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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
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Comments (126)Temperance Tuesday: Spring Tonic
Hello all and welcome to this week's Temperance Tuesday! Today I will be highlighting another of our bittersweet cocktails, the Spring Tonic. This drink has been extremely well received in the shop. With bright, floral flavors and a touch of tropical pineapple gum, this is a drink that truly hearkens the coming of spring.
Spring Tonic
Makes one 16 oz drink
2.5 oz Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. Elderflower Tonic Syrup
1.5 oz Liber & Co. Pineapple Gum Syrup
2 dashes (12-16 drops) Fee Brothers Orange Flower Water
4 drops (NOT DASHES!!!) Scrappy's Lavender Bitters*
Fill pint glass with ice. Add tonic and gum syrup. Fill with soda water. Top with orange flower water and lavender bitters. Garnish with lavender sprig.
*Note: In this drink, be very conservative with the lavender bitters. Any more than four drops and the lavender takes over, causing you to lose the subtle interplay of the different floral components.
Want to take this Temperance Tonic in a post-Prohibition direction? Try adding 2 shots of our NVD Old Hollywood Ginn.
One of the main components in this cocktail is a tonic syrup. I want to take a moment to talk about quinine and different forms of tonic. Quinine, the main ingredient in tonic, is an alkaloid found naturally in the bark of the Cinchona tree. The Quechua, a tribe indigenous to Peru, originally steeped the bark in sweetened water to aid with muscle relaxation. Europeans incorporated quinine into their medical practices, using it to effectively treat malaria since the 17th century. Even today, quinine is used as a home remedy for muscle spasms and cramps. As time progressed, we have been able to extract quinine to higher levels of purity, and this pure quinine powder is what is now added to most commercial tonic water.
The most common form of tonic on the market today is tonic water. For my personal preferences, most tonic water is far too bitter, with an almost chemical aftertaste. This is due to the fact, as I mentioned earlier, pure quinine powder is being added to it, as opposed to an extraction of Cinchona bark. In my cocktails, I much prefer using tonic syrup.
Tonic syrup is actually quite a bit more similar to the original Peruvian preparation of tonic. Cinchona bark is steeped with flavorful herbs and spices, and sweetened with sugar or agave to balance out the sharp bite of quinine. Warm reddish brown in color, tonic syrup adds a rich complexity to any number of drinks, from tiki drinks to gin fizzes (not to mention adding new life to a stale gin & tonic).
Now a brief note about the other ingredients, Liber & Co. Pineapple Gum Syrup is an awesome ingredient. The pineapple note it lends is subtle, giving it much more versatility than one would originally think. Far from being confined to tropical rum and tiki drinks, I use this syrup just as often in a light gin cocktail or a dark whisky one. It has a brightness and balance to it often lacking in simple syrups. The addition of gum Arabic makes it even more versatile in vintage cocktails or egg white drinks.
Fee Brothers Orange Flower Water lends a light, sweet floral flavor, but must be used in moderation. This is another ingredient that can easily overwhelm a cocktail. Most well known as a key ingredient in the ubiquitous cocktail, The Ramos Gin Fizz.
Scrappy's Lavender Bitters are made with true herb maceration (the right way to make bitters) in Seattle, Washington. This is my personal favorite brand of lavender bitters on the market, as I think it gives the best, well rounded, lavender flavor. The closest to the fresh herb I should say. That being said, as I mentioned earlier, these bitters are very potent, and might need to be used in conjunction with another bitters in some cocktails as not to overwhelm with lavender.
Well, that's all for this week folks. Until next time,
Your ever humble, bitter bartender,
Aaron Lahey
Thirsty Thursday: The Dirty Margarita
Hello and welcome to another Thirsty Thursday!
The Dirty Margarita
2 oz Good Mezcal
0.75 oz Grand Marnier
1 oz C&B Quinine Syrup
1.5 oz Liber & Co Pineapple Gum Syrup
2 dashes (12-16 drops) Napa Valley Bitters Fleur de Sel
1 whole lemon, juiced
2 dashes (12-16 drops) Crude "Rizzo" Bitters
Rim a highball glass with salt, fill with ice. Add all ingredients but Rizzo Bitters and stir gently. Float bitters on top, garnish with lemon wheel or twist and serve.
Today we are going to be talking a bit about an ingredient used in everything we eat, but is often ignored when it comes to cocktails. This ingredient is salt. Sodium chloride is a flavor enhancer and modifier, as Harold McGee explains in his book On Food and Cooking: "It strengthens the impression of aromas that accompany it, and it suppresses the sensation of bitterness." When the right amount of salt is added to food or drink during preparation, all the other flavors become more pronounced, without any salty taste being perceived. When salt is added directly on top of food as a seasoning, the salty flavor becomes more apparent.
The same methodology goes for adding salt to cocktails. When a moderate amount of salt is added into the drink during its preparation, the salt itself is not perceived, but the entire drink is more flavorful. Salt doesn't readily dissolve in alcohol, so there are several easy ways to add salt to cocktails. The first is a salt tincture. This is a high concentration suspension of salt in alcohol, and mixes readily into a cocktail. Napa Valley Bitters Fleur de Sel tincture is a good one. Another is to simply dissolve salt into a small amount warm water, and add the salt water to your drink. Keep in mind that adding water to any drink will dilute the flavor, so this salt/water method can be counteractive.
The classic way to achieve a salty taste with a cocktail is to rim the glass; the Margarita being a prime example. Modernist methods might include using salt cured fruit, salt foams or flavor pearls filled with a salty solution to add that salty character to drinks. In my personal opinion every cocktail should have a little bit of salt in it, just like all food should have some salt.
Until next week!
Your ever humble, briny bartender,
Aaron Lahey
Temperance Tuesday: Year of the Ram
Good afternoon and welcome to another Temperance Tuesday!
I've got a brand new drink to share with you today, in honor of the Chinese New Year! It is the year of the ram (or sheep or goat), which just so happens to be my sign in the Chinese Zodiac. This drink plays off of flavors traditionally seen in Chinese cooking. Ginger, star anise, and Chinese celery. Added to this is Mr. Lee's Ancient Chinese Secret Bitters, with notes of ginger, ginseng, and sichuan peppercorn. The result is a refreshing herbal tonic, with the complexity and character of a traditional Chinese apothecary. This drink also has a green, almost grassy quality; sure to please any rams you know.
YEAR OF THE RAM
3 oz Pok Pok Som Chinese Celery Drinking Vinegar
1 oz Morris Kitchen Ginger Syrup
1 dash (6-8 drops) Addition Star Anise Cocktail Spice
2 dashes (12-16 drops) Mr. Lee’s Ancient Chinese Secret Bitters
Soda water
Fill a pint glass with ice, and add the Chinese Celery Drinking Vinegar and Ginger Syrup. Fill with soda water. Top with Star Anise Cocktail Spice & Ancient Chinese Secret Bitters. Makes one 16 ounce drink.
Now a bit about the ingredients:
Pok Pok is a James Beard award winning Thai restaurant in Portland, OR, that has produced a line of what they call Pok Pok Som: drinking vinegar. Pok Pok Som is like a shrub, but with a much higher proportion of vinegar to sugar. Therefore, in a cocktail, it acts more as a souring agent and less as a sweetener. We carry four fairly exotic flavors of Pok Pok Som here in the bar shop: tamarind, turmeric, Thai basil, and Chinese celery.
Morris Kitchen produces high quality cocktail syrups out of Brooklyn, NY. Their ginger syrup is spicy and sweet, like liquefied fresh ginger.
Addition was founded in the hope of making savory, spicy, and traditionally culinary flavors accessible to the bartender. Based out of Seattle, Washington, their extensive line of tinctures ranges in flavor from jalapeno, to cumin, to rosemary. Unlike a bitters, these tinctures contain no bittering agent. So they provide nothing but the clean flavor of what's on the bottle. This also makes them very useful in cooking, as they truly are liquid spices.
Mr. Lee's Ancient Chinese Secret bitters are produced by Dashfire, a tiny craft bitters company out of St. Paul, Minnesota. Their founder, Lee Egbert, spent a year and a half living in China, and traveling extensively throughout Southeast Asia. These bitters are inspired by his experiences in the east, and the rich flavors seen in their culinary traditions.
Well that's all for this week! Until next time...
Your ever humble, sheepish mixologist,
Aaron Lahey
A Big Cherry Twist on a Big Apple Classic
The Cherry Manhattan
2 oz Napa Valley Distillery Cherry Brandy
1 oz Carpano Antica
2 dashes (12 drops) maraschino liqueur
2 dashes (12 drops) Abbott's Bitters or other high quality aromatic bitters
1 Luxardo Cherry for garnish
Fill a cocktail shaker half way with ice. Add cherry brandy, Carpano Antica, maraschino liqueur, and one dash bitters. Stir, DO NOT SHAKE, for 20 seconds. Garnish cocktail glass with Luxardo cherry, and strain contents of shaker into glass. Float one more dash of bitters on top, and you're done! Classic Manhattan flavor with a big cherry twist! Served up in a chilled cocktail glass, makes one 4 oz cocktail.
*Note: An easy way to remember the proportions of the classic Manhattan: Manhattan's area code. 2-1-2. 2 oz spirit to 1 oz vermouth to 2 dashes bitters.
The true origins of the most ubiquitous drink in America remains a topic of some contention. The popular story goes that The Manhattan cocktail was first served at The Manhattan Club, in New York, sometime around 1870. A Dr. Iain Marshall is said to have first crafted the cocktail in honor of Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill's mother, during a banquet hosted by Lady Churchill. The drink was so popular, guests of the banquet would later ask for the drink by the name of the club they were first served it: "Can I have one of those Manhattan Cocktails?"
The story is likely fiction, but nevertheless the Manhattan remains the classic American cocktail. Specifically calling for American Whiskey in Jerry Thomas's 1887 edition of his famous bar tending guide. His book was the first time a recipe for the Manhattan was printed, and by some, this is considered to be THE classic Manhattan. Thomas's recipe included two dashes of maraschino liqueur or curacao, which is often absent from modern Manhattans. His recipe also calls for a 1/4 wheel of lemon to garnish, as opposed to the now standard maraschino cherry.
The cocktail I am going to make tonight is not a classic Manhattan. However, this drink stays very true to the spirit of Jerry Thomas's original, encompassing the elegant finesse one expects from true pre-prohibition cocktails. However, Instead of any kind of whiskey (American or otherwise) I'm going to be using an American brandy. To be specific, cherry brandy, made from whole bing cherries. To be even more specific, Napa Valley Distillery's cherry brandy, aged in charred American oak for two and a half years.
Let me take a moment to talk about this very unique spirit. The oak really comes through strong on this one, making it very dry and peppery on the front palate. This moves into a nuttiness on the mid palate, like toasted almond. Only on the finish do you get the cherry, which builds and lingers on the palate. The oak really gives this spirit a rye whiskey character, despite its true brandy nature. An esoteric spirit that eludes definition, it will make a Manhattan like no other.
Signing off for this week,
Your ever humble, curious mixologist,
Aaron Lahey
*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.
The Solo Maria
Ingredients
1.5oz Siete Leguas Reposado Tequila or other Premium Reposado Tequila.
.5oz C&B's Quinine Tonic Syrup
San Pellegrino Pompelmo Soda
4-8 drops Napa Valley Bitters - Tamarind Lime Chili Bitters
Garnish: .5 Grapefruit wheel
Preparation
Add Tequila, Tonic syrup and bitters into a highball glass and stir. Fill with ice. Stir. Top with San Pellegrino Pompelmo Soda. Add straw and stir slowly. Garnish with .5 grapefruit wheel.
*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.
The Close-Up
Ingredients
1.5oz NVD Old Hollywood Ginn
.75oz C&B's Quinine Tonic Syrup
1 tsp fresh lime juice
4-8 drops Napa Valley Bitters - Strawberry Rhubarb Bitters
Seltzer or Club Soda
Garnish: Lime wheel
Preparation
Combine Ginn, Tonic syrup, bitters and lime juice in a lowball or old fashioned glass. Stir. Add ice. Stir. Top with seltzer or club soda. Stir. Garnish with lime wheel. Enjoy and repeat.
*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.
Lime Gimlet
Ingredients
2oz NVD Old Hollywood Ginn
.5oz Sonoma Syrup Co. - Sweetened Lime Syrup
.25oz Fresh lemon juice
6-8 Drops Napa Valley Bitters - Tamarind Lime Chili Bitters
Garnish: Lime Wheel
Preparation:
Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Float lime wheel on top of cocktail.
*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.
Apple Brandy Rickey
Ingredients
1.5oz NVD Apple Brandy
.5oz Sonoma Syrup Co. - Sweetened Lime Syrup
Club Soda
Lime & Aromatic Bitters (Try Apothecary Bitters Co.)
Garnish: Lemon or Lime Twist & a thin slice of apple.
Preparation
Add all ingredients into a highball glass. Stir. Fill with ice. Stir. Top with Club Soda. Garnish with twist and apple slice.
*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.
The Sidecar
Ingredients
1.5oz NVD Brandy Cordial
.75 Grand Marnier
.75oz Fresh squeezed lemon juice (Meyer if you have it!)
5 Drops Orange Bitters (Try Berg & Hauck's, Bittercube, AZ Bitter Lab, or Cocktail Punk)
Garnish: Orange or Lemon Twist & more bitters
Preparation
Combine ingredients into shaker filled with ice, stake until well chilled. Strain into chilled cocktail coupe. Add several drops of bitters to the foamy top coating the cocktail.
*Napa Valley Distillery always recommends drinking responsibly.