Mixology Monday XLII: Dizzy Dairy

It's time for another Mixology Monday! This month's theme is dairy, which for the purposes of the challenge, will allow milk, cream, eggs, butter, cheese, yogurt, curds, and anything else you can think of (kefir martini, anyone?). I've seldom had any milk-based drinks...the last one I tried was a White Plush cocktail, I think, made with gin, milk and Maraschino liqueur (it foamed all over my counter after shaking). So for this challenge, rather than risk mopping up gin and milk afterwards, I opted to try a different drink, another old recipe from Charles H. Baker Jr.'s "The Gentleman's Companion: Being an Exotic Drinking Book, or Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask," which proved to be tasty, though very rich.

Tiger's Milk No. III

1 1/2 oz brandy
1 1/2 oz Jamaican rum (I used Appleton)
2/3 cup half & half
simple syrup to taste
Dale DeGroff's flip spices to garnish (cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and orange zest)

Shake all but spices with crushed ice and pour into a large goblet. Sprinkle with spices to garnish.

As I said, this is an incredibly rich drink, as you're sipping half & half cut with two shots of liquor...oddly, though, it doesn't feel strong, just rich. The spices really add to it, and help it from being too one-note. I'd say this is a great one for late fall or winter, but this close to the autumnal equinox, it's still a little heavy. Tasty, though.

Hey gang! Long time no see!

I know, I stink...it's been a week since my last post. Though it has not been devoid of interest...I've started my new job, my iPod died and I tried to play Dr. Frankenstein and resurrect it (sadly, it went to that big iPod kingdom in the sky, but the Apple Store replaced it free because they're awesome and I didn't do anything wrong to it and it was not even two weeks out of warranty) and tonight, thanks to my job, I managed to procure a bit of dry ice. And if you've ever played with dry ice, you know how awesome it can be. However, I wound up getting quite a bit of it. And because I have pets that are rather low to the ground, and because CO₂ sinks, I really was kind of anxious to get it all sublimated and out of my hair. So I figured, "What the hell? Might as well toss it into a drink!" And it is through that circuitous and rather tortured train of thought that I arrived at tonight's drink, in full Mad Scientist mode:

Hell Broth

2 1/2 oz gold rum (I used Mount Gay Eclipse)
1/4 oz triple sec
1/4 oz real pomegranate grenadine
4 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters
dry ice

Combine all but dry ice in mixing glass, stirring well to combine. Pour into small goblet and (using gloves!) add dry ice (I used the equivalent of a ping-pong ball's volume of dry ice). The intelligent person would use a straw to drink it, if only to avoid small bits of frostbite on their lips.

I was going for a vaguely spicy, vaguely sweet thing here, and I think I achieved it. The Bittermens, with it's spice and chocolate notes, really lends itself to more amber liquors, and the pomegranate and orange notes of the grenadine and triple sec pair well with those flavors. The dry ice also adds a little bit, as that bite from the carbon dioxide sublimating in your glass sort of tempers the heat. For a completely improvised drink, I think this shows potential. Plus, you could serve it for your Halloween guests, and be all spooky and stuff. Blah blah!

short, sweet, and to the point.

Or in this case, tall, spicy and to the point.

I finally, after almost 10 months of being unemployed, got a job. It's part time, but it promises to be fun. I go for orientation next week Tuesday. I'm very excited, so much so that I'm not even gonna do a fancy drink tonight. I'm drinking something extremely simple, but so damned good. C'mon...celebrate with me!

Double Bourbon (Rocks)

3 oz Bulleit Bourbon (if you've got some good stuff, use it, fer cryin' out loud!)
2 dashes Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters (good ol' Angostura will do nicely, as well)

Dash bitters over ice in a DOF glass, pour in the bourbon, swirl gently to combine. Sip.

The blog will, of course, continue, but it may take a breather here and there, depending on scheduling. Still, if I don't post at least once a week, you can comment on here saying how you're gonna kick my butt if I don't hook you all up with a drink soon.

Thanks for coming with me so far, gang...we're actually coming up on my 100th drink (I don't really think I'll count this one, as it's nothing special), and I hope to have a fantastic mystery ingredient obtained for that one. Stay stewed for the nudes! Er...stay tuned for the news. Cheers, all.

*insert accordion and Gallic shrug here*

Tonight's drink is just over 60 years old, at least since it's first publication. It appeared in Charles H. Baker Jr.'s seminal drink guide, "The Gentleman's Companion: Being an Exotic Drinking Book, or Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask," published in 1946. It's another way to use some of that kirsch that I proved to be less than enthralled with. First things first...it wants you to use shaved ice. As I'm not in Hawai'i, land of shave-ice, I don't have any means of making it, so I crushed the ice, and then blended it with the liquid ingredients...not perfect, but it got the job done. Anyway, here we go:

The Parisian Cherry Ripe

1 1/2 oz London dry gin
3/4 oz kirsch
3/4 oz Cherry Heering

Blend with shaved ice (or blend well with crushed ice), pour into tumbler, float two bar spoons of Cherry Heering.

It's nice, I'll say that. The Cherry Heering tempers the funk of the kirsch nicely. That said, it's a little flat and a little sweet; next time I'll add a splash of lemon or lime juice to it, just to tart it up a little.

Certainly is un bête beaux, however.

Science Fiction Double Feature

"Wait! I can explain!"

I picked up a small bottle of a new ingredient today, and decided to play around with it a little bit tonight. I'm frankly kind of disappointed in it, but since it was a little bottle (not a 50ml sample, but nowhere near full size) I'm not out too much money, only about $4.50 or so. I will survive.

The ingredient is kirsch, also known as kirschwasser. It's a cherry brandy of sorts...it's not sweet, as other fruit brandies frequently are. Truth be told, it tastes remarkably similar to it's cousin, maraschino liqueur...it's got a sort of funk that stems, in part from being fermented (or macerated, in the case of maraschino) with the skins and stones. Kirsch is typically made from Morello cherries, rather than the eponymous Maraska cherries of maraschino, but they're remarkably similar in taste...the big difference is that the kirsch is a lot drier, not being a liqueur.

Anyway, I mixed it with two drinks tonight both of which sound like they could be from 1950s B-grade sci-fi movies; one drink fared far better than the other...let's get to them, shall we?

Blackthorn Cocktail

1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz Dubonnet rouge
1/2 oz kirsch

stir all in a mixing glass with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Eh. It's not a fantastic drink...it's still orders of magnitude better than what you'd find at your local fraternity dive bar, but it really strikes me as one dimensional. The kirsch and the Dubonnet run together (which surprises me), and it's left as being ginny with some unnameable-but-rather-sweet fruit flavor floating in the background.

Our second drink proved to be rather better than this one.

Cat's Eye Cocktail

1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz Cointreau
1/4 oz kirsch
dash lemon juice

stir all with ice in a mixing glass, strain into chilled cocktail glass.

This one is not nearly as sweet or boring...the lemon juice and dry vermouth keeps it more balanced, and the tiny bit of orange you get from the Cointreau works very well with the cherry and almond notes the kirsch brings to the drink.

"Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel..."

This drink, which I'm posting quickly upon realizing it's been more than 5 days since my last post, is called the Blinker Cocktail. "Blinker" was another word for "blinders" as a mule or horse might wear to keep them looking forwards. I'm not sure what connection that has to the drink, but hey, if Ted Haigh researched it, it's good enough for me.

The Blinker Cocktail

2 oz rye whiskey or, failing that, a bourbon with a lot of rye, like Bulleit
1 oz grapefruit juice
2 barspoons (about 1 teaspoon) raspberry syrup (it's available commercially, or you can mash 1/2 pint of raspberries and put it in to boil with your next simple syrup batch)

shake all with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass.

It's a nice balancing act this walks; tart from the grapefruit, sweet and tangy from the raspberry syrup, and spicy from the rye (or bourbon). But it works. And it's such a lovely color.

Appropriately, it's a short drink...

Tonight I feature a new ingredient for the blog, one that'd read about for months on end, but until lately, have not tried. It's called Dubonnet, and like vermouth, it's a fortified wine. Unlike vermouth, however, it contains quinine, which makes it a quinquina. Among the fortifying spices and flavorings in Dubonnet Rouge, the red variety that's by far the most common, are chamomile, cinnamon, orange zest, and unroasted coffee beans. (I must tip my hat to Tim, of the previously-mentioned Ginger Bitters blog for turning me on to the existence of this drink in the first place, as well as his helpful information on Dubonnet. If all bars were like the New Zealand bar he manages, the drinking scene would be vastly improved. As ever, Cheers, Tim!)

So, this drink is sort of a kissing cousin to the Fifth Avenue Variation I mixed up last month; gin based, has a little Fernet Branca backing up the fortified wine, but instead of dry vermouth, we've got a sweeter Dubonnet taking up that role, and some citrus is added with the inclusion of orange curaçao (I used a good triple-sec, a.k.a. white curaçao, but Cointreau or Grand Marnier could work, as well.) Furthermore, this drink is first and foremost a gin drink...there's four times as much gin as the other ingredients combined. Despite that, there's still a remarkable complexity to it... Here's how it's made:

The Napoleon Cocktail

60 ml (about 2 ounces) London dry gin
5 ml (about 1 teaspoon) Dubonnet rouge
5 ml (about 1 teaspoon) Fernet Branca
5 ml (about 1 teaspoon) orange curaçao/triple-sec/Cointreau/Grand Marnier

Combine all ingredients with ice, stir well to combine, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe.

Thanks to the properties of the Fernet and the Dubonnet, this is really an ideal after-dinner drink, for calming down the stomach and kicking the digestion of the meal into gear, a traditional digestif/digestivo. As I said it's a remarkably complex drink, but a very enjoyable one. Dubonnet is remarkably inexpensive, so go get a bottle and start playing around with it.

I wouldn't have guessed this would be as tasty as it is...

You're all familiar with gin and tonics and vodk tonics, I'm sure. Ever heard of a rum tonic? You wouldn't expect it to work, but it does, and it's as spectacular as it is simple. You just need to make sure you've got a good rum, as you're gonna taste a lot of it.

Rum Tonic

2 oz good amber rum (I used Mount Gay Eclipse)
tonic water to top
slice of lemon
grapefruit or orange bitters

build over ice in a tumbler.

See? Super simple, but it's incredibly good. I was doubtful at first...I couldn't imagine the slightly bitter tonic water finding a match with the rum, but it all ends up being smoothly tempered, and quite tasty. I like using Bittermens Grapefruit bitters here, just to add some extra tartness to the lemon, but orange bitters would work too, I think. Give it a try...I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised.

"Drinks Named for Gemstones" for $200, Alex...

I picked up some fresh squeezed grapefruit juice today at the grocery store, and I was flicking through my drink guides to see what I could make with it that wasn't a Greyhound or a Salty Dog. I stumbled on this beauty by Dale DeGroff:

Garnet Cocktail

1 1/2 oz London dry gin (I used Boodles, Mr. DeGroff suggests Tanqueray No. 10)
3/4 oz Cointreau or other good triple-sec
1 oz pomegranate juice
1 oz fresh grapefruit juice
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters (my addition, to play with the fruit juices in the drink)

Shake all with ice and serve in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish, if desired, with a flamed orange peel.

This may look like a Cosmopolitan, because it's pinkish, but it's definitely more interesting. The grapefruit juice gives it a gloriously tart character, but not overly so...there's still plenty of sweetness in it. It's really well balanced. Definitely worth adding to your repertoire.

In which I attempt to not get sued...

Tonight's drink is one where I get to use a name that I've been itching to use for quite some time...and one that I've been afraid of. You see, I'm naming it after a much beloved fictional character in a tremendously popular series of books. Now, the author and publishers have shown wonderful restraint in not going after, say, writers of fan-fiction who use their characters names, perhaps because there's no profit to be made there. I should point out that I really don't make any profit on this blog, either (current Google AdSense total for the first 5 months of operation: $1.35, plus one generous donation from a reader). So in that spirit, and recognizing that there's alcohol in the books as well, I hope that they'll be lenient about my introduction of a ginger-laced rum punch named after the most amusing ginger-headed clan I know of. I give you:

Weasley Rum Punch

3/4 oz berry shrub base
1 1/2 oz ginger liqueur (or ginger syrup if you want it to be a little less boozy)
3/4 oz black strap or other molasses-y rum
1 1/2 oz aged rum
2 oz seltzer
scant 1/8 oz homemade spice extract
2 dashes Bittermens Grapefruit bitters

Combine first three ingredients plus spice extract in a shaker full of ice, shaking well to combine. In an tall-ish glass, add two cubes of ice, dashing grapefruit bitters over the ice before pouring in rum mixture and topping with club soda.

It works as a Weasley because of both the "ginger" connotation and the color...it's pretty much a fiery red. I really like this drink's flavor, as it's an unusual take on the classic Planters Punch formula of 1 of sour, 2 of sweet, 3 of strong and 4 of weak, plus spice. The vinegar base of the shrub really works in a very subtle way, and the heat of the ginger plays with everything as well, as shrubs were traditionally topped with ginger beer. I like how the spices play with the smoky molasses nature of the rum, and the brightness of the grapefruit bitters really makes it all sing.

Now, as long as I don't get sued out of existence, I'll be happy! Ms Rowling, if you read this, please enjoy the drink as much as I enjoyed your books. (And please don't sue me!)

I'd mentioned this one before, but now there's a photo!

A few weeks back, I gave you all my recipe for what I consider to be the perfect Manhattan, a drink that I've termed the "Golden Manhattan" to distinguish it from the "Perfect Manhattan" (equal measures of whiskey, sweet vermouth and dry vermouth). I've named it that as it reflects the golden ratio, at least in one small step. I make it as follows:

Golden Manhattan

3 parts whiskey (rye or bourbon)
1 part dry vermouth
1/2 part sweet vermouth
2 dashes bitters

stir all with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass with a maraschino cherry in the bottom.

I call it "Golden" in light of the ratio used: a+b:a::a:b, that is, 2 parts whiskey to 1 part vermouth, and 2 parts dry vermouth to 1 part sweet. I like my Manhattans a bit on the drier side, and up until two days ago, I used a dash of Angostura and a dash of orange bitters. Now, however, since I got my Bittermens, I've been putting in two dashes of the Xocolatl Mole, as the cocoa and spice notes really add a nice warmth and depth to the drink. If you have them on hand, I can't sing their praises highly enough, and they're not even paying me. But if you don't have the Bittermens on hand, a dash each of Angostura and orange more than do the job. This is really my go-to drink, if I can't figure out what I feel like having. It's incredibly satisfying and nuanced. I highly recommend you sit down for a quiet evening and figure out how you like your Manhattan...it's a fantastic drink.

In which I play with one of my new toys...

Probably close to a year and a half ago, I stumbled across Bittermens Bitters while perusing my cocktail blog circuit. I read about some of the flavors they had come up with, and I was enthralled. So I followed their site with great interest, and earlier this summer, they announced that they had entered into a partnership with another bitters maker, The Bitter Truth, based out of Germany, to manufacture and distribute two of their bitters...Grapefruit and Xocolatl Mole. Well, as soon as it was available for pre-order from The Boston Shaker, I bought one of each, and yesterday afternoon, oh glory and trumpets, Mr. Frodo!, the bitters arrived. And then I had to wait, for in some circles, drinking a cocktail at 3 in the afternoon is seen as slightly gauche, and while I'm happy to say I don't run in those circles, I still felt it was a little early. So around about 7pm, I started tinkering, and the first drink I made was one that was listed on the back of the bottle of Grapefruit bitters, and it was so excellent, I made another tonight and am posting it for your reading pleasure now.

Updated BVD Cocktail

1 1/2 oz gin
1 1/2 oz white rum
1 1/2 oz dry vermouth
two dashes Bittermens Grapefruit bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice until well chilled, and strain into coupe.

Now before you ask, I have no idea where the "BVD" moniker comes from. I've seen this made with a few different liquors, and while I suspect it may have started out as an acronym for one or more of the spirits, it doesn't really match up neatly with any of the recipes I've seen. So, passing over that, and with the assurance that it definitely does not taste like a pair of underwear, go make this drink. Well, you'll have to order the bitters first, so do that, and then go make this drink. The sweet acidity of the Grapefruit bitters really tie this together, smoothing over the rough corners you'd expect from equal measures of gin, rum and vermouth...it really works amazingly well together, and I think without those magical Bittermens bitters in there it wouldn't be half the drink it is.

Stay tuned in the near future for a drink made with the Xocolatl Mole bitters, although if you're impatient, go make a Manhattan with those in place of Angostura. You'll thank me.

Lebkuchen? Gesundheit!

I was casting my mind around to see what I could do with some of this ginger liqueur I made, and I though perhaps something with a lot of spice notes could be interesting. I remembered a great cookie my mother and I made years ago called "Lebkuchen," a traditional German cookie that's related to gingerbread. It seemed like we threw the whole spice rack in there, so I set out to invent the alcoholic equivalent of it, and came up with this:

Lebkuchen Cocktail

1 1/2 oz ginger liqueur
1 oz aged rum
1/2 oz bourbon
dash Angostura bitters
dash pimento dram
dash homemade spice extract

Build all over ice, stir to combine.

This is really kind of uncanny. It tastes almost exactly like a spice cookie...the allspice of the pimento dram, the myriad spices in my spice extract, the ginger, the silkiness of the rum, the sweet spiciness of the bourbon; they all combine into a drink that greatly resembles the cookie of my memory. It does not, however, pair as well with milk.

In which I create a drink and name it for a celebrity.

So, on the heels of the "RumDood's Revenge" of the other night, I decided to create another cocktail, but name it after a real celebrity this time. (Sorry, Matt...you're only famous in our mixology circles.) And I figured, who better to name it after than a person who's interest in classic drinks is quite well known. We've already seen David Wondrich name a drink for a broadcaster famous for "truthiness," so let's name one after another newscaster. Ladles and Gentlemints, I give you...

The Maddow Sling

1 oz Plymouth Gin
1/2 oz ginger liqueur (mine's homemade, but Domaine de Canton will work, too)
1/2 oz double-strength Earl Grey Tea
1/4 oz Cherry Heering
1/4 oz 2:1 simple syrup
1/8 teaspoon Fernet Branca
dash orange bitters
2 oz seltzer, to top

Build all except soda over ice in an Old-Fashioned glass. Stir to combine, then top with seltzer.

It's really a nice, subtle drink. Not one-dimensional, lots of flavors in there, but all working together. Ginger naturally pairs with bergamot and tea quite well, so that's the Earl Grey right there, the Cherry Heering brightens the whole thing, and that tiny bit of Fernet Branca adds a little more complexity. I quite like it, and if she's reading this, I hope Rachel Maddow likes it, too.

It's not a drink, per se, but it's got booze in it!

I decided earlier this week to try to make my own ginger extract/liqueur. I haven't tried it yet, but I wanted to document it before I forgot. So here's what I did...

On Monday, I took pretty much the remainder of my bottle of J. Wray and Nephew White Overproof rum, about 300 ml or so, added 2 oz of shaved ginger (unpeeled) and let it sit, covered, but shaking it periodically, until Thursday night, when I added another ounce of crystallized (candied) ginger chunks. I let those sit in there until tonight (Saturday), when I strained it into a clean bottle, mixed up some simple syrup in a 3:4 water:sugar ratio, and poured that in, shaking to combine.

By my back of the envelope calculations, it should still be about 40% alcohol by volume, plenty strong to be shelf stable, There's about 16 or 17 ounces of liqueur in there, so I may try a rye and ginger tonight, and we'll see how it turns out. If it's good, there's be some posts in the future featuring it. If it sucks, well, at least you'll have had some entertainment making this for no good reason whatsoever. Maybe you could use it as a marinade, or something...

EDITED TO ADD: Oh, yeah, that's nice and spicy. That'll be a featured drink soon!

I have been informed that today is International Rum Day!

That means, of course, a rum cocktail. And I'm going to take a page out of Matt "RumDood" Robold's book and modify an existing drink. Earlier this year, he took an El Presidente and turned it into a Machado Cocktail. Well, I'm taking his Machado and turning it into what I'm going to call:

RumDood's Revenge

1 1/2 oz aged rum
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz orange liqueur
1/8 oz pimento dram
2 dashes Angostura bitters
splash of grenadine

build over ice in a Double Old-Fashioned glass, stir, and garnish with lemon twist.

This drink turned out to be so ridiculously smooth it ought to be illegal. The aged rum is so incredibly mellow, the dry vermouth keeps it from veering too far to the sweet, the orange liqueur and lemon zest brighten it, and the bitters and pimento dram add a smoky, spicy complexity. Oh, Sweet Saint Seryn the Merciful*, this is a good drink.

*Saint Seryn the Merciful is patron saint of brewers, bakers and distillers...my kind of people.

"Hey, that almost sounded dirty, fella!"

Tonight marks my 100th post, though not my 100th drink. So I'll do some counting a little later, and I'll make sure my 100th drink is something awesome. Or at least tasty.

Tonight's drink is another one I modified, because honestly, what good are classic cocktails if you can't take them apart and put different after-market components in them? It's based on a venerable old drink called the Whiskey Squirt (you there in Pennsylvania; stop snickering!)

Whiskey Squirt (modified)

1 1/2 oz rye whiskey or bourbon
1/2 oz pomegranate grenadine (the fresher, the better)
1 bar spoon 2:1 simple syrup
1/8 teaspoon lemon extract (I use Penzeys, because they're local and awesome)
seltzer to top

build all except seltzer over ice in a Double Old-Fashioned glass, stirring to combine. Top with seltzer, swizzling gently to mix.

The traditional version is made as a highball, in a tall glass, rather than the DOF, and doesn't have the lemon extract. It can be garnished with fruit, though, as desired. Me? I like things to be simple to assemble, and while there's definitely a place for garnish, sometimes I just can't be bothered. I like using the lemon extract because it's a very strong, clean taste, and it's already dissolved in alcohol, so I don't have to worry about it mixing poorly. It's just a nice, simple drink, and one that you can throw together in no time flat. Just stop giggling about the name, will you?

"And now the purple dusk of twilight time steals across the meadows of my heart..."

With that line, Hoagy Carmichael set the scene for his most memorable (and often undeservedly mocked) song, "Stardust." While the prose may seem a little purple by today's standards (pun intended), it's still a beautiful song, especially when it's performed by someone who can sell it. So, start this video playing and listen to the song as you read the rest of this entry about one of my new favorite cocktails.

I stumbled across this drink while reading one of the many mixology blogs I peruse. That blog got it, in turn, from Tales of the Cocktail's 2008 session, and it was the namesake drink of The Violet Hour, a cocktail lounge in Chicago that I really need to visit on my next trip down there. It's based on a Manhattan, but it makes a couple changeups that really take it to a new level.

The Violet Hour

2 oz bourbon (I used Bulleit and did not regret it)
3/4 oz sweet vermouth (Noilly Prat for me)
1/4 oz dry vermouth (Noilly Prat again, though I've heard Cinzano is good, as well)
1/8 oz (or more, to taste) Cruzan Black Strap rum
3 dashes bitters (Fee Brothers if you can get it, otherwise Angostura works)

Shake all with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass

It starts off like a Manhattan or a Brooklyn, the bourbon and vermouth really dominating, but then, as you swallow, there's the terrific molasses and spice notes from the rum, even though there's only a tiny bit in there. It really makes for a great drink, and would likely do even better come autumn or winter. In fact, when the weather starts to cool in October, I think I'll remake this, but in lieu of the bitters, I'll add just a scant 1/8 oz of maple syrup, while halving the sweet vermouth. That, I think, will make for a really interesting drink.

And with that, I leave you to sip this cocktail, steeped in the classic tradition, and listen to, as Hoagy said, "the music of the years gone by," even if it was never composed, and exists only in your memory.

Mixology Monday XLI: Vodka is Your Friend

August's Mixology Monday challenge is one that I had some trepidation over...vodka. I'm not much of a vodka fan...I think the asking price for what's essentially neutral grain or potato spirits on a lot of big name brands is ludicrous, and being relatively flavorless, vodka just never appealed to me. That being said, it is the first alcoholic beverage I ever had, so I suppose, deep down, there's a small part of me that still likes it (and hates it, for the same reason, presumably). But, as it turns out, there's a local distillery that produces a vodka that caught my attention despite all this, so I figured I'd see what I could make with it.

The distillery, as I've mentioned in my post on gin martinis, is Great Lakes Distillery, the founder and distiller is Guy Rehorst, and it's his name that's on the gin and vodkas. The vodka that caught my eye is Rehorst Premium Milwaukee Citrus and Honey Vodka. It's made with Wisconsin honey and real lemons, so my usual grumping about test tube flavors doesn't apply. And it's local, which is a big deal for me, because I like keeping as much of my money in the local economy as I can.

So, what did I make of it? Well, I came up with two drinks. One's pretty easy and straight forward, the other is a little more complicated, but has a lot more depth of flavor. We'll go with the simpler one first.

Milwaukee Lemonade

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz simple syrup
2 1/2 oz Rehorst Citrus and Honey Vodka
seltzer to top
splash of pomegranate grenadine

shake all but seltzer and grenadine with ice, pour into ice filled DOF glass, top with seltzer, drizzle in grenadine.

This one really lets the vodka come to the forefront. It's a really great spirit in that, while it's got the fruit and honey in it, it's not overwhelmingly sweet. In fact, sipping the vodka straight, it's really smooth and mellow in the mouth, with no burn, and no cloying sweetness. I tasted the lemon first, and then the honey, faintly but there, in the back of my mouth. I really, really like this vodka. I mean really. Anyway, I mixed it with a little lemon juice and even less simple syrup, shook it up, added some seltzer for fizz, and drizzled in the pomegranate grenadine. It's pretty, and it's tasty, really letting the vodka shine.

The other drink I made is one that's got a lot of layers going on, but reflects my initial approach to mixing with this spirit; I was brainstorming what flavors complemented both lemon and honey and the first one I could think of was ginger. And so I ran with that.

Fiery Citrus Cocktail

a scant 1/2 oz thinly sliced ginger (unpeeled)
1 oz simple syrup
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz limoncello
2 oz Rehorst Citrus and Honey Vodka
dash of orange bitters

Muddle the ginger with the simple syrup, then add remaining ingredients. Shake all with ice, and double strain into glass

This one really has the ginger sitting in the forefront, but once that blast of heat dies down, then the lemon and the sweetness from the simple syrup and the round mouth-feel of the honey pipe up. This would be a good cocktail for soothing your throat, too, come winter, although my old college voice and diction teacher would kill me for suggesting that alcohol can soothe the throat. However, after a couple of these, you likely won't care if you actually feel better as long as you're not feeling anything! I like how this one turned out, but I think that the Milwaukee Lemonade showcases the spirit better.

Admit it, after last night's "Colbert Report," you knew this was coming...

I saw it, it was made by one of my cocktail heroes, so I've gotta make it and try it out. I made one substitution out of necessity, but it's still awesome. I give you the drunk custom-made for Stephen Colbert...

The Colbert Bash

1 1/2 oz Plymouth gin
1 oz Cherry Heering
1/4 oz lemon juice (I used lime because I had it on hand, still works)
generous splash of soda water/seltzer

Build first three ingredients over ice in a tall glass, top with seltzer, and gently swizzle to combine.

David Wondrich made this up for Stephen last night on The Colbert Report and it's damned tasty. Here's the footage of Wondrich's appearance:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Colbert Bump Cocktail - David Wondrich
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Tasers

The drink is damned tasty...well balanced, tart but not overly so, light and slightly fizzy from the seltzer, and as red as the blood of the bears that Stephen Colbert has personally wrestled into submission and then skinned. If this catches on, and it should, I'll be a happy man.