Jewel Cocktail

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jewel cocktail

Recently, I’ve been finding a lot of good cocktail recipes in Old Mr. Boston’s Bartenders Guide. I’m usually able to find simple recipes with pretty classic ingredients in it. By classic I’m really referring to the presence of bitters, which are an essential element of a home bar and one of the key components of a cocktail.

If you’ve picked up many cocktail books, I may have noticed what I have. There are two types: the classic cocktail books (even if they’ve been published recently) in which many recipes have bitters, or the more modern (for lack of a better word) books, like one from my collection: The Complete Bartender. There are zero recipes with bitters in that book – it’s lots of vodka-and-juice cocktails, aka 1990’s cocktails (which is not a good thing, believe me).

Back to Mr. Boston, though. I found a fun recipe with gin, Chartreuse and sweet vermouth that has a really great flavor profile and looks really cool if you perch the cherry garnish right on the edge like I did:

Jewel Cocktail

  • in a mixing glass, combine:
  • 3/4 oz green Chartreuse
  • 3/4 oz sweet vermouth
  • 3/4 oz gin
  • 1 dash of orange bitters
  • stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
  • garnish with a cherry

We’ve made the Jewel on the Simple Cocktails Podcast, too. Listen here.

 

Podcast 29- Scotch and Cactus Juice

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“Alcohol can only make this better.” The secret to Greg’s success. Lisa smelled gas. We drink Johnnie Walker Platinum out of a coffin. 18-year-old scotch for an 18 year anniversary. “It’s not bad.” A lesson in blended and single malt scotches. “Any woman who’s a scotch drinker is automatically very…sexual.”  The best thing Johnny Depp has ever done? Greg actually makes a cocktail for once: the Cactus Juice, which he calls a “cowboy drink” about a million times.

Download Episode 29.

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Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye

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double standard sour catocin creek

Catoctin Creek is a relatively new distillery in the United States, founded in 2009 in Virginia and distilling mostly rye whiskey, gin, and brandy. Their portfolio perked up my attention and I got a bottle of their 92-proof Roundstone Rye, the middle product in their rye lineup, and one that will run you just over $50 a bottle.

For a 6-year old distillery, their whiskeys are going to be aged for that amount of time or less. Roundstone spells it out on the bottle: “Aged 5 years or less.” For a whiskey that’s traditionally pretty spicy and dry, a younger rye takes on a surprising candy sweetness in the taste that sets it apart from many other ryes I’ve tasted. In fact, the only other whiskey I can compare Roundstone Rye to is also young, spicy, sweet and brash: Jack Daniel’s Unaged Rye.

In honor of Catoctin’s rye and gin lineup, I chose a cocktail from Old Mr. Boston’s Bartenders Guide – a handy midsized cocktail book with some great recipes. Pairing gin and whiskey into one drink, here’s the Double Standard Sour:

Double Standard Sour

  • in a cocktail shaker, combine:
  • 3/4 oz lemon juice
  • 3/4 oz whiskey
  • 3/4 oz gin
  • 1/2 teaspoon grenadine
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • shake well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
  • garnish with a lemon wedge and cherry

 

Simple Cocktails Podcast Episode 28

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We celebrate the 4th anniversary of Simple Cocktails. Here’s my first blog post from 2011. Lisa mocks my Watermelon “Jolly Rancher” Margarita. We taste W.L. Weller and Greg give us a detailed bourbon lesson. Lisa may have a surprise child…”it’s there for you, you just gotta go pick it up and pay for it.” We make the Casino Cocktail. Yes, we bought red cherry vodka once.

Download Episode 28.

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Berentzen Bushel and Barrel

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Bushel and Barrel

Berentzen is a 200-year-old German liquor company that has recently (2013) begun packaging and distributing their products to the United States. I’ve had the opportunity to try two of their liquors: IceMint Schnapps* and Bushel and Barrel, an apple/whiskey liqueur.

Apple whiskey is probably the next big thing in flavorings, now that the cinnamon and honey whiskeys have been on the market a while. Even big boy Crown Royal has released their Regal Apple flavor in the last few months, too.

On a recent episode of the Simple Cocktails podcast, Lisa and I tried Bushel and Barrel for the first time. It’s certainly sweet, but not sticky or syrupy. It’s flavored and partially sweetened with apple juice, and as I discovered with Midnight Moon, that gives you apple flavor and sweetness without a whole lot of sticky-sugary mess. It’s 30% alcohol, which places it squarely in the middle of straight whiskey and liqueurs, and it’s definitely drinkable straight. In fact, it’s whiskeys like this that are pretty great flask-fillers for camping or game day.

Another important tasting note about Bushel and Barrel is that it’s base is actual Kentucky Bourbon, so there’s quite a bit more wonderful whiskey character to this drink than, say, apple pie moonshines.

This is a pretty flexible cocktail ingredient, and other than a simple Bushel and Barrel and Ginger Ale (or Coke), splash it in your favorite bourbon too (1 part Bushel to 2 parts bourbon maybe) just to change the flavor profile or tame the bite a bit. Overall, this is an enjoyable liqueur at about $20 a bottle, a decent addition to your home bar.

*I made two cocktails this holiday season with IceMint, a Fire-and-Ice Hot Cocoa at the Burn Blog and the Hope for Snow cocktail for NewsCastic.

We tasted Bushel and Barrel and made a cocktail with it on the Simple Cocktails Podcast. Listen here.

 

Simple Cocktails Podcast Episode 27: Happy New Year!

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We end 2014 with silly noises. Time off = the plague and schedule glitches. Happy Birthday Jesus, you can celebrate that any time. We taste Galliano and talk about Harvey Wallbangers. How to have your own parade. “Turn that towards Larry.” Bitters on a keychain? We make a Champagne Cocktail and Lisa’s “New Years Drink” (pictured here).

HAPPY NEW YEAR from Simple Cocktails!

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Casino Cocktail

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casino cocktail

Sometimes for Christmas, I whip up a cocktail that’s uniquely designed for that holiday – like when I put a red bow on one, or when I smashed up candy canes to rim a drink [video link].

Other times, though, the simplicity of a classic cocktail stands as a perfectly suitable Christmas gift, so that’s what I’ve settled on this Christmas: a ghostly white drink with an electric red cherry to garnish. Merry Christmas!

Casino Cocktail

  • in a shaker, combine:
  • 2 oz gin
  • 3/4 oz lemon juice 
  • 1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
  • dash of orange bitters
  • shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
  • garnish with a cherry

We made the Casino on the Simple Cocktails Podcast, too. Listen here.

Simple Cocktails Podcast Episode 26

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Any single-cocktail makers out there? Cocktails depend on your inventory. Greg says Lisa is a photo-stylist….she says it may be something else. “The idea is old.” We taste Bully Boy Hub Punch. We break out the dusty Creme de Banane and make an Elephant Lips. What’s that joke liqueur? “I collect southern sayings.” Lisa gets risky with her recipe experiments. “I think of Mary Poppins.”

Along the line, we mention Old Man Drinks and a Gin and Milk.

Download Episode 26.

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Gift For Guys on the Morning Brew (Video)

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Here’s the video clip of Greg presenting “Gifts For Guys” on The Morning Brew with Larry Ahrens in Albuquerque. Here’s a link to the companion blog post, too.

Greg sneaks some Breakfast Martinis in his flask.

Winter Bourbons

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stagg jr and weller bourbons

Just like I did with ryes last week, I’m working my way through some new bourbons, too. Here are two that have recently taken their places on my “sipping bourbon” shelf:

Stagg Jr. Barrel Proof. This variety of Stagg comes in at a huge 130+ proof,….like it says, barrel proof (most whiskeys come out of the barrel at a higher proof than they’re bottled at). I’ve been drinking Stagg Jr. in 1 oz splashes with lots of ice, and this is a very palatable bourbon. Because of both the strength and the dark label on the back, this pours in a darker, tobacco-brown color as opposed to your usual copper bourbons. I found Stagg to be surprisingly rich and spicy – it’s a mouth-filling flavor with hints of licorice and clove. I tasted more spice than the sweet corn bourbon that I was expecting. As a high-quality bourbon that’s high proof, Stagg Jr. will run you $80-110.

W.L. Weller Special Reserve. Billed at the “original wheated bourbon” (we’re talking to you, Makers), Weller is a nicely balanced bourbon, and through it has a maple sweetness, there’s a good big mid palate woodiness, too to round it out. This is an easy drinking bourbon that has the elements you’ve come to love: sweet, spice, woody, and smooth. Weller 7 year is around $50 a bottle.