Cocktail of the week # 11

I missed a week somewhere along the line. But I have a cocktail to add to the mix. This cocktail I've actually seen before, but I chose to recreate with my own personal spin on it. In fact, I mentioned this beverage a few months back...The celery sour. Well I'm dishing out my recipe for you to savour.

Celery Sour

1 1/2 oz. Tanquerray Gin
1 dash Angostura Bitters or celery bitters (I prefer the lesser)
Celery (approx. 1/3 a trimmed stalk)
3/4 oz. Lemon Juice
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
Smoked Sea Salt Rim

In shaker glass, build Tanquerray, celery and bitters; Muddle. Add in ice, lemon juice and simple syrup. Start with 1/4 oz. of simple syrup; adjust as necessary.

Shake well, and double strain into old fashioned glass with a smoked sea salt rim with 1 large cube. Garnish with a celery stick.

This cocktail I also enjoy with some ginger ale foam on top, too. If you want a different dynamic apart from the smoked sea salt.

Cinnamon, Cardamom & Cloves... Oh My!

So it's been a while. I've been traveling to Chicago a lot lately. And have been neglecting my poor blog. No matter I'm here now to feed you with a nice new update on bitters!

So my first batch I built was a mix-match of most of the individual flavours I had. But wanted it to focus on 2 primary ingredients, cardamom and star anise. It turned out okay, I had to dilute the final product down to a manageable proof. I created a tequila focused drink with it. That I might use as the cocktail of the week soon.

The second batch was inspired by some reading I've been doing for the Diageo World Class US. they were talking about Indian spices and Masala came up. I didn't want to make a curry bitter, but instead focus on those other spices often used in a masala. So I used some Ceylon Cinnamon, Green Cardamom, Cloves and Ginger and added it to my bitter base (gentian, licorice root, rhubarb root and wormwood). I'm very suprised how this one turned out, and I'm getting the knack of this. I built the bitters in a large snifter so I could progressively smell the product until I was happy with it, then I diluted it down. It produced about 3/4 of a cup of liquid. Which is more than enough! I'm bringing a couple small bottles to Chicago to get some feedback.

Finished infusions.

Today, my great friend Sue Ellen came over and made some cocktails, we tasted some stuff I'd been infusing and maturing. After this we decided it was time to pop the caps on a few infusions. Specifically my cardamom infused white vermouth and my chocolate habanero aged rum.

The vermouth has been infusing for about a month, and still retains a slight sweetness. The cardamom is perfectly present and was exactly what I hoped to achieve. Next I'm going to try a cardamom infused french dry vermouth.

The chocolate habanero aged rum, has been sitting in a new charred oak barrel for over 3 months now. It was pretty tasty before. It tastes smooth with a sweet chocolate start, smokey middle and a spicy/heated finish. It'll make a nice after dinner drink.

Cocktail of the Week #10

Wow, it's hard to believe I've been blogging this now for almost 3 months!
Well I like to make each of these posts relatable to one another if I can. So referring back to my write up on Zubrowka, I have a cocktail for you that's light for spring and quenching for summertime.

I want to preface this cocktail with a note from all Mixologists and cocktail bartenders... Mixing with vodka as a base spirit is so terribly simple anyone can do it. Because of that fact we as bartenders generally stay away from it. Not only to challenge ourselves, but to challenge our guests too. We pride ourselves as mixologists in helping people discover a new favourite drink, while educating them and straying the away from the common pitfalls of the overly sweet martinis and the vodka cranberry (also known as a cape codder, if there's a lime involved.)

Enough of my rambling, enjoy my grassy gimlet.

2 oz. Zubrowka Vodka
3 large leaves of lemongrass (2 tbsp if you were to chop it up)
3/4 oz. fresh Lime Juice
1/4 oz. Velvet Falernum
1 dash of Lime Bitters or Simon Difford's Margarita Bitters.

In a shaker glass, muddle the lemongrass with the Velvet Falernum until fragrant. Add bitters, lime juice and vodka. Shake until frosty, double strain through a fine mesh strainer; serve in a chilled cocktail coupe with a lime twist, and savour!

Chilling out in Chicago.

This past Monday I spent in a professional development conference put on by Pernod-Ricard, USA and BarSmarts. It was called "Pioneers in Mixology." We spent they day learning about some of the big trends in mixology, as well as dedicating some time to improving ourselves in our profession. Overall, it was extremely educational.

If you haven't taken the BarSmarts Wired or Advanced courses, I highly suggest it. It truly opened my eyes to a new level of bartending and I now hold myself to a higher expectation.

Cheers!

Professional Development Day!

So, tomorrow I'm heading to Chicago's "Pioneers in Mixology" event sponsored by BarSmarts. I should have some fun new concepts, ideas and such to share soon!

Ice Distillation... Beer or Spirit?

I'm also gonna take a minute and talk about some beer. In specific, BrewDog's Tactical Nuclear Penguin, and Sink the Bismarck! or Sam Adam's Utopia. In recent, there has been great debate in the brewing industry about high proof beers, 18% ABV and upwards. More specifically those that have been frozen and water removed concentrating the alcohol in a process called Ice Distillation. This process brings one question to light...whether they should be classified as a spirit or a beer. It's interesting when a beer is no longer meets the modern definition of beer... How things change.