The Finer Things In Life

[G&T]

Apparently Ommegang is opening a Belgian cafe on their grounds. That will be awesome.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Apparently Ommegang is opening a Belgian cafe on their grounds. That will be awesome.

 

Another compelling reason to finally make the Cooperstown pilgrimage.

[G&T]

Another compelling reason to finally make the Cooperstown pilgrimage.

 

Just don't go in the middle of summer. You'll be surrounded by city folk and New Jersey people.

[FlaSoxxJim]

So I have accepted my first paying bartending gig a couple of weeks from now!

 

It's a private party at a really cool house with a bar that was reclaimed from an old restaurant the homeowner once owned. I have been asked to design a menu of classic and unusual cocktails and give them the booze list and the Booze Fairy will magically have everything ready and waiting for me on event night. I'm pretty excited, and I'm trying to work down to a list of maybe a dozen featured cocktails in addition to more standard mixed drinks. If anyone is interested I will post my menu once I have it figured out.

 

I'm sort of hoping this goes really well and I can get some word of mouth in the beachside high-roller community and maybe get a few more gigs like this down the line.

 

My bartending debut is two weeks away. I think I have come up with a very good master list of 30 or so cocktails that the party organizers can help me winnow down. I'm coming to the obvious conclusion that the number of cocktails I will be able to offer is going to come down to how much the hostess is willing to spend stocking the bar. I can understand her not wanting to shell out for a bottle that I might only use a couple of ounces of, but the flipside is she will get what she pays for. I think my best approach is to try very hard not to have too many ingredients that are only used in a single menu drink — and that get's sort of hard when ingredients like Peruvian pisco and artisinal mezcal are essential to one cocktail you want to offer but almost never make their way into anything else.

 

If I have to limit to a single bourbon (rather than one mainstay bourbon, one small batch, and a rye), I think Bulleit is going to get the nod. It has enough rye character to work in a Manhattan but hopefully also will play nice in standard bourbon drinks as well as the Ninth Ward signature cocktail that I will insist on putting on the menu and really has to be made with Bulleit.

 

If limited to a single gin, I guess Plymouth would have to be it (though I'd like to also have at least Hendrick's and Bombay Sapphire on hand as well). Plymouth will play nice in most any mixed drink and has enough sweetness to sub for an old tom in vintage cocktails like the Martinez or the Ramos Gin Fizz. It also does make a very good martini although it would probably not be my go-to gin for that.

 

I'd like to feature at least one brandy cocktail, so there's another bottle that will see minimal ancillary use. I'll let the hostess pick her choice of reposado tequila and I'll make do with that. I'll also need a couple of relatively pricey liqueurs like St. Germaine, Cointreau, and Domaie de Canton, and those are gong to cost a bit.

 

For rums, forget it. I'm resigning myself to having two or maybe three rums on hand, which is reminiscent of a recurring nightmare I have regarding the home bar.

 

This will definitely be an interesting experiment.

Edited December 1, 2010 by FlaSoxxJim

[iamshack]

My bartending debut is two weeks away. I think I have come up with a very god master list of 30 or so cocktails that the party organizers can help me winnow down. I'm coming to the obvious conclusion that the number of cocktails I will be able to offer is going to come down to how much the hostess is willing to spend stocking the bar. I can understand her not wanting to shell out for a bottle that I might only use a couple of ounces of, but the flipside is she will get what she pays for. I think my best approach is to try very hard not to have too many ingredients that are only used in a single menu drink — and that get's sort of hard when ingredients like Peruvian pisco and mezcal are essential to one cocktail you want to offer but almost never make their way into anything else.

 

If I have to limit to a single bourbon (rather than one mainstay bourbon, one small batch, and a rye), I think Bulleit is going to get the nod. It has enough rye character to work in a Manhattan but hopefully also will play nice in standard bourbon drinks as well as the Ninth Ward signature cocktail that I will insist on putting on the menu and really has to be made with Bulleit.

 

If limited to a single gin, I guess Plymouth would have to be it (though I'd like to also have at least Hendrick's and Bombay Sapphire on hand as well). Plymouth will play nice in most any mixed drink and has enough sweetness to sub for an old tom in cocktails like the Martinez or the Ramos Gin Fizz. It also does make a very good martini although t would probably not be my go-to rum for that.

 

I'd like to feature at least one brandy cocktail, so there's another bottle that will see minimal ancillary use. I'll let the hostess pick her choice of reposado tequila and I'll make due with that. I'll also need a couple of relatively pricey liqueurs like St. Germaine, Cointreau, and Domaie de Canton, and those are gong to cost a bit.

 

For rums, forget it. I'm resigning myself to having two or maybe three rums on hand, which is reminiscent of a recurring nightmare I have regarding the home bar.

 

This will definitely be an interesting experiment.

Can't wait to see how all this plays out....my guess is that your hostess is going to freak when you show your ingredients list to her though...

 

 

[FlaSoxxJim]

Can't wait to see how all this plays out....my guess is that your hostess is going to freak when you show your ingredients list to her though...

 

That is certainly a concern. She is pretty well off, an artist type who owned/co-owned couple bars and restaurants in the day and I think now makes her money as an art dealer, but I still don't have a clear read on how much she wants to invest in what she considers to be a home-hosted girls' night party. I only know her peripherally but two of my best friends (my favorite lesbian couple) are part of her girls' club so I'm going to have them help me gauge how high-dollar she wants this to be.

 

Maybe I'll just go for the unexpected and pour Boone's Farm and Natty Light.

[iamshack]

That is certainly a concern. She is pretty well off, an artist type who owned/co-owned couple bars and restaurants in the day and I think now makes her money as an art dealer, but I still don't have a clear read on how much she wants to invest in what she considers to be a home-hosted girls' night party. I only know her peripherally but two of my best friends (my favorite lesbian couple) are part of her girls' club so I'm going to have them help me gauge how high-dollar she wants this to be.

 

Maybe I'll just go for the unexpected and pour Boone's Farm and Natty Light.

Seriously, regardless of the money, she's not going to have a clue what many of those ingredients are even for...

 

My ignorant and ill-informed advice would be to shoot for 10-12 "classic" cocktails with your special twist on them....

 

That will pare down the ingredients but also provide you with enough to make a pretty vast array of drinks off the menu.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Seriously, regardless of the money, she's not going to have a clue what many of those ingredients are even for...

 

My ignorant and ill-informed advice would be to shoot for 10-12 "classic" cocktails with your special twist on them....

 

That will pare down the ingredients but also provide you with enough to make a pretty vast array of drinks off the menu.

 

Not ignorant and ill-informed at all. That is probably the best battle plan.

 

And it's not like I don't play bartender for my friends when we get together — a gig I willingly take on. But I tend to limit myself to a couple of feature drinks on any given night since I typically shell out for the booze when we have casual get-togethers. Over the last 18 months or so this has even been tricky, since I have maybe six friends who now insist that their new favorite cocktail (from previous cocktail nights) is always a shaker away in addition to the drinks I plan on making.

[FlaSoxxJim]

On an unrelated note. . . there is a loose affiliation of booze bloggers and e-cocktilians that get together online in a Thursday Drink Night Forum that I quite enjoy. It's kind of like Iron Chef with a special ingredient every week that all the participants have to spin into an original cocktail. Very often the special ingredient is a high end, top shelf category like Martinique Rum or aged tequila, and the folks that show up tend to be top-notch cocktail folks who throw out all sort of interesting recipes that we all try out and critique.

 

Well this week we're looking at a very different strain of special ingredient: Bumwine!!! That's right. Probably the most creative mixologists I've ever encountered are being tasked with making a decent cocktail out of bum swill crap I would have been ashamed to have been caught drinking when I was 15.

 

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this one. For my evening's entry I'm thinking of a Joe Cocker homage drink called "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" that somehow successfully marries MD 20/20, Pimm's, English fizzy lemonade, and perhaps a garnish of English cucumber and canceled food stamps.

 

Edited December 1, 2010 by FlaSoxxJim

[iamshack]

On an unrelated note. . . there is a loose affiliation of booze bloggers and e-cocktilians that get together online in a Thursday Drink Night Forum that I quite enjoy. It's kind of like Iron Chef with a special ingredient every week that all the participants have to spin into an original cocktail. Very often the special ingredient is a high end, top shelf category like Martinique Rum or aged tequila, and the folks that show up tend to be top-notch cocktail folks who throw out all sort of interesting recipes that we all try put and critique.

 

Well this week we're looking at a very different strain of special ingredient: Bumwine!!! That's right. Probably the most creative mixologists I've ever encountered are being tasked with making a decent cocktail out of bum swill crap I would have been ashamed to have been caught drinking when I was 15.

 

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this one. For my evening's entry I'm thinking of a Joe Cocker homage drink called "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" that somehow successfully marries MD 20/20, Pimm's, English fizzy lemonade, and perhaps a garnish of English cucumber and canceled food stamps.

 

Oh, this is outstanding. I will definitely have to check that out...as I love Iron Chef...and booze...

[FlaSoxxJim]

Fun stuff for sure. I've seen that Tex follows/likes the TDN Facebook page, but I have yet to see him throw his 10-gallon hat in the ring with a cocktail submission.

 

My submissions all fall under the TDN user handle of "Sunny&Rummy" if you end up tuning in to score at home.

[iamshack]

Fun stuff for sure. I've seen that Tex follows/likes the TDN Facebook page, but I have yet to see him throw his 10-gallon hat in the ring with a cocktail submission.

 

My submissions all fall under the TDN user handle of "Sunny&Rummy" if you end up tuning in to score at home.

Definitely will check it out.

 

Thanks!

[SoxFan1]

Fun stuff for sure. I've seen that Tex follows/likes the TDN Facebook page, but I have yet to see him throw his 10-gallon hat in the ring with a cocktail submission.

 

My submissions all fall under the TDN user handle of "Sunny&Rummy" if you end up tuning in to score at home.

I'm sure you haven't, but I figured I'd ask, have you ever tried any European rakija's? Basically a brandy made from (usually) plums or grapes. There's also the homemade moonshine versions.

[FlaSoxxJim]

I'm sure you haven't, but I figured I'd ask, have you ever tried any European rakija's? Basically a brandy made from (usually) plums or grapes. There's also the homemade moonshine versions.

 

Actually, I have. I had commercial bottled Tikves rakija from Macedonia when I was visiting friends in Chicago back in July. I didn't think too much of it, but that's not too suprising since I had it straight rather than mixed into something. I'm not a fan of Peruvian or Chilean pisco brandy on its own, but it absolutely sings when put into the right cocktail. I assume it's the same story with rakija, yes?

 

OK, the big question. . . have you had Jeppson Malort and what did you think of that experience??

[FlaSoxxJim]

TDN: Bumwine has come to a close. Not a lot to work with when your starting point is Mad Dog, Thunderbird, Night Train, etc. Still, a good handful of interesting drinks were bandied about. Here's the Twitter feed with all the evening's recipes.

 

My two submissions (under the handle "Sunny&Rummy") were the "Mad Dog and Englishmen", with MD 20/20, Pimms, and English fizzy lemonade, and the topical "DNA with Arsenic" that utilized Mad Dog, Peruvian pisco, lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, and bitters.

 

Here are lovely photos of my submissions. Note the "meat and two veg" effect achieved by the garnish of English cucumbers and oversized Slurpee straw on the Englishmen, and also the crafty DNA double helix Ango bitters design dragged across the egg white foam in the DNA.

 

Unfortunately, I can already feel the mule kick to the back of my head that invariably accompanies a brush with bum wine.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2010 by FlaSoxxJim

[iamshack]

Very impressive!

[knightni]

Here's one that I saw on TV tonight, Jim.

 

Good for the holidays

 

http://chocolatechipotle.typepad.com/choco...in-martini.html

[FlaSoxxJim]

Here's one that I saw on TV tonight, Jim.

 

Good for the holidays

 

http://chocolatechipotle.typepad.com/choco...in-martini.html

 

Interesting. The Poorman's version would have a vastly different texture and flavor profile than the original, but it doesn't sound bad at all. But for the saffron syrup I have all the ingredients for the teevee version. The St. Elizabeth's allspice dram is tasty but incredibly intense, and the ginger liqueur is quite delicate (I need to use a full ounce of it to fight though something as tame as 1.5 oz of pear vodka), so I would take the dram down to 1 tsp. or even less. Evan at that amount, the allspice can dominate the drink.

 

Thanks for sharing. We definitely have a couple of Food Network-inspired drinks in home rotation. In particular, Alton Brown's fresh margarita with agave syrup, muddled orange and lime and no triple sec, and a pretty frufru choco-tini that I think came from Rachel Rae are two my wife often calls for.

[G&T]

Cracked the Sam Adams Kriek tonight. Pours deep red with thick pink head. Lots of cherry in the aroma along with lemon and a very slight mustiness. The flavor is crisp and fruity but sorely lacking in funk. Light bodied and the flavor does not linger. Very easy drinker which thankfully lacks the medicinal cherry flavor that other krieks sometimes carry.

 

Overall, this lacks severely in depth and doesn't compare to the Stony Brook Red. Where'd the funk go?!

[G&T]

I know there is a difference between caster sugar and regular sugar, but does it really make a difference in a cocktail?

[FlaSoxxJim]

I know there is a difference between caster sugar and regular sugar, but does it really make a difference in a cocktail?

 

If you are using granulated sugar in your cocktails, you should use superfine (aka caster) sugar to facilitate it dissolving quickly. If you are making simple syrup go ahead and use cheap regular sugar since it will already be in solution when you add it to cocktails.

 

Make sense?

[G&T]

If you are using granulated sugar in your cocktails, you should use superfine (aka caster) sugar to facilitate it dissolving quickly. If you are making simple syrup go ahead and use cheap regular sugar since it will already be in solution when you add it to cocktails.

 

Make sense?

 

Yes.

[G&T]

Poured the Sam Adams Triple which completes the series. Pours golden with thick, quickly dissipating head. Aroma has pear, apple, a crisp hop character and the distinct scent of sap. The flavor is more like a golden ale than a true triple. Plenty of pepper and spice with very little fruit. Pallatte is a thick and a bit oily. No alcohol presence.

 

Overall a nice beer. Not particularly sweet but that's what makes it interesting.

[G&T]

Homemade Jasper syrup (lime juice, Angoustura, and nutmeg) and pimento (allspice) dram, Trinidad and Jamaican rums, and a touch of honey.

 

Seriously amazing bit of alchemy going on in this drink. I'm in shock over how well it all comes together.

 

Alright I am sorry to do this, but I googled up something in this thread and ended up with this post. I need more info on this one. If you don't mind.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Alright I am sorry to do this, but I googled up something in this thread and ended up with this post. I need more info on this one. If you don't mind.

 

I don't mind at all. The cocktail in question is one I called the Podgy and Jasper (a very obscure Beatles reference, actually), and it's a drink that showcases Jasper's Mix — a homemade syrup of Lime juice, sugar, Angostura Bitters, and nutmeg that was first concocted by an iconic Jamaican bartender named Jasper LaFranc from Montego Bay's Bay Roc Hotel. I just made up a new batch of Jasper's Mix this past week and spun one of these up.

 

The recipe for Jasper's mix can be found in Ted Haigh's "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails", and the Podgy and Jasper resipe is as follows:

 

1 oz Coruba

1 oz light rum (Trinidad10 Cane is preferred)

1 oz Jasper's Mix

0.5 oz honey (or 1 oz honey:water mix)

0.25 0z. homemade pimento dram (or cut to 1/2 tsp. if using St. Elisabeth)

 

Heat the honey to dissolve, then shake all ingredients on ice, pour unstrained into suitable vessel and enjoy.

 

When I first put this drink together I was using a homemade allspice dram that worked well at 0.25 oz. Now that I have located the commercial St. Elisabeth dram I find it is much stronger and I need to bring the amount down or it completely overpowers the other flavors. This is one you can play around with an tweak to taste — a little less Jasper mix, a little more honey, sub different rums, etc.

 

Don't let the lack of pimento dram in your home bar keep you from making this. The drink really is still excellent without the dash of dram.

Edited December 5, 2010 by FlaSoxxJim