That’s right folks! The Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure are short one gentleman this time around. A vexing problem but as they say, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Then, as WE say, you mix that lemonade with various liqueurs and drink it.
But what to drink this time around? How about a couple of drinks inspired by Dave’s absence? First up (because Dave won’t stop talking about him) we sample a Mark Twain Cocktail. This one comes from Dale DeGroff’s book “The Craft of the Cocktail”. This is a fantastic book and every bartender should have it. It’s got that much important stuff in it. This recipe is described in a letter to Mark Twain’s wife, sent from London in 1874. The Mark Twain Cocktail 1 1/2 ounces scotch whiskey 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice 1 ounce simple syrup 2 dashes of Angostura bitters Shake all the ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass Huck yeah! that’s a tasty drink! Next up, on Fred’s advice, we delve into the wonderful world of Tiki drinks with "Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log". Upon perusing the Grog Log, Fred thought that the best drink that described “not having Dave around” was . . . Gone the Beachcomber 1 ounce fresh lime juice 1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice 1/2 ounce Trader Vic passion fruit syrup 1/4 ounce Maraschino Liqueur 1/4 ounce sugar syrup 1 ounce of Demerara Rum 1/4 ounce 151 Demerara Rum Shake everything - except 151 rum - with ice and strain into a 4 ounce cocktail glass. Then float the 151 rum on top This is Jeff Berry’s version of the Demerara Dry Float and is very, very nice. Dave should be back with us next time. If he's not, we'll be making a "Missing In Action" and a "Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?" One of which we'll have to create from scratch. Oh well. Until then . . . Tip Big!
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In this episode, The Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure once again throw caution and good sense to the wind and set out to drink two cocktails in a little over a 1/2 hour and try to pass their experience on to you. This time they put the gin bottles away and pull down the ones full of whiskey!
Setting Mr. Peabody’s “Wayback Machine” to 1838 the boys sample a Whiskey Cocktail made with Anchor Distilling’s Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey. As it says on Anchor Distilling’s website, “Old Potrero is an attempt to re-create the original whiskey of America, and marks the return of pot-distilled whiskey in the United States. It's distilled in a small copper pot still at Anchor Distillery on San Francisco's Potrero Hill from a mash of 100% rye malt, with rye being the grain of choice for America's first distillers.” The recipe we used was from David Wondrich’s book “Imbibe!” Listed as The Original Cocktail and dating from 1806, this drink could be made with gin, rum or brandy. The whiskey version shows up in print 32 years later. A long time but well worth the wait! The Original Cocktail (Whiskey) 1838 2 ounces Old Potrero 18th Century Style Whiskey 3 ounces water 4-5 dashes bitters (Mr. Wondrich calls for Stoughton’s bitters but said Angostura or Peychaud’s would work just fine. We used Peychaud’s.) 1/2 ounce of sugar syrup Scrape of nutmeg on top. This drink has no ice. Having said that, Mr. Wondrich likes his with ice so we did the same. Build this drink over ice and grate a little nutmeg on top. Hello 1838! After this, the Gentlemen, opted for a whiskey drink from the early 20th Century. The Blood and Sand named after the 1922 Rudoph Valentino movie. This time the recipe was from Ted Haigh’s “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails.” This is one of the drinks you should use to convince scotch haters that scotch is both fantastic and can work in a cocktail. Go on. Try it! Blood and Sand 1 ounce Scotch (We used Famous Grouse) 1 ounce orange juice 3/4 ounce Cherry Heering 3/4 ounce Sweet Vermouth Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry Mmmm, mmm. Delicious right? We knew you’d like ‘em. Now go get some whiskey and we'll see you next time! In this episode The Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure tip toe around the edges of Maraschino Liqueur. Not to be confused with the neon red cherries that have been plopped into our drinks for the last 60 years, Maraschino Liqueur is a clear liqueur with the flavour of Marasca cherries. Pits, stems and all combine to make a sweet, vaguely cherry scented delight. Think of it as tasting like a “grown up” cherry candy as opposed to a cherry Lifesaver. It’s an Italian word so the “schi” is pronounced like “ski” although you’ll never get Fred to admit it.
A great use of Marschino is in the classic Aviation Cocktail and we’re going with Ted Haigh’s recipe from “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails”, but we’re also going to try a little experiment that you too can try at home. At one point you see, there was a little Creme Yvette added to the drink as well. This was supposed to give it a little bit of a sky blue tint that made the name “Aviation” make sense. We tried the drink without it and then threw in a little splash after that and tried it again. The Aviation 2 1/2 ounces Gin 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice 2 or 3 dashes of Maraschino Liqueur Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. (After this we added the splash of Creme Yvette.) Creme Yvette is sweet and has a flowery violet taste that lingers after the sweetness. You’ll have to listen to the show to see what we thought! San Francisco is a great town to drink in. The very first Gentleman of Elegant Leisure came from there. It seems only right that we modern day Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure should try to feature a drink from that great city. Enter the Genever Daisy as served at Whitechapel in San Francisco, adapted by Alex Smith and printed in Imbibe Magazine. Daisies have been around for a long, long time and have both old and new versions. The older versions called for Orange Cordial (think Grand Marnier) to be mixed with sugar syrup, lemon and whatever spirit you had and then things start to change. Different spirits called for different ingredients. The Mexicans started adding lime juice instead of lemon juice to their Tequila Daisies. "Margarita" anyone? (Margarita is the Spanish word for Daisy.) In this case, the Hollands Gin gets paired with Marachino Liqueur and Orgeat instead of the Orange Cordial and sugar syrup. What are we waiting for? Let’s try one! Genever Daisy Adapted by Alex Smith for Whitechapel in San Francisco. Printed in Imbibe Magazine 1 3/4 ounce Genever (Hollands) Gin - We used Boomsma 1/4 ounce Maraschino Liqueur 1/2 ounce Orgeat Syrup 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice Shake all ingredients with ice, then strain into a chilled glass Crazy right? Look how similar the recipes look at first glance and yet . . . so different when they’re actually made. A half ounce of Orgeat syrup makes a world of difference! Please make these drinks or better yet, have someone make them for you. That way, you can be like a Gentleman of Elegant Leisure and . . . Tip Big! In this episode, The Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure are finally joined by their third co-host, Fred Partridge. Fred has been busy working on a local production of "The Odd Couple" and it seemed only fitting to try a couple of cocktail that had an odd couple of ingredients.
Our first choice was The Twentieth Century Cocktail from Ted Haigh's fantastic book, "Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails." This sporty number features the flavours of both chocolate and lemon dancing the Taste Bud Tango on your tongue! An odd couple indeed, but just like Felix and Oscar, they somehow manage to get along. In the first sentence of his description though, Mr. Haigh says that at first glance, this drink looks like a mere variation on the Corpse Reviver #2. A perfect chance for a comparison we thought and so to start out, let's have a look at the Corpse Reviver #2. This is one of those drinks designed to be drunk first thing in the morning (ideally to clear out the cobwebs from the night before). I could see that. The Corpse Reviver #2 1 ounce Gin 1 ounce Cointreau 1 ounce Lillet Blanc 1 ounce fresh lemon juice 1-3 drops (not dashes) Absinthe or Pastis (Pernod, Herbsaint, and Ricard all will work.) Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass. Drop a stemless cherry into the bottom of the glass. Mmmmmm. Nice, right? Good morning sunshine! These little beauties have been around for a long time and there are numerous recipes for them. Try 'em all! Now on to The Twentieth Century Cocktail. It was created in 1937 and appeared in the "Cafe Royal Bar Book". Dave and Fred credit it to C.A. Tuck. The Twentieth Century was a train that went from New York City to Chicago in 16 hours! The train itself spawned a play, a movie and a musical along with a cocktail. How many trains have done that? Have a taste of this "thinking person's" drink and imagine yourself in Art Deco splendour! The Twentieth Century Cocktail 1 1/2 ounces Gin 3/4 ounce Lillet Blanc 1/2 ounce light Crème de Cacao (or a scant splash, to taste. Fred wanted more!) 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice. Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. What do you think of that? Pretty good right? Maybe it should be a morning drink too. It's like Cocoa Pebbles with lemon juice and gin! The gin cancels that sugar high and the lemon juice gives you a good shot of Vitamin C. We Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure love these obscure drinks. If you've found one you'd like to try but don't have the ingredients, drop us a comment with the recipe in it. Maybe we can try it for you and let you know whether you should drop the cash on the ingredients yourself! Until next time, be a Gentleman of Elegant Leisure and always . . Tip Big! Ahhhh. Spring is in the air! (Actually we've got a firm foothold in Summer but that works too!) In this episode the Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure sample a couple of cocktails featuring the wonderful blackberry liqueur Crème de Mûre.
First up is a tasty treat created by Dick Bradsell in London in 1984. The Bramble combines Gin and Crème de Mûre to make a lovely light drink that you could actually enjoy year round. The Bramble 1 1/2 ounces Gin 3/4 ounce Lemon Juice 1/2 ounce simple syrup 3/4 ounce Crème de Mûre Fill a rocks glass with crushed ice. Add first 3 ingredients. Stir. Add more crushed ice if needed. Drizzle Crème de Mûre on top of the crushed ice. Garnish with a Lemon Wheel and a blackberry. After this, the Gentlemen change it up with Bourbon. In the Black Demure created by Franky Marshall of the Clover Club, Bourbon moves in to the drivers' seat with a little help from some Cointreau and Crème de Mûre. Dark and light at the same time, the drink lives up to it's name. The Black Demure 2 ounces Wild Turkey Bourbon 1/4 ounce Crème de Mûre 1/4 ounce Cointreau 3/4 ounce Lemon Juice 1/4 ounce Simple Syrup Combine all ingredient in a shaker. Shake and strain in to an old fashioned glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a lemon wheel and blackberry. There you have it. Two delicious drinks surrounded by some Phil Spector references, some questionable Mark Twain impressions and just enough Star Trek trivia to keep you interested! Also Dave introduces a new feature and announces that we're now on Instagram. Have a peek at pictures of us and the drinks at cocktailpodcast on Instagram or click on the easy peasy Instagram button to your right. Enjoy the drinks and as always . . . Tip Big! |
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A great selection of Absinthe for purchase.
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