Better late than never, eh? I shot these videos yesterday but haven’t been able to get to Tumblr to post them here. This is the first entry for my “Back to Basics” this month; I’m featuring the first original drink I ever came up with. The second cocktail I did on a whim because I wanted to try the combination of rye, pineapple and Peychaud bitters (Okay, so I cheated slightly on my promise for the month).
Tropical Gentleman
- 1 1/2 oz Tennessee Whiskey (Jack Daniels)
- 1 1/2 oz Pineapple juice
- Ginger ale (dry)
Build drink in rocks glass over ice, top with ginger ale and stir slightly to mix.
Unnamed (But still delicious!)
- 2oz rye whiskey (Sazerac rye here)
- Pineapple juice
- 3 dashes Peychaud bitters
Build drink over ice, topping with pineapple juice. Stir and enjoy.
Give both of these a try! These play well with most any American or Canadian whiskies, so don’t fret too much over brand / style.
Modern Alchemy… it’s for YOU
Some unexpected information and inspiration came from my job interview this past Friday with respect to what I’m doing here at Modern Alchemy. My mission for this blog is to educate and remove the intimidation people feel toward mixed drinks. I feel that lately I’ve bent the direction of this blog toward content for fellow cocktail bloggers instead of the professional just home from work who needs a damn fine drink.
A blog for bloggers is not the goal I’ve set for myself. My goal is education and inspiration.
Thanks to Scott (one of my interviewers), I was reminded that all my talk of flavor notes and texture profiles and shaken vs stirred and complexities and intricacies (catch your breath)… While that is all interesting to me… What really matters is the drink tastes good.
That’s it.
The drink should taste good.
For the month of March I am going to put a real challenge on myself. Something I know I will benefit from. I’m going to get rid of all the fancy bartender tools for one month and go back to my roots when I started mixing drinks in the dorms for friends during my freshman year of college four years ago.
One month. Twelve drinks. The way I used to make them in the dorms. None of the glitz and glamour. None of the eyeballing the drink and commenting on legs and colour. No bullshit talk of spiceness, herbacious flavors or any other such nonsense. No smelling the drink or intellectualizing over the flavors.
You want to know how to make drinks that taste good and will impress your friends? That’s what we’re going to do. Because what did I start out with?
- 1 bottle of contraband whiskey
- 1 shot glass
- 1 rocks glass
- 1 meal plan that gave me access to fruit, fruit juices and sodas
- 2 big brass ones
That’s it. And many of you tell me that’s pretty much where you’re starting too. No stirring spoons or shaker tins or bitters or small, ever-growing libraries of exotic imported booze. You have one or two bottles and a lot of questions. I did too. Let’s put a drink in your hands and start answering them.
Please comment below (not on my private Facebook where no one else can see, you goobers!) with your thoughts, your comments and especially the questions you have! This is educational for all of us, and I want to do all I can to help you and your confidence in making drinks.
Now I’m going to somberly enjoy my last wonderfully complex, perfectly ruby-coloured Manhattan. It’s so wonderful the way it smells of oak and sweet spices, and the way the sharp bite gives way to vanilla notes that just linger on the palette… But what I’m really trying to say is, it just tastes good.
Scott, if you’re reading this - thanks for reminding me how important it is to cut through the bull and get down to the basics.
Let’s have some fun making drinks together, people.
Whoops, I forgot to update this week…
I have a paper and a presentation due Monday, and had a job interview today that I’ve spent the week prepping for. It went very well, by the way. Just anxiously awaiting a phone call. Ahem. In case you-know-who happens to be reading this entry. Thanks everyone that stopped by through the week, traffic’s been up a bit lately.
Thanks also to DJ Hawaiian Shirt, Forrest Collins and Utah Mixologist for their comments through the week. Those of you checking in from France, Germany and the UK should definitely check out Forrest’s website to find the best martinis in Paris before your next visit.
Take care and spend the weekend drinking (responsibly!) with the ones you love!
Shaken or Stirred? And what is bruising anyway?
Can’t drink today as I’m recovering from losing my voice over the weekend. Decided to do a technique lesson on an oft debated topic: how does stirring a drink really compare with shaking? Check out the video, and comment to let me know your reactions! Also, what future technique lessons would you like me to focus on, or, What questions do you have about how to mix drinks?
Xplorador Wines Chilean Harvest 2010
Xplorador wines is hosting a drawing to send one lucky winner to Chilé for the 2010 wine harvest. If you know me, you know I love wine as much as I do cocktails. If we’ve talked about wine, you know I think South America, and specifically Chilé, is hot - and it goes beyond my love for the great carmenere grape. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope Xplorador picks me for the Chilé trip this year. I’ll be sure to bring the laptop and FlipCam so you won’t have to miss a moment of the experience.
Check out Xplorador:
See you in Chilé, Xplorador!
Alcohol Advertising: True Originals No. 2
Bacardi’s gone viral (or at least trying to) lately with their True Originals ads. The latest features a sexy female bartender (they all are, aren’t they?) mixing up a piña colada. Check out the video, and comment below to let me know what you think of this campaign!
(Note: Also making this post to test out some SEO workarounds because SEO for Tumblr is a little…lackluster.)
Pink Gin Cocktail
- 2 1/2oz London dry gin
- 3 dashes Angostura bitters
- Shake over ice and strain into cocktail glass.
The complexity in this drink took me surprise - I was expecting a good cocktail and wound up with a great one! The comparison to tempranillo I feel is most appropriate in terms of the earthy components that wine possesses, not so much the fruit notes.
This one is too simple to not try for yourself ASAP!
Learn more about this Royal Navy cocktail at Wikipedia
Learn more about BlastMedia at http://blastmedia.com/
The Algonquin
- 3/4oz Rye whiskey
- 1/4oz dry vermouth
- 1/4oz pineapple juice
Shake over ice and strain into cocktail glass.
Catch my interview on the DJ NewStyle show podcast at DJNewStyleShow.com
Follow the hosts:
http://twitter.com/thegermfreak
And hear them live Tuesdays @ 9PM EST
The Germfreak
- 1oz Ginger-infused vodka
- 1oz Lychee liqueur
- 1/4oz dry vermouth
- 3/4oz lime juice (roughly 1 whole lime)
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- 2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Hello, Compendium!
To my usual audience: Thank you very much for seeing this update, I thank you for stopping by. I have planned out several weeks ahead of what cocktails I’ll doing for Modern Alchemy which will abate some of my consistency issues.
Compendium Blogware,
Thank you very much for finding my website. I am so very excited to be considered for a position in the company. This space is where I serve up video mixology lessons. I greatly enjoy contributing to the cocktail blog community, and also that I’ve been fortunate to draw in friends and fans from outside that niche to get them thinking of drinking differently from the typical rum and coke or premixed margarita.
This blog has been under renovation for two months now, to the detriment of my posting frequency. Upon reboot, I definitely intend to better link my blog into the appropriate organic keywords I’ve learned about from the Compendium whitepapers.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Ken Moorhead
