Burnside Bourbon

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burnside bourbon and j.r.'s revenge

Burside is a 4-year-old bourbon from Eastside Distilling. Though Eastside touts it a “bold and spicy,” I found Burnside to be smooth to drink straight and it’s got more corn-sweetness than I expected from their description. My favorite bourbons tend to be the most balanced: sweet from the corn, spicy from rye and barrel aging, strong and smooth. Burnside fits this bill as a strong (48% ABV) and well-balanced booze.

I used Burnside in this cocktail from the Bartender’s Bible:

J.R.’s Revenge

  • 1 1/2 oz bourbon
  • 1/4 oz Southern Comfort (I used Bold Black Cherry)
  • 2 dashes of bitters
  • stir on ice and strain in a chilled cocktail glass

UBONs Bloody Mary [+ Giveaway]

ubons bloody mary

The Bloody Mary is THE drink for Sunday brunch. Up until now, I’ve avoided posting a Bloody Mary recipe for one primary reason: they’re not simple. The simplest recipe I’ve found was from The Cocktail Spirit, and it has 9 ingredients: vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, celery salt, worchestershire sauce, black pepper, horseradish sauce, ancho chili powder, and a celery stalk garnish.

When I want a Bloody Mary, I buy a mix and put vodka in it. I’m generally very cautious about using mixes, though, because many commercial mixes contain nasty goblins like high fructose corn syrup or MSG. Usually, Trader Joe’s mix is the one I go with.

I do think that if care is used in the mixture and it remains natural, a mix can make for the simplest cocktails of all. Which brings us to Ubon’s BBQ Bloody Mary Mix: an all-natural mix that’s made by award-winning Ubon’s (pronounced YOU-bons) of Yazoo, Mississippi. The mix itself is incredibly tasty and it makes a great Bloody Mary, the best one I’ve ever had. The recipe is simple (of course), but make sure to add the vodka first because Ubon’s is thick and it’s easier to mix this way:

Ubon’s Bloody Mary

  • 1 oz of vodka (I used Cathead, also from Mississippi)
  • 4 oz Ubon’s BBQ Bloody Mary Mix
  • garnish with a celery stick, pickle, asparagus, olives, onion, lemon wedge, crab claw, etc.

I’m giving 3 lucky readers 2 bottles each of Ubon’s BBQ Bloody Mary Mix. Just leave a comment below telling me what you drank during the Super Bowl last night and you’ll be entered to win. Drawing will be held on or about February 18, 2013.

Brenne

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brenne bottle and glasses

Brenne is a single malt whisky distilled in France, aged for 7 years, and finished in Cognac barrels. Launched in October 2012 in New York City, Brenne is available at several locations, in New York and online, for about $50.

Because this is a high quality single malt whisky, the only fitting way to drink it is neat – straight from the glass, no ice, at room temperature. Brenne smells of cognac and dried fruit as you raise the glass, and the whisky flavor comes in as you sip it.  Brenne has a quality scotch-like taste with traces of apricot and spice. It’s got a great flavor and I’m interested to see how its unique qualities make an impact on the whisky market.

Daiquiri

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below deck silver rum and a daiquiri

A Daiquiri is a classic cocktail that’s simple to make: it’s rum, lime juice, and simple syrup. There are several ways to adjust the ratios of those 3 ingredients, but the best recipe I’ve tried is from Portland bartender Jeffery Morgenthaler. It seems fitting to use a Portland rum in this drink, so I used Below Deck Silver from Eastside Distilling. You can also experiment with aged rums like Zacapa.

Daiquiri

  • 2 1/2 oz rum (I used Below Deck Silver)
  • 3/4 oz lime juice
  • 1/2 oz simple syrup
  • shake with ice
  • double strain into a chilled cocktail glass (pour through the shaker and a mesh strainer)
  • lime wheel garnish

The Mixing Glass

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yarai mixing glass

Together with a cocktail shaker, a mixing glass is a pretty essential bar tool, and until recently, I didn’t have a good one. A mixing glass is better for making stirred drinks, like a Martini or Manhattan, but I’ve just been using a regular pint glass for those. A cocktail mixing glass, though, give you both a wider bottom (insert Spinal Tap joke here) and a pour spout. By far, the most popular mixing glass is the Yarai (pictured above), which sells for about $40.

griffin low form 500ml beakers as cocktail mixing glasses

Being a bit of a cheapo, I looked for a more affordable alternative and I found 500ml Low Form Breakers on Amazon. Like the Yarai, these beakers are 500ml and have a pour spout, but they are considerably less expensive (I got a 6-pack for $15). Outside of the obvious elegance factor with the Yarai, the only other difference is that the beakers have a slightly wider mouth, though your strainer will still fit. They match the Williams Sonoma beaker jigger, too (shown above).

Cherry Bomb Whiskey

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cherry bomb whiskey

Cherry Bomb from Eastside Distilling in Portland is one of those unique liquors that when I first heard about it, I was immediately dying to try it. Now I’m really excited to have it in my liquor cabinet.

The bottle contains a rich, maroon, murky liquid – part of Eastside’s vow that real Oregon cherries are actually in there. When you open the bottle, you smell whiskey, and this surprised me as I imagined something more candy-like, I suppose. Here’s the important thing though: this isn’t cherry liqueur, it’s cherry whiskey, and it’s not sweetened by anything other than the cherries themselves.

When you take quality aged whiskey and seep fresh local cherries in it, this is what you get: a very flavorful, sweet, and smooth drink. I imagine this is probably a great opportunity to make some simple cocktails with a cherry twist, but Cherry Bomb tastes so good on its own, I just keep drinking it that straight. This is a great choice for an after dinner tipple as it’s an alternative to a sweeter after-dinner liqueur. Cherry Bomb has a really familiar and comforting flavor, like a glass of whiskey served with a hot slice of cherry pie, a little bit tart and a little bit sweet.

Cherry Bomb will run you $24 for a 375ml half-bottle and it’s available online, at many places in Oregon, or at the distillery in Portland’s Distillery Row.

Zacapa 23 Rum

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zacapa 23 rum

A while back, I asked the Cigar Smoking Man what he likes to drink when he’s smoking a cigar, and he mentioned Zacapa.

Zacapa 23 is from Guatemala, a blend of rums that have aged in barrels from 6 to 23 years at 7,500+ feet above sea level. This rum is comparable to a fine bourbon or scotch, and Zacapa recommends drinking it straight or with a large ice cube to cool it slightly.

The scent of this rum is sweet initially, but as you drink, you’ll taste barrel-aged richness and spice. Because rum is distilled from sugar cane, it can be a lot sweeter than a whiskey or brandy, but Zacapa is not so sweet. I found it to be strong and smooth, with faint traces of sugar, spicy chocolate, and toasty wood. I drank it neat – no ice – and found it to have a great and palatable flavor. Zacapa 23 is a quality aged rum that’ll run you about $45. Older brother Zacapa XO, a richer and more elegant variety, is $99.

Templeton Rye

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templeton rye

Happy birthday Al Capone! One of the original gangsters, Capone would have been a very old man if he was still alive today. What better way to celebrate than with Al’s favorite booze, Templeton Rye?

Templeton is distilled in Iowa according to the prohibition-era recipe that made it infamous at that time. As a rye whiskey, you get the liquid-cinnamon spice that you’d expect, but there are a couple of surprises in the taste. First, the 40% alcohol gives this whiskey less of a throat burn than other ryes. Second, there are traces of fruit in the flavor, like orange and coconut. These two elements make Templeton an incredibly smooth liquor.

While Templeton makes great Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, I imagine I’ll be drinking this neat most of the time. I’m really trying not to gush here, but this $40 bottle of rye is tremendous, and a fitting toast on Al Capone’s 114th birthday.

Cathead Vodka

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cathead vodka

Cathead is a moderately priced vodka from the state of Mississippi. One dollar of every bottle is given to foundations that support live music, and right on the label it says “Support Live Music.”

Cathead is very smooth and tasty with no alcohol burn, and being U.S. made and very well-priced, it’s a great choice for the liquor cabinet. Cathead’s available primarily in the South for about $20 a bottle, though they’ve recently started distributing to Colorado as well. I used Cathead in a Vodka Sour (pictured above), and you can make it at home:

Vodka Sour

  • 2 oz vodka
  • 1 oz lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp of powdered sugar
  • shake with ice and strain into a glass
  • garnish with a lemon wedge and cherry

I was surprised at how much I liked the Honeysuckle variety of Cathead, too. It’s slightly lower proof than the standard vodka, and there’s a trace of sweetness to it (which is pretty normal with flavored vodkas). I just had the Honeysuckle on the rocks, all by itself, and it’s a really wonderful late-night or dessert drink. The flavor is fresh, clean, and very natural, all of which make it a welcome contender to a way-too-crowded flavored vodka game.

The Perfect Home Bar

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dream home bar

So outside of the right liquor, I suppose the perfect home bar would also actually have a bar. I know everyone’s idea of a home bar is different, but join me while I dream about building the perfect home bar…

Desirable qualities:

  • Warmth. Applies to the quality of the hospitality, community, and also the temperature. Must have a fireplace.
  • Lots of wood.
  • Leather seating.
  • Taxidermy. I am not an outdoorsman by any sense of the word, but I imagine large, horned animals will serve two desirable purposes: adding authenticity to the bar and frightening children away from the bar. Ideas include deer, buffalo, and moose.
  • A chalkboard paint wall. For specials and patron messages.
  • Good music. Maybe even quiet, pleasant live music.
  • Separate entrance from the house and a separate bathroom.
  • Cigar and pipe smoking occasionally allowed. No cigarettes.

Undesirable qualities:

  • Neon. Beer signs, jukeboxes, etc.
  • Technology. No computers, no TVs, no video games. Rare exception made for sports-based gatherings.
  • Visible modernities. Stuff like stainless steel, blenders, or microwaves. Those can be present, but preferably hidden below the bar.
  • Overuse of cell phones. They’re allowed, but only barely.
  • Bad attitudes and booze snobbery. People are allowed to drink Jägermeister or Loopy with minimal persecution.

Many thanks to DevonTT on Flickr for permission to use a photo of her home bar. It’s almost word-for-word what I’ve described, and I think we can agree it’s pretty incredible, right?