Cocktail Hacker

Having come up seriously lacking in my search for commercial falernum I turned to my circle of cocktail enthusiasts and found a number of great recipes. In looking at a few I decided on Rick’s recipe. But why, you ask, did I choose the Kaiser’s recipe over the others. Well, first it’s dirt simple. I like simple. Especially when I’m taking a first stab at something like this. Since the ingredient list is short I’ll be able to discern what I like and dislike about the recipe and tweak it to meet my palate. Second, I liked Rick’s comments on the use of fresh juice in falernum. Since I’m not likely to use it all over the next week I wouldn’t want it to get funky as the juice goes south. Finally, as Doug echoed Rick has this nicest looking falernum in process. You’ll note this post doesn’t include any pictures of my own. Well, that’s cause it’s not a gorgeous ingredient, but it is damn tasty. Now for a recipe.

Falernum (Rick of Kaiser Penguin)

8oz High Proof Rum (Wray and Nephew Overproof)

50 Cloves

1 Tbsp Whole Allspice

1 Nutmeg

8 Limes, zested

1/2 cups Julienned Ginger

2 cups Sugar

1 cup Water

10 Drops Almond Extract

1) Toast the cloves, allspice and nutmeg until they're fragrant

2) Combine the spices, rum, ginger, and lime zest

3) Cover and let steep for 24 hours

4) Warm sugar and water and stir until dissolved

5) Add almond extract

6) Strain spice mixture and add syrup

Now, I have to admit that for mine I didn’t toast the spices. Not because I don’t think it’s a good plan, I simply noticed that I was supposed to toast them once they were already submerged in overproof rum. Seemed like a bad time to introduce heat. Next time I’ll definitely be toasting them.

So, what’s the verdict on this recipe? I like it, but I don’t have a lot to compare it to at this point. It’s spicy and tastes very tropical. I’m definitely going to have to mix up some Tiki drinks to make full use of this new ingredient. Once I’ve played around with some other drinks I’ll be ready to construct my own recipe.

If you’re interested in other recipes here are links to a few that I found in my poking around.

• Kaiser Penguin
• The Pegu Blog
• Cocktail Chronicles
• Cocktail Nerd
• Jeffrey Morgenthaler
• Cocktails Old Fashioned (Going to want to translate this one)
• Rum Dood
• Trader Tiki
• Art of Drink

This week I picked a cocktail not so much for the sake of the drink itself but more so for one of the ingredients. This week I’ll be mixing up the Corn n’ Oil. A deceptively simple mix of dark rum, lime juice and falernum. But, if you’re a noob like me falernum is an ingredient you don’t know much about. Fear not, the internet comes to the rescue as always. Falernum is a syrup flavored with spices, ginger, lime and almond. There are two options for obtaining some of your own. The first and simplest being you can go buy some. The major brand you’ll find is Velvet Falernum. That said, my local liquor store had none, so I chose option two, making my own. I’m fairly certain that like a lot of other ingredients homemade will turn out fantastic. More on that later. Let’s get mixing.

Corn N' Oil (Cocktail Chronicles)

2 oz Black Strap Rum

1/4-1/2 oz Falernum

1/4 Lime

1) Build the drink in a highball glass with ice

Like the Champagne Cocktail I tried to like the Seelbach. In fact, I’m finishing my last one as I type this. While I won’t say that the drink is bad (it certainly isn’t) I also won’t say it’s great. The combination of bitters in the quantity called for makes for a drink with a very muddied bitters flavor. You lose the distinctness of each of the bitters and you’re left with a combination that while not bad or overpowering lacks crispness. But, while we’re on the topic of bitters, I’ll say they are absolutely necessary, and strangely the amount called for isn’t overwhelming. I’d say go with 5-7 dashes of each based on your preference and don’t simply wash the glass as you may see suggested.

The orange flavor of the triple sec does shine through nicely and I would definitely suggest you use whatever triple sec you mix with most. Cointreau, while fantastic, simply gets lost in this drink. I used the Hiram Walker triple sec that I discussed a while back and found the results to be very good.

Let’s talk bourbon for a second. As with most cocktails, I went with a rye heavy bourbon, Bulleit in this case, because that’s what I generally prefer. In truth I think you could use any bourbon you like and still have good results. Though, like the triple sec, you’re using a comparatively small amount so don’t waste your top shelf stuff. That said don’t use rot gut either. Don’t want to destroy an otherwise good cocktail.

Finally let’s talk champagne. If I can be perfectly honest were you mixing this drink for me I’d prefer you simply give me a nice full glass of champagne and we can call it good. I love me some good champagne. Okay, I like even non-good champagne, but I digress. To shake things up a bit (pun intended) I tried Mazzer’s suggestion and dropped the champagne to 1 oz for one of my drinks and found the bitters to be much too strong. If you’re going to go this route, which amounts to basically an Old Fashioned with triple sec for sweetener, I’d say try two dashes of each bitters and you should be solid. All told, I still prefer the drink with champagne. In fact, I like more champagne that Gary Regan suggests. Now, granted, this could and certainly probably is a result of my love of champagne, but we’ll ignore that for a moment.

So, in quick summary, the Seelbach Cocktail is good, but not amazing. I’d drink it without complaint, but I’d take a simple glass of champagne first. My preferred recipe is from Vintage Cocktail and Spirits. Sip and enjoy my friends.

Seelbach Cocktail (Vintage Cocktails and Spirits)

1 oz Bourbon

1/2 oz Triple Sec

7 Dashes Angostura Bitters

7 Dashes Peychaud's Bitters

5 oz Champagne

1) Build in the order given in a champagne flute

2) Garnish with an orange twist

Named for, and created at, the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, KY the Seelbach Cocktail sounds like a seriously delicious libation. This drink is an old one, dating from 1917 and had been lost since before Prohibition. As noted in Vintage Cocktails and Spirits (of which there is a new version) this drink was rediscovered in 1995 by the hotel’s restaurant director and was set to be offered in the hotel with the ingredients remaining a secret. At the urging of the Regan’s the recipe was allowed to be printed in their 1997 book New Classic Cocktails. From the look of things I’ll owe them a most sincere thank you for said actions. Enough banter, let’s get mixing.

Seelbach Cocktail (Joy of Mixology)

3/4 oz Bourbon

1/2 oz Triple Sec

7 Dashes Angostura Bitters

7 Dashes Peychaud's Bitters

4 oz Chilled Brut Champagne

Orange Twist

1) Build in the order given in a champagne flute

2) Garnish with an orange twist

Sacrilegious or not this drink is delicious. The color is a lovely pumpkin orange which seems even more appropriate to the season. The smell starts with the orange followed by light herbal hints from the vermouth. The flavor is also very orangey with the vermouths playing a strong role. Even with a bold gin the vermouths are still solidly the base of the flavor.

On that note picking the right gin needs to be your first priority. With so many other bold flavors a light gin doesn’t hold up. I opted for Tanqueray and found its bold juniper flavor to be a great complement. You certainly want something with a juniper forward flavor. A citrus flavor would be lost completely to the orange juice and bitters.

The other ingredients are, of course, quite important and I suggest you go with whatever vermouths you like best and good fresh squeezed orange juice. That leaves the Grand Marnier, which if you making the straight version is exactly what you should use. However, there is another option, orange curacao for the curled variation. I tried both and quite frankly I can’t tell the difference. I think this is due in part to the small quantity used in the drink. But more to the point, Grand Marnier is simply a top shelf curacao in the same manner that Cointreau is a top shelf triple sec. So, assuming you’ve got decent curacao the difference between the two options should be negligible.

As for recipe ratios I found Gary Regan’s to be great. More than that almost all the other recipes I found were nearly identical save for the size. And size is the only tweak I recommend you make. With Gary’s original cocktail you only end up with about 2.75 oz of a fairly low strength cocktail. I suggest you double it.

Satan's Whiskers (Cocktail Hacker)

1 oz Gin

1 oz Dry Vermouth

1 oz Sweet Vermouth

1 oz Orange Juice

1/2 oz Grand Marnier

1 tsp Orange Bitters (~4-5 Dashes)

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice

2) Shake until well chilled

3) Strain into a chilled cocktail glass

Finally, as with some previous cocktails this one works very well with a float of 2-3 oz of Champagne or other sparkling wine. It gives the drink a nice effervescence and works with the other flavors nicely. I hope you’ve all had a great Halloween week and that great cocktails were part of the festivities.