A soon-to-appear webcam (and possibly brief nudity)!
Updating from the bar!
I think the most exciting thing about this is setting up a cocktail menu in PDF format for patrons to browse through. My current menu system is… well, dim, multi-colored lighting and an 11 point font just don’t mix.
Along with this, I’ve got a new section coming up for the site, Concoctioneering! Think of it as a one-stop shop for all your syrups and mixers. If you’ve got something you’ve got questions on, let me know and I’ll cover it. Just finished a few batches of fun stuff, some Blood Orangecello, Meyer Limoncello, Ginger and Rhubarb Syrups, and even packed about 2 liters of Falernum (spirit, no sugar) into a barrel for aging… expect some interesting notes on that one.
Time to go whip up some more Pa’avaetuli! Company is coming, and there is drinking to be done!
A few weeks ago, my friend David of the Oregon Bartender’s Guild hosted the bar for a charity event. A woman in Camas, WA was very suddenly struck by an infectious disease that took one of her legs and almost took her life, and here friends had hired him to help them raise funds with a bar and original cocktail menu. He put a call out on the OBG message boards for any donations, raffle giveaways, et cet. When I asked what I could give, all he asked for was a recipe, and so I set out to make something extra special for the event.
Inspiration finally came at 4:30am on a blurry Wednesday morning two weeks before the event. I had just bottled a batch of Falernum the night prior and, came up with this little dazzler of a syrup for something a bit different.
2 Horns Star Anise (the seed pods, not the whole star)
Place juice and spices in a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Strain out spices. Add Sugar to Juice and bring to gently heat to a rolling boil while agitating. Syrup is done when spoon comes out smooth.
Note here the use of Rum-Soaked Falernum spices. Which, yes, means used spices. There’s still plenty of flavor in those suckers, and the Rum they’ve been soaking in just adds a bit of zip to it.
Here is the cocktail, as was on the menu at the Charity event.
The event was apparently a smashing success, and it was reported that my drink sold until there was no syrup left! Good thing I’ve got a few bottles to spare, and a big batch of Falernum about to be finished.
Oh, and the name? It means… whatever you think it means. Tell you what. I’ll send a bottle of Pa’avaetuli to the first person who can figure out the inspiration for the name, and post it in the comments section of this post. Good luck!
Posted by TraderTiki on May 22nd, 2008 — Posted in Concoctioneering
For coconuts.
That’s why this past Thursday I walked into my kitchen armed with no less than a powerdrill, speedbor bits, hammer and towel. It was time to get to cracking… coconuts open, that is. I thought I’d share the experience and provide what I learned, and provide a few instructions based on that.
I picked up the Mexican coconuts from New Seasons, a local Organic, Bulk, local, but everything else you could want kind of store that truly deserves its reputation as the friendliest store in town. In all of my efforts, I do what I can to stay local, organic, green, and so on, but since Mexico is about as local as coconuts get, I’m fine with forgiving myself on this one.
So, two coconuts and some tools. The idea in mind is to have fresh coconut cream for the Painkillers at the May 20th Tiki night at Teardrop. I loves me some Coco Lopez, but it’s always interesting (and often better) to make an ingredients from scratch. So, I do a bit of research online on making coconut milk, then coconut cream. Nothing to it, so, time to get through that husk!
Items required:
Coconut
1 quart cream
White Cane Sugar
2 containers (2 cups or up to a liter, coconut water volume is variable)
1 paring knife
1 hammer
1 towel, as can fully envelope the coconut.
Sink
Large Strainer
Cheesecloth
2 Pots (3 or more quarts each)
(optional) Food Processor
(optional) Grater
(optional) 1 Power drill with Speedbor
The first challenge with a coconut is just cracking through it. While a Powerdrill with Speedbor is most effective, I found a little trick on this video on the youtube.
This is an effective method, but two holes makes draining the coconut water oh-so-much faster. I can’t recommend the Irwin Speedbor MAX bits enough for ripping holes through things. Either way, stab a hole through the weak eye with your knife or drill. If you have the powerdrill, a hole in the top is recommended for speedy drainage. Drain the coconut water into a container, figure about 8-12 ounces per coconut. I keep two containers out so I can run the coconut water through a filter, but you can use or toss at your discretion. It can be quite refreshing, though a bit “green” for my palate.
So, water drained, it’s time for a bit of the smashy-smashy. Take your Douglas Adams approved towel, and wrap the coconut as tight as you can, to avoid shrapnel. Just a side note, the towel will get pretty nasty, so your mother’s finest Egyptian Cotton towels are not recommended. Place the coconut on a sturdy, hardy, and nigh unbreakable surface (tile: NO, crappy OCB with laminate countertop: double-Yes), and have at it. As your Sensei (or spouse) might say, it’s all about the follow through. Aim past the coconut, or your hammer might just bounce right back at you. It’ll take a few good smashes. Feel so that you’ve got no pieces bigger than 1/4 of the entire coconut or so. Unwrap the towel, and PRESTO! A giant mess!
Here comes the two part nightmare. These are the worst parts of the process, so get some tunes playing in the background, and a Mai Tai by your side. First, inside the husk (woody) is the white nut meat, which can be separated from the husk, but with some great difficulty. Here’s where a sturdy paring knife comes into play. My personal favorite is my Calphalon Contemporary Cutlery 4-1/2-Inch Paring Knife, which I’ve grown quite fond of, but your knifestyle may vary. The key in separating the meat from the husk is leverage, so use the knife to tuck between the meat and husk and pry away the meat. It should come off in a decent hunk if you take it slow.
So, now we’ve got a big bunch of white coconut meat, still with some of that hard Endosperm clinging voraciously to it. Here’s Hell’s half-acre, where it’s time to prep some ice water for your knuckles, and go to town. There are two methods you can use to get the brown stuff off of the white coconut meat. The first, is to grate. A cheap but sturdy hand-held grater, such as the CHARM grater from IKEA. I’ve gone through enough Microplanes already. They’re great (HA!), but a touch on the delicate side. The second path, which I chose, is to do as the knife is designed, and pare, skin, peel, somehow get that layer of brown off of our precious white gold. There’s a certain spot in the meat that’s just right for this, still tough, but just below the brown it’s a touch easier. For two nuts, this took me roughly an hour and a half, not moving with a sense of too much purpose.
Finally, the meat is all out, crisp and clean and white. Throw the meat in a stainer and give it a rinse with cool water. Now, if you’ve grated it, you’re already ahead a step. If you pared, like me, you’ll want to throw the coconut meat into a Food Processor for a bit to get the pieces nice and small. You could also use a Mandolin, but since my own is a pain in the tuches, I went for the fast chop. You just have to get the coconut shredded up a bit to yield maximum surface area. Finally, the coconut is prepped, and on to making the cream!
So, throw the Coconut plus 1 quart of cream (per coconut) into the pot, heat gently to a rolling boil, then let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Take the cream off the heat and let it cool to room temperature. Line the strainer with two layers of cheese cloth and place the strainer over another large pot or bowl to catch the cream in. Slowly pour the cream and coconut into the strainer, and use the cheesecloth to squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can. The coconut shreds can be put aside for toasting, baking, or other nefarious purposes.
So, now that the Coconut Cream is complete, it’s time to add that to some sugar and make some Coco Lopez-style Cream of Coconut! Just add an even amount of White Cane Sugar to the Coconut Cream, bring to a rolling boil while stirring. It’s done when the liquid starts to yellow a bit, and is totally smooth and not gritty with sugar granules. Let it cool, bottle it, and you’ve got yourself some Cream of Coconut!
This yield just over two quarts per coconut, which is a hell of a lot of coconut cream. The good news is, this stuff freezes like a dream, and reheats with no damage whatsoever. So far, I haven’t had the issue of it separating, such as with Coco Lopez.
So, get out your best Chi-Chi, Painkiller, and Piña Colada recipes, because this stuff will last awhile. My personal favorite use for this is the Coconaut, from Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log. Quick and easy, and suited for most palates, it’s a great party pleaser.
Done this yourself and got additional hints and tips? Leave a comment! I’ll be in the back with a bottle of Pusser’s and some Pineapple Juice…
This past Sunday was the first in hopefully a long string of classes hosted by Daniel and David at Teardrop Lounge. David and Daniel mixed drinks and discussed the history, lore, and craft of making bitters. The class was divided into chapters, each highlighting a bit of history and creation of bitters.
Chapter the first, Daniel offered a not altogether brief (his words) history of the origins of bitters and their introduction to cocktails. Served before us were 4-ways of the Pegu Club, traditionally served with Angostura, and tried with no bitters, orange bitters, Angostura bitters, and a combination of Orange and Angostura bitters. The history was fascinating, with tales of Roman council and many-herbed wines, British Pink Gin, and up to the inclusion of the use of bitters in the defining recipe for a “cocktail”. The cordial glasses with sampled bitters showed the positive aspects of using and combining bitters, the rich and spicy Angostura filling out the notes with the smokey orange flavors in Regan’s Orange Bitters, and of course, the orange and lime and gin in the cocktail. As noted in the class, Gin works as a great body for the bitters, as it has some notes of its own that will shimmer or darken depending on the flavors in the bitters. Local distillery House Spirits’ Aviation Gin is, of course, very highly recommended.
In Part the second, David went over the history of Lousiana’s own Antoine Peychaud, and his flight from Haiti to a pharmacy in Louisiana, where his own bitters became the basis of that most legendary of cocktails, the Sazerac. Served as a bit of the “history in a glass” was the Sazerac, one of the first served at Teardrop without their own Cherry bark and Vanilla bitters.
Division the Third (sadly not pictured) involved Daniel discussing the craft and care put into homemade bitters. Much discussed was the separation in bitters and tinctures, in that bitters including a bittering agent, such as wormwood, quassia, cinchona, or gentian. Tinctures are more of an alcohol-extracted monoflavor, such as sitting vanilla beans in high proof vodka. The drink served to sample was an Alaska two ways, one with the store bought Fees, the other with the Teardrop Pomelo bitters. You can’t really go wrong either way, but the Teardrop bitters had that bitter edge, deepening the flavor and making it last longer on the palate.
For the fourth piece in this epic series, David discussed the inclusion of bitters in popular cocktails, highlighting the flavors brought out with hot and spicy bitters, such as Charles H. Baker’s Hellfire Bitters. The greatest purpose of bitters, it seems, is not the direct flavoring of the drink, but manipulation of the flavors that already exist within.
The epilogue of the event involved a sampling of bitters ingredients, and the “Fancy Tickler”, a sort of Bartender and Patron communal Omakase, with each cocktail matched to the patron’s specification. This was certainly the most popular time of the evening, I myself enjoying a Craig inspired Mezcal, Chartreuse, St. Germain, Grapefruit and Chocolate Mole bitters cocktail.
I’d go into further detail, but rather I’d recommend firstly that they run the class again, and second, that you come up for it. I myself recently finished a new batch of “Bridgetown Bitters“, when I then found out about Bittermens own Tiki bitters, also a Falernum-based bitters. Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ, eh?
I hope you’re inspired to try an extra dash or two in your drinks tonight, or even afterwards in some Ginger Ale as a stomach calmative (and oh does it ever work!).
Posted by TraderTiki on April 5th, 2008 — Posted in Concoctioneering
It’s funny that something I threw together on a whim a few months back suddenly became an “internet sensation”. After receiving a few e-mails myself, two blogposts with heavy reference and curiosity, and a few complaints from Lance’s aching inbox, I’m putting up the recipe for my Primitiva Liqueuer.
This is inspired by the Taboo Liqueur recipe from Classic Liqueurs, a nifty little read that provides a damn good start for home liqueur making.
Primitiva (Yields about 1 quart)
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lime
1 cup grapefruit juice
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 1/4 cups Demerara Sugar
1 Vanilla bean, split
1 cup Brandy (Christian Brothers)
1 cup White Rum (Myers’ Platinum)
In a large pot, combine zest, juice, and sugar. Scrape the vanilla seeds from the bean into the pot, and chop the bean skin into 1-inch pieces and put into the pot. Stir and bring to a rolling boil. Once it hits the boil, turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Pour mixture into a glass, porcelain, or other container to be used for aging. Add Brandy and Rum. Allow liqueur to age in the container for one month. After the month of aging, strain liqueur through cheese cloth 1-3 times, until desired clarity is reached (I like the zest out, but vanilla seeds in… Coffee filters and Buchner Funnels are great if you want it totally translucent.). Pour liqueur into bottles and cap.
Well, there you have it. Throw it together tonight and you’ve only got a month ’til you can try some for yourself! Craig also put together an inspired version of Forbidden Fruit Liqueur using the original noted ingredients, and a few of his own twists., including oak barrel aging!
Of course, if your zester is out of order, I could be convinced to let go of a bottle for a nominal fee. Just email blair AT tradertiki DOT com and we can make that arrangement.
Join me and the staff of Teardrop Lounge for an evening of authentic classic Tiki cocktails.
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July 16th - 20th
Blair (Trader Tiki) will be at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans! See me shakin' it at Beachbum Berry's Spirits of the Caribbean session Saturday the 19th!
, which I’ve grown quite fond of, but your knifestyle may vary. The key in separating the meat from the husk is leverage, so use the knife to tuck between the meat and husk and pry away the meat. It should come off in a decent hunk if you take it slow.
. Quick and easy, and suited for most palates, it’s a great party pleaser.
, a nifty little read that provides a damn good start for home liqueur making.
