Cocktail Hacker

I received a review bottle of Pama about two years ago and it got lost in the shuffle.  It’s a shame, but it happens.  And, now that I’ve tried Pama, I’m doubly disappointed that I waited so long.  Pama has a fantastic flavor and is a dream to mix with.

Pama’s color is a bright, well…pomegranate, red.  The aroma is sweet with the pomegranate notes coming through loud and clear.  And, now, the important part, the flavor.  The flavor of Pama definitely manages to hold on to some of the fresh fruit flavor.  Sadly, there really isn’t any way to keep it all.  The sweetness is definitely present, this is a liqueur after all, but it’s cut really well by the sour notes leaving you with a nicely balanced spirit.  The base spirits are a combo of vodka and tequila and you can definitely taste hints of the tequila coming through, which I really like.

Wanting to know how it would hold up to other bold flavors we mixed up a couple cocktails from the Pama website.  Though, I have to give you a tip.  There is a secondary Pama site that’s kinda hidden in the lower right of the main site, Pama Professionals.  This is where you want to go look for cocktail recipes.  They’re a step above the recipes on the main site and they sport more nuanced flavors and complexity.  To get us started, Elisabeth wanted something with Champagne.  I couldn’t complain as the Champagne would cut some of the sweetness and play really well with the fruitiness.

Marie Antoinette (Pama Professionals)

1 oz PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 oz Gin
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Champagne

1) Combine the Pama, gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with ice
2) Shake until well chilled
3) Strain into a Champagne flute and top with Champagne

This drink has definite ties to a French 75 and that is a great thing.  The sourness of the lemon and Pama are tamed a bit by the extra simple syrup and the champagne cuts through it all giving it a great lightness.  If you use a bold gin its flavor come in and play ball as well, the herbal notes working especially well with the fruitiness.  Definitely give this one a try next time you’re jonesing for a French 75.

Following that I wanted to play off the tequila base so I checked out their site and opted for the Persephones Elixir.

Persephones Elixir (Pama Professionals)

3/4 oz PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 oz Blanco Tequila
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
Ginger Beer

1) Combine the Pama, tequila and lemon juice with ice
2) Shake until well chilled
3) Strain into an ice filled collins glass and top with ginger beer

The added tequila harmonizes extremely well with the pomegranate.  The ginger beer adds light effervescence and flavor complexity.  This is a great drink and I would definitely mix this up on a hot day.  And, since you added some volume with the ginger beer, you might actually get some hydration out of it too.  Win win.

I learned some valuable lessons with this one.  One, here are another pair of pink cocktails that are delicious.  I’m starting to see a real trend developing here.  Two, I’ll think twice before putting something on the back burner again.  I’d hate to miss something as good as Pama as a result.

PS – If you’re a cook, you should definitely check out some of the food recipes on their site.  There look to be some great recipes on there.  For one, the Pama Flourless Chocolate Torte has been on my mind since I saw it.

† The product reviewed here was provided to me as a free sample. If you’re wondering what that means check out my sample policy.

Do you like ice cream?  Since you’re human, I’m going to bet yes.  And, since you’re reading my blog I think it’s safe to also assume you like booze.  So, friends, can you imagine the combination of the two?  Neither could I.  Mind you, I tried.  But my brain basically rebooted from joy every time I tried.  Salvation came in the form of Ice Cream Happy Hour, a new book from Valerie Lum and Jenise Addison.

The book is compilation of 50 recipes for ice creams, sorbets and sherbets.  There are boozy twists on the classics, like the one we chose Mint Chip with Creme de Menthe.  There are cocktail inspired recipes that definitely sound awesome.  Whiskey Sour ice cream, yes please!  And, to round it all out there are recipes for boozy sundaes, floats and the like.

The part I liked best about this book is that they break down the ice cream making process into distinct, simple steps.  I hadn’t made ice cream before (despite having my own ice cream maker, go figure) and I found the recipe very easy to follow.  You will need an ice cream maker, but they’re pretty easy to find and, if you don’t want to buy one, I’m betting you have a friend who would gladly loan you theirs.  And, I can tell you, once you’ve had boozy ice cream, all others are just a little boring.

Mint Chip with Creme de Menthe

2 cups Milk
2 cups Heavy Cream
3/4 cup Sugar
4 Egg Yolks
2 tsp Mint Extract
3-4 drops Green Food Coloring
1 packet Gelatin
1/4 cup Cold Water
3/4 cup Cold Creme de Menthe
1 cup Chopped Chocolate

1) Scald the milk, cream and sugar
2) Whisk the egg yolks and temper with 1/3 of the milk mixture
3) Thicken the custard over low heat
4) Whisk in the mint extract and food coloring
5) Strain, cover and chill the custard for at least 8 hours
6) Dissolve the gelatin in the cold water
7) Melt the gelatin over low heat
8) Spike the custard with the cold creme de menthe
9) Churn the ice cream for at least 20 minutes
10) Fold in the chocolate 

† The product reviewed here was provided to me as a free sample. If you’re wondering what that means check out my sample policy.

Everyone who enjoys cocktails, or rather, drinking in general, has dabbled in infusing spirits.  Most stick with straightforward combos: mango vodka, strawberry tequila, vanilla rum, etc.  The next step in that process is fat washing.  Specifically you’re adding a flavorful fat to a spirit and the alcohol and water soluble flavors in the fat are pulled into the spirit.  Once you’ve infused you remove the fat and you’re left with flavorful spirits.

The first time I heard about this method was Don Lee’s Bacon Bourbon.  Don used the infused bourbon to make PDT’s Bacon Old Fashioned.  Seeing this I was inspired.  I tried it myself and, I won’t say I failed, but I certainly didn’t succeed.  What I ended up with was an under-flavored bourbon that tasted okay in an Old Fashioned, but really wasn’t any better than it would have been with unadulterated bourbon.  And, what’s worse, I couldn’t find anything else to put it in.  It met the drain shortly thereafter.

With that, my homemade attempts at fat washing ended and I put savory infusions on the back burner and never really looked back.  So, when a bottle of Bakon Vodka (it’s bacon flavored, in case you hadn’t figured that out) turned up on my doorstep, my brain was immediately filled with concoctions of bacon delightfulness.  Think of the amazing bacon pairings people have been coming up with lately…bacon chocolate chip cookies (made them, they’re amazing), chocolate covered bacon (had it, also amazing), candied bacon (had it, amazing)…okay, this is getting repetitive.

The common theme there though is the sugar component, and while I definitely wanted to try that avenue, you’ll have to come back later for those results.  The first place I wanted to start was what seemed like the obvious use for this spirit, the Bakon Bloody Mary.  But first, let’s talk about the vodka itself.

Bakon Vodka has a distinctly bacony aroma.  It’s not the kind of bacon flavor you might get when you cook up your Sunday breakfast, though.  It was singularly porky.  No maple, very light smoke, very.  But, none the less definitely bacon.  And, while the flavor is good, it’s not something I’d ever drink on its own.  I think it’s the idea of it all that gets to me.  Okay, let’s see how it mixes.

Bakon Bloody Mary

2 oz Bakon Vodka
4 oz Tomato Juice
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
3 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce
1 Dash Hot Sauce
Pinch of Chipotle Powder
Heavy Pinch of Kosher Salt
2 Grinds of Black Pepper
Garnish with Veggies and Pickles

1) Combine ingredients in shaker with ice
2) Shake until well chilled
3) Strain into an ice filled Collins glass
4) Garnish with lemon and celery

I used my basic Bloody Mary recipe with one minor tweak.  I wanted a hint of smokiness so I added a pinch of chipotle powder and cut down the hot sauce.  The bacon comes through in the aroma quite clearly.  In the flavor it’s much less intense, but still present.  And, while it doesn’t added a super bacony punch, it adds a mellow, savory backbone to the cocktail that I really enjoy.  As for the added chipotle it did its job perfectly.  There was a light smokiness and just the right amount of spice.  This is definitely a must try for the folks in your life who lie in the intersection of bacon lovers and Bloody Mary lovers.

As for Bakon Vodka itself, I’ll give you this advice.  It’s tasty stuff, when properly applied.  Definitely don’t get this expecting to be able to use it in any vodka recipe.  The results will not be pleasant.  Though, when mixed in the right recipe the added complexity and savory quality, even in sweet drinks, is worth it.

† The product reviewed here was provided to me as a free sample. If you’re wondering what that means check out my sample policy.

Ever sat down after a long day and craved a nice glass of honey?  Neither had I, emphasis on the had.  I sat down a couple nights back to write this review and ended up simply sipping the Bärenjäger and vegging.  And you know what?  I’d do it again.  You see, until you’ve sipped Bärenjäger, you assume it’s simply going to be a sweet, honey flavored liqueur.  Not so, well, not entirely so, at least.  Bärenjäger is, most definitely a sweet, honey flavored liqueur.  But it’s more than that.  Tasting it makes me think it literally is honey with some alcohol added.

Seems rather one-dimensional just hearing about it.  It goes deeper than that though, to use a lame pun.  Honey has a natural complexity to it.  The unique flavors from the flowers and the more complex sugar flavor.  You see, honey is a mix of molecules of fructose and glucose giving it a different flavor than table sugar which is purely sucrose.  For you sugar geeks out there, this is old news.  For the rest of us, a quick primer.  Sucrose is a disaccharide comprised of both glucose and fructose bonded as a single molecule of sucrose.  Seems like a sugar is a sugar, but not quite.  Here’s one of the interesting bits.  Glucose is less sweet than sucrose on it’s own, but, fructose is far sweeter, nearly doubly so.  So, where am I getting with all of this?  Simply put, the sweetness of honey is different than the sweetness of table sugar and you definitely pick it up sipping on Bärenjäger.

The color is that of thinned honey.  Funny, that.  The mouth feel is pretty incredible.  Barenjager is viscous, close to the texture of pancake syrup.  The flavor highlights the honey with spice notes filling in the background.  The sweetness masks the 70 proof punch exceedingly well.  So, how does it mix?  Wonderfully.  Here is my take on the Bäron von Bourbon from the Bärenjäger site.

Bäron von Bourbon (Cocktail Hacker)

1 1/2 oz Bourbon
1 oz Bärenjäger
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 Dash Aromatic Bitters

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice
2) Shake until well chilled
3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Bourbon and honey are a classic pairing and the lemon adds a crisp sour note.  I added a single dash of bitters to bump up the herbal complexity.  You don’t want as much as you’d use in a typical whiskey sour as you want the Bärenjäger to be able to shine.  If the drink is a too sweet for you as noted, try adding a bit more bourbon.

Check back later in the week for another tasty Bärenjäger recipe.

† The product reviewed here was provided to me as a free sample. If you’re wondering what that means check out my sample policy.

Tasting spiced rum there are certain things I look for.  First, the base rum should be good.  Flavored crappy rum is still crappy rum.  Second, the flavors should taste natural.  I don’t want the rum to taste like the producer added some bottled extracts and called it good.  Third, and finally, the spice flavors should be distinct and not muddled.  It’s easy to add a bunch of flavors and end up with a muddled mess.  It’s considerably more difficult to combine distinct flavors while keeping them distinct yet harmonious.

BlackBeard Spiced Rum passes my rigorous testing protocol and comes out the other side with me smiling.  The bottle notes the key spices are vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.  And, while the nutmeg and cinnamon play side roles, the vanilla is definitely the star.  The vanilla flavor is smooth and fresh with no chemical notes.  Just what I like.

This rum plays extremely well with Coke.  Though, I do have a recommendation.  Add less Coke than you normally would, I’d keep it about 3:1 Coke to rum, tops.  That keeps the rum flavor from being over diluted.  A twist of lime is good if you’d like to change things up.  Good stuff.  BlackBeard would also make for an interesting twist on the Mojito.

Overall, it’s a great spiced rum.  Less complex than others, but that’s not really a bad thing.  The spices it does include it does very well.

† The product reviewed here was provided to me as a free sample. If you’re wondering what that means check out my sample policy.