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

Ingredients:

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

Directions:

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!

Whether it’s a cold, snowy Winter’s evening, or a warm Spring afternoon, a well-crafted Old Fashioned is an excellent libation.  Our Walnut Old Fashioned features the spice of a good Rye Whiskey and the warming notes of Doc Elliott’s Mixology^TM Walnut Bitters.  We use agave syrup since its early sweetness matches the bitter profile of our Walnut Bitters.  The flavors are slight sweetness followed by spicy Rye and walnut.  The finish is soft and smooth.  Here’s the recipe:

Walnut Old Fashioned

• 2 oz Rye Whiskey
• 1 barspoon of Agave Syrup – to taste
• 4-5 dropper fulls of Doc Elliott’s Mixology^TM Walnut Bitters
• Lemon peel for garnish

Instructions

1. Chill a single old fashioned glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients, except the garnish, in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into the chilled old fashioned glass over fresh ice.
4. Express the lemon peel over the drink and float the peel.

Cheers!

This Old Fashioned is best described as a bite of pecan pie, a taste of coffee, a nibble of dark chocolate, and a sip of fine bourbon.  Always a hit at the events and pop-ups we’ve done, it is one of my personal favorites. Simple to make, you can easily adjust the sweet/bitter balance. I prefer a high rye bourbon with this cocktail, but you should use your favorite.

The flavor profile of Doc Elliott’s Mixology™ Coffee Pecan Bitters is bitterness and spiced coffee on the front, soon followed by pecan with notes of dark chocolate as the bitterness rapidly fades.  The finish is coffee, pecan, and chocolate.  For this reason, we use agave, which is fructose, bringing sweet to the beginning then quickly fading, making it the perfect complement to our Coffee Pecan Bitters in our Coffee Pecan Old Fashioned,

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Bourbon
• 5-6 Dashes Doc Elliott’s Coffee Pecan Bitters
• 1/2 – 1 barspoon Agave Nectar – to Taste
• Orange peal for garnish

Directions:

1. Chill a single Old Fashioned glass with ice and water
2. Combine all of the ingredients, except the garnish, in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into chilled glass with fresh ice
4. Express the orange peel over the drink and float the peel

Cheers!

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.

I really like bitters forward old fashioneds.  To me, bitters bring flavor and spice that you aren’t going to find elsewhere.  One way to get a lot of bitters into a cocktail without making it, well, too bitter, is to make a syrup with bitters as all or part of the liquid.  For this drink I have chosen Applejack, brown sugar and black walnut bitters to use in the syrup.  It is then combined with calvados, bourbon and rum.

This is a big drink in size, strength and flavor.  The taste of apple blends with the vanilla and spice from the rum and the combined smoky notes of the rum and bourbon.  The black walnut bitters really stand out.  I initially used Fees Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters, but I think that Angostura Bitters with the Fees Brothers Black Walnut Bitters and Orange Bitters is better.

You can easily lighten up this drink by substituting Cruzan Dark Aged Rum for the Zaya and/or Russell’s 10 year old Bourbon for the Basil Hayden’s.

Here is the recipe:

• 1 oz. Calvados
• 1 oz. Aged rum such as Zaya 12 Year Old
• 1 oz. Aged bourbon such as Basil Hayden’s
• 1 oz. Black Walnut Syrup (See below)
• 1 bar spoon honey syrup (1 part honey dissolved in 1 part water)
• 2 dashes Fees Brothers Black Walnut Bitters
• 2 dashes Fees Brothers Orange Bitters
• 2 dashes Fees Brothers Aztec Bitters or Angostura Bitters
• Thick orange peel for garnish

1. Stir all ingredients, except the garnish, in a mixing glass with ice.
2. Strain into a chilled old fashioned glass with fresh ice – preferably a single large cube or sphere
3. Express the orange oils over the drink and float the peel.

Black Walnut Syrup

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 oz. Applejack
• 1 oz. Fees Brothers Black Walnut Bitters

1. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the liquid, stirring frequently.  Or you can put all of the ingredients in a blender and run on high for a few minutes.
2. Allow to cool
3. It will keep longer if you filter it through a metal coffee filter to remove any undissolved sugar crystals.
4. Will keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks

Cheers!

Mixology Monday

It’s Mixology Monday May 2016!  This month’s theme, hosted by Nick of the Booze Barn, is “Dry.”  Around here, we like dry, (maybe why we live in South Texas)!    The idea this month is to make a cocktail using a dry base spirit with no more than 10% sweetener/juice and 10% fortified wine, or no sweetener and 20% fortified wine.  The word “Dry” immediately brought to mind a local distillery here, but I’ll come back to that in moment.  I’m going to start with an Old Fashioned.

Speaking of preferring dry cocktails, I make Old Fashioneds bitters forward with minimal sweetener.  After reading the requirements for this theme, I got to thinking about how often I have difficulty making drinks sweet enough for some people.  The classic Old Fashioned is a bit sweet.  Most of my Old Fashioned recipes call for 1/4 – 1/2 tsp sweetener such as simple or honey syrup or agave in a 2 ounce pour with 2-3 dashes of bitters.  This is less than half of the above requirements for this theme.  So here is one of my favorites, the Apple Old Fashioned:

Apple Old Fashioned

This cocktail combines spicy Rye with a hint of apple from the bitters.  Add to that a touch of smooth honey syrup and you have a drink that is light on the tongue but still bitters forward.  You may want to adjust the ratio of bitters to syrup depending on your taste, but this month keep it dry!

Notice that this is essentially a built cocktail.  I stir it in a mixing glass without ice to combine the ingredients prior to pouring it over a large ice cube in an un-chilled single old fashioned.  Similar to scotch on the rocks.  Initially the flavors will be strong with very little dilution.  As you sip the cocktail and gently swirl it, the drink will chill and dilute.

• 2 oz. Rye whiskey such as Templeton or Sazarac
• 1 generous dash of Bar Keep Apple Bitters
• 1/2 tsp of honey syrup (1 part honey, 1 part water)
• Lemon peel for garnish

1. Combine the rye, bitters and honey syrup in a mixing glass without ice.  Stir to combine.
2. Pour over a large ice cube in an un-chilled single old fashioned.
3. Express the oil from the lemon peel and drop it into the drink.

Desert Kiss

When I’m thinking of combining a base spirit, especially gin, with a liqueur, I usually go first to the ‘Golden Ratio’ of 1 1/2 spirit: 3/4 fortified wine: 1/4 liqueur.  With the requirements for this month’s MxMo, I decided to mess with one of my favorites: Gin, Bianco vermouth and Chartreuse.  Reducing both the vermouth and Chartreuse really alters the drink in a very good way.  There is London Dry Gin, the unmistakably qualities of the vermouth and the herbal notes of the Chartreuse.  Add a little lemon oil and the fragrance of sage and it’s all good!

• 1 1/2 oz. London Dry Gin
• 1/4 oz. Carpano Bianco Vermouth
• 1 tsp Chartreuse
• Lemon peel and fresh sage leaf for garnish

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine the gin, vermouth and Chartreuse in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into chilled glass
4. Express the lemon peel over the drink and discard
5. Spank the sage leaf in your palms and float it on the drink

Now, back to my comment above that the word “Dry” immediately brought to mind a local distillery here in San Antonio.  Dorçol Distillery, located in Southtown has been making an apricot brandy or ‘Rakia.’  The nose on their Kinsman Rakia is, as you would expect, sweet and fruity just like a brandy should be.  But, it is bone dry.  I even measure the brix and it came in between vodka and London Dry gin.  I obviously like their product.  Added to that, is my appreciation for what these guys are doing with the community, helping to revitalize an historic part of the City.  They have a small bar at their distillery which is quickly becoming a serious attraction.  Among the many offerings is a Rakia Martini:

Rakia Martini

This cocktail has the dry fruity apricot flavor of the rakia which is enhanced by the herbal notes of Lillet.

• 2 oz. Kinsman Rakia
• 1/2 oz. Lillet

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine the Rakia and Lillet in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into chilled glass
4. Ask your liquor store to order some Kinsman Rakia

Cheers!

I got the idea of jerky infused white whiskey from the Ranger Creek folks at this years San Antonio Cocktail Conference.  My original intent was to use it to make Bloody Mary’s.  However, I found that the tomato overwhelmed the jerky flavor.  More importantly, I started out making a huge mistake which resulted in me pouring half a bottle of Ranger Creek .36 White down the drain.  More on that below,* but for now, on with the cocktail.

Ranger Creek’s .36 White Whiskey is their ‘White Dog,’ or unaged bourbon.  It is slightly sweet and a bit grainy with a hint of fruit.  It also has the ‘bite’ of white whiskey.  As a base spirit for infusing, it brings it’s own flavor profile and is an interesting substitute for vodka or grain alcohol.  For the infusion, I used my own beef jerky which is flavored with soy sauce, brown sugar, hot sauce, Pick-a-Pepper Sauce, crushed red peppers, cayenne and liquid smoke*.  I let the jerky and whiskey steep for 2 weeks, tasting daily.  Here are the recipes:

For the Infusion

• 375 ml Ranger Creek’s .36 White Whiskey**
• 20 grams Beef Jerky – without added nitrites

1. Combine ingredients in a mason jar, seal and allow to sit at room temperature
2. Shake daily
3. After 2 or 3 days, begin tasting daily until flavors are fully developed: 7-14 days
4. When the infusion is ready, loosen the mason jar lid and set the jar upright in your freezer overnight.
5. Freeze a metal coffee filter for at least 2 hours
6. Place frozen coffee filter inside a paper coffee filter over a funnel and filter the whiskey into a measuring cup.  The metal filter will catch the larger bits and the paper will filter the rest.  This will remove the frozen fat.  If you use a warm filter, the fat will melt and pass through the filter.
7. If there is still fat floating on your whiskey, repeat steps 4-6.

Jerky Infused Coffee Pecan Old Fashioned

This is a complex cocktail.  The nose is pecan, caramel and coffee – like your Mom’s kitchen on Sunday morning when she had pecan rolls in the oven and coffee brewing on the counter.  So your nose prepares your tongue for something sweet.  Wrong!  The first taste is a combination of jerky, pecan and bitter chocolate with the whiskey in the background.  Then it’s coffee and finishes with the whiskey and spices of the jerky.  Nothing sweet about this cocktail.  I used my own Coffee Pecan Bitters but you can buy various brands at better liquor stores.  You want to use enough bitters to add flavor and just balance the bitterness with the agave.  The jerky infused white whiskey does not do well with sweet.

• 1 1/2 oz. Beef Jerky infused White Whiskey
• 2-3 dashes Coffee Pecan Bitters
• 1-2 dashes Agave syrup
• Lemon Peel for garnish

1. Combine all ingredients, except the garnish in a room temperature single old fashioned glass and stir to combine and to dissolve the agave.
2. Carefully drop in a single large ice cube
3. Express the lemon peel over the drink and drop it in.

Beef Jerky

In case you don’t know what dried beef looks like!

This recipe creates a fairly spicy jerky.  If you want to cut the heat, drop the crushed red pepper and chose a mild Louisiana style hot sauce.  You can dry this in a dehydrator or in your oven.  If using an oven, set a half sheet pan on the lowest rack to catch drips and then lay out the jerky strips directly on racks set above.  Four pounds will require 2-3 racks.

• 4 lbs. Beef Bottom Round cut into thin strips
• 3 Tbl. Soy Sauce (Not low sodium)
• 1 Tbl. Louisiana, or similar, hot sauce
• 1 Tbl Pick A Pepper Sauce
• 1/2 Tbl Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbl Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 Tbl. Cayenne
• 1 Tbl Liquid Smoke

1. In a mixing bowl large enough to hold the meat, combine all of the ingredients except the beef.  Stir well and begin adding the beef mixing as you go.  Be sure all of the beef is as well covered as possible.
2. Cover tightly and let sit on the counter for 30 min or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
3. Spread the strips on your dehydrator trays or oven racks.
4. Dry overnight at 125° F for the dehydrator or 150° F  for your oven.
5. Store jerky in a loosely covered container to allow air circulation.
6. I have no idea how long it will keep.  It is always gone in less than a week!

*I did not find organic beef jerky at the store.  The organic, ‘uncured’ varieties were venison, turkey and salmon.  So I used a decent brand of beef jerky.  Unfortunately, the whiskey was very efficient at extracting the sodium nitrites, or ‘pink salt’, used to preserve the jerky.  The result was a predominant metallic taste.  The infused whiskey was irretrievable.  So, either use your own homemade jerky or buy a brand that has no added nitrites.

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

Cheers!

Mixology Monday

It’s time again for the world’s best online cocktail party.  The theme for this month’s Mixology Monday is “Hometown Hooch,”  as set forth by Stuart Putney at Putney Farms.

You can read more at the announcement post here, but the idea is to use locally distilled spirits in a cocktail.  I have chosen Rebecca Creek Distillery for three reasons:

1. We use their Enchanted Rock Vodka as one of our go to’s
2. We have a great Old Fashioned using their Texas Whiskey
3. It’s the only Texas Hill Country distillery that I’ve heard mentioned in a Country song!

 I’m Not Dead Yet (Just Married)

This is a drink we featured at our Daughter’s wedding last year.  It was served at the Groom’s Whiskey and Tequila Bar, along with several other bourbon and tequila libations and hand rolled cigars.

Rebecca Creek Fine Texas Spirit Whiskey is very smooth with a little bite at the finish.  The flavors are primarily barrel notes of vanilla and herbs.  It is composed of young barrel aged Texas whiskey and 8 year old Kentucky Bourbon and comes off similar to a Canadian Blend.  In this cocktail, these flavors back up the Black Mission Fig Bitters and the smokey agave.  Made as a built drink, the initial taste is strong, but as it is sipped and swirled in your hand, the ice melts and the drink cools providing a enjoyably long, slow finish.

Here is the recipe:

• 1 1/2 oz. Rebecca Creek Fine Texas Spirit Whiskey
• 2 droppers full Brooklyn Hemispherical Black Mission Fig Bitters
• 1/4 oz. Agave syrup
• Orange peel for garnish

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients in an unchilled, single Old Fashioned glass and stir
2. Gently add a large ice cube
3. Express the oil from the orange peel over the drink and float the peel.

Cheers!

I love a bitters forward Old Fashioned.  So, the March Mixology Monday theme of “Call me Old Fashioned” is right up my alley.  Thanks to Sass & Gin for hosting and choosing a most magnificent theme!

Mixology Monday

This drink requires Bad Dog Barcraft’s Fire and Damnation Bitters available here.  “Fire and Damnation” made me think of the old tent revivals and thus, the name.  (Besides, I’m certain that this is good for the soul!) You want several dashes of the bitters to enable the flavors to come through.  Then balance the bitterness with the agave.  I use agave nectar rather than making a syrup.  Different brands of agave vary in sweetness, so you may need to adjust the amount you use.  Be careful not to make it sweet.

I use Russell’s Reserve 10 Year Old for this cocktail.  It is a little lighter on the oak but retains the spice and body you expect from a good bourbon.  Notice that this is essentially a built drink, a la Dave Arnold in Liquid Intelligence.  I found that this technique works very well for most Old Fashioned’s.  It’s a bit like Scotch on the rocks: the cocktail starts out strong and then cools and dilutes as you sip and gently swirl the ice.

Old Fashioned Tent Revival

• 2 ozs. Russell’s Reserve 10 Year Old
• 3-4 dashes Bad Dog Barcraft’s Fire and Damnation Bitters – about 1 barspoon
• 1/4 oz  Agave Nectar or more to taste
• Lemon zest for garnish

1. Add everything, except the garnish, to an un-chilled, single old fashioned glass and stir to combine.
2. Carefully drop in a large ice cube.
3. Express the lemon and float it in the drink.

Cheers!