MxMo LXVI: Bein' Green - Hal Jordan cocktail

Continuing my series of posts for the "Bein' Green" themed Mixology Monday I'm hosting, here is a cocktail (optionally) using the rosemary-smoked green chartreuse I described in my previous post. This drink is a variation on a previous drink I made which I dubbed the Green Lantern Cocktail. A tweaked name befits a tweaked recipe, so this drink I shall call the Hal Jordan. The Hal Jordan uses the same ingredients as the Green Lantern, but shifts ½ oz away from the Aquavit to the Dolin Blanc to form an equal pats drink, as well as swapping in Mole bitters for the original Celery bitters, while still retaining a profile befitting an apéritif cocktail.

Hal Jordan

• 1 oz Akvavit (Aalborg)
• 1 oz Green Chartreuse (optionally, some fraction rosemary-smoked)
• 1 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
  
• 1 dash Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters

Stir and strain into DOF and garnish with Hal Jordan's ring fashioned from a slice of jalapeño.

I apologize for the out of round garnish, my peppers were all misfits.

I used Celery bitters in the Green Lantern because they pair nicely with the Aquavit, but here I've opted for the Mole bitters to focus more on the chartreuse, as chocolate and chartreuse always play nicely together. The mole makes this drink a bit richer, in contrast to the sharper focus bestowed by the slight bite of brighter celery bitters.
As for the question of whether to use rosemary-smoked chartreuse or the pure stuff straight from the bottle? I'm still undecided which is best. Or even if the smoked version is good. I think I need to try it several more times to wrap my head fully around. So until then, I'm sure I like the more straight-forward recipe, and as it seems unlikely that many people are going to try smoking rosemary, if the base recipe looks good give it a try. I'll update here if if figure out what I think of the smoked version after I give it a few more tries and it sinks in. Since I suspect I overdid the smoking, I'll try using mostly regular chartreuse and supplementing with a ¼-½ oz smoked.

UPDATE: I've finished the roundup post, check out all 37 contributors there; we got some great drinks!

Rosemary-Smoked Green Chartreuse: MxMo LXVI: Bein' Green

Well, I suppose since I'm hosting Mixology Monday this month, I might as well participate. I chose "Bein' Green" as the theme, and as opposed to jamming a couple drinks and some other stuff into one post to submit to the MxMo host, I'm exercising my hostly discretion and breaking my submission into a few bite-sized (and more logically organized) posts. I predict the host will be ok with that.

It should be a surprise to no one that I'm making use of Green Chartreuse this month. To add even more green to the mix, after recalling Jamie Boudreau's Rubicon using rosemary flamed with Chartreuse, I grabbed my trusty PolyScience Smoking Gun (previously documented for a prior MxMo) to experiment and give some Chartreuse the rosemary smoke treatment:

And the result? Let's just say the jury is still out. I honestly can't decide what I think of my concoction. It's definitely smoky. And chock-full of toasted rosemary. But it's also quite pine-y. I may have overdone the smoke a bit. But it also might be quite good. For sure interesting. I'm still deciding. Stay tuned for the next post where I use it in a cocktail...

ps: this Rosemary's Baby cocktail also sets aflame rosemary, albeit not with Chartreuse.

MxMo LXV: Equal Parts - Swan Song

Mixology Monday has been on hiatus for the better part of a year, the most recent event being Feb's Tiki theme, but now Frederic Yarm from Cocktail Virgin Slut (and more recently cocktail book author) has taken up both gauntlet and reins in an effort to get our monthly online cocktail confab going again. Fred has chosen as theme for the reboot "Equal Parts":

I have chosen the theme of equal part cocktails -- those simple drinks where only one jigger is needed despite how many ingredients are added. These recipes have gained a lot of popularity as classics like the Negroni and Last Word have resurfaced, and variations of these equal part wonders have become abundant. Besides these three and four equal parts recipes, I have had delightful two, five, and six part drinks, and I have definitely spotted seven and more part Pousse-cafés in the literature.

There is something special about the simplicity of equal parts drinks; they are easy to remember and make, trivial to make the pours a little bigger or smaller depending on mood, and hell, if your lime is a little stingy and doesn't quite give a full ¾ oz, just fill the jigger to the same level with the other ingredients and balance is maintained - no need to try to convert and measure 90% of 1 oz, let alone some fraction of ½ or ¼ oz. You don't even need a jigger, that "1 part" can be eyeballed to the level of the third ridge on a red solo cup, an empty tic-tac box, or whatever else you can grab within reach.
I've fished these waters before (see my "=" tag to the right), eg the 4 ingredient Last Word variation Last Straw, or my 5 constituant Corpse Reviver riff dubbed Blood Infusion, or even the (somewhat absurd) 10 equal factor Einbahnstraße.
My Mixology Monday, I give you another (loose) interpretation of the classic Last Word. I've swapped the gin for rum and the maraschino for orange liqueur. However, I wanted to keep some of the funk that the maraschino usually contributes, so I reached for the hogo-rich Smith&Cross rum. For the orange I'm going with the relatively new Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao, mostly because I prefer my drinks a bit dryer than the Last Word, but also because my bottle a shiny, er tasty, new toy. I'd meant to do a review when I first got it, but that didn't happen and that ship has now sailed, but here the gist: it's good stuff.

Swan Song

• 1 part Smith&Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum
• 1 part Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
• 1 part Green Chartreuse
• 1 part lime

Shake and strain into cocktail glass

Since some parts are bigger than others, having a sidecar handy for overflow can be a good idea:

I'm not sure how legit it is to call it a Last Word variant when it has no Maraschino, but that drink is where I started tinkering. The Swan Song still has some bold flavors that I think meld well, and if anything has some rougher edges than it's predecessor, due to the brawny rum demanding it's share of the attention, as opposed to the gin mediating the flavors in the background in the Last Word. But sometimes you're in the mood for a pointy flavor profile.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think if you give 'er a try. And Cheers to Frederic for braving the wrangling to get us going again.

UPDATE: Fred's got the roundup post up, check it out to see all 29 submissions this month.

For reference, here's the drink this one was based on:

Last Word

• ¾ oz Gin
• ¾ oz Maraschino
• ¾ oz Green Chartreuse
• ¾ oz lime

Shake and strain into cocktail glass

MxMo LXIV: TIKI! - Gilligan's Ginger Swizzle + 2 bonus drinks

It's Alliiiive!!! The blog that is. I've been quite derelict in updating recently, but what can I say, I've been busy, an 10 month old will do that to you. But I can always make time for Mixology Monday. Or at the very least I can when they skip a couple months over the holidays. But it's back, and I'm back, just in time for the month of February. That's right, Feb, aka Tiki Month! Our host this month is Doug Winship over at The Pegu Blog, and he's not surprisingly chosen Tiki! as this month's MxMo theme. Says Doug:

The Tiki scene, like classic cocktails in general, is reviving nicely these days. The lush, decadent marriage of tropical flavors and exotic kitsch carries us away to a better, less dreary place. Please join in and add your words, images, and offerings to the Tiki Gods on the 20th. Since Tiki is more than just the drinks, feel free to post on whatever Tiki subject floats your outrigger canoe...feel free to wax eloquent on aloha shirts, exotica music, decor, garnishes, food or whatever else moves you to enter the Tiki spirit!

To help get in the spirit, on Sat night I hit up PKNY, my favorite NYC tiki spot, for a couple drinks. (Doug, they made a great Missionary's Downfall.) A tall frosty mug of tiki does have the magical power to whisk one away and forget the savages of winter for an evening, not that lady winter has been inclined to savage us much around these parts this year, thankfully enough. Perhaps someone distracted her with an Improved Chartreuse Swizzle or two. Kudos to them!

UPDATE: Doug's got the roundup post of all this month's drinks up, go check 'em all out.

Speaking of that drink, my submission this month uses its recipe as a jumping off point for my creation. Not only do I love Chartreuse, but I've found that she plays well with ginger, and I've enjoyed tinkering with my newish bottle of The King's Ginger, a liqueur I prefer somewhat to Canton because I find King's Ginger to be a bit less candied and have more of the fresh ginger bite I so love. So I swapped in King's Ginger for Falernum (though I added Falernum Bitters and Tiki Bitters) and used the seasonal Meyer lemon instead of pineapple juice, upped the JWray ('cause why not?), and dubbed it the Gilligan's Ginger swizzle, which I thought was appropriately island-y. Oh, and in honor of our host, I garnished it with a tattooed lime (as well as a plastic naked lady from my PKNY drink Sat night).

Gilligan's Ginger Swizzle

• 1 oz Green Chartreuse
• 1 oz King's Ginger Liqueur
• ¾ oz J. Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum
• ¾ oz lime juice
• ¾ oz Meyer lemon juice (regular lemons work here also)
• ¼ oz Steen's cane syrup (or rich simple if you must, or even Grade B maple)
• 2 dashes B.G Reynold's Falernum Bitters
• 6 drops Bittermens ‘Elemakule Tiki Bitters

Swizzle over plenty of crushed ice, garnish with a tattooed lime, big ol' handful of spanked mint, straw, and whatever other fun tiki flair you've got.

She's got spice and herbs from the liqueurs and bitters, funk and heft from the JWray (though both liqueurs are hardly low proof themselves), brightness from the citrus, and a touch of extra depth and richness from the luscious cane syrup. Just like any proper tiki drink, she might down a bit too easy. But what else would you expect?



In the title I promised two bonus drinks, and since I've been derelict in my blogging duties I've got yet-to-be-posted cocktails in spades from which to pick. Since the theme is Tiki, I'll pick two that fit the bill that I created for Thursday Drink Nights various and sundry over the past months. (Hey, I said I've been too busy to blog, not that I was dead.)

First, here is another swizzle I made for TDN Tall Drinks:

Tornadiki

• 1 oz Coruba Dark Rum
• 1 oz Banks Five Island Rum (sub Cruzan aged white)
• 1 oz Passionfruit Syrup
• ½ oz Lemon Hart 151
• ½ oz orgeat
• ½ oz falernum
• ¾ oz lemon
• ¾ oz lime
• ¼ oz absinthe
• 3 dashes  Bittermens ‘Elemakule Tiki Bitters

Swizzle over plenty of crushed ice, add straw and garnish with mint

Get it? Tornadiki = Tornado + Tiki. And it's a swizzle. This guy's got the bones of a hurricane with the rums and passionfruit, plus a litany of other usual suspects in the tiki oveure.





And I've got one more for you, if I don't bang it out now it'll probably never happen. Although Frederic of Cocktail Virgin/Slut was kind enough to include it promptly in the wrap up of the night. This one I made for the curiously themed Nuku Hiva TDN, for which we were asked:

in honor of this darkly exotic mystery, the goal of the night is to create tiki drinks with at least one German ingredient! Bonus if you use fire!

So I used a german Kirsch and a Honey Liqueur, as well as three german bitters. And fire of course:

Einbahnstraße (Einbahnstrasse)

• 1 oz e Coruba
• 1 oz Lemon Hart 151
• 1 oz Cruzan aged rum
• 1 oz Kirschwasser
• 1 oz Bärenjäger
• 1 oz Canton Ginger Liqueur
• 1 oz lemon
• 1 oz lime
• 1oz OJ
• (scant) 1 oz cinnamon syrup
• 1 dash Bitter Truth Orange Bitters
• 1 dash Bitter Truth Creole Bitters
• 1 dash Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters

Shake & strain over fresh ice into stoic tiki mug; add straw & garnish with lime shell filled with flaming LH 151

I think the name translates from the German as something along the lines of "One way street", if you allow me a hefty amount of poetic license. And in fairness, you are probably better off splitting this with a friend, there's a lot in there, but I wanted to stick with the link between 1 oz of everything and the name. It's got a lot going on, but I thought it was not bad for something I threw together. At the risk of breaking the one way theme, it's pretty sweet with a full oz of cinnamon syrup, depending on how rich yours is, but it needed some; just go easy on it unless sweet is your thing.

Touch of citrus in stirred cocktails - Fernet Me Not & Mai 'Ti (+aside re salt)

I have to admit, I've recently become mildly obsessed with cocktails that use just a touch of citrus and are stirred rather than shaken. I think I was first led down this path by Rumdood's post on 'Ti punch, a deceptively simple and delicious cocktail that tilts a daiquiri's proportions to let the rum (or Rhum Agricole to be precise) take and hold center stage. I still can't believe I had not tried that drink until I saw his post, but it has quickly become a staple.

When I say a touch of citrus, I'm referring to drinks which contain at most around ¼ oz total of citrus juices, but could use half that, perhaps only a teaspoon, or even just a few drops. Just enough to offset a bit of sweetness or brighten up a drink's flavor profile. (Not to mention part of the beauty of these drinks is how simple they can be to make, with less equipment to clean up later. Glass, ice, maybe a spoon, done.)

I was led further down this particular rabbit hole after sampling a couple drinks from the excellent book beta cocktails, which I first read about via Robert Simonson's blog Off the Presses. There he describes amari and bitters heavy cocktails, including the book's Campari Martini, composed of just Campari, salt, and an orange twist. It should be obvious how amari, bitters and salt led me to immediately buy the book (info here, or store here.) For a sneak peek, check out the 2 oz of Peychaud's in the Gunshop Fizz or the fantastic Angostura Sour, or a few more from Cocktail Virgin Slut. Then go buy the book.

As an aside, I have been meaning to do a post on salt in cocktails but never got around to it, but do read the post by Maks on the Campari Martini : Salt, for he did a better job than I ever would have. I've been occasionally adding salt to cocktails since at least 2009 after I learned the trick from Dave Arnold at a FCI holiday cocktail class I attended, though my usages were limited to drinks containing more citrus and not as ballsy (or illuminating) as the Campari trick. But suffice it to say a pinch of salt can do wonders for a cocktail. You can also refer to Alton Brown's "Ballad of Salty and Sweet" if you need more convincing.

 Ok, enough commentary, on to some drinks. Last week theme for TDN was "Rick Stutz Dance Party", check out the Mixoloseum wrap up for an explanation and some of the night's drink's. In trying to come up with a drink using Rick's favorite ingredients, Fernet was the obvious choice. With that in mind, and having recently enjoyed beta cocktails' Bitter Giuseppe which uses a slug of Cynar and "11-15 drops of lemon juice", I set to work. While in Buenos Aries, I had liked the pairing of Fernet with tonic and Orange Juice so I went with a touch of orange juice with the expressed oil and orange bitters.

Fernet Me Not

• 1½ oz Fernet Branca
• ½ oz Bourbon (Bulleit)
• ½ oz Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 dash Regan's Orange bitters #6
• Orange twist w/ a bit of flesh

Express oil & squeeze juice (~tsp or less) from Orange piece; Build in DOF over large rock & use orange twist as garnish

I threw in some Bourbon just to smooth out and lengthen the drink and to help tame the Fernet somewhat, but it's still all about the Fernet; the bourbon is hard to pick out but that is by design. Frederic astutely compared it to an "inverse Fanciulli Cocktail with orange notes", which I had to look up, but in this case the drink was based on beta's Bitter Giuseppe.

My second drink would perhaps have been better suited for a Rumdood themed TDN, but I had beta's inspiration and a touch of citrus on my mind, so I made this mash up of a Mai tai, 'Ti punch, and the Art of Choke from beta cocktails. The Art of Choke is cocktail by Kyle Davidson from The Violet Hour in Chicago, another Cynar cocktail; a cocktail which beta's authors call "a brand new cocktail template." Starting from that template, I kept the Chartreuse and mint, but to capture the spirit of the Mai Tai I subbed Amaro Montenegro for Cynar, orgeat for demerara, and two aged rums for white rum, then played with the proportions and added angostura for the hell of it (perhaps because Cynar is far more bitter than Montenegro?) My thinking was that the Montenegro's orange notes would stand in well for the orange from the Mai Tai's Creole Shrubb.

mai 'ti

• ¾ oz Rhum Clément VSOP
• ¾ oz Appleton Extra 12
• 1 oz Amaro Montenegro
• ¼ oz Green Chartreuse
• tsp lime
• tsp B.G. Reynolds orgeat
• dash Angostura bitters
• mint

muddle mint with bitters, orgeat, and lime, add rest then stir & strain into DOF with one large rock; mint sprig garnish

The mai 'ti lands sufficiently far from the inspiring drinks to be its own beast. It has the feel of a 'Ti Punch, the background flavor of a Mai Tai, with bitter and herbal flavors layered on top. Give 'em both a try and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Amor y Amargo - Cocktails and Bittermens Experimental Series

A while back a few friends and I popped into Amor y Amargo to see what was happening with the old Carteles sandwich shop space and to check out some of the  Bittermens Experimental Series flavorings that are only available there. We were treated to an excellent time, with our cocktails slung by none other than Avery Glasser himself, who along with his wife are the ones behind the Bittermens line.  More details here.

We started out sampling the cocktails that used some of the more interesting ingredients from their Experimental line, including not only bitters but Shrubs and citrates as well. First up for me was this:

Françause Four-Play

• Bonal Quinquina
• Yellow Chartreuse
• Cognac
• Lillet Blanc
• soda
• Bittermens Hellfire Shrub

(I've been making this at home using equal parts of the first four and leaving out the soda, yum.)

Meanwhile my friend tried this:

À L’Ancienne

• Cognac old fashioned
• Bittermens Spiced Cranberry Citrate
• Xocolatl Mole Bitters

These were both excellent, and all the more interesting due to the added dimensions from the new unique ingredients. For those unfamiliar with these types of products, a Shrub is a flavoring with vinegar used as a base to deliver the flavor, while a citrate contains the acidic citric acid to help tie a drink together, as opposed to bitters which use alcohol to deliver a bittering agents and other flavors. (Update: I originally wrote only the bitters use alcohol as a base, but frederic corrected me in the comments pointing out these shrubs and citrates also use alcohol as a base.)
The Hellfire is a Habanero Shrub, or as Avery put it a hot sauce specifically for drinks. The Hellfire Shrub does capture the heat from the fiery pepper, but not overpoweringly so. What I was most struck by when tasting a drop straight was how well it captured the lovely fruit notes of the habanero that pepper aficionados so enjoy.
The Spiced Cranberry Cream Citrate is another nice product that can add some bright notes a a little zing to a cocktail with a few drops.
It was at this point that Avery mentioned that what was left one the shelf behind us was all that was left of the first batch of the experimental series. Noting that a few of them only had a single lonely bottle left on the shelf, I quickly grabbed these three to claim for my own:

The last of the Hellfire Shrub, Peppercake, and Squirrel Nut Bitters.

The empty spots on the shelves after I did my initial damage:

Of course I didn't stop there and I ended up taking home one of each from the experimental series to play with at home:

Here's the whole Bittermens Experimental Series lineup:

• Hellfire Habanero Shrub
• Spiced Cranberry Cream Citrate
• Orange Cream Citrate
• Orchard Street Celery Shrub
• Peppercake Gingerbread Bitters
• Squirrel Nut Pecan Vanilla Bitters

These were all new to me, but Frederic from cocktail virgin slut tells me the Squirrelnut and Peppercake have been in Boston for a while; in fact Peppercake were made for Craigie on Main. I suppose that's why it says on the bottle "A cult favorite from 2007." These guys should keep me busy tinkering at home for a while.

Of interest also is how they prepare the stirred drinks: they stir the ingredients together without ice, and then add one large ice cube and serve, so the drink as presented is room temp and strong, but as it sits in front of you it evolves in the glass as the ice melts, thus simultaneously cooling and diluting the drink. It makes for an interesting experience, and you get a continuum of drinks and you can pick your ideal spot to savor. Avery figures that back in the day ice was a scarce commodity and they were not about to stir with ice and then dump out a bunch of frozen jewels for every drink and this method is more authentic. Avery noted that he has at times received complaints that a drink was too strong, at which point he had to instruct the customer to give it a minute and it would work out ok. I kinda liked the experience. Also note the space has at most a dozen or so seats so it's intimate enough to chat easily with the barkeep if that's your thing, I encourage it.

We also tried several more cocktails (another friend joined us after the first round), see the opening menu here:

Bittermens House Gin and Tonic

• gin
• tonic water
• maraschino
• Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit Bitters

A very nice take, the hopped grapefruit bitters are even better than the excellent grapefruit bitters they produced during the Bitter Truth partnership.

Orchard Street Cel’ry Soda

• Applejack
• Genever
• club soda
• Bittermens Orchard St. Celery Shrub
• Bittermens Peppercake Bitters

I'm still trying to figure out what I think of this drink, since I lacked a frame of reference to compare it to. As Avery said, you really need to like celery to enjoy it. I liked it, but probably need to try it more times before I wrap my head around it.

Tequila Gibson

• House-made amber vermouth
• Reposado Tequila
• Cocktail Onion
• Bittermens Boston Bittahs
• Bittermens Orchard St. Celery Shrub

The Tequila Gibson was a highlight of the night, I definitely need to try the house made vermouths straight next time I drop in.
A few snacks are also offered, but since we were headed to dine upon many many different parts of cow at Takashi, we only tried the crispy garbanzos with morcilla, which proved a tasty snack. Fyi, the Ribeye and sweetbreads are the winners at Takashi:

MxMo LVI: Your Best - Lumber Jill

We seem to have all skipped the Mixology Monday for March, but April is upon us and Chris aka DJ HawaiianShirt at Spirited Remix is wasting no time getting April's going. This month's theme is "Your Best", as Chris explains in his announcement post:

The theme is quite simple: your best. Give me the best drink recipe you've ever created...I'm talking about that one drink that you've worked on for quite a while. The one that you've carefully tweaked over time until you found that perfect recipe. The one you've made tons of times: sometimes alone in contemplation, sometimes for a guest so that you could get their opinion.
If you don't have a drink that fits the above mold, then perhaps this is your excuse to revisit your old "original remixes", as I call them, and decide or even tweak one to be your best. If you've never made such a drink before, then begin experimenting right now! I want to see what makes your taste buds tick. Use your favorite spirits or flavors. Show me what your "drink of the house" would be.
Maybe you have a blog and you've already posted it before; I don't care. Give it to me again. Let us have this MxMo be a review of greatness, a bass-thumping medley of original remixes.

Thus, with the requisite permission (Chris even made a remixed MxMo logo), I'm using a drink I previously blogged about. But damnit if it's not a fine crowd pleasing drink. In choosing the Lumber Jill for MxMo, I perused my past cocktail posts and made a short list of contenders. Even with a short list, I didn't have time to try them all, and retrying them is necessary because the concoctions do not always live up to their representation in memory. In fact the first contender I re-tried was good, but not nearly as great as in my mind, so he got bumped off. The Lumber Jill's virtues, however, remained true to memory. This drink also had two other things going for it: the fact that I half-assed my first post about it, lacking even a picture, and the fact that it was a bit incomplete, lacking a garnish. This gives me a chance to correct those oversights.
She was originally created for a Thursday Drink Night, specifically TDN:Bubbles, back in Feb 2010. (Anyone else have trouble hearing "Bubbles" without thinking of The Wire?) I quite enjoy the TDN and MxMo themes because they get me out of my comfort zone and allow me to try new ingredients or styles; I'd otherwise be likely to restrict my drinks to either up sours or brown, bittered, and stirred variations.
The inspiration for this drink was the trinity of Chartreuse, maple, and ginger I initially fell in love with in the Lumber Jacques cocktail I had on a visit to Montreal; this is a theme I've riffed on multiple times. While the Lumber Jacques uses Rye and muddled fresh ginger, I opted for Ginger Beer to provide the required bubbles and swapped out Rye for my newly acquired bottle of Smith&Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum. The Navy Strength funky beast of a rum quickly became one of my very favorite spirits too boot. Without further ado, here she is:

Lumber Jill

• 1½ oz Smith&Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum
• ¾ oz Green Chartreuse
• ¼ oz Grade B maple syrup
• ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
• ½ oz fresh orange juice
• 2 dashes angostura
• touch salt
• ~3 oz ginger beer to top (Reed's Extra Ginger Brew is an excellent choice here)

shake and strain over fresh ice, top with ginger beer; garnish with a slice of orange and crystallized ginger skewered with a rosemary sprig.

The derivation of the name remains as before:

The name is an obvious derivation of Lumber Jacques, but figured it was a bit less burly both with rum instead of rye and the fizzy ginger beer lightening it up a bit.  Not that a man should be ashamed to drink it, the drink proved reasonably popular at TDN and I very much enjoy and am proud to drink it.

Even though referring to anything swapping in Smith&Cross for Rye as "less burly" amused Frederic from cocktail virgin slut, girls do seem to prefer Jill to Jacques in this instance.
I'm very happy with the addition of the garnish, although I can not take much credit. The lack of garnish and the specific suggestion of a rosemary speared orange came from other TDN participants, although I don't remember who; sorry I can not give proper thanks, but thank you nonetheless. I just added the ginger. I find the ginger-maple-chartreuse to really play well with each other; the spice of the ginger is leavened by the richness of the maple with the chorus of herbal flavors filling out the band, all keeping the heat of the over-proof rum in check while still letting everyone play their part in perfect harmony. Upon taking a sip, the aroma of the rosemary really ties the tree-sourced maple to the chartreuse herbs while driving home the forestry theme. Adding just a touch of salt is a trick I learned from Dave Arnold from Cooking Issues; a little bit rounds out drinks with citrus while both amplifying and tying together the flavors.
So there you have it, enjoy, and treat 'er well.

Bûcheron

Hmmm, it's been a while since I posted a new cocktail, busy with the holidays and all, so here's one for you, and I've got a few more coming when I get around to it.  Last week I joined the Mixoloseum crew for my first Thursday Drink Night in a while for TDN Europe, calling for drinks using an ingredient from Europe.  I took it further and tried to use many ingredients from Europe, as a quick glance around my bar showed how many options there would be to choose from.  Without further ado, this was my first drink of the night:

Bûcheron

• 1 oz Cognac
• 1 oz Calvados
• ¼ oz Gran Gala
• ¼ oz Green Chartreuse
• ¼ oz maple syrup (grade B)
• ¾ oz lemon
• 1 dash angostura bitters
• 1 dash Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters

Shake and strain

The Bûcheron is part Sidecar, with the maple/Chartreuse idea cribbed from Lumber Jacques, a theme that I've been known to play around with, although I didn't use ginger in this one to complete the trinity.  I also used Chartreuse in a Sidecar variation for the "Plus One" TDN a while back for my Smartcar cocktail.  I was told the Calvados gave the drink an Old-timey flavor, which I took as an endorsement. Oh yeah, Bûcheron I believe is French for lumberjack, if you are wonder where the name came from.

MxMo LII: Twentieth Century Cocktail (and bonus 20th Symphony Cocktail)

Time for another MxMo!  Dennis at Rock&Rye has called "Forgotten Cocktails" as the theme for November's Mixology Monday.  As you might imagine, he's looking for drinks from the past that have grown obscure but deserve to see the light of day:

The challenge this month is to bring to light a drink that you think deserves to be resurrected from the past, and placed back into the spotlight. It could be pre-prohibition, post-war, that horrible decade known as the 80′s, it doesn’t really matter. As long as it is somewhat obscure, post it up. If possible try to keep to ingredients that are somewhat readily available.

At first I considered the Corpse Reviver #2, but I think yeoman's work has already been done in the last few years to bring it back, and the world is a better place for it.  I also considered the Vieux Carré, which outside New Orleans I still see not oft enough, or the Monkey Gland, another solid candidate, but both of those I've touched on before and wanted to look for something fresh.  The Pegu Club crossed my mind but I figure Pegu Doug has implicitly called that one.  Looking for ideas, I reached for what else but Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, where inspiration abounded.  Flipping through it, I settled on the Twentieth Century Cocktail, which I had tried and enjoyed previously, finding it to be an interesting and surprising tipple.  This post-Prohibition cocktail was named for the 20th Century Limited, the stylish and speedy express train that whisked passengers from Grand Central in NY to Chicago in 16 hours.  Although it's been covered before by the founder of MxMo himself Paul Clarke (twice), and Chuck Taggart, and also by Jimmy here, all of them were some time ago, so I decided it could use a revisit.  More importantly, those three bloggers have three different recipes using the same 4 ingredients. Taggarts's recipe at Cocktalians matches the one in Haigh's tome, however Haigh himself commented on Jimmy's 2006 post endorsing his formulation which uses a lighter hand with the flavorings.  (He also shares his memories of his first Twentieth Century Cocktail in '91 in another comment.)  To complicate matters, both Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixologyand DeGroff's The Craft of the Cocktailhave yet 2 more new recipes, for a grand total of 5 all endorsed by different cocktail luminaries.  What's a guy to do?  Try 'em all of course.  Fret not, I've done the hard work for you to present my findings and steer you to the best formulation.  Well, that was the plan anyway, but I ran into a bit of trouble when I discovered that they all work.  One dry and boozy, one lighter with more even flavor, one a bit more rich, another with extra subtle cacao.  The recipe is surprisingly resilient to tinkering, which I guess explains why there are so many different versions floating about; it is my determination that the ideal choice comes down to preference, mood, and perhaps the angle of the sun in the sky.  That being said, Reagan's is my slight favorite, and it is my recommended place to start your tinkering.  These proportions also are a nice middle ground to which I can compare the other versions.

Twentieth Century Cocktail (The Joy of Mixology)

• 1½ oz Gin
• ½ oz Lillet Blanc
• ½ oz white Crème de cacao
• ½ oz fresh lemon juice

shake and strain, lemon twist garnish

To quote Clarke (and paraphrase Haigh), this "tastes like Art Deco in a glass."  The Cacao in most formulations is more subtle than one might expect, contributing more of an aroma and just a hint of flavor in the aftertaste.

UPDATE: Dennis's roundup post is up, head over and check out all the erstwhile forgotten drinks.

Speaking of Clarke, the version in his posts ups the last three ingredients to ¾ oz each. This still results in a nice drink, just a bit richer. Clever observers will realize that 1½ oz Gin plus ¾ oz each of the others is a longer pour but otherwise equivalent to 1 oz gin and ½ oz each of the rest, ie same as Regan's version but with ½ oz less Gin. I'm all for the longer pour and all, but I prefer the drink with the higher proportion of booze. But like I said, it's an opinion.  If I want a long pour and ¾ oz of the latter 3 guys, I'll up my gin to 2¼ oz.

Twentieth Century Cocktail (Cocktail Chronicles)

• 1½ oz Gin (1 oz)
• ¾ oz Lillet Blanc (½ oz)
• ¾ oz white Crème de cacao (½ oz)
• ¾ oz fresh lemon juice (½ oz)

shake and strain, lemon twist garnish

In between these last two versions lies the one from Haigh's book, also blogged at Cocktailians. It is similar to Clarke's but simply scales back the Cacao to ½ oz. In fact, Vintage Spirits stipulates that one should scale it down further to taste if you find the cacao too strong.

Twentieth Century Cocktail (Cocktailians and Vintage Spirits)

• 1½ oz Gin
• ¾ oz Lillet Blanc
• ½ oz white Crème de cacao
• ¾ oz fresh lemon juice

shake and strain, lemon twist garnish

As an aside, Taggert asks "Is it too early to create a Twenty-First Century Cocktail?"  Jim Meehan of PDT thinks it is not and has created one with Tequila and Absinthe.  I've yet to try one, but it looks good.
The version at Jimmy's Cocktail Hour is similar to Regan's, but it follows guidance in Haigh's book and scales back the Cacao to a mere ¼ oz.  In his comment Dr. Cocktail agrees and states that despite what he recorded in the book, this is closer to how he makes them himself.  This still works well, drying out the cocktail and making the cacao really subtle, but the ½ oz works for me.  That said, another judgment call, this is probably my second favorite version.

Twentieth Century Cocktail (Jimmy's Cocktail Hour)

• 1½ oz Gin
• ½ oz Lillet Blanc
• ¼ oz white Crème de cacao
• ½ oz fresh lemon juice

shake and strain, lemon twist garnish

And that brings us to DeGroff's entry, last but not least.  It is however, the most distinct, and the most boozy.  It dials up the gin to 2 oz and dials back everything else.  This is much drier than the others, closer to a martini with just a little extra touch of flavor, but the flavor notes are still there.  So, if your mood calls for such a thing, as I imagine mine might from time to time, this is your ticket:

Twentieth Century Cocktail (The Craft of the Cocktail)

• 2 oz Gin
• ½ oz Lillet Blanc
• ¼ oz white Crème de cacao
• ¼ oz fresh lemon juice

shake and strain, lemon twist garnish

Ok, that should clear up any confusion from here on out. I encourage you to pick one that looks good to you and give it a try. It really is quite a nice drink, whichever one you choose.

I bet you think I'd be done at this point after that treatise, but you'd be wrong. I like to make an original drink for MxMo every month, and I could hardly justify using a new drink for a "Forgotton Cocktail", but that doesn't stop me from including a bonus cocktail. I've chosen to include a riff on the Twentieth Century Cocktail, so I present to you the 20th Symphony Cocktail. And just because I enjoy breaking rules, I'm flaunting our host's instructions to "keep to ingredients that are somewhat readily available" and using a combination of ingredients that I suspect few people have in their bar. Sorry, but just let me have my fun. This guy hits the same notes as the Twentieth Century Cocktail, but has a somewhat different character and gets there from a different direction. Using the Genever, it almost tastes to me like a recipe from a time even before the Twentieth Century.  The Solerno is the sweetener in this one; the Mozart, as you might gather from the name, is not at all sweet.  It is 80 proof and has a pure chocolate flavor; quite an interesting product. It also led me to the drink's name.  This drink also drew inspiration from the Corpse Reviver #2, using Solerno instead of Cointreau and the Elixir Végétal in lieu of Absinthe.  I chose Elixir Végétal because I've found Chartreuse to pair well with chocolate, plus I got to extend my obnoxious choices of difficult ingredients just a bit further.

20th Symphony Cocktail

• 1½ oz Bols Genever
• ½ oz Cocchi Americano
• ½ oz Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur
• ½ oz Mozart Dry Chocolate Spirit
• ½ oz fresh lemon juice
• 4 dashes Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse

shake and strain, lemon twist garnish

Last Straw

Last week's TDN theme was Wheat Whiskey, so I came up with a couple drinks to contribute.  Now this night didn't call for a "wheated whiskey", such as Maker's Mark, which simply contains some wheat but uses at least 51% corn, yielding a "wheated Bourbon".  This called for a true wheat whiskey, and although there are only a handful available, the suggested Bernheim I could get from my trusty Astor Wines.  (Truth be told, you could probably easily get away with substituting Maker's or something in these drinks.)  I'd never had a wheat whiskey, but I have to say it's not bad.  Kinda like a slightly drier Maker's, and perhaps a bit more floral and crisp.

This first drink is a variation on the equal parts Last Word cocktail, switching out the base of Gin for the Bernheim, getting the cherry notes from the deeper Heering instead of the brighter Maraschino, lemon for lime, and getting the herbal notes from Strega instead of Chartreuse. This was another drink whose name came first and the recipe flowed from that.  Just to tie this drink to its progenitor a bit more strongly (and to play with a new ingredient I just got from Cocktail Kingdom), I did finish it after straining with a couple dashes of Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse, Green Chartreuse's ornery granddad.  People tried it with regular Green Chartreuse and seemed pleased if that's all you got; you'll still get the aromas.

Last Straw

• ¾ oz Bernheim Wheat Whiskey
• ¾ oz Strega
• ¾ oz Cherry Heering
• ¾ oz lemon
• couple dashes of Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse (or substitue good ol' Green)

Shake first four ingredients and strain into cocktail glass, top with a couple dashes elixer

I think it came together pretty well.  The drier Bernheim works better than a richer whiskey might to keep the drink balanced and bright, and you still get tons of herbal and cherry notes from the two liqueurs, which I've seen play well in a drink before. 

This also gave me a chance to show off my new favorite cocktail glass, which I found a pair of in a little antique shop in Port Townsend, WA (on the to-be-blogged sailing trip).  It's got beautiful amber coloring, made circa 1930 (according to the proprietor's best guess), no seams, sexy curves, nice etching...

For reference, here's the drink this one was based on:

Last Word

• ¾ oz Gin
• ¾ oz Maraschino
• ¾ oz Green Chartreuse
• ¾ oz lime

Shake and strain into cocktail glass

Siderac and Smartcar

Last Thursday's TDN theme was "Plus One", where participants were charged to: Take your favorite cocktail and add one (+1) ingredient to it, put it in a dress, and give it a new name.  After first playing with the Picso Sour, I next set my sights on another of my favorite classics, the Sidecar.  I had two ideas, both of which I liked, and both of which I eventually came up with, in my humble opinion, clever names for.  The first one I simply added a healthy amount of Peychaud's bitters to:

Siderac

• 1½ oz Cognac
• ¾ oz Cointreau
• ¾ oz lemon
• 5 dashes Peychaud's

shake,strain to sugar rimmed coupe, flamed orange

This is again not a huge departure from the original, but it does add a bit of bite and some herbal notes to the classic and simple recipe, as well as imbuing the drink with a pleasant hue.  Get the anagram?  Part Sidercar and part Sazerac.  In fact the Sazerac used to be made with Cognac before the American spirit Rye eventually supplanted the Cognac as the base of the drink.  I can't decide the pronunciation, "Side-rack" or "Sid-er-ack," so I'll let the drinker decide according to his mood.

The Siderac did seem to be quite well received by those who tried it on Thursday, and I had tried it myself and submitted the drink before I even mixed up my next idea, in no small part because I thought the name of the above was cleverer by half.  However, I think I might like this next one even more.  It follows the same line of thought of adding some bite and herbal notes to the base, but uses Green Chartreuse instead of the bitters:

Smartcar

• 1½ oz Cognac
• ¾ oz Cointreau
• ¾ oz lemon
• ½ oz Green Chartreuse

shake,strain to sugar rimmed coupe, flamed orange

The name of course is because smartcars are somewhat eco-friendly, aka green.  I told you I liked the first name more.  But in any case, I liked this drink more.  But I am a sucker for my Chartreuse, as you can see from how often I make use of it in my creations.  After making this I remembered that Audrey Saunders of the Pegu Club also used Chartreuse to tweak the Sidecar in her Tantris Sidecar, so I can't claim any credit for doing it first, but she had included several other tweaks.  In any case, if memory of my last taste of the Tantris at Pegu serves, I somewhat prefer my Smartcar.  Ok, perhaps only because it uses twice as much Chartreuse, but what is one to do?

The classic recipe which I started playing with:

Sidecar

• 1½ oz Cognac
• ¾ oz Cointreau
• ¾ oz lemon

shake,strain to sugar rimmed coupe, flamed orange

Lumber Jill

A recent Thursday Drink Night theme was TDN: Bubbles – Champagne, ginger beer, soda, tonic, cola, or anything else fizzy.  

I felt this an appropriate occasion to revisit a theme I fell in love with when I discovered the Lumber Jacques, figuring I could use bubbly ginger beer instead of fresh ginger.  I think the richness of the maple goes really well with the spice of the ginger and rye and the herbal notes from the Chartreuse, balanced by the two citrus juices.  Thinking of ginger beer reminded me of one of my wife's favorite drinks, the Jamaican Firefly, which she always orders whenever we hit Pegu Club (often directly before dinner at Lupa), so I decided to switch things up more and sub Rum for the Rye.  Which gave me a good excuse to bust out my newly acquired Smith&Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum, a very funky and strong rum.  I had heard good things, (check out this post at Oh Gosh! for a good review and description of this spirit) and turns out the things I heard were well founded.

Lumber Jill

• 1½ oz Smith&Cross Traditional Jamaican Rum
• ¾ oz Green Chartreuse
• ¼ oz Grade B maple syrup
• ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
• ½ oz fresh orange juice
• 2 dashes angostura
• touch salt
• ~3 oz ginger beer to top (Reed's Extra Ginger Brew)

shake and strain over fresh ice, top with ginger beer

The name is an obvious derivation of Lumber Jacques, but figured it was a bit less burly both with rum instead of rye and the fizzy ginger beer lightening it up a bit.  Not that a man should be ashamed to drink it, the drink proved reasonably popular at TDN and I very much enjoy and am proud to drink it.

One comment from TDN was the lack of garnish, someone suggested something green like perhaps a sprig of some food safe pine, and someone else countered with a sprig of rosemary shot through an orange wedge, which I think is a fine idea.  I might even toy with a sprig of cilantro.  But I've yet to experiment with such accouterments, so play around.

Oh, and I didn't take a pic and am too lazy to rectify that oversight, certainly in part because I never settled on a proper garnish.

Monky Gland

No, that's not a typo in the title, I do mean Monky Gland, not Monkey Gland, although the similarity is quite deliberate, as my Monky Gland creation is based on the old classic.  You see, this week's theme for TDN was "Monks!," as in:

Anything created or originally developed by monks is fair game: Benedictine, Champagne, Chartruese, Trappist Ales, or any other odds and ends your research turns up.

Now I've riffed off the Monkey Gland previously when I concocted the Surrender Monkey a while back for a MxMo,but that was more of a lark to amuse myself and the drink was only ok.  The Monky Gland, however, I really really like, here it is:

Monky Gland

• 1½ oz Bulldog London Dry Gin 
• ½ oz Green Chartreuse
• 1 oz Orange Juice
• tsp grenadine

Shake and strain into cocktail glass; squeeze orange twist spraying oils over surface of drink, garnish with orange spiral.

For reference, here's the classic recipe:

Monkey Gland

• 1½ oz Gin
• 1 oz Orange Juice
• splash absinthe
• ¼ oz grenadine

Splash absinthe into coupe glass, shake and strain rest into glass; garnish with orange spiral.

Dale DeGroff notes in his book The Essential Cocktail that there is an alternative Americanized version that subs Bénédictine for the Absinthe, so there's actually another tidbit that makes one version of the Monkey Gland a little monky itself.

el elevado

For last week's TDN the theme was, well, there was no theme, it was a free for all where you could use any ingredients.  It was called "Retro", I gathered because back when they first started before I began playing along they had no themes.  Here was my first offering:

el elevado

• 2 oz crema de mescal
• ½ oz aquavit
• 1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
• ¾ oz fresh lime juice
• ½ oz Cointreau
• ½ oz yellow Chartreuse
• 1 dash celery bitters
• celery stalk for garnish
  

shake and strain into Nambé Tilt DOF Glass over fresh (large) rock(s), garnish with celery stalk

I based this on the excellent Loop Tonic by Phil Ward of Mayahuel.  (Although I'm ashamed to admit I've not yet made it there, and in fact had the drink at Momofuku ssäm bar, where I am not ashamed to admit I go quite often, and which now has a very nice cocktail program including not only superb new concoctions such as the celery&nori (nori-infused laird's applejack, celery syrup, celery bitters), but pays tribute with some highlights from other notable dens, as well as properly crafted classics.)  The "Loop" reminds me of Chicago, which made me think of the El trains, and the mescal is Mexican, which is how the name el elevado found its way to my mind's egress.  From the link above:

Loop Tonic

• 2 oz Heradura Silver
• 1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
• ¾ oz freshly squeezed lime juice
• ½ oz simple syrup
• ½ oz green Chartreuse
• Dash of the Bitter Truth celery bitters
• One celery stalk

Combine all the liquid ingredients in a shaker. Add about 5 ice cubes and shake vigorously for 5–10 seconds. Strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with the celery stick.

The final version of mine didn't land as far away from the Loop Tonic as I had intended and would have liked.  I was hoping I could cut out the simple and dial back the chartreuse and use the 10% agave in the crema and addition of aquavit to achieve a similar balance of sweetness and herbal complexity, but it needed further tweaking and this is where it led me.  Other than the smoke from the mescal, it has only very subtle differences from the Loop, with perhaps a bit more richness.  But that said, the Loop is great, and smoke is nice, so a smoky Loop is not so bad, just not as original as would be ideal.

NyQuil Lightning

'Tis the season, so the theme for this week's TDN  (happening right now) was (is) Hot Drinks:

As the blood-cracked, icy fingers of winter descend upon the Land of Mixology, we turn to one final respite. One last hope to cope with the cold. Warm cocktails. Toddies, slings, butters, wrinkles, and hoozles. Bring your thermos and join the festivities!

After being somewhat at a loss for ideas for origional hot drinks and considering sitting this week out, inspiration struck.  I had read a Paul Clarke post indicating Green Chartreuse paired well with Hot Chocolate, so I decided to simulate the hot chocolate by generously spiking hot milk with Xocolatl Mole Bitters, which led me to this drink I find pleasing and complex:

NyQuil Lightning

• 1 oz Green Chartreuse
• ¾ oz Rye (Overholt)
• 4 oz hot milk
• 6 dashes Xocolatl Mole Bitters

stir and sweet dreams

Aroostook War

This week's theme for the Mixoloseum's TDN was grapefruit, so I set out to come up withsome drinks using it.  I started with finding some drinks with citrus and swapping the lemon or lime for the grapefruit and tweaking from there.  I thought this was a good excuse to come up with a Lumber Jacques variation, since I loved it so much and was already tempted to steal the recipe.  Here's what I ended up with:

Aroostook War

• 1½ oz rye (baby sazerac)
• 1 oz yellow chartreuse
• 1 oz grapefruit juice
• ¼ oz grade B maple syrup
• fresh ginger slice
• 2 dashes Bitter Truth orange bitters

muddle ginger with maple and bitters, add other ingredients, shake and double strain over fresh rocks in a glass; grapefruit twist garnish

The Aroostook War, also referred to as the Lumberjack's War, was a confrontation between the US and Great Britain over the border between Canada and Maine.  And I thought it had a nice ring to it, thus the name.

Speaking of muddling, the PUG muddler is what you should use. They are beautiful, tall enough to easily reach the bottom of the glass, comfortable, and very effective. They are hand turned by Chris Gallagher, and when I got mine they were not available retail anywhere and I had to order directly from him at jcgallagher08/at/hotmail/dot/com, although they seem to be available from The Boston Shaker currently.  He makes them in a variety of woods, some with varying availability.  The standard woods are maple, cherry and jatoba woods, but when I contacted him he also had mexican rosewood (bocote), figured maple and osage orange.  The rosewood is what I got and what you see here.  One would make a great stocking stuffer if you're looking for a nice gift, I'd say.

Green Lantern Cocktail

Another month, another Mixology Monday. This MxMo's theme is Vermouth, hosted by Vidiot at Cocktalians. In my usual tradition, I've got two drinks, one with Italian vermouth and this one using Dolin Blanc. Both of these are doing double duty in another way, since I came up with them for recent TDNs.

This drink I came up with last night for the theme: "Not Absinthe: Aquavit, Arak, Anisette, Becherovka, Pernod, Ricard, Sambuca - any anise spirit that isn't absinthe!"

Green Lantern

• 1½ oz Akvavit (Aalborg)
• 1 oz Green Chartreuse
• ½ oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
  
• 1 dash Celery Bitters

Stir and strain into brandy snifter and garnish with Hal Jordan's ring fashioned from a slice of jalapeño.

Now, you certainly have to like both aquavit and chartreuse to enjoy this drink, but that said, I think they do play nicely and cut some of each other's harshness. The Dolin mellows it even more and adds some floral notes. The celery bitters seem to be made for aquavit they go together so well. I usually reflexively add an extra dash of bitters to many recipes because I tend to really like them, but here just the one dash is perfect, two is too much. And the jalapeño is purely for the visual to complete the association with the name, I could not resist. Green Lantern was by far my favorite comic growing up. Heck, still is I suppose. I really hope the movie doesn't suck.

I also toyed with adding one of those light up fake ice cubes to make the name more apropos:

Here it is with the lights off. Didn't photograph too well, but it was a fun effect in reality.