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Tardy Temperance Tuesday: Bittersweet Cocktails at Home (A Crash Course)

Dear Readers,

Over the past few months I have written about several of the non-alcoholic Bittersweet Cocktails that we serve in our Oxbow Tasting Salon and Bar Shop. Today, I am going to show you how to start creating your own Bittersweet Cocktails at home. Everything here is a rule of thumb, and there will almost certainly be exceptions to the rules. The important thing to remember is to have fun and to experiment!

The Framework
Every Bittersweet Cocktail has a basic framework to it, certain components that will always be there. These components are sweet, sour, bitter, and water.

Sweet
Every drink is going to have a sweet element. If at all possible avoid using refined sugar in your drinks. Examples of sweet components include demerara sugar, infused syrups, fresh muddled fruit, molasses, maple syrup, brown sugar or agave. 

Sour
A sour flavor balances sweetness and is what makes a drink taste refreshing. The sour flavor is produced by one of several types of acids commonly found in food. Citric acid being the most common, as well as acetic acid (vinegars), tartaric acid (grapes), or malic acid (berries). Citrus juice is the most common sour component in cocktails, but various vinegars, and tart fruit juices also fill this role.

*note* Shrubs, also known as drinking vinegars, and tonic syrups, as well as sweetened lime juice, lime cordials, and sweet and sour mix fall into both the sweet and sour categories. With some being on the sweeter side (cordials, sweetened lime) and others on the more sour side (drinking vinegars, tonic syrups) with some being balanced in themselves. Experiment with these ingredients until you get it balanced the way you want.

Bitter
In non-alcoholic cocktails, bitters add a complexity that makes them as satisfying as a "real drink" as well as tempering the sugar. Bitters tend to play more of a forward role in the flavor profile of non-alcoholic drinks, and can even be the featured flavor in the drink. Feel free to use two or even three different bitters in one drink.

Water
Whether it’s sparkling, still, or flavored, you are going to need to dilute your drink to make it light and palatable.

Proper Proportions
Proportions are important in drink making, and will require some experimentation and practice to perfect, but here are some rules of thumb that have served me well:

In total you want between a 1:3 to 1:4 ratio of flavorings to water. So your sweet, sour, and bitter components should never equal more than 33% of the total volume of your drink.

In general, sweet and sour components should be in a 1:1 mix to stay balanced. If you want a tart drink like a lemonade however, do a 2:1 mix of sour to sweet. Certain sweet and sour ingredients will also be more concentrated than others. Here is where experimentation comes in.

Check back next week for a simple Bittersweet Cocktail I developed based on these rules and framework.

Until then, Happy Mixing!
Your ever humble, sober mixologist,
Aaron Lahey

May 13, 2015 at 3:20 PM Permalink Comments (6)

Thirsty Thursday: The Cherry Sling

Not a Cocktail...

Here in Napa Valley the first fresh cherries have hit the farmer's markets; and to me, that's something worth celebrating. And Napa Valley Distillery has the perfect spirit for all your cherry based cocktails, our Cherry Brandy. This spirit is one of my favorites for mixing in cocktails, because it simultaneously functions as a whiskey and a brandy. You get the soft, fresh fruit note from the cherry, as well as a sharp, dry, peppery oak from the whiskey barrels it was aged in. The drink I am going to share with you today features this distinctive brandy, and falls into a category that actually predates the cocktail: The Sling.

Before the Cocktail
Many assume that a cocktail refers to any mixed drink, and in many places today the two are indeed synonymous. However, once upon a time, a cocktail had a very specific definition, and was just one more in a long line of mixed drink categories. The original definition of a cocktail is a mix of spirituous liqueur with water, sugar, and bitters. Stirred or shaken with ice and strained into a cocktail glass, with a fresh fruit garnish. Other mixed drink categories at the time included The Smash, The Punch, The Julep, The Sling, The Sour, The Fizz, The Flip, The Crusta and many more. Eventually all these families of drinks would fall under the blanket term "cocktail."

For your edification, here are the old definitions for some of these mixed drink families:
-Julep: Alcohol, sugar, water, and sometimes fresh fruit/herbs served in a julep cup with crushed or shaved ice.
-Smash: Like a Julep, but not particularly in a julep cup, and with only shaved ice.
-Punch: Alcohol, fresh fruit juice, and other mixers, normally served in a large bowl for entertaining.
-Sour: Liquor, lemon or lime juice, and a sweetener, sometimes with an egg white.
-Fizz: Alcohol, sugar, and soda water. The soda water makes it a fizz.
-Flip: Has an egg in it.
-Crusta: Has a sugar rim.

What is a Sling then?
A Sling is simply a mix of liquor, water, and sugar, served hot or cold, strained into a glass. Truly the most basic of mixed drinks. I have found very few true Slings that I like. Usually combining sugar and alcohol without bitters produces a drink that cloys at the throat, like cough syrup. The bitters are an integral part to the balance of the cocktail. There are, of course, exceptions.

Sour Cherry Syrup
The syrup I use in this drink makes all the difference. It has a real tart note that offsets the sweetness and provides balance without the use of bitters. The brand I used was D'Arbo, an Austrian company famous for their preserves. Their sour cherry syrup is the best I've found. Our sister store, Napastak, carries it here in the Oxbow Marketplace. If you can't find that, a 50/50 mix of Tait Farms Sour Cherry Shrub and Luxardo Maraschino Syrup makes a good substitute.

The Cherry Sling
1.5oz Napa Valley Distillery Cherry Brandy
1.5oz D'Arbo Sour Cherry Syrup
Fresh cherry, stem on, for garnish

Shake hard in a cocktail shaker with ice until shaker is frosty. Strain into a small cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh cherry. Give to your Mother this Sunday. She deserves it. Makes one 3oz cocktail.

Until next time,
Your ever humble, antiquated mixologist,
Aaron Lahey

May 7, 2015 at 4:23 PM Permalink Comments (1)

Thirsty Thursday: The Real California Mint Julep

We have a very special weekend coming up Booze Log Readers: The Kentucky Derby! What is the Kentucky Derby without its ubiquitous cocktail, the Mint Julep? It's just another horse race. This iconic libation became the official drink of Churchill Downs in 1938, when they started selling it in commemorative Julep cups.

Although synonymous with Kentucky know, the Mint Julep was originally associated with Virginia. Originally described in 1803 as "a dram of spirituous liquor that has mint in it, taken by Virginians in the morning." These Virginia Juleps were thought to use brandy, rum, or rye as their "spirituous liquor," not Bourbon at all! In fact, in Jerry Thomas's 1887 edition of his bartending guide, he includes several recipes for mint juleps, none of which call for whiskey. However, in my humble opinion, no matter the cocktails origin, if you are drinking one for derby, it better have Kentucky bourbon in it.

The Real California Mint Julep is a play on Jerry Thomas' The Real Georgia Mint Julep, which uses cognac and peach brandy as its base spirits. I really liked the idea of pairing the mint and a stone fruit flavor like peach. I also like how different regions have taken this simple drink and modified it to express local character. I am going to attempt to do the same here, using a fuzzy stone fruit native to California: the apricot. Instead of simple syrup I add a bit of black-strap molasses. This drink is, after all, for the racetrack; and molasses always reminds me of the stables.

Alright, I can tell you are chomping at the bit. Here's the Recipe:

The Real California Mint Julep
2 oz Kentucky Straight Bourbon
1 oz Napa Valley Distillery Apricot Brandy
1 oz Napa Valley Distillery Grand California
1 heaping barspoon Luxardo Apry Apricot preserves, or other high quality apricot jam
1 small barspoon black-strap molasses
6 large fresh mint leaves
More fresh mint to garnish

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint with the apricot preserves and molasses. Add spirits, stir well with a bar spoon, making sure to scrape the sides of the shaker. In a julep cup or highball glass, fill to over the edge of the glass with crushed or shaved ice*. Strain the contents of the shaker over the crushed ice, through a fine sieve. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs. Watch a horse race. Repeat. Makes one 8 oz cocktail.

*All juleps will have crushed or shaved ice, that is what makes them a julep.

Enjoy the Derby everyone! Until next week!
Your ever humble, equestrian barman,
Aaron Lahey

Apr 30, 2015 at 11:00 AM Permalink Comments (30)

Old World Gin and Tonic

Good afternoon readers! With the sun shining and summer fast approaching, I thought it was time to talk a bit about everyone's favorite summertime libation: the gin and tonic. The G&T is as ubiquitous as the PB&J, perfect partners never far from each other. That being said, both gin and tonic have gone through some pretty major changes since the drinks inception in 18th century British Colonial India. There, members of the British Army would mix their bitter malaria medication (quinine) with their ration of gin, sugar, lime, and soda, to make the medicine go down easier.

*For more information about tonic, what it is, and its history as both flavoring and medicine, please refer to this previous post* Many modern gin & tonic's fall flat. Instead of naturally extracted quinine from Cinchona bark, most modern bottled tonic has a chemical aftertaste. Mix this with the sharp juniper astringency of a lot of common London dry style gins and you end up with something that tastes more cleaning product than cocktail.  My solution is to go back to this cocktail's roots. Using a heaver bodied, naturally sweeter gin like NVD's Old Hollywood Ginn or a Genever smooths the bite of the quinine, and gives a spicy backbone to the drink. Replacing the bottled tonic water with tonic syrup and soda adds the slight interplay of sweet and sour that so many modern G&T's lack, as well as getting the true earthy flavor of cinchona. Most gins before the advent of modern transportation were transported and stored in oak barrels. This gave old gins an aged note from the dry oak that is totally absent from most modern gin. Nappy Valley Bitters Toasted Oak bitters brings that oak back to your finished cocktail. One spritz on top and it’s like you pulled the drink straight from the barrel. A lime wheel to garnish of course, and you have what, is in my humble opinion, a perfect G&T.

Old World Ginn & Tonic
1.5 oz NVD Old Hollywood Ginn
1.5 oz C&B Old Fashioned Quinine Tonic
3 oz soda water
1 spritz Napa Valley Bitters Toasted Oak Bitters
Lime wheel, for garnish

Add the gin and tonic syrup to a highball glass filled with ice. Top with soda water. Stir gently with a bar spoon. Spray Toasted Oak bitters on top and garnish with a lime wheel. Makes one 6oz cocktail.

Until next time,
Your ever humble, old fashioned mixologist,
Aaron Lahey

Want to order your own Old World Ginn & Tonic kit? Check this out!

Apr 16, 2015 at 4:20 PM Permalink Comments (67)

Temperence Tuesday: The Old Hollywood Tart

Welcome Readers! My apologies for the brief hiatus! Did you miss me? Today's article will be the first of hopefully many to cover the topic of cooking with spirits. I say why let wine have all the fun!

The Old Hollywood Tart lives up to its name. You can almost imagine the living room this would be served in, and who would be serving it. Porcelain collectibles line the shelves of antique cabinets, sharing wall space with memorabilia from the golden age of the silver screen. Humphrey Bogart and Grace Kelly smile at you from smoke stained posters. You can almost feel the nicotine leeching from the walls. A single ceiling fan provides little respite from the hot, dry, LA air. A woman walks in, lit cigarette in one hand, pastry in the other. Her hair grayed long ago, hidden beneath a pristine beehive wig. Stumbling slightly in her sequined heels; like she surely did many times during her red carpet days; she places the tart in front of you. Grilled pineapple, smoky and sweet like your surroundings. Island spices and fresh mint remind you how close you are to the border. You notice a floral aroma, for a moment you think it's your gracious host’s perfume. But no, its lychee, soaked in passion fruit liqueur to round out this tropical dessert.

...Sorry, I got lost in Hollywood there for a second. You want to learn how to make this thing? Good! First a note about the featured spirit: The NVD Old Hollywood Cocktail

Our Old Hollywood Cocktail is a mix of our Old Hollywood Ginn; full of cinnamon and allspice notes; with pineapple gum syrup and sweet vermouth. This mix ages in a barrel for 10 weeks, lending it a subtle smoky note from the charred oak.

The Old Hollywood Tart
This easy to make desert is surprising complex, and intriguingly exotic. It may even deserve a leading role in your next Red Carpet event.

Ingredients
One large pineapple, peeled, cored, sliced, and grilled
Vegetable oil (for grilling)
Two Lychee in Passion Fruit Liqueur
.5 cup NVD Old Hollywood Cocktail
12 drops Bittermens Elemakule Tiki Bitters (optional)
6 sprigs fresh mint
9 inch pie shell, uncooked

Step 1: The Pineapple
The most labor intensive part of this pie is prepping the pineapple, so it’s good you do it first! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, then grab the pineapple, a cutting board, and a big, sharp knife. Cut off the ends first. Then stand the pineapple up on one of those cut ends, and cut off the peel. Rotating the fruit as you go along. You want to make sure all the little spines have been cut off the fruit. Those don't soften during cooking and aren't fun to eat. Once your pineapple is peeled, cut it in half long ways, splitting the core in 2. Cut a V shape out of each half to remove the core. Slice your pineapple into half inch slices and transfer to a baking sheet. Lightly brush with oil, making sure to evenly coat the fruit. Throw the fruit on a hot grill, until the pineapple is seared deep brown and caramelized, but not burnt. About 6 minutes a side.

Step 2: Mixing the Filling
Roughly chop the two lychee, and add to a medium sized mixing bowl with the grilled pineapple. Pour over the Old Hollywood Cocktail, and let the whole mix soak for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain out the excess liquid and reserve in a small bowl. Transfer the fruit into the pie crust, and drop Tiki bitters over the top, if using them. Evenly brush the crust with an egg wash if desired. Throw the tart into the middle rack of your oven, and set a timer for 30 min.

Step 3: The Syrup
In a small saucepan over medium low heat, add the liquid you reserved from earlier. Stir frequently, letting the mixture reduce into a syrup. A good way to test when it is done is to drag the spatula across the pan, looking to see how long the liquid takes to fill the gap left by the spatula. The longer it holds its shape, the thicker it is. When the syrup is reduced and thick, remove from heat and transfer into a small bowl.

Step 4: Putting it Together
When the pie crust is golden brown and no longer soft, remove from the oven. Pour the syrup you made evenly over the pie. Garnish with fresh mint leaves, and you’re done!

Makes 1 9 inch tart, depending on the size of your pineapple
Prep Time:30 min
Bake Time: 35 min
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Signing off for this week,
Your ever humble, star struck mixologist,
Aaron Lahey

Apr 7, 2015 at 4:50 PM Permalink Comments (20)

Two Variations On The Classic Gin Fizz

Welcome back to the final post on our second favorite New Orleans cocktail! The Ramos Fizz is one of those drinks you can judge a good bartender by, and every good bartender I know has their own variation on a Ramos. The way they make their Ramos Fizz says a lot about their perspective and approach as a bartender, and there are as many variations on this cocktail as there are bartenders mixing it. Here are a few variations I have found over the years that I really like. click to find Part 1 & Part 2

Kipper's Breakfast Gin Fizz
This is the first Ramos Fizz I ever made. Kipper was a regular of mine at my first bartending gig out in Occidental, and every Sunday he would come in and order one of these, the way his Dad used to make Sunday mornings. There are a couple of huge differences between this drink and the original. Firstly, this is a blended drink, not shaken at all. This makes it a lot easier on the bartender. Secondly, it seems like it’s made from things you would have lying around after an American breakfast. Orange juice instead of lemon and lime, maple syrup instead of gum or simple syrup, half and half instead of cream, and a whole egg instead of just the white. This makes a sweeter drink, reminiscent of an orange creamcicle. It is imperative that this drink be garnished with freshly grated nutmeg; at least according to Kip.

2 oz NVD Old Hollywood Ginn
1 oz half and half
1 oz orange juice
1 oz maple syrup
1 whole egg*
3 dashes (18-24 drops) orange flower water (Fee Brothers)
freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup ice

Add all ingredients but nutmeg to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into Collins glass. Garnish with orange twist and nutmeg and serve. Makes one 12-14 oz cocktail.

Apricot Brandy Fizz
This is one of mine. A modern, dressed up version of the original Ramos with Apricot Eau de Vie, blood orange, almond milk and vanilla. If you can find "barista series" almond milk, it makes a better foam. This cocktail has a decidedly Tiki drink quality to it, which I see no problem with. The NVD Apricot Brandy plays up the floral element always present in the Ramos, but is balanced by a spicy complexity missing from the original. Sometimes new is good!

1 oz NVD Old Hollywood Ginn
1 oz NVD Apricot Brandy
1 oz unsweetened almond milk
0.5 oz blood orange juice
0.5 oz lemon juice
1 oz gum syrup (Small Hands Foods or Liber & Co) or simple syrup (Sonoma Syrup Co)
3-4 drops vanilla extract (De La Rosa)
1 egg white*
3 dashes (18-24 drops) orange flower water (Fee Brothers)
1 dash (6-8 drops) Bittermens Elemakule Tiki Bitters
soda water
lemon wheel, orange twist, and lemon flavor pearls for garnish

Add all ingredients but bitters and soda and shake like a traditional Ramos Fizz. Pour into Collins glass, top with soda, and finish with bitters and garnish. Makes one 12-14 oz cocktail.

Well that's all for today folks. Happy shaking!
Your ever humble, foamy mixologist,
Aaron Lahey

*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.

**Napa Valley Distillery suggests using caution when consuming raw eggs due to the slight risk of food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend that you use only fresh, properly refrigerated, clean grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.

Mar 27, 2015 at 1:04 PM Permalink Comments (99)

The Ramos Fizz: Tips & Tricks

Welcome to Part 2 of our foray into the Ramos Gin Fizz. The Ramos Fizz is not just a notoriously laborious cocktail, it is also a notoriously difficult one to get right. For such a seemingly innocuous set of ingredients, there is a ton of bartending technique that goes into it. I'm going to use this opportunity to share some do's and don’ts with the Ramos, as well as egg white drinks in general. Did you miss Part 1? No worries, accress it here.

Here Are Some Tricks To Getting A Nice, Thick Egg White Foam With The Least Amount Of Shaking

• Have everything ready to go before you start shaking. Have your glass, garnish, etc. all ready and next to you. You want to immediately pour the cocktail after shaking.
• Citrus juice, alcohol, cream, and sugar will all help to emulsify an egg white foam.
• Always do a "double shake." Shake the ingredients first without ice, and then again with ice. The egg will begin to whip much easier closer to room temperature.
• Replace simple syrup with gum syrup. The gum Arabic in gum syrup does an incredible job at thickening and stabilizing an egg white foam. This also cuts down on shake time, saving your arms. At least 0.25 oz gum goes in every one of my egg white drinks. Try one of these gum syrups from Small Hands Foods or Liber & Co.

Here Are Some Tips Specifically For The Ramos Fizz

• Make sure you hold on to the top and bottom of the shaker firmly. The combination of heavy cream and egg white in this drink make for a lot of expansion in a short time. Expansion in a confined space results in a rapid increase in pressure, and I have seen the top of a shaker get launched across a bar with so much force that they had to scrub Ramos Fizz off the ceiling that night.
• Do not substitute cream for low fat milk. The fat in the cream helps stop the alcohol and citrus juice from curdling the dairy.
• Mix up the direction of your shake several times during the course of shaking. This will increase agitation and the overall stability of the foam.
• Some bartenders say to add the soda to the glass and top with the cocktail. Others say to pour the cocktail in the glass and top with soda. The former method leads to a uniform texture from top to bottom of the glass. The latter will cause a distinct break between foam and drink. *see the photo for an example*

Troubleshooting Common Issues

• Foam easily breaks: Did not shake long enough
• Top of the shaker sticks: Run only the top of the shaker under hot water until it loosens.
• Watery cocktail: Didn't add enough ice to the shaker before shaking.

I hope these tips help, and will take away some of the apprehensions surrounding egg white cocktails. Check back tomorrow for a few of my favorite twists on the Ramos!

Your ever humble, tricky mixologist,
Aaron Lahey

*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.

**Napa Valley Distillery suggests using caution when consuming raw eggs due to the slight risk of food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend that you use only fresh, properly refrigerated, clean grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.

Mar 26, 2015 at 1:53 PM Permalink Comments (12)

The Classic Ramos Fizz & A Defense of Eggs

Hello there drinkers! Today I want to talk about a classic and very famous cocktail that has all but disappeared from modern bar menus: The Ramos Gin Fizz. This will be part one of a three part post about this drink. Today, we will learn about the history of the drink, provide the classic recipe, and defend an oft maligned cocktail ingredient. Check back tomorrow for tips, tricks, and troubleshooting, and on Thursday for several of my favorite variations!

A Brief History
The Ramos Gin Fizz was invented by Henry C. Ramos in 1888 at his New Orleans bar, The Imperial Cabinet Saloon. To make a Ramos Fizz, you mix Gin, cream, lemon juice, lime juice, gomme/gum syrup, an egg white, and orange flower water, and shake hard for an absurd 12 minutes, before pouring it over soda water. The result is a light, bright drink with a texture like no other. At the height of this drink’s popularity, Henry Ramos would sometimes have over 20 "shaker boys," behind the bar, just to shake up his "New Orleans" Fizz's for eagerly awaiting guests. It is said that even with all this dedicated staff, Ramos still had trouble keeping up with demand. His fizz was simply too labor intensive, and overall time consuming for a busy bar to handle. For these reasons, outside of a few historic hotel bars in New Orleans, you will be hard pressed to find a Ramos Fizz on a bar menu. Also, if you ever want to ruin a bartender’s night, order a Ramos Fizz just before closing time. All jokes aside, this cocktail, done right, is transcendent. It is indicative of its era, when people were still willing to wait for something to be made well. It's a drink that says, "If you can't wait 15 minutes, you don't deserve me," and there's something I kind of like about that.

The Classic Recipe Ramos Fizz
2 oz NVD Old Hollywood Ginn
1 oz heavy cream
1 oz gum syrup (Small Hands Foods or Liber & Co) or simple syrup (Sonoma Syrup Co)
.5 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
.5 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1 egg white**
3 dashes (18-24 drops) orange flower water (Fee Brothers)
1 drop vanilla extract (De La Rosa) *this is under some debate by New Orleans bartenders, but I like it*
1-2 oz soda water

Add first seven ingredients to a dry cocktail shaker, and shake hard for one minute. Add half a cup of ice, and continue shaking at least 3 minutes, or up to the original 12 (you might need to grab some friends for shaker relay). Strain into a Collins glass, and top with soda. Finish with a gentle stir and the single drop of vanilla. Garnish with a lime twist. Makes one 12-14 oz cocktail.

In Defense of Eggs**
Eggs do amazing things to cocktails. However, for the majority of the public, the idea of putting raw egg into their beverage is nauseating at best, and could even be dangerous! Right? Wrong. A thousand times wrong. First let me debunk the health concerns. Yes, uncooked eggs, in very rare instances, can transfer salmonella. How this works is salmonella from the chicken coop gets onto the outside of the egg. When you take that egg and crack it, the inside of the egg comes into contact with the outside, possibly transferring the salmonella to your egg white. Because that egg white doesn't get cooked, you could get sick. But you could have gotten just as sick by licking the shell. So, all you have to do to eliminate the chance of getting sick from raw eggs, is quickly rinse the shell with warm water before cracking.

But won't it make my drink all slimy, you ask? Absolutely not. In fact, raw eggs don't have a whole lot of flavor, so the only real reason to put them in a drink is to change and improve the texture. Not to make it slimy. That would be awful. Egg whites and egg yolks do different things to cocktails, just like in cooking or baking. Some drinks will call just for the egg white, some others just for the yolk, and others still for the whole egg. Egg white proteins like to stick to each other. So when you shake them or whip them up, they create a lattice, like a net, that traps air bubbles. This is what makes a soufflé rise, and those peaks on your meringue stiff. In fact, for an egg white cocktail, you are basically making a soft meringue in your shaker. The proteins in the egg yolk don't like to stick to each other. They like to spread out and emulsify into the drink. So adding an egg yolk will give your drink a silky, rich, heaver texture, akin to adding gum syrup. Adding the whole egg will, you guessed it, do a bit of both. You will get more body in the base of your drink, as well as a light foam on top.

If this little manifesto for eggs seems unwarranted, let me say this. The majority of professional bars now use dehydrated egg white powder in their cocktails, solely because of negative reactions from customers to seeing fresh eggs cracked behind a bar. Egg white powder can clump, is much more expensive, and can alter the proportions of classic cocktails. Love the egg, the real egg, and it will love you back.

Good luck and happy shaking! If you run into any troubles making this notoriously finicky cocktail, check back tomorrow for Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting. Until then...

Your ever humble "shakerboy"
Aaron Lahey

*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.

**Napa Valley Distillery suggests using caution when consuming raw eggs due to the slight risk of food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend that you use only fresh, properly refrigerated, clean grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.

Mar 24, 2015 at 3:34 PM Permalink Comments (90)

BONUS RECIPE: Guinness Simple Syrup

I don't know about you, but I tend to have a lot of left over Guinness the day after St. Patrick's Day. Here is a way to use it up! This syrup is great in whiskey drinks, but is also fantastic in coffee, or on pancakes.

Guinness Simple Syrup
2 16 oz. cans Guinness Draught beer
1 cup dark brown sugar (The darkest you can find. I like dark muscovado sugar.)
3 cups organic cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (We carry a great one from De La Rosa)
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp Irish whiskey
.5 cup water

Pour beer in a heavy bottomed saucepan over low heat. Simmer until reduced by half, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sugars, honey, vanilla, and water. Continue to heat on medium low until sugar dissolves. About 5 minutes, stirring gently but frequently to stop the sugar from scorching. When all sugar is dissolved, remove from heat, strain into a heat proof bowl, and add whiskey. Stir and let cool. Store in the fridge for 3-6 months. Makes approximately 3 cups syrup.

Your ever humble, lucky barman,
Aaron Lahey

Mar 17, 2015 at 3:34 PM Permalink Comments (272)

The Cordial Clover or The Limey Bastard?

Happy St. Patrick's Day Booze Log Readers!

Today is a day for celebrating all things Spring, green, alcoholic, and most importantly, Irish. Like many Americans, today I celebrate the Irish side of my heritage, traditionally with corned beef and cabbage, and a nice cold Guinness.

This year, however, I thought I would celebrate it in the way I know best, by making a cocktail! I'm having a hard time naming this drink however, and I'm calling on you: Booze Log Readers, to help me decide! I have narrowed it down to two names. Either The Cordial Clover, or the Limey Bastard. What I ask of you, readers, is to make this drink at home, or at least imagine it, and write your vote for the most fitting name in the comments section of this post. The name with the most votes will become the official name of Napa Valley Distillery's St. Patrick's Day cocktail, for this year at least.

Without further ado, here's the recipe.
(click here for a bonus recipe, Guinness Simple Syrup!)

The Cordial Clover or The Limey Bastard (you decide)
2 oz. Irish Whisky
.75 oz Napa Valley Distillery Brandy Cordial
.75 oz Royal Rose Cardamom Clove Syrup
1 bar spoon clover honey
.5 fresh lime, juiced
1 dash Bitter Bastard Clove Bitters
1 spritz Napa Valley Bitters Toasted Oak Bitters
lime twist, for garnish

Heat the honey and lime in a small saucepan over low heat, until the honey dissolves. (This can be done ahead of time, and scaled as needed. Just one bar spoon of honey for every half a lime worth of juice). Let juice cool. Then add to a shaker with all other ingredients but the bitters and garnish. Add ice, and stir for one minute. Strain, over ice, into a highball glass. Float bitters and garnish.* Makes one cocktail.

*note: To make the snakes tongue lime twist as seen in the photo, fold one end of the twist in half and cut at a 45 degree angle*

Well that's all for today! Remember to wear green, and stay safe!
Your ever humble, lucky barman,
Aaron Lahey

*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.

Mar 17, 2015 at 3:25 PM Permalink Comments (126)