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Four Summer Cocktails from Foodista.com

 

 

Four Summer Cocktails

 

 

June 3, 2013

 

 

Four Cocktails for the Summer….

 

We just had a most disgustingly humid heat wave.  The warm weather has come and gone and come again, yet if there is one thing for certain- I’m getting thirsty.   I’ve been working with flavors that although grounded in the warmer weather, they still offer the cooling abilities of late summer sippers.   I’ve been drinking a bit of bourbon whiskey these days.  Four Roses Bourbon has taken my cocktailian musings to new boundaries and beyond.  It’s so easy to make a fine drink with Four Roses.  The assertive mouth-feel and soft finish allow the mixologist to create simple drinks with robust flavor.  One drink that I’m working on right now uses Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey.  This is augmented by a frozen cube of Mavea “Inspired Water” ice that has sweet vermouth frozen into the cube.  I use a scant amount of Punt e Mes Sweet Vermouth along with the filtered water, and then finish the cocktail with a few ounces of Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water.

 

The fizzy nature of Perrier lifts the bourbon to a higher place in the food chain of mixed drinks.  To make the sweet vermouth ice cubes, purchase a two quart Tupperware container.  Filter your water using the Mavea “Inspired Water” Pitcher (the ice comes out nearly crystal clear) and then add a few shots of sweet vermouth to the water.  Let this freeze overnight, then cut with an ice pick and hammer to the desired size.  The sweet vermouth cubes as they melt into the bourbon will change the dimension of the cocktail over time.  And the Perrier?  It will keep your attention because of the fizzy nature of the natural sparkling water!

 

I call this cocktail the Middle Creek Cocktail.. It’s super easy to make.

 

Ingredients for one nice intoxicating beverage

 

2 oz. Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey

 

Several Hand Cut Sweet Vermouth Ice Cubes

 

2-3 shakes Angostura Bitters

 

Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water

 

Preparation:

 

To a glass cocktail mixer- fill ¾ with plain ice

 

Add the Four Roses Bourbon

 

Stir to cool

 

Strain into an Old Fashioned glass with a couple Sweet Vermouth Ice Cubes

 

Finish with a few splashes Angostura Bitters and 1 oz. Perrier Sparkling Water

 

Finally, pinch an orange zest over the top and rub the rim of the glass with the zest

 

Serve

 

The second cocktail is equally as refreshing, but it works best on a weekday morning when you have a cocktail party to attend to.  If you said weekday morning (?) you’d be correct.  This cocktail was the signature cocktail for the Architectural Digest Home Design Show held in NYC.  I created it to sate the thirsts of about two hundred design bloggers before the show opened.  The cocktail is quite simple indeed.  The only true prerequisites are the bloody mary mix (I used Hoosier Momma) and of course the tequila.  I used the magical Casa Noble Blanco Tequila.  There were bitters in there- you can purchase Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Bitters on the web or you may use the easily found- Angostura.  Citrus is important with lemon chunks making their way into the mix. This drink is usually served in a Collins glass that is tall and narrow.  The choice of the glass is important because the shape forces you to drink it slowly.

 

I like the use of hand cut ice in my Bloody Mary.  I think the size of the cube chills the cocktail, not diluting it.  This is important in my opinion.

 

The Jalisco Bloody Mary is savory and perky in a way that helps the imbiber slowly experience the sensuality of tequila for more than lime and salt.  Tomatoes, spices and that “thick as paste” texture of the Hoosier Momma Bloody Mary Mix enrobe the Casa Noble Tequila into something truly memorable.  I like to use lemons of the Meyer variety because it is important to balance the spicy and alcoholic with something tangy and sweet.  I like to sprinkle some sea salt into this cocktail instead of on the rim of the glass.  The sensation of the crunchy salt in your mouth is mesmerizing.

 

The Jalisco Bloody Mary

 

Ingredients for two Bespoke cocktails:

 

4 oz. Casa Noble Blanco Tequila

 

8 oz. Hoosier Momma Bloody Mary Mix

 

¼ teaspoon Fleur du Sel

 

1 Meyer Lemon, cut into wedges

 

Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Bitters or Angostura

 

http://hoosiermomma.com

 

Preparation:

 

In a Boston Shaker filled ¾ with ice, add:

 

Casa Noble

 

Hoosier Momma mix

 

Fleur du Sel

 

Shake and strain into a Collins glass with several wedges of Meyer Lemon squeezed inside before adding the ice

 

Finish with a couple drops of the Fee Brothers or Angostura Bitters

 

Garnish with a pinwheel of Meyer Lemon and serve to an appreciative friend who may not know that Casa Noble is only one of three tequila brands that are certified organic by the USDA.

 

 

 

I very rarely review vodka and I even more rarely drink it but imagine my delight when I received a new bottling of vodka from Italy.  The brand is named Punzoné and it is certified organic by the USDA, made with organically grown Italian wheat.  The packaging is gorgeous, tall and frosted in color, in a style reminiscent of Grey Goose or Belvedere or even Chopin.  This is ultra-luxury stuff that calls out for simplicity.  The clear section of the bottle is a visual cut-out in the shape of the Italian country.  Tucked in the back a Tuscan scene of verdant fields and grand homes framed by mountains.  It’s gorgeous looking from a visual perspective.  The neck is tall and narrow in a shape appreciated by bartenders because it’s easy to hold and pour.  I recommend drinking Punzoné with as little as possible.  The aromatics are far too good to cover up with sugary soda or even fruit juices.  This is ultra-sophisticated, ultra-prestigious stuff.  I could never see mixing it with ice cream.  That would just be wrong. Even if you were as wealthy as an oil baron, I’d still drink it simply.

 

My drink exemplifies this desire for simplicity.  I’ve frozen lemon zests into ice cubes made from Mavea filtered water in a Tupperware two quart size.  Then I cut them into cubes and placed them in an Old Fashioned style glass.  As the ice melts, the lemon zest is exposed, gently scenting the vodka with the crisp aromatics of the citrus fruit.  Simple?  Absolutely.  Can you do it at your restaurant or home?  Of course, if you can freeze water, you can make this cocktail.

 

The Punzoné Lemon Cocktail  (will blast the mind of one very thirsty friend)

 

Ingredients for one very intense drink that has all the stuffing…

 

Lemon Zests frozen into a two quart Tupperware container overnight

 

3 oz. Punzoné vodka

 

Several lemon zests

 

Preparation:

 

Rub the inside of an Old Fashioned glass with a lemon zest

 

Add a couple cubes of the lemon zest infused Mavea water filtered ice

 

Add the Italian Vodka

 

Stir lightly

 

Serve immediately!

 

Gin is uniquely geared to the spring season.  I like the idea of gin mixed with the gorgeous Q-Drinks in the Orange flavor.  Made with loving care by my friend Jordan Silbert in New York, this is soda that defies your imagination of soda just as a quick energy drink.  Here is what they use to make this sparkling soda of the highest quality. Q Orange is made from real oranges – Valencia oranges from Florida, Peras from Brazil, and tangerines from Mexico. And only a dash of organic cane sugar.  I’m proud to use in in this cocktail that calls for gin.   I used the Barr Hill Gin from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.  Barr Hill is distilled from grain and finished with raw honey.  The health benefits of raw honey are well established.  This is a unique product and it calls out for simplicity and grace when mixed.  In this case I took some oranges and sliced them into thick rounds.  I scored them on a cast iron grill pan to char deep grill marks into them.  Then I placed each orange round at the bottom of a “Rocks” glass.  I added a few hand cut chunks of Mavea filtered “Inspired Water” ice.  Then I added over the ice 2 oz. of the Barr Hill Gin.  Finally I added 3 oz. of the Q-Drinks Orange soda.  That’s it!

 

Orange Inspirational Cocktail

 

Ingredients:

 

2 oz. Barr Hill Gin

 

3 oz. Q-Drinks Orange Soda

 

1 thick slice of orange (grilled deeply)

 

Filtered Water Ice – I recommend the Mavea pitcher to filter my ice…

 

Preparation:

 

Grill the orange round to set deep grill marks, let cool

 

Add several cubes of hand cut ice to a Rocks glass

 

Add the Barr Hill gin

 

Top with Q-Drinks Orange soda

 

Serve with a wedge of lemon or orange (an un-grilled slice, please)

 

Sip and enjoy!

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The Last Train to Brownsville

Monday, May 6, 2013

Last Train to Brownsville

By Warren Bobrow, Cocktail Whisperer

I can picture in my mind’s eye the first time I tasted Mezcal. I was down in Mexico – specifically in the Yucatan Peninsula, visiting the Mayan ruins with my family. Overflowing pitchers of green-tinged, icy cold drinks were set upon broad tables shaded from the tropical sunshine by the lush vegetation. Down in this part of the world an icy drink is a welcome diversion against the burning rays and the inferno-like heat of the sun.

I was perhaps sixteen and already well acquainted with Tequila from childhood forays into the seedy underbelly of overindulgences. But these pitchers held something more than just mysteries. The vessels contained fever-dripped dreams of another world, linked together with a thin veneer of char and smoke. It was a heady brew for anyone, much less a teenager with a serious thirst from the heat. After several cocktails in the hot sun, the world took on a deeper dimension – the Mayan temples seemed a part of my experience and the Mezcal spoke to me. But please don’t ask me what it said, because I don’t remember a thing!

Roasting agave at San Luis Del Rio

Mezcal is made with similar ingredients as Tequila but it takes a twisted path up the side of the mountains through a method that involves the use of smoke. Mezcal is to Tequila as Scotch Whisky is to Bourbon. They both use similar ingredients but one is sweet in the nose and mouth while the other can be vividly smoky to the palate and especially the nose. I love Mezcal for precisely that reason. There is an obviously sophisticated method of making Mezcal. Although it mimics Tequila in the flavor profile, Mezcal takes on a characteristic all its own through the potent application of fire and earth.

As a rule, I’m very fond of Mezcal, in this case one named Mezcal Vida from Del Maguey. What Del Maguey has done is get high quality Mezcal into the hands of more consumers at a much lower price point.

During this mostly cool spring, citrus is at the forefront of my palate. I cannot seem to get enough of it. Oranges are at their peak right now and I love to lightly sear them in a dry sauté pan, let them cool, then juice them, releasing a perfume and spark that makes me salivate.

Perrier, you know – the pink grapefruit sparkling natural mineral water happens to work very well with grilled orange. Brightly aromatic, the citrus weaves around each bubble. The spark of the bubbles rises through the smokier elements of Mezcal and the grilled orange juice.

To make a Last Train to Brownsville Cocktail you must first get all the ingredients. Each comes together in a bold, multi-layered event in your glass and soon your mouth. My ice is the most important part of the Last Train to Brownsville (Texas) Cocktail. I ALWAYS filter the water through a Mavea “Inspired Water” pitcher and you should too – water just tastes better, soft, creamy almost. There is sensuality about the water that I cannot explain… You must drip it into your mouth or suck on an ice cube made with Mavea filtered water.

So, without further adieu…

The Last Train to Brownsville (Texas) Cocktail

Ingredients for two VERY STRONG DRINKS:
• 4 oz. Del Maguey “Vida” San Luis Del Rio Mezcal
• 3 oz. Grilled Orange Juice (reserve a few slices for garnish)
• 4 dashes of Angostura Bitters
• 4 oz. Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water (Pink Grapefruit essence)
• 3 oz. Valley Girls Grapefruit Soda Syrup*
• One very large hand cut cube of ice made from Mavea “Inspired Water” for each cocktail

Preparation:
1. To a Boston shaker add the liquors and the bitters.
2. Add the grilled orange juice and the Grapefruit Soda Syrup, then fill ¾ with plain ice.
3. Shake Boston Shaker for 20 seconds, it’s going to be quite frosty.
4. Pour into short rocks glasses with one really large hand-cut ice cube made of the Mavea filtered water ice. (There might be enough for a couple of shots as well, unless you use a tall glass then no shots for you.)
5. Top with a couple splashes of the Perrier Pink Grapefruit Sparkling Natural Mineral Water.
6. Garnish with a slice of grilled orange and a couple of shakes of Angostura bitters over the top.
7. Sip very carefully and have another immediately afterwards.
8. Marvel at the visual elements of this strikingly beguiling cocktail.

*Valley Girls from Sonoma are dedicated to handcrafted, small-batch cooking that preserves old-school methods of making food that tastes, tasty! The sales benefit Sonoma Valley Teens Services “Skills For Life” programs which benefit at-risk teens. http://www.valleygirlsfoodstuffs.com

Cheers from DrinkUpNY!

Article by Warren Bobrow, a nationally published food and spirits columnist who writes for Williams-Sonoma, Foodista and the Beekman Boys.

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Books

the cover for my first book is up!!

Apothecary Cocktails

Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today

Apothecary Cocktails Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today
Author:

Warren Bobrow

Format: Flexi w/ Concealed Wire-o, 160 Pages
Item: 212140
ISBN: 9781592335848
Publisher: Fair Winds Press
Price: $21.99
Not Yet Published – Available 10/15/2013
Buy the E-Book

            
         
At the turn of the century, pharmacies in Europe and America prepared homemade tinctures, bitters, and herbal remedies mixed with alcohol for curative benefit for everything from poor digestion to the common cold. Today, trendy urban bars such as Apothke in New York, Apo Bar & Lounge in Philadelphia, and 1022 South in Tacoma, as well as “vintage” and “homegrown” cocktail aficionados, find inspiration in apothecary cocktails of old.
Now you can too!
 
Apothecary Cocktails features 75 traditional and newly created recipes for medicinally-themed cocktails. Learn the history of the top ten apothecary liqueurs, bitters, and tonics that are enjoying resurgence at trendy bars and restaurants, including Peychaud’s Bitters, Chartreuse, and Vermouth. Find out how healing herbs, flowers, and spices are being given center stage in cocktail recipes and traditional apothecary recipes and ingredients are being resurrected for taste and the faint promise of a cure. Once you’ve mastered the history, you can try your hand at reviving your favorites: restoratives, sedatives and toddys, digestifs, and more.
Whether you’re interested in the history, the recipes, or both, you’ll love flipping through this beautifully presented book that delves into the world of apothecary cocktails.

Cooking, Food & Drink / Beverages / Bartending
Cooking, Food & Drink / Beverages / Wine & Spirits

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From DrinkUpNY where I serve as a cocktail storyteller

Friday, May 10, 2013

Caipirinha Classica

By Warren Bobrow, Cocktail Whisperer

I love Brazil. The people make up the social thread, the food fills their bellies and the music fills their hearts. Their heads are filled with the particularly potent liquor named cachaça. Now with an AOC for purity, cachaça has become a world player in the rush for flavor and nostalgia alike.

It completes the equation of the soul meeting the heart through the influence of the earth.

Avuá Prata Cachaça is made in Brazil. It cannot be made anywhere else on the planet by the force of law. Cachaça is a complex beverage that takes great passion to make. This passion runs through the veins of the Brazilian people. When Caipirinha cocktails are made, people come together. They dance, they sing – it seems to help solve problems in life and make people come together for a common good. You cannot drive anywhere in Rio and not see offerings to the spirits, both physical and metaphysical. They are everywhere in Brazil.

When I was a boy my parents took me to Brazil to experience the Caipirinha cocktail up close. And yes, I had several while there. One too many perhaps, but as the theory goes – once you’ve enjoyed a Caipirinha cocktail, you will always remember it. The flavor of freshly cut lime, the burst of cane sugar sweetness from the cachaça intermixed with the haunting flavor of the wooden cask, all mingle to create a truly unique product.

Cachaça is the soul of the people of Brazil and Avuá Prata Cachaça is one of the best I’ve ever tasted. It speaks clearly of the cane, that hauntingly sensual liquid that coats the back of your throat and swirls around your mind. Two or three cocktails and you are out on Copacabana Beach, soaking up the Equatorial sun, slathered with coconut oil and iodine for a deeper tan than you ever thought possible. I spent two months in Brazil and came back to winter in NJ as a different person. The food and the music would never leave me. When I wrote restaurant reviews for NJ Monthly Magazine, I made sure that I reviewed a Brazilian restaurant in Newark, NJ named Seabra’s. They make an extremely fine Caipirinha right in front of you. I’m a big fan of in-your-face bartending.

Yesterday I was fortunate to spend some time in the company of Daniel Bull, the mixologist for his families’ restaurant named Brasilina located near Hell’s Kitchen on the West Side of NYC. He is passionate about his ingredients, insisting on fresh and freshly sliced whenever possible. He hasn’t been a bartender for too long, but his hand is steady behind the stick and the passionate Brazilian spirit flows readily through his fingers into his handcrafted cocktails.

Daniel made me the classic Caipirinha cocktail with Avuá Prata Cachaça and what transpired was less a lesson in making the cocktail, but more a view into the sense of taste. Avuá is sold at DrinkUpNY and you can take the easy to follow directions (below) and make your own cocktail. I do have one suggestion. When you make this cocktail, make sure your hands and your heart is warm first. Warming your hands is easy, by holding them under warm water until they are warm. Your heart may be more difficult to warm, but you can start by thinking of a place like Brazil and the affectionate sunshine that bathes this country in her perpetual glow.

Do you think that it is the Avuá Prata Cachaça talking?

Daniel says it is essential to slice your limes fresh, as in right before using. He also stressed not muddling the lime too much. Muddling releases the oils, yes – but it can release the bitter from the skin just as easily. Be gentle and smile while you make this cocktail!

Make your drink like a Brazilian, with passion!

Classica Caipirinha

Ingredients:
• 4 fresh cut lime wedges
• 20ml simple syrup (2 parts of refined sugar to 1 part boiling water – blend it in the blender)
• 2.5 ounces of Avuá Prata Cachaça

Directions:
1. Add lime and simple syrup to your glass.

2. Muddle 5 to 6 times – make sure you don’t extract too much of the oil from the lime skin.

3. Fill your glass with ice & add the cachaça.

4. Stir with a swizzle stick.
5. Complete the glass with more fresh ice.
6. Garnish with lime wedge, freshly cut is essential!

Cheers from DrinkUpNY!

Article by Warren Bobrow, a nationally published food and spirits columnist who writes for Williams-Sonoma, Foodista and the Beekman Boys.

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Recipes

The Story that started it all. The Handcrafted Mint Julep

From Served Raw Magazine.. Just about the first piece I ever wrote about cocktails… or anything for that matter.  

Cook Sip Party Primp Interviews Raw Canvas Home

05.25.10

The Hand-Crafted Mint Julep

by Warren Bobrow, Wild Table editor, food writer and cocktail whisperer

.

Heat and humidity is what says “Charleston, South Carolina” in the summertime. The air, thick with the sour smell of decay from the confluence of the Cooper and the Ashley Rivers at low tide. Fort Sumpter just out of reach, where the Civil War started they say. The mood somehow becomes somber around town. People run amok for the smallest things. Heat and the unrelenting breezes will do that — it makes them crazy!

Muddle mint and sugar — be gentle … it’s not a test of physical strength.

I was working as a chef at the Primrose House and Tavern. Joann Yaeger, the owner and creative force behind the restaurant, would gather me up at the end of a particularly busy night at the restaurant, under the broad piazzas that signified the architectural history of this former mansion, to learn the art of the hand-crafted mint julep. Bourbon would be at the ready. Sterling silver julep cups, polished to a crisp shine waiting in the wings, along with ice to be crushed, sugar to be muddled and mint just picked from the garden.

Add rye whiskey, the mother’s milk of the julep.

The Hand-Crafted Mint Julep

  1. Muddle fresh mint leaves and ice together to make a soft paste.
  2. Add a bit of brown sugar (sugar in the raw works best) and continue to muddle, adding more ice, and a splash or two of the good bourbon your pappy told you would make a fine drink.
  3. Add a touch more bourbon, some ice, some sugar, some mint. Never use metal on silver. I’ll rue the day that I allow a cocktail silver cup to touch metal other than silver. It’s just not done! The cup should frost up nicely when finished.
  4. Top off with another splash of bourbon. Use about 2 to 3 shots total for this drink.
  5. Garnish with fresh mint.

Thanks to Joann Yaeger for being my friend all these years.

Adding more rye, always recommended.

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Recipes

Twisted Cherry Blossom Cocktail

 

Klaus invented a new cocktail!  This is not just any cocktail, mind you- but one that speaks clearly of the season.  But what season is that?  The dull time, just before the burst of spring.  The ground coming out of its slumber, mud all around, a few crocus flowers straining to move through the soft soil.  It’s going to snow in the next few days though…

A cruel joke perhaps?

The past few days, Klaus has seemed full of wanderlust.  He spent the time wandering through the International Restaurant and Foodservice Show in NYC.  He met the kind folks at Total Food Service Magazine and many others along the way.  Klaus admired the commercial ice machines, the electronic technology laden kitchen equipment and high-speed dishwashers.  He was so impressed!

Then, as if by magic, he tasted raw fish for the first time, cut deftly by a Japanese sashimi master.  This artisan of all things sashimi was flown in directly from Japan with his plethora of hand-made carbon steel knifes glistening in the light. (Just like the knives in Kill Bill)    Just around the corner from the sashimi master, his student sits on an ancient stool and hand-sharpens sushi knives as if his life’s work was to sharpen those knifes.  (And it was!)

Klaus commented that the stones appeared so wet as the sharpening student lay the blades down, nearly perpendicular to the stone, lying in a pool of water, the sharpening surface itself pure, as if in an excited state of altered reality.  Klaus was mesmerized by the motion of the sharpening master, one push against the stone, then the other side and so on and so on and…

But if there is one thing that Klaus knows how to do and that is drink.

Many top end Sake producers appeared in the Japan Pavilion at the show and Klaus started pulling me towards the broad tables, laden with sake from all over Japan.  Klaus didn’t want to extol over the immense pleasures of both jasmine and green tea, what he wanted was to get soused!  He was actually being quite insistent! Klaus was leading me towards a veritable Holy Grail of sake.  Smiling men and women were holding out little plastic cups of liquid history to Klaus.  He threw back his little ceramic head and drained a whole series of sake.  Some were fruity and light, the pinot grigio sake- served ice cold and meant to be enjoyed quickly.  Others were more introspective, like Burgundy, thick with sediment and possibilities.  Still others in the nearly unknown, creamy style of sake pleased Klaus to no end and I actually saw him stashing a few bottles worth in his little flask on his chest for the car-ride home.

Ah Klaus, you work in strange little ways.

The season for drinking sake is year round in Japan and Klaus suddenly realized the meaning of his own desire.  That is the absolutely freshest fish that money can buy, washed down with glass after glass of distinctive and crystalline sake from micro producers around Japan- as pure as the melted snow on Mt. Fuji.

Klaus told me that he wants to do a story on Japan.  Maybe he will be in the right place at the right time to attain a story of this merit?

Klaus?  Klaus?  Ah, he wandered off again.  Looking for another little glass of sake?  He’s so predictable.

 

Twisted Cherry Blossom Cocktail

Ingredients (for two friends or one thirsty gnome)

3 oz. Hiro Sake (well chilled)

1 oz. Bluewater Vodka (also well chilled)

3 oz. Blood Orange Juice (freshly squeezed)

1 oz. Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Tamarind

Crushed filtered water ice (Klaus uses the Mavea “Inspired Water” pitcher)

4 drops in each cocktail- Bitter End Thai Bitters

Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water- Lemon essence

 

Preparation:

Freeze filtered water ice overnight and crush, pack into tall Collins glasses

To a Boston Shaker filled ¾ with filtered water ice, add the liquors and the blood orange juice

Add the simple syrup

Shake for 15 seconds

Taste for sweet/tart quality

Pour over filtered crushed ice and finally add a few drops of the Bitter End Thai Bitters over the top… finish with a splash of the Perrier Sparkling Water and drink!

 

 Kanpai!

 

­

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Recipes

A Cocktail for Baudelaire (by Cocktail Whisperer: Warren Bobrow for DrinkUpNY)

FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013

A Cocktail for Baudelaire

By Warren Bobrow, Cocktail WhispererThe Aylesbury Duck is an intriguing vodka from The 86 Company. They also produce a white rum, a gorgeous blanco tequila, and a lush, aromatic and refreshing London gin. From the very first sip poured with ease from the bartender-designed neck, (it has two lines extruding from the glass for added security) to the gradations on the side (for the measurement of a punch, no doubt) I know that this product is carefully made. The size and shape of the bottle is equally important. It’s circular in dimension and is a bartender-pleasing one liter in volume. It would fit easily into a speed rack or grace the shelf of the back bar with its handsome labeling.

The label looks like handmade paper with Victorian-esque fonts with the depiction of the Aylesbury Duck and curious writing about the duck and hunting, as well as what it is made of, in this case wheat and water.  But you don’t drink writing, nor do you drink fancy bottle styles. What you do drink is a carefully made vodka unlike any other on the market. But what does this mean?

This is what I would call an ultra-luxury product. This vodka is of such high quality that there is very little of it to be attained. But you my friends are in luck. Not only do you have the good fortune to read my words of wisdom attesting to the quality of this product, but also you are able to find this ultra-luxury vodka at DrinkUpNY!

This is your lucky day!

It’s also your lucky day that you cooked some sweet, golden beets last night to accompany your roasted chicken. But instead of tossing them into a salad with a tangle of Mache lettuce and goat cheese like you usually do, this time you’ve pureed them with a touch of freshly squeezed lime juice and simple syrup. This gives the pureed beets a bright and citrus driven flavor when mixed with this pristine wheat based vodka.

Then, as if by magic a frosty Martini glass appears in front of you.  And trailing down the sides of the Martini glass is the most elegant of bitters. In this case, I’ve used the historic Jerry Thomas Bitters, comprised of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and dreams. They smear down the side of your cocktail glass and lend plausible amusement for your taste buds.

The Aylesbury Duck is indeed a real duck. I’d say it is quite a bit larger than a normal duck and is usually hunted for sport, although it’s not really a sport when this large breed of duck is the size of a golden retriever. It’s hard to miss. There’s a phrase that says: “like a sitting duck”…

I do hope drinking this imaginative vodka is more amusing than hunting the Aylesbury Duck!

Tasting notes for the Aylesbury Duck Vodka:

A nose of sweet vanilla and candy sugar melts away into a vaguely floral scent of the grains. Notes of white chocolates melted around freshly cut French herbs and hints of Asian spices caress the palate. This iconic vodka finishes warm and lush with a mouth coating sweetness that goes on and on.

Quite mixable or perfect served over a hand cut ice cube made with water filtered through a Mavea “Inspired Water” Filter pitcher. (ESSENTIAL!!!)

I love to make infused ice cubes for this drink.

A Cocktail for Baudelaire 

(Each recipe makes one drink)

Ingredients:
• 3 oz. Aylesbury Duck vodka
• 2 tablespoons roasted and pureed golden beets
• ½ oz. simple syrup
• ½ oz. fresh lime juice
• A few shakes of The Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas Bitters
• One large chunk of hand cut Mavea and Jerry Thomas infused ice

Ice Preparation:
1. In a gallon Tupperware container, add at least twenty shakes of the Jerry Thomas Bitters.
2. Cover with Mavea filtered water and mix together.
3. Freeze overnight.
4. Cut ice to your desired shape and serve with your Aylesbury Duck Vodka in the cocktail of your choice, such as the vividly amusing Cocktail for Baudelaire.

Cocktail Preparation:
1. Fill a Boston Shaker ¾ with bar-ice (Do not use the infused ice here.)
2. Add the vodka and the pureed golden (or red if you wish) beets, lime juice and simple syrup.
3. Shake for 10-15 seconds.
4. Strain into your Martini glass and sip to getting drunk… (While reading Baudelaire’s infamous poem about drinking to inebriation and beyond.)

Of course you should always practice mindful drinking…

Cheers from DrinkUpNY!

Article by Warren Bobrow, a nationally published food and spirits columnist who writes for Williams-Sonoma, Foodista an

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Gartending for the Beekman 1802 Boys! Klaus the Soused Gnome @klausgnome on Twitter

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Gartending: Freshly Minted

By:

 

 

 

 

 

Gin is in for early spring!  Oh, please don’t get me wrong; it’s early spring- even though it doesn’t feel like it outside.  Klaus is most concerned about the tasty mint out in the garden.  Will the cold damage the mint?  Let’s ask the mint!

Klaus:  “Will you get frost burned?”

Mint:  “Yes”

Klaus: “What would you like to do about this?”

Mint: “Pick me and add me to a cocktail with this marvelous ginger ale I just found.”

So there it is.  Klaus is determined to have a drink with the mint BEFORE it gets frost bitten.  And how will he do that?  By picking the mint just as it comes up out of the ground……

Klaus is getting ready for a lovely season of “gar-tending.”  You know, making drinks from the garden.  Mint is one of the first things to come up out of the ground and one of the last things that remain after the other herbs and vegetables have gone for the season.  Freshly picked mint is aromatic and enticing.  The oils from the mint stick to Klaus’s little ceramic fingers and some of the bits of mint get stuck in his ceramic beard.  There is not nearly enough mint for a batch of mint jelly, but more than enough for a few cocktails.

Klaus is extra thirsty this morning for something more than his usual cup of coffee.  He received a few bottles of the Bruce Cost Ginger Ale in the mail yesterday.  This is not your usual ginger ale made with corn syrup (Ew!)or other artificial ingredients.  Bruce Cost makes his aromatic, ginger ale with real flavor!  What makes the Bruce Cost Ginger Ale so amazing is the unfiltered nature of this product.  There is stuff floating all around the inside of the bottle! With handcrafted flavors such as their aromatic Original Ginger, Jasmine Tea, Pomegranate with Hibiscus (my favorite) and Passion Fruit with Yellow Ginger (Turmeric).

Klaus has found the Bruce Cost Ginger Ale as a worthy recipient to his cocktailian exploits!  And with a small producer, Vermont sourced, handmade gin made with raw honey?  It’s practically otherworldly!

Sitting in front of Klaus (and me) is a bottle of the extremely small producer and exotic, Barr Hill Gin from Vermont. It is distilled with raw honey.

Why is this important?  Because of the healing nature and energy of honey!  The flavor profile is sweet, toasty grains in the background, juniper in the foreground and honey swirling all around, binding the front to the middle to the back of your mouth.  For anyone who says they enjoy honey- they probably have never had real honey.  Raw honey is never boiled and it is never cut with water to dilute the powerful healing elements of this truly artisan product.  Raw honey is rich in antioxidants too!

Barr Hill Gin (or their salubrious Vodka), might as well be made with care by gnomes!   Klaus?  Did you make the Barr Hill?  Klaus?

Oh, he’s wondered off again.  Probably looking for a party or a cocktail.  Or a little bit of both.

 

 

 

 

Klaus’s 60’s Dream Parade Cocktail

 

 

Ingredients:

2 oz. Barr Hill Gin (Distilled from Raw Honey in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont)

.25 Darjeeling Dark Tea (as a wash) in each glass

6 oz. Bruce Cost Unfiltered Fresh Ginger- Ginger Ale – Pomegranate with Hibiscus Soda

4 drops Bitter End Moroccan bitters

Orange Zest

Fresh mint (Klaus uses Kentucky Colonel variety)

 

 

Preparation:

Wash the tea around the inside of your glass

Rub the inside of an Old Fashioned glass with the orange zest

Rub with the fresh mint

Add one large cube of ice- preferably filtered through a Mavea “Inspired Water” filter. (The final resulting ice turns out nearly crystal clear! It makes a great presentation in your glass)

Add the Barr Hill Gin right over the top of the large cube

I use a silicone 2 x 2 tray for my ice cubes

Top with a measure of the Bruce Cost Ginger/Pomegranate-Hibiscus (ginger ale) soda

Garnish with about four drops of the Bitter End Moroccan bitters and a twirl of orange.

Klaus would want you to have a couple and should you want to be really bad, he’ll join you for another before it’s time to break out the Fernet Branca.

  Cheers!

Categories
Articles Miscellaneous

Devil Gourmet

By Warren Bobrow
End Of Elm, Morristown, NJ

There’s a new place in Morristown named End of Elm and it’s a keeper.  This is precisely what Morristown has needed since Urban Table opened and forever tainted the gene pool with lackluster service and poor food.  True, End of Elm is formulaic and still brand new, but they tried darned hard to make me happy with something that’s missing at most other places in town – good old customer service.

End Of Elm, Morristown, NJ

End Of Elm, Morristown, NJ

First, let’s take a look at the space.  With broad windows overlooking the spot where Elm hits Morris Avenue by the NJ Transit station, the constant flow of traffic outside makes the interior a very cheery place.  The bar is in the rear of the room, and there’s comfortable seating by the windows to the right as you enter.  There are also stand-up tables, and good lighting from mono-filament bulbs.

I asked for a cocktail list and was greeted not with a “we don’t do cocktails,” but with a refreshing “yes sir.”  The bartender introduced himself as Vinnie and shook my hand with confidence.  Cocktails are my forte – and mangled cocktails my desire – but that was not meant to be at End of Elm.  The list is not overwrought, nor overly intellectual; good ingredients are used simply, and there is a careful hand behind the stick.

I ordered a drink named the Montucky.  It was good enough, with fine ingredients, like Buffalo Trace, the ubiquitous Luxardo Liqueur, a sweet vermouth of uncertain provenance (I think it was Martini and Rossi), and a Luxardo cherry.  The drink was stirred not shaken and the ice used was a 1/2 cube for the mixing glass.  Vinnie was confident in his bar tending skills, and he makes a fine cocktail using jiggers for measurement (nice touch).  I think it was on the weak side, but I like my drinks made strong, especially when they are served “up.”  My cocktail was served up in a nice clean glass.  A plus!

cocktail list

cocktail list at End of Elm

Next time I go, I’m attracted to the Sweet Devil with an egg white, which should have a bit more kick than the Montucky.

On back-bar shelf they had BOTH Aperol and Campari.  Again, nice touch.  I didn’t check out their rum selection, or their Scotch selection, but they certainly had a nice variety of bourbon whiskey.  They seem to carry the usual suspects for beer with quite a few craft style beers- all with their correct glassware- nice touch, again!

In a nutshell, the owners may be young, but this room attracts an interesting crowd for Morristown.  The service gets a B+ for remembering my name and shaking my hand.  I’m sure they will always remember my name now that I’ve reviewed it for the Devil Gourmet.

Montucky

Montucky at End of Elm

End of Elm creates flirtatious food that speaks to a commitment to use simple ingredients made with love.   The food is a modern take on tapas with items like chicken and waffles, and a prime beef burger with a Comte cheese fondue that was much better than it had to be.  The Prime burger sported nice grill marks, tasted very freshly ground, and was well seasoned with both salt and pepper.  The fries are shoestring, served with real ketchup, and the roll was very good.

Again, End of Elm goes further than they need to – after all this is Morristown.  It is not Hoboken, nor Montclair.  But times are a changing.  And hopefully I won’t have to travel to far to find a drink that hasn’t been mangled into submission first.  I can only hope that more places in town know how to craft a fine cocktail.  End of Elm, neither an Irish bar, nor a beer and shot joint,  deserves to succeed, and by crafting good food coupled with fine liquor and craft cocktails, I know they will.

That is what this column is about!  The art of the cocktail.  No, not a Scotch and soda, nor a Cosmo.  I don’t drink those, and you should try to break out of your mold at least once!  Over the course of this column we will certainly find the good, the bad and the ugly.  That’s what cocktails are all about, unfortunately.

I don’t have an agenda, nor do I want to hurt anyone’s feelings with this column.  I’d like to see all bars do better!  It’s my topic after all.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to order a Ramos Gin Fizz or a Sazerac and not be served a milkshake or a shaken Sazerac?  In conclusion I offer a lovely cocktail quote:  A Bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory.  And speaking of pharmacists that mix cocktails……

Apothecary Cocktails: Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today

Cheers!  (Please forgive my photos, I was trying not to be obvious that I was reviewing them.)

End of Elm
140 Morris Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
Type of Cuisine: American (New), American, Tapas
Hours: Mon-Sun 11AM – 2AM
Price Range: $$
Phone: (973) 998-4534
Categories
Recipes Reviews Tasting Notes

Tequila!!!!

TEQUILA!!!!!

February 20, 2013

Do you want to know what I’m excited about?  Well it’s pretty simple.  Tequila.  It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed the flavor of the earth as exemplified by the Terroir captured by Tequila.  Oh I suppose this is my own fault.  The good stuff is mostly unavailable in the part of New Jersey where I live.  Sure there are all the national brands available.  Plus some pseudo-artisan varieties in fancy hand-blown bottles.  No, what I’m looking for it the real thing.

I want to taste the earth and the agave root.  And I want some now!!!!

Recently I was introduced to a unique and carefully crafted brand of Tequila named Rudo after the dastardly cunning, Lucha Libre wrestler from Mexico.

 

Tasting Notes:

There is almost a balletic quality to the flavor of the Reposado sitting in front of me right now.  I just took a swish into my mouth of the Rudo Reposado.   Pin point drops of Mexican honey swirl around my mouth leaving sweet little explosions of vanilla cream pastilles dipped in fire.  The finish goes on and on, finally ending in a blazing sunset across your throat and down to your stomach.  Rudo is deeply warming and there is magic in every sip.  The specific Terroir of the region is very apparent in each sip.  There is a dreamy, creamy quality of this spirit.  The world becomes soft and the sounds of the day become far away.  Be careful with Rudo.  He may be a bad guy if you drink too much of his name-sake Tequila.  But until you get there- the point of no return so to speak, I recommend this little cocktail that was influenced heavily by my friend Chris Milligan out in Santa Fe, barkeep at Secreto.

He created the Smoked Sage Margarita.  I pay homage to his brilliant drink by adding USDA Certified Organic Sage from Art in the Age.

The Liquor named Sage on the herb by the same name- Sage?  Of course?

But what about the ice?   I’ve long held that Mavea, the German water filtration pitcher is the very best for making the frozen matter that we call ice.  I take this highly filtered and purified water and add it to silicone ice cube trays, THEN I zest with a microplane zester two lemons and limes over the top.  Freeze as normal.

Finally I added the Bitter End Mexican Mole Bitters, rife with spices, chocolate and dreams of the coyotes running amok in the desert.

Thank you Bill and Laurel for making sure I was safe behind the walls and not out in the desert when the coyotes came running and screaming throughout the night.  It was an experience I’ll never forget.

I call this drink the Ghost Ranch Shot in honor of the famous Ghost Ranch where Georgia O’Keefe spent much time.  She was a wild woman who would have appreciated this power and fragrance of the desert in every sip.

  Makes two very mysteriously thirst quenching cocktails. 

Ingredients:

3 oz. Rudo Reposado Tequila

6 Drops of the brilliantly potent- Bitter End Mexican Mole Bitters

1 oz. Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Lavender and Lemon

2 oz. SAGE (USDA Certified Organic Sage Liquor- 80 Proof!)

1 Sage Leaf (and a match)

.50 Fresh Lemon Juice

.50 Grilled Lime Juice (Char some lime wedges in a cast iron pan until blackened, then juice)

Preparation:

Turn your Boston Shaker upside down resting on two other shakers (Thanks Chris for enlightening me!)

Take the piece of Sage in your fingers and light it on fire under the Boston Shaker

Fill the Shaker with the smoke of the burning Sage leaf

Crumble the charred Sage leaf directly into the Boston Shaker, still filled with smoke

Add the Tequila

Add the Sage Liquor

Add the Lemon juice

Add the Grilled Lime juice

Add the Royal Rose Syrup

Add 6 drops of the Bitter End Mexican Mole Bitters

Fill the Boston Shaker 3/4 with ice, cover and shake for 10-15 seconds

Serve in a rocks glass with a salt rim and one HUGE hand cut- infused Mavea Lemon/Lime zest ice cubes

Garnish with a chunk of lime

What’s Klaus doing in the picture?  Trying to capture his moment of fame?  Nah, he’s just thirsty.  

 

Click here for enlightenment.  only in the movies!

 

From the Rudo and Tecnico Website:

Rudo is one of the main heroes of Lucha Libre – combative art form with elements of melodrama, high-flying athletics, comedy, suspense, and intrigue. Appearing in red mask, Rudo is a wrestler who does not respect the rules of Lucha libre or his fellow wrestler. He is considered the “bad” guy or a “heel” and is willing to win by any means necessary even if it means cheating or brown-nosing the referee. Rudo’s wrestling is not as refined as Tecnico’s. Unlike the spectacular aerial maneuvers and complicated techniques, which técnicos are known for, Rudo makes greater use of brute force – hitting, lifting and dropping an opponent. While Rudo’s moves are rougher and less elaborate, he is not to be taken lightly. It is always fun to watch Rudo using his shear strength and trickery to get the better of his opponent.

 

The Inspiration

Rudo can surprise you with his tactics, so never turn you back on Rudo. Rudo will use all means necessary to be victorious, and he will sneak up on you while you are not watching. Rudo is more down to earth than Tecnico and will always give a good show. Boisterous and funny, they engage the crowds of spectators and set up the mood for the game. Rudo will not follow the rules in wrestling, and his adversaries had better not slip up, as they might be surprised.

Although rudos often resort to using underhanded tactics, they are still expected to live up to a Luchador code of honor. For instance, a Luchador who has lost a wager match would prefer to endure the humiliation of being unmasked or having his head shaved rather than live with the shame that would come from not honoring his bet. Rudos have also been known to make the transition into técnicos after a career defining moment, as was the case with Blue Demon, who decided to become a técnico after his wrestling partner, Black Shadow, was unmasked by the legendary Santo.

Tequila Rudo

Rudo is 100% blue agave tequila produced by artisanal methods in Jaliscos Highlands. Carefully elaborated at the family-run distillery, Rudo offers a perfect combination of spectacular presentation and superior taste. To pay homage to Rudo’s character, our tequila boasts bold and unexpected flavors, a real tribute to blue agave spirit. Reposado and Anejo are aged to perfection in bourbon white oak barrels to achieve smooth and luxurious texture and long finish. Selected “Most Likely to Succeed in 2012” by the Tasting Panel Magazine.

 

Warren Bobrow is the Food and Drink Editor of the 501c3 non profit Wild Table on Wild River Review located in Princeton, New Jersey.

He is under contract and has just completed his first book named Apothecary Cocktails for Quayside/Rockport Books in Massachusetts.

He was one of 12 journalists world-wide, and the only one from the USA to participate in the Fête de la Gastronomie– the weekend of September 22nd. 2012 in Burgundy.

He attended Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans in 2011/2012. Plus the Manhattan Cocktail Classic and the Boston Cocktail Summit.

Warren presented and demo’d freestyle mixology at the International Food Bloggers Conference in Portland, Oregon. (2012)

Warren judged the Iron Mixology competition at the Charleston Wine and Food Festival (2012)

Warren has published over three hundred articles on everything from cocktail mixology to restaurant reviews to travel articles.

You may also find him on the web at: http://www.cocktailwhisperer.com

Warren is a published food writer and former cook.

He’s written food and cocktail articles and news for Edible Jersey, Chutzpah Magazine, Voda Magazine, Tasting Table, Serious Eats and Total Food Service Magazine.

Warren attended the Kentucky Derby and the Oaks Day Races this year while on assignment for Voda Magazine.

He writes for the “Fabulous Beekman 1802 Boys” as their cocktail writer.  (The Soused Gnome)

He also writes for The Daily Basics, Leaf Magazine and Modenus.

He writes for Williams-Sonoma on their Blender Blog.

He is a Ministry of Rum judge.

Warren began his climb to becoming a cook as a pot scrubber at the York Harbor Inn in York Harbor, Maine in 1985.

He cooked at Alberta’s in Portland, Maine during mid-80’s.

Warren is the former owner and co- founder of Olde Charleston Pasta in Charleston, SC while cooking at the Primerose House and Tavern. (Also in Charleston)

He spent Hurricane Hugo (1989) in his former home in Charleston… Ouch!

Warren was # 30 in Saveur Magazine’s 100 for his writing about the humble Tuna Melt.

 

Headshot photograph taken at the Ministry of Rum in San Francisco- August 2010