Proper Independence Day Cocktails

In my last post, I promised to suggest some proper cocktails for this upcoming July 4th holiday weekend. I got some great comments from visitors, and some cocktail suggestions too. Then I promptly got busy with a bunch of stuff and didn't post anything else. Before the holiday passes me by entirely, here are a few ideas.

Guiding Principle: Drink American
In these tough economic times, on this most patriotic of holidays, you should support American-owned and run companies with your Independence Day libations. Maybe that small craft distillery in your area, or that craft brewery or winery. If you don't have those, or don't want/like those, then stick with American-made, traditionally American spirits & beverages.

OPTION ONE: Rye Whiskey
A spirit similar to the rye whiskeys you find in liquor stores today was popular in the US early on in the colonies - immigrants came here and brought grain distilling traditions with them, which they applied to the grains they found here. Rye was common, so rye-based whiskey was common too. It was popular enough that when the government tried to tax it to pay off the national debt in the1790's, we had the Whiskey Rebellion.

Whiskey Smash
(Adapted from this one on the Rye Whiskey is for Patriots blog)
2 oz Rye (Rittenhouse 100)
1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz Simple Syrup (1:1 ratio)
2 sprigs of mint
Add ingredients to shaker, including one sprig; shake well with ice. Strain into ice-filled old-fashioned glass, and garnish with additional sprig of mint.

As far as I know, this drink originated in the US, and derives from the julep - a faster version, really, without all the pomp & circumstance. Some recipes leave out the lemon juice (and have less sugar), but I like that bit of citrus to lighten it up a little for the summer.

Or Try Rock & Rye
This is another interesting rye whiskey-based option, that I must admit I've not yet tried. Rock & Rye was created in the US, and was one of the few US-made spirits poured at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 according to Eric Felten's recent article. It was originally a medicinal tonic, thought to help colds and other illnesses.

I've never bought a bottle of the pre-mixed product labeled "Rock & Rye" at the liquor store. I imagine, like so many things, it won't taste like what it's trying to be. So I'll be trying this recipe, by the legendary LeNell Smothers:

LeNell's Homemade Rock & Rye
1 750-ml bottle rye whiskey (I prefer Rittenhouse 100 proof)
1 6-inch string rock candy (add more according to your sweetness preference)
2 orange slices
2 lemon slices
2 fresh cherries pitted or perhaps brandied or whiskied cherries (not the fake red maraschino, please)
2 dried apricots
1 pineapple slice
Tea bag full of dried horehound (optional)

Put all ingredients in a large jar and cover. You can start enjoying after one day; however, the flavor will change as rock candy dissolves with time. As you deplete the supply, add more whiskey and candy as needed. If the fruit slices show signs of breaking down, replace. Always keep fruit covered with alcohol; this stores indefinitely as long as the fruit is submerged. Of course, like all alcohol it will oxidize after a really, really long time.

Note: Horehound adds an extra bitterness to balance the sweetness and also acts as a cough suppressant. If you do use horehound, only steep for a couple of hours, then remove to prevent overly bitter flavors.

While some drink Rock & Rye on it's own over ice, I would recommend trying LeNell's Rock and Rye Cooler, or perhaps some other concoction with it. I better start mine tonight so I can have it on the 4th, assuming I can find or make some rock candy!

OPTION TWO: Bourbon
Bourbon is another distinctly American creation, and there are many fine brands available. With bourbon, I am inclined to either try one of the recipes that Alex Smith suggested in the comments (in the spirit of the great melting pot, using a few accents from other places) or do something with the fresh berries coming out in the farmers markets near me, such as:

Blackberry Julep v3.0 (adapted from v2.0)
1 1/2 oz Bourbon
1/2 oz Blackberry Liqueur
1/2 oz Simple Syrup (1:1 ratio)
3/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
4 fresh blackberries
6 Mint Leaves + One Mint Sprig
Muddle the mint, blackberries and simple syrup in a mixing glass. Add the liqueur and bourbon. Strain into a highball (or julep) glass filled with crushed or shaved ice. Swirl with a bar spoon until the outside of the glass frosts up. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a fresh blackberry.


OPTION THREE: TIKI
The whole concept of Tiki culture in restaurants/drinks is a distinctly American creation as well, and most of the drinks use rum, which was popular back in the 1700's. So there are lots of options - I'd recommend consulting one of the great tiki bloggers, or try this one from the legendary Kahiki restaurant:

Polynesian Spell
1½ oz Gin (we used Distiller’s Gin No. 6, are you shocked?)
1 oz Grape Juice
¼ oz Triple Sec
¼ oz Brandy
1 tsp Simple Syrup
¾ oz Fresh Lemon Juice
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Whatever you drink this Independence Day, enjoy it and have fun with your friends & family!

Note: pictures in this post are from istockphoto.com.

MxMo: Blathering about Bourbon

I love bourbon. Right now, I'm on an Elijah Craig 18 kick, since I got a bottle of that one for my b-day, but other times it's Rock Hill Farms, Booker's, or Eagle Rare. And whenever I see a bourbon that I haven't actually tried before (rare), I order that one. The thing is, I usually order my bourbon neat, I don't mix with it much. However, since its Mixology Monday (hosted by the fine gents over at Scofflaw's Den), I figured I better post a cocktail recipe or two with bourbon.

I've recently written recipes for some new bourbon cocktails, the Blackberry Julep and the Harvest Moon, so I thought I'd revisit a classic recipe instead.

The Brown Derby Cocktail
2 oz Bourbon
1 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
1-2 tsp Honey (depends on the honey, or use 1/2 oz Honey Syrup, if the honey's a bit much)
1 dash Grapefruit Bitters (wasn't in the original, but helps make it a true cocktail)

Combine ingredients in a shaker, stir well before adding ice. Add ice, shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

If you go the honey syrup route, I usually add 1 part hot water to 2 parts honey, then stir well and cool.

The history: this cocktail was invented at the Vendome Club in Hollywood in the early 1930's, and it was their signature drink for a time. It was named after a brown derby hat-shaped restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard (shockingly, called the Brown Derby Restaurant, which was a popular celebrity hangout in it's day). Unfortunately, neither place is still there, although according to the notes in The Craft of the Cocktail by Dale DeGroff and Wikipedia, the hat is still there). Interestingly, the Brown Derby restaurant is considered the birthplace of the Cobb Salad.

Happy MxMo!

Blackberry Juleps

Ever since the Kentucky Derby, I've been playing around with Mint Juleps now and then. Along the way toward the Belmont Stakes this weekend, I have been tweaking a recipe for a Blackberry Julep. Now this isn't the King of Cocktails' Blackberry Julep recipe - I was aiming for something of a hybrid between that recipe and the Mint Julep.

Blackberry Julep v2.0
1 1/2 oz Bourbon (I used Old Whiskey River)
3/4 oz Blackberry Liqueur (I used Echte Kroatzbeere)
3/4 oz Simple Syrup (1:1 ratio)
3/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
6 Mint Leaves

Muddle the mint and simple syrup in a mixing glass. Add the liqueur and bourbon. Strain into a highball (or julep) glass filled with crushed or shaved ice. Swirl with a bar spoon until the outside of the glass frosts up. Garnish with a sprig of mint and a fresh blackberry.

I have been substituting that blackberry liqueur for Chambord lately, and its working pretty well - a nice change.

ADI Conference, Day 2 (Part 1)

Monday, April 7th was a very busy day at the ADI conference. We loaded up on buses at 8 am from the Seelbach Hotel and headed out into the country. I'm going to break this day up into two posts, so as to avoid a (bigger) monster post.

First stop: Vendome Copper & Brass

I've been to Vendome before, so I mostly hung out by the coffee. Here are a couple of photos, one from this trip and one from the last time I was there. The people at Vendome are always very gracious when we come for tours. However, when we had tried to contact them about our still a few years ago, no one would get back to us. Right or wrong, we got the impression that they were so tied up with the big bourbon distilleries in the area that our project was too small.


Second Stop: Independent Stave Company
If you've never been inside a cooperage, you are missing out. I've been to two now, and they were similar, but actually more different than I expected. This year, we went to Independent Stave's cooperage in Lebanon, KY. Unfortunately, they did not allow photographs within the cooperage, so all I've got is a couple of shots from the outside and in the cafeteria (where we had a nice box lunch, thanks to ISC).

These places are very loud (they pass out ear & eye protection before you go in). New American oak logs (mostly from Missouri) are cut, and then laid on pallets to season in the sun for a few months. Then they are dried to 10-11% moisture levels in dryers and gigantic kilns. Each board is sanded, filed and shaped by one of their employees using a large sander/cutting machine. Some boards are made into barrel heads, and they have a separate production line for heads. A cooper chooses the staves (the individual boards that go into the barrel) for each barrel and lays them in place by hand. Machines then drop on the first rings, and the barrels continue on their journey.

Future steps involve steaming the barrels to make the pliable enough to shape and force on the other rings. The barrels are then dried, and heads are added. Final step - test for leaks. Interestingly, they had about a 25% failure rate at Independent Stave, and a separate line of folks who take those barrels apart to fix them. The guys in these jobs are tough, its hard work.










Just for fun, here are a couple shots from the Bluegrass Cooperage, which we toured a couple of years ago - they let us take pictures inside.



Third Stop: Makers Mark Distillery
Makers Mark has a beautiful campus and facility in Loretto, KY, and they do a great job of conveying their story to consumers who come to visit. However, a few things about my experience there were not what I expected. We were given the exact same tour as other (non-industry) visitors, which means we got a very basic lesson in fermentation and distillation that most of us didn't need or want, plus a whole lot of marketing.

If I had counted the number of times our tour guide had used the phrase "quality bourbon" or "we only make a quality product," I think I would have used all my fingers & toes, and maybe someone else's. She also called us "you people" a lot, which for some reason irritated me (I sometimes am amused when things like that actually bug me, not sure why).

Finally, at the end of our tour, we were led through one of the rickhouses, through a door that led directly to the gift shop. All of a sudden, I thought I was at Disneyland or something.

I think the experience would probably be great for the general Makers Mark consumer, but I was annoyed. I did enjoy the tasting, however, and one of their distillers joined us then.

Final Stop on the Tour: Heaven Hill Distillery
We drove onward to Heaven Hill in Bardstown, KY. They were ready for us, with some great snacks and several mini-tour options (rickhouses, barrel filling ,etc.). They don't actually distill anything at their facility in Bardstown - apparently the still and its building burned down awhile back and they now do their distilling in Louisville. Spirits are trucked in for barreling and aging in Bardstown. There are many rickhouses, as well as a big visitors center and other facilities.

We got to meet Parker Beam, who guided us in a tasting of the Evan Williams Single Barrel and Bernheim's Wheat Whiskey. He was gracious and answered our many questions about how they make their products.

Unfortunately I missed out on the tour of a rickhouse somehow, but I did get to see the area where they fill barrels.

It was a great day of tours, and we headed back to the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville for a free night. More about that in my next post!

Repeal Day in Chicago

Unfortunately, the word about celebrating Repeal Day has not really caught on in the Windy City. I was in bars and liquor stores all over town on the magic day, and almost no one I encountered was aware that it was Repeal Day (and a few didn't know what it meant).

Despite this, we decided that we should have our own cocktail bar tour to honor the day, and we had a fantastic time (and made some great plans for next year). Here's are a few highlights.

First Stop: Weber Grill Restaurant, 539 N. State, Chicago
I spent the day in the city, and had a little time to kill before my hubby would arrive by train. So why not visit our friends at the Weber Grill and try that Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection bourbon that's been calling my name whenever I see the menu?

This one says its was transferred to a a French oak chardonnay barrel after 6 years, and was 14 years old at bottling. It claims to be from a sour rye mash. It was bottled at 45% alcohol.

Tasting notes: The nose was very heavy with alcohol, more so than most spirits I smell. Adding some water seemed to help, but it still had a strong alcohol note. On first sip, it really didn't taste much like bourbon - it was a bit peaty and much drier than most bourbons. It was definitely fruity and spicy, with caramel notes. Not sure how I feel about this one. Anyone else tried it?

Next Stop: The Drawing Room at Le Passage, 937 N. Rush, Chicago
Eric Felten (of the Wall Street Journal) was in town to sign copies of his book, How's Your Drink? What an appropriate event for Repeal Day! We had some amazing cocktails at the Drawing Room - they do everything by hand, using only fresh ingredients. On an regular night, they would even do it tableside - they have portable bars. How cool is that? Here are a few pics from the signing.

And yes, I need to work on my photography skills - I know you all wanted to see Eric Felten's back (photo at left). But I did get a great shot of Charles making a Brandy Crusta!




It was quite cold on this night, so we didn't want to go far. We headed off to 676 Restaurant, 676 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago for a quick bite to eat (it was great).

It was late, and it was a school night, so we headed home. Of course, we also made some plans for next year's Repeal Day... more on that later!

Academy of Spirits, Part III

The Academy of Spirits is winding down, after ten exciting weeks of learning, tasting and mixing drinks. The last few classes have included cognac & brandy, vodka & gin (taught by Simon Ford of Absolut/Plymouth Gin), beer and aperitifs & cordials. Most of the classes have been great, and we've been able to taste a range of products.

Yesterday, we pulled it all together and mixed cocktails for a couple of hours. We made a Blood & Sand, modified Moscow Mule, Negroni, spiced flip, and a Bloody Mary from scratch (using cherry tomatoes). A pretty great way to spend a Monday afternoon, if you ask me, and I didn't even wear any of my drinks home (I tend to be a bit messy, especially outside of my own kitchen).

We also had to turn in an original recipe, which is part of the final exam. It must be a tall drink, served on ice, in a 6½ ounce glass. Of course we have to use spirits that we covered in class (which means they have to come from the Southern Wine & Spirits portfolio), but since they are probably the largest distributor in the U.S., there were lots of choices.

Here is my recipe:

Harvest Moon
1½ oz Knob Creek Bourbon
1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
½ oz Fresh-squeezed Orange Juice
Dash of Peach Bitters
Club Soda

Shake bourbon, liqueur, juice and bitters together, strain into ice-filled tall glass. Top up with club soda. Garnish with an orange wheel and pansy flower (I think, I'm still working on the garnish).

I'll post an update next week with photos from the competition. Wish me luck!