pleasant evening

3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Crème de Cassis (Massenez)
2 dash Peach Bitters (Fee's)

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass with 3 oz dry sparkling wine (flute with 3 oz Willm Blanc de Blancs), and garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Two Tuesdays ago, I was in the mood for something light, so I sought out The Art of the Shim by Dinah Sanders. There, I was lured in by Andrew Mitchell's Pleasant Evening that he created at San Francisco's Rickhouse in 2009. Once prepared, the drink shared a grapefruit oil aroma with a hint of dark berry from the cassis. Next, a crisp and carbonated grapefruit and white wine sip transitioned into a black currant swallow with a peach finish.

:: 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

frosty the julep

2 oz Old Granddad Bonded Bourbon
1/2 oz Peppermint Tea Syrup
1/2 oz St. George Geijer Glögg (*)

Build in a Julep cup, fill with crushed ice, and stir. Garnish with a cinnamon stick, sage leaf, mint sprig, and rosemary sprig, dust leaves with powdered sugar, and add a straw.
(*) Here, the drink was made with a house glögg.
I was about to be one and done and head home, but a mismake occurred and there was an extra Frosty the Julep that needed a home. The drink was created by bartender Josh Cross as his Winter-inspired Julep "because Frosty melted." It was one of the most elegantly garnished libations since the Meyer's Cobbler. Of all of the herbs, the mint was the most aromatic here. The sip was malt from the Bourbon joined by tingly mint notes from the tea, and the rest of the Bourbon and mint notes filled the swallow along with spice from the glögg.

left hand of darkness

1 1/2 oz Jim Beam Black Bourbon
3/4 oz oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth (*)
1/2 oz Campari
1/4 oz Cynar

Build in a rocks glass, add ice, and stir to mix and chill.
(*) here, it was a combination of Contratto Rosso and Dolin Rouge sweet vermouths.

After my shift two Sundays ago, I was in need of a stiff drink or two before facing my dying feline companion, Marconi named after the Marconi Wireless. In between work and home was the perfect spot, Backbar, where I found a seat in front of bartenders Josh Cross and Kat Lamper. For a first drink, I asked Josh for the Left Hand of Darkness that was a Boulevardier riff subtitled, "so balanced you won't know what to think." Kat Lamper later explained her creation as being a tribute to Ursula Le Guin and her book of the same name, as well as being a riff on Milk and Honey and Little Branch's Left Hand (but darker from the Cynar).
The Left Hand of Darkness began with a dark malt and grape aroma that led into a grape and caramel sip. Next, whiskey, smoky char, and bitter orange on the swallow finished with funky herbal notes from the Cynar.

accidental tourist

1 oz Rhum Barbancourt 8 Year
1 oz Peychaud's Bitters
1/2 oz Fernet Branca
1/2 oz Lime Cordial (Rose's)
1/2 oz 2:1 Raw Sugar Syrup
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

After my shift two Saturdays ago, I returned home with my purchase of grapefruits to make another drink from the Tipsy Texan book. The recipe was for the Accidental Tourist that the text seemed to suggest was created by the author, David Alan. The inspiration here were the series of Angostura Bitters-heavy drinks such as the Trinidad Sour; there was definitely a series of Peychaud's Bitters-heavy recipes created in Boston around that time as well such as Antoine's Demise and Fishnets & Fangs.
Despite the freakish appearance of the recipe, the only intense standout here was the Fernet Branca that first appeared as a menthol note on the bouquet. Next, the sip was citrussy from the grapefruit and lime, and the swallow shared rum, anise, and menthol flavors.

the seaplane

1 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
2 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Shake with ice and strain into a flute glass pre-rinsed with absinthe (Butterfly). Top with Champagne (2 oz Willm Blanc de Blancs).
After my shift two Fridays ago, I turned to Sasha Petraske: Regarding Cocktails for a sparkling wine cocktail idea. There, I was lured in by the Seaplane crafted by Joseph Schwartz. For the book, Joseph pondered what he would make for Sasha, and he decided up a variation on one of Sasha's favorite classics, the French 75. Once in the glass, the Seaplane provided anise and other herbal notes to the nose. Next, a carbonated lemon and white wine sip led into a juniper and orange-tinged swallow with light absinthe elements on the finish.

black sea swizzle

1 oz JM Rhum Agricole Blanc
1/2 oz Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Build in a Collins glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Add a straw, float 1/4 oz Fernet Branca (photo shows 1/2 oz which is for braver folk and 1 bsp might be better for others), and garnish with a citrus peel boat. Adding the straw before floating the Fernet Branca makes for a clean first sip.
For drink of the day two weeks ago, the week's theme was Fernet Branca. As I was setting up the bar, I thought about how the low sugar content of Fernet makes it great for floating such as in the Benton Park Swizzle and Fratelli Sling. I also considered Fernet's ability to fit into Tiki and tropical drinks such as the Free Rider. The Swizzle concept stuck and I recalled the Sinking Ship Swizzle that reminded me of blood in the water given the Peychaud's Bitters float. With the blackness of the Fernet, the name the Black Sea Swizzle seemed to tie everything together.

wooden ships

1 oz + 1 bsp Neisson Rhum Agricole Reserve Special (~1.7 oz Depaz)
1 scant oz Cynar (~1.4 oz)
1 scant bsp Maple Syrup (~1.4 bsp)
2 dash Bittermens Mole Bitters (3 dash)

Stir with ice and strain into an Old Fashioned glass with fresh ice.
The day that I got home from Kentucky, my copy of David Alan's Tipsy Texan arrived. Two drink recipes quickly caught my attention, but I could not make one since I lacked a grapefruit to juice, so I opted for the Wooden Ships by Jason Stevens of Austin. The combination of rum and Cynar reminded me of Scott Holliday's Rum Scaffa, and here, there were added rich notes from chocolate bitters and maple. In the glass, the Wooden Ships proffered a grassy aroma from the rhum agricole with a hint of herbal and caramel notes from the Cynar. The caramel continued on into the sip, and the swallow gave forth grassy, minty, and funky flavors with a maple and chocolate finish.

christmas in prison

2 oz Laird's Apple Brandy
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1/4 oz Vanilla Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a 10 oz beer glass with 4 oz Coors Banquet Beer. Top with ice and garnish with a lemon twist.

After my stop at Rye, I continued on to the Silver Dollar in Butchertown. When I had asked the bartender at Rye how much a two bedroom apartment runs in Louisville, he gave the highs and lows and told me that he paid around $800 for a place in Butchertown, and he was lucky for the wind blew the right way. In the mile and a quarter walk to the Silver Dollar, I quickly understood what he meant for the neighborhood's name reflects the present, not just the past. While the Highlands were the "Keep Louisville Weird" section, the Butchertown bars had a similar but very different comfortable vibe; it was more of a neighborhood and industry-friendly part of town.
For a first drink, I asked the bartender for the Christmas in Prison. When I inquired about the recipe, I was greeted with the statement that it was "in her contract not to tell the recipes." This took me back for a second, but I had already watched her jigger the drink and was confident that my taste buds and drink-building sense could confirm or approximate the amounts. For example, the allspice dram and vanilla both were partial fills on a 1/2 oz jigger and I figured that this was akin to Don's Spice #2. In the glass, the lemon twist provided most of the aroma, and the sip was carbonated and malty with a hint of citrus. Finally, the swallow was apple, allspice, and vanilla flavors. For my next round, I requested a local porter and a Heaven's Hill Bonded pour; I was alerted that the Bourbon special of the night was $3 for a J.T.S. Brown bonded pour. Yes, indeed. And in homage to the aromas on the walk over (and not the staff), "That'll do pig, that'll do."