New Years 2021

2021 brings optimism of a better year, but still it is our castles that provide comfort and safety.  So, to enhance our personal palace celebrations, I’ve created regal cocktails, one purple, one gold.

“Amethyst Ambrosia”    Amethyst…bringing tranquility, calm and serenity through it’s clear, cool brilliance.  Ambrosia…nectar of the gods.

“Midas Elixir”    Gold, symbol of luck and prosperity, is believed to rejuvenate the endocrine system, regenerate tissue and skeletal system, and balance the right and left brain.  Elixir, the sweet liquid of longevity.

When you lift a glass to toast the new year…here’s wishing that “Cheers” brings you just that…the hope of a year filled with renewal and joy!

Midas Elixir

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 oz. London Dry Gin
  • 3/4 oz Cocchi Americano
  • 1/4 oz. Kina al Avion d’Or
  • Lemon peel for garnish

Instructions:

  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
  2. Combine all ingredients except the garnish in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill.
  3. Double strain into the chilled cocktail glass
  4. Express the lemon peel over the drink.

Amethyst Ambrosia

In this cocktail the vermouth and St. Germain build on the herbal and floral flavors of the gin for a complex and appealing aperitif. The beautiful purple color of the Empress Gin creates a stunning drink. You can substitute any of the new style gins such as Hendrix, Monkey 47 or Uncle Val’s Botanical.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 oz. Empress Gin
  • 3/4 oz Bianco Vermouth
  • 1/4 oz. St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
  • Lemon peel for garnish

Instructions:

  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
  2. Combine all ingredients except the garnish in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill.
  3. Double strain into the chilled cocktail glass
  4. Express the lemon peel over the drink.

Cheers!




Coffee Amaro Flip

Bittersweet Coffee FlipI think that Flips, in all of their forms, are an interesting type of cocktail.  This drink is kind of a grownup eggnog – rich and creamy but not cloyingly sweet, with a bittersweet component which creates an intricate cocktail that speaks rum, coffee and the deep, earthy flavors of Amaro Nino. Perfect for the Holidays!

  • 2 oz White rum
  • 1 oz. Amaro Nino
  • 3/4 oz Cream
  • 1/2 oz 2:1 Simple Syrup
  • 1/2 oz Coffee Liqueur – I used Starbucks
  • 1 Lg Egg
  1. Chill a large Coup with ice and water
  2. Combine all ingredients in a shaker without ice and dry shake for 30 seconds (Make 4 of these and you can have an extra slice of pie!)
  3. Add ice to the shaker and shake to chill
  4. Double strain into chilled glass
  5. Allow the foam to rise to the top for 15-20 seconds then grate a little nutmeg on the top.

Cheers!


 




Pumpkin Bisque Shooters

Pumkin Bisque Shooters

I love pumpkin and I’ve always been a fan of pumpkin bisque.  I like mine to be savory.  Save the sweet for the pie!  Since I have a more than passing infatuation with rum, I simply looked to combine two of my favorite flavors.  I tried this warm, with bourbon and with dark rum.  Not great in any combination.  But cold bisque and gold rum were the perfect match.  The bitter sweet flavor of the apple brandy foam is perfect with the savory, slightly spicy pumpkin bisque.

I have included the recipe for my pumpkin bisque below, but you can use your own or even your favorite prepared brand.

For 2 Shooters:

  • 2 oz. Cold Pumpkin Bisque – see below
  • 1/2 oz. Gold rum such as Cruzan or Mount Gay
  • 1 dash Simple syrup
  • 1 Dash Angostura Bitters
  • Apple Brandy Foam – see below
  1. Combine pumpkin bisque,rum simple syrup and bitters in a mixing glass without ice and stir to combine.
  2. Divide between 2 tall shooters
  3. Gently float the Apple Brandy Foam on the shooters
  4. Serve immediately

Apple Brandy Foam

  • 3 egg whites (4 1/2 oz pasteurized egg whites)
  • 3 oz. Applejack Brandy
  • 2 oz. Fresh Orange juice – double strained
  • 2 Dashes Bar Keep Apple Bitters
  1. Add all ingredients to an iSi Whipper
  2. Seal the whipper and shake to further break up the egg whites
  3. Double charge the Whipper with N2O, shaking after each charge
  4. Refrigerate for 2 hours before use.  Will keep refrigerated for a few days.

Pumpkin BisquePumkin Bisque Shooters 2

  • 1 tsp Cayenne
  • 2 Cups Diced Onion
  • 2 cloves Chopped Garlic
  • 1 1/2 Tbls. Butter
  • 1 – 15 oz. Can Pumpkin Puree
  • 4 Cups Chicken Stock
  • 1/4 tsp. Ground Allspice
  • 1/2 tsp Fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp. Salt to Taste
  • 1/4 Cup Dry Sherry
  • 1 Cup Heavy Cream
  1. Saute the onions in the butter until translucent – about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook 30 sec.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients except the cream and simmer for 30 min
  3. Place the mixture in a blender and puree until smooth.
  4. Return the puree to the pot, add the cream and continue to cook until heated through.
  5. Serve immediately or cool for the above shooters.

Cheers!


 




Icy Fingers – a Frozen Martini

IcyFingers

I had read about freezing martinis and thought it would be fun to try.  Frozen martinis are nothing new, but my various recipes turned into an interesting experiment.  Just to set things straight, a “frozen martini” is not a slushie like a “frozen margarita.”  It is a batched martini, placed in a bottle and put in the freezer.

So, why freeze a martini?  Well, a frozen martini is colder than ice and bone dry with a silky-smooth mouth feel.  As the temperature of a drink decreases, so do the flavors of sweet, sour, and bitter, while the taste of salt or brininess increases.  Herbal and floral flavors also change with some increasing and others decreasing. These changes can be amazing – both good and bad!  More on that in a minute.

Classic Dry Martini with olives on black background. CopyspaceBatching cocktails makes sense for events, pop-ups and even when entertaining at home. The ability to pour a craft cocktail from a bottle really helps when you are “in the weeds” bartending.  It’s also nice at home when you would like a little more but don’t want to make a whole martini.

There are a couple of caveats. First is your freezer. Even if you have a commercial freezer, you need to have a freezer thermometer. The temperature needs to remain stable at around 50 F.  A temperature of 00 – 70 F will allow you to serve a cocktail at 25%-30% ABV.  Prior to attempting to freeze your martinis you need to measure your freezer’s temperature at various times of the day.  It will probably be coldest in the morning when it hasn’t been opened.  The coldest temperature is the one you will use to calculate your batches’ ABV.

The second caveat is that liquids lowered to subfreezing temperatures tend to form ice. There are a few things you can do to make this occur less often.

Martini cocktail on counter bar.

  • Keep the ABV close to 30%. This will give you a little margin of error.
  • Shake the bottle really well to thoroughly mix your batch before freezing.
  • Avoid bumping or jarring the bottle once it’s frozen.
  • Use a screw cap or cage top bottle. Don’t use a bottle with a cork.  Removing the cork will create a slight vacuum in the bottle.  Enough to turn the batch to ice.

When your batch does ice, (and it will happen), just set it on the bar and let it warm up.  Add a little gin and refreeze the batch.

When selecting your gin, I recommend a London Dry.  At least choose something that is not overly herbal or floral.  I’ve settled on Botanist.  The subtle salinity really works when frozen.  For an example of what doesn’t work, I tried Gompers Gin.  I really like Gompers.  It makes a great Martini or G&T.  But there is a subtle flavor of pear in Gompers that when frozen, overwhelms every other flavor.  So much for that batch.

House Martini SignOur recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 oz. Botanist Gin
  • 1/4 oz. Dry Vermouth
  • 1/4 oz. Bianco Vermouth
  • Short dash Doc Elliott’s Olive Bitters

For a 500 ml Batch with a freezer set to 50 F, this calculates to:

  • 300 ml Gin
  • 50 ml Dry Vermouth
  • 50 ml Bianco Vermouth
  • 100 ml water
  • 4 dashes Doc Elliott’s Olive Bitters

Use this spread sheet to calculate your batch volumes:  ABV Batch Freeze Calc

A 20% dilution will make the drink a little strong but allows you to freeze it without icing.  The spread sheet’s freezing calculation is only accurate for an ABV of 20% – 34%.  It uses the fact that the freezing point of alcohol is a strait line in that ABV range.

Lastly, remember to freeze your glassware!

To serve:

  1. Pour desired volume of Frozen Martini into a frozen cocktail glass
  2. Garnish with olives

Cheers!


 




Lily’s Aperitif

LilyAperitif

I saw somewhere a cocktail recipe that contained Gin, Suze and Blue Curaçao.  The drink was, of course, a brilliant green.  So in my pursuit of holiday cocktails, this was perfect!  This wonderful aperitif is named after Lily the Haunted Doll.  She is the slightly creepier version of the Christmas surveillance doll “Elf on a Shelf.” The idea being that, after you adopt her, she haunts various places in your home.

For the cocktail, we chose the slightly floral Oxley Gin, Suze, Carpano Dry Vermouth, and blue curacao.  The nose is bright with citrus and juniper from both the Gin and Suze.  The taste is bittersweet with orange, botanicals, and a bit of spice.  The finish is long with juniper, a touch of pine and gentian.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. Oxley Gin
  • 2 oz. Suze
  • 1 oz. Dry Vermouth
  • 1/2 oz. Blue Curaçao
  • 2 drops Doc Elliott’s Actually Bitter Orange Bitters
  • Lemon peel for garnish
  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
  2. Combine all ingredients except the garnish in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
  3. Double strain into chilled cocktail glass
  4. Express the lemon peel over the drink and discard the peel

Cheers!

 


 




Pinochle

Pinochle

Worms Song

We have used agave or maguey worm salt, (Sal de Gusano) in versions of mezcal and tequila Manhattans.  The Sal de Gusano gives the drink a slight salinity and a savory background note. I’ve seen a Black Cat recipe that included Old Tom Gin, Mezcal and grapefruit.  So, never being reluctant to mess with recipes, we’ve come up with a version of Old Tom Gin/Mezcal Manhattan with the grapefruit aperitif, Caperitif.

For this cocktail, we have chosen Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin.  This Old TomAmazon.com : Gran Mitla Sal de Gusano 100 Gram Jar ... style gin is distilled with juniper as the only botanical, barrel aged in new American Oak, then sweetened with raw honey.  The Mezcal we selected is Mezcalero No. 12, which was made from wild agave.  Together they create a very pleasant cocktail.  The nose is juniper with a touch of smoke and floral notes.  The taste is juniper, honey, and a bit of wood.  The finish is slightly sweet and savory.

 

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin
  • 1 oz. Mezcalero Mezcal
  • 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth – we used Dolin
  • 1/4 oz. Caperitif
  • 1 pinch sal de gusano
  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
  2. Combine all ingredients, except the sal de gusano, in a mixing glass with ice.  Add the sal de gusano and stir to chill.
  3. Double strain into the chilled cocktail glass

Cheers!


 




Blushing Redhead

Strawberry Apple CiderWe like to incorporate our syrups and juices when turning cocktail creations into “Zero Proof” drinks .  Adults feel less conspicuous lowering their ABV and this makes the kids feel grownup. It also makes mixing drinks a little easier.

This time we were featuring strawberry daiquiris and margaritas.  Since I had gone all Dave Arnold on the juices, we made an acidified strawberry juice and a 1:1 strawberry simple.  I clarified the strawberry juice but you can filter it through a metal coffee filter or a chinoise.  Your juice will be cloudy but it will taste just as good.  You can also substitute cherry juice.  The key is acidifying part of the juice and making a balanced 1:1 simple with the rest.  You can read about this here or open the spread sheet Pineapple Simple Sour to calculate everything for you.

This drink is based on a French 75 substituting sparkling apple cider for the champagne.  The strawberry is forward with the apple playing along.  If it’s a bit too sweet, add a couple of drops of orange bitters.

Blushing Redhead

Ingredients:

  •  3/4 oz. 1:1 Strawberry simple
  • 1/2 oz. Acidified Strawberry juice.
  • Sparkling Apple Cider

Instructions:

  1. Add the juice and syrup to a champagne flute
  2. Fill with the Sparking Apple Cider

Cheers!




Off the Cuff Rum Old Fashioned

Good sipping rum, like any good sipping spirit, can make amazing cocktails as long as you’re careful not to bury those subtle qualities.  An old fashioned, Manhattan or martini can be a vehicle to express and play with the flavors of fine spirits.  This time I’m using Don Q Vermouth Cask Finished Rum, but another fine sipping rum can work equally well.

My friends at Jet Setter in San Antonio created for me an amazing rum old fashioned with Don Q Vermouth Cask Rum and Paranubes*. This is my version. I really enjoy Don Q Vermouth Cask Finished Rum neat or with a big rock.  It is a blended rum finished in Mancino Vermouth Veccio casks.  On its own, the Don Q is smooth, with a nose of vanilla and honey, and flavors of  light molasses and cinnamon, with hints of dried fruit from the vermouth.  The Paranubes is an agricole made from high altitude sugar cane near Oaxaca.  It brings a touch of funky and some vegetal notes.  You could sub with another rhum agricole. Keeping with the sugar cane theme, I used cane syrup as the sweetener.  Finally, I chose Doc Elliott’s Actually Bitter Orange Bitters because it is an orange bitter that is actually bitter.

The nose is vanilla and molasses from the Don Q with an interesting, funky vegetal note.  On the palate it’s light molasses, cinnamon and dark chocolate, with a little dried and tropical fruit from the agricole.

  • 2 oz. Don Q Vermouth Cask Finished Rum
  • 1/2 oz. Paranubes
  • 1/2 oz. cane syrup
  • 4-6 drops Doc Elliott’s Actually Bitter Orange Bitters
  • Orange peel for garnish
  1. Chill a rocks glass with ice and water
  2. Combine all ingredients, except the garnish, in a mixing glass with ice and stir to combine.
  3. Strain into the chilled rocks glass over a large ice cube
  4. Express the orange peel

Cheers!

* Doc Elliott’s Mixology receives no compensation for brands mentioned.


 




Easy Ginger Lime Syrup

A zero proof substitute for falernum.

Makes 1 Cup

Time: 15 minutes

  • 1 Cup Fresh lime juice
  • 1 Cup thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger or 4 oz crushed ginger
  • 2 Whole cloves
  • 2 Allspice berries
  • 1/4 tsp. Ground nutmeg
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  1. Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
  2. When the sugar dissolves, reduce the heat, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
  3. Allow to cool slightly
  4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard solids
  5. Store syrup in refrigerator.  Will keep about a week.

Cheers!




Full Sail

Full SailKids love special drinks as much as adults.  Especially if it’s made just for them.  The carbonated coconut water is a bit over the top, but once again, with a little effort the kids feel really special.  I used an an iSi Whipper and a CO2 charge since my siphon is full of water.  You can also put still coconut water in the shaker with the rest of the ingredients and then top the glass with a dash of plain carbonated water.

If you use falernum, it has an ABV of 10% so your finished drink will have an ABV of ½%.  If that’s too high, substitute the easy ginger lime syrup below.

  • 1½ oz. Fresh lime juice
  • ½ oz. Falernum or Ginger Lime Syrup – see below
  • ½ oz. Orgeat
  • ½ oz. Simple Syrup
  • 4 oz. Carbonated Fresh coconut water or carbonated water
  1. Add the first 4 ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake to chill
  2. Pour shaker, unstrained, into chilled Collins glass and top with more ice
  3. Add the carbonated coconut water to fill
  4. Stir and garnish with lime wheel or wedge

 Easy Ginger Lime Syrup

Makes 1 Cup

Time: 15 minutes

  • 1 Cup Fresh lime juice
  • 1 Cup thinly sliced peeled fresh ginger or 4 oz crushed ginger
  • 2 Whole cloves
  • 2 Allspice berries
  • 1/4 tsp. Ground nutmeg
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  1. Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
  2. When the sugar dissolves, reduce the heat, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
  3. Allow to cool slightly
  4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard solids
  5. Store syrup in refrigerator.  Will keep about a week.

Cheers!