Two At The Most

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 … Continue Reading

I have fond memories of witnessing a traditional Zen Buddhist tea ceremony at the Smithsonian Museum. We were given small sweets, and after the ceremony, a taste of the matcha tea. It was bitter and strong, not like any tea I had tasted before. I can still remember that taste today. Thus, when I read on the back of the Zen Green Tea Liqueur bottle I received that it used matcha tea, I was intrigued.

Matcha Cocktail

Not quite a Broadway Smile

Searching for more drinks to make with my Swedish punsch, I found yet another entry in Erik Ellestad’s ongoing stomp through the Savoy. This one is the Broadway Smile.

Broadway Smile Cocktail

1/3 créme de cassis (Briottet)
1/3 Swedish punsch (homemade)
1/3 Cointreau

Use liqueur glass and pour carefully so that ingredients do not mix.

I have never attempted … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading

I love ginger. Ginger ale, ginger beer, gari, gingersnaps, gingered mashed potaotes, you name it, I will presume I’ll love it if it’s flavored with ginger.

Back in my homebrewing days, I flirted with making my own ginger beer, but never followed through. I did make my own ginger syrup, and found that when mixed with soda water, it make a very tasty, and very affordable, version of ginger beer.

After several recent Thursday Drink Nights featured high usage of ginger syrup, I realized it was time to try making some of my own again. Naturally I’ve lost … Continue Reading

Having already tried the Basic, Fancy, and Improved Gin Cocktails with Genevieve Genever Gin, I wanted to find some additional drinks to use this great new ingredient.

The first that caught my eye was the Amsterdam Cocktail, which I found in the CocktailDB.

Amsterdam Cocktail

1 1/2 oz genever (Genevieve)
3/4 oz orange juice
1/2 oz Cointreau
1 dash orange bitters (Regan’s)

shake over ice, strain into cocktail glass

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 … Continue Reading

It’s definitely a fun time to be a gin lover in the US. Several distillers across the country are producing new, exciting gins. I’ve tried most of the West Coast contenders, but my latest acquisition comes to us from Philadelphia: Bluecoat American Dry Gin.

Corpse Reviver No. 2a

The distiller tells us they use a handmade copper pot still, using a slow heating process in their five batch distillations to maximize separation to reduce … Continue Reading

Another month, another Mixology Monday! This month, the theme, courtesy of Bibulo.us, is 19th Century Cocktails. I’ve been joking with the crowd over at the Mixoloseum that we all need to claim our page in Imbibe! and go from there. I decided to be greedy and take several.

As a long time gin fancier, I’ve been frustrated by my inability to get a taste of genever. For those who don’t … Continue Reading