Gin Ricky

Scott’s eyes opened with the sunrise.  They usually did.  Each morning his first thought was to roll over and wrap around Katie as she slept.  It was always a calculation though. He longed for the response of every other girlfriend he ever had.  How they yielded to the warmth of his body.  He loved, too, when they wrapped around him in the middle of the night.  His consciousness surfaced just long enough to sense that entwining and then submerge again, feeling strong and protective as well as safe and protected.  

But Kate was not like that.  He suspected that she came to completely as his body molded to hers.  A threat response.  Her neurons firing Warning! Danger!  Rather than melting into him, she solidified.  No observer would ever see it – the imperceptible stiffening that happened on a cellular level.  But he felt it.  It humiliated him.  He felt spurned.  Undesirable.  Ego-crushed.  But then there were the occasions when she pulled his arms around her, backed up and pressed into his pelvis.  On those mornings he soared.  He felt whole.  His senses buzzed, yet he was completely relaxed.  The world was a perfect place.  In these moments Scott believed Katie did want to be with him.  Did, in fact, love him.  Desire him. 

But with so much risk, it could never be spontaneous.  Each morning it was a decision.  An unsafe moment in what ought to be a safe place.  Should he take the chance?  What is the cost-benefit ratio for his ego today?  This morning he felt strong enough to absorb likely rejection.

“Uuunnh,” she groaned, and rolled out from under his arm and as close to the edge of the bed as she could get.  She grimaced.  “Don’t….”

He laid there, looking at her back.  “What time did you get in last night?”

“I have no idea.  I think we hit every bar in the Viagra Triangle.”  

“Wow.  Cheryl and her daddy issues.”

“Tell me about it.”   Katie groaned again as she flopped her legs to the floor and hauled herself up to sit on the side of the bed.  She stood slowly and, holding her head, lurched towards bathroom.  She looked a wreck.  “We wound up at The Lodge where some fifty year old with a bad toup kept buying us gin rickies.  Round after round after round.”

“Well, I suppose you could’ve just said, ‘no’,” he called towards the john.

“If I wanted a father, I’d bar hop with Cheryl more,” she half yelled back.  “Besides, they went down way too easy.”

Scott got out of bed, pulled on his pajama bottoms, and followed her.  “I thought you don’t like gin,” he said, leaning against the doorframe.

“I don’t.  But this didn’t taste like gin, exactly.”

“Rickies are good.  Very bright and citrusy.  We should make it this year’s summer cocktail.”

“Do you mind terribly if we don’t talk about booze right now?”  Katie pleaded, head hanging, elbows on either side of the sink.  Her hair fell every which way to completely hide her face.  She grabbed her temples.  “I just need to get through this day so I can come home and collapse after work.”

“Ok,” Scott lilted as he turned around and headed off towards the kitchen.  “But remember,” he called back, “you have that intervention tonight with your mom & Aunt Gina.”

He couldn’t contain the smirk as he heard the words oh god slide into the sounds of a night’s overindulgence coming to its rightful conclusion in the sink.

Schadenfreude.


Gin Ricky
2 oz. gin
1oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup
club soda

Short shake all ingredients except the soda with a few ice cubes -- just enough to put a chill to the ingredients.  Pour into ice-filled highball glass.  Top with soda and garnish with a lime wedge.

Siesta

Last night was Kitchen Warming #2.  The guest list included friend & kitchen remodeler, T., so we needed the signature cocktail to honor him & his fine work.  Since of all the intoxicants on the planet one can imbibe he only drinks tequila our choices were limited.  Or perhaps it's better described as "focused".  Enter PDT's Siesta.  

On the page it looked decent.  The reality was something we haven't had in a while-- a cocktail worthy of the "Make it again Sam" label and unanimously positive reviews.  The Partner & I took it out for a test drive on Date Night, just to make certain it was something our guests would enjoy.  Such sacrifice....

The best way to describe the Siesta is a grapefruit margarita with depth & dimension brought by the Campari.  Think of it as the ultimate American cocktail.  Where else in the world can a Mexican, an Italian, and a Jamaican come together and make such beautiful offspring? 

How did our warming guests take to it?  Well, let's put it this way.  Of our four guests, J. & E.  don't really drink.  T. only drinks tequila, as mentioned.  And his partner, C., is orbital by the bottom of his second glass.  As I mixed one round, I'd look up to find the other couple's glasses empty.  Upon refreshing those, the ones I'd just filled were only moments away from needing refills.  No one should be surprised to hear that there were several "These go down way too easys" spoken throughout happy hour.  This is how we killed a bottle of Patrón in about an hour's time.  Good thing dinner was shrimp étouffée with andouille spoon bread.  The total fat from half a pound of butter, 3 cups of heavy cream, four eggs, and a pound of pork sausage provided an effective firewall to all that firewater!

Siesta
2 oz. tequila*
1/2 oz. Campari
1/2 oz. grapefruit juice**
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/2-3/4 oz. simple syrup

Shake with ice and pour into chilled coupes.  Garnish with a grapefruit twist.

*:  On Date Nite we tested the Siesta with Patrón Silver.  For the warming we used Patrón Añejo.  The Añejo makes a much smoother cocktail.
**:  We used ruby reds and squeezed the fruit ourselves.  We then strained it to remove the pulp which, while delicious and adds healthful fiber to any cocktail, also makes them cloudy.  It's a sweet, fresh ingredient as opposed to the odd quality even the freshest "fresh squeezed" store-bought variety generally has.

Morango Fizz

First use of awesome vintage Collins glasses: a Christmas gift from The Partner!

PDT Interview
Personal Preferences: A tasty tipp that everyone will like to get the evening rolling; a multiple rounder
Style of Drink: Buck, Collins, Fizz, or Long Drink
Spirit of Choice: Something out of the ordinary
Last Drink: Hotel Nacional Special


Each year we have two large parties of 50 guests or more.  A swank Winter Solstice party alternates years with a Mardi Gras bacchanal while each year we celebrate Pride.  They're fun.  We love the frenetic activity the week before.  The menu planning, the prep, the cooking, the baking, the decorating.   When the parties themselves unfold, we love having friends in our home, watching and listening to them enjoy themselves.  But when you throw a party that size you don't even get a chance to see everyone, never mind visit with anyone.  So we've decided that throughout 2013 we'd have a number of smaller, more casual dinner parties to enjoy the company of our friends as well as entertain.  In this way we could also properly warm the new kitchen.

Our first such evening was last night.  Just 4 friends to enjoy a dinner of homemade chicken pot pies, twice-baked mashed potatoes (topped with cheddar cheese & whipped cream!), and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.  The Partner made a devastating crème brûlée for dessert.  The perfect comfort meal for a kitchen warming on a windy, 20-degree Chicago night.  So I needed a cocktail to kick this evening off well.  Initially, I was looking at rather classic-sounding bevs.  But not everyone would be into brown liquors.  Then I came across the Morango Fizz.  It couldn't have been more perfect given my PDT Interview parameters.  And what it lacked in seasonality, it more than made up for in it's less-than-ordinary ingredients.  To boot, its base liquor would be a nice homage, given my friend, M., would be one of our guests for the evening!  It would bring a little warm weather sunshine into our mid-winter evening.

All agreed, this should be a feature on the roof this summer.  The Morango Fizz is bright & sparkling.  A summer sipper that goes down easier with each pull.  What's nice is that it's sweet and refreshing without being cloying.  It's pink lemonade-like hue is appealing without being pepto-y.  All-in-all, a delightful tipple that's as fun to make as it is to sip.

Morango Fizz
2 oz. strawberry-infused cachaça*
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup
1 egg white

Dry shake ingredients, then shake with ice and strain into chilled fizz glass.  Top with 1 oz. club soda.  No garnish.


*:  Cachaça can be hard enough to find in the traditional variety, depending on what your liquor store carries.  So don't waste time trying to find strawberry-infused.  Better to make your own.  A good infusion takes anywhere from 12-hours to 3 days.  I had about 8 hours before our guests arrived, so here's a "quick" infusion:

• Remove the stems from a pint of fresh strawberries and do a medium-fine dice.
• Put the berries in a large non-reactive bowl.  
• Pour a full bottle of cachaça over them, give a stir, and let stand at room temperature.
• Stir once or twice an hour while infusing.
• After 8-12 hours, strain fruit from the booze and decant.

I was curious as to what this concoction would yield.  Cachaça is a strong liquor.  So I was amazed to notice throughout the day how the mixture slowly transformed from its sharp, alcoholic sting to a softer, lighter berry infusion.  At this time interval, the finished effect was a pleasant balance of a softer cachaça and a light essence of strawberry.  Nothing like the current trend of heavy-handed flavoring of rums & vodkas.  And that's a good thing.

Caipirinha

My girl, L. - of He Shot, She Shot fame - joined the Partner & me on the roof Friday.

Pictured with my caipirinha (left) is her mojito (right).

The Partner's bev? *Yawn* a glass of white wine ;-)

PDT Interview
Personal Preferences: light, refreshing, summery
Style of Drink: short but strong; on the rocks; a summer sipper
Spirit of Choice: clear liquor
Last Drink: Pimm's Cup #1

Finally, Caipirinha!  I've been wanting to mix this bev for the longest.  I've even had a bottle of cachaça on the bar for nearly a year now.  So as the return entry after being distracted and derailed by a major, month-plus kitchen remodel, I decided this would be the one to feature.
 
I was first introduced to this tipp over 15 years ago at a crazy gay disco cum bar cum restaurant called Rhumba.  Mojitos were just becoming all the rage (the best I'd had at that time being at Nacionale 27,  served with a sugar cane swizzle stick), so when our server suggested the caipirinha and described it in terms of a Brazilian mojito with this exotic Brazilian liquor that was a cross between rum & tequila*, I was all in.  Alas, Rhumba is no more.  But in the years since, I have enjoyed several Caipirinhas on warm evenings with my dear friend, M. over at the Matchbox (sitting along Milwaukee Ave. a must while sipping!).
 
Meehan’s version of Brazil’s national cocktail is good.  Looking around the web, he goes with the classic using just 3 ingredients.  He calls for Demerara sugar – which is somewhere between Sugar in the Raw & light brown sugar.  This makes sense as it gives added heft than plain white or simple syrup and counters the slight veggie quality of the cachaça.  Beyond that, I took a modified page from the Matchbox playbook and rimmed the glass with sugar.  Once I have the kitchen back, I’ll do it the way they do and use confectioner’s sugar -- an enjoyable twist.  This will be another feature on the rooftop this summer!


*: Cachaça is actually a rum, not a tequila.  Unlike Caribbean rums, however, it is made from sugar cane juice, not molasses.  Reputedly, it is the first spirit of the Americas, first produced in Brazil ca. 1532.  Thus, cachaça can only come from Brazil.  The comparison to tequila probably stems from two things: its slightly veggie quality on the palate and like tequila, the similar legal limitations on what can be called cachaça.

Caipirinha
2 oz. cachaça
½ lime, quartered
2 barspoons or 2 cubes of Demerara sugar

Slice and juice the lime into a pint glass and muddle hulls with sugar.  Add cachaça and shake.  Pour unstrained into chilled rocks glass filled with ice.  No garnish (unless you want a sugared rim :-P  )

**: Since this entry is already a linkapalooza, here’s a fun one to native pronunciations of caipirinha.  Now you too can order like a Brazilian!


UPDATE: As it turns out, the Caipirinha was a summer feature, though not as often as we would have thought.  This is a strong drink with unique qualities.  Thus it doesn't lend itself to many in a row like, say, a margarit, a mojito, or something out of the Island Oasis machine.  But this does hit the spot after tiring of a run of one of those other drinks and you're not ready to stop yet and you don't quite know what you want next.  In such circumstances, have a Caipirinha.  It's different on the palate and definitely keeps the buzz going until dinner.  You might not have two at that point, but that's ok.  It's the transition drink!

Pimm's Cup #1

PDT Interview
Personal Preferences:  Something new
Style of Drink:  A happy hour kickoff
Spirit of Choice:  Pimm’s
Last Drink:  Corpse Reviver #2

We have two bottles of Pimm’s.  One was a gift and I’ve been dying to try it for some time.  But the thought of cukes in a cup really doesn’t blow The Partner’s skirt up.  Plus, it’s rare that we have a cucumber left in the crisper by week's end since we love ‘em on our salads each night.  But tonight we had one of the English variety in the fridge, so it seemed the appropriate time to slip the Pimm’s Cup #1 into the lineup.

Pimm’s itself is an interesting concoction.  Back in the 19th century, oysters were all the rage with British gentlemen.  Gin, the national bev, was a bit too harsh to go with oysters, but is what was served with them nonetheless.  That is until 1823 when James Pimm opened his London oyster bar and served up Pimm’s House Cup – gin mixed with fruit extracts and various other liqueurs.  It started a rage that swept the Empire.  Before long, what we call Happy Hour was called "Pimm’s O’Clock".  Eventually, Mr. Pimm would create two similar mixes with different bases – scotch being the base of Pimm’s Cup #2 and brandy for Pimm’s Cup #3.

The spirit pours a little syrupy with a reddish brown tint.  The best way to describe the taste is somewhere between a very thin cough syrup and a watered down Jagermeister.  Not the most appetizing, but not as god awful as the cough syrup or Jager either.  When mixed with the other ingredients in this tipple, it’s quite refreshing.  A solid summer sipper with clean, bright notes of cucumber and ginger.  Definitely glad to have finally gotten around to this one!

Pimm’s Cup #1:
2 oz. Pimm’s Cup #1
½ oz. simple syrup
¾ oz. lemon juice
1 oz. ginger ale
3 cucumber slices

Muddle two cuke slices with the syrup.  Add the lemon juice and Pimm’s and shake with ice.  Serve in Collins glasses with ice and top with the ginger ale.  Use the last cuke slice to garnish.

UPDATE:  Well didn't this turn out to be the most notorious sipper of the summer!  For his birthday, The Partner decided he wanted to have just a few friends over for cocktails on the roof.  I didn't want to spend a lot of time behind the bar mixing different cocktails all night ("just a few friends" turned out to be 16).  So besides wine and beer, I featured two cocktails for folks to choose from that could be mixed quickly from only a couple ingredients.  Pimm's Cup #1 was one of them.  As a result, we burned through the two bottles we had on the bar.  With friends A. & R. leading the pack, and it became the most requested drink of the summer with calls, texts, and emails from all quarters asking for the recipe.  Thank goodness for the blog.  Responses were as easy as a pasted link.

What of The Partner you may ask?  He still claims he doesn't like it.  When asked if he'd like one he declines.  The reason:  "Cucumbers are for salads.  I don't like to drink them."  That is until a Pimm's #1 is mixed and placed in his hand without getting permission first.  Then it's:

"What is this?"
"Pimm's #1."
"The one with the cucumbers?"
"The one with the cucumbers."
"Hmm....  It's nice.  Refreshing."
"That's the cucumbers."
After hitting the bottom of the glass: "Ok, I'll have one more...."

Doesn't like it my @$$.  He's just a condiment snob.

Corpse Reviver #2

PDT Interview
Personal Preferences: Something new
Style of Drink: aperitif
Spirit of Choice: gin
Last Drink: Manhattan

The Partner had one tough week at work this week.  So rather than tax him with something new, I made him our now standard Manhattan.  For me, how could I not mix up something called the Corpse Reviver #2??  I’ll need to find Reviver #1 – which Meehan ties to the Savoy Cocktail Book.  Wow, was this enjoyable!  Think of a smoooooth lemonade.

For A. & R., you may want to consider this one for Orphans’ Easter.  I know you’ve already made a choice from the Dilettante's list.  But this one is really nice, not to mention easy-breezy to mix.  Plus, you still get to use Lillet!

As for The Partner, it’s a good thing I love the man.  Whenever I don’t make him a new concoction, mixing him a Ketel or Manhattan instead, he always asks, “What’ve you got there?”  The question is usually tinged with envy.  Read: "How come you didn't make me one too?" and pouted through boo-boo lips.  I got the same this time around too.

“It’s a Corpse Reviver #2.  And no, you can’t have a sip.”  He shot back with some faux wounded quip about it not mixing with a Manhattan anyway.  But sure enough, by round two he wanted a sip and I was willing to give it over.

“Oh wow!  That’s like a smooth lemon drop.  That’s gonna be a regular on the deck this summer.”

Husbands.  He really oughta just trust me from the outset  :-P

Corpse Reviver #2
¾ oz. gin
¾ oz. Cointreau
¾ oz. Lillet Blanc
¾ oz. lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled Absinthe-rinsed coupe*.
No garnish.

*: Again, we don’t own coupes and we’re not fans of Absinthe – even a rinse of it.  So I didn’t use them here.

UPDATE:  This was the other offering for The Partner's birthday cocktail party mentioned in the Pimm's Cup #1 Update.  And A. & R. did wind up featuring it for Orphans' Easter, as recommended above.  Easily this could've been a more regular feature on the roof this summer.  However, we ran out of Lillet pretty early on and, for whatever reason, it didn't get restocked in a timely manner.  Still, the CR2 became my order of choice when cocktailing "off-site".  If the mixologist is worth his rimming salt, he knows the beverage.  If not, with it's equal proportions and short ingredients list, it's easy to remember and coach him through.  That said, be sure to ask if Lillet is behind the bar.  This is not the same cocktail without it.

Conquistador

PDT Interview
Personal Preferences: Date nite, vacation-ready!
Style of Drink: up & cold,
Spirit of Choice: tequila!
Last Drink: Manhattan

The Partner is well again!  So on a Friday night, that means ... DATE NITE!  We reserve Friday nights just for us.  Sometimes we go out and burn it at both ends -- happy hour, dinner, clubbing, come home with the dawn.   Sometimes we order in and watch a movie on Netflix or a Fringe or Top Chef on our TiVo playlist or pop in a Battlestar DVD.  Sometimes it's all of the above.  Whatever it is, though, it's just us time.  No friends, no family.  But with him being under the weather so much lately, Date Nite's kinda been Lame Nite.  But not tonight!

At this writing, we're 2 days, 23 hours & 35 minutes away from an 11-day Caribbean cruise (but who's counting).  So I was definitely in the mood for something Margaritaesque.  The fact that the evening's plan called for carry-out from one of our favorite neighborhood Mexican joints made tequila imperative.  (Well, that and it was DATE NITE!!!).  Since restocking the bar I've been like a little kid who's rediscovered an old toy.  Luckily, some nice Don Julio was restocked.  Of the many tequila drinks in PDT, I settled on the Conquistador.  Meehan says that this was conceived as "a 'mellow' tequila drink that retained the spirit's vegetable notes". I thought it sounded like an interesting riff on the venerable marg that would compliment dinner, set the mood for the evening, and not repeat a bev.

The first sip was a popping surprise.  A real wow in the mouth.  An unusual but very enjoyable combination of dry and fruity.  Almost grassy -- in a good way.  The egg white gave it a unifying smoothness.

In the span of time it took me to draw my first sip and a half and think the above sentences, I hear, "Oh wow...Tastes like a margarita!"  I look and there's a visible dent in The Partner's previously filled glass.

"You better make another one.  I'm almost ready."

My eyebrow arches, Spock-like.

"Hey,  Take that as a compliment!".

The Conquistador went down super-easy, with a chicken quesadilla app and some bonus nachos that made it into our carry-out, unorded.  As I watched Padma prance across our plasma, dispensing the Quick Fire Challenge coup de grace, I notice The Partner looking at me.  Awww...a little Date Nite love eye.  I start to smile warmly in return.  But it's not the love eye.  It's just the eye, looking at me... then looking at his (nearly) empty glass... then at me... then at the bar... then at me.  I shake my head incredulously.

"Hey," says he playfully, "usually I don't like 'em and you're like 'let's have another' and I'm like, 'ugh...o-kaaay'.  But I like these!  KEEP 'EM COMIN'!"

So that we did through dinner, paired nicely with burrito suizo and chicken enchiladas en mole.

I love Date Nite.

Conquistador
1 oz. rum
1 oz. blanco tequila
¾ oz. simple syrup
½ oz. lemon juice
½ oz. lime juice
2 dashes orange bitters
1 egg white

Dry-shake, then shake with ice and strain into a chilled egg coupe*.  No garnish.

*We don’t own egg coupes, so we enjoyed ours from a cocktail glass.

Pearl Button

PDT Interview
Personal preferences: dark liquor, warming, "brown"
Drink style: rocks
Spirit of choice: scotch, bourbon, Irish whisky
Last cocktail: Bijou

Awesome Xmas gifts. Glasses: Mother-in-law, Sculpture: Sis

January 13th.  Friday. Chicago finally gets its first winter storm of the season.  PDT interview notes above reflect my mood.  Bar’s practically empty of stock liquors.  F***.  Heading to Binny’s tomorrow for sure (with that 15% off coupon from my inbox)!  I need something to lift my mood on this typical Chicago winter day. 

Leafing deeper into Meehan.  Looking for something I have ingredients for.  Anything.  Stumble across a section entitled "Seasonal Mixology".  Perfect.  His description of winter captures my mood and bev desires perfectly, noting that when the sun goes down in early afternoon and the temp drops, people start ordering “spiritous aperitifs such as Manhattans, Martinis, Negronis.”  Exactly.  Outta vermouth.  Can’t do a one of them.  Meehan continues: “When the weather gets bleak, I always put a tiki drink on the menu for comic relief on a chilly winter night.”  Permission to go tropical to lift my (excuse the pun) spirits.  And I did just change all my desktop wallpapers to tropical scenes – vacation is tantalizingly close.

Pearl Button.  First sip was a bit of a shock.  After that, both The Partner and I agreed, this will be a feature on the roof this summer.  First word to describe: Dry.  Then light.  Crisp.  Floral.  Citrus. Not at all acidic.  Effervescent.  Not a “ya know, these classic cocktails…” in sight.  I must admit to a bit of anticipatory skepticism when I read the recipe.  Cachaca & Lillet?  But it works.  Even got to trot out the new Collins glasses.  A Christmas gift along with the PDT from my mother-in-law.  Thank you, P-!

Happy Friday 13th!!

Pearl Button
2 oz. Cachaça
3/4 oz. Lillet blanc
1/2 oz. lime juice
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled Collins glass filled with ice.  Top with 1.5 oz. of San Pellegrino Limonata*.  Garnish with half a grapefruit wheel*.

*:  Damn.  Ran out of San Pellegrino Limonata just this afternoon.  Ditto on the grapefruit.  So a slight squeeze from the heel of a lemon over the ice before topping with seltzer and half a lemon wheel for garnish sufficed nicely.  Give an easy stir with a bar spoon to get all the ingredients lovin' each other.

Bourbon Squash | 44 down 231 to go

When you’re getting ready to go out for the evening – you know, showering, primping, preening, running an iron (or a few squirts of wrinkle releaser) over your clothes, getting dressed – it always helps to have a cocktail in hand as you do it.  And while it was not my intention to make these the “hull entries” of the blog, only a page away from the Appetizer was the Bourbon Squash.  Deliciousness in a pint glass.

To be sure, one of the qualities that makes this such an all-around experience is the fact that it engages all the senses, but especially that of hearing in an unusual way.  Like some of its cousins, such as the Mint Julep, Mojito, Old Fashioned, the Squash is made directly in the glass.  The familiar, wet shlaaka- shlaaka- shlaaka of the shaker maraca is replaced by the sound of the ice shaver.  But even better, after packing the ice in the glass over the juice, syrup and hulls, you pour the bourbon over the ice.  As the liquor seeps through, the ice melts and settles making a sound that might best be described as the cocktail version of Snap, Crackle & Pop.  Yet it’s a wholly different sound.  Between the scent of the wafting citrus oils, the vibrant visuals of a divided glass with orange & yellow hulls in the lower half and the icy gravel in the upper half, then this subtle and unexpected music, this cocktail is a synesthesiac sensation.

As much as I disdain straws, definitely use one here, at least to start.  The layering makes for two distinct taste sensations with the sweet acids below and the smoky smoothness above.   The straw lets you mix the bourbon slushy into the liquid below.  As the ice melts and the flavors blend, this is one of those cocktails that’s different with every sip. If only we had discovered this one in the summer.  To June 2012!

Bourbon Squash
2 ½ oz. bourbon
1 oz. orange juice
½ oz. lemon juice
1 t. simple syrup
Squeeze the juices into a pint glass, dropping the hulls in too.  Pack glass with shaved ice.  Pour bourbon over the ice and stir.  Serve with cocktail straw.

UPDATE: Hands down, this was the favorite sipper of the summer.  We've turned many a friend on to this simple-yet-dramatic cocktail.  If you have not tried it yet, hurry, hurry, hurry.  Looking at the ingredients it seems rather wintery with the citrus & bourbon.  But it is summer through and through -- light on the palate, different with every sip, and served in a pint glass.  If you make this for friends, make it a surprise.  Don't tell them what you're making them and ask them to trust you.  The Wow! factor when served intrigues even the non-bourbon drinker.  Several friends have said to me, "I don't like bourbon, but I really like this!"  Such was the case this Labor Day weekend when we spent all Monday in S. & D.'s pool tossing back these bad boys.  D. is now a bourbon drinker...at least in it's Squash form!  

Bee’s Knees | 33 down 242 to go

Labor Day came to Chicago and the Universe threw a switch.  Ever since, it’s been nothing but fall weather.  When I did the food shopping Thursday, the display that greeted me upon entering the grocery store was a huge display of nothing but apple cider.  In a pique of sadness, this child of summer even posted a rather mercurial haiku-cum-status update on Skype:  “Mercury struggles. Days are shorter, sun lower --  Summer's death throes come.”

So it’s in this spirit, on a rainy Friday afternoon as the photo shows, that I felt compelled to try the Bee’s Knees -- an attempt to cling to the last echoes of the halcyon days....  A simple cocktail with the flavors and spirit of summer.  And if you need any further encouragement to try it, The Partner reports that after the Abbey, the Bee’s Knees so far is his favorite of the more traditional cocktails from the bible.  Salut!

Bee’s Knees
2 oz. gin
½ oz. lime juice
1 bar spoon of honey

Shake with cracked ice; strain into a cocktail glass; garnish with a lime wheel.

Margarita | 29 down 246 to go

Without exaggeration, The Partner and I can say that prior to today, we have not had a Margarita.  I know this may cause some consternation around Lakeview where up to this moment El Tapatio and our friend, M., have held the title for Best Margarita.  This version is of a different caliber.

To be fair, we did not make this Margarita strictly by the book.  It is a bit of an improv – and not getting a baseline, for sure.  While this may seem like I’m getting cocky, let’s look at it as needing to make necessary substitutions when different ingredients are in-house.  We were out of Cointreau so substituted Grand Marnier.  And as mentioned in the previous post, we’re desperately trying to drink down a store of OJ.  So orange juice subbed for lemon juice.  We also prefer ours on the rocks without salt.  All that being said, this version was one of the smoothest and tastiest we’ve ever had.  When out of balance, Margaritas can cut in one or a combination of 3 ways:  Too much booze and it burns the throat.  Too much syrup and it scratches the 

throat.  Too much citrus juice and the acidity burns the tongue & tonsils.  Often, heartburn is the result more than any kind of enjoyable warm fuzzy.  This version perfectly harmonized the 3 components of liquor, sugar, and citrus.  It was smooth, vibrant and refreshing. 

As several guests arrived for a spontaneous roof party, these flowed easily throughout the evening without gumming up the palate with syrupy sweetness.  Several guests remarked at their goodness and one was even surprised that it was a Margarita.  How tragic.  This is what Chi-Chi’s has wrought.

Margarita
1 ½ oz. tequila
¾ oz. Cointreau
½ oz. lemon juice
½ oz. lime juice

Shake with cracked ice; strain into chilled wine goblet or cocktail glass with kosher salt on the rim; garnish with a lime wheel.


UPDATE:  This recipe continues to yield, hands-down, the best Margarita The Partner and I have ever had (sorry M. :-).  In the original post above, I didn't strictly follow the recipe as written.  But I've since mixed it exclusively as written and it is smooth, citrusy, balanced sweetness, dangerous.  A staple on the roof this summer, especially with guests who tended towards the familiar, all said this was the best Margarita they'd had.  If you haven't taken the opportunity to mix this bad girl up, do it!

Mojito | 28 down 247 to go

Mojitos should be made in a particular order to release

the botanicals in the mint & limes.

The mint in the herb garden has gone all Audrey 2 on us and The Partner has been yearning for mojitos ever since we planted the stuff.  So I figured what better way to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend than with an antes de la revolución Cuban bev allowing me both to hack down the rabid space plant and satisfy The Other Half all at the same time?

The best mojitos I’ve ever had are served up at Nacional 27, here in Chicago.  Rimmed with raw sugar and served with a sugar cane swizzle stick, these are the stuff of legend.  These days, mojitos are everywhere, most of them either too thin and flavorless or too syrupy and sweet.  All in all, most are just plain bad.  I think that’s because muddled anything is labor-intensive for a bartender who doesn’t enjoy crafting.  To be fair, usually one person ordering a mojito leads to everyone ordering a mojito.  So when half the bar orders cocktails requiring a lot of squeezing and muddling, round after round I can kinda understand the irritation in their eyes when you ask for one.  That is if they’re not being poured from a mix.  So they probably make them subpar to discourage consequent rounds and thus more muddling.  But I digress…

There are two keys to making a good mojito and they both have to do with the volatile oils of the key ingredients.  To start, muddle the mint with a little of the simple syrup and a splash of the seltzer.  The sugars and bubbles help draw out the oils in the mint.  Only muddle until you can smell mint wafting up from the glass.  The other trick is to leave the lime hull in the glass so the rind releases the citrus oils, adding to the play of bitter & sweet.  While you’re squeezing the juice of a full lime, you only need half the hull for the proper balance.  When well crafted, a mojito should be light, bright and terribly refreshing on a hot summer day.  Imbibers should be able to enjoy several rounds without experiencing sugary, syrupy overload.

Mojito

2-3 oz. light rum

1 lime

½ oz. simple syrup

8-10 mint sprigs

Seltzer

Put the mint, simple syrup and a splash of seltzer in a 16 oz. pint glass and muddle until you can smell the mint.  Then squeeze in the lime juice, including half the hull to the glass.  Add the rum, stir, fill with ice.  Top with seltzer and garnish with mint sprigs.

This isn't even a good pic and it's not even as big as it got.  Ah, mint!

UPDATE:  The venerable mojito, like it's cousin, Margarita, was the go-to bev of summer mainly for our guests on the roof.  It was familiar, exotic, and it helped to have had a bumper crop of some of the best mint we've ever grown.  In fact, it's still going strong and I'm going to try to keep it through the winter.  

We got more than a friend or two to their happy place with this tipple.  And the recipe here, like the Marg, often brought claims of being the best the bevver's ever had.   

**Dilettante blushes.**  

**The Partner rolls his eyes.**  

(Not really.  He pretty much beams with pride, but the former maintains the humorous caricature.)   

I now understand why bartenders hate mixing mojitos -- especially when they're busy.  They take forever to craft.  And that's why I've stopped ordering them out.  But, I will admit, when it's only a handful of friends on a warm summer day and no one's in a rush to go anywhere or do anything, all that muddling is worth the effort.  The mojito really isn't that complex, but it does have a big wow factor!

Moscow Mule | 25 down 250 to go

It’s been a week.  Actually, it’s been several weeks.  In a strange flip, I had to work on Saturday and The Partner did not.  I made it known that when I got home I would be thirsty and would want something tall, cold and refreshing.  By 7am yesterday morning I had already settled on the Moscow Mule to fit the bill. 

The Partner had attempted to make these years ago when I found a set of the special copper cups and asked what they were for.  He snapped right to and made some in response to the question.  To be honest, I don’t remember liking it too much.

This time around, though, it was just what the doctor ordered.  The ginger beer made for a nice spicy note that hit the tongue and throat with a good gingery smack.  The copper totally imparts a metallic note.  The Partner says that’s what he likes about it – that copper zing reacting with the acid of the lime and the zap of the ginger.  I, on the other hand, am still uncertain about this.  I am certain, however, that if I put the contact end of my power cord to the cup it could recharge my cell phone!  I made it both in the copper and in a Collins glass.  Both were cold and refreshing and one can absolutely taste the difference between copper and crystal.  No matter the vessel, these go down super easy.  [Say it like Wile E. Coyote says, "Suuuper-Geeenius...."]

H & M tell the elaborate story of how the MM came to be.  Here's the 30 second version.  A Connecticut-based food and liquor distributor rescues Smirnov vodka from the Bolsheviks and its exile in France, anglicizes the name to Smirnoff and nearly gets fired for it because it's the 1930's, Americans don't drink vodka, and there's the whole pinko-commie thing happening.  He hits the Left Coast with his vodka and meets up with a failing Hollywood restaurateur who makes ginger beer on the side to keep his business afloat.  They in turn get together with a friend who also has business troubles and is trying to unload a stash of copper cups she bought from some copper factory.  Together they concoct the Moscow Mule, sold in copper cups with a kicking mule on them -- "warning of its bite."  During the Korean War, the MM gains notoriety due to a fit of typically American anti-communist pique akin to the whole "freedom fries" nonsense after 9/11.  Then with some post-pique marketing legerdemain it becomes the drink of the youth culture.  Only in America.

Moscow Mule
2 oz. vodka
1 oz. lime juice
4 oz. ginger beer
Stir the vodka and lime juice in a glass with cracked ice.  Top with the ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.


UPDATE:  Ahhh...  the mule!  How refreshing.  What a palate cleanser.  What a reset during a long, hot day on the roof.  And while there have been only four vodka bevs featured on the blog, it's good to have this one available when dear friend, S., is over.  Can't drink gin, you know.  Causes barney-mugging.  Next time you're antiquing, do look for the official cups.  They're a definite conversation starter.  Plus, just look how they sweat!  Ahhh.... 

Daiquiri | 21 down 254 to go

Drink the daiquiri cold, cold, cold!

One of my best and earliest memories of my DC college days was going off campus for the first time with friends.  We went to Georgetown, cruising M St. as most college students do.  It was at a cool little joint called The Daiquiri Factory in the back of Café Rondo that I had my introduction to what I thought was the daiquiri.  Turns out, they weren’t even close.  Up until now I thought they were big “spirituous Slurpees”, as H & M call them, and came in flavors like strawberry & banana & pineapple with some rum mixed in.  But I was 19 at the time.  I’m all growed up now.

H & M tell us that an American industrialist is credited with inventing the daiquiri while working in Cuba and naming it after a seaside town of the same name.  But odds are good that Cubans had been enjoying this mix long before some gringo capitalist gave it a name.  Apparently, the daiquiri was JFK’s fave, enjoying a couple before dinner.  That tidbit shot the cocktail into the stratosphere of popularity.  (Is anyone else appreciating the historical irony here?)

A true daiquiri, I should think, would be very popular these days with the current tastes for the tart & sour.  The first two sips are a little jarring.  But from the third on, this frosty imbibe is light and refreshing.  With all of 3 ingredients, it couldn’t be easier to mix.  Squeeze the limes fresh for the juice.  Adding a dash more simple syrup and rum makes it a bit less tart.  But use restraint if adding rum.  Too much and it’s just too sharp.  Also, the colder the better on this one, so shake it until the tin is so cold it frosts and your hand burns with cold.  Have a refreshing summer afternoon!

Daiquiri
1 1/2 oz. light rum
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup

Shake with cracked ice; strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with lime wheel.

Cocktail Chat | An Original Cocktail for Mother's Day

This entry is a Cocktail Chat since it is not a drink out of Cocktail.  However, it is absolutely an inspiration that's resulted from this undertaking.

A couple hours ago, I thought it'd be fun to create a cocktail for Mother's Day.  Since I can't be with my mom today, I thought I'd design something she would enjoy.  So mom, if you're reading this, Happy Mother's Day.  This bev's for you!

Once the weather warms up, mom loves a good white wine spritzer.  So that's where this drink begins.  But since this is a special day and the tipple a part of the Dilettante project, it couldn't be just a spritzer.  The fact that mom isn't big on liquor, finding accents was a bit of a challenge until I thought about the aperitifs she enjoys.  So this will have a citrus note to it.  I'm sure I'll tweak the recipe over time, especially if I get some feedback and ideas from mom herself.  

But in the meantime, I offer the first draft of the Diane Spritzer!  May it refresh on a hot summer day!

The Diane Spritzer

4 1/2 oz. Sauvignon Blanc

2 oz. Cointreau or Grand Marnier

1 oz. gin

1 oz. lemon juice

4 dashes orange bitters

seltzer to taste

Stir with cracked ice; pour into a wine glass filled with ice; garnish with a lemon wheel.  For some added dimension, shake 3 dashes of Angostura bitters on a sugar cube and place in the bottom of the glass.

Pegu | 15 down 260 to go

Dry & citrusy...the Pegu from colonial Burma

I love it when H & M lead with a short but tantalizing history of a cocktail, especially one as exotic and literary as the Pegu.  This drink was fantastically popular during the 1920’s, 30’s & 40’s, but traces back to Burma of the late 1800’s.  The bev gets its name from The Pegu Club which was 50 miles outside Rangoon and was the regular haunt of British colonial officers.  One officer in particular may be a reason for it’s 20th century popularity.  For several years, George Orwell was famously stationed in Burma and a frequent patron of the club.
 
For my family back East, a quick Google led me to the club’s namesake in SoHo and purports to be an establishment dedicated to classic cocktailing culture.  How cool is that?  Maybe you could check it out and report back.  Or perhaps a field trip cum family reunion when I’m home next.  For research purposes, of course!  I sense a plan hatching…

H & M claim “the Pegu is more than mildly in resurgence, meaning that this inspiring gin aperitif has been successfully ordered at most bars and dining establishments.”  Now granted, the copyright of the bible is 1998.  But still, has anyone else heard of this tipple before?  I know I haven’t.
 
The Pegu is a good way, say the authors, for people who don’t like Angostura bitters to acclimate.  They also suggest adding a couple dashes of orange bitters as training wheels for the bitters-averse.  We tried it both with the orange bitters and without.  This is a beautiful, dry, citrusy drink.  Very refreshing.  If you make it with only the Angosturas, you can smell the difference when shaking, but the taste is not terribly different.  Though it does go from dry with the orange to dry, dry, dry with Angosturas alone.  An easy-breezy one to mix and a definite for a summer evening after a day in the sun.  Santé!

Pegu
3 parts gin
1 part Cointreau
1 part lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
(2 more dashes orange bitters for a bit more citrus and less dryness)

Shake with cracked ice and serve in chilled Martini glasses.  Garnish with a lime twist.