Yes, I’m Still Alive

Day 347, Cocktail 355

Yes, I’m still alive – although based on my 50th some of you may have thought I’d dropped dead!  Actually, what has happened is that I’ve started a new job that requires a fair amount of travel.  Last in particular was hectic, but on the other hand I will have the opportunity to try new cocktails while travelling, so all is well.  Now to the task at hand, getting caught up here.

A week ago Friday I was back to egg fizz cocktails, finishing up the exploration I had begun earlier that week.  The last cocktail of this side journey was inspired by the earlier reported Whiskey Fizz, but with addition of egg white.  Since the gin version of this cocktail in Degroff’s “The Craft of the Cocktail” is called the Silver Fizz, I decided to name this one the Golden Fizz.

  Golden Fizz

• 1-1/2 oz Maker’s Mark bourbon
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz bar syrup
• 1 egg white
• lemon lime soda

Combine the bourbon, lemon juice, bar syrup and egg white in a shaker with ice.  Shake vigorously to combine and get a nice emulsion going with the egg white.  Strain into a chilled Delmonico glass and top with lemon lime soda.

Mmmm, this is good.  The extra body and creaminess from the egg really takes what was a Whiskey Fizz to a new level.  This drink is even pleasing to the eye with its white, foamy head.  You can also use any good bourbon or rye whiskey in this one.

Cheers!

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 Brisket Was Good…

Day 342, Cocktail 346

Ok, I admit it.  Yesterday was about the laziest cocktail day I’ve had in past year.  I spent a good chunk of the afternoon working on a braised beef brisket dinner, which wasn’t the original plan.  The original plan was to BBQ the brisket in the smoker.  But a late start Sunday morning (thanks to Jenny and NID) and a crappy weather forecast (it rained and hailed all day) forced me to plan B.  Oh, yeah, I didn’t have a plan B!

A quick search on Recipebridge.com yielded a braised brisket with root vegetables recipe that looked good, although a bit winterish, considering it’s now April.  But I wasn’t in any position to fight it, so that’s what I went with.  Five hours later I had a terrific dinner for the family…and no cocktail!

Typically, with a dinner like this I would have just opened a hearty red wine and not worried about it.  Then I remembered that I still had a bottle of Rex-Goliath Cabernet that would probably turn to vinegar before Gwen would drink it.  We’ve had a bunch of value priced red wines over the years, but for some reason Gwen just didn’t like this one.  So I pulled the Ultimate Bar Book off the shelf, found the wine section and viola, my cocktail of the day!

  Red Wine Cooler

• 6 oz chilled red wine
• 4 oz lemon lime soda

Fill a collins glass with ice and add the wine.  Top with the lemon lime soda and garnish with a lemon wedge or slice if desired.

Yes, I admit it, this is lame!  But, I accomplished three objectives.  First, I used up a bottle of wine that would have been undrunk otherwise.  Second, I had my red wine with dinner.  Third, I got in Sunday’s cocktail and the opportunity to share it with you fine folks.  Not bad if I say so myself – a true triple threat!

Cheers!

Fish Fry and Bowling Balls

Day 327, Cocktail 333

Friday was a relaxing day for me, a time to recharge after the St. Patrick’s Day festivities.  No, I was not hungover (I’m a professional, after all).  I had just minimized my schedule so that I didn’t have anything that had to be done.

In Wisconsin, Friday’s are fish fry day, and that goes all year long, not just for Lent.  Gwen’s Newcomer’s group had put together a trip to a local bowling alley for their fish fry and bowling last Friday.  Being a former kegler myself I was more than happy to go along.

While we were bowling Gwen offered to get me a drink from the bar and I asked for my usual bourbon and coke.  I say usual because when I’m at a typical neighborhood tavern kind of place that’s what I stick with (unless I order an old fashioned, Wisconsin’s state drink).  So I was just a tad disappointed when she came back with a bourbon and seven, which is her drink.  It was an honest error, and the good news is that it counts towards my goal since I haven’t had one in I don’t know how long.  I am going to dispense with the recipe, however.  I’m sure you know how to make one of these already.  My next post will get back into the normal routine!

Cheers!

Stop the Presses!

Day 235, Cocktail 233

On Thursday night I stopped by the Klavier to talk cocktails with Kris Peters.   I filled her on some more options for her ginger flavored brandy and then we started to talk about some of the other liqueurs and liquors that she has.  It didn’t take very long for Kris to pull a bottle of Van Gogh Acai Blueberry flavored vodka down.  I have to admit, it smelled just like blueberries.  Most of this stems from the fact that Van Gogh flavored vodkas are infused with the flavors they are adding rather than just using added flavorings.  The infusion process yeilds a much truer and deeper flavor.  Regular readers know that I’m not a big fan of flavored vodkas, but I have to admit that this was pretty good.

The drink that Kris made was a Blueberry Press.  It consisted of the aforementioned Van Gogh Acai Blueberry vodka, a dash of Limoncello (a delightful Italian lemon flavored liqueur), seltzer water and lemon lime soda.  Kris garnished the drink with a lemon wedge.  It was terrific!  Light, refreshing and tasting like blueberry pancakes, I could easily drink several of these in a night!

If you are in the vicinity of Germantown and haven’t stopped by the Klavier yet, you really should.  Ask Kris to make one of their speciality cocktails or presses and tell her that Stan sent you!

Cheers!

Not a Finger!

Day 230, Cocktails 227, 228 & 229

Saturday night was another Christmas movie night – the weather forecast here was just too lousy to plan anything else. 

We watched a couple of movies, including on of my all time favorites, “A Christmas Story”.  I just love the whole leg lamp scene, from the moment the major award arrives to the ignominious end, a shattered relic of its glory.  “Not a finger” is all poor Darrin McGavin can blurt out when he sees what’s happened to his prized lamp, and that just cracks me up every time!

Of course, nasty weather outside, a roaring fire and Christmas movies inside all lend themselves to cocktails being mixed with care in the Twilight Lounge!  We ended up with a lineup of three new cocktails, so let’s get to it.

  Gwen’s Red Carpet

• 2 oz vodka
• 2 oz pomegranate juice
• 2 oz Pinot Grigio
• seltzer water

Fill a collins or highball glass with ice cubes.  Add the ingredients in the order listed, topping with selzter water.  Give a quick stir and serve.

This was a recipe that Gwen found and originally called for champagne.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have any about, so I improvised with the Pinot Grigio and seltzer water.  This was a nice starter cocktail, and I could easily enjoy several of these since they are not too sweet.  In fact, Gwen did have a second while I moved on to my next cocktail for the evening.

  Maraschino Manhattan

• 2 oz Maker’s Mark bourbon
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• 1/8 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• 1 dash Peychaud’s bitters

Fill a shaker with ice cubes and add the ingredients, bitters first.  Shake, shake, shake to combine and chill.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry.

This was very, very good.  You know how I love the flavor of Luxardo’s Maraschino liqueur and there was just a hint of it evident along with the bourbon and vermouth.  It was a very nice, slightly drier version of a sweet manhattan.  As much as I liked this I think it is the new house manhattan of the Twilight Lounge.

Finally, cocktail number three was an off the cuff mix prepared after I ran out of Pinot Grigio for the Gwen’s Red Carpet. 

  Not a Finger

• 2 oz vodka
• 2 oz pomegranate juice
• 2 oz lychee fruit juice
• lemon lime soda

Fill a collins or highball glass with ice cubes.  Add the ingredients in the order listed, topping with lemon lime soda.  Give a quick stir and serve.

This one really hit the spot, especially for Gwen.  In fact, she labelled it the best of the night!  The lychee adds a really bright, fresh flavor that I have a hard time describing…somewhat pear like, but it is a unique flavor that is really good.  If you can find lychee fruit juice in your local market pick up a can and try it out, you’ll love it!

Cheers!

But It Doesn’t Taste Salty…

Look ma, no hands!

Day 64, Cocktail 60

My exploration of grapefruit juice continues today (hey, it’s a 64 oz bottle!) with a cocktail called the Salt Lake Special.  Your guess is as good as mine as far as where the name for this drink came from.  Thankfully, it does taste much better than Salt Lake does!

This drink features Galliano.  I’ve worked a bit with Galliano in the past.  However, it is one of those bottles that once purchased seems to be around for a long time.  An herbal liqueur that has been around since 1896, it is named in honor of Guiseppe Galliano, a hero of the first Italian – Ethiopian war (really?).  Anise is the predominant flavor in Galliano, but it is softened by vanilla, ginger and citrus flavors.  It is an 84.6 proof spirit, putting it up there for a liqueur.

  Salt Lake Special

• 3/4 oz Galliano
• 3/4 oz gin
• 2 oz grapefruit juice
• 1 dash Agnosturo bitters
• lemon lime soda

Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with 4-5 ice cubes.  Shake to mix.  Strain into a collins glass over filled 3/4 with ice cubes.  Top with lemon lime soda.

At first I felt that the Galliano was a bit overpowering for this.  But, as the ice has melted down it has smoothed out the rich anise flavor and helped bring the grapefruit back into play.  On the whole, this has been a nice, refreshing cocktail.  It has hit the spot after cutting the grass tonight and would be a good dinner pairing with a spicy, summer dish.

Cheers!