Mixing Up the Left Coast, week 12

Our post today features Left Coast Libations cocktails from Yanni Kehagiaras. The book says he’s at Nopa in San Francisco and since we’re terrible people who haven’t looked it up recently, we’ll have to take their word for it. What we have to say is Yanni sure made us think about our cocktails and brought our Padawan to the dark side … he’s now an avid follower of Laphroaig much to the Gindicate’s chagrin.

Burns Night Cap

2 oz Laphroaig Quarter Cask scotch

½ oz Benedictine

½ oz Lillet Blanc

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass.

The aroma was all Laphroaig, peaty and medicinal and not at all appetizing for people who usually like gin. However, the Lillet really brought forward a mellow warmth and herbaceous-ness from the Benedictine. All of which mellowed out the smoky peaty-ness of the scotch. It was unbelievably yummy and shocking in its flavors. We couldn’t believe how tamed and complex the Laphroaig became in this cocktail. Quite enjoyable … again the Padawan was pleased. Now he is incorrigible, always ordering cocktails featuring Laphroaig. Thanks Mr. Kehagiaras.

The Bitter End

2 oz Flor de Caña Aged White 4-year rum

1 oz grapefruit juice

½ oz lime juice

½ oz John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Angostura bitters float (garnish, up to ¼ oz)

Build in a Collins glass using all ingredients except garnish. Fill with crushed ice and stir. Float additional bitters.

The aroma is warm and spicy like cinnamon or cloves from the Angostura. There is just a hint of the peppery quality of grapefruit that comes through as well. The flavor is citrus, rum, and a slightly bitter tartness from the rum. The bitters help tie it all together with the sweet falernum, the sharp rum, and the bold citrus. Together it’s a light, crisp, and slightly tart drink. The second time we added an additional ¼ oz of falernum and it really mellowed the grapefruit and brought out the spicy quality of the bitters. Next time we’ll try it as originally written, but with pink grapefruit. That might really make the difference. Overall an excellent drink!

Mixing up the Left Coast, week 11

This week’s selection features one of our favorite bartenders, Dominic Venegas. Dom left the SF Bay area for the East Coast and boy are we jealous of the patrons that haunt The Tippler. We wish him luck and good fortune! Today, however, we must make do with the cocktails he shared with Left Coast Libations: the Solera and the Stallion. Until we see you again, sir! Cheers!

The Solera

1 ¾ oz Santa Teresa 1796 rum

1 ¼ oz oloroso sherry

½ oz John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum

Orange Peel (garnish)

Stir all ingredients with ice, strain into cocktail glass, and garnish with orange peel.

For this drink we used Solera 1842 oloroso VOS Jerez. It was a reasonable size and price for what we were looking for since we’re not particularly fond of sherry. The aroma was strongly of sherry and orange oils with just a hint of rum. The flavor was sweet, but with a touch of heat from the rum. It’s a very well balanced cocktail with just the right mixture of spice and the warm molasses of rum. This is a fantastic after dinner drink and has helped me appreciate sherry that much more!

The Stallion

2 oz Beefeater gin
1 oz Barolo Chinato

½ oz Senior Curacao de Curacao (white)

1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice, strain into cocktail glass.

The Gindicate is from the SF bay area, and usually has no problems sourcing booze. However, we could not find a bottle of Senior Curacao de Curacao (SCdC) white for anything. We ended up making Black Stallions, since we used SCdC blue. I actually quite like the deep blackish color of the cocktail and its hints of green. It makes me think of a horse of a different color from the classic Wizard of Oz movie. And I have to admit this has become a “go to” drink for the Gindicate Test Kitchen. When people say, “Make me something you would drink” or “Surprise me!” this is what I make. I think it’s the chinato that makes it so approachable to drink and enjoy.

The aroma is of gin with a hint of chinato, which is an aromatic wine or amaro. The flavor is of the juniper from the gin as well as the amaro with a hint of sweet from the Curacao. The bitters add greatly to the drink, keeping it from being two sweet or one dimensional. It’s a spin on a negroni with a bit of orange to keep it interesting. The second time we made this cocktail we used Tanqueray and the juniper was less forward, making the aroma more complex. The flavor of the chinato and the Curacao were more prevalent and fuller. It became a better digestive and had a dry quality that appeals the certain members of the Gindicate. Delicious, either way!

Hmm ...

Well, it looks like some of the posts we preloaded have been lost and are gone into the ether like the Angel Share. Please be patient as we figure out where they have run off to. We hope to have them all back in action next week.

Cheers!

Congrats, Marco!

This week we learned that our friend and favorite bartender, Marcovaldo Dionysos, has been nominated as a top 10 finalist for American Bartender of the Year by Tales of the Cocktail! Read more about it here. We have previously written about our adventures recreating his cocktails featured in Left Coast Libations and have to say that the Chartreuse Swizzle is an all time favorite. Of course, he makes it best. If you have a chance to meet him and try one of his creations, do! An amazing man with amazing talent. We're rooting for him to make it to #1!


Cheers!

Mixing Up the Left Coast, week 10 (part 2)

Here you go, part 2 of the Mixing up the Left Coast for week 10. This one goes out to our Padawan A, who loves Laphroig. Hopefully this will inspire him to purchase a bottle instead of drinking the one in the Gindicate Test Kitchen. This cocktail is again from Mr. Jimmy Patrick from the SF Bay Area.

William Orange

1 ½ oz Highland single malt scotch

½ oz Grand Marnier

½ oz Orgeat
½ oz Lime juice
1 drop Absinthe
1 drop Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged bitters

Sprig mint (garnish)

Shake all ingredients over ice, strain into a old fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with sprig of mint.
There are a lot of scotches out there and the choice you make for this recipe will greatly determine how this cocktail comes out. We only had Laphroaig and it is a peat monster! It made the aroma and the flavor very peaty and overwhelming. The Laphroaig has a smoky quality that hid our wimpy mint and gave the flavor a slightly medicinal taste when added to the absinthe. It was like sweet campfire juice.

Then we used St. George’s Single Malt whiskey and everything was amazing! The aroma was woody and minty, the flavor sweet but with a great whiskey kick. It allowed the absinthe to settle into the aroma and not overpower the rest of the cocktail. It was delicious! This is a drink we love and highly recommend!

Cheers!

Mixing Up the Left Coast, week 10 (part 1)

This week we taste the recipes created by Jimmy Patrick from the SF Bay Area. We haven’t had a chance to try any cocktails from the man himself, the book says he tends the bar at the Lion and Compass in Sunnyvale, CA. Hopefully we'll get a chance to meet him if we head back to the old Homestead! This weeks drinks will be split into two posts because the second drink is a doozey and deserves some extra consideration. Enjoy part 1, the Bohemian ...

Bohemian

1 oz Bacardi Superior Rum

1 oz Lemon Hart Demerara Rum

1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

½ oz Licor 43
½ oz Lemon juice
½ oz Lime juice
1 drop absinthe
Lemon peal spiral (garnish)

Shake all ingredients over ice and strain over crushed ice into a highball glass. Garnish with the lemon peel spiral.

The aroma is spicy and a bit of absinthe, but primarily of rum. Somehow all these ingredients make a very strong spiced coffee flavor. Also, the elderflower and Licor 43 are a little overpowering. It is a complex drink with too many flavors warring for attention on your pallet. The second time we tried it out we reduced the St. Germain and Licor 43 by half. This time the aroma is less overpowering, but more lemony and sweet. Unfortunately the flavor was completely overpoweringly coffee and too astringent thanks to the Bacardi. It seems like it needs seltzer or ginger beer to thin it a little. It was not the cocktail for us.

Perhaps next time...

Mixing Up the Left Coast, week 9

Lately we have been featuring a lot of tequila drinks since we were able to mix up some great cocktails with friends at their home bar. The Gindicate has always had gin in its heart and luckily for us there are quite a few cocktails featuring our favorite liquor in Left Coast Libations. This week we have a gin double feature from Joseph Brooke out of Los Angeles. We hope you enjoy these delightful cocktails!

The Brass Flower

1 oz Gin

1 oz Grapefruit juice

¾ oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

2 dashes Fee Brothers Grapefruit bitters

Brut Champagne

Strip of grapefruit peel (garnish)

Gently toss (a 5 second shake) all ingredients over ice, except champagne. Strain into a flute and top with champagne. Twist the grapefruit peel over the cocktail to express the oils. *The book also requires you to dink and laugh in this recipe, which is charming!

This recipe calls for a London Dry gin and we used Brokers for our first round. This simple cocktail smells of the pepper and fruitness of grapefruit, while expressing the lovely floral notes of the St. Germain. It has a lovely blend of champagne, grapefruit and gin. There is a refreshing flavor and dryness to it, but the elderflower was not prevalant. However, we wished that the gin was a little less sharp since our grapefruit was not sweet. Therefore we used Plymouth gin in the second round. With this there was more citrus flavor in the gin and therefore it is enhanced in the rest of the cocktail. The elderflower was more present, but still not too sweet. It became more balanced and a little less dry. Watch out, it is a very easy drink that only hits you after a few.

The Lively

1 large fresh Strawberry

2 oz Gin

¾ oz Agave-Ginger syrup

¾ oz Lemon juice

Splash simple syrup

Slice ¼ of the strawberry off and set aside as the garnish. Muddle remainder of the berry with other ingredients and shake over ice. Strain over fresh ice into a sours glass (5-6 oz stemmed glass) and garnish with strawberry piece.

We had some difficulty with this cocktail because we used Ginger People ginger juice in the Agave-Ginger syrup. We recommend that you juice your own ginger or greatly reduce the Ginger People amount by half or ¾ the amount. When we mixed up this cocktail using this recipe we didn’t realize the strength of the ginger and it really affected the flavor. The aroma was of stone fruit, strawberry, and astringency from the ginger. The ginger bit so hard in this cocktail that you could not get any other flavors at first. We then adjusted the cocktail to ¼ Agave-Ginger syrup, ½ lemon, and ¼ simple syrup. This time, the aroma was of strawberry, gin, ginger and a hint of stone fruit. The flavor was much more balanced; sweeter but still not sweet. The harsh ginger bite was gone. It was a bit like spring with its cool astringency yet there is sweetness like the promise of summer.

Cheers!

Thank you St. George, we love your Gins!

It took us some time, but we finally got St. George Spirits Gin selection. They are amazing! What we have (so far) in the Gindicate Test Kitchen is a sample box, not the full sized bottle of each, but a box of 200ML bottles. We purchased ours at their Hanger 1 distillery store. This means we have to be careful with mixology until we can drive the 15 miles to get a larger bottle! We aren't even surprised that their Gins taste great straight at room temperature. That just shows the craftsmanship and truly excellent quality of St. George. Below is our breakdown of their Gins:

Dry Rye Gin – “An assertive and elegant American dry gin to delight the unabashed juniper lover,” and how! We get rye, licorice, rock candy and cardamom in a full frontal assault of flavor that leaves you saying, “Please, sir, can I have another?!”

Botanivore Gin – “A botanical balancing of the highest order, pot distilled from wildcrafted juniper and an array of choice herbs, spices and citrus.” This is a crisp, well balanced and juniper forward gin that is extremely versatile. We can’t wait to try it in a martini, Collins, and gimlet!

Terroir Gin – “A uniquely California gin with a sense of place and poetry, distilled from sustainably sourced botanicals,” which is an understatement. This gin smells like the trails that crisscross over the Northern California foothills. It reminds me of running through those sweet grasses as a child, brushing against bay laurel and picking the fronds off wild anise to eat on the way home. This is my kind of California.

Congrats to St. George Spirits on a fantastic line of Gin! Now we get to experiment in the Gindicate Test Kitchen to find our favorite pairings/cocktails. Follow St. George Spirits' twitter feed for great cocktail suggestions and come back soon so we can show you what we’ve been up to!

Mixing Up the Left Coast, week 8

We have been remiss in our writing duties recently. Times have been very difficult for us with work, holidays, and family obligations. We have been regularly making cocktails each week and will try to update more regularly so that you may all enjoy them as well. This week we discuss the cocktails of Jennifer Colliau of San Francisco. The cocktails use unusual ingredients like pink peppercorns and a lime-whey mixture. You can get more information on this exciting bartender on her blog .

Brace

1 ½ oz Pisco
1 oz Lime-Whey mixture
½ oz Contraeu

½ oz Simple syrup

3 dashes The Bitter Truth Celery bitters

Orange peel (garnish)

Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice and double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with an orange peel.

For this cocktail we used Don Cesar Puro pisco from Peru. Since pisco is made from grapes, like a grappa, we find the aroma of this liquor to smell a lot like vermouth. The cocktail has a very strong pisco aroma that is highlighted by the orange peel. The flavor starts sweet and then goes dry and tastes a lot like very good dry vermouth. The lime-whey mixture is very refreshing, although making it was time consuming. The recipe for this ingredient can be found in Left Coast Libations and it is a unique item we recommend trying. The next time we made this cocktail the aroma was crisper and less sweet. We were less generous with the bitters this time and it made the cocktail more appealing to us. If you like dry vermouth, you will find this cocktail enchanting.

Reunion Cooler

½ oz Pink peppercorns
4 total 1-inch Chunks ripe pineapple
2 total 1x8-inch Strips of grapefruit peel
1 oz blanco tequila
½ oz Lime juice
1 barspoon agave nectar
Crush peppercorns at the bottom of a mixing glass with a muddler. Add the pineapple chunks and grapefruit peel and muddle again. Then add the liquid ingredients and shake thoroughly. Strain into a double old fashion glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with the remaining grapefruit peel fashioned into a rosette.
For this cocktail we used Partida blanco tequila and it was a good sharp contrast to the agave nectar. The grapefruit peel gives this cocktail a lovely peppery aroma that gives you a good warm up for the pink peppercorns. The flavor is very floral and slightly spicy. The tequila and pineapple are a great mix and this cooler is a little short, it felt odd in the glass like there was something missing. The next round we made of this cocktail used Partida reposado tequila and added a topper of seltzer. It really improved the cocktail and made it more light and refreshing. The flavors were always fantastic, it just made it a little more of a summer cocktail. Don’t forget a straw!

Salud!

Aspall Dry Draft Cider

Aspall is an English Draft Cider that has a variety of different "styles" for sale. I got this bottle at BevMo. There is a lot that can be said about how it tastes (technically) but that isn't what I'm here to tell you about. If you're one of the lucky few who understands what a number means or what "white spices aroma" is, good on you. For the rest of us, you just really want to know what it tastes like, compared to what you know. It's rather expensive ($4 for 500ML and 6.8% ALC/VOL) and you may not want to buy it if its not in your flavor profile.

So here's what it really tastes like (btw I'm not a super-taster, I just have a snooty pallet). It's dry, sharp, and a bit skunky. If you like beers like Heineken then this might be a good draft cider for you. I was a little shocked that the aroma is so light but the taste is so ... full? It has a sharp vinegary middle and a pleasant tart apple after taste. I finished the whole bottle, so I must have liked it well enough. It's not Strongbow (which is sweeter) or Magners Irish Cider (which is extra dry/skunky) but definitely somewhere in the middle to Magners end.

Changes and Lessons Learned

Every so often you get a chance to explore who you are and what you're really made of, gumption wise. Not so recently one of the Gindicate learned that life would forever change because she was Gluten Intollerant. There is a process (painful, invasive, and mildly humiliating) to determine if she has Celiacs Disease, but that was never a consideration. After only a week of eliminating most wheat-gluten products from her diet, her symptoms disappeared. That has forced the Gindicate into exploring new food and spirits.

Although unfiltered wheat was her favorite (the irony of it all) she has been forced to learn about Gluten-Free options. We will now be adding her two cents to a Gluten-Free booze page. We hope you all enjoy what is to come. These challenges will hopefully help others in their quest to better undertand the Gluten-Free allergy and lifestyle in the "adult beverages" world.

Thank you for joining us on this exploration, click the tab above for more information and breakdown of what she has learned on this journey.

Cheers!
-the Gindicate

Hello?

Hello out there! Sorry we haven't posted in a while, but life got a little hectic! It became more difficult to afford all the mixers and specialty items while we were Mixing Up the Left Coast. Things are getting a little more reasonable and hopefully we can share some cocktail recipes soon.

Thank you for sticking with us!
the Gindicate