forty virtues

The theme for this month's Mixology Monday (MxMo LVIII) was picked by Filip Jach of the Adventures in Cocktails blog. Filip chose the theme of "Niche Spirits" where the goal was to present "any cocktail where the base ingredient is not bourbon, gin, rum, rye, tequila, vodka etc. So whether you choose Mezcal or Armagnac get creative and showcase your favorite niche spirit."

For this theme, I was bandying around a bunch of different spirit options. Then on Monday, we were at Drink here in Boston and I spotted bartender California Gold. I wished her luck on her "No Boys Allowed" event on Wednesday and asked her what she was planning to do. The event was the kick off of a series celebrating and promoting female bartenders, and despite the name, male guests were definitely allowed. The problem with this one was that it was being held at Brooklyn's Dram which made it a bit difficult for me to attend on a school night. Cali and bartender Tonia Guffey each crafted a menu of original drinks for the event. When Cali showed me her menu (elegantly designed by Rain Robertson), my eyes zoomed in on the Forty Virtues which featured Armagnac. I asked Cali if I could acquire the recipe for this event and she gladly agreed.

The Forty Virtues was a drink Cali created for the French Spirits Soirée hosted by the Dizzy Fizz at the Astor Center in Manhattan. The recipe featured not one but four French spirits -- Armagnac, Dolin Blanc Vermouth, Bonal, and Green Chartreuse:

Forty Virtues
• 1 1/2 oz Armagnac (I used Larressingle Armagnac VSOP)
• 1/2 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
• 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
• 1/2 oz Bonal
• 1 dash Orange Bitters (I used Regan's)
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

The drink's name makes reference to a 14th century quote about Armagnac. Prior Vital Dufour wrote a medical treaty where he described the health benefits of the spirit. Dufour wrote, "This water, if taken medically and soberly is said to have 40 virtues... It enlivens the spirit, if taken in moderation, recalls the past to memory, renders men joyous, preserves youth and delays senility." The virtues also include curing hepatitis, gout, cankers, and fistula -- yes, fistula. Well, if it did not, one would at least die happily. So Andrea and I decided on Wednesday night, in solidarity with the girls at Dram, to raise a glass of the Forty Virtues to our collective healths.
The Forty Virtues cocktail proved to be the delightful bitter medley of gentian (from the Bonal) and Chartreuse notes coupled with the Armagnac's flavor and heat. The Bonal also came across as a grapey nose and a mildly grape sip, and the Dolin Blanc surely helped to soften the drink a touch. Overall, it was rather balanced as no one flavor was overpowering in the drink. When Andrea commented that it had "a very old fashioned feel to it," I replied that it was very much like an Armagnac Bijou with the sweet vermouth exchanged for the drier Bonal sweetened by the blanc vermouth.

So cheers to Filip for hosting this month's Mixology Monday and to Paul Clarke for keeping the torch burning on this fine event series!

white heather

1/2 Booth's High & Dry (1 1/2 oz Ransom Old Tom Gin)
1/6 Cointreau (1/2 oz)
1/6 Pineapple Juice (1/2 oz)
1/6 Dry Vermouth (1/2 oz Noilly Prat)
1 dash Absinthe, if required only (1 barspoon Pernod)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Last Friday, I flipped through the Café Royal Cocktail Book in search of a nightcap. When I spotted the White Heather, I was curious as to what "Booth's High & Dry" was. My guesses of a whiskey or a gin were somewhat both right for it was a London Dry gin that had been aged in oak barrels. For a substitute, Seagram's aged gin was recommended; since I lacked that, I wondered if Ransom's gin would work. While it is an Old Tom instead of a London Dry, it does have barrel notes and some exquisite flavors that make many drinks taste better. Another oddity was that the recipe included juice yet specified that the drink to be stirred. I followed along, but I cannot imagine this drink being negatively affected by shaking except for the froth that shaking pineapple often produces. Finally, if the recipe suggests that absinthe should only be added if required, then whether I added it is pretty much a rhetorical question.
The pineapple and absinthe's anise provided much of the White Heather's aroma. An orange sip from the Cointreau was followed by the botanical notes of the gin, absinthe, and dry vermouth. The pineapple was a little hard to pinpoint in the drink and could have been pairing up with the Cointreau on the sip or possibly the absinthe and other herbal notes on the robust swallow. Perhaps the Ransom Old Tom was a little too flavorful and a regular London Dry gin would have worked better in terms of letting the pineapple shine more.

[brautigan]

2 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
1/2 oz Galliano l'Autentico
2 oz Orange Juice

Build in a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with an orange twist and add a straw.
For my second drink at Rendezvous last week, bartender Scott Holliday said he was tinkering with the Slow Comfortable Screw Against The Wall-like drinks and tried to give some glory to the fallen genre. When Scott said that he thought about the Richard Brautigan poem "Fuck me like fried potatoes" instead of a Wallbanger or other, I was intrigued.

Fuck Me Like Fried Potatoes
by Richard Brautigan

Fuck me like fried potatoes
on the most beautifully hungry
morning of my God-damn life.

So would this drink make a good breakfast drink on that most beautiful morning? The drink started with an orange and vanilla aroma and these notes followed in the sip. The swallow contained the whiskey's heat and the Galliano's spice especially the star anise. The Rittenhouse Rye contributed a lot of flavor and backbone to the drink that the classic Harvey Wallbanger sadly lacks. In a way, the drink reminded me a bit of the Monkey Gland with the orange and herbal notes, especially since I had watched Robert Hess' video about that drink earlier that day.

el rico rickey

2 oz Lunazul Reposado Tequila
1 oz Rhubarb Juice (*)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Build on ice. Top with soda water and stir. Garnish with a lime wheel and add a straw.
(*) This was a sweetened juice and no heat was utilized; I did not ask how much sugar was added.

Last Thursday, Andrea and I went to Rendezvous in Central Square for dinner. Bartender Scott Holliday had just revamped the menu and added a few new drinks including the "El Rico" Rickey. Scott mentioned that it was his first tequila drink to ever appear on the menu. Moreover, Scott commented that "Rickey purists will harumph" because it is not a true Rickey; Rickeys as they were created in the late 19th century contain little or no sweetener to balance the tart lime juice. Also, Rickeys often include the half shell of the squeezed lime to be dropped in the drink. Regardless, I was not going to let a tequila-rhubarb drink slip by me; the last one I had was quite delightful.
The "El Rico" Rickey began with a fresh lime aroma complemented by some agave notes. Despite the sweetener added to the drink, the sip was still crisp and limey; perhaps the tartness of the rhubarb juice helped to counter the added sugar. The tequila and rhubarb flavors appeared on the swallow and pleasantly lingered on the palate for a bit. Just like my previous experience with the pairing, rhubarb and tequila definitely proved to be a delightful match.

division bell

1 oz Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
3/4 oz Aperol
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a grapefruit twist (I substituted an orange one).

After the Greenbriar Cocktail, I began flipping through Food & Wine: Cocktails 2011 and spotted the Division Bell. Phil Ward created this drink for the opening menu of Manhattan's Mayaheul and named it after the Pink Floyd album that he was listening to a lot at the time. What drew me in was the Division Bell's Last Word vibe; considering that Phil's Final Ward was one of the first Last Word variations I tried, it is indeed within his style to play with that formula. Moreover, it is not the first mezcal Last Word-like drinks I have had, for I recall enjoying Ted Kilpatrick's La Palabra at No. 9 Park last autumn.
The Division Bell started with an aroma of citrus and smoke. The sip contained a sweet lime flavor with an increasing amount of Aperol notes as the drink warmed up. Next, the drink finished drier and funkier with the mezcal and Maraschino presenting themselves on the swallow. The Division Bell was definitely less herbal than a mezcal Last Word for Aperol is sweeter and less complex than green Chartreuse. The extra sweetness of Aperol did function well to balance the rougher aspects of the mezcal though.

greenbriar cocktail

2/3 Sherry (2 oz Lustau East India Solera)
1/3 Dry Vermouth (1 oz Noilly Prat)
1 dash Peach Bitters (Fee Brothers)
1 sprig Mint

Shake with ice and double strain into a cocktail glass. Lightly muddling the mint followed by stirring would work well too. I garnished with an additional sprig of mint.

Last Wednesday, I recalled my conversation with Lineage's Ryan Lotz about Mint Juleps. When I mentioned that we had made the sherry and yellow Chartreuse-containing Platonic Julep last year, Ryan replied that he loved Sherry Juleps and that Toro serves them at their bar. I then set out to find the sherry and mint drink that I had spotted a few weeks prior. I soon found it, the Greenbriar Cocktail, in Harry McElhone's Barflies and Cocktails. The Greenbriar Cocktail is not a Julep, but appears to be a sherry and dry vermouth version of the gin-based Derby down to the inclusion of the peach bitters.
To balance the dry vermouth, I reached for one of our sweeter sherries, Lustau East India Solera which is a combination of a sweet Pedro Ximénez and a dry Oloroso. The mint in the drink donated much of the drink's aroma. The sip was a slightly sweet grape flavor that was chased by the sherry's nuttiness, the mint, and a lingering peach note. The swallow had a slight degree of bitterness from shaking the mint with ice, and perhaps lightly muddling the mint followed by stirring with ice would provide a more pleasing flavor. Overall, the Greenbriar Cocktail would probably make for a nice summer aperitif.

viking funeral

1 oz North Shore Aquavit
1 oz Luxardo Amaro Abano
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 Egg White

Dry shake, add ice, and shake again. Double strain into a wine glass.

While finishing up my Green Jacket at the Whistler in Chicago, bartender Paul McGee recommended that I try the Viking Funeral. With an egg white Sour base, the drink used a combination of North Shore's Aquavit and Luxardo Amaro Abano as the spirit. For the former, I remember contacting and hunting out Sonja Kassebaum of North Shore Distillery (and the Thinking of Drinking blog) during Tales of the Cocktail in 2009 for a sample of their aquavit, and it was definitely worth the effort. At first, I was a little surprised to see it being served since we never see it on menus, until I realized that we were a stone's throw from the distillery. Hopefully, their spirits make it out east for their gin is one of my favorites. The latter, the Luxardo Amaro Abano, has been described as cardamom, cinnamon, and bitter orange peel forward. Given the egg white and aquavit components, perhaps another dark amaro like Averna or Rammazzotti could be substituted in a pinch without altering the drink too much.
The Viking Funeral presented a caraway and dark herbal aroma from the aquavit and amaro, respectively. While the sip was lemony, the swallow was a pleasing caraway flavor supplemented by a rich herbal swallow from the liqueur. Shortly after finishing the Viking Funeral, we had to bid adieu for it was time to make the drive over to Midway Airport to catch our flight home, and luckily there was no traffic so we made it there in time. Hopefully, Andrea will write up the drink she had, the Roman Spring, in the next few days. And thank you to Paul and the other bartenders at the Whistler for their hospitality during our whirlwind visit.

green jacket

1 1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Housemade Ginger Liqueur
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 dash Scrappy's Celery Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a highball glass filled with fresh ice cubes. Top with (1+ oz) ginger beer and stir. Add a straw and garnish with a few additional drops of celery bitters.

For Memorial Day weekend, Andrea and I flew out to Chicago to visit her family in Indiana. On returning to Chicago before catching the flight home, we paid a visit to the Whistler. Bartender Paul McGee greeted us at the door when the bar opened at 6; we actually got there a little early and waited since our window of opportunity was only a little more than an hour. While waiting for the Whistler to open, I checked out the menu on the bar's website and spotted the Green Jacket, a quirky Cynar highball that caught my attention. Once inside and we were handed menus, I quickly noticed that the Green Jacket had disappeared; Paul surmised that Chicagoans had not developed as big of a taste for Cynar as Boston has. Therefore, they recently rotated the drink off the menu, but he was quite happy to make it for me. One of the ingredients in the drink was a housemade ginger liqueur made from ginger juice, overproof vodka, and simple syrup, but I imagine that Domaine de Canton or ginger syrup would make a decent substitution in a pinch.
The Scrappy's Celery Bitters contributed greatly to the Green Jacket's nose and set forth the herbal undercurrents in the drink early. Next, the sip was a crisp lemon and ginger flavor. The ginger continued on in the swallow along with the Cynar, pineapple, and a hint of celery. The trio of pineapple, Cynar, and ginger was a strong flavor combination that made the drink a success. Moreover, the Cynar and pineapple pairing reminded me of the excellent match Averna and pineapple made in the Averna Pineapple Shrub and Haverna.

thin mint julep

2 oz Fernet Branca
1 oz Crème de Cacao

Lightly muddle 2 sprigs of mint in some of the crème de cacao. Add crushed ice and the rest of the ingredients. Stir and top off with more ice. Garnish with 2 sprigs of mint and add a straw.

Two Thursdays ago, we went over to Lineage for Andrea's birthday. One of the drinks that I had stemmed from a discussion with bartender Ryan Lotz about Mint Juleps. The conversation led to the creation of a chocolate and minty variation that utilized crème de cacao and Fernet Branca in addition to the mint. As I learned from the Hansen Special and the Fernet Alexander, Fernet Branca pairs exceptionally well with crème de cacao.
Indeed, the Julep was chocolate and mint with extra herbal complexity stemming from the Fernet; while I got a lingering mint note, Andrea perceived a lingering chocolate one. Like in the drinks mentioned above, the crème de cacao worked both to soften and complement the Fernet Branca. When Andrea declared that "It tastes like a Girl Scout cookie!", the drink was dubbed the Thin Mint Julep after their Thin Mints cookies.