Bourbon/Rye Cocktails

[TBoner]

I just finished a variation of the aforementioned Vieux Carre that was very nice, and would make a great Thanksgiving cocktail:

3/4 oz. Laird's bonded apple brandy
3/4 oz. Old Forester BIB (1980s version: orange, cherry, flowers, and cinnamon)
3/4 oz. Cinzano sweet vermouth
1 tsp. Cherry Marnier (not always available: any good cherry flavored brandy liqueur will work)
2 dashes Peychaud's
2 dashes homemade bitters (similar to Fee Bros. Aromatic - lots of cardamom and cinnamon)

Stir with ice and strain. Flame an orange peel over the glass.

I really dig the interaction of fruitiness here: apple, orange and cherry (from the vermouth, the whiskey, and the Marnier) are great together. Then throw in the pie spice from the bitters and whiskey. Superb.

[scratchline]

Need to catch up on my cocktail posting. After a week of straight bourbon appreciation thanks to TNBourbon and the Mellow Moments Club, I'm back in NYC and putting my Weber kettle rotisserie to the test. So it only seems reasonable to get back into the cocktail swing as I tend the fire.

Last night I tried out the Maple Leaf. Really just a sour sweetened with maple syrup:

1 1/2 oz bourbon (Old Bardstown Bonded)
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz maple syrup

Shake. Strain.

Good but TOO sweet. Definitely need to pull back on the syrup or ramp up the lemon. Also rye might give this a little more punch. All-in-all not bad, but.... I'm very intrigued by the idea of maple syrup as a sweetener but this isn't it.

Then I tried out TBoner's first Vieux Carre recipe. Very nice. Complex as you might imagine with the cognac and bourbon and vermouth. My girlfriend who favors Sidecars was very impressed. This is definitely one to return to. Thanks, TBoner!

Today I started with a modified Manhattan:

2 oz bourbon (WT 12)
1/2 oz Amer Picon (the original 78 proof)
2 dashes Fees orange bitters
2 dashes Bitter Truth bitters

Stir madly.

This is a tremendous cocktail as you might expect from what is essentially a Manhattan. The Amer Picon is never to be passed up. If you see a bottle of this, buy it. I will miss mine when it's gone. Some folks would add syrup to this but that would be a mistake. Also, I recommend that any cocktail afficionados go to the trouble to contact Stephan and get some of the Bitter Truth bitters. Worth the trouble, and he is a guy you want to support. BTW, if anyone has any word on the Angostura orange bitters availability, I'd appreciate the info.

Finally I'm on to Chuck's bourbon and ginger. As per his recommendation the Ale 8 One is great in this one. I may add a squeeze of lemon or lime to the next one, but I have no complaints here.

But, Chuck, you must eschew the T sour mix! A squeeze of lemon or lime and some demerara syrup and you'll take your sour to another realm. Given the sophistication of your palate, you need to go there. It's really not much extra effort.

[CrispyCritter]

I'm going to have to see if I can find a bookstore that stocks Imbibe! magazine. Apparently, the current issue has a recipe for an Amer Picon substitute that involves Amaro Ramazzotti, Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters, and a homemade orange peel tincture.

[TNbourbon]

Taking off on Lynchburg Lemonade tonight, but with almost none of the correct ingredients in-house, so I guess I have the Columbia Convolution instead. Anyway, it's pretty good.
I just mixed it in situ in a tall, 16-oz. Kahlua cocktail glass:

3-1/2 oz. pineapple juice
3-1/2 oz. sweet-and-sour (Daily's)
4 oz. Old Overholt 80-proof rye (late-'90s bottle)
topped up the glass with Club soda
garnished with two maraschino cherries
stirred over three ice cubes

Here's a collection of whiskey/whisky cocktails:
http://www.whiskymag.com/cocktails/


Postscript: Okay, just got to the bottom of the glass, and those cherries were excellent! I'm ordering a second round (just wish the drinker was a better tipper).

[scratchline]

Nice link, Tim. That'll keep me busy for a while.

Decided to use some British ginger beer syrup to sweeten a lime sour tonight:

1/2 oz lime juice
1/4+ oz ginger beer syrup
1 1/2 oz bourbon (4 Roses Small Batch)

Shake. Strain.

Very good. But I'm going to try another one with a more assertive, higher proof whiskey. The ginger/lime combination is a little overpowering. Also just a touch of demerara syrup to take some of the edge off the lime. Stay tuned.

-Mike

Round 2. Added 1 teaspoon of demerara syrup to the mix and switched over to Old Bardstown Bonded. This cocktail is still pretty edgy. The ginger syrup has a sharpness that is very difficult to tame. It's not unpleasant but definitely not as gentle as the traditional bourbon and ginger ale. It's going to be a long hot summer in NYC so further experiments will be made.

[TNbourbon]

...But I'm going to try another one with a more assertive, higher proof whiskey. The ginger/lime combination is a little overpowering...

I might also suggest a straight rye, whether high-proof or not -- that is exactly what I was thinking when I opted for the Overholt tonight against the pineapple/sweet-and-sour. When I tried barrel-proof Old Potrero in the second 'round', I found I prefered the 80-proof OO rye.

[scratchline]

Julep night tonight. There's obviously a lot of variation in recipes for this one, but I have no complaints with what I did this evening:

1 big sprig of mint leaves (10-12)
Generous 1/2 teaspoon demerara syrup
2 oz bourbon (WT 12)

Muddle the mint and syrup together in an Old-Fashioned glass taking care not to overdo it and turn the whole thing too bitter. Pack the glass with crushed ice. Pour the bourbon over. Stir long and well. Repack with ice. Stir til a healthy frost is on the glass. Repack with ice. Garnish with a big sprig of mint. Serve outside in the summer heat.

The frosty glass is a key element to this cocktail. As is the hot day. I often use wheaters for juleps. Weller 107 is a good one, but it's hard to ruin WT 12. Jenny will be back with more ice soon and I'll try a barrel strength whiskey. You want something that can stand up to the ice and the heat and keep the flavor coming.

David Embury recommends bitters and as I don't remember ever having a julep with bitters, I'll probably throw that into the mix as well.

Sippin' a fine mint julep on a little terrace in a hot Manhattan evening a 1/2 block from Central Park can almost convert your studio apartment into a manse. Since I'm temporarily the Squire of the Manor tonight, I'll be generous and give myself an A on this one.

-Mike

[JDutton]

I suppose this would be considered a variation on a julep:

Snowshoe:
1 - 2 parts WT 101 to taste
1 part DeKuyper Peppermint Schnapps
Serve over ice.

Apparently this originated as a shooter with equal parts of WT and PS.

Jeff

[TBoner]

scratchline,

Glad you enjoyed the Vieux Carre. It continues to be a favorite for me. The other night, I swapped out the cognac for Cuervo 1800 Anejo. It was very good. Not perhaps on par with the original recipe, but a nice change of pace.

I've also been making a drink called the Slope recently. This is a drink from the Flatiron Lounge that's a variation on the Red Hook (itself a variation of the Manhattan). I learned about the drink through eGullet, had the ingredients on hand, and away I went. At any rate, the version I originally made was:

2 oz. rye
1/2 oz. Apry (apricot flavored brandy liqueur)
1/2 oz. Punt e Mes

It was good, but sweet, as Apry is very sweet and potent.
A few days after I made this, however, over on eGullet forums, a bartender from Flatiron posted that the version they make is:

2 1/2 oz. rye (Rittenhouse was specified)
3/4 oz. Punt e Mes
1/4 oz. Apry
1 dash Angostura

I made one like this but with WT Rye, since I don't have any Rittenhouse open. Tremendous. The Apry is sweet enough to counter the Punt e Mes, and the drink is very well-balanced and spicy. I also tried one with my homemade bitters, which was equally good but different. Recommended.

[scratchline]

Hey, Tim. I'd been following that eGullet thread and actually made a Slope the other night with the 2,1/2,1/2 proportions substituting Grande Passion, Grand Marnier's passionfruit liqueur, for the Apry. Since then, I've located my bottle of Apry and was planning to give the other recipe a try. I'll definitely do it.

-Mike