Mixing Up the Left Coast, week 4

 This week we are featuring Kelly Swenson out of Portland, OR.

The Celeriac
2 oz Gin
3/4 oz pineapple juice
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz 2:1 simple syrup
4 dashes of the Bitter Truth Celery Bitters
1 egg white

Dry shake all ingredients together, then add ice and shake again. Double strain contents into a cocktail glass or champagne coupe. It's highly recommended to then spritz the top of the cocktail with a Misto Pump of the Celery Bitters. Otherwise, just serve.

We did mist the top of the cocktail with the Celery Bitters and found that it really added to the overall aroma of the cocktail. However, there is such a thing as over spritzing, which we did with our first go around on the Celeriac. The aroma of the bitters is of celery leaf, which really brought out the subtlety of the lemon and egg white. The flavor, however, was very herbal because of the over spritzing. The pineapple was forward but balanced the gin and hid the lemon flavor. It has a great creamy mouth feel thanks to the egg white and double straining. This cocktail finished with a hint of lemon and a strong celery leaf aftertaste. The second time we made this cocktail we spritzed the drink less and it was even better. There was still an aroma of celery but the lemon and gin were much more present. The flavor was also much more balanced between the lemon, gin, bitters and pineapple. It is a light, refreshing drink and perfect for a warm spring evening!

Toto
3/4 oz El Jimador Reposado tequila
3/4 oz Green Chartreuse
3/4 oz Cynar
Lemon twist (garnish)

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The aroma of this cocktail is lightly lemony, crisp with hint of herbals from the amaro. The taste is of the warm honeyed flavor of chartreuse with a hint of astringent-ness from the Cynar a the end. It has a lovely mouth feel and surprisingly light tequila flavor. The subsequent times we made this there was a slightly stronger tequila flavor, but it was so well balanced that anyone (even those self proclaimed tequila intolerant) could appreciate this cocktail. It was so mellow and multi-layered that someone thought this had a gin like Plymouth or Hendrick's in it instead of tequila.

Simplicity can speak volumes! By allowing the Chartreuse, Cynar and tequila to speak for themselves Kelly was able to create a far more complex drink than some 15 ingredient behemoths. There is a lot to be said about a three component cocktail. I was impressed and this was a hit.

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.

We’re on Spring Break!

We hope to be able to bring you the third week of Mixing Up the Left Coast on time, but since we are going on vacation, here is a taste of our next featured bartender from Left Coast Libations, Marco Dionysos. The recipe was recently published over at Hungry Beast. 

The Arthur

2 oz Beefeater gin

¾ oz fresh lemon juice

¾ oz pineapple juice

½ oz orgeat

2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

brandied cherry (garnish)

Shake all ingredients with ice vigorously. Double strain into a cocktail glass with brandied cherry and gold flake (optional) as garnish.

For this cocktail we used Fee Brothers Orgeat Cordial syrup. The aroma was slight and fleetingly tropical thanks to the orgeat and pineapple acting like falernum. The color of this cocktail is a pale yellow and rose from the Peychaud’s bitters, which contrasts nicely with the brandied cherry. The flavor of this cocktail is sweet, tart, light and refreshing. The pineapple is a mellow strength throughout this drink and there is a little zing at the end thanks to the brandied cherry. The first time we made this we used our Brother B’s homemade brandied cherries from a recipe published Imbibe. We also tried this drink with Luxardo cherries and it wasn’t as flavorful. The drink was virtually identical, except the extra juicy cherries from Brother B added an extra pop of flavor and color. We highly recommend making this drink in anticipation of summer! Yay!

Mixing Up the Left Coast, week 2

This week we are exploring the mixology of Neyah White out of San Francisco, from Left Coast Libations by Tim Munat. Again, we were lucky that we had most of the ingredients in our home bar. We learned a thing or two about Sherry and Fernet Branca from this adventure and they’re now items we will continue to use and enjoy.

606

1 ½ oz genever gin

½ oz sweet vermouth
½ oz Fernet Branca

orange twist (garnish)

Stir all ingredients gently with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

The first time we tried this cocktail we went with Genevieve genever and Dolin Rouge vermouth. We found the aroma to have a rich spiciness with a kick of orange. The flavor was complex. There was a flash of sweetness in the beginning leading to a bitter botanical flavor. The Fernet’s boldness then trails into a loamy juniper flavor that has a long lingering finish. It is delightfully multifaceted and created an intriguing and intellectual conversation in seeking out all the layers.

We decided to try this recipe again but this time with Boomsma Oude genever. The aroma was lighter in its spiciness and had a stronger orange scent. The color was also better since Boomsma is naturally straw colored. The genever was more present in the aroma with a woodsy-ness that was very interesting. The flavor was more Fernet forward with an almost minty eucalyptus-ness that was slightly bitter. This was a much more balanced drink throughout. Lots of other flavors step forward because of the aged genever. We found it to be mellower and more enjoyable this way.

Old Bill

1 oz oloroso sherry

½ oz maraschino liqueur

½ oz aged rum

3 dashes orange bitters

Stir all ingredients gently with ice and strain into a small wine glass.

We used Solera 1842 Oloroso VOS Sherry, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur and Zacappa XO in both cocktails we made using this recipe. The first time we made it the aroma was very sweet, a little spiciness from the sherry was present but the maraschino seemed to overwhelm the drink. As sweet as it was, this felt like a desert drink.

The second time we made this cocktail we decided to reduce the maraschino by ¼ oz. The aroma was much the same, but the spiciness of the sherry was more present. The flavor was much more balanced. We really got a sense of the complexity of the rum and the spiciness of the sherry. Also, there are more orange notes from the bitters when the maraschino isn’t so forward. This way, it seems like this cocktail isn’t just an after dinner drink.

Mixing up the Left Coast, week 1

For our first installment from Left Coast Libations we decided to start with the drinks of Eric Alperin a bartender out of Los Angeles and the first one in the book. To be honest we chose these drinks because we already had most of the ingredients in our home bar. It turned out to be a very rewarding choice.

 

Smuggler’s Notch

1 brown sugar cube

3 dashes orange bitters

2 oz dark rum

Absinthe or Herbsaint

Orange Twist (garnish)

Muddle brown sugar cube with orange bitters, add rum and ice cubes. Shake and strain into a whiskey glass rinsed with absinthe. Garnish with an orange twist.

We had a more difficult time finding brown sugar cubes than we expected but finally found them at Cost Plus of all places. We used Angostura Orange Bitters, Appleton Estate Reserve rum, and St. George Absinthe Vert. The first time we mixed this drink up, the absinthe aroma was a little too strong due to how high we rinsed the glass with the absinthe. The 2^nd time had a much lighter floral nose. We noticed the absinthe and bitters with a little bit of the water made this drink dryer, cutting the sweetness of the rum. It is a surprisingly complex drink considering there are so few ingredients. There was an interesting black tea nose, which is a huge contrast to the donut crumb scent of the sugar and orange bitters. This was a slow sipping drink that has a smoothness, depth and greater richness than just sipping rum.

Kingsbury

½ oz Campari

½ oz Dolin vermouth

½ oz Licor 43

½ oz lime juice

Prosecco

Cucumber spear (garnish)

Combine the Campari, Dolin, Licor 43, and lime juice in a shaker with ice. Shake softly for 5 seconds and strain into champagne flute. Top with Prosecco and garnish with a cucumber spear.

We used Dolin Dry Vermouth and Casalnova Prosecco in this drink. The 1^st time we made this it was a surprisingly fruity drink, considering the dryness of the brut and the tartness of Campari. This is probably due to the Licor 43, which we call MSG for alcohol, which pairs well with Campari. I almost liked the drink more without the Prosecco! The 2^nd time we made the drink the cucumber was more forward which made the drink dryer and more balanced. This drink has a nice play between the sweet, tart, and touches of dryness. Yum! It is a perfect spring and summer drink. We look forward to making this again and again.

Mixing Up the Left Coast

We apologize for not keeping the blog more active. To remedy that we have given ourselves  a mission: make all of the cocktails in Left Coast Libations and post about it here. We are inspired in this endeavor by Erik Ellestad of the Underhill-Lounge blog who is blogging his way through The Savoy Cocktail Book. A much bigger task than our proposed undertaking.

For those unfamiliar with it, Left Coast Libations is a book of cocktail recipies and profiles of top bartenders of the West Coast, specifically Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. Each bartender has two cocktail recipes featured. If you like cocktail books we highly recommend picking this one up.

Our plan is to pick one bartender each week and make both of their cocktails. We will jump around a bit rather than going straight through the book. This is mostly for logistical purposes, allowing us more tome to gather and in many case make ingredients.

We are excited to get started, so check back soon for our first installment, Eric Alpern.

Hot Buttered Rum

We found this recipe for Butter Batter, created by Kasy Fitch, bartender at Zig Zag Café. We usually use tiny Japanese winter ceramic mugs and therefore the recipe below is our take on the correct proportions.

2 oz. rum
4 oz. hot water
4 Tbsp. butter batter
ground cinnamon to top

Making the drink is simple. Add batter and rum to the bottom of mug and add hot water. Stir gently but thoroughly. Garnish with ground cinnamon. The best part of this cocktail is the butter batter! Below is the recipe.

Butter Batter
1 quart vanilla ice cream

1 lb. unsalted butter
1 lb. brown sugar
1 lb. powdered sugar
3 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 tsp. ground cinnamon

Several freezer friendly plastic containers

Let ice cream and butter soften to room temperature. Add all ingredients and combine using mixer set on medium speed until smooth. Pour mixture into several containers (some for you & your friends). Return batter to freezer and to solidify. This should last at least six months in the freezer. It is excellent as a nonalcoholic drink as well.