Monthly Archives: June 2010

The $5.00 Old Fashioned

Posted on June 30, 2010

This is going to be a staple on my menu. I went to a certain place the other night that charged me NINE dollars for a poorly made old fashioned. In Detroit! Nine dollars! Old Fashioned!

Taste the savings.

The Five Dollar Old Fashioned
2 oz. Old Crow Bourbon
1/2 tsp. Dem Sugar
Ango Bitts
Wide Orange Peel

Peel a nice, wide strip of orange, avoiding as much of the pith as possible, and place it in the bottom of a rocks glass. Add the bitters and sugar syrup. Muddle the orange peel lightly – you don’t have to M the F out of it – just give it enough action to express the oils. Add the bourbon, and two large ice cubes. Give it a stir for 20 seconds or so. Add two more large ice cubes, and fucking enjoy.

Yes, this flies in the face of my earlier Old Fashioned post about fruit salads, and arms being broken, and other unseemly things… but times, they are a changnin’… and you’re either with me, or you’re against me. So what’s it’s gonna be, Mr. Pink?

Tagged Bitters, Bourbon, The Classics | 3 Comments

Hibiscus Bitters

Posted on June 28, 2010

You read it right. Hibiscus bitters. Fuck yeah it is.

Started on Friday, the 25th. At this point it’s just a bag of dried hibiscus from La Colmena macerating in a bottle of Everclear 151. I didn’t know how potent the shit would be, or how long it would take to extract the hibiscus flavor, but a day into it and this tastes like cranberry-raisin intensity. It’s tart, sour, and fucking potent. Perfect flavor profile for a bitter. I’m gonna let this chillax for a weekish, then strain it and add some gentian. Maybe wormwood too? Dunno. Too soon. Too soon, damnit!

Tagged Bitters | 3 Comments

Hickory Smoked Jack

Posted on June 26, 2010

The Sheriff, entering the home of Early Cuyler, is startled to see the charred, blackened corpse of Santa Claus in the far side of the room.

The Sheriff: “Early!… is that freshly smoked?!?”

Early Cuyler: “Hickry. Go on, take you some.”

- FIN -

Since I don’t have enough crap going on, I decided I would try and hickory smoke some Jack Daniels… So I used a quench bucket from our shop, filled it with hickory chips and charcoal, and let it get to smoking. I then covered the bucket with a board that has about a 1″ hole in it. Atop the hole, I placed an aquarium aerator (fish tank bubbler) with a hose that goes down into the bottle of Jack. Then a large bucket was placed atop the bottle and bubbler, so as to trap the smoke.

Why you ask? Why indeed.

Hickr’y Smoked Jack & Mexican Coke

2 oz. Hickory Smoked Jack Daniels

Bottle Mexican Coke

Lime Wedge

Combine in a tall glass over crushed ice. Imbibumacate with plastic tube.

I’m planning on putting this one on the menu, so when someone asks for a Jack & Coke, I can direct them towards this, and blow their friggin minds. However, this is a very weird drink… the first batch I made was smoked for about 45 minutes, which is probably a bit too long. Next time I’ll go about 30 mins for a bit more subtlety. The Mexican coke is essential – the sweetness really works with the smokiness. I also like a good squeeze of lime juice in mine, but I’ve gotten mixed responses to that. The interesting thing is, it’s a very different drink from the first sip to the last.

Tagged Infusions, Techniques, Whiskey | Leave a comment