Paloma

Great upload from the team at Eau de Vie today. Seeing as I’ve been writing about tequila this month it seemed only apt that I look the gift horse full in the mouth and drink it down. This fantastic cocktail is garnished with a Murray River salt rim, which helps the drought stricken farmers a little too.

A cocktail you can drink and feel good about at the same time, brilliant.

Paloma

Pour a decent measure of Don Julio Blanco over ice and top with freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime and the aforementioned Murray River salt rim, which you’ll probably want to sort out first, as rimming is tough with a full vessel.

This is a great example of an Eau de Vie drink. You could order it anywhere, and some people might even know how to make one off the bat, but it will be brilliantly finished and perfectly made down the back corridor of the Kirketon Hotel, and refreshing like you wouldn’t believe.

MixMarch #25: The B&B

The second drink that Simon Difford made at his Masterclass session was the B&B. A fusion of vodka and tequila, the B&B is named for Professor Jacob Briars and Julio Bermejo, of Tommy’s Restaurant in San Franciso.

The drink features another of Simon’s soon to be released range of cocktail bitters, this time Lavender. It also uses Agave Sec, a Triple Sec sweetend with the syrup of the fruit of tequila itself.

The B&B

30mls 42Below Manuka Honey vodka, 30mls Herradura tequila, 22.5mls Agave Sec, 15mls lime juice, 3 dashes Difford’s Lavender bitters. Shake over ice and strain up.

MixMarch #10: The Zombie

Unlike the sours, slings, flips and smashes set down in the somewhat finessed worlds of American and European bar tending, Tiki drinks have a habit of evolving. I’m not sure if it’s the transition of a laid back lifestyle into the bar, the quality and availability of ingredients or just that tiki tradition seems to be more about scribbled notes than printed volumes, but I have seen upwards of 20 different recipes all claiming to be a Zombie.

A chap by the name of Patrick Duffy claims to have invented the beverage and certainly has the first version in print. His Zombie calls for Apple Brandy and launched a number of recipes that use fruit brandies, but I’ve found they tend to come out a bit sick sweet.

While there’s debate about who went first, Don the Beachcomber made this drink famous.

The Zombie, despite variations in print, is about just one thing – packing as many different rums into a beverage that remains palatable while delivering uncompromising alcoholic strength. Huzzah!

While Tiki has made a marked comeback in other parts of the world, it has been largely overlooked in Sydney, with only a few notable exceptions. Bacardi brand ambassador, Jeremy Shipley, has installed perhaps the city’s best bamboo shrine to the gods of tiki, unfortunately it is in the back of his house, rather than on public show in a bar. This snippet does point to the fact that Tiki is something that Sydneysiders will have to invest in and indulge themselves at home.

My recipe leans on Dr Cocktial’s recipe, with a couple of little additions of my own.

The Zombie

The juice of one whole lime, 30mls unsweetend pineapple juice, 15mls fresh Ruby Red Grapefruit juice, 15mls Falernum, 15mls passionfruit syrup, 30mls Ron Zacapa 23, 30mls Rum Shrub, 30mls Bacardi, 30mls Mount Gay XO, 5mls Absinthe, 4 dashes Angostura bitters, shake over ice and pour into a highball or tiki mug, half filled with crushed ice. garnish with a mint bush and plastic monkeys, if available.

I make my rum shrub by infusing the remnants of my anejo rums with dried orange peel, cinnamon, cardamon and vanilla. I store it in a dark cool place, and it hasn’t started fizzing yet. Clement have a nice product too.

And if you’re interested, this is the earliest Don the Beachcomber version:

Don the Beachcomber Zombie recipe

“Zombie Zowie, Hollywood Night Life Weird and Wonderful,” Winnipeg Free Press, Oct. 28, 1938

“The serving glass should be approximately 14 ounces and frosted. Into it is shaken one ounce of Demerara 150 proof rum, one ounce of heavy Jamaican rum, one ounce of Guadalupe rum and one ounce Porto Rican cartadora. To this is added one ounce of Falernum and one ounce of simple syrup, the juice of one whole Mexican lime and four dashes of bitters. Decorate with fruits in season, and mint.”

This one is pretty good too, and shows how the drink evolved:

Zombie

Recipe from “Hawaii Tropical Rum Drinks & Cuisine by Don the Beachcomber” by Arnold Bitner & Phoebe Beach (2001)

• 3/4 oz Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
• 1/2 oz Falernum
• 1/2 oz Simple Syrup
• 1-1/4 oz Ramirez Royal Superior – Puerto Rico*
• 1 oz Lemon Hart Demerara 151
• 1 oz Palau (30 years old) – Cuba*
• 1 oz Myers’s Planter’s Punch – Jamaica*
• 1 oz Treasure Cove (32 years old) – Jamaica*
• 2 dashes each Angostura bitters, Pernod
• 1 Dash Absinthe, Pernod
• 3 dashes Grenadine
• 3/4 oz Marashino Liquor

Southside Cocktail

This is a drink that I was most thoroughly introduced to by Jacob Briars, socialist, bon vivant, erstwhile global Professor of vodka for 42Below and the eleventh best bar chef in New Zealand.

The Southside is essentially a Gin daiquiri  with mint. It is a simple drink that relies entirely on the quality of its ingredients. I’ve found that the round mint gives the best result and I prefer it with a softer Gin, like Moore’s or South but it is palatable whichever spirit you bring to the mix.

It’s another of those great drinks that got their start during the Prohibition. Although it’s Chicago roots set it apart from most of the classics and, appropriately are wrapped up in the Gangland culture and history of that time. The territories in the city were split North & South, the boys in the North had cornered the market in high quality spirits, smuggled across the border from Canada, leaving the Saltis-McErlane gang with access only to hooch and swill, manufactured locally and of dubious provenance. The mobsters used sugar, citrus and mint to cover the imperfections in their products. While history has not been as kind to Frankie McErlane as it was to Al Capone, Frankie blazed trails outside of the field of mixology, being the first man to use the Tommy gun and racking up at least 15 bodies during the bootlegging wars.

The Southside.

Two teaspoons of caster sugar, the juice of half a lime and 60 mls of South Gin. Combine in a boston glass and add eight leaves of mint. (don’t muddle it, you’ll only make it bitter.) Ice the glass and give it a good, hard shake. Double strain the mixture into a cocktail glass, a few of the smaller pieces of mint might get through, but it makes for a pretty drink with a few specks. Slap a couple of leaves over the glass to boost the smell and the flavour. Garnish with a single mint leaf.

What you’ll be left with is a great balance of sweet, tart and strong with an amazing cool element that makes this a perfect summer drink and in the Professor’s own words “Frrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrresh.”

The Falernum Friday Fix.

I made a batch of Falernum Syrup yesterday, so I thought I’d share the recipe that I intend to wind down with this evening. Rather than just make more tiki rum swizzles, I feel like a fix…

The Chartreuse Swizzle, courtesy of Sloshed!

1¼ oz green Chartreuse
½ oz falernum
1 oz pineapple juice
¾ oz lime juice

Swizzle with crushed ice (or shake with ice and strain over crushed ice) in a tall glass. Garnish with a spring of mint and fresh nutmeg

Have a good weekend! I’m going drinking.

Sour

Part Two in a Four Part Series called The Glorious Recipe.

There are many ways to add a sour note to a cocktail. Simply find any of the fruits in the diagram above and  squeeze their juices fresh. Lemon drink just isn’t the same stuff. Really.

The citrusy brilliance will pick up the drink and make it sing.

A quick note on sour mix. It’s rubbish. Don’t fucking bother.

Gins & Tonic

I am sure that some people will try and tell me that this is not a cocktail. Some may even question the pluralisation of Gin, but i’ve been told its Gins & Tonic by far too many barmen to consider writing it any differently.

The definition of a cocktail I like best is a fine spirit, slightly improved. The Gin & Tonic truly embodies this fine ideal. It is also one of the easiest cocktails in the world to make. Add any quantity of Gin to an iced glass top with tonic and lightly flavor with citrus. tall glasses on a long day, short ones in more serious company.

The choice of Gin again is up to personal preference. Bombay Sapphire is my Dad’s standby, Gordon’s makes a fine G&T, Beefeater too. My own personal favorite is the Tanqueray and Tonic, particularly when its made with the very special and very preeemium Tanqueray No. Ten. Legend has it this Gin is made from the only still at the Tanqueray distillery to escape Hitlers bombers during the blitz. It is a well crafted and very smooth example of the category, and one that works with almost any type of citrus you can lay your hands on. 

Most drinkers will be familiar with swapping lemon for lime, and on occasion orange or grapefruit. I would encourage you to try a decent measure (say squeeze two or three segments into the drink) of Tangelo, Blood Orange, Pomelo, Yuzu frankly, if its citrus it will change the profile of the drink, swap between a few during the course of the night.

My father used to ask for two fingers of Gin, in a glass with no ice, topped with cold tonic. It remains a great drink, so long as you whip through them before they warm up.

Here’s how I like it: at least 60 mls Gin, poured into an ice filled glass. Three segments of whatever citrus is at hand and between 90 and 150 mls of tonic to fill the glass. Savour the taste of the spirit, the cold of the ice, the sour of the citrus and the tangy effervesence that comes with the addition of tonic.

Hendrick’s Gin – It’s very special.

A gin that’s not for everyone the little label on the neck of this dark, squat and frankly medicinal looking bottle. Hendrick’s offers an unusual addition of cucumber and rose to the traditional British recipe. Perhaps it would be more at home in a Persian pantaloon convention, if it wasn’t for the fact that this little tweak, coupled with the use of a very special still makes a Gin that just works.

Fragrant and soft martinis, surprisingly refreshing gins and tonic, all garnished with a slice of cucumber that screams “look at me! I’m different!”

Anyway, seriously, more inconoclastic than Scotland’s own John Knox. Go and get yourself a bottle today and make:

A Punch and Judy.

INGREDIENTS: 1 oz Martell VSOP, ¼ oz Old New Orleans Crystal Rum, ½ oz Hendrick’s Gin, ½ oz Bols Orange Curacao, 2 oz Pineapple Juice, ½ oz Freshly squeezed lime juice, ½ oz orange juice, ½ oz Partida agave nectar, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, 4 mint leaves. PREPARATION: Assemble ingredients in a mixing glass with as much love and interest that is healthy (that is to say not in a obsessive fashion but certain passionate and perhaps as if you were preparing the drink for someone you respect, admire and love in a plutonic fashion) – no need to muddle the mint, just throw it in- shake properly (hard) and strain over fresh ice in a highball glass.

 

 Cut a thinly sliced lime wheel and place on top of the Punch and Judy; add a hearty sprinkle of ground nutmeg directly on the lime wheel fresh from the “nut” with a small grater or using already ground nutmeg from a small shaker.

This rather complicated cocktail is the first of a series which I will appropriate from Dale De Grof, the King of the Cocktail, and maker of extremely fine Irish Coffees.

The Beresford

354 Bourke Street

Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Tel: +61 2 9357 1111

info@theberesford.com.au

Google Map.

The money spent on fitting out this grand structure is supremely visible. The quality of the finishes from the front bar, the bathrooms downstairs and the outdoor courtyard are stunning. I hear good things about the restaurant, and the food did look stunning. The menu is available on the website.

Happily the quality is matched behind the bar, with a fine selection of hard to find spirits and bar tending nouse ensuring that any libation that crosses the bar is tasty, balanced and well presented.

Blake Head, another fine kiwi export, whipped me up a great little drink to unwind a busy day at the office, the South Gin Southside. The Beresford has a vodka southside on the list, but my preference is for the extra lift that gin imbues. South Gin is made in New Zealand, by the same guys that make 42 Below. It is a very soft gin, meaning the hefty kick of juniper prominent in most English gin is softened considerably. The liqour is distilled with a couple of native botanicals, namely kawakawa and manuka.

The southside is essentially a gin sour. 3 parts gin, 1 part gomme (sugar syrup), 1 part fresh lime juice. About six to eight leaves of mint are added before the mixture is shaken, strained and served up. garnished with a mint sprig.

The taste is both sharp and cool, the mint hangs on your breath and the drink will also stand up to being made with something a little heftier, say a Beefeater perhaps. Probably not one to stay on all night, but a great way to freshen the senses before a meal, snack or another beverage.