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.
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?
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.
Teardrop is a beautiful bar in Portland, a short walk from my Air BnB when I was visiting for a work conference last year. I watched a bunch of business people order Piña Coladas, which was somehow very satisfying to me.
This is the first time I’ve made this one. The description in the menu is “earthy & cooling, with a tropical bounce”. Mine was off the mark but I could see where it was going. Their recipe uses pineapple gomme and I don’t have any gum arabic just lying around the house, so I just used some pineapple juice instead. To make up for the missing sweetness I upped the amount of Bénédictine I would normally use. Looking at it now I might have been better off adding some extra simple instead. This turned out a bit too earthy. I’d like to try making my own gomme syrups at home, and use less genever next time.
Muddle cucumber slices, then shake over ice with all ingredients. Strain into a rocks glass and garnish with another cucumber slice.
Wait. Have I somehow made it a full two weeks without a rum drink? Tonight we fix that. Here’s another from the Death & Co book, and yet another reason for me to practice my shaking. (I am extra terrible at shaking drinks.) The recipe calls for Cardamaro, which of course I didn’t have. I was reading up on it and as soon as I saw “artichoke” I thought: CYNAR! LET’S DO THIS.
This reminds me a lot of a Pimm’s Cup. I’m also starting to get over my fear of heavy-handed simple syrup use after these last two drinks. Generally I only use one or two barspoons of syrup because I don’t want my sweet tooth to oversweeten drinks for other people, but both of these drinks were well-balanced. I will definitely start playing with more syrups in addition to the heavily-boozy cocktails I often make.
Yesterday I went to the Death & Co book release tour at Half Step. Death & Co is a well-known bar in NYC that was featured in the documentary Hey Bartender, and I have also never been there. I had a couple of pretty damn good and interesting cocktails that I’ll have to try making later, and the book is beautiful. I thumbed through it this evening looking for a recipe and was unsurprised to find that I was missing at least one ingredient for most of the drinks I wanted to make. I did eventually find the Rusty Nail, which is a fairly well known cocktail that uses Drambuie. I originally bought a bottle of Drambuie for some other recipe and never could remember which one it was, so it’s been sitting unopened on the counter for several months now. I finally got to use it tonight!
The Death & Co recipe uses Springbank scotch and Bitter Truth aromatic bitters. The info I found online about Springbank oddly didn’t specify a region/style, so I had trouble determining what kind of substitute to make. I eventually settled on the Balcones Single Malt. Balcones has been my holy grail for a little while now and I somehow lucked into TWO bottles of it just this weekend, and flush with this bounty I felt I could spare a little for a cocktail. It’s a little peaty but with not as much iodine as an Islay, so I thought it would be a nice compliment to the Drambuie. As far as bitters go, I am finding more and more that I probably need another bottle of aromatics. Angostura is nice but it’s always obvious when you use it. The Nail could have used a more subtle touch, I think.
I’ve also noticed that my highball and rocks glasses all have a fair amount of calcium etching that becomes SUPER OBVIOUS when you take pictures using a nice camera. Anyone know of a way to resurface glasses to clear them back up?
Pour into rocks glass and stir.
This is a simple drink to make but doesn’t taste like it. This version of the recipe comes from Half Step, a bar on Rainey Street in Austin. The low-light, super classy cocktail bar has live jazz on certain nights and can seem incongruous next to the general hipster vibe of Rainey.
I used Red Handed, a Texas bourbon from Treaty Oak, just to be contrary. Bénédictine is a fairly sweet herbal liqueur that I see a used a lot to brighten up bourbon and whiskey cocktails. It’s also one that’s difficult to substitute for, so I recommend getting a bottle if you see a lot of recipes you like that use it.
Today I had a bit of a long day. I dropped my phone in some water and have been trying to dry it out, I snapped one of our outdoor hoses in half (long story), it was super cold and I might be coming down with something, AND we had out of town visitors arrive today. So when I finally reached mixing time I was a bit listless and wasn’t sure what to make. William suggested a new recipe for me: the Japanese Cocktail, a Jerry Thomas recipe. I love Orgeat and could always use it more often, plus this is a really simple recipe.
Because I was a little cranky I skipped the shaker and the coupe glass and opted to just stir this straight in a rocks glass. My current channel knife is nearly impossible to use so I did a simple slice of peel with a paring knife instead.
I know I’ve already done two drinks so far where the main liquor is brandy, but that is unusual for me. Even so, I really enjoyed this cocktail. The brandy is nice and smooth and the Orgeat makes it a fairly sweet drink. Very simple and clean while also being comforting, perfect to cheer me up a little before bed. I would like to try it again with some different bitters. This seems like a good excuse to go bitters shopping, which is rapidly becoming a great hobby of mine.
This is one recipe that I am continuously tweaking, depending on who is drinking it. The one for this post was made for my partner, who without fail will say “this is heavy on the allspice” if I make him this drink. Recipes online actually use 1/2 oz allspice, which I think might overpower everything else.
The Lion’s Tail is a perfect drink for winter. The allspice is tempered a bit with the citrus, but still lends a warming quality to the drink.
