Jumping Frog

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Mark Twain's first great success, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", and the accompanying documentary "88 Days In The Motherlode: Mark Twain Finds His Voice", I present the Jumping Frog Cocktail!

 

Jumping Frog

 

Ingredients:

2 oz. Gin

1/2 oz. Fresh Pear Juice

1/2 oz. Thyme Syrup

3/4 oz. Lemon Juice

Method:

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a sliver of pear. Enjoy!

Summery Solsticey

Happy Summer everyone!  I was really happy with this creation, and I invite you to celebrate the summer solstice with one of these.  Last year I made a strawberry shrub and then created a cocktail around it called the strawberry citrus shrub.  That drink became a signature cocktail for Flag Hill Winery & Distillery.  Anyway, watermelon's in my market again, so I got to thinking about making a watermelon shrub.  Wasn't sure how I was going to do it, and I probably settled on a process more complicated than it had to be (I mean, it's water, and sugar, and melon flavor), but nonetheless I went ahead with it and it worked out great.  Made to recipe this drink has a mild tartness, a big melon punch (naturally), an herbal/floral finish with suggestions of lychee.  No Really It's Good!

 

Summery Solsticey

 Ingredients:

2 oz. London Dry Gin (I used Gordon's--affordable but solid)

1 oz. Watermelon Shrub (my possibly overcomplicated recipe below)

1/4 oz. Luxardo maraschino liqueur

Around 5 Basil Leaves

Club Soda

Method:

Add gin, shrub, maraschino, basil to shaker.  Shake with ice and double strain into a thoroughly chilled cocktail glass.  Top with club soda and garnish with watermelon balls and a basil leaf.

Watermelon Shrub:

Bring 1 cup of sugar and one cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan.  In the meantime, cut up about a quarter of a watermelon into small chunks and blend.  When the water boils reduce it to a simmer and stir.  When it has stopped boiling for a few minutes add the blended watermelon and steep for a half hour.  Strain finely through muslin towels or cheesecloth into a bottle or bottles (leaving room for the vinegar).  Add (this is where I was eyeballing) maybe 3/4 cup of white champagne vinegar.  Add it gradually, testing it as you go.  You want it to be tart but not overpowering the sweetness too much.  Close up the bottle(s) and give a shake.

The Mad Reiver

Scotch based cocktails are pretty darn rare, and I know that to a lot of people it's a no-no.  I'd personally be skeptical of a cocktail made with a real high end Scotch, and maybe I'm gauche for saying that, but the truth is I'm not so much of a rich cat that I would encounter great Scotch often enough for me to say "OK, now let's see what it's like in a punch".  In the rare enough instance that I get offered a great Scotch I'm going to take it neat.  Nevertheless I have had the occasional Rusty Nail, and one time, a delicious Blood & Sand, and generally liked Scotch based cocktails and what Scotch brought to them.  My advice is that for most of us, a not horrible, lightly to reasonably smokey Scotch is right for most Scotch-based cocktails we'd make at home.  Here I used Dewar's 12 y.o. (the blue bottle).  The Mad Reiver is one I'd describe as sort of a red-headed cousin to the Blood & Sand.  

The Mad Reiver

2 oz. Dewar's 12 y.o.
3/4 oz. Cocchi Americano Rosa
1/4 oz. Thyme Syrup
3/4 oz. Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
1 dash Plum Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Patience Cocktail

The Hannford in Hampton, NH maintains one of the best supermarket produce sections on the seacoast, thanks in large part to my old friend David Archibald.  Today I picked up some nice citrus and a pomegranate.  With the pomegranate I made homemade grenadine, and together with a nice, juicy white grapefruit and some of the better spirits in my cabinet I created this cocktail.

Patience Cocktail

1 1/2 oz. London Dry Gin
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/4 oz. Homemade Grenadine
1 oz. Fresh Squeezed White Grapefruit Juice
Dash of Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe.  Garnish with a white grapefruit peel.

Strawberry Citrus Shrub

It's that time of year again for Pick-Your-Own strawberries at Applecrest Farm in Hampton Falls, NH.  Last year I created a cocktail with muddled strawberries.  This year I made a delicious strawberry syrup, and concocted this refreshing drink.

Strawberry Citrus Shrub

2 oz. Gin
3/4 oz. Strawberry Syrup (you can cut the recipe in half or even by 4 if you don't need so much).
3/4 oz. Grapefruit Juice
3/4 oz. Orange Juice
Seltzer Water

Combine gin, syrup, and juices in a shaker and shake.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and top with seltzer water.

The Expatriate: A Semi-Stolen Cocktail

OK, so this is interesting.  I "created" what I thought was an original cocktail that turned out to be really delicious.  So simple was the idea that I thought, hmm, I wonder if anyone else has done this.  I did a web search for the ingredients and found a picture of a cocktail called "The Expatriate", but it didn't list measurements, only ingredients.  It turns out, however, as I discovered doing a search for "Expatriate cocktail", there is another, apparently more well-known cocktail with the same name but NONE of the same ingredients.  So I had to dig a little deeper if I wanted to find the Expatriate I was concerned with.  I finally found it, and discovered that our recipes vary in measurements slightly, and in how the mint is used.  My recipe first:

[Untitled-because-I-daren't] Cocktail

1.5 oz. bourbon
3/4 oz. mint simple syrup (thanks Dad)
3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe

The Expatriate

2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. simple syrup
3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
A handful of fresh mint

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a coupe

Whiskey Sour

The whiskey sour is a great drink any time of year, and a great way to enjoy whiskey if drinking it straight, or in an old fashioned or Manhattan is a little too boozy for you.  The added citrus and sweetness, along with the velvety smoothness of the egg white make this a mellow and balanced treat, and a great way to introduce yourself or your guests to the bolder flavors of whiskey.

  

Whiskey Sour

1 1/2 oz. Whiskey (I used Russell's Reserve Bourbon)

3/4 oz. Simple Syrup*

3/4 oz. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

1 Barspoon of Egg White

Dry shake ingredients in a Boston shaker to froth.  Add ice.  Shake again vigorously.  Strain into a cocktail glass or over a rocks filled tumbler or old fashioned glass.  Garnish with a cherry.

*When I'm making simple syrup for sours I peel a lemon and steep the peels in the simmering syrup.

How to make the Sebago Cocktail

For a detailed recipe and photos, check out the original post here.

Amaro Meletti Sour updated (video)

Amaro Meletti Sour

2 oz. Amaro Meletti
1 oz. dry vermouth
1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 egg white
4-5 drops of Scrappy's Cardamom Bitters

Dry shake all ingredients but the bitters to froth. Then add ice and shake again. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and top with cardamom bitters.

Mia Bella

The Mia Bella is a cocktail I created based on the classic Negroni (equal parts gin, campari, and sweet vermouth). But here instead of Campari I'm using another Italian bitter, Amaro Meletti, which is quite different than Campari, but not without some similarities; and a rosé vermouth instead of a sweet vermouth.

1 oz. gin
1 oz. Amaro Meletti
1 oz. rosato vermouth

stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange peel.

Vanilla Bourbon Trusker

 

I was recently given 6 vanilla beans by a dear friend.  After thinking for some time about what I ought to do with them I decided that sticking a few in a bottle of bourbon wouldn't be such a bad idea.  Turns out it was quite a good idea.  I didn't do anything special, other than stick three of the beans straight into the bottle and then waited a week and-a-half.  The flavors work wonderfully together.  After having a piece of raspberry filled dark chocolate, inspiration struck, and I quickly thought up this drink.  My friend Jeff suggested the name and I had no good reason to dispute it.  It does have a ring to it I must say.

1 oz. vanilla infused bourbon (I used Evan Williams, but if I had been certain of how good it was going to be I'd have probably chosen Buffalo Trace)

3/4 oz. dark creme de cacao

3/4 oz. Chambord

1 oz. light cream or half & half

Shake vigorously with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Cornichon Martini

Nothing revelatory here, I'm afraid.  This is a classic gin martini with the, I dare say, novel addition of French cornichons.  Yes, they are essentially gherkins, but quite a bit smaller than any gherkins I'VE ever had, and pickled with different spices than your typical gherkin.  One of those spices, tarragon, works especially well here, imparting a slight anise-y touch to the drink.  The same kind of saltiness one would get from olives is present as well.  Give it a try!

Make a classic martini, but garnish (as here) with two small cornichons instead of the lemon twist.

Amaro Meletti Sour

I picked up a bottle of Amaro Meletti today and concocted this simple recipe.  The rose notes of the amaro combined with the lemon marry quite well and remind me of Turkish delight.  The cardamom bitters further the herbal complexity and bring us still closer to the realm of Middle Eastern flavors.

Amaro Meletti Sour

2 oz. Amaro Meletti
1 oz. dry vermouth
1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 egg white (optional)*

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Top with a few drops of cardamom bitters.

*I didn't have any reliable egg whites when I made this, but I'd recommend trying it.

Rocky Cove Cocktail

1 1/2 oz. London Dry Gin
3/4 oz. Rosato Vermouth
1/2 oz. Benedictine
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
Dash Fee's Grapefruit Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe.

The Irene Cocktail

Another evening of mixing with my brother resulted in this maelstrom of spirits and juices.

1 oz. Aged Rum
1/2 oz. Cognac
1/2 oz. Gin
1/2 oz. Orange Liqueur (we used Rhum Clément Creole Shrubb liqueur)
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Orange Juice
Dash of Peychaud's Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

The Junior Cocktail

This week I went to have dinner with my brother and his family at their home. My brother had picked up some things to add to the fine liquor cabinet he keeps, including rye and Benedictine. While searching for an appealing cocktail to make with these ingredients we came across the Junior cocktail. A search for the history of this cocktail is nearly impossible, as most hits bring up references to junior cocktail dresses. It turned out to be a tasty sour-style cocktail, and one that I'd recommend to whiskey fans.

The Junior

1 1/2 oz. Rye
1/2 oz. Benedictine
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
Dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Camera Obscura Cocktail

"She walks in beauty like the night."

Use up your leftover homemade ginger syrup and enjoy this drink, which I'm calling the Camera Obscura.

1-1/2 oz. London Dry Gin
1/4 oz. Absinthe
1/2 oz. Ginger Syrup
A dash of Orange Blossom Water

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Sebago Cocktail

The Sebago is a delicious cocktail I created over the weekend. Initially I tried making it with gin, but ended up switching to Lee, NH's Flag Hill Josiah Bartlett Apple Brandy because the overall flavor of the cocktail was superior this way. The highlight of this drink is the combination of the orange juice with the ginger syrup, which marries very well with the complex foundation of apple brandy. The lemon juice adds some balance to the drink as far as tartness is concerned, and the Peychauds bitters add additional depth as well as helping provide its distinct salmon color. This drink should go over equally well with cocktail drinkers of all kinds.

2 oz. quality apple brandy such as Josiah Bartlett
1 1/2 oz. orange juice
1/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. ginger syrup*
dash Peychauds bitters.

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

*Make your own ginger syrup: Combine 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and add 1/3 cup sliced ginger. Return to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for a half hour. Remove from heat and let cool, then add to a bottle and store in the refrigerator.

L'Aquitaine

I created this drink using deliciously fresh strawberries I picked from Applecrest Orchards in Hampton Falls. It's similar to the Satan's Whiskers cocktail in its use of both sweet and dry vermouth, as well as using gin as the base spirit, but replaces the orange juice with strawberry juice. I settled on all French spirits for this drink, and if I lived in France I'd use fresh-picked Gariguette strawberries to bring this Francophile concoction full-circle (the majority of cultivation occurring in the Aquitaine region--hence the name I'm giving this creation).

1 oz. Citadelle gin
1/2 oz. Noilly Prat dry vermouth
1/2 oz. Noilly Prat rouge vermouth
1/2 oz. Grand Marnier
1 oz. fresh strawberry juice
dash of orange bitters

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Gin & Tonic?

I spent this past independence day weekend up at my family's camp in Maine. To me the 4th is the thing that most says "summer is surely here", and what better way to celebrate than with that quintessential summer drink the gin & tonic? Not content, however, to simply top some gin on the rocks with tonic water, I came up with what I suppose I'll call...

Gin & Tonic Royale (..ha ha ha....)

2 oz. gin
4 oz. tonic water
dash orange bitters
lime wedge
clementine or orange wedge

Cut the lime and clementine wedges in half and muddle in a double old fashioned glass. You can either leave the spent fruit wedges in or remove them at this point. Fill glass with cracked ice and add gin and orange bitters. Stir a bit and add tonic water. Stir once more and serve with two sip straws. I guarantee this will taste a bit more special than your typical G&T.