The Forgotten 100: The Algonquin Cocktail

Another entry into the annals of long lost and forgotten, until now, the Algonquin Cocktail.  Named for the famous Algonquin Round Table once located in the New York hotel.  Literary types would sit around this famed table, and discuss matters of the day.

As Ted Haigh, the author of the book, Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails states, fresh dry vermouth is simply a must in this drink, and every drink with vermouth for that matter.  So if you go into your favorite bar and order this one, you may want to ask the bartender how long the bottle has been sitting there.

Passing through an airport bar in recent months, I happened to order a martini. Of course, I was asked if I wanted vermouth in it.  After seeing the guy grab a bottle sloshing 1/4 of its contents off a high, dusty shelf, I was actually relieved this time to see him rinse the glass with it and discard the remainder.  There is nothing more nasty than old vermouth.  Henceforth, I believe old vermouth is responsible for the nonsensical fanaticism about NOT having vermouth in a martini.  Well, vermouth does not bode well with many vodkas, but it is excellent with gin.  It is also excellent in this cocktail.  But nonetheless, the real star is the rye whisky.  I used Russell’s Reserve Rye.  OMG.

I hate to use that phrase.  LOL.  It’s almost as bad as ← that one.

Review: Partida Anejo Tequila

It’s been awhile since my last post, but I thought I’d kick this off in grand style with Partida Anejo Tequila.  When I first heard of Partida, and it’s founder and creator, Gary Shansby, I was intrigued.  The packaging was just gorgeous, but the allure of another premium 100% Blue Agave tequila was really what got me.

Unlike other tequilas, Partida is an estate-grown product.  Just like wineries have their own vineyards, Partida has it’s own agave fields.  With more than half a century of experience in cultivating blue agave, the Partida estate is an excellent source of the blue agave that Partida Tequila utilizes to create their product.

The color of Partida Anejo is golden with copper tones.  Upon opening the bottle, the nose of the tequila was faint and subtle, as if the 18 months in the American Oak barrels had tamed it’s fiery heat.  In the glass, the nose opens up to warm aromas reminiscent of ripe fruit. The taste reminds one of pineapple and honey.  Warm on the palate, with more heat present from the alcohol than I thought than hinted in the aroma.  However, it finishes clean and very smooth, with a silky fullness.

In cocktails, Partida Anejo also shines.  Using the accompanying recipe for the Partida Margarita, I used 1 1/2 oz of Partida Anjeo Tequila, 3/4 oz of Agave Nectar, 3/4 oz chilled water, and 1 oz of freshly squeezed lime juice.  As specified I used no garnish, no salt.    I found that the caveat, “Taste for Balance” that came with the recipe is necessary especially with the Anejo.  The Anejo is very flavorful, and the nectar made this margarita too sweet for me.  I think it would have worked better with more lime juice to balance things out a bit.  As with any aged spirit, true enjoyment can be found by drinking Partida Anejo Tequila with as little “messing around with” as possible.

More information about Partida Tequila, it’s product line, including the Blanco, Reposado, and Extra Anejo Elegante Tequilas, can be found by visiting www.partidatequila.com.

Valor Vodka (Brave Spirits Part Four)

Valor Vodka is the latest product from Brave Spirits, LLC, a Pennsylvania company with a noble and inventive method of marketing…you drink, we donate.  That is, for every bottle of spirits sold, two dollars of the purchase price goes to a foundation which in turn, makes donations to various military, police, and firefighter charities.  Not a bad idea, but one of my question was upon looking at the line-up from Brave Spirits–First In Whiskey, Valor Vodka, Standing Guard Gin, and At Ease Rum–how does it taste?  So, I decided to do a series of tastings on each of these products to give you, the consumer, an idea of how these products measure up.

Valor Vodka, the subject of this review, is American-made, as all products from Brave Spirits are, down to the very labels.  In recent years, a wide range of vodkas are being produced in the United States and have turned out exceptionally well.  This should come as no surprise, as vodka is perhaps the most popular spirit sold in the United States.  Vodka is essentially neutral grain spirits diluted with water to the standard 80 proof.   It is inexpensive to make, as it requires no special ingredients and no aging requirements.  While it could be argued that anyone can make vodka, it can also be argued that it takes a real craftsman to make it well.

The goal of most vodka producers in the United States is to produce a spirit with little or no color or flavor.  It is in that vein that we can classify Valor Vodka. The taste is very clean and crisp.  I used Valor Vodka to make a variation on a Cosmopolitan that I’ve been playing with, and it worked very well, lending no flavor to the drink.  While lending no flavor might seem as a dig towards Valor Vodka, it actually is a compliment.  Valor Vodka meets my expectations of what a vodka should be–a clean, crisp spirit that lends itself well in mixed cocktails containing fruit juices or other spirits.  While vodka martinis have become all the rage, I’ve never been a big fan.  There are some exceptions out there, but as a rule, I would rather consume vodka in a mixed drink or cocktail.

I would encourage you to give Valor Vodka a try.  You might find it meets your needs in your home bar.  While not available everywhere in the U.S., you may find online retailers at www.bravespirits.com.

Review: Barenjager Honey Liqueur

Courtesy Sidney Frank Importing Co.

My love affair with honey started at a young age.  I loved the way it tasted, how it felt in my mouth.  As I grew older, my love of the stuff grew as well.  Stories of how honey was fermented and served as mead in the great drinking halls of old captivated me.  So, when I first saw this interesting bottle sitting on the shelf in the liquor store with its woven sleeve of rafia and with a cap like a beehive I was intrigued.  Not so much by the interesting wrapper, but by the familiar allure of honey.  Yes, like a bee to a beehive I was hooked.  I simply had to try it.  What could be wrong with something made from honey?

What is Barenjager?  One thing it is not is mead. Barenjager is made not from fermentation of honey, but from blending honey with grain alcohol. This allows the honey flavor and texture to shine through.  While not mead, I’m sure that Barenjager would’ve been enjoyed in days of old.   According to their website at www.barenjagerhoney.com , bear hunters, hence the word “barenjager”, in medieval Europe drank something called meschkinnes, a kind of moonshine made from honey by area beekeepers and farmers.  In the 15th century, one company called the Teucke and Koing Bear Trap Company introduced Barenjager, the first professionally produced meschkinnes.  Today, Barenjager is produced by Schwarze and Schlicte and imported by Sidney Frank Importing Company.

I wasn’t disappointed in tasting Barenjager.  Like those spoonfuls of honey I snuck as a child, it coated my throat with enough honey sweetness to know I was indeed tasting something made from honey.  Of course, there is a little alcohol burn at the end, but not enough to prevent anyone from drinking Barenjager neat.

I decided to try one of the recipes included with the product, the Pink Honey Martini.  I shudder at calling it a martini, but hey, we’ve all done it, right?  The recipe is calls for 1 part Barenjager, 2 parts vodka, splash of cranberry juice, and sweet and sour mix.  The verdict….can’t taste the Barenjager.  So, I dialed down the recipe to 1 part Barenjager, 1 part vodka, splash of cranberry, and sour mix.  Much better.  Barenjager lends a sweetness to the cocktail of honey, of all things.

While this drink may not be my cup of tea, it was good to see how it would mix with other ingredients.  Personally, I prefer Barenjager served neat.  However, I am sure it would be delightful warmed in the wintertime.

Review: TyKu Sake

America is falling in love with Asian spirits. TyKu, an American company, recently provided samplings of two of their products for review.  The first of those is TyKu Sake, a super premium Junmai-Ginjo.

In previous articles, readers learned that the special junmai-ginjo designation means that at least 40 percent of the impurities of the rice grains have been milled or polished away, leaving only the best parts for brewing.  The literature provided with the sake suggests that TyKu sake be served slightly chilled.  Coming in at only 15% ABV, TyKu Sake is easily drinkable to anyone who enjoys a fine wine or craft brew, but without the heaviness that some of those beverages can sometimes leave behind.

The author will admit that he wasn’t all too familiar with sake, having a bad experience in tasting many years before.   However, TyKu was light, crisp and refreshing.  The bouquet was similar to that of a nice wine, smelling of fresh fruits and flowers.  A familiar flavor of soft, fleshy pears lingers on the tongue.  A subtle distinct earthiness is detected upon swallowing. The finish is clean, leaving little or no aftertaste.

TyKu Sake could be enjoyed with your evening meal, perhaps with pork or light, grilled fish or poultry.

TyKu Sake is a product of the United States, brewed and bottled in Oregon, where the koji is hand-made in the only cedar-lined koji room in the states.  It can be found along with its counterpart, TyKu Liqueur, in many metro area. stores.

The Forgotten 100: The Alamagoozlum Cocktail

I began a series of posts began a while back, when I made the  announcement that I was going to make all one hundred or so cocktails in the book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh.  This is one of the first books which really thrust classic cocktails onto the scene and started what might be called as an obsession with the rest of us.  Now in it’s second edition, the book is simply enchanting.   I think I’ve waited long enough to start mixing these concoctions, so here goes!   Without further adieu, from recesses of time, comes forth The Alamagoozlum Cocktail.

According to the text, this drink first appeared in  Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask by Charles H. Baker, Jr. in 1939.  Purported to be the creation of one illustrious banker, J.P. Morgan, it packs a wallop but with a sophistication unparallelled in many drinks out there.  The recipe is as follows:

The Alamagoozlum Cocktail

• 1/2 egg white
• 2 oz   Genever
• 2 oz water
• 1 1/2 oz Jamaica Rum
• 1 1/2 oz Green or Yellow Chartreuse
• 1 1/2 oz gomme syrup
• 1/2 oz orange curacao
• 1/2 oz Angostura bitters

This drink calls for some hard-to-find ingredients, but thanks to some enterprising minds out there spirits like Genever are now readily available.  The most difficult ingredient for me to locate was the gomme syrup.  In the book, it suggests using a very rich 2:1 or 3:1 simple syrup.  However, gomme syrup is a simple syrup made with the addition of gum arabic, which gives it a silky feel on the tongue.  There are several good recipes for gomme syrup on the internet.  At A Mountain of Crushed Ice, Tiare Olsen demonstrates a great recipe which I found to be easy to follow and replicate.   The only difference from Tiare’s recipe and the one we made was the addition of a little grain neutral spirits (vodka) to serve as a preservative.

The Alamagoozlum is a strong drink.  This was my first time using Chartreuse in a cocktail.  I was delighted.  The  two ounces of Chartreuse and the healthy dose of Angostura bitters gives this drink a strong herbal bite which gently warms as it goes down. Perhaps the drink would serve well as a winter drink because of its warming properties.  The spiciness reminds me of winter.   The recipe above made two decent sized drinks, perhaps 6 oz each, instead of the three mentioned in the book.

Another first was the egg white.  There are many drinks which call for egg, but I’ve never been brave enough to do it.   I keep going back to memories of the film Rocky, when Sylvester Stallone’s character gulps down a breakfast of raw eggs.   However, through some encouragement from Dr. Cocktail, I went for it.  Never again will I leave egg out of a drink.  Never.    The egg white not only gave this drink a nice ring of foam on top, it also gave it a silky feel in the mouth.

While I tried to be as true to the book and the recommendations that it gives in regards to spirits, I will admit that I did not use Jamaican Rum.  I decided to forego another trip to the liquor store and use Don Q Gold Rum in its place.  I’m not sure if using a true Jamaican rum like Myers or Appleton Estate  would have made a significant difference in the taste, however, because of the herbal intensity of this drink.    This question will have to go unanswered for now.

I suppose you are wondering what’s next.  If you have the book, which you should definitely get (see my previous post on the book), you know the answer.  For those of you who don’t, shame on you.  You’ll just have to hang around awhile.

For the sake of Sake

Sake is one of the most popular beverages on the market today.   Several years ago, there were only a few brands on the market.   Today there are hundreds of brands available for sale in the United States.   Despite the popularity of sake, it is perhaps one of the most misunderstood alcoholic beverages on the market today.

What is sake?  Anyone who has been to a sushi restaurant knows the answer, or thinks he knows.  There are several myths about sake that need to be dispelled.  For example: (1) sake is NOT rice wine.  While it can be enjoyed like wine, it is a fermented beverage, much along the lines of beer. (2) Sake is not distilled. The average bottle of sake is 15% ABV (3) Sake is best enjoyed slightly chilled or at room temperature.  Sake is heated usually to mask bad flavors.  (4)While most sake is produced outside the U.S., there are producers in country.

A person should approach sake using a point of reference familiar to him.  For example, a wine connoisseur may find a great many similarities in sake to his favorite wine.  A dedicated beer drinker may find that sake is crisp and refreshing like his favorite beer.  Essentially, however, sake is a beverage made from rice and water.  Of course, there are other elements involved such as the milling or polishing of the rice grain, the koji and yeast.  Yeast is the most obvious, because we know that yeast turns sugars to alcohol.  First, however, the starches in rice need to be converted to sugars.  That is where koji comes into play.

Koji is a special mold, cultivated fresh for each stage it is used in during sake brewing.  The mold contains special enzymes which break down the starches into sugars, so that the yeast added later can convert those sugars into alcohol.  As mentioned before, sake is not rice wine.  Instead it is similar to beer.  In the beer making process, barley is washed and soaked and allowed to germinate.  Once “malted”, the barley is soaked and washed, and the resulting sweet liquid is boiled and allowed to ferment with the addition of yeast.  Since the rice used in sake brewing is stripped of its hull in the milling process, germination is impossible.   The koji is used to break down those starches into sugars. The rest of the sake brewing process is similar to that of beer in that yeast are added to the mixture, allowed to ferment, then filtered and bottled.

Sake is classified by three major designations.  These designations tell the purchaser about the rice used in making this sake was milled.

• Junmai-shu means that the rice used has been milled or polished to the point where at least 30 percent of the grain of the rice has been removed, or at least 70% remains.
• Junmai ginjo-shu is sake that has had at least the 40% of the outer grain removed, or 60% of the grain remains.
• Junmai Daiginjo-shu is sake that has had at least 50% of the grain removed, or 50% remains.

There are similar designations for sake that has added alcohol; however the milling specifications remain the same.  Those designations are  Honjozo (70%), Ginjo (60%) and Daiginjo (50%). What does all this mean?  Basically these are designations used in the pricing of sake.  The rule of thumb in tasting any kind of alcoholic beverage is to find one that suits your palate.  The rest is relatively unimportant.

This brief article is meant to give the reader a small glimpse of the information that is available about sake.  For a drink that is steeped in tradition and has been produced for thousands of years, it is a basic understanding at best.

Standing Guard Gin (Brave Spirits Part Three)

Continuing our look into the line-up from Brave Spirits, we take a look at Standing Guard Gin.  First however, we need to discuss what constitutes gin.

Gin has been produced in one form or another since the thirteenth century.  Basically it is composed of a neutral grain spirit flavored with  flavored with botanicals such as juniper, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel, anise, bitter almonds, caraway and a host of others.  There is no set recipe for gin, but one thing that it must have is juniper.  Without juniper, gin simply ceases to exist.  In fact, the word gin is a derivative of the Dutch word for juniper, “genever”.  Somehow along the way, it simply became known as gin.  There are several different styles of gin–London dry, Genever or Hollands Gin, Plymouth, Old Tom and New American.  Among these recipes may differ greatly, with no master distiller ever giving away his gin recipe.

How does Standing Guard gin fit into all of this you may ask?  First all of, Standing Guard is indeed a gin.  The subtle, yet distinct aroma of juniper is present upon nosing this spirit, along with the familiar smell of grain alcohol.  You get this sharp alcohol bite because gins, like Standing Guard, are not aged at all.  There are some gins which are aged and we hear they are interesting.  The juniper is a dead giveaway.

We tasted Standing Guard straight.  A person doesn’t normally drink gin straight.  Like vodka, gin is designed for cocktails and shines best in cocktails.  There are exceptions to this rule, however, when dealing with some of the Genever or Hollands style gins on the market.  Since we had no reference point, having never tasted straight gin before, we took Bombay Dry Gin and Standing Guard and sampled them back-to-back.  While the Bombay Dry had a strong juniper profile, we found Standing Guard gin to have a muted juniper flavor, with a bit of spice, perhaps cinnamon, followed by a clean, astringent taste.

We decided to treat Standing Guard in a classic cocktail, The Gibson.  Using a 2:1 ratio of gin to dry vermouth, we stirred our Gibson to icey perfection, and strained into a chilled cocktail glass.  Of course, the garnish is the traditional two cocktail onions.    We found this to be a decent drink, with Standing Guard shining through the vermouth and flavors of the cocktail onions.  The 2:1 ratio used is not good for all gins we’ve sampled.  For example, a gin (the juniper flavor) can be overcome by the vermouth.  Perhaps that is one of the reasons that vermouth is such a stumbling block for many people, including bartenders.  Every spirit is different and should be examined and treated in cocktails in order to maximize the flavors desired in that particular drink.    Standing Guard, however, stood up in this vermouth-heavy drink.

We would classify Standing Guard as a New American Style due to it’s clean, crisp juniper flavor and less-complex finish.  There are many good New American Style Gins on the market today, and Standing Guard could be listed among them.   As mentioned earlier, most drinkers would not drink gin straight, but instead use it in cocktails.  Standing Guard gin is a good gin for mixing, and not a bad one in a predominately gin drink like a Martini or Gibson.  A great addition to your bar,  Standing Guard would serve as a gin to use when introducing otherwise wary gin-wary guests, because of it’s less pungent juniper aroma and flavor.

Review: Don Q Cristal and Don Q Limon

I have a problem with rum.  I love it for it’s drinkability and it’s taste.  So it has been no chore in doing this review of Don Q Cristal and Don Q Limon Rums.  First however, let’s get a little history on the company and it’s products, which will be reviewed in upcoming posts.

Don Q Rum is the number one selling rum in Puerto Rico.  It is produced in the municipality of Ponce by the Serailles Family, who have been producing rums since the early to mid 1800’s.  In 1930, they launched the Don Q product line and now export to the United States and many other countries around the world.

The Don Q line-up includes many different products from new to anjeo rums.  Among those being reviewed on this site are Don Q Cristal, Don Q Gold, Don Q Anjeo, Don Q Grand Anjeo, and Don Q Limon. There are several other flavored rums by Don Q not reviewed here such as Mango, Mojito and Coconut.

Don Q Cristal is the first up for review, as it should be, not only because it is the first mentioned in the Don Q line, but because this crystal-clear spirit is the youngest of rums.  Clear spirits like this are not aged in wood barrels, and therefore, are the clearest and lightest in color and taste than aged spirits.  So naturally, I expected Don Q Cristal to be as its name implies, clear as crystal.

The aromas of Don Q Cristal are slightly fruity, perhaps with a hint of pineapple and citrus, with a strong alcohol smell. Tasting Don Q was a similiar experience in that I got the slight citrus taste with an astringent finish.  There was quite a lot of burn with Don Q Cristal on tip of my tongue.  Overall, I can say that Don Q Cristal  is distilled very nicely and gives me what I expected from a young rum.

I decided to make a classic Mojito with it, and found that it worked out extremely well.  In fact, I can say it was probably one of the best Mojitos I’ve made or tasted.  Because Don Q Cristal is so light and well-distilled, it allows for the subtle flavors of lime and mint to shine through.  I’ve made mojitos with Captain Morgan Silver Spiced Rum and Bacardi Silver Rum, and found the former  too sweet compared to Don Q Cristal.  Don’t get me wrong, these products are just fine. For my taste, they didn’t work as well.  Perhaps they would work better with stronger flavors.  On the other hand, I don’t think that Don Q Cristal would be my go-to rum for say, a Cuba Libre (rum and coke), due to it’s astringency and lightness in flavor.  Personally I like richer tasting rums in drinks like those.  Making a Daquiri or Mojito for your next party?  If so, Don Q Cristal is your new favorite spirit. The recipe I used for the Mojito is below:

2 oz Don Q Cristal Rum

1/3 oz Light Agave Nectar (I use this because of it’s low glycemic index)

1/2 a lime, cut into four quarters

10 mint leaves

In a mixing glass, add lime quarters, mint, and agave nectar.

GENTLY MUDDLE

Add rum.

Fill shaker tin with ice and shake well for 20 seconds.

Strain into an ice-filled highball glass (you may want to use a fine mesh strainer as well to double-strain the drink to get the small bits of mint. As you can see, I didn’t). Top with no more than 4 oz of club soda and garnish with a mint sprig.

Next up is Don Q Limon, one of the flavored rums from the Serailles Family.  I chose this rum to review alongside Don Q Cristal because it too is a young rum.  However, it is infused with lemon flavor.

The aroma of Limon is up-front lemon, although not quite the same as fresh lemon.  Perhaps that is due to the alcohol smell which accompanies it.  I tasted this spirit and found that the lemon flavor overpowers any of the other aromas found in sampling Don Q Cristal.  Overpoweringly LEMON, but without the tartness associated with that flavor.

I decided to make a traditional Daquiri cocktail.  The drink was very good.  The lime juice and flavor of the Limon really pumped up the citrus flavor, yet still very crisp and light.  Here’s the recipe:

Don Q Limon Daquiri

2 oz Don Q Limon Rum

1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 oz Light Agave Nectar (again for the low glycemic index)

Shake vigorously over ice and strain into an pre-chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lemon spiral.

Like the Cristal Rum, I found Don Q Limon to work well in drinks where you naturally want to accentuate the citrus component of the other ingredients.  I would be curious to try this instead of vodka in a Cosmopolitan.  I think it would work well in this application because of the clean base spirit and the citrus flavors normally found in that type of drink.  Both Don Q Cristal and Don Q Limon work well in certain drinks, and not well in others.  Of course, your bartender should know better.  If not, perhaps you can make a suggestion to him.

So far,  only two of the Don Q family of rums have been reviewed.   Next up, is Don Q Gold.

BarSmarts Wired: Affordable Spirits Education

To say it thrills me to hear  that Pernod Ricard USA’s BarSmarts Advanced Training Program has come to the internet is an understatement.  I heard of BarSmarts, but knew that it was a tough go to attend the training myself.   Finally the internet and this groundbreaking program married, and the twain became BarSmarts Wired.  With the Beverage Alcohol Resource, LLC members including, Dale DeGroff, Doug Frost, M.S., M.W, Steven Holson, F. Paul Pacult, Andy Seymour and David Wondrich, Ph.D. as your teachers, you cannot go wrong.  Let me repeat that–you can’t go wrong.

How does BarSmarts Wired work?  Well, first of all you have to register at www.barsmarts.com.  The cost of the program is $45.00.  Included in the registration fee is a complete set of bartools that any seasoned mixologist would be proud of.   The student is then given four weeks to complete all four modules, tests, and the final DrinkBuilder exam.  Don’t worry, if you miss passing one of the tests, you are given another chance to take it again.

I was a little skeptical at the fact that it was an online program.  Having been familiar with online programs, there is the propensity to cheat and take the exams open-book (you may print out each module).  Of course, that doesn’t help a person learn, does it?  Besides, if you only print out the course materials (68 pages in all) you will miss the informative and entertaining video lessons.  Until you’ve seen F. Paul Pacult talk about whisk(e)y, Dale DeGroff flame the zest of an orange, or David Wondrich beat the hell out of his ice-filled Lewis bag…friend, you haven’t lived–not to mention the excellent lessons on tasting and the numerous guest stars, such as Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club fame, who demonstrated her prowess by creating three cocktails at once.   I was totally pumped after watching these videos.  I felt I could tackle a Ramos Gin Fizz with one or two hard shakes after that.

I only wish I would have taken the program a year ago, when I began my foray into the world of cocktails.  My oh my how it would have saved me such long hours of searching getting conflicting information as the origin of this cocktail, or the recipe for that cocktail.  Such a wealth of information is now at your fingertips!  I am compelled to get all the bartenders in town here to take the course.  Maybe then I could walk into an establishment and not expect to hear “We don’t have bitters” or “Sorry, we don’t have cocktail onions”.   Oh, for the good of the cocktail, for Christsakes!

You’re getting the drift that I like it I’m sure by now, aren’t you?  Well, in case the message hasn’t sunk in, get yourself online (PC or Mac), and go to www.barsmarts.com right now and sign up!  You won’t be disappointed.  Come on!  How can you sit there and enjoy that fifty dollar bottle of scotch if you don’t understand how it’s distilled, how it’s aged, and from where it gets its flavors?  Don’t say you didn’t know better the next time you go out and pay top dollar for a vodka that doesn’t taste good! Ok?