Mai Tai - my dismay

So I put a lot of work into making the mai tai a reality at home. And after all the work and effort, tweaking and note-taking, I realized something. I don't think I like the Mai Tai. That makes sense because I dislike almond flavored anything (aside from straight almonds).

To make an authentic Mai Tai, you need to make falernum and orgeat (pronounced or-ZHAT). Neither is particular difficult to make, but I found that orgeat doesn't keep well (maybe one week in the fridge), so that means you need to make many drinks, in a hurry.

My final recipe:
2 part white rum
1 part Lemon Hart overproof rum (or other Demerera rum)
1 part orgeat
1 part falernum
1/2 part lime juice
1 Luxardo cherry

1. Smash ice in a lewis bag or crush ice somehow. You really want small, small pieces but not a slushy. Fill Collins glass with smashed ice.
2. Add ice cubs and all ingredients except cherry and Lemon Hart to a cocktail shaker.
3. Secure shaker top and shake vigorously for 20 seconds.
4. Open and strain into Collins glass.
5. Pour in Lemon Hart slowly.
6. Float cherry on top of ice
7. Provide a straw to stir and drink through

If you'd like me falernum or orgeat recipes, comment below and I can send them (they're long).

Five favorite spirits of 2012

We tried a few new (to us) spirits in 2012. One or two were awful, many were simply fine, and five were favorites.

1. Carpano Antica Formula - You can't find a bar that doesn't feature Carpano (well, unless you're in New Jersey) now. And rightfully so, this is delicious any way you use it.
2. Banks Island 5 Rum - Never has a 750 mL bottle been finished as fast as this one. We couldn't make enough daiquiris and mojitos with this rum. Delicious in every way.
3. Pierre Fernand Dry Curacao - In small doses, this made every drink better. We added it often to Daiquiris and even to an occasional Brandy Crusta.
4. Brooklyn Gin - So far this is my favorite all-purpose gin. I use it most often for a Negroni or Gin & Tonic. Really delicious in that it's not too much heat nor are the botanicals so strong in any direction that all you taste is a specific flavor.
5. Luxardo Cherries - Not a spirit. But this redefines the garnish to me. Going through some domestic and German competitors, nothing is even close to this cherry.

The final daiquiri is made with these ingredients:

• Chairman's Reserve Rum
• Pierre Ferand Dry Curacao
• Simple syrup from candied kumquats
• Squeeze from Meyer lemon

NEGRONI: the definitive post

For three months, I subjected my wife, visitors, even my in-laws and parents to tasting permutations of the Negroni. I tried 18 variations based on different inputs and differing ratios. Other publications beat me to this, but none have been as thorough.

After all the trial and error, here are the three important facts you need to know.

1. The negroni is bitter. I think pleasantly bitter, but bitter. There's no way around that. Unless you like an occasional bitter beverage, don't order a Negroni.
2. Spend money on vermouth, not on gin.
3. Stir a lot. It dilutes the drink a bit and makes sure you have an evenly mixed drink. I noticed the inputs' viscosity (and density presumably) are very different, so stirring is essential.

A negroni is gin, vermouth, and Campari. I liked adding an orange twist but it's not necessary. Classically, this drink is made in equal parts. That makes the drink really easy to prepare. And to me, it makes a poor drink. Why? To me, it's too much gin. Some bartenders go more extreme. Jim Meehan, of PDT fame, uses 8 parts gin to 3 parts vermouth and 3 parts Campari. To me, it's too boozy.

My recipe goes in the opposing direction and it is delightful (and bitter).

• 2 parts gin
• 2 parts Campari
• 3 parts vermouth

I had strong preferences in gin and vermouth.

• Vermouth -Regrettably, I used Dolin for many of my tests. It's terrible. Never buy Dolin. At a few bars, I asked to try a few straight. I preferred Cocchi di Torino. It's smooth, woodsy, and perfumed with herbs.
  
• Gin - I tried Hendricks, Beefeater, Brooklyn Gin, Breuckelen Gin, and Greenalls. Aside from excluding Hendricks (weird vegetal taste with the other ingredients), the others were relatively similar. I had to really concentrate to find differences. If you have gin on hand, use it to start making negronis. If you are going to purchase gin, I'd buy Greenalls. It's very satisfying and affordable.

Technique? There isn't much technique to it. I filled a pint glass with ice, added the ingredients and stirred. I stirred 20 times in each direction. That sounds like a lot, but it's not. After stirring, strain over fresh ice and enjoy with some orange peel.

Hopefully this helps you start making negronis.

5 most favorite alcohols

In the last post, I listed some of our least favorite spirits new to us in 2011. Here's a list of five favorites.

1. Cardamaro - Slightly bitter, a bit unctuous, and unexpectedly vegetal - this is great to drink on a single ice cube.
2. Cochi Vermouth di Torino - Who knew the massive divide between good and bad vermouth? It shouldn't surprise though. Anyhow, this is slightly sweet and has an aroma of dried herbs. It makes a negroni great. It makes a slightly sweet martini fantastic.
3. Denizen Rum - We happened across this at a tasting while waiting two hours to eat pizza at Robertas. It's a Dutch rum made a Trinidad ingredients. Simple and delicious; this makes an amazing daiquiri.
   
4. Greenall Gin - I always disliked gin. Always until 2011. And we tried five or six gins and surprisingly liked this one the best. The distiller has made this gin for centuries, but it's not well-distributed or expensive. We found it to be a great balance between classic gin flavors.
5. Old Monk Rum - From India, this rum has this intense butterscotch flavor that makes a great dark and stormy.
   

5 Least Favorite Alcohols

In 2011, I purchased more spirits than I have in the previous 10 years combined. We made many different drinks and in that process, we came across spirits that we just did not like. So in the spirit (ha!) of sharing, here are our five least favorite spirits.

Listed below from unbearable to drinkable.

1. Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur - This just tastes fake and slightly medicinal. It has great color so in some tiki drinks, you could lose the bad flavor and enjoy the bright red hue.
2. Goslings Rum - SoS and I have loved the dark & stormy for a long time. Now I know why high-end cocktail bars seem to use any rum besides Goslings. Sometimes the original is not worth reproducing.
3. Rothman Orchard Cherry Liqueur - Same as Nux Alpina. It tastes fake and harsh. Nothing good to be said here.
4. Smith & Cross Rum - None of the complexity or smoothness of good rums, but with a lot of heat. At least this rum is strong.
5. Averell Damson Plum Gin - Made in my home state of New York, I wanted to like this gin. I wanted to mix a "Ted Damson" and like it - but I didn't. The saving grace for this is that it's not terrible with soda.

October Cocktail - Gimlet

I was more interested in the process of making lime cordial than I was in the actual gin gimlet. Over the last 10 months, I've grown to like gin. I may even say it's my favorite distilled alcohol. Anyhow, after I read Toby Cecchini's T Magazine (recipe at the bottom) article on making lime cordial, I added this drink to A COCKTAIL A MONTH.

I tried Hendricks, Plymouth, and Bluecoat and thought that Bluecoat was easily the best match. I don't know if it's the better gin, but seemed to pair with lime much better.

Once you make the cordial, the drink is easy to make.

Ingredients

1. 2 oz. gin
2. 1 oz. lime cordial
3. lime wedge

Directions

1. Add ice to tumbler
2. Add cordial
3. Add gin
4. Stir
5. Garnish with a lime wedge

September Cocktail - Margarita

Margarita. It's something most of us have pretty average experiences with. Think hard. Can you remember the last time you had a great margarita? If so, how much of that "great" connects to the place, the people, or time of year? My point is that a pretty average margarita can taste great on the first warm day of June after a long workday, especially when shared with great company.

I set out to try and make a great margarita even if drank alone, on a rainy night in September.

Three rules I learned through my tests:

1. You must shake a margarita vigorously. It needs the intense chill and the aeration.
   
2. Cointreau is much better than standard triple sec. It's a little extra, but worth it.
3. A salted rim adds positive complexity.

I tried a few tequilas and preferred Puro Verde. I'm not enough of an expert to describe why, but this produced the margarita I expected. There's no harshness in this tequila.

Ingredients for 1 margarita:

1. 2 ounces tequila (preferably blanco)
2. 1/2 ounce lime juice
3. 1/2 ounce Cointreau
4. 2 dashes citrus bitters (I used Bitter Truth Grapefruit)

Technique:

1. Use the spent lime rind to moisten the lip of a rocks glass.
2. Roll the glass through a plate of kosher salt.
3. Add ice to glass
4. Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker
5. Shake vigorously (more than you think you need to)
6. Pour into rocks glass.
7. Garnish with lime wheel

June Cocktail - Mojito

In Mid-August, I'm posting about the June cocktail. Why? Well, the mojito has been difficult for me to figure out. We've made a lot of them and I'm still not sure I have "perfected" a house mojito. Perfected is in the eye of the beholder (me in this case, and I feel there's still work to be done.)

Anyhow, the mojito is above-everything refreshing.

Early in the process, I realized that we loved the mint flavor but don't like a big wad of mind in our glass. We also realized that the the drink can tolerate a significant amount of lime juice.

So, the Localvore Mojito is:

• 2 ounces rum (more on choice later)
• 1 ounce lime juice
• 2 barspoons of confectioners' sugar
• 10 - 15 leaves of mint (spearmint or peppermint)

1. In a pint glass, combine lime juice, mint leaves and sugar.
2. Muddle for a honest 30 seconds (same amount of time if you double or triple the drink).
3. Add rum.
4. Add a lot of ice.
5. Stir.
6. Strain into glass already filled with ice and rim has been slicked with juiced lime section
   
7. Fill glass with mineral water.
8. Give one quick stir.

A few clarifying points we found:
Confectioners' Sugar - I tried simple syrup, superfine sugar, agave and even made a sirop de canne. Nothing made a nicely sweetened drink like confectioners' sugar. I don't really know why.
Rum - I enjoyed trying a few different rums. A darker rum worked better than white rums. But I don't know if I'd spend a lot of money on a rhum agricole for mojitos. I am trying to keep my bar American and found this Massachusetts rum to be delicious.
Stirred, not shaken - I didn't want so much dilution or frothiness, so I stirred.
Lemon - When making a batch, I substituted lemon for a quarter of the lime and found that it was different but delectable nonetheless.
Bubbles - Whatever you do, do not use something without significant bubbles. It makes the drink more lively and tasty. Again, I don't know why.

March Cocktail - Tom Collins

I'll admit the Tom Collins was a disappointment. Not a drink that I couldn't enjoy, but more or less a bland drink that I could never achieve balance within.

I bought Tom Gin specifically for this drink and then played with the other ingredients.

My final recipe included:

• 2 oz. Tom Gin
• 1 oz. simple syrup
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• sparkling water to fill

In a highball full of good ice, I added the ingredients, stirred and sipped. My feeling - fine, nothing great.

February Cocktail - The Dark & Stormy

This has been one of my favorite cocktails for the last decade. What’s not to like – rum, ginger ale, lime, ice? After 14 variations in February (and early March), I have a few suggestions:

1. Don’t make this with fountain ginger ale. Schweppes is pretty meager in flavor, bubbly, but heavy in texture, leaving you a drink with more viscosity and less taste.
2. A smaller drink is better. Filling the glass with soda results in watery drink. If you’re a fast drinker (like me), then this is difficult.
3. Fresh lime is best. No lime is better than lime syrup. I didn’t try bottled lime juice but think that’s probably ok, but lime syrup was bad.
   

If you’re planning to make a large amount, consider making your own ginger beer. It’s not hard to do and requires one day planning.

My recipe produces a balanced but not strong drink. I like to serve in a footed pilsener glass with significant ice.

1. 1 ½ ounces OLD MONK rum
2. 1 ounce Morris Kitchen's Ginger Syrup
3. ½ ounce fresh lime juice
4. 4 ounces fresh seltzer
5. 1 slice lime

• Mix rum, syrup, lime juice in a glass.
• Stir vigorously.
• Add ice to fill glass.
• Add 4 ounces seltzer.
• Coat the rim of glass with fresh lime.

Outside of ginger syrup, I’d consider these three ginger beers (in no order)

• Fentimans
• Reed's Original
• Bruce Cost

January Cocktail - The Old Fashioned

The Old Fashioned may be the oldest cocktail. There are dozens of recipes, typically the drink calls for:

1. whiskey
2. sugar
3. bitters
4. citrus twist

I made the Old Fashioned about 15 times in January. At the end of the month, I came to a few preferences:

• Rye over Bourbon - less sweet
• Grapefruit bitters over orange - less sweet
• Angostura bitters are important but in small amounts

So my "official" Old Fashioned is simple to make, but takes some time (perfect for finishing touches on dinner).

Ingredients:

1. 1 1/2 oz. Rye (I used Old Overholt)
2. 1 demerra sugar cube
3. 1 strip orange peel (no white part, orange variety didn't matter)
4. 1 dash Angostura bitters
   
5. 3 dashes grapefruit bitters (I used The Bitter Truth)

Recipe:

1. Add sugar cube, orange peel, bitters to glass
2. Mash significantly
3. Add rye.
4. Leave alone for 3-5 minutes (allows for the sugar to dissolve)
5. Stir
6. Add ice

I often left the ice to melt for a few minutes and found the diluted water improved the drink a bit.

A COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH

In a spirit or mood to try cocktails out at home, I'll be experimenting with different cocktails throughout the year. My (insignificant) goal is 12 cocktails, roughly one per month. Recipes and thoughts to come.