A Convoluted Narrative; With Swizzles!

As the summer season hits a stride, it occurs to me that we haven’t revisited one of my favorite types of hot weather libations in quite a while: Swizzles.

Well, quite frankly, we haven't revisited anything for altogether too-long, but that's neither here nor there. So while there are no shortage of formulas that might benefit from such a treatment, a truly brilliant one springs to mind (pretty easily considering I just enjoyed two of them in a row) and I thought I might jump back in to share it with you, good reader.

I was introduced to this delightful draught sometime last year at a Thursday Drink Night event: the Chartreuse Swizzle. As might be expected when discussing something which arose from the weekly cocktail symposia held there, from there on the tale grows even more sordid and convoluted…

Originated by Marco Dionysos, at last glance the head bartender at San Francisco’s Clock Bar, this outstanding beverage in its base form was originally introduced to the Mixoloseum crew through an article by Marleigh over at SLOSHED! It truly is a wonderful Swizzle (and appears in a fair number of places on the interweb already), with an intriguing blend of complex flavors. Much of this stems from the interplay of the Chartreuse (my love of which is well-documented), Pineapple (which absolutely must be fresh by-the-by) and spicy Falernum syrup (homemade of course). When the recipe came to light, following a bit of devious consideration Rick of KaiserPenguin suggested the addition of one-quarter ounce of J. Wray & Nephew's overproof Rum to the recipe; and from there it was all downhill.

Upon sampling this wonderful alteration, I was intrigued by the even-more fascinating interplay of flavors inside my well-frosted glass. The Vanilla notes present in the rum played off of the Falernum’s spices especially nicely and the additional alcohol – smoothly integrated by the dilution that a proper swizzling imparts – only served to magnify the remaining flavors.

As so often happens when I get thusly captivated, I began messing with the recipe. The results of my manipulations run in a slightly different direction from the original, yet remain equally delicious. Last year at 'Tales the collective palettes of the Mixoloseum House drank more than a few of these (and its progenitor, the original Green Chartreuse Swizzle) to beat the sweltering New Orleans heat back. And so, short and sweet, I give you the following summertime libation (©):

Golden Sands Swizzle
1 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
½ oz. Lemon Hart 151° Demerara Rum
1 oz. fresh Pineapple juice
¾ oz. fresh Lemon juice
½ oz. Falernum syrup
Combine ingredients in a tall Collins glass and fill ¾ with crushed ice; swizzle until the glass is frosted. Top with additional crushed ice; garnish with a sprig of Spearmint and a grate of fresh Nutmeg.

So on your next sweltering day, when the heat really has you down, ransack your liquor cabinet. Try the original, then another with a touch of J. Wray; then move along to mine. I promise you won’t be disappointed by any of the results. But after three Swizzles (working on my third right now), really, how could you be disappointed by anything..?

Cheers & Enjoy!

Highlighting Flavors…

…in creations of the kitchen as well as the bar, is so often a question of paying close attention to ones’ ingredients. In the case of spirits, particularly well-crafted ones, this can alternately be quite straightforward or delicately-complicated; but it is always a joy, both in the compounding as well as the final result(s).

The goal of a well-made cocktail should, of course, always be a balance of its constituents; a poise achieved by manipulating the characteristics of the beverages’ ingredients according to their nature(s). Sometimes the desired outcome is as essential as highlighting flavors found within the ingredients. In other instances, a completely new flavor – one formed by the interaction of a drink’s various components – is aimed for.

The key to achieving either result is to know the ingredient(s) – particularly the really important stuff: how they taste and smell, with particular notice paid to the volume or intensity of such characteristics. In terms of such factors, what flavors stand out? What lurks subtly in the background? How assertive (or not) are they? Do these flavors, aromas, &c. draw to mind any other ingredients (whether experienced singly or in-tandem), alcoholic or not?

These remain questions one should always ask before beginning the delicate additions and subtractions of other ingredients which so often lead to quality recipes. On the topic of such questions, calculations and considerations of ingredients, some time ago a lovely bottle of Cachaça passed into my hands - an artisanal example of the spirit called Boca Loca.

A fairly-unique example of the distillate, Boca Loca's product seems to veer away from the flavor profile of most Cachaças. Within the category, even among the better examples, there seems a tendency towards bold and (sometimes agreeable) oily flavors of grassy sugarcane. In well-treated and carefully-distilled products, the complex, peppery ‘funkiness’ this can lend is often a pleasure, while in poorer (or “industrial”) distillates this character comes through as smoky and rough.

Not so with Boca Loca, however. This Cachaça is light in texture, with very little of the oily character mentioned above, while remaining redolent in both flavor and aroma. It does possess the grassiness one would expect, but this is offset by a number of more (and less) ethereal flavors. Heavier notes of Apricot or Peach are immediately obvious, while ghosts of white Pepper, Honey and berries come through in a more subtle, if pleasantly-so, manner.

So what to do with this rather intriguing spirit? To be sure, it makes a perfectly-acceptable Caipirinha, but the heaviness of the Lime and Sugar has a tendency to bury the base spirit. So why not try and play up (or off of) some of those interesting flavors found within by bringing in some complimentary ingredients? For the first of these, I (shamelessly) stole a page from the inestimable (and generally-speaking, equally shameless) Jeffrey Morgenthaler – whom Boca Loca apparently employs to compound drinks for them…

Earlier in the year, Jeff wrote of a small concoction – the Caneflower - he had come up with, using St. Germain liqueur and Aperol to play up certain elements in the Cachaça. It’s a really fantastic drink already; one where the floral sweetness of Elderflower plays delightfully against the delicate sugarcane grassiness of the base. But what about coaxing that grassy note, or the peppery-honey flavor that lingers on the Cachaça’s finish, to the foreground? For that we’ll turn to a different floral ingredient (and bitter modifier); re-jiggering Jeff’s formula to run in a different direction…

Honeysuckle syrup
1 Cup: Water
1 Cup: superfine Sugar
2½ Tblspns. dried Honeysuckle
2 Tblspns. Clover Honey
⅛ Tsp. fresh Lemon zest
If you’ve purchased dried Honeysuckle rather than collect it locally, pick out only the flowers, discarding any leaf or stem you may find. Combine ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over low-medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer gently – do not boil – for two minutes before removing from heat. Cool to room temperature (~20 minutes), fine-strain by preferred method (cheesecloth, chinois, &c) and bottle.
Give it a try in the following cocktail; though make some extra, as it’s showing considerable promise with Rhum Agricole & certain Gins too (©):

Videira de Caña
1½ oz. Boca Loca Cachaça
¾ oz. RinQuinQuin
¾ oz. Honeysuckle syrup
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and shake well. Strain up into a chilled cocktail glass; garnish with small twists of fresh Lemon & Tangerine.

Another idea stemmed from the aforementioned presence of various stonefruit(s) in the overall flavor profile of the spirit; one which proved well-worth highlighting through the use of the following ingredient:

Apricot-Tea syrup
1½ Cups: superfine Sugar
1 Cup: Water
1x Tazo Vanilla-Apricot teabag
1x slice: candied Ginger, julienned
1x dried Apricot, julienned
Combine prepared ingredients in a non-reactive saucepan & bring to a gentle simmer over low-medium heat, stirring to dissolve the Sugar. Simmer gently for one minute before removing from heat. Cool to room temperature (~20 minutes), fine-strain by preferred method (cheesecloth, chinois, &c) and bottle.
Try it out in the following twist (©) on the venerable Clover Club cocktail:

Capricious Club Cocktail
1½ oz. Boca Loca Cachaça
½ oz. dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
½ oz. Apricot-Tea syrup
½ oz. fresh Lemon juice
½ oz. fresh Egg white
Rinse ¼ oz. Apricot Brandy (a drier brand; Marie Brizard)
Combine ingredients and dry-shake to emulsify; add ice & shake well. Rinse a chilled coupe with the Apricot Brandy. Strain up into the prepared glass & garnish with a thin slice of dried Apricot.

I enjoyed the flavors which the stonefruit combination highlighted and wondered how the spirits’ characteristic would fair in a cleaner/simpler format. Quite well indeed if this variation on Tí Punch – a standby of (the similarly-grassy) Rhum Agricole - is any indication (©):

Loca Tí
1½ oz. Boca Loca Cachaça
½ oz Apricot-Tea syrup
1 d. Fee’s Peach bitters
1x dried Apricot, halved
1x small slice: Lemon peel
Combine prepared dry ingredients - Lemon peel should be cut from the side of the fruit and be no larger than a quarter - with syrup & bitters in a short glass (~6 oz) and muddle. Add Cachaça & fill with crushed ice. Swizzle briefly to chill and incorporate; top with crushed ice & savor.


Cheers & Enjoy!

***
In the interest of full disclosure, a sample of Boca Loca Cachaça was provided (some time ago) for my use.

Those Crazy Old Romans...

With the starting guns of this year’s Tales of the Cocktail sounding even now, I find myself somewhat at a loss for a posting topic. For those of you who aren't familiar with the event, ‘Tales is a convention for mixology, mixologists, authors & spirits-industry professionals from around the globe, all gleefully imbibing their way through educational seminars, panel discussions, exhibits, cocktail-cuisine pairings, receptions and unexpected (though often planned for months) trips to the Carousel Bar (or any of the New Orleans’s other fantastic bars).

Check out the shiny new Tales Blog for updates & articles from some of the numerous bloggers who are (nearly my entire links list is) in attendance, as well as Twitter updates from many of the same. Likewise, tune in to SSN's The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess for webcasts directly from the convention. As yours truly was unable to attend, I had thought to spread some of the educational spirit of ‘Tales with a short discussion on a wonderful, if little-known, cocktail (while I make convoluted plans for my attendance of next years’ convention):

Of the many drinks which the estimable Jerry Thomas wrote about, a fair number of them come to the foreground as libations which should never have been allowed to vanish from the modern mixologist's repertoire. Thankfully, with works like IMBIBE! by David Wondrich, Darcy O'Neil's painstaking transcription of Thomas' revised 1878 bar-guide, or the soon-to-be released reprint of the original 1862 How to Mix Drinks, many such unjustly 'forgotten' cocktails may once again become known & loved (hey, one can dream).

One such beverage is the Roman Punch, which in my humble estimation is a variation on the concept of a flavored, Sour-styled drink. Interestingly (read: strangely), this cocktail made it through the fires of Prohibition almost completely unscathed in certain sources, as seen in Trader Vic’s 1946 Book of Food & Drink. Yet in nearly every source between its first & last (to the best of my knowledge) appearance are oddly altered or adulterated in some fashion. So what happened? From the differences in recipes (almost all of which include Lemon, Cognac, Rum & some manner of Wine) one can form some ideas about why such a variety of recipes emerged; but more on that as we go:

Here we see the original version; as crafted, I’d wager, to accommodate the sweet-tooth tastes of its eras’ imbibers, while presenting a drink to the same under the cloak of what would have been a very familiar concept at the time – a Punch:

Roman Punch (J. Thomas’ How to Mix Drinks, 1862 & 1878*)
1 table-spoonful of sugar *[dissolved in a little water].
1 table-spoonful raspberry syrup.
1 tea-spoonful of Curaçao
1 wine-glass of Jamaica rum
½ wine-glass brandy.
The juice of half a lemon.
Fill [large bar-glass] with shaved ice, shake well, dash with port wine, and ornament with fresh fruits in season. Imbibe through a straw.

The Temperance Movement (active even in J. Thomas’ time) & its’ sinister designs of Prohibition in the ‘States had just gotten the ball rolling at the time of this recipe’s publication. As presented at the Savoy - a very high-end establishment - it took on the look of a formal Punch, with the inexplicable addition of Orange bitters (for the Curaçao perhaps?), Champagne, Orange & Egg whites. This seems like a reinforcement of the flavored-Sour theory, as this recipe essentially makes a California (or Stone) Rum Sour with bubbly added, yet somehow excludes the Raspberry syrup as its flavoring (& namesake coloring) element:

Roman Punch (Harry Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book, 1930)
1 Qt. Champagne
1 Qt. Rum
½ Liqueur Glass Orange bitters
The Juice of 10 Lemons
The Juice of 3 Oranges
2 lbs. Sugar
The Whites of 10 Eggs
Use punch bowl. Dissolve Sugar in lemon and orange juice, add the rind of one orange, add the well-beaten whites of eggs. Surround the bowl with cracked ice and stir the ingredients well together.

Duffy seems to take the odd stance of “a Punch is complicated” in his adaptation of the recipe. He reintroduces Cognac to the mixture, yet attempts to make a dryer Punch out of our Sour by removing the Oranges, (still) omitting the Raspberry and substituting in some Swedish Punsch, Curaçao (likely as complex sweeteners) & Tea! On the other hand, he at least returns to the idea of adding fresh seasonal fruit to the final concoction as an edible garnish:

Roman Punch (P.G. Duffy’s The Official Mixer’s Manual, 1934)
1 Whiskey Glass Cognac
1 Whiskey Glass Swedish Punch
½ Whiskey Glass Curaçao
1 Pint Jamaica Rum
Juice of 6 Lemons
1-1/2 Quarts Champagne
1 Teaspoonful Aromatic Bitters
2 Tablespoonfuls Good Tea
Put Tea in a small cheesecloth bag and leave it in the above mixture for about ten minutes, surround punch bowl with cracked ice, pour in the punch and add cut up Fruit.

Here W.C. Whitfield also advocates the 'bubbly California Sour-style', shying back from the somewhat complicated Punch idea, yet still excludes the Cognac & more importantly, the Raspberry syrup:

Roman Punch (W.C. Whitfield’s Here’s How, 1941)
10 Lemons (juice only)
3 Oranges (juice only)
2 Pounds Sugar
10 whites of Eggs
Dissolve sugar in the fruit juices, add rind of one orange and whites of eggs, well beaten. Stir these thoroughly, place in a punch bowl with large piece of ice, then pour in
1 Quart Fine Rum
½ Liqueur Glass Orange bitters
1 Quart Champagne

Here we see the drink (somehow) being served largely unchanged from its original recipe in the mid-1940’s. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Bergeron had a slight aversion to all but the best of the classic methods of making a champagne-fizzed Punch, and saw this drink for what it should be – a sort-of flavored Rum Sour:

Roman Punch (Trader Vic’s Book of Food & Drink, 1946)
½ Lemon
1 ounce raspberry syrup
1 ounce Jamaican rum (Red Heart or Meyer’s)
1 ounce Brandy
Port wine float
Squeeze Lemon in a 12-ounce glass; add syrup and liquor; fill glass with shaved ice and swizzle. Add berries in season and a float of port wine. Serve with spoon and straws.

I really enjoyed this when I first tried it – by both Thomas’ & Vic’s methods and as with anything I like so much, I had to mess with it. Once you’ve tried the others, give this blackberry-flavored variation on the classic recipe (named for Julius Ceasar's principle unit) a spin. I'd like to think it is a tasty preservation of the original recipe with some small concessions to the various interim drinks which were called "Roman" (©):

Thirteenth Legion
¾ oz. fresh Lemon juice
1 oz. Blackberry syrup
1 oz. Jamaican Rum (Appleton’s V/X)
¾ oz. Quebranta Pisco (BarSol)
1 dash Regan’s Orange bitters
¼ oz. semi-sweet Port Wine (Sandeman Reserva)
Combine all ingredients (except Port) in a chimney or Collins glass with crushed ice & swizzle to incorporate & chill. Top with more crushed ice, float Port & garnish with several fresh Blackberries.

In closing - your homework is to try (almost) any of the many versions (though do try the ‘non-punch’ ones first) of this classic – I’ll be sure to order a Roman Punch down at next year’s ‘Tales and I promise, just as Trader Vic did - you’ll really drop your toga on this one...

For those of you currently attending this year’s convention – have one (or three) of something for me & have a great time in the Big Easy. Cheers & enjoy everyone!

A Swizzle Solution

So there you are, nice & comfortable, skimming the pages of a dusty cocktail book in print before your parents were born. The author, some Trader fellow named Vic, is going on about all sorts of great-sounding drinks. Lots of one’s you’ve heard of, even a few you’ve made before – Punches, Sours, Fizzes, Swizzles…hang on a ‘tic…a what now? Swizzle..?! In examining the recipes, further details present themselves: “swizzling” appears to be a technique, taking the place of stirring maybe? But wait, our author offers an explanation on the idea:

“[…] a word about swizzling. I think it’s a hell of an idea. You get your drink and stir it with a spoon but you don’t get the proper dilution to make it taste good. With your pet swizzler you work it up and down in the drink between the palms of your hands and you get a good chill on the drink and the proper dilution of any strong drink.” (p 51)

Sounds great! Now where does one get a 'pet swizzle', eh? As it occasionally does, the Internet proves little use, offering up piles of garnish items called stir or swizzle sticks – little kitschy bits of plastic you occasionally get in a drink here or there – but that’s not the animal Vic was talking about.

The swizzle stick which our esteemed Trader discuses is a fairly common tool throughout the Caribbean islands & other tropical regions. It is really just a stick, grown from the Quaraibea Turbinate plant – which is native to (& only available on) many of the southern islands like Jamaica, Martinique & Grenada. All well & good if you live in that part of the world, but for whatever reason these handy little twigs are not exported beyond their native climates. What's a cocktail geek to do?

Well, as this convoluted narrative was how I came across the whole idea, I should probably stop rambling and share the three solutions I know to exist:

1. Use those frequent flier miles & hit up an island market – but wait, I’m fresh out of those.
2. Use a round-shafted spoon in an approximation of the swizzling technique – but this doesn’t work so well.
3. Use the directions what follow to make your own pet swizzle:

Here’s How:

1. Buy a long-handled wooden kitchen spoon (or ransack the kitchen drawer for one)*.
2. Procure a few short bamboo skewers (they come in a box of about a billion).
3. Trim the spoon end off of the shaft (if you'd like a light muddler on one end of the swizzle, leave a ¼" of the spoon on) with a saw.
4. Trim the skewers down to approximately 1" in length with a saw or clippers.

5. Select a drill bit one size smaller than the skewers you intend to use as the fit has to be very tight**.
6. Center the bit & drill your first hole ⅛" from one end of the handle.
7. Use anything that forms a right angle (t-square, protractor, &c) to line the bit up at a 90º angle to the first hole & drill a second hole about ⅛" from the first one.
8. Carefully tap the skewers into the holes - go slowly & try to make them even on both sides of the handle.
9. Round any edges off the skewers & handle with a file or fine-grit sandpaper.
10. Wash the whole thing in a dishwasher/by hand and coat with mineral oil such as you would a muddler***.
10a. Smile and whip up a:

Queen’s Park Swizzle
3 oz. Demerara Rum (preferably 86º)
2 Teaspoons: Demerara Simple Syrup
Juice of ½ fresh Lime
7-9 fresh Mint leaves
3 heavy dashes Angostura bitters
Clap the mint to release oils & juice the lime.

Combine ingredients (including spent lime shell) in a chimney glass. Fill with crushed ice & swizzle until frost forms on outside of glass. Add more crushed ice if desired, garnish with a fresh mint sprig & serve with a straw.

...and smile again.

A few remarks about the instructions above:

*Don't use dowels from the craft/hardware store as these are generally treated with unsavory chemicals; food-grade wood only.

**Don't use glue or varnish, lest it wear down or dissolve off into a drink.

***Be sure to treat you new pet swizzle with mineral oil just as you would your pet muddler as this will prolong its useful life immensely.

Cheers & Enjoy!