Bitter and Opinionated?

While I was in Chicago last weekend, I made it a priority to procure some herbs, spices, and roots to create some bitters. Any suggestions what I should try first?

Cocktail of the Week #6

This cocktail doesn't need much of an introduction. Its only my background photo of my blog...The GINger Orange Crusta. Cheers!

2 oz. Martin Millers Reformed Gin
1/2 oz. ginger infused simple syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters
3/4 oz. fresh orange juice
1 tsp. fresh ginger root
3/4 oz. Tuaca
1 orange slice

Muddle orange slice, ginger and simple syrup in shaker glass. Add Tuaca, gin, OJ and ice. Stir. Strain into old fashioned glass with raw sugar rim. Garnish with candied ginger and orange slice.

Bringing It All Home.

I haven't posted much this past week, solely because I was in Chicago. It's that place where I can find pretty much anything I want in the liquor world. And if my good friends at Binny's Beverage Depot don't have it they'll find it for me! Well this time I have brought back 3 spirits for your tasting pleasure (well I brought more, but 3 is plenty for now). Velvet Falernum, Hum, and some Batavia Arrack.

Taylor's Velvet Falernum is a sweet rum based liqueur from Barbados; with some very delightful aromas and tastes. At first smell you get cloves, and it really dominates the fragrance of the liqueur. But when one tastes the beverage you immediately taste sugar, lime and then the cloves at the finish. It's only 11% ABV so it certainly makes an ideal replacement for a simple syrup with spice notes. It's probably one of my favourite liqueurs to work with. Its one of those liqueurs that is extremely versatile. I look at it like a Maraschino or Tuaca.

Next, Hum, a botanical spirit predominantly of hibiscus, ginger, cardamom and kaffir limes. The latter two are of my favourite scents, so I may be just slightly partial, well that and a friend turned me on to it. The liqueur itself is pretty potent, and a little goes a long way. But i discovered you can bring out certain characteristics of the beverage by pairing it with a different ingredient. Apples for example bring out the ginger in the liqueur, where as I find ginger ale itself seems to make the cardamom pop more. It's 70 proof, so enjoy responsibly.

Finally, Batavia Arrack Van Oosten. Some people have seen the words Arrack and Arak, and often confuse the two. Arak is an anise spirit from the middle east. Arrack (arak in some parts of indonesia, it's not confusing at all!) in this case is a relative of rum! It is created in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), on the island of Java. What makes this spirit unique is the Javan red rice that is added to the beer (fermented sugar cane juice) and distilled. It still maintains the fiery sweetness you find in rum, with an approachable dryness. But has a nice almost floral aroma to it. This one sits at 100 proof. It going to make a great base spirit for some summer drinks, I almost prefer it over rum itself.

Hope you enjoyed my spirited reviews for the month! Cheers!

Cocktail of the Week #5

A day late, this cocktail is a special request from my friend Dan. He asked me if I had any cucumber based cocktails in my arsenal of beverages. Well yes! I gleefully responded. This beverage was created to fill the void in my life when I had no access to Pimm's #1 (a gin based spirit with some secret botanicals). Without further ado... The Hendrick's Cup.

2 oz. Hendricks Gin
1/8 cup Peeled cucumber
1 dash of Fee Bros. Rhubarb Bitters
Ginger ale

In a shaker tin, muddle the gin, the cucumber and bitters. Add ice, shake well. And double strain (both a Hawthorne and a fine mesh strainer) into a glass cordial coffee mug, fill the mug with ice, top off with ginger ale and garnish with a cucumber slice, or two. Sip, relax, get a spa treatment and repeat.

The uncorking...

It's been over a month since I started aging some Beefeater London Dry Gin & a little bit of Miller's Reformed Gin in a 2 Litre barrel. It tastes amazing.

So which do you prefer!? ...Aged or Unaged.

Pardon the interruption.

I haven't been keeping up a lot with the blog lately, been studying for my CSS exam, next month. Wish me luck!

Cocktail of the Week #4

Ok, so this is the drink that I created, we will actually be serving this at Ballard's Bar at West Baden Springs Hotel for a week, starting Monday Feb. 13. I have since improved this cocktail and thats the recipe you're getting here. Don't get me wrong. The other recipe is better, this just adds a different element. This drink is sort of inspired by something my Dad can't have! Figs.

The Fig Tree

2 oz. Bacardi White Rum
1/2 oz. Lemon Juice
1 oz. Fig Infused Simple Syrup
2 dashes Fee Bros. Black Walnut Bitters
Splash of Ginger Ale
A very tiny amount of vanilla bean, less than 1/16 tsp.

In a shaker glass, build rum, lemon juice bitters and simple syrup with ice (add vanilla beans, optional). Shake well, double strain into highball glass filled with ice. Add ginger ale. Garnish with a brandy preserved fig, and a vanilla bean pod (for stirring purposes).
Enjoy!

Should I stop now?

So it's been about 3 weeks now since I've started maturing my gin. The colour is a nice dark straw. It has a nice smoky smell of honey. The mouthfeel is warm with an odd flavour of vanilla, and some very forward notes of cucumber, perhaps from the Miller's Gin. After that, I find the juniper to be very smooth and almost sweet. I'm probably going to leave it on for another week to see what develops!

Cocktail of the Week #3

It's Wednesday! So time for the cocktail of the week! This cocktail was created just last week, when I was playing around with the ever-so-popular G&T (Gin & Tea) combinations. I ended up going off on a tangent, surprised!? Albeit a good tangent, the inspiration came to me through some herbal teas I commonly see out in the market. Peach & Ginger. Well, sorry to say this isn't a G&T cocktail. But it's pretty darn good. Without further ado, La Pêche Blanche.

1 1/2 oz. Hendrick's Gin
2 oz. Goslings Ginger Beer
1/2 oz. simple syrup
Dash of Fee Bros. Peach Bitters
Grapefruit Oil/Garnish

Build gin bitters and simple syrup in an old fashioned glass. Add ice, then ginger beer. Garnish with a grapefruit peel & oil. If you like it sweet, place a sugar cube with peach bitters on the side.