The Moroccan Mint Fix

Continuing my exploration of teas and their uses in cocktails, I came up with this idea of not only infusing spirits with mint tea, but also combining the spirits. My inspiration for this came about as I was thinking of my favorite spirits and drinks. This last summer I had toyed with doing a remix of the mojito using gin, mint, and rosemary, but it never came to pass. Lately I have been mixing my 2 favorite spirits, gin and rum, to make a sort of gin/rum sour. So I thought, why not combine all of these ideas.

I started with the spirits, gin and rum, in a 4:3 ratio infused with morrocan, spearmint, and a little peppermint. I let it soak in for probably 6 hours. Mint doesn’t tend to get overly bitter when steeped, so I wasn’t really worried about that, I just soaked until the aroma was what I felt it should be.

Mint Liquor
400ml Tanqueray Rangpur (I used this for the lime flavor hoping that it wouldn’t limit me too much by having that additional flavor)
300ml Cruzan White Aged Rum
2 Tbsp Morrocan Mint Tea
2 tsp Spearmint
1 tsp Peppermint
Infuse mint in spirits for 4-6 hours, or until flavor profile is to your liking.

After I had this prepared, I was thinking through different ideas and I really had a hankering for some ice cream, so I thought I would mix up a substitute. This was a trial run and will need some tinkering, but here’s what I came up with.

Moroccan Mint Fix
1 1/2 oz Mint Liquor
1/2 oz Godiva chocolate liqueur
1 egg white
2 oz cream
Shake long and hard with ice, strain into cocktail glass and top with a splash of soda water

I liked the first attempt, but I thought that it was not quite bold enough. All in all a drink that was rich and creamy with some chocolate mint playing around the edges, but not exactly what I had tasted in my head. Originally I had omitted lime juice, fearing that it would be too much, but I think that the drink needs a little lime juice, as well as a little fresh mint to brighten up the flavors.
Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Vintage Cocktails #2: The Alamagoozlum

First appearing in The Gentleman’s Companion, or Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask (1939) by Charles Baker,
The Alamagoozlum Cocktail is the next exploration of the vintage spirits. Reportedly created by the one and only J.P. Morgan, this is an unusual drink in that it calls for an extraordinary amount of ingredients, as well as an unusually large dose of bitters.

This particular cocktail will probably be one that I will leave to the books and not partake of for a long time, if ever.
While I am a fan of gin and rum together, as well as using egg whites in cocktails, The large amount of bitters, coupled with the chartreuse created a drink that for me was far too spicy and complex. Perhaps either dialing down the bitters, and/or reducing the Chartreuse may create a drink more to my liking, but as far as J.P.’s cocktail, this one is a bust for me.

The Alamagoozlum
1/2 Egg White
2 oz Genever Gin
2 oz water
1 1/2 oz Jamaican Rum
1 1/2 oz Chartreuse
1 1/2 oz gomme Syrup
1/2 oz Orange Curacao
1/2 oz Angostura Bitters
Shake long and hard in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into several chilled glasses.

A note on gomme syrup. Gomme syrup is purely simple syrup combined with gum arabic. The gum arabic was added to the simple syrup to add a smoother, silky feel to the cocktail. My feeling is that in this drink, the egg white adds plenty of texture, and plain old simple syrup will suffice.

World’s Strongest Beer

A new beer on the market has unthroned Scottish Brewdog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin (which weighed in at 32abv) as the strongest beer in the world. Now the title appears to have been taken by a Germany company who has come up with an even stronger brew.

Schorschbrau has created the Schorschbock 40, which as it’s name suggests is a whopping 40abv. The whisky-like brew has gone on sale in Scotland where it sells for £10 a glass.

The beer is sold in .33 liter ceramic bottles. Each one is signed and hand-numbered by the brewmaster. Bottles are sealed with wax by hand and come in a wooden case with a transparent window on one side. Only around 40 bottles have been made.

Now I am not really sure if this should be categorized as a beer, or as a new class of malt beverage, but I do know that no one will be pounding pints of this while remaining standing for very long.

St Germain Elderflower Liqueur

I have been meaning to post this for months, so I guess I’ll get on with it.

What is St Germain Liqueur? Well, St. Germain is an artisanal French liqueur made from hand-picked elderflower blossoms. The white flowers are gathered in the foothills of the Alps for only a few days in late spring. Then, 40-50 men pedal the Alpen French countryside delivering the delicate blossoms to be distilled into this nectar. Blended with a small amount of citrus and natural cane sugar to accentuate the subtle flavor of the elderflowers, and then combined with eau-de-vie, the resulting liqueur is delicate and balanced with fresh floral aromas and flavors and hints of pear, apricot and grapefruit zest.

Winning a double Gold Medal at the 2007 and 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, St Germain Liqueur is a great addition to any home bar, or cocktail menu. The floral aromas lend itself to being paired with citrus based concoctions, as well as gin and champagne cocktails, and it’s relatively low proof of 40ABV, allows it to be versatile without overpowering other ingredients. I would be very interested in trying some of this out in the culinary arena.

True Originals #2: The Hummingbird

True Originals #1: The Samurai

Beer Wars: The Movie

Looks to be an interesting documentary on the craft breweries vs the big dog commercial brewers.

Check out all the info at Beer Wars

The Liquor Store

So the other day I go into the liquor store, grab 2 bottles and head straight for the checkout.
The cashier looks at me, looks at my items, looks at me again with a puzzled face and the conversation goes something like this:

“That’s an interesting combination you got there.”
“Why yes it is”
“What are you going to do with those?”
“Oh, I am going through a classic cocktail book and making all the drinks, and I needed these
two ingredients.”
“You’re not mixing those together are you?!”
“Umm, no, they’re for different drinks.”
“I see. Well, good luck?”

Apparently, not many people buy these said ingredients, and fewer of them still look like they need to have their ID checked. Oh well, such is my misunderstood life of soon to be cocktail knowledge and snobbery.

Vintage Cocktails: #1 The Algonquin

Here commences the inaugural post of the Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails challenge.

If I may be permitted to already leave the alphabetical structure of the book, and move to the second drink listed.  The reason for this is quite simple actually.  I get home from work a little early and decide to make a drink while I do some work that needs to be done.  I open my book, but to my disappointment, drink #1 is a recipe for 3 drinks at once.  Doable I guess, but it calls for half an egg white, and as the author points out, it is extremely difficult to measure half of a little goopy egg white.  Also, 6 drinks is really far more than anyone should consume at one time, so off to number 2 we go.

The Algonquin
1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (I used Old Overholt)
3/4 oz Dry Vermouth
3/4 oz Pineapple syrup
Shake in an iced shaker and strain.

Now, when I say an iced shaker I mean a boston tin packed to to top with ice!  I would probably also normally double strain my drink into my chilled cocktail glass, but sometimes I really enjoy that layer of ice shards floating on top, so I didn’t.

I actually really enjoyed this cocktail.  I was pleasantly surprised as I don’t really have a love for wines or fortified wines.  Also, Pineapple syrup? Weird.  What I found was that the vermouth complements the spiciness of the rye, and the pineapple provides the necessary sweetness, without distracting from the flavors.  I could find myself drinking this drink on a semi-regular basis.

MxMo: Tea

This month while I knew of the topic of mixology monday far in advance, I failed to allow the creativity to flow in the appropriate amount of time. Therefore, I shall be posting a little lame drink and following it up with some more original cocktails. The topic this month is Tea, chosen by the cocktail virgin.

First off, I would like to share the Irish Mist. This is an original creation and may be made two ways. We could go for the slightly alcoholic version, or the I am for sure a man but I also drink tea version. This drink is based on whiskey for the strong, and irish cream for the weak.

Irish Mist
2oz whiskey or irish cream
6oz Earl Grey Tea
1/2oz Vanilla Syrup

Steep your tea for a full 5 min. Add whiskey or irish cream to warmed mug, add Vanilla syrup, and fill with tea.
A favorite of mine, and I like both versions, although I favor the weaker one as I love the rich flavor and texture that the cream imparts.

Next up is the Earl Grey MarTEAni, created by Audrey Saunders of the Pegu Club in NYC. This drink is essentially a tea infused gin sour, but is an excellent example of tea in a cocktail, and also a drink that is balanced in such a way to taste all of the different “tastes” that should be in a good cocktail.

Earl Grey MarTEAni
1 1/2oz Earl Grey infused Gin
3/4oz lemon juice
1oz simple syrup
1 egg white