Two At The Most » Brandy

Welcome Stranger Cocktail

Stevi — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:00:54 +0000

Here’s another drink I stumbled upon in Barflies and Cocktails.

Welcome Stranger

Welcome Stranger Cocktail

0.5 ounce gin
0.5 ounce brandy
0.5 ounce Swedish punsch
0.5 ounce lemon juice
0.5 ounce orange juice
0.5 ounce grenadine

Shake until good and cold, double strain into cocktail glass.

This was one of those recipes I couldn’t quite guess how it would taste, much less if I would like it. But it was invented by Harry McElhone himself, and the man who gave us the Monkey Gland must know a little something about mixing with orange juice.

I do like it, although it is a little sweet. Grenadine and Swedish punsch seem to work well together. This is one of those multi-ingredient drinks where all the flavors blend well, nothing dominating.

That said, next time I might try upping the gin and brandy to dry it out a bit. Glad I gave it a try.

Metaxa Seven Star and the Moschaton Cocktail

Stevi — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:03:23 +0000

When I was 10, I won a trip to Greece.¹ My dad and I went on a two week tour of the country, and I learned I did not like ouzo.²

The Author, age 10

I also learned that Metaxa is a Greek liquor that my dad wanted, and it was important he get the seven star. That I did not get to taste. It wasn’t until a bottle of the seven star arrived in preparation for Thursday Drink Night (TDN) that I finally could put a flavor to the memory.

Metaxa was created by Spyros Metaxas in 1888. It has an astonishingly complex production process. Various wines, mainly Savatiano and Rhoditis, are distilled and then aged in limousine oak barrels. The stars (3, 5, 7, and 12) on the label represent how many years the distillates have been aged.

Wine is matured separately in used Metaxa barrels for two years . Then the brandy and wines are mixed with a secret blend of herbs and spices, including rose petals. This mixture is aged for another 6 months before being chilled and filtered prior to bottling.

Moschaton Cocktail

The rose scent is evident on the nose. I was expecting the taste to be somewhat sweet from the additional wine, similar to pineau des Charentes, but it’s really more in line with most brandies I’ve tasted. In retrospect, this shouln’t have surprised me, given that it’s 80 proof (40% ABV). The general spices are well blended, with the rose bringing an interesting floral note that I quite like. There’s some honey and vanilla notes, and a hint of cinnamon as well, with an oakiness throughout. The spices linger longest on the tongue.

Now it’s time to try mixing. I wanted to start with some complimentary flavors. Since Metaxa already brings wine and brandy, I thought it would be fun to add some tartness with green grapes. Greece also makes me think of baklava, dripping with honey, so I added some for a little sweetness and roundness. I didn’t want to add a liqueur, so I went with some gin instead to open up the Metaxa flavors without diluting it too much.

Moschaton Cocktail

1.5 oz Metaxa 7 Star
1 oz London dry gin
0.5 teaspoon honey
6 green grapes

Muddle the grapes and honey in a mixing tin. Fill with ice, add Metaxa and gin, and stir for at least 30 seconds. Double strain into cocktail glass and garnish with additional grapes.

Join us at the Mixoloseum for TDN with your bottle of Metaxa 7 star and join in the fun. And as an extra incentive, the person who submits the best Metaxa cocktail will receive a bottle of blueberry bitters and will be entered into Imbibe’s Ultimate Metaxa Cocktail Competition and get the chance to win his or her own trip to Greece!

[1] Actually, I won a free round trip on TWA to any place they flew. I was obsessed with Greek mythology, so Greece it was.

[2] A story I’ll tell if I ever get a bottle to reevaluate my traumatic childhood memory against.

Pineau des Charentes and the Charente Cocktail

Stevi — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:52:37 +0000

I rarely make the same drink two nights in a row. I’m developing a large home liquor selection, as well as a robust home library of cocktail books. This leads me to want to continually challenge myself to new-to-me cocktails.

But for nearly a week, I’ve been drinking the same drink almost non-stop. It all started when I bought a bottle of pineau des Charentes. I had seen reference to this vin de liqueur, and it finally stuck in my mind enough to buy a bottle when I saw it. What I found is a brand called Le Coq d’Or, produced by Hardy Cognac.

As the story goes, pineau des Charentes was originally an accident. Grape must was poured into a barrel for fermentation, only the barrel was not empty, it already contained eau de vie.¹ When they opened the barrel later, the mixture of grape juice and brandy created a sweet aperitif that has become a tradition in the department of Charente.

Charente Cocktail

And a fine aperitif it is. On the rocks, this is a delicious drink, comparable in taste to a dessert wine. It comes in at 17% ABV, similar to vermouth.

As luck would have it, right after I picked up the pineau, the latest issue of Imbibe Magazine arrived. It included an interview with Rachel Maddow, who suggested mixing gin and pineau in a 2 to 1 ratio.

I gave this a try. And it immediately became my new favorite drink. The pineau gives a sweet, smooth background that allows the gin to really stand out without being too hot. I’ve tried this with several gins, and enjoyed them all, but really find this to be a great place to use Van Gogh Gin. At two to one, the sweetness of the pineau becomes subtle and silky.

I tried a variation with orange bitters, but didn’t like it quite as much as without. But I did find adding a nice sized green olive stuffed with red pepper makes the perfect garnish. Once again, I find the reward of a savory olive at the end of a sweetish drink makes the perfect palate cleanser.

While Maddow calls this a pineau martini, I felt this delicious drink deserved a name of its own. Going for simplicity, I named it after the river that gives its name to the region that gave us this aperitif.

Charente Cocktail

1.5 oz London dry gin (van Gogh gin)
0.75 oz pineau des Charentes (Le Coq d’Or)

Stir and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with large olived stuffed with red pepper.

[1] How they failed to notice it was not empty, or that they couldn’t put as much must into as they expected, I do not know.

Celebrate the New Year with The Étourneau

Stevi — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:41:46 +0000

Friends on the other side of the International Date Line have already celebrated the arrival of 2009. I will be meeting up with friends later tonight to ring in the new year with laughter and great drinks.¹

In looking for some ideas, I came across one of the drinks I invented for Thursday Drink Night, Gin Edition.

Étourneau Cocktail

Étourneau

1.5 oz London dry gin (No. 209)
0.75 oz Yellow Chartreuse
0.5 oz Calvados
sparkling wine to top (Cristalino Brut)

Stir all but champagne over ice. Strain into a cocktail flute. Top with sparkling wine. Make a resolution to have more fun in the New Year.

I like how the calvados tones down the sweetness of the yellow chartruese while not masking the wonderful herbal blend. Adding a dry sparlking wine such as a cava brut lengthens the drink in a pleasant way that makes it easy to drink despite the high level of flavoring.

The new year is looking like it will be a fun one here at Two at the Most. Several new liquors have arrived, waiting to be tasted. I am also planning on reviewing several cocktail books in the coming year. I look forward to you joining me in the coming year!

[1] Always in moderation; I don’t like starting the year with a hangover!

Tuaca Italian Liqueur and the Livorno Cocktail

Stevi — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:31:12 +0000

My initial association with the word Tuaca is a horse. Why someone named a Quarter Horse after an Italian liqueur, I’ll never know. I’ll admit I was surprised to discover the current owner of Tuaca the horse had never heard of Tuaca the liqueur. Then again, even though I had heard of it, I don’t think I’d ever tasted it until receiving a sample recently.

Tuaca claims to be the resurrection of a recipe initially created for Lorenzo de’Medici (1449 – 1492). Often called “the Magnificent,” he was the de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, and remembered as a patron to artists such as Michaelangelo and Botticelli. The modern label of Tuaca depicts the scene on the “Gates of Paradise,” bronze doors created by Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1425 for the Duomo Cathedral in Florence.

Livorno Cocktail

As the story goes, Gaetano Tuoni and Giorgio Canepa recreated this liqueur in 1938 and originally named it “Tuoca,” a portmaneau of their names. The drink became popular with U.S. soldiers stationed in the Livorno area during World War II, and eventually was exported to America in the 1950s and has been generally available since.

Tuaca starts with a brandy from the Emilia Romagna region, then sweetened with natural sugar to make it a liqueur. Several flavor essences, primarily vanilla, orange, and lemon, and then infused into the liqueur.

This is a truly delightful liqueur. The smell is soft and sweet, with vanilla being the most distinctive scent. This natural, soft vanilla predominates on the tongue, followed by a rich butterscotch. The lemon and orange citrus provide undertones. As a liqueur, it is by definition quite sweet, but this one does manage to provide an excellent balance of flavor. I shared a sip with several friends, all of whom agreed it was something they wanted more of.

Since Tuaca is based on brandy, I thought I might try to make a sidecar variation with it. I’m not the first one to try this, of course. I think my version provides a tart version while using Tuaca as the primary ingredient.

Motocarrozzetta

2 oz Tuaca
1.5 oz Meyer lemon juice
0.5 oz orange liqueur (Citronge)

Following the Motocarrozzetta, I wanted something a little drier. I thought Hayman’s Old Tom Gin might make a nice mix with the Tuaca. To that I added a good dose of Lillet, and some orange bitters to highlight the citrus in the Tuaca. The resulting cocktail is refreshingly crisp, with a pleasant vanilla flavor.

Livorno Cocktail

1.5 oz old tom gin (Hayman’s)
0.75 oz Lillet blanc
0.25 oz Tuaca
2 dashes orange bitters

Stir over ice, strain into cocktail glass.

As a huge fan of vanilla, I’m really pleased to find a liqueur that provides such a fragrant, balanced addition of the flavor. I suspect I’ll be using it to add that taste to more combinations in the future.

Have you tried Tuaca? How do you feel it compares to other brandy based liqueurs?

Bellringer Gin and the Bitter Apricot Cocktail

Stevi — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:26:12 +0000

Bitter Apricot Cocktail

Every Thursday night, starting around 7 pm EST (00:00 GMT), we meet in the Mixolseum chat room and make up drinks. Usually we have a theme centered around an ingredient that we try to experiment with.

The theme for November 6 was gin. Participants were asked to find a gin they haven’t previously purchased.

This was a big challenge for me. I’ve made an effort to try as many premium and moderately priced gins as possible. I admit I was afraid I might have to face the dreaded lower shelves.

Then I remembered Bellringer Gin. It’s a moderately priced gin, in the $10-$15 range.

At first taste, this is a nice gin. It’s got a full flavor profile; It does not shy away from being a gin. It is 94.4 proof, and the high proof burn is noticeable, but not intolerable.

I’ll be experimenting more with this gin in the future. Given it’s excellent price point I’m hoping it can play a role as a reliable house gin.

Gin in hand, I needed to invent a drink. My eyes fell upon my bottle of Orchard Apricot. This would bring a nice sweetness. To balance, I thought of Campari, which packs a lot of punch. I started with 1.5 oz gin, 0.5 apricot brandy, 0.5 Campari. While there was some sweetness, there was no apricot flavor at all. I upped the apricot to 0.75 oz, which let the apricot flavor shine through without being too sweet.

However, it was all a little boozy. I was going to try some sparkling wine to lengthen it, but then I remembered Lillet blanc. This quinquina helped meld the apricot and Campari flavors. At first I added only 0.75 oz, but the drink was still a little strong. At 1 ounce, the drink was well rounded.

Add one dash of rhubarb bitters or orange bitters, and you have a cocktail.

Bitter Apricot Cocktail

1.5 oz gin (Bellringer)
1 oz Lillet blanc
0.75 apricot brandy (Orchard Apricot)
0.5 oz Campari
1 dash rhubarb bitters (or orange bitters)

stir over ice until good and cold, strain into cocktail glass, relax in a comfortable chair, and sip with joy.

Pooh Bah Cocktail

Stevi — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:50:33 +0000

Believe it or not, I still have a little bit of my bottle of Swedish Punsch left. Tonight I decided to find a recipe to appreciate it. I hit a real prize with the Pooh Bah cocktail.

Pooh Bah Cocktail

3/4 oz gin (Bombay)
3/4 oz light rum (Flor de Caña 4 year Extra Dry
3/4 oz Swedish punsch (Carlshamns Flaggpunsch)
1/4 oz apricot brandy (Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot)

stir over ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass, sip with a smile.

This is really a delightful cocktail. Yes, it’s a sweet cocktail, but not overpoweringly so. In this case the sweet balances the high alcohol content.

The apricot brandy really lends a depth and plays so nicely with the punsch that I’m really surprised there aren’t more cocktails that pair the two. I’m becoming very fond of the Flor de Caña Extra Dry as a mixing rum and find it works great here. Bombay is always a solid gin choice, and holds the backbone of this drink well.

I found this recipe originally in the CocktailDB, but further research unveiled it was included in the The Savoy Cocktail Book. What lead to the name Pooh Bah I do not know. I’ve not yet seen The Mikado, with the haughty Pooh-Bah, Lord High Everything Else.

Perhaps it’s just the right name for this drink. It may take on pretensions with its fancy list of ingredients. But at heart, it’s a tasty tipple that doesn’t demand too much from the palate aside from just enjoying it.

What’s your favorite use of Swedish punsch?

Black River Sidecar and Thursday Drink Night

Stevi — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:06:35 +0000

This past Thursday Drink Night at the Mixoloseum was a resounding success.

And not just because my submission, the Black River Sidecar, was named best off-the-cuff drink of the night.

But I’m thrilled at the wonderful write-up Rick did over at Kaiser Penguin, including a great photo.

Black River Sidecar

1 1/2 oz cognac
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz pimento dram (St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram)
1 tsp. agave nectar

shake over ice, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with whole allspice berry tied in lemon twist

The St. Elizabeth’s is very potent; people who have tried with their own homemade recommend upping the dram to 1/2 oz, at which point you may be able to drop the agave nectar, which I used to balance the lemon juice. You can always just reduce the amount of juice, if you want.

Thanks to Rick for the nice post, thanks to Gabe for creating and hosting the Mixoloseum, and thanks to everybody who participated in TDN. Please join us Thursday nights to get in on the fun!

Lillet variations and the Bon Homme Richard

Stevi — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:25:00 +0000

I spent much of today eagerly refreshing my RSS feed and reading the new Mixology Monday posts, hosted this month at Jimmy’s Cocktail Hour. I wasn’t sure what to post on myself – as a rank newbie to the cocktail world, most of my variations have involved trying out the variations I’m finding in many other blogs. It’s scary to try completely new things.

I thought maybe I’d experiment a little more with the Corpse Reviver #2. Lillet is one of those revelatory discoveries for me. I reread the Kaiser Pengiun post, and followed the link to the eGullet thread on Lillet drinks. Having just bought a bottle of apricot brandy, the Culross seemed like a a drink to try.

I initially tried the CocktailDB recipe listed by Chuck Taggart, which he seemed happy with. I found it a tad too sweet. I think I was mostly held back by the fact that the only apricot brandy I’ve found so far here in the Washington state liquor stores on the Eastside is DeKuypers. Also, I used Mount Gay Eclipse rum, not having any white rum on hand, which may be a little too assertive for the balance.

The Culross Cocktail (Cocktail DB variation)
1 ounce Lillet blanc.
1 ounce rum. (Mount Gay Eclipse)
1 ounce apricot brandy
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

It was drinkable, but not something I’d make again. I gave my trusted and far more cocktailian cohort, Bryan, a taste, and he had basically the same opinion.

Chuck’s post mentioned having found another variation he might try, so I gave it a shot:

The Culross Cocktail (via Chuck Taggart on eGullet)

2 oz rum (Mount gay eclipse)
1/2 oz Lillet blanc
1/2 oz apricot brandy
1/4 oz fresh lemon juice

As I suspected, the Mount Gay utterly overpowered this. The initial mix was nigh undrinkable. so I poured it back into the mixing glass, poured in another 1/2 oz of Lillet, shook a bit more, and tasted again. Better…but still not special. The rum was still too dominant and it needed, ironically, some sweetness.

I didn’t want to make the same mistake of letting the apricot brandy dominate. I reshook the drink with 1/2 oz of Grand Marnier, and tasted…and it tasted good. A little watered down. OK, a lot watered down, from three shakes. But it was tasty. It had a nice body and that broad range of flavors i was looking for. We sipped the the new drink, pondered names, and decided I should make some more. Bryan initially liked the the level of water in the first drink, but i suspected with less it would be brighter and better. The second round proved me out.

Bryan suggested the name – looking for some tie among Scotland (having started with the Culross), the English Navy (rum) and France (most the rest of the ingredients), he came up with the:

Bon Homme Richard
2 oz rum (Mount Gay Eclipse)
1 oz Lillet blanc
1/2 oz apricot brandy
1/2 oz Grand Marnier
1/4 oz lemon juice

next variation is, of course, to try this with a proper apricot brandy!

Windward cocktail

Stevi — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 03:41:00 +0000

Wanting to try out something new with my bottle of Grand Solage Calvados, I looked at a few recipes on the CocktailDB. I’m also in the mood to play with vermouth, which I’m only just beginning to appreciate.

I was underwhelmed with the two calvados/sweet vermouth combinations; there was just no there there. Not enough flavor in either to really wow the tastebuds.

I gave the Inspiration (Grand Marnier, calvados, dry vermouth, and London dry gin) a try, but once again, it was just not going in a direction i liked.

Tonight I thought I might try a rum-calvados-vermouth combination. The Kicker cocktail and the Leeward both specified light rum, while the Kicker called for “daiquiri” rum, so I went with proportions in the Kicker, using the Mount Gay Estate rum I had on hand.

Talk about underwhelming. There was a slight taste of calvados, once you got past the alcohol.

I restirred with a little more vermouth, bringing it closer to the Leeward recipe, in hopes of getting some depth, and it helped take the dominance of the alcohol off, but still…almost disappointing enough to just chuck.

On a whim, I made the Leeward with Gosling’s Black Seal, despite it specifically calling for light rum.

Now, that’s a cocktail. Deep and rich, with the rum balancing the calvados and the vermouth adding a nice bit of mouthfeel but not distracting sweetness.

So I present to you:

The Windward Cocktail

1 1/2 oz dark rum (Gosling’s Black Seal)
1/2 oz calvados (Grand Solage)
1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Cinzano)

stir in mixing glass with ice, strain into cocktail glass

Enjoy!

I rescued the bastard Leeward by tossing in a half-ounce of Goslings and glomming it off on b.