This Episode's Cast of CharactersIt's hot drinks part two! Gentleman Fred found another Hot Buttered Rum mix and since it's still cold out, the Gents thought they'd give it another whirl. Plus, Gent Dave found Trader Vic's Tom and Jerry Batter on his trip to LA so it made for a nice companion piece. The recipes are on the jars. One big tablespoon of Hot Buttered Rum mix, and ounce of rum and fill with boiling water. Super simple and super good. There is one problem. This mix is made by Rocco and Olivia. Google them. They may be the most elusive company ever. Even the store where Gent Fred bought it doesn't have it anymore. We love you Rocco and Olivia! Come back to us!  At the end of last episode, Gent Jason opened up a very, very old jar of Trader Vic's Tom and Jerry Batter as a bonus drink for the Hot Buttered Rum episode. It had spoiled. Spoiled bad. Spoiled rotten. Like a kid at Christmas. Gentleman Dave to the rescue. A fresh jar was procured and opened for your drinking pleasure. A couple of heaping teaspoons of batter, an ounce of rum and some boiling water and you've got yourself a warming winter treat. Get yourself a jar and give it a shot. You'll be glad you did.  Happy New Year!
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This Episode's Cast of CharactersIt's the holidays folks! Overeating! Overspending! Overdrinking? Over here! In this episode, the Gents try out a couple of versions of the same drink. Hot Buttered Rum. But to make it interesting, they are pitting two rivals from their neighbours to the south, (Washington State that is) against each other to see who will take the Hot Buttered Rum Championship! But first, the Gentlemen would like to spread the news about a couple of other wonderful things going on. Mainland Whisky has opened up! What is Mainland Whisky you ask? Well, click on their highlighted name and it will take you directly to their website. In short, they are the makers and purveyors of some tasty corn whisky. Really tasty corn whisky. If you pop in to their tasting room, you can try out all their products in a whisky flight, or dive right on in to one of their cocktails. They've also got some local beer and wine available if someone in your party isn't a fan of whisky. Please go and check them out. A bottle of a little sump'n sump'n might be just the last minute gift you're looking for. Their address is #107-3425 189th St, South Surrey, BC . Good luck folks! Also, The Miracle pop up bar is back for another year! These fun Christmas themed bars open up for the month of December at locations all around the world. Literally. There are bars this year in Mexico, England, Romania, New Zealand, Switzerland and Panama (as well as Canada and the US) and the Gents are lucky enough to have one in their own backyard. Swim Club in Fairhaven is just a hop, skip and a jump down the I 5 and Gent Jason made sure to visit. You should to. Check their list of locations and see if there's one near you, then go an get your Xmas on! Alright, lets get to drinkin'. Recently, Gent Jason saw a segment on KING 5's Evening Magazine about a made in Washington product that the show thought might be a surprise to their local viewers. For almost 60 years, Washingtonians have been able to buy a hot buttered rum batter mixture that it turns out, is made in Bremerton, Washington. It's called Harvey's Butter Rum Batter and on their website it says . . . "Harvey Hudson first created his special butter rum batter in 1952 while tending bar at a local Bremerton, Washington lounge. It earned such a following that customer’s began asking to buy a tub to make their own drinks at home. In the 1960’s the demand had grown so much that he contracted with a local dairy and started producing the batter in larger batches “after hours using their equipment. The dairy distributed the tubs on their home delivery route. The business continued to grow and in 1972, Harvey opened his own plant in Bremerton, WA and expanded his distribution. Harvey was passionate about his business and his customers until 2011, when he passed at the age of 94. Having been born and raised in the same community, and knowing its great history, I was delighted to purchase Harvey’s Butter Rum Batter in December of 2011. Quality, passion and of course tradition play a huge role in our teams mission of carrying on the legacy of what Harvey Hudson and the Little River Candy Company started many years ago. Our fans keep us going and are the reason we do what we do. We sincerely thank you for making it so much fun! Stacy Ryan, President, Harvey’s Butter Rum Batter, LLC" Based on that, Gent Jason set out to find the stuff and find it he did. Hot Buttered Rum (using Harvey's Butter Rum Batter) Directions: Add one Tbsp. of batter to a cup of hot water. Add one jigger of rum (or favourite spirit) if desired and stir well. Well, the Gents did desire rum so they added it. Lemon Hart Blackpool Spiced rum to be precise. The Gents enjoyed this very much. You've probably already heard the episode haven't you? Get a hold of some Harvey's and make some drinks for your guests right now. Don't you love that rabbit on the label?  The quest to find Harvey's Butter Rum Batter was not an easy one though. Try finding the stuff just after American Thanksgiving. It's hard. On his search, Gent Jason, went in to a Haggen store. Haggen is a grocery store that's been around since 1933 and started out in Bellingham, Washington. Gent J asked a girl in the spirits section if she had "Harvey's . . ." "Bristol Cream?", she asked. "No. Harvey's Buttered Rum Batter," he finished. "Oh. No. We have our own brand. It's right here." She showed Gent J to the freezer section. Gent J said he was really looking for the Harvey's brand. She said she'd tried them both and the Haggen one "was way better." Challenge accepted Haggen. On the Haggen website they say . . . "Our very own Hot Buttered Rum Mix is the perfect cure for chilly winter weather. Made with a heart-warming blend of sweet and spice, and handcrafted with creamy vanilla ice cream, butter, brown sugar and spices. Try it with coffee for a little pick-me-up during the holidays." The Gents tried it with rum! Hot Buttered Rum (with Haggen Hot Buttered Rum Mix) Directions: Add two heaping teaspoons to 8 oz. of hot apple cider or boiling water with a shot of your favourite rum. To be fair, the Gents used boiling water and the same rum as the previous drink. The texture of the mix is completely different from Harvey's. Where Harvey's is a sort of spreadable mixture of butter, sugar and spices, the Haggen mix is more like a frozen goopy marshmallow sauce. Very tasty and it foams up very nicely in your drink. You'll have to listen to the episode to see which one won the challenge though, and please stick around til the very end when you get to hear the results of a (spoiler alert) failed Trader Vic's Tom and Jerry. The fault is all Jason and not Trader Vic's at all.  Have a safe and happy holiday season and leave a comment if there's a drink you would like the Gents to try in the new year! Merry Christmas! This Episode's Cast of CharactersSPOILER ALERT ! These drinks are good. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Of course they're good. Why would the Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure make drinks that were less than good?" Well, believe it or not, the last few drinks we've made have not been hits. These drinks however, are HITS, and they should be because we chose them based entirely on their "guitar" based names. As a bonus, they're both really easy to make too. Let's get started. First up is an old old drink called the Gibson. It's name is lost to time with several conflicting stories suggesting that the drink could have been named for the artist behind the Gibson Girls or a Dr. Gibson who believed eating onions was good for your health (even if they're swimming in gin and vermouth). No matter what it's origins, if you are a fan of a dry gin martini, you are going to be a fan of this drink. You may even like it better! The Gibson 2 1/2 ounces gin 1/4 ounce dry vermouth 1 to 3 picked onions Combine the gin and vermouth in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled (or for a crystal clear drink, stir with ice until chilled). Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with 1 to 3 pickled cocktail onions. Why 1 to 3 pickled onions? Because that's part of the conflicted history of the drink. Some people say if you're basing the drink on the Gibson Girls, you've got to use 2 like we did. Other's say it's bad luck to use and even number. Who knows? Either way, even though this looks like it's going to be just a Martini, with an onion instead of an olive, it's not. That little change to the pickled onion from the brined olive gives a fun little jolt to the taste buds. If you're not a fan of vermouth, that trace of pickling liquid cuts the vermouth and lets the gin shine through. Ryan Reynolds would love for you to try this drink with his Aviation Gin! The fact that the onion is more "crunchy" than the an olive gives a more textural quality to this drink too. What are you waiting for? Get some pickled onions and try this drink!  There is no Fender cocktail to go with the Fender guitar company. There is a Fender Bender cocktail though! In fact, there are several Fender Benders. We chose the one that we could get the ingredients for. The "easiest" one if you will, and are we ever glad that we did! So simple, but a wonderful way to drink whisky! Fender Bender 2/3 ounce Yukon Jack 1/3 ounce Cutty Sark whisky Pour the ingredients over crushed ice in a rocks glass and stir. We garnished it with an orange peel because we thought it looked nice. You should too. What is Yukon Jack? The internet says, "The self-styled 'Black Sheep of Canadian Liquors' is a highly potent liqueur, based on Canadian whisky blended with honey." The Gents would agree. It's sweet but pairs wonderfully with the Cutty Sark scotch. Does it have to be Cutty Sark? We don't know. The recipe says to use it and so we did. If you feel like you want to experiment with another type of scotch, go ahead. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.  See you next time! I know what you’re thinking. You’ve got too much grapefruit juice left over from Halloween haven’t you? Every year it’s the same old story. You buy gallons of the stuff and then you realize, “Oh yeah. Nobody really likes grapefruit juice, do they?” No they do not. Nobody likes it. And why don’t they like it? Could it be because it’s bitter, and messes with peoples medications? Maybe. What about the way it’s acidic unpleasantness upsets people’s stomachs? That could be it too. I guess those are all valid reasons. But what about the good times you’ve had with grapefruit? Like the time someone served you a half of one, and then, when you put your spoon in it, it squirted juice in your eye? That was fun, right? No? Well alright then. Let’s just use this crap up! First of all, let’s head down south to where citrus fruit grows in abundance. That’s right, we’re heading to Florida baby! We’re making the Palm Beach Special! Palm Beach Special 2 1/2 ounces gin 3/4 ounce grapefruit juice 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass Look at that. You’ve already used almost a whole ounce of grapefruit juice. That jug will be gone in no time!  Let’s see what else uses grapefruit juice. What about the Seventh Heaven? Let’s try it! Seventh Heaven 1 3/4 ounces gin 1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur 1/4 ounce grapefruit juice Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a sprig of mint. There you go. That 1/4 ounce makes one FULL ounce of grapefruit juice you’ve used. Now make both these drinks twenty more times!  Please leave a comment about anything at all. Let us know what you thought of the drinks or maybe give us some suggestions on how we can use up the rest of our grapefruit juice! See you next time!  Happy Halloween. Sure it's a little late but maybe you're having your Halloween party tonight. It's Saturday after all. Either way, the Gentlemen of Elephant Pleasure are here again with a couple of dark spooky cocktails for your ghoulish festivities.   You'll have to listen to the show to know how they were! Please make them both and leave a comment! Oh my goodness! What a week. Yours truly has been overwhelmed with stuff these past couple of days. What drinks did the Gents do? What did they look like? You'll have to wait I'm afraid. All we can tell you now is that they were both great drinks and you should try them out. The recipes are here in 2 separate pictures. Both of these drinks are from the Prestige Decanter catalog brochure and since the Gents like their products so much, they thought they'd try the drinks! The drinks are by the Mixology Brothers and you should check out their fantastic website by clicking this sentence here! The first on is called the Interpol.  The second is called the Kentucky Smoke Truck. Give them both a try soon! You'll be glad you did.  Come back in a few days for pictures of the drinks. In the mean time, why don't you give the show a listen and leave a comment below. This Episode's Cast of CharactersHave you ever wondered what the difference between a cotillion and a debutante ball is? Well the Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure did, and you know what they found out? One has gin and the other one has bourbon! There might be some other differences to. Check out the Southern Living website if you want to know actual details about cotillions and debutante balls. If you’re just thirsty however, let’s make some drinks! First up is the Cotillion. This yummy treat was found on the Imbibe magazine website and you know what’s neat? Both these drinks would be perfect for your fall gatherings! Yellow and red will complement any fall table setting! Cotillion Scott Kennedy, Café Cancale, Chicago 1 oz. bourbon (Kennedy uses Old Forester 86 proof, the Gents used Wild Turkey) ¾ oz. aged rum (Kennedy uses Angostura 5 year, the Gents used Havana Club 7 year) ½ oz. dry curaçao ¾ oz. fresh lemon juice ½ oz. fresh orange juice Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with ice, then shake to chill. Double strain into a chilled glass. Mmmmmmm. Nice right?  Up next is the Debutante Cocktail. This ones been around since the 30s and the Gents chose the recipe from the Barman’s Journal website. Debutante Cocktail Robert Sharp, the Barman’s Journal website 2 oz. Gin 3/4 oz. Fresh Lime Juice 1/4 oz. Simple Syrup 2 Tsp. Grenadine 1 dash Orange BittersCombine all ingredients in a mixing glass and fill with ice. Shake vigorously until well-chilled, then double-strain into a coupe. Garnish with a cherry. This one is a little sweeter than the Cotillion. Very, very nice.  Try them both and let the Gents know what you think! This Episode's Cast of Characters Have you ever wanted to listen to two guys try a bunch of different types of tonic water, decide which one tasted the best, and then use that same tonic to make two drinks? If the answer is a resounding “yes!” then this episode is for you, weirdo. Based on a description of a particular mezcal that said it had gin like flavours, the Gents set out to see how a gin and tonic compared to a mezcal and tonic. The classic gin and tonic is an almost perfect cocktail. It’s refreshing and has a lot of interesting flavours. You all know what it tastes like. It’s great! Gin and Tonic 1 1/2 ounces gin tonic water lime wedge In a tall glass filled with ice cubes pour in the gin then top with the tonic. Garnish with the lime wedge. This cocktail tastes so good and more than makes up for it’s lack of photographic appeal. Looks like a glass of water doesn’t it?  So then the real test. Does Pierce Almas mezcal have enough gin like qualities to make a mezcal and tonic comparable to a gin and tonic? The short answer is yes. The long answer is in the actual episode. You’re going to listen, right? Mezcal and Tonic 1 1/2 ounces Pierde Almas Mezcal tonic water lime wedge In a tall glass filled with ice cubes, pour in the mezcal then top with the tonic. Garnish with the lime wedge.  Hmmm. Looks like another glass of water, but tastes like something else. It’s Ginny but definitely Mezcally too. If you’ve never tried mezcal, this is a great way to introduce it to your mouth!
Please give them them both a try soon! This Episode's Cast of CharactersThey say their ain't no cure for the summertime blues, but the Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure have found one! Blue cocktails! If that doesn't cure what ails you, there is also another exciting "Tale of Eddy" in this week's episode! Let's get mixing! First up is a cocktail called the Bluegrass. The Gents hope you like tart drinks because this one is loaded with citrus. It should have been called the Farewell Scurvy. Bluegrass 1 ounce bourbon 1 ounce lemon juice 3/4 ounce lime juice 1/2 ounce blue curaçao 1/2 ounce Southern Comfort lemon peel and maraschino cherry for garnish Shake the ingredients together with ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a highball glass with fresh ice. Add the lemon peel and maraschino cherry to the glass. Wooeeeeee! That's tart! The drink is almost 1/2 citrus juice! Too much? Maybe. Make it and try it and let the Gents know. As it is it would be the perfect drink for a Bluegrass Festival where you're expected to yell "Wooeeeee!" a lot. Up next is a drink that Gentleman Fred found on the world wide web. Have you heard of this thing? It's crazy. Be careful what you type into it though. It'll turn up the most horrendous things. Anyway, Fred found a delightful drink called Dark Magic. You know what's really magical about it? The recipe is written in milliliters! Dark Magic 40 ml gin 20 ml Blue Curaçao 20 ml Raspberry Syrup 100 ml Pineapple Juice 1 egg white Shake all the ingredients together vigorously with ice for 20-30 seconds and strain into a tumbler with fresh ice. Garnish with 3 fresh raspberries. Serve with a straw. First of all, this drink was designed to be sipped from a container that you can't see through. The extra long shaking makes a wonderful foam that you can't see though. The drink creator served it in a dark metal can with a black titanium straw. The whole idea was that out of this mysterious darkness came this light fluffy raspberry delight. It still works in a regular glass but if you couldn't see the contents it would be quite a surpise! Gentleman Dave thought that the drink was a little too sweet and so Gent Jason mixed the two drinks together and that turned out to be really good too. One of those "greater than the sum of it's parts" situations.
Try them both and mix them together and leave a comment. This Episode's Cast of Characters, It's getting to be that time for putting up preserves. Isn't that how they say it? In this episode, the Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure pull out some marmalade and crab apple jelly, and mix them with some amber spirits to warm your hearts and tickle your taste buds. Also, Gentleman Jason recounts another "Tale of Eddy" this time featuring Jason himself! First up is a cocktail created by Dale DeGroff. He created it for the Crown Royal folks and it's a different take on an Old-Fashioned. It's the Royal Gingersnap. This drink is a little complicated because of the frosting of the glass which should be done a few hours ahead of time. Mix equal parts superfine sugar and ground cinnamon together in a small bowl or saucer. Then take a small orange wedge and rub it around the OUTSIDE of the rim. Wherever the orange touches, so will the sugar, so don't go too thick with your orange rubbing. It is helpful to hold the glass upside down so that the juice doesn't run down the outside of the glass. If that happens, when you make the drink you can easily end up with a sticky glass which is something that no one wants. Dip the rim of the glass in to the sugar/cinnamon mixture and tap the glass to shake of any excess then set the glass aside at room temperature. The sugar will crystallize after a couple of hours and then, when you make the drink, the sugar will not come off with every sip as it would if you put in on fresh. It seems like a lot of work but it really isn't, and it really does make all the difference in the world as you will hear in the show. Royal Gingersnap by Dale DeGroff, from "The Essential Cocktail - The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks" Superfine sugar, for frosting the glass Ground cinnamon, for frosting the glass 2 slices orange 1 Marashino cherry 1 teaspoon orange marmalade 1/4 ounce Domaine de Canton (ginger liqueur) 2 ounces Crown Royal 2 dashes Angostura Bitters Flamed orange peel for garnish Frost the outside of the glass as described above with equal measures of superfine sugar and cinnamon and using one of the orange slices. In the bottom of a cocktail shaker, muddle the remaining orange slice and the cherry with the marmalade and ginger liqueur. Add the whiskey, bitters and ice cubes and shake well. Strain into the frosted glass over fresh ice, and garnish with a flamed orange peel. This not surprisingly is a wonderful drink. It would have to be to make it worth all the prep work. First you smell the orange as you go in for your first sip. You taste a little sweet orange and cinnamon as your tongue touches the rim. Then you get your gingery whiskey goodness (with a bit more) orange as you actually take a drink. Really, really good. Please don't be scared of the prep work. Try this drink as soon as you can. Which is about 3 hours from now. Because of the frosting of the glass.  A little too heavy on the frosting Gents! Next up is a drink that Gentleman Fred came up with. It is a disaster. Fred found a few different recipes but couldn't settle on just one so he improvised and took a little from this one and a little from that one. This is not necessarily a bad thing to do. This is how great new cocktail recipes are born. It is however, not a great thing to do for the first time, live on a podcast. What is the recipe you ask? I'm afraid you'll have to listen to the show to find out. Fred named it the Crabapple Cove in honour of Hawkeye Pierce, everybody's favourite M*A*S*H character. Also because it has crab apple jelly in it. Crabapple Cove by Fred Partridge Bourbon Crab apple Jelly Lemon juice Angosturra bitters (although Fred had orange bitters and Peychauds with him) Listen to the show and hear what Fred did. It's a not a bad drink at all. It just needs a certain something else ingredient-wise. Either that or the proportions need to be tweaked. Maybe try mucking around with it yourself and then leave a comment with your recipe. The Gents will mix it up and try it on the show! Fred Update So here is the thing; I have identified at least three things that I did wrong with my improvised crabapple cocktail:
Or my name isn’t Hawkeye Pierce.  Look at that cocky creep. He's daring you to improve his drink. Do it! Thanks for listening and tune in next time for another exciting episode of "Tales of Eddy"! |
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