Monthly Archives: July 2010

Bitters in Prog

Posted on July 30, 2010

Got me some ball jars. Money well spent.

Class picture. From left…

Wintergreen in Everclear

For root beer bitters, maybe… they sorta taste like dried shit.

Chocoalte Chipolte Bitters

Fuck yes it’s happening. 4 oz. Chocolate nibs macerating in 375ml 151* rum for about three weeks. Added a dried, deveined chipotle for a few days, and some wormwood. Tasting pretty fucking ballsy.

Sarsaparilla in Everclear

Also for root beer bitters… tastes much better than the wintergreen. Gonna add a vanilla bean and maybe some licorice over the weekend.

Hibiscus Rose Bitters

Shit’s big time bro. Nearly done.

Lemon in Everclear

Started a few days ago, with a pinch of Seville orange peel and a pinch of gentian. For the purpose of lemon bitters.

Tart Dried Cherries in 151

Just started these… gonna end up being Cherry Vanilla and or Cherry Chocolate bitters.

Grapefruit in Everclear

Started a few days ago, with a pinch of Seville orange peel and a pinch of gentian. For the purpose of grapefruit bitters.

Spice Tincture

Bunch of spices in 151. Need to add more this weekend.

Tagged Bitters | 1 Comment

If you didn’t have the pleasure of attending the 2010 GUD Summer Picnic, you lost out, majorly. It was such a boss event, I recommended we posthumously rename it the “SuperMeat: 2010.” The recommendatio (reh-co-men-daysh) was denied, but the spirit lives on.

It's important to be prepared.

Rhubarb Shrub

2.5 L White Rum

1.25 L Rhubarb Shrub

.75 L Lemon Juice

2.5 L Club Soda

Bundle of Mint

Combine all ingredients (except for the soda) up to three days in advance. Allow the mint to soak in the punch for a few days, and strain it out before serving. Add soda just before serving, and stir. Serve over ice, garnish with mint. Makes about 60 cups.

Rx Julep

1.75 L Brandy

.75 L Rye

.5 L Mint Syrup

Bundle of Mint

First, make simple syrup as you normally would. I made about a full bottle, and while it was still warm – not hot – added a large cleaned bunch of mint, and let it sit in there overnight. Strain the mint out, and bottle. Add the Cognac and rye to a large pitcher (I used Raynal and Jim Beam), and add mint syrup to taste. Ends up with about a gallon of the stuff, should make about 30 cups. Garnish with mint, and imbibulate with a shorty straw. If possible, this should be poured over crushed ice so it can get watered down a bit. It’s pretty much just straight booze.

Tagged Brandy, Mint, Recipes, Rye, Shrub | 2 Comments

Zombie

Posted on July 23, 2010

The Zombie is a classic, but I’ve never really been into into it because the ones I’ve had – and the ones I’ve made – haven’t been very good. Lots of rum and fruit juice, which is fine, but they always seemed to lack a certain complexity. Then, Evan gave me some of his bitchin’ Falernum, (a rum based concoction flavored with lime, cloves, almonds and some other junk) and the whole thing really came together.

Gotta live those dreams... gotta scheme those schemes... gotta hit me, hit me, hit me, hit me, hit me with those laser beams.

Zombie

.75 oz. Black Rum

.75 oz. Gold Rum

.75 oz. Light Rum

.75 oz. Falernum

.75 oz. pineapple juice

.75 oz. orange juice

.75 oz. lemon juice

.75 oz. lime juice

Ango

Combine all ingredients (except bitts) in a shaker and pour over crushed ice. Some of the ice will melt a bit, which is fine – nothing to freak the fuck out about – just take a nice handfull of crushed ice and pack that shit on top of it. Now hopefully you’ve got a “sweet assed” mound of crushed ice, forwithontowhich you can dash your Ango bits, garnish with a few pineapple leaves and start partying.

Just about every book written on the subject has a different recipe for this drink. Some call for pineapple juice, some for guava juice, some even for curacao. The Savoy is the only one I’ve seen that calls for Falernum, but it’s a must, IMHFO.

Tagged Bitters, Rum | 6 Comments

The Monthly

Posted on July 21, 2010

Oh heck yes… This one is such an awesome drink, I’m reticulant to even post it here… it’s essentially a deconstructed bloody mary. I got the idea from an episode of Bourdain, where he visits a bar in Japan, and the dude does something similar. I’ve been playing around with this one for a bit, and then whammy, I nailed it. Typical me.

The Monthly

4.5 oz. Fresh Tomato Puree

2 oz. Vodka

.5 oz. Red Wine Vinegar

.5 oz. Lemon Juice

Wasabi Paste

Black Pepper

Combine everything in a shaker, and let ‘er rip. Strain, but not aggressively, as you want all the clumpy bits of pulp up in that shit.

I got a few really lovely organic beefsteak tomatoes from this Amish homie at the farmers market over the weekend. I used a half of one, and grated the whole thing on a zester, so I ended up with a pretty nice tomato juice / puree type of deal. The vinegar is also very prevalent in this drink, so I’d go with something classy, if it’s in your budget. All in all, I’m gonna give it nine boners.

Tagged Recipes, Vodka | 1 Comment

The Laura Palmer

Posted on July 19, 2010

The Blastnaster and I came up with this one for the menu a few weeks ago. It’s based on the Arnold Palmer, but it’s insanely more ass kicking.

Looks like a virgin... goes down like a whore.

The Laura Palmer

2 oz. Black Pekoe Infused Gin

.75 oz. Limoncello

.75 oz. Lemon Juice

.5 oz Simple Syrup

Club Soda

Build in a high ball, fill with ice, top with soda, drink with a straw. Rule even harder.

I used a bottle of beefeater with 4 tea bags, and let that shit chillax for 72 hours. It’s really fucking intense, but it’s got to be to make sure the tea flavor comes thru in the end.

Tagged Recipes | 1 Comment

Sunset Shrub Down

Posted on July 16, 2010

So, what the fuck is a shrub? Not in the botanical sense… I don’t mean the plant, or, tree, or whatever. I’m talking about the cocktail, or drink designated as a “shrub”… According to Trader Vic:

“Where they got their name is a puzzle, but shrubs are concoctions of stewed fruit, brandy or rum, sugar, sometimes lemon juice, berries and heavily-flavored fruits, all brewed together and set aside for a designated length of time. Then they’re strained and bottled, ready for use. Usually served hot, they are good cold-weather drinks, but refreshing warm-weather drinks may also be made.”

So, yeah, that sounds pretty gross. Upon further digging, I found a shrub can also be a fruit preserved and bottled in vinegar… basically pickled fruit. Apparently it was some sort of “old timey” thing, which is a technical term. So yeah, that also sounds gross. But since I was making a metric assload of rhubarb syrup for the picnic this weekend, I figured I’d make a side batch of Rhubarb Shrub. Shit yes I did.

Rhubarb Shrub
1 lb. Rhubarb (about 10 stalks)
3 c. water
3 c. sugar
1.5 c. white vinegar

Dice the rhubarb finely, and cover with the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes. After that, add sugar and vinegar. Allow mixture to cool a bit, strain thru a fine strainer, working the pulp with a spoon to extract as much syrup as possible, and discard the pulp. Bottle for better times.

I ended up with about 32 oz. of lovely, tart syrup. It’s really quite remarkable what a difference a bit of vinegar makes. So much so that I basically scrapped my plan for this weekend’s Rhubarb Rum Punch, and am instead going to make a Rhubarb Shrub Rum Punch. So fucks yeas.

Tagged Recipes, Shrub | 3 Comments

Bronx Cocktail

Posted on July 14, 2010

I’ve known about this one for a bit, but I’ve never really given it a fair shake, so to speak. I was encouraged to give it a shot, and consider it for the classic menu at the bar… I did a few variations and am pretty happy with the results.

The Bronx Cocktail

2 oz. Gin

.75 oz. Sweet Vermouth

.75 oz. Dry Vermouth

.75 oz. Orange Juice

1/2 tsp. Agave

Dash Ango Orange

Combine, shake, double strain, serve up or down.

The sugar really helps blend the flavors of gin and vermouth, which seem a little aggressive if left on their own. I used fresh squeezed OJ, which is a must in a drink like this. The dash of Ango Orange just helps brighten the whole drink up a bit. I’ve been doing a double strain on most of these OJ drinks, since I don’t really like long strands of pulp in my cocktails. I’ve got a neat little 3″ diameter strainer that goes over the top of my glass, to catch the big shit the hawthorne strainer leaves behind.

Screw Flanders. Bon Appetit.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bitters, Gin, Recipes, Sweet Vermouth | 8 Comments

Rhubarb Rum Punch

Posted on July 12, 2010

I’ve been trying to come up with an easy, light, refreshing punch to take to the GUD picnic next weekend. I’m going to make a batch of prescription juleps, since that’s about the best drink ever for dealing with Detroit in July, but I wanted to come up with something else… So, Eastern Market on Saturday, I grabbed some rhubarb, whipped up a batch of rhubarb syrup, and came up with this saucy little bastard…

Rhubarb Rum Punch

2 oz. White Rum (I used Don Q.)

3/4 oz. Lime Juice

3/4 oz. Rhubarb Syrup

Mint

Soda Water

For a single plan cocktail, Combine all ingredients (except soda) in a shaker, and give them a bit of a dry shake. Don’t get crazy, just get that mint a little agitated. Pour over ice, top with soda, swizzle (or stir), and garnish with mint.

For a batch, I’ll be combining 2 bottles of white rum, the juice of about 25 limes, a full bottle of rhubarb syrup, and a solid bunch of mint to a large pitcher. I’ll pour each serving over a few cubes of ice, garnish with club soda, and stir. Should be pretty easy.

This is a pretty solid drink… It’s very light, and very tasty. The important thing is to really get the rhubarb flavor happening, otherwise it’s pretty much just a mojito. For the first batch of syrup, I chopped the rhubarb, but for the big batch I’ll most likely grate about six to ten stalks.

And also, I might add some green tea. Wow.

Tagged Punch, Recipes, Rum | 4 Comments

My Favorite Things

Posted on July 9, 2010

What’s that old expression? “Liquor won is thrice as sweet as liquor bought.” Well, it was never more truer in this case. Despite my excessive profanity and mild retardation, the good people over at Bacardi saw fit to include me in their 60 Second Cocktail campaign, and I received a shiny new bottle of Dewar’s White Label yesterday! The whole thing benefits the USO, so you should take a minute and befriend them on Facebook, and maybe even donate a couple bucks.

Their menu book featured two cocktails using Dewar’s. The “Callaway Cocktail” and cleverly named “Dewars & Ginger.” The ginger ale and Scotch thing is a pretty safe bet… the Penicillin is a great drink, so I figured I’d make both and see how it played out.

Dewar’s & Ginger

2 oz. Blended Scotch

Ginger Beer

Orange Wedge

Combine in glass over ice. Garnish with orange wedge.

Since this is such a simple recipe, I wanted some really intense ginger flavors, so I used my home made batch of ginger syrup. It’s a really, really solid drink, and would probably be fine with any ginger beer you wanted to use.

The Callaway Cocktail

2 oz. Blended Scotch

1 oz. Lemon Juice

1 oz. Simple Syrup

Ginger Beer

Combine all ingredients (save the beer), shake and pour over ice. Top with ginger beer.

I got this Reed’s Ginger Beer at the market the other day… it was $6.50 for a four pack, which seemed aggressive at the time, and frankly still does. It’s a decent ginger beer, but not quite as hot and spicy as I like it. The Goya would have probably added a bit more to this drink, but shit rolls down hill, as they say.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Recipes, Scotch | 2 Comments

Mojitolicousness

Posted on July 7, 2010

Went to Eastern Market last week with the Nasty Blaster, and picked up some Lemon Verbena, which is lovely and fragrant and generally ass kicking. And then I did this:

Lemon Verbena is latin for "Extremely Boss"

Lemon Verbena Mojito

2 oz. Gold Rum (I used Mount Gay)

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 lime, quartered

Lemon Verbena Stems

Club soda

Ango Orange Bit

Muddle half a dozen lemon verbena leaves with the sugar and lime chunks in the bottom of a glass. Add rum, fill with ice, top off with soda, add a dash of Ango Orange and garnish with the top of a lemon verbena stem.

Because the LV isn’t as intense as a Kentucky Colonel mint, you’ve got to go heavy on the leaves. Also, I would have used lemon bitters, if I had them. If only…

Tagged Bitters, Rum | Leave a comment

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