Drink Creations

Genever Mai Tai

Another one from the 12BB book. Even though genever is related to gin, it can be substitued nicely into the rum-based Mai Tai.

• 2 oz genever (used Bols)
• 1 oz Cointreau
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz orgeat (homemade)
• dash of aromatic bitters (used Angostura)
• mint leaves for garnish (didn't have any)
• orange slice (didn't have this either)

Shake the first four ingredients, then pour into a tumbler filled with crushed ice. Top with a dash of bitters.

Very enjoyable and strong drink. The balance of sweet and tart was just right for me. Next time, I might up the bitters a little more though. Maybe shake one dash, then top with a second dash.

Blinker

Straight from the 12BB book, another IBA official cocktail:

• 3 parts rye whiskey (used Old Overholt)
• 2 parts grapefruit juice (used ones marked as Ruby Star from H-mart)
• 1 part grenadine

Shaken with ice, strained into a martini glass.

This one is nicely balanced, but we couldn't really taste the grapefruit. Maybe the grapefruit we got wasn't too flavorful? Either way, we'll try this one again.

The Monticello Cocktail, Shaken

We recently had to make a new batch of grenadine and ended up having some extra pomegranate juice on hand. The 12BB book has an original receipt for what they call the Monticello Cocktail. It's rye, Cointreau, grenadine and orange bitters served over pomegranate ice cubes. They turned out pretty good but the drink starts out really strong as you wait for the pomegranate cubes to melt into the booze. A few days later, we made them again but I decided to shake it to break up the cubes:

• 1-1/2 oz rye whiskey (used Old Overholt)
• 1 tsp grenadine
• 1/4 tsp Cointreau
• dash of orange bitters
• 3 pomegranate ice cubes

Combine with three pomegranate ice cubes and shake until you can't hear the cubes clanking around. Pour it all in a martini glass - no straining!

This is a fantastic drink. Probably the best drink I've made since I started fiddling with cocktail making. It consistently comes out with a white foam on top which lasts until you are done with the drink. I'd love to know what causes the foam to form.

Tom Collins

Although a regulation Tom Collins calls for Old Tom gin, the 12BB book recommends using genever. As fortune would have it, a friend of mine from Belgium gifted me a bottle of Bols Genever on a recent visit. He apologized profusely for giving us "Dutch crap" (apparently the Belgians have a better take on genever!) but I still think it's very tasty!

• 2 oz genever (used Bols)
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 tsp confectioners' sugar
• soda water

Stir genever, lemon and sugar with crushed ice until sugar has dissolved. Top with soda and garnish with a lemon slice.

This one turned out really nice, and it's easy to appreciate how distinct genever is from gin (as used in the John Collins). I'm looking forward to trying more genever drinks!

Marvel Cocktail

We picked up some new coupes at the thrift shop this week. Tonight I went looking for a new recipe and came across the Marvel Cocktail over at the 12BB blog (apparently it was a blog first, then they wrote a book!) that looked pretty good.

• 2 1/2 oz amber rum (used Brugal)
• 1/2 oz Sirop de Citron (didn't have 3-5 days to make some, so used lemon juice)
• 1/2 oz grenadine (homemade, see earlier post)

Shaken, then served in a martini glass.

This one really shows off the rum. I neglected to garnish with a lemon peel though and I think that would have brightened it up quite a bit. Next time!

Rosemary Collins

Found a recipe for another Collins variation that I had been wanting to try - the Rosemary Collins

• 1.5 oz gin (used Gordon's)
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz rosemary simple syrup

Shaken, then served topped with soda water and a rosemary sprig for garnish.

The rosemary simple syrup was made by first blanching the rosemary for 30 seconds, then adding that to a standard batch of one-to-one simple which was brought to a boil. The blanching is supposed to prevent the rosemary from turning brown.

It was a little too tart at first, so I doubled the simple putting it closer to "classic proportions." Nice drink, but next time I might try boiling the rosemary in the simple a bit longer to extract more flavor as this one had just a hint of rosemary.

One other tip: rub the rosemary sprig just before you garnish with it and it'll become more fragrant.

Small-Dinger

One of the few drink recipes I've seen that use both gin and rum. Pulled from the 12BB book.

• 1 oz white rum
• 1 oz dry gin
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz grenadine

Shaven with ice, served in a martini glass.

This is a very tart drink. I ended up garnishing with a lemon twist which helped take the tart edge off the drink.

Bumbo

Found this one in the 12BB book and, despite not having quite all the ingredients, went for it anyways.

• 2 oz amber rum
• 2 oz water
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 2 pinches cinnamon
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• garnish: lemon slice, berries (didn't have)

Shaken, served in a Collins glass with ice.

Fantastic drink. Spices come through nicely and compliment the rum. Will have to try again with the recommended garnish.

Pegu Club

Another one from 12BB, made exactly per the book's instructions:

• 1 1/2 oz dry gin (used Gordon's)
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 2 dashs aromatic bitters (used Angostura)

Shaken, then served in a martini glass.

As the book suggestions, this is a very tart drink. A little to tart for me, but pleasant enough. In the future, I might try adjusting the Cointreau to lime juice ratio to sweeten it up.

Kir

While flying Qatar Airways today between Doha and Hong Kong, I scoured the business class drink menu for cocktail ideas. They only list very well known cocktails on the menu (think martinis, gin and tonic, old fashioned) but they have quite a lengthy list booze that open up the possibilities.

Using a cocktail recipe app on my phone, I learned about the Kir which is apparently popular in France as an apéritif before a dinner. It consists of the

• 9 parts white wine (usually Chardonnay)
• 1 part blackcurrant liqueur (creme de cassis)

The flight attendants weren't familiar with the drink, so I had them bring me both ingredients and mixed it myself. I had no way of measuring things properly, but when I finally got it to where I liked it, I'm pretty sure I was using more liqueur than then prescribed 1:9 ratio.

Overall, it was OK. The Kir is not something I would go out of my way to order, but it was nice enough.

Buck Night

We picked up some Reed's Extra Ginger Beer at Trader Joe's this afternoon so that we could mix up some bucks. Using the 12BB recipe, we made both the gin and the rye variants

• 2 oz rye or gin (used Old Overholt and Gordons, respectively)
• 1/2 a lemon or lime
• ginger beer

Squeeze the citrus into the glass then toss in the rind. Add the booze and the ginger beer and stir gently.

"So easy to drink. Like a soft drink."

Hot Toddy

Mixed up a hot toddy mostly according to the recipe in the 12BB book.

• 3 oz hot water
• 1 1/2 oz rye
• 1 oz lemon juice (used a mix of orange and lemon leftover from the Ward 8's)
• 1 heaping teaspoon of sugar

Mixed in a mug and served with a piece of expressed orange rind.

Ward 8

This was the first drink we made after picking up a proper bottle of rye. Old Overholt gets great marks, especially for cocktails, while being priced at less than $18 a bottle here in Boston.

• 1 1/2 oz rye (used Old Overholt)
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 3/4 oz orange juice (used freshly squeezed Valencia oranges from Florida)
• 1 tsp grenadine

Shaken. Served in a Martini glass with with a lemon garnish.

Good drink. The 12BB book says that the key to this drink is to only use just enough grenadine to take away the sharp sourness of the lemon juice, but that it is supposed to remain tart.

The Scofflaw

I pulled this recipe from the 12BB book.

• 1.5 oz Rye (substituted the cheapo Burmese whiskey)
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 3/4 oz grenadine
• dash of orange bitters

Once again, the poor whiskey really shines through! Buying some proper rye is high on my bottle list. Otherwise, the drink is pretty nice. This is definitely a strong one!

Bacardi Cocktail

Another IBA official cocktail, although the proportions below are slightly different. The official recipe uses less grenadine, but I think our grenadine has less sugar than most.

• 2 oz white rum (used Brugal)
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz grenadine
• 1/2 oz simple syrup

Shaken. Served in a martini glass, garnished with lime spray.

Great drink. Would definitely make it again. Maybe next time try with only grenadine (1 oz) as the sweetener to bring in more pomagranate flavor.

Zelli's Special

We were in the mood for gin based cocktails, so to make use of our newly brewed grenadine, we made Zelli's Special from the 12BB book. It's sort of half way between a martini and a sour.

• 2 oz dry gin
• 1/2 oz dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• shells of squeezed lime(s)
• 1 tsp grenadine

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake vigorously. Strain into a martini glass.

This one was too tart for our tastes. This is likely due to the fact that the 12BB book recommends a much sweeter grenadine (4X more sugar). We bumped the grenadine up to 2 tsp and that seemed to balance it out quite nicely.

Next time, I would also forego shaking the lime shells as I think this imparted a bitterness on the drink. Instead, I would just spray with some lime oil from the rind.

Grenadine

Making grenadine was much harder than it should have been.

I started off with a recipe from the 12BB book which called for a 2:1 ratio of sugar to pomegranate juice. It turned out way too thick! In fact, during the second simmer/reduction I accidentally cooked the sugar a bit taking it to soft ball consistency, or thereabouts. That disaster is now in a jar and is being used as an oatmeal topping. It's tasty, it's just not for mixing!

Grenadine recipes online vary widely in their pom:sugar ratio. I found everything, between about 1:2 and 2:1. I went back to my cocktail class and found a grenadine recipe I had scribbled in the margin:

• 2 parts pomegranate juice
• 1 part sugar
• a few drops of orange blossom water

Bring the mixer to a simmer to dissolve sugar, then add in orange blossom water. I did not reduce the mixture by boiling and it came out with what looked to be about the right consistency: about halfway between water and maple syrup. I added a little bit of lemon juice to help preserve the mixture and it's now in the fridge in an airtight bottle.

PS: Orange blossom water was found at our local Whole Foods for $3.29 a bottle.

Estonian Sour

I had no clue as to what I should do with the Vana Tallinn, so I fell back on what I learned in the cocktail class about classic proportions: 2 parts strong, 1 part sweet, 1 part sour. The Vana Tallinn itself is really sweet though, so I just dropped the sweet.

• 2 parts Vana Tallinn
• 1 part lemon juice
• dash of orange bitters

Garnished with lemon spray. The drink came out pretty sweet, but I still like it.

The Bee's Knees

Made the bee's knees from the 12BB book. Subbed simple syrup (half jaggery, half regular) for the honey syrup

• 2 parts dry gin (Gordon's)
• 1 part lemon juice
• 1 part simple syrup

Garnished with lemon spray. Nice drink!

Blueberry Whiskey Sour

Slightly reduced the amount of sweetener in this blueberry themed whiskey sour because the Blueshine has maple syrup.

• 1.5 oz Blueshine
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 3/8 oz simple syrup (used jaggery)

Garnished with lemon spray. I think this is the best drink we've made with the Blueshine thus far.

Bijou (Ritz Version)

This is the Bijou recipe given in the "12 Bottle Bar" book. It's in the "strong" section under gin drinks for good reason!

• 4 parts dry gin (used Gordon's)
• 1 part orange liqueur (Cointreau)
• 1 part dry vemouth
• dash orange bitters
• cherry

Smells great. Pretty well balanced for a pure-spirits drink. Most online recipes show garnishing with an orange twist. I think this would work better than the cherry suggested in the book.

El Tamarindo

Attempted to make El Tamarindo from the "12 Bottle Bar" book, but without proper Agua de Tamarindo. Instead, I took some burmese tamarind candy and muddled with hot water.

• 3 parts white rum (used Brugal Especial Extra Dry)
• 2 parts tamarind syrup (3 tamarind candy chunks + 1 tbsp water)
• 1 part lime juice
• soda water

Our soda water was a little flat from last night but the drink turned out OK. The tamarind flavor could be more pronounced but I didn't want to use too much candy since it would be too sweet.

Daiquiri Night

Whipped up two versions of daiquiris tonight. One with standard simple syrup, the other made from (light) jaggery syrup

• 2 parts white rum (used Brugal Especial Extra Dry)
• 1 part lime juice
• 1 part simple syrup

We used the "light" jaggery nuggets we brought back from Burma to make a simple syrup. The daiquiri made with this syrup was much darker (a medium brown) and had a nice caramel overtone. The second daiquiri was made with standard 1:1 simple syrup and had a lighter flavor. Both were good, but I probably prefer the one made with jaggery.

John Collins

Classic John (or Tom) Collins:

• 3 parts London Dry Gin (used Gordon's)
• 2 parts lemon juice
• 1 part simple syrup
• soda water
• cherries and lemon to garnish

Stirred the first three ingredients with ice in a Collins glass. Topped with the soda water. Garnished with a lemon slice and cherries along with a teaspon or so of the cherry syrup.

Initially was too tart, but a spray of oil from the lemon peel seemed to balance it out.

Blood Orange Ginger Cockail

Based on a recipe found here but we didn't have vodka so subbed in Burmese whiskey.

• 3/4 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 oz High Class Whiskey
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 1 oz blood orange juice

The cheap whiskey flavor dominates, but it's also a bit ginger-spicy as hoped.

Blood Orange Daiquiri

Another recommendation from Maine Craft Distillery, but we made it with some cheap Burmese rum.

• 1 1/2 oz Ration Run Mandalay Rum
• 3/4 oz Cointreau
• 1 oz blood orange juice
• 1/2 oz lemon juice

Shaken then served over ice with an orange spray garnish.

Pretty good, but you can tell we are using some crappy rum!

Drinks To Try

Mix at home:

• Blood Orange Daiquiri
  • 1-1/2 oz Ration Rum
  • 3/4 oz Cointreau
  • 1 oz Blood orange juice
  • 1/2 oz lemon juice

Enjoy in the air:

• Godfather: equal parts Amaretto & Scotch

Idea: Rangoon Whiskey Sour

I was thinking about the more esoteric items in the bottle collection this evening and I thought it might be fun to leverage the super cheap ($3 per 1 L bottle!) whiskey we brought back from Burma. I remembered that we also have some jaggery (palm sugar) in the cupboard that came back from Burma with us.

Maybe I could combine the two into a Burma-inspired whiskey sour?

• 3 parts High Class Whiskey
• 2 parts lemon juice
• 1 part jaggery syrup

Shaken with ice, strain into an old-fashioned glass and garnish with a marachino cherry.

White Lady

Took a second stab at making some White Lady's. Last time, I tried the recipe in the 12BB book and came up with something way too tart. Ratio on that recipe was 2:1:1.

This time, I did as follows:

• 3 parts London Dry Gin (used Gordon's)
• 2 parts Cointreau
• 1 part lemon juice

Shaken with ice. Served straight, garnished with spray from lemon rind.

This one turned out great. It's not the official IBA ratio (4:3:2) though so I might have to give that one a shot next time.

Bluehattan

Trying to figure out what to do with the "Blueshine" we picked up at the Maine Craft Distilling. It's a whiskey flavored with blueberry and maple. Overall it's pretty sweet. The folks at Maine Distillery have a couple of recommended recipes, one of which is patterned after a Manhattan:

• 3 parts Blueshine
• 1 part Benedictine
• 1 part Blanc Vermouth
• 3 dashes of orange bitters

We didn't have some of those ingredients so the following substitutions were made.

• 3 parts Blueshine
• 1 part Benedictine Riga Black Balsam
• 1 part Blanc Vermouth Rossi Dry Vermouth
• 3 dashes of orange bitters (used Fee Brothers Orange Bitters)

Shaken with ice, served with lemon spray garnish.

Benedictine is described as herbal, and the Black Balsalms is one of the most herbal tasting things in my modest collection. Rossi dry vermouth was substitituted for the blanc vermouth. I think they are similar if not the same.

Tasting notes: quite bitter to my palate but Amy thought it was well-balanced. The Black Balsalm is very bitter, so perhaps that plus the orange bitters was too much for me. I'd make it again, but I would probably reduce the Black Balsam or try one of the other werid herbal liquers in the collection: Vana Tallinn.