Death in the South Pacific

Death in the South Pacific

0.75 oz. Appleton Estate Extra 12 Year Old rum
0.75 oz. Rhum Clement VSOP rum
0.5 oz. Grand Marnier
0.33 oz. Trader Tiki’s Orgeat Syrup
0.33 oz. Fee Brothers Falernum
3 dashes Absinthe
0.5 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
0.5 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
0.5 oz. Fee Brothers Grenadine
0.5 oz. Cruzan Blackstrap rum

Add all ingredients except for the grenadine and Cruzan Blackstrap to a Zombie shell glass and fill with crushed ice. Swizzle the drink well to mix and frost the glass and then pour in grenadine. Overfill the glass with crushed ice and then pour in Cruzan Blackstrap.

Garnish:
Take a bamboo skewer and put a brandied cherry through at the very top followed by 1 pineapple leaf (insert through the middle) and then cut off skin from 1 large orange slice and then cut the strips in half. Insert the ends through the skewer having them hang on opposite sides of each other. Then insert the straw through the loop in the bamboo skewer. It should look like a guy hanging off of the drink (cherry=head, pineapple leaf= arms, citrus peel dangling away from each other are the legs)

Evan is a great bartender, and I consider myself lucky that he’s at Naga Cocktail Lounge at Chantanee Thai in Bellevue. Even better, it’s a fantastic drink. He made it for me right after the finalists were announced, and I have to say, I’m not surprised it won. Evan did a great job of creating an accessible, easy-to-drink cocktail that is still complex and rich. He combined a Zombie and Death in the Afternoon to come up with a great tiki cocktail.

As you can see from the photo, I didn’t get the full dead guy garnish. But I did get a very delicious drink, and I’m sure I’ll have a few more over at Naga between now and Tales.

If you’re in the Seattle area, be sure to drop in to Naga to congratulate Evan Martin, and then put him to work making you one to try!

Related posts:

1. Pacific Distillery Dinner at Prohibition Grille
2. MxMo XLVI: Absinthe — The Atlantic
3. National Rum Day and the El Presidente

You’re in luck! Because on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at 6 pm, Pacific Distillery will be hosting its first ever Distiller’s Dinner at Prohibition Grille, in Everett, WA!

For $50 (plus tax and gratuity), you’ll receive a five course meal paired with premium cocktails. Be sure to make your reservations now by calling 425.258.6100!

Hope to see you there!

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Related posts:

1. Death in the South Pacific
2. Voyager Gin and the Gin-Gin Mule

Gin-Gin Mule

Voyager is a single-batch gin that is distilled from 100% neutral grain spirits using a 500 liter copper alembic still. In addition to juniper, Voyager’s botanicals are coriander, licorice root, cardamom, aniseed, lemon, orange, orris, angelica, and cassia. After the botanicals are added to the spirits and distilled, the gin is brought to 84 proof (42% ABV) and bottled.

Pacific is a small, new distillery, and everybody pitches in on bottling day.

Marc Bernhard has put a lot of love into this product, and it shows. On the nose, the citrus and juniper dominates. Straight, there is some hotness from the slightly higher proof, but also a luxurious richness from the base spirits. This is a fairly citrus forward gin, perhaps most similar to Beefeater 24, but I find Voyager more balanced between the citrus and the juniper.

I’ve yet to find a gin drink I don’t like using Voyager. It makes a delightful gin and tonic. It’s great in a martini and even better in a martinez.

I’m not the only one in love with Voyager, either. Robert Hess has featured is on the Small Screen Network in a drink he created called the Clipper Ship.¹

Several great Seattle Metro bars are also using Voyager frequently, including Zig Zag. Last time I asked Murray for bartender’s choice, something with gin, he made me an Alaska Cocktail using Voyager, and it was fantastic.

But we’ve been having something of a heatwave here in Redmond, and a friend gave me a new bunch of mint from his garden, so I thought I’d go with something refreshing. The gin-gin mule, created by Audrey Saunders, is a great drink.

Gin-Gin Mule

2 oz gin (Voyager gin)
0.75 oz lime juice
0.25 oz rich simple syrup (2:1)
8 mint leaves
ginger beer
mint sprig for garnish

Shake gin, lime juice, simple syrup and mint leaves. Strain into ice-filled collins glass and top with ginger beer. Garnish with slapped mint. Sip on a sultry evening.

Voyager Gin is available in many Washington State Liquor Control Board stores. If yours does not have any, be sure to ask them to stock it. Voyager is also being carried by DrinkUpNY, which may be able to ship to your state.

[1] He had already created a cocktail called the Voyager, so he named this one after the ship on the gin’s label.

Related posts:

1. Sobieski Vodka and the Mazowse Mule
2. Port of Barcelona Gin
3. Martin Miller’s Gin

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1. Happy Discovery

In fact, they have a wider selection than the state liquor store here in Redmond, or most any place I’ve found on the Eastside.

They carry Cinzano, Martini & Rossi, and Vya vermouths, as well as both Lillet blanc and Lillet rouge, and Dubonnet rouge.

Tonight I splurged on a bottle of Vya sweet vermouth. I’m just finishing off the last of the latest bottle of Cinzano, and next on my agenda is to do a taste comparison of the Vya and the Cinzano to see if it’s worth more than three times the price (at least here in Redmond).

Now if only they’d carry Carpano Antica. Here’s hoping that Haggen doesn’t spoil a good thing.

Related posts:

1. MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail
2. If I Could Only Have 10 Bottles
3. National Rum Day and the El Presidente