Just got word from John Gertsen that Pierre Ferrand has accepted my Chee-Hoo Fizz for presentation at the Liquid Liquid Cocktail Spirits Expo 2010 in Paris!! John will be presenting his views on the ‘state of American mixology’ and will serve up my Chee-Hoo Fizz at the end of his presentation.
In other CHF-related news, fellow Boston blogger/mixologist Fred of Cocktail Virgin Slut has posted a review of the drink too.
A last-minute visit to Drink last Sunday brought on my newest mixology exploration: Gin drinks. I have never really been a gin enthusiast in the past, but i think my taste buds are changing; not to mention that I am proactively trying to be more open to different tastes.
What started me on this gin kick is a drink that John Gertsen introduced me to called the Air India, which is one of Cleve’s inventions. A really fascinating and simple drink that totally changed my outlook on gin. Here’s the recipe for that one:
Air India
2 tsp. whole cardamon
2 oz. Plymouth gin
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 oz. simple syrupInto your muddling glass, dry muddle the cardamom. Add the gin and let it sit 3-4 minutes as the oils express themselves. When you return you will get a nose full of lovely cardamom. Add your lime and simple syrup, rocks, and shake hard. Double strain into a cocktail glass. Crack an extra cardamom seed, rub it around the rim, and serve!
The next day I went to Polcari’s and purchased several ounces of whole cardamom. The guy at the counter said he never saw anyone buy so much! Hey, it was a good price, I think… 75¢ per oz. Over the next few days I invited some friends to visit and served about a dozen Air Indias, to them and me. Mmmm.
I ran out of cardamom and needed another gin drink. So I headed over to Fred’s Cocktail Virgin Slut blog and did some reading; came across the Paradise Cocktail, which is also listed on the Anvil 100 list that I’m trying to whittle my way down. Another reason I chose to try the Paradise is that it meant I could use some of my apricot brandy—the last time I used that was for Cleve’s Maharaja’s Revenge.
Paradise Cocktail
2 oz. gin
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. apricot liqueur (I used Leroux apricot brandy)Shake, strain, serve in a cocktail glass
The Paradise is a lovely drink; the apricot and lemon blend well together and mask some of the herbal notes in the gin. It’s light, smooth, and very refreshing. Definitely going to add this one to my list of go-to drinks.
Ok, well after ingesting the Paradise, it was time for me to do some experimentation of my own.
This was my first foyer into a rum gin tiki drink. (And the drink name actually is that: Rama and Kini mean ‘rum’ and ‘gin’ respectively in the Hawaiian language).
Rama Kini Cocktail
1 3/4 oz. El Dorado 3 yr white rum
1/4 oz. Plymouth gin
1/2 oz. Falernum
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1/2 oz. fresh orange juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Shake, strain, and serve over crushed ice.
This drink works with Velvet Falernum but is, of course, better with a homemade falernum. I tried it both ways when I tended bar at the NYC Rhum Rhum Room last night. Joe and Nicole really dug it!
Ok, this one is kind of an ass kicker. Actually I originally was going to name it that, until Joe (of the RRR) suggested it has similar qualities to the ’34 Zombie… namely in its strength and quantity of ingredients. Night Marchers are basically the Hawaiian equivalents of zombies. They are the ghosts of warriors who fought and protected their islands from takeover by other islands’ chiefs. As told by the obake files, making eye contact with a night marcher means certain death.
The Night Marcher Cocktail
1 oz. El Dorado 151 (don’t use Lemon Hart – it takes over the taste)
1/2 oz Neisson Eleve
1/2 oz gin (Plymouth or Old Tom)
1/4 oz allspice dram (homemade or St. Elizabeth’s; haven’t tried with Berry Hill)
1 rough cut sugar cube (or 1/4 oz simple syrup)
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz fresh orange juice
8 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
2 dashes Angostura bittersInto your mixing glass muddle the sugar cube and Peychaud’s like you’re starting a Sazerac. Add the juices, dram, sprits, and Ango. Shake with rocks, double strain, and serve in a cocktail glass.
Joe and I tried this one with Lemon Hart 151 at the Rhum Rhum Room. It was still a good drink, but the demerara flavor (and color) really overpowered the drink. If you use El Dorado 151, the other flavors come through better, and we found that you’ll get Ango and allspice at the tail. It’s really cool actually how that happens.
The drink is a very pretty dark pink hue. Sorry, I know I need to get better about taking pictures of these things. The problem is usually that I don’t have a camera, or if I’m making them at home, I don’t have pretty bar ware!
Anyways, try these recipes out and comment below!
I re-tooled my Vietnamese Cocktail and turned it into a fizz! It actually works quite well if you make it as follows:
1.5 oz cognac
0.5 oz orgeat
0.5 oz falernum (e.g. Velvet)
0.5 oz fresh lime juice
4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
1 egg white
club soda
Dry shake first, then add a hand-hewn ice cube if you have one, and shake again. (John Gertsen taught me this trick: If you have a large enough cube for shaking—like the hand-hewn ones they make at Drink, the overall temp of the drink will drop considerably. One can then add more soda at the base of the collins than normal, resulting in better foam. You’ll know it worked if you can sculpt the foam as shown in the picture.) Into a collins class, stack 4 cubes and pour about 2 cubes worth of club soda. Double strain into the collins and add more soda at the top. Garnish with a lime pull.
This is essentially a tiki-style fizz made with cognac… sounds weird, but hey, it works!
I brought this recipe to the folks at PDT last week and learned that a lime pull as garnish on a fizz is apparently controversial somehow. Anyone want to enlighten me?