Drink Creations

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.

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!

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.

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.