Archive for the ‘OBG’ Category

Once again, I face the slings and arrows of the internet and made a video for the Oregon Bartender’s Guild, in which I prepare a Zombie, 1950 style, aka – The Spievak Zombie.

I tend to favor this variation when I’m bartending, as the consistent 1 oz measurement makes it real easy to put together in a hurry.

Zombie, 1950 (from The Barbecue Chef, by Louis Spievak, submitted by Donn Beach)

• 1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• 1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 oz Fresh Pineapple Juice
• 1 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
• 1 oz White Puerto Rican Rum
• 1 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum
• 1 oz 151 proof Demerara Rum
• 1 tsp Brown Sugar
• dash Angostura Bitters

Stir sugar in Lime juice until dissolved.  Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with lots of crushed ice and pour into a tall chimney (Zombie) glass, usually 14 oz.  Garnish with a mint sprig.

They told me the camera was on standby!

But seriously folks, as part of the “make great cocktails done right” sort of outreach I’ve got going here, I decided to take on the task of Tiki when asked to do some video for the Oregon Bartender’s Guild.  This is one of a series of two so far, with more on the way.

In this video, I put together a Mai Tai, using a blend of Appleton Extra and Rhum Barbancourt.  It was a damned tasty blend, and that I got to share it with some friends afterwards made it even better.  The edits leave out a bit of info, but I don’t blame anyone, I sure can blather.  And for those pickers of nits out there, yes, the I misstated the Orgeat measurement, the lime shell wasn’t shown going into the shaker and yes, the mint garnish (necessary for a proper Mai Tai) was left out of the recipe at the end.  Please forgive me, I offer only my knowledge, my love, and my stash of rum.

The Orgeat, if you were wondering, is from a test batch for… well, I’ll be discussing that later.  The mug comes from Portland’s own Thatch, and the shirt… is just awesome!

Mai Tai

2 ounces 17-year-old J. Wray Nephew Jamaican rum*
1/2 ounce French Garnier Orgeat
1/2 ounce Holland DeKuyper Orange Curacao
1/4 ounce Rock Candy Syrup
juice from one fresh lime

Hand shake and garnish with half of the lime shell inside the drink and float a sprig of fresh mint at the edge of the glass.

* – no longer available.  Try a blend of Aged Jamaican Rum with an Amber Martinique for some depth and funk.

The following is a guest recipe from David Shenaut of Teardrop Lounge here in Portland, OR.

Nevermind the Bollocks

• 2 oz Don Julio Reposado Tequila
• 1/2 oz Martini and Rossi Sweet Vermouth
• 1/2 Loft Raspberrycello
• 1/2 tsp Cynar
• barspoon Fernet Branca
• barspoon Balsamic Maple Vinegar
• Orange Zest

Press zest onto bottom of mixing glass to release oils.  Combine all ingredients, stir with cracked ice and strain.

For those interested parties, here was my initial entry into the Great American Distillers Festival 2008 Mixology Competition.

Old Wood

• 1 ½ oz Dry Fly Gin
• ¾  oz Yellow Chartreuse
• ¾  oz Carpano Antica
• rinse Campari
• 3 dashes scorched Dry Fly Bitters

Rinse a chilled cocktail glass with Campari.  Stir liquors with ice and strain into Campari-rinsed cocktail glass.  Spray Dry Fly Bitters through a flame and into the glass.

About the drink

The cocktail is named Old Wood because I had originally wanted to base a drink on the Bijou (Jewel) cocktail, a favorite of mine.  Since Dry Fly is distilled is Washington, I figured the name of the state jewel, if not already taken, would be a fine choice.  Well, there’s no state Jewel for Washington, but there is a state gem.  That gem, is petrified wood.  Hence, the Old Wood cocktail.  I also think it leads in nicely to the use of Yellow Chartreuse VEP, with the name Very Old Wood.

Dry Fly Bitters

• 3 parts Caramel Syrup
• 3 parts Toasted Coriander Tincture
• 2 parts Lavender Tincture
• 2 parts Spearmint Tincture
• 1 part Madagascar Vanilla Bean Tincture
• 1 part Seville Orange Tincture
• ½ part Dried Granny Smith Apple Tincture
• ¼ part Wormwood Tincture

Solids should be infused in 95% grain spirit.  The Coriander, Apple and Orange take around 3-4 days to infuse, the Lavendar, Mint, Vanilla and Wormwood take 24-48 hours.

Caramel Syrup is Caramelized Cane Sugar mixed 4:1 with water, then shaken until dissolved.

The Dry Fly Bitters were developed to aromatically accentuate the botanicals found in Dry Fly Gin.  Flaming them brings a bit more of the fragrance into the air, and adds to the nose of the drink.

A few weeks ago, my friend David of the Oregon Bartender’s Guild hosted the bar for a charity event. A woman in Camas, WA was very suddenly struck by an infectious disease that took one of her legs and almost took her life, and here friends had hired him to help them raise funds with a bar and original cocktail menu. He put a call out on the OBG message boards for any donations, raffle giveaways, et cet. When I asked what I could give, all he asked for was a recipe, and so I set out to make something extra special for the event.

Inspiration finally came at 4:30am on a blurry Wednesday morning two weeks before the event. I had just bottled a batch of Falernum the night prior and, came up with this little dazzler of a syrup for something a bit different.

Pa’avaetuli Syrup

• 2 cups Unsweetened Pineapple Juice
• 1 1/2 cups White Cane Sugar
• 2 Tblsp Rum-soaked Falernum Spices (lime zest, allspice, clove, toasted almonds, ginger)
• 1 crushed Ceylon Cinnamon stick
• 2 Horns Star Anise (the seed pods, not the whole star)

Place juice and spices in a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Strain out spices. Add Sugar to Juice and bring to gently heat to a rolling boil while agitating. Syrup is done when spoon comes out smooth.

Note here the use of Rum-Soaked Falernum spices. Which, yes, means used spices. There’s still plenty of flavor in those suckers, and the Rum they’ve been soaking in just adds a bit of zip to it.

Here is the cocktail, as was on the menu at the Charity event.

Pa’avaetuli Cocktail

• 1 1/2 oz Light Puerto Rican
• 3/4 oz Lime
• 3/4 oz Pa’avaetuli Syrup
• 3 drops Bridgetown Bitters (sub. Bittermens Tiki Bitters)

Shake and strain into cocktail glass

The event was apparently a smashing success, and it was reported that my drink sold until there was no syrup left! Good thing I’ve got a few bottles to spare, and a big batch of Falernum about to be finished.

Oh, and the name? It means… whatever you think it means. Tell you what. I’ll send a bottle of Pa’avaetuli to the first person who can figure out the inspiration for the name, and post it in the comments section of this post. Good luck!