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planning my new bar

13-Aug-10

soon i’ll be setting up a (nearly) new home bar…looking forward to trying some new things. here’s what i got planned:

gin – new amsterdam, hendricks
rum – flor de cana gold, el dorado 5 year, or appleton vx
cachaca – not sure yet, maybe boca loca
dark rum – cruzan dark aged
vodka – monopolowa
bourbon – benchmark old number 8 and eagle rare single barrel or four roses single barrel (not barrel strength)
rye – sazerac or wild turkey russell’s reserve
brandy – osocalis or cardenal mendoza. would be nice to find something slightly less expensive.
tequila – zapopan reposado and/or jose cuervo tradicional
applejack or apple brandy – lairds bonded or clear creek 8 year apple brandy

luxardo maraschino
bols triple sec
giffard curcacao triple sec or clement creole shrubb
j pear liqueur, hangar one spiced pear, rothman and winter pear, or clear creek pear liqueur or brandy
brizard apry or rothman and winter apricot liqueur
aperol, gran classico, or amaro montenegro. i know, they are all pretty different, i just want something tasty and bitter. maybe will start with one and eventually end up with all three.
ikea elderflower syrup or giffard litchi liqueur (already own)

angostura bitters, orange bitters, peychaud bitters, grapefruit bitters, peach bitters. already own all these. might pick up more if i find anything i like in my liquor store crawl.

kept in freezer (? is this ok?): grenadine, orgeat, falernum

martini and rossi red vermouth
dolin blanc
noilly prat dry vermouth
lillet blanc
madeira – blandy’s 5 yr verdelho, or something from rare wine company

amarena cherries

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chop suey punch #1

08-Aug-10

chop suey punch #1

4 oz aged rum
4 oz dark rum
4 oz 10 cane rum
4 oz vodka
3 oz sugar
1 1/2 oz cherry liqueur
1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
4 oz lime
4 oz lemon
2 oz orange juice
4 oz celestial seasonings bengal spice tea (strong)

more cleaning of the booze cabinet.

i’ve been craving tiki drinks lately…need to haul my ass back to smuggler’s cove. anyway, i made this for a sibling party. we first convened at starbase for some old school video games. like wizard of wor. which btw is a really shitty game. joust on the other hand is kick. ass.

also got in some area 51 and maximum force which is the one of the few, and the most recent, video games i became addicted to.

anyway, the above recipe is excellent. but then i made it worse by adding:

2 oz vodka
2 oz pineapple
3/4 lemon

still drinkable, but it tasted more like a generic, pineapple-heavy rum punch. and the vodka was definitely a mistake, took away some of the delicious richness.

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misc experiments

06-Jul-10

ive been paying our nannies (aka my parents) in booze, so there’s been a lot of experimentation lately.

2 oz gin
1 oz meyer lemon
2 tsp d’arbo raspberry-rhubarb jam
3 dashes peychaud bitters

great, would def make again.

2 oz rum
1 oz lime
1 oz simple syrup
3 dashes peychaud bitters
1 pinch ground coffee

next time i would go 3/4 oz for sweet and sour with the rum i used (10 cane). i like the coffee element, though ruined the drink as a refresher. instead added smokiness, complexity, funkiness, savory.

1 1/2 oz J pear liqueur
3/4 oz rittenhouse rye
1/2 oz lime

excellent.

2 oz gin
1 oz lime
1 1/2 oz aqua perfecta pear liqueur
tsp of honey syrup

this was a tart/dry drink, not a great sipping cocktail but good with food.

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a dead blog?

28-Jun-10

maybe this blog is dying or dead. i no longer have enough time to do much respectable drinking, much less the time to write about it. so, dear readers, please leave an obituary in the comments. what has this blog meant to you and your loved ones? what wisdom will you carry forth in its wake? so devastating is your sorrow, you will binge on what methods of self-destruction?

as one last gasp i will mention some experiences in the past two months:

comstock saloon. i had a great experience here with some other people. tasted a great sazerac and a manhattan that reminded me, somehow, of lake tahoe. something alpine. maybe a little green chartreuse? also a pisco sour which them madcats had infused with magrut lime leaf as a nod to a traditional coca leaf infusion. or something. at any rate, it was perfumy and delicious and complex. i myself had the pisco punch which was ‘merely’ very good, and the hop toad punch (rum, apricot brandy, lime, bitters) which was unexpectedly dirty and savory in all the right ways.

15 romolo. i am prepared to say that scott baird is a genius, i have had many of his drinks at the cuesa event and have been wanting to come here a long time. he may be my favorite drink creator in the bay area. stockholm syndrome, a great spirit-based drink using amontillado sherry as the sour component and leopolds apple as the sweet. then the los altos sour which on paper sounds like a typical sour variant but is somehow greater than the sum of its parts.

clyde common. much has been made of the barrel-aged cocktails, and i can’t say i loved the negroni. on the other hand, i don’t care much for the non-aged version so i’m not the best judge. a generally good drinking experience overall, but not better than anywhere i’ve been in the bay area. i will say that without exception, every person in that place, male, female, customer, or staff member, was better looking than me.

…

some experiments of late:

1 oz rye
1 oz bourbon
3/4 oz meyer lemon
3/4 oz giffard blueberry
1/4 medium strawberry, muddled
2 mint leaves
1 dash ango

(a variant/ripoff of the blue and red smash at rickhouse)

2 oz brandy
1 oz lime
1 oz triple sec
1 magrut lime leaf, muddled

(a variant/ripoff of the aforementioned pisco sour, or perhaps a sidecar)

1/2 oz tequila
1/2 rum
1 oz grapefruit vodka
1 oz lime
3/4 oz giffard lychee
1/4 oz maraschino liqueur
2 dashes grapefruit bitters

this was the using up of some odds and ends, tortured into a strawberry hemingway variant. really good.

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a late trip report

23-Apr-10

i have been hella remiss about filing a vancouver trip report. hell yeah midgets, i kicked it royal up in v-town!

now, i have lost my notes on drinks, and so am mostly constructing from memory. but here are some drinks that stood out:

five stars – calvados with a little lemon, caramel liqueur, and scotch. the idea was ‘apple roasted over a bonfire’ good, but smelled better than it tasted.

montenegro manhattan. montenegro is a delicious amaro. this drink was awesome paired with braised beef.

unknown – tequila, lemon, falernum, jasmine. your basic sour type drink, but the aromatics were insane. would drink this all day every day.

the zorak – brandy, cherry liqueur, lime, maraschino. a freestyle david wolowidnyk concoction. delicious, not at all cough syrupy, which is what you might expect.

while i was up there i picked up some giffard liqueurs; blueberry, and lychee. have since made a great drink with the blueberry:

1 1/2 oz blueberry liqueur
1 oz rye
1/2 oz meyer lemon

…

come on! be a fan of random cocktails!

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my first distillation

18-Apr-10

…of the results of the sf spirits competition. lol?

i entered all the double gold winners, and any single gold winner with a list price of less than $20.

partial list of sf spirit award winners

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basic cocktails and cocktail basics

12-Apr-10

last week, my brother requested some recipes for easy cocktails. i wrote up a thing, then thought i would expand and post it here.

i tried to follow some rules:

  • very tasty!
  • easy to make, not too many ingredients, no difficult techniques needed; infusions and homemade syrups optional.
  • easy to find and inexpensive ingredients and brands
  • no exotic ingredients (that will take you forever to use up because it only works in one cocktail and only if you use a dash. i’m looking at you, maraschino liqueur, green chartreuse, and absinthe.)

some terminology

neat. from the bottle to the glass. also known as straight up, though if you use this term, the bartender will probably think you are a noob or tard.
on the rocks. served with ice cubes.
up. chilled, but served without ice.

equipment

  • muddler of some kind. the end of a dowel-type rolling pin should be fine
  • juicer of some kind. this style is recommended.
  • shaker of some kind. 16 oz mason jar? sure why not.
  • reasonably fine strainer
  • reasonably large ice cubes
  • peeler for twists (optional)
  • something to measure fluid ounces in half- or quarter-ounce increments (optional, if minding ratios, and/or making large batches)

technique

ice. use a lot, enough so there is some peeking (not floating) above the surface
simple syrup. 1 part water + 1 part sugar (organic preferred, imo the flavor is superior). heat or shake until dissolved. for flavored syrups, use juice instead of water, or a sweetener other than sugar.
stirring. 40 seconds.
shaking. 20 seconds.
garnishes. twists are optional, but they add a lot to a drink and are easy to make. watch a video about them here. you can make twists from lemon, lime, orange, or grapefruit for any drink. whatever sounds good to you.

be sure to scrub and rinse the fruit before peeling.

brands

i am not an expert. the following are brands that i personally like and/or are recommended by bartenders or writers i respect, and aren’t too expensive. there are plenty of other good brands, and plenty of not-good brands, so do your cyberbahn research.

[edit: i put together a spreadsheet of partial list of sf spirit award winners]

bourbon. bulleit, buffalo trace, jim beam, benchmark, wild turkey
rye. rittenhouse, old overholt, sazerac
dark rum. goslings, cruzan
vodka. svedka, sobieski
rum. appleton gold or vx, barbancourt, flor de cana, el dorado 5 year (more on rum)
tequila. azul reposado, jose cuervo tradicional reposado (but not the cheaper stuff)
gin. plymouth, hendricks, beefeater, new amsterdam
brandy. paul masson vsop
sweet vermouth. martini and rossi, noilly prat, carpano antica. vermouth (including lillet) needs to be refrigerated after opening. quality declines rapidly, but you can probably still drink it three months later and not get sick.
champagne. roederer brut
triple sec. cointreau, luxardo, brizard, hiram walker, bols. note that proof and flavor vary a lot between brands, and so each will yield a different but still tasty drink.

recipes

busdriver
2 oz lillet blanc, chilled
3/4 oz vodka or gin
one or more of the following:

  • infuse the spirit for at least a day (longer is ok) with grapefruit zest and cut-up fruit (no pith) (one grapefruit is enough for a fifth of booze)

  • 1/2 oz fresh red grapefruit juice or muddled 1/8 of a red grapefruit
  • a couple dashes of grapefruit bitters

stir with ice, fine strain. serve up.

sidecar
2 oz brandy
1 oz lemon
1/4 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz triple sec

shake with ice, fine strain. serve up. sometimes served with sugar rim, but this is superfluous. and messy. some might say detrimental.

margarita
2 oz tequila
1 oz citrus (lime, or up to 50% lemon)
1/2 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz triple sec

shake with ice, fine strain. served up or on the rocks.

pineapple-jalepeno variant: add one slice of muddled jalepeno. and sub simple syrup with pineapple syrup: 3 parts pineapple juice + 2 parts sugar. if you have some fresh pineapple, muddle a piece or two as well.

pseudo manhattan
2 oz bourbon, rye, or combination (i prefer 1 oz of each)
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1 tsp fruit syrup or liqueur (tart is good. so, cherry, blackcurrant, raspberry. maybe aperol, or triple sec. probably not pineapple, ginger, or elderflower, but you could try.)

stir with ice, fine strain. serve up. if you have angostura bitters, use a couple dashes. it will taste good without, but it won’t be a real manhattan.

dark and stormy
2 oz dark rum
1/2 oz lime
sweetener*
two slices of ginger

*1/2 oz falernum, or 1 1/2 oz ginger ale, or 1/2 oz simple syrup.

muddle the ginger, add remaining ingredients (except ginger ale) shake with ice, fine strain, serve on the rocks. if you’re using ginger ale, add it now and stir gently. otherwise, add soda water (optional).

falernum recipe here. note, the key flavor is clove. the remaining flavors are optional. in order of importance: lime zest, ginger, everything else.

french 75
1 oz gin
1/2 oz lemon
1/2 oz simple syrup*
2 to 4 oz champagne

*variant: use a syrup like elderflower from ikea or d’arbo, pineapple gum from small hands, or maybe the syrup from a can of lychees. or any fruit liqueur.

shake all ingredients, except champagne, with ice, fine strain. top with champagne.

modified bourbon sour
2 oz bourbon
1/2 oz lemon
1/2 oz sweetener*

shake with ice, fine strain. serve up or on the rocks.

*dissolve 1 part honey in 1 part water or orange juice. or dissolve 1 part maple syrup in 1 part water or orange juice.

variant: add one egg white. increase lemon and sweetener to 1 oz each. shake without ice, shake with ice, fine strain

optional: orange twist, orange bitters, angostura bitters, peychaud bitters, muddled orange slice or kumquat (deseeded)

mai tai
2 oz rum
1 oz lime
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz orgeat*

*if you don’t feel like making or buying it: 1 part unsalted almonds, muddled + 3-4 parts simple syrup. or 1 part sugar + 1 part almond milk.

shake with ice, fine strain. serve on the rocks.

optional: substitute 1 oz of the rum for dark rum, either mixed into the drink or (better yet) floated on top. also optional: sprig of mint, spanked.

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trip report: smugglers cove, sebo, range

13-Mar-10

my birthday wish this year was a trip to smugglers cove and sebo sushi, approx three blocks from each other. since jp can’t eat sushi or drink alcohol because of kue-2, i went by myself.

smugglers cove:

puka punch – rum and a lot of other stuff
three dots and a dash – rum and a lot of other stuff

so i have now had three drinks from there and though they were all really great, i don’t think i could distinguish one from another. they all read similarly on the menu, so i guess that was to be expected.

sebo sushi:

wasn’t cheap, but possibly the best fish i have had anywhere. and i got a bunch of things i’d never heard of before, much less tasted. new things to me: katsuo (bonito), kohada (gizzard shad), ainame (greenling), kuromutsu (bluefish), shirauo (ice fish), hotaru ika (firefly squid).

then i decided to check out range since they’ve got a new menu since i was last there. i tried to get there by bus, failed. resorted to a cab.

ran into my brother at range which was pretty cool and lucky, since neither of us are in sf very often.

range:

the b-line – bourbon, lillet, bergamot, honey, bitters. this was superb. a bourbon sour variant made silky smooth with the lillet.

‘cocktail of the day’ – i missed the name and also what was in it, except lime, guava, and sparkling rose. delicious, but maybe on the dry side for me.

kamilia – basically a margarita with guava. excellent. guava and tequila are perfect complements.

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trip report: gather restaurant

27-Feb-10

checked out gather restaurant. had a ‘winter wonderland’ which was basically a sidecar with spiced syrup. really nice.

the bartender did something interesting: measured the citrus and the syrup, but free poured the brandy. i’m not a fan of the free pour, but this hybrid technique makes more sense. still inferior to a measured pour, of course.

…

inspired me to make a sidecar of my own with the leftover five-spiced syrup. it decants nicely.

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experiment: waverly place echo variant

20-Feb-10

for my fam’s chinese new year dinner i decided to make a version of scott beattie’s awesome waverly place echo:

1 1/2 oz rum
1/2 oz mandarin-tangerine infused vodka
1/2 oz meyer lemon
1/4 oz lime
3/4 oz chinese five spice + kaffir makrut lime leaf syrup
muddled kumquat (seeds removed)
muddled tangerine slice
dash orange bitters
lemon twist

five-spice-makrut-leaf syrup

1 T five-spice
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
10 lime leaves, chopped

toast the spices over medium-low heat. add remaining ingredients, bring to a low boil. turn down to a simmer for five minutes. take off heat, let cool for a few minutes, strain out solids.

this drink is really excellent. flavors are well represented and balanced.

the five spice syrup would make a nice alternative to falernum.

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trip reports: rickhouse, boot and shoe; experiments: playing with bourbon

16-Feb-10

been on a few social outings lately. difficult and rare, these days.

rickhouse:

blue and red smash – bourbon, lemon, red and blue berries. excellent.
kentucky buck – bourbon and ginger/ginger beer, other stuff. also excellent.
favela – cachaca, lemon, coffee. not very good.
some kind of sling – gin, cherry heering, other stuff. also not very good

then went to boot and shoe service:

fata morgana – bourbon, amaro nonino, dry vermouth, blood orange, cardamom. really excellent.

…

some experiments:

1 oz bourbon
1 oz rye
1/4 oz lime
3/4 oz grapefruit-honey-maraschino mix
grapefruit bitters
grapefruit ribbon

grapefruit-honey-maraschino mix

6 parts red grapefruit juice
3 parts honey
1 part maraschino liqueur

cross between a manhattan and a hemingway. excellent. but i once again forgot: do not muddle seeds. never, ever.

also:

1 1/4 oz bourbon
3/4 oz vermouth
3/8 oz cherry liqueur
1/4 oz lime

basically a manhattan with citrus. very good.

i lost my bottle of angostura bitters. not sure if it can be replaced any time soon, as there is a shortage. :(

…i started these experiments using some cheap bourbon and rye, figuring that i didn’t care and couldn’t tell the difference. but i found that i did care, and could tell the difference. i upgraded to bulleit bourbon and old overholt rye (according to the bevmo lady, rittenhouse isn’t making rye anymore). life is better.

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trip report: beretta; announcement: randomcocktails.com

15-Jan-10

went to beretta with the inlaws. got two cocktails:

il gitano (amaro, lime, pineapple gomme, grapefruit, bitters). excellent. interesting use of amaro as a base spirit.

the acadian (rye, sloe gin, lemon, honey, absinthe, rosemary). also great. delicate hand with the absinthe which can easily overpower a drink. i didn’t detect any rosemary. i need to find out more about sloe gin, taste it neat.

…

a draft of randomcocktails.com is up. please check it out and provide feedback.

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experiments: rangpur caipirinha, pear liqueur cocktail

28-Dec-09

made some rangpur caipirinhas for a thing at my brothers house. i thought i would try swapping out some regular lime for the rangpurs. that was a mistake. lime pith is bitter and nasty. i should have just used the juice.

…

jp asked for a light cocktail the other day. i put some pear liqueur, apple cider, and lime in a glass and that made her happy. here is a non-light adaptation, similar to previous pear liqueur experiments:

1 oz pear liqueur (J Pear, 60 proof)
3/4 oz cachaca
1/2 oz lime
1/2 oz apple cider

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experiment: gin, lime, elderflower, kumquat, champagne

25-Dec-09

elderquat 75

1/2 oz gin
1/4 oz lime
1/4 oz ikea elderflower syrup
1/2 kumquat
2 oz champagne

seed and muddle the kumquat. add gin, lime, syrup. dry shake* and strain. top with 2 oz champagne. drop in a candied kumquat.

*i made and chilled a batch of the base mixture ahead of time.

the flavors were good but intense; maybe a 3:1 champagne:base ratio next time. where next time is tomorrow, since i have so much left over.

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experiment: bourbon, port, apple cider

21-Dec-09

2 oz bourbon (evan williams, infused with citrus and vanilla)
1 1/2 oz apple cider (trader joe’s)
3/4 oz tawny port (whisker’s blake)
1/4 oz lemon
1 dash ango

version 1 made with 1/2 oz lemon. the above version is much better, and is quite delicious. i wanted to add muddled ginger, but there was none usable on hand. and turns out was probably not necessary.

i might add a little grated cinnamon tho.

this is for the family xmas eve party. the poirier’s have a tradition of reubens for xmas eve (?!). and so i am making the above cocktail and am also planning a french 75 variant of gin, lime, elderflower, kumquat, topped with champagne.

…

coming soon to this blog: a page of cocktail basics. basically some of my early posts, updated, and made into a page that can be reached via sidebar link.

and if i can get my shit together, an automated, randomized cocktail creator web page.

hoping posting that im gonna do it, will motivate me to actually do it.

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trip reports: smuggler’s cove, boot and shoe service; experiment: japanese cocktail

18-Dec-09

smugglers cove: got a ‘dead reckoning‘ (rum, lemon, pineapple, maple, tawny port, vanilla liqueur, bitters, soda). good but not as amazing as i’d hoped or expected. i didn’t get anything from the port or maple syrup or vanilla liqueur. ‘merely’ a delicious pineapple-rum drink.

incredible menu, and a fun, cozy space. i will definitely be back.

…

boot and shoe service: the sequel to pizzaiolo. tried a new cocktail, ‘kushiel’s dart’ (rum, carpano antica, lime, grenadine). really excellent. the vermouth used as an accent/herbal notes. nice.

and the room is beautiful.

…

what jen wanted was egg nog. but we had no eggs in the house, and she is off dairy right now. so i made a version of the japanese cocktail i got at p the other day.

yarou (japanese for ‘bastard’)

1.5 oz brandy
0.5 oz dark rum
1.5 oz almond milk (unsweetened)
1 T organic sugar

dry shaken first, then shaken with ice. top with grated nutmeg.

this could be a little sweeter, and jp would have preferred less boozy. so maybe something like 2 oz almond milk and 1.5 T sugar.

the japanese cocktail seems to be part of the family of:

2 oz spirit
1/4-1/2 oz syrup
bitters/other flavors

…which includes sazerac, mint julep, corn and oil, and old fashioned…

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alinea makes cocktails

11-Dec-09

http://alineamosaic.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=838

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more home runs from pizzaiolo

10-Dec-09

la strega nuda – rum, strega, lime, orange, orgeat. an orangey, creamsicle version of the mai tai, with interesting accents from the strega.

nocino manhattan – as advertised, made with housemade nocino. tastes like a manhattan up front with walnuts on the finish. awesome.

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sfgate on martinis

06-Dec-09

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/06/FDC61ASNSK.DTL

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trip reports: cuesa’s farmer’s market cocktail night; range

04-Dec-09

cuesa’s cocktail night. lots of ‘winter spice’ syrups. many interesting ideas: 15 romolo with some beautiful and delicious jello shots (lemon, lemongrass, lemon verbena, veev acai, thai long pepper, cardamom, grains of paradise), cut into cute little squares and discs and topped with whipped cream and candied zest. when i want a cocktail, i want a cocktail….but….i could definitely get excited about this as part of a tasting menu.

bourbon and branch presented an incredibly complex drink of gin, persimmon and pear shrub, lemon, grapefruit bitters, ginger beer and cinnamon. i eventually decided i didn’t like it. but it did take me awhile, and many brain circuits got blown in the process. i think i can’t accept vinegar in a cocktail, except maybe an aged balsamic.

another drink i admired came from the cat at jardiniere: scotch, lemon, date puree, thyme, bitters, egg white. i like trying scotch cocktails; they signify a brave, or foolish, bartender. i enjoyed the drink, but i admired it more than i enjoyed it.

but my favorite of the night was simple and easy to drink. because i am a simpleton whore. winter citrus smash from sauce sf: rye, satsumas, tangerines, kumquats, syrup, j. witty chamomille.

…

range. i had a great time. the kokomo (rum, lemon, madeira, pineapple, benedictine, nutmeg) was superb. turns out, madeira is a criminally underused cocktail ingredient. i plan to acquire a bottle soon.

reading their COD blog for lo these many months, i grew increasingly sad that i don’t live closer so i could drink there every day. the COD on the night i went was ‘the downtowner’, rye, lime, pear, some other stuff i can’t remember, topped with brown ale. maybe a little overdiluted but the flavor was just right and outta sight.

[edit: got the recipe--

small chunk of pear (muddled)
1.75 oz. Old Overholt
0.5 oz. St. Germain
0.5 oz. apple cider
0.25 oz. lime juice

Top with about 2 oz. brown ale.]

i also ordered, and liked, the chili davis (tequila, punt e mes, mandarin napoleon, fresno chili, lime) though it was a more difficult drink to enjoy. not for chugging.

after that i was pretty wrecked, and so i asked for just a taste of their walnut infused bourbon, which opened the door for jeff to trot out some other house infusions and comparable products. i didn’t love the walnut bourbon; the nose was incredible but the taste was a little like raw cookie dough. jeff’s vin d’orange was excellent; it somehow produced a smell of bubblegum. jeff also gave me small pours of lillet to compare with the vin d’orange, and nocino to compare with the walnut bourbon. the nocino was pretty insane; it was more like a port than a nut liqueur like amaretto or frangelico.

a couple next to me was very friendly, struck up a conversation with me unprompted. from my fragmented eavesdropping, i surmised that their relationship was interesting and complicated. but i was too polite to ask about the complications.

i love the mission.

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