Mixology Monday: Fizz

Colonel Beach's Plantation Punch

1 oz. fresh lime juice
2 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 oz. falernum
2 oz. ginger beer
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1/8 teaspoon Pernod
2 oz. dark Jamaican rum
1 oz. gold Puerto Rican rum
1/2 oz. Barbados rum

Shake with one cup crushed ice. Pour into tall glass with 3 or 4 ice cubes. Garnish with pineapple chunk and sprig of mint.

Baby Bamboo wasn’t the only thing to arrive last month. I also received a second bundle of joy- the bottle of falernum I finally got around to ordering. Unlike those industrious souls out there making their own falernum from scratch (My hat‘s off to you, you magnificent, fearless bottle-jockeys), I relied on the Fee Bros. this time around.

The arrival of the falernum sent me straight in one direction…right toward the Beachbum Berry books. I also figured I could find a recipe that would satisfy the “fizz” requirement for this month’s MxMo, and after some vigorous page-flipping I found it: Colonel Beach’s Plantation Punch, courtesy of Don the Beachcomber.

CBPP contains not only the falernum I’d been dying to try, but also ginger beer, which brings the fizz. Most importantly, It‘s a tiki drink, and I’d been meaning to put one of those through it’s paces since I started this whole enterprise.

After getting everything into (and out of) the shaker, the drink settled into the glass with a translucent, dusky amber color, topped by a frothy head that remains well after the pour. The rums & juices combine in an aroma that is unmistakably tiki, but it won’t knock you over with a boozy updraft…you have to move in and chase it.

After several sips I was pleased to find that the various flavors stand up well against each other. Many times I’ve had tiki-style drinks where the ingredients end up as an indistinct stew of citrus, rums, and sweeteners, often in lopsided proportions. By contrast, CBPP is a very evenly-flavored (some would perhaps say flat) tasting concoction.

Despite the evenness, the pineapple and Pernod still seem to pop a bit. They really complement the dryness of the rums, and the Pernod in particular is noticeable despite how little the recipe calls for. The ginger beer however, is almost nonexistent- the flavor isn’t evident, but rather the warm tingle of the ginger hangs in the background, assuming more of a texture than a taste (Although I’m guessing this can vary depending on the brand used).

Overall, I liked it. It’s not terribly distinctive, but it is pleasant, and a great example of a tiki-style drink. As I finished it, I couldn’t help notice its resemblance to another of Don the Beachcomber’s drinks: the Zombie. There are several similar ingredients (including 3 rums), and even the garnish is basically the same. The falernum taking the place of the passion fruit syrup is a departure, but the formula remains essentially intact.

Now I’m not bashing the Beachcomber by implying he merely dusted off an established recipe and made a few tweaks…but how’s this for an analogy? Ever met two siblings where the older one is brash and extroverted, and the younger one is quiet and charms all the older relatives with his mature reserve and politeness? The Zombie is the former and CBPP is the latter.

They’re both good kids. Spend time with each of ’em.

Mixology Monday: Orange

Blue Monday Cocktail

1 1/2 oz. Vodka
3/4 oz. Triple Sec
1 Dash Blue Food Coloring

Baby Bamboo* arrived last Wednesday.

Back in February when I started this blog, I wondered if the Bamboo Babe** being pregnant would affect the frequency and quality of my posts. The answer was yes. In retrospect, starting a booze blog when your wife is expecting is probably not the wisest move considering that most of your free time is spent shopping for baby stuff, going to classes, visiting doctors and renovating half your house. Plus, there's the whole "driving to the hospital at a moment's notice" thing.

It also really affects your ability to participate in MxMo when your baby shows up 5 days before the deadline. When I checked the calendar I realized I probably wasn’t going to be feeling Springtime fresh by the time Monday rolled around.

However, I like to give things the ol’ college try. Mixology Monday beckons, and I must heed it’s call.

But don’t assume the demands of new fatherhood didn’t take their toll. Through blurry, sleep-deprived eyes, I re-checked this month’s theme, and my convoluted thought process went something like this:

“Okay, I need a recipe that doesn’t have too many ingredients…and simple preparation…and I can’t get carried away with the artwork either…Let’s see…MxMo takes place on Monday…and hey, the MxMo icon has blue in it…and oh, here’s a drink called the Blue Monday…and it calls for Triple Sec…which meets the orange criteria…and I think I’ve got some decent vodka lying around…and the recipe comes from this old Mr. Boston book my father gave me…and I‘m a father now…so there‘s like, some sort of cosmic parallel happening here…”

You see, in addition to the specified ingredient (orange) I was working with a secret ingredient (lack of sleep).

Having spent Wednesday morning through Saturday afternoon at the hospital, I realized anything I submitted this month was destined to be quick and dirty. There would be no last-minute runs to the liquor store or elaborate rituals involving garnishes. Cars and cutlery were not my allies at the moment.

So what about the drink? Well, it tastes like vodka and triple sec. More accurately, it tastes like really strong triple sec. As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, this isn’t a recipe that’s going to bowl you over with depth or complexity. But I’ve certainly had worse drinks, and if you like vodka and/or triple sec, you’ll probably like it.

And did I mention it’s a really pretty blue color…and the MxMo icon has blue in it…and zzzzzzzzzzzz…



*Credit goes to Natalie at The Liquid Muse for coming up with the name “Baby Bamboo.”

** I came up with this one. I like consistency.

Go Green!

Leatherneck Cocktail

2 oz. blended whiskey
3.4 oz. blue Curacao
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.


The Green Man

1 measure Irish whiskey
1/2 measure blue Curacao
1 measure fresh lemon juice
1 dash egg white

Shake all ingredients with a little ice until well frosted. Pour into a medium-sized tumbler or glass and fill up with more ice.


I normally stick to one recipe at a time, but on this outing I'm compelled to do a two-fer. I was paging through Alex Barker's 1001 Cocktails and a drink called the Green Man caught my eye. The list of ingredients looked familiar, and I was wondering...hadn't I seen this drink masquerading somewhere else under a different name?

Almost. I realized it bore a decent resemblance to the Leatherneck Cocktail from Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. This obviously left me with only one course of action: try 'em both in an old-fashioned taste test!

Up first was the Leatherneck. The first thing I noticed was the spiffy green-with-a-bit-of-blue color. This is a drink that would not look out of place being sipped by someone/something on an episode of Star Trek.

The whiskey (I used Canadian Club) definitely takes a back seat to the lime & Curacao. Despite this, the flavor still comes through somewhat, and using the blended stuff here is a good move- the milder tone of blended whiskey meshes better with the other two ingredients. Something like Bourbon or rye would be a bit too sharp here.

Also, the Leatherneck has an almost "proto-tiki" taste but still retains a classic cocktail character. A festive quality is grounded in whiskey warmth, resulting in a great interplay between the fruit flavors and the base spirit. Its got a short ingredient list and simple preparation, but it's flirting with a tropical vibe. The best of both worlds in many ways.

The Green Man also pours a nearly identical blue-green color. The egg white adds the barest touch of froth, but if you don't have any chicken fruit handy, don't worry...it won't be missed.

The whiskey (in this case Jameson's) is nearly undetectable. The other ingredients eclipse it, with the lemon ending up the dominant flavor...I'd reduce the amount of lemon juice a bit to balance things out a bit more. However, left as it is, this would be a good recipe for someone who doesn't like their drinks to come on too strong.

Overall, it's a matter of personal preference. I'd recommend the Green Man for anyone who likes their drinks on the citrusy side and not too boozy. That being said, it comes off a little lackluster when compared to the Leatherneck, which definitely has more depth. But I suggest trying them both for yourself.

And while you're at it, rent one of those great 50's sci-fi flicks where our men in uniform go toe-to-toe with the flying saucer jockeys. How can you say no to that kind of symmetry?

Mixology Monday: Blog Love

Dr. Bamboo, or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Blog

For this month's MxMo my intent was to try a recipe I found over at Intoxicated Zodiac that called for gin, lime juice, simple syrup, and rose water. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to lay my hands on any rose water (not being able to locate a key ingredient is a recurring motif in my adventures).

However, I still had an ample supply of gin and limes. That, combined with Paul’s invitation to do a bit of navel-gazing on the nature of booze-blogging got me going in a whole new direction. Serendipity ahoy!

As I looked at that proud, clear bottle I began thinking about gin…which got me thinking about the Gin & Tonic…which made me realize if it weren’t for the Gin & Tonic, I may not have arrived at the point where I spend many an evening and weekend hunched over the kitchen counter, poring through drink recipes and feeling compelled to toss my findings out here on the web. To put it simply, the Gin & Tonic was the was the first drink I took seriously. (But if you want to see two people who really take the Gin & Tonic seriously, check out these recent posts over at Jimmy's Cocktail Hour and The Art of Drink).

My first brush with gin was not long after I graduated from college. A friend asked me if I’d ever had a Gin & Tonic, and when I’d said no (my only forays into hard liquor had been rum and bourbon), he ordered me one from the bar. I remember liking it immediately, and for the next several years the Gin & Tonic was my drink of choice. (This would change when I encountered my first Martini, but that’s a story for another post).

Gin was a mystery to me. No one I knew drank it. All my friends were devotees of the Brown Stuff (the aforementioned rum & bourbon, almost always dumped haphazardly into a large plastic cup of Coke) and of course vodka, which was a staple for any college student due to it’s “mix-it-with-anything” allure. Tequila (invariably the cheap stuff) occasionally showed up on my radar, but seemed to be consumed solely in shot form by those who considered a social occasion successful only if they awoke the next day sans pants. Brandy was unheard of, but there was a full-tilt schnapps craze in effect, so at any party you were guaranteed to see at least one brightly-colored bottle lurking among the offerings, waiting for it’s next victim (usually female, extroverted, and weighing far less than required for the amount she drank).

Family wasn’t much help either. My father was (and still is) a bourbon guy. My mother rarely drank, and when she did, her tastes ran to the occasional glass of wine, or if on a vacation, a Pina Colada. One grandmother never strayed far from red wine and Black Russians, and I don’t recall the other one’s preferences exactly, but I know they didn’t include gin.

And whenever I asked anyone about gin, I almost always got one of two responses:

#1 (If the person was under 40) “Eeeeyuck! I had that stuff once and it tasted like paint thinner!”

#2 (If the person was over 40) “I think your great-grandmother/father/aunt/uncle used to drink something with gin in it.”

I’d also occasionally get a vague reference to a character from a black-and-white movie. Or someone’s golfing buddy. It seemed that gin was exclusively the domain of classic cinema, the country club set, and the elderly.

Nonetheless, I soldiered on, evangelizing my favorite spirit and proudly brandishing my stubby glass filled with gin, tonic, ice and a plucky little lime wedge- A drink I felt was much, much more than the sum of its parts.

Between then and now I’ve discovered many more great gin drinks. And I’m glad to see that gin seems to finally be shaking off it’s reputation as a stodgy, obscure spirit perennially eclipsed by the other guys on the shelf. I’d like to think that the Gin & Tonic is playing a role somehow. I’m sentimental about the humble G&T; It was the drink that made me realize that hard liquor had more promise than just hastily splashed-together “2-for-1 night” specials and charmless pours in cobwebby clubs.

So rather than presenting a hard recipe, I encourage you to explore the Gin & Tonic on your own. Unlike when I first ran across gin, there is now a great selection of brands and styles. There are also some wonderful new tonics popping up here and there, so pick up a few and start experimenting. Find something you like. Make the Gin & Tonic your drink in some special way.

And if you discover that you really like fiddling with drink recipes to the point where you simply must tell someone about it…I hear there’s a bunch of people on the web who are really into this stuff.

****************************

One last note: Since we’re talking about Blog Love, I’d be dropping the ball in a big way if I didn’t give a hearty shout to Rick over at Kaiser Penguin. KP was one of the first booze blogs I discovered, and I became a regular reader on the spot. Rick has an unerring intuition where good recipes are concerned, and his ability to communicate their subtleties is amazing. And anyone who has seen his site knows it goes without saying that his photos are superb. They make me want to climb through the screen to get at ‘em.

Other people must think so too- there’s a reason his site shows up on almost everybody’s links list.

Rick was also the one who first urged me to start my own booze blog, patiently answering my questions and providing an abundance of great tips & advice. Thanks for all the encouragement Rick! (By the way, I’m saving all my State Store receipts so you can reimburse me at your convenience).

UPDATE: Robert Hess joins the G&T discussion with a great piece over at The Spirit World.

Mixology Monday: Cream

Lady Rebel Cocktail

1 oz. rye or Bourbon
1/2 oz. apricot flavored brandy
1/2 oz. white creme de cacao
1 oz. sweet cream (I used heavy cream)
1 tbsp. grenadine

Shake well with cracked ice and strain into 4 oz. cocktail glass.

The next time I see my father, the drinks are on me.

Thanks to him, I recently came into possession of a pristine 1959 edition of the Old Mr. Boston De Luxe Official Bartender's Guide. It arrived just in time for this month's Mixology Monday, hosted by Anna over at Morsels and Musings. My father, who can often be found scouring local flea markets and antique sales presented me with the slim volume knowing that I would put it to good use. Thanks dad!

The book contains several recipes using cream, but I settled on the Lady Rebel Cocktail partly for it's name, but also for it's ingredients. I really didn't know what I was in for, but I figured it would be either really good, or really awful. Fortunately, it's a keeper.

First off, it's a very pretty drink. It pours a pale pink, with just enough froth to give it a look that somehow straddles festive and classy. But the pink, creamy appearance camouflages a drink with bite. When you bring this innocuous-looking concoction to your lips you'll catch the unmistakeable whiff of whiskey. It may be pink, but it's got a punch.

The taste & texture of the cream will be the first thing you notice, but the warmth of the whiskey and the mellow sting of the brandy will show up quickly. Adding to this will be the fruitiness of the apricot and a touch of chocolate from the creme de cacao that will slip in and blend seamlessly with everything else.

And even though the recipe didn't call for it, I garnished mine with a mint leaf. It just seemed to look better with a splash of green.

One last note: I made one each with Bourbon and rye, and I definitely recommend using Bourbon. The signature spiciness of the rye asserts itself a little too much, thinning out the taste and adding a sharpness that seems out of place in this recipe. Bourbon matches up much better with the other ingredients and creates a more cohesive combination of flavors.

Don't be afraid to think pink. Cheers!

Mixology Monday: Tequila

Mexico on Fire

1 1/2 oz. Tequila Anejo
1/2 oz. Amaretto
Champagne

Build Tequila and Amaretto in Champagne flute. Fill with Champagne. Garnish with orange twist and cherry.

I swear this recipe isn't just an excuse to get rid of leftover Champagne from last month's MxMo.

Actually, this one comes courtesy of my good friend (and fellow adult beverage enthusiast) Dave from San Antonio, Texas. He plucked this little gem from Tequila: The Spirit of Mexico by Enrique Martinez Limon, and recommended it highly.

Despite completely trusting Dave's taste in cocktails, I have to admit the combination of Tequila, Amaretto, and Champagne initially gave me pause...but my first sip removed any doubt.

The flavors blend wonderfully. The smoky edge of the Tequila complements the sweetness of the Amaretto, while the Champagne unites them both with a bit of dry effervescence. The initial taste is a bit fiery (but smooth), with the Tequila bite coming through, but the other ingredients definitely show up: The Amaretto and Champagne mingle perfectly with the Tequila, and help produce a flavor that's warm, smooth, and velvety on the tongue.

One quick note: This is one drink where you do not want to ignore the garnish. It could probably live without the cherry, but the orange twist is crucial. Use a fresh hunk of peel and make sure you get a decent spray on the surface of the drink. The orange flavor is key, and it adds a nice citrus accent.

And don't forget to swing by this month's MxMo host site My Bar, Your Bar to check out all the other great Tequila-centric recipes!

Pearl of Wisdom

Pearl of Wisdom

1 oz. dry white sake
1 oz. cherry brandy
1 oz. gin
2 oz. sweet and sour mix
Approx. half a lime's worth of juice (just enough to add tartness & a little pulp)
Splash of club soda

Place a Maraschino cherry or pearl onion (the pearl) in the bottom of a tall pilsner glass and cover with a couple inches of crushed ice.

Shake all ingredients (except club soda) with ice and strain into the prepared glass. Add club soda.

Garnish with a lime wheel and a pair of chop sticks. Place a fortune cookie on the rim of the glass.

Once served, the idea is to retrieve the "pearl" with the chop sticks then learn your fortune from the cookie.


This one comes direct from tiki enthusiast and carver extraordinaire Finkdaddy. In addition to creating incredible carvings & sculptures, Finkdaddy is a fan of adult beverages, and he recently submitted his original recipe, 'The Pearl of Wisdom."

This drink is outstanding.

Finkdaddy himself describes it as a variant of the Singapore Sling, and says it has been a big hit with friends and family. After trying it, I can easily see why.

The Pearl of Wisdom is a great example of a tiki-style drink, striking a wonderful balance between tart and sweet. The cherry and lime match up well, and combine to form the main flavors. There is a great citrus taste throughout, and the whole thing is unbelieveably refreshing.

The secret weapon here is the sake. It pulls the other ingredients together and puts a soft, dry tone on everything. As for brands, Finkdaddy recommends Momokawa Diamond, but not being able to find it locally, I substituted their Ruby and it was fantastic nonetheless.

Also, I'm generally not a fan of bottled mixes, but the sweet and sour works very well here. Just make sure you get some fresh stuff- this isn't the time to use up the remains of that derelict bottle that's been in the back of the fridge since last Summer.

Overall, if I had to choose between this and the Singapore Sling, I'm certain I'd take this one almost every time. The Pearl of Wisdom is drier and crisper, whereas the Sling is sweeter and fruitier. They're both great drinks, but I found the subtleties of the Pearl of Wisdom more appealing.

If you've been looking for incentive to buy a bottle of sake or cherry brandy, this is it. I can't recommend it highly enough.

And if you have a few minutes, check out Finkdaddy's excellent work at his site, The Leeward Lounge. You can also see additional pieces in this thread over at the Tiki Central forums.