Posted by TraderTiki on November 3rd, 2008 — Posted in Bitters, Drinks, Events, Original Drinks, Recipes
This was my drink entry for the recent Drambuie Den contest here in Portland, where David Shenaut of Teardrop Lounge took home top place with his Desert Wanderer, a variation on the Bee’s Knees featuring Drambuie.
No awards were lauded for this little number, but it’s a tip of my hat to the drinks and liqueurs that stand the test of time. Simple, refreshing, and just a bit different. I blame the salt addition on Darcy’s Sensory Perception seminar at Tales. The salt cuts out a few unsavory bitter elements in the Grapefruit and Drambuie, and makes it extremely smooth and sippable. It’s a bit out of season for a tall sparkler, but I think there’ll be more than a few rounds of these made next time the sun starts up.
Yellow Carvel
- 1 1/2 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
- 1 1/2 oz Drambuie
- 1 oz Simple Syrup
- 2 dash Angostura Bitters
- pinch Salt
Shake with Crushed Ice, pour into Chimney Glass, top with Soda, garnish with grapefruit peel.
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Posted by TraderTiki on October 29th, 2008 — Posted in Drinks, Original Drinks, Recipes, Rum
When life hands you lemons, make lemonade, eh?
What about when life hands you a watery, low on flavor but not sure I’d want to taste it anyway liqueur? Well, in this case you make a cocktail. Much like the speakeasy bartenders making Alexanders out of Bathtub Brandy during Prohibition, a bit of creativity was called in to clean up the goop in this bottle.
Thanks a sponsored a little between-the-blogs contest, I received a few bottles of some Holiday themed spirits, namely Hiram Walker GingerBread Spice and Pumpkin Spice liqueurs. I appreciate the idea, but I have yet to see something on the shelf that gets these right (remember BOLS Pumpkin smash? uggh). Sadly, these are no exception.
Now mind you, I appreciate the bottle, and that attempt at this flavor, but nonetheless, I question how this ever got past quality control. This is a marketing sprung product that feels cheaply flavored and developed, a “mix Neutral Spirit A with Flavoring X and water down until underproof”. Thank goodness the contest called for the Gingerbread, which is salvageable. The Pumpkin Spice… well, I’ll wait ’til he’s done posting something, but Craig has got something homemade and to damn-well die for. Stick with the homemade.
So, like I say, time to make something out of this. The best thing to do in this case, for my creative palate, anyway, is to just go with it. The initial thought is to use this as a replacement for Pimento Dram in a Lion’s Tail or something similar, but the flavor is just not present, and gets washed away into the aftertaste rather quickly. So, I bring in Allspice and Molasses to really bring out the Gingerbread aspects of the liqueur. The Half and Half makes it a nice creamy rich dessert drink, and the Fee Bitters punch out that clove/cinnamon thing I expect from anything with a holiday flavor. The rum? Well, it’s just delicious. I recommend Cruzan Dark, but Coruba or Goslings could make a very interesting, if not even richer flavor (and probably darker than good tea).
Getränkuchen
- 1 oz Hiram Walker Gingerbread Liqueur
- 1 oz Dark Rum
- 1 oz Half & Half
- 1 oz Allspice Syrup
- 1 tsp Molasses
- 2 dashes Fee Bitters
Shake without Ice for thirty seconds. Add Ice to the shaker and shake until well-frosted. Strain into a Coupe, garnished with Spice Drops.
Allspice Syrup
- 8 oz Water
- 16 oz Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Allspice Berries
- 1/2 tsp Ground Allspice
Set water and Allspice in a pot over high heat until boiling. Add sugar and reduce heat to medium, stir until sugar is dissolved. Let cool for 30 minutes covered, and strain into jar or bottle. Makes about 2 cups.
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Posted by TraderTiki on September 25th, 2008 — Posted in Drinks, Garnish, Original Drinks, Recipes, Rum, Tiki Drinks
So, awhile back I was getting quite a bit of booze in the mail and tried to think of new drinks for each of them. One of these bottles happened to be something I was very excited to see arrive, Domaine de Canton. Domaine de Canton is a ginger liqueur with a cognac base, in a rather unusual and interesting bamboo shaped bottle. It is based on a Chinese Ginger liqueur that has been out of production since 1997.
When coming up with new recipes, sloshing out drink after drink, suddenly I felt I kept doing more of the same, and had to do something radically different. So, why not use a unique liqueur, such as Domaine de Canton, for something a bit unique itself? So I present, the Storm Cloud Rising.
What makes this so unique? Well, instead of putting the liqueur in the drink, or on top, or dried and powdered on the rim, I decided to use it in a flavoring in ice cream, for a riff on the traditional ice cream float. What better to pair with Domaine de Canton ice cream than that most belovéd highball, the Dark ‘n Stormy.
First the ice cream, lovingly ripped off and modified from David Lebovitz’ Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.
Domaine de Canton Ice Cream
- 1 cup milk
- A pinch of salt
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 2 cup heavy cream
- A few drops of vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Domaine de Canton
Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks As the milk warms, add some of the warmed milk to the yolks, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.
Continue to cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the heavy cream and add the Domaine de Canton. Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers instructions.
This should yield about 1 quart of ice cream. I use the Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Ice Cream Maker
, and the results are damned good. This recipe makes just about the best ice cream you can get, at the store or otherwise.
Now that you’ve got a friendly scoop of that, it’s time to take it to the drink!
Storm Cloud Rising
- 1 scoop Domaine de Canton Ice Cream
- 1 1/2 oz. Mount Gay Rum Extra Old
- Bundaberg Ginger Beer
- Lime Wheel
Pour Mount Gay Extra Old and Chilled Bundaberg Ginger Beer into chilled float glass. Add scoop of Domain de Canton Ice Cream on top, and garnish with Lime Wheel.
It’s frothy, delicious, and then some. The perfect mix of sweet, smokey and spicy as the Domaine de Canton Ginger Ice Cream melts into the Ginger Beer and Rum combo. Beware not to float the Ginger Beer up too high though… as you can see, floats don’t hold well to photography.
So get your Ice Cream maker ready, drinks ahoy!
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Posted by TraderTiki on September 19th, 2008 — Posted in Drinks, Events, Original Drinks, Recipes, Rum, Tiki Drinks
This here’s a new drink I whipped together for the recent Forbidden Island cocktail contest on Tiki Central, held by Martin Cate of Forbidden Island! I revealed this last night at the Thursday Drink Night. No awards for this one, but I still think it’s a doozy of a drink.
Old Gold
- 1 1/2 oz El Dorado 12 (sub Lemon Hart 80)
- 1/2 oz Clement VSOP
- 1/2 oz Cointreau
- 3/4 oz Ginger Syrup
- 3/4 oz Grapefruit juice (1:1 white and red, if available)
- 2 dash Fees Bitters
- 2 drops Vanilla Extract
- 2 drops Don’s Spices #2
Mix with 6 oz crushed ice in top-down, and pour into a small Hurricane glass (sub chimney). Garnish with a dash of Cinnamon and piece of Candied Ginger.
If you’re looking for something to hit your sweet spot, this’ll do the trick. It needs a few moments in ice to cool its jets though, so let it sit a spell, it’ll still be there waiting for you.
I just can’t stop mixing with the El Dorado 12 lately, it’s a bit addictive. I may have to start weaning myself away with Mount Gay Extra Old. A new shipment of bottles just got into the galley, these are exciting times indeed!
Like it? Tried it? Got a tweek? Post a comment!
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Posted by TraderTiki on September 18th, 2008 — Posted in Drinks, Original Drinks, Recipes, Tiki Drinks
Developed this very evening at the Upstairs bar. Come and join us in the chat!
Maluna Hai
- 1 1/2 El Dorado 12 year (sub Lemon Hart 80)
- 1 oz Grapefruit Juice (1:1 white to red, if available)
- 1/2 oz Lime Juice
- 1/2 oz Orgeat
- 1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
- 1/4 oz Gomme Syrup
- dash Grand Marnier
- dash Angostura Bitters
Shake like hell with crushed ice and pour into Goblet.
Make one, shake one, drink one tonight at the Mixoloseum Chat!
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