Bourbon goes with many things, but apples, cinnamon and chocolate top my pairings list.   For the bourbon in this cocktail, I used Ranger Creek’s .36 Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey which gently nips but doesn’t bite.  It brings the flavors of vanilla, cinnamon and a touch of oak.  If you choose a different bourbon, I suggest something that isn’t overly smooth.  I used Bigallet China-China Amer as a modifier.  Alone, this liqueur tastes of bitter orange, citrus, and cherries with an earthy, root touch similar to cola, (think bourbon and coke).  I added the bitters for complexity and to introduce chocolate, additional cinnamon and a bit of dried fruit from the fig bitters.

John Dandy

The nose of this Manhattan-esque cocktail is bright orange, fruit, vanilla and cinnamon.  The initial flavors are apple, vanilla with a touch of oak, followed by chocolate, dried fruit and a bit of spice.  The earthy tone comes late and the finish is fruit, spice, cinnamon and vanilla.  As noted below, don’t get this cocktail too sweet.

• 1 oz. Bourbon
• 1 oz. Laird’s Applejack
• 1/4 oz. Bigallet China-China Amer
• 1-2 dashes 2:1 Demerara simple syrup – depending on the sweetness of your maraschino cherries
• 1 dash Fees Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
• 1 dash Brooklyn Hemispherical Black Mission Fig Bitters
• Orange peel for garnish
• Maraschino cherry for garnish

1. Chill a coup or other stemmed cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine all of the ingredients except the garnishes in a mixing glass with ice
3. Stir to chill and strain into chilled glass
4. Express orange peel and discard
5. Add cherry

Cheers!

Well, we have chocolate covered peanuts and chocolate covered espresso beans and chocolate covered everything else so why not chocolate covered rum? I made a chocolate simple syrup with coconut nectar and drinking chocolate.  It is really deeply chocolate and very thick.  This cocktail has the flavor of rum and coconut but the dark chocolate predominates.  The spice of the chipotle and bitters keeps the sweetness at bay.

• 1 1/2 oz. Rum
• 1/2 oz Coconut Liqueur
• 1/4 oz. Chocolate Simple Syrup – Recipe here
• 2 pinches chipotle powder
• 1 dash Fees Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and stir with a spoon to dissolve the chocolate syrup
3. Add Ice to the shaker and shake to chill
4. Double strain into chilled glass and serve

Cheers!

This is like eating a 97% cacao chocolate bar.  Only a touch sweet.  You can use this as a substitute for Simple Syrup in any cocktail that has chocolate.  For some examples of chocolate cocktails using this syrup go here.  If it’s too thick, add some hot water.

• 1 oz. Water
• 1 oz. Coconut nectar or sub honey
• 4 tbls. Dagoba Drinking Chocolate mix.  You can substitute another brand but I used 130% of the amount to make 1 cup of drinking chocolate.
• 1 tbls. Sugar or to taste.

1. Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat until dissolved
2. Cool slightly before use.
3. If it’s too thick, add some hot water.

When I think of a dessert drink, my mind usually lands first on coffee. When I think of dessert, chocolate usually wins, (like everyone else, right?). So, my dessert cocktails frequently incorporate coffee and chocolate.  My list of after dinner drinks includes several sweet cocktails.  I prefer my dessert cocktail to be not overly sweet.  That’s probably because, while I might start out thinking the cocktail is my dessert, I usually end up eating something sweet as well.  So, I like dessert cocktails that do double duty as a stand alone dessert or as an accompaniment to a dessert, (read chocolate cake).

The Nectar de Café uses apricot brandy, amaretto, Ancho Reyes, crème de cacao, molé bitters and coffee syrup.  I used Kinsman Rakia for the apricot brandy.  Depending on the brand you use, you may want to adjust the sweetness.  The coffee syrup is house made, (go here for the simple recipe),  but you can use whatever brand you like for your cold coffee.

Nectar de Café

This cocktail is a touch on the sweeter side.  It alone can be dessert, but not so much that you couldn’t enjoy it with your favorite sugary delight, (chocolate cake).  The nose is sweet apricot, tropical fruit and coffee.  The taste is fruit, coffee with background of nuts, chocolate and chilies.  It doesn’t taste as sweet as your nose told you it would.  The finish is chocolate and coffee.  Shaking the drink creates the coffee foam and gives the cocktail a pleasant mouth feel.  After shaking and double straining into the glass, let it sit for about 30 seconds to allow the foam to form and the drink to clear.

• 1 oz. Apricot brandy
• 1 oz. Cold coffee syrup
• 3/4 oz. White crème de cacao
• 1/2 oz. Ancho Reyes Liqueur
• 1/2 oz. Amaretto
• 4-5 drops molé bitters

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake to chill and create a foam – about 30 seconds.
3. Double strain into the chilled cocktail glass
4. Let the drink sit for about 30 seconds to allow the foam to form and the to drink clear.

Cheers!

I prefer to make cold coffee cocktails with cold brewed coffee.  Our coffee cocktails will work with whatever coffee syrup you like to use for cold coffee.  I usually make this syrup using Starbucks Sumatra dark roast.

• 3 1/2 cups coarsely ground coffee
• 5 cups water

1. Combine coffee and water in a container stir well and let sit for 12 hours at room temperature.
2. Strain, first through a fine mesh filter, then through a paper filter
3. Keeps refrigerated for 1-2 weeks

To make cold coffee combine 1:3 or 1:4 coffee syrup to cold water.

Cheers!

Mixology Monday

Slán, in Gaelic, roughly translates to “goodby”.  That is the theme for this Month’s Mixology Monday.  It’s over.  It’s done.  Kaput.  So now is goodby to the World’s Best Online Cocktail Party. Hosted by our leader and fearless cat herder, Frederic Yarm of the Cocktail Virgin Slut blog, the actual theme for the final Mixology Monday is the Irish Wake.  A most appropriate way to say, “Slán”

Wow! Mixology Monday I, April, 2006.  Almost 11 years ago.  Back then, you probably had a Motorola RAZR with 5 MB of memory and a VGA camera.  Trendy people had a Nokia Chocolate.  Or, if you were into taking pictures, you might have had a Sony Erickson with a whopping 3.0 megapixel camera!  You listened to music on your iPod but there were no iPhones.  No. 9 Park, Milk & Honey, Employees Only and Bourbon & Branch were cranking out the cocktails we love, but they weren’t using St. Germain.  It would be a year before that was introduced.  How things change.

It would be interesting to know how many cocktails were posted and how many individuals participated in the 115 Mixology Mondays since April, 2006.  I’ve participated for only a little over 2 years.  I’ve always looked forward to it and had the privilege of hosting twice.  I will miss Mixology Monday.

For me, toasting to someone’s memory calls for a shot. Unfortunately, I have raised a glass for several family members and friends that left us.  Some were far too young.  The one Mixology Monday I missed over the past two years was when a close friend died and I wasn’t feeling too creative.  But an essential part of a wake is to celebrate the life that’s ended.

I find that creating a new shot is a bit difficult.  While you can sip a shot, they are by nature made to be downed quickly.  This means that you’re not going to savor the flavors.  So subtlety is out the window.  Plus, shots are generally not served cold.  This means that sweet, sour and salt are dramatically different.

I usually try not to get too esoteric or or use a bunch of ingredients in my cocktails.  This time I’ve done both.  The Slán combines Irish whiskey, fernet, blood orange liqueur, Pineau des Charentes and Punt e Mes infused with coffee and roasted cocoa nibs.  The infusion only took an hour, but it does need to be made in advance.  When you offer someone a shot, it matters how much effort you put into its preparation.

Slán

All of these ingredients are very good as stand alone drinks.  I think that Jameson has developed some really amazing whiskeys and their Black Barrel is one of the best.  The Luxardo Fernet is one of my favorites.  It is a touch sweeter than most.  I had to mess with the Punt e Mes adding coffee and a touch of chocolate.  I’ve only recently started using Solerno, but I’m intrigued with the blood orange.  The Penau des Charence adds a touch of sweetness and richness from the cognac.

Even though this is a shot and goes down quickly, there is a lot going on.  The nose is Irish Whiskey, with the distinct caramel and malt of the Black Barrel, there is also vanilla and herbs.  The taste is caramel and toffee from the Jameson with sweetness from the Penau with a background of bitterness from the Punt e Mes and the Fernet.  There is also coffee, orange and touch of woodiness from the Jameson and the Fernet, especially on the finish.  Here’s the recipe:

• 1 1/2 oz. Jameson Black Barrel Irish Whiskey
• 1/4 oz. Coffee & Roasted Cocoa Nib Infused Punt e Mes – see below
• 1/4 oz. Penau des Charence
• 1/8 oz. Luxardo Fernet
• 1/8 oz. Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur

1. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with 1 or 2 ice cubes.
2. Stir to chill slightly
3. Strain into 2 shot glasses

Punt e Mes Infused with Coffee and Roasted Cocoa Nibs

• 250 ml (8 oz) Punt e Mes plus more for diluting
• 30 gm Cracked Black Coffee Beans
• 3 Tbl Cocoa Nibs

1. Heat the oven to 325
2. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and scatter the cocoa nibs across the pan.
3. Roast in the oven until they smell like fresh brownies – about 10 min
4. Crack the coffee beans in a mortar and pestle or a baggie and rolling pin
5. In a lidded glass jar, combine all of the ingredients and allow to infuse for 1 hr.
6. Strain through a metal coffee filter and then through a paper coffee filter
7. Taste and dilute with additional Punt e Mes to taste.  I added an additional 1/2 by volume.
8. Keeps refrigerated for a few weeks.

So here is to all of those who followed or contributed to this and all of the Mixology Mondays past:

May the road rise up to meet you, and the wind be at your back.

May the best of your past be the worst of your future.

Sláinte!

Mixology Monday

It’s Mixology Monday, hosted by Garnish Blog, and the theme is chocolate!  I absolutely love it: chocolate and booze are a match made in Heaven!  We have three cocktails to offer this month: the Chocolate Manhattan, the Chocolate Covered Rum and the Chocolate Rum Old Fashioned.

Chocolate Manhattan

I attended a seminar on tequila and chocolate at the San Antonio Cocktail Conference last year.  It was an epiphany!  Which statement is true: “Chocolate goes with everything” or “Alcohol goes with everything?”  Or both?  Anyway, I used Milagro Plata Tequila which blends with the Lillet and chocolate in surprising ways.  The touch of bitterness and complexity of the Lillet Rouge complements the bittersweet Godiva.  This cocktail is not too sweet, but balanced and intriguing.

• 1 1/2 oz. Milagro Plata Tequila
• 3/4 oz. Lillet Rouge
• 1/2 oz. Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into chilled glass and serve

 Chocolate Covered Rum

Well, we have chocolate covered peanuts and chocolate covered espresso beans and chocolate covered everything else so why not chocolate covered rum? I made a chocolate simple syrup with coconut nectar and drinking chocolate.  It is really deeply chocolate and very thick.  This cocktail has the flavor of rum and coconut but the dark chocolate predominates.  The spice of the chipotle and bitters keeps the sweetness at bay.

• 1 1/2 oz. Rum
• 1/2 oz Coconut Liqueur
• 1/4 oz. Chocolate Simple Syrup – see below
• 2 pinches chipotle powder
• 1 dash Fees Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and stir with a spoon to dissolve the chocolate syrup
3. Add Ice to the shaker and shake to chill
4. Double strain into chilled glass and serve

Chocolate Rum Old Fashioned

I thought that a simple Old Fashioned with aged rum and bittersweet chocolate would work.  It does.

• 1 1/2 oz. Barbancourt 12 yr old Rum
• 1/4 oz. Chocolate Simple Syrup
• Orange peel for garnish

1. Chill an Old Fashioned glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and stir with a spoon to dissolve the chocolate syrup
3. Add Ice to the shaker and shake to chill
4. Double strain into chilled glass, express the orange peel over the glass and serve.

Chocolate Simple Syrup

This is like eating a 97% cacao chocolate bar.  Only a touch sweet.  If it’s too thick, add some hot water.

• 1 oz. Water
• 1 oz. Coconut nectar or sub honey
• 4 tbls. Dagoba Drinking Chocolate mix.  You can substitute another brand but I used 130% of the amount to make 1 cup of drinking chocolate.
• 1 tbls. Sugar or to taste.

1. Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat until dissolved
2. Cool slightly before use.
3. If it’s too thick, add some hot water.

Cheers!