Okay, I’m not done talking about Tales of the Cocktail yet.

But since several other booze bloggers are still recapping the different drinks & events, I won’t feel like a freakin’ idiot by still going on about it. Besides, fate knocked, in a way, today, and I just couldn’t let the opportunity to mix up a new and interesting drink pass by.

Note, this was a fairly small appearance by fate — no near-death experiences; no weird synchronicity; no stirring omens. No, this was just what you get on a normal Saturday afternoon in my house, when I came home from grocery shopping — where I made the impulse purchase of a bunch of fresh mint (hey, it’s summer, it’s the weekend — there’s gotta be something I’ll want to drink with mint) — and walked into the kitchen to find this: fresh blackberries, right from the farmer’s market.

My wife, of course, bought these with the idea of giving them to our kids as a breakfast treat; I, on the other hand, immediately thought of ways I could mix them into a much more grown-up treat for myself, one that preferably involved some high-octane hooch.

I didn’t have to think long, considering that both Jamie and Marleigh covered a blackberry, mint and rye concoction that Jamie learned about at Tales of the Cocktail. Jamie picked up the recipe for this drink at the Saturday morning Rye Whiskey panel, which coincided with the Cocktails and the Blogosphere panel I was moderating. In other words, Jamie ditched his fellow bloggers’ presentation for the one on rye, so he’s dead to me now, but for the moment I’m going to forget about that and poach a drink from his blog.

This drink was introduced by Allen Katz, who says he retrieved this from the Baltimore Country Club, which documented its existence around 1898. Considering that fate made sure I had all the ingredients on hand, I thought it’d be a good idea to put one together. Considering this has rye, mint, blackberries and ginger beer (I broke out my last bottle of Blenheim’s for the gig), what’s not to like?

Black & Tan

• 5 blackberries
• 8 mint leaves
• 1/4 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1/4 ounce simple syrup
• 2 ounces Sazerac rye
• ginger beer

Muddle the blackberries, mint, simple syrup and lime juice in a mixing glass. Add the rye, and shake well with ice. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass (you’ll want to use a mesh tea strainer), top with ginger beer and garnish with two whole blackberries.

(Oh, relax — I left plenty of blackberries for the kids. Unless I decide to have a second round … )

Tags: Drinks, Rye by Paul
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In the mood to try something new tonight, I reached for Ted Saucier’s Bottoms Up and flipped around until something presented itself. Here’s one I settled on: it’s almost identical to the Blue Moon #1, substituting rum for gin.

Ruban Bleu
Courtesy, Le Ruban Bleu, New York City

• 1 jigger Carioca rum [Cruzan light]
  
• 2 dashes creme Yvette [Hermes Violet]
  
• juice 1/2 lemon [3/4 ounce]
  

Shake well with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass

A quick Google revealed that Carioca rum had been made at the Cruzan distillery in St. Croix; based on the flavor characteristics of the drink, I went with the light rum.

I don’t know if it’s different enough from the Blue Moon to warrant a return invitation, but it’s not bad at all … the rum gives a little more flesh, if a little less complexity, to the drink, but the lemon / violet interplay is still engaging. Using a gold rum might give the drink a little more body, but could also overshadow the delicate violet notes. If anybody gives it a spin, please let me know how it turns out.

Not a bad way to start off a Friday evening.

Tags: Drinks, Rum by Paul
1 Comment »

This was originally going to be the “remember that Monday, August 13 is the next Mixology Monday, focusing on Orange” post. Then, we got a little assistance from the folks over at Food & Wine.

The entry in the magazine’s “Mouthing Off” blog gives some generous linkage to folks such as Camper, Jeffrey, Michael and myself (well, when the links are fixed, they will hurray, the links are fixed!), and mentions that Gwen is the host of next week’s edition. Good quotes, too, from Lauren at DrinkBoston.

This may be the blog equivalent of having your party invitations Xeroxed and wheatpasted onto lampposts around town. Now I’m really looking forward to Monday. To participate, check out Gwen’s announcement post.

Tags: Mixology Monday by Paul
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…along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans,
And we caught the bloody British near the town of New Orleans.

Okay, it’s been more than two weeks since Tales of the Cocktail ended, and even the burliest of hangovers has now receded. But, I had one last New Orleans-related drink I wanted to share, and then I’ll shut up about it for a while.

I’ve been musing about this drink for quite a while. I first encountered it in Crosby Gaige’s Cocktail Guide and Ladies’ Companion, from 1941, and at first glance I didn’t think too much of it. From looking at the recipe, it struck me as something like the Sazerac’s awkward cousin, so I ignored the drink for several months.

Finally, though, as things usually happen around here, I grew bored with whatever narrow circle of cocktails I’d been playing with at the time, and turned to Gaige’s book in search of relief. I mixed one of these up just to be able to check it off my life list, and was pretty pleasantly surprised.

The name, of course, refers to the events of January 8, 1814, when troops led by Andrew Jackson repulsed an attack by British troops heading for New Orleans in the final battle of the War of 1812 (isn’t Wikipedia cool sometimes?). Jackson’s soldiers were assisted by the marines, state militias, and notably a large group of Barataria pirates under the leadership of Jean Lafitte. Reminders of the battle are scattered around the French Quarter, from Jackson Square to Pirate’s Alley to Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop.

Almost 150 years after that nasty fight in the swamp, the story was told in a song written by a high-school history teacher named Jimmy Driftwood. The little historic ditty took a Grammy for song of the year for 1959.

Well, we fired our cannon til the barrel melted down,
so we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind,
and when they tetched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.

I doubt they serve the Battle of New Orleans at the Blacksmith Shop; head west to San Francisco, however, and you may be able to pick up one at Absinthe (you should, anyway — Gaige’s recipe was revived last year in The Art of the Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the Classics, by Jeff Hollinger & Rob Schwartz.)

Battle of New Orleans

• 1 1/2 ounces bourbon
• dash of orange bitters
• dash of anisette
• 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• dash of simple syrup
• 2 dashes absinthe

Stir with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

If you sip one of these, hoping for a Sazerac experience, you’ll be disappointed. Just savor it on its own, for what it is, though, and you’ll find it a pretty agreeable companion.

And I know some of you are thinking, “absinthe + anisette? Isn’t that pretty redundant, flavor-wise?” The answer is, “kind of but not really.”

Absinthe has a notable anise character, true (most of ‘em, anyway); but there’s a whole herbal complexity going on with absinthe, whereas anisette holds one note, true and clear (if you’re using a good one, that is). Especially if your absinthe is Lucid, with a more restrained anise aspect, you’ll need that clear anise flavor to round out the experience in this cocktail.

We fired our guns and the British kept a’comin.
But there wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin’
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

Tags: Bourbon, Drinks by Paul
11 Comments »

Otherwise known as the “Helloooooo, people of Salon!” post.

Back during Tales of the Cocktail (yes, I’m still going on about it), I sat down for lunch one afternoon with Robert Simonson, a fellow pixel-stained wretch who runs the lovely Off the Presses blog. Robert also earns his lunch money by writing, and today the transcript of our conversation over gumbo and Abita amber appears in a story he wrote for Salon.com.

Here’s Robert’s article; it’s in the premium section, but you may be able to read it for free (I don’t really know how these things work over there):

It’s Always Cocktail Hour Somewhere.

If you read the story first and followed the links in this direction, then WELCOME! Make yourself at home, and be sure to stop back soon.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to mix up a celebratory cocktail. Thanks for the kind words, Robert.

(And, if you like what you see here, be sure to check out a few of my friends — you’ve already met Darcy, Rick and Chuck from over at Salon, but there’s also Jeffrey Morgenthaler, A Dash of Bitters, The Thirstin’ Howl, Drink Boston, Jimmy’s Cocktail Hour, Explore the Pour and a slew of other drink bloggers too numerous and talented to mention, but absolutely worth a visit — the links for many of whom can be found to your right, or by exploring these pages. And again, welcome.)

Tags: General by Paul
8 Comments »