March Drink of the Month - Harvey's Firecracker

Sometimes, the best riffs are the simplest ones. Take something that is already good on its own and add one ingredient to pump up the flavor. That is what we did down in the bar laboratory last month, seeking to improve on a classic: The Harvey Wallbanger. A simple combination of vodka, orange juice, and Galliano (an anise-flavored liqueur with strong vanilla notes, making it much sweeter than its cousins Pernod and Sambuca). Frequent collaborator and friend of the bar Zack and I took that simple mix and played around for a bit, resulting in our cocktail for the month.

Before we dive in to the drink, who is Harvey Wallbanger you may ask? Well, according to historian David Wonderich, he was probably just made up to help sell Galliano. The many stories around the drink's inception were revealed to be fictional, the work of advertising executives who wanted to tap into the "California cool" vibes of the 60s in order to sell more bottles of the key ingredient. Those executives took the classic Screwdriver (vodka and OJ) and added in their new product. The resulting concoction adds some sweetness and some bitter, making the drink a little more complex.

The Harvey Wallbanger was one of the first drinks I learned how to make when I took an online bartending class. The class was a joke, and the key learning for the series seemed to be teaching prospective mixologists how to build complicated drinks with naughty names. A Screwdriver in a highball glass becomes as "long screw." Add some sloe gin, and it is a "sloe, long screw." Add some Galliano (making it a Harvey Wallbanger with a sloe gin float) and you have a "sloe, long screw up against a wall." Southern Comfort makes it a comfortable screw, and so on. Apparently this bartending class has a dirty mind, but this was the language for call drinks before the cocktail revolution.

I suppose if you were to categorize the drink Zack and I came up with, you could call it a "fiery screw up against the wall." We added one of citrus' best friends, jalapeno. The spice of the jalapeno mixes well with the orange juice, and adds another note to the anise/vanilla. Adding jalapeno gives you citrus/spice and sweet/spice combos, which are both delicious. We simply subbed 0.25 oz of vodka for the jalapeno spirit (a little goes a long way), and went to town. When it came time to name the drink, I asked Zack to use Google translate to convert "Wallbanger" into Spanish. He put "wall" and "banger" in separately and came up with "pared petardo." Which is funny. But I was curious what "petardo" really meant - surely there is not a Spanish word that just means "banger." It turns out "petardo" is firecracker, which rolls of the tongue nicely. So we settled on Harvey's Firecracker, the recipe for which you can find below:

In a mixing tin, combine the following:

1.25 oz vodka
3 oz fresh orange juice
0.5 oz Galliano
0.25 oz Jalapeno liquor*

Shake over ice, strain into a cocktail glass, with an orange peel garnish.

*We used Journeyman Humdinger Jalapeno, but any spicy spirit will work

I hope you enjoy your Harvey's Firecracker! Up Against a Wall or otherwise!

February Drink of the Month: The Mezcal Bisou

And now for a novel concept, a "Bar Kiley" article actually published in the month for which it was scheduled. Friend of the blog Zack suggested that I wait to write anything for February until Ann and I returned from our trip to New Orleans and the Florida panhandle. This was an excellent suggestion, as our time in New Orleans produced some wonderful opportunities to try new drinks and meet new people. While I won't try to reproduce a Pat O'Brien's hurricane or a Tropical Isle hand grenade (both excellent drinks for Bourbon Street shenanigans, but not the best for sipping slowly), I will highly recommend that anyone with a free afternoon make the trip up the street car on Canal Street to midtown and check out the Revel Cafe & Bar.

Ann and I made the trip on the recommendation of Fr. Bill Dailey, CSC - noted chaplain to DC Craft Cocktail Bartenders Guild and sometimes panelist at Tales of the Cocktail (and a Catholic priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and lawyer to boot). Fr. Bill (@wrdcsc on twitter - worth a follow) has never steered me wrong with a recommendation before (Two Birds, One Stone in DC was another excellent find), but I am extremely grateful for the afternoon we had on his suggestion. We walked off the street car, and could see Revel Cafe & Bar from the station. We walked in to find one couple eating in the dining area and one couple at the bar. Ann and I sat at the bar, and were warmly greeted by Laura McMillian, who was working the bar that day. With slow business, she was happy to chat as she methodically (but expertly) fixed a French 75 for the folks at the end of the bar. We told her of Fr. Bill's direction, and she happily introduced us to her husband and co-owner, Chris McMillian. The two of them are world-renowned bartenders, and are founders of the Museum of the American Cocktail. But Chris was more interested in telling us about cutting the cord from cable than resting on his laurels, which was refreshing.

Ann and I enjoyed a two hour lunch with these warm, inviting folks, sipping cocktails and sharing stories. And what cocktails we did sip! Their list of New Orleans classic cocktails is worth the trip alone. I had a wonderful, well-shaken Ramos Gin Fizz, and Ann has a Pimm's cup that was a million miles better than any I've ever made. I think I might try to reproduce Chris's Pimm's Cup in a month or two - as compared to the New Orleans standard at the Napoleon House, it is much more Pimm's forward, and eschews lemon-line soda/ginger ale for actual lemon juice and soda water. He also uses thin peels of cucumber instead of coins, as I always assumed was standard. Anyway, that's fodder for another month (but it was excellent).

We went off menu for round two. Ann was treated to a Queen's Park Swizzle (a proto-mojito, so she was drinking rum and in her happy place). It was hard for me to order off-menu, as their original cocktail menu was quite long, and looked excellent, but I had a craving for mezcal, and they had an extensive selection of Del Maguey. Laura suggested a mix of grapefruit and mezcal, a combination she promised would work like "peanut butter and jelly." I had my doubts - I had visions of a bitter cocktail, like the first time I ever made lemoncello and threw way too much pith into the infusion (that first sip still haunts me - and we made 2 liters worth, that I felt compelled not to waste). But Laura seemed reliable, and so I went with her suggestion.

The resulting cocktail, a "mezcal bisou (kiss)," was a wonderful combination of sour, sweet, and smoky. Magically, the mezcal did something to cancel out the bitter after-taste one often finds with grapefruit. I don't know what science or miracles occurred in that glass, but I am more than happy to reproduce it in my home bar (with surprisingly similar results). Laura was kind enough to share her recipe with me, which I will faithfully reproduce below:

In a cocktail shaker, combine the following ingredients:
1 oz mezcal (joven)
1 oz grapefruit vodka*
1/2 oz fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup

Shake over ice, strain into a coupe or nick and nora glass. Garnish with an orange peel.

*Laura used Absolut Ruby Red. I went for Deep Eddy, so pick your poison.

I hope you enjoy your Mezcal Bizou

January Drink of the Month: The "Gussied Up" Caipirinha

A few confessions at the start today:

1) Today is February 25 - clearly, we're not in January any more Toto.

Charlie @ the bar - just crawling, not partaking

2) I neglected to take any pictures of this month's drink - so prepare for pictures of cute *almost* one-year-olds on top of my bar instead. Also, I turned my bar into a "sports bar" last month by finally adding a TV (we've had it wired for cable for the last 6 months), so I'll show you that too. I'm pretty happy about it.

3) My drink for the month is based on an excellent drink from Sylvain in New Orleans, by way of Imbibe magazine. However, their drink (the "Rat Race Cocktail") required more work than I was willing to put in this time around. Their drink is superior to the one I'll be writing about, as it uses Rosemary-infused simple syrup instead of plain-jane stuff. I have excuses (Ann doesn't like rosemary, ain't nobody got time for that, etc), but its also safe to say that I've failed you. As a result, I can't call the drink a proper "Rat Race," so I settled for a call-back to what I imagine is the drink's inspiration, the Caipirinha. The folks at Sylvain did some cool stuff to improve on the Brazilian classic, adding soda water and sloe gin (and rosemary). There is a long tradition of calling such cocktails "Improved" versions of the original (see: Improved Genever Cocktail), but I'm feeling old today, so I went for a 50's term and "Gussied it up" instead, since its much fancier.

So, with those disclaimers out of the way, here is our drink for the month! As long-time readers may recall, the Caipirinha (or "Little Hillbilly") is a simple drink made with Cachaça (Brazilian fermented sugar cane juice), lime, and sugar. Cachaça has nice earthy and somewhat vegetal notes that play well with sweetened lime juice. I imagine the inspiration for the "Rat Race" began here. The folks at Sylvain then (possibly) improved on the formula by adding sweetly complex sloe gin and rosemary. The sloe gin plays nicely with all of the ingredients, adding sweetness and berry notes to the earthy Cachaça, I will caution you to only use real sloe gin here, not bottom shelf stuff. Plymoth Sloe Gin is finally widely available again, so treat yourself to a bottle (and enjoy a Sloe Gin Fizz on a warm day, whenever that may be - so cold).

Try this drink at your favorite sports bar.
This is my new personal favorite.

Here is the recipe for my Gussied Up Caipirinha. Note that if you sub out the simple syrup for rosemary simple syrup, that you'll do the folks at Sylvain proud:

In a cocktail shaker, combine the following:
1 oz Cachaça
1 oz Sloe gin
1 oz lime juice
1/2 oz simple syrup

Shake over ice, strain into a Collins glass filled with ice. Top with soda water (~1 oz) and serve.

I hope you enjoy your Gussied Up Caipirinha!

December Drink of the Month - Hot Buttered Rum

I've been making a lot of fun drinks this month, and I've gone through a couple of possible Drinks of the Month over the past few weeks. I considered  few, and some might make it into the new few months (hello new uses for cachaca), but everything changed once the temperature dropped and we got a white Christmas in South Bend. From that point on, as we froze going from our car to the store, only a warm drink made any sense. Luckily, I'd just begun reading the excellent Smuggler's Cove book that I got from my birthday last year (yes, I know that was last January, but we had a baby, so sue me). They have an excellent recipe for Hot Buttered Rum, and I promptly whipped up a batch for Christmas, and then another to take to my parents once we went through the whole first batch.

The Smuggler's Cove recipe is genius, in that you can make up most of the drink ahead of time. Once you've whipped up their "batter," all you need to do is add rum and hot water to serve. The batter takes 15-20 minutes to take, and is good until the butter you use passes its expiration date. We adjusted down their recipe and changed one or two ingredients, but the gist is still the same. Below is the recipe for the buttered "batter," and the drink recipe will follow.

For the "Batter":

Pre-batched Batter

First, prepare the spice mixture for the batter - 1/2 teaspoon of each of the following: cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice, black pepper, and ginger. Combine, and set aside for later. In a sauce pot, melt 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter over a low heat. Once the butter has melted, add 2 cups brown sugar, and stir to combine fully. Add 1 tablespoon of molasses and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and combine. Finally, add spice mixture, and stir over low heat until butter is completely integrated into the mixture (it will tend to separate out initially - keep stirring until it is fully incorporated). Allow the mixture to cool slightly, and then pour into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator.

For the Hot Buttered Rum:

In a ceramic or glass coffee mug, combine 3 barspoons of the rum batter with 1 1/2 ounces of aged (golden) rum.* Top with 6 ounces of hot water, and stir until the batter is completely dissolved.

*Dark rum also works for this recipe - we used the Plantation overproof dark rum, and that packed a significant kick! But mostly we drank these with Appleton Estate Signature Blend, and that was just fine!

We hope you enjoy your hot buttered rum!

November "Drink" of the Month - Bourbon Balls

Is it possible to ever tire of drinking excellently crafted cocktails? While it would be easy to overdo it in one evening... I don't think I would ever turn down an excellent drink if offered one. However, if you should ever tire of drinking fine cocktails and spirits, the good news is that you can also eat fine spirits! There are lots of options: tiramisu, whiskey glazed anything, rum cake, etc. One of my favorites, however, are Kentucky Bourbon Balls - bourbon infused fudge coated with chocolate and usually topped with a pecan half.

Since Thanksgiving is the time for cooking, baking, and an overdose of deserts, we decided to make bourbon balls this past weekend. Because I'm a prude, and dislike chocolate (I know, I'm the worst), we coated our bourbon balls with white chocolate instead of milk chocolate. We followed a recipe, but worked mostly with found objects - so we were a little light on chopped nuts. The result was a fudge that was a little runny, which made coating the fudge balls with chocolate quite difficult. I've included a picture of my one perfect ball, but the rest were a mess. While they were not the most visually appealing, they were delicious... and boozy as heck. Should you make your own bourbon balls, make sure not to skimp on the nuts, and remember that the freezer is your best friend. Keeping bourbon balls out at room temperature will lead to a runny mess, so your finished product should remain in the fridge/freezer.

Below is the recipe for bourbon balls. I've combined the Imbibe magazine recipe that we used with some helpful insight from the Food Network recipe. Since this is my recipe, I'm going to use white chocolate, but feel free to sub for semi-sweet/milk chocolate chips instead. Here is my recipe for bourbon balls:

Finely chop 3/4 to 1 cups of walnuts. Place in a mason jar, and cover with 5 tbsp of bourbon. Allow

the nuts to soak in bourbon overnight.

The following day, combine the following in a mixing bowl:

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

3/4-1 cups bourbon-soaked chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix using a hand-mixer until smooth and elements are fully combined. Place in refrigerator and allow to cool for 1-2 hours.

Form fudge mix into small balls (between 1/2-3/4" in diameter), place balls on wax-paper lined cookies sheet. Freeze balls for 1-2 hours.

Melt one package of (white) chocolate chips in double boiler or similar. Dip balls into melted chocolate using a toothpick. Spin to coat. Place coated balls back on wax paper, cover toothpick hole with pecan half. Return to freezer until ready to serve.

 

I hope you enjoy your bourbon balls!

October Drink of the Month - Fallen Patriot

This month's drink is not an original, but rather came across my desk from Imbibe Magazine, by way of the Teardrop Lounge in Portland, Oregon. While it may not be one of my originals, it is what I drank almost exclusively during the month of October, so it seems worthy of inclusion into the blog roll. As an additional bonus, this is one of the few bourbon cocktails that Ann will drink, so it is a major winner in my book.

According to Imbibe, the inspiration for this drink is a classic - the Lion's Tail (bourbon, allspice dram, lime juice, gomme syrup, and bitters). I can see the inspiration, but the Fallen Patriot feels to me more like a winter-y mint julep with a hint of the tropics. Teardrop Lounge introduces a complex-flavored cordial for sweetness: Licor 43 (sometimes called Cuarenta y Tres). Licor 43 is most often used to make Key Lime flavored cocktails because of its vanilla body and lime finish. It plays nicely with the baking spice flavors found in allspice dram. The resulting sweet and spicy combo is mixed with bourbon, lime and fresh mint to make the Fallen Patriot. The result is a drink with just as much sweetness and mint-y finish as a mint julep, but with some fun additions! Fresh citrus from the lime, vanilla warmth from the Licor 43, and cinnamon/nutmeg/clove from the allspice dram. It's a great drink for a fall day spent watching ND football!

Sadly, I did not capture any pictures this month, but I do have the recipe for the Fallen Patriot to share:

In a mixing glass, combine the following ingredients:
2 oz bourbon (I like a wheated bourbon for this)*
0.75 oz Licor 34
0.75 oz lime juice
0.25 oz allspice dram
10 mint leaves

Shake over ice for 12-15 seconds until the mint is well pulverized. Double strain into a coupe glass to remover any mint particles. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

*Larceny is a good mid-range wheated bourbon. I use Buggy Whip Wheat Whiskey from Journeyman Distillery, which is excellent.

I hope you enjoy your Fallen Patriot!

September Drink of the Month: The Dribbly Pear

Sometimes you create an awesome drink and then sit for hours, scratching your head, trying to come up with a name to give it justice. In case you were wondering, this is not one of those drinks. The flip side of this phenomenon is when you are gifted a wonderful (or in this case, a "so terrible its wonderful") name, and have to come up with a drink to accompany the name. For the month of September, I was challenged by my lovely wife to come up with a drink called a "Dribbly Pear," named after the company of a particularly frustrating camp instructor that contracted at Saint Mary's this past summer. It is a nonsense name, and so the challenge became how to construct a drink to fit the profile.

Clearly we needed to begin with pear. I posed this "build a drink from a name" challenge to sometimes collaborator and friend of the blog Zack, but with a crucial misspelling. I gave him the name "Dribly Pear" (only one "b"), which sent him down a rabbit-hole trying to find a definition of "Dribly." His best guess was related to a Boston-area surname, so he riffed on a Boston Sidecar, using pear eau de vie for brandy and pear nectar for Cointreau. It was a valiant effort, but despite our best intentions, the pear flavor got lost (pear eau de vie is fragile - easily overpowered - as is pear flavor in general).

So what do we do to help bring out the pear? My first instinct was to wrap in white wine. It has a robust, noticeable flavor, but it is delicate enough to enhance and not drown out pear flavor. I also wanted gin, to add a little floral/botanical note without bumping in too much extra funk. Turns out, even the gin was too strong in this drink. I needed a base flavor that would enhance the pear flavor, not overpower it. I settled on the bottle of Żubrówka that has been sitting around since March, and never looked back. My final concoction was meant to be a summer sipper. Light, floral, easy to "dribble" down your chin as you take a sip on the porch or on the beach. This drink takes a little prep (20 minutes to reduce some Riesling and an hour to cool the resultant syrup), but it can still be worth your while during the last few days of Indian Summer we are experiencing! The Żubrówka and Riesling syrup taken together lend an almost caramel flavor to base pear notes in the drink, while a splash of soda water keeps everything light and sunny. Here's the recipe to follow along at home:

In a mixing glass, combine the following:
1.5 oz Żubrówka (Bison Grass Vodka)
0.75 oz Riesling Syrup*
0.75 oz pear nectar**

Shave over ice, and strain into a collins glass filled with ice. Top with ~1 oz sparking water. Garnish with a thin pear slice.

*For the Riesling syrup: Heat 2 cups of sweet Riesling over high heat, until boiling. Continue boiling until wine has reduced by half. Reduce heat, stir in one cup granulated sugar. Take off stove and allow to come to room temperature. Cool in refrigerator at least one hour before serving. Use within two weeks.

*I used Goya fruit nectars, available at most Mexican groceries (or in the Hispanic section of many large chains). If you want to be fancy, you could use fresh pear juice with some of the pulp retained, but I wasn't that ambitious this time.

I hope you enjoy your Dribbly Pear!