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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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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!

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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
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Cabotella Ale

Cabotella: A Fabulous Craft-Style Beer from Cabo

March 31, 2013

I’ve fallen for a new craft beer.  Lock, stock and barrel is the term most commonly used.

 

I cannot explain my passion for this beer other than to say it’s a huge surprise.

The first surprise was receiving a case of hand-crafted beer from Mexico.  Handsomely packaged in a brown bottle with a screw-off cap, this beer is simply named Cabotella.

The gold colored label features a donkey with a pole carrying a tassel in front of him.  He appears to be harnessed as if to turn a wheel to grind grain.  The name Cabotella is printed in bold letters vertically.  It’s a well designed package that says very little other then Mexico Ale and the name.

I did notice that the label does tell the abv., which is 5.5% So this beer has real guts.

Intriguing.

I have long held that beer is my favorite culinary ingredient.  After years of traveling in Europe as a boy while tasting the myriad of flavors at my disposal (beer, wine or spirits were never denied to me as a lad) I always like beer the best with food.  Yes, perhaps even more than wine.  It’s probably because of the plethora of flavors and the relaxed nature of the beverage.  Wine is so very serious!  Beer is flirtatious and fun!

Pizza goes well with beer.  Everyone knows this.  While in Naples as a boy I discovered the charms of Italian lager beers with pizza.  As my tastes and my physical being grew older I discovered different styles of beer went with different foods- just like wine!  This might seem like simple stuff, but to a young guy without the benefit of the internet (it was the 70’s) discovery is done one sip at a time.  Not reading about it from your smartphone.

But I digress- Beer is my favorite beverage with pizza.  The rounded pizza in this case was built by my friend Steve Hoeffner in Morristown, NJ.  Steve and his brother Marty own Hoeffner’s Meats.

Steve makes a pizza on a pita bread that is so simple yet texturally quite complex.  He takes pita and covers it with a layer of his sausage and tomato sauce gravy.  Then he slivers hot chili peppers and scatters a tangle of cheeses over the top of the sausage/tomato base.  You would put this “round slice” into a toaster oven until the cheese is toasty and melted about 8-10 minutes.  The pork sausage and tomato mixture becomes crunchy and savory- the cheese toasty and the pita crunchy during each bite.  This is a unique form of pizza.

Cabotella is a unique kind of beer.  Soft against the palate, German styled malts dominate the mouth-feel and a nice lingering sour/sweet finish make each bite of pizza and swig of beer a delight.

I also enjoyed Cabotella with a tuna fish sandwich on rye bread with bacon, tomato and mayo.  Here this beer really became quite assertive in the flavor profile.  I bet it would be fabulous with a fish taco. Whatever the case I think one of the best examples of this beer is in a beer cocktail.

 

Commodore Perry Fizz will charm the palates of you and one friend.

Ingredients:

2 Bottles Cabotella Mexican Ale

6 oz. Avua Cachaça  (Soon to be released, stay tuned!!)

.50 oz. Tenneyson Absinthe

6 oz. freshly squeezed Blood Orange Juice (or regular orange juice- ESSENTIAL, the juice MUST be freshly squeezed)

Mavea “Inspired Water” Ice handcut in large chunks (essential)

Bitter End Mexican Mole Bitters

Preparation:

Pour the Cabotella Ale into a large glass bowl

Add a few chunks of hand cut ice

Add the liquors

Add the Blood Orange – or regular orange juice

Add 5 drops of the Bitter End Mexican Mole Bitters

Serve in Old Fashioned Glasses with further chunks of Mavea filtered water ice

 

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Can Buffalo Trace Put Pappy on the Shelf?|

Can Buffalo Trace Put Pappy on the Shelf?| On Whiskey

WARREN BOBROW (this article was originally published on April 2, 2012)

On Whiskey is a monthly column on whiskey and whiskey drinks by Warren Bobrow.

On Whiskey is a monthly column on whiskey and whiskey drinks by Warren Bobrow.

Johnny Dodds is on the short wave radio, crooning to me from another world.

“After you’ve gone, after you’ve gone away.”

What better series of words are calling out for a restorative sip of Buffalo Trace Bourbon Whiskey…  This venerable bottle has graciously rested over there on the shelf, alongside many other bottles, and it remained under-sipped and under-appreciated until now.

Music from the 1920s makes me want to drink good bourbon whiskey like Buffalo Trace.  Maybe it’s because Johnny Dodds left New Orleans in 1920 – never to return; yet his music is firmly grounded in the essence of New Orleans.  This passion for the whiskey seems to ooze out of my pores even more intensely when I listen to music from this man. Enjoying a bottle of Bourbon in New Jersey is, to me, at least akin to Johnny leaving New Orleans.  Once this bottle left Kentucky, it would never return.

Buffalo Trace is not a mass-produced liquor. Nor is it overpriced for a spirit being produced in such small batches.

Most importantly a bottle of Buffalo Trace shouldn’t set you off by more than $25 a bottle or so.   That makes it a good deal in a market clogged with expensive expressions of Kentucky bourbon.

Whiskey this well made usually costs double or even triple the price.

There are flavors in the Buffalo Trace that harken to Pappy. And that would be correct, because the same distillery makes Pappy.

Which Pappy are you speaking of?  That Pappy is Pappy Van Winkle!

Of course the recipe is different. That’s what makes Buffalo Trace so unique!

Buffalo Trace is made from Corn, Rye and Barley.  In order for them to call it bourbon, the product must be 51% corn.  There is certain spiciness to each sip from the rye and a creamy quality from the cask.

I like it a lot.

So, I’ve been up to my ears in Pappy. I brought a bottle of the 15-year Pappy down to Charleston for the Wine and Food Festival.  It was much less expensive to drink my own rather than someone else’s Pappy at $30 per GLASS!  Why drink anything else?  If you have it, drink it.  That was until I opened this bottle of Buffalo Trace.  I cannot believe that this expression has rested so long without even being sipped.

The aroma of dark maple syrup permeates the room almost immediately upon opening the cork-finished bottle.  I have a wood stove fire going and the wind is howling outside in more of a shriek than a mere whisper- but this shouldn’t make the situation any less conducive to enjoying a few nips of this lovely hand-crafted bourbon whiskey.  Given the fact that it is suddenly frosty as winter outside, what better reason than to breathe in the sweet aroma deeply?  It is woven into the smell of the earth, the fire and the wind all at once. This is good stuff!

Pappy, go back up onto the shelf. I think I’m going to enjoy this glass of Buffalo Trace!

Packaging Notes:

Nice hand-torn-looking label and natural cork finish!  Very nice touch.

 

Photo by Warren Bobrow

 

Tasting Notes:

The memorable aromatics of freshly tapped maple syrup fills the room almost immediately along with notes of sweet toasted corn and charred cinnamon toast slathered in freshly whipped butter.  There is the warm underpinning of scraped nutmeg along with a deeper backbone of sweet molasses.  I love the scent of this elixer and I jam my nose deeply into the glass, breathing the toasty flavors aggressively into my nostrils.

On the tongue, flavors of Asian spices predominate with vanilla and caramelized peaches.

The sharpness of the alcohol is in the background of the almost juicy mouth-feel.  This would be the perfectly marvelous mixing bourbon.  There is so much going on in my mouth, across my tongue and down my throat.  It’s quite remarkable to taste.  There is a certain density to this bourbon.  It is not thin or cloying in any way.  The sugars reveal themselves slowly and the finish just goes on and on.  There is a certain dusty quality to the finish as well as unmistakable flavor of the earth.  The unique terroir of this whiskey differentiates it from all other liquids on earth.  This terroir is unique to the place.

Weighing in at 45 % ABV, Buffalo Trace has all the stuffing to lead in a mixed drink, not play follower.

Think about Sazerac cocktails, Manhattans, and of course my favorite, a Bourbon Hot Toddy.  All are perfectly suited to Buffalo Trace’s full-bodied approach and long finish.

I’m going to err on the side of craftsmanship.  This bourbon needs creativity- but it also needs simplicity.

This afternoon I’m sprinkling a bit of branch water over the top of a little hand-blown Murano glass from Venice to release the secrets held deeply within.

This is truly delicious stuff.  Now go grab yourself a bottle and share it with your friends!  You don’t even have to tell them how much you (didn’t) spend.

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I’ve created the cocktails for the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in NYC!!!



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Create an Event Start a Group

 

Marys & Mimosas at the AD Home Design Show 2013

When? Thursday, Mar 21 @ 10:30am – 12pm (EST)
Where? AD Home Design Show Pier 94, 55th Street and 12th Ave – New York City

PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR THIRD ANNUAL #MARYSANDMIMOSAS TWEET UP TO CELEBRATE THE OPENING OF THE #ADSHOW2013 ON THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2013

SPONSORED BY SUBZERO:


“Sub-Zero Wolf presents their latest and greatest design and cooking innovations as well as a chance to win your very own cocktail reception and gourmet dinner for 10 guests in the luxurious Sub-Zero Wolf showroom in NYC.  Details to follow at the Show.”

CATERING BY :

 


Please join us for all the buzz and excitement that comes with meeting your digital, social and print media peers to kick off the show. This year’s event is held in the show lounge which is designed by Fendi Casa.


HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT AND YOUR PRESS CREDENTIALS: 

Please RSVP on Twtvite AND contact Alexandra Zwicky at Alexandra@NovitaPR.com or 212-528-3160 with your name, media outlet and twitter handle so that we can have your press pass ready for you. 

Let’s kick of the 2013 show in style and get the design dialogue started.

We hope to meet and tweet with you there!

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Beekman 1802 and KLAUS!

GARTENDING: BLAME IT ON RIO

 

 

“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” –Albert Einstein

 

I wanted to lead off this week’s adventure with this quote from the Beekman Boys Facebook page.  If you didn’t know, The Beekman 1802 Boys just won the Amazing Race on television.  I don’t normally watch flashy reality shows but this one was much different.  The characters were everyone types from all over the country except for one couple.  The Beekman Boys.  My friends, Brent and Josh.

I started writing for them after they did a book signing at Williams-Sonoma in Short Hills, NJ.  I introduced myself as a cocktail mixologist/author and they asked me if I’d like to write for them.

The rest is lovely histories for myself and of course my alter-ego/gnome, Klaus, the Soused Gnome.

Perhaps you’ve seen his fan page on Facebook?

He’s a good little guy who brings a smile to most.  And this brings me back to the initial quote, “You have to learn the rules of the game.”  I’ve discovered that if I can make just one person smile and share in the passion that is Klaus, then I’m truly a success.  Certainly within Klaus’s tiny ceramic heart he is living a dream.

I often wonder what his life was like before I acquired him?  I wonder if his former owners brought him around the world?

We’ve been to many places together in the past few months, Oregon, France, Ohio-twice, the Kentucky Derby, Charleston and of course New York. It’s been busy for the little guy.  Even with all this traveling, he still stays very thirsty.

Klaus loves New York City and he loves going to new and exciting cocktail bars.  One of these is named Milk & Honey.  It used to be way downtown.  Now- the coming weeks are ahead of us and with the rush to the New Year, Milk & Honey will soon be open.  The new address is 30 East 23rd Street in NYC.  It’s no longer in a tough neighborhood- you will feel comfortable visiting this new temple to the cocktailian arts because it’s located in a fabulous shopping district of Manhattan!

Avuá Cachaça invited Klaus to the soon-to-be-reopened Milk & Honey for the pre-launch of their expressive liquors. Klaus was very thirsty for some delicious cocktails that spoke clearly of the passion of Brazil.

What Klaus would do for the chance to visit Rio in the winter?  I shudder to imagine.  It’s summer in Brazil and the drink of choice is Cachaça mixed with lime and sugar.

Klaus should be so lucky.

 

Summer in Rio Cocktail (will smash even the most robust drinker)

(Each recipe makes two drinks)

Ingredients:

Avuá Cachaça

Blood Orange rounds

Victoria’s Kitchen Almond/Coconut Water

Hand cut ice

Fresh lime juice

Simple Syrup

 

Instructions:

To a Boston Shaker filled ¾ with ice add:

4 oz. Avuá Cachaça

6 oz. Victoria’s Kitchen Almond/Coconut Water

1 oz. Fresh lime juice

1 oz. or to taste Simple Syrup

1 oz. Blood Orange juice

 

Shake Shake Shake Shake Shake

 

Strain into a short rocks glass with one cube of hand cut ice

Garnish with Blood Orange ½ rounds

Prepare for a plane ticket to Rio!

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From Foodista

Rum, Please Forgive Me!

November 13, 2012
Rum: Please forgive me.  I didn’t forget you to bourbon, nor gin.  Certainly you haven’t seen me review or even discuss candy flavored vodka- why is that so popular?  I didn’t forget you to Scotch, nor did I give you up for Cognac or dare I say some Biodynamic wine.  No rum, I didn’t forget you.  You were and are my first love.  The first time that I tasted you down in the British Virgin Islands at  Soggy Dollar Bar stirred in a “Painkiller” (for I was filled with pain down in the islands) or woven into a Bushwacker- oh don’t ask what was in it.  I know it was rum and crushed ice, cream de cacao and more rum.  Well, that’s for another day.I don’t make a habit of drinking to excess.  My friend Ed Hamilton of the Ministry of Rum taught me drink better/drink less.  This is true- yet there is a fine line between mere inebriation and the puncheon.  I know to beware that.  You should too.  It only comes in a Listerine container.  A very small one at that. Poteen comes to mind.  Hell in a bottle is next.

Down in St. Barth they make punch in the traditional French, island style restaurants that line the harbor of Gustavia. That means tropical fruits and rum.

Yachts moor stern in like in St. Tropez.  French is spoken.  Rum is the language as well as Champagne.  Sometimes they collide with horrid results to the inexperienced and jaded alike.   The roads are too steep and not well marked.  I suggest not testing the flimsy guard rails and 1000 foot, nearly sheer drops.

It was on St. Barth that I first tried the Bacardi Ron Solera.  I’d just spent the better part of two weeks on a yacht and was in a state of constant thirst for new flavors, new textures.  If I knew then what I know today (next to nothing) about rum, I’d have brought more of the exotics back home.  There is an incredible diversity of flavor in rum.

The Bacardi is not anything like any rum I had ever tasted from Bacardi.  For a bar in St. Barth to stock Bacardi- it had to be something incredible- with all the rums of the world available to be purchased.  I feel that the Ron Solera is one of the finest little (I say little next to the big brother in Puerto Rico, they don’t even exist on the radar) rum around anywhere.  This is a labor of love for the distiller.  Made in Mexico, not Puerto Rico, the Solera is like a secret still, unknown to most.

I think this would make a most honorable Christmas gift.

Ron Solera is produced in the Solera method. Like making Sherry.  This is, quite simply removing a portion of the rum from a cask and adding a bit younger (or older) samples of rum directly to the barrel.  There is a marriage of sorts in the barrel, an alchemy.  Some old rum, some quite old and some new- all aging harmoniously.  Lovely thought.

How does Bacardi, a company that makes millions of cases of rum per year, switch gears and create a passionate, limited production item like the Solera?  I’m really not sure.  But the proof is in the bottle.  Open the top.  The scent of charred vanilla greets the nose.  It’s creamy and full bodied.  I detect immediately dark, bittersweet chocolate maybe 75% bitter.  It’s suddenly deeply warming on my mouth and the depth becomes profound.  I want to put some in a snifter and sit, quite still in front of the wood burning stove.  It’s truly gorgeous stuff.

Get a bottle and serenade your emotions deeply with the Ron Solera.  If you add anything to your glass of the Ron Solera make it a perfect ice cube from your Williams-Sonoma 2” silicone ice cube tray.  Filter your water first using the Mavea “Inspired Water” pitcher first… (essential!)

Tasting Notes:

Sweet oranges give way to creamy chocolate and pain grille notes.  A buzz of alcohol straightens out your mind, you can feel the spark and warmth adding a nice fuzzy feeling to my throat.  I love this rum!

++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Serralles DonQ Gran Anejo

The sturdy box that holds this important rum is padded in gold satin.  I say important because everything about this rum is impressive.  Not just the packaging, but the flavor.  Glistening Wheat in hue and tinged with a shimmer from the oily oak- this rum is meant to be savored.  It’s a very soft slurp in mouth-feel.  It doesn’t have the richness of the Ron Solera from Barcardi, yet it reminds me much more of real Cuban Rum.  Restrained, enrobed in threads of salted caramel, this rum is important to behold.  The bottle is a decanter, handsome and masculine.  It’s reminiscent of Bourbon.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the casks were used Bourbon oak.  I can taste the char and smoke deeply.  If you add anything to this rum, make it a single cube of coconut water ice.

White flowers give way to charred stone fruits and the taste of wet stones.  Lick a stone and see what I mean.  The finish is dry, salty from the sea and jagged from the cask.  I want to drink this in a snifter with a slice of grilled orange on the side for tasting.

The Serralles DonQ Gran Anejo is world class, just as the Bacardi Ron Solera is as well.  They are both historic brands with passion in the driver’s seat.  I tasted them side by side with wheat crackers for balance.  These are powerful reminders that gigantic companies can also produce passionate liquors that truly speak volumes of the craft of making spirits.  Someone need to have their hand shaken for their vision!

This is rum for the boardroom!

Categories
Articles Recipes

From Prevention Magazine

I was asked to provide some “healthy” cocktails for Prevention Magazine… Here they are:

Recipes for the healthy tippler

By Mandy Oaklander

Photo credit: Mandy Oaklander

Surprised We’re Not In Reno

Warren Bobrow’s smoky twist on the vodka cola uses natural ingredients. No high fructose corn syrup in sight! “It’s healing and potent,” Bobrow says. “Root dates back to country medicinal curatives.”

Serves 1-2

2 shots vodka (we used Ketel One)
1 shot Root (an organic elixir with birch bark, black tea, spices—similar to sarsaparilla)
1/2 shot sweet Vermouth
Natural cola (we used all-natural Q Drinks cola)
Orange twist

ADD the liquors to your cocktail shaker
SHAKE and top with a splash of cola. Garnish with orange twist.

Read more: http://www.prevention.com/food/cook/healthy-drink-recipes-cocktails/surprised-were-not-reno#ixzz2GXcddM3J

Photo credit: Mandy Oaklander

Hot Cranberry, Blueberry, and Gin Thoreau

“I prefer the tiny, intensely flavored Maine wild blueberries for this cocktail; they come either frozen or canned during the off-season,” Bobrow says. We skipped the cranberry sauce and maple syrup to save on calories and sugar—and we still wanted a second mug.

Serves 2, strongly

1/4 cup each of crushed cranberries and blueberries
1/3 cup cranberry sauce
4 shots gin (we used Bulldog London Dry Gin)
1/3 cup water
1 cup cranberry juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Grade B dark amber maple syrup, optional
Several orange slices
2 fresh lemon thyme sprigs

MUDDLE the crushed cranberries with the blueberries to make a slurry, then add the cranberry sauce to the mix

ADD the gin and let sit for a few minutes to combine the flavors

BRING the water to a boil in a small saucepan and add the cranberry and lime juices

ADD the heated cranberry juice mixture to the muddled cranberry mixture and stir together. Pour into 2 preheated mugs (we strained it)

SWEETEN with maple syrup if desired, and garnish with orange slices and a sprig of lemon thyme.

Categories
Articles Recipes Reviews

Cooler Weather=Four Roses+Cock ‘n Bull Ginger Beer (for Foodista)

Cooler Weather=Four Roses+Cock n’Bull Ginger Beer

October 8, 2012

Cock ‘n Bull Ginger Beer is one of those flavors that just won’t leave my mind.  There are many ginger beers on the market today. Some of them good, some great and some truly amazing.  I’ve found that the Cock ‘n Bull is a spicier ginger beer than most and it has a core of real ginger root.

There has been a resurgence for classic cocktails made with ginger beer, a nostalgic experience.  Perhaps this is because drinkers enjoy the more robust flavors of ginger beer in combination with diverse liquors.  I like mine not only with Rum in the classic ‘Dark ‘n Stormy’ but also the smoky and spicy notes of Bourbon Whiskey mixed with ginger beer.

The Cock ‘n Bull Ginger Beer has a venerable history that dates back long before many of the current day products were even thought of.

Jack Morgan was the owner of the restaurant in Los Angeles in the 1940’s by the name of the Cock ‘n Bull.  He was the inventor of the historic drink named the Moscow Mule- which is no more than vodka and his namesake extra spicy, ginger beer.

Fast forward to current day.  The Cock ‘n Bull Ginger Beer is now available in multiple markets around the country.  Cocktailians from all over are discovering the extreme ease when mixing Cockt ‘n Bull with liquors as diverse as dark Rum, Scotch, Cognac, Irish Whiskey, and of course Bourbon!

I love Bourbon Whiskey mixed with Ginger Beer.  Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon is one of my favorite go/to’s for Bourbon that is heading for the cocktail shaker.   The first thing I taste when sipping Four Roses straight is the sweet vanilla enrobed in cayenne pepper, tempered by lightly smoked peaches.  There is definitely stone fruit in every sip of the Small Batch version.

Mixed with the Cock n’ Bull Ginger Beer, the Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon adds dimension and character to every cocktail.  I prefer my Roses and Ginger in a tall glass.  And in keeping with my cocktailian persuits, I like to twist it up a bit.  Keep it fresh and different.

Bitter End Bitters makes one such cocktail augmentation that I feel would just rock in this Bourbon/Ginger Beer cocktail.  It is called the Mexican Mole Bitters.  Laced with hot chilies, bittersweet chocolate and Southwestern herbs, each scant drop adds a hidden element that will fully reveal itself when combined with the other ingredients in the cocktail.

And in keeping with my cocktailian intellect, I’ve frozen these Bitter End Mexican Mole’ Bitters into ice cubes made with water from my Mavea “Inspired Water” Pitcher.  The water is inspired because of a proprietary formula to strip out the harmful elements of ordinary tap water and turn it (inspire) into a crisp, luscious glass of water.

The same holds true for ice.  Ice made with water from my Mavea freezes almost crystal clear!

I’ve been adding different cocktail bitters into my ice.  When the ice melts, the cocktail bitters become melded into the cocktail, augmenting the flavor and deepening it during the melting process.

While some cocktail chefs are experimenting with liquid nitrogen, I’m using a much less expensive method of freezing.  Ice is my method, frozen for a couple of hours in the freezer.

Laced with the Bitter End Bitters- the drink becomes something otherworldly.

And that’s why I make cocktails.  To deepen my customer’s sense of taste.  Each taste is a living laboratory in each sip.

Four Roses Small Batch and Cock ‘n Bull Ginger Beer

(Tall Drink)

Make ice using Bitter End Mexican Mole’ Bitters (4 drops per cube) with water from a Mavea “Inspired Water” pitcher.

Freeze overnight or until absolutely firm

Add three “inspired water” ice cubes to a tall glass

Add 2 Oz. Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon

Add Cock ‘n Bull Ginger Beer to top

Add a bit of fresh lime juice and a hunk of lime

Scrape some fresh nutmeg over the top (essential!)

Serve to an appreciative customer!

Danger level 3 out of 5..

If you want a stronger drink, then just add more Bourbon!

 

About me:

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 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.

Warren presented 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 four hundred articles on everything from cocktail mixology to restaurant reviews to travel articles- globally.

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