Two At The Most

It’s Mixology Monday again. This month, Doug Winship at the Pegu Blog has declared the theme to be “Made from Scratch.” We are to make at least one of our own ingredients and decide if it’s worth the effort.

I have written about Swedish Punsch before. This mix of Batavia arrack, neutral spirits, sugar, water, and various flavorings is common … 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

Over at Kaiser Penguin, Rick has posed a challenging question:

If you could only have 10 bottles of alcohol, what would they be? You have to name brands, and you must include vermouths if you want them. They are, at least, infinitely replenishable.

I tried to focus on my favorite cocktails, and favorite categories of cocktails, as I made my decisions. I must have at least one scotch, mixable or not. I have to have my Manhattans. And I give up the ability to have something approximating a mai tai in order to have Pisco sours.

So here’s my … Continue Reading

Here in the United States, we have a day for everything. There’s a national pound cake day, national pecan day, and even something on a stick day.

August 16 particularly appeals to me because it’s National Rum Day. Just how this designation was set I haven’t been able to ascertain, but who cares? It’s an excuse to make a delicious rum cocktail!

One of my favorite rum-based drinks is the El Presidente. I first discovered it in Wayne Curtis’s article … Continue Reading

Attention! It was on this day in 1970 that the British Royal Navy discontinued the centuries old tradition of providing a daily rum ration, or “tot,” to its sailors.

In rememberance of Black Tot Day, let us all raise a glass of grog:

Grog

2 ounces water
1 ounce Jamaican rum (Pusser’s)
1/2 ounce lime juice
1 tablespoon raw sugar

shake over ice, strain into a rocks glass full of ice.

If this was once part of my compensation and it was taken away, I’d be pretty darned upset!

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men…

My post for last month’s MxMo was a bit short. I realized I could expand on it for this month’s theme, Rum, hosted by Trader Tiki. I had actually tried the Canton with several different rums, and was going to report on why I thought an aged rum was the best choice. I was even more pleased when I realized I could tie it to my very first MxMo post, on the theme of … Continue Reading

Anna at Morsels and Musings certainly gave me something to think about when she chose Fruit Liqueurs for this month’s Mixology Monday. I tend to shy away from really sweet cocktails.

Initially, I thought about using this as a good justification for picking up a bottle like creme de cassis or even chambord, but decided I’d stick to what was already in my cabinet, which left me with orange liqueur and maraschino…. Continue Reading

Upon reading the theme for this Mixology Monday, I drew a blank. The only recipe I know well that fit the bill was the Mai Tai, which I really love to make. But it seems like MxMo should be an encouragement to try something new, and I certainly didn’t want to fall into the newbie trap of sticking with the tried and true. Thinking this might be a good time to try a new tiki drink, I searched around a bit, … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading

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 … Continue Reading