Month: January 2015

Day 31: Whisler’s Brooklyn

  • 2 oz rye
  • 1 oz dry vermouth
  • 1/2 oz Averna
  • maraschino cherry and orange peel to garnish

This afternoon William and I introduced some friends to Jodorowsky’s Dune, a documentary that we saw at Fantastic Fest 2013. It’s a really amazing film about when Alejandro Jodorowsky tried to make Dune into a film in the late 70’s. The film was never actually made, but it influenced many films for years after even so, and many of the creatives on the project went on to continue working relationships to make some of our favorite films. (Alien, in particular, would probably not have existed in the same form if Dan O’Bannon, H.R. Giger, Chris Foss, and Mœbius had not worked together on Dune.) We had some great discussions on the creative process and how the film landscape of America might be completely different had this film been made.

Afterwards we went for drinks at Whisler’s in East Austin. Whisler’s bartenders are famous for their “three questions” on slow nights, where they ask you three questions and then custom make a drink. It being a Saturday night it was far too busy for that, so we ordered off the menu. I had a classic Zombie, but another friend had their version of the Manhattan called a Brooklyn. I made sure to make a note of the ingredients and as soon as I got home I knew I wanted to recreate it for tonight’s drink. I think I did a decent job of it! You might increase the Averna if you want a more fragrant drink.

Day 30: Aquadisiac

  • 2 oz gold rum
  • 1 oz lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz Orgeat syrup
  • 1/2 oz blue curaçao

My brother was having a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy themed birthday party tonight, so I offered to make Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters for the event. All the recipes I found online for this fictional drink looked absolutely awful, so I decided to find something in the tiki book. I figured blue curaçao would be apt, as well as something that included lemon. I found the Aquadisiac. It turned out mostly ok. I specifically asked that my brother pick up a gold Barbados rum, and this one was not my favorite. I don’t have a ton of experience with Barbados rum, so maybe next time we’ll try something different.

Day 28: Garage Peter Sellers

  • 1 1/2 oz rye
  • 1 1/2 oz gin
  • 1 oz apple brandy
  • 1 oz vermouth
  • dash of aromatic bitters

I wanted to start a new feature, so welcome to whiskey Wednesday! Unfortunately we are starting off with one that I did not quite get right. It’s another recipe from Garage, and one that I haven’t tried making yet. This try was definitely too heavy on the gin. I think next time I’ll add more rye and decrease everything else, except for maybe the brandy.

Day 27: Bali Bali

  • 1 oz lime juice
  • 1 oz orange juice
  • 1 oz pineapple juice
  • 1 oz dark rum
  • 1 oz light rum
  • 1 oz gin
  • 1 oz Cognac
  • 1/2 oz simple syrup
  • 1/2 oz falernum
  • 1/2 oz passion fruit syrup

Here’s another doozy of a tiki drink. Four whole ounces of booze, and so easy to drink! Falernum is a syrup that I’ve heard of before but never used myself, and I’m pretty much in love.

Day 26: Pisco Cup

  • 2 oz ruby port
  • 1 oz pisco
  • 2 dashes orange bitters
  • orange twist to garnish

I picked up some pisco on my last liquor store trip on a whim. While looking around for recipes today I found this one, which I wanted to try because it uses port. (I’ve recently started becoming curious about cocktails that use various wines.) I expected this to be sweeter than it was, but my guess is that the port I used was not as sweet as I am used to. The pisco gave it a sort of earthy sourness that surprised me. I look forward to experimenting more with pisco.

Day 25: Kikuya Lapu

  • 1/4 oz cranberry juice
  • 1/2 oz lime juice
  • 3/4 oz orange juice
  • 3/4 oz pineapple juice
  • 3/4 oz grapefruit juice
  • 3/4 passionfruit syrup
  • 3/4 oz honey syrup
  • 1 1/2 oz dark rum
  • 1/2 oz 151 rum
  • dash Angostura
  • 6 drops herbsaint
  • 3 drops almond extract

When I saw this recipe in the book I was amazed to discover that I had all of the juices needed for it in the house already. SO MANY JUICES. The almond extract gives it a nice fragrance, and the assortment of juices ends up blending into a non-specific “tropical” flavor. This, like a lot of tiki drinks, is very easy to drink and will probably get you very drunk very quickly if you don’t watch out.

I also learned a bit about the drink’s namesake, Lapu Lapu. Who knew that making cocktails could also teach you about history?

Day 24: Don’s Special Daiquiri

  • 1 oz dark rum
  • 1/2 oz light rum
  • 1/2 oz Passion Fruit syrup
  • 1/2 oz honey syrup
  • 1/2 oz lime juice

I showed a colleague of mine the blog because I knew he was also a cocktail fan. The next day he lent me his tiki book. I spent most of Friday making as many cocktails as I could based on what I had in the house, just to practice a bit. The book is absolutely fantastic! I am definitely picking up a copy of my own at some point.

I got some Passion Fruit syrup when I made a liquor store run today since I noticed that so many recipes used it. The recipe calls for “gold Jamaican rum” and “light Puerto Rican rum”, so I used what I found to be close enough. (The book actually has a really good section on types of rums that I will use when I make up my next shopping list). This was pretty sweet, and easy to drink. I might try a more boozy variation at some point.

Day 23: Mai Tai

  • 1 oz dark rum
  • 1 oz light rum
  • juice of one lime
  • 1/2 Orgeat syrup
  • 1/2 orange curaçao

A few years ago we threw a “July in Christmas” party, which was basically a beach-themed party in the middle of winter. I decided to mix up a big punch bowl full of Mai Tai. Shortly before the party Dane came home from running some errands. “Oh, you’ve got the punch ready!” He tried a little bit, then looked me dead in the eye and said “You can’t serve this to people, you are going to kill them. We’re going to have people passed out all over the lawn.” So we added about a carton of orange juice to the bowl.

So. Mai Tais are a pretty powerful cocktail, not well suited to serving out of a punch bowl. I still have a zillion limes at home and I’ve been inclined to make drinks that remind me of summer (even though nothing is alive right now to make a proper garnish), so today you get another rum drink. I’m thinking of trying a new light rum next time I hit the store. If you have any suggestions, send them my way.

Day 22: Suffering Bastard

  • 1 oz gin
  • 1 oz bourbon
  • juice of two limes
  • 1/2 oz simple
  • dash of Angostura
  • top with ginger beer

The Suffering Bastard is one of Dane’s favorite drinks. I always forget that it’s in the tiki family! Lots of variations abound for this one, and the recipe I was looking at used 1/2 oz of ginger ale and then topped with club soda. That seemed unnecessarily complicated, so I just used ginger beer for more bite. Normally I don’t like ginger beer (too spicy) but even I had a sip or two of this. It’s also got a fantastic name for a cocktail.