:: mxmo irish wake wrap up ::

For Mixology Monday 116, I had the tough task to end one of my adopted pets of sorts. It was just as tough and emotional as putting a sick cat to sleep, but was Mixology Monday every really alive? Well, it has been an electronic cocktail party of sorts, but run by real people. And many of those people I have met especially at Tales of the Cocktail and other events besides the handful living in or visiting Boston. For just shy of 11 years, some subset of the cocktail blogosphere has played a role in celebrating drink writing and the monthly theme at hand. I have been active since Mixology Monday 30 back in 2008 after following it for several months in my blog-free existence that all changed when I was invited aboard this blog.

Just like with a sick or aging cat, it's hard to pull the trigger. Participation waned both with posters and people willing to host as bloggers moved on from the not very glamorous or profitable efforts of blogging to becoming professional writers or bartenders or just merely benders of the elbow and not of the finger tips. And some moved on to life style changes such as sobriety (although I have done two alcohol-free posts for MxMo, so that in itself is not a complete excuse). The decline of participation was not enough, just as aging cat has stopped seeking out pets or play time is not enough to signal to the owner that it is time. The final straw was sickness and pain; electronically, it was the Mixology Monday WordPress site losing its log-in module perhaps due to me ignoring the suggested upgrades to the software over the last 4 years. Mixology Monday founder and website host Paul Clarke could not figure out how to help, so I decided that without a homebase that I could update, it was a sign to take Mixology Monday to the vet for the final visit.

Originally, I was just going to let the event die away after MxMo 115 and hope that no one noticed. That seemed like a cowardly approach. Instead, I thought about death. And drinking. And drinking to face another's death and in turn perhaps to face your own. When one of Boston's beloved barmen died all too suddenly a little over a year ago, I was introduced to the Irish Wake. While the family-centered open casket part of the wake was dry, the later gatherings were not. It was all so foreign to me since it was my first open casket given my family traditions for doing closed ones. Moreover, it was the first one that centered around booze for it brought people from many cities together that were united by drink and service of drink.

To get to the participants who wanted to send this event out in style, there was Pete of MeticulousMixing who formed his blog one day before his first Mixology Monday submission. Besides sharing his thoughts such as "For me, Mixology Monday was a great way to introduce myself and this blog to the public and the rest of the cocktail community. My social media footprint is rather small as I don't really like hanging out on Facebook, etc. But this format of monthly challenges was a great way to share my love for cocktails, while getting to know other cocktail blogs and enthusiasts," he mixed up a Jameson and tea based drink, the Golden Sunset. Katie of the GarnishBlog shed a tear with "I'm really glad I got to participate in so many of these events and even host one last month. It's been fun, inspiring, and a great way to connect with other cocktail nerds" and offered up an Irish whisky, coffee, and allspice number called Wake the Dead.

Gary of Doc Elliot's Mixology mused "Slán, in Gaelic, roughly translates to 'goodbye'. That is the theme for this month's Mixology Monday. It's over. It's done. Kaput. So now is goodby to the World's Best Online Cocktail Party. Hosted by our leader and fearless cat herder, Frederic Yarm of the Cocktail Virgin Slut blog, the actual theme for the final Mixology Monday is the Irish Wake. A most appropriate way to say, 'Slán'" and he matched the concept with a shooter named after that Gaelic word with Irish whiskey spiffed up with coffee, blood orange, and Fernet flavors. I was fourth in line to view the corpse and I added, "I would like to thank Paul Clarke for starting the event and for the participants of the 29 events before I started for making it such a welcoming environment, and for everyone who re-enforced the lost art of Roman numerals. And thank you to all the participants who have carried this phenomenon for over a decade. Sláinte!" before adding a recipe for Eryn Reece's Mrs. Doyle, an Irish whiskey Sour spiced with a hint of Swedish punsch.

Shaun and Christa of the BoozeNerds also began participating in MxMo early on in their blogging careers but have recently started to slow down with the posts; they provided the explanation of "As we ourselves are taking a break because the blog was starting to 'feel like work', we felt we should return to help send off this tradition that was our second post for the blog. After 4+ years of almost weekly posts, we felt we needed a break as we were struggling with what to write about and what to do. So we've stopped for awhile to gather our thoughts and reinvigorate our muses. However, MxMo has been an integral part of our own booze blog journey so we had to say goodbye in our own special way" before providing two recipes, one of which is dubbed One More Before You Go. Andrew of the HumbleGarnish blog broke his Mixology Monday lurking with a post -- his first and last one for the event; he concocted the Final Phrasing -- an Irish whiskey Sour embittered by Fernet and Campari to remind him of a friend he lost who made him think about Ferrari (Fernet-Campari) shots.

DJ of the SpiritedRemix blog shared "Mixology Monday was one of the exciting regular events that got me into creating this blog in the first place. In my opinion, its monthly themes have always been sharp enough to spur inspiration and creativity to share new ideas and spread already established ones" before relating how drinking with his relatives helped sooth the passing of a grandparent. The final Mixology Monday also woke ColonelTiki up from his blogging slumber and felt all guilty with "Forgive me Mixology Monday for I have sinned. It has been many years since my last post and your wake brings me back. You were a fantastic host. We wake you with ourselves woke – in some areas sleeping and others wide eyed to meet our challenges" before presenting his Irish coffee riff, Don't Wake Me While I'm Sleeping.

Kafka Latte of KitchenShamanism took things in a Irish whiskey Tiki direction with a riff of the Nui Nui called Death in the North Atlantic. Next, Mike of DrinksBurgh also went Tiki with a riff on the Mai Kai's Black Magic with his own Irish Magic.

Adam of MrMuddle raises a glass of his Primus tribute, O'Malley's Alley, with a cheers of "So let's raise a glass to a tradition that is ending too soon. But in true Irish Wake fashion, we know it can never truly die. Its legacy will live on in the archives, Instagrams, tweets, and new cocktails inspired by previous MxMo events. Thanks again to Frederic for keeping it going for this long, and to all who contributed over the years." Dagreb of NihilUtopia joined in one last time with the Irish Derby that balanced the whiskey and citrus with Byrrh and Cointreau.

Michael Dietsch of ADashOfBitters was there from the beginning, MxMo 1: Pastis, and could not let it go without adding in a final message. "Nearly 11 years ago, Paul Clarke — now editor of Imbibe magazine, but then just a guy in Seattle — came up with an idea called Mixology Monday... Paul came up with the idea of hosting a themed round-robin for the then-nascent cocktail-blog community. Back in 2006, there weren't many of us... I've been fascinated to watch my fellow drinks-scribes over these many years since MxMo launched. Some of us have gone on to literary achievements, writing for magazines, newspapers, and web sites. We've even seen a few book deals come out of this pursuit. Some among us have left pundit circles altogether and become bartenders or even bar owners. I know people all over the country who have tended bar for the first time after writing about cocktails on the Internrdz... I haven't participated in Mixology Monday in ... oh, hell, nearly six years. But the theme of this month's Mixology Monday is Irish whiskey, and the Irish wake, the mourning process for seeing loved ones depart these flawed bodies" before toasting Mixology Monday as a great friend.

The Muse of Doom of FeuDeVie mused "And yet, as the old maxim goes, 'those who burn brightest also burn shortest.' So many of those young guns faded before too long. Cocktail blogging is a difficult enough endeavor, even if one has a plan to balance recipe development and output with moderation and self-care. And, alas, we (and our livers) all do get older and life does have a way of getting in the way... The Cocktail Renaissance moment has passed; it's mellowed and in the process of maturation. There's still plenty of room for new recipes and ideas, but, man, would I love to see everyone's recipes get some re-love and appreciation rather than be lost to the ether. For all the joy and fire shared during the best of times, as MxMo rests I do hope our fellowship continues" before offering us the comfort food-drink of the Cinnamon Toast Old Fashioned.

BarinaCraft got historical with a scholastic analysis of 6 recipes for the Irish Cocktail with recipe #3 being my go-to. Though without a blog (he lost it by not watching his renewal dates), Gabe of CocktailNerd left a comment of "Cheers to you and Paul, Fred. Were I to have a blog untainted and co-opted by e-cigarettes, I would gladly have given this a final whirl. I met fabulous people and made amazing memories through this hobby and community so thanks again for being a part of that and keeping MxMo and the community going; it's wonderful." In ending Mixology Monday, I did think of Gabe and the others who helped to found Mixoloseum which I participated in their weekly Thursday Drink Night chatrooms that really taught me volumes about drink creation, trusting my intuitions, and knowing when to cherish and when to sink a recipe. Unfortunately, that came to its demise circa late 2012. So let us all raise a glass to the CocktailNerd blog and Mixoloseum and their fine histories back in the glory days of cocktail blogging!

It wouldn't be a true Mixology Monday without someone being late or not following the rules. For the latter, in my RSS feed, I discovered that Doug of the PeguBlog had either forgotten to alert me of his post or his alert is still making its way over as a message-in-a-bottle since he is hardcore in celebrating February as his Tiki month. Had I not stepped in to take over Mixology Monday in September of 2012, Doug's Tiki-themed Mixology Monday in February of 2012 would have been the last. I am glad I found this post and it got me emotional and teary eyed to read his tribute. Doug declared "To battle the dangers of obscurity, blogs would gather periodically in herds called 'blog carnivals', where related sites would post simultaneously on a specified subject, and link each other to draw traffic to all. In the cocktail world, the great stallion Paul Clarke summoned the herd known as Mixology Monday. After many years, Paul was no longer able to lead the herd, and Fred Yarm, the hardest working blogger in cocktails, took up the mantle and MxMo lived on. But in the fullness of time, MxMo at last dwindled. The original participants faded or were lost, and the new generations found that with tools of social media, they hardly needed the nurture and safety of the blog carnival. Now at last, the time has come to say goodbye to Mixology Monday." In not breaking theme, Doug offers up the Irish Privateer that matches the Irish whiskey and citrus with orgeat and ginger liqueur.

And of course, for the former of being late, it is the guys from Scofflaw'sDen! Marshall and Sean-Mike were two that I followed back when they, like me, wrote on LiveJournal before moving over to a blog. The two got together armed with a different bottle of Irish whiskey in each of their hands including one aptly called Writer's Tears. With Averna, orgeat, and lemon in the mix, their Irish Goodbye drink was anything but that (since plenty of MxMo veterans have dropped away without notice).

And it wouldn't be a Mixology Monday without an after the post went live late, here starring Joel from SouthernAsh. Besides presenting a rum-Irish whiskey Old Fashioned, Joel praised the event by declaring, "Mixology Monday has made me a better cocktalian, a better blogger, and a better person. The themes were often challenging and asked me to stretch from my comfort zone. I read, researched, experimented, and sampled more cocktails and variations than I can recall on account of the calls for drinks in this party. I learned to better balance my cocktails through trial and error, improved my presentation and photography from the inspiration provided from the fellow participants, and enjoyed getting to take part in this corner of the cocktail culture revival." Cheers, Joel!

Pardon me if I quoted from your blogs a bit too hardcore, but I wanted a record of some of the words spoken in case your blogs go the way of the Dodo a few years from now. It is February 22nd, 2017, and I, fortified by coffee, am ready to lower this coffin into the grave. With regrets, but that is life. Cheers to all who have joined Mixology Monday on its journey and it's desire to unite cocktail writers near and far. Cheers to Paul Clarke for bringing life to the concept. And thanks to everyone who took the time to host and/or write to keep the beast alive.

Post-note: Please read MxMo founder Paul Clarke's thoughts in the comment section of this post. 

mrs. doyle

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CXVI) was picked by myself, Frederic of the Cocktail Virgin blog. The theme I chose was "Irish Wake," and it was a tough decision to pick this theme and make it the last. Mixology Monday has been around for 2 months shy of 11 years yielding 116 themed-events. Between lagging enthusiasm for bloggers to host events, low numbers of drink posts, and my waning desire to push the online cocktail party uphill, I had been considering this end for a year or so. Then at the tail end of MxMo 114 as I was trying to enter the roundup post link in December, I discovered that the Mixology Monday Word Press site had lost its log-in module and I was locked out. We did MxMo 115's announcements solely by Twitter and word of mouth, and it just did not feel right without a formal home base. It was a sign.

So for this final theme, the Irish Wake, I elaborated on my choice with the description of, "The Irish wake is a funeral tradition that is a send-off that begins at the time of death until the body is handed over to the church. It is viewed as a crucial part of the grieving process. My first Irish wake was a little over a year ago when Boston barman Ryan McGrale met his untimely demise. While the wake part with the family was sober, the mourning process with the Boston bartenders and the New York City ones who traveled up was most certainly not. Irish whiskey flowed... So what better way to celebrate the life and times of Mixology Monday and its 11 year run as the premiere 'monthly online cocktail party' than with Irish whiskey. For this theme, the approach is two fold. You can go traditional and generate or uncover a cocktail recipe calling for Irish whiskey. Alternatively, you can talk about a personal moment either where Irish whiskey played a role in life or where drinks in general helped the grieving process. Such stories were actually rather cool for MxMo 41 'Vodka is Your Friend,' so there is precedent for that, but it's not like we can break Mixology Monday for future events by straying from the rules."
There is a belief that mixing with Irish whiskey is a sin, and one of my old co-workers summed that idea up with his delicious Jameson cocktail the Sacrilege. I hold no spirit sacred, but I wanted to find a recipe that really highlighted the soft nature of the whiskey. In my search, I happened upon Eryn Reece's 2013 Mrs. Doyle in the Death & Co. Cocktail Book. According to a TimeOut article, Eryn named this after "the kooky old housekeeper from the Irish sitcom Father Ted." Essentially, Mrs. Doyle is an Irish Sour accented by a touch of Swedish Punsch. And for the photo above, I picked the best casket imagery that I could since the drink itself was not morbid in the least.

Mrs. Doyle
• 2 oz Redbreast 12 Year Irish Whiskey (Teeling Small Batch)
• 1/4 oz Kronan Swedish Punsch
• 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
• 1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.

The Mrs. Doyle proffered lemon and sweet malt aromas with a honey-like note. Next, the lemon and sweet malt continued into the sip, and the swallow gave forth soft whiskey and a hint of tea and rum funk from the Swedish Punsch.

It is strange to type out my final line to my 87th Mixology Monday event that I have participated in, the 10th that I have hosted, and the 52nd under my cat herdsmanship. I would like to thank Paul Clarke for starting the event and for the participants of the 29 events before I started for making it such a welcoming environment, and for everyone who re-inforced the lost art of Roman numerals. And thank you to all the participants who have carried this phenomenon for over a decade. Sláinte!

:: mixology monday announcement ::

MxMo CXVI: Irish Wake

Mixology Monday has had a good run at life. The event first started with Paul Clarke back in April 2006, and he ran it until MxMo 64 in February 2012. My participation started at MxMo 30 in August 2008 after having read along as a spectator for a year or so. As Paul was losing steam, I begged to take over the event instead of letting him bury it. Luckily, he turned over the reins to me, and I led the march from MxMo 65 in September 2012 until this one for a total of 52 events. When I was looking back at the history, I found a thread on the Chanticleer Society where someone was asking about Paul Clarke in the hiatus between February and September 2012; prophetically, I commented in that thread, "Perhaps I am blinded by my own enthusiasm -- I've been contributing to MxMo for 4 years now and would gladly do another 4 years." In the last year or two, my wife often heard me gripe about how hard it was to get hosts as well as a decent number of participants. The last few despite having amazing replies in quality to the theme were shy of the double digits mark or not much above that in quantity. The final moment that set this death knell a-ringing was when the Mixology Monday website locked me out of logging in right before I was about to enter the wrap up post for MxMo 114, and Paul Clarke did not know how to get me FTP access to see if I could remedy this situation. So that prophecy for another 4 years was correct with another 6 months added on.

So it is time for the final theme, the Irish wake. The Irish wake is a funeral tradition that is a send-off that begins at the time of death until the body is handed over to the church. It is viewed as a crucial part of the grieving process. My first Irish wake was a little over a year ago when Boston barman Ryan McGrale met his untimely demise. While the wake part with the family was sober, the mourning process with the Boston bartenders and the New York City ones who traveled up was most certainly not. Irish whiskey flowed. I remember getting home and wondering why my key would not work and I considered sleeping in the garage. Turns out, it was the wrong key on my key ring and it took awhile to figure that out. So what better way to celebrate the life and times of Mixology Monday and its 11 year run as the premiere "monthly online cocktail party" than with Irish whiskey.

For this theme, the approach is two fold. You can go traditional and generate or uncover a cocktail recipe calling for Irish whiskey. Alternatively, you can talk about a personal moment either where  Irish whiskey played a role in life or where drinks in general helped the grieving process. Such stories were actually rather cool for MxMo 41 "Vodka is Your Friend," so there is precedent for that, but it's not like we can break Mixology Monday for future events by straying from the rules.

Here's how to play this one last time:

• Find or concoct a recipe that calls for Irish whiskey. Or share a drinking story about Irish whiskey or the grieving process.
• Make the drink and then post the recipe, a photo, and your thoughts about the libation on your blog, tumblr, or website or on the eGullet Spirits and Cocktails forum. If it is the story format option, feel free to post a photo or two to make an emotional connection.
• Include in your post the classic MxMo logo or the special Irish wake one above, and a link back to both the Mixology Monday and Cocktail Virgin sites. Actually, you don't need to link back to the deceased MxMo site if you do not want to. And once the round-up is posted, a link to that summary post would be appreciated.
• Provide a link to your submission in the comment section here, tweet at @cocktailvirgin, or send an email to yarm-at-verizon.net with the word "MxMo" somewhere in the subject line.

The due date is Monday night at midnight, February 20th.

Cheers,
Frederic

negative space

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CXV) was picked by Katie of the Garnish blog. The theme she chose was "Chocolate," and she elaborated on the choice with her description of, "I'm sorry to sabotage your well-intentioned New Year's resolutions to cut back on the booze and eat fewer sweets, but this month’s theme is... chocolate. When I think of chocolate and cocktails together, my mind still automatically conjures the image of a chocolate martini with a syrupy drizzle and a dollop of whipped cream, plucked right from the photo-laden menu of a classy establishment like Chili's or The Cheesecake Factory... My tastes have since evolved, and so has the role of chocolate in cocktails. Instead of creamy sugar bombs, bars are serving up crème de cacao classics like the 20th Century and Brandy Alexander, Boulevardiers made with cacao-nib infused Campari, and Oaxaca Old Fashioneds with mole bitters. Chocolate has found its way into serious cocktails, and I couldn't be happier about it. So this month, give in to your sweet tooth (or not) and see what you can do with a little chocolate! Chocolate liqueur, crème de cacao, chocolate bitters, cacao nibs, cocoa powder, cocoa tea... if it comes from the cacao plant, it's fair game."
I started looking around for a chocolate recipe for a few days, but I did not realize that I had one picked out. In the latest issue of Imbibe, there was a chocolate by way of crème de cacao drink from Maks Pazuniak of Brooklyn's Jupiter Disco. When I read the recipe, I shelved it without much thought until I bought a new bottle of sparkling wine. When I returned home from the liquor store with my bottle of blanc de blancs, I re-read the ingredients and realized that Maks' recipe would be perfect. I will always remember Maks as the one who made my first drink in New Orleans; that drink was the Art of Choke at Cure. I also bought my copy of Rogue Cocktails from him, and after that got sued out existence and I acquired the two editions of Beta Cocktails from him in successive years. I was also pleased that he united with Al Sotack to open their own place in Brooklyn. I also met Al in New Orleans, but in the following room at the Art in the Age tasting room where he served me the Appalachian Flip. Enough with this trip down memory lane and on with the cocktail:

Negative Space
• 1/2 oz Suze Gentian Liqueur (Salers)
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• 1/2 oz Crème de Cacao (Tempus Fugit)
• 1/4 oz Absinthe Blanc (Obsello)
• 1 drop Orange Blossom Water
Shake with ice and strain into a flute glass. Top with 3 oz prosecco (2 1/2 oz Willm Blanc de Blancs).

The Negative Space's nose first greeted me with anise aromas before I sank into the earthy chocolate ones. Next, the carbonated lemon and wine sip gave way to earthy-bitter gentian, chocolate, and herbal flavors on the swallow. Surprisingly, the absinthe here was rather gentle either due to the drink's recipe or my choice of absinthe. Also, the orange blossom water was a bit subtle at one drop, and increasing it to two did not help much. Overall, Andrea commented that this drink would be a perfect Valentine's Day cocktail! And definitely the gentian liqueur paired quite well with chocolate as it had in the Copper Canyon and the Zig Zag Wanderer.

Thank you to Katie for picking such an excellent theme as well as doing all the work to host this month! And thank you to all the participants, past and present, who have made this event a pleasure to be a part of. Cheers!

the bitter swagger

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CXIV) was picked by Stacy of the Stacy Markow blog. The theme she chose was "Digestifs," and she elaborated on the choice with her description of, "It's December. There's a chill in the air, and if you're located in the U.S. like I am, we are smack dab in the middle of a busy holiday season. This time of year is known for calorie laden holiday meals surrounded by family and friends, so it seemed like the perfect time to explore the vast combinations that can be found by discovering and making cocktails from ingredients known for their digestive properties. Digestifs are pretty popular in my world... They help settle a meal and bring the night to a close. Options to use classic digestive products are endless here, from smooth whiskey and bourbon to brandy, port, sherry, and many liqueurs. Many products (like Fernet, aromatized wine, and other amaros) have been created for this sole purpose. Let your imagination run wild, and make a beverage highlighting at least one product known for its digestif qualities..."
Concurrent with me pondering this theme was the delivery of Brad Parson's Amaro book, so I was provided with more than a bounty of new options to choose from. One of the drink recipes that caught my eye was the Bitter Swagger created by Nick Talarico of Mephis' Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen that was his amaro riff on a Pisco Sour. Most of the spirit here had been replaced with Amaro Nardini which has chocolate and mint notes lurking in the background similar to Benedictine. I still was not sure what the value of a quarter ounce of Cocchi Americano was in the mix, but I was willing to give this combination a go.

The Bitter Swagger
• 1 1/4 oz Amaro Nardini
• 3/4 oz Pisco (Encanto)
• 1/4 oz Cocchi Americano
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• 1 Egg White
Shake once without and once with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass.

The Bitter Swagger shared a chocolate and caramel aroma that was brightened by the lemon notes. Next, a creamy lemon and caramel sip was followed by an herbal swallow containing light mint and chocolate notes. The pisco was rather subtle in the flavor profile here, but it was certainly not out of place. While I did have a large dinner before enjoying this drink, my stomach was not angered with me, so it was hard to judge this combinations efficacy on a scale from zero to Fernet Branca.

So thank you to Stacy for hosting such a seasonally appropriate theme (although I enjoy these flavors all year around), and thanks to the rest of the Mixology Monday crew for keeping the spirit of the event going all to the beat of an ice-laden shaker tin set. Cheers!

caribbean milk punch

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CXIII) was picked by Gary of the Doc Elliott's Mixology blog. The theme he chose was "Bacon, Eggs, & Booze," and he elaborated on the choice with his description of, "Well, it's autumn, with falling temperatures and falling leaves, kiddos and costumes and far too many treats. Looming are the next set of holidays, the serious ones complete with feasts, gifts, parties and gatherings of family and friends. One perennial problem is: what to do with guests the morning after, or the morning of, or the morning before? Well, you get the idea. Think BRUNCH... But, remember the Law of the Universe: 'A brunch without booze is just a sad, late breakfast!' So, the theme for Mixology Monday CXIII is Bacon, Eggs, and Booze..."

I began to contemplate all of the brunch drinks that I enjoy which include New Orleans-style Fizzes like the Ramos, light citrussy numbers like the Corpse Reviver #2, and the like. The host of the event excluded champagne cocktails to give a better depth of responses, so that was out, and I am not a fan of Bloody Marys either. My mind drifted to the drinks that I put on the Loyal Nine brunch menu that included light citrussy drinks -- both carbonated and not -- and a milk punch. No, not the clarified milk punches that have taken the mixology world by storm in the last 8 years or so, but the unclarified ones often linked to New Orleans brunch culture. I then turned to the famous Brennan's recipe for milk punch but that was a bit similar to Deep Ellum's Bourbon Milk Punch and my Miller's River Milk Punch. Instead, I remember looking at the Brennan's menu while at Tales of the Cocktail this past July and spotting a second milk punch on the menu called the Caribbean Milk Punch. I was intrigued, but I was too busy that week to investigate with my palate. However, with a little internet sleuthing, I was able to turn up a recipe to make up for that missed opportunity.
The recipe was contributed by Lu Brow, the lead bartender of Brennan's, who declared, "This sounds crazy to anybody who doesn't live in New Orleans, but a cocktail is a great way to start the day. If we had as many brandy milk punch houses as coffeehouses, we'd all get along." The punch has a split spirit base of a funky Caribbean rum complemented by a half part of Bourbon. Moreover, unlike the other milk punches that call for a decent amount of whole milk (sometimes half and half) and are served over ice in a large glass, this one smooths over the balance by using a smaller amount of rather rich heavy cream and served in a cocktail coupe.

Caribbean Milk Punch
• 1 oz Mt. Gay Black Barrel Rum or use Smith & Cross as a sub (Smith & Cross)
• 1/2 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon (Old Granddad Bonded)
• 1 oz Vanilla Syrup (BG Reynolds)
• 1 oz Heavy Cream
Shake with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

The Caribbean Milk Punch gave forth a nutmeg aroma that shared a hint of funky rum notes. Next, a rich, creamy sip relayed a small amount of caramel from the aged spirits, and the swallow presented a muted funky rum, glimpses of the Bourbon, and a large amount of vanilla. The recipe was surprisingly easy to drink despite the two spirits being 114° and 100° proof. Perhaps, the recipe would be more brunch-friendly with the original call for an 86° rum and a 90° whiskey not to mention a less intensely funky rum. Still, I can easily imagine sipping this while eating French toast but perhaps not an omelette. Well, I could see drinking one before the omelette though.

So thanks again to Gary of Doc Elliott's Mixology for hosting this month, and cheers to all of the other participants and readers who continue to make Mixology Monday _the_ online cocktail party for the last ten and a half years!

:: mxmo mashups wrap up ::

For Mixology Monday 112, I decided to honor a technique for drink creating that has served me well in everything from drink of the day generation to cocktail competitions -- namely merging two (neo)classic recipes into one in what I dub a "mashup." One of the bars in town called Backbar has helped to instill this appreciation through their drinks of the day as well as their generous love of discussing cocktails and their construction in general. So as a way of paying it forward, I wanted to provide others with this lesson by way of a Mixology Monday. Please read the announcement post for more information, but without further ado, here are the submissions!
• Gary Elliot of Doc Elliot's Mixology took the Blood and Sand and merged it with another equal parter, the Corpse Reviver #2, to make the Corpse in the Sand.
• The Simple Headphone Mind was Dagreb of Nihil Utopia's merging of a Japanese with a Blue Grass Mai Tai. I believe this is the first fully brandy driven Mai Tai I have ever seen!
• What happens when you merge a Clover Club with a Tom Collins? Stacy Markow discovers the yumminess in the Clover Collins!
• Katie of the Garnish Blog focused on Scotch and took the classic Rusty Nail and found its hammer with the neoclassic Penicillin. She nerded out about microbiology (and whisky) and dubbed this one the Dram Positive.
• Adam of Mr. Muddle took his Boston hometown to heart and took the classic Ward Eight and meshed it with Misty Kalkofen's neoclassic the Maximillian Affair for the Maxi's Ward.
• Rachel of the Stirred Blog keeps the Boston loving alive by being inspired by a classic drink she had at local bar and conjuring the Colleen's Kiss by mashing up a Colleen Bawn and a Widow's Kiss.
• Craig Eliason via eGullet was also inspired by the Rusty Nail and took the Scotch focus further with the Rob Roy to make the Roysty Nail monster.
• I, Frederic of the Cocktail Virgin blog, was actually the first submitter but I am putting myself last. I actually had this drink ready when I wrote the announcement post. For one of my drinks of the day, I took the Boston version of the Jack Rose (lemon not lime with the addition of Peychaud's Bitters) and smooshed it with the Frisco Sour for the Frisco Rose (instead of the Jack Frisco/Frisco Jack).

Thank you all for granting me permission to guide you in this drink making exercise and playing along so well and so graciously! Keep those mixing spoons and shaker tins moving as we see what November may bring...

frisco rose

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CXII) was selected by me, Frederic of the CocktailVirgin blog. The theme I chose was "Mashups," and I elaborated on the concept with the description of, "A few weeks ago, I was talking with Backbar bartender Sam Cronin about the wonders of mashup cocktails where you fuse two cocktails often (but not always) with overlapping ingredients. Since Backbar has a drink of the day as well as a drink of the week, the bartenders there have to generate a lot of new ideas, and combining two (neo)classics into one is often a successful way to breed new drinks... And this got me thinking that the technique would make a great Mixology Monday exercise. For this theme, choose two or perhaps more drinks and combine them into one. It often helps if they have some overlap in ingredients or name, and it is not only fair but common to only combine some of the ingredients in the drinks and leave out others. As for a name, perhaps come up with something that pays tribute to the parents of this offspring? Not feeling too creative? Feel free to find mashups created by others and write about the drink and what recipes inspired its creation."
Since the bar program at Loyal Nine began doing drinks of the day, I have turned to the mashup technique a few times and this rather inspired me to host this theme as a Mixology Monday event. True, I had tinkered with it in the past such as merging the Nuclear Daiquiri with the Mai Tai to create the Bikini Atoll, but the need for a drink nearly every shift (when there are two bartenders on Friday and Saturday night, we either alternate or collaborate) has pushed me to consider the drink creation method more often. So about two weeks ago on a Sunday night, I thought about the Frisco Sour ticket request the night before and decided on it as a starting point. From there, I wanted to do an apple brandy drink since apple and the Frisco's Benedictine pair well such as in the Widow's Kiss and the Frisco's rye pairs well with apple such as in the Fallback. For an apple cocktail, I decided on the Jack Rose with the Boston inclusion of Peychaud's Bitters, and for a name, I opted for the Frisco Rose over the Jack Frisco or the Frisco Jack.

Frisco Rose
• 3/4 oz Rittenhouse Rye
• 3/4 oz Morin Selection Calvados
• 1/2 oz Benedictine
• 1/2 oz Jack Rudy Grenadine
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• 1 dash Peychaud's Bitters
Shake with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.

As expected, the drink was fruity and herbal with a bit of a backbone from the bonded rye whiskey. Without the Peychaud's Bitters, the drink was a touch sweet and lacked definition, but with the bitters as Boston's Jack Rose Society opted for in 2006, it truly worked as a mashup.

So thank you all for playing along with the 112th installment of Mixology Monday, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of you came up with!

:: mixology monday announcement ::

MxMo CXII: Mashups

A few weeks ago, I was talking with Backbar bartender Sam Cronin about the wonders of mashup cocktails where you fuse two cocktails often (but not always) with overlapping ingredients. Since Backbar has a drink of the day as well as a drink of the week, the bartenders there have to generate a lot of new ideas, and combining two (neo)classics into one is often a successful way to breed new drinks. As Sam told me about the Lonely Dark where he fused the Widow's Kiss and the Kiss in the Dark, he explained that he was inspired by Eric Witz's mashup of a Widow's Kiss and a Last Word as the Widow's Word that he had seen on this blog. Since we started doing the drink of the day idea at Loyal Nine, I have fused a Boulevardier and a Slope to create the Intercept, a Mint Julep and a Pimm's Cup in the Derby Cup, and other similar mergers with great success. And this got me thinking that the technique would make a great Mixology Monday exercise.

For this theme, choose two or perhaps more drinks and combine them into one. It often helps if they have some overlap in ingredients or name, and it is not only fair but common to only combine some of the ingredients in the drinks and leave out others. As for a name, perhaps come up with something that pays tribute to the parents of this offspring? Not feeling too creative? Feel free to find mashups created by others and write about the drink and what recipes inspired its creation.

• Find or concoct a recipe that is the result of combining two (or more) recipes (or parts of said recipes) together.
• Make the drink and then post the recipe, a photo, and your thoughts about the libation on your blog, tumblr, or website or on the eGullet Spirits and Cocktails forum.
• Include in your post the MxMo logo and a link back to both the Mixology Monday and Cocktail Virgin sites. And once the round-up is posted, a link to that summary post would be appreciated.
• Provide a link to your submission in the comment section here, tweet at @cocktailvirgin, or send an email to yarm-at-verizon.net with the word "MxMo" somewhere in the subject line.

The due date is Monday night at midnight, October 17th.

Cheers,
Frederic

the sun

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CXI) was picked by Rebecca of the Shrubbery blog. The theme she chose was "Drink Nerdy," and she elaborated on the choice with her description of, "The thing that unites everyone who participates in MxMo is our love of cocktails. We love the history, the alchemy, the artistry, and of course the drinking. Loads of us go to conventions, collect memorabilia, read books about all manner of boozy subjects, and tour distilleries like they're sacred places. One might say, we're nerds. I say, what else are you nerdy for? For the purposes of this challenge I'm going to define a nerdy pursuit as: anything from or related to science, science fiction, fantasy, video games, role playing games/characters, or comics. Come up with a cocktail that celebrates or is inspired by a nerdy thing you love. A Cosmo variation for Neil deGrasse Tyson? The perfect sip for Sarah and her Goblin King to share? A beer based cocktail for that barbarian you played in your college D&D game? Star Trek? Anything you are enthusiastic about."

As I pondered the topic over the last week or so, I thought about my nerdy pursuits, past and present. While an avid collector of Star Wars figurines from Episode 4 through 6 (really, they are episodes 1-3 to me since I skipped watching the rest and perhaps I was not collecting by the time the last of the trilogy rolled out), I figured that Star Wars had been done quite a bit especially with the yearly "May the 4th" celebrations across the world. So I considered one of my nerdy pursuits back in high school which was astronomy. One of the high schools in town was lucky enough to have a planetarium and observatory that I got my introduction to as an elementary school student via a yearly visit. Once enrolled into that high school, I was able to take the astronomy course as well as spend my study hall periods helping to grind reflecting mirrors and assist during elementary school visits to the planetarium. I even had my own reflecting telescope as well as subscription to Astronomy Magazine.
With my discovery of Combier's Liqueur de Rose as a close enough substitute for crème de rose, my mind immediately turned to a drink in William Schmidt's 1891 The Flowing Bowl that had previously mocked me (due to the lack of rose cordial) called The Sun. Schmidt was rumored to have created a drink each day as well as many impromptu drinks, and he was quite known for his showmanship as well as his lack of fear of multi-ingredient and complicated drinks (see the Queen of Sheba, for example). The Sun is absurd and is one that Schmidt scholars have spoken about. Not only does the build require the rose liqueur, two other liqueurs, two spirits, two juices, and sugar, it requires the acquisition of snow which makes it a bit seasonal. Luckily, Schmidt provided the option for the other 3 seasons of the year to use stiffly beaten sweetened egg whites in place of the snow. The pièce de résistance is to write the word "The Sun" with grated nutmeg on the snow or egg white and then decorate with fruit. How can this be done? Via a stencil? Slowly tapping pre-grated nutmeg from a folded sheet of paper to craft each letter? Tweezers? I obviously lacked the magic and finesse of The Only William and had to make a few adjustments.

The Sun
The juice of half an orange (1 oz) and half a lime (1/2 oz) in the bottom of a large, thin glass; add and dissolve a spoonful of powdered sugar with a dash of mineral water (omit sugar and mineral water).
• 1 pony of fine brandy (1 oz Camus VS Cognac)
• 1/2 pony of Jamaican rum (1/2 oz Rum Fire)
• 1 dash Benedictine (1/3 oz)
• 1 dash Curaçao (1/3 oz Senior Curaçao)
• 1 dash crème de rose (1/3 oz Combier Liqueur de Rose)
Mix this thoroughly (shake with ice briefly and strain into the glass), fill your glass with fine ice (crushed ice via Lewis Bag); stir well; ornament with frozen snow in the centre, and the brim with fruits (omit fruits); write on the top of the snow "The Sun," with nutmeg (write "Sun" with drops of Angostura Bitters and grate nutmeg over the rest of the snow). Should you have no real snow, beat up the white of an egg with a little fine sugar (1 egg white, 1/2 tsp cane crystal sugar).

Okay, just the recipe alone is pure nerdom in the cocktail sense without even needing a theme like astronomy to tie it back to this Mixology Monday. I listed my ingredient choices, substitutions, and omissions to get this drink done to the best of my technical and inventory capabilities. Once prepared, The Sun shared a nutmeg aroma that was joined with allspice and other notes from the bitters. Next, the sip through a straw was mellow from the orange juice and curaçao with some crispness from the lime. Finally, the swallow offered brandy and Jamaican rum funk flavors that concluded with a floral and herbal finish.

So thank you to Rebecca of the Shrubbery blog for getting us to reveal something nerdy about ourselves and to celebrate the occasion with cocktails! And thank you to the rest of the participants and readers for keeping this event going to see the 111th iteration of this online cocktail party!

shrugroniz

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CX) was pickled, er... picked by Adam of the Mr. Muddle blog. The theme he chose was "Vinegar," and he elaborated on the concept with his description of, "Earlier this summer I went berry picking with the family, and we ended up with a quart of strawberries. If you don't know exactly how many berries are in a quart, let me assure you it's a lot. Obviously some of these were earmarked for cocktail usage, but I wanted to do more than garnishes and muddling. Enter the shrub, also known as drinking vinegar. The combination of fruit, sugar and vinegar has been around for centuries, particularly popular in Colonial America. While these are delicious with a splash of soda on the rocks, they bring a fresh, bright flavor when combined with spirits... This got me thinking -- how else are people incorporating vinegar into their drinks? And why stop at shrubs? For this month's MxMo, let's make the whole range of vinegary things fair game."
In thinking about this theme, I did two things: reaching for Michael Dietsch's Shrubs book and rooting around in the back of the fridge to see what shrubs I had available. In Dietsch's book, I honed in on the shrub-Negroni hybrid, the Shrugroniz, that offered up a lot of flexibility with the call for a fruit shrub of any type. In the back of my fridge, I found bottles of strawberry, mulberry, and kiwi shrubs. With disbelief, I tasted the strawberry one and it still tasted rather good for having been bottled on August 14th, 2009. Yes, the Colonial folks were on to something with their preservation methods since the flavor was still intact (albeit not as bright and vibrant) 7 years later! Strawberry and Negronis have been paired in my mind since I tried the Sbagliato Grosso from Left Coast Libations.

Shrugroniz
• 1 oz London Dry Gin (Beefeater)
• 1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Tempus Fugit's Alessio)
• 1 oz Campari
• 1/2 oz Fruit Shrub (Strawberry)
Stir with ice and strain either into a rocks glass filled with ice or into a cocktail glass (cocktail coupe, served up and garnished with a floated strawberry slice).

The Shrugroniz greeted the nose with a strawberry aroma that was accented by Campari's bitter herbal notes. Next, the sip was an elegant pairing of grape and berry flavors, and the swallow began with gin and a strawberry-bitter orange combination and ended with a light vinegar tang. With the shrub, the drink was not as sweet as it would have been with a fruit syrup, and in fact, it might have been slightly drier than the classic.

So thank you to Adam for hosting this excellent theme and bringing back Mixology Monday from its hangover rest, and thank you to the rest of the Mixology Monday participants who keep the shakers shaking and the mixing spoons swirling each and (almost) every month! Cheers!

van wyck

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CIX) was picked by Nick of the Booze Baron blog. The theme he chose was "Dry Cocktails," and he elaborated on the choice with his description of, "...There's an entire section of the human sensory experience that enjoys things like dry wines, dry sherries, dry cider, crisp pilsners, dry lambics, gin with soda not tonic and neat spirits. Aperitifs are supposed to avoid sugar so as to not fatigue the taste buds but swanky restaurants seem to think an Old Fashioned or a Hurricane is good enough... maybe we as mixing maestros don't actually consider the whole palate in our industry. Try to name a famous dry cocktail other than the Martini... We don't make enough of them, nor write about them. With a world that's slowly waking up to the fact that excess sugar is probably one of the worst things we put in our diet it's something we all should probably take a look at. Your mission is to create an awesome dry cocktail that excites, entices, and above all refreshes." Nick went on to elaborate on his definition of dry as no more than 10% being sweetener or juice with an additional 10% allotment for sweet fortified wines and vermouths.
For inspiration, I turned to Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 two nights ago for many of their drinks have dashes of sweetener that can be interpreted by your palate. In fact, making drinks from that book is a great experiment in figuring how to achieve your preferred balance. With that, I could easily fit the dashes of sweeteners to 10% (or about 1/4 oz for every 2 1/2 oz). In perusing the whiskey section, I spotted the Van Wyck which appeared like a Dry Manhattan that was made more complex and sweeter by two elements: crème de vanilla and Amer Picon.

Van Wyck
• 3/4 Rye (2 oz Michter's Straight Rye)
• 1/4 French Vermouth (3/4 oz Noilly Prat Dry)
• 1/2 tsp Crème de Vanilla (1/8 oz Navan --> later 1/4 oz)
• 1 dash Picon or Angostura Bitters (1/8 oz Amer Picon --> later 1/4 oz)
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

I opted for the Amer Picon instead of the much drier Angostura Bitters for the recipe reminded me of a Brooklyn with vanilla liqueur instead of Maraschino. For the vanilla, I opted for the Navan on my shelf which the Grand Marnier company decided to later discontinue; I have heard that Licor 43 will work in a pinch if there is no crème de vanilla proper available, and vanilla syrup would not be out of place either. Once prepared, the Van Wyck gave off a vanilla-accented rye aroma. Next, dry malt on the sip gave way to a whiskey swallow with a bitter orange-vanilla finish. I could not help but think that the drink could be improved by using an older whiskey where the barrel would impart a greater range of complementary vanilla notes; since most ryes are young, perhaps an older Bourbon would work. The second was that the modifiers needed to be boosted for flavor purposes, so I ended up adding another barspoon each of Navan and Amer Picon to approach my preferred Brooklyn structure. The result was much more distinctive although out of the boundaries for this event's rules. While I do enjoy dry gin, sherry, Madeira, and rum drinks, for some reason, it is not as enjoyable to drink dry whiskey drinks. Also, I could have utilized the Angostura Bitters and made the 10% of the drink the crème de vanilla, but I thought that the Amer Picon would give a bit more depth.

So thank you to Nick for hosting Mixology Monday for teaching us to cleanse our palates and (re)learn to appreciate the drier side of things. And thanks to the sugar-free/light participants this month who keep Mixology Monday stirring and shaking away every few weeks!

:: mxmo swizzles wrap up ::

For Mixology Monday #108, I decided to enact an idea I had during the Fall last year, namely Swizzles. During the warmer months, I was able to host Yacht Rock Sundays that featured more easy to drink libations that perhaps took a bit more time to assemble than I would want for a regular menu item that could be ordered anytime including during the Friday and Saturday cocktail frenzy. One of those styles was the Swizzle which is one of my restaurant owner's favorite drink styles, and he encouraged me to put more on the menu (or make him ones for his shift drinks as a way to tinker). However, as Yacht Rock Sundays were dry docked for the season in October and brunch was being implemented on Sunday mornings, I began to miss Swizzles and wanted them back in my life. And the one that I made for this event was crafted for and served to that owner just like the warmer months last year. Please read the announcement post for this event to learn more about Swizzles in general and my thoughts on them, but without further ado, here are the participants for this MxMo:
• Pete from Meticulous Mixing whipped up a batch of rhubarb syrup to greet the Spring and crafted the Rhubarb Rum Swizzle. In the comments, he lamented that he was stuck with the rest of the syrup, so if you go that route, there are a few options on this blog to make more mileage out of this Swizzle's syrup!
• BoozeNerd's Christa and Shaun started their Swizzle adventure with the Death & Co. Cocktail Book with Thomas Waugh's Park Life Swizzle before becoming inspired to riff on the Rusty Nail and converting it into a Caribbean style!
• This event broke the seal on Katie of the Garnish Blog and set her on the path to craft her own Swizzles. For her first one, she got inspired by New England with a local cranberry cordial to make the Cape Cod Swizzle using the Queen's Park Swizzle as guidance.
• Quantum Leap was the inspiration for Dagreb of Nihil Utopia's Q. Bakula Swizzle utilizing a three rum blend and some classic Swizzle stylings.
• GinHound's Andrea looked to New Orleans as guidance to combine the Ojen Frappe concept with floral candies to capture Spring in the Flavigny Swizzle.
• Nick of the Booze Barons claims not to be a fan of Swizzles due to their over-dilution, so he packed in the flavor in the Liquorice Swizzler with a solid slug of absinthe.
• I, Frederic of the CocktailVirgin blog, combined the Corpse Reviver #2, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, and an arts'n'crafty garnish into the Sinking Ship Swizzle; I also preceded it with 3 other Swizzles to gear my self up to creating one myself.
• Kafka of Kitchen Shamanism was kind enough to write in English again instead of his native Swedish as he recrafted the Singapore Sling to reduce his issues with the classic into the Singapore Express. I was so curious about the recipe, that I have already made this one at home!
• Mr. Muddle himself, Adam, decided to Drop It Like It's Hot with a Pimm's and whiskey number.
• Valerie of the Valcohol blog started with the Queen's Park Swizzle before using it as inspiration for the Rooftop Swizzle which adds pineapple and brown sugar to the equation!
• Doc Elliot's Mixology brought the Southtown and Tepache Swizzles to show and tell this month! Those tinker with dry apricot and funky fermented pineapple flavors, respectively.
• Joel DiPippa of the Southern Ash blog went all Springtime floral with his rum and gin Swizzle, the DeGray Swizzle by way of violette liqueur and honey.
• Finally, Alex of Stag & Otter expanded his horizons with this theme and took his state's Brandy Old Fashioned into Swizzle land with the Wisconsin Old Fashioned!
• This looked rather lonely with a single image (13 would not work as groups of 2, 3, or 4 without having lucky prime #13 as a solo), so here is the Pinwheel Swizzle from the talented mixologists at Backbar here in Somerville, MA. So in the end, I did offer up 2 of the 4 Swizzles I did leading up to and for the event.
• And of course I missed one that was on Instagram because while they tagged me in the post, I did not pick up that it was for this event. So without further ado, here is WSSTIK's Strawberry Bourbon Basil Swizzle! And smashing things with a big wooden mallet makes things feel better and probably taste better too...

Thank you all for picking up your Bos Lélé or whatever barspoon or doctored up piece of timber that you utilized in its place and giving this classic and showy drink build a go! Please revisit the style especially in high humidity nights when the chilling glass can pick up an epic frost. And thank you all to the Mixology Monday readers who visited this roundup as well as all of the blogs that participated this month.

sinking ship swizzle

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CVIII) was picked by myself, Frederic Yarm of the CocktailVirgin blog. The theme I chose was "Swizzles," and I elaborated on the concept with my description of, "So what is a Swizzle? And what is a swizzle stick? The literary references to Swizzles seem to begin around the mid-18th century with the written definition growing in the early parts of the 20th century. Swizzles began as a Caribbean style of mixing drinks perhaps stemming in Barbados -- mostly cold although there are certainly hot swizzles out there. Unlike say the Martini which is chilled in a mixing glass by gently stirring cubed ice with a spoon and straining into a cocktail glass, most cold Swizzles are built in the glass, topped with crushed ice, and agitated with a rapidly spinning natural swizzle stick (or facsimile) to mix and chill... The Swizzle has had a resurgence starting around 2008 or 2009 as various cocktail supply stores have procured Caribbean sources for these Bois Lélé mixing instruments... Plenty of recipes for these drinks reside in mid-century Trader Vic books and other Tiki-leaning tomes; moreover, modern drinks books have begun to embrace the style as well including the Death & Co. Cocktail Book where their house Swizzle formula was exposed to me a few years before via the Company Swizzle."
I thought about the three Swizzles that I had made earlier in the week, and I decided that the softness of including an aromatized wine of the Puerto Rican Rum Swizzle (and seen in the Death & Co. Swizzle formula) was something that I wanted to incorporate and that the garnish elegance of the Pinwheel Swizzle was something that I wanted to include (as opposed to the starkness of the Martinique Swizzle that began this series). I did like the combination of rhum agricole and absinthe in the Martinique Swizzle though, but how to combine these concepts? One idea that popped into my head was to take the Corpse Reviver #2 and convert it into a r(h)um one akin to the Palliative Potion for Pomona. With the change to rhum agricole as the spirit, I also swapped the lemon for lime, and instead of equal parts, I changed it closer to the one I used in the Corpse Reviver Fizz that best fits the Death & Co. ratios. I then added falernum to round out the Swizzle and make it more tropical in feel; the addition of falernum to orange liqueur brought the combination close to the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club as well. And finally, to add some garnish panache, I modified the boat I used in the Viking Fog Cutter by trimming a lemon wedge and similarly making sails. Since the boat would be sitting on the crushed ice, it did not need to be as water tight as the previous boats were. And to add a surface effect (perhaps a sea of floating blood?), I dashed Peychaud's Bitters on top akin to the Angostura Bitters utilized in my Don't Fight It Swizzle over the summer. When I let one of the Loyal Nine owners try the drink, he noted that he loved how the ship sank in the glass as the liquid level dropped; thus, the Sinking Ship Swizzle name was determined.

Sinking Ship Swizzle
• 1 oz JM Rhum Agricole Blanc
• 1 oz Lillet Blanc
• 1/2 oz Creole Shrubb Orange Liqueur
• 1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
• 1/2 oz Lime Juice
• 1 dash (~12 drops) St. George Absinthe
Build in a Collins glass, and fill with crushed ice. Swizzle to mix and chill, and garnish with 3-4 dashes Peychaud's Bitters and a floated pirate ship made out of citrus peels.

Initially, I utilized the 3/4 oz of lime juice to match the Death & Co. model but this proved too dry with the agricole-style rum, and the amount was dropped to a 1/2 oz. I also repeated the drink for a guest who asked what I had been enjoying lately but otherwise wanted the Dose; therefore, I made him a mezcal variation of this same drink.

So for the 8th time, I get to that awkward point and try to thank the host for running the monthly shindig and I realize that I cannot really thank myself. So all of my gratitude this month goes to the participants of Mixology Monday who swizzle, shake, and stir their way into making the event into a success and for the readership who keeps the energy level high (and frequently finds themself participating one day down the line). And hopefully, the questions of why anyone would want to Swizzle a drink instead of shaking it and topping with crushed ice have been answered, for this glorious technique is one part history and one part fun showmanship. Moreover, it can promote rethinking classic drinks like how the Negroni was transformed into the Red Duster Swizzle.

:: mixology monday announcement ::

MxMo XVIII: Swizzles!

One of the drink styles that I ran with a bit during my bar's Yacht Rock Sundays was the Swizzle, and I began to miss it as Labor Day signaled the end of this weekly event. So during the Fall, I thought that it would make a great idea for Mixology Monday and I waited until the hosting list ran dry. So for April, I will host my eighth event for MxMo 108.

So what is a Swizzle? And what is a swizzle stick? The literary references to Swizzles seem to begin around the mid-18th century with the written definition growing in the early parts of the 20th century. Swizzles began as a Caribbean style of mixing drinks perhaps stemming in Barbados -- mostly cold although there are certainly hot swizzles out there. Unlike say the Martini which is chilled in a mixing glass by gently stirring cubed ice with a spoon and straining into a cocktail glass, most cold Swizzles are built in the glass, topped with crushed ice, and agitated with a rapidly spinning natural swizzle stick (or facsimile) to mix and chill. The idea of a swizzle stick got corrupted through the decades to represent that ornamental stir stick that ranged from generic to branded bar keepsake. However, Charles H. Baker Jr. described it best in The Gentleman's Companion with, "There is a wide cloud of misinformation on [what is a swizzle stick]. The authentic swizzle sticks are the peeled stem of a plant owning, at base, a fan-like branching of roots--the latter cut some 3" long--and looking like small gnarled fingers. This branched end is sunk into the pitcher with ice and drink ingredients, the stem is held vertically between the palms, and rotated smartly by sliding the palms back and forth." Baker conceded in the 1930s that the natural ones were no better than the metal versions to do this job.

The Swizzle has had a resurgence starting around 2008 or 2009 as various cocktail supply stores have procured Caribbean sources for these Bois Lélé mixing instruments with most of them smaller tined than the pitcher-sized ones Baker described. I believe that the first instance that I wrote about on the blog was Marco Dionysos' Chartreuse Swizzle, a circa 2003 recipe that I was introduced to at Drink in early in 2009. And Tales of the Cocktail was littered with tiny ones later that year. Plenty of recipes for these drinks reside in mid-century Trader Vic books and other Tiki-leaning tomes; moreover, modern drinks books have begun to embrace the style as well including the Death & Co. Cocktail Book where their house Swizzle formula was exposed to me a few years before via the Company Swizzle.

For this theme, find a classic or modern Swizzle recipe, whether hot or cold. If the creative mood hits you, take the style in your own direction whether in a Tiki avenue, by reformulating a classic cocktail, or via something more Caribbean in feel. Don't have a traditional Swizzle stick? Do not fret -- I have found that a bar spoon works great in a pinch to do all of the mixing and chilling. Want to bring the Green Swizzle back to life or perhaps turn the Between the Sheets into a Barbados crushed ice delight? Awesome!

Here's how to play:

• Find or concoct a recipe that is prepared by swizzling.
• Make the drink and then post the recipe, a photo, and your thoughts about the libation on your blog, tumblr, or website or on the eGullet Spirits and Cocktails forum.
• Include in your post the MxMo logo (either classic or the special Swizzle edition one) and a link back to both the Mixology Monday and Cocktail Virgin sites. And once the round-up is posted, a link to that summary post would be appreciated.
• Provide a link to your submission in the comment section here, tweet at @cocktailvirgin, or send an email to yarm-at-verizon.net with the word "MxMo" somewhere in the subject line.

The due date is Monday night at midnight, April 18th which I will interpret as whatever gets posted before my next day off (and yes, I will tack on late entries since it is part of the act of cat herding).

Cheers,
Frederic

ankle breaker

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CVII) was picked by Dagreb of the Nihil Utopia blog. The theme he chose for his third time hosting was "Burden of Proof," and he elaborated on the choice with his description of, "My theme this time is overproof. Or rather how you utilize overproofs. Do you sub them into your standards? Save them for accents in particular recipes? Pour them into ceramic volcanoes and set them on fire? Reserve them only for making liqueurs? Whatever it be I'm looking for your recipes that use overproofs as a base or as modifier in a noticeable -WAIT- "What's an overproof," you ask? "Well, uh, yeah..." First let's decide what is proof. It's my party so I say 50% abv is proof. Above that is overproof. You disagree? Host your own party! (No really host a MxMo, it'll be fun.) So BIB [100 proof Barreled in Bond] liquors are exempt this month but lots of bottles are fair game! Whether it boldly proclaims its strength on the label or nonchalantly lets you discover its strength for yourself use that bottle that packs a punch in a drink this month."
I originally sought out to find something overproof in the Death & Co. Cocktail Book or a recipe that called for navy strength gin, but I struggled to find anything that I had not made yet (but could make). So I turned back to my crutch for overproof -- namely, Tiki. One of the bars in town has the Ankle Breaker on their menu, but I had always written it off as a rum High Hat. But isn't everything a bit more magical with 151 proof rum? And besides, the combination was intriguing in the Campari High Hat, the Tiger Blood. The Ankle Breaker as described in Beachbum Berry's Remixed was created at the Swamp Room of the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, circa the 1950s, and the recipe resurfaced a decade or so later at the Lake at California's Marina Del Ray Warehouse Restaurant as the Barrel of Rum.

Ankle Breaker
• 1 oz Amber 151 Proof Rum (Don Q)
• 1 oz Cherry Heering
• 1 oz Lemon Juice
• 1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Shake with crushed ice and pour into a double old fashioned glass or a copper tankard (here, a Tiki mug with a reservoir inserted and filled with 1/4 oz more 151 proof rum that was ignited).

Once built, the drink had a cherry aroma that led into a lemon and cherry sip. Next the rum filled the sip before giving way to more cherry notes on the finish. Nothing all that exotic here but still a classic and satisfying combination of flavors. When I posted the recipe on my Instagram, a reader commented that he drops the simple to keep things from being too sweet; however, I felt that the lemon juice balanced the cherry liqueur, and the simple worked to balance the overproof rum (akin to the amount of simple to balance 2 oz of 80 proof spirits in an Old Fashioned). If the spirit were not overproof, I would definitely agree that the extra sugar was not necessary, but alcohol concentration was rather high before enough ice had melted. Besides as a potable ingredient, I utilized the overproof rum rather gratuitously to make a mini volcano flame in the surface of the drink. Originally, it was going to be in an inverted spent lemon shell half, but it tore at the nipple during the inversion process, so a 3/4x1/2 oz jigger worked rather well here. So overproof spirits factored in two ways: concentration of flavor and flammability for showmanship.

So thank you to Dagreb for hosting Mixology Monday once again and cheers to all of this month's participants and readers for keeping this event going for the 107th time!

queen of the lava beds

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CVI) was picked by Joel DiPippa of the Southern Ash blog. The theme he chose was "Spring Break," and he elaborated on the concept with his description of, "As we look past the frost in the air for the arrival of Spring, I wanted to challenge you with the theme of Spring Break!.. The best part of Spring Break is that it means so many things to so many different people, so I have some high expectations this month. Yes, Tiki-heads, I am looking at you. I want all of you to dig deep, steeled by last month's MxMo, and find your spring break drink! What sort of drinks do you enjoy when you start to break out of your winter shell? Do you crave a return to gin and tonics? Is there a drink that calls to you as the weather warms and the sun creeps through the sky longer and longer? Perhaps there is a drink that you fondly recall from your days of being a callow youth on Spring Break that led you down this primrose cocktail path?.. This is the month to share those warm weather finds!"
While wondering what to do for this Mixology Monday, the drink came to me by a need for a Valentine's Day drink for the Loyal Nine holiday menu. I wanted to do a Tiki drink for two that would help people not only romantically share a beverage but help to escape Winter itself. Actually, there were two special Tiki item menus as the cold weather the night before on the 13th depleted a whole week's worth of Hot Buttered Rum batter, and I decided to supplement the two servings left with the 1941 Hot Zombie for the chilly weather expected for the 14th. For the drink for two idea, I discovered that the biggest glass set we had was a 16 ounce "coupe/goblet" glass. The idea of trying my hand at a blender drink to fill this glass seemed promising, and luckily, the kitchen was kind enough to lend me one for the evening. My trial run the night before provided an interesting drink that I will publish in a few days, and I tweaked the recipe here to split the three rum blend to a mix of white rum and pisco and to swap out the Don's Spices #2 (equal parts vanilla syrup and allspice dram) for falernum. I debated between two names, and I decided that the earlier version would get the more Polynesian-inspired one, and this one would be dubbed "Queen of the Lava Beds." While that certainly sounds Hawaiian in its own right, the name is in reference to Lou Graham, a late 19th century madam that ran a successful bordello in the skid row (a/k/a lava beds) region of Seattle that I discovered through Boothby's Madame Lou cocktail.

Queen of the Lava Beds
• 2 oz Privateer Silver Rum
• 2 oz Barsol Pisco
• 1 oz Velvet Falernum
• 1 oz Honey Syrup (1:1)
• 1 oz Lime Juice
• 1 oz Pineapple Juice
• 2 light dashes Angostura Bitters
• 2 dash (~20-25 drops total) St. George Absinthe
Blend with 3/4 cup (6 oz) crushed ice for 5-10 seconds, pour into a 16 oz glass (or Tiki mug), and top with crushed ice (around 1/4 cup). Add a pair of straws, and garnish with a floated spent half lime shell partially filled with Hamilton's 151 Proof Demerara Rum that was ignited. This drink serves 2 and can easily be scaled down for solo drinking as well as up for three-or-more-somes.

It was pretty amazing the looks that were garnered as the drink was paraded across the dining room as well as the excitement on the faces of the recipient pairs. Indeed, one drink sold the next just from that flaming display (especially if it was at the two-top next to them). Part of the drink idea could be traced back to the Chappaquiddick where honey syrup and falernum were prominently matched together in a Daiquiri format. That duo has appeared in other drinks including the more recent Heaven is the Place as well as older ones like the Puka Punch. The pineapple juice also triggered the idea of pisco, and the San Francisco treat of Pisco Punch was solidified by Madame Lou's connection to San Francisco which is where she frequently visited and later died and where her tribute cocktail was first published.

So thank you to Joel for getting us all to escape the winter doldrums by thinking about warmer days and instilling an escapist mentality. And thanks to all of the other Monday Mixologists who bought their plane tickets, packed their precious tools, glassware, and ingredients, and set off to participate in this event!

hot tiger's milk

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CV) was picked by the good Doctor of Doc Elliot's Mixology blog. The theme he chose was "Brace Yourself," and he elaborated on the choice with his description of, "Now that the holidays are behind us, we get to deal with the rest of winter... that magnificent season of grey skies, blustery winds, freezing sleet and blowing snow. January is Mixology Monday #105 and we're definitely talking cocktails. Winter usually evokes scenes of roaring fires with glasses or mugs filled with warming liquid fortifying us against the cold and damp. Winter provides the shared universal experience that spans language, geography and the centuries -- that moment just before you step out into the cold; to walk to the bus stop, hit the ski slope, shovel the snow or feed the livestock. So what adult beverages can best prepare the body and steel the will for that moment when we go forth into Winter?"
Winter drinks make me think of two directions: hot drinks or thick flavorful egg drinks (or both, like the Tom & Jerry). Two Mixology Mondays ago when I made the Viking Fog Cutter, I declared, "Given my Tiki momentum which will go as long as my mint patch survives the colder weather..."; true, my mint patch did last weeks later than normal this season but it did die off around New Years. But does Tiki need to end? Pegu Blog Doug only begins to start his Tiki adventures on February 1st, so why not continue on? The impetus for the Tiki idea was when thinking about hot drinks, I remember spotting several in Jeff Berry's books. The one I chose, the Hot Tiger's Milk, was from Sippin' Safari, and Berry attributes the recipe to Don the Beachcomber back in 1937. In essence, the Hot Tiger's Milk is akin to a Hot Buttered Rum with the butter batter in the classic also including coconut cream and honey but not having as much spice as many of the classic Hot Buttered Rums do (and certainly not as many as the recipe I provide in that link that has 4 of the 10 house spices in the magical butter batter at Loyal Nine listed). Berry fully admitted that this recipe was his adaptation since Lopez Coconut Cream was not invented until 1953 but it works so much better than the original's coconut milk and sugar. Hot drinks, tropical-themed escapism, booze, and spice? Sounds like the perfect way to brace myself against Winter.

Hot Tiger's Milk
• 1 1/2 oz Amber Virgin Island Rum (El Dorado 5 Year)
• 3 tsp Tiger Milk Batter (*)
• 1 strip Orange Peel
• 3 whole Cloves (5 here)
• 4 oz Boiling Water
Build in a 6 oz mug or single old fashioned glass and stir to mix. I studded the orange peel with the cloves and added two more that were above the water line to make 5 cloves total. I also microwaved the drink briefly to help to melt the coconut fat into the mix.
(*) Batter is 4 parts Lopez Coconut Cream, 1 part softened butter, 1 part clover honey. 2, 1/2, 1/2 tsp, respectively, will work for making one drink.

The Hot Tiger's Milk greeted the nose with a butter and honey-floral aroma. The rum's caramel danced with the honey on the sip, and the swallow roared with rum, orange, and clove notes. The flavors, especially the orange and clove, built over time as they steeped into the Toddy.

Thanks to the Doc Elliot for hosting this month and giving people ways to combat seasonal affective disorder without all of those bright lamps or unnatural pills. And thanks to the rest of the Mixology Monday participants for bracing themselves against the cold and getting up the gumption to participate once again in this monthly online cocktail party of sorts. Cheers!

vesper

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo CIV) was picked by Dagreb of the Nihil Utopia blog. The theme he chose was "Forgiving Cocktails," and he elaborated on the concept with his description of, "It could be the antithesis of a drink so delicately structured that even 1/8 oz too much or too little of an ingredient causes a trainwreck. I'm not suggesting all out free-pouring but perhaps you've come across a recipe that can roll with the punches of an over/under pour now and again. Perhaps you're at a ballroom or a hotel and the unenthusiastic and/or fresh-faced (bar) staff doesn't inspire confidence. They may not know Campari from calamari but if you want a cocktail what do you do? Order something that can't go too wrong. A Manhattan? Perhaps a Negroni?... This idea of forgiving cocktails first began for me when one night I swapped the 'bottom shelf' for the 'top middle shelf' and was delighted by the results. It wasn't exactly the same but it was delicious none the less! The idea continued with other drinks that welcomed whichever brand I was pouring... Whatever it may be find or invent a drink you feel is a forgiving cocktail and share the results."

While looking up another cocktail that utilized gin and Lillet, I was reminded of the Vesper. The Vesper is one of the drinks in the world that confuses me to no end. The initial time I took an order for one at my first professional bar, I could not remember whether there was more gin or more vodka, so I made it equal parts. Then I learned the drink recipe via the illogical idea that there is only a small amount of vodka to weaken the flavors of the botanicals in the gin. I could see a vodka lover preferring 3 parts vodka to a single part of gin to make something as boldly flavor as say Plymouth out of Beefeater, but could any one detect gin diluted by 25%? Well, that part is symbolic for the Vesper is named after a double agent in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale and appearing British with a secret Russian ingredient in the mix is kind of crafty in a literary way. The Kina Lillet part is intriguing to me since today's Lillet or Cocchi Americano is rather light on the quinine, and I do not see many people getting excited about a gin-Lillet Martini such as the Richmond Cocktail. However, throw vodka into that with even less flavor and people request it with glee? And request it shaken? I have told guests that I will trust an author's take on mixology when an author will take my advice on how he should develop his book's plot. In the remake of the Casino Royale movie, James Bond is agitated about losing at the gambling table and his drink request is particular, but I see his shaken aspect as a sign of frustration instead of wanting a smooth cocktail like it should be. The more I thought about the cocktail and my opinions on it, the more I realized that I had never had more than a straw-taste of ones with Cocchi Americano and one with Kina l'Avion d'Or and that I ought to sink into my own glassful to contemplate it.

Vesper
"Three measures of Gordon's [gin], one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel."
• 1 1/2 oz Death's Door Gin
• 1/2 oz Barr Hill Vodka
• 1/4 oz Cocchi Americano
Stir with ice and garnish with a lemon twist.

The Vesper fulfills that idea of "forgiving cocktails" since the exact ratios are not incredibly important and probably an equal parts drink would be delightful (albeit a hint sweeter and more citrus-wine flavored). Or perhaps fitting it to the Drink bar's 2:1/2:1/2 formula? That would probably taste about the same as the literary recipe. And then there are the ingredients. Kina Lillet is defunct and few quinquinas of that style have a crisp quinine signature to them, so using Lillet Blanc, Cocchi Americano, or Kina l'Avion d'Or are all punts. Is Gordon's gin the same now as it was then? Here, I opted for the quirky Death's Door gin with its minimalist botanical blend and grain-forward distillate. And what about the vodka? Was it as clean then as it is today with its hyper-marketed dozen distillations and ultra-premium multiple filtration steps? Moreover, what about the proof dropping over the years to the point that most gins and vodkas are only 80? Instead of worrying about that, I went for a more flavorful vodka from Caledonia Spirits that distills fermented honey to donate earthy and floral components. True, I killed the British and Russian symbolism by using solely American products (save for the aromatized wine component that is), but I was after flavor considerations to make this mix more appealing to my palate. Surely most non-literary and non-movie buff drinkers would forgive my changes and perhaps some of my opinions? Maybe not, but it is the weekend before Mixology Monday and my deadline convinces me that I am rather forgiven.
At least I should be forgiven for giving this cocktail a whirl for once and for taking a photo utilizing an elegant piece of glassware from around the time the Casino Royale book was written. Once prepared, my Vesper shared lemon, floral, and juniper aromas. Next, honey, bready, and white wine notes filled the sip, and the swallow gave forth juniper from the gin and citrus peel from the Cocchi Americano and the gin's coriander. With my spirit choices, the drink was certainly not flabby or uninteresting, and it had a lot more depth than a cold glass of gin.

So thank you to Dagreb for picking the theme to challenge us to be less uptight about drinking. And may he forgive all of us for our choices this month and may he forgive the rest of you who did not pick up the mixing glass and keyboard by Monday night to participate in this 104th Mixology Monday. Finally, thanks again to all of you hosts and participants who have kept this nerdy online cocktail party alive and well for all these years!