Posts Tagged ‘peach brandy’

“I’m tired of Gin, I’m tired of Sin, and after last night, oh boy, am I tired.“

- Unknown

Yes, ladies and/or gentlemen, another month has passed, and the next Mixology Monday is already nigh past! This month’s, hosted by Jay at Oh Gosh!, leads us through the very exciting world of Gin.

My personal favorite, other than the only 1/4 oz sampled Bluecoat, has to be the locally made Aviation Gin. This is just fantastic stuff, very aromatic and delicately balanced, but still man enough to put some hair on your chest, or wherever you might find yourself in need of warmth. Changed my Gin Fizzes for life, I can tell you that much.

Now, being that this is could be considered a primarily Tiki drink site, Gin, well, didn’t find itself a primary liquor in too many, or, pretty much any drinks. It’s in the Fog Cutter, Colonel’s Big Opu, Suffering Bastard… oh, wait a moment. It is the primary in a Trade Winds cocktail (Grog Log, p. 84). Well, seeing as the drinking’s done for the night, I may have to do a second post on that one later. For this MxMo, I decided to roll with a Trader Vic original, the Gilded Lily.

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Gilded Lily

• 1/2 oz. Modern Dry Gin (Aviation Gin recommended)
• 1/2 oz. Puerto Rican Rum (sub. Cruzan White)
• 1/2 oz. Peach Brandy
• 1/2 oz. Orange Juice

Shake and strain into cocktail glass.

It’s a nice light cocktail, and I love the fact that it’s a good two ouncer, not so much of the tipple as not to be able to put together sentences, but just enough to think the ones you do put together are quite charming indeed. If you can make any sense out of that last sentence, you may need another drink. Yes, the umbrella with the orange twist may be a bit much, but for this drink I think there’s no harm in gilding the lily.

One issue with the above drink though, the Gin shares an equal part with the Rum! Vic, ever the Rum fetishist, has failed me in trying to make a nice, entirely gin-centric write-up. Oh well, guess I may have to roll my own on this one. I must admit, inspiration had struck from the blogosphere today… and if I ever type that word again, slap me upside the head with a Gin and Tonic. Craig had a recent post on Ceylon Cinnamon, and Scottes somehow forced me out of the bar to pick up some Ginger Beer. Well, why not have the two shake hands over a nice bit of Gin? So I whipped up this little concoction, the Gin and Cin.

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Gin and Cin

• 2 oz. Aviation Gin
• 1 oz. Ceylon Cinnamon Syrup
• 1/2 oz. Lemon Juice
• 2 dashes fee bitters
• 1/4 tsp Fresh grated Ginger
• Ginger Beer (Ginger People STRONGLY advised)

Shake all ingredients except Ginger Beer in a shaker, strain into ice-filled chimney glass. Top with Ginger People Ginger Beer. Garnish with ginger slices and powdered cinnamon.

This is a great digestive, and damned tasty drink, with the spicy ginger giving a sharp spike of flavor, while the Ceylon cinnamon keeps the taste buds active. The lemon provides a touch of a sour note, and the gin and bitters wrap all the notes together. Oh, and you might want to get some Ceylon syrup together, here’s the deal:

Ceylon Cinnamon Syrup

• 1 part water (16 oz. by volume)
• 1 part organic cane sugar (16 oz. by volume)
• bag (4 sticks) Ceylon Cinnamon

Put all ingredients in a pot on the stove. Let simmer covered for 15 minutes or so, cool, strain and bottle.

That stuff will go fantastic in any Nui Nui, Jet Pilot, so on an so forth. Hell, pour it on some waffles, it’s just damned good.

42 hours until the official start of Tiki-Kon V!

In order to prepare myself as host of one of the home bars, I’ve been pushing to mix a bit more frequently. Here are tonight’s entries….

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Dead Reckoning

• 2 ounces Cockspur 12-year rum
• 1/2 ounce Navan Vanilla Liqueur
• 1/2 ounce Maple Syrup
• 1/2 ounce Tawny Port
• 1 ounce Lemon Juice
• 1 ounce Pineapple Juice
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

Blend with Crushed Icein a top-down mixer for 6 seconds, or pulse in a blender for no more than 5 seconds.  Pour with Ice into Chimney Glass and top with Seltzer.  Garnish with Mint Sprig and Lemon Spiral.

Wow. There’s a strong mix of sweet ingredients, which, when cut by the lemon juice creates a very strongly phased, time-lapse release mixture of sour and sweet. A nearly sublime concoction, with recipe by Martin Cate of Forbidden Island. Really, I am wishing I had a better quality Tawny Port than Christian Brothers, but it does just fine. This is our featured drink on the home bar crawl, and will be premiered at Reynolés Galley, my home bar.

Millionare Cocktail, Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide

• 1½ oz. Sloe Gin
• ½ oz. Jamaican Rum (Appleton Gold)
• ½ oz. Peach Brandy
• dash Grenadine

Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Frankly, this came out a bit like Robitussin flavoring. I used Mr. Boston’s Sloe Gin, which is very nice in a Sloe Gin Fizz, but tended to come out kicking with an almost Campari-like bitterness in this cocktail. The rum used was Appleton Special, and the Grenadine is a homemade mixture. I have a feeling a stronger dash of grenadine was in order.

Speaking of cocktails, there are a number of Original Recipes that I and fellow Tiki Kon organizers have developed. I will be posting a list here shortly. Just so you know, the sponsors this year were Pyrat and Cockspur, so we’ve got at least two islands worth of Rum covered. Pyrat, sadly, has discontinued their Blanco line, which made for one of the smoothest white rums around, with a wonderful bouquet of citrus. Pyrat is owned by Patron Spirits, and because of this, unfortunately Pyrat is the sideshow to Patron’s 5-ring circus. Though, that’s not a bad circus to be a part of. I’ve still got a few bottles of Blanco in reserve. It’s strange to me when something that was $6.99 at BevMo is now a scarce commodity, precious and rarely used but for aficionados and friends.

On a side note, thanks to Rick and Paul for inspiration to start a cocktail blog. While I hold no qualms about never being the Beachbum I hope I can at least inspire, inform, and mostly, share my love of a properly mixed drink.

Tomorrow’s plan: Wake up 12 minutes early for a proper Ramos Gin Fizz