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!

I love kumquats, partly because it’s a fun word, but mainly because of the sweet and sour flavor.  It’s the only citrus I know of that you eat whole – peel, seeds and all!  A few years ago, I bought and planted a kumquat tree and eagerly awaited it’s first season.  What I did not know was that there are 2 types of kumquats that are common in the US.  The small one that we see in the grocery stores, which are the ones that you just pop into your mouth, and a larger, rounder variety that is not really amenable to eating out of hand.  Guess which one I got!  Well, what to do with a plethora of beautiful, small citrus that is sweet and very tart?  Make cocktails, of course.

The juice of these kumquats tastes a bit like orange, but has a tart/sour taste as well.  It is similar to lemon or lime juice in its tartness.  So I thought of a sour.  First up was a bourbon kumquat sour.  When I say that this that did not go well at all, I mean; “at all!”  What really surprised me was that the juice went very well with Irish Whiskey. I used Tullamore Dew 10 year old Single Malt.  The Tullamore Dew has the earthy, grassy flavors of Irish whiskey with the flavors of fruit, (apricot, pineapple, raisin) and wood.  This blended perfectly with the sweet/sour/tartness of the kumquat.  The kumquat juice is a bit sweeter than lemon juice, so I backed off on the simple syrup.  Here is the recipe:

Kumquat Irish Whiskey Sour

• 2 oz. Tullamore Dew 10 year old Single Malt
• 1 1/2 oz. Fresh kumquat juice
• 1/2 oz. Simple syrup
• 1 large egg white (can use 3 Tbl. pasteurized egg whites but it will not be the same)

1. Add all ingredients, in order to a shaker and shake for 30 sec without ice to emulsify the egg white.
2. Add  ice cubes  to the shaker and shake to chill 15-20 sec.
3. Double strain into a chilled coup and serve

Cheers!

This cocktail is simply a Blood and Sand with a little smokey twist.  According to an article by Gary Regan on Liquor.com, the Blood and Sand first appeared in Harry Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book and was probably named after the 1922 silent movie.  History aside, the Blood and Sand is an elegantly simple cocktail.  It’s equal parts scotch, Cherry Herring, sweet vermouth and orange juice, shaken and served straight up.  You can change the flavor of this drink a little by switching around different types of vermouth but the key ingredient is scotch.  I prefer a Highland Single Malt or a smooth blend for this cocktail.  The complexities of a Speyside are lost in this drink and an Islay can be over powering, but a touch of smoke is a great addition.  This version of a Blood and Sand gets that smokey twist from a mist of Laphroig as a garnish.  Just fill an inexpensive atomizer, (available here) with Laphroaig and you’re good to go.

• 3/4 oz. Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch
• 3/4 oz. Cherry Herring
• 3/4 oz. Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
• 3/4 oz. Fresh Orange Juice
• Mist of Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch
• Orange peel for garnish

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake to chill
3. Double strain in to the chilled cocktail glass
4. Express the orange peel over the drink and float the peel
5. Apply 2 or 3 mists of Laphroaig from the atomizer over the drink
6. Serve immediately

Cheers!

Mixology Monday

It’s Mixology Monday CV and we’re excited about hosting!  The theme, “Brace Yourself,” is a challenge to concoct a cocktail that will fortify the will to venture forth into Winter.  With the fun and games everyone is having this weekend on the East Coast, it’s a fitting theme.

This month we offer two drinks, (actually 2 shots), to provide the liquid courage required for our outdoor adventures.  Both use a spirit that is rarely even mentioned in cocktail circles.   Since I am likely the only contributor to Mixology Monday that has a bottle of this stuff, a back story is required.  We were at Parliament in Dallas a while back and started chatting about their barrel aging program.  They gave us a shot of an aged drink to see what we thought.  It was definitely whiskey, but was mellowed with a hint of spice, vanilla and cloves.  We weren’t able to guess, so we asked what it was:  Fireball Whiskey!

We use our barrels to age successive cocktails/spirits/fortified wines.  The fun is in the adventure of how each cocktail affects the next inhabitant of the barrel.  Being a little uncertain about what I’d put in a barrel after Fireball, I went with the barrel stave in the bottle.  It took a little longer than I expected, but after 4 weeks the Fireball was approaching the flavors we’d experienced at Parliament.  Now for the shots:

Into the Wind

I thought of this immediately after our trip to Parliament. Porter’s Fire, which is a Canadian Whiskey with “cinnamon and hints of vanilla,” posted a drink combining it with amaretto.  So, substituting the new and improved barrel aged Fireball for the Porter’s Fire, you get the sweetness of the amaretto cut by the spice of the aged and mellowed Fireball.  Toss in Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters for a little added complexity.  If it’s still too sweet for you, reduce the amount of amaretto.

• 3/4 oz. Barrel Aged Fireball Whiskey
• 3/4 oz. Amaretto
• 2 Dashes Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters

1. Combine ingredients in a shot glass
2. Serve

Frost Buster

Amaretto is good so why not Jägermeister?  The clove and vanilla with the remaining spice of the cinnamon in the aged Fireball, blends with the herbs in the Jägermeister.

• 3/4 oz. Barrel Aged Fireball Whiskey
• 3/4 oz. Jägermeister

1. Combine ingredients in a shot glass
2. Serve

I served both of these shots this past weekend and got thumbs up all around.  So sip’m or slug’m, they’ll keep you warm for at least a minute or two!

Cheers!

The theme for this month’s Mixology Monday, brought to us this month by Dagreb of the Nihil Utopia blog, is Forgiving Cocktails, as in a “little too much of this and a touch to little of that.”  The challenge is to submit a cocktail that is tolerant of a bit of sloppiness in its preparation.  This lack of precision is, of course, exactly the opposite of what we generally do for this online cocktail party. While things like Rum and Coke or Jack and Coke came to mind, I decided on the Rusty Nail. In the past, I firmly believed that Scotch should be mixed only with ice or a few drops of water, if that.  This belief also included the doctrine that real Scotch wasn’t blended!  Well, I finally saw the light and discovered that good Scotch can make a great cocktail and that well made blends can make a great Scotch.

Mixology Monday

Sometime back, I posted the Smokin’ Nail.  This is a tea smoked combination of Single Malt Scotch and Drambuie.  I have seen Rusty Nail recipes use anywhere from 4:”1 Scotch:Drambuie to 1:1.  For the Smokin’ Nail, I used 4:1.  Since the exact ratio is variable, you should get a decent cocktail even from an inexperienced bartender.  In addition, you can add bitters and/or a twist of lemon.  Dave Stolte muddles a lemon peel and bitters in an old fashioned glass, and then builds the drink  adding ice, Scotch and Drambuie.  At this year’s Tales of the Cocktail, the folks from Monkey Shoulder were serving up a delicious Rusty Nail.  This is my version of that cocktail:

• 1 1/2 oz. Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch
• 3/4 oz. Drambuie
• 1 dash Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters – optional
• 1 lemon peel – optional

1. Chill an Old Fashioned Glass with ice and water
2. Combine the Scotch, Drambuie and bitters (if using) in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into chilled glass over a large fresh ice cube
4. Express the lemon peel over the cocktail and discard the peel.

I like adding the bitters.  They decrease the sweetness of the Drambuie without detracting from its flavors.  The lemon peel adds further complexity.

So, a fresh glass, a chunk of ice, some Scotch and a little Drambuie – you’re good to go!!

Cheers!

Here I go offering another cocktail crafted with Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee White Whiskey*.  As I’ve written previously, it is single distilled from a mash of corn, barley and wheat which gives it some subtle, but distinct, differences from other premium white whiskeys.  I think Nelson’s Green Brier is slightly sweeter and contains a malt/chocolate note, but still present is the ‘bite’ you would expect from white whiskey.  A lot of recipes try to cover up the ‘bite’ of white whiskey with fruit juices or other sweeteners. I wanted to highlight the hint of chocolate without increasing the sweet.  While I consider this a dessert cocktail, it isn’t cloying and allows the ‘bite’ to add character to the party.  Adding 4-5 drops of Bittermens Mole Bitters will decrease the sweetness and increase the complexity.

• 1 0z. Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee White Whiskey
• 1 oz. Frangelico
• 1 oz. Crème de Cocao
• 1/4 oz. Ancho Reyes
• Optional 4-5 drops Bitterman’s Mole Bitters

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

Cheers!

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

New York Sour

This has become one of my favorite sours.  If we have a bottle of red wine open, it’s the first cocktail I consider.  The egg white makes a velvety mouth feel and the large ice cube in the shaker creates a nice texture.  Use a full bodied, fruity wine such as Merlot.

• 1 1/2 oz. Russel’s 10 Year Old Reserve Bourbon
• 1 oz. Fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. Simple syrup
• 1 Egg white
• 1/4 – 1/2 oz. Red wine
• Lemon peel for garnish

1. Add bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup and the egg white to a shaker and shake, without ice, for 30 seconds to break up the egg white.
2. Add 3 regular ice cubes plus one large cube * to the shaker and shake for 10-15 seconds until well chilled.
3. Double strain into a chilled coup
4. Using the back of your bar spoon, float the wine on the drink.
5. Express the lemon oils from the peel over the drink and discard the peel.

* Use a 1 1/2 – 2 inch cube plus 3 regular cubes or you can just use all regular cubes.

Cheers!

I like my whiskey sours 1:1 bourbon and lemon sour.  For the lemon sour, I prefer 2:1 lemon to simple syrup.  I also like the mouth feel of egg white.

• 1 1/2 oz. Belle Meade Bourbon
• 1 oz. Fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. Simple syrup
• 1 large egg white (can use 3 Tbl. pasteurized egg whites but it will not be the same)

1. Add all ingredients, in order to a shaker and shake for 30 sec without ice to emulsify the egg white.
2. Add 3 regular sized ice cubes plus one large cube (1 1/2 – 2 inches)* to the shaker and shake to chill 10 – 15 sec.
3. Double strain into a chilled coup and serve

* using a large ice cube creates a silky finish that complements the egg white.  You can omit this and use regular ice but you should get a large ice cube tray!

Cheers!

We have two offerings for this Month’s Mixology Monday, “I’ll take Manhattan!”  This one, from our fearless MxMo leader, Frederic of the CocktailVirgin blog, challenges us to revisit the classic cocktail.

Mixology Monday

Our first submission is the Manhattan 2.0 – a “Modern” version of the Manhattan with the added nuance of Sherry.  For the second, we jump ahead to an article we are preparing to publish on barrel aging cocktails at home.

 Manhattan 2.0

For the the bourbon in this cocktail, we tried Basil Hayden and Belle Mead.  Both were excellent.  The bourbon brings flavors of maple, tobacco, smoke and vanilla.  This blends well with the rich, earthy Carpano Antica’s tastes of herbs, spice and slight bitterness.  Tasting this without knowing the ingredients, one could easily miss the sherry.  It intermingles with the Italian Vermouth, smoothing the bitterness and adding to the richness.  Here is the recipe:

• 1 1/2 oz. Bourbon
• 3/4 oz.  Carpano Antica
• 1/4 oz. Sherry
• 1/8 tsp. Grand Marnier
• 1 dash Angostura Orange  Bitters
• Garnish: Luxardo Maraschino Cherries and an orange peel

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Add the ingredients, except the garnish, to a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into the chilled cocktail glass
4. Add the cherries, (or place them on a pick), and express the orange peel over the drink and discard.

Sherry Cask Aged Manhattan

This cocktail comes from our look into barrel aging cocktails at home, which we will publish soon.  We started with a new charred white oak, 1 liter cask, which was then seasoned by aging Lustau East India Solera Sherry for 4 weeks.  As an aside, the Sherry came out very nice and is great in the Manhattan 2.0!  The barrel was then used to age the cocktail.  The small cask allows a larger surface to liquid ratio than will a bigger barrel.  The larger the barrel, the longer will be the aging time.

Barrel aging a Manhattan is awesome!  The charred oak adds an expected slight oakiness and smoke flavor while the Sherry brings the slightest touch of sweetness.  The overall effect is a richness and depth of flavors that are melded together in a way that you’re not going to achieve any other way.

Here is the recipe for a 1 liter barrel:

For the Barrel:

• 1 new, 1 liter charred oak barrel with stand which has been filled with water for 24 hours
• 1 bottle Lustau East India Solera Sherry

1. Drain and rinse the barrel
2. Secure the tap
3. Fill the barrel with the Sherry and seal the bung.
4. Place the barrel on its stand and set aside on a water proof shallow container, such as a plastic container lid
5. Turn the barrel 1/4 turn each week
6. After 4 weeks, drain the sherry through a fine mesh strainer and store, refrigerated, in its original bottle.
7. Rinse the barrel and refill immediately with a cocktail – do not allow the barrel to dry out.

For the Manhattan:

• 20 oz. Bourbon
• 10 oz. Carpano Antica Italian Vermouth
• 1 3/4 tsp Grand Marnier
• 1 3/4 tsp Regans Orange Bitters

1. Rinse the sherry aged barrel with water
2. Combine all ingredients in a 1 qt. pitcher
3. Carefully pour ingredients into the cask
4. Set the cocktail filled cask on a plastic lid or other flat, liquid proof surface (the barrel will leak).
5. Turn the barrel 1/4 turn each week
6. Taste the cocktail at least weekly until you think it’s ready – about 4 weeks
7. When the cocktail is ready, carefully pour it from the barrel through a fine mesh strainer into a 1 quart pitcher.
8. Decant into a seal-able glass bottle
9. Store your cocktail at room temperature.

To serve:

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Pour 2 1/4 oz. Sherry Cask Aged Manhattan into a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into the chilled cocktail glass
4. Garnish with premium maraschino cherries and an orange peel

Not ready to commit to a barrel?  You can approximate the same aged cocktail effect using a small bottle and a charred barrel stave, available here.  It will lack the richness and depth of flavor of barrel aging, but it will be close.

The bottle holds 12 oz.  The recipe is then:

• 7 oz. Bourbon
• 3 1/2 oz. Carpano Antica Italian Vermouth
• 1/2 tsp Grand Marnier
• 1/2 tsp Regans Orange Bitters

1. Combine the ingredients in the bottle and add the barrel stave
2. Swirl it everyday
3. It will probable be ready in 2 weeks

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!