The last Thursday Drink Night theme was one that I proposed to SeanMike a few weeks ago, namely room temperature cocktails. Back in November 2010, we did host a TDN with a Scaffa theme; Scaffas are but one type of room temperature drink that we interpreted as “a mixed drink, often a liquor and a liqueur or two (with or without bitters), stirred in the absence of ice to cool and dilute it.” After reading through the latest edition of Beta Cocktails, I noticed a renewed interest in the room temperature format. While they were not the classic Scaffas or Pousse-Cafés, they did have similar concepts where the heat of the spirits was quenched by sugar or lower proof wine-based ingredients. So without specifying a class of unchilled and unheated drink, we wanted to see what the Mixoloseum chatroom could conjure up! And here are some of the highlights:

Marc from A Drinker’s Peace led off the night with a classic style, the Pousse-Café, which is a layered drink.

Pousse Amer
• 1/3 oz Campari
• 1/3 oz Amaro Montenegro
• 1/3 oz Fernet Branca
Layer carefully, in order, in a Pousse-Café or narrow shot glass.

Jim Maserson, otherwise known as Sunny & Rummy on eGullet and elsewhere, left the realm of Scaffas and Pousse-Cafés by including citrus in the drink. There is no reason why these two classic styles cannot have citrus; however, in all the books I have seen, they have had nothing but liquors, liqueurs, syrups, and bitters (and in some cases egg yolk and whipped egg white). In essence, Jim’s drink is an El Diablo made in a short format.
Diabolito STP
• 2 oz Añejo Tequila
• 1/2 tsp Crème de Cassis
• 1/2 tsp Jamaican Ginger Beer Syrup
Build without ice in a snifter glass and stir. Squeeze a lime wedge and drop in.

Dr. Bamboo also took the juice route and matched pineapple juice with the rich spiciness of Zacapa rum and mole bitters.
Soft Memory
• 2 oz Zacapa Centenario
• 1/4 oz Pineapple Juice
• 1/4 oz Xocolatl Mole Bitters
Build in large wine glass and swirl vigorously to blend.

I, Frederic of CocktailVirgin, got back after my friend’s birthday dinner and I figured that a room temperature nightcap was in order. I originally made and posted this one with a Pedro Ximénez sherry, but it rather dominated the flavor profile; I remade the drink the next day with a lighter one, Lustau’s East India Solera Sherry, which is actually a blend of PX and Dry Oloroso. The drink got named after an old apple varietal.
Nonesuch Scaffa
• 1 1/4 oz Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy (sub Calvados in a pinch)
• 1 1/4 oz Lustau East India Solera Sherry (sub a Cream Sherry)
• 1/4 oz Crème de Cacao
• 1/8 oz Fernet Branca (1 barspoon)
Build in a small cocktail glass and stir to mix.

On Thursday in the Mixoloseum chat room, the theme was beer cocktails and the energy level was rather high. Perhaps because beer is such a fun cocktail ingredient to play with as it imparts a wide variety of malt, roast, floral, bitter, sour, and funky notes depending on what style is utilized. And perhaps because this Thursday Drink Night was a few days before the Mixology Monday: Beer event and some of the participants wanted to craft a recipe for that. Here are some fine examples of the drinks that were made last week:

KeithP of the Speakista started things off with the Mambo No. 5 using a stout float for both carbonating and adding a rich malty note to complement the sherry and Meletti amaro. I found it interesting that Keith utilized a double gin style base akin to what is often done in the rum world, and their botanicals probably complement most stouts’ hops rather well.
Mambo No.5
• 1 1/2 oz Old Tom Gin
• 1 oz London Dry Gin
• 1/2 oz Solera Sherry
• 1/2 oz Meletti
• 1 tsp Rich Simple Syrup (2:1)
Prepare the drink Julep-style with crushed ice, top with 2 oz of stout, and add a straw.

Ed of the Wordsmithing Pantagruel blog contributed a few good recipes to this event. The one I liked the most was the Bruges Sling that complemented a cherry Lambic beer with fruit notes from lemon juice, Grand Marnier, and orange bitters and spice notes from Bénédictine, Angostura, and gin. While your garden might not have pineapple sage and pineapple mint like Ed’s, perhaps a nice regular mint sprig would do the job in a pinch! Read about his other drinks of the night on his post.

Bruges Sling
• 2 oz Gin
• 1/2 oz Bénédictine
• 1/4 oz Grand Marnier
• 1 oz Lemon Juice
• 2 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
• 2 dash Angostura Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a tall glass. Top with 2 1/2 oz Kriek Lambic. Garnish with a sprig each of pineapple sage and pineapple mint and add a lemon wedge.

Dan Chadwick of Kindred Cocktails brought together the magical combination of Scotch and Cynar and lightened the drink with a bit of pale ale. Between the malt notes of the beer working with the Scotch and the hops complementing the Cynar botanical notes, the pale ale far exceeds what soda water could have done to this recipe.
Choke Let Malt
• 1 oz Scotch
• 1 oz Cynar
• 1 dash Aromatic Bitters
Build on ice in a rocks or highball glass. Top with 2 oz dry pale ale.

A Drinker’s Peace was another multiple drink contributor that night. My favorite was his Rosehops which couples floral notes from hibiscus syrup and Bittermens Burlesque Bitters with hops notes from hopped bitters and Indian Pale Ale. The aroma of the grapefruit garnish does a fine job preparing the tongue for the IPA and other ingredients. Perhaps using Hendrick’s, Berkshire’s Ethereal, or North Shore for the gin might even tie in some bonus floral elements.
Rosehops
• 1 oz Gin
• 1 oz Lillet
• 1 tsp Hibiscus Syrup
• 6 drop Bittermens Burlesque Bitters
• 1 tsp Aromatic Hop Bitters (sub Bittermens Grapefruit)
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with IPA beer and garnish with a grapefruit slice.

Sunny and Rummy also used the funky and fruit notes of a Lambic, except that he chose an apple instead of a cherry one. Spice notes from ginger liqueur and rich ones from Cognac and maple syrup round out his take on the classic French 75 champagne cocktail.
Flemish 75
• 1 1/2 oz Cognac
• 1/2 oz Domaine de Canton
• 1/4 oz Maple Syrup
Shake with ice and strain into a champagne flute. Top Lindeman’s Pomme Lambic.

Finally, Zach Pearson presented a few drinks. The one I liked the best was the Black and Mild that utilized Compass Box’s Orangerie for some smoke, malt, and fruit peel flavors to tie together the orange juice and dark beer elements in the drink. A little richness and strength from Cognac and spice from Boker’s Bitters, and the Black and Mild seems like a tasty treat!
The Black and Mild
• 1 oz Cognac
• 3/4 oz Compass Box Orangerie
• 1/2 oz Orange Juice
• 1 dash Boker’s Bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a highball glass. Top with 4oz Jester King Commercial Suicide (or another dark, English mild).

Go see the rest of the drinks on the Mixoloseum Twitter including recipes from TDN alums Dr. Bamboo, SeanMike (a/k/a HighwayStar), and myself (Frederic of CocktailVirgin). And check the Mixology Monday: Beer wrap up post later in the week (perhaps by Wednesday night or Thursday) on CocktailVirgin.

After all the heat in New Orleans and the summer isn´t over yet even though much cooler here than say +37 – and the humidity is not 100% but its always welcome with a tikidrink. This post´s theme is a Summer Tiki Drink containing a new product – Root.

Of course i drink tikidrinks all the time – in the winter they also serves as a vehicle of escapism away from the cold of the winter mentally taking you to Polynesia. But in the summer they also cools you and who can resist a real tikidrink served in either a sturdy tikimug or a beautiful glass which lets you see the colors and the ice..

So here we go.

I got quite a bit of inspirations for all kinds of flavour combinations from my recent trip to the US and one of the most interesting new flavors i can work with now which arrived to my homebar just a week before myself is Root which is a new certified-organic 80-proof spirit, and dubbed “the first true American liqueur since the pre-Prohibition era.” – its spicy and deep and less sweet than rootbeer.

First was the potent root-tea which the settlers during the 1800th century picked up from the native Americans and which later gave the temperance people the idea of making root- beer by removing the booze. Root today is made by some folks callling themselves “Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction” in partnership with the folks behind Hendrick’s Gin. This is a PA product, distilled in California by Modern Spirits.

Root is said to be good with birch beer and ginger ale but its also a good ingredient for tikidrinks. I guess its good with ginger beer as well, a Root and Stormy maybe?

So i just had to try Root in a tikidrink and immediately felt it would be good with dark rum, they seem to be natural companions to me. But i also added some white rum, lime, simple sugar and to give some more depth i muddled grilled pineapple.

Garnish with pineapple skin, mint and one of those merry cocktail parasols – oh yeah.

I call the drink Mahalo – which means thank you in Hawaiian, to thank you all who have helped me in life.

MAHALO

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

1 oz white rum

0.5 oz fresh lime juice

0.5 oz simple syrup

2 sliced fresh pineapple rounds, grilled

4-5 tsp Root

1-2 oz fresh grapefruit juice (yellow)

Ice

Grill the pineapple rounds, cool and cut in chunks to muddle with simple syrup in shaker. Add the other ingredients and shake with ice. Double strain into a ice filled jazz glass from New Orleans. Top with some grapefruit juice.

Spear a piece of pineapple skin in a spiral manner and top with a merry parasol.

Throw in a piece of fresh mint on the side.

Enjoy!

This is an experiment with Root, maybe more of it would make a better drink? its spicier than root beer and not so sweet. The 4 teaspoons i added to the drink gave a subtle hint of something, that if you didin´t know what it was you would know something`s there but not exactly what. And in say a tikidrink that sort of mystery is just perfect.

I need to experiment more with this.

Have you yet tried Root?

(Crossposted from Scofflaw’s Den)

Day three of the series leads me to do two things – come up with a drink with none other than our own iStevi, hostess of “Two at the Most”, a fellow LiveJournal refugee who found her way out onto a hosted site, but also to write up my article that I promised to the Mixoloseum on cognac.

Cognac, I feel, is often a misunderstood liquor.  People have an impression of it that it’s only for the rich, while that’s not true; on the other hand, when introducing people to the subtypes of brandy that are available, or even for other drinks, cognac is often easily used as an example because people are familiar with it.  All cognacs are brandy; not all brandies are cognac, it depends on where they come from.  (There are other requirements, too, but that’s the big one, at least, in my humble opinion.)

And where cognacs come from is the French area known as, well – Cognac.

I won’t get into Wikipedia-esque detail on VS versus VSOP versus XO, or the other different types.  The important thing to remember when using cognac in drinks, in my opinion, is to remember that while cognacs vary, you can use a cognac to replace a brandy but not vice versa.  Cognacs, in my experience, tend to be richer, and often sweeter – in my opinion – than other brandies from similar areas.  Armagnacs might be able to replace a cognac, but really, if a drink is so specific to request a cognac you should use it.

Not that many do.  You might see a “special” version of a drink using cognac that has it instead of brandy, but only a rare few use cognac as an ingredient, and there’s one in particular that I know catches more than a few eyes.

I know this because on the last, admittedly hazily remembered, night at Hummingbird to Mars I was offered one – and the bartender (I want to say it was Owen) I seem to remember was surprised that I knew what it was (and drank it anyways).   If you’ve got the Regan’s The Joy of Mixology you might already know where I’m going…

Tremblement De Terre (Earthquake)
2 1/2 ounces cognac
1/4 ounce absinthe
1 lemon twist, garnish
Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Add the garnish.

Now, I’ve had that drink, and it’s a killer.  Not bad whatsoever, in my opinion, but oof!

My favorite cognac right now is Chalfonte VSOP.  I just got word that it’s back at my favorite liquor store, Ace in DC, and that makes me very happy.  It’s not expensive but it’s quote luscious in its taste.  My goal is to make sure I have a bottle of two to enjoy in the snow, around a big bonfire, with family and friends next winter.  It was that goal last winter but never happened.

Still, I need a drink for a blogger or mixologist for tonight, and I thought of that drink and Stevi’s blog name.  Hmmm.  It seems to insinuate that you can only have two of her drinks in a night, and what’s a good drink to base that off of, in addition to her love of Peruvian horses, I thought – oh.  I know.

Two At The Most
1 1/2 ounces cognac (Chalfonte VSOP)
1 ounce pisco brandy (Macchu Pisco)
1/4 ounce + 1 dash absinthe (Kubler)
1/4 ounce simple syrup
1-2 dashes Peruvian bitters
Stir and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a brandy soaked cherry, which sinks to the bottom, and a lemon twist.

Yummy!  But that’s quite a bit of booze there, so be warned – you won’t want to have more than two at the most!

[Third in a series of drinks named after bloggers, mixologists, and random others who'll hopefully be at Tales.  The first post in the series is here.]

This is a cross-post, originally written at Scofflaw’s Den.

Tomorrow night over at The Mixoloseum chat room, the theme of the night is “Muddled” where each drink will require the muddling of some component.  The theme is very apropos because I recently bought the best muddler I’ve ever used.

Specifically, I’m talking about PUG! muddlers.  I had read a few articles on these hand-made muddlers around the interwebs and they have had some great reviews.  Where most bar equipment can readily be purchased on-line at any number of on-line retailers, PUG! muddlers are a little more difficult to come by.  You see, there is no website to sell them.

The maker, Chris Gallagher takes orders via email.  It is actually a great way to talk to Chris and find out what types of wood he’s using at any given time, photos of various muddlers and the cost.  PUG! is actually an acronym for “Pick Up Gallaghers!” and to be honest, I don’t think I’ll pick up another muddler again.  These are that good.

Maple (L) & Cherry Wood (R)

You can see from the photo above that the shape is pretty unique. The angled top really allows the palm of your hand to rest comfortably on the muddler. It also gives you more control and a more efficient use of force to muddle. In other words, it doesn’t take a lot of pressure to really do the job. The height of the muddler also allows you to really reach the bottom of your mixing glass or tin. These things are a beast! And can offer personal protection if an unruly customer comes calling!

Almost as tall as a bottle of gin!

When I emailed Chris, I asked for the cherry wood muddler. One thing I didn’t think about, and Chris was kind enough to point out before I made my purchase, was that different woods have different densities. These densities play a discernable role in the job at hand. A lighter wood will require slightly more force to muddle than a more dense wood.

When Chris sent me the shipping confirmation, he dropped the bomb that he was also sending me the maple wood muddler! He asked me to put them both through their paces and let him know what I thought.

Well, this past weekend at Sean’s housewarming party, Sean, Rick and I did just that. Both muddlers worked wonderful. The added bonus of the heavier maple was that it could be used to bash the living hell out of ice cubes for crushed ice and swizzles. We all know how Rick loves his swizzles . . .

I’ll be honest, these muddlers are not cheap. Depending on the wood they run $30-35 and the more exotic Mexican hardwoods run in the $60 range. Is this more than you are likely to pay for any other muddler? Most likely, yes. Is this one of the best bar implements I currently own? Yes. Will I recommend these whole heartedly? YES!

Medley of Motley Muddlers

If you are interested in purchasing a PUG! muddler, email Chris Gallagher at jcgallagher08@hotmail.com.

This is a cross post with A Mountain of Crushed Ice. Every month the members of the CSWOG (Cocktails and Spirits Online Writers Group) posts on several interesting topics related to the world of cocktails and spirits here on the Mixoloseum blog.

Wine in cocktails dates back to somewhere in the in the mid-19th century and were very popular in the 60s and the 80s and then they seemed to have more or less dissappeared – until now that is. Now they are slowly becoming popular again but its not the old style wine cocktails we are talking about, the new winetails are innovative and uses fresh fruits and spices. A wine cocktail both cleanses the palate and is refreshing before dinner.

Wine as cocktail ingredient also lovers the alcohol content and makes cocktails more food friendly and wine-tails-food pairing is an interesting subject. If reduced to a syrup some of the acid content is toned down and the flavors becomes more concentrated, that way it can be used in small quantities to add a specific flavor component to a cocktail. Interesting area of experimentation!

And don`t forget the grapes! Checking what types of grapes the wine is made of and their taste notes and pairing those flavor notes with similar and complementing flavors in the mixers and spirits creates harmony and balance.

Thus i have tried my best to do that and the wine i have used here is a dry organical wine from Sicily with taste notes of grapefruit, pineapple, honey and white pepper and these i have paired with fresh pineapple, ginger and white rum.

Personally i`m very fond of sparkling wines and in my opinion a little topping of a lively sparkling wine makes for a happy wine cocktail, especially now in the spring and summertime. Red wine is naturally better suited for fall and winter and white and rosé for the spring and summer.

 Here is a light and refreshing summer drink with a sturdy ginger flavor.

CASABLANCA

1 oz white rum
1 oz fruity white wine (i used Kalis grillo)
2 thin ginger slices
3-4 pineapple chunks
0.5 oz ginger syrup
0.5 oz fresh lime juice
Top with a fruity sparkling white wine
crushed ice
Garnish pineapple stick and something green ( i used a fig leaf)

Muddle ginger, pineapple and ginger syrup in shaker. Add fresh lime juice and rum, shake. Strain into a glass filled with crushed ice and top with sparkling white wine. Garnish with pineapple stick and green leaf.(I used a fig leaf)

This drink is perfect on a warm sunny day before or after a hot meal.

Red wine is naturally better suited for fall and winter and white and rosé for the spring and summer. The next drink is a simple take on the Caipirinha just adding the same white wine with citrus and pineapple notes as i used in Casablanca plus a topping of some sparkling rosé.

WINE CAIPIRINHA

½ lime cut in quarters
1 tsp fine raw sugar
1 oz cachaca (i used Leblon)
1 oz white wine with citrus fruit notes
1 oz jamaica (or sub 0.5 oz hibiscus grenadine)
Top with sparkling rosè wine

Muddle lime and sugar, add cachaca, wine and 0.5 oz jamaica and shake over ice and pour into a rocks glass with crushed ice. Top with sparkiling rosè wine and remaining jamaica.  Garnish with a lime wheel spiral.

To make the lime wheel spiral: Stick a chopstick through a lime and start cutting the lime all the way down to the stick in a spiral manner all around.The difficulty with this garnish is to cut even slices that aren´t too thick..you need a thin sharp knife to begin with (which i don`t have for the moment)

JAMAICA

5 dl water to 2 handful of dried hibiscus flowers
9 cl agave syrup
Boil for 5 minutes
Cool for 2 hrs

Strain and bottle and keep in the fridge, it will be fresh for about a week.

My conclusion is that wine cocktails are fun to make and tasty to drink. Cocktails with wine may also attract people who don`t drink wine into appreciating it and vice versa, get winedrinkers into cocktails – a win for both the wine and spirits industries and the drinkers.

I surely will come back in the fall with some winetails based on red wine and fall fruits. I hope though it will will take looong before the fall sets in…i love the summer!

First i want to say one thing – i`m not very fond of bananas in cocktails..and that`s the reason why i jumped on the task of writing this post, i simply see it as a challenge to try to create something interesting with bananas..

The first thing – it can`t be too sweet and second – it can´t be too bananaish.

Third – it can´t be too slushy and thick.

Fourth – find or invent a cocktail where the banana-whatever thing will fit in well and actually make the drink tasty.A commercial banana liqueur or spirit was out of the question – i wanted fresh stuff.

So what to do? well i rubbed my brain and then figured that if i make a banana peel syrup (and maybe just a little of the fruit) it may add just a hint of banana flavour without getting overly much banana-sweet. For the banana peel syrup i wanted greenish somewhat unripe bananas,they are less sweet and hopefully would lend a more interesting “green” flavour to the syrup.

Lesson number one (i noted to self) : get the right type of fruit. And when it comes to bananas – bananas are not just bananas.The varieties have very different sizes and textures. Now the next challenge was to hit the stores when they happened to have some green unripe bananas.There´s an Indian-african-caibbean store here which now and then carries apple bananas and they are often in the unripe state in that shop.

Apple bananas (musa manzano) are much tastier than the regular bananas,they have a sort of apple flavour with a hint of strawberry and at the same time they actually have a bit of tang as the fruits are sweet yet have a slight tartness.They are smaller, rounder,firmer and less sweet than other banans.These seemed to be exactly the type of banana i needed for this.

GREEN APPLE-BANANA DAIQUIRI

* 1 1/2 oz light rum
* 3/4 oz lime juice
* 1 barspoon apple banana peel syrup
* ¼ oz honey water – honey and water mixed 1:1
Pour the rum, lime juice, honeymix and syrup into a shaker with ice cubes and shake, strain in to a glass and add a large chunk of ice and garnish with the other lime half

APPLE BANANA PEEL SYRUP

2:1 Sugar and water. ¾ part light muscovado sugar and ¼ part molasses.Peel from 1 apple banana and a few slices of the fruit.

To this syrup i used light muscovado sugar and a pinch of molasses plus the peel of one apple banana plus a few slices of the fruit as its not so sweet. Then i boiled it for 2 mins and then simmered very lightly for another 20 mins before cooling, straining and bottling. I got a very subtle banana flavor and so i think i could have used more of both peel and fruit.But it was a nice syrup, very rich in flavor.

Now we´ve had a cocktail that uses banana quite subtly, so what about making something that really is straight forward BANANA? despite my doubts about too much banana i decided to give it a go..and so here is something that is both a cocktail and a dessert, for your sweet tooth:

THE ULTIMATE BANANA COCKTAIL

2 oz demerara rum
1 tsp molasses
¼ oz fresh lime juice + a little extra for the bananas
¼ fresh lemon juice
2 oz fresh orange juice
Dash orange bitters
1 tsp Dark chocolate,chopped
1 tsp pecan nuts, caramelized and chopped.
2 small bananas – sliced lengthwise, halved and cut in quarters

Muddle lime, lemon and molasses in shaker.Add rum,juices and bitters.Shake and strain into a glass.Place the banana sticks in the glass and drizzle fresh lime juice over the bananas.Top with grated dark chocolate and caramelized pecan nuts.And there you got it – the Ultimate Banana Cocktail.

CARAMELIZING THE PECAN NUTS

1 oz light sugar
A few drops lemon juice
A few pecan nuts
Melt the sugar very slowly in a mini pan with the lemon juice and when you have a brown caramel, and place the pan in a waterbath to cool. Add the pecan nuts, then take them out and leave to dry on a lightly buttered baking sheet.
Enjoy

IT GOT TO BE FRESH – WITH INTENSE RICH FLAVORS!

Fresh, organic and locally sourced..

I´m very fond of using fresh ingredients in cocktails and cannot enough praise their superiority. Not only do they impart natural intense rich flavors to the drinks which cannot be compared to commercial mixers, they also add all those little things we need to feel good and stay healthy. When i read around i see a global rising interest in organically grown produce – ingredients giving their best and freshest flavors. Using fresh seasonal ingredients that are just at their peak is both tasty and good for us.

The ingredients of today are so over-refined until the point of loosing almost all its flavours and nutritients and there´s a steady rising resistance to this as people gets more educated – a lot of it thanks to internet. Its no lie that better ingredients makes better cocktails not only when it comes to the spirits and liqueurs, the mixers are just as important. Each cocktail is unique and of course we want them to be fresh from the base spirits and mixers to the garnish that adorns them!

Fresh to me means as unprepared and poison-free as possible as well as seasonal and regional. Now i happen to like plenty of tropical fruits and so these can never really be that fresh here – nothing much to do about that, but seasonality is also key so i try to shop at the farmers market when possible which unfortunately isn´t that very often. It also is more expensive, but fortunately not all ingredients.

Lucky those who live in places where there`s the farmers markets every week, take your chance to get real fresh local produce brimming with vitamins, minerals, enzymes and trace elements.

Fruits are very common in cocktails but what about vegetables? there are are host of vegetables well suited for cocktails, some are very commonly used like cucumber, tomato, chilies and celery. We also have beets, carrots, radishes, sundried tomatoes, pumpkins..

When looking for fresh vegetables and fruits, look for those that are firm, colorful and fragrant and avoid the dried and sad ones. Unfortunatley those that are the most shiny and nice looking are often treated with various things to stay unchanged unaturally long. Natural veggies and fruits often do as you know have a bit irregular shapes and sometimes little blemishes but not in a bad way.

I also see a willingness to experiment and play with all the flavors from the subtle to the bold and that`s something i myself really enjoy, often to the point of making others sometimes quite tired of me (e.g tweeting some of my drinks at the TDN for example) but i cannot avoid doing it, its in my blood, sorry chaps! its a continual process of trials and errors in learning how to balance flavors in a glass..

MIXING WITH FRESH BEET JUICE

Fresh red beet juice is deliscious when mixed with ginger, fresh lime juice, lemongrass, carrot juice and mint etc. Beets contains a lot of natural sugars and when roasted those sugars gets concentrated creating a sweet juice. When cooking fresh beets you cook them in their skins to preserve as much color as possible.

But i prefer the real fresh juice straight from the beet and so i`m going to treat you with a cocktail made from fresh beet juice mixed in a blender with passionfruit juice, fresh mint and lime juice, ginger, 1/2 fig and lemongrass – all sweetened with agavesyrup.

That juice is then strained 3 times to get all solids out and then refridgerated for 15 -20 min (at the same time the cocktail glass is chilled if you want to skip the crushed ice) before being mixed with 1.5 oz Bourbon and 0.5 oz Drambuie. To that i took the oportunity to make some dried beet chips and used one for garnish together with fresh mint and a speared half fig. The beet chips can be used as nice snacks as well, then its tasty to spray them with some olive oil and rub in a little sea salt before roasting them in the oven. But for use as garnish in a drink i omitted the oil and salt.

Beets has edible roots and tops and have the highest sugar content than any vegetable and yet they are low in calories. Fresh beets have twice the folic acid and potatissum than that of canned beets (avoid please..) and the green tops contains beta-carothene, calcium and iron. There is also a golden variety which is sweeter than the red ones.

Beets are also very good for infusions, the most common is probably with vodka.

What to do:

PURPLE ERUPTION

You see that deep red color? that`s what i love about fresh beets apart from their fantastic earthy taste that so naturally pairs with citrus-like flavours.

I first made this with tequila thinking it a natural pairing with the earthy flavours of the beets and the citrusy aromas from the ginger, lemongrass and lime. It tasted good but something wasn`t quite there and then to my surprise it was with bourbon the beet juice really was shining. I want to try this sometimes with dark rum and cachaca just to find out how it tastes. I can also imagine Cherry Heering and Creme de Cassis doing well with this beet juice.

MIX:

1.5 oz Bourbon (Bulleit)
0.5 oz Drambuie
Top with red beet juice mix – about 3-4 oz.
Garnish fresh mint, speared fig and beet chips.

Shake bourbon, drambuie and beet juice and strain into a cocktail glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with fresh mint, a speared half fig and a beet chips.

Red Beet Juice Mix: In blender – one sliced red beet, ½ fig, 3 small slices fresh lemongrass, 5-6 mint leaves, 2 slices fresh ginger, 0.5 oz agave syrup, 10 oz passionfruit juice (not a tart one) blend at high for 15 sek, strain 3 times, bottle and chill in fridge 20 min before use.

Beet chips: With a mandolin or cheesecutter slice a few chips from the beet before using it for the juice.Twist them a bit and spread on baking sheet in the oven on low heat, (100 C)  let dry for about 40 min or until dry but not burnt.Turn them around after half time. Check every 5-10 min or so. They will shrink considerably so try to make them as large as possible, and the thinner the better.

And voila! now you have a tasty and healthy cocktail! that also is very nice sans alcohol sometimes.The ingredients in this drink can be varied a bit i think, for instance maybe some fresh carrot juice would nice as well and a topping of root beer or ginger beer with dark rum.. hm…

BEET AND MEZCAL

I wasn`t able to let away the thought of trying the juice with mezcal, i thought i was done with this post but no, a mezcal drink was in order and had to be made and tested. As i suspected the mezcal paired well with the beet juice. So why didn´t the tequila i tried first do that? Well, not that it wasn´t good but there was a sort of bitter aftertaste that slightly disturbed me. Maybe i should just try another tequila, maybe a reposado rather than a silver?

But Mezcal proved to be a winner.

This is what i made with the mezcal, a very simple drink: 1 oz mezcal and top with beet juice, nothing else, well ice and then stirred. It was very tasty even though the smokiness of the mezcal dominated,  it paired very well with the earthy slightly sweet beet flavor, they go well together. I also added a small extra sprinkle of fresh lime after a while and that lifted the drink up to another level of added freshness.

SMOKY BEET

1 oz mezcal

Top with fresh beet juice mix

Stir in the glass with ice.

Add a sprinkle of lime.

Garnish with a few of the fresh young beet leaves, they are edible and tastes crisp and nice. It looks like a salad;-)

So if you haven`t had fresh beet juice in a cocktail yet, please take my advice and at least try it, the worst that can happen to you is that you zink your drink and the best that you may get converted into drinking beet juice for the rest of your life.

But..

Maybe everyone really doesn´t like beets…here is another suggestion for a drink using a sort of fruit-vegetable, a plantain Punch:

PLANTAIN PUNCH

Plantains are cousins to the bananas but they are more like a vegetable than a fruit and are also called cooking bananas as they must be cooked or fried before used. So when used in a drink uncooked its needed to use a ripe one. They are green first and very hard, almost impossible to peel, then they turn yellow before the skin finally starts to blacken.

At that state they are used in dessers rather than in cooking. Plantains are very nice when fried and they also makes nice chips in the same way as the beet chips but plantain chips are deep fried rather than dried in the oven.

2 oz white rum

1 oz fresh lime juice

honey syrup to taste

4-5 slices ripe plantain

3 oz passionfruit juice

Buy a yellow plantain, riper and sweeter than the green which cannot be used here and avoid the blackened ones, they are not bad but too sweet for this drink. The flavor should be that of a unsweet vegetably banana. Use a few slices and add to a blender and blend with 2 oz white rum, 1 oz fresh lime juice,  simple syrup to taste, crushed ice. Blend until smooth.

If too thick, top with some more passionfruit juice.This drink can taste different depending on how tart your passionfruit juice is, the one we get here is sweet. Garnish with a piece of plantain.

USING BELL PEPPER

This is one of my favorite vegetables, the other one is tomato.The bell pepper or paprika as its called here is really useful in cocktails giving a very nice flavor that i think pairs very well with tequila, bourbon and white rum. I used it in my first entry to the MxMo which was in may 2008 one month before i started blogging. Back then i roasted a bell pepper and made a syrup of it and used it in a Bell Pepper Punch.

Then i discovered that i had also used bell pepper in June`s MxMo as well, i got to have been onto a real paprika craze or someting.This now reminds me that its maybe time to make a paprika syrup again or use fresh paprikas and use it in tequila and mezcal drinks this time. Here is the recipe for that old MxMo drink:

SPICED PAPRIKA WHISKEY SOUR

2×2 cm red Paprika
2 oz Bourbon
0.5 oz Fresh Lemon juice
0.5 oz Raspberry pureé
1 oz Honey Spice Mix
Garnish: 3 red Paprika strips.

Muddle the paprika in a mixing glass and add the rest of ingredients and shake with ice, strain in ice filled rocks glass.

Honey Spice Mix (2 drinks) :

0.75 oz Honey, 0.75 oz Water
0.75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
2 cm piece crushed Cinnamon stick
8 crushed green Cardamom pods

Stir honey with water, lemon Juice, cinnamon and cardamom in a small pan. Bring to a slight boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Cool.

Raspberry Purée

2 dl Raspberries, 1 tsp fresh Lemon Juice, 1 tsp simple syrup, add a little water, puree. You want a quite thin pureé, so if to thick add some more water. Strain through cheesecloth to discard the seeds.

NOW ITS YOUR TURN

By showing a few of my recipes using fresh vegetables in cocktails i hope i can inspire some of you to try them out and to make your own concoctions that i hopefully will read about on your blogs sometimes! I don`t use vegetables in my drinks all the time of course but it happens now and then and when i do i really enjoy it. I`m definetily into drinking beet juice for the rest of my life along with JWray and Ting and i hope you will too.

Do you use vegetables in cocktails? and if you do, what do you use?

Cinnamon has a warm sweet woody aroma that is delicate yet intense with a warm fragrant taste with hints of clove.

At the left in the picture above are4 sticks of the mexican cinnamon called canela (which also comes from Sri Lanka but is from another species than the common ceylon cinnamon) and in the bundle at the right is the common cassia often sold in the shops as ceylon cinnamon.The leaves are from a large cinnamon tree and i use them in cooking as they impart a subtle flavor in curry dishes, something i learnt while watching a TV documentary about cooking in the Seychelles. These leaves also makes for a beautiful cocktail garnish.

Native to Sri Lanka the cinnamon tree is an evergreen small tree growing to 10–15 metres (32.8–49.2 feet) tall and which contains an essential oil which gives the aromatic flavor which is extracted from the bark. The botanical name for the spice — Cinnamomum zeylanicum—is derived from Sri Lanka’s former (colonial) name, Ceylon.

Cinnamon has a long history way back to antiquity, its also mentioned in the bible. It used to be such a precious spice that it was given to monarchs. The cinnamon tree is grown for 2 years before harvesting which is done by stripping the bark from the shoots emerging from the roots after a special treatment. The inner bark is then curled into rolls which are cut for sale.

There are several varietes of cinnamon and also several varietes of cultivars as well. The name cinnamon is correctly used to refer to Ceylon cinnamon, also known as “true cinnamon” (from the botanical name C. zeylanicum). However, the related species, Cassia are as i wrote sometimes sold as cinnamon. Its the presence of eugenol in the essential oil that distinguishes cinnamon from cassia, giving it the note of clove.

I have 2 varietes at home for the moment, cassia and then the interesting mexican variety called canela that was sent to me in a swap by Anita over at “Married With Dinner“. The cinnamon that is used in Mexican cooking is a softer loose bark variety -  also grown in Sri Lanka and when i compare the two they are quite different. The cassia is harder and has a somewhat deeper but less present fragrance while the canela variety is more fragrant up-front and has a much softer bark which is also lighter in color. I love to use the sticks for garnish in cocktails and i regularly make cinnamon syrup which i think is a nessecity for my cocktail mixing.

CINNAMON SYRUP

To make cinnamon syrup you simply make a simple syrup with either 2.1 or 1:1 water and sugar of choice. Then you add a few broken cinnamon sticks into the pan and let it boil for a while before cooling. The longer you let it sit to cool the more flavor you will get so taste your way.

CINNAMON IN COCKTAILS

Checking for the use of cinnamon in cocktails in one form or another, the use of cinnamon syrup is for instance common in the world of tiki cocktails. You will also find cinnamon being used in warm cocktails around christmas time as well as in other winter time cocktails. Cinnamon also goes well with apple cider and bourbon.

For cocktail mixing and infusions:

Cinnamon combines well with:

Almonds, blackberries, blood orange, cranberry, mandarin, feijoa, fig, cumquat, orange, apples, apricots, chocolate, coffee, pears, persimon, walnuts, carrots and bananas.

CINNAMON PLANTATION PUNCH

2  oz dark rum – Plantation Barbados
.5 oz  highproof demerara rum
¼ oz Cointreau
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz cinnamon syrup
2  oz fresh blood orange juice
Top with a splash of Cherry Heering.

Shake all ingredients except Cherry Heering and strain into a ice filled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

This is a strong rum drink with lots of rum flavor yet i find it balances well with the rest of the ingredients and i think the cinnamon syrup goes well with the blood orange juice. The Plantation Barbados is a nice dark rum and well suited for both mixing and sipping and the addition of a highproof demerara gives depth to the rum flavor as well as a good kick.

This is especially a drink for rum lovers.

Cynar (the correct pronunciation lies somewhere between chee-nar and shee-nar) is a bitter apéritif of Italian origin, akin to Campari and Aperol. (As it so happens, Gruppo Campari acquired Bols’ Italian holdings in 1995, and now owns all three of the apéritifs, as well as others.) The claim is that the beverage is made with “13 herbs and plants,” but no one seems to know, or care, what the first twelve are. All of the corporate branding relishes in the drink’s use of artichoke as an ingredient, from the picture on the label to the eponymous reference of the plant’s taxonomical name, cynara scolymus.

Somewhat confusingly, there are actually two products called Cynar (with near-identical labels) on the market: the ricetta originale (original recipe) and a newer reformulation. My first experience of the artichoke liqueur was with the reformulated version. Upon learning of the original, my expectation was that it would be drier and more bitter, but surprisingly, the products have about the same level of sweetness and bitterness.

When sipping Cynar neat (in either of the incarnations), it first hits your tongue with a taste reminiscent of a lychee fruit, if you have ever bitten into one to break it open and caught the bitterness of peel along with the syrupy flavor of fruit’s flesh. That might not sound terribly appealing, but the apéritif is actually only about as bitter as its fluorescent cousin, Aperol, and makes for a surprisingly versatile cocktail ingredient. Using it as a substitution in any drink that calls for Campari or Aperol usually yields gratifying results.

Beyond the initial impression of lychee, the flavor profile takes on a more herbal, vegetal character. Oddly, there are times when I am able to detect the artichoke’s contribution, but at other times it seems to disappear entirely. (I have no explanation for this phenomenon.) The original recipe has a slight nuttiness not present in the sequel. Unlike Lillet, Amer Picon, or the various other ingredients that have seen shifts in formulation over the years, Cynar doesn’t have a bevy of classic cocktails dependent upon the original profile, so don’t fret too much if you are only able to find the newer one. Both versions are excellent products, and I have no strong preference for one over the other. If you find you like one version, you will probably enjoy the other as well, and may even find it worthwhile to stock them both. That said, I’ve never found the old and the new in the same store, or for that matter, in the same city. I am not sure if this is some consequence of our country’s rather Byzantine liquor distribution system, or simple misfortune. Either way, happy hunting.

The cynaceous liqueur still sees most of its consumption in Europe, where it is typically served over ice, with soda and lemon, or mixed with beer. It was popularized in the ‘60s by a series of commercials produced by the relatively well-known (in Italy) director, Ernesto Calindri. For better or worse, one of the more popular of those TV spots was given a “modern” remake in 2007. (If you don’t have a high tolerance for camp, skip to the drinks.)

Drinks

The Choke Hold

• ¾ oz Cynar
• ¾ oz lemon juice
• 4 oz hard apple (or pear) cider

Build in a rocks glass filled with crushed ice.

I’ve mentioned this drink in the past, but its still one of my favorite creations, so here it is again. I typically use Spire Mountain cider, which is ubiquitous in the northwest. It is relatively sweet, so if you use something a bit drier you might want to add a bit of simple syrup. I somewhat of prefer the newer Cynar in this drink.

Cygroni

• 1 oz Gin
• 1 oz Lillet Blanc
• 1 oz Cynar
• 1 dash lemon juice

Shake and strain into an iced rocks glass with a lemon twist.

This is my variation on the Negroni. By changing our apéritif, we lose some bitterness, but we can augment it with the quinine from the Lillet.

The Gasper

• 1 oz Cachaça (using Boca Loca)
• ½ oz Cynar
• ½ oz Fino Sherry (using Bodegas Dios Baco)
• 1 dash Amargo Chuncho bitters

Shake and strain into a small cocktail glass.

Here is my reinterpretation of a little known cocktail called the Choke Artist. I think the nuttiness of the ricetta originale complements the sherry well. (My Peruvian bitters just arrived and I couldn’t resist using them here. Substitute your choice of aromatic bitters as needed.)