MxMo XXXV: Broaden Your Horizons...

...with a pinch of this, a dash of that - trying something new, whether it be a spirit one hasn't worked with before, a culinary technique applied towards some cocktailian end, or some other creative feat of mixological cleverness. That's the (frankly, rather clever) theme for this month's installment of Mixology Monday, as chosen by the Scribe over at A Mixed Dram. I can't help but think that this theme is certain to bring some serious entries - everything from molecular mixology items (or more fundamental, if still interesting, applications of technique) to rare & esoteric (even by my estimation) ingredients to odd cocktails from antiquity or otherwise.

I started my own considerations about topics for this event with a desire to try something simple - unique & new to be sure - but nothing too crazy, I said to myself. I had settled on a cocktail addition with which I've scarcely ever played - rimming glasses - whether to provide a contrast of flavor, added sweetness, an aromatic component, or any number of other applications.

But my copy of The French Laundry Cookbook just wouldn't stop staring at me from its place on the shelf, so that plan swiftly vanished in the resultant flurry of turning pages. So much for simple; but then again our man did say culinary techniques & tricks were fair game...

For those of you who may not possess or be familiar with this culinary gem, to say nothing of the genius behind it, The French Laundry Cookbook is the work of (3-star Michelin) Chef Thomas Keller - the fellow behind such landmark restaurants as Per Se, Bouchon, Ad Hoc and, of course, the French Laundry. The book highlights Chef Keller's use of and passion for quality ingredients - treated well and lovingly-prepared. It includes a wealth of gorgeous photographs, delightful anecdotes and highly-detailed recipes - many adopted for use by the home cook. And while none of these are specifically geared towards the cocktailian side of culinary tradition, many of the ingredients, concepts, flavor combinations, tips & tricks found within can be applied towards such ends. One such application includes the section in which my roving eye lingered - which focuses on making & using:

Powders
"are a primarily visual device, to make a dish look more appealing. They're typically a by-product related to the dish - tomato powder for a tomato salad [...] But some of our powders have a more pronounced effect on the finished dish. [Some...] are used as both a spice and as a powder [...] the oils in the spices add an exciting aromatic element to the dish." -Thomas Keller, The French Laundry Cookbook, p. 231

Upon reading that & summarily making several of the presented recipes with varying degrees of success, I was inspired to formulate a worthy cocktail rim. What follows is adapted from Chef Keller's published recipe & technique for Citrus Powder - a substance which, on its own, isn't too good for rimming cocktails with. But as a component of a more-complex mixture of sugar & spices, it makes a wonderfully-fragrant addition to any number of cocktails:

Lemon Powder
½ Cup: Lemon peel, pith removed & finely-julienned
¼ Cup: Meyer Lemon peel, pith removed & finely-julienned
Place Lemon peels in two separate saucepans and cover with cold water. Bring to a rapid boil over high heat and remove from heat, straining peels from the pans. Cover with water and repeat blanching two more times. Allow peels to cool to room temperature & pat dry with a towel before arranging separately on a parchment paper-lined, microwave-safe tray or plate. Microwave on lowest power setting for 7-10 minutes (depending on microwave) until peels are completely dry - check occasionally & if peels become dry early remove them. Allow to cool to room temperature before combining in a food processor or spice grinder. Process until peel is pulverized into fine powder (there will be a slight amount that will not fully process), then pour into a fine mesh strainer and stir with a spoon to sift into an airtight container. Makes a generous Tablespoon of powder; utilize in the following recipe (©):

Winter Rimming Blend
½ Cup: white Sugar
1¼ Tsp: Nutmeg, freshly ground
1 Tsp: Lemon Powder (as above)
½ Tsp: white Cardamom, freshly ground
Zest of one Tangerine, patted dry
Using a zester or microplane, zest the Tangerine onto some paper towels and allow to stand for a hour before patting dry to remove as much of the oils as possible. In a food processor or spice grinder, process the sugar until superfine. Add first the ground spices, processing until well-incorporated, before adding the Lemon powder & processing to mix. When Tangerine zest is no longer noticeably moist add to an airtight container, along with the sugar mixture. Stir well with a fork, being sure to incorporate the zest throughout & store for up to one week. Use in a variety of cocktails - extreme success has thus far has been had in adding a pinch to the top of Mimosas & Sidecars, as well as a rim on the following:

I absolutely love a good Ramos Gin Fizz - a harmonious blend of Gin, Cream, Egg white and Citrus - developed and made famous at the turn of the century by Henry C. Ramos, first in 1888 at the Imperial Cabinet Saloon, then later at his Stag Saloon. Though the drink has experienced a resurgence in popularity in the past few years - and it is amazing to me that it ever became unknown - I have not yet encountered any examples of variations on the (admittedly, perfect as-is) concept. In keeping with my habit of messing with classic formulas, I replaced the Lime juice originally called for with a bit of Tangerine juice, reduced the sugar and, in a nod to another classic - the venerable Pink Lady - combined a bit of Apple Brandy with a blend of Gins. The hints of Tangerine, Orange-flower Water and Gin botanicals are well-accented by the use of the fragrant Winter Rimming blend, which also plays off the reduced sugar & increased Lemon juice in this small, yet delicious, homage to Mr. Ramos' creation (©):

Winter Stag Fizz
½ oz. Plymouth Gin
½ oz. Distillery 209 Gin
½ oz. Laird's 100° Bonded Apple Brandy
¾ oz. fresh Lemon juice
¼ oz. fresh Tangerine juice
2 oz. Heavy Cream
¾ Tablespoon: superfine Sugar
2 drops: Orange-flower Water
1 fresh Egg white
1 oz. Seltzer
Winter Rimming Blend, for rim & garnish (see above)
Prepare a highball glass by running a wedge of Tangerine along the rim, then dipping it in the Wintertime Rimming Blend at a 45° angle & tapping off any excess. Combine all ingredients except Seltzer in a mixing glass & dry-shake hard for thirty seconds. Add plenty of ice & shake very hard for approximately one minute; Add seltzer to prepared glass before straining shaken mixture in. Add a pinch of the Winter Rimming Blend to the foamy top as a further aromatic garnish.


Cheers & Enjoy!

MxMo XXXIII: Made From Scratch, pt. I

This month's Mixology Monday, which I've missed the deadline for by about two weeks now, was being generously hosted by Doug over at the Pegu Blog - sorry Doug! Much like all past & future MxMo's this one followed a most interesting format. His (awesome!) chosen theme, as passed down to we mere mortals from on high?

"Bring forth unto us a beverage! Thy beverage shall depend upon one
or more ingredients that thou makest yourself. Beyond that decree, you may
voyage to the edge of the Earth or beyond."

Well, as anyone who has ever even glanced sideways at this blog will attest, I've never made anything from scratch to use in a cocktail. Nope - no bitters, infusions, syrups or oddball/hard-to-find ingredients here...

That I said that with a straight face is suprising to me & should sound dubious to you 'o gentle reader, as homemade ingredients are something of an obvious passion of mine. But what to highlight, something garnered from the edge of the Earth or beyond, as Doug said? A topic which I've been experimenting with for some time (but have inexplicably yet to post on, on-time or otherwise) which, once made, can bring flavors from the ends of the world right to your glass: Tinctures.

Tinctures

are quite simple concoctions really, consisting of nothing more than an ingredient - generally an herb, root or spice - whose flavor has been extracted by means of a solvent - ethanol in this instance. Chances are, no matter how humble your spice cabinet may (or may not) be, you've got a tincture or three in there right now; got pure Vanilla extract?

The reason for an ethanol base is simple: high-proof alcohol extracts the essential oils - the aromatic compounds which provide scent & through this medium, flavor - quite efficiently. Most tinctures fall into the 35-80% ABV range for this very reason, though even the weakest of them (that Vanilla extract of yours likely comes in at 35% for example) typically start in a neutral base which is around 80-95% ABV before being diluted somewhat. It is in this matter, incidentally, that I've never been more pleased about college students fulfilling their odd requirements for drinking. Simply put, due to the demand such persons have for high-proof Neutral Grain Spirits (read: Everclear), such items continue to be produced & sold in most parts of the country. But it was not always this way - once upon a time NGS's filled an important role, not by being drunk with Kool-aide, but rather in the production of colorants, bitters, infusions & tinctures.

In Jerry Thomas' How to Mix Drinks, as well as Christian Schltz's accompanying Manual For the Manufacture of Cordials, Liquors, Fancy Syrups &c., &c. a sizeable number recipes for producing colorants oils, extracts and tinctures are included as well as referenced. Take this one for example:

Tincture of Cinnamon

Place 2 pounds of ground Cinnamon into a jar with 1 gallon 95 per cent alcohol, closely covered. At the end of 8 days strain the liquor clear; wash the sediment with 1 quart proof spirits [read: 80°]; strain it; mix the two liquors together, and filter through blotting paper.

All well & good if you have use for a 1¼ Gallons of tincture! Generally speaking, tinctures last a long time, since a little goes such a long way (much like bitters) scaling recipes such as this one down tend to be a good plan, like so:

Tincture of Cinnamon

2 oz. whole Cinnamon sticks

8 oz. Neutral Grain Spirit (Everclear)

Combine ingredients in an airtight container for about three weeks, agitating every day. When ready, fine-strain to remove all solids & bottle. Give this a whirl in Jeff Morgenthaler's Autumn Leaves.

Now, as most of us don't manufacture imitation spirits & colorants as our friend Mr. Schultz did, we get to the subject of using tinctures today. Certainly, tinctures are optimal for adding tiny dashes of flavor to given recipes - particularly when adding such a flavor in the form of its originating spice would be impractical. Furthermore, while spices are far more available in modern days than they were in antiquity, the problem of their (sometimes rapid) degredation is still a valid one. Those same oils & aromatic compounds which give spices their characteristic favors, tend to be greatly reduced with time - especially once whole spices been dried & ground. In this way, tinctures act as a preservative - allowing one to capture the flavor & aroma of a fresh spice while concentrating it for use much farther down the line than a quantity of that spice would ordinarily allow. Likewise, since it will grow no stronger or weaker with age, tinctures are quite stable in their intensity - a feature which some, like Jamie Boudreau of Spirits & Cocktails, advocate using to prepare bitters with consistency.

Another fantastic use, which many 'seat of the pants' sessions of TDN have taught me, is constructing flavored syrups on-the-fly. Despite my penchant for making all sorts of flavored syrups, this peculiar affliction also graces my colleagues in the Mixoloseum, so on any given evening there will be recipes calling for syrups infused with Coffee, Cinnamon, Allspice, Nutmeg, black Pepper or any number of other items. Yet by taking a small quantity of ordinary simple syrup, one can add a given tincture to produce the flavor(s) required in mere seconds, like so:

Cinnamon Syrup

4 oz. Simple syrup (2:1)

2-3 drops Cinnamon Tincture

Combine ingredients & shake well to mix. Use as a normal Cinnamon syrup, like in Rick of Kaiser Penguin's Jet Pilot.

Now that you've got some uses lined up for these versatile extracts, how do you go about crafting your own? Tinctures are fairly forgiving in their construction, but here are a few hard & fast rules for making them on your own:

1. Barring a few of the stronger spices, tinctures are generally prepared in a 5 or 4:1 ratio of Spirit:Spice.
2. Tinctures take a while to make, generally-speaking about two weeks of maceration, though certain spices & herbs require more time, even in high-test spirit. Color is a good indicator - when the color of the liquid has deepened to match that of the herbs & grows no darker in hue, you're likely good to go.
3. Scent is also a good indicator - when you can detect no alcohol fumes overpowering the aroma of whatever you've infused, the tincture is more or less ready. Taste can be used here too, but be sure to only sample the tiniest of tiny amounts to avoid blowing a fuse in your taste buds. Bitter or spicy tinctures are recommended against sampling undiluted.
4. If you'd like your tinctures at a milder final proof, feel free to dilute them with water. However, to avoid diluting the flavor, you'll want to allow said water to infuse in the washed spices for about a week before you strain & add it to your original alcohol base.

To get started, here are handful of tinctures which are much-valued in my kitchen & bar (for a full list of the tinctures I've currently got on hand, check out the "Behind the Bar: Tinctures & Bitters" sidebar on the right):

Tincture of Iranian Saffron
4 oz. Neutral Grain Spirits
1 Teaspoon: Iranian Saffron threads
Combine ingredients in an airtight container for eighteen days, agitating gently each day. Should be a delicate, clear reddish-pink in color. When ready, fine-strain to remove all solids & bottle. Give 1 drop of this a try in a Pisco Sour, or two drops in a Silver Fizz.

Tincture of Black Cardamom
2 oz. Black Cardamom, seeds only
8 oz. Neutral Grain Spirits
Combine ingredients in an airtight container for three weeks, agitating gently each day. Should be a slightly opaque, smoke-hued color. When ready, fine-strain to remove all solids & bottle. Give 2 drops of this a try in a Sidecar or Tom Collins.

Tincture of Wormwood
2 oz. Wormwood
8 oz. Neutral Grain Spirits
Combine ingredients in an airtight container for three weeks, agitating gently each day. Should be an opaque, deep dark green in color. When ready, fine-strain to remove all solids & bottle. Give this a try in Darcy O'Neil's researched reproduction of the infamous Green Swizzle or the handful of other antique recipes what call for "Wormwood bitters".

Tincture of Scotch Bonnet
7 oz. Neutral Grain Spirits
2 whole Scotch Bonnet peppers, seeds only
1 Tablespoon: Scotch Bonnet pepper, julienned
Please be extremely cautious when working with these peppers, wearing gloves & being careful to avoid contact with your eyes or mouth. Combine ingredients in an airtight container for sixteen days, agitating gently each day. Should be clear with a very slight, almost ominous, oily orange tint. When ready, fine-strain to remove all solids & bottle. Give this a (careful) try as the spicy element in a wicked Bloody Mary - sub 2 drops in for your favorite hot sauce.

Cheers, enjoy & sorry again Doug!

MxMo XXXII: Guilty Pleasures

This (only nominally) guilt-ridden installment of Mixology Monday is being hosted by Stevi over at Two at the Most. Her chosen theme? Guilty pleasures of course, or those 'cocktails' which are well-loved or enjoyed even though we know, or are just constantly told, are no good for us. This theme, undoubtedly chosen for just such a purpose, will almost assuredly result in no small amount of mockery across any number of cocktailian blogs, to say nothing of the already snarky dialogue peculiar to the Mixoloseum. Bring it on I say & we'll exchange remarks over a round (or five) of Irish Carbombs...

I don't quite know how guilty I am about enjoying this particular beverage, however politically-incorrect or tactless its' name & method of consumption may be. I love a good pint of heavy, as they say, and Guinness is a fine example. Likewise, I enjoy a drop of Whiskey, particularly the Irish varieties. As for the cream liqueur (Bailey's in this case), well maybe I'm a little guilty about that, but nobody's perfect.

The recipe, merely a variation on the venerable boilermaker, is outrageously simple. This, above all else, makes this beverage an especially easy choice when out on the town in an establishment of...questionable virtue. Incidentally, despite its universally Irish components, due to its' name this drink might not be the best thing to order in a "real" Irish bar (much like a "Black & Tan") - a bloody shame since the Guinness is always better in that sort of place:

The Irish Carbomb
½ oz. Jameson's Irish Whiskey
½ oz. Bailey's Irish Cream
12 oz. Guinness Stout
1x (sturdy) Pint Glass
1x (sturdy) Pony shotglass
Pour the Guinness into a chilled pint glass. In the pony, layer the spirits in the order presented. As quickly as you are able, carefully drop the shot into the pint glass - no spilling now! When the pony hits bottom, it's bottoms up - much like a (far more classy) Fizz, a Carbomb does not improve with time.

Best enjoyed with friends - preferably a whole dive bar's worth - with loud punk music (I prefer Rudie Can't Fail or Anarchy in the UK myself) blaring from the jukebox...

Cheers, enjoy & don't be too serious!

MxMo XXXI: Fast Times & Hot Drinks

This month's installment of Mixology Monday is hosted by the folks over at Bibulo.us whose rather inspired theme - Cocktails of the 19th Century - combines two of my favorite topics: classic libations and history! Hat's off to Joe & Dina for choosing such an interesting topic...

Despite a rather peculiar hot and humid turn of the weather hereabouts, the evenings have started to grow decidedly chillly, (as is right & proper for mid-September if I do say so) particularly this evening. And so, in anticipation of the many cold nights yet to come while contributing to the theme of this MxMo, I reasoned to discuss a popular hot drink of the period in question - the Whisky Skin.

The recipe for a Scotch Whiskey Skin, as well as the Columbia Skin (as it was called for in Boston) first appears in Jerry Thomas' 1862 How to Mix Drinks, though it was apparently well-known some time prior to this publication. As noted in David Wondrich's marvelously well-researched work Imbibe! the drink is almost assuredly Irish in origin - "a small version on the almost-lemonless punch popular there" - and it is first referenced in an 1854 printing of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper.

A rather simple warming beverage consisting of Scotch whisky (likely a blended variety, which was most popular at the close of the 19th century), a long spiral of Lemon peel & plain boiling-hot water. Straightforward enough, and differing from the similarly-popular Hot Toddy only in the addition of the Lemon peel. While fairly soothing due to it's heat, and tasty if you enjoy the milder flavor of the Scotch you use, the drink is just that - a measure of warm blended whisky adulterated by some Lemon oil.

However, in the revised 1887 edition of Thomas' work, the (unknown) revising author specifies alternately Glenlivet or a peaty Islay Scotch for the 'Skin (both improvements on a blended variety) while also adding a small measure of sugar to the recipe. Likewise, the 1887 also presented an additional variation on the beverage - the Irish Whiskey Skin, similarly prepared with the aforementioned 'lump of sugar'. These revisions combined produce a warming drink which in my opinion (as well as Dr. Wondrich's, it seems) is a vast improvement on the original.

Of equal interest, the Whiskey Skin appears to be a drink which is particularly well-steeped in the violence associated with the fast times of the turn-of-the century. As Professor Wondrich describes in Imbibe!, the second recorded mention of the drink comes from the testimony of one Richard Stark, a young bartender at an establishment off Broadway in 1855 who had a steaming-hot 'Skin flung into his face by a customer. The (difficult, to say the least!) customer, one Richard "Pargene" McLaughlin would later shoot Mr. Stark's employer three times in a scuffle at the bar of the Stanwix Hotel. Mr. Wondrich also notes that further violent behavior involving the Whiskey Skin included it's appearance in Our American Cousin, the play at which President Abe Lincoln was shot. Finally, the drink makes an appearance in several works of prose, most notably a colorful poem entitled "The Mystery of Gilgal", by John Hay included in the 1912 Yale Book of American Verse. The work details an unknown order for a 'Skin, which after some debate by the establishment's patrons, sparks a rather lively knife & gunfight amongst the same. The author humorously closes with the remark that he never did find out "who got the Whisky Skin".

It was me. Though hardly a cause for outright violence, in preparing this drink, I realized I lacked the necessary Scotch - having only a blended variety on hand - but that I did have a bottle of the (delicious) pot-stilled Redbreast Irish Whiskey. And so I prepared (and greatly enjoyed) the following:

Irish Whiskey Skin
2 oz. Irish Whiskey (preferably pot-stilled)

1½ Tsp: Demerara Sugar

Peel of 1 small Lemon, pith removed
Combine the sugar & Lemon peel in a pre-warmed Hot Toddy or Irish Coffee glass. Fill halfway with boiling water, add Whiskey and stir. Serve with a spoon & enjoy while steaming hot.

Cheers!

PS - Don't mind this post's URL title - I had originally thought to write on one of my favorite cold drinks of the 19th century - the Japanese Cocktail - but TraderTiki had that one well sewn up long before I began the post.

MxMo XXVII: RUM!

For as long as the Mixology Mondays event has been around and as much as I've followed the wonderful creations it spawns, I had never thought that I might attempt to add one of my own creations to the queue. Yet, with encouragement (& remarkably patient advice) from the fantastic folks over at Married with Dinner, here goes:

MxMo XXVII: RUM! is, quite appropriately, being hosted this month by the folks over at TraderTiki, a lovely bastion of all things Rum & Tiki. They requested a concoction, preferably original, which creatively utilizes the noble spirit itself and I should like to oblige, alongside a look at the construction of my libation.

We’ll start with three things you may or may not know about yours truly (I am new to this after all):
1. I am quite the rum-hound (The volume of rum-related links on this page should cue you to that).
2. I love spicy stuff (The volume of spices tossed about in recipes here should cue you to that too).
3. I am a big Tom Waits fan (Ok, I’ll ‘splain that one in just a moment).

Being well aware of these elements of my personality already, I got to thinking one day as I sipped a Dark & Stormy, about how the flavors of Cardamom and Ginger – perhaps because of their similarities – play so well together. Another sip brought further consideration on how good a foil Rum can be for the potential heat of such spices – reducing their potency to a pleasantly slow-building overall flavor. Now ginger beer I’ve made before, by both fermentation & syrup-methods, but in my somewhat-limited homebrewing experience, spices like Cardamom can be tricky to incorporate as a primary flavor element. Syrup method it is…now for the rum:

In this case the dark, molasses-heavy flavor of Gosling’s is perfect against a good Bermuda-style ginger beer – which is lighter both in color & character than its Jamaican cousins. As I developed the new drink, I reasoned that a reversal of these characteristics was in order - heavier on the spice with a milder type of rum for balance. I settled on a comfortable blend of two of my favorites: the 4-year old Rhum Barbancourt & a 5-year old Demerara by El Dorado:

Barbancourt’s youngest aged rhum hails from Haiti, where it is twice-distilled in the manner of Cognac from pressed sugarcane juice and molasses. It is then aged to a mellow brown in limousin oak barrels, which impart a slight hint of vanilla to the 86º, cold-filtered finished product. (Such character is even further enhanced in their other longer-aged products, which makes these better for sipping, rather than mixing.)

Made by the same distillers who produce the venerable Lemon Hart, El Dorado’s 5-yr Demerara, is distilled in Guyana from pure molasses. It is then aged in used-bourbon & whiskey casks and blended (to 80º) to create a wonderful golden-brown rum, rich with smoky-sweet notes (which, much like Barbancourt, make the longer-aged products even better – for sipping).

Now that sorts out the spirits & spices, so what the hell does Tom Waits have to do with it, you ask? Why he provided the name for (& the music for me to listen to while I prepared) the following riff on the classic Dark & Stormy, of course (©):

Emotional Weather Report
¾ oz. Rhum Barbancourt, 3-star
¾ oz. El Dorado Demerara Rum, 5-yr
½ oz. Pimm’s No. 1 Cup
½ Teaspoon: fresh Lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 oz. homemade Cardamom Ale Syrup
4½ - 5 oz. Club Soda
Combine ingredients in a highball glass over ice, adding Club Soda last. Give a quick stir & garnish with a wedge of fresh Lime.

Cardamom Ale Syrup
1 Cup: Water
½ Cup: Demerara Sugar
½ Cup: white Sugar
1/3 Cup: Cardamom pods, whole
¼ lb. fresh Ginger, julienned
1 Tsp: Red Chili powder
¼ Tsp: Cinnamon
Combine ingredients in a nonreactive saucepan/pot & stir to mix. Bring to a light simmer on low-medium heat for approximately half an hour, stirring occasionally throughout. Strain by preferred method (cheesecloth, coffee filter, &c). Use as a soda syrup - approximately 2 oz. to every 4½ - 5 oz. of soda water.


*UPDATE*
There are a few adjustments to the recipe listed above which have greatly improved its flavor. I am reminded of this by our friends over at Tiki Time! whose musings (in Dutch) about the formula were pretty spot on. Make the following alterations to the above:

• Cardamom should be Green (Alternately half Green & half White)
• Ginger, more simply, should be about a ¼ Cup's worth
• Reduce Red Chili powder to a generous ¼ Tsp.
• Toast the dry spices in the pot before adding other ingredients
• You may like to let the syrup cool before straining...
• ...the addition of about 2 Tsp. of good Ceylon tea to this cooling period is an excellent suggestion

Happy Monday, Cheers & Enjoy!