Cocktail Hacker

This month’s Mixology Monday, the 51st if you’re keeping track, is being hosted by none other than the wisdomed Pegu sage, Doug Winship of The Pegu Blog. If you’re unfamiliar with MxMo let me catch you up quick so we can get to the important task of drinking. MxMo is a monthly event where cocktail bloggers worldwide focus on one ingredient (picked by the host) around which to create a cocktail. This month’s topic of choice is the ubiquitous lime.

There are of course a large number of cocktails that rely on the lime. The Daiquiri. The Dark and Stormy. My perennial favorite, the Gin and Tonic. I could go on, but there is one particular cocktail that I have to think pops in to most everyone’s head when they think of limes. I’m talking about the Margarita of course. Clearly I couldn’t simply remake the Margarita recipe I’ve made in the past. Some innovation that would be. No, I had to do something a bit more interesting.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know I have a love for chiles, even in my cocktails. I’ve made a couple batches of spicy bitters and I’ve crafted a couple cocktails based around them. I’ve even made a previous MxMo cocktail using them. For this MxMo I wanted to apply what I’ve learned from these experiments to craft the ultimate fiery Margarita. So, without further ado, I present to you the Noon Day Sun Margarita. It’s hot, but in all the right ways, much like hot sun on a tropical beach.

Noon Day Sun Margarita

2 oz Silver Tequila

1 oz Lime Juice

1/2 oz Cointreau

1/4 oz Agave Nectar

1/4 oz Orange Juice

Dash of Coronal Bitters

1) Rim a glass with salt, if desired

2) Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice

3) Shake until well chilled

4) Strain into an ice filled glass

I leave it to you to decide how much of fire you add with the Coronal Bitters. For me, I like the heat at a level where you just get a lingering warmth on your tongue and a tickle in your throat. Next, I really like the agave nectar in this recipe. It bumps up the agave flavor from the tequila. Finally, I really like the orange flavor that the Cointreau brings to the party. So, to keep that theme going, I added a touch of orange juice. I really like the addition. Even if you decide to omit the spicy bitters this Marg is delicious.

I’m getting back on the horse in the best way I know how, with an interesting gin cocktail. As I flipped through Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails looking at the recipes I marked some time ago, the Bebbo cocktail stood out as an intriguing mix. The combination of citrus, gin and honey sounds truly delightful. Now, as for the name, I can offer you nothing more than what Dr. Cocktail has tracked down. Namely, “‘Bebbo’ is Konkani (one of the twenty-two official languages of India) for frog.” Enlightening, though I think his earlier sentiment summed it up much better. “Another idiotically named drink.”

No matter the name, I’m excited by the possibilities of this drink. First, it’s one of my first forays into the use of honey in a cocktail. Seems there are some tricks to mixing with honey and I’m also excited about getting to try a couple different honeys to see if there is a difference. Second, there’s something I’ve been wondering for a while. What is the true flavor impact of gin versus vodka? Sure, I know it’s going to be huge, but I want to find out how huge.

So cocktail companions. Shall we get started?

The Bebbo Cocktail (Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails)

1 1/2 oz Gin

1 oz Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Honey

1/3 oz Orange Juice

1) Stir without ice until the honey dissolves

2) Shake with ice

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

The Bellini is an Italian classic that is truly brunch worthy. This drink is fresh, fruity and light. Perfect for a brunch cocktail. While traditionally, and I’d guess best, made with pureed fresh peaches, I’m going for simple this week and only touching the surface of what’s possible. So, given that, I used Kern’s fruit nectars to good success. Wanting to change things up a bit, I tried mango and guava nectars in place of peach. Both were quite tasty and the resulting colors were striking. If you’re truly making this one for your mom I would definitely go the extra mile and make it with fresh fruit. However, for you standard brunch canned nectar works quite well.

Bellini (Cocktail Hacker Quick and Dirty Version)

2 oz Fruit Nectar

3 1/2 oz Champagne

1) Combine in a champagne flute

I really don’t have much to add to this recipe, mainly because I didn’t spend a lot of time experimenting. Though, I can assure you I’ll be coming back to this one again soon. Look for it when Colorado peaches start coming in to season in the late summer.

My relationship with the Mimosa I think can be summed up as love/hate, though not in the way you’re thinking. You see, I deeply love Mimosas. Yet, at the same time, I hate telling people that. That statement conjures images of accessories such as small dogs and man bags. Well, I call BS on that. The Mimosa is a damn fine cocktail and, like other “not-so-manly” mixes that I’ve tasted in the past, it deserves respect. But, since I’m running on a compressed schedule this week because I’m sampling a few cocktails I kept this round of experimentation brief. Let’s get started with the recipe from Regan’s Joy of Mixology.

Mimosa (Joy of Mixology)

1/2 oz Triple Sec

1 1/2 oz Orange Juice

3 1/2 oz Champagne

1) Build the drink in the order listed

2) Garnish with an Orange Slice

I mixed it, I photographed it, I sampled it and then, as per my usual, I wanted to tweak it. As written the recipe is good, but it’s too sweet for my taste. Regan mandates that the triple sec is absolute required. I say nay. The triple sec doesn’t really add much to the flavor profile (it’s just another layer of orange). What it does add is additional sweetness. I prefer a drier Mimosa, so my choice was clear, drop the triple sec and move on.

Mimosa (Cocktail Hacker)

2 oz Orange Juice

3 1/2 oz Champagne

1) Build the drink in the order listed

2) Garnish with an Orange Slice

One last point to make before I move on to brunches unknown. Champagne, or more correctly sparkling wine, is key to this drink. There’s a strong pull with these types of drinks to pour in crap wine and call it good. Don’t do it! Seriously! No, you don’t need to be topping your orange juice with Kristal either, but you should use something you’re willing to drink on its own. It’s like when you’re cooking with wine. Always cook with something drinkable, always mix with something drinkable.

So there you have it. Now, go forth and spread the joy of the Mimosa.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Or so the saying goes. So what does the distilled essence of a bushel-load of apples get you? A damn fine cocktail and, near as I can discern, immortality. The Honeymoon Cocktail is another drink where the fresh apple flavor of the calvados really makes the drink pop. To make sure it really was the fruitiness of the calvados at work I mixed up a version using applejack instead. And while it was still a good drink to be sure, it wasn’t nearly as interesting. The apple flavor of the calvados is much stronger and much brighter than what you find in applejack and really makes the flavor profile of this drink much more complex.

I really can’t make any major suggestions this week for changing up the recipe. In fact, I only have one. The version from Vintage Cocktails and Forgotten Spirits was a bit off balance toward the sweet end of the spectrum. The fix was uber simple though. I bumped the lemon juice up to 3/4 oz and all was right with the world again.

Honeymoon Cocktail (Cocktail Hacker)

2 oz Calvados

1/2 oz Benedictine

1/2 oz Orange Curacao

3/4 oz Lemon Juice

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice

2) Shake until combined and well chilled

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

So, while I can’t suggest huge changes to the recipe, I can add a couple quick comments about the other ingredients. First, to get it out of the way, I’m going to remind you to always use fresh lemon juice. I know you don’t need the reminder, but it never hurts to refresh the fundamentals. Second, the Benedictine. Like ingredients in so many other cocktails you’re not going to be able to pick it out if you didn’t know it was there. But, and it’s a big but, you will definitely notice it if it’s gone. Third, and last, the curacao. If you don’t have curacao I’m going to give you permission to use a triple sec instead. Sure, you’re going to lose a bit of the flavor of the brandy base, but at 1/2 oz it’s really not going to be a huge loss. Not to mention you’re using tasty calvados which is also oak aged. So, like brandy, you’ll get those woody notes coming through as well.

So, there you have it. Now it’s time for a quick summary to send you on your way. The Honeymoon Cocktail is the second in a recent batch of seriously delicious calvados cocktails. If you don’t have a bottle in your liquor cabinet I think it’s time you change that. You can thank me later.

Note: Your immortality results may vary. If at first you don’t feel them, have another drink.