[whiskey maple]

2 oz Sazerac Rye
3/4 oz Macallan Amber Liqueur
2 oz Sidre Doux Sparkling Cider

Stir the rye and liqueur with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with cider and garnish with an orange twist. Measurements are approximate as the ingredients were free poured.
For my last drink at the Beehive, I asked for a recommendation from Nate for something with dark spirits and ended up off the menu for this drink that I believe the bar manager Chris created. Nate described the drink as a Manhattan variant which used Macallan Amber, a Scotch-based liqueur flavored with maple syrup and pecans, as a substitute for the richness and sweetness of Italian vermouth. The Amber provided a very tasty maple flavor but still kept the drink from being overly sweet, unlike maple syrup might have done. The cider choice did add some extra sweetness to the drink, but the interplay of the the apple flavors with the maple and nut was quite welcomed.

yellow jacket

1 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1/3 oz Lemon Juice
Mumm Napa Champagne

Add ingredients to a champagne flute and top off with sparkling wine. Garnish with a lemon twist. The drink was free poured so measurements are approximate.

Last night, Andrea gave me a call after her hair appointment in the South End and we decided to meet up at the Beehive. After recently having a sparkling cider drink at Rendezvous and a beer-float drink at Eastern Standard, I kept in theme and chose a drink off of the Beehive's champagne cocktail list. Nate the bartender enthusiastically replied to my request by declaring that the Yellow Jacket was his favorite one off that part of the list. The nose of the drink was full of lemon oil goodness, while the cocktail itself was surprisingly crisp perhaps due to the wine choice or the lemon juice. Andrea even commented that it was drier than she expected it given the ingredients. The yellow Chartreuse and St. Germain gave the drink some complexity in addition to some bitter and floral notes. While champagne drinks are not very standard fair for me, this one did not disappoint and may encourage me to try some more in the future.

[myrtle point]

1 1/2 oz Old Weller 107 Proof Bourbon
3/4 oz Mirto
3/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
2 dashes Bittermen's Grapefruit Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist orange peel over the top and drop in.

For my second drink at Eastern Standard on Monday, I asked Hugh what he had been tinkering with, and he replied that he knew what he was going to make me. Without a hint, he was off preparing my drink. As the base spirit, he went with a high proof Bourbon to cut through the sweetness of the two liqueurs. The end result was kind of like the Manhattan variant the Green Point. Instead of the richness and spiciness of Punt e Mes vermouth, the Mirto added a thick wave of flavor and bitterness. The drink was a great sipping drink and required a bit of time to savor the intriguing complexities and the heat.

[indian pale artichoke cocktail]

1 1/2 oz Cynar
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Pimento (Allspice) Dram
2 dashes Fee's Orange Bitters
Pinch Salt
2 oz Harpoon IPA

Stir all ingredients on ice save for the beer. Strain into a coupe and float with the IPA.
After the vermouth class on Monday, I walked down to Eastern Standard to meet Andrea. I got there before her and found a pair of seats in front of Hugh Fiore. Hugh had remembered my challenge from two weeks prior for a beer-floated cocktail akin to a champagne cocktail, and this time he had prepared an answer. He took a cocktail that he had served Andrea in the past and found that the hoppiness of the IPA gave the drink some extra added notes. Indeed, the hops complemented the allspice dram and perhaps some notes of the Cynar rather well. The added carbonation brought many of the botanicals to the nose in addition to adding some added crispness to the cocktail. And while I am not a fan of salt-rimmed glasses, the pinch of salt gave the drink some extra character. Hugh's comment about this drink was that "It's kind of groovy." And veritably, it was.

:: vermouth tasting and making class ::

Last night, I went to one of Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli classes at Craigie on Main. While I did not go to last week's class on "Stirred not Shaken: How James Bond Got it all Wrong," some of last night's attendees went and spoke very highly of it. The one I went to was "When Bar Meets Kitchen: Making Your Own Vermouth." During the introduction section, the 14 people seated around the bar gave their reasons for attending the session. Two were wine vendors, three worked at the restaurant, one was a bartender at Eastern Standard, and the rest were cocktail enthusiasts (many of the above also stated that "hanging out with Tommy" or "heckling Tommy" was another reason to attend). For me, it was a large part practical. About three months ago, I had made an attempt at making my own sweet vermouth and wanted to know more about the process and tricks of the trade. Right before class, I re-read the section on vermouth making in a book that Stephen Shellenberger from Dante recommended to me, M. A. Amerine's Technology of Wine Making. While I was the only person who mentioned an interest on the hands-on aspect, once that portion started, it was clear that I was not the only one.

As cups of warmed mulled wine were passed out, Tommy started with an overview of the history of what is vermouth and how mulled wine was a predecessor of current day vermouths. The discussion went into regions where vermouth is made and how the climate influenced the grape production and often how that sometimes necessitated the adulteration such as in warmer climates which produced thinner and less interesting wines. In addition, it was mentioned how cooler climates provide crisper, more acidic wines that tend to make for a different and perhaps higher quality vermouth. Grape choice and various methodologies were discussed, including an interesting regional analysis of the indigenous spices of each region. Before cocktails, vermouths were originally served to accompany food, and similar botanicals were used in the vermouth as were used to spice the meal.

The next phase of the class was part tasting and part talking about the different techniques and flavors using the examples as starting points for the discussion. We tasted 6 vermouths: Noilly Pratt Dry (the old not the new American version), Dolin Dry, Lillet Blanc, Martini & Rossi Sweet, Carpano Antica, and Barolo Chinato. One aspect of the tasting was the importance of fresh vermouth and how the aging process can affect not only what flavors are dominant and how the flavors change, but how the balance of bitters to sweetness could be greatly affected. For example, the 3 month old Carpano Antica was way too sweet for my palate and was not as delightful as the freshly opened bottle; both could work in a cocktail although there would be a difference. The change in the month old Noilly Pratt dry was mainly in flavor for me for there is so little sweetness in it that any balance change was marginal. With the tasting were a lot of wine terms and flavors thrown out by the crowd that I did not usually think about when analyzing botanical-infused liqueurs and wines. After a round or two, I even got into the act of contributing a couple of tasting notes.

Somewhere in Tommy's talk, he focused on the historical significance of vermouths in America during the 1860's and on. Vermouth was the new hot cocktail ingredient of the time akin to the rage over St. Germain these days. Perhaps it was a mark of status for the bars to have such wonderfully rare imported products to serve and perhaps it was a mark of status for the drinker as well to be able to afford such luxuries. For the bartender, sweet vermouth served as a new sweetening agent. It could substitute in for the sugar otherwise used in cocktails by utilizing the sweet vermouth's approximately 15% sugar base. He also discussed the history of its use in the Manhattan and the Martinez, and the later use of less sweet and more dry vermouth in the more modern day Martini. He attributed the switch to the drying of the American palate prior to Prohibition.

The hands on part of the show was a discussion of the boiling-a-third of the wine rapid method I used in my vermouth and the slow-cold method. While the house vermouths at Craigie are made with the latter method, he wanted to show us both as he and the Craigie staff made their ambre vermouth and Carpano Antica replica. I did get a good lesson on the proper ways of making caramel using the wet and dry methods, and pointers on other ingredients such as raisins and sherry to use in my own batches. Once the Carpano Antica replica was finished, Tom mixed up a batch of Martinez cocktails for us to taste.

In terms of a class, it was 2 hours well spent. For me, the most valuable parts were the unexpected like the historical significance of vermouths on the incipient cocktail scene in the United States as well as how to properly appreciate vermouths like you would a fine wine. It was a good supplement to the informal lecture Eric Seed gave us when he stopped in to Boston to introduce his Dolin vermouth line last September.

[van der gin]

Citadelle Reserve Gin
Housemade Van Der Orange Liqueur
Ricard

Stir gin and Van Der Orange with ice and strain into a cocktail glass pre-rinsed with Ricard.

For my second drink at Rendezvous, Scott wanted me to try his work in progress. His drink used "Van der Orange" which is his housemade orange liqueur perhaps named or modeled after the Van der Hum liqueur. The liqueur is blended from white wine, vodka, Sevilla oranges, cinammon, vanilla, and sugar; the oranges were not just the peels but the whole fruit put through a food processor. The gin he used was a barrel-aged version very similar in citrus and spice notes to the regular Citadelle gin but with a pale gold color and a softer and smoother taste as you would expect from oak aging. Scott was still playing with the ratios but used a near equal (4:3) for my drink.

Andrea and I had different taste impressions of the cocktail. For her, the drink was very orange dominant from her first sip; she stated that it was "like a drop of orange oil". For me, the Ricard rinse pushed the drink to being anise-dominant. At least at first, for as my taste buds got acclimated to that flavor, the orange started to shine through for me; however, it took over half the drink for me to sense what Andrea did immediately. Scott seemed pleased when my post-drink comments included that it was kind of Pegu-like plus pastis [1].

[1] As a tangential note about the Pegu Club cocktail, I am in agreement with Doug from The Pegu Blog that the preferred recipe is 1 1/2 oz gin, 1/2 oz fresh lime juice, 1/2 oz Cointreau, and 2 dashes Angostura shaken until painfully cold (I tend to use Bombay gin). This recipe is often a little brash for people and most bars tend towards a sweeter drink for that reason. However, the ratio I prefer ends up tasting like gin and grapefruit juice with the latter being due to the interplay of the lime, orange liqueur, and bitters.

essence of winter sleep

1 oz Applejack
1/4 oz Benedictine
3-4 dashes Boker's Bitters
~3 oz Clos Normandy sparkling cider

Stir the Applejack, Benedictine, and bitters with ice and strain into a champagne flute rimmed with sugar. Top with the sparkling cider.

Sunday night, Andrea and I were feeling a bit cooped up so after I put the final ingredients into my batch of Abbott's bitters (which will be done in 4-6 months after a long oak aging step), we took off to Central Square to visit Scott Holliday at Rendezvous. Scott had told me a week ago that he was using my Boker's in a new cocktail on his menu. It came up when we were talking about botanicals and about how some of them are rather astringent such as the ones in Boker's. When I stated that Ben at Drink commented that my Boker's tend to dry out the drinks they are put into, Scott replied that was part of the reason he chose those over the other bitters in his collection. So once at Rendezvous, I was rather excited to try Scott's creation, the Essence of Winter Sleep, which is a reference to Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking".

The drink was indeed rather dry, evocative of a coming winter. This effect stemmed from the use of sparkling cider from Normandy which is a rather dry style unlike the British and some of the more popular American versions which can often be cloyingly sweet. The sugar crystals, the only hint of sweetness in the drink, were adhering to the glass in Hoar Frost style and helped to solidify the seasonal change symbolism. The Benedictine liqueur and the bitters added some interesting notes to the crisp apple flavors, but did not overwhelm the appleness itself as say cinnamon often does in even the lightest of mulled ciders.

tom & jerry

Batter:

• 12 eggs, separated
• 1 lb. sugar
• 2 oz. aged rum
• 1/2 t. ground cloves
• 1/2 t. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t. ground allspice

Beat the egg yolks until thin, and gradually whisk in the sugar. Add the rum and spices. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the yolk mixture until well mixed.

For each drink, put 2 oz. of the batter into a mug. Add 1 oz. each of brandy and aged rum and fill the mug with equal parts hot milk and boiling water. Top with grated nutmeg.

Recipe from cocktailchronicles.com.
Just the trick for beating the cold! The first time I sampled a Tom & Jerry was at Drink, way back in November (11/23 to be exact). Fred and I had spent the chilly, breezy day in Kittery shopping, and on the way home we decided we needed some liquid fortification. Misty Kalkofen was stationed at the ice bar, and she mentioned to me that John Gertsen had made his first batch of Tom & Jerry batter of the season. He had tried to hold out until the first snow, but he couldn't wait to serve them up in his collection of vintage Tom & Jerry sets he'd brought to Drink. It sounded like heaven, so I took her up on the offer. John said he hoped to keep T&J batter on hand all winter long, snow or not. So the next one I had was also at Drink, two weeks later on the day of the first official snowfall of the winter.

My third Tom & Jerry contained a nice little surprise - instead of the customary rum and brandy, it was made with Fernet Branca. Scott Holliday had slipped this onto the counter in front of me at Rendezvous just before Christmas. This one instantly became my favorite variation, so of course on my visit to Drink the following week, John decided that he couldn't be outdone. Though I'd spent that evening drinking cocktails evocative of sunny climes (posts forthcoming, never fear), John made me a tiny T&J in the cutest lil mug to finish my evening. I can't remember if that's the mug pictured above, or if it was from one of my earlier visits. Fred's notes said that the mini-T&J contained 1 tbsp. of the batter, 1 oz. of Fernet, and the balance hot milk.

It's supposed to dip back down into the single digits here in Boston this weekend. I foresee at least one more Tom & Jerry in my immediate future...

red lion

1 1/2 oz. Plymouth gin
3/4 oz. Grand Marnier
1/2 oz. lemon juice
dash of house-made grenadine

Shake with ice, decant into a cocktail glass.

By my third drink at Rialto last night, I felt completely at home. Todd Maul was an excellent host. He graciously wrote down the recipes for me on a piece of paper since my iPhone was behaving strangely. He took out his own iPhone and showed us pictures of his lovely wife and utterly adorable 5 month-old son. And when it became apparent to him that Nicole and I were fellow cocktail geeks, he brought out his favorite vintage cocktail book: his 1951 edition of The Bartender's Book by Jack Townsend and Tom Moore McBride. He pointed out the Red Lion recipe in this book as a likely precursor to the ubiquitous (and corrupted) Cosmopolitan.

Though intrigued by it, Nicole wasn't sure having another cocktail would help her bicyle commute back to Belmont. So, I offered to split this cocktail with her. It was tinted a delicate peach-pink, but in all other respects it put the Cosmo to shame. It was nicely balanced with only a breath of sweetness - a perfect ending to the night.

One thing I'm happy to note. When we mentioned to Todd that we missed taking some of our now-non-drinking friends out to cocktail bars, he told us that in the next couple of weeks he'll be adding some non-alcoholic cocktails to Rialto's menu. This is great news for our friends who are abstaining from alcohol for religious, health, or baby-related reasons. We are great proponents of having fun, sophisticated beverages for everyone.