Tag: Tenneyson Absinthe

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Lil Cowboy Cocktail. Reprinted from The Beekman 1802 Boys Website

http://beekman1802.com/food-and-wine/gartending-lil-cowboy.html

Gartending: Lil’ Cowboy

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Photo: Warren Bobrow, Leica M8

For the Spring and Summer growing season, we bring you a new feature at Beekman 1802, the Soused Gnome.  He’ll teach  you how to “gartend”–create perfect seasonal cocktails using fresh ingredients from the garden.

Klaus has been visiting farmers markets all over the country for the past month or so. His first adventure was to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, next was to the bread-basket of our nation in Columbus, Ohio. Last weekend he journeyed all the way out to Portland, Oregon to watch me do a presentation on freestyle mixology for the International Food Bloggers Conference held by Foodista.
It certainly stimulated my taste and olfactory senses!
Portland, Oregon is a city of farmers markets. There is a plethora of cocktail friendly ingredients that defy the imagination.
Cherries are in season again out on the left coast. This time the bounty of the garden is in the form of rare white cherries.
White cherries exemplify the gartender’s dream cocktail. When crushed into a cocktail, white cherries are otherworldly on the flavor profile.
Be sure to pit out your cherries before they go into your mixing cup.
We almost never see white cherries on the east coast. Klaus (the Soused Gnome) explains that the cherries flesh is sometimes too tender to travel. He told me that in his home country (Germany) his kinfolk put up sumptuous white cherries in fiery brandy! He goes on to tell me that brandied white cherries are marvelous in a cocktail that includes Denizen Rum, cucumber ice (really!) House Spirits White Dog and freshly squeezed grilled grapefruit juice. The lift for this cocktail is provided by Klaus’s favorite pinpoint seltzer water, the Perrier Sparkling Natural Spring Water. He says that this water reminds him of his youth on the German/French border. I’ve told him that he needs to concentrate on locally sourced ingredients, but he disagrees.
Funny how a drinking gnome can have such an opinion on mixers!
Klaus grew cucumbers this year in the garden. These cucumbers are the European variety (no surprise here) they are seedless. Frozen into the Williams-Sonoma KING ice cube tray (2 inch x 2 inch) the European variety makes for a flavorful augmentation of Klaus’s soon to be infamous cocktail.
I reproduced this drink back in New Jersey with my own home cured cherries. Unfortunately these cherries are red instead of white, but they are delicious all the same. You can reproduce the cherries yourself by pitting out a few pounds of WEST COAST cherries, then covering in the spirit of your choice. Klaus suggests using a light spiced rum or even Apple Jack.
They take a couple of weeks to cure, but Klaus and I both say that the wait is worth it!
I know that after the trip to Oregon, cowboy music plays very well into the re-birth of the West Coast sensibilities that Klaus possesses. His GIANT thirst is only superseded by his ability to drink dozens of (tiny) drinks while roaming the myriad of mixology bars that dot this most interesting of cities.

I created this cocktail “on the fly, free-style” at the IFBC/Freestyle Mixology presentation ‘Lil Cowboy Swing Cocktail (named for Portland, Oregon’s lost cowboy culture)

 

‘Lil Cowboy Swing Cocktail
Ingredients:
(A couple weeks before you make this cocktail “put-up” some home-cured cherries)
Denizen Rum White Rum
House Spirits White Dog (Moonshine) (Oregon Distilled)
Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Roses
Bitter End Thai Bitters
Freshly Squeezed Grilled Grapefruit juice (Slice grapefruit into rounds and sear or grill until charred over charcoal or in a sauté pan) then juice as normal
Home cured Cherries (white if you can find them, red if you cannot)
European cucumber (peeled and sliced into coins for both the ice cubes and the cocktail)
Perrier Sparkling Natural Spring Water
Cucumber water ice- freeze rounds of a European seedless cucumber into an ice cube tray. I recommend the Williams-Sonoma silicone KING CUBE tray- I do a 50/50 blend of freshly juiced cucumber water with filtered water from my Mavea water filtration pitcher (The Mavea pitcher is from Germany- are you surprised?)
Instructions

for two strikingly powerful cocktails
Muddle several rounds of cucumber with some (pitted) home cured cherries in a mixing cup
Add some regular ice (about a handful)
Add 2 oz White Dog from House Spirits
Add 1 oz Denizen Rum (White Rum)
Add 4 tablespoons of Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Roses
Add 4 oz of your grilled grapefruit juice (essential)
Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake
Add a couple cubes of the homemade cucumber ice to your hand-blown cocktail glass
Double Strain into a tall hand-blown glass filled with cucumber ice

Don’t have a hand-blown glass?? Time is now to connect with your cocktail glass!
What does it mean to double-strain? Pour through 2 strainers to remove all bits of cherry and cucumber and grilled grapefruit juice
Add four drops per cocktail glass of the Bitter End Thai Bitters
Top with the Perrier Natural Sparkling Mineral Water (Essential)
Garnish with either a red or white cherry (your choice)

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Warren Bobrow’s Cocktail Hour: HEAT WAVE cooler…

I couldn’t wait for this heatwave to start.  Really.  All year long I’ve wanted to sweat.  That deep down burn that flows through my body.  Sweat flowing from my brow into my eyes, my back soaked on the leather seats of my car.  Yeah, you know what I’m “talking” about.  A real summer heat wave.  You cannot escape.  It’s everywhere.  An egg could be fried on the sidewalk- that kind of heat.

Fortunately I’m here to cool off your frazzled demeanor.  What is that look on your face?  You don’t believe me?

My good friends you are in luck.  I’ve created at this hour of 9:56 am on Thursday a most beguiling of cocktails.  One that will, as I like to put it, mystify and challenge even the most robust of imbibers.  This one my friends garners a 5 out of 5.  Danger Level 5.  I’m getting numb just smelling it.

The ice is as important as the rest of the cocktail.  I recommend spending about 12 bucks on a silicone ice cube tray from Williams-Sonoma.  True there are dozens of other items for sale in the store that I lust over, but for this cocktail, I need a large ice cube that melts- very, very slowly.  Ice is one of my favorite topics.

I’m a fan of liquors from the Near East.  I mean Greece and Turkey.  Raki in Turkey, Ouzo in Greece…

The Moors enjoyed liqueurs and preparations that used anise seeds.  In their attempted conquest of the world, the liquors that they enjoyed in turn influenced others cultures and peoples in the world.  Hence you find Raki in Turkey, Ouzo in Greece, Pastis in France and… Aquavit from the Scandinavian countries.  But what does Aquavit have to do with anise?  Is it because anise is a seed and caraway is a seed as well?  Sure, it’s a stretch, but in flavor transmittal, a stretch is fantastic.. Anise and Caraway just work together.

Another hidden ingredient, at least in the Near East is Rose Water.  The essence of roses can be quite sensual.  They stimulate the feelings of eroticism. I love rose in a cocktail, especially the rose simple syrup from Royal Rose.  I’ve fallen hard for their syrups, but for the summer- in my opinion, nothing goes better with Tenneyson Absinthe than rose syrup.

Blueberries from Driscoll’s.  Organically grown are the base for my cocktail.  I’ve taken these absolutely ravishing blueberries and muddled them with some of the Royal Rose simple syrup of roses until they stain the side of the mixing glass with their juices.  The aroma of blue along with rose is intoxicating to say the least.

Tenneyson Absinthe, made in France with care is clear as a glass window in the perfume grade, cut glass bottle.  But add some seltzer water and the formerly pristine color takes on a shade of cream and blue fruits.  The Aquavit from House Spirits in Portland, Oregon is a hidden Umami flavor.  You sense it.  It’s there.. but soon, very soon you will feel no pain at all.

It’s now 10:32 am.  The air is brisk but steadily heating up.  Soon the leaves outside will begin to wilt.  It’s a true heat wave. I cannot wait to sip this cocktail in the blaze of the summer heat.

You will crave one too.  Crave is not even the word I seek.  Yearn is better.  Hunger.  Thirst.

Bitters should finish this cocktail.  A punch of depth to center that little third eye in the middle of your forehead.  Why the third eye?  So you can see.  Because with your eyes closed (and they will be soon) you’ll need some way to guide you on your spiritual path to enlightenment. My friend Bill York at Bitter End Bitters makes a perfectly respectable Moroccan Bitters.  Woven with the flavors of the Middle East, this salubrious squirt of bitters it more than able to stand up to the task of binding the Absinthe to the Aquavit.

A splash of seltzer water will finish.  And keep you from walking into doors.

One cocktail at a time.  By my patient hand.  Cheers and stay cool if you are able.

BEHİYE Cocktail

Meaning beautiful in Turkish

(with a generous nod of my hat to Joy E. Stocke from the Wild River Review)

Ingredients:

Driscoll’s Blueberries- they’re really the best we can get outside of Maine…

Krogstad Aquavit

Tenneyson Absinthe

Bitter End Bitters

Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Roses

Preparation:

In a cocktail shaker, muddle about 1/4 cup of the Driscoll Blueberries with 2 Tablespoons of Royal Rose simple syrup of Rose until the aroma rises up in the cup, about 10 seconds

Add 1 Shot of Tenneyson Absinthe

Add 1/2 Shot of Krogstad Aquavit

Add four drops of the Bitter End Moroccan Bitters

 

Shake for exactly 15 seconds and pour into a lovely hand blown rocks glass where 2 LARGE ice cubes are resting, patiently…  Add a splash of cooling seltzer and dream.

 

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J. Madison Mutt Cocktail by: Warren Bobrow-Cocktail Whisperer

J. Madison Mutt Cocktail

Ingredients to make 2 rather potent cocktails

2 Shots of Maker’s Mark 46

1 Shot of Tenneyson or Lucid Absinthe or your choice

1 Shot of Conjure Cognac or your choice

Seared Tangerines and Lemons (carefully peel to remove bitter pith)

2 Tablespoons of Ginger Simple Syrup (recipe below)

2 Tablespoons of Dark Maple Syrup

Lemon Peel garnish

Bitter End Jamaican Jerk Bitters

Preparation:

In a stainless steel pan, sear the citrus fruits and set aside to cool

Muddle seared citrus in your shaker and then add a bit of ice to the shaker

Add Liquors, Bourbon, Absinthe, Cognac

Add Syrups

Shake and strain into a short rocks glass with a couple cubes of ice and garnish with a lemon peel and a couple drops of the Bitter End Jamaican Bitters

Ginger Simple Syrup

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

1 Ginger Root peeled and grated (use a small ginger root)

Boil Sugar into water and add ginger root until sugar is dissolved. Let cool and let steep with the ginger for a couple of hours before using.

Ginger Syrup!!!

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Magic Monk Eventual Dream Punch by: Warren Bobrow

Magic Monk’s Eventual Dream Punch by: Warren Bobrow-Cocktail Whisperer

January 12, 2012

Pardon my fuzzy photography from my ancient iPhone- I had to capture this picture with the camera I had on hand.  This drink came together after a particularly unpleasant day yesterday.  My day started with two deeply placed cavities being drilled out- at the dentist.

Please don’t get me wrong, he is most gentle and very kind- no barbarians here!

My mouth was not happy and after a few hours of discomfort I was able to get to work writing and dreaming.

My mind sometimes wanders to cocktails for reasons other than purely creative expressions of my inner self.  Yesterday, it drifted towards alcohol to kill that dull pain of the experience.

I waited until the early evening to let my mind wander.  Waiting for the magic to take place.

A fire graced the dining room fireplace- warming against my back. I was eagerly awaiting that flood of inspiration from using great ingredients to create new flavors.

They lend their secrets through creativity.

The cast iron pan heated to smoking in the kitchen.  I had some tiny Florida Blood Oranges in a bowl for snacking, then, inspiration struck.  What if I segmented the oranges into sections, then seared them in the cast iron pan, smoking nicely in the background?   Certainly would change their flavor.  Deepen it somehow.  Make it sensual- a seared blood orange juice for a cocktail or a punch?  Absolutely.

But what liquor to go with this.  I’m sure cognac would work, but I didn’t want to go down that road from a flavor perspective.  I needed something with deep mystery.  What liquor evokes mystery more than Absinthe?   Nothing except maybe Chartreuse VEP?  Having several bottles of Absinthe and one of the VEP  in the liquor cabinet didn’t hurt.

Carefully I drew open the ancient wooden box that contained the VEP.  The wax covered top and hand numbered bottle looking like something from an alchemist’s lair.  The bottle of Absinthe that I chose was Tenneyson.  The company hails from Texas, yet the magic captured in the bottle is distilled in France.  Is there a connection here?  I’m not sure.

With the blood oranges popping up and down on the sizzling hot cast iron pan, I realized that they were attaining that crunchy covering that only can happen with high heat.   Removing them from the pan I set them aside to cool.  Then I juiced them by hand through a cocktail sieve.

I chilled this really cool mid-century modern glass down with some ice and water, but I didn’t want this drink to be cold.  My teeth were pretty sensitive at this point.

Combining a bit of Chartreuse with Absinthe takes real fortitude.  The Chartreuse VEP is 108 proof.  Not for the meek.  Tenneyson Absinthe, rolling in at 106 proof is at first sniff, pure Gin.  I don’t know how they do it, other than the specific Terroir of the herbs in their unique recipe.  This Absinthe is contemplative, yes- but when combined with Chartreuse VEP and charred blood orange juice- something magical takes place.

It is a punch beyond dreams- a simple drink really.  Made with passion!  You need to include two other ingredients that may have to be ordered directly from their source.  Bitter End Moroccan Bitters and Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Tamarind to acheive my flavor profile.  Or you can skip them and use the bitters on hand and a sugar cane simple syrup.

 

Magic Monk’s Eventual Dream Punch (Makes two or more… Just lovely cocktails)

Ingredients:

2 oz. Tenneyson Absinthe or your choice of Absinthe

.25 oz. Chartreuse VEP

4 oz. of grilled blood orange juice

A few slices of (ungrilled) blood orange for garnish

Bitter End Moroccan Bitters

Royal Rose Tamarind Syrup

Seltzer Water

Preparation:

Sear blood orange segments in a cast iron or stainless steel pan until nicely browned on both sides, set aside to cool, then juice through cocktail sieve

Combine Absinthe and Chartreuse VEP in a cocktail mixing vessel of your choice.

Add seared blood orange Juice slowly while mixing with a stainless steel cocktail mixer.  Be gentle. Watch the louche’ take place in the glass. Contemplate the creamy, gin and citrus scented aromas that rise up from within.

Add a medicine dropper of the Bitter End Moroccan Bitters.

Add a splash or two of the Royal Rose Tamarind Syrup.

Give another gentle stir.

Pour into one of your most favored glasses… Have a connection to your glass that you will pour the drink into- make it memorable and share this elegant little punch with someone who appreciates FLAVOR!

Top with a bit of seltzer water, and garnish with a slice of blood orange.  Sip, then dream into your Absinthe colored mystery!

http://www.cocktailwhisperer.com