#propercocktails

[woodsonpender]

@woodsspiritco Amaro, @drinkvicgin Sidney Spiced gin, Campari with an orange peel. New CK Negroni on the menu for fall. #coffeekitchen #propercocktails #negroni #woodsonpender #penderisland #cocktails #gulfislands (at Coffee + Kitchen)

[cocktailcult-blog]

House Of The Rising Sun: Barr Hill Gin, Cantaloupe, Gran Classico, Lime

Madonna On The Rocks: Barr Hill Gin, Amaro, Blueberry, Lime

Truth And Lies: Fortis Vodka, Watermelon Shrub, Grand Marnier, Lemon

[cocktailcult-blog]

The Hit List: Reyka Icelandic Vodka, Muddled Basil, Lillet, Lemon, Agave

[aaronhaydon]

Cocktail Tasting #hardlife #chopbloc #blocbar #propercocktails #bankholiday (at Chop Bloc)

[manachainmonaghan]

Diane - FULL RECIPE

35ml Gin 25ml Rooibos De Provence infused Vermouth 20ml lemon 3 dashs angosturas bitters Dash sugar syrup 1 rose water soaked sugar cube 1 mint sprig for garnish Shake the first 5 ingredients together, then strain in to an appropriate receptacle over cubed ice ( we use little ceramic tea pots ) , garnish and serve.

[manachainmonaghan]

ORDERING THE RIGHT DRINK: A PROFESSIONAL GUIDE (old fashioned - full recipe)

The right drink is almost always an Old Fashioned. Notable exceptions would be oral medication for venereal diseases, and pre-1pm Bloody Marys, as both are likely required due to the previous nights excessive consumption of Old Fashioneds.

This may sound limited, but give me a minute to explain yeah. Back in the glorious days of proper attire, facial hair and relatively cheap booze a ‘cocktail’ was something very specific. It was quite simply Spirit – Bitters – Sugar. And one, if one was so inclined to refer to themselves as one, would order a Whisky Cocktail, Brandy Cocktail, Kirsch Cocktail and some handsome ass bartender would pluck your chosen poison from a shelf and craft it together with the bars bitters, which would either be made in house or corrupted medicinal elixirs, a bit of sugar and some ice or iced water. Sometime in the early 20th Century the term ‘Cocktail’ came to encompass what had previously been a much more exciting world where you could order such things as a Daisy, Fizz, Julep, Smash, Ricky etc….

So, when i’m making an Old Fashioned for myself, I view it like a traditional cocktail, my only rules are that it must contain spirits, bitters and a sugar. 3 ingredients is ideal, 4 is acceptable in exceptional circumstances.

I suppose I should probably kick off with your run-of-the-mill exceptionally well made situation.

Old Fashioned

50ml Good quality Bourbon or Rye (Bourbon if you like it sweeter. Rye if you like spicier)* X tsps of sugar depending on the extent of your sweet tooth. I recommend 1. Y dashes of Angostura Bitters depending on you bitterness. I recommend 3.* Z strips of orange zest depending on how fruity you want it. I recommend 1. Stick that sugar in the base of the glass you intend to drink from, and dash your bitters over it. Using the flat base of a bar spoon**, or the back of a table spoon if you’re at home and not an alcoholic, press and stir the 2 until a sort of paste is formed. Now chuck 25ml of your chosen spirit in and give it a quick spin. Bung in your ice. You want either the largest cubes you can get your hand on, or like in the image use a sphere.*** Pour over the last 25ml of spirit and squeeze the orange oils out over your glass, stir all this tasting occasionally until it’s cold and balanced. Many a pompous bartender will tell you it takes 8 minutes to make an old fashioned. This is bollocks. It takes as long as it takes depending on the ice, heat of the room, you stirring technique and the ingredients you are using – could be 8 minutes, could be 30 seconds. Finally rim the glass with the orange and then drop in your glass Congratulations you’ve just made an Old Fashioned. Now neck that so I can show you a different one.

The great thing about this drink is that within your 3 parameters there is so much you can do. Here are some of my favourite combinations:

Bourbon, Maple Syrup, Dale DeGroff Pimento Bitters

Rye Whisky, Peychaud Bitters + Lavender Bitters, White Sugar

Hibiki 12yr Old Japanese Whisky, White Sugar, Lemon and Orange Bitters

Goslings Black Seal Rum, Bitter Truth Creole Bitters, Agave Nectar

All 4 are made the exact same way as the recipe above.

More drinks in the Old Fashioned vain will follow soon…

resources:

*

i recommend you start here for your Whisky, http://www.masterofmalt.com/country/american-whiskey/

personally i’d choose Elijah Craig 12yr Old

and here for your bitters, http://www.masterofmalt.com/bitters/

Master Of Malt are an award winning spirits supplier and producer whom i have nothing but good things to say about.

**

barspoons and other stuff here: http://www.urbanbar.com/bar-spoon-and-bar-spoon-accessories-b155431.html

I’m not a big Urban Bar fan for anything glass as I have had several glasses of theres break under normal usage, but they offer a larger selection than most.

***

many fancy bits of bar kit…including sphere and large cube moulds here:

http://www.molecularmixology.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=6251&category=862

[manachainmonaghan]

AND A DRINK CALLED THE PALM SOUR - FULL RECIPE

Every now and then I’ll create a drink I’m really, really happy with. 9 times out of 10, people generally don’t like these drinks. Mostly because I’ve created them with an ingredient or idea that needs a palate used to the abuse of hard liquor. Very occasionally one of these drinks slips through the net and I create something that is my idea of fun and other people actually enjoy consuming. Invariably I have 1 of 2 things to thank for this; either my little brother, whose innate creativity and unburdened palate can often find that ingredient which completes a drink in a way I never fathomed, or, egg white. Egg white is basically the best thing ever. This gloop of water and protein whose initial purpose in life is to shield fertilised (or not) embryo, is magic in a cocktail. It does 2 things. Both of which are well good. It binds with the alcohol, removing pretty much all the burn associated with neat spirits. It also catches air. So when you shake your beverage (and you really must shake a drink if you put egg white in it) it become a big, aerated, mousse of a drink. Something that feels luxuriant on your lips and satisfying in your mouth. Egg white turns your normal blow job of a drink in to a velvet penis that ejaculates chocolate. Totes apropes analogy (sorry mum, brother and sisters if you’re reading). Which bring me to this number. The Palm Sour Emergency history lesson: in the technical vocabulary of classic cocktails, a sour is ironically a short drink that has been sweetened. In contemporary practice a sour is usually a spirit with sugar and lemon, and if done properly – egg white too 50ml Wooded Rum 3 sprigs lemon thyme 15ml vanilla syrup 1 egg white Here’s why this recipe is fun. It uses ‘Wooded Rum’. What’s wooded rum you ask? Well, it’s a canny term I coined for creating an especially woody flavoured rum. In this instance we take 750ml of Havanna Club 3 Yr Old and stick it in a tiny 1L Charred Kentucky Oak Barrel for about a week. The ratios are important. The smaller your barrel the more intensely the oak flavours will affect your chosen spirit. It uses Lemon Thyme in place of any acid. Normally acid is very welcome in a drink, as it cuts through bigger richer flavours providing balance. However in this instance the savoury characteristic of Lemon Thyme provides balance with the additional sugars picked up when ‘wooding’ our rum. It uses egg white. And I’m sure there a joke to be had relating my previous velvet penis/egg white analogy and using ‘wooded’ rum. House made vanilla syrup. Don’t buy vanilla syrup! Why would you? It tastes like something someone thought vanilla tasted like when they once licked a vanilla ice cream that one time their mum let them out of the cage. Buy some Vanilla Bean Paste. Put 2 tea spoons of it and about 500ml of sugar in a bowl, pour boiling water over it all and stir. Voila you have vanilla syrup with actual real vanilla. Lazy ass. The method is even funner, because its well easy. Method: Put aside 1 sprig of lemon thyme. Strip the leave of the other 2 in to a Boston. Bang a couple times with a rolling pin. Throw everything else in to the Boston (except the last Thyme sprig). Shake. Double strain in to a glass over ice and garnish with the last sprig. I could tell you about how amazingly delicious the earthy woody notes and savoury lemon flavours are, all backed up by the sweet sugar cane of rum and voluminous texture of egg white. But I’d much rather you came to the bar and tried one. So that I can be sure you didn’t fuck it up, and I can see the moment in your eyes when you totally get the velvet penis thing.