Martini pour le Fromage

 

I truly enjoy pairing cocktails with food.  The classic charcuterie and cheese board  is always difficult.  When you eat a fat such as cheese or cured meats, your tongue is coated with the fat.  This prevents you from tasting any subtleties in your beverage.  The secret is to take a bite of something such as olives, pickled foods or nuts after the bite of cheese but before you take a sip.  This removes the fat and the flavor of the cheese from your tongue prior to the sip of cocktail.  So how can you tell if the cocktail compliments the cheese?  Simple.  Have a drink of cocktail then taste the cheese.

This Martini-esque creation combines Oxley Gin, Cocchi Americano and Kina al Avion d’Or.  The botanical notes of the Gin meld perfectly with the bittersweet Kina. It really does pair well with cheese!

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 oz. Oxley Gin
  • 3/4 oz. Cocchi Americano
  • 1/4 oz. Kina l Avion d Or
  • 3 drops Doc Elliott’s Mixology Actually Bitter Orange Bitters

Directions:

  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
  2. Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
  3. Double strain into chilled cocktail glass

Cheers!


 




White Lily

 

From the Savoy Cocktail Book first published in London in 1930.

Ingredients:
  • 1 oz. Cointreau
  • 1 1/4 oz. White Rum
  • 1 oz. Gin
  • Absinthe wash or 3/4 oz wash then drain into second glass and dilute with cold water
  • Lemon twist for garnish
Directions:
   With an Absinthe wash:
  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water.
  2. Combine all ingredients, except the Absinthe, in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill.
  3. Discard the ice and water from the chilled cocktail glass
  4. Pour a bar spoon full of Absinthe into the chilled glass and swirl to rinse the glass
  5. Discard the Absinthe and double strain the the cocktail into the chilled and rinsed glass
  6. Garnish with the lemon twist.
With an Absinthe back:
  1. Add 3/4 oz. Absinthe to a cocktail glass with 2 or 3 cubes of ice and 1 – 1 1/2 oz. cold water.  Swirl to  chill.
  2. Combine all ingredients, except the Absinthe, in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill.
  3. Strain the Absinthe into a second chilled glass and discard the ice.
  4. Double strain the cocktail into the chilled and rinsed glass.
  5. Garnish with the lemon twist.
  6. Serve both glasses.

Cheers!


 




Doc’s Dirty Martini

Whether you like your Martini with Gin or Vodka, and dirty or down right filthy, Doc Elliott’s Olive Bitters is the secret to making this Dirty Martini deliciously savory.

  • 2 oz. London Dry Gin or Vodka
  • 1/2 oz. Dry Vermouth
  • 1/4 – 1/2 oz. Olive Juice or Brine to taste
  • 1 – 2 Dashes Doc Elliott’s Olive Bitters
  • Garnish with olives
  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
  2. Combine ingredients, except garnish, in a mixing glass with ice then stir to chill
  3. Strain into chilled cocktail glass
  4. Garnish with olives

Cheers!


 




Veridian – an Elegant Gin Martini

 

This beautiful Martini combines the herbal qualities of Gin and Chartreuse.  We used Gin Mare, which has a balanced juniper note and is distilled from olives, among other botanicals, all of which play perfectly with Doc Elliott’s Olive Bitters.

The nose presents juniper with touches of woodiness, herbs and citrus. The taste is soft juniper with citrus, herbs and a hint of anise.  The finish is savory from the Olive Bitters with a bit of spice.

Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 oz Gin Mare
  • 1/2 oz Quality Dry Vermouth (or 1/4 oz Dry and 1/4 oz Bianco Vermouth)
  • 1 bar spoon Chartreuse
  • 1 Dash Doc Elliott’s Olive Bitters
  • Olives for garnish
Directions:
  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
  2. Combine all ingredients, except the garnish, in a mixing glass with ice
  3. Stir to combine and chill
  4. Double strain into chilled cocktail glass

 


 




Doc’s Classic Gin Martini

I like my martini’s 2 1/2:1 or 3:1 Gin to Vermouth.  Whatever your favorite ratio, try combining Dry and Bianco 50/50 for the Vermouth.

This is a play on the Perfect Martini.  One that combines both dry and sweet Vermouth.  Rather than sweet Vermouth, I used bianco, combining Carpano Dry and Carpano Bianco. I was hooked.  These two styles of  Vermouth have become my go-to for anything calling for ‘dry.’  At first the Carpano Bianco seems slightly sweeter than the usual premium dry Vermouth.  I attribute this to the rich wine flavor that comes through along with citrus and a little tropical fruit.  The Carpano Dry is a bit surprising. The nose is wine, lemon, candied fruit and spices, but the taste is bone dry.  Alone, or in combination, these fortified wines are amazing.

I have used London Drys, Herbal, and “American Style”.  I like them all!

When it comes to the garnish, I think that citrus and olives, individually or together, drastically enhances this martini.

Doc’s Classic Martini

  • 1 1/2 oz. Gin – You’re favorite premium brand
  • 1/4 oz. Carpano Dry Vermouth
  • 1/4 oz. Carpano Bianco Vermouth
  • Dash of Doc Elliott’s Olive Bitters
  • Olives and/or Lemon peel for garnish
  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
  2. Combine the gin, vermouth’s and bitters in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
  3. Strain into chilled cocktail glass
  4. Garnish with Olives and/or Lemon peel

Cheers!


 




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!




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!

 


 




Curl My Toes

Curl My Toes

This cocktail has all of the flavors of your favorite gin Martini with the added herbals of Kina al Avion d’Or.  Plus, the botanicals in the vermouth are enhanced by creating the vermouth syrup. Curl My Toes has become one of “Doc’s Greatest Hits” at parties and Pop Ups.

While making beer syrup standing at the stove stirring, my eyes fell upon an open bottle of vermouth on the counter awaiting its use in cooking.  I had read about and tasted beer syrup, but I’d never heard of vermouth syrup.  A quick Google consultation confirmed no results.  After some experimentation, I settled on equal parts dry vermouth and sugar

To my palate, dry vermouth is more herbal than sweet vermouth.  So dry vermouth syrup tastes nothing like sweet vermouth.  In this cocktail, the dry vermouth syrup brings a touch of sweetness to offset the bitter Kina and a nice mouth feel.

I have tried this with multiple gins including London Dry’s and the new style herbal gins.  I’ve even subbed Kinsmen Rakia for the gin.  It all works.

Curl My Toes

  • 2 oz. Premium gin such as Uncle Val’s Botanical
  • 1/2 oz. Dry Vermouth Syrup – see below
  • 1/4 oz. Kina al Avion d’Or
  • Fresh herbs such as thyme and sage plus a dried lemon wheel for garnish
  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
  2. Add all ingredients, except the garnish to a mixing glass with ice
  3. Double strain into chilled glass
  4. Spank the herbs in your palm and float on the dried lemon wheel or on the drink

Vermouth Syrup

  • 1 part Dry Vermouth
  • 1 part Sugar
  1. The best way is to combine vermouth and sugar in a blender and blend on high several minutes until the sugar is dissolved.  You maintain the flavors of the vermouth if you don’t heat the syrup.  But, if you don’t have a blender, you can combine vermouth and sugar in a sauce pan and heat just until the sugar dissolves.  Do not allow the syrup to boil.
  2. Either way, strain through fine mesh strainer into a glass bottle.  Keeps refrigerated for about a few weeks.

Cheers!


 




Mad Hatter Martini

Mad HatterI enjoy paring cocktails with food, especially if creating a new drink.  We were serving salmon and asparagus the other day.  Since asparagus does not pare with any wine, this seemed the perfect opportunity for a cocktail!  Cue the Flavor Bible.  (If you cook, and or make cocktails, you need this book!)  I simply looked up salmon and asparagus comparing them for complementary flavors in common.  I chose thyme, lemon and carrots.  Yes, carrots.

Fish in general tastes best with a light, dry beverage.  Heavy or sweet can hide some of the subtle flavors inherent to fish.  In this case, I chose a gin martini.  You could substitute vodka for the gin, but you will lose the herbal notes that work so well.  I selected Ki No Bi gin for its flavors of kumquat, orange oil, juniper, spice and a slight bitterness of wormwood.  I used Reisetbauer Carrot Eau de Vie that has an intense bright taste of carrots.  Lemon peel expressed over the drink and fresh thyme as a garnish completed the complementary flavors.

Baked salmon garnished with asparagus and tomatoes with herbs

The Mad Hatter Martini

As noted above, I used Ki No Bi gin.  Your favorite gin will work quite nicely in the cocktail.  I would avoid the highly herbal gins as they might overpower the subtle carrot.  If you find this too bitter for your taste, decrease the amount of vermouth or make it a perfect with 1/2 bianco vermouth.

The nose is thyme, lemon and citrus.  First flavors are clean, herbal, with a touch of spice.  Then you note subtle carrots and juniper.  The finish is long and dry.

 

  • 1 1/2 oz Gin
  • 1/2 oz Premium dry vermouth (or 1/4 oz dry & 1/4 oz. bianco vermouth)
  • 1/4 oz. Reisetbauer Carrot Eau de Vie
  • 2-3 drops Bitter Truth Olive Bitters
  • Lemon peel for expressing
  • Fresh thyme for garnish
  • Dried lemon wheel for garnish (optional)
  1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and waterMad Hatter Bottles
  2. Combine the gin, vermouth, eau de vie and bitters 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 and discard
  5. Spank the thyme and float it on the dried lemon peel

Cheers!