Cocktail Hacker

With ubiquity comes variation. For, as it’s said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It really makes sense with the Mojito though. Each of the base ingredients lends its self well to substituion. Rather than link to a bunch of variations (you all know how to use Google I assume) I’m going to give you some possibilities that you can explore on your own if you so desire. I’m going to group the mods into categories, namely herbal, additive, spirituous and citrus. Modding the sugar is also an option, but the choices there aren’t as many or as interesting, so I’ll be skipping those for now.

Herbal: The sky is the limit here. Raid your herb garden, grocery store or farmer’s market and let your curiosity go nuts. Some possibles: basil, verbena, rosemary, tarragon, sage, and that doesn’t even begin to touch the hojillion varieties of mint. Heck, you could even use catnip if you so desire.

Additive: There are lots of things you can add to the base to change up the mix. Here are a few to get you thinking: ginger, jalapeno, berries (oh man, there’s too many to even mention), other fruits (peach, cherries, mango?). There are no doubt others, and I’d absolutely love to hear about any you love.

Spirituous: White rum is the classic and for good reason. It’s smooth, lightly sweet and works fantastically well with the citrus. For me you’re starting to get outside the realm of modification when you start making a Mojito with a completely different base spirit. That said, there are lots and lots of rum options out there. Get creative and more importantly use what you like.

Citrus: Here’s another where the sky is nearly the limit. Living in Colorado I don’t have as many options as I’m sure some of you do but again, look at your grocery store’s supply and hit up the farmer’s market. How about key limes or maybe yuzu? Going to be tasty no matter what route you take.

For every possible flavor combination you come up with there are two more that pop up. But, in this case, that’s good thing. Everyone has had a standard Mojito. So, for your next event mix up something unique and personal. For this week my variation of choice has been a Basil Blueberry Mojito. Very tasty. The basil flavors are a nice change from the mint and the blueberries and lime go together well.

Let me know what you’ve been mixing up!

Basil Blueberry Mojito

1/2 Lime Quartered

2-3 tsp Sugar

10-12 Blueberries

10-12 Basil Leaves

2 oz White Rum

Club Soda

1) Combine basil, limes, sugar and blueberries in a glass

2) Muddle until sugar is dissolved

3) Add rum and ice

4) Top with club soda

Over the last couple years it’s become a ubiquitous cocktail. In fact, if you look around I bet there’s one within eye shot of you right now. The Mojito, you know it and I’m certain you’ve had a crappy one, everyone has. But, this week, I’m here to teach you how to do it right. It’s another one of those deceptively simple cocktails that can go wrong so easily.

We’ll start with Gary Regan’s recipe. Because, if for no other reason, I’m sure it’s been carefully researched. :D

Mojito (Joy of Mixology)

4 Limes Wedges

2 - 3 tsp Sugar

8 - 10 Mint Leaves

2 oz White Rum

Club Soda

Mint Sprig for Garnish

1) Combine lime wedges, sugar and mint in a glass

2) Muddle until sugar is dissolved

3) Add rum and ice

4) Top with club soda

5) Garnish with a mint sprig

At the start of this week I adamantly stated that sour mix is terrible. But, I have to tell you I hadn’t ever really tasted that much sour mix. So, for the greater good, I picked up a bottle of Freshies Sour Mix, invited some friends over and put it to the test. We started with a quick amaretto tasting.

Romeo – 28% ABV – This was definitely our bottom shelf amaretto for the evening and it was apparent from the first sniff. There was a disturbing sharpie (as in the marker) note to the aroma and the almond smells you’d expect were very light. The flavor was quite sharp and for only being 56 proof the spirit burned more than I’d expect. There was little to no almond flavor which truly echoed what we experienced in the aroma. This exchange summed it up. “Reese – ‘It doesn’t taste almondy at all’ Sean – ‘Oh, but it does. . . In the Matrix!'”

Disaronno – 28% ABV – Disaronno is the liqueur most people think of when they hear amaretto. But there’s an interesting twist. It seems Disaronno is trying to make themselves into something other than an amaretto. To that end you won’t find the word amaretto anywhere on the front of a bottle of Disaronno anymore. In fact, the only place I found mention of it was on the back in rather small type. Pouring yourself a bit you’ll note the aroma is fairly non-descript although very pleasant with a very light hint of almond. The almond flavor too is lighter than I expected. Thankfully there was none of the burn we found in the Romeo. Overall a good liqueur but not as complex as I’d like.

Luxardo – 28% ABV – At Tales I had the opportunity to meet and share a drink with Matteo Luxardo. He introduced me to Luxardo Amaretto explaining the use of apricot kernels in the mix. The aroma is more fruity and has very pleasant subtle almond notes. I think the flavor could best be described as buttery. The fruity flavors and almond come through wonderfully as well. I like the additional complexity of this liqueur. For me this is definitely my amaretto of choice. That said, in this application both the Luxardo and the Disaronno are excellent choices.

Now on to some cocktails. We first sampled the drink using lemon juice (2 oz amaretto : 1 oz lemon juice). The sourness of the lemon juice cuts the sweetness of the liqueur perfectly. The resulting drink is very flavorful and refreshing, although a bit sweet for my taste. Next came the sour mix varieties. First one made with the same ratio (2 oz amaretto : 1 oz sour mix). Good lord is this sweet. The sour mix increases the sweetness of the drink and doesn’t have enough sourness to stand up. Finally, I looked up a recipe online (specifically the one from the American Bartending School) and we mixed that up (1 oz amaretto : 2 oz sour mix). Oh, good god. Really, seriously nasty. The sweetness is even more pumped up and the amaretto gets lost completely.

So, the final result of all this? Freshies Sour Mix is actually not bad, as sour mixes go. It has 20% real fruit juice and actually requires refrigeration. Will I be buying more? Not likely. The resulting cocktail simply wasn’t good no matter how I mixed it. I did learn some other useful information along the way, though. First, I like my amaretto sour with a touch more lemon juice 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 oz. Second, stirring an Amaretto Sour doesn’t work. It doesn’t dissolve enough water and it doesn’t chill enough. Shake please. Finally, I like the Amaretto Sour but I can’t see myself drinking a lot of them. Still too sweet. But one every now and then. Now you’re talking.

Amaretto Sour (Cocktail Hacker)

2 oz Amaretto (Luxardo)

1 1/4 oz Lemon Juice

1) Shake with ice

2) Strain into a chilled glass

This week I’m going to cover one of those deceptively simple cocktails. The Amaretto Sour only has two ingredients, Amaretto and Lemon Juice and yet it is so often executed poorly. I guarantee if you’ve ordered an Amaretto Sour out somewhere you’ve been served a poorly prepared drink. Why? Sour mix.

The classic recipes call for lemon juice and I assure you the drink was created with fresh lemon juice in mind. When you use sour mix you get a sweeter drink than you will with fresh juice which, in turn, throws off the balance of the drink. So, on that note I’ll leave you with this example of how not to make the drink followed by a recipe on how to make it.

Amaretto Sour (Joy of Mixology)

2 oz Amaretto

1 oz Lemon Juice

1 Maraschino Cherry

1/2 Orange Wheel

1) Combine amaretto and lemon juice over ice

2) Shake and strain into a chilled sour glass

3) Garnish with cherry and orange wheel

I’m back in action and ready to take on a new cocktail! This week I’m going to cover another drink that’s been on my Todo list for a long time but, for lack of a better word, I’ve been avoiding it. The cocktail in question is the Ramos Gin Fizz. My inspiration for finally tackling this classic watching Marvin at the Carousel Bar carefully craft them during Tales of the Cocktail. Each one, although time consuming was carefully prepared.

Invented by Harry Ramos at the bar in Meyer’s Restaurant in New Orleans, LA in 1888 the Ramos Gin Fizz is a bit time consuming. Originally this drink called for 10-12 minutes of shaking to reach the consistency necessary. Generally they would accomplish this by handing the shaker off from one person to another. Now you can see why I was a bit leery to feature this one. However, that being said there are rumors you can achieve the same effect using less ice and a blender. So, my arms may survive the experience afterall.

Ramos Gin Fizz (Joy of Mixology)

2 oz Gin

1 oz Cream

1 Egg White

1/2 oz Simple Syrup

1/2 oz Lime Juice

1/2 oz Lemon Juice

1/4 oz Orange Flower Water

Club Soda

2 Half Orange Wheels for Garnish

1) Combine everything, except the soda, in a blender

2) Add enough ice to fill one champagne flute

3) Blend until smooth

4) Divide between two champagne flutes

5) Top each with club soda<

6) Garnish with the orange wheels

To get your Ramos Gin Fizz experience started take a look at another great video featuring Chris McMillian.