December 26, 2014
This bubble number is ideal for taking your New Year’s Eve celebrations from mundane to insane (in the good way), from dull to dandy, and from so-so to go-go. Not only does it take the spotlight drink into another realm of awesome, but as it’s also a drink that inducing dancing, it’s sure to add the hop to your New Year’s Eve step. It does take a little bit of prior planning, cause you have to make lavender simple syrup. But that’s not tough at all. Just add 1/4-cup fresh lavender, 2 cups sugar, and 1-1/2 cups water to a medium-sized saucepan. Raise the heat to medium high, and heat until it reaches a low boil, stirring regularly. Once it reaches that low boil, reduce the heat to medium low and keep the syrup at a simmer, still stirring, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Then strain it, and start singing Auld Lang Syne.
The Lavanda, from Champagne Cocktails
Ice cubes
2 fresh lavender sprigs
1 1/2 ounces gin
3/4 ounce lavender simple syrup (see note)
Chilled Prosecco
1. Add the flowers from the top of one lavender sprig, gin, and lavender simple syrup to a cocktail shaker. Using a muddler or wooden spoon, muddle well.
2. Fill the cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Shake like dancer.
2. Strain into a flute. Top with chilled Prosecco, and garnish with the second lavender sprig.
Tags: Champagne & Sparkling Wine, Champagne Cocktail, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Gin, lavander simple syrup, New Year's Eve cocktail, Prosecco, The Lavanda, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: Champagne & Sparkling Wine, Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Recipes, What I'm Drinking
November 21, 2014
This bubbly beaut is ideal all through the fall holidays – a time which is, also, surprise, surprise, owl time. But the drink (as opposed to the feathered friend) is also bursting with some fall flavors: cranberries, bubbly, juniper, and, cherries. Okay, the latter may be pushing it, but as someone with a cherry tree, I tend to have them more in the fall after the harvest in the summer. Here, too, the cherry is represented by the Old Ballard Liquor Co.’s amazing Cherry Bounce, which is good anytime. The cranberries come in thanks to the Fee Brothers bright cranberry bitters, the juniper from our old friend gin (here, I went with Voyager gin), and the bubbly from Valle Calda Prosecco DOC (Prosecco being the wonderful Italian sparkling wine). The Valle Calda DOC is slightly fruity with a dandy effervescence, like an owl with a really serious hoo, hoo. It all adds up to a wonderful drink.
The Owl’s Wink
Cracked ice
1 ounce Voyager gin
3/4 ounce Cherry Bounce
3 dashed Fee Brothers Cranberry bitters
3 ounces chilled Valle Calda Prosecco DOC
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add the gin, Cherry Bounce, and bitters. Stir well.
2. Strain into a flute glass or any glass with an owl on it. Add the Prosecco. Stir, carefully, working to combine all ingredients.
A Note: If your Prosecco isn’t chilled enough, feel free to add an ice cube or frozen cranberries at the end.
Tags: bitters, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Fee Brothers Cranberry bitters, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, Old Ballard Liquor Co. Cherry Bounce, Prosecco, sparkling wine, The Owl’s Wink, Valle Calda Proseco DOC, Voyager gin, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: bitters, Champagne & Sparkling Wine, Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Liqueurs, Recipes, What I'm Drinking
November 7, 2014
Many say 3 is a magic number. Then there’s the rule of 3. 3 rings to bind them. Etc. Etc. 3 must have an awfully big head. Even in Patrick Gavin Duffy’s Official Mixer’s Manual (1940 edition) there are 3 Royal Cocktails. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for 3s. But c’mon! Doesn’t anyone feel bad for 4? I did, and so I concocted the Royal Cocktail #4. And if that wasn’t enough, I used the lovely Sidetrack Blueberry Liqueur to do it. Deliciously 4.
Royal Cocktail #4
Cracked ice
1 ounce Sidetrack Blueberry Liqueur
1 ounce Voyager gin
1 ounce Dolin dry vermouth
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Drink royally.
Tags: cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, dry vermouth, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, Royal Cocktail #4, Sidetrack Blueberry Liqueur, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Liqueurs, Recipes, vermouth, What I'm Drinking
September 12, 2014
Let me start with an apology: you cannot get one of the main ingredients in this drink in the US. My bad, yo. The ingredient is the Italian amaro called Viparo, and I can’t believe with the many, many amaros now being imported that someone hasn’t brought it in, because it’s a delicious member of the amaro clan, one produced by the Morganti family since 1913, and like most, originally designed for medicinal purposes. So, pick up a bottle when you’re in Italy. Until then, you could, if you want, sub in another amaro, one that shades towards the sweetish middle of the amaro scale, something like Averna. It won’t have the same exact highwayman feel, but it’ll be close. Call it the Highwayman’s Bank Holiday.
Highwayman’s Holiday
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounce gin
1 ounce freshly squeezed clementine juice
1/2 ounce Viparo
1/2 ounce Aperol
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the gin, juice, Viparo, and Aperol. Shake well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass.
A Note: Can’t find clementines? You could sub in orange juice instead. Call it Highwayman’s Parole.
A Second Note: You might want to strain this through a fine strainer to avoid citrus bits in teeth. But no real robber would care about that much.
Tags: amaro, Aperol, Averna, clementine juice, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, Highwayman’s Holiday, Viparo, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Italy, Liqueurs, Recipes, What I'm Drinking
August 15, 2014
Even though it’s probably 10 degrees hotter in central Italy right now than in Seattle (where I’m typing this – not sure where wherever you are falls in the temperature spectrum, but wherever, it won’t make a different in how much you enjoy this drink), even though, I’d still at this particular moment rather be kicking it in my old Italian home (oh, hey, I used to live in Italy), with my dogs, sitting in the olive grove, having this very drink, which I came up with when living in Italy. It’s highlighted by the Italian liqueur Strega, which is one of my favorite things, a beautiful drink on its own, with herbal goodness and trademark golden hue (brought on by saffron), but also a fine player in cocktails. Have one of these with me, and we can both dream in Italian.
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounces gin
3/4 ounces Strega
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the gin, Strega, simple syrup, and juice. Shake as if you were rolling down a hill.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass or creatively cute wine glass. Drink while looking over the valley.
Tags: Among the Niccone Mountains, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, Strega, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Italy, Liqueurs, Recipes, What I'm Drinking
July 25, 2014
Recently, I was browsing again through Applegreen’s Bar Book, a book sized to fit in your vest or shirt pocket, by a guy named John Applegreen, printed first in 1899. I’ve gone through it many times before, but like a lot of old bar books, I still love looking it over. And sometimes I find gems I missed or didn’t make before. The McCutcheon Cocktail is one of those very gems.
It’s a gin-based drink, and I decided to go with G’Vine’s Floraison gin, which is a small batch gin made in the Cognac region of France, and crafted from neutral spirits distilled from grapes. The juniper is there, but subtle, and mingling with a strong grape-ness (in a good way) and other floral notes leading into spices (chamomile and ginger and a few more). It’s has enough going on that it can play well with other herbal mixers (though really, try it solo, too), which is why it seemed – and is – an ideal gin for this unburied treasure of a cocktail, a cocktail which also contain both dry and sweet vermouth (I went with Dolin for the dry, and Carpano for the sweet) and a bit of maraschino and orange bitters. I went with Scrappy’s on the bitters, in a local shout out. It’s a beauty of a drink, and here’s a toast for Mr. Applegreen for introducing me to it, at whatever afterlife bar he’s shaking and stirring at.
The McCutcheon
Cracked ice
1-1/2 ounces G’Vine Floraison gin
3/4 ounce Dolin dry vermouth
3/4 ounce Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
1 dash maraschino liqueur
1 dash Scrappy’s orange bitters
1. Fill a mixing glass or cocktail shaker halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything (be careful on your dash of maraschino, you don’t want to go too heavy). Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Dream of the late 1800s, and France.
Tags: Applegreen's Bar Book, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, dry vermouth, Friday Night Cocktail, G’Vine Floraison Gin, Gin, Maraschino, Scrappy’s orange bitters, sweet vermouth, The McCutcheon Cocktail, unburied cocktail recipe, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Recipes, vermouth, What I'm Drinking
June 6, 2014
Recently, I ended up with a bottle of Brancamenta via the post. Yeah, I have a good life. I did feel sort-of bad about it. See, it was part of the Brancamenta Mint Challenge (#brancamenta), where the fine folks at Fratelli Branca (perhaps best known for Brancamenta’s sibling Fernet Branca – hey, why not read about my Branca tour) send around some bottles to folks who like to make up drinks – like me! – and then we cut loose and see what happens. None of that was bad, however. The bad part was that after the bottle showed, I realized I already had a bottle of Brancamenta on the shelf. But, I suppose, as Shakespeare said, you can never have too much of a good thing.
And I did come up with not one, but two swell drinks using the minty-herbally-goodness that is Brancamenta. I’ll post the second one later, but first The Better Days cocktail. When I heard “challenge” I took it a little literally, and challenged myself to make a drink that would make people say “what, that can’t be right” when they saw the ingredients list, but then say “jump back! that is awesome,” when they took the first sip. I also wanted to keep the ingredients list slim, as a secondary challenge for myself. And have a drink that you could have early in the day. And yes, I managed to deliver on all three, if I can be so bold, cause The Better Days is tasty, good before noon, and deceptively simple.
The Better Days
Cracked ice
2 ounces gin (I used Voyager – stick with a nice juniper-y gin)
3/4 ounce Brancamenta
3/4 ounce Borghetti coffee liqueur (also made by the fine folks at Branca and a fantastic coffee-lover’s dream)
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass.
Tags: #brancamenta, Borghetti, cocktail recipe, Cocktail Recipes, Friday Night Cocktail, Gin, The Better Days, What I'm Drinking
Posted in: Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Italy, Recipes, What I'm Drinking
June 3, 2014
You know I love me some Peter Lovesey (British detective writer extraordinaire), especially his Peter Diamond series, but other stuff too. I figured, until recently, that I had or had seen the majority of his book. But then I was down at Powells in Portland (a bookstore of massive proportions) and they had a number of books by Mr. Lovesey that I’d never seen, including On the Edge, which I picked up and read and dug (well-plotted, nice post-war-London-ness, some scary ladies), especially for this quote, which highlights an old gin favorite:
He always whistled at the prices but it was the only pub in the district with carpets and soft lighting and barmaids who called you “sir,” and Antonia preferred it to anywhere else.
Today he offered her a Gin and It instead of the usual shandy.
She raised her eyebrows. “What’s this for, naught boy? No point in getting me sloshed if you’re going straight back to your boring students.”
“Is it no, then?”
“That’s a little word I never use.”
–Peter Lovesey, On the Edge
