A Couple Additions to the Liquor Cabinet

Last night, to my horror, I realized I was completely out of bourbon. I also saw that I had only a few swallows of rye. I’m running low on rum as well. That’s the trouble with booze, those darn bottles can’t refill themselves.

So, off to the local Wine and Spirit Super Center for the bottles you see above.

The Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey is distilled by The Bulleit Distilling Co. in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. It is made from Kentucky limestone filtered water and a secret blend of corn, barley malt and rye. The Bulleit family started making bourbon in the 1830’s. Production ceased when Augustus Bulleit passed away in 1860.

In 1987 Tom Bulleit resurrected the company and started distilling Bulleit Bourbon using his Great, Great Grandfather’s recipe.

Gosling’s Black Seal Bermuda Black Rum has been distilled since 1806 by Gosling Brothers of Bermuda. Their recipe is a closely guarded family secret. This product was originally called “Old Rum” and it was only available on draught out of oak barrels. After World War One, Black Seal Rum was sold in Champagne bottles as they were the most widely available bottles around. The cork was sealed with black sealing wax, hence the name.

I’m looking forward to sipping these spirits straight and in some cocktails soon.

Not another Mint Julep Blog Post

It’s Derby season and all the cocktail websites and blogs have posted their take on the Mint Julep. For me, it’s all about the silver cup. I will not make a Mint Julep until I have ordered one. If I were to make one, it would be just like this:

http://www.smallscreennetwork.com/video/91/mint_julep/

The Whiskey Sour

Whiskey Sour

* 2 oz Bourbon Whiskey
* 1 oz simple syrup
* 3/4 oz lemon juice
* 1 tsp egg white

shake without ice to emulsify

add ice and shake to chill

strain into rocks, sour or pisco sour glass

 This cocktail reminds me of my Grandfather on my Mother’s side.  When I was very young and my family went to my Grandparents home for holidays, my Grandfather was always the bartender. He’d ask “Who wants a highball”? No matter what type of drink he was making, they were all “highballs”. The majority of the drinks were Whiskey Sours, with the exception of one Aunt who enjoyed a Manhattan Cocktail.

 Now, the above recipe uses fresh ingredients as a substitute for a sour mix. Some of you may be a little leery about using a fresh, raw egg white in your drink. I figure between the whiskey and the citric acid, there’s nothing to worry about.

I enjoyed this cocktail. The egg white and the simple syrup gave the drink some body. The whiskey, lemon juice and simple syrup melded together for a wonderful sweet and sour flavor with a little “kick” at the end.

I’m putting this cocktail on my favorites list.

From the looks of the bottle in the picture above, I’ve got about one more cocktail’s worth of Woodford’s Reserve left. Time to decide which bottle of Bourbon to buy next. Any suggestions?

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The Old Fashioned

My experiments with whiskey continue. With the wife working at the Neighborhood Grill and Bar (10 points if you can guess the name of the nation-wide establishment) and the kids in bed, I broke out my Mixology Set.

The Old Fashioned looked like a good challenge. Number One, I have never had one and Number Two, from what I have read, it’s easy to get a really bad one out in the bars. My mentor for this recipe, once again, is Robert Hess.

I actually tried two Old Fashioned recipes. One using a modern recipe and one using a recipe from the 1800’s. The modern cocktail calls for 1/2 of an orange slice to be muddled with a lump of sugar and Angostura Bitters. It also calls for an additional 1/2 orange slice and a maraschino cherry as a garnish. The older recipe omits the orange and cherry and in its place uses a lemon peel as a garnish.

For the first cocktail, I used a what I thought was a thin slice of orange. I placed a sugar cube on top of the bitters bottle and inverted the bottle twice. I then muddled the sugar and 1/2 orange slice together. Next, I filled the glass with ice and poured in two ounces of Woodford Reserve . Then, another 1/2 slice of orange and a maraschino cherry to top it off. After a quick stir, I gave it a taste. I felt the orange was masking the whiskey way too much. It seemed to be a very sweet cocktail. I enjoyed the drink but, I felt this was not right for me.

Next, I tried the second recipe from a 1800’s bartending book. This time all I muddled was the sugar cube, bitters and one teaspoon of water. (A half teaspoon would have been sufficient in hindsight). I dropped in one ice cube and poured the two ounces of whiskey into the glass. After a stir, I twisted the lemon peel over the glass and then placed it on the rim.

I enjoyed this cocktail much more than the first. The balance between the whiskey and sugar seemed just right.

I have no idea what type of glass I used for this cocktail. It probably holds about 3 ounces of liquid. I guess it’s really a cordial glass. This was the smallest glass I had that did not have cartoon characters printed on it. The second recipe just seemed like it would get lost in the “rocks” glass that I have.

So the Old Fashioned goes into the winners column for me. I enjoyed both drinks but felt the second drink with less fruit was better overall.

** UPDATE May 23rd, 2008 **

I found another recipe that I think makes a superior Old Fashioned.

• 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
• 1 dash of bitters
• 2 oz. whiskey
• large orange peel

Put the simple syrup and bitters into an Old Fashioned glass. Fill half the glass with ice and stir.

Using a vegetable peel, hold the orange over the glass and cut off a large peel, expressing the orange oil into the glass.

cut off the rough edges of the peel and then squeeze the peel over the glass. Place the peel into the glass.

Add the whiskey and then fill with ice.

Stir.

Okay, here comes the anal part: when I drink this, I make sure I line up the orange peel with my mouth so the whiskey flows over the peel and picks up the orange flavor. It’s awesome !!

The Manhattan

I’ve never given whiskey much thought. Aside from an occasional Irish Coffee, probably the only time I had a whiskey was when I had a shot of Bushmill’s many years ago. You see, I used to hang out at an Irish Bar in Hackensack, NJ. The night bartender was in one afternoon and wanted to by me a drink. The only catch was that I had to have a “real” drink… so, since he was buyin’, I was drinking Bushmill’s.

Oh, I just remembered after I had turned 18, that Christmas, my boss broke out a bottle of some type of canadian whisky and poured us all shots. Man, that was horrible stuff !!

So, after viewing Robert Hess’ Manhattan demonstration, I decided to try my hand at mixing one up. My only problem was what whiskey should I use? The video shows Maker’s Mark but every time I see a bottle of Maker’s Mark, I think of the cigars they licensed their name to. The ones that have the same melted red “wax” seal on the individual glass tubes. Flavored cigars are not real cigars as far as I am concerned and those cigars cheapen the Maker’s Mark brand for me.

Mixologist Jamie Boudreau likes Woodford Reserve and since I enjoy reading his blog I thought I would give it a try and buy a small bottle.

After mixing one up, I gave it a taste. I was pleasantly surprised at the sweetness I detected in the finish. Not sugary sweet, but a good contrast to the heat I felt from the whiskey. My daughter had made her way over to me and caught a whiff from the remains in the mixing tin. She said it reminded her of butterscotch. There was a slight bite to the drink as well. Again, not overpowering but it made for an interesting cocktail.

The only thing I would like to change is the cherry garnish. I used the store bought artificially processed maraschino cherries. I’ll be researching recipes for homemade cherries next.

Cheers !!