Cinco de Mayo

So tomorrow at work we are having a Cinco de Mayo party at the end of the day, and what would be better than a cold margarita? Nothing. I mixed up a batch of margaritas to take in to the office, using Jeffrey Morgenthaler's (http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/2006/a-gallon-of-margaritas/) recipe for a gallon of margaritas (I halved the amount). I made one change, using agave syrup instead of simple syrup (basically because I was out of sugar but had a healthy amount of agave nectar in the pantry). Having tested it myself, I say it turned out well. We'll see how the coworkers like it tomorrow.

3 cups tequila (Cazadores Blanco)
1.25 cups triple sec (Patron Citronge)
1.25 cups fresh lime juice
1.25 cups fresh lemon juice
1 cups agave syrup

One night at my favorite bar...

I started off the evening with a couple of cocktails featuring Plymouth Sloe Gin. First, straight from the pages of the latest Imbibe magazine, a Modern #2. The combination sounded strange, but the drink was really tasty.

2 oz. sloe gin
1 oz. scotch whisky (in this case, Dewars White Label)
1 dash absinthe (Kubler)
1 dash orange bitters (Angostura)
1 dash grenadine (homemade)

After that start, I moved on to one of my recent favorites. It's basically a Charlie Chaplin, but made with lemon juice instead of lime. I'm not sure what that makes it (maybe a Robert Downey Jr., because I love him?).

Anyway, it's:
1 oz. Plymouth Sloe Gin
1 oz. Apricot Brandy
1 oz. fresh lemon juice

Two drinks down, and I had run the bar clear out of Plymouth Sloe Gin. Sad. Anyway, I switched to a concoction involving Dubonnet Rouge called The Dandy.

The Dandy
1 oz. rye (Templeton)
1 oz. Dubonnet Rouge
1/4 oz. Cointreau
1 dash Angostura bitters

I figured this was a solid drink to finish the night off. Slightly different than the usual Manhattan, even a Dubonnet Manhattan, anyway.

Finally!

The readers (reader?) have spoken and I'm putting up a new post. Yay! Anyway, I've been trying some of the recipes from my Imbibe Magazines. Even my bar didn't have the ingredients for all of the holiday drinks in the November/December issue, especially since several of the drinks call for infusions or special syrups and I've been a bit lazy lately. Why? Because the Manhattans I've been making with Carpano Antica Formula for the vermouth have been so good I haven't felt a need to experiment. Still, a little experimentation never hurt anyone so I mixed up a drink from the "Life of the Party" article in the November/December issue called The Swafford.

The Swafford (Imbibe Magazine)
1 oz. applejack
1 oz. rye whiskey (I used Sazarac, out of everything else)
1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur (Luxardo)
1/2 oz. Green Chartreuse
2 dashes Angostura orange bitters
Ice cubes

Add ingredients to a mixing glass, add ice, stir to chill and strain into a glass.

Desperately Seeking Suze...

Last night some friends and I enjoyed another of Adam Bernbach's creations at Bar Pilar, the Brown Brothers. This cocktail, made from Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Suze liqueur, and Adam's homemade "Yarmouthport" vermouth, was quite good and the aroma was AMAZING. I wanted to keep smelling the drink forever. Anyway, this drink has me on a mission to find Suze liqueur so I can approximate the drink at home.

Suze is apparently a French bitter liqueur flavored with gentian. It has become very difficult to find, the distributor may have gone out of business. I've been told that there may be a bottle somewhere about 15 blocks from my office. I'm contemplating a quest to procure it later this evening.

Taking a walk... to the liquor store

I'm sure it's not a surprise, but I really like going into liquor stores and checking out what they have on the shelves. I've discovered some good deals by looking at the dusty stuff back behind other bottles that way. I'm currently working in a different neighborhood than I have for the past two-and-a-half years, so there are different liquor stores to explore. Today I really needed an afternoon walk around the block to stretch my legs after a long day in front of the computer, so I strolled over to one of these stores.

Since all the other cocktail bloggers seemed to be writing about these days and I didn't get a free bottle myself since no one actually reads my blog, I decided to pick up a bottle of Matuselum Gran Reserva. Because I was looking at rums, the liquor store pointed out the bottle of Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole that was on sale for half price. Depaz for $20? Sold. He threw in a mini-bottle of Bulldog Gin since I hadn't tried it, and I was set.

The Last Word

As I said in my previous post, I mixed up my first Last Word the other night and my maraschino was running low. Well, I finished off the bottle with another Last Word last night. The drink is made up of this:

• 1 part gin (last night I used Tanqueray 10)


• 1 part green Chartreuse


• 1 part maraschino liqueur


• 1 part fresh lime juice

Oh, and this is the first photo I've taken for the site with my new iPhone. Didn't turn out too bad, probably because I took it in a spot where I could shine a light right there. The pretty green color of the drink doesn't show that well, but I haven't played with the photo or anything either.

Apologies, again

I really need to get back on the horse and start posting again. I really don't have any excuse other than that I was too busy doing... nothing for a month and now I'm always at work. I do have some posts with pictures still waiting in the wings at home, so maybe I'll get them up this week. In the meantime, I will leave you with the following:

1. I did use a fat-washing technique to infuse some bourbon with bacon flavoring. This definitely added a bacon flavor to the Jim Beam I used, but I did this with pretty crappy bacon and I think it would turn out better with something good. I'll try again. I took some pictures for a planned post for this month's MxMo (Local Flavor) using the bacon bourbon for my home state of Iowa. After all, what's more Iowa than hogs (bacon) and corn (bourbon)?
2. I finally got my hands on a bottle of green Chartreuse and mixed up a Last Word last night. I really like this cocktail. The only problem I have is that after mixing up Aviations all summer my bottle of maraschino is almost empty and the prospects of me hitting a liquor store outside of the greater downtown/Dupont Circle area anytime in the next few weeks is somewhere between slim and none. Hopefully I can find a new bottle, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
3. My favorite sipping rum of the moment is El Dorado 15-year old. Yum.