Stand Tall
This cocktail is absolutely delicious and I highly recommend giving it a try. It’s a whiskey sour riff that features a delicious California bourbon kindly sent by @redwoodempirewhiskey and builds around a homemade strawberry tarragon syrup. [Muddle strawberries with equal weight of white sugar, stir in handful of slapped tarragon, refrigerate overnight. Fine strain, coffee filter, bottle, refrigerate.]. The Campari plays off the berry notes and provides some bitter depth, and the bit of Jäger helps draw out the gentle anise notes from the tarragon.
Grains of Sand
It’s amazing how much a few tweaks can change a drink. When I’m coming up with a new recipe, I try to be honest with myself. If it sucks, what went wrong? Is the balance right? If it’s awesome, what was the magic element? This drink started off… just okay. It didn’t “pop”. The awesome flavored vodka got lost. Somewhat counterintuitively, it needed more rum “character”— aged rum and a funky overproof rum instead of white rum and rhum agricole. Just tweaking the base made this one really worth the shake.
Happy Tears
Today’s recipe includes one of the spirits I brought back from Greece: Mastiha liqueur. It’s made from the resin that comes from an evergreen shrub native to Greece. When the plant’s resin comes out it looks like a tear drop, and can be used in a variety of culinary (and drink) applications (and more). The nose on the spirit is pine-y and not too distant from gin/juniper, but the taste is definitely distinct and includes more woodsy/cedar/earthy notes with a tiny hint of herbaceousness/?mint. Yum!
Inverted French ‘75
Happy National Cocktail Day! I figured it was prudent to post a drink, of all days, even though that’s pretty much business as usual around here. Today I have another “class switch” if you will— reimagining a classic cocktail in a different style.
One With Tea
Hey all! I’m back from vacation and have some new content for you. Today we’re going to keep it fairly simple with a martini-style drink using a delicious flavored vodka kindly sent by @chakravodkas. With this build, I wanted to highlight the jasmine by tying in some tea-leaning flavors with the Italicus (bergamot-forward liqueur) and gin— I used @jaisalmergin, which has green tea among its aromatic botanicals.
Espresso Con Formaggio
Yes, you translated that right: espresso with cheese. Parmesan to be exact. There has been a trend spreading around lately of grating parmesan cheese over an espresso martini (thanks @thebittergringo & @highproofpreacher). My first thought was “hmm… that’s so weird I have to try it”— I’m all on board with unusual (or downright strange) flavor combinations, and as I pointed out in my last post, I’m convinced coffee goes with about anything.
Low-Key
I have made this drink multiple times already, so that should tell you a lot (I don’t normally do that). Don’t let the homemade ingredients dissuade you, they are both as easy as throwing stuff in a jar (though I made the tincture in a sous vide, a room temp infusion should work fine). I’m a big fan of this gin, and I feel like its full potential is unlocked when paired with vegetal pepper.
Sunny Toddy
This drink is dedicated to all of you still experiencing winter. I’ll try not to rub in the fact that we have been in the 80s this week. Okay, maybe I’ll throw a little shade to go with this super sunny hot toddy riff. I did enjoy it fireside not *that* long ago when temperatures were a bit cooler.
Need A Vacation
Okay, we’re getting to that point in winter when a vacation sounds really nice. Not that I have to deal with any snow or anything😆 But regardless, this is a great tropical-leaning old fashioned that’s hard not to like. It’s admittedly a riff on myself (“Still on Vacation”, 5/18/22), but if you still haven’t tried it, a little bit of pineapple juice in a stirred drink is incredible. Yeah yeah all you purists out there, I didn’t come up with the concept but I’m happy to debate its merits.
Cosmic Harmony
I know flavored vodkas often get a bad rep, but like with any spirit, there is a wide spectrum of quality out there. I want a vodka that is still clean and not overly sweet, with authentic flavor representation. The lychee, coconut, and jasmine vodka that the folks at @chakravodkas kindly sent me fits that order nicely. It has a ton of depth and the three flavors represented are in perfect harmony.