New Cocktails: the Gioiello

I was in the mood for something bitter and stirred this evening. That led me to the Tailspin from Dr Bamboo's old blog. While I liked the look, the scale and sweetness gave me pause. A bit more research landed me on Imbibe's version of the Bijou, which looked promising with more emphasis on the gin. But I still wasn't sure about, so I decided to cut the proportions in half to reduce the load on my liver and replace the sweet vermouth with an Italian fortified wine.

Gioiello

0.75 oz gin

0.5 oz Cocchi Americano
0.4 oz green Chartreuse
1 dash orange bitters

The aromas lead with intense herbal notes from the Chartreuse, slightly leavened by juniper and citrus. The sip opens with syrupy sweet herbs, slides through grape from the vermouth, and goes into the finish with a burst of black pepper and juniper from the gin. The finish is once again focused on the Chartreuse, dueling with black pepper, orange peel, and juniper.

While I like this drink, I can see two potential directions to take it. One is to amp up the bitterness by splitting the Cocchi with a dry vermouth. Another is to nudge it in a sour direction with a teaspoon or so of lemon juice. Both would rein in the syrupy character while leaving the fundamental profile of the drink largely intact.

Classic Cocktails: the Caprice

I knew I wanted something stirred, but couldn't quite decide on what. Thankfully my bookshelf overflows. This comes from the book The How & When  published in 1937 by Gale and Marco by way of The PDT Cocktail Book.

Caprice

1.5 oz gin
1.5 oz dry vermouth
0.5 oz Bénédictine
1 dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice, then strain into a chilled coupe.

The aromas are dominated from the gin's florals (in this case Hendrick's Midsummer) and herbal Bénédictine notes. The sip opens with floral honey, then fades into gentle bitterness at the back. The finish is dominated by the dry vermouth and lingering gin florals.

That is a pretty dang good drink. Contra some other recipes I've seen that take it in more of an accented Martini direction, this is very wet and almost sweet. While that suits my taste since I've never been particularly fond of dry Martinis, it does constitute a significant departure. Though I quite like it, I think a less floral gin might have been called for here since the aromas were nearly soapy. On the other hand the flavors felt much more integrated, so if your primary purpose is drinking it might not be such a bad direction. Overall, a solid one to add to your arsenal.

New Cocktails: Artemisia

I started out once again paging through The Art of the Shim for something on the lighter side. My first stop was the Chrysanthemum, originally from the Savoy Cocktail Book. The version in Shim is quite a bit drier at 8:1 vermouth:Bénédictine and while rather good, I felt like it was lacking something. My initial thought was "This needs some gin" and I proceeded to make another with a full ounce of gin and a bit more Bénédictine. While that was closer to the mark, the gin was a little too assertive and was throwing the drink out of balance. The third time was the charm and scaling the gin back made it just right.

Artemisia

2 oz dry vermouth
0.75 oz gin
0.5 oz Bénédictine

3 dashes of absinthe/pastis

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The aromas are dominated by the anise from the Herbsaint, alongside some rounded herbal notes from the Bénédictine. The sip opens with honey sweetness, quickly fading into herbal/pine bitterness from the Bénédictine and gin, there's a burst of something fruity, then sliding towards more tart dryness from the vermouth. The finish is long and driven by the vermouth, with herbal accents.

Now this hits the spot. While there were good things about the original, they really depended on the quality and complexity of the dry vermouth. Something unidimensional just wasn't going to give a particularly engaging drink. But the added depth from more Bénédictine and a solid dose of gin elevates this into something I can really get behind. 

Looking back at what's come before, I'm a little surprised that I haven't seen these proportions elsewhere. It basically inverts the proportions of the Poet's Dream and probably has a balance somewhere around the Guion. But I'll keep beating my drum for reverse proportion cocktails, even if, as with this drink, they're not necessarily any less potent than their more spirit-forward relatives.

New Cocktails: Reverse Invitation

In my continued exploration of lower proof cocktails, I stumbled upon Collin Nicholas's Invitation via Imbibe. I like that it began as a split base drink, softening the usually brisk Martini format. This made it very amenable to my now standard reverse perfect format.

 

Reverse Invitation

1 oz dry vermouth

1 oz blanc vermouth

1 oz gin

3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

6 drops absinthe

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The aromas are dominated by the licorice of the bitters and Herbsaint, backed up by the dry vermouth and a pleasant citrus note (maybe a good reason to add a lemon twist?). The sip begins balanced between sweet and sour from the vermouths, transitions through and herbal burst of licorice in the middle, which fades into complex bitterness led by the gin. The finish is fairly light and driven by the dry vermouth with a thread of Peychauds.

I have historically found Martini-style drinks to be too bracing, but this really hits the spot. Maybe once I'm back to having full strength drinks this will seem kind of tepid, but right now it does exactly what I want it to do. I was also pleasantly surprised by how well the various licorice-driven ingredients fit into the drink since I often find them overbearing. All in all I would highly recommend this drink in either form.

Gin Review: Townshend's

Townshend's began its life in Portland as a tea company, with several locations scattered around the city. From there they expanded into other tea-based drinks such as kombucha. In an odd twist, the kombucha is what led to the distillery - after a scare in the early-2010s that unpasturized kombucha was over over the 0.5% ABV limit, Townshend's made the rather expensive decision to remove the alcohol by vacuum distillation so that the natural cultures survived. This had the side effect of preserving the volatile flavors, both that emerged from the kombucha and those that were added later to the redistilled spirit. Another interesting wrinkle is that because of the significant amount of acetic acid that comes off the kombucha they have to wash the spirit with baking soda to eliminate most of it.

All of this results in very intensely flavored spirits that have none of the notes that are associated with high temperature distilling. Their gin is made from their green tea kombucha spirit that is infused with more botanicals, redistilled, then bottled at 40%.

Townshend's Gin

Nose: big floral notes (lavender, violet, rose), green tea, juniper almost shoved into the background, some round citrus (lemon, lime, a little orange), a little bubble gum.

Taste: cleanly sweet up front, transition into green tea in the middle that becomes increasingly tannic towards the back where the juniper finally kicks in

Finish: balanced tea, juniper, and floral notes that linger lightly

This is, to put it mildly, not a traditional gin profile. The floral notes dominate, with the tea a little behind, and the juniper coming in third. If you're coming from London dry gins, this is likely to seem very odd, but it's more of an evolution of the New West style pioneered in the early-2000s that toned down the juniper in favor of more approachable botanicals. At the same time, the floral notes are so strong that I would say that it's less initially approachable than some other Portland gins like Aviation. Overall I really like it, but it does require a different approach than what you might be used to.

While I originally bought this thinking that it could fill a role similar to Hendrick's, I've since found that it really has a narrow niche. While latter is gently floral, adding some roundness to the standard gin botanicals, this is a whole flower shop. When I tried to make Negronis with this gin, the result can only be described as tasting purple. And definitely not in a good way. What that means is that it needs some fairly stout companions, preferably with some citrus, to really work in a cocktail. And what stouter companions are there in a gin cocktail than those in a Last Word?

Last Word

0.75 oz gin
0.75 oz lime juice
0.75 oz green Chartreuse
0.75 oz maraschino liqueur

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice for six seconds, then double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The nose is dominated by the floral and tea of the gin combined with the herbal notes of the Chartreuse, with some lime and maraschino peeking around the edges. The sip begins with moderate sweetness, quickly balanced by the lime near the middle with some maraschino roundess, fading into a complex array of herbal and floral bitterness that stretches out into the finish.

This is a Last Word for people who really want to lean into the Charteuse. While many favor recipes that amp up the gin, that simply won't work with Townshend's, which becomes unbearably floral in anything greater than equal proportions. It works, but it's the balance of great forces shoving each other into submission. If that's your jam, I highly recommend picking up a bottle. If you're not into floral spirits, this is one that you can safely give a miss.

New Cocktails: La Bicyclette

One of the most important things you can learn about cocktails is that they have an internal consistency. Ingredients balance each other in fairly predictable proportions, even if they have to be tweaked for the particular character of individual expressions and personal tastes.

That's how, when asked to make a cocktail using St. Germain, I was able to cobble together almost this exact recipe despite the fact that I had never seen it before, with the exception that I used orange instead of peach bitters.

This cocktail comes from a time when St. Germain was the new kid on the block and bartenders were figuring out how to use it. Jaime Boudreau of Canon in Seattle posted a couple of drinks with it, including this one.

La Bicyclette

1.5 oz gin (1:1 Tanqueray/Beefeater)
0.75 oz sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes)
0.25 oz elderflower liqueur (St. Germain)
2 dashes peach bitters (Bitter Truth)

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a strip of lemon peel.

The nose is balanced between the gin and vermouth, brightened by the lemon peel. The sip opens with liqueur and vermouth sweetness, passes through elderflower and citrus notes, then fades into complex bitterness from the vermouth, gin, and bitters.

This kind of drink is how St. Germain acquired the term 'bartender's catsup'. It does exactly what it is supposed to do, providing a subtle twist on an otherwise classic profile and adding a bit of extra body from the sugar. While it's since slipped out of favor from overuse, it's still a great ingredient to slip into your lineup from time to time.

Classic Cocktails: the Tuxedo

This is one of those drinks that has a number of competing recipes that all get the same name, though the general structure stays the same. The big split is between the versions that use dry sherry and those that use dry vermouth. Either way, they tend to be refined and elegant like their namesake.

The Tuxedo

2 oz Plymouth gin
1.5 oz dry vermouth
0.25 oz maraschino liqueur
2 dashes orange bitters

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled, absinthe-rinsed cocktail glass and garnish with a twist of lemon.

The aromas are balanced between the gin, lemon, and maraschino, with the last just pushing above the others. The sip begins with a moderate amount of sweetness, which turns into a sort of thickness around the middle as the gin and vermouth dry out the flavors, with a gently bitter finish dominated by the vermouth with anise in the background.

This is the first Martini variation that has really clicked for me. Admittedly, it's extremely wet by modern standards even before the addition of the maraschino liqueur, but it's still nicely palate-cleansing in the finish. I do wonder if the balance is a bit different than it's supposed to be since I used Plymouth navy strength and scaled down the amount to account for the extra alcohol, but my guess is that it's pretty close. I can also imagine this being rather good with a more floral gin like Hendricks or you could push it in a more savory direction with something like Sounds Spirits Ebb+Flow. Whatever gin you pick, the results should be tasty.

New Cocktails: La Voiture

Sometimes classic drinks almost hit the mark, but miss by an inch. That's how the Automobile Cocktail was for me. The combination of scotch, gin, vermouth, and bitters looked like an unlikely combo on paper, but I was willing to give it a go. While it almost worked, the various elements never quite seemed to come together. But thinking about what worked and what didn't made me wonder if I could tweak it into something more agreeable. Giving it a little French twist did the trick.

La Voiture

1 oz cognac
1 oz London dry gin
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz Bigallet China-China Amer

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for fifteen seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The nose is fairly subdued, but some grape from the cognac and brighter orange notes from the Bigallet peek out, with hints of bitterness from the gin and amer. The sip opens with moderate grape sweetness, sliding through bittersweet in the middle and bitter at the back as the gin and amer team up. The finish is long and lingering with juniper and spices.

Classic Cocktails: Satan's Whiskers

This drink comes from the Savoy Cocktail Book circa 1930, by way of Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails. There are two versions of the drink - straight, when made with Grand Marnier, and curled, when made with curaçao. Either way, it will be delicious.

Satan's Whiskers
0.5 oz gin
0.5 oz sweet vermouth
0.5 oz dry vermouth
0.5 oz orange juice
2 tsp orange liqueur
1 tsp orange bitters

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice for six seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The nose is relatively muted, revealing flashes of orange bitters, grape from the wines, and a hint of baking spices. The sip opens with orange sweetness, which carries through almost to the back. It is joined by various bitter notes, from the vermouths, gin, and bitters, which form a harmonious whole. The finish is pleasant and not overwhelmingly bitter, rather making the drink more-ish.

Oh man, I am shocked by just how good this drink is. On paper, it looks like a huge bitter fest, but the orange juice and liqueur conspire to keep everything in balance. So much so that it feels almost tropical. I would actually be really happy sipping this drink of a warm, sandy beach. The fruit just meshes so well with the bitter components. The drink actually improves a bit as it warms up, with the nose becoming more expansive and the palate gaining a bit more definition. Overall, I'll call this one a winner.

Classic Cocktails: the Barbara West Cocktail

This is one of those drinks where an ambiguous ingredient can make all the difference in the world. As pointed out by One Hundred Cocktails, this recipe calls for sherry but doesn't specify the variety. As I've noted previously, there is quite a bit of diversity in the world of sherry, so the wines can range from bracingly dry to syrupy sweet. And when mixing with sherry, the choice will have a significant impact on the final drink.

Ted Haigh doesn't mention who the Barbara West cocktail is named after and it's hard to find any information. However, Our Libatious Nature has a good explanation of one famous Barbara West, one of the few Titanic survivors to live into the 21st century.

Amontillado version on the left, East India solera version on the right

Barbara West Cocktail
2 oz gin
1 oz sherry
0.5 oz lemon juice
1 dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

I made this drink two different ways - first with amontillado sherry as suggested in Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails and second with the moderately sweet Lustau East India Solera sherry.

Amontillado version

The nose has a fairly strong raisin note from the sherry, but remains fairly dry, with a hint of aromatics from the gin and bitters. The sip opens on a sour note, which segues into dry, woody bitterness from the gin and bitters. It's a very brisk cocktail.

East India Solera version

The nose is also dominated by the sherry, which isn't particularly sweet, but brings out some of the woody spice notes (I get some turmeric coming out) from the bitters and a bit of a savory note that reminds me of celery from the gin. The sip opens smoothly with just a bit of sweetness, quickly transitioning back to the sour and bitter dryness of the lemon, gin, and bitters. While it's slightly eased by the sweeter sherry, it remains a very snappy cocktail on the finish.

I wish that I had some Pedro Ximenez sherry to crank up the sweetness. Dr. Cocktail suggests that this is meant to be a Martini variation and I can see how it has the same kind of snappy character. I'm finding sherry to be a very interesting ingredient for mixing as it tends to bring out the savory characteristics of other ingredients, even in sweeter drinks than these. If you'd like a bit of a palate cleanser, ordering a Creole with bitters (the same drink minus the Angostura) wouldn't be amiss.

Classic Cocktails: the Tahiti Typhoon

This is another drink from the Cocktail Database without a lot info about where it comes from. As suggested by Sylvan, that means it probably comes from Stan Jones' Complete Bar Guide. From whence it found its way into that book, no one knows. But no matter what, this is a fine example of the drinks to come out of that inestimable bartender's pen.

Tahiti Typhoon
1 oz gin
1 oz Cointreau
0.75 oz lime juice

Build over ice in a chilled rocks glass and top with sparkling wine.

The nose is dominated by the sparkling wine, with a hint of orange from the Cointreau. The sip is effervescent with crisp notes from the wine joined by juniper and lime, which are smoothed by the orange liqueur. The gin and Cointreau give the drink a slightly bitter finish. Overall this isn't the most complex drink ever, but it is an excellent summer cooler with enough punch to remain entertaining and light enough to be a good long drink.

Classic Cocktail: the Rose Marie Cocktail

Sadly I couldn't find any information on the provenance of this drink that I pulled out of the Cocktail Database, but looking at the recipe it's a bit of an odd beast. Amazingly, all of the ingredients pull together beautifully.

Rose Marie Cocktail
1.25 oz gin
0.5 oz dry vermouth
0.25 oz armagnac (sub cognac)
0.25 oz Campari
0.25 oz cherry Heering

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

On the nose, this is the antithesis of a tiki drink - instead of the ingredients blending to form something new, each element is distinct and presents itself in turn. You can smell everything, but somehow they're still separate. The sip begins with cherry notes from the Heering and the orange sweetness of Campari. There's a brief lift of fruit from the brandy, then the Campari does its usual segue into darker, more bitter flavors as the drink moves across the tongue, being joined by the juniper of the gin and dry wine of the vermouth. For being a fairly minor constituent, the Campari almost steals the show, but at the same time it works well with the other ingredients, which layer on top of that base.

While I made this drink somewhat on a whim, it turned out to be pretty tasty. I'm slowly acclimatizing myself to more bitter-centric drinks and this is a fine example of what I would think of as a bittersweet cocktail. Both elements are present and in tension, but neither rides over the other.

Classic Cocktails: the Lucien Gaudin Cocktail

This riff on the Negroni comes from the priceless Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh. The drink is named after Lucien Gaudin, a three time competitor and two time gold medal winning fencer in the 1920-28 Olympics. Not a bad record and a rather tasty namesake drink:

Lucien Gaudin Cocktail
1 oz gin
0.5 oz orange liqueur
0.5 oz Campari
0.5 oz sweet vermouth

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with orange peel.

The nose is dominated by the orange liqueur and buttressed by the orange notes of the Campari, with a subtle spiciness. The sip is shockingly sweet for a cocktail dominated by bitter ingredients. It begins with almost syrupy sweetness, again from the one-two punch of orange liqueur and Campari. The sweetness fades as the bitterness comes in, providing a lovely transition towards the back of the mouth. The flavors also transition from strong orange notes near the beginning of the mouth to spice notes from the liqueur, gin, and sweet vermouth. The finish is bitter, but not aggressively so, giving it a nice palate cleansing quality.

This is a drink where the ingredients really matter. Everything is present - there's nowhere to hide if something isn't up to snuff. For instance, I chose to make it with Aviation gin, which might have been a mistake. Looking at the recipe, it appears to be a huge bitter fest, but the orange liqueur really holds its own against the other ingredients. A robust London dry gin might be the more appropriate choice. Further, I'd suggest going for a less sweet liqueur if you can find it, as the Campari also lends some sweetness to the opening portion of the sip, and it can easily cross the line into being cloying. Other than the Campari, there's lot of room for experimentation to find the combination of spirits that works best for you.

Making Fruit Tinctures

One of the fun things that you can do once you start getting into cocktails is making your own ingredients. Syrups like orgeat or lime cordial are pretty easy. A little up the difficulty scale are alcoholic infusions. The simplest are those like limoncello, where citrus peels are soaked in high proof alcohol, then diluted with sugar syrup. In the picture above you can see a couple of those in progress, with both lemon peels and grapefruit peels soaking in 95% alcohol. I usually buy Everclear because it's only $15 for a 750 mL bottle and it can be diluted down to whatever strength I want to use. While you can use 100-proof vodka or something like that in a pinch, the higher the proof of the alcohol, the more oils will be extracted from the peels. The same does not necessarily hold true for fruit infusions. The compounds that give fruits flavor are not necessarily as oily as the aromatic compounds in citrus peels. This means that different compounds will be extracted from the fruit depending on the alcohol concentration used to make the infusion. It's worthwhile to play around with the ABV of your infusion to see how this influences the final product. I usually let infusions sit for about a month, but you can make them go faster by giving the containers a swirl or a shake every so often to help the infusion proceed more thoroughly. 

To finally get into some real chemistry, there's a good reason why agitating your infusion speeds up the process - as compounds are leeched from the peels, the concentration of those compounds in the area directly adjacent to the peels will build up, which makes for a smaller gradient between the solid and liquid phases. Moving things around spreads out the dissolved compounds, reestablishing a stronger gradient and causing the oils to extract more quickly.

After your infusion is done steeping, you need to filter the liquid away from the solids. A mesh strainer is a good first step. If you're using fruit, you may want to squeeze it to get out all of the delicious liquid, but you can also use it for making pie. To further clarify the liqueur, a metal or plastic coffee filter is a good way to get more of the fine particles. Actual coffee filters will also work, but they will also absorb some of the liqueur. Personally, I usually just accept that there's going to be some leftover solids in my infusions. It's not going to hurt you.

Once you're filtered your infusion, you have two options - either dilute the liquid with sugar syrup to make a liqueur or keep the infusion undiluted. The first is more traditional and makes for a handy ingredient that can be drunk straight or added to cocktails directly. As long as the resulting liqueur is over 20% ABV, it should be stable indefinitely without refrigeration. A high sugar content will also help to ward off any microbial growth. I personally tend to lean towards the second option, because I'm rarely interested in drinking liqueurs straight. By leaving the infusion in an un-diluted state, I can easily swap out the syrups that I use to sweeten the drink, with some interesting results. Alternatively, as in the cocktail at the bottom of this post, I can use the tinctures as base spirits instead of as liqueurs.

Infusions will often change in smell and flavor, even after the steeping is over and the liquid has been filtered. While they're technically ready to drink as soon as you've got them filtered, another couple of months will probably help to mellow and integrate the flavors and smells. Additionally, if you take the route of leaving the infusions undiluted, it's normal that you won't necessarily be able to smell a lot from the infusion. The high concentration of alcohol solubilizes the aromatic compounds very effectively. When the spirit is diluted with water, the aromatics become less soluble in the liquid and are then more volatile.

Rangpur Bounty
1 oz gin
1 oz mango tincture
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz grapefruit juice
0.25 oz passionfruit syrup
0.25 oz simple syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters

The sip leads off with a bit of syrupy sweetness, which resolves into the tropical fruits of the passionfruit syrup and mango tincture. Near the end, the snappier flavors of gin, bitters, lime and grapefruit lead into the finish, keeping the drink from becoming insipid. I really like how the flavors flow past either other, blending briefly before passing off to the next set. The bitters, as so often they do, seem to be key to really amping everything up. Finally, for being a rather spiritous cocktail (remember, the tincture is equivalent to more than 2x the volume of normal 80-proof spirit), it ends up being rather balanced and refreshing.

Overall, this is a drink that I'm rather pleased with given that it was mostly an effort to use up some lime and grapefruit juice that I had sitting in the fridge.

Tiki Classics: the Luau Scorpion

The Scorpion is one of the drinks that made Trader Vic rightly famous. It was a potent and voluminous drink designed to serve a number of customers at once who would drink out of a communal bowl. This spawned a number of copycat drinks, each with similar but distinct recipes. This variant comes via the Luau restaurant in Beverly Hills, dating from 1958. Personally I find it to be the best variant, largely because of the inclusion of lime juice instead of lemon and the addition of gin. For a comparison of all the different types of Scorpion, check out Kaiser Penguin's epic post.

Luau Scorpion (Beachbum Berry Remixed)
2 oz gold Puerto Rican rum
2 oz gin
1 oz brandy or Cognac
2 oz orange juice
1 oz lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz orgeat syrup

Combine all ingredients, add a handful of cracked ice, blend for 5 seconds, then pour unstrained into a double rocks glass or tiki bowl with more ice cubes or cracked ice. Serves two.

As far as ingredients go, I like a fairly rich Puerto Rican-style rum, something like Ron Abuelo 7 Años, Bacardi 8 Años or Flor de Caña 7 Year. These will given the drink a solid rummy base and play well with the fruit juices. The best gin I've had in a Scorpion so far is Hendrick's. It's floral notes dance nicely around the drink and it's just bitter enough to give the drink some snap without dominating. Aviation is another good choice, though I find that it doesn't play as well. Plymouth also gets tossed around as a good choice, but I find that it's a little bit too assertive. For brandy, something on the younger and fruiter end of the spectrum is going to be a good choice. I usually go for Hardy VS, but Jacques Cadin VSOP is also tasty if you want something a bit woodier. Pisco might even work, but it's fruit flavors will stand out much more in comparison to an aged spirit.

The sip leads off with the fruity flavors of the cognac and orange juice, livened by the floral and herbal notes of the gin. There's a brief interlude while the flavors retreat slightly, followed by the rum poking its head out and a return of the gin leading into the finish. Throughout the sip, the lime and syrups balance each other out, keeping any one aspect of the drink from getting out of hand. A tasty, but decidedly potent, potable.

Mixology Monday LXIII: Redemption of the Long Island Iced Tea

It's been far too long since I got in on a Mixology Monday event. This week's theme, hosted by Jacob Grier at the Liquidity Preference, is Retro Redemption. Roughly from the 60s through the 90s were a dark time for cocktails. The pre-Prohibition Golden Age was long gone and the tiki era had faded. Preferences were shifting towards wine and beer, with vodka being the one spirit that retained much sway. The cocktails that did emerge during the late 20th century tended to be dilute and fruity, hiding rather than showcasing their alcohol. As we emerge back into the light of fine drinks, many want to shun that era and consign all of its creations to the dustbin of history.

But this week we are attempting to resurrect these Frankenstein creations, either showing that they have value in their natural state of tweaking them into more pleasant concoctions. Having been born only near the end of that time period and only begun my journey down the path of true mixology after the turn of the millennium, I can't lay claim to having experienced any of these creations in their natural state. Sure, I've had a Lemon Drop or two before, but these days I mostly drink at places where I can expect a well made cocktail or at least a healthy pour of whisk(e)y.

So stepping off into the unknown, I paged through my copy of the Joy of Mixology, looking to see what might have managed to slip into its hallowed pages. As it is primarily aimed at current or perspective bartenders, there are some slightly dubious creations that might be called for by less discriminating customers. Such as the Long Island Iced Tea.

Rightly infamous, the original recipe calls for a brain-busting 4 ounces of hard spirits as well as another ounce of liqueur. But this potent punch is well hidden among the strong flavors of lemon juice, simple syrup and cola. While not known for being the most refined drink, it is certainly a more pleasant way to get smashed than, say, drinking straight grain alcohol. But I wondered if this excuse to turn bottom-shelf liquor into money and dubious decisions could be reworked into something a bit more mixologically sound.

Long Island Iced Tea (Gary Regan)
1 oz vodka
1 oz light rum
1 oz blanco tequila
1 oz gin
1 oz orange liqueur
1 oz lemon juice
0.75 oz simple syrup

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice strain into a glass filled with ice and top with cola.

From this starting point, I wanted to make a drink that would put the spirits a little more front and center while retaining a similar flavor profile and hue. And, you know, not quite so large. Some days it's nice to not knock yourself over.

The Isle of Seven Cities

0.5 oz vodka

0.5 oz aged light rum

0.5 oz reposado tequila

0.5 oz gin

0.5 oz orange liqueur

0.5 oz lemon juice

0.25 oz simple syrup

1 barspoon orgeat syrup

1 dash Angostura bitters

1 oz soda water

Build over ice in a chilled glass and briefly stir to combine all ingredients.

For some reason, this made me think of Antillia, the Island of Seven Cities that explores combed the Atlantic ocean for during the Age of Discovery. Some of it is the diverse ingredients, coming from just about every continent on earth. I had to make due with what was already in my liquor cabinet, which is, admittedly, a fair bit. I drew some inspiration for this variation from a couple of tiki drinks, namely the Fog Cutter and the Scorpion. Both of these drinks incorporate rum and gin, which are not an obvious combination. However, when made well they are both absolutely brilliant.

For the vodka, I only had one choice: Medoyeff. While it's admittedly playing a supporting role in this case, I will say good things about it. My bottle comes from when it was still made by House Spirits, but the label has since migrated with the eponymous Lee Medoff to the Bull Run Distillery. While it's made to be drunk straight in the Eastern European fashion, it was on hand and fulfilled its duty to buck up the alcoholic content of this drink without crowding out the other flavors. The aged light rum was Banks 5 Island (part of the spark for the name of this drink), a particularly robust and flavorful light rum. I decided to go with reposado instead of blanco tequila to mellow that aspect of the drink just a bit and keep it from overwhelming the other flavors. I'm quite partial to Corralejo reposado and it is very close to a blanco in appearance, having only a very light straw color. The gin was Hendrick's, which is a very gentle gin that plays well with others and provides a number of very nice floral notes to the drink. The orgeat was also inspired by the Fog Cutter and Scorpion, where it helps to tame the strong flavors of those drinks.

The sip leads you through the various layers of flavor rather than dissolving into an ill-defined gimmish. The gin and rum lead the charge, the juniper snap of the gin and the hogo of the rum joining forces. This is followed by the agave notes of the tequila that segue back into the more floral notes of the gin. The spices from the Angostura bitters fill the role that the cola would otherwise play and the fruitiness of the orange-kumquat liqueur and the subtle nuttiness of the orgeat round out the experience. Behind all of this, the lemon juice helps to give the drink some backbone and the soda water leavens the experience. While probably diverging from the drink's roots, you could still squint in its general direction and imagine that there's some tea in there, so I feel like I haven't strayed too far. This is a drink that I would happily sip year-round.

Spirits Tasting at OMSI After Dark

The Oregon Museum of Science & Industry here in Portland hosts regular events where adults can come to the museum after hours and enjoy drinks while getting to act like kids. There is usually some kind of theme to the evening and this month they dovetailed with Portland Cocktail Week and the Great American Distillers Festival to provide another opportunity to taste spirits from local distillers. As there were both a number of spirits that I didn't get to try at the GADF represented at this event as well as others that weren't present on Sunday, I decided to go, this time with more food in my belly. Once again, here are some small impressions from what I tried. However it was still hard to get much depth given that I was drinking out of a shot glass most of the time.

•Blair Reynolds, the former Trader Tiki, is a fine gentleman. His white dog hot toddy was a little peculiar, but an interesting drink. I also really liked the hazelnut orgeat and will probably pick up a bottle to give my mai tais a twist.

•I finally got to try Clear Creek's 8-Year Old Apple Brandy. It's an interesting contrast to the 2-Year Old version. Whereas the younger brandy is bursting with apple flavor, its older sibling has been significantly tamed by the extra time in the barrel. It's a little less identifiable as an apple brandy, edging towards a nice cognac with a more diffuse fruitiness. While it's a little thin at first, a drop of water opens it up nicely. The taste is berries with a hints of vanilla and wine, balanced by mild oakiness. I'm definitely going to spring for a small bottle of this brandy so I can do a more in-depth review.

•Big Bottom Port Cask Finish Whiskey is excellent stuff. Much like the Angel's Envy whiskey I tried on Sunday, the bourbon for this whiskey is sourced from another distiller and then finished in used port casks. I chatted for a bit with Ted Pappas, the founder of Big Bottom, and he mentioned that this whiskey is sourced from Indiana. While Ted would "neither confirm nor deny" his source, the mash bill matches perfectly with the high rye juice from the notoriously guarded Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana (LDI). While this is a younger 3-year old whiskey compared to AE's five and six-year old base, it tasted mature beyond its years. The choice of tawny rather than ruby port seems more well suited to bourbon and the two meshed quite well. There was a solid bourbon base of corn, grain, vanilla and a healthy dose of rye spiciness up front. This was followed by the rich flavors of tawny port nearer the finish. The residue of this whiskey was very more-ish and I'm definitely going to buy a bottle.

•The Meadow is a store in Portland that sells speciality ingredients like salt, chocolate and bitters. They had quite a spread at this event. Not only were there several dozen commercial bitters, but they also put out nearly as many tinctures that people could use to create their own bitters. I took a whiff of a number of different bitters. The Bitterman's Xocolatl Mole bitters and Elemakule Tiki bitters were probably my favorites, but Elmegirab Aphrodite bitters were also quite intriguing. I need to start playing around with bitters again because they're a relatively cheap way to add more variety to drinks.

•I made the mistake of giving Oregon Spirits another chance. They're releasing a genever-style gin and that was abundantly clear from the first sip. It's full of the peculiar roasted pineapple flavor that I've noticed in other genevers. Unfortunately there really wasn't much else going on and I couldn't even find any juniper among the malt flavors. I'm going to give them a miss for a while until they have some more experience under their belts.

•Thankfully the Rogue Pink Spruce Gin was much better. I'd tried it before, but wasn't much for straight spirits at that point. This time I really liked the gin. There was a solid base of juniper and spruce pine flavor. This was complimented by a very whiskey-ish layer of sweet vanilla, candied fruit and cinnamon spice. This would make a great Old Tom substitution or is perfectly pleasant for sipping neat. Another one that's getting added to my 'to buy' list.

Overall it was a really nice event. I was glad that I showed up not too long after opening because it got much more crowded as the evening went on. However, I got to try everything I wanted to sample and usually didn't have to wait too long. The complimentary shot glasses and hot water to wash them out was a nice touch and probably cut down a lot on the waste the event produced. Finding a few new products that I liked enough to buy was icing on the cake.

The Great American Distillers Festival; or Why It's Tough Being New

While I wasn't able to attend any of the other events during Portland Cocktail week, I did make it to the second day of the Great American Distillers Festival on Sunday. Held in a small-ish event hall, there was still quite a lot of booze spread before me when I entered.

A slice of the available booths

Unfortunately my stomach was a little too empty to make it to every booth, but I did get to try a number of interesting products. My thoughts were a little sparse and became more so as I was plied with whisk(e)y, but here's what struck me at the time.

•12 Bridges Gin keeps getting better. Their latest release has dialed back the cucumber notes that used to dominate the gin and become very pleasantly floral. It was also good to hear that their distribution issues are local, rather than being a supply issue.

•Cyrus Noble whiskey is totally decent. This private label bottling of Kentucky bourbon has some corn sweetness and vanilla without any noticeable harshness. Probably worth another try when I can have more than a fraction of an ounce, but it's pretty obvious that this bourbon doesn't have more than five years under its belt. Value will be highly dependent on the price-point.

•Dry Fly Washington Wheat Whiskey is also totally decent. I found it to be quite gentle for only two years in the barrel. The flavor was grainy, without bourbon's corn sweetness or vanilla due to the pure wheat mash bill. The fact that it's an agricultural product was still clear given that the barrel hasn't had time to dominate. Again, probably worth another try, but it didn't jump out at me with complexity. However, I also felt the same way about Berheim's wheated whiskey, so it may just be that the category isn't for me.

•Chatoe Rogue is a new-ish single malt whiskey from Oregon. If I understood correctly, it's aged briefly for 3 months in used chardonnay barrels. This whiskey tastes very fresh, which is unsurprising given how close it is to being a white dog. While there isn't a whole lot of complexity yet, it's still pretty decent for its age and might work well in a New Orleans sour with some orange liqueur and lime juice to round out the flavors. But at the price point, it's kind of a tough sell.

•I tried a number of Golden Distillery's products. Their single malt whiskey had a surprising dose of vanilla in it, which comes from being aged in white oak 10 gallon, rather than standard 53 gallon, barrels. It was another good, relatively fresh product that should improve nicely with more age. I also tried their Reserve whiskey, which is also aged in red oak barrels. It was hard for me to suss out any extra flavors, but my palette was getting a bit burned out at that point. Their apple brandy unfortunately seemed kind of thin and fient-y without the kind of rich apple flavor that I expect. On that front, I think I'll stick with Clear Creek.

•Just to prove that it wasn't just the little guys, I also tried the 12- and 18-year old bottlings from Jameson. In all honesty, they really did nothing for me. Again, my taste buds may have just been too abused to catch the subtleties, but I didn't even finish the sample of the 18-year that I was offered. C'est la vie, I guess.

•Oregon Spirits' wheated whiskey was also a bit simple for my taste, but it might get more interesting with age.

•Angel's Envy whiskey was another private bottling, rather than a local product like so much of what was at the Festival. This is a five to six year old bourbon that is then additionally aged for 3 to six months in port casks. This was the last whiskey I tried while I was there, so it was nearly impossible for me to pick up on much. While I'd need to try it again to be sure, I felt like this was another case where I felt like it needed a lot more age. With some 10+ year old stocks and another 6-12 months in the port casks, this could be really good. But it's hard to justify shelling out $50 for something so young that isn't even coming from a craft distillery, even if it has been reviewed very, very favorably.

•Some of the big boys were there to play as well. Four Roses put out quite a nice spread of spirits. While I had previously tried their Small Batch bottling and found it less than appealing, their Single Barrel (Warehouse 5, Barrel 3-6U) was quite a bit better. It had a fairly light nose with hints of brown sugar, vanilla, yeast and caramel. The taste recapitulated the smells and had only a slight burn. I also got to try some of one of their Limited Edition bottlings (sorry, I forgot to write down the details of what all went into it), which was at least as good if not better than the Single Barrel. They're both on my 'to try again' list and it sounds like the price of the Small Batch and Single Barrel should both be coming down in the near future.

So overall, the unfortunate impression that I came away with is that most craft whiskies are just too young right now. I'm not the first to come to that conclusion. Right now they're in a really tough place. I think a lot of people have gotten into distilling because they want to make whiskey, but unfortunately that's as much or more dependent on time in the barrel than it is on what comes off the still. And that's expensive. Aging ties up both space and capital, neither of which are likely to be plentiful for a company that's just starting out and wants to become profitable sooner rather than later. This can lead to a number of different traps, all of which are tricky to get out of.

To begin with, just about every distillery out there makes vodka and gin. This isn't surprising, because they're comparatively easy to make and require no aging. This can start a decent revenue stream. But if the dream is ultimately to make aged products, it's hard to build enough capacity to both keep up with the demand for your unaged products and to distill the stuff that you want to put down for a while. Sure, you can always buy another still, but that costs money, which usually isn't exactly plentiful for new distilleries.

Another route that many distilleries are taking is to bottle whiskey bought from one of the big distilleries. It's not uncommon that they have barrels sitting around that don't quite fit into their established products but are on their own still worth drinking. This is a totally reasonable idea, but has its own complications. It's early days, so we'll see how and whether people are able to transition over to their own aged whiskies, but it's going to be a tough switch.

Lastly, and most popularly, distilleries release whiskies that haven't had a lot of time in barrels. As I mentioned above, some people try to speed this along by using smaller barrels, but it's debatable how much that helps. Some of the reactions that produce the flavorful compounds in whiskey take time to develop and there's no way to speed up the process. Especially with single malt whiskies, time in the barrel seems to be particularly important as they're starting with a single grain rather than the mixtures used for bourbon. I think there's a good reason why scotch usually starts to get really good around 10-12 years. Again, as I mentioned above, there are a lot of whiskies coming to the market with a few months to a few years under their belts. Sometimes that works. I've tried a few 4-5 year old whiskies from microdistilleries that were quite tasty. Even less can still sometimes produce a great product. But you have to accept them for what they are, rather than expecting the rich, vanilla and sweetness-laden whiskey that most bourbon drinkers know and love. And when you consider the price differential between most craft-distilled whiskies and those made by bigger producers, it can get tough to justify shelling out that much cash. I feel like in a lot of cases people (myself included) are willing to pay a premium for what they see as potential, rather than because what's being current put out is the best thing ever. Craft distilleries have to work with what they have, whereas big distilleries have decades of stock to blend into consistent products. So there are hits and misses. Unfortunately it's going to be tough to bring in a wider audience that is accustomed to consistency.

While I feel like I've been a bit doom and gloom, I don't think that all is lost. It's early days and craft distilleries that have been around for a while are putting out really excellent products. However, there does seem to be no small amount of hype and I'd hate for some good projects to be nipped in the bud because they can't deliver right now. In another 5-10 years, I expect to be drinking a lot more really excellent craft whiskey. But right now I'm hoping that there's a lot of what I drank this last weekend sitting in barrels, waiting to see the light of day some time in the slightly distant future.

Tiki Classics: The Mai-Tai as Foundation

It seems to be a requirement of cocktail blogging that at some point, you will write a post about the mai tai. Perhaps several. I've even mentioned it once before. But really, there's a good reason that it comes up so often.

From a fairly simple set of ingredients, the mai tai is much greater than the sum of its parts. A combination of rum, lime, orange liqueur and orgeat comes together with almost unmatched depth and complexity. And that's without too many of the usual tiki drink tricks, like multiple juices and highly spiced syrups and liqueurs.

All of that can be attributed to the genius of Victor 'Trader Vic' Bergeron who invented the mai tai (yes, I come down on that side of the great Mai Tai Debate).

Proto-Mai Tai
1 oz Spirit #1
1 oz Spirit #2
0.75 oz lime juice
0.5 oz orange liqueur
0.5 oz orgeat
0.25 oz simple syrup

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, either up or over crushed ice. Garnishing with a mint sprig is traditional and does add a little something to the drink.

Rum

The basis of this drink is obviously rum. Originally developed with Wray & Nephew 17 Year Dagger rum, a bottle of that will set you back as much as a new luxury car, so adaptations have to be made. The general consensus seems to be that a combination of an aged Jamaican rum and an aged Martinique rhum agricole best approximate the original flavor. However, there are quite a number of other variations that will work as well.

If you're aiming for something along the classic lines, your options are a significantly more limited on the Jamaican rum side. My go-to rums in this category are Appleton V/X and Estate Extra plus Smith & Cross. The Appleton 12 Year is best on its own, but I usually go for some split between Appleton V/X and S&C as they both bring some nice funk to the table. Both because of proof and the fact that it's made from pure pot still rums, the S&C will make itself strongly present, even at 0.25 oz, so go easy with the pour. There's also Coruba, but its strong burnt sugar flavor will also tend to dominate the drink, so it's not something I tend to reach for when I'm making mai tais. And while there is still a Wray & Nephew rum on the market, it's an unaged firebreather that really isn't what you're looking for in a mai tai rum.

On the sugar cane rum side of the equation, there's quite a bit more to choose from. First up, the official Martinique rhum agricoles. While I and others have sung its praises before, Clément VSOP isn't my favorite here. For whatever reason, it seems to be hiding its light under a bushel in this drink, so I don't want to waste its deliciousness. Rhum J.M. and Neisson Elévé Sous Bois are both solid and won't set your wallet back too far, but they are also pretty stiff and may be a bit much depending on your opinion of rhum agricole. Next on the list are non-AOC sugar cane rhums from other islands. Barbancourt is an obvious choice, especially as its price point is far below that of the Martinique rhums. Another good choice is Westerhall Plantation rum, which is made with both cane juice and molasses rums. It's fairly light, but will provide a nice backup to whatever Jamaican-style rum you want to use. Lastly, Mt. Gay Sugar Cane Rum, which is oddly nothing of the sort. As I mentioned before, this is a molasses-based rum that magically manages to express many of the characteristics of a sugar cane juice rhum. Sadly it's not being made any more, but if you can find a bottle it does work wonders in a mai tai.

If you want something a bit lighter, I also like a variation with Banks 5 Island (has some Jaimaican rum in the blend and the Batavia Arrack brings some really nice funk to the table) and Clément Première Canne (a nice but fairly mellow rhum agricole blanc). Makes for a good summer mai tai.

Whiskey


What's amazing about the mai tai is how adaptable it is to other spirits. However, one does have to keep in mind that the drink was built with rum in mind, so some subtle tweaks may be necessary. The whiskey version of the mai tai was known as the Honi Honi in Trader Vic's restaurants, though this was a simple substitution with 2 oz of one kind of bourbon. While this drink works quite well, even with something as simple as Jim Beam white label (I had an excellent one the last time the Teardrop Lounge hosted a tiki night), it feels like there's room to play with this formula. The first thought in my mind was, "what whiskies will approximate the flavors of Jamaican and agricole rums?". This is kind of a tricky thing. There aren't too many whiskies that have the same kind of pot still funk that are the hallmark of Jamaican rums. By the same token, Martinique rhums have a rather unique flavor that is often (in my mind) reminiscent of brandy. So there are two different routes available: pick what seem like their analogs within the whiskey world (funky and fresh) or most faithfully recapitulate those flavors. For the first, I would suggest the most robust whiskey you can get your hands on and a rye whiskey. If you can't get funky, at least get bold. Bulleit, Elijah Craig 12 Year or Ezra B Single Barrel would all be good choices for the first that won't break the bank or make you cringe to mix them. As a Martinique replacement, I lean towards rye whiskey because it seems to possess both the semi-obscure peculiarity of Martinique rum and flavors that remind you that it's an agricultural product. For the second route I would stick with a bold bourbon, but add a sherry-cask aged Scotch whisky (I've tried this with Aberlour 12 Year to reasonably good effect), which will have the wine-like flavors that one can find in rhum agricoles. Both are good, but which you like better will depend on your personal tastes.

Tequila


This is another mai tai variation that has an established history as the Pinky Gonzoles. But again, this is a fairly simple sub of 2 oz of a single kind of tequila. While all well and good, I prefer to use 1 oz of an añejo tequila like Sauza Hornitos and a reasonably funky reposado like Cazadores. That way you get both the aged barrel flavors of caramel and vanilla of the añejo and the funky agricultural flavors from the younger tequila.

Gin


Here's where we diverge from the beaten path. Gin is somewhat more divorced from its agricultural roots, with the exception of maltier gins like Dutch genevere. But you can still make an excellent gin-based mai-tai. For depth, you're probably going to want some kind of a barrel-aged gin. I went with Ransom Old Tom, though it at least the bottle I have needs to be used sparingly (~3/8 oz) as its somewhat overwhelming cardamom flavor can swamp a drink. For the balance of the spirit, I went with Aviation and Hendrick's, both solid, not too juniper-y gins that will still give the drink a nice snap.

So there you have it. The mai tai is a true classic, both in its original form and in the derivatives that were spawned from it. While falling on hard times for much of the late 20th century, many are new recognizing how good this drink can be when hewing to Trader Vic's formulation. A few simple ingredients turn into something downright magical.

Bénédictine: Subtle Magic

I fortuitously decided to take a trip across the state border to take a look at a couple of the liquor shops in Vancouver, WA over the Labor Day weekend. While the rather high liquor taxes did dissuade me from a number of purchases that I had considered, I did see some bottles of Bénédictine herbal liqueur on sale.

While not high on my list of things to buy, it is an ingredient in a number of rather intriguing recipes. A search through the Cocktail Database returns quite a long list of results.

Originally developed by Alexandre Le Grand and purportedly based off of a recipe made by a local order of monks, many have tried to imitate this liqueur but none have succeeded. As with many other herbal liqueurs, the ingredients that go into it are a closely held secret.

It's clear that this is a very complex mixture of ingredients. Neat, the nose I get includes grass, lavender, mint, violets, almond, lemongrass and a whole host of other smells that I can't quite put my finger on. The flavor is obviously sweet, leaning towards simple sugar. There is a burst of herbal, somewhat mentholic flavor and little to no finish.

High on the list of recipes I've been meaning to try is the Singapore Sling. There's quite a bit of debate over the "real" recipe, but Beachbum Berry has published what seems like the tastiest one.

Singapore Sling
2 oz gin
0.5 oz brandy
1 oz Cherry Heering
0.5 oz Bénédictine
1 oz lime juice
1.5 oz soda water

Combine all ingredients except for soda water and shake with ice. Strain into a chilled chimney glass filled with ice and top with soda water.

So far I've tried this one with either Hendricks alone, Aviation alone or a 3:1 Hendricks/Plymouth split.  I like the Hendrick's by itself best, but any gin that's not too juniper heavy will likely do well in this drink. Crisp and plays well with fruit is the key here.

Additionally, you can play around with the fruit liqueur a bit. A full ounce of Cherry Heering can overwhelm the drink, at least initially. I've also tried it with a 0.5 oz each of homemade raspberry and orange liqueurs, which let the gin shine a bit more while keep the fruity roundness of the drink.

Ultimately this drink is clearly made for long tropical days. While there's a lot of fruity sweetness going on here, it's balanced out by the crispness of the gin and soda water along with the sour snap of the lime juice. A quintessential long drink, it mellows nicely over time with the gin holding up even as the drink is diluted. The Bénédictine gets along well with the gin and adds a little somethin' somethin' to the drink. Do watch out though. While it doesn't hit you in the face, there's quite a lot of alcohol in the glass.