Been a long, long time…

Posted: November 11, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: cocktails, drinks, Food and drink, liqueur, liquor, mixed drinks, mixology, on the rocks, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

 

After what I think is the longest stretch of time without a new Scientist McGee post, I’m back with a fair share of new drink recipes.  It’s been nearly 3 months since I last wrote, and in that time I’ve mixed up 8 new drink recipes and also become the proud owner of an all-new bar in my home!  I had outgrown my old bar which was an old victrola record player.  The victrola was a good bar and did a good job, but with the accumulation of more and more ingredients, and more and more glassware, I was sort of taking over our dining room table and buffet.  I was getting sideways looks from my wife, and I knew something had to be done to organize my growing hobby.  Lo and behold, as I’m mowing my lawn one nice Saturday, I go out to the alley in the back of my house, and I find the answer to my problem… an old cupboard of some sort.  Problem solved!  I LOVE my new bar!  Plenty of space for all my glasses, punchbowls, books and ingredients, with room for growth to spare!  Did I mention that I LOVE my new bar?

Any ways, it’s been 3 long months since I’ve done a new post, so it’s about time I get on with posting some new drink recipes.  I’ve got 8 for you, so here goes nothin’…

“Water Lily”

From my most beloved cocktail book, The PDT Cocktail Book, comes the first of eight cocktails.  The Water Lily’s a very well-rounded drink, albeit a bit candy-ish.  “Buyer beware.”

Equal parts…

gin

creme de violette

triple sec

lemon juice

Shake well with ice, and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with an orange twist.

“Improved Gin Cocktail”

This recipe comes from David Wondrich’s wonderful Esquire magazine articles.  With my recently acquired first bottle of genever, the predecessor to gin, I was on the hunt for a good drink to introduce myself to this spirit.  I tried this drink with my new bottle of Boomsma brand genever, Oude style.  “Oude” meaning aged in oak barrels, and a bit of smokiness not typically associated with gin.

To be honest, my first taste of genever didn’t tell me if I loved it or not.  Maybe it’s an acquired taste? I’m not sure, but it was OK..  It reminds of me of Calvados or apply brandy actually…. smoky and whiskey-like, but with a little bit of a flat or shallow element and a lackluster sting at the end (?).  This one’s a simple drink, with just a nice taste of the maraschino.  With the smokiness and “woodsiness” of whiskey and the “bite” of gin, it’s a real go-between of the two.  Hmmm… time will tell, I guess.

2 oz. genever

.5-1t simple syrup

1t orange curacao, triple sec or maraschino liqueur*

2 dashes of bitters

(*I chose maraschino)

Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

With a lemon peel, rub the rim, then squeeze and drop in to your cocktail.

“Rosebud”

From the great book, “The Art of the Bar”, comes this drink that all I can say is, “Ehh, not that great.”  I’m not a fan of the tequila and sweet vermouth combo.  Maybe you are?

1.5 oz. silver tequila

1/2 oz. sweet vermouth

1 dash of Campari

Rinse a chilled cocktail glass with a dash of rose water;

Stir the tequila and vermouth with ice and then strain in to the cocktail glass;

Flame an orange zest over the drink and then float it on top;

Lastly, add a few drops of Campari to the surface.

“Ehh”

“Junior”


This is a pretty solid cocktail.  I like it… It’s like a mellow sour.  The lime hangs in the background and gets pushed a little in to the shadows by the aggressive rye whiskey.  All four ingredients blend however in to a unique, unified flavor, almost a grapefruit-like flavor.  Interesting, and pretty solid.

2 oz. rye

3/4 oz. lime juice

1/2 oz. Benedictine

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

(PDT Cocktail Book)

“Rosita”

This is a tasty, “sophisticated” old-fashioned-type tequila drink.  A good drink, with a lot of balance between the sweetness of the tequila and the Italian vermouth and the dryness of the French vermouth, Campari and bitters.  It’s a very smooth drink, with just a nice bit of bitterness and a slight smoky/sweet flavor of the reposado tequila.  Good!

1.5 oz reposado tequila

1/2 oz. sweet vermouth

1/2 oz. dry vermouth

1/2 oz. Campari

1 dash of Angostura bitters

Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with an orange twist.

(“PDT Cocktail Book”)

“Weeski”

This drink surprised me… I thought it was very good.  This drink’s from the “PDT Cocktail Book” too.  However, the only reason I even tried this drink was because it came from David Wondrich, a man I respect and a cocktail expert I trust whole-heartedly.  Had it not been accompanied with Mr. Wondrich’s backing, I would’ve been too skeptical of the Irish whiskey – triple sec combo.  But I tried it, and I was pleasantly pleased.  It’s smooth, elegant and refreshing like a gin drink, but with the whiskey solid base.  It’s a damn good, easy-drinkin’ cocktail!

2 oz. Irish whiskey

3/4 oz. Lillet Blanc

1/2 oz. triple sec

2 dashes of orange bitters

Stir well with ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with an orange twist.

“Paddy Wallbanger”

Ehh again… Not a very good drink, in my opinion.  I think it was kind of flat and “emotionless”.  It was mainly the dry vermouth… The whiskey and Galliano were OK together, but I feel like the vermouth is just a flat and bland connector between the two.  I won’t be making this one again.  Oh well.

1.5 oz. Irish whiskey

1.5 oz. dry vermouth

1/2 oz. Galliano

2 dashes of orange bitters

Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

(“PDT Cocktail Book”)

“Harvest Moon”

This drink is pretty good.  It’s nothing magnificent, but it is a good drink.  The ingredients make for a pretty unique, interesting flavor.  It’s a somewhat sweet drink, but with the slight aromatics of the green Chartreuse seeping through.

1.5 oz. rye

1 oz. Lillet Blanc

1/2 oz. apple brandy

1/4 oz. green Chartreuse

3 dashes Abbott’s (or in my case, Angostura) bitters

Stir well with ice and then strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with an orange twist.

Back in St. Louis

Posted: June 5, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: absinthe, cocktails, gin, lime juice, mixed drinks, spirits, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted an update to the ole Scientist McGee’s blog… a really long time.  It seems like ages in fact.  Since my last post, over a month ago, I took a trip to Jamaica.  It was a wonderful and restful time away from the daily grind.  My wife and I stayed at an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay… all you can eat, all you can drink.  I had a lot of tropical drinks, from morning to mid-morning, to lunch, to afternoon, to dinner, to after dinner and so on… repeat for 7 days.  It was great… the drinks were very nice and easy and thirst quenching… lots and lots of Tequila Sunrises and an occassional Margarita thrown in there, amongst random others like the Bob Marley, Rum Punch, Pina Colata, etc.  I even got some classic drinks mixed in as well, like a Rusty Nail, a Harvey Wallbanger, a Manhattan, etc.  The people in Jamaica are amongst the nicest I’ve ever met, and the bartenders were no exception.  They were happy to oblige and make a few drinks for me that weren’t on the menu because you can only take so much rum and tropical drinks after a few days.  I even tried a new drink that I’d read about in the book I brought along to read on the beach.  (Which reminds me… I’ve added a new piece to the side bar of my blog, on the right-hand side… It’s a list of books that I own or have read, and a brief rating of what I thought of them… check it out.  And if you have any recommendations for me, please let me know.)   The book I read on the beach was called “The Little Green Book of Absinthe”, and as the title suggests, it’s a book dedicated entirely to Absinthe.  Pretty fun read, with little anecdotes, quotes and tales of the history of Absinthe.  I was even happier to notice that the bartenders at the resort had in fact a bottle of Pernod behind the bar.  A lot of the drinks in the book had too unusual of ingredients for me to order them, but one in particular struck my fancy on the 5th day of our stay.  My wife had gotten hooked on Mimosas while we were there, and so I thought that the “Death in the Afternoon” cocktail sounded like a perfect companion to hers.

A “Death in the Afternoon” was a classic Ernest Hemingway drink and is…

1/2 oz. Absinthe

4.5 oz champagne

Stir together in a champagne flute.

(recipe from “The Little Green Book of Absinthe”)

And now for all the different drinks I’ve tried since my last post, in no particular order…

“Aviation” (w/ creme de violette)

Shortly after a post of mine a couple back, called “Trips back and forth to the booze merchant…”, in which I had just recently acquired some maraschino liqueur, I got a great tip from a reader who recommended me trying it with some Creme de Violette (some times referred to as Creme Yvette).  Thank you to him, because it’s a great addition and a serious twist on the drink itself!  As you might imagine, the creme de violette is very floral and a very strong flavor… a little added to a drink goes a long way, and definitely “blues” up the color of the drink, which is kind of fun.  In the Aviation, it definitely adds another dimension.  In this drink, using only 1/4 ounce is nice as then it’s somewhat subtle, as opposed to its strong presence in the “Blue Moon” coming up next.

2 oz gin

1/2 oz lemon juice

1/2 oz maraschino liqueur

1/4 oz creme de violette

Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

“Blue Moon”

Fresh in to my creme de violette kick, I attended a wonderful wedding reception with a very nice open bar and I spotted a bottle of the creme de violette behind the bar… but no maraschino liqueur.  I asked the bartender what he’d recommend for the creme de violette, and he made me a “Blue Moon”.   Pretty great drink, I must say.  The violet melds wonderfully with the lemon, and it seems to almost bond with and transform the gin.  It’s a drink of 3 really good flavors working really well together.  Each flavor seems very clear and distinct, but also blend nicely to make an overall flavor greater than the sum of its parts.

2 oz gin

1/2 oz creme de violette

1/2 oz lemon juice

Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

“Mary Pickford”

This drink was one I found in the book “The Cocktail Hour”, which is a book celebrating the old fashioned drinks and their history, and I wound up really liking this one.  It’s a great summertime drink.  It’s sweet & refreshing without being “candy sweet”, due in large part to the nutty element of the maraschino liqueur.  The recipe looks very simple, but its taste is surprisingly complex… again, thanks in large part to the maraschino liqueur, which leads me to my revelation that – the maraschino liqueur is king! (in my book anyway)

2 oz light rum

2 oz pineapple juice

1 t maraschino liqueur

1 t grenadine

Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

(recipe from “The Cocktail Hour”)

“The Stork Club”

Another drink I grabbed from this same book was “The Stork Club”, named after a famed nightclub in New York.  I didn’t care much for this drink, and after this one and “The Bronx Cocktail” from my last post, I’ve decided that I don’t care for the gin and orange juice combo in drinks.  It tastes like watered down OJ to me, and similar to Tang… which is never good in my opinion.  Oh well.  The lime juice made it a little better, but still the gin and OJ combo tastes flat & hollow to me, leaving me wanting something more.

1.5 oz gin

1/2 oz triple sec

1/4 oz lime juice

1 oz orange juice

Dash of Angostura bitters

Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

(recipe from “The Cocktail Hour”)

“Cherry Vodka”

I made this drink on a whim because I wanted to try a new drink using Cherry Heering.  I found this one online, and I did not like it.  But full disclosure, I don’t like vodka (as you may have noticed, there are very few vodka drinks in any of my posts).  Since vodka doesn’t have much of a taste, this drink tasted like I was drinking just lime juice with some Cherry Heering, and a noticeable “hole of nothingness” where the vodka was.  I won’t be making this one again ever.

1.5 oz vodka

3/4 oz lime juice

1/2 oz Cherry Heering

Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.

“Galliano Margarita”

I bought my first bottle of Galliano yesterday (along with 2 new glasses, pictured here)! To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the Galliano, as I was sort of just buying it because my wife likes “Harvey Wallbanger” drinks, so I bought a half-bottle (375 ml).  But boy was I in for a very pleasant surprise!  I love it!  I was under the wrong impression that Galliano was strictly a vanilla liqueur.  I hadn’t realized how it has quite a bit of an herbal undertone as well, and a strong anise secondary flavor too.  I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed this on the prior occassion when I had tried it before, but I hadn’t.  I have to say, I think that Galliano is very good indeed.  Plus I lucked out by stumbling upon a recipe for a drink that I just loved.  When I brought the bottle home, I didn’t want to just make another Harvey Wallbanger, so I looked online for what I could make and figured I’d give a Galliano Margarita a shot.  What the hell, eh? It was around 95 degrees out, so perfect, right?  Oh my, what a treat!  What a good drink!  I highly recommend this to everyone.

1 oz tequila

1 oz Galliano

1/2 oz lime juice

Shake well and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass.  Salt rim.

(As you can tell from the picture, I wasn’t in the mood for a salted rim.)

“Limon Sunrise”

And last but definitely not least, is a drink I looked up also online when I  found myself reminiscing about the endless Tequila Sunrises in Jamaica and also re-discovered a bottle of limoncello I’d forgotten we had in our house.  This one’s a very fun drink for the summer time.  Very refreshing and the orange & lemon combo is very good.

1 oz limoncello

3 oz orange juice

Splash of grenadine

Fill a highball-sized glass with ice, and build the limoncello, followed by the orange juice, and then add the grenadine.