Mixology Monday XCV: Call Me Old Fashioned!

This month's Mixology Monday theme continues the classic trend from last month's "That's Not a Martini!" by looking at the humble Old Fashioned. One of the last true cocktails in the original sense of being composed of nothing more than spirit, sugar, and bitters, the Old Fashioned was old fashioned by the late-19th century.

"The Old-Fashioned was a drinker's pleas for a saner, quieter, slower life, one in which a gent could take a drink or two without fear that it would impair his ability to dodge a speeding streetcar or operate a rotary press."

-David Wondrich's "Imbibe!"

Laura at Sass & Gin has challenged us to come up with new riffs on the archetypical cocktail, using the wide array of spirits and bitters now available to the discerning drinker.

My drink was inspired by the Prescription Julep, which takes the traditional Mint Julep and replaces much of its bourbon or rye with cognac, as would have been more common during the 19th century.

Prescription Sazerac

1.5 oz cognac
0.5 oz rye whiskey
0.5 tsp simple syrup
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
6 drops Herbsaint

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for 15 seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a twist of lemon.

The nose leads with the cognac's grape notes, accented by rye grain and lemon oil. The sip leads with cognac, then segues into shifting rye grain/spice and cognac, accented with the bitters and pastis. Most of the action is at the back and in the finish.

Using cognac as the primary base of this drink makes it softer than a pure rye-based version. I like the way that switch transforms it from an on-point drink (lots of herbal/spice notes from the rye, bitters, and pastis) to a counterpoint drink (softer fruit from the cognac conterbalanced with herbal/spice notes from the bitters and pastis). I think this would have been better if I had broken out the Louis Royer Force 53 to give the drink a more muscular base, but Pierre Ferrand Ambre is a totally acceptable, albeit somewhat mellow, choice.

Thanks again to Fred and everyone else keeping Mixology Monday going.

Mixology Monday LXXXIV: Temperance

This month's Mixology Monday theme is a bit counter-intuitive: temperance. While the event has historically been all about the booze, this time we were challenged by Scott of Shake, Strain & Sip to come up with non-alcoholic drinks.

While many of us today think of overly sweet and unimaginative uses of fruit juice combinations when we hear of nonalcoholic beverages, there is a growing resurgence and movement of creating real craft “mocktails” in cocktail bars around the world.  With there being more exotic and unique ingredients available to us then ever before, there are an abundance of innovative spiritless libations being developed today.  Believe it or not, there’s actually a company that produces non-alcoholic versions of rum, vodka, brandy, and a number of other faux spirits and liqueurs.

As such, this month’s theme challenges you to create unique craft “mocktails” only limited by your imagination.  Perhaps you have an abundance of that homemade lavender syrup sitting in your fridge?  Maybe you’ve been thinking about creating a non-alcoholic version of your favorite cocktail.  Or maybe you just wanted an excuse to mix up an Angostura Phosphate you saw in Imbibe.  Oh yes, non-potable bitters are fair game here since they are legally classified as nonalcoholic in the states.  However, if the Teetotalist inside of you won’t allow it, you can go without them.  Cheers!

I've been enjoying Jeffery Morgenthaler's tonic recipe for a few months now. It's a great choice when I want something non-alcoholic that's still full of flavor. So I decided to see if I could tiki-fi it a bit.

Tiki Tonik
1 oz tonic syrup
0.25 oz BG Reynolds passion fruit syrup
0.25 oz lime juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Trader Tiki's falernum bitters

Build over ice and top with 2-3 oz of soda water. Garnish with the spent lime shell - optionally add a lump of sugar and some high-proof spirit and light (carefully) for some extra tiki flair.

In a sense, the tonic water that this is derived from is already pretty tiki - with orange, lemon, and lime plus allspice berries and lemongrass. The passion fruit syrup and bitters help to push it further down the path, adding more layers of fruit and spice to the mix.

This would be a good one to play with if you have other options around - guava or grapefruit would both work beautifully. Actual passion fruit juice rather than syrup would also be a great pick. No matter how you end up making it, it's a nice way to have a tiki-style drink that won't knock you on your back.

Thanks to Scott and Fred for another great MxMo.

Mixology Monday LXXI - From Crass to Craft

It's that time of the month again - Mixology Monday has rolled around. This month's event, hosted by Scott Diaz of Shake, Strain & Sip, is Crass to Craft. To summarize -

"The evolution of the cocktail has been a wondrous, and sometimes, frightful journey… But with all this focus on “craft” ingredients and classic tools & form, it seems we have become somewhat pretentious. The focus on bitter Italian amari, revived and lost ingredients such as Batavia Arrack or Crème de Violette, the snickering at a guest ordering a Cosmopolitan or a Midori Sour has propelled us into the dark realm of snobbery… Remember, the bar was created with pleasing one particular group in mind: the guest. As such, this month’s MxMo theme… will focus on concocting a craft cocktail worthy of not only MxMo but any trendy bar, using dubious and otherwise shunned ingredients to sprout forth a craft cocktail that no one could deny is anything less. There are a plethora of spirits, liqueurs, and non-alcoholic libations that are just waiting for someone to showcase that they too are worthy of being featured on our home and bar shelves. So grab that bottle of flavored vodka, Jägermeister, cranberry juice, soda, neon-colored liqueur, sour mix, or anything else deemed unworthy of a craft cocktail, and get mixin’!"

Thinking about what's been languishing in my booze collection, I pawed some spirits out of the way to find two bottles of amaretto hiding at the back of one shelf. While little used now, amaretto was my unglamorous introduction to mixology. Near the end of college I loved Amaretto Stone Sours - 1:2:2 amaretto, orange juice, and neon yellow sour mix. Even with bottom shelf amaretto (seriously, I think the bottle cost $5), the sheer artificiality of the combination somehow just came together perfectly. 

But those days passed and the amaretto wasted away, rarely to see the light of day. Trying to think about what to do with it, I remembered Jeffrey Morgenthaler's post extolling the virtues of his Amaretto Sours. While I'm a bit low on cask-strength bourbon, I do have a lot of high proof rum. So I decided to take it in a slightly tiki direction.

Amaretto Spiced Sour

1.5 oz amaretto

0.75 oz high-proof Jamaican rum

1 oz lemon juice

1 tsp falernum

0.5 oz egg white

Combine all ingredients, dry shake, then shake with ice and strain into a chilled rocks glass. Garnish with a long strip of lemon peel and a few drops of Angostura bitters

The nose holds just a bit of funk from the rum and some woody/spicy notes from the bitters on top of the foam. The sip begins in a balanced fashion, perched between sweet and sour, slowly segueing through almond notes from the amaretto, Jamaican rum funk, eggy creaminess, and finishing with very mild bitterness.

While retaining the basic structure and character of the Amaretto Sour, I think this version manages to make things just a bit more interesting. The rum, bitters, and falernum are present without overwhelming the amaretto and lemon juice. The egg white acts as a good integrator, smoothing over the cracks between the other flavors. If you're sensitive to egg flavors or just feel weird about raw egg whites, you could back off a bit an use a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon, or even just omit that entirely. Either way, it's a hell of a drink.

Thanks again to Shake, Strain & Sip for hosting this month's MxMo. I look forward to seeing what other drinks people have hauled up from the depth of the bottom shelf.

Mixology Monday LXX: Inverted

This month's Mixology Monday is hosted by Stuart over at Putney Farm. He wants us to think about the various ways that cocktails can be 'inverted'.

"We wondered if we could apply the same “inverted” approach to Mixology Monday and, at first, didn’t think it would work. But then we asked ourselves, what does “inverted” really mean? Well, here is the definition:

1 - To turn inside out or upside down 
2 - To reverse the position, order, or condition of

Hmm…it appears that the definition is pretty broad. It seems that “inverted” really just means something “flipped on its head”.  And that can mean almost anything, and leaves plenty of room for creativity. So we are going with the “inverted” theme. You can invert the ratios of spirits, liqueurs or bitters in a cocktail, but we suggest you go beyond that and “invert” whatever you want. Spirits, name, ingredients, proof, color, geography, garnish and glassware are all fair game. An apéritif made with Navy-Strength booze? Give it a try. A beer-based cocktail that tastes like champagne? Sure. A clear Manhattan? Worth a shot (and good luck with that). The only thing we expect is the unexpected. Have fun."

In trying to think about what to do with that, I went for a fairly straight-forward inversion: halve the liquor and double all of the other ingredients in a cocktail. The victim - the Vieux Carré

Carré Vieux
0.5 oz rye whiskey
0.5 oz cognac
2 oz sweet vermouth
0.5 oz Bénédictine
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

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

The nose has a very strong grape note from the vermouth and cognac. The bitters and Bénédictine peek out, but have a hard time holding their own. The sip begins rather sweetly, balanced between grapes from the vermouth and herbal sweetness from the Bénédictine. The cognac dominates mid-palate along with some citrus, slowly giving way to the various bitter ingredients. The finish is grape and chocolate.

The sweet vermouth becomes the center of gravity for the drink, around which the other ingredients can only orbit. While it's good, I feel like it highlights the logic behind the original. Even using a rather pungent vermouth like Punt e Mes, it still comes off as almost cloying, despite the extra bitters. I think this would actually make a nice aperitif-style drink if you cut the measurements in half and lightened it with soda water (the acidity would also help to neutralize some of the sweetness).

Mixology Monday LXIX: Fortified Wine Round-Up

Many thanks to everyone who participated in this month's Mixology Monday theme - Fortified Wines. The response has been fantastic and I've learned a lot in the process. We got lots of sherry, port and madeira-based drinks, but be sure to check out some of the more obscure fortified wines, like marsala, ginger wine, and Pineau de Charentes, that are scattered through the posts.

The first entry this month came from Dustin Doran of Dunder & Lees, the Wheels of Zeus cocktail. A riff on Manhattan-style drinks, it should be an interesting tipple due to the inclusion of the Hungarian liqueur Zwack.

Next up was a fancy flip from Raffaele Bellomi of The Shorter Straw, the Flippin' Sicilian. Answering the call both Fred and I put out for marsala-based drinks, this complex blend of marsala, fig aquavit, Galliano, lemon, sugar, rosemary, and quail eggs is quite the twist on the basic flip.

Scott Diaz of Shake, Strain & Sip brought us an aromatic aperitif - The Long Journey, with an oloroso sherry base modified with Cynar, Bonal, and celery bitters.

From Jacob Grier's Liquidity Preference, we get the classic Adonis, another lighter aperitif with sherry, sweet vermouth, and orange bitters. Definitely one I'll be reaching for in the future.

Dave at The Noble Experiment gives us a fine lesson in the history of sherry along with his Big Bang - Dry Sack sherry, Cynar, Carpano Antica vermouth, and Aztec chocolate bitters. Similar to Scott's cocktail, but with a different balance and flavor.

The Bone Luge team considered how best to make sherry compliment the marrow taste from bone luging, starting with a delicate base of manzanilla sherry inflected with touches of Bonal, PX sherry, and orange bitters.

Chris McDowall wrote up his version of a drink I've made and enjoyed before, the Artist's Cocktail - whiskey, sherry, lemon, and bitters. Chris tweaks the cocktail by using super-sweet PX sherry instead of red currant syrup, which should shift the balance and mouthfeel.

Putney Farms also went in an aperitif direction with the classic Bamboo Cocktail - oloroso sherry, dry vermouth, and orange and Angostura bitters.

From Alex at Malt Puppy, we get the another classic, the Bon-Accord, an eclectic mix of sherry, gin, Chartreuse, and Aurum.

My own contributions include the Miso de Gallo Punch from Imbibe, a light and dry drink leavened by soda water with bourbon, sherry, lemon, sugar, allspice dram, and bitters.

Pulling from the Mixilator, I created a madeira-based drink called the Defalcating Honeymoon, which includes a healthy slug of bitters, rye whiskey, orgeat, and green Chartreuse.

Dagreb of Nihil Utopia brings us a bevy of cocktails made with amontillado sherry. First, a sweet vermouth variation of the Bamboo, then the Heart of the Stone - a daiquiri variant with rum, sherry, apricot liqueur, lemon juice, and maple syrup - and finally the Flor de Jerez - an inverted daiquiri with sherry, Jamaican rum, lemon juice, maple syrup, and apricot liqueur.

Ian of Tempered Spirits also went big with three sherry-based cocktails. First, the La Perla - made with tequila, sherry, and apricot liqueur - then the Spanish Bay - a potent combination of sherry, green Chartreuse, and orange juice - and lastly the Montresor and Fortunato - sherry, Grand Marnier, and sweet vermouth.

DJ Hawaiian Shirt of Spirited Remix brings us an Old Fashioned-style drink with his madeira and cognac-based Later That Day. And he's right about bitters being key to pulling drinks together. Might have to make this one myself.

Fred of Cocktail Virgin Slut brings us a cocktail using a fortified wine I had never heard of before, Pineau de Charentes, in a 1934 recipe from The Artistry of Mixing Drinks - The Third Man, a gin-based drink that should appeal to martini drinkers.

Mark of Cardiff Cocktails brings the history with the Sherry Cobbler - now almost unknown, but one of the most celebrated drinks of the 19th century, which also popularized ice in cocktails.

Mike of DrinksBurgh hits us with another Old Fashioned variation, this time with reposado tequila, tawny port, jalapeño syrup, and mole bitters. Looks like a wild ride.

From the Booze Nerds we get the wickedly good looking Pleasure Vampire made two ways - reposado tequila, Aperol, sweet sherry, chocolate bitters, and a float of either Minero or Tobala mezcal from Del Maguey. This one is definitely going on my 'to make' list.

From Elana at Stir and Strain comes the Smoke on the Vine, another drink with mezcal, this time including port, apricot liqueur, and Miracle Mile Forbidden Bitters. A complex potion, I'll have to see if I can adapt it to the ingredients in my own liquor cabinet.

Joseph at Measure and Stir pulls out an ingredient that I was reading about recently, but have never tried, ginger wine, for his Stepchild cocktail. The spicy wine base is enhanced with Fernet Branca, pineapple and ginger juices, and a mint garnish.

For my last post, I went with port wine in the aperitif-style Montana cocktail, which also has cognac and dry vermouth in the recipe. I went with tawny, but it can also be made sweeter and fruitier with ruby port.

From JFL of Rated R Cocktails, we get a tiki-fied tipple, the Dr. Phibes - Virgin Island and Jamaican rums, cinnamon syrup, ruby port, lime juice, and a touch of absinthe. This twist on the Dr. Funk looks terrifyingly tasty.

Zak of The Pocket Square goes molecular with a Port Gin Sour Gel - one layer of cherry and port on top of a layer of gin, lemon, and sugar. Not your average Jell-o shot by any stretch of the imagination.

Andrea from Rumblings of a Gin Hound brings us, a gin-based drink with Dubonnet and Kina L'Avoin d'Or, the Amalienborg. This twist on a perfect Martini is named after the royal palace in Denmark - it looks like it will shine just as much.

Zach from The Venture Mixologist comes in with something akin to a Last Word, the Saint Martin's Summer - gin, Lillet Rose, yellow Chartreuse, lemon, and Hopped Grapefruit Bitters. Named after the French phrase describing an unseasonably warm period in fall or winter, Zach seems to be hoping for a little warmth in the Windy City.

Todd at Concoctails delivers both a polished drink, The Kilted Heir, as well as a few of his less exceptional experiments with madeira. The first is a pleasant looking blend of madeira, blended scotch, Amaro Nonino, and Angostura bitters. He also tosses in some nice history about the colonization of the island of madeira during the period of Portuguese exploration and expansion under Henry the Navigator.

Rowen at the Fogged in Lounge takes a break from Manhattans and tiki drinks to give us the classic Whispers of the Frost, a winter warmer made with equal amounts of bourbon, port, and sherry.

From The 3 Archers we get a Scandinavian classic, Glögg, a warm punch made with port, bourbon, rum, spices, raisins, almonds, and sugar. Plus fire. What's not to love about this?

The Muse of Doom graces Feu-de-Vie with two different madeira cocktails, highlighting different varieties. First, the sercial-based The Light Will Guide Me, which includes Irish whiskey, Bénédictine, and several varieties of bitters. Second, a lighter drink with rainwater madeira, Lillet rose, grappa, and teapot bitters.

Thanks again to Fred for pulling Mixology Monday back from the brink. I can't wait to see what February's theme is going to be.

Mixology Monday LXIX: Fortified Wine - Port

Last, but not least, in my series of posts for this month's Mixology Monday theme of Fortified Wine: a port-based drink from the vaults of the Cocktail Database.

Port is a fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in northern Portugal (though wines in this style are produced in many other parts of the world). The name is derived from the coastal city of Porto, where the wines were loaded for export. The wines are produced from either red or white grapes (nearly one hundred different varieties are permitted). After the juice is partially fermented, grape neutral spirit (auguardente) is added to bring the alcohol concentration up to 20%, killing the yeast and halting fermentation. This is done so that residual unfermented sugars are left. The wines are then either stored in steels tanks to prevent oxidation before bottling as ruby ports, or aged in oak barrels to oxidize and evaporate, producing tawny, vintage, or late bottled vintage ports. Tawnies are aged in oak for a minimum of two years and up to decades before bottling. Vintage ports are from a particularly good harvest and are aged in oak for a maximum of two and a half years before bottling, gaining in quality the longer they are in the bottle. Late bottled vintage ports are aged in oak for between four and six years before bottling, gaining in quality after bottling only if they are unfiltered. As a general rule, the longer a port spent oxidizing the barrel, the longer it will last after being opened - it's already oxidized, so air can't do much more.

Montana
1.5 oz cognac
0.5 oz dry vermouth
0.5 oz port

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

The nose has a lot of off-dry grape notes - reflecting the contributions of each ingredient - inflected with the vermouth's aromatics and a touch of green apples. As the drink warms, the nose becomes richer with brighter fruit notes - the port and cognac playing a more assertive role. The sip begins lightly, with flavors building towards the back. The cognac comes in first, augmented by the port. The flavors become drier and more aromatic towards the back as the vermouth gains ascendency, leading into a slightly astringent palate-cleansing finish. As the cocktail warms up, the acidic bite of the vermouth becomes stronger, making for a snappier drink.

This is a very grape-centric drink, so you have to like those flavors to enjoy this one. As pointed out by Fred, the drink can be changed significantly by the ingredients used. I went with a pretty well-aged tawny port, so it doesn't shift the drink out of a dry mode. A sweeter, fruitier ruby port would make it more counterpoint instead of point (especially given the young and fruity Hardy VS cognac I used) with the vermouth. To make it even more aperitif-like, building the drink over ice and adding some soda water would tame it even more. Either way, it's a very pleasant cocktail without a lot of alcoholic heat.

Mixology Monday LXIX: Fortified Wine - Madeira

Another fortified wine entry for Mixology Monday, this time with madeira. This recipe was a lucky find on the Mixilator, the always entertaining random cocktail generator, which I tweaked a shift towards the sweeter end of things.

Madeira is largely unknown these days, despite being one of the favorite drinks of the Founding Fathers (it was drunk both at the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution). Like many fine drinks, it was slain by Prohibition and never regained its rightful place in American drinking habits. However, it's a fabulous choice of wine, both because of its flavor and because its production methods make it one of the sturdiest wines around (bottles produced in the late 18th century are often not only drinkable but astoundingly good). While not common in cocktails, it can be found in a number of pre-Prohibtion tipples.

The Defalcating Honeymoon
2 oz madeira
0.75 oz Angostura bitters
0.5 oz rye whiskey
0.25 oz orgeat
0.5 tsp Green Chartreuse

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

The nose requires the drink to warm before opening up completely with notes of madeira, rye whiskey, and savory spices. The sip begins with subdued grape and almond sweetness, then subdued bitterness, more savory spices and herbs, leading to darker wine notes, and leaving with a final herbaceous and nutty puff.

This is a bit of an odd duck, with a fortified wine base, a lot of bitters, and Chartreuse. Yet it all manages to come together nicely. The original version didn't have orgeat, which I think is necessary to keeping all of the ingredients in harmony. As with other cocktails made with significant quantities of Angostura bitters, it also develops a lovely foam. While it took a few tries to get right, I'm quite happy with how this drink turned out.

Looking forward to all of the other Mixology Monday entries to come.

Mixology Monday LXIX: Fortified Wines - Sherry

This month's Mixology Monday theme is fortified wine, so for my first post I decided to dip into the variety I know best - sherry. This nice little punch comes from Imbibe magazine.

Misa de Gallo is the mass celebrated near midnight on Christmas Eve in Spain and Portugal - a tradition going back to the second century. The name comes from the cock's crow that would herald the start of the day.

Misa de Gallo Punch
2 oz bourbon
0.75 oz sherry
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
0.125 oz allspice dram
1 dash Angostura bitters
2 oz soda water

Build over ice, saving soda water for last. Stir briefly to combine.

The nose is dominated by corn and barrel notes from the bourbon along with savory hints of sherry. The sip begins smoothly, along with bubbles. The proceeding flavors are rather dry, trending towards acidic, with bourbon, sherry, and spices from the allspice dram and bitters.

While this drink was designed with PX sherry, I decided to take it in a slightly different direction with a full dry oloroso. The drink becomes more of an aperitif/digestif, even with the healthy dose of bourbon, as the soda water keeps it relatively light and the dry/bitter finish gives it snap. I think this would be a great warm-weather punch. You can adjust the final flavors with different sherries. Oloroso for full dry, amontillado/East India Solera for medium-sweet, or PX for lots of sweetness.

Looking forward to all the other MxMo contributions!

Announcing Mixology Monday LXIX: Fortified Wines

Fortified wines began, in large part, as a way to deal with the difficulties of shipping wine long distances in the holds of sailing ships. Without the rigorous sterilization that is possible today, wines would often spoil en route. However, increasing the alcohol concentration to around 20% ABV was enough to keep them from going off. Coincidentally, this also made it possible to age those wines for very long periods, increasing their richness and depth.

These wines held an important place in the ur-cocktails of punch and have continued on in cocktails proper, the personal punches of the past several hundred years. Though less common nowadays, sherry, port, and, to a lesser extent, madeira and marsala, all find their way into various mixed drinks.

For this month's Mixology Monday, I'd like to see what you all can do with these versatile wines. They can play many different roles - from taking the place of vermouths in classic drinks, to providing richness and sweetness in winter tipples, to serving as a base for lighter aperitifs. Whether forgotten classics or new creations, let's see what you can put together.

Here's the plan:

•Write up your thoughts and the recipe, take a picture, and post it on your own blog, Tumblr, or eGullet's Spirits and Cocktails forum. If you don't have any other way of posting, you can also email it to me.

•Make sure to include the MxMo logo, a link to the Mixology Monday page, and the announcement post. If you want to go back and add a link to the round-up post, it'd be much appreciated.

•Let me know about your submission, either by commenting on this post, tweeting to @cocktailchem, or emailing it to me via gmail at cocktailchem. Do all of this before midnight PST on January 21st so I can put the round-up together. Some slop will be allowed, but the sooner the better.

Thanks to Fred Yarm for keeping MxMo going and see you all back here on the 21st.

Mixology Monday LXVIII - Humbug!

Mixology Monday has come around again. This month's event his hosted by Rated R Cocktails with the theme of 'Humbug'.

"Lets face it the holidays suck, yeah I said it. You put yourself in debt buying crap people will have forgotten about in a month. You drive around like a jackass to see people you don’t even like, or worse they freeload in your house. Your subjected to annoying music, and utterly fake, forced kindness and joy. Plus if you work retail your pretty much in hell, so don’t we all deserve a good stiff drink? So for this Mixology Monday unleash your inner Grinch. Mix drinks in the spirit of Anti-Christmas. They can be really bitter and amaro filled. They filled with enough booze to make you pass out in a tinsel covered Scrooge heap. They could be a traditional holiday drink turned on it’s ear. Or they could be a tribute to your favorite holiday villain. If you celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa then you still suffer through the holidays, so feel free to join in with your Anti-Holiday drink as well. Whatever it is add a hearty “Humbug!” and make your drink personify everything annoying or fake about the holidays."

With that in mind, I set out to create a drink using most of the bitter and funky ingredients in my collection, to make something that just looks foul on paper, exemplifying the most crotchety aspects of the season.

The Jamaican Jerk
1.5 oz Jamaican rum
0.75 oz sweet vermouth
0.5 oz grapefruit juice (white is best)
0.25 oz Swedish punch
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice, then strain into a rocks glass.

The nose is dominated by smokey tea notes from the Swedish punch and spicy grapefruit, which come together in a rather savory fasion. The sip begins smoothly with a hint of grape, which segues into bitterness from the grapefruit, vermouth, and bitters along with esters from the rum and Swedish punch. The finish is astringently tannic.

Word of note, this drink is actually a bit more interesting with some Campari, but I felt that that made the drink too sweet up front. Campari also kind of dominates the other ingredients, so a dash or two should be enough.

Thanks to JFL for hosting. Here's to many more MxMos to come.

Mixology Monday LXVII: Garnish Grandiloquence

It's time for another Mixology Monday! This month's event is hosted by Joseph Tkach over at Measure & Stir. The theme is Garnish Grandiloquence - my one weakness. If you haven't noticed, I don't tend to go in for garnishes very often, despite my love of tiki. Especially because 9/10 I'm making drinks for myself, I care much more about how the drink tastes than how its presented. But for once, I'll make the effort to throw in a little flair.

Mekhong Southern Thai Swizzle
1.25 oz Mekhong
0.75 oz dark falernum
1 oz palm sugar syrup
1 oz lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters

Build over ice, swizzle until the glass frosts, then garnish with several sprigs of mint.

The smell of the mint garnish meshed beautifully with the vanilla and spice of the spirits along with some funk from the palm sugar - I could sit and smell this one for a long time. The sip is sweet & sour, with the lime just edging out the syrups, while the falernum's ginger and the bitters team up at the back to give the drink a serious kick. The Mekhong provides a peculiar twist, giving the drink a slightly vegetal edge from the rice component of the spirit.

This drink is a small tweak on a recipe from Imbibe, substituting palm sugar for simple syrup and tweaking a couple of proportions to make the drink more spirit-forward. The result is fairly aggressive, but definitely tasty.

Thanks again to Joseph for hosting and see you all again next MxMo!

Mixology Monday LXVI: (It's Not Easy) Bein' Green

Another month, another Mixology Monday! Hosted by Wordsmithing Pantagruel, the theme this month is (It's Not Easy) Bein' Green.

With the warm days of summer now fading off into the distance in our rear view mirrors, let's pay one last tribute to the greens of summer before the frosts come and our outdoor herb gardens give up the ghost for the winter. For our theme for this month, I have chosen: (it's not easy) "Bein' Green." (Perchance due in no small part to my predilection for Green Chartreuse.) I'm giving you a wide berth on this one, anything using a green ingredient is fair play. There's not only the aforementioned Chartreuse; how about Absinthe Verte, aka the green fairy. Or Midori, that stuff is pretty damn green. Crème de menthe? Why not? Douglas Fir eau de vie? Bring it! Apple schnapps? Uh...well...it is green. I suppose if you want to try to convince me it makes something good you can have at it. But it doesn't have to be the liquor. Limes are green. So is green tea. Don't forget the herb garden: mint, basil, cilantro, you name it - all fair game. There's also the veritable cornucopia from the farmers market: green apples, grapes, peppers, olives, celery, cucumbers...you get the idea. Like I said, wide berth. Base, mixer, and or garnish; if it's green it's good. Surprise me. Use at least one, but the more the merrier.

With that prompt, my thoughts quickly turned to Green Chartreuse. While it took me a while to warm up to herbal liqueurs, I'm rather fond of the way they can bring savory character to a cocktail.

The first version of this drink is a simple variation on the Yellow Jacket cocktail, using Green Chartreuse instead of Yellow. I had the original at the Teardrop Lounge a few months back but found it a bit too sweet and the liqueurs completely dominating the tequila. While it's hard to resist their power, I found this version to be a bit more balanced. The name comes from a species of metallic green bees, which I just learned are a real thing.

Texanus
1.5 oz reposado tequila
0.5 oz St. Germain
0.5 oz Green Chartreuse
1 dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for 15 seconds, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a strip of lemon peel.

The nose is dominated by the spicy herbal notes of Green Charteuse, though the floral grapefruit notes of St. Germain manage to get some attention. The sip is sweet, but not in a cloying fashion, with the sugar primarily giving the drink body. Once again, the Charteuse and St. Germain are front and center, but the tequila's agave notes make themselves known along with the other herbaceous/vegetal elements.

Taxanus Remixed
1.5 oz reposado tequila
0.5 oz St. Germain
0.5 oz Green Chartreuse
0.25 oz lime juice
1 dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients, cool in the freezer, then add to a chilled cocktail glass and top with soda water. Stir briefly to combine everything.

The nose is similar to the first version, though slightly muted in comparison. The sip is a bit more integrated, without so many standouts, as the acidity of the lime and soda water keep the liqueurs in check. Overall I would rate this is an excellent cooler, more mild than its pure spirits sibling.

Thanks to Ed for hosting. I look forward to many MxMos to come!