Okay...trying to make up a bit for lost time. Sorry for the sad lack of October posts, guys! It's been a busy month!
I did a fall cocktail event with Buckeye vodka earlier this month, so be prepared for some more Buckeye vodka recipes over the next month-ish. Since the fall and winter tend to be more dark liquor months, I tried to incorporate some fall/winter types of flavors into vodka cocktails for them. This one would be lovely for a Christmas-ish or New Years party. I'd never even tried quince prior to making this syrup, but I was extremely pleased with the result!
For those of you who don't know about quince fruit, historians and mythologians are pretty certain that it was the "apple" referenced in the Garden of Eden, and any golden apple references in Greek and Roman mythology (like the one Eris inscribed and tossed to Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera that essentially started the Trojan War). The raw taste is very dry, tart, and somewhere between an apple and a pear. I also read that they have ties to the rose family--hence the intoxicating scent, I'm guessing. To get real flavor out of it you want to make it into a syrup or jam, really. I made a very easy simple syrup. I peeled and diced three quince fruit and brought it verrrrrrrrrry slowly to a boil with about 30oz sugar and 30oz water (I typically use Store and Pours to measure for my syrups...ha) and then strained out the diced fruit. The syrup turned a gorgeous pink color with an incredibly intoxicating scent as it simmered.
Rose of Eris
Glass: Champagne flute
Method: Shake and Strain
Garnish: Long lemon twist
Ingredients:
1 oz Buckeye vodka (Ciroc might be a great substitution for those not in Ohio)
.75 oz Quince simple syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a champagne flute. Top with prosecco and garnish. Indulge.
I am currently working on a very special project, and this cocktail was the result of experimentation for that. I love playing with unusual liqueurs and ingredients, and I thoroughly believe that cognac and brandy need to make even more of a comeback in cocktails than they already have, and this is just one of my contributions to that end. The photo was taken amidst my collection of YA and faery fiction...haha. It works, as it's a little dark, a little mysterious, and deliciously decadent...yet surprisingly light. I'm thinking chocolate mole bitters might twist this down a much darker, yet still delicious, path.
Rapture
Glass: Small cocktail
Method: Shake and Strain
Garnish: No garnish.
Ingredients:
.5 oz Meukow VS cognac
.5 oz Nux Alpine walnut liqueur
3 drops Pure Vanilla extract
1 dash Regan's orange bitters
1 dash Bitter Truth's Xocolatl Mole bitters
1 oz Fonesca Bin 127 ruby port
Okay...working on this whole "making up for lost time" thing, and posting my second blog this week! This came around when I decided that me not particularly caring for spiced rum meant that I needed to practice mixing with it. People who like spiced rum seem to have approved of the result (and so do I, actually...I surprisingly enjoyed it thoroughly).
The name for this one came around when I decided it needed to match the cocktail and be simultaneously feminine (it uses elderflower liqueur) and nautical (Sailor Jerry rum), with a little bit of evil implied. Apparently that was an appropriate thought, because the first person who ordered it told the server "You need to tell your manager that this one needs to come with a warning! It could be dangerous!" Perfect!
Siren's Song
Method: Shake and Strain
Glassware: Large cocktail
Garnish: Dash of cinnamon
Ingredients:
1 oz Sailor Jerry spiced rum
.5 oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur
2 oz Fresh squeezed orange juice (seriously...using oranges makes all the difference)
.25 oz Simple syrup
3 dashes Regan's orange bitters
Add all ingredients to mixing glass and shake well with ice. Strain into glass and garnish with a dash of cinnamon. Enjoy!
For anybody unfamiliar with the Sirens (most known and remembered through Homer's Odyssey): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren
