This month's Mixology Monday is sponsored by Cocktail Virgin Slut, and the theme is Beer Cocktails. As mentioned in the announcing post, beer cocktails aren't exactly a new thing, but they've been getting a lot of press in the past year or so:
Bartenders are drawn to beer for a variety of reasons including the glorious malt and roast notes from the grain, the bitter and sometimes floral elements from the hops, the interesting sour or fruity notes from the yeast, and the crispness and bubbles from the carbonation. Beer is not just for pint glasses, so let us honor beer of all styles as a drink ingredient.
My first introduction to beer cocktails in a cocktail type of form was actually at Tales of the Cocktail last year in one of the tasting rooms. The cocktail involved egg white, ROOT liqueur, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Recipe and video! Thanks to Frederic for knowing what I was talking about!). As soon as I interviewed for my current job I knew that if I got the position I wanted to utilize this style of cocktail in some way, shape, or form on my list. The Southern Magic is the drink that resulted. I decided to start with a bourbon base, as it is a southern style restaurant--and not many liquors are more representative of the south than bourbon--and built from there. I really wasn't sure how Cincinnati would react to beer cocktails in this form since the only thing in the "beer cocktail" realm I'd seen around before was a michelada at a restaurant we enjoy downtown, but I was pleasantly surprised by a nice following for it! Also, a couple people have described it as "It's like summer in my mouth!" so I felt it rather appropriate for a July post.
Southern Magic
Method: Shake, Box, Strain
Glassware: Brandy Snifter
Garnish: Flamed lemon twist
Ingredients:
.75 oz Maker's Mark bourbon
.5 oz Apricot brandy
.25 oz Simple syrup
Squeeze of fresh lemon (just a few drops, really)
Shake above ingredients with ice, then add 4 oz of Magic Hat #9 Not Quite Pale Ale, box ingredients, and strain into brandy snifter. Flame a piece of lemon peel over drink, and drop peel in to garnish.
ETA: For those of you who found this entry after reading my Southern Magic recipe, I apologize in advance for the background re-tell. You can skip the first paragraph if you already know the story behind my intro to beer cocktails...ha
My first experience with cocktails featuring beer was at Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this past summer. There were a couple of guys in one of the tasting rooms mixing up a concoction using ROOT liqueur, egg white, and Sierra Nevada (I can't find the recipe. I may have it in my TotC paperwork somewhere, but it's not in my TotC 2010 recipe book). I loved the idea so much that when I was starting work on the drink menu for smoQ, I knew that I definitely wanted a "beertail" or two on my list. The first idea I had also used a brown ale (though the local-to-Cincinnati Mt. Carmel Nut Brown, and with Frangelico as the liqueur), but I instead ended up creating what I named the Southern Magic (involving Maker's Mark, apricot brandy, and Magic Hat #9).
Today I'm going to write about the new one since it features one of my new favorite liquors to mix--dark rum, and since I just finalized the recipe a couple of days ago I wanted to share. You can ask me about the Southern Magic when you come in to visit ;-)
Now...this is a perfect example of how terrible I can be with naming things. This took me two months and enlisting the help of my serving staff one evening. I wanted something that evoked the tropical of the Jamaican dark rum, but something that was also a nod to the local beer used in the recipe. One of my servers nailed it on the head when he said, "You could call it the Staycation." THAT'S IT! The Jamaican Staycation it became...and is now how it resides on the summer menu.
Jamaican Staycation
Glass: Brandy snifter
Method: Shake, then Box and Strain
Garnish: No garnish
Combine in mixing glass and shake with ice:
.75 oz Appleton Estate Reserve dark rum
.25 oz Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
.25 oz Simple syrup
Add:
4 oz Mt. Carmel Nut Brown Ale
Box* ingredients and strain into a brandy snifter.
*I can't seem to find a good example of "how to box a drink" online, though it's a fairly common method of mixing, so the easiest way to explain is this: Pour the liquid and ice back and forth between the mixing glass and the shaker a few times to thoroughly combine the ingredients.
