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!

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!

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!

A steak dinner often suggests a robust red wine.  Instead, what about a cocktail that makes you want to have a bite of steak?  The goal when pairing cocktails with food is to craft a drink that makes one want a bite of the food with each sip of the drink.  This is exactly what we have with our Manhattan au Poivre!  It’s basic Manhattan using bourbon.  We split the vermouth with the rich and fruity Cocchi Vermouth di Torino and the bittersweet Punt e Mes which we infused with coffee.  For the “au Poivre,” we use freshly cracked black peppercorns and finish the cocktail with black garlic salt.  The black garlic salt brings a touch of salinity and savory background. The result is a rich and complex cocktail that cries out to be savored with a steak.  The nose is bourbon, orange, fruit and Holiday spice.  The taste is savory with candied fruit, orange, cherry, cranberry and hints of coffee and black pepper.  The finish is smooth and savory.

The Manhattan au Poivre

Please note the directions regarding the black peppercorns and black garlic salt.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz. Your Favorite Bourbon
• 3/8 oz. Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
• 3/8 oz. Coffee infused Punt e Mes (see below)
• 1 barspoon Grand Marnier
• 3-4 cracked black peppercorns
• 1 pinch Black Garlic Salt (see note below)
• Brandied Cherry for garnish
• Orange peel for garnish

Directions:

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Coarsely crack the black peppercorns and drop them into the bottom of your mixing glass.  Be careful not to grind the peppercorns so that they don’t pass through your strainer into the drink.
3. Add the bourbon to the mixing glass and let sit 10-15 minutes.  You can do this step ahead of time to easily make several cocktails.
4. Add the vermouth, Punt e Mes and Grand Marnier to the mixing glass.
5. Add ice to the mixing glass then the pinch of black garlic salt.  Immediately stir until chilled and double strain into your chilled cocktail glass.
6. Drop in the brandied cherry and express the orange peel over the drink.  Float the orange peel.

Cheers!

Coffee Infused Punt e Mes

This will vary based on your choice of coffee.  I suggest you try it first with 250ml.

• 250 ml Punt e Mes
• 30 gm cracked whole coffee beans

1. Combine Punt e Mes and coffee in a lidded jar.  Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, shaking a few times.
2. Double strain and enjoy.

Flavored Salts

Prior to using any flavored salt in cocktails I suggest you empty the container of salt into a fine mesh strainer over a sink.  Bang the strainer with you other hand to sift out any small bits that could pass through your strainer into your cocktail.

Most of the Rum Manhattan recipes that I read make a cloyingly sweet drink.  This Rum Manhattan I crafted I hope you will find is amazingly complex. We used Don Q Vermouth Cask Aged Rum, but any Rum that you enjoy neat will do as well, (maybe better to your taste buds!)  This is  2:1 Spirit:Vermouth.  We split the Vermouth between the rich and complex Cocchi Vermouth di Torino with coffee infused Punt e Mes.  I got the idea of infusing Punt e Mes with coffee from our friends at Dorćol Distilling and Brewing.  They use it to create a Manhattan riff with their apricot rakia.  Based upon the coffee you choose, the maceration time, how you crack the coffee beans, and probably the phase of the moon, the bitterness of the final infusion will vary.  This is why we added the demerara syrup.

The nose of this cocktail is a touch sweet with fruit, spice and smokiness.  The flavors are soft rum with fruit, coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla, subtle bitterness, and warm Holiday spice.  The finish is chocolate, fruit, and spicy, bitter sweetness.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Good Sipping Rum
• 1/2 oz. Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
• 1/2 oz. Coffee Infused Punt e Mes (see below)
• 1 Bar Spoon Grand Marnier
• 1 – 2 dashes 1:1 Demerara Syrup to taste
• Brandied Cherry for garnish
• Orange peel for garnish

Instructions

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients, except the garnishes, in a mixing glass with ice and stir to combine and chill
3. Double strain into chilled cocktail glass
4. Add the cherry, express the orange peel over the drink and float the peel

Coffee Infused Punt e Mes

This will vary based on your choice of coffee.  I suggest you try it first with 250ml.

• 250 ml Punt e Mes
• 30 gm cracked whole coffee beans

1. Combine Punt e Mes and coffee in a lidded jar.  Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, shaking a few times.
2. Double strain and enjoy.

Cheers!

I have created several riffs on the Classic Manhattan using Irish Whiskey. While rye and bourbon are the classics in the Manhattan, I don’t see any reason not to try an Irish Whiskey. Specifically the Tullamore Dew 10 year old Single Malt. As I’ve noted before, the Tullamore Dew has the earthy, grassy flavors of Irish whiskey with the flavors of fruit, (apricot, pineapple, raisin) and wood. Just the depth of flavors that blend with vermouth. This time I used Carpano Antica Vermouth  The flavors of this vermouth work perfectly with the Tullamore Dew. For the bitters, I substituted our Doc Elliott’s Mixology^TM Walnut Bitters which highlight the flavors of the Whiskey and Vermouth as well as bringing a soft finish.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Irish Whiskey
• 1 oz Carpano Antica
• ¼ oz Grand Marnier
• 2 dashes Doc Elliott’s Mixology^TM Walnut Bitters
• Brandied Cherry for garnish
• Orange peel for garnish

Instructions

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients, except the garnishes, in a mixing glass with ice and stir to combine and chill
3. Double strain into chilled cocktail glass
4. Add the cherry, express the orange peel over the drink and float the peel

Cheers!

This Manhattan combines the spice of good Bourbon, the rich, earthy Carpano Antica’s tastes of herbs, spice, and slight bitterness, with the added touch of sweetness from the Grand Marnier… all enhanced with the warming notes of Doc Elliott’s Mixology^TM Walnut Bitters.  If this is a bit too sweet on the finish for your taste, add 1 – 2 drops Doc Elliott’s Mixology^TM Actually Bitter Orange Bitters.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Bourbon
• 1 oz Carpano Antica
• ¼ oz Grand Marnier
• 2 dashes Doc Elliott’s Mixology^TM Walnut Bitters
• 1 – 2 Drops Doc Elliott’s Mixology^TM Actually Bitter Orange Bitters (Optional to taste)
• Brandied Cherry for garnish
• Orange peel for garnish

Instructions

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine all ingredients, except the garnishes, in a mixing glass with ice and stir to combine and chill
3. Double strain into chilled cocktail glass
4. Add the cherry, express the orange peel over the drink and float the peel

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!

A low alcohol treat….the fruity richness of Carpano with spicy rye and a touch of coffee, pecans & chocolate.  Perfect on a crisp Autumn evening!

• 2 oz. Italian Vermouth such as Carpano Antica
• 1 oz. Rye Whiskey
• 1 Bar spoon Coffee Liqueur
• 1 Dash Doc Elliott’s Coffee Pecan Bitters
• Maraschino cherry for garnish

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a mixing glass with ice & stir to chill
3. Strain into chilled glass
4. Garnish with the maraschino cherry

Cheers!