Blood and Sand

Blood and Sand

1 ounces blended Scotch whisky
1 ounces orange juice
0.75 ounces cherry brandy (Cherry Heering or Cherry Marnier)
0.75 ounces sweet vermouth

Shake all ingredients well and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with orange twist or brandied cherry.

This recipe doesn’t look like it could possibly work. And yet it does, and when well balanced, it works very, very well. The scotch is strong enough to stand up to the cherry brandy and sweet vermouth, while the orange juice gives a nice balance throughout.

This is frequently given as an equal parts recipe (as it is in the BarSmarts workbook), but I find that version too sweet and heavy. Increasing the Scotch and orange juice creates a nice blend of flavors, allowing the Scotch to show itself without overpowering the whole drink.

While I frequently double strain orange juice cocktails, I like how the pulp gives the “sand” look to this drink.

This cocktail packs a lot of flavor punch, while being relatively mild in terms of alcohol; Cherry Heering is 24% ABV/48 proof.

I haven’t yet seen the namesake 1922 movie, which is based on a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez in which Valentino plays a bullfighter who rises to the top, marries is sweetheart, has an affair, and dies in the arena. Nor have I seen the 1941 Tyrone Power remake. I hadn’t even heard of the 1989 remake staring Sharon Stone as the mistress. I shall put at least the Valentino original on my Netflix list, and will be sure to sip a delightful Scotch cocktail while viewing it.

Related posts:

1. Communist Cocktail
2. MxMo XXXV: Broaden Your Horizons — The Paquimé Cocktail
3. If I Could Only Have 10 Bottles

A “Money” drink is something you can put in front of anyone, regardless of tastes or distastes about the spirits involved. Come up with a drink or a list based on spirits about drinks that would appeal to anyone. example: turning someone onto a Corpse Reviver #2 when they like lemon drops.

And second:

Drinks that you upgrade to the ne plus ultra: cocktails that for whatever reason (holiday, birthday, old friends come to visit, or just because you feel like it) you upgrade to superior; for example, taking your normal Sazerac with Rittenhouse and Herbsaint and, for a special occasion, turning it into a supreme-o Sazerac by breaking out the Thomas Handy Rye and the Jade Edouard absinthe. Due to the higher cost involved, and the spectacular results that should (hopefully) be found in the glass, this could also qualify as a “Money Drink”.

Vanilla Whiskey Royale

I hate it when the MxMo announcement post names the drink I’d most want to use, and in this case, Kevin hit my first choice for both versions. I have seen more than one “gin hater” realize the beauty of the spirit upon their first sip of a well-made Corpse Reviver #2. And one of my favorite recent indulgent cocktails was a Staggerac – a Sazerac made with George T. Stagg whiskey.

The path of the ne plus ultra appealed more to me. We spirit geeks will often declaim that some expressions are just too precious to mix with. And then we give in, and make an old fashioned with a great sipping rum like Zaya Gran Reserva. After all, a drink is only as good as its constituent parts.

I had the good fortune to time my first ever trip to Portland this past weekend during the annual House Spirits Booze Bazaar, and got to taste their three whiskeys. I couldn’t resist picking up a bottle of the whiskey in both the full cask strength (56.79% ABV/113.58 proof) and the subtler 44.99% ABV/89.86 proof version.² I’ll be saving the cask strength for sipping, but couldn’t wait to mix with the whiskey.

When I think of luxe drinks, champagne immediately comes to mind. Sparkling wine can make a simple combination like white wine and creme de cassis into a great sip like the kir royale. And while the Seelbach is the current newly rediscovered classic whiskey and champagne cocktail, I wanted to try something that let the whiskey express itself directly.

I ran across a recipe that called for a bourbon champagne cocktail that replaces the sugar and Angostura bitters of the classic with vanilla syrup. But why use syrup? I decided to try Navan vanilla liqueur instead.

I tried various combinations of too clever by half names, but decided to go with the most simple.

Vanilla Whiskey Royale

1 ounce whiskey (House Spirits Whiskey)
1/2 ounce Navan vanilla liqueur
champagne

pour whiskey and Navan in champagne flute, top with champagne. Sip contentedly in front of a fire with purring cat on lap.

This drink has the advantage of being incredibly delicious while being super easy to make. And so very luxurious.

Thanks to Kevin for a great topic. Be sure to check out Beers in the Shower for the round up post!

[1] despite the fact that to date, I haven’t actually had him make me a drink yet. Must remedy that. Off to Tavern Law…or Spur…or Sun…the man can be found at some great bars!
[2] I realized after getting through the whole line and getting outside that I failed to buy the white dog as well.

Related posts:

1. MxMo XXXVI: Hard Drinks for Hard Times — The French 75
2. MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail
3. Port of Barcelona Gin

It’s best to make this the night before. If you do, I recommend that you first make yourself a bourbon old fashioned to really enjoy the beauty of the bourbon while you prepare the relish.

Bourboned Cranberry Relish

1 orange
1 lemon
1/2 cup bourbon (Bulleit is an excellent choice)
1/2 cup sugar
1 dash salt
1 dash fresh ground pepper
12 ounces fresh cranberries

zest orange and lemon. obtain 1/2 cup juice from the orange and lemon — start by juicing the whole orange, and for anything less than 1/2 cup, obtain the remainder from the lemon. Pick over the cranberries to remove any bad berries or stems, then rinse the berries.

Put zest, juice, bourbon, sugar, salt, and pepper in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add berries, return to boil and reduce heat. Simmer until the berries reach your preferred consistency (I usually go about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, allow to cool, then transfer to serving bowl and refrigerate, preferrably over night.

I like the sweet and tart balance of this recipe, and the bourbon brings a depth of flavor. Goes great on day-after sandwiches. This will keep well in the fridge, as well!

Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers, and have a great day to everybody!

Related posts:

1. MxMo XXXIV: Spice — Juniper Berry Syrup
2. MxMo XXX: Local Flavor — Blackberry Gin Shrub
3. Don’t Blink

Bulleit Bourbon Daisy

Bulleit is one of the more rye-like Bourbons out there, having approximately 30% rye in its mash bill. It’s still smooth enough to be a bourbon, but the rye gives it a peppery forward quality that makes it a great mixing whiskey. At 90 proof (45% ABV), it also packs a little extra punch.

On the nose, Bulleit lets you know that it is aged in oak barrels. On the tongue, the rye asserts itself in a playful way, along with some notes of apples and vanilla. I definitely enjoy Bulleit on the rocks, but I really like to use it for making great drinks. It should not  be surprising that it tastes great in those cocktails where either rye or bourbon is called for, such as a Manhattan or Old Fashioned.

I’ve been trying to expand my horizons lately by going through my steadily increasing cocktail book collection to find new drinks. Tonight I was paging through Harry Johnson’s New and Improved Bartenders’ Manual, a late 1800′s guide recently reprinted by Mud Puddle Books. Looking at the whiskey drinks, I found his take on the whiskey daisy, and gave it a try. Below is my adjusted version of his drink.

Whiskey Daisy

2 oz bourbon whiskey (Bulleit Bourbon)
0.5 oz yellow Chartreuse
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 generous spritz of soda water

Mix all ingredients over ice, and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with fruit if it strikes your fancy.

I removed the sugar he called for as the yellow Chartreuse was plenty sweet enough, and upped the citrus for the same reason. The resulting cocktail has an unexpected mint aftertaste, which I’ve never noted in Chartreuse before, but will see if I find elsewhere. A fun twist on bourbon, and one I’ll try again, although it won’t replace the Manhattan as my favorite whiskey drink.

At $27 a bottle with taxes in Washington State, I think Bulleit Bourbon is a great deal. I find it a great go-to choice, and recommend it often as an affordable quality bourbon. While I can’t always justify the price of Woodford or Ridgemont Reserve for mixing, it doesn’t take me much to feel like a bottle of Bulleit is worth the cost.

Related posts:

1. MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail
2. Named for a sincere drinker and recommended only for such
3. Blinker Cocktail Redux

Another month, another Mixology Monday. This month is hosted by Craig at Tiki Drinks and Indigo Firmaments, who offers up the theme of Spice. For guidance, he tells us:

Spice should give you plenty of room to play – from the winter warmers of egg nog, wassail and mulled products to the strange and interesting infusions of pepper, ceubub, grains of paradise, nutmeg — what have you! I would like to stretch the traditional meanings of spice (as the bark, seed, nut or flowering part of a plant used for seasoning) to basically anything used for flavoring that isn’t an herb. Salt? Go for it. Paprika? I’d love to see you try. I hear that cardamom is hot right now.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of gin. So it felt natural to look at the defining spice of gin, juniper, for this Mixology Monday.

Juniper Berries

The juniper flavor in gin comes from the juniper berry. Juniper berries are actually cones with unusually fleshy and merged scales, giving them a berry-like appearance. When immature, the cone is green. It matures into a purple-black color.

Gin is usually made with fully grown but immature berries, which have a flavor that is dominated by pinene, the chemical compound that gives pine resin its distinctive smell. Junipers are a distant relation of pines.

As the berries mature, their flavor is balanced by “green-fresh” and citrus. It’s these darker, mature berries that are dried and used as a spice for food. Juniper berries are a popular winter spice, melding well with other cold season favorites such as clove, cinnamon, and allspice. And while some poor quality gins can be faulted for tasting too much like a Christmas tree, that scent and smell is very seasonally appropriate!

Juniper berries have been used as a medicine and flavoring for thousands of years. At least two species of juniper berries were found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb, one of which does not grow in Egypt and was likely imported from Greece.

In Greece, juniper berries were used by athletes at the Olympic games who believed them to improve stamina, one of the first performance enhancing drugs. The Romans used juniper berries as a replacement for black pepper.

Gin itself, like so many other liquors, was originally created as a medicine, and its English name comes from the Dutch word gevener, meaning juniper.

I decided I’d start by making a juniper berry infused simple syrup.

Juniper Berry Syrup

25 juniper berries (about 1/2 tablespoon)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Solstice Sour

Lightly crush 15 of the berries (I used a meat tenderizer), and place all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for at least four hours. Strain off solids and bottle.

This gives off a  pleasant scent of juniper while on the boil. The resulting syrup has a bright, spicy flavor that isn’t too overpowering.

I find the best way to start experimenting with new infused simple syrups is to substitute them in favorite recipes. I looked over the list of my favorite drinks, and decided that the best way to try out the juniper berry syrup was in a whiskey sour.

Solstice Sour

2 oz bourbon whiskey
1 oz juniper berry syrup
0.75 oz lemon juice
1 tsp egg white (optional, but highly recommended)

Put ingredients in shaker. If using egg white, give a dry shake (no ice) for at least 10 seconds. Add ice, shake until good and cold. Strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with cranberries.

I was inspired by the use of bourbon as a winter spirit, and I was not disappointed. The juniper berry syrup provided a bright, clean counterpoint to the bourbon and lemon, making this is a very enjoyable drink. The pinene exists mostly in the aftertaste, but very subtly.

I’m very pleased with how the juniper blends with the bourbon, and will experiment with some other combinations. I’m tempted to try a daiquri with the juniper berry syrup, but not quite sure how that will work.

Thanks, Craig, for a great MxMo theme. Be sure to check out his site for the roundup!

Related posts:

1. MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail
2. Bourboned Cranberry Relish
3. MxMo XXX: Local Flavor — Blackberry Gin Shrub

Last time I wrote about the Blinker, I used a recipe that called for 2 parts bourbon, 1 part grapefruit juice, and 1 part grenadine. Before trying the recipe, I worried that the grenadine would be too much at that level, but was happy that the sweetness balanced the grapefruit in a way that convinced grapefruit-phobic people that it could be used to good effect.

This time, I decided to try using rye, and dial down on the grenadine. Most recipes I find call for a mere teaspoon of grenadine, or preferably raspberry syrup, which I don’t currently have.

This time I also changed my grapefruit juice. I have to admit to using canned grapefruit juice, since my rate of usage is low. But on a lark, I bought a bottle of organic grapefruit juice, and decided to use it in a blinker. This is really nice juice for store-bought, quite fresh tasting, and worth the expense if you want to skip the step of juicing your own (which is usually the best choice).

Using the better grapefruit juice and rye, and just a teaspoon of grenadine, this is a really outstanding cocktail. And once again, I handed my grapefruit-hating co-taster the glass and asked him to sip. His immeidate response…”I’ll keep this.”

Blinker Cocktail

1 1/2 oz rye whiskey (Sazerac 6 year)
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon grenadine

shake over ice, strain into cocktail glass, sip with no worries of unexpected sourness

Related posts:

1. Don’t Blink
2. MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail
3. Named for a sincere drinker and recommended only for such

As always, I used MxMo as a justification to buy a nice bottle. This time it was Ridgemont Reserve 1792. This is a very smooth bourbon, a definite rival to Woodford Reserve, which is currently my favorite mixing Bourbon. Named after the year of Kentucky statehood, this is an 8 year Bourbon that comes in at a hearty 93.7 proof.

My initial plan was to experiment with my tried and true Manhattan recipe to see how different vermouths and bitters worked with the Bourbon. I use a 2 : 1 Bourbon to vermouth ratio, with two dashes of bitters.

My house sweet vermouth is Cinzano. Paired with Angostura bitters, this is a solid, reliable Manhattan – I wouldn’t send it back, that’s for sure. But it’s not spectacular.

I then tried the 1792 and Cinzano with Fee’s Whiskey Barrel Aged bitters. On initial taste, this didn’t really work. The bitters seem a bit confused. But as the drink warmed a bit, the tasted really began to blend nicely into quite a nice cocktail.

I then switched to Vya vermouth. At $25 a bottle, it’s nearly five times the cost of the Cinzano, so I don’t splurge on it that often. And in this case, it doesn’t seem worth the expense with the 1792 and Angostura bitters. Bryan thought he actually preferred the Cinzano and Angostura over the Vya version.

But this is where we found how big a difference bitters can make. Switching to whiskey barrel aged bitters made this a stellar cocktail. This was far and away our favorite Manhattan…

…until I tried a variation I’ve played with before. Instead of the vermouth and bitters, I use Amaro Ramazzotti. This tonic liqueur includes anise, orange peel, gentian root, rhubarb and cinnamon. I’ve tried this before with Woodford Reserve, and we really enjoyed it. It really shone with the Ridgemont Reserve. This was the hands down winner for the evening, and may even replace the Manhattan as a favorite go-to drink.

When I initially came up with this mix, we were going to call it the Little Italy, until I read Keith Waldbauer’s post about an existing cocktail with the name. Instead, I’m chosing to call this the Purosangue. Italian for Thoroughbred, the name marries the Kentucky Bourbon and Italian Amaro.

Purosangue Cocktail
2 oz bourbon (Ridgemont Reserve 1792)
1 oz Amaro Ramazzotti

stir in mixing tin with ice
strain into cocktail glass
garnish with Bourbon-soaked cherry

Related posts:

1. If I Could Only Have 10 Bottles
2. Bulleit Bourbon
3. MxMo XLIII: Vermouth — The Visconti

Rathbun states he found this recipe in a small 1934 pamphlet titled Irvin S. Cobb’s Own Recipe Book. Based on this one drink, and the fact the man wrote a book titled Red Likker, I’d like to get a copy of my own.

This is a very simple cocktail, just bourbon, orange curaçao, and some simple syrup. But it’s a heck of a nice sip once it’s made. I really enjoyed eating the orange slice garnish afterwards, nicely flavored by the bourbon. I went mid-range on the bourbon this last trip to the store. The Elijah Craig 12 year is a little rough around the edges. Which just tells me this would be even more fun to make with Woodford Reserve, probably my current favorite mixing bourbon.

Ed Dexter
2 ounces Bourbon (Elijah Craig 12 yr)
1/2 ounce orange curaçao (Harlequin)
1/4 ounce simple syrup

stir over ice, strain into cocktail glass
garnish with lemon twist and slice of orange

The title of the post is apparently Cobb’s quote about the source of the drink’s name.

Related posts:

1. MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail
2. Don’t Blink
3. Bulleit Bourbon

Bryan, on the other hand, hates grapefruit. He made this clear when I brought home a six pack of grapefruit juice in the off-chance it was called for in a recipe. “I hate grapefruit,” he said, in no uncertain terms. Totally uninterested in how great it tasted halved, with sugar, much less in a cocktail. When I read him Paul Clarke’s discussion of grapefruit, few sentences in his was exclaiming in agreement. “Yeah, that’s it, it’s nasty!”

So I admit great delight in handing him a drink tonight, with a subtle, “Here, taste this.” He smelled deeply (trying to guess the ingredients) and noticed the bourbon, but couldn’t place anything else. He took a sip. “This is kind of fun.”

“I made you drink grapefruit juice!”

“Well, if it’s mixed right…”

Tonight’s recipe came from A.J. Rathbun’s Good Spirits, which is written in an entertaining manner, but may err a little too much on the “if it’s in a cocktail glass it’s a martini,” “shaken, not stirred” side of cocktails for my taste. He calls for bourbon in a Blinker…further research shows that rye whisky is more traditional. So as soon as I buy a new bottle, I’ll try it again. Until then, tonight’s recipe was:

Blinker
1 1/2 oz bourbon (ezra brooks)
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
3/4 oz grenadine (jaquin’s syrop de grenadine liqueur)

shake over ice, strain into cocktail glass.

This recipe left the bourbon strong enough to announce its presence without being overwhelmed by the grenadine, which I had expected.

Related posts:

1. Blinker Cocktail Redux
2. Named for a sincere drinker and recommended only for such
3. MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail

Tonight I opened the bottle of Aperol, and on first taste new I was going to like this “little sister” of Campari.

I knew I’d seen something about it one one of the many cocktail blogs i read, but when I went to find a recipe, I found it wasn’t even listed as an ingredient in the CocktailDB. A quick search, however, revealed the suggestion that Aperol could be used anywhere Campari was called for.

Now, to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever actually had Campari, so all the following is going merely on how I like the cocktails themselves.

My first experiment was to use Aperol in a Negroni:

Aperol Negroni
1 oz Aperol
1 oz sweet vermouth (Vya)
1 oz gin (Van Gogh)

stir all ingredients with ice, strain into cocktail glass, enjoy!

I really enjoyed this drink. The Van Gogh gin and Vya sweet vermouth have come out as a very complimentary pair in several recipes I’ve tried, and the Aperol added a really nice sweetness. The overall cocktail was really smooth and enjoyable.

I tried a second time with Aviation gin. I found this version to be a tad too sweet and nowhere near as silky smooth as with the Van Gogh. I wasn’t surprised the Aviation was sweeter, but was really surprised the Van Gogh version just felt smoother on the mouth.

As an additional variation, I tried spritzing the “Negroni”.

Aperol Negroni Spritz
1 oz Aperol
1 oz sweet vermouth (Vya)
1 oz gin (Van Gogh)
1 oz club soda

pour all but soda into rocks glass, add rocks, add soda, stir.

This added a nice refreshing quality to the drink, but was maybe too drinkable — seemed to disappear rather quickly, which means I wasn’t really enjoying it as much per sip as without the soda.

While figuring out what to make tonight, I caught the new Campari post at Oh Gosh!, so naturally decided to try the Boulevardier.

Aperol Boulevardier
1 1/2 oz bourbon (Ezra Brooks)
3/4 oz Aperol
3/4 oz sweet vermouth (Vya)

stir all ingredients with ice, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with lemon twist

This is also a very enjoyable drink. I bet it would be even better with Woodford Reserve.

Now, I’ve been looking around, and am not seeing that anyone has named these Aperol variations, so I’m tempted to, but not having much inspiration as of yet. Guess I’ll go build another Boulevardier and think about it.

Related posts:

1. Astoria Cocktail
2. Clover Club
3. MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail