As busy host/hostess, anytime you can offer a fun, engaging, self-serve cocktail bar, expect your guests to rave about your entertaining prowess!  A tonic bar is a simple way to allow your guests open access to create their own drinks while you get to enjoy your party too.  Its versatility works great for casual outdoor gatherings and equally well for holiday festivities.

Before we address the blue print for a great libation station, let’s look at the recent transformation of the venerable Gin and Tonic.  About ten years ago, the “Gin Tonic” became the rage in Spain.  Bars developed their own, proprietary Tonic Waters with which they prepared beautiful cocktails in over-sized, stemmed wine glasses, filled with colorful fresh citrus and herbs.  Drinking establishments take pride in featuring their version of the “Gin Tonic.”

The most important ingredient in gin, and the one necessarily present in all gins, is juniper. Beyond that, it’s the Wild West, because there is no minimum amount of juniper required for a spirit to be labeled ‘gin.’  A single juniper berry in a vat of spirit qualifies as ‘gin.’

I had an opportunity to discuss Gin and Tonics with Jason Kosmas, Co-founder of The 86 Company, (Fords Gin among others), Co-founder of Employees Only and Co-author of Speak Easy. According to Jason, just about any premium brand of gin can be used for Gin and Tonics.  Jason prefers that juniper be an actual flavor present in gin, followed by citrus and various herbs.  When determining what will go best with any particular gin, Jason encourages us to “read the back label” and see what is in the gin.  With Fords Gin, he suggests creating a cocktail with the addition of grapefruit, coriander, lemon, and jasmine.

When it comes to tonic water, there are several good premium brands readily available.  Jason mentioned Fever Tree, East Imperial and Q Tonic.  He looks for natural ingredients and sugars.  The flavor should be quinine first and dry rather than sweet.

For garnishes, Jason looks to rosemary for “woodsy,” and he likes grapefruit, dries spices, star anise, aromatic berries such as strawberry, cucumber and/or fresh lavender.  For sweeteners, he recommends agave, dried flowers and even herbal tea blends.

Of course, as Jason says: “It can’t be a Gin Tonic without the big, stemmed wine glass!”

The Tonic Bar

To engage your guests with making their own Gin Tonics, set your Tonic Bar up in an easily accessible area where multiple people can be actively concocting.  Your actual tonic bar can be as minimalist or as expansive as you like.  You can offer only a single gin, vodka or rum, or multiple choices of each.  We include little tasting cups so that our guests can sample the spirits before selecting one.  (The plastic tasting cups were one lifetime supply purchase from Costco – approximately a thousand for $10!)

Fever Tree, Tonic Syrups for Rum and for Gin

Now for the tonic water.  We like to offer at least one house made tonic syrup.  A small amount of tonic syrup is added to carbonated water in the drink to make tonic water, (our recipes are here).  These syrups are designed for a specific spirit and make wonderful cocktails.  However, we have found that while our guests like it when we make one these for them, when left on their own, they will usually opt for bottled tonic water.   We continue to offer the tonic syrup, but we always include one premium brand of tonic water – usually Fever Tree.  We also use the small bottles so that there is no measuring required.

However many choices of spirit you offer, don’t skimp on the garnishes.  Arrange bunches of fresh herbs in single old fashioned glasses, with small bowls of sliced citrus and berries.  If some of your herbs are less than attractive, pinch off the leaves and present them in small bowels as well.  Release your imagination with the variety of flavors, colors and textures of garnishes and the containers in which you offer them.  The more inviting the presentation, the more your guests will be encouraged to experiment and enjoy their mixology talents. Here are some suggestions:

Set up your Tonic Bar where it is easily accessible

Little recipe placards make it easy for your guests

As noted above, set your Tonic Bar up in an easily accessible location.  We use a round table.  Set out your bottles of spirits, a few bottles of tonic water along with a bottle opener, and garnishes.  You might want to set your glassware and ice bucket on a separate counter.  This will minimize the chance that they get knocked over while someone is reaching for ingredients.  We always include a written recipe with suggestions of garnishes for each spirit.  This will eliminate any anxiety your guests may have over not knowing what to make.  You want to keep it simple and fun.

A knife and cutting board allows guests to prepare their own garnishes

To get things started, make up a Gin Tonic so everyone can see how it’s done.  Those guests can then show any late comers when they arrive.  You will then only need to refresh any garnishes, tonic water bottles and ice.

Recipe for Gin, Rum or Vodka Tonics

• 2 oz Spirit – either Gin, Rum or Vodka
• 6 oz. Tonic Water (1 1/2 oz Tonic Syrup and 4 1/2 oz. Carbonated Water)
• Optional dash of simple syrup for gin or vodka/demerara simple syrup for rum
• Garnish – see below

 Instructions:

1. Add ice cubes to a large, stemmed wine glass
2. Add garnishes except for any citrus peels for expressing
3. Add your Spirit of choice
4. Slowly add the Tonic Water (or Tonic Syrup followed by the carbonated water).
5. Express any citrus peels and serve

Suggested Garnishes:

Rum Tonic with House Made Tonic Syrup

We have found that our guests enjoy the opportunity to experiment with the Tonic Bar.  By offering multiple choices of gin, vodka and rum along with a myriad of garnishes, you enable your guests to explore a range of Gin Tonics.  Our guests tend to lower the amount of spirit in each drink thus allowing themselves to try multiple variations.  If some of your guests may be a little more stayed or if you just wish to expand the offerings, set out a few old fashioned glasses so someone can make a standard Gin or Vodka and Tonic.  Throw in a bottle of vermouth and martini glasses and your guests can head down that road.  As always, we offer self serve wine and beer along with non-alcohol options.

Cheers!

Making tonic water at home and in bars became a widespread fashion in the early 2000’s. An internet search for ‘DIY tonic water’ will result in a number of recipes. Jeffrey Morgenthaler posted a recipe in 2008, (found here), which became one of the most popular. Since then, he has published a newer version in his book, The Bar Book: Elements of Cocktail Technique. I like his new version, which can be found on line here, because he separates the aromatics from the quinine. This lends itself to easy modification. My recipe for tonic syrup for use with gin differs only slightly from his.

What has become apparent over the last decade is that

Making tonic water at home is dangerous!

Tonic water is primarily carbonated water and quinine. Quinine is most famous for treating the symptoms of malaria. Mixing gin and quinine dates to the British in various malaria prone climes where soldiers used gin to make the bitter quinine more palatable. In those days, quinine was extracted from cinchona bark in a process not unlike making tea. Since World War II, quinine has been manufactured as a white powder formed into pills. You can purchase quinine pills over the internet and dissolve them to use in tonic water. This is a bad idea. It would be very easy to poison yourself and guests with too much quinine. The recipes noted above and the ones you will find on the internet will use cinchona bark as the British did.  The problem is that you can’t know how much quinine is extracted from the cinchona bark.  Many people have developed cinchonism, the symptoms of quinine poisoning, from drinking DIY tonic water.  These symptoms include flushed and sweaty skin, ringing in the ears, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, rash, high pitched hearing loss and dizziness.  Larger doses can result in deafness, blindness, somnolence, shock, cardiac arrhythmias and death.  All of these symptoms will go away when the quinine is metabolized.  Well, except the death part.

These DIY tonic waters can be delicious. The problem is the quinine.  So why not leave out the cinchona bark and, thus, the quinine.  Make the syrup but, instead of adding carbonated water, add commercial tonic water!

I had an opportunity to discuss Gin and Tonics with Jason Kosmas, Co-founder of The 86 Company, (Ford’s Gin among others), Co-founder of Employees Only and Co-author of Speak Easy. His take on tonic syrups is to include citrus, coriander and herbs – even herbal tea. Keep in mind that the base spirit you choose will lend itself to various flavors. As Jason pointed out – read the back label for flavor ideas. For syrup used in Rum and Tonics, he would add lime, pineapple, cinnamon and vanilla. (The rest of the interview centered on Gin Tonics and will be included in a future post)

These days, you are not limited to buying tonic water in 1 liter bottles. There are a number of premium tonic waters available such as Fever Tree and Q Tonic. The primary idea of making your own tonic syrup is to customize it for various drinks. These recipes will take about 15 minutes of active and 45 minutes of inactive time.

The only equipment you will need that is slightly out of the ordinary is a digital food or postage scale. Only the precise weight of ingredients ensures that your syrup will be consistent from one batch to the next.

For the Quinine Tincture:

We substitute Luxardo Bianco Bitters

For the aromatic syrup for gin or vodka and tonics:

• 20 gr. citric acid
• 10 gr. whole gentian root
• 1 gr. coriander
• 1 gr. Ceylon soft-stick cinnamon, broken into small pieces
• 30 gr. lemon peel
• 30 gr. grapefruit peel
• 400 gr. sugar
• 500 ml. water
• 2 – 3 to 4 inch sprigs of fresh lavender (optional)
• 1 1/2 oz Luxardo Bianco Bitters

1. Combine all of the ingredients, except the lavender and bitters, in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
3. Remove from the heat, add the fresh lavender and allow to cool.
4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.
5. Add the Luxardo Bianco Bitters and store, refrigerated, in a seal-able bottle or jar. It will keep 3-4 weeks before it turns cloudy.

For the aromatic syrup for rum and tonics:

• 20 gr. citric acid
• 10 gr. whole gentian root
• 1 gr. Star Anise
• 2 gr. Ceylon soft-stick cinnamon, broken into small pieces
• 3 Kaffir Lime leaves (Optional – available at Asian Markets)
• 10 gr. lemon peel
• 50 gr. Lime peel
• 400 gr. Turbinado sugar
• 500 ml. water
• 1 1/2 oz Luxardo Bianco Bitters

1. Combine all of the ingredients, except the bitters, in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer.
5. Add the Luxardo Bianco Bitters and store, refrigerated, in a seal-able bottle or jar. It will keep 3-4 weeks before it turns cloudy.

Gin, Rum or Vodka Tonics

• 2 oz Spirit – either Gin, Rum or Vodka
• 2 oz. Tonic Syrup
• 6 oz. Tonic Water
• Optional dash of simple syrup for gin or vodka/demerara simple syrup for rum
• Garnish – see below

Rum & Tonic

Method #1

1. Add large ice cubes to a large, stemmed wine glass
2. Add garnishes except for any citrus peels for expressing
3. Add your Spirit of choice
4. Slowly add the Tonic Syrup followed by the tonic water.
5. Express any citrus peels and serve

Method #2

1. Fill your large wine glass with large ice and garnish
2. Add the remaining ingredients to a mixing glass with ice and stir
3. Strain into your prepared glass
4. Express any citrus peels and serve

Suggested Garnishes:

You should let your imagination run with the garnishes.

G-n-Tini

Here is a cocktail that uses Tonic Syrup directly in the drink.

• 1 1/2 oz. Fords Gin
• 1/2 oz. Dolin Sweet Vermouth
• 1/2 oz. Tonic Syrup for Gin
• Grapefruit peel for garnish

1. Stir the first three ingredients in a mixing glass with ice to chill
2. Strain into a chilled coup
3. Express the grapefruit peel over the drink and float the peel

Cheers!

I met the Nelson brothers, of Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery, at this year’s San Antonio Cocktail Conference and visited with them again at TOTC.  Their Belle Meade Bourbon is one of my favorites and with it I have created a number of cocktails.  I first tasted their Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee White Whiskey* at the San Antonio Cocktail Conference.  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.  First, I think Nelson’s Green Brier is slightly sweeter and has a malty/chocolate note.  Still present is the ‘bite’ you would expect from white whiskey.  Previously, I was not a fan of white whiskey, but liking theirs, I have set out to design some cocktails using Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee White Whiskey.

I may have just had chocolate on the brain, or maybe it was molé, but the chocolate note I mentioned made me think of chilies and thus Ancho Reyes liqueur.  Add in Carpano Antica Vermouth and now it becomes something rich and complex.  Being determined to gild the lily, I wanted to push the herbal flavors of the vermouth.  So, I got esoteric and added Bigallet’s China-China Amer.  The Carpano has wonderful essences of dried fruits and bitter marmalade along with a little cocoa and red wine.  All of which are enhanced by the China-China’s orange peels and bittering herbs bringing a little truffle like earthiness to the party.  This combination complements rather than overwhelms or conceals the unique flavors of this white whiskey.  Here’s the recipe that makes me smile!

Green Brier Grin

• 1 1/2 oz. Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee White Whiskey
• 3/4 oz. Carpano Antica
• 1/2 oz. Ancho Reyes
• 1/2 oz. Bigallet’s China-China Amer

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Add all ingredients, except the garnish, to a mixing glass with ice.  Stir to chill.
3. Strain into chilled cocktail glass

Cheers!

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

The Wellington

Treaty Oak Distilling is aging their gin in whiskey barrels to create their Waterloo Antique Gin.  This is truly a unique gin.  It has the sweet caramel nose that you would expect from the barrel aging but with the addition of the herbaceous input of gin.  The flavors are citrus, spice and herbs with a finish of charred oak that is long and smooth.   We combined this with Italian vermouth and Amaro.

• 1 1/2 oz. Waterloo Antique Gin
• 1/2 oz. Carpano Antica Vermouth
• 1/4 oz. Averna Amaro
• Lemon peel for garnish

1. Stir the first three ingredients in a mixing glass with ice to chill
2. Strain into a chilled coup
3. Express the lemon peel over the drink and float the peel

Cheers!

I think that Fords Gin cries out for grapefruit.  It so happens that grapefruit is one of the primary flavors in Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s tonic recipe.  His quinine syrup, that you can add to club soda to make tonic water, is simple and takes less than an hour to make.  I thought that including the quinine syrup directly with the drink would make an interesting bitter sweet addition.  I believe I was correct!  Here’s the recipe:

G-n-Tini

• 1 1/2 oz. Fords Gin
• 1/2 oz. Dolin Sweet Vermouth
• 1/2 oz. Quinine Syrup – see here
• Grapefruit peel for garnish

1. Stir the first three ingredients in a mixing glass with ice to chill
2. Strain into a chilled coup
3. Express the grapefruit peel over the drink and float the peel

Cheers!

Simply Delicious Cocktail Recipes You Can Make at Home

Creating craft cocktails at home can be as easy or as difficult as you want it to be.  I personally prefer easy, and if you’re set up right, even complicated drinks can be simple to make.

Page updated February 26, 2023

Read on to learn the basics of barrel aging and how to get started.  To see some additional barrel aged cocktails and spirits go here.

Once the concept was introduced by Jeffrey Morgenthaler around 2010, barrel aged cocktails became the next great drink and are now easily found at upscale bars across the country.  When a cocktail is barrel aged it takes on flavors from the wood and if it contains a fortified wine, from some oxidation as well.  The result can be amazing.  The idea seems easy enough: make up a cocktail, pour it into a barrel and wait a few weeks.  Of course, there is a little more to consider, especially if you are wanting to do this at home.  I do recommend trying this at home.  So, let’s look at how best to do this, and at some choices you will need to make.

We are going to discuss:

1. What does the barrel do to the cocktail
2. Obtaining and using a barrel at home
3. Which types of cocktails lend themselves to barrel aging
4. Generational Aging
5. Step by step examples
6. A possible alternative for similar results

What is happening to my drink?!

When you barrel age a cocktail you are doing two things:

• Allowing the liquid to oxidize
• Infusing the drink with wood – and with whatever was previously in the barrel.

We generally consider oxidation to be a bad thing.  Think of red wine that has been sitting on the counter a week after it was opened.  Actually, oxidation is essential for the development of wine – especially fortified wines such as Sherry and Madeira.  It is oxidation occurring after fermentation that is generally considered a bad thing.  In this case, oxidation will develop flavors of apple, cider, nuts (especially almonds), candied fruit and yeast. There is also a bitter component.  The flavor can be described as “flat,” with a loss of fruitiness.  In a barrel aged cocktail, this presents itself as a mellowing of flavors.  The extent to which each of the above mentioned flavors occur will depend on the contents of your cocktail.  The process of oxidation is most pronounced with drinks containing fortified wines.

As noted, barrel aging is simply infusing with charred wood. If you age a cocktail in a new barrel, the flavors added to the liquid are frequently described as a combination of bitterness, vanilla, nut, caramel, walnut, coconut, and clove.  If your barrel is used, it will impart additional flavors from whatever was in it previously.  Examples are cherry from sherry and sweet spice from bourbon.  All of this becomes more interesting when the barrel’s previous occupant was a different cocktail.  I will discuss this more later, but for now let’s move on.

What kind of barrel should I get and from where?

Like any infusion, the greater the surface area of the solids to volume of liquid – the faster the process.  This means that smaller barrels will infuse (barrel age) the cocktail more quickly than larger ones.

The other consideration in deciding the barrel size is: How much do you want to make of a single cocktail?  A liter barrel will make 8-12 drinks.  Larger barrels will yield more drinks, but you can make multiple small batches with smaller barrels.  Plus, as we will discuss, you have to keep the barrel going.  You can’t let it sit empty – you have to keep using it.  So, keep in mind how many barrel aged cocktails you will serve.  Also, Larger barrels cost more to purchase and to fill.

We chose to go with two, one liter barrels.  Two barrels allows some flexibility.  The one liter size will produce the number of barrel aged drinks that we are likely to serve.

Barrels are available at some high end liquor stores and online.  Try Oak Barrels Ltd.  We have ordered from a few different companies and have found Oak Barrels Ltd. to be very good. Just be sure that the barrel is charred and made for actual use and not for decoration – no varnish and actually functional bungs and taps.  All companies will personalize.

Which Cocktails to Try?

As noted, cocktails containing some fortified wine lend themselves best to the aging process.  This is most probably due to the oxidation of the fortified wine adding to the complexity of the finished cocktail.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to barrel age a drink made solely from already aged ingredients: such as barrel aging an Old Fashioned.  We thus far, have aged a Martini and various Manhattans and Negronis.

An interesting side product has been the Sherry and whiskey that we used to flavor the barrels.  The Sherry took on a pleasant flavor of oak with dried cherries and figs.  The whiskey initially began to taste like a young bourbon with vanilla, cinnamon and clove.  After the barrel was used for a Negroni, the whiskey went back in for a few weeks.  This time there was an added dried fruit and richness along with the smoky, charred oak.  After the Martini was aged, the whiskey picked up herbal notes from the dry vermouth and gin.  What we try with the Sherry and whiskey will be a tale for another day!

Generational Aging

If all you want to achieve is adding the flavor of charred wood to your cocktail.  Okay, but I think you’ll miss a lot.  Generational Aging is the concept of putting a spirit into a barrel that has had a previous occupant.  It is not a new concept in aging spirits:

• Bourbon in new barrels
• Scotch in Bourbon barrels
• Rum in about anything

Any liquid that goes into a barrel:

• Is influenced by everything that came before
• Effects everything that comes after

When you season a new barrel with a spirit, that spirit takes on flavors from the new charred barrel such as bitterness, vanilla, nut, caramel, walnut, coconut, clove and others.  Meanwhile, the barrel absorbs flavors from the original spirit.

Now, when you replace the original spirit with a cocktail, or another spirit, that liquid also takes on flavors from the barrel as well as flavors from the original spirit that were absorbed into the wood.  Meanwhile, the barrel absorbs flavors from the new cocktail or spirit.

With each cocktail or spirit you put into and remove from the barrel, the original flavors from the charred wood will fade.  By refilling the barrel with the original spirit between cocktails, the barrel is recharged with those initial flavors from the barrel.  That original spirit will also absorb flavors left behind by the cocktail.

Now, when you put a different cocktail into the barrel, things will begin to get very interesting.  As already noted, everything put into the barrel is influenced by everything that came before and it effects everything that follows.

This method of Generational Aging creates amazing barrel aged cocktails, spirits and fortified wines and prolongs the life of your barrel.  Eventually, the barrel will be used up like a tea bag.  Some of ours lasted only a dozen or so rotations while others have lasted 5 or more years.

The Step by Step How to

Initial Rinse and Soak

The first thing you will need to do, after obtaining your barrel, is to wash it thoroughly with water.  Simply fill, shake, drain, repeat – until black bits stop coming out.  When the rinse water is clear, fill the barrel completely with filtered water and then measure the volume the barrel holds.  This will assist you in calculating the amount of cocktail to fill your barrel. If you fill your barrel with liquid at this point, it will leak.  You need to fill it with filtered water, close it up and let it sit overnight.  This will cause the wood to swell and seal the majority of the leaks.  I say “majority” because the barrel will still drip some.  For this reason I suggest you set the barrel on something like a plastic container lid.  Once you’ve rinsed and soaked it, your barrel is ready for use.

Seasoning the Barrel

While a cocktail could, at this point, be put into your barrel, I strongly suggest that you flavor the barrel first.  Starting with a fortified wine or whiskey will add flavors that you can’t get from new charred oak.  The goal is to add something that the cocktail doesn’t already contain.  We used Sherry for the barrel to age Manhattans.  Other options would be Madeira or Port.  Our other barrel was started with un-aged corn whiskey.   This barrel was destined for Negronis and other cocktails.  After 4 weeks, rotating the barrels 1/4 turn each week, we drained the barrels and rinsed them.  The 4 weeks was arbitrary.  It could have been longer, but probably not shorter.  The aged Sherry and Whiskey were returned to their original bottles.  They were then reused in the barrels between cocktails.

Calculating the Ingredients

Now it is time for your cocktail.  Whatever you’re going to age, use your best, most favorite recipe.

Calculating the quantities of each ingredient is simple:

1. Convert your measures:  If your barrel is in gallons and you are using metric, convert the gallons to liters. If your barrel is in metric and you are using ounces, convert the barrel to ounces.  We used the later.  A liter barrel is a little more than 35 ounces.
2. Total the number of ounces (mils) in one drink, (figure 1/8 tsp for a dash).  Then divide that number into the volume of your barrel.  This will give you the number of drinks the barrel will hold.
3. To calculate the volume of each ingredient, multiply the amount for one drink by the number of drinks the barrel will hold.

You will want to round up to fill the barrel completely.  Partial filling can lead to an area of dry barrel which will leak and possibly to excessive oxidation.

The Aging Process

When you’re ready to load your cocktail, combine all ingredients in a single container, preferably with a pour spout.  You may or may not want to include bitters.  You can always add them to individual servings.

Push the spigot tightly into the barrel.  You may want to test this the first time by adding water thru the bung whole to check the seal.  If you do, be sure to completely drain the barrel.

Using a funnel, carefully pour the cocktail into the barrel.  Once the cocktail is in the barrel, push the bung tightly into the bung hole.

Important note:  When you push the bung into the bung hole, you will create a small amount of pressure in the barrel.  This will lead to an initial increase in leakage.  To prevent this, once the bung is in place, turn the barrel on end, spout end up and open the spout.  You will get a tiny spurt of liquid.  Close the spout and set the barrel on it’s side in the cradle.

Taste your cocktail frequently.  This should even be daily for lighter drinks.  Heavier drinks, such as Manhattans and Negronis, can wait a week, but taste frequently.  Cocktails age from ‘not-quite-there-yet’ to ‘over-the-hill’ very quickly.

While aging, turn the barrel 1/4 turn each week.  This keeps all of the barrel wet and exposes the liquid to all of the wood surface.

Bottling and Storing Aged cocktails

Before I get to actual recipes: how you store your aged cocktail is important.  First, use a glass bottle with a tight seal.  A bottle with a cage top will work very well.  Secondly, triple filter your cocktail before bottling. A small mesh strainer, followed by a metal coffee filter and finally a paper coffee filter. Thirdly, refrigerate the cocktail.  This will slow further oxidation.  Your aged cocktail will change over time.  To me, if the cocktail was not triple filtered, the flavors become flat, more bitter and less complex.    Filtered, your cocktail will be good for several weeks.

To serve, measure out the volume that would have been in the original, single drink.  Add this to a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill.  The chilled cocktail will be stronger than one you started with at room temperature. This is because chilled ingredients will not create as much dilution from melting.  So I suggest you dilute the drink by 10% with cold water.

Maintaining the Barrel

When not in use, the barrel must be kept wet.  If you fill it with water, it will rot.  If you fill it with watered down Everclear, you will soak out flavors.  We use Generational Aging as described above.  Thus, we refill with the original spirit.  We also will top off the barrel with the original spirit every 3-4 weeks.

Examples

Barrel Aged Negroni

Use a whiskey barrel.  Plan on 3-4 weeks of aging.  I left the bitters out of the aging process and added them to the individual cocktails.

Original Negroni

• 1 oz. Plymouth Gin
• 1 oz. Campari
• 1 oz. Dolan Sweet Vermouth
• 1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
• 1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters
• 1 fat orange peel for garnish

For a 1 liter whiskey barrel:

• 12 oz. Plymouth Gin
• 12 oz. Campari
• 12 oz. Dolans Sweet Vermouth

Age for 3-4 weeks.  This varies with each batch.  So, just because the first batch took 4 weeks, the next may be 3 weeks and a couple of days.  TASTE OFTEN!!

To serve:

1. Pour 3 oz. Aged Negroni into a mixing glass with ice.  Add bitters. Stir to chill.
2. Taste for strength and add water if needed.
3. Strain into a chilled Old Fashioned with a large ice cube.
4. Flame the orange peel over the drink and float the peel.

Barrel Aged Manhattan.

I think that this is by far the best cocktail to age.  Use a barrel that has been seasoned with a fortified wine.  We used Sherry.  Plan on 4 weeks of aging.

Original Manhattan

• 2 oz. Russell’s Reserve 10 Year Old Bourbon
• 1 1/2 oz. Italian Vermouth (sweet)
• 1 tsp Grand Marnier
• 1 – 2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
• maraschino cherries for garnish

For a 1 liter Sherry barrel:

One liter is equal to about 35 ounces.  The Manhattan recipe above makes a drink that is just shy of 3 3/4 ounces.  So 35 divided by 3 3/4 is 9 1/3, or 10 drinks.  Multiplying the quantity of each ingredient by 10 gives us:

• 20 oz. Russell’s Reserve 10 Year Old Bourbon
• 15 oz. Italian Vermouth (sweet)
• 1 2/3 oz. Grand Marnier
• 10 dashes (or 1 1/4 tsp) Angostura Orange Bitters

Age for 3-4 weeks.  This varies with each batch.  So, just because the first batch took 4 weeks, the next may be 3 weeks and a couple of days.  TASTE OFTEN!!

To serve:

1. Pour 3 1/2 oz. Aged Manhattan into a mixing glass with ice.  Stir to chill.
2. Taste for strength and add water if needed.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with maraschino cherries and perhaps an orange twist

Gin and Fortified Wine Fail

I include this as an example of what not to do!  I like this cocktail, though I’ve never given it a name.  Barrel aging it in a Whiskey/Negroni barrel sounded like a good idea.  However, I got distracted and failed to taste it for a week.  By the end of 1 week, it was ruined.  This cocktail is bright, floral and herbal.  After 1 week in the barrel it was left flat, with faint oak, a touch of juniper from the gin and that’s about it!  If I had tried this with the ‘Alternative’ below, I could have saved a lot of alcohol!

Original Single Cocktail

• 1 1/2 oz. Ford’s Gin
• 3/4 oz. Dolan Dry Vermouth
• 1/4 oz. Liquore Strega
• Lemon peel for garnish

For a 1 liter whiskey/Negroni barrel:

• 19 1/2 oz. Fords Gin
• 9 3/4 oz. Dolan Dry Vermouth
• 3 1/4 oz. Liquore Strega

Aging brought nothing to the party.  I do not even plan to try this with bottle aging.  Bottom line: Don’t waste the booze!

 An Alternative

So, can barrel aging be done without a $50 – $75 barrel, 1+ liters of expensive booze and 3 – 4 weeks?  The short answer is “Yes.”  The long answer is “Yes, but it won’t be quite the same.”  Tuthilltown did offer a Cocktail Aging Kit consisting of a 12 oz. bottle with a charred “barrel stave.”  With this, you could age a cocktail in 2 weeks or less.  I don’t think they still offer this product, but you can purchase staves here.  These will fit in any 750 ml bottle or use a 375 ml bottle.  The results will not be identical to barrel aging.  You will have less complexity probably due to less oxidation in the sealed bottle.  This can be a good thing….or not.

Pros

• Inexpensive – $6.32 plus S&H for 1 stave
• Smaller volume of ingredients
• Can try aging a cocktail before committing to a larger volume in a barrel
• Shorter time to completion
• Less oxidation
• No maintenance

Cons

• Smaller volume of ingredients
• Less oxidation

I have tried to flavor a stave with whiskey and then use it to age a cocktail in the bottle.  This did not work.  The staves don’t have a lot of life so you have to toss them after 1 or 2 drinks.

Overall, the Pros outnumber the Cons.  I still suggest that you try the real deal and get a barrel or two.  The bottle would be a good way to test age a cocktail before committing to a large volume and a lot of time.

Bottle Aged Negroni

The only equipment you need for this is the Cocktail Aging Kit

Original Negroni

• 1 oz. Plymouth Gin
• 1 oz. Campari
• 1 oz. Dolan Sweet Vermouth
• 1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
• 1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters
• 1 fat orange peel for garnish

For 1 Bottle

• 3 oz. Plymouth Gin
• 3 oz. Campari
• 3 oz. Dolan Sweet Vermouth
• 3 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
• 3 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters

To Serve

1. Pour 3 oz. Aged Negroni into a mixing glass with ice.  Add bitters. Stir to chill.
2. Strain into a chilled Old Fashioned with a large ice cube.
3. Flame the orange peel over the drink and float the peel.

 Bottom Line

Barrel aging is definitely worth doing at home.  I also recommend the use of Tuthilltown’s Cocktail Aging Kit or staves, if for nothing more than age testing your cocktail recipe before going to the time and expense of barrel aging.

In addition to Manhattans and Negroni variations, (such as the Boulevardier,) you should consider aging tequila based drinks, cocktails combining fortified wines, and Maritinis.  Just Google “barrel aged cocktail recipe” for some great ideas.

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!

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:

Manhattan 2.0

• 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.

Cheers!

Here we are with another excuse to party!  Fat Tuesday always means Mardi Gras and New Orleans. So to celebrate, let’s take a look at two iconic libations from the Crescent City, the Vieux Carré and the Sazerac.

Vieux Carré

The Vieux Carré dates to 1938 and was the creation of Walter Bergeron, the head bartender at the Monteleone Hotel.  This cocktail, which is similar to a Manhattan, combines the spiciness of the rye with the sweet and mellow flavors of the Cognac and vermouth.  Add to that the herbal notes of the Benedictine, and you have a smooth and complex drink.

• ¾ oz. rye whiskey
• ¾ oz. Cognac
• ¾ oz. sweet vermouth
• ¼ oz. Benedictine
• dash Peychaud’s Bitters
• dash Angostura Bitters

1. Chill either a cocktail glass or an old fashioned glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass and stir with ice
3. Strain into the chilled cocktail glass and serve up or over fresh ice in chilled Old Fashioned glass
4. Garnish with thick lemon twist

Sazerac

The Sazerac is, basically, a bitters forward, rye Old Fashioned with an absinthe rinse.  The history of this drink is somewhat clouded, but it does originate in New Orleans in the last half of the 19th century.  There is also supposed to be a ritual for making the Sazerac.  The ritual simply substitutes a second Old Fashioned glass for the mixing glass in the recipe below, (or you could mumble a line from Monty Python as well!)

Whatever ritual you follow this is a cocktail you need to try.  The flavors are the spices of the rye and bitters combined with the hint of anise and herbs of the absinthe.

• 2 oz. quality rye whiskey such as Sazerac or Templeton Small Batch
• 4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
• 1 tsp. 2:1 simple syrup
• absinthe
• lemon peel

1. Chill old fashioned glass with ice and water.
2. Combine all ingredients, except absinthe, to a mixing glass and stir with ice.
3. Drain ice and water from chilled old fashioned glass and rinse with dash of absinthe.
4. Strain drink into chilled, absinthe rinsed old fashioned over fresh ice.
5. Twist lemon peel over drink and discard peel.

Laissez les bons temps roulez!!

Santé!

Later That Night….