Month: February 2015

Day 39: Bonfire Sutra

  • 1 1/2 oz whiskey
  • 3/4 Zirbenz stone pine liqueur
  • 1/2 oz Domaine de Canton
  • 1/2 oz dry vermouth
  • 4 dashes orange bitters

Sometime last year I was away on a business trip, I think when I was in Portland, and had a drink with Zirbenz. I knew immediately that it was something I wanted to get for Dane, as he has long described a fantasy drink of his that has a pine flavor. Unfortunately I’ve never seen it in Texas. I had a bit of luck while in Denver this week and found a bottle. I knew I wanted to make him a drink with it when I got back, so I searched a bit and found this recipe. It’s actually very low on the pine flavor. It’s something I might make again, though I’m more interested in experimenting with it to make his fantasy cocktail. I have several ideas for it, so you might be seeing it soon.

Day 38: Aviation

  • 2 oz gin
  • 3/4 oz lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz Maraschino liqueur
  • 1/4 oz Crème de violette

The Aviation is the first cocktail that really got me into gin, and it’s because Lisa made me one with Hendrick’s many years ago. My only previous experience with gin was with Tanqueray, which is heavy on the juniper and fairly unpleasant to me. Hendrick’s has a wonderful cucumber flavor that makes it very versatile in drinks for people who don’t care for heavy juniper flavors. I’ve since been branching out and trying other gins, and the Uncle Val’s is a new favorite, so of course I needed to try it in an Aviation. It is glorious in this cocktail! It’s a fresh, floral flavor profile.

Day 37: Between the Sheets

  • 1 1/2 oz dark rum
  • 1 oz cognac
  • 1/2 oz lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz curaçao

This is one that I saw on a menu and didn’t even realize that it was a classic with an established recipe. So I took a stab at at it on my own, and it’s definitely a bit off. Even with the dark rum it mostly tastes of citrus. The recipes I found also use light rum, so I’ll try and follow an existing recipe next time.

Day 36: Beachbum’s Own

  • 1 1/2 oz light rum
  • 1 1/4 oz gold rum
  • 3/4 oz lemon juice
  • 3/4 oz pineapple juice
  • 3/4 oz orange juice
  • 3/4 oz passion fruit syrup
  • 3/4 oz Licor 43

Here’s another sweet, easy drinker. This called for Demerara rum, which I don’t have, so I substituted the gold Angostura rum instead.

I also had the good fortune to visit Adrift last night,a tiki bar in Denver. I had an excellent Scorpion Bowl and a fine Mai Tai. I have now decided that I need one of those tiki punch bowls at home.

Day 34: Queen’s Park Hotel Super Cocktail

  • 1 1/2 oz gold rum
  • 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
  • 1/2 lime juice
  • 1/2 oz grenadine
  • 4 dashes Angostura

I tried to order the tiki book I’ve been borrowing from my coworker but they were out of stock on Amazon, so I decided to go ahead and pick up the newest one from Beachbum Berry. It’s a lot more storytelling than recipes, but it’s super interesting and does have a fair amount of punch recipes. I saw this one while flipping through it and the record four dashes of Angostura drew me in. It’s a fairly sweet drink with a nice tart mouthfeel.

Day 33: Martinez

  • 2 oz gin
  • 3/4 oz sweet vermouth
  • 1/4 oz maraschino liqueur
  • lemon twist to garnish

I’m out of town this week for work, so some of the recipes may not have pictures. I had a frenzy of cocktail making on Saturday when we had people over but forgot to take pictures of a lot of them!

The Martinez is a predecessor of the Martini. I haven’t made this one before, and from my reading using an Old Tom gin was recommended. I thought it worked well, giving a botanical flavor without too much bitterness that a lot of gins can impart.

Day 32: Rum Swizzle

  • 1 1/2 oz dark rum
  • 3/4 oz lime juice
  • 1/2 oz falernum
  • 3 dashes Angostura

I was searching online for recipes that used falernum and found this one. The recipe actually calls for Velvet Falernum, the alcoholic version. I’ve only found the non-alcoholic so far, so this is not quite as strong as intended. I found it to be very close to a Daiquiri. It was good, but I might up the falernum and maybe even the rum if I were to make it again.