In tomorrow’s (Wednesday) New York Times, a lengthy story in the food section about the trend toward molecular mixology. If you’re new to the idea, that’s the whole approach to using the magic of modern chemistry to convert cocktail ingredients into foams, jellies, beads, etc., in the pursuit of a more interesting drink.

While I’m typically skeptical of stuff like this, viewing it as 90 percent gimmick, the geek in me is kind of awed at the things being created; and, as much of this work is being done at restaurants and bars that take cuisine seriously, some of the ingredients and flavors that are being put together are pretty respectable — and, in my view, anything that gets people to try more adventurous drinks than a simple cosmo or a vodka martini can’t be all bad. (The story also gets in a sideways dig at vodka and Red Bull, and that’s nice to see in a pub like the NYT).

Read it here (registration required): Two Parts Vodka, a Twist of Science

Tags: General by Paul
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After a whopping 16 people participated in the second Mixology Monday yesterday (that’s a full 100 percent gain from last round, folks), it looks like the event is really gaining steam.

All the more reason to mark your calendars for the next round, Mixology Monday III, which will be held June 5; hosting the June edition will be Rick over at Kaiser Penguin.

Rick has chosen mint to be the topic for MMIII. So get your muddlers ready — let’s hear what kind of cool, minty drink soothes you in the summertime. There’s plenty of variety out there, but don’t be afraid to tackle a classic; if you think your mojito (or your favorite bartender’s mojito) is the best you’ve ever tasted, let everyone know about it.

Thanks to Darcy for hosting round 2; he’s posted a great roundup — be sure to read it, and to try a few of the other drinks.

Want to host a future edition? Let me know. I’m also keeping a running list of the dates, hosts, topics and roundup links on the original Mixology Monday post, for future reference.

Tags: Events, Mixology Monday by Paul
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Almost every day for the past 20 years, coffee has been a part of my daily ritual — and by “part of my daily ritual,” I mean the part that keeps me from being a sluggish, surly, cursing-at-passersby subhuman monstrosity. For the past three years or so, cocktails have also played a regular and significant role in that same routine. Yet, I’ve never had much desire to combine the two interests.

When it comes to coffee and spirits, the usual offerings are, I find, depressingly uniform. Most drinks are either of the “fill a mug with coffee, add SPIRIT X and sugar (or, optionally, LIQUEUR Y) and whipped cream” variety, or involve combinations of chilled coffee or coffee liqueur, brandy, creme de cacao and possibly another liqueur or two. Not surprising, given coffee’s post-prandial popularity, but hardly the thing to send your tastebuds a-twitter.

So, after Darcy’s decision to have Mixology Monday II focus on coffee (in all its various manifestations), I had to scratch my head and then go scurrying through the books in search of something interesting.

When “something interesting” is the operative search term in a cocktail quest, I’ve found that one of the best sources is Charles H. Baker, Jr. Traveler, writer and bon vivant, Baker was a magazine journalist for much of the first half of the 20th century, and he also authored two intriguing two-volume sets of food-and-drink recipes, stories and commentary: The Gentleman’s Companion, published in 1939, and The South American Gentleman’s Companion, in 1951.

For coffee, I turned to Baker’s South American drinks volume, and quickly came across this concoction (rendered, as closely as possible, in the 19th-century style use of small caps and extended titles that Baker used in his books) :

Ski Club Andino Boliviano’s HOT COFFEE-GROG, from the Club Chalet at foot of the SKI-TOW, some 18,000 feet above the Sea on Gigantic Mt. Chacaltaya, 40 miles or so outside La Paz, Bolivia.

In a big tall Zombie glass put:

• 2 oz 151-proof Demerara Rum [Ed. note — JESUS!]
• 1/4 tsp powdered clove
• 1/2 cup strong hot coffee
• 1/2 pony [1/2 oz.] good Jamaica rum
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 cup hot water, not boiling
• 1 big long stick cinnamon bark
• 2 tsp strained honey or brown sugar

Put silver spoon in glass to prevent its cracking, pour in liquids, spice and sweetening. Stir with the cinnamon stick till sweet’s dissolved. […] A spiral of orange peel is sometimes added. We like that touch.

How is this different from the coffee-spirit-sugar-etc. drinks I maligned above? Well, not a whole lot — except, the addition of spices ramp up the flavor quite a bit without contributing added sweetness, and even the 2 teaspoons of honey or brown sugar is fairly restrained, in terms of the dominant norm for coffee-based drinks.

Baker credits expatriate Brits in Bolivia of coming up with this drink. Why they chose to use 2 oz. of the knee-buckling 151-proof Demerara in this is beyond me (unless, of course, the primary purpose of this drink is to buckle the drinker’s knees in as short a time as possible). Prudently, Baker follows this recipe with a warning:

Naturally ordinary 86-proof rums rate small-beer beside the mule-kick hidden in a pot of 151-proof Demerara, so be careful as you pour or you’ll be shouting “Tim-BERRRRR!” as your guests topple and hit the tiles.

For my take at this grog, I heed Baker’s warning and instead use 1 1/2 oz of the 80-proof Demerara, with 1/2 oz of the full-throttle variety to keep the flavor somewhat true to the original. I also replace the allspice and 1/2 tsp of the brown sugar with 1 tsp of Pimento Dram, as it’s pretty much the same thing — allspice & brown sugar in a Demerara rum base — that’s been allowed to mellow and marry for several months.

But while Baker’s grog is a good fortifying drink to keep in mind the next time it turns frosty, another, somewhat-related beverage suggests a more exotic take on the coffee grog. In search of further coffee-drink-based excitement, I turned to the other name that pops into my head when thinking of interesting drinks: Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. In his Grog Log, Berry gives a recipe (without a source, unfortunately, beyond “circa 1950s”) for a Polynesian relative of Baker’s Coffee Grog.

Flaming Coffee Grog

• 3 teaspoons Lopez coconut cream
• 1/4 oz. Grand Marnier
• Hot black coffee
• Twist of orange peel
• Twist of lemon peel
• 2 whole cloves
• Eight-inch cinnamon stick
• 3/4 oz 151 Demerara rum

Heat and then ignite cloves, peels, Grand Marnier and rum in Pyrex saucepan or blazer pan of chafing dish. Fill skull mug 3/4 full of hot coffee, then stir in coconut cream. Spoon flaming mixture on top. Use cinnamon stick as stirrer.

The benefits of Berry’s coffee grog, as I see it, break down into three points:

• it’s mildly sweet, but not over the top — a big plus for coffee drinks
• the coconut cream takes the flavor in an unexpected, and not unpleasant, direction
• FIRE! Even better, FIRE IN A SKULL MUG! Talk about primal…. [Though, if you’re looking for blue flames in the photo, you’ll be disappointed — the rum flared up in the pan and kinda spooked me as I was preparing to ladle it into the mug, so I had to snuff it. Still tasted good, though.]

I found the coffee works well in this tiki environment, and the resulting drink is a far cry from the dull, dessert-tasting coffee cocktails you typically come across.

Thanks to Darcy for coming up with the theme, and for hosting this edition of Mixology Monday. I look forward to reading the wrap-up in the next day or so.

UPCOMING: Mixology Monday III will be upon us in June. The host for this edition will be Rick at Kaiser Penguin, and Rick has chosen mint as his theme for the month.

SAVE THE DATE - Monday, June 5, Mixology Monday III: Mint, hosted at www.kaiserpenguin.com

(And FYI, I’ve been updating the original Mixology Monday post to keep track of past, current & upcoming events, along with the original suggested guidelines, so the permalink should serve as a good reference for new participants.)

Tags: Drinks, Mixology Monday, Pimento Dram, Rum, Tiki by Paul
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I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one. The recipe is from Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails (Haigh credits the Cafe Royal Bar Book from 1937), and I’ve been meaning to try it for months, but lacked one essential component: passion fruit juice (not nectar, or syrup — juice).

Not that I’ve tried too hard to find it. Typically, when I’m in a store likely to carry it, I’m searching for something else with a singular focus, and thus walk right past it. But today, with a little time on my hands and a firm resolve to track down this unusual ingredient, I started poking around Pike Place Market and, at Pike Place Grocery, I finally found what I was seeking.

From the recipe, the Avenue looks intriguing: Bourbon, Calvados & passion fruit juice, with a little grenadine and, for mystery and exoticism, orange flower water. What’s not to like? In the glass, though, the drink seems to be searching for an identity. The OFW is right there at the front, with it’s distinctive perfume, and again at the end, with its lingering aftertaste. In between, the Calvados and the passion fruit juice seem to be searching for some sort of fruity foundation, but no clear note is evident, and the bourbon is almost totally hidden in the drink.

While the flavor profile seems slightly confused, I’m wondering if that uncertain, ethereal character is part of the drink’s charm — instead of a firmly rooted flavor, such as that in a Manhattan or a martini or most other drinks, the Avenue has little ghostly touches of taste that flit across the palate and then disappear. While drinking it, I try to pin down the flavor in my mind, only to have it slip away like a puff of smoke in a gust of wind.

Fortunately, for a drink that’s so hard to understand at first blush, the Avenue is truly delicious. I made the cocktail with Chateau du Breuil Calvados and the soft, wheated Weller 12-year-old bourbon, a favorite of mine, so it was nice and comfortable to wrestle with. I’d say the Avenue is “interesting,” though that tag is typically the kiss of death for new drinks and flavors; if something is “interesting,” you try it once. Unlike the other “interesting” cocktails, though, the Avenue is worth further exploration.

The Avenue Cocktail

• 1 ounce calvados
• 1 ounce bourbon
• 1 ounce passion fruit juice (you could also try it with nectar)
• 1 dash grenadine
• 1 dash orange flower water

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Tags: Bourbon, Calvados, Drinks by Paul
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Just in case anybody forgot to mark their calendar, this Monday, May 8, is the second Mixology Monday. The May event is being hosted by Darcy at The Art of Drink, and Darcy has selected the theme to be “Coffee” — drinks made with it; drinks made with coffee liqueur; virtually any kind of coffee connection you can make with spirits and cocktails is welcome.

Participating is easy. If you’ve got a blog, just post your coffee-related post by the end of Monday, send a note to Darcy at dsoneil@gmail.com (don’t forget to put up a link to his blog, so readers can tune in for the full event), and sit back with your coffee cocktail. Darcy will post a wrapup of the event on Tuesday or thereabouts, and we can all then check out each other’s posts and sample each other’s recipes.

(Oh, and if you don’t have a blog? I suppose there are a couple of people out there who haven’t jumped on this particular bandwagon yet — no problem; just type up your entry and e-mail it to Darcy, and it will be factored in with the rest for the wrapup. C’mon, you know who you are — you know drinks; hell, you even know coffee drinks; chime in and let us know what you’ve got.)

Last month, for the first Mixology Monday, we had some great posts from the U.S., Canada and Spain on the topic of pastis. It’d be great to see that same turnout, or even better, for the May event. So start thinking about coffee (and booze, of course), put together your two cents and put it up by this Monday.

MMIII will be hosted on June 5 by Rick at Kaiser Penguin; the topic is forthcoming.

Want to host an upcoming Mixology Monday? Fill me in.

Tags: Events, Mixology Monday by Paul
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