cocktails

Recorded Conversations: Drink of Choice

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Welcome to “Recorded Conversations,” an occasional feature where all the Addison Recorder editors contribute their thoughts about a question, idea, or prompt. Everyone will chime in, and then we see where the conversation wanders. For today’s conversation, J. Michael Bestul looks forward to a few drinks over the Labor Day weekend, and wonders aloud what might be drinking.

Prompt: You’re at a bar, restaurant, or pub that you’ve never been to before. The place has a pretty good drinks list, and on it, you notice ____________. And because this is one thing you always have to try when you’re at a new place, you order it.

Question: What is ____________, and why is it the libation you order?

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To explain my contribution to the conversation, I must pay due respect to three people who shaped my philosophy on ordering drinks in public places.

When I was developing my palate for alcohol, my parents allowed me to try anything and everything they were drinking. My mother has a taste which runs towards mimosas, Bellinis, cosmopolitans, etc., and I also attended many college parties where fruity and sweet mixers were in fashion. For a long time, I preferred incredibly sweet cocktails. But a couple months before I earned my master’s degree, I went out to dinner with my parents at one of the best restaurants in Chicago, ordered such a drink, and received a frown from my father.

(My father’s answer to this question, by the way, would be a martini, with Hendrick’s Gin if available, almost no vermouth, and a twist of cucumber.)

If you’ve never had Hendrick’s, by the way, it is the NECTAR OF THE GODS. The finest nationally-available alcohol there is. What are you waiting for?

“Andrew,” he said to me, “you’re getting older, and drinks like this…they aren’t you.”
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Recorded Conversations: Drink of Choice

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Welcome to “Recorded Conversations,” an occasional feature where all the Addison Recorder editors contribute their thoughts about a question, idea, or prompt. Everyone will chime in, and then we see where the conversation wanders. For today’s conversation, J. Michael Bestul looks forward to a few drinks over the Labor Day weekend, and wonders aloud what might be drinking.

Prompt: You’re at a bar, restaurant, or pub that you’ve never been to before. The place has a pretty good drinks list, and on it, you notice ____________. And because this is one thing you always have to try when you’re at a new place, you order it.

Question: What is ____________, and why is it the libation you order?

—

This question sprang up last month, when I went to a relatively new bar with a good whisky list. On this list was a particular single malt, Caol Ila 18-year. And I ordered it, as I always do, with the full expectation that I would not get it. Someone would (and did) come along to tell me that, sorry, but they were planning to get the 18-year, but were unable to do so.

I expect this answer because you can’t find a bottle of the 18-year for sale in the U.S., but its distributor seems to give the impression to restaurants that they can. I’ve yet to order a Caol Ila 18-year and actually receive it. But I keep asking for it, since it was the first single malt I’d ever tasted.

If only…

I thought it would be fun to put the question to my fellow Addison Recorder colleagues, as it is broad enough to include responses ranging from “anything with grapefruit” to “locally-brewed porter” to a specific single malt Scotch.

Forgetting the Caol Ila, there is one drink I will always try if it’s on a bar’s menu: the Blood & Sand cocktail, or any variation on it.

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Tincture, Bitters, Citrate, Shrub

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Anyone who spends even a few minutes on Twitter knows that’s it’s rather cluttered. Its main export is white noise, and you can lose a lot of time sifting through the static. But amidst the abbreviations and attempts to cram as much meaning into 140 characters as possible, I occasionally come across a tweet that hits me with a +3 Hammer of Concise Truthiness. For example:

Very seriously.

I realize it’s not earth-shattering – a man who has a business making fine bitters in the UK, tweeting about the product he makes. But to approach it in such a way is too dismissive. There is a cocktail renaissance of late, and bitters are an integral part of that event; were this not the case, he wouldn’t have much of a business making bitters, would he?

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the Longship cocktail

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Despite the idiom that is meant to admonish, I find there is value in ‘reinventing the wheel’ when it comes to cocktails. A classic recipe can provide a great framework to inspire new ideas and experimentations.

Take the Longship, for example. The basic concept is that of a Sidecar, but with aquavit. It also bears close resemblance to the Sailor Mercury, another aquavit-based cocktail with similarities to a Sidecar. Rather than the floral flavors of the Parfait Amour, however, this drink utilizes the intense and unique aromatics of kaffir limes. (If you can find the kaffir limes, making the tincture is quite simple; see below.)

This recipe is tailored to my palate, and I tend to favor cocktails that are spirit-forward (i.e., boozy) and not too sweet. Since we’re using a classic recipe as framework, it’s pretty easy to adjust for your own tastes. Want a cocktail that focuses less on the base spirit, and is a bit sweeter? Take the the aquavit down to 1.75 or 1.5 oz, and add a spoonful or three of simple syrup — tweaking proportions like this can help you tailor cocktail recipes to the liking of you and your friends.

the Longship

2 oz – aquavit
.5 oz – triple sec
.25 oz – fresh lime juice
kaffir lime tincture

Combine first three ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake, then strain into a coupe glass. Top with a few drops of kaffir lime tincture, and garnish with an orange boat & brandied cherry.

Kaffir lime tincture – take the leaves and/or zest of 2 kaffir limes, and place into a small jar. Cover with a high-proof, neutral spirit — Everclear, Spiritus, or 100-proof vodka — and seal the jar, storing out of the light for 1-2 weeks. Shake daily, and start checking the tincture after the first week. Once ready, strain out the solids — voila, you have a tincture.

Aquavit Old Fashioned

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For Tales of the Cocktail 2012, the bartender competition was to craft the perfect Old Fashioned using the basic recipe of spirt + sweetener + water + fruit. I’m not exactly a bartender, but I can still have fun coming up with my own Old Fashioned using homemade bitters and locally-produced aquavit.

(I thought I was rather clever using this combination, until I found another blog that came up with a very, very similar recipe a year ago. Ah, well.)

The drink is built around the Aquavit – Private Reserve from North Shore Distillery. The preferred bitters would be any that have a pronounced chocolate and/or coffee aroma. If you’re out of grapefruit, you could use an orange peel in a pinch — but grapefruit works so unbelievably well with aquavit, you’ll be missing out if you substitute.

Aquavit Old Fashioned

2 oz. aquavit
.25 oz simple syrup (1:1)
swath of grapefruit peel
couple dashes of chocolate / mocha bitters

In a rocks glass, muddle the peel with the syrup & bitters. Add ice, add aquavit, stir, and serve.