cocktail notes

found a liquor store that sells zwack for $12. i bought it because i cannot pass up a bargain, even though im not sure im ready to build my amaro/bitter collection.

i should, though, cuz i love the stuff.

zwack is said to be a reasonable amer picon facsimile:

http://underhill-lounge.flannestad.com/2009/07/29/picon-grenadine-cocktail/

…so i threw together this picon punch:

1 1/2 oz zwack
3/4 oz armagnac
1/4 oz lemon
spoonful of grenadine (maybe 1/4 oz)
lemon twist

i tried to coat the glass with the grenadine but it wouldn’t cling, so i just mixed it in.

this is a delicious cocktail, especially given it’s strength: almost all 80 proof booze with just a dash of lemon and a dash of grenadine.

the original cocktail has soda water and no lemon. what is with these no-acid cocktails? that is insane, a little citrus never hurt anyone.

hypothetical cocktail history, part I

the year was 1855, or 1797. a saloon owner named carthus mickleberry was on the verge of bankruptcy due to a misguided decision to make his saloon an african-themed bar. (he thought he could capture a niche/fetish market but didn’t realize that people back then were just really racist.) in a moment of desperation he put some random things from his cupboard into his last remaining bottles of whisky and called his inventions ‘dr. mickleberry’s exotique subsaharan cock-tail fancys’.

because alcohol was, and continues to be, one of the worst tasting substances on earth, mickleberry did not discriminate about his choice of mixers; anything and everything improved the taste. he started with some leftover toast and jelly, a broken pencil, and some gauzy stuff he scraped off the underside of a piano. eventually he started using more expensive and palatable ingredients, and popularity for his ‘cock-tails’ grew ever more fervent, peaking at the usage of sugar and bitters. citrus juice was, at that time a luxury foodstuff affordable only by wealthy prospectors, bounty hunters, and corrupt county commissioners. as such, recipes for most classic drinks are without citrus, for the same reason that most recipes for sandwiches are without foie gras.

the moral of the story is: treat your guests/customers like the dirty county commissioners. let them drink lime!