Drambuie really needs to learn how to play nice. This Scotch-based liqueur, flavored with herbs and honey, is, in my estimation, one of the loveliest creations among the many bottles on the back bar. The liqueur is quite pleasant on its own, but perhaps due to the natural surliness of Scotch, or maybe the deep, layered richness of the flavors, Drambuie just doesn’t get along that well with other spirits. Sure, there are exceptions — the Rusty Nail, the Bobby Burns (both of which marry Scotch with a Scotch-based liqueur, so those are easy), and one of my favorites, the Gansevoort Fizz — but for the most part Drambuie is just too individualistic to play nice in a cocktail.

The Jabberwocky is a fourth drink to add to this list. The recipe was shared with me by Chad Solomon, the uber-talented bartender at Pegu Club in NYC who created it, basing the mix on one other decent Drambuie-containing drink, the Mackinnon Fizz. Pairing Drambuie with the assertive juniper flavor found in Tanqueray, and sharpening it with both lemon and lime juices, the Jabberwocky has a touch of absurdist, barely restrained wildness about it — much like Drambuie’s Scotch base, and the drink’s namesake poem. And yes, the brand of the gin matters — many gentler gins would fold when confronted with Drambuie’s irascible flavor, but Tanqueray has a stiff juniper backbone that keeps its identity in a complex mixture such as this one. While in a cocktail glass this drink might still be too rough, with knobby elbows and bits of spiky brambles poking above the rim, the Jabberwocky works well when tamed with sparkling water — a little effervescence and a touch of dilution to keep it from being too serious. Just keep an eye out for the Jubjub bird and the frumious Bandersnatch.

Jabberwocky

• 1 1/2 ounces Tanqueray gin
• 1 ounce Drambuie
• 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into an ice-filled highball glass; top with club soda.

Tags: Drinks, Gin by Paul
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Back from vacation — tanned, rested and as ready as I’ll ever be. While I was gone the comments and e-mails came pouring in — thanks for your interest, everyone, I’ll eventually get everything answered — and apparently the spammers pushed their way through a hole in the Akismet dike last weekend and soaked my comments section. I think I’ve got the mess mopped up now, but apologies to those who subscribe to my comments feed and received numerous identical messages about how my site is “very cognitive.”

It’s still late-season vacation time, but for anyone who’s not at the beach right now, remember to mark your calendars for the upcoming Mixology Mondays:

* MxMo VII will take place Monday, September 18. I’m hosting this round, and I propose the topic for this last MxMo of the season be Goodbye, Summer — it’s wide open, just post whatever drink you’ve been enjoying this summer and bid it a fond farewell as we head into the apple cider and hot toddy season. Be sure to either comment to this post or e-mail me and let me know your contribution is up.

* MxMo VIII is scheduled for Monday, October 16, and will be hosted by Meeta over at What’s For Lunch Honey? Topic for this event is Exotic Drinks — from the Bahama Mamas you order while on vacation to the ongoing exploration of Grog Log, this event is for the colorful, the relaxing, the vibrant..

Interested in hosting MxMo IX in November? Let me know–

Tags: Events, Mixology Monday by Paul
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Unlike other periods of prolonged silence on this site, the upcoming break is planned.

Time for summer vacation — I’ll be back in a week or so.

Tags: General by Paul
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Mixed among the other special projects — between the falernum and the pimento dram, the grenadine and the gomme – I’ve been playing with recipes for homemade ginger beer, one that can hold its own against the formidable Gosling’s Black Seal in a Dark ‘n Stormy, and that can neatly balance with the gin and mint in a Gin Gin Mule. Unlike ingredients such as falernum and pimento dram, there are commercial versions of ginger beer on the market that are pretty easy to find; the problem is, many of them are nothing but an insipid ginger ale with a different-colored label and a modest — very modest — change in flavor, even among the brands that boast they’re muscular and spicy. If you’re fortunate, you can find a decent Jamaican ginger beer that has some backbone to it in a well-stocked specialty food store; Blenheim’s, from North Carolina, also enjoys a reputation for making an assertive ginger beer, but finding this brand can be almost as difficult as tracking down a bottle of Torani Amer.

Fortunately, the homemade version is easy to make. There are many recipes out there, some of them calling for an arsenal of ingredients and a short fermentation period, but the best two I’ve tried are pleasantly minimal, and can be made in less than a day. One of these recipes is from the ever-dependable Audrey Saunders; the other appeared in the New York Times a little more than a year ago. I’ve tried both, and they’re excellent; the version printed here is a hybrid of the two, based solely on my personal taste.

Ginger Beer

• 10 cups water
• 12 ounces fresh ginger, finely chopped (for a lighter colored ginger beer, peel the ginger before weighing it)
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• juice of 1 lime
• one bay leaf

Bring the water to a boil; turn off heat and add the ginger and the bay leaf. Cover the pot and let steep for no less than four hours, or overnight. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth, squeezing and pressing to express the last, very flavorful drops of liquid from the ginger. Add the sugar and the lime juice, stir, bottle and refrigerate.

Try to use the ginger beer within two weeks; the ginger’s flavor degrades rapidly, so it’s best to make smaller batches, if you don’t plan to use that much of it.

Note that in this version, the ginger flavor is much stronger than you’re likely to encounter in any ginger beer on the market. You probably won’t want to drink this straight, unless you’re accustomed to sipping on bottles of Tabasco sauce. Instead, try mixing equal parts ginger beer and club soda to create a spicy carbonated ginger beer for drinks such as the Dark ‘n Stormy, or other cocktails that call for ginger beer (notable exception: the Gin Gin Mule, which was developed with this industrial-strength ginger beer in mind). For recipes calling for ginger ale, aim for more of a 4:1 club soda-to-ginger beer ratio. This ginger beer is also pretty dry, so depending on the recipe, you may want to add a dash or two of simple syrup to the mix.

Tags: Special Projects by Paul
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OK, at least half of the appeal of making this drink is the opportunity to say (or in this case, write) “Sangaree.” If you’re looking for a new way to get tossed out of a bar, you could do worse than making it a habit to stroll in, rap loudly on the bartop with your knuckles and shout, “Barman! A Port Wine SAN-GAREE, extra nutmeg, s’il vous plait — and keep ‘em comin’!”

The other part of the appeal comes from finding a way to drink Port in the heat of summer. Let’s face it — during the season when mojitos and rickeys and collinses are as essential as sunblock, the heavy richness of Port doesn’t get much demand. Here, then, a summer-worthy drink with Port, refreshing yet robust.

Up top of this post, you’ll see I’m also tagging this drink for “Gettin’ Jerry With It,” my lamely named category for drinks that appeared (in some version) in Jerry Thomas’ original bar guide. To be fair, Thomas also listed recipes for sangarees made with sherry, brandy, gin, ale and porter, so just about any kind of booze you wish to tip in the glass can be easily made into a sangaree. And what the hell is it, you ask? Well, not much, really — basically just your booze of choice shaken with ice and a little sugar, then served with a little nutmeg on top (and while Thomas doesn’t call for it, tossing a couple of wheels of lemon into the mixing glass brightens up the drink a tad). Does such a thing really need a name, especially something as flamboyant as “Sangaree”? Apparently.

Yet don’t let the modesty of its composition dissuade you — after all, epic summer coolers are frequently made of less. And while the Port Wine Sangaree lacks the power of a mint julep to air-condition your interior, it’s still surprisingly refreshing — kind of like a sangria with a touch more gravitas.

Port Wine Sangaree (this version from the Esquire Drinking Database)

• 4 ounces port
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 thin lemon wheels (optional)

Shake with ice and pour, unstrained, into a double Old Fashioned glass. Grate a little nutmeg on top.

The Port Wine Sangaree is brought to you as part of Mixology Monday VI, for which the topic is Grapes, hosted by Rick over at Martini Lounge. Skip on over to Rick’s place and see what everyone else is doing for this round.

The next round of Mixology Monday is hosted by … me, I guess, as nobody else has offered. Since most everyone (including me) has some vacation time worked into the schedule over the next month, let’s take it easy and plan to rev up MxMoVII on September 18. The theme for this round will be Goodbye, Summer – pick the drink you found yourself turning to most this summer and enjoy it one last time before Autumn comes around.

Tags: Drinks, Gettin' Jerry With It, Mixology Monday, Port by Paul
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