The Back of the Shelf

fermentation, distillation, infusion and consumption

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Sound of Silver

30ml rye whiskey (Bulleit)

30ml apple brandy (Somerset Cider Brandy)

15ml falernum (John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum)

7.5ml Campari

2dsh rosemary bitters

Stir ingredients over ice and strain into a tumbler containing one large rock. Garnish with an expressed lime twist.

A recipe I stumbled across on PUNCH. As it is so rarely seen, any recipe calling for a lime twist intrigues me, and considering the ingredients here - rye whiskey and apple brandy a la the Diamondback, rosemary and amaro - making one was inevitable. 

The base split saw that this started with the familiar Diamondback bite, but lighter. Initially sweet and subtly herbal, ti develops into a light yet complex flavour as the spices and herbs meld together, finishing with the usual sharpness of Campari, albeit the falernum seems to smooth it over.

The original calls for Gran Classico rather than Campari, and a rosemary tincture rather than bitters. 

Jane Danger, Mother of Pearl, NYC, USA, 2017.

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Nectarine Smash

60ml bourbon (Woodford Reserve)

15ml lemon juice

15ml simple syrup

12+ mint leaves

1 nectarine

Peel and slice the nectarine, remove the stone, and muddle thoroughly in one half of the shaker. In the other, gently muddle the mint with the lemon juice and syrup, before adding the whiskey and combining. Shake hard and fine strain over ice into a tumbler. Garnish liberally with mint, a nectarine slice, and a cherry.

I bought some nectarines a few days earlier, and could smell them from across the room while playing guitar this evening. Realising I’d never had a Whiskey Smash before, I popped out to grab some mint, came home, and made this. Smashes are traditional cocktails with no fixed ingredients outside of the mint and seasonal fruit (though were primarily made with whiskey), but whether the lemon juice and simple matches tradition I’m not quite sure. It seemed fairly natural to include them, though I wouldn’t have used any more than I did.

I think the nectarine could have done with a few more days, to get it softer and jucier, but this was delicious. With a thicker than expected texture, the whiskey opens up the sip with the nutty flavours I find present in Whiskey Sours, before the mint gets involved and finally the nectarine rounding it off. 

Traditional recipe.

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Little Bee

60ml pisco (ABA)

22.5ml lemon juice

22.5ml 3:1 honey syrup

1dsh peach bitters (The Bitter Truth)

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a small dehydrated lemon wheel.

A riff on the Bee’s Knees I came up with shortly after getting my hands on a bottle, named with a nod to the pisco based Little Birdy from the Death and Co. book. Pisco is so fruity and floral, but in such a gentle way, it made sense to try it where gin succeeds. Here it creates a light and mellow vibe, which coincidentally goes well with Keith Jarret’s Köln Concert, one of my favourite jazz albums.

To sip, the gentle fruit of the pisco buoys along with the deeper sweetness of the honey, itself providing a lovely velvety mouthfeel. Stone fruits become apparent on the swallow, bolstered by the peach bitters, finishing mild but moreish. 

I think the honey could maybe be dialled back a touch, along with the lemon, maybe to 15ml each. The texture may not be as thick, but it should allow the pisco to come through a bit stronger. As it stands however, this is a certain crowd-pleaser and a very easy drinker.

Oirignal recipe (Ben Talbot), 2019.

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Benjamin Barker Daiquiri

60ml black rum (Gosling’s Black Seal)

15ml Campari

22.5ml lime juice

15ml rich cane syrup

2dsh absinthe

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe. Garnish with a dehydrated lime wheel.

The afternoon’s drink in an effort to clear a bottle off of the shelf. Possessing several other dark rums (Havana 7, Appleton Signature, Cruzan Blackstrap, the list goes on) the Gosling’s seem superfluous. Whilst there is a great deal of enjoyment to be had going deep into the rum rabbit hole, I have limited shelving space. Gosling’s doesn’t bring quite enough to the table to be worth keeping around by itself.

The Benjamin Barker Daiquiri from Death & Co. (again) is a great Daiquri variation for something that presents a bit of complexity while still being eminently drinkable. On the sip, the rum presents first, the mild funk of the Gosling’s quickly giving way to the popcorn-caramel shared by the cane syrup (filling in for the rich demerara of the original recipe), before the Campari, made strangely funky, appears at the beginning of the swallow. Finally, absinthe and the familiar sharpness of Campari.

In future, I think Havana 7 blended with a small portion of Appleton and a dash of Cruzan would be a good way to approximate the Gosling’s here.

Brian Miller, Death and Co., NYC, USA, 2008.

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Strange Brew

60ml dry gin (Tanqueray)

22.5ml falernum (John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum)

30ml pineapple juice

15ml lemon juice

60 - 90ml IPA (Magic Rock Inhaler)

Whip shake all but the IPA with ice and strain into a pilsner filled with crushed ice. Top with the IPA, swizzle, and garnish with a slapped mint sprig. Serve with a straw.

The sun is coming back to Wales, which for me means better quality mint, a craving for fruit drinks and a return to that wondrous haven, the pub garden. Whilst I normally give in to the country boy inside of me and order cider, my other pint of choice is an IPA. This recipe from Death and Co. calling for it, pineapple juice (which I needed to finish off) and falernum which I’d only acquired recently seemed like the perfect afternoon drink.

My pilsner glass is a bit smaller than the ones they use at D&C (coming in at 380ml rather than their recommended 480ml) and the 60ml of beer was originally all I could fit in. I would recommend going slightly over however, as once I had supped some and increased the volume, the hop and malt came through more.

Opening with the mint on my nose, the Strange Brew presented unsurprisingly fruit-forward, the pineapple and lemon providing a nice tanginess that mixed well with the IPA. The falernum’s gentle spices were mostly absent, though came through gently around the edges of the gin on the swallow. Not having access to the recommended Green Flash IPA did not seem to impact the cohesion; I think that any citrus-y pale ale would work well.

Thomas Waugh, Death and Co., NYC, USA, 2008 (Death and Co. p160).

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Talbot’s Corpse Reviver

45ml cognac (Remy Martin VSOP)

22.5ml calvados (Fine)

22.5ml sweet vermouth (M&R Rubino)

5ml cherry brandy (M&S)

2 dashes peach bitters (Bitter Truth)

Stir, strain, up, sink maraschino cherry.

The Savoy’s Corpse Reviver #1, also referred to as the ‘New Corpse Reviver’ in the Cafe Royal, is beautiful in the simplicity of the recipe and the complexity of the flavour which they present. While a Corpse Reviver #2 is my usual go to for hair of the dog, the richness of it’s predecessor is a craving I often get when under the weather. 

Being so currently, I made a couple of these and tweaked the recipe slightly. Peach bitters bring a floral quality and lift the fruit notes of the calvados and brandy while the splash of cherry liqueur brings depth to the edges and helps harmonise the original ingredients. A maraschino cherry, sunken in the bottom of the glass, simply seemed appropriate.

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Dick and Jane

45ml dry gin (Tanqueray)

15ml elderflower liqueur (St. Germain)

15ml hibiscus syrup

15ml lemon juice

2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

60ml dry champagne (Sainsbury’s Crémant de Loire)

Shake all but champagne and strain into a flute. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with a lemon twist.

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La Dolce Vita

60ml chamomile-infused rye whiskey (Bulleit)

22.5ml Campari

15ml elderflower liqueur (St Germain)

Stir over ice and strain into a tumbler containing one large cube of ice.

Another from Death and Co, this time born out of an overabundance of Bulleit. Chamomile-infused whiskey intrigued me when I found it repeatedly throughout the recipes in the book. While I would normally shy away from infusing spirits due to the usually limiting use of the result, the decent number of recipes within the book which make use of this infusion eased that tension. 

Upon the nose, this is almost entirely chamomile, the whiskey taking a backseat - similar to the Campari on the sip. Unusually considering it’s intense flavour, the Campari functioned more like sweet vermouth here, building a rich backdrop for the more floral flavours. On the swallow the whiskey smoothly let itself be known.

Thomas Waugh, Death and Co, NYC, 2008

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Flor de Jerez

15ml Jamaican rum (Appleton Estate Signature)

45ml amontillado sherry (Bodegas Barbadillo)

7.5ml apricot liqueur (Gabriel Boudier)

22.5ml lemon juice

10ml simple syrup

5ml demerara syrup

dash Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Death & Co’s book is a veritable wealth of modern classic recipes, many using techniques and approaches I had used long before actually making one of their originals due to the Citizen Kane-esque effect the bar had on the cocktail scene.

This one caught my eye due to the split base of amontillado and Jamaican rum which I had enjoyed previously while riffing on the Ship Cocktail in the Savoy. The esters in the rum seem to help brighten the sherry which helped me acquire the taste more easily. The recipe in the book calls for 15ml of cane sugar syrup and omits the lemon twist. Lacking the former, I split simple with demerara to add some richness and included the latter to brighten it a touch more. 

The best notes of the sherry are brought out here; no doubt in some small part due to the apricot liqueur. A raisin-y quality is present that with the rum makes for a tangy and rich without being overbearing, while the sherry base ensures it to be a light and surprisingly refreshing drink.

Joaquín Simó, Death and Co, New York, US, 2014, (Death & Co. p171).

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Oroaxacan

60ml reposado tequila (Espolon)

22.5ml Amaro Nonino

2 dashes orange bitters (Regan’s No. 6)

Dash mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)

Rinse a chilled cocktail glass with mezcal. Stir remaining ingredients over ice and strain into glass. Garnish with flamed orange peel.

A Black Manhattan is an excellent showcase for amaro, and is built on a classic and versatile recipe: two parts strong, one part weak, and two dashes of bitters. When I was picking my bottle of Averna off of the shelf, I saw my somewhat underutilised Amaro Nonino and had a stroke of inspiration.

Amaro Nonino is a lighter, more citrusy amaro built on a base of Grappa, and works wonderfully in lifting a Paper Plane, another bourbon classic which is always on present in my rotation. I hadn’t seen many recipes combining tequila with amari, but the gentle herbal notes of the Espolon reposado seemed like they would pair well with the Nonino. Following the original recipe I added two dashes of orange bitters to lift the cocktail slightly, and flamed an orange peel over the top to provide freshness and a caramel nose.

I found that at a 2:1 ratio the amaro was a little too dominating, and hid the softer notes of the tequila. Reducing it to 22.5ml balanced this out nicely while keeping the sweetness. I enjoy the complex fragrance you can acquire when using a rinse and zest in garnish (e.g. in a Sazerac) and mezcal seemed like a good choice to pair with the orange peel considering it’s pairing in a Oaxacan Old Fashioned. It also provided me with a name: Oroaxacan, from the Spanish for gold (oro) and Oaxaca, home of mezcal.

The nose is rich and dark, belying the fairly light body of the drink. On the sip, the tequila leads the development but is quickly followed by the bittersweet amaro. The caramelised orange oils play on the citrus elements of the Amaro Nonino, and the herbal notes of both the Espolon and Nonino play out immediately following the swallow, leaving a smooth, fresh finish.

Original recipe, Ben Talbot, 2018

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Irish Goodbye

20ml Irish whiskey (Jameson’s)

10ml creme de cassis (Monin syrup)

10ml lemon juice 

75ml Guinness

Shake all over ice and fine strain into a coupe.

A bit of a belated St. Patrick’s day post, this one. Providing the backdrop for this one is a novelty Guinness hat Sean bought from the bartenders of a local pub for £20 (which was donated to charity by the staff). 

This recipe seems odd on paper; asking you to shake all the ingredients. I followed the instructions, if somewhat hesitantly, and can without a doubt say to never shake Guinness. It makes a sludge-y mess of the ice and I lost the large majority of the cocktail within the shaker. For the second round, I used the following recipe:

30ml Irish whiskey

10ml creme de cassis

10ml lemon juice

100ml Guinness

Shake the first three ingredients over ice and fine strain into a coupe glass. Top with Guinness, pouring carefully to form a head.

This works much better. According to our resident (Anglo-)Irishman, it’s something like a classier version of the classic Guinness and black. I think in future I’d double the amount of whiskey and bring the citrus and sweet up to 15ml. Of the two ‘Irish’ cocktails I’ve made in my time however, I still prefer the Irish Lullaby, and would recommend that much more readily as a St Paddy’s drink.

Recipe adapted from Kieran Monteiro, Boma, London, 2018.

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Dust Devil

40ml Ancho Reyes

20ml bourbon whiskey (Maker’s Mark)

2 dashes mole bitters (homemade)

Dash mezcal (Vida)

Rinse tumbler with mezcal and insert one large cube of ice. Stir remaining ingredients over ice and strain into glass. Garnish with a cut red chili pepper.

I love and have always loved chili peppers and the heat that comes with them; be it in Indian, Latin or Asian food or even just by the teaspoon when it comes to sauce. I have quite a tolerance to capsaicin and the unique smell that a freshly cut chilli has - similar to other peppers but grassier and more pungent. When I learned that Ancho Reyes existed I immediately put it on my wishlist. 

The liqueur itself is great, it has that fresh chili smell and a gentle heat which allows it to play incredibly well with agave spirits, but I’ve found it also works well with bourbon and rye. I quickly swapped it for sweet vermouth in a Manhattan and while this was great at adding a different note of depth, I wanted more chili flavour. Drinking it on the rocks I noticed that while a liqueur it isn’t overly sweet, and had the idea to flip the Manhattan blueprint upside down, using whiskey to support the liqueur and swapping out the Angostura bitters for my newly bottled homemade mole ones. Add a mezcal rinse for some smoke (the original name for this was a Fire Ant) and finish off with a chili garnish.

The Dust Devil starts with the olfactory sense, the mezcal hitting the nose with the grassy notes of the chili (this one was especially pungent) keeping it light and refreshing while hinting at the contents of the glass. The initial taste is a mix of the liqueur and the sweeter notes of the bourbon headed by alcohol heat, which give way to the depth of the spice within the Ancho Reyes and finishes with a slow-building burn. While this won’t be for everyone, personally, it hits all the right notes.

Original recipe © Ben Talbot, 2018.

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It Wants What It Wants

25ml Scotch whisky (Aberlour 10 Year)

7.5ml Campari 

5ml triple sec (Cointreau)

5ml dry vermouth (M&R Extra Dry)

Dash peated whisky (Laphroaig 10)

Dash orange bitters (Angostura)

Dash Peychaud’s bitters

Drop saline (10%)

Stir all except saline over ice and strain into a tumbler containing one large cube. Drop saline onto ice cube.

A reworked recipe this one, something I first put to paper months ago under the name ‘Bad Haircut’. A cocktail very reminiscent of my personal tastes (whisky, amari, bitters) the flavours were quick to balance but the composition seemed too sweet. Early experimentation with fresh orange juice having not been successful, including dry vermouth and increasing the proportion of whisky helped dry it out. 

Something like an Old Pal by way of a Jasmine, it opens with the Scotch, the iodine of the peat mixing well into the Campari and orange leaving a slightly medicinal but fresh taste on the tongue. The saline I tend to add at discretion though hesitate before using more than three drops. Having now acquired them, in future I would use Regan’s No.6 Orange Bitters in this (and to be honest, most recipes asking for orange bitters) to add a touch more spice. 

The background here is an old lobster box from a reclamation yard - something with rum would probably have been more appropriate perhaps!

Original recipe © Benjamin Talbot, 2018.

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Bobby Burns

40ml blended Scotch whisky (Famous Grouse)

5ml Islay whisky (Laphroaig

45ml sweet vermouth (M&R Rubino)

7.5ml Bénédictine

15ml chilled water

Pour measures into flask, seal, and gently rotate to mix.

We had snow in Cardiff, and more snow than I’ve ever seen fall. Minnie and I had to return early from our planned weekend in Bristol (though not before we saw Jade Bird play at The Louisiana - someone I wholeheartedly recommend listening to) and managed it only just, as they were closing the railway stations like it was going out of fashion. It was snowing as we arrived, and didn’t stop.

When we did eventually venture out I figured it a great excuse to utilise the hip flask I’d picked up last year in an antiques store with Min, one that handily holds 3.5oz (105ml) of liquid, or, one cocktail. It had to be whisky with weather like that, and the Bobby Burns is a great cold-weather drink - spicy, sweet and herbal. I again mixed in some peated Scotch to give it an edge but don’t think I mixed in enough water to account for not using ice in the prep; making it a bit hot on the tongue. Considering the temperature though it was hardly unwelcome.

Recipe adapted from the Savoy Cocktail Book.

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Line in the Sand

45ml banana-infused dark rum

22.5ml rye whiskey (Bulleit)

37.5ml lime juice

15ml orgeat (Monin)

Shake all ingredients over ice and fine strain into a chilled coupe glass. Float a banana chip to garnish.

Spurred by the thought that my banana-infused rum may at some point go 'off', and partly inspired by someone on Reddit mentioning using orgeat in place of simple in a Daiquri, this was born. I thought the orgeat idea was a great one, and easily overlooked - I have a bottle sitting on the shelf and rarely ever use it. I thought it would play nicely with the banana flavour, and I figured I could get away with using slightly less due to the sugar already in the rum. I was right on both accounts, though did swap the rye and banana rum volumes before being happy with the taste. 

The initial hit on the nose is banana and almond, with a zesty quality from the lime. Fruit is very present in the sip, the banana coming through in tandem with the citrus before moving into the faint nuttiness of the orgeat to finish. A little spice is present from the rye though no real discernible whiskey taste is present; as I had hoped - the forefront here should be the banana, with everything else supporting. I am tempted to include an absinthe rinse but this may be superfluous - though left in the drink may be beneficial to the sweetness, as this is about as sweet a drink as I would be happy with. For the next batch of banana rum I may leave out the sugar. 

The ratios and volumes of ingredients in this will depend on the banana rum and brand of orgeat. The recipe for my banana rum (as best I remember it) is below: 

300g bananas, chopped into 0.5cm discs 

125-175g soft dark brown sugar (optional) 

1L dark rum 

Place chopped bananas and sugar into a 1.5l sealable jar and pour over the rum. Shake once a day for two weeks or to taste, and double strain before bottling. Enjoy neat or in a Daiquiri - I enjoy a 9:5:2 ratio of rum, lime juice and simple syrup, with a lime twist. 

Original recipe © Ben Talbot, 2018.

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Irn-Bru Spritz

25ml tequila (Olmeca Altos blanco)

40ml Irn-Bru reduction

10ml lemon juice

25ml soda water

125ml Prosecco (Monticella Prosecco Superiore DOCG)

Dry shake first three ingredients to integrate. Pour into a large wine glass or gin goblet filled with ice and top[ with soda water and Prosecco. Garnish with grapefruit slices and a maraschino cherry.

Again, another Minnie-driven post, inspired by Burns’ Night and the recent Irn-Bru crisis which has caused a multi-pack to appear in our cupboard. I had no idea what to make with the (in my opinion) bubble-gum flavoured drink, but did find this online. Seemed a good way to utilise the Prosecco which neither of us are too fond of.

I upped the reduction volume as I was unsure as to whether the flavour would come through amongst all the other ingredients, and it still was only present vaguely. I think it would have been better to swap out the soda water for actual Irn-Bru, and possible use a reposado tequila as the blanco I use here is quite powerful.

One lesson I have drawn from this is that I need longer garnish picks, as I often struggle to balance them across the rim of my larger glasses. It also served as another reminder that I really don’t like Prosecco when it is anything more than a supporting flavour, though we shall see how I find the planned Negroni Sbagliato.

Recipe adapted from Chris O’Neil, temper, 2017 (via Munchies).

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 Jamaican Sundown

30ml white rum (Havana Club 3 Year)

15ml overproof rum (Wray & Nephew)

60ml orange juice

45ml pineapple juice

15ml grenadine (Fruiss)

Carefully pour grenadine into base of a highball and fill with ice. Dry shake rum and juice to mix and pour gently over the top. Garnish with an orange slice, maraschino cherries and a cocktail umbrella.

I tend to prefer classic cocktails, which means they’re usually strong, dry or bitter, and often brown. Garnish tends to be minimal; a lemon twist, cherry or a leaf. Minnie is not such a fan of these cocktails, and put in a request for something ‘fun’; to which I responded ‘like a Tequila Sunrise?’

This being met with enthusiasm plus my reluctance to actually use my nice tequila in a drink I was sure was going to taste mainly of orange juice and grenadine, I opted to come up with a rum-based riff. Working from the IBA recipe (45ml tequila/90ml orange juice/15ml grenadine) I split the tequila between white rum and overproof and swapped out a third of the orange juice for pineapple. 

The result wasn’t bad, though not as good as I was hoping. I ended up using an extra half ounce of pineapple juice on a whim and which I’d reversed the juice split - the taste presences were good but the mouthfeel was thinner than expecting. I have to confess I actually prefer store-bought orange juice in some cases - it tends to be more viscous than fresh-squeezed and you can get some excellent varieties (Lidl used to do the best orange juice I’ve for an incredibly reasonable price).

Still, it was fun to make, fun to drink, and it had a little pink umbrella in it.

Original recipe © Benjamin Talbot, 2018.