Cocktail Hacker

This has been a wonderful holiday week and I certainly hope you all had a great time as well. I did spend a little time on a hot cider based cocktail, with much emphasis on the “little”. Basically I made some mulled cider using a great organic pressed apple cider made locally and some standard mulling spices (orange peel, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, star anise). Once I had that I proceeded to drink most of it cold on its own. However, keeping in mind that I wanted to do a bit of a tasting I saved about two cups with which to experiment.

I filled each of my tasting glasses with four ounces of hot cider and one ounce each of the following spirits: Eagle Rare Bourbon, Courvoisier VSOP Cognac, and Flor de Cana 7yo Dark Rum. This is nearly identical to the egg nog showdown but I felt that these spirits would play best with the mulled apple cider, although I did contemplate trying some apple jack. However, I was dissuaded when I read online that someone had tried that combo and found it much too apply.

Then I set out to taste each of them. The first thing you notice before you even bring your nose near the glasses is the amazing aroma of hot cider and dark spirits. It filled the air of my kitchen and was really incredibly pleasant and warming. The tasting results are very similar to those of the nog tasting. The bourbon is my hands down winner because it retains the most flavor when combined with the cider. You still pick up the smokiness from the barrel aging and the additional spiciness of the bourbon is perfect. The brandy adds a nice alcohol warmth, but you lose most of the flavor to the spices in the cider. Finally the sweetness of the rum helps to maintain a sweeter final product than the brandy or bourbon but loses the most flavor. I found the rum to be nearly undetectable. It was quite obvious that there was liquor in the cider, but I don’t think I would have been able to nail down exactly what in a blind taste test.

Having tried these three I noticed I had exactly 1/2 cup of cider left, so to change things up I poured in an ounce of Plymouth gin. Let’s be clear, this was not a good experiment. Were I in a cartoon lab this creation surely would have exploded and left me with a face blackened by soot. This being the real world I was instead left with an odd, at best, aroma and a flavor to match. Don’t waste either good cider or gin in trying this one, you won’t be pleased.

Overall I’m fairly pleased with the results, but I do have a small confession to make. I don’t really like hot drinks. I hate coffee, except in things (cake, ice cream, etc), don’t much like hot tea, and rarely drink hot chocolate. Although I have been known to have a Coco Loco (Hot Chocolate and Peppermint Schnapps) while snowmobiling. Speaking of which, they’re really quite good, give it a go next time you’re wanting something warm and boozy. That said a hot cider drink just seemed appropriate for the holidays. It’s cold outside (at least it is here), there is some snow on the ground, people are going nuts shopping, just seemed right. But sadly due to my dislike of hot beverages I didn’t do much with this potential canvas. There is hope however! You, the Cocktail Hacker readers, can save me. Post up suggestions or tried and true recipes for hot cocktails. I’d like to hear what you all like.

I came to an interesting realization this week due to my experiments with the Martinez. When I really enjoy a cocktail I find myself making it over and over again, trying recipe variations and noting the differences. In the case of cocktails that I’m not in love with I tend to shy away from making them and even make other drinks instead. This was certainly the case with the Martinez. I tried three recipes which covered the recipe spectrum and I didn’t love any of them. The drink is okay, but I’m certainly not going to be switching to it from either a Martini or a Manhattan.

I started the week with Jerry Thomas’ recipe which utilizes a ratio of 1oz:2oz (Gin:Vermouth) with 1/4 oz of Maraschino liqueur and 2 dashes of Angostura. I used my go-to gin, Plymouth, but sadly found that its flavor was completely covered by the other ingredients. The herbal notes of the vermouth were certainly the star with this recipe even covering the Angostura for the most part. Interestingly the Maraschino did shine through and I found this to be the case with all three recipes.

Next I tried Gary Regan’s recipe from The Joy of Mixology. This recipe reversed the ratio to 2:1 with the same amount of Maraschino and bitters. Again the Maraschino shined through adding its funky cherry flavor. The vermouth is toned down with this one and the flavor of the gin and bitters are able to come through.

Finally I tried a tweaked version of the recipe listed in the Difford’s Guide. The ratio here is 1:1 (1 1/2 oz each of gin and vermouth). This mix provides the most balance between the gin and vermouth flavors of the three recipes I tried. The Maraschino and bitters are still present but not overwhelming. The Difford’s recipe calls for Cointreau, but I think the Maraschino adds a more interesting dimension of flavor. This version is certainly my pick.

Martinez

[Ingredients]

1 1/2 oz Gin

1 1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth

1/4 oz Maraschino

2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

[Directions]

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice.

2) Shake until well chilled.

3) Strain into a cocktail glass.

4) Garnish with an orange twist.

Although this cocktail isn’t terrible, I noted in one of my tastings that I really don’t think its a cocktail that I’ll find myself craving. It just isn’t that great and there are cocktails that are great that combine similar elements. If I’m wanting a sweet vermouth cocktail then my choice is going to be a Manhattan and if I’m looking for a gin and vermouth drink then the Martini is the winner. The Martinez may have been there first, but the Martini reigns supreme. Although, if you are going to mix one of these up, I would certainly recommend trying some of the Hess House bitters that I discussed earlier in the week. I found that their flavors worked really well in this application.

Finally in an extremely timely Wall Street Journal article Eric Felten discusses the evolution of the Martini, Martinez and Manhattan. As Eric points out the original Martinez recipe calls for Old Tom gin, which until quite recently was no longer available. Hayman Distillers in the UK have recently revived an old family recipe for the sweetened gin. When I get my hands on a bottle I’ll be sure to try the Martinez again.

Making homemade Irish Cream is a yearly holiday tradition for me. I’ve been making it for about 6 to 7 years and my friends and family have come to expect their yearly supply. This year marked my highest production year, but as always I had a great time making it and have an even better time sampling it. My recipe came from a close family friend Ann Mahony whose is as Irish as you can get and as such is pretty much an expert.

Annie's Irish Cream

[Ingredients]

1 3/4 Cups Irish Whiskey (Jameson's)

14 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk (one can)

1 Cup Whipping Cream

4 Eggs (or equivalent egg beaters)

2 Tbsp Chocolate Syrup

2 tsp Instant Coffee

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp Almond Extract

[Directions]

1) In a blender blend all ingredients until smooth.

2) Store in a refrigerator for up to 1 month.

[Notes]

This recipe yields about 5 cups of Irish Cream.

Some comments on the ingredients and directions. As you can see from the picture above I use real eggs rather than egg beaters. I think the final flavor and texture is better. However, if you are at all concerned about the possibility of salmonella from eggs then by all means use the pasteurized egg beaters, the finished product is still wonderful. I use dark chocolate syrup. It gives a richer more chocolaty flavor. Finally, the process. If you’re going to make one batch, then certainly the blender is your best and easiest option. If you’re making more (12 batches in my case) then I’d suggest you try my method. Combine the ingredients for up to four batches in a large stock pot. Then use a stick blender to combine the ingredients until everything is combined and very smooth. This year I made 12 batches which yielded about 13.5 liters of Irish Cream. I figure it should last my friends and family about 2-3 days.

In case you’re interested the bottles I use are one liter swing top glass bottles from eBottles. These bottles work particularly well because they seal tightly and can be cleaned and reused.

But, I’m guessing you’re not as interested in the bottles as much as the contents, so how about a side by side comparison?

Left: Baileys, Right: Homemade Irish Cream

Baileys

The smell is somewhat non-distinct and has a bit of an alcohol bite. The flavor is very creamy and a little over sweet for my taste. It’s also very homogeneous. You don’t get any specific flavors coming through, just the standard Baileys flavor you’d expect. The after taste is still quite sweet and the creaminess coats your tongue for quite some time.

Homemade

In the smell the coffee comes through in a very pleasant way. The flavor is still creamy and sweet, although less sweet than the Baileys. The coffee and chocolate flavors are quite distinct and add nicely to the overall flavor profile. In the after taste you get a bit of the almond extract coming through and the coffee flavor lingers, though neither in a bad way. The homemade Irish Cream also doesn’t coat your tongue as much as the Baileys.

Verdict

If you’re looking for a shelf stable Irish Cream that is good for mixing then I would suggest the Baileys. Although, I’d suggest you cut the Baileys with something, either a bit of water from shaking it with ice, or coffee or add it to a cocktail. The homemade Irish Cream on the other hand is great for both mixing and sipping alone. There is no need to cut this Irish Cream with anything and since it needs to be kept refrigerated it is ready at the perfect temperature any time. Overall the homemade Irish Cream is well worth the additional effort and is a great item to have in your fridge over the holidays.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week of Irish Cream. I certainly have. And a special thanks to Ann Mahony for the wonderful Irish Cream recipe. I plan to making it each year well in to the future.

So, as promised, I made homemade Egg Nog over the Thanksgiving holiday. To give a brief summary for those of you with ADD, it is totally worth the effort. I went with the standard (non-cooked) Good Eats Egg Nog recipe and used Eagle Rare bourbon as my spirit of choice. The whole process took less than 30 minutes and would have been faster had it not been my first time making said concoction. The process was quite easy but there is onne comment I’ll add to Alton’s recipe. Make sure you use an enormous bowl, larger than you think you’ll need, to make the custard mixture. The bowls I used were perfect for mixing the custard base and whipping the egg whites, however were only just barely large enough when it came time to combine the two.

In the future I’ll be using a very large bowl to mix the custard in, and whipping the egg whites in a smaller bowl, that way when it comes time to combine there will be no worry of overflow. Another option which I considered and think would work very well is to execute the recipe as suggested but combine the whipped egg whites and custard in a large, sealable plastic pitcher then shake to combine. This method should better combine the foamy whites and custard. However, it may deflate your egg whites more than the whisking method. When I combined the two in the bowl there was a noticeable foam layer and a liquid layer below that, so when serving I had to make sure I got some of both.

And, how was it? Fantastic! The fresh grated nutmeg came through with flying colors and the bourbon added a huge amount of flavor without making the drink overly boozy. This recipe produces an Egg Nog that is likely going to be thinner that what you’re used to getting from the store. This didn’t bother me but Alton suggests trying the cooked recipe if you’re looking for a thicker product. I’d guess that the Egg Nog would last in the fridge for a couple of weeks at least assuming you started with fresh ingredients, but I can’t really say for sure as it only lasted about a day and a half in our fridge. :)

So, to wrap things homemade Egg Nog is well worth the effort and I’d highly suggest you give it a try some time. Matt had an interesting comment that I’d like to investigate before Nog season passes up by, so I’ll keep you updated on my thoughts on spirit selection when mixing with store bought Nog.

Ok, so I really tried to like the Champagne Cocktail and I can’t say that I didn’t, but it certainly wasn’t great. I found that no matter what bitters you use I simply couldn’t get enough of their flavor to shine through to make it worth using decent Champagne. I also changed up the method to see if that would help. I found little to no difference between Gary Regan’s method (bitters soaked sugar cube then champagne) and Robert Hess’ method (champagne then bitters soaked sugar cube). Although if I have to choose I’d say fill the glass with champagne first then drop in the cube. This way the cocktail foams much less and therefore you lose less of the evervescence.

The picture above illustrates one issue that I found with the cocktail. No matter which method you use after a short time (45-60 seconds) you’ll find that you have a layer of white sugar at the very bottom with a layer of bitters syrup immediately on top. As a result you end up with very little of the bitters combining with the cocktail and, as I mentioned above, little of the bitters’ flavors come through. I did find a solution to this issue though. Champagne is generally served in flutes these days, but there is another glass that is traditional, the Champagne saucer or coupe. These glasses are basically a shallow bowl on a stem. I don’t have any Champagne coupes in my glassware collection right now, although I’m certainly going to have to look for some, so I tried serving the cocktail in a cocktail glass.

This actually helped bring the flavor of the bitters out a bit more in the finished product. My somewhat educated guess as to why this is the case is that the champagne circulates more in a wider, more open glass. This in turn better circulates the bitters and sugar and leads to better mixing over all. Although this method was definitely a vast improvement it was still very lacking. So, I next tried a method inspired by Jerry Thomas’ original recipe.

In his recipe Jerry calls for shaking the Champagne, bitters and sugar with ice before serving. Although this would most certainly cause your shaker to explode if you used a full glass of wine it would also mix the bitters and sugar very very well. So I came up with a hybrid method. In your shaker combine an ounce of Champagne (give or take), a teaspoon of simple syrup and three dashes of Angostura bitters. Shake for a bit and add to your cocktail glass. Be careful when opening the shaker, even with this small amount of Champagne mine popped open quite violently. Top your shaken mixture with Champagne to fill you glass.

This method definitely integrates the bitters and sugar much better. What I found was a bit surprising though, the cocktail was still not that great. For you analytical types on a scale of one to meh I’d rate it about a 7.3. So, what’s the solution you ask? I think it’s quite simple. If you have some crappy Champagne leftover by all means mix up a Champagne cocktail, you won’t be displeased, you just won’t be wowed. And use a cocktail glass to get better bitters and sugar mixing. On the other hand, if you have some mid-grade to excellent Champagne left over do yourself a favor and just drink the bubbly as-is. It’s wonderful stuff and generally doesn’t need to be fooled around with.