Whiskey Fizz and Chicks

Day 344, Cocktail 351

Well, I guess this serves me right.  I didn’t take any pictures of Tuesday’s cocktail, a whiskey fizz.  I did a quick online search for photos of whiskey fizz and I found some very nice ones, but just didn’t feel right using someone else’s photograph of the cocktail.  So I got cute and thought, “hey, I’ll find something sexy to use” and did a search for whiskey chicks.  Well, you can see how that turned out…

  Whiskey Fizz

• 1-1/2 oz rye whiskey
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz bar syrup
• lemon lime soda

Combine everything but the lemon lime soda in a shaker with ice cubes and shake to mix and chill.  Strain into a collins glass filled with ice cubes and top with lemon lime soda.  Garnish with a lemon wedge.

This recipe came from Dale Degroff’s “The Craft of the Cocktail”, and it is very good – it beats just a plain rye and 7-Up anyday.  The lemon adds a much fresher component to the recipe than you would otherwise get just using the soda.  I used Jim Beam rye in this one, but a good bourbon would work just as well.

Cheers!

The Sap is Rising!

Day 331, Cocktail 336

While driving home after dropping daughter number one off at school Tuesday morning I noticed a stand of maple trees with buckets hanging off the trunks about 3 feet up from the ground.  Instantly I realized that someone was collecting the sap so that they could make…drumroll please…maple syrup!  Yum!

Cocktails with maple syrup have graced earlier posts of this blog, but I felt inspired to come up with a cockail that would use it again.  Rye seemed like a natural, and having chosen the Jim Beam all I had to do was decide what else should go into the mixing glass.  My fondess of orange as a pairing with rye is well documented, so choosing Agnsotura’s orange bitters was a fairly obvious choice to me.

  Orange Maple

• 3 oz Jim Beam rye
• 1/4 oz maple syrup
• 2 dashes orange bitters

Combine the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice.  Stir to chill and mix.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Very nice, a good blend of all three flavors in balance.  The sweetness of the maple syrup helps make this a touch less boozy and compliments the orange flavor of the bitters.  Another winner from the Twilight Lounge!

Cheers!

Whiskey, Daisies and Eggs

Day 320, Cocktail 323

Another Friday night at the Twilight Lounge (and yes, the lights are low there).  With nothing else planned, Gwen and I went with the tried and true formula of home made pizza, cocktails, and, of course, a James Bond movie.  This weeks’s movie was Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan’s first appearance as 007.  One of my favorite scenes is when a former Russian KGB officer turned mobster jokingly asks Bond if he wants his martini shaken, not stirred.

As for the cocktail, I was back to egg whites.  I found this recipe on the CocktailDB and thought I’d give it a whirl.

  Whiskey Daisy

• 2 oz rye whiskey
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1/8 oz bar syrup
• 3/4 oz grenadine
• 1/2 egg white

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker and shake to mix.  Add 3-4 ice cubes and shake to chill.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

The first flavor across my tongue was the lemon, followed by the fruit of the grenadine and then the rye.  I had used Jim Beam for the rye, which is on the mellower side.  I had also cut down on the lemon from the original recipe, which called for 1-1/2 ounces of lemon juice.  That was just too much and overpowered the drink.  The egg white, in addition to adding a frothy “head” to the drink that is visually appealing also added a slight creaminess to the drink.  Overall, very nice and a nice compliment to the action from 007 on the screen.

Notice that I initially mixed this drink without ice.  I did so to create more of an emulsification with the egg.  Doing so warm creates a better and more airy mixture.  Add the ice after you’ve given this a good hard shake and then shaking gently will maintain that airiness while chilling the cocktail.

Cheers!

Rye, Gin and Eggs

Ginger Rye Fizz at the Twilight Lounge

Day 306, Cocktails 307 & 308

Friday night, and after a dinner of wings and oven fries Gwen and I settled in to watch another James Bond film, this one Pierce Brosnan’s “Tomorrow Never Dies”.  The cocktails for the evening, however, were anything but traditional Bond martinis. 

I had recently purchased a carton of pasteurized egg whites to use on cocktails.  Why?  Well, I am very interested in pursuing additional egg white cocktails for one.  Second, by using the pasteurized egg whites I’m assured of not getting any nasty little bugs in my drink.  Finally, it’s a lot easier to just measure out the amount of egg I need than having to crack open an egg and then figuring out what to do with the unused yolks.

So, down to the Twilight Lounge I went.  I already had my first cocktail in mind.  I had been anxious to take my rye whiskey, orange juice and ginger flavor combination to the next level with the addition of an egg white.  Here’s the result:

  Ginger Rye Fizz

• 1-1/2 oz Jim Beam rye
• 3/4 oz Domaine de Canton liqueur
• 3/4 oz orange juice
• 1 egg white
• 1 dash Agnostura orange bitters

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with 4-5 ice cubes.  Shake to combine and chill.  Strain into a chilled coupe.  No garnish required.

Mmmm, this was a very nice cocktail.  Silky smooth texture from the egg white that complimented the balanced ginger, orange and rye flavors of my liquid ingredients.  We both thoroughly enjoyed this cocktail!

After we finished this first cocktail (about the time that Terri Hatcher bit the dust in the movie) I paused the DVR and it was back down to the Lounge to come up with the second cocktail of the night.  Basically, I used the same recipe with different ingredients.

  Elderflower Gin Fizz

• 1-1/2 oz Beefeater gin
• 3/4 oz St. Germain liqueur
• 3/4 oz orange juice
• 1 egg white
• 1 dash Agnostura orange bitters

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with 4-5 ice cubes.  Shake to combine and chill.  Strain into a chilled coupe.  No garnish required.

Another very well balanced, silky smooth cocktail.  In this one the interplay between the orange and the elderflower flavored St. Germain is divine, with the botanicals of the Beefeater chiming in to perfection.  Again, I could drink these all night!

As it was, this drink got us to the end of the movie (of course, Bond vanquishes his foe and gets the girl) and we called it a night shortly thereafter.  But I hope you give one or both of these a try and let me know what you think.  If you haven’t had a cocktail with egg white in it, you really should try one!

Cheers!

Ginger or Mary Ann?

Day 233, Cocktail 231

Ah yes, the eternal question, Ginger or Mary Ann?  Spicy, redheaded, buxom Ginger or the practical, girl next door Mary Ann?  Supposedly you can what kind of man he is by his answer to this question…Ginger or Mary Ann? 

Last night was Ginger’s night at the Twilight Lounge.  I had been at World Market over the weekend and picked up a bottle of Old Ballycastle Ginger.  This mixer, produced by Powell & Mahoney, caught my eye.  I figured it would be an interesting way to add ginger flavors to cocktails.  So on Tuesday I pulled it out and started playing around.  It definately tastes like ginger, but it also has a spicy after note, as in spicy hot.  Not too hot, but enough to let you know it’s there.

After tasting the Old Ballycastle Ginger I knew that this was just screaming for tequila.  Yet, I wasn’t in the mood for tequila and decided to work it with rye and orange juice.  Here’s the result:

  Ginger Rye

• 2 oz Jim Beam rye
• 1 oz orange juice
• 1 oz Old Ballycastle Ginger
• 1 dash Angosturo bitters

Combine the ingredients in a shaker and shake, shake, shake to chill and combine.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange peel.

A very flavorful cocktail with the ginger and orange combining nicely to complement the rye.  The spiciness of the ginger is barely there, but I did get a hint of it.  I was a bit suprised that it wasn’t more prevalent given how strong it was by itself.  I also really had to sneak up on this one and ended up with much more of the ginger than I thougth I would in it.

Oh, and I’ve always been a Mrs. Howell man.  She’s the one with the money!

Cheers!

Standards

Day 222, Cocktails 219 & 220

You didn’t really think that just one cocktail would be enough while we watched White Christmas on Friday night, did you?  While Gwen stayed with the White Christmas, I decided to continue my exploration of the whiskey sour theme.  I went back to The Ultimate Bar Book and perused the options that Mitte Hellmich presented.  The first one that caught my eye was the Double Standard.

  Double Standard Sour

• 3/4 oz whiskey
• 3/4 oz gin
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz bar syrup
• 1/8 oz grenadine

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with ice.  Shake to chill and mix and pour into a rocks glass.  Garnish with an orange slice and cherry.

I like this one.  The whiskey (Jim Beam rye) and gin (Plymouth) interacted well (somewhat to my suprise).  The grenadine added a very nice flavor dimension as well.  However, I found this to be just bit a sweet – probably because it only has 1-1/2 ounces of booze, 25% less than the other sours I’ve been mixing.  With this in mind, I decided to try my own version.

  Gold Standard Sour

• 1 oz Jim Beam rye
• 1 oz Plymouth gin
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz bar syrup
• 1/8 oz grenadine
• 1 dash Peychaud’s bitters

If I liked the Double Standard, I really liked this one.  The extra booze cuts into the sweetness and lets the gin and rye flavors be more readily available to the palate.  The Peychaud’s adds another dimension of complexity that makes the flavor profile more interesting as well.  It’s a nice twist on a classic sour – give it a try and let me know what you think!

Well, after three sours, my sour exploration was done for the night, along with the movie.  Do you have a favorite Christmas movie that calls for a cocktail?  If so, share it with us!

Cheers!

Sourpuss

Day 219, Cocktail 217

Wow, I’m glad to finally be back.  A nasty headcold knocked me flat on Wednesday and Thursday.  I finally got my feet back under me on Friday.  I hope this is the only one of the winter!  So let’s get back to it.

After having the Ward 8, a cousin of the Whiskey Sour,  last Monday, I realized I hadn’t really explored sours since starting this blog.  Most bars that you go to will be able to immediately make you a whiskey sour or one of its many variants.  Unfortunately, most will use a bottled mix.  This is unfortunate since all it takes to make a sour is lemons and bar syrup.  Yep, it’s that simple.  Oh, and actually, they’re not really sour either.  More on that in a moment. 

Sours, in general, have been around since the 1700’s when English sailors took to adding rum to lime and other citrus juices.  This mix was done to preserve the lime juice, a necessity to avoid scurvy on long voyages.  By the 1860’s recipes for whiskey sours had been published.  Because there are so many different sources, I find it difficult to say just where the drink got its start.  Suffice it to say that it has been a bar staple for 150 years, particularly in its whiskey form.

I started my journey into sours with the classic whiskey sour.  Most recipes call for bourbon, however, I used rye and really liked it.  Rye, to me, is the quintessential American whiskey and seems to work just a tad bit better with the lemon juice than bourbon.  Don’t get me wrong, making a whiskey sour with good bourbon is also a wonderous thing…I just prefer the rye by a nose.

  Whiskey Sour

• 2 oz rye whiskey
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1/2 oz bar syrup

Combine the ingredients with ice in a mixing glass.  Shake to mix and pour, ice and all, into a rocks glass.  Garnish with any a lemon or orange slice and cherry.

Alternatively, you can strain the mixed sour into a chilled cocktail glass and enjoy up.  However, as with an Old Fashioned, I prefer to have this on the rocks.  It’s also important to use freshly squeezed lemon juice.  The difference in taste is noticeable.  With fresh lemon juice you will have a much brighter flavor to your cocktail.

I like this drink – alot!  The lemon and rye – I used Jim Beam rye – work wonderfully together and the froth you get from shaking gives the cocktail a festive look out of the shaker.  The simple syrup cuts the tartness of the lemon juice.  While not quite sweet, this drink is not sour at all.  Mix one up and let me know what you think!

Cheers!

Ward 8

Day 218, Cocktail 216

Yesterday was a quiet evening at home with a ton of stuff to catch up on after Paula and Cookie’s visit.  So a simple cocktail was in order and this little number from the Ultimate Bar Book seemed to fit the bill. 

  Ward 8

• 2 oz rye whiskey
• 1 oz orange juice
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 bar spoon grenadine

Fill a rocks glass with a couple of ice cubes.  Add the ingredients, stir and then top the glass with ice.  Garnish with an orange slice and cherry.

What can I say, I just love the combination of orange and rye.  I used Jim Beam rye for this one and it was delicious.  The lemon really made this tart.  Next time I think I’d add a dash of bar syrup and perhaps a dash of bitters as well. 

Cheers!

Queen for a Day

Day 204, Cocktail 199

By last Monday I finally had the new floor down in the Twilight Lounge.  The quarter round trim is still left to do and I started on that by staining the pieces I had bought.  With that task out of the way that left me time for a cocktail while I watched the football game.

A bag of fresh oranges in the house I knew I wanted to find a cocktail last Monday that would use some of them.  I’ve become a fan of orange and rye whiskey flavors together so I hit the CocktailDB website and searched for rye and orange juice.  There were a number of interesting choices, but one in particular really piqued my interest.

  Queen’s Hotel

• 1 oz rye whiskey
• 1 oz gin
• 1 oz orange juice
• 2 dashes Agnosturo orange bitters
• 1 bar spoon dry vermouth

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake, shake, shake to mix and chill.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist or orange peel.

This was a very nice blend of flavors, with the rye, orange juice and orange bitters providing a pleasing, orange flavored experience.  I used Jim Beam rye (and Bombay gin) for this and the Beam provided a nice, mellow flavor.  The gin and vermouth were detectable in the background and served to lighten up this drink.  Both Gwen and I really enjoyed it!

Cheers!