Yearly Archives: 2012

Sub Rosa Saffron Vodka

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sub rosa saffron vodka

Unfortunately, the sweet (sometimes creepy) flavored vodka category is the #1 seller at the liquor store nowadays. Aside from the philosophy attached to this, let me remind you that vodka is still a legitimate cocktail ingredient, and occasionally, vodka flavors are great additions to the liquor shelf.

Exhibit A: Sub Rosa Saffron Vodka. Distilled and infused at a small Oregon distillery along with a tarragon vodka, it escapes all the trappings of modern “flavored” vodkas, aligning itself more with gourmet cooking than with Katy Perry’s bra.

Sub Rosa has designed a beautiful and simple bottle to showcase the electric-yellow saffron vodka within. Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice at $500-5,000 per pound, and this vodka is rich, aromatic, and savory. Intense flavor like this is usually found in gins, not vodkas. On first taste, I thought about potential cocktail partners for such a unique flavor, and both lemon and olive came to mind. A martini variation is a good start:

Saffron Martini (by Greg Mays)

  • 2 oz Sub Rosa Saffron Vodka
  • 1/4 oz lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz olive juice
  • shake with lots of ice, double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass
  • olive garnish

Crater Lake Gin

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crater lake gin
Crater Lake Gin is a straw-colored gin from Bendistillery in Bend, Oregon, who also makes several varieties of vodka. While its label calls it “Handcrafted American Gin,” one of those words can be misleading: American.

I’ve said before that my personal gin preferences lie with London Dry gins, though I love nearly all gins I encounter. American gin, or “western gin,” as it’s sometimes called, usually has another botanical flavor that’s supreme over the juniper that London Drys are known for.

Not so with Crater Lake. For my personal taste, this gin makes the best-tasting martini I’ve ever had. It’s a juniper-lovers gin, with a bit of spice in the finish. It’s silky and smooth, and I’ve nearly drunk half the bottle making strictly martinis. Tasted neat, the spice is more obvious, and the gin is a bit more potent when it’s not ice-cold.

Crater Lake, which was known previously as Cascade Mountain Gin, and can be found throughout the U.S. at retail, or online for about $30. Make it in a martini like this:

Martini

  • 2 1/2 oz gin
  • 1/2 oz dry vermouth
  • olive garnish
  • stir with lots of ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass

KGB Naranjo, Bourbon, and Absinthe

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KGB Naranjo, Bourbon, and Absinthe

KGB Spirits in northern New Mexico has some new releases in their spirits catalog: Naranjo Orange Liqueur, Taos Lightning Bourbon, and Brimstone Absinthe.

Naranjo is a high proof orange liqueur, 45% ABV where most other triple secs are only about 20%. This means it’s not too sweet and Naranjo works well straight up, as a digestif. Naranjo’s orange flavor is very subtle, though, and you should think twice if you’re considering dumping this into a pitcher of margaritas. The color is pale orange, and the scent of citrus is very muted, but it’s all there on your taste buds.

Taos Lightning Bourbon shares it’s name with KGB’s Ryes-a historical throwback to 1800’s western whiskeys-and it’s sweet, spicy, and smooth. I found myself thinking about it all day after tasting it. Taos Lightning Bourbon is very balanced in it’s flavor, and the expected toasted-wood spice finishes it off.

Finally, Brimstone Absinthe has two unique qualities: first, KGB uses a potato base in their distilling process – just like their vodka and gin, which adds a minty, earthy flavor. Second, Brimstone is bottled at a pretty low proof, the lowest proof I’ve ever seen for an absinthe. Absinthe is typically known for it’s high (60-70%) proof, but Brimstone is a mellow 45%. Because of this, you can actually drink Brimstone on the rocks with no water or sugar added. The lower proof makes it a more viable cocktail ingredient, too.

KGB Spirits are available at retail shops around New Mexico.

Jack Daniel’s Unaged Rye

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Jack Daniel's Unaged Rye

Arriving in an inconspicuous box, I got to have my first taste of Jack Daniel’s Unaged Rye Whiskey, slated for a limited release in early 2013 for $50 a bottle.

This crystalline liquid is significant because Jack Daniel’s has not modified the ingredients in their whiskies for the past 100 years. Jack and its sub-brands like Gentleman Jack all contain exactly the same recipe of corn, barley, and rye, with the only difference in the varieties being their aging or filtering processes. But that changes now as the distillery has come up with an 80% rye recipe, some of which they’re bottling unaged as a “distillers run.”

Rye is a popular whiskey nowadays, and with unaged “moonshines” also on the rise, you can’t fault Jack for jumping on the bandwagon. Unaged ryes are not very common, however, especially those with the distribution level that Jack already enjoys. Drinkhacker talks about this being a stopgap and buzz-building release as the “real” Jack Rye (or whatever it’ll be called) sleeps in barrels until 2015.

As for the flavor, there’s a sweet, fruity aroma to Jack’s Unaged Rye. As wood aging imparts spice to booze, and rye itself is spicy, it’s a surprise to experience sweetness in there. There is also a pungency and grittiness to the flavor, which also tend to fade with barrel aging. Think about the difference between a silver and an aged tequila, and you get an idea what I’m talking about.

This is a rye to try as it has a huge historical significance, plus it’s a limited release.

Absinthe Cocktails

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tenneyson absinthe

Absinthe, a high-proof herbal liquor, is most traditionally served straight under a water drip with a perched sugar cube. Because of absinthe’s strong anise (black licorice) flavor, cocktails featuring it are few and far between.

I decided to use Austin-based and French-distilled Tenneyson Absinthe Royale to make these cocktails. Tenneyson is a bit more mild than other absinthes (Lucid comes to mind) because it’s bottled at a lower proof (53% alcohol vs. Lucid’s 64%) and because the typical anise flavor is less pronounced in the taste. Here are the 2 simple absinthe cocktails I made, with a bonus recipe at the end:

Sazerac
This recipe can seem overwhelming, but the detail is actually in the ritual of preparation, which most consider essential to making a proper Sazerac.

  • fill an old fashioned glass with ice water to chill
  • in another old fashioned glass, muddle 1 sugar cube and 3 dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters
  • add 2 oz rye whiskey
  • top with ice and stir
  • empty the ice water from the first glass
  • splash in absinthe, rinse the glass with it, pour out the excess (I found Tenneyson to be mild enough that I just left the “splash” in the glass)
  • strain the sugar/bitters/rye mixture into the absinthe-washed glass
  • twist and squeeze a lemon peel into the glass
  • either discard the lemon peel or drop it into the cocktail, according to your preference

Obituary (the Absinthe Martini)
Tenneyson is especially great in this drink as the presentation is crystal-clear.

  • 2 1/2 oz gin
  • 1/2 oz dry vermouth
  • 1/4 oz absinthe
  • stir over ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass
  • garnish with lemon twist

Bonus recipe: Death in the Afternoon
This recipe was created by Ernest Hemingway.

  • pour 1 oz absinthe in a champagne flute
  • top with 5 ounces chilled champagne
  • drink 3 to 5 of these slowly

2 Black Eyes Cocktail

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2 Black Eyes Cocktail

Moonshine nowadays is another name for an unaged whiskey, sometimes also called silver whiskey or white lightnin’. Here’s a simple moonshine recipe for the fighter in all of us:

2 Black Eyes (by Greg Mays)
  • 3 oz moonshine
  • 1 1/2 oz blackberry liqueur (I used Clear Creek)
  • 4 dashes of Fee Bros. Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters (buy at Amazon)
  • stir with ice and strain into 2 chilled cocktail glasses
  • garnish with brass knuckles and a switchblade

Make sure you make 2 of these. Otherwise, you’ll just have one black eye, and what’s the point of that?

Why We Need Each Other

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why we need each other

NPR recently ran a story called “What America Spends on Booze.” They say “out of every $100 American consumers spend, about $1 goes to alcohol. That hasn’t changed much over the past 30 years.”

So people spend the same on booze that they always have, but they found out that the vast majority (76%) of booze purchased in 1982 was bought to be served at home. That number is now approaching half, though, and I imagine it will continue to drop. Thirty years ago people primarily drank and served drinks at home, but that’s not true anymore.

Our cocktail making is increasingly falling into the hands of bartenders. Now, if every bar were Canon or Clyde Common, I wouldn’t be as concerned. But they’re not. Applebee’s and Chilis have bars, too, and I’m certain that folks are increasingly drinking poorly made cocktails from poor ingredients, like the high-fructose nightmare “Sour Mix.” That crap is $7 a gallon.

Let’s get back to home bartending, which my area of expertise, and it’s clearly where the crisis lies. When was the last time someone served you a martini or old fashioned at their house? I realize that as readers of this blog, you’re probably the exception to the rule. I started thinking, though, and I am willing to bet that in the 5 miles surrounding my house, there may only be 2 or 3 people (including me) that have a bottle of cocktail bitters in the cabinet. When I buy bitters at the grocery store, they’re on the bottom shelf and covered with dust. Doesn’t this mean that no one who lives near me can make a proper Manhattan or an Old Fashioned at home?

I started Simple Cocktails because I believe strongly that serving people drinks in our homes is becoming a lost art, even though it can provide massive joy. The graphic and story above tell me it’s true! As a culture, we are losing the community that once accompanied the cocktail party. I’ve found dozens of books at thrift stores about how to party, how to drink, when to drink, how to serve, but you know what? They’re all from the 60’s.

Here’s where we team up, dear readers: as I teach you how to do this stuff, will you commit to do it at home? Don’t spend $30 at Applebee’s – spend $30 on a bottle of bourbon and consider it an investment in your community. Then invite some whiskey lovers over and drink it! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Home Bartender Christmas Gifts 2012

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Home Bartender Christmas Gifts

December is here! It’s time to get your home bartender some gifts for a very Merry Christmas, so here are some gift ideas for the simple cocktail maker in your life:

Whiskey Disks. Large (1 3/4″ wide x 3/4″ high) freezable soapstones in a canvas freezer bag. Set of 4.

  • How much: $30.
  • Where: Amazon.
  • Buy for: the whiskey connoisseur who likes their drink neat, cool, and not watered down.
  • Buy because: these guys are actually stonemasons and they make a great product. The disks are large, smooth, uniform, and dishwasher safe.

The NEAT Glass. “Naturally engineered aroma technology” allows you to taste the full flavor of a liquor without the alcohol vapors in your nose.

  • How much: start at $19.
  • Where: Amazon.
  • Buy for: the booze aficionado with a great palate who likes to taste the subtleties of their alcohol.
  • Buy because: it’s a unique product with a lot of smart science behind it.

Bar10der. A 10-in-1 folding and portable bar tool for cocktails, beer, and wine. Like a Swiss Army knife with a strainer, stirrer, jigger, muddler, reamer, knife, channel knife, corkscrew, bottle opener, and zester.

  • How much: $50.
  • Where: Amazon.
  • Buy for: The home bartender who wants all their tools in one and make drinks at other’s homes, too. And they like pretty colors.
  • Buy because: it’s a product that combines all the essential bar tools into one.

Royal Rose Syrups. Natural and delicious simple syrups for cocktails, drinks, and desserts.

  • How much: start at $11.
  • Where: Williams Sonoma or online.
  • Buy for: the home bartender who wants quality ingredients for simple cocktails that lots of people will enjoy.
  • Buy because: they are tasty products that can ease the stress of home bartending.

Sea Stones. Freezable 1 1/4″ rough-cut granite cubes in a wooden presentation tray. Set of 6.

  • How much: $35, including the custom tray.
  • Where: Amazon, Bed Bath and Beyond and online.
  • Buy for: the whiskey connoisseur who likes their drink neat, cool, and not watered down.
  • Buy because: the presentation of the wooden serving tray is classy. Set this out on the table after dinner with whiskey glasses and people will ooh and ahh. No two are alike – they vary slightly in size and shape and vary in color from browns to greys to whites.