Bourbonthrall

Rumble Pirate

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 04:35:34 +0000

I’m constantly amazed at the food and drink entrepreneurs popping up around Austin. I know it’s not just here, lots of major and minor cities are hosting inventive food revolutions. It feels like an exciting time to be into food and drink, maybe more so than any recent time. And it will change, I’m certain, so I feel like this is a time we’ll look back on fondly and maybe with a little envy of our old selves, and how much they enjoyed it. So I need to memorialize this time, maybe with a few drink recipes.

I recently purchased a bottle of Balcones Rumble, a unique sprit from Balcones Distillery up in Waco. Given that it’s made from wildflower honey, mission figs, and turbinado sugar, I naturally assumed it would be a sweet aperitif-like spirit, or maybe closer to a gold rum. But I was surprised to find it pretty dry, with the fig and honey very subtle in the background. Not much like a rum at all – closer to a dry cognac maybe.

That sent my brain in a different cocktail direction – away from the rum swizzle and daiquiri type drinks. I recently took the recipe for a Pirate cocktail, which calls for both rum and cognac, and substituted both for Rumble. The result was pretty memorable.

In a cocktail glass…
1 1/2 parts Balcones Rumble
1/2 part Cointreau
1/2 part Grenadine
1/2 part fresh lemon juice
Shake thoroughly with ice

The sweet grenadine really helps bring out the honey and fig, and the drink hits an interesting floral tobacco leaf note. It somehow has a taste of the time. Skewed perception, coloring reality – if I made this in 10 years, would I think it tasted like the summer of 2010? Or would it taste like sugary turpentine? Of course, Rumble won’t be around in 10 years, and that’s part of what makes this exciting. I should enjoy it now, and not worry about future me. He’ll have to figure out his own drinks.

Jubilee Train

David — Tue, 04 May 2010 02:08:57 +0000

There is something elemental about deep, dark cherry juice. It has a heavy tannin taste that’s almost wine-like. I’ve made variations of several different cherry drinks over the years, mostly using Spanish Brandy. They’ve been good – not great, but good. The target has always been something that evokes a great red wine – something deep, woody, and spicy, but with the high notes of a citrusy cocktail floating above it. So when I saw this drink from Steven Liles at Boulevard (San Francisco), I had to try it (if only for the great name).

1 1/2 part Pisco
1/4 part Allspice Dram
1/4 part Maraschino Liqueur
1 part black cherry juice*
1/2 part fresh lemon juice
1 dash orange bitters (per drink)

*I use R.W. Knudsen Just Black Cherry juice. They also make Tart Cherry juice, but if you use that, then you should cut back on the lemon juice.

The Allspice adds a “mulled wine” kind of twist to the Pisco, and the Maraschino with the cherry juice creates a velvety deep sweetness that makes this so easy to drink.

Hemingway Daiquiri

David — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:52:06 +0000

This is one of my new favorite drinks. I got it from a beautiful new cocktail book called Vintage Cocktails, by the folks at the Bellmans Bar at the Carlylse Hotel in New York. The Bellmans is a magical place, like walking into a movie set / time machine. Entirely candlelit, with pastel hand-drawn wallpaper and a jazz pianist. As someone who firmly believe that atmosphere makes drinks better, I can honestly say they could have served me Red Bull & Vodka and I would have loved it. Or at least liked it. But no, their drinks are fabulous and the book backs that up. Full of old standards and some new concoctions, it’s a must have for the bar. In fact – it serves as a great “bar menu” for home. People are often overwhelmed at the verbal litany of suggestions and don’t know what they want. Being able to flip through this book, with it’s beautiful photos, makes their decisions much easier. And the Hemingway is a popular choice…

In a cocktail glass…
1 part white rum
3/4 part fresh lime juice
1/2 part white sugar syrup
1/2 part fresh grapefruit juice
1/4 part Maraschino liquor

Shake with ice and serve straight up with a cherry

Called “the ultimate achievement of the daiquiri-maker’s art”, Hemingway himself purportedly drank a much stronger (and larger) version of this at his Floridita Bar in old Havana. The two simple additions to the tried-and-true daiquiri make this a completely distinct drink, and a bit easier going down. Light, refreshing, without being either “juicey” or cloyingly sweet, the Hemingway is a well balanced all-purpose drink. Using fresh grapefruit makes a huge difference, and if you have to use bottled/canned I would cut back on it a little.

Aviation

David — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:45:11 +0000

I first had one of these at the Bourbon and Branch in San Francisco. Nestled in the posh Tenderloin district (posh being a relative status – say when compared to certain neighborhoods of Lagos or San Salvador), it’s a speakeasy in the truest sense. There’s no sign, and you need a password to get in (you get the password when you make a reservation).
Inside is an exposed brick, cozy candlelit bar with a three-ring binder drink menu and a justifiably smug attitude. But watching the bartenders work was wonderfully entertaining, enlightening, and reassuring. Reassuring because I saw them using a few tools and techniques that I used too – things that I thought I had come up with on my own. But mostly they were doing stuff I’d never seen (or thought of) before.
The drinks were very good, but the Aviation was the most memorable. This is from back when they really knew how to name drinks, aviation being an adventurous, heady and high-flying pursuit that got you to your destination faster than anything else. Aviation also being a slight dodgy practice where a spectacular crash was not unheard of.

2 parts dry gin
½ part fresh lemon juice
⅓ part Maraschino liquor
⅙ part Crème de Violette

Okay, you need some uncommon liqueurs for this one. Maraschino liqueur tastes nothing like maraschino cherries – it’s clear and dry, and tastes herbal and spicy. Creme de Violette is infused with violets, but isn’t perfumey sweet. It’s floral, but earthy, and even a bit musty. The small portion of this deep purple color makes the Aviation look dirty off-white. But it adds some balance to the spice of the Maraschino, and a nice subtle flowery aftertaste.

Lion’s Tail

David — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:37:55 +0000

During winter-time as a kid, there was one hot drink that I could make for myself after suffering near-forstbite from playing outside. It was called “russian tea” and it was a blend of instant iced tea mix, ground cloves and allspice, tang, and powdered lemonade. Dissolved in hot water, it made a delicious hot-toddy-like drink, although probably with enough citric acid to strip paint.
Since then, any drink – cold or hot – that combines citrus with clove and/or allspice reassuringly reminds me of russian tea. Anytime I see Allspice Dram (also called Pimento Dram) as an ingredient on a cocktail menu, I order whatever it’s in. I’ve done some infusions with these spices before, but I’m getting lazy lately. I don’t really have two weeks to make a real allspice dram. So I was excited to finally see St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram in my local liquor store.
I have two favorite drinks with allspice dram – the Lion’s Tail and Jasper’s Jamaican cocktail. They’re almost the same, but I find a Lion’s Tail a bit drier, and a Jasper’s a bit sweeter. Sometimes I just split the difference and combine them and make a Jasper’s Tail – half bourbon, half rum.

Lion’s Tail
In a cocktail glass…
2 parts Bourbon
1/2 part fresh lime juice
1/4 part Allspice Dram
1/4 part dark sugar syrup (demerara)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Japser’s Jamaican Cocktail
In a cocktail glass…
2 parts Dark Rum (Myers or Black Seal)
1/2 part fresh lime juice
1/4 part Allspice Dram

Cherry Lime Rickety

David — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:49:07 +0000

This isn’t a proper Rickey, but it’s delicious and I don’t know what else to call it. This was born from the fact that I had a lot of cherries that I needed to do something with.

In a lowball glass…
10 bing cherries (pitted)
1 lime
2 oz Vodka
3 oz ginger ale

Pit the cherries, quarter the lime, and place it all in a heavy-bottomed glass. Macerate (smash) the limes and cherries with a heavy muddler for 1-2 minutes. Add the vodka and shake thoroughly with ice. Pour through cocktail and mesh strainer into lowball glass and add ginger ale.

The color of this drink is sublime – just be careful when crushing the cherries, any little spill will stain forever.

Basil Martini

David — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 03:37:50 +0000

Not much to pontificate on… this was leftover basil-infused Beefeaters gin, and it made a lovely martini that goes perfect with steak.

In a cocktail glass
3 oz basil-infused gin
.75 oz dry vermouth

Shake thoroughly with ice, garnish with basil flowers.

To infuse the gin, take about 6 medium sized basil leaves cut into strips (about .25″ wide) and put them in a 1 Liter bottle for about 4 days. Shake once per day. The flavor will change over time, after a few weeks it will have less bite – but in a few months it will start to taste bitter. For the basil flowers, if you grow your own basil you’re supposed to pinch those off anyway – might as well put them to use.

The Strong One

David — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:56:17 +0000

The Strong One was the third and most popular of the signature drinks that I made for Jesse’s pastry party. It’s the flavors that are strong, not the alcohol content, which confused many of the guests. But the popularity was more due to the fact that the list of the ingredients for this drink just sound cool – black rum, ginger beer, chocolate nib bitters. It has a lot of familiar tastes spun in a new direction. This drink is actually just a slight spin on a Dark n’ Stormy, which I don’t normally think of as a hot weather drink, nor do I usually pair it with food.

I was thinking of strong spice flavors common in baking and pastry, like ginger and clove and cinnamon. I got hung up on ginger – ginger wine, ginger infusions, etc. when the Dark n’ Stormy struck me. A Dark n’ Stormy is usually 1/2 a lime (or less), black rum and ginger beer. Black rum has a sweet molasses taste, and with the tart lime and spicy ginger beer it strikes a great balance.

So in an effort to make it a bit more culinary, I pushed the black rum in the Pimento Dram direction by infusing it with just over a tablespoon of crushed clove and allspice for about 4 days. That added a nice earthy spice, but the whole effect was a bit flat. So I decided to add my homemade Valrhona cocoa nib bitters. Made with overproof rum, they added a bittersweet chocolate note that really pulled the drink together.

In a lowball glass…

1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

2 oz. Clove & Allspice infused Gosling’s Black Seal Rum

4 ml (1/2 eyedropper) Valrhona cocoa nib bitters

3 oz D&G Old Jamaican Ginger Beer

Add the ginger beer last, serve with ice and a lime wedge.

Really, this was my favorite drink as well – although if I had been able to get muscat grapes, the Sweet One would have knocked it out of the park.

The Sweet One

David — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:14:04 +0000

The Sweet One

Gillian’s friend Jesse just returned from four months of pastry school, and to celebrate she threw a “Pastry Party”. Knowing that I always love the challenge of making new drinks to match the occasion, Jesse asked me to come up with something special. But when I saw the menu, I was overwhelmed – she was running the gamut from cakes and tarts to savory breads an scones. So instead of doing one drink, I did three… the Sweet One, the Weak One an the Strong One.
Normally, I would associate pastries with something like a Mimosa – a balance of sweet and dry, but all leaning towards the fruity sugars palate. So I decided that I’d riff on that theme for the sweet drink.

In a champagne flute…
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz fresh pineapple juice
3/4 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
3 oz sparkling Rosé wine
Garnish with lemon zest and a cherry.

In the end, the Sweet one was a simple variation of the Parisian Orchid, substituting Rosé sparkling wine for vodka. I originally tested this with fresh Muscat grape juice instead of pineapple, and it was much better… but sadly Muscats were out of season by the time of the party.

The Weak One

David — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:04:47 +0000

This is one of the three drinks I made for Jesse’s Pastry Party to celebrate her graduation from Pastry School in San Francisco.

On its own, the name “The Weak One” makes little sense. It would be better to call it the Light One or the Fresh One, but those names don’t flow quite as well when book-ended by the Sweet One and the Strong One. Really, it’s no weaker than anything else, but the idea with this drink was to provide something fresh, light and palate cleansing. Knowing it was going to be hot and some of the pastries were going to be very rich (mmmmmmm… gateau basque), I thought this would be a popular middle ground choice that would pair well the sweet and buttery.
I’m becoming a big fan of this slicing-up and macerating (mashing) fresh ingredients -although in this drink there’s nothing too novel about cucumber, mint and lime. But I have been trying more summer seasonal fruits and vegetables lately to great effect. It brings cocktails further into the culinary realm, makes them part of the cooking instead of something that comes before and after. When you think about it, the range of flavors and the flexibility in strength, sweetness, acidity, etc… make these kind of drinks better suited for food pairing than wine. Well, not always better, but new, exciting and challenging at least.

The Weak One
In a heavy glass…
1/4 lime
2 Cucumber round slices
6 large mint leaves
1/2 oz simple syrup
2 oz Basil-infused Gin
2 oz Club Soda

Mash the cucumber, mint, lime and sugar syrup in the bottom of a heavy glass (for about a minute). Add the gin, pour into a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain with a cocktail strainer (and mesh strainer of you want no pulp) into a highball glass. Add club soda and two cracked ice cubes, garnish with a stalk of mint.

I wanted to do as much advanced prep as I could with all the drinks, but this one has to be macerated fresh per drink – no way around that. So it was a bit more work but well worth it. I did end up increasing the sugar as the night went on – to just under 1 oz, because there was so much sweetness that this was a little jarring to the palate.