Tiki Classics: the Q.B. Cooler

This cocktail is one of the creations of Don the Beachcomber and plays an important role in the Eternal Mai Tai Controversy. Simply put, Don claimed that Trader Vic's Mai Tai was a copy of Don's Q.B. Cooler. If you want the full story, pick up a copy of Beachbum Berry Remixed, in which the Bum lays out all the available evidence.

Q.B. Cooler
1 oz orange juice
0.5 oz lime juice
0.5 oz honey syrup
0.25 oz falernum
1 oz soda water
1 oz gold Jamaican rum
1 oz light Puerto Rican rum
0.5 oz Demerara rum
2 dashes Angostura bitters
0.25 tsp ginger syrup

Combine all ingredients with a handful of crushed ice. Blend for 5 seconds, then pour unstrained into a double old fashioned glass with more crushed ice. To be perfectly authentic, garnish the drink with several mint sprigs.

The sip leads off with rich rum flavors augmented by the Angostura bitters. Fruit flavors and the ginger syrup follow, leading into the falernum spiciness and honey sweetness, then finishing with the return of the rum and bitters. If I really squint, I can kind of see how you might confuse this with a mai tai, but it's not a completely obvious connection. The lime and Jamaican rum are both there. Falernum has almonds in it, which could in a sense sub for the mai tai's orgeat. There's orange juice instead of orange liqueur. The sharper flavors of the ginger syrup and falernum might be analogous to the agricultural notes of rhum agricole. But even if this was the inspiration for the Mai Tai, Trader Vic's creation is superior, both in terms of results and ease of construction (the Q.B. is pretty fiddly, even for a tiki drink). So while this is definitely solid, it's entirely warranted that the Mai Tai outshone it.

Homemade Lime Cordial

As we head into spring, it's going to be time for warmer weather cocktails again. Break out that bottle of gin that's been hiding in favor of richer spirits. And what better drink to make than a gimlet? But if you're going to make a proper gimlet, that calls for lime cordial. What's that? The nasty, HFCS-ladden monstrosity of Rose's Lime Cordial found on every liquor store shelf? Perish the thought.

Lime cordial began in the 19th century as a way for sailors to preserve lime juice that could be consumed on long voyages to hold off scurvy. In essence it was simply a mixture of lime juice, sugar and lime peels simmered briefly to make a syrup. It's relatively easy to make and adds a new dimension to a number of different classic and tiki cocktails. This recipe comes from Imbibe magazine's "Mix It Up" feature in their Jan/Feb 2011 issue.

Lime Cordial
6 limes (enough for 1/2 cup of juice)
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Zest the limes and save the peels. Don't worry about getting some of the bitter pith as it will actually perk up the resulting syrup a bit. Juice the zested limes and strain the juice into a saucepan. Add sugar and simmer for ~20 minutes. Let the syrup cool for 5 minutes, then add the lime peels and steep for 15-20 minutes. Strain the syrup through a mesh strainer into a clean container and store in the refrigerator. The cordial should keep for several months.

While a gimlet is the classic use for lime cordial, there are a number of other recipes that call for it, from the tiki-style Suffering, Dying and Dead Bastards, to classic drinks from the Cocktail Database, including this little number:


Limey Cocktail
1 oz light rum
0.75 oz lime cordial
0.5 oz orange liqueur
0.25 oz lime juice

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

While this drink calls for light rum, I decided to tweak it a bit by using the rather potent 100-proof rhum agricole blanc from La Favorite.

The nose is dominated by the vegetal funk of the rhum agricole, backed up by a bit of lime oil from the cordial. The initial sip is rather syrupy with hints of the orange liqueur, making it seem like the drink is going to be overpoweringly sweet. However, this quickly transitions to snappy lime juice and the alcoholic bite and funky pear flavors of the rhum. There's a bit of lingering bitter sweetness from a combination of the rhum and syrups, making it interestingly more-ish.

On the face of it, this is simply a rhum-based New Orleans sour, but the use of lime cordial makes for a more interesting drink than one would get with a more standard recipe.

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.

Whisky Review: Speyside Showdown

A few months ago I reviewed three different Speyside cask strength whiskies from Aberlour, Glenfarclas and Macallan. It so happens that I have the 12 year old whiskies from these three distillers as well. They present interesting facets of the way that Speyside whiskies can be produced. So it seemed logical to compare them to each other.

Aberlour 12 Year


Nose: richly fruity - red wine, raisins, raspberry preserves or fruit leathers - slightly sour, creamy sherry, very floral, a wisp of vanilla, nougat and toffee, nutty honey, which becomes sweeter, creamier and more rounded, with more dried fruits, Oloroso sherry, and an even more pronounced floral/perfumed character after adding a few drops of water

Taste: sharp, gingery sweetness up front, ginger continues throughout, fades into mixed creamy oak tannins, pepper, sherry, malt and slightly sour peat, which becomes sugary sweet up front with a slightly diminished ginger bite, gaining heat a bit further back after dilution

Finish: dry chocolate, figs, ginger, peat, sherry, slight bitterness, oak, peanuts and toasted marshmallow

This is the older version of the Aberlour 12 Year, at 43% with chill filtration. It was the first scotch whisky I ever bought. It was on sale in Oregon for $30, which made it the cheapest I could get my hands on. I was completely unprepared for the flavors it presented to me, especially because of my lack of experience with straight spirits. I tried it a number of different times over the last year or so, but it never really engaged me until recently. It may have just been a matter of trying it in a different setting, but everything finally clicked. Unlike the other two whiskies I'll be reviewing here, Aberlour ages this whisky in both ex-bourbon barrels and used Oloroso sherry casks, then marries the two varieties together before bottling. My guess is that the preponderance of the whisky comes from the ex-bourbon barrels as the sherry influence seems less pronounced than what is found in the other two whiskies. This lets the extremely floral nose of this whisky shine over the other elements. However, the nose is definitely the highlight of this whisky. The palate is pretty decent, but the gingery spiciness is just a bit too dominant and the flavors could do with a touch of a punch-up. But hey, for a $30-40, 12 year old single malt, it's really good. This makes me interested to try the newer version that is bottled at 48% without chill filtration. However that version has also been priced around $55, at which point it's going to be tempted to pony up the extra dollars for Aberlour A'Bunadh. But if I can ever find it closer to $45, I'll be sure to snap up a bottle.

Glenfarclas 12 Year


Nose: raisins, dates, chocolate, malt, raspberry, fresh sherry, honeyed malt underneath, some floral perfume, which becomes slightly diminished, with more honeyed grain, retaining plenty of gentle dried fruit and floral character after dilution

Taste: rich sugar and honey sweetened malt through to mid-palate, ginger spice arrives early and holds throughout, chocolate and dates come in near the back along with pepper, with the ginger bite becoming a little more gentle after adding a few drops of water

Finish: pepper, ginger, chocolate, dates and malt, which becomes slightly bitter like cocoa powder after adding water

Glenfarclas's whisky is aged entirely in ex-sherry casks, and it shows. The flavors are strongly driven by its aging, with the dried fruits and chocolate taking center stage with strong ginger in the palate and finish. However even with all of the sherry presence, it's actually a drier whisky than the Aberlour. Also, the chocolate/date/malt combo reminds me uncannily of Chocolate Brownie Clif Bars. Given that the 'Farclas often has roughly the same price-point as the Aberlour, I think it's close to a toss-up between the two. Go for the Aberlour if you want something with more malt character, go with Glenfarclas if you'd like a more sherried whisky.

Macallan 12 Year


Nose: moderately sweet sherry, PX/Oloroso split, red wine, raisins, raspberries, malt and vanilla underneath, slightly floral, with the raisins being emphasized over the sherry, and more vanilla after adding a few drops of water

Taste: jammy sweetness up front, with a burst of pepper mid-palate and chocolate-covered coffee beans leading into the finish, with more honeyed raisins, but less expansive flavors after dilution

Finish: sherried malt, edging towards bitter cacao

This is where the review gets slightly unfair, because I was tasting from a mini of Mac 12 whereas I own full bottles of the Aberlour and Glenfarclas whiskies. However, Macallan's 12 Year is also hands down the most expensive, reaching a moderately eye-watering price of $55 here in Oregon. I did try to get some breadth by tasting small samples over the course of a few months, so I still feel reasonably comfortable with my assessment. I wouldn't mind giving it another try, but only if I wasn't the one paying. Macallan sherry oak whiskies are, unsurprisingly, aged exclusively in ex-sherry barrels and it really shows. My initial impression was of very high proof sherry, without much else going on. After a couple more tries I was able to find some other smells and flavors, but the sherry still takes center stage. Its flavors were also somewhat less robust than the other two, which, when you also consider the small price differential between Macallan's 12 Year and Cask Strength whiskies, means that I'd strongly recommend buying the Mac CS instead of the 12 year. If you want a lower proof sherry driven whisky, the 'Farclas would be my recommendation, both in terms of flavor and price.

Looking over all three whiskies, I think they're already arranged how I would rank them. The Aberlour edges out the 'Farclas by a bit, having a bit more complexity and a slightly better price point. The Macallan trails in my opinion, with the whisky almost being overwhelmed by the sherry. However if that's what floats your boat, it's still an interesting dram. It's just that, as noted above, I think the Cask Strength version is a much better representation of what Macallan can do.

Further Adventures with Arrack

Batavia arrack is a rather peculiar spirit that I first talked about last spring. While it can be a bit hard to use to good effect in cocktails due to its strong flavors, with the right combinations of ingredients it can be harnessed to produce delicious drinks.

Atalanta

1 oz Batavia Arrack
1 oz Laird's Bonded applejack
0.25 oz St. Elizabeth's allspice dram
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz grapefruit juice
0.5 oz demerara syrup
1 pinch nutmeg

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice and pour unstrained into a chilled glass.

For a drink that looks both very stiff (the arrack and applejack are both 100 proof) and with lots of strong, potentially clashing flavors, this drink turns out to be quite pleasant and almost subdued. Don't shake too hard, because you don't want this kind of deliciousness to get tepid. The nose and initial tastes are mostly the arrack's funk, though it's not beating you about the head. The applejack provides a pleasant, whiskey-like base and subdued fruitiness. The lemon and grapefruit juices give the drink a bit of snap and bitterness to counteract the rich sweetness of the demerara syrup. Finally, the allspice dram gives the drink a delightful spiciness that wraps around the other flavors in the drink. As is, this is a great drink to sit and sip over the course of a warm evening. Minus the fruit juices, it could even become a pretty good hot winter drink.

Javanese Crusta
1.5 oz Batavia arrack
0.35 oz lime juice
0.25 oz cinnamon syrup
0.25 oz orgeat
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass with a large strip of lime peel.

This drink is a variant of the classic Brandy Crusta from Frederic over at Cocktail Virgin Slut. The nose of this drink blends a hefty dose of lime oil from the peel with a touch of hogo from the arrack, the subtle nuttiness of the orgeat and the spice notes of the bitters and cinnamon syrup. The taste reprises these elements, but with a definite order. Less sweet up front than I would have expected, the arrack and lime attack mid-palate, fading into the nut/spice interplay of the syrups and bitters. The gentleness of this drink is rather surprising given the robust hate it/love it nature of Batavia arrack, but the other ingredients do a good job of tying it down into something quite enjoyable.

Rum Review: Westerhall Plantation Rum from Grenada

Westerhall Plantation rum is one of the few rums made on the island of Grenada. The Westerhall Plantation has a long history stretching back to the 1700s, passing through numerous hands over the centuries. The estate is still littered with relics of the history of sugar and rum production on the island. Their Plantation rum is special in that it is produced from both molasses and sugar cane juice, giving it characteristics of both molasses-based rums and cane juice rhum agricole. Due to the very limited production of this rum, each bottle is hand labeled with a batch number and their literature suggests that there is a certain amount of batch-to-bacth variation, which means that like single barrel whiskies, trying more than one bottle could present interesting differences.

Westerhall Plantation Rum - Batch 8001


Nose: cookies, toasted oak, grass, vanilla

Taste: sugary sweetness up front, a bit of alcohol mid-palate, swiftly shifting into chocolate, spice, pepper and grass going into the finish

Finish: bitter chocolate, pepper

This is a good rum that reminds me a bit of Scarlet Ibis minus the hogo, but I feel like it could use just a bit more depth. While the 43% bottling strength is higher than a lot of rums, in keeping with it's rhum agricole character, something over 45% would probably let the flavors within the spirit shine forth more strongly. However, they do get big points for not chill filtering their rum, which is evidenced by the wisps of precipitate that can be seen if you give the bottle a swirl. While some seem to think this means something is wrong with the spirit, it just means that some components of the rum will slowly come out of solution, the upside being that some of these compounds enhance the flavor and mouth feel of the spirit. I'd be curious to find out the size of the barrels that are used to age this rum, as the 'toasted oak' flavor is one that I associate with spirits aged in small barrels that give more wood contact, though the light color of this rum suggests that it didn't spend too long in whatever barrels it was aged in. Given the comparison to Scarlet Ibis, something in the 4-5 year range seems likely as it doesn't have any sharp edges, but retains some of the agricultural notes from its cane juice base.

As I suggested a while ago, I think Westerhall makes an interesting alternative to traditional rhum agricole in cocktails calling for Martinique rhum. It also makes a good base on its own in classic-style cocktails:

A Night in St. George
1.5 oz Westerhall Plantation rum
0.25 oz King's Ginger liqueur
1 dash Angostura bitters
6 drops Herbsaint or Pernod

Combine all ingredients, stir with ice for 15 seconds, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and squeeze a strip of orange peel over the drink.

On the nose, the orange oil comes front and center, melding with the sweeter notes of rum and honey, with wisps of spice from the ginger liqueur, bitters and Herbsaint. The initial sip is lightly rummy with a bit of honeyed sweetness, which leads into sharper flavors of ginger, finishing on the drier spice of the bitters, with the Herbsaint licorice dancing around everything else.

Overall this is a nice, relatively light cocktail. The Westerhall plays a supporting, rather than a leading role, providing a delicate base for the other, more rugged, flavors. It is a sort of less fruity homage to Don the Beachcomber, whose drinks often featured the combination of Angostura bitters and a few drops of absinthe substitute. Add in a bit of lime juice, squint heavily, and this starts to look a bit like the Q.B. Cooler, one of his early classics.

Classic Cocktails: the Mamie Taylor

The Mamie Taylor is one of the early steps towards what would become one of the most popular cocktail forms during the mid-20th century - the highball. Named after a famous Broadway actress who starred in productions around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the drink had a brief burst of popularity and then just as quickly sank into obscurity. More recently it was resurrected by the inestimable Ted Haigh, also known as Dr. Cocktail, in his essential book Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails.

Mamie Taylor
2 oz scotch whisky
0.75 oz lime juice
0.5 oz ginger syrup
0.5 oz simple syrup

Build in a chilled pilsner glass full of crushed ice. Top with soda water and stir briefly to combine the ingredients. Add an extra 0.5 oz of scotch if you want the whisky to stand out a bit more.

The smell of the whisky's smoke drifts up gently from the drink. The sip leads off with a bit of lime and the carbonic acid of the soda water, followed by a burst of sweeter ginger flavors, then the scotch finally shows up with its smoke, melding nicely with the spicier elements of the ginger, which ends the drink on a surprisingly dry note given the amount of syrup that goes into it.

This is another drink where I felt like Isle of Skye 8 blended whisky fits really well. It has a nice balance between sweetness and smoke, plus a price point that makes me quite willing to toss it into cocktails. As I noted, this whisky dovetails rather nicely with the spicy ginger syrup.