Mixing Up the Left Coast, week 3

This week we decided to bring it home. After a great spring break vacation, we wanted a little taste of home. For the Gindicate, nothing says home like the fantastic bartenders at the Smugglers Cove in San Francisco. Luckily for us, Marco Dionysos is featured with two delicious cocktail recipes. 

Chartreuse Swizzle

1 ¼ oz green Chartreuse

½ oz John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum

1 oz pineapple juice

Juice of ½ lime

Lime wheel (garnish)

Sprig of mint (garnish)

Swizzle ingredients with crushed ice until tall glass frosts over. Or shake with ice and strain over crushed ice, tall glass will frost over. Garnish with lime wheel and activated (smacked) mint.

The scent of this cocktail is very tropical thanks to the pineapple, falernum and mint. It was like being in a tiki bar or a relaxing beach in Hawaii. The flavor was light on the beguiling herbs of chartreuse and a lot of pineapple when sipped from the glass. When sipped through a straw the mint scent was diminished, but the refreshing herbacity of the chartreuse and falernum were more forward and really balanced the drink out. A simple, fresh,  summery drink, what’s not to like?!

English Breakfast

1 ½ oz Earl Grey Tea infused No. 209 gin

¾ oz Grand Mariner

¾ oz fresh lemon juice

1 bar spoon orange marmalade

1 egg white

Qi black tea liqueur (garnish)

Dry shake all ingredients, add ice and shake again. Double strain into a port glass and spray top of the drink with Qi black tea liqueur using a misto pump.

The strong overriding scent of this cocktail is of the Qi, which has a smoky woodsy almost Chinese herbal smell, and a heavy cream undertone. This cocktail has a delightfully full mouth fee. The citrus flavors dominate this drink through the Grand Mariner, lemon juice, and marmalade. The bergamot from the Earl Gray tea is vaguely there but it’s mostly hidden. After trying this drink with the original recipe we tried it with reduced marmalade and lighter spray of the Qi in order to bring the other flavors forward. The creaminess of this cocktail became much more prevalent. Once you sip off the Qi foam the other flavors come forward. You get more of the juniper of the gin and the citrus is more balanced due to less marmalade. You still get the lightness of the gin and that made this cocktail really great.

Meet the Makers on April 5th, 2009

Hanger One, Alameda, CA

Meet the Makers was an event to bring together small batch and artisan distillers from around the United States. The Hanger One/St. George Spirits store and tasting room was open to the general public, but the floor of their distillery held over 40 Distillers and a dozen specialty foods producers. There were also a few tables that served actual cocktails, most notable were the Brandy Alexander’s with brown sugar rim.

The $40 ticket price was a little high for the average drinker, but the price was definitely off set by the virtually unlimited drinks and hors d’oevres. Everyone was nice and interested in meeting the visitors. The distillers and their reps were very personable and ready to engage in conversation. Although there wasn’t a set direction, most people waited patiently in line to meet each distiller. There was a noticeable lack of line towards the middle as people got a few drinks in them. It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

If you want a complete list of who was at the event, you can check out the Forums on Hanger One’s website or the article written up in the Examiner http://www.examiner.com/x-2529-SF-Drinks-Examiner~y2009m3d20-Domestic-distillers-pour-their-best-at-craft-spirits-festival . We will be reviewing some of the more interesting Gins and distillers we found at Meet the Makers in the future.

Salud!