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.

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 barspoon 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.

Cheers!

It is Mixology Monday for December and it’s all about apples.  This most excellent theme is the brain child of Frederic at Cocktail Virgin Slut, this month’s host. 

Once again, we have two drinks to offer: Cider Punch and the Plymouth Old Fashioned.

Cider Punch

This drink combines apples in the form of calvados and hard cider with the flavors of ginger and cranberries.  The aroma is apples and lemon.  The taste begins with apple and a touch of sweet ginger and cranberry, finishing with musty cider.

• 1 oz. Calvados
• 1/2 oz. Ginger Liqueur
• 1/2 oz. Cranberry Syrup (see below)
• 1 oz. Chilled hard cider
• Lemon twist

1. Stir the first four ingredients in a mixing glass with ice until well chilled.
2. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
3. Express the lemon oils over the drink and discard the lemon.

Cranberry Syrup

This is from Chris Tunstall at abarabove.  The syrup is extremely easy.  You will need:

• 1 – 14 oz can jellied cranberry sauce
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water

1. In a quart sized microwavable container, melt the cranberry sauce on high in 30 second intervals, stirring in between.
2. Meanwhile, using a small sauce pan on the stove, dissolve the sugar in the water.
3. When the the sugar is dissolved, add the melted cranberry sauce and stir to combine.
4. Allow to cool.  This will keep refrigerated in a sealed glass bottle for at least a week.

The Plymouth Old Fashioned

A few years ago, I came across a post by Jamie Boudreau where he described his “Old Fashioned Simple Syrup.”  He uses a base liquor, sugar and bitters for the sweetener.  Playing with his idea, I have made a number of drinks with various base liquors, sugars and bitters.  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.
2. Allow to cool
3. Will keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks

Thanks to Frederic at Cocktail Virgin Slut for hosting this month’s Mixology Monday.  Go check out their site and be sure to come back for the roundup of Mixology Monday XCII.

Cheers!

This drink requires Bad Dog Barcraft’s Fire and Damnation Bitters available here.  You want several dashes of the bitters to enable the flavors to come through.  Then balance the bitterness with the agave.  Be careful not to make it sweet.

• 2 ozs. Good aged bourbon such as Russell’s Reserve 10 Year Old or Basil Hayden
• 3-4 dashes Bad Dog Barcraft’s Fire and Damnation Bitters – about 1 barspoon
• 1/4 oz  Agave Nectar or more to taste
• Lemon or orange zest

1. Chill a single old fashioned glass with ice and water.
2. Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and stir.
3. Pour over a large fresh ice cube in chilled glass.
4. Twist zest over glass and discard

• 1 part Rémy Martin Cognac
• 1 part Zaya Aged Rum
• 1 part Añejo Tequila
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
• 2 dashes Bitter Truth Chocolate Bitters
• 2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
• 1 part Tequila Old Fashioned Simple Syrup 

1. Chill an old fashioned glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir with ice
3. Strain over fresh ice in chilled glass
4. Garnish with a thick orange zest and a cherry

This is one of my go to Old Fashioneds.  The spice of the habanero shrub and the touch of sweetness of the agave complement the dark complex flavors of the aged rum.  I make this as an essentially built drink.  Just add the ingredients to your old fashioned glass, give it a stir and then add ice.  Initially, the cocktail will be strong but then mellows and chills as you sip and swirl the glass.

• 2 ozs. 15 Year Old Barbancourt Rum
• 1-2 dashes Bitter Truth Habanero Shrub
• 1/8 oz. Agave Nectar
• Lemon peel for garnish

1. Add all ingredients, minus the garnish, to an un-chilled  old fashioned glass.
2. Stir to combine then gently add a large ice cube.
3. Express the lemon peel over the drink and drop it in.

Cheers!

This is based on the Cubed Old Fashioned.  I changed the syrup and the bitters.  This has a bigger cinnamon flavor than the original and is perfect for those cold winter’s nights, (which in San Antonio means anything under 50 degrees).  The syrup is made with brown sugar so it is not as sweet.  If the drink is too bitter for your taste, try adding a little more syrup.  Decreasing the bitters will decrease the spice.

• 1 oz. cognac
• 1 oz. aged rum
• 1 oz. aged bourbon
• 2 dashes Fee Brothers Aromatic Bitters
• 2 dashes Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
• 2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
• 1 oz. Winter Old Fashioned Simple Syrup

1. Chill an old fashioned glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir with ice
3. Strain over fresh ice in chilled glass

Garnish with a thick orange zest and a cherry