwing drink and drink out cause they stunk and I stunk. Finally, I just went to what I knew would come together nicely, and quit the wacky experimenting, and that’s gin and Aperol. Easy, friendly, and with a little Blanc vermouth and Scrappy’s orange, the savior of my night and ego. Of course, it helped that the gin was from local stars the Seattle Distilling Company, who make a darn fine gin (and whiskey, coffee liqueur, and vodka). Sometimes, when the night is stormy (even metaphorically so), it’s good to have friends around.
A Fool’s Paradise
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces Seattle Distilling Company gin
1 ounce Aperol
1/2 ounce La Quintinye Vermouth Royal blanc
1 dash Scrappy’s orange bitters
1. Fill a mixing glass or cocktail shaker halfway full with cracked ice. Add it all. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Be humble.
Tags: A Fool’s Paradise, Aperol, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, La Quintinye Vermouth Royal blanc, Scrappy’s orange bitters, Seattle Distilling Company, Seattle Distilling Company gin, What I’m Drinking
Posted in: bitters, Cocktail Recipes, Distillery, Gin, Liqueurs, Recipes, vermouth, What I'm Drinking
January 15, 2016
Hey, happy 2016! Sorry there have been few posts for the last few weeks, but I went to Italy for the holidays and wasn’t able to post due to having wine in each hand. Well, wine, pizza, cheese, and grappa. And amari. And Negronis. And pasta forks. You get it! But now I’m back with a swell and simple drink for your Friday. So easy. So delicious. Just like one wants early in January. It has two key ingredients: Woodinville Whiskey Co’s new bourbon and amaretto. If you need to use another bourbon, well, I feel sorry for you. On the amaretto, I used my homemade version (recipe below), and if you can’t use that, well, I feel sorry for you again. But it would still be a good drink I think, even with slightly different ingredients. Try it! And let me know.
The W&A
Ice cubes
2 ounces Woodinville Whiskey Co. bourbon
1 ounce homemade amaretto
Wide orange twist, for garnish
1. Add a few good-sized nice ice cubes to an Old Fashioned or comparable glass. Then add the bourbon. Then the amaretto. Stir well.
2. Garnish with that orange twist. Enjoy the New Year.
A Note: To make An Enticing Amaretto (from Luscious Liqueurs) follow this recipe:
1 cup skin-on whole raw almonds
1 Tablespoon orange zest
2-1/2 cups brandy
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1-1/2 cups water
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1. Using a chef’s knife, roughly cut the almonds into smallish pieces. Add them, the orange zest, and the brandy to a large glass container, one with a secure lid. Stir well. Place the container in a cool, safe, place, away from the sun. Let sit for two weeks, swirling occasionally.
2. Add the sugars and the water to the medium-sized saucepan. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to a boil over a medium-high heat. Lower the heat a bit, keeping the mixture at a low boil for five minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the syrup completely cool in the pan. This step can be done anytime during the two weeks mentioned in step 1, as long as the syrup is refrigerated until it’s added to the liqueur.
3. Add the syrup made in step 2 and the vanilla to your secure container. Stir well. Place the container back in a cool, safe, place, away from the sun. Let sit for two more weeks, swirling at least every other day.
4. After the final two weeks, carefully strain the mix through double sheets of cheesecloth into a pitcher or other container, one that you can easily pour out of–there’s no need to spill.
5. Next, get two new sheets of cheesecloth, and strain the amaretto into bottles or jars with good lids–or one larger container. Serve either chilled or at room temperature, depending on your mood and inclination.
Tags: amaretto, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Friday Night Cocktail, homemade amaretto, Luscious Liqueurs, The W&A, Washington distillery, What I’m Drinking, Woodinville Whiskey Co. bourbon
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Distillery, Liqueurs, Recipes, What I'm Drinking, Whiskey
December 22, 2015
If you live in WA State, you should be excited – for about 10,000 reasons, though here I’m talking about our explosion of interesting, tasty, and fun distilleries. Hopefully you’re already drinking drinks utilizing the bottles put out by our worthy distilleries. If not, then check out a piece I recently wrote for the stalwart Seattle magazine, 7 Must-Have Bottles for Stocking Your At-Home Bar. If you don’t live in the W-A, well, come visit, so you can also stock your home bar in a manner that’ll make you feel all sorts of happy.
