Mmmmmm. So happy right now, I just invented my new favorite cocktail. Still working on a name. It's basically a variation on what would be an Apple Brandy Manhattan. 2 oz Laird's Apple Brandy (not Applejack -- you can use it but it will come out a bit bland) 3/4 oz Averna Amaro 1 small dash of Agnostura bitters 1 small dash of Regan's Orange bitters Stir with ice, strain into an Old Fashioned glass (no ice) Apple, slight sweetness from the Averna and then behind it the bitters blend for this wonderfully complex, spicy flavor. I've played around with cocktail recipes before to tweak them but this is the first recipe I came up with from scratch. I'd recently had an Amaro Manhattan that I enjoyed but found that the Averna wasn't really capturing the flavor (the bar that made me the original Manhattan used Ciocaro). I felt it needed a little something more. At first I tried more Averna but that started to dominate the rye. So I switched from rye to apple brandy and played around with the bitters. It's not revolutionary or anything but I'm still rather proud of it. Oh, and a wee bit tipsy. ;-)
Arise! A recent batch of grapefruit cordial (no ginger) that was particularly awesome inspired me to try some mixes featuring it. Tonite's winner: 1 part grapefruit cordial 1 part Kraken Rum 1 part Vernor's Ginger Ale This is ridiculously delicious. It almost hurts, it's so good.
This weekend (maybe even tonight) I will be trying the French 75 (as mentioned in some other thread). I love trying new gin cocktails. Funny enough that one I haven't tried yet is a basic Tom Collins.
Bought some Hendricks gin today. Having a martini. Definitely a different flavor than the Sapphire I normally use.
We got fresh eggs in our CSA box today, so I made Clover Clubs. Goddamn those are good: 2 oz gin 1 oz lemon juice 1/2 to 3/4 oz real pomegranate grenadine (or raspberry syrup if you don't have real grenadine) half an egg white Dry-shake the hell out of it, then add ice and shake to chill. Nice and creamy and smooth with just a touch of tartness. If all the shaking didn't make my arms all rubbery, I could drink these all night.
Is it gauche to reply to oneself? Anyway, this wasn't anything special. Maybe I used too much prosecco in the French 75, but I didn't notice the gin. It sounded good, but I didn't like the way I made it. So it goes.
Hmm. What gin did you use, and what was your rough prosecco / everything else proportion? It's definitely a drink that can drown a softer gin, especially with a lot of bubbly.
The only flute glasses I have are proper crystal glasses and I wasn't going to take them out, so I used casual goblets. That is why I think I poured too much prosecco. That said, the second one I made I was conscious of that and poured less prosecco and it was still meh. Maybe I still poured too much. As for which gin I used I'm sorry to say I don't remember. It was either Hendricks or Bombay Sapphire, I know that much.
I usually make it with Plymouth or Bluecoat. I think it'd be odd with Hendricks, but Sapphire should work okay. This might just be a different-tastes thing. Who knows?
Ok, help me out with Campari. Bought some, made a Negroni, couldn't drink it. Tried mixing it with Orange Juice, so it tastes like boozy Ruby Red Grapefruit, which is good but what else should I try?
Gauche to reply to myself and all, but still. We're back to regular farm-fresh eggs in the CSA, so I fiddled with the Clover Club recipe a bit: 2 oz dry gin 1 oz lemon juice 1 oz rich (2:1) simple syrup 1/3 oz real grenadine half an egg white It's a little sweeter than the previous recipe, but ends up being silky smooth in a sort of bioengineered ethano-weapon way. You could easily drink a ton of these and end up absolutely confused about how you USED to be able to walk.
Raspberry syrup is also traditional, or the fakey-corn-syrupy Rose's grenadine in a pinch. Everything's better with real grenadine, but this'd work with the cheap stuff too.
I make my own, but you can also buy it -- the Stirrings 'Authentic Grenadine' is pretty good. It's basically just 1:1 simple syrup made with pomegranate juice instead of water. I usually add in a squeeze of lemon juice once it cools down to brighten up the flavor, and mix in a shot or so of vodka to each 8-12oz squeeze bottle to help keep it from going funky when it sits in the fridge.
Oh yeah, I forgot one detail: unlike with simple syrup, where you really just need to heat the mixture until it boils, grenadine's better if you cook the syrup up to 220-225 degrees so it thickens up a little. Don't let it get too hot/thick, or it'll boil over and thicken and your kitchen will be an unholy mess. Don't let the temperature thing scare you off. It isn't so precise that you need a candy thermometer -- a standard probe thermometer like you'd use for a roast is fine. Also, you can make a lot at once, and it'll keep for a long time in the fridge, so the overall effort-per-drink isn't bad at all.
I've never made it without the vodka, but with some in it'll last a couple months at least in the fridge. It'd probably start tasting a little stale before it actively went bad.
There are more complicated recipes out there, usually starting with whole pomegranates, but honestly the extra effort isn't worth it. You do want to pick a really good pomegranate juice to start with, though. I've had good luck with the POM stuff, so that's what I tend to use. The R.W. Knudsen stuff that the Whole Foods near me carries, on the other hand, makes awful grenadine.
Paging Farnsworth TheTrunkDr Dean salwon XPav Mandella and whomever else Lizard_King posted this in the pics thread, so rather than derail that one further let's bring it home. In addition to some of the other issues noted, I did think the Old-Fashioned recipe shown here was a little off - most mixes I've seen call for a splash of soda, not "fill the glass the rest of the way." But I think these things are meant to be interpreted as desired, not regarded as the gospel definition of a given cocktail.
OK. Repost of how I do a martini. Yeah, no kidding. Especially when a Martini has 2 major ingredients (Gin or vodka, heathens) and vermouth, one ratio to remember (5/1 for my taste) that you adjust to taste, and a garnish, with the simple direction of stirring it (or shaking it, heathens) with cold ice and pouring into a cold glass. This ain't Crusader Kings (or Dark Souls) that we're talking about here.
Yes, Martinis for some reason have this special aura - everyone knows their own favourite, very few the real version. Although I do disagree on the shaking/stirring thing - I would only stir out of friendliness, I see no actual reason not to shake. 'Bruising' the gin is a myth, and which method leads to more watering down seems to be mainly dependent on the creator.
I do like mine a lot more closer to just Gin with a smidgen of Vermouth, just barely noticeable. But 5:1 is certainly the best start.
I just don't like the little ice crystals floating around in a shaken martini. Oh, and blue cheese olives in a martini = gross.
honestly I find it depends a bit on the degree to which you have a vermouth whose flavor you enjoy. My mainstay is Noilly Prat which is decent but not spectacular.
Just to add something worthwhile - last summer I got my favourite local barkeeper to follow a recipe I learned about from Heston Blumenthal (not his creation). Absinthe and Cognac, 1:1 on ice. We added a little orange peel to soften the blow. According to HB this was all the rage in France a while ago. Surprisingly tasty, but not really an easy drink to like. Edit: To add the name 'Le Earthquake'. Still wondering who was pulling whose leg there.
Noilly is pretty much the best I can get here, and I am not too fond of it. Great for Risotto, though.
Incidently that's what I have for that exact reason. But then I'm not a big Martini drinker. I'll try Le Earthquake. I was underwhelmed by my absinthe when I finally sat down to drink some ritual and all.
Wow, I'm sorry you know that. On shaking vs stirring, shakin probably can be done without breaking the ice too much, but it's much easier to just order it stirred and avoid the problem. I'm sure my vermouth problem is due to a lack of experience with good ones, but I'll be damned if I've had one that's added anything to the drink.
Thanks for paging me into this thread. Now I fear I may never leave... A couple of weeks ago a friend texted me all excited because she had *finally* had a real Martini, the kind with Gin and a splash of Vermouth. She was ecstatic (and probably a little drunk) and wanted to share. Even me repeating over and over that I don't like gin didn't phase her -- the drink was excellent and I was less the man if I didn't like it. So what's the best mid-range Gin and Vermouth, since it appears I now have to buy a bottle of both? It is possible that the only ones I have ever had were made with rotgut, so it looks like I must broaden my horizons again...
Bombay Sapphire is my favorite gin, but Hendrick's, Bluecoat, and Knickerbocker come highly recommended. Can't offer much on the vermouth front. BTW, I bought the fixings for Old-Fashioneds on the way home. See you in the Drunk thread!
