Nihil Utopia

Moon

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:55:00 +0000

From my Flickr

Doug and the MxMo

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:36:00 +0000

I've participated in the past in the monthly cocktail party that is Mixology Monday. I've missed the last ~~few~~ several but spurred on by Doug's enthusiasm and prolific posting for Tiki Month I feel I must participate once again.

Hey, why don't you participate too?

Stay tuned!

-sigh-

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:15:00 +0000

I think I might just have something brewing. (Not actually brewing, mind you, but figuratively) It`s tough to booze-blog when one is not consuming booze. It is extremely academic and existential though.... Anyway, with the upcoming MxMo and Doug`s suggestion that Tiki posts not be limited to drink recipes I think I may have something here....

Winter Warmup

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:45:00 +0000

Whilst browsing the web looking for a homemade hot chocolate recipe I came across several that were varitions on instant hot choclate. (You know, mix in a packet to which one adds hot water). Finding neither the ingredient list nor the volume of the recipe appealing I decided to make my own spin.

Getting rid of the extraneous ingredients I came up with this:

Hot Cocoa
6 tbsp powdered sugar
3 tbsp cocoa
milk (or cream)
water

Combine the sugar and cocoa in a mug. Just cover with milk (or cream) and whisk into a paste. Top with boiled water. Whisk again to combine. Enjoy!

Ginger Ale vs Ginger Beer

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 03:38:00 +0000

So, when is it one and not the other? I will research and get back to you. My first attempt at making ginger ale (with A.B.'s recipe) was so-so. I suspect I did shook too gently during the "shake gently" step of the preperation.

In other news, tonight I experienced the music of Tim Brady. I suggest you do the same.

Stay tuned!
Cheers!

Maple Egg Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 23:04:00 +0000

So, I "discovered" the Egg Cream. How did I not know if this before? I don't know. Anyway, far be it from me to educate you on the this historic drink. Read this. Ok, you've read it? You've returned from Imbibe? Excellent. The recipe in the July/August issue is a good one and also very adaptable. Having no chocolate syrup on hand I took Peter Freeman's suggestion and made a maple egg cream. Yum! Delicious and expensive, excellent! (Or is it expensive? Hmmm...) Anyway, I tried it again with other syrups. My Orgeat egg cream was ok. A cinnamon one was better. Then I decided to try something with cinnamon and fresh mint (more on that later). So what's this magic recipe?

Maple Egg Cream
3oz milk
7oz soda
2oz maple syrup

build, stir, enjoy.

Just like DJ Hawaiian Shirt's Alexander Ratio this allows for much experimenting (as already discussed above). How 'bout Tiki-ing things up a bit? Coconut milk, ginger beer, and falernum anyone? I'll just keep that in the back of my mind until my Falernum awakes from the freezer (in zombie-like fashion).

Oh, the ~~horror~~ puns!

Cheers!

Have Overripe Bananas?

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:26:00 +0000

Rowen's got the answer. Who's got the question?

One For The Road

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 02:12:00 +0000

Supposedly the title phrase was about giving a drink to a prisoner on his way to the gallows. I'm sure I read that somewhere but couldn't find it in my reference books. Let's just say I'm correct.

Alright, one last alcohol post before we move on to soft drinks. (Aha!) I foolishly thought a mixture of 151 rum and syrup would freeze. It doesn't, well not really. Anyway let me tell you what I was going to do and then we'll move on to what I did do. I was going to call my falernum "metric falernum" and then invent a drink called Gimme Sympathy or something like that. I changed my mind.

The usual format for a falernum blog post is to explain what it is, possibly including a personal anecdote about tiki something-or-other; provide the recipe for falernum; include a picture of one or more of the steps; include a cocktail recipe showcasing falernum; then either ~~invite~~ challenge readers to make their own or claim you will give some away. I'm not going to do that, entirely.

Originally I was thinking of "metric falernum" as in metric ton, but the conversions got a little wacky. So I thought about multiples of ten, and I sort of stuck with it. I ultimately decided against "metric falernum" because, really, the recipe (which sadly isn't on the new site) for Dr. A Elmegirab's is metric in the final analysis. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

~~Frozen~~ Falernum
150mL Brugal 151
10 limes
100g ginger
50 cloves
25g almonds
400mL 2:1 simple syrup

Zest limes, julienne ginger, toast almonds, macerate 24 hours in rum; Squeeze and strain through your fingers, combine with syrup; Make one or two cocktails; Put remainder in the freezer for who knows when. (Makes aprox. 500mL)

So, having not experienced falernum before I'm unsure if I did this right, but I like it. It's currently in the freezer waiting, just waiting...

I did make a Rum Swizzle (as I had only silver rum on hand) and a slight variation on a Wicked Wahine.

Cheers!

ps I made some ~~Lazy~~ Pimento Dram too. You don't want that recipe too do you?

Hold The Onion

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 16:12:00 +0000

Like other bloggers before me I must ~~limit~~ stop alcohol consumption for medical reasons. The timeline is yet to be determined. This may cause a kink in my blog plans. The plans being: my Falernum Recipe (including irreverent puns); the final Federal Glass Shaker recipes; a "dynamite" recipe comparison; and some other stuff (Tiny cocktails?). Perhaps I'll rely on the taste buds of my friends...

Stay Tuned!

2:1 And A Good Idea

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:12:00 +0000

So, I thought I was so smart and had made a Martini as part of my Federal Glass Shaker project. Then I went to take a photo of the recipe. Oops! I left out the lemon twist! I did discover soemthing though, I enjoy a 2:1 Martini. I was never a fan of the olive garnish but I quite like it with this much vermouth. Conversely I'm not a fan of a 2:1 Gibson. I doubt the lemon twist is going to change my opinion about either of these drinks, but...

So, I need to regroup, get some olives, make these drinks and report back. In the meantime I can reiterate: 2:1 with olive = good. 2:1 with onion = meh. More in depth information to follow in the ~~weeks~~ months to come.

I guess I'll just stick to my 24:1 Gibsons for now...

3:1 And A Bad Idea

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:15:00 +0000

The Canada Cocktail gave us 3:1 liquor to liqueur plus bitters (and sugar). I think this concept needs further investigation. I will begin ~~experiments~~ drinking and report my findings. First though, a maligned ingredient. What Dr Bamboo calls a Potable Pariah.

This one time Chris made mention of a Malibu Old Fashioned in the Mixo chat, much to everyone's horror & dismay as I recall. I however was intrigued rather than horrified. So, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Malibu OF
2 oz Malibu
0.25 oz pineapple syrup
dash aromatic bitters
Stir over ice in an old fashioned glass . Garnish with a cherry.

Good God is that sweet! Too sweet. WAAAAAY too sweet.

Oh well, live and learn I suppose. The Ouzo OF on the other hand...

MxMo LIX: Beer Cocktails

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:54:00 +0000

This month for Mixology Monday, Fred challenges us to make a beer cocktail. I considered many things: making my own recipe, modifying an existing champagne cocktail, modifying a highball. Ultimately I could not resist the lure of the Skip And Go Naked. Yes, you heard me. So sue me. I haven't got a story about it so for that I direct you here.

Skip And Go Naked.
1.5 oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup

Build over ice in a Collins† glass. Top with lager.

Cheers!

† 10 to 12 oz. Or whatever you've got. Hey, I'm not picky.

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 01:42:00 +0000

After a hiatus/stall of nearly a year the Mixoloseum Blog is active once again. So, what's better than blogging about a drink? Quoting what someone else said about your drink! By all means though, check everyone else's out too!

Here's what Fred had to say about my (Caribbean)Tax Shelter:

"The (Caribbean) Tax Shelter was crafted by Dagreb and perhaps is a play on the classic Income Tax Cocktail. Swap out the dry vermouth and Angostura Bitters for rum, lime juice, and floral bitters, and suddenly a recipe created to mask the taste of bathtub gin becomes a delightful tropical refresher.
(Caribbean) Tax Shelter
• 1 1/2 oz Old Tom Gin
• 3/4 oz silver rum
• 3/4 oz sweet vermouth
• 3/4 oz orange juice
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• 3 dash Floral Bitters
Shake with ice and strain."

Cheers!

Happy Canada Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:42:00 +0000

While flipping through The Complete Bartender recently, I came across the Canada Cocktail. It seemed fitting for today. This recipe varies from recipes you may find in a search, and although there is no water it certainly is a cocktail. Kind of a fancy cocktail I suppose...

Anyway, on with the show:

Canada Cocktail

1.5 oz Canadian Whisky

0.5 oz triple sec

2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 tsp sugar

Shake with ice, strain in to a chilled cocktail glass
from The Complete Bartender by Robyn M. Feller

Happy Canada Day!

Cheers!

What Will I Do With All This Ouzo & Pineapple Juice?

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:25:00 +0000

The Dolofonos is good. It is also good with sour cream n onion rings. (Alarmingly this snack, at least the store brand version, contains silicon dioxide. I know why it's in there but it's still disconcerting to eat glass). No matter how good it is though it will take a tremendous amount of time to use a bottle of Ouzo at a rate of 3 dashes per drink. So what else can I do? Even trading the Dolofonos for the Greek Buck won't really get the ouzo flowing. Maybe I should just accept that it will gather dust most of the time and occasionally see the light of day, maybe not though...

Green With Envy
1 oz Ouzo
1 oz Blue Curacao
4 oz pineapple juice
shake with ice and pour.

From The Complete Book Of Mixed Drinks. (Not to be confused with The Complete Book of Mixed Drinks by Anthony Dias Blue). Also found verbatim from the former book at Boozee.

This was an interesting drink but frankly I'd rather have a White Heather to utilise pineapple juice. It does however also solve the quandary of what to do with that bottle of Blue Curacao and it uses more pineapple juice than most drinks. Oddly the recipe calls for a 7 oz hurricane glass. I'm not sure such an animal exists around here, most are about twice that size. I used a nosing glass instead.

Cheers!

Top Five Things To Do With Bad Scotch

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:49:00 +0000

Some people will tell you there's no such thing as bad liquor, but if you don't like one it might as well be bad. When it comes to artistic endeavours I'm of a different mind, but I've got some Scotch that I don't care for. It's been kicking around for a while actually. A recent tasting revealed that it isn't as bad as I remembered. Either my palate has changed or bottle aging has improved things. Maybe a little of both. More likely the former. Anyway, if you've got scotch you don't like what should you do with it?

5) Suffer. Just drink it anyway. That bottle will be empty, eventually.
4) Let it gather dust. Put it back in the far reaches of the 2nd tier liquor cabinet. Who knows, it might improve, or evaporate.
3) Give it away. Preferably to someone you don't really like that much. I don't think I need to explain this further.
2) Mix it in a cocktail. I'm sure we've all had so-so drinks made from liquor we enjoy on it's own. Sometimes the reverse is true, a banal spirit can be elevated with the right partner(s).
1) Make a liqueur! Once made it can be used to make cocktails, cocktails with ingredients you actually like. Excellent!

So, after making vermouth I still had several fresh herbs courtesy of the seester-in-law. Still lurking in the liquor cabinet was that bottle of Scotch. I decided to combine the two and add honey. You will find a wide variety of proportions and herbs if you search online for "Drambuie recipe" or "homemade Drambuie" or "make your own Drambuie" but the constant things are Scotch, herbs, honey. Here is my recipe:

Shambuie

12.5 oz Scotch
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
6 oz honey

Steep herbs in Scotch for 24 hours. Strain. Mix with honey (warmed slightly).

I can't say for sure how close this is to tasting like the real thing. I've no reference bottle in the house. From what I recall though this is quite close. Or as my father might say, "As near as makes no nevermind." There will likely be some sediment. I don't mind this. If you do, well, use someone else's recipe ;-)

Now, I just need to determine an ideal Rusty Nail ratio...

Cheers!

MXMO LVIII: Niche Spirits

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 19:52:00 +0000

No, not Nietzche spirits. Niche. It's Mixology Monday time again!

So, imagine this. After a visit home to see the family your Greek friend brings you some Metaxa and some Ouzo. The Metaxa you have occasionally after dinner as if it were brandy. The Ouzo you don't know what to do with. So it goes. And it goes for a while. Then you inherit some Sambuca. It begins to gather dust right beside the Ouzo. And so it goes. In the meantime several bottles of gin and rum revolve through your liquor cabinet. The Ouzo and Sambuca continue to gather dust. Then one day you find yourself with pineapple juice and club soda in danger of going flat. Whilst perusing a cocktail book you come across the Assassino. Before you make it though you discover the theme of the current month's MxMo, hosted by Adventures In Cocktails, to be Niche Spirits.

You get the bright idea to make an Algonquin but with Metaxa substituted for the rye. You figure the spiciness and wood of Metaxa 7 Star will be a nice stand-in for rye. You're wrong! Instead the vermouth and juice somehow cover up everything but the jamminess of the grape spirit. Not what you had in mind. It's a shame because you even had a clever name for this new drink. Algonquin makes you think of the wilderness (because of Algonquin Provincial Park) and outdoorsy activities (not hotels or literary clubs). That same Greek friend of the family once went on a canoe trip with your brother. A canoe trip near Lion's Head. It turned into a harrowing adventure. In the end everyone was okay, but it was dicey for a while....

Unfortunately the Harrowing Canoe Trip cocktail is not something you want to have again. Perhaps with 5 Star it would be better. Perhaps with less sweet juice it would be better. If you ever dare to have it again you'll find out. So your mind returns to the Assassino. Would you drink something called a Greek Assassin? Maybe. There's really only one way to find out. While It's name doesn't have quite the inscrutable ring to it that you were hoping for a tall drink may be the way to go. There isn't really a (personal) story you can tell about an assasin and-

Forget about the name, is there going to be an actual drink recipe anytime soon? Some of us are getting thirsty!

Oh sorry, I got a little sidetracked. Here it is:

Dolofónos

2 oz Metaxa 5 Star

1 oz dry vermouth

1 oz pineapple juice

3 dashes ouzo

club soda†

Shake Metaxa vermouth and juice with ice. Strain in a Collins glass over ice. Top with club soda. Add dashes of ouzo on top of drink. Garnish with a speared cherry.

Cheers!

† While the Assassino calls for only 1oz of soda I found this inadequate for the chosen glassware, even after the displacement caused by ice. I chose slightly more dilution for a better photo.

Ginottod

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 23:01:00 +0000

Last weeks TDN theme was tall drinks. So rather than the newfangled Old Fashioned I was about to have I made a tall drink. The club soda was all gone but there was chinotto in the fridge. It occurred to me that Campari and Chinotto share some similarity flavour wise so I started to experiment. This was the result:

Ginottod

1.5 oz gin

3 drops Pernod†

Fill highball glass with ice and chinotto. Float gin and Pernod. Garnish with lime (or a lime creature).

So, it's like a fizzy Negroni with Pernod subbed for vermouth. Or something like that. The original name was a portmanteau courtesy of Cutes: Ginotto. I added a silent "d" for the Pernod.

This drink will appear (sometime) on the Mixoloseum blog. Even if Frederic takes matters into his own hands...

Cheers!

†I actually subbed for the Pernod, but we'll just keep that to ourselves.

"You Smell Like Booze & Onion Rings"

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:39:00 +0000

The other night, the above is what the missus said to me. It was true. I'd had a Coronado Luau Special and some Onion Rings N' Ketchup flavour Doritos. Yes Doug, onions.

So, about the drink....

I have enjoyed this drink since the first one I made last summer using Rick's recipe. This time though, some substitutions were required. (It is a sweet drink so I wonder if further ~~subs~~ tweaking might be needed... Though it might be a "whole 'nother" drink by then.)

Anyway, much like Keiths Nui Nui post I will now post about a drink already covered elsewhere.

Coronado Luau Special Type Beverage

4 oz orange juice

4 oz sweet & sour

0.25 oz orgeat

1.5 oz Lamb's Navy Rum

1.5 oz Trader Vic's Silver Rum

0.5 oz triple sec

0.5 oz Metaxa

This is meant to be a blended with crushed ice. Even though there is juice and syrup I stirred and then poured over crushed ice. I was planning to shake but chose a shaker that was too small for the job. So stirring it was. I think the funk and sulfur of Havana Club might be a good way to cut the sweetness...

Cheers!

That's Not A Mai Tai

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 02:47:00 +0000

The Mai Tai (like the Tom Collins) is another of those drinks that everyone knows. At least, everyone thinks they know...

If you know then keep reading. If you don't know please follow some or all of these links to get up to speed. I'll wait here. You're impatient? Okay, read this one: http://beachbumberry.com/how-to-make-a-mai-tai/

Not so impatient:
http://drbamboo.blogspot.com/2010/09/anatomy-of-drink-mai-tai.html
http://www.killingtime.com/Pegu/2009/02/25/mai-tai-throwdown/
http://rumdood.com/2009/01/26/a-month-of-mai-tais/
http://www.amountainofcrushedice.com/?p=12106

There are likely more resources but that ought to cover it. You read them all right? If ever you hear me speak of a Mai Tai I mean the Bergeron Mai Tai.

Now that that's out of the way here's where this is all going. Most encounters with a Mai Tai will be a different drink calling itself a Mai Tai. This is what the bar down the street from me serves. It may be a tasty drink (never had it) but I'd be inclined to actually order it if they gave it it's own name. I don't recall all the ingredients but a Mai Tai it is not. Just like that bar most cocktail books have recipes that call for grenadine or pineapple juice or other things that don't belong. The disparity between all the Mai Tai recipes in my library caused quite a bit of confusion for quite some time, especially when one books Mai Tai sounded nearly like another books Zombie. (If you think I'm going to open that can of worms, I'm not)

So along with my other books i had written off The Complete Bartender as a source for a Mai Tai. Then I actually went back to it and looked at the recipe within....

1 oz light rum

0.5 oz orgeat syrup

0.5 oz triple sec

1.5 oz sour mix

1) Fill mixing glass with ice

2) Add light rum, orgeat syrup, triple sec and sour mix

3) Shake

4) Strain into a Collins glass filled with ice

5) Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice

The Complete Bartender, Robyn M Feller

Oh! So close!

So close I can almost taste it. Almost taste it but it's too sweet. Really sweet. Dood, put more rum in this! Dark rum, man. (I used Trader Vic's Silver for this drink. I also used 0.75 oz lime and 0.75 oz simple for my "sour mix").

So why have I posted a bastardized Mai Tai? Because I want to know the source material. There are some classic cocktails in the book (and some victims of 1990 also) but the fact that the Aviation contains apricot brandy leads one toward Trader Vic (or Patrick Duffy). Read this: http://savoystomp.com/2008/09/06/corpse-reviver-re-revisited/ then report back. If the Aviation is might be from Trader Vic why does the Mai Tai recipe contain light rum, and one ounce at that?

Has anyone else encountered this Pseudo Mai Tai?
Any idea where it came from?

Cheers!

Lamb's Navy Rum Flip

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 15:16:00 +0000

2oz Lamb's Navy Rum
1 tsp powdered sugar
1 whole egg

dry shake. shake with ice. double strain.

Watch (in horror) as I poorly make a flip. I didn't have the shaker sealed properly and ended up with rum all over the counter and my hand during the dry shake. I should have transferred everything to a different shaker but I did not. As a result my hesitant shaking with ice(as I attempted to avoid further mess) didn't really do the trick. The drink was tasty though.

This one's for you Erik.

Cheers!

Tom Collins - Federal Glass Shaker Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:58:00 +0000

Ah, the Tom Collins. One of those drinks you know of long before you're old enough to drink. Possibly because of a paper placemat in a Chinese restaurant. Possibly not. Maybe that's just me, anyway...

The Recipe:
juice of 1 lime or lemon
1 teaspoon sugar
2 oz gin
shake and add ice
club soda and fruit

And i thought The Daiquiri recipe was weird! Well, the last item anyway but what do i know?

So, lime or lemon, eh? That certainly makes for wide variation in the drink. I used a lime, a large one. I ended up with a bit more than 1 oz of juice. I used powdered sugar this time. I did shake it (which made me think it was a fizz, more on that later) and I shook it with ice despite the directions. I added ice to a collins glass. (Is that what they meant? I hope so). Far as fruit goes I went with a cherry and a lime twist.

This was okay, but a little lighter refreshment than I was looking for. I would have prefered a Fizz or even think some Rose's topped with soda would have had more flavour. Maybe I need a more flavourful gin...

So how is this not a Fizz? I defer to The Underhill Lounge for that one. Collins=long tall and soda; Fizz= short and boozy. Short and boozy wins (almost) every time!

Next up in the series: The Martini!

Cheers!

Missed it by a mile...

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Wed, 18 May 2011 23:08:00 +0000

This month's MxMo was floral, or something. Hosted by Dave? I was going to make a Gin Daisy but that didn't happen. Is "I was out of town" a reasonable excuse for missing the MxMo? Yeah, I didn't think so...

Friday The 13th Punch Up

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sat, 14 May 2011 19:30:00 +0000

I've been sitting on this for a while now and I've still not got a definitive recipe but I'm getting close.

It started New Year's Eve last year. I wanted something I could sip throughout the evening. We had blood oranges so I decided to incorporate them. I knew that Rick had a drink calling for blood orange and I started searching. I found the Cthulhu Punch eventually. At the time Kraken wasn't available here but I did have some Captain Morgan Spiced Rum....

There were some other ingredient discrepancies so I decided to improvise. (I think the Dood calls it a riff). In fact all of the booze needed to be subbed. I thought the savouriness of Fee Bros celery bitters would be a good sub for the Kummel and as over proof rum was all I had on hand I decided on incorporating it in the recipe rather than floating. This is what I made:

New Year's Punch
1 oz Capt Morgan Spiced Rum
1 oz Metaxa 7 star
1/2 oz Brugal 151
1½ oz orzata
2 oz blood orange juice
3/4 oz lime juice
2 dashes Fee Bros celery bitters
5 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake, strain over ice in a tall glass. Garnish with lime shell. Fill lime shell with 1 oz Creme de Cacao.

I guess this was a bloody scorpion or something. At least that's what I considered it to be. The Metaxa standing in for Brandy. The Creme de Cacao (mostly) stayed in the shell until the end of the drink and added a nice finish. Other than that there wasn't much flavour evolution. It was tasty, mind you, just mostly the same taste the whole night even as the ice melted.

I didn't revisit this until recently. Why I'm unsure of. But that's what happened. I blame ~~Erik~~ onions.

Anyway...

Recently I had some imbibing company and decided to bring this back out. The drink was as such:

Cinco De Mayo Punch
1 oz homemade spiced rum*
1 oz Metaxa 5 star
1 oz Creme de Cacao
1.5 oz orzata/orgeat
1.5 oz blood orange juice
0.75 oz lime juice
2 dashes Fee Bros celery bitters
6 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake, strain in a bucket over crushed ice. Float 1/4 oz Brugal 151. No garnish.

I enjoyed this. So did my guests. Changing the Creme de Cacao to a main in gredient rather than a float was a good idea (IMO). "Tasty" was the comment as I recall. My guests had more than did I. I had a mini. Then I added pineapple juice. Not really what it needed. (You'll notice a change in the Metaxa. The 5 star, though good, is more of a mixer than the 7 so why not).

I decided I should revisit it again and not wait 5 months this time! So here goes:

Friday 13th Punch
1 oz spiced rum
1 oz Metaxa 5 Star
1 oz Creme de Cacao
1 oz blood orange juice
1 oz orzata/orgeat
3/4 oz lime juice
8 deshes Angostura bitters
3 dashes Fee Bros celery bitters

Shake with ice and strain over ice in a tall glass. Garnish with grated nutmeg, mint leaves and a lime shell filled with 3/4 oz Brugal 151.

Don't forget to "spank" the mint†. Or as has been heard recently in the bar: "Spank Da Mint"

Perhaps I didn't use enough mint but I didn't really notice it's aroma. I did notice the nutmeg and 151. The mint might have been out muscled. The drink was tasty but it might need something else‡. Maybe some amaro? I don't know. I'll keep experimenting I guess. I encourage you to try one and see what you think. I did push the mint to the bottom of my glass and "muddle" it a little with the straw as the end approached. By this time the bite of the 151 had become noticeable and the sweetness of the orgeat and juice had gone home for the night. It's always a nice development when a drink evolves as you drink it. I think a 151 Mojito might be in the future.

Cheers!

* I didn't make my rum from a specific recipe but if you're going to make your own I recommend the DJ's recipe.
† Usually I use the countertop rather than my hand.
‡ Tiare seems to think Chartreuse is the magic answer. "magic drops transforms an average drink into a potion of dreams" http://www.amountainofcrushedice.com/?p=12984 ;http://www.amountainofcrushedice.com/?p=12202

White Owl At The Nite Owl

noreply@blogger.com (Dagreb) — Sat, 07 May 2011 01:35:00 +0000

Last night. Drinking with C-Dot and his brother-in-law. First the latest incarnation of my rum punch, then down the street to the Nite Owl. I had some White Owl on the rocks. I don't think I'll be buying a bottle...

The punch though, I think I'm nearly ready to post the recipe. Stay tuned.

Cheers!