Here are your Thursday and Friday cocktails. Sorry folks, but I won’t do videos with a sore throat, fading voice and wrecked palette. Should be good to go Monday, it ain’t swine flu!
Sidecar
- 1oz Brandy (Cognac in this case)
- 1oz Triple sec (Cointreau)
- 1oz Fresh lemon juice
Shake and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with lemon peel.
Well, I’m two for two so far this week! Feeling a bit of a cold coming on but this drink still hit all the right notes for me. The “wine” elements of the cognac really came through for me in this drink in ways they haven’t in the past with other mixes. Selena Ricks of The Dizzy Fizz is predicting 2010 will be a big year for cognac and armagnac, something I agree with and feel is long overdue. Expect to be drinking more brown spirits this year folks!
Daiquiri
- 2oz White rum
- 1oz Lime juice
- 2 barspoons sugar (to taste)
Shake and strain into cocktail glass.
Oh look! A video that’s being posted in a timely fashion on the day it’s intended!
I love this drink. It’s simple, it tastes great, but it really does take a bit of finesse and panache to pull off well. This is definitely one for everyone at home to try - who doesn’t like rum?
Feels good getting back into the swing of things… see you all tomorrow!
Ken
Happy New Year! I hope you like the new design of the site. I couldn’t be happier with how things turned out. 2010 is going to be a great year for me, and I’m excited to be sharing that with you!
Post-beta Hiatus: Will be back 1/1/2010
Hey guys,
I really hate to be flaking like I have lately. I get such support from everyone that comes here, I can’t tell you all how thankful I am for the feedback you all give me.
It’s the holiday season which means get-togethers with family and friends. It’s also the gift-giving season; I work for FedEx Express and this past week and coming week are our busiest of the year, making sure your packages get from you to your loved ones safely and in time for the holidays. I’m working longer hours than usual (which is a good thing, believe me!) but am also in a position where I have to make some sacrifices in other areas of my life.
I have friends in the city currently who go to college out of town, and this time of year is too valuable an opportunity to miss spending time with them. All will be graduating this spring (if they didn’t this past weekend!) and most will be scattered throughout the country following graduation. As we are all unsure when we will be able to see one another next, opportunities to spend time together are becoming precious.
Due to my work schedule, Mondays are the best time for me to spend with these people - many of you know that Mondays are also when I shoot all my videos for the week. I simply can’t do both, much as it pains me to let the website go lacking for any period of time.
I thank you all for understanding that I need to take a break until the new year so I can spend time with friends. I encourage all of you to do the same - commit to make the time now, and throughout the coming year, to spend time with those you love.
I am 110% committed to being back regularly 1 January 2010. I’m also hoping to have the site redesigned to be a bit more visually friendly, and will have picked a name for the show - someone out there can expect to hear from me about a copy of Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk.
Again, I apologize for the flakiness lately. But think of it this way - fall 2009 was the beta test for the website, we’ve all learned a bit about how things are working around here, and I’m ready to push this site to the next level. I REALLY want to put a ton of energy into this blog in 2010 and also connect with cocktail enthusiasts around the world - your endless support drives me each and every day. I cannot put into words how grateful I am to have the small community I enjoy here.
So, without further adieu… Enjoy these next two weeks, spend time with your loved ones, and mark your calendars to check back on 1 January 2010. I’m really excited for what the new year will bring, and look forward to sharing the experience with you.
Cheers!
Ken Moorhead
Chas
1 1/4 ounce bourbon whiskey
1/8 ounce amaretto
1/8 ounce Benedictine
1/4 ounce Cointreau
Stir all ingredients, strain into cocktail glass and garnish with an orange twist.
Great drink! I’m usually a bit skeptical for a recipe calling for such little input from so many bottles, but this one pulled it off well. If the Monte Carlo was a little too strong / bitter for you, this provides a more friendly take on the combination of whiskey and Benedictine.
Just one more week to name the show and win a copy of Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion. Comment below and you could start the New Year with a great book in your hands!
Monte Carlo
2oz Rye Whiskey
1/2oz Benedictine
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Stir over ice, strain into cocktail glass.
First off, I had a blast on the DJ NewStyle show last night. You can check out the episode at http://www.djnewstyleshow.com/. Come back next Tuesday at 9PM Eastern for a live broadcast. We talked cocktails, Frank (a.k.a. Germfreak) tried to stump me and then I made a recommendation to get him out of his “girly drink” habits and into some libations more proper. Also, Frank agreed to give me full rights to the word “spiceness” on the condition that I create a drink called “The Germfreak.” I have a few ideas… I may borrow some tricks from “girly drink” world and try to mix them in with a more … ahem… respectable approach.
About today’s drink… It’s great! Try it! Every home bar should have whiskey of some variety and Angostura bitters… get yourself some Benedictine and you’re just a few stirs away from a saucy little minx!
Thanks for all the comments! Keep them coming… also: What questions do you have that you would like to see answered? Don’t forget to name the show to win a book!
Vieux Carré
1oz Rye Whiskey
1oz Cognac
1oz Sweet vermouth
1/2 teaspoon Benedictine (splash)
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
2 Dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Well, today’s cocktail turned out to be an exercise in how things can go wrong even when you know exactly what you’re doing. I think this is the first drink I’ve been familiar with prior to creating the video, and I made the drink in exactly the same manner as I have every other time. In the end, something just tasted off. Perhaps my vermouth has spoiled. If that’s the case, I welcome the opportunity to buy new and better vermouth!
I do encourage EVERYONE watching this to try this drink when they have opportunity to. The flavors and complexity bring something for everyone and could challenge you in ways you didn’t expect.
Keep coming up with names for the show in the comment field below!
I’m back! Last week I found myself in the position of deciding between studying for an accounting final or getting the videos done. I had to pass the class to get into MBA school, so as much as it pained me, it really wasn’t a decision.
This week I’m featuring Benedictine, a classic herbal liqueur. Watch for this bottle to start showing up at more bars and on the drink menus at your favorite haunts!
Okay, I’ve talked about being interested in modern cocktails and nontraditional presentations, namely solid cocktails. Here’s an example of something I’m working on: Deviled Egg Nog.
How did I do it?
I broke out my “new edition” (no, not New Edition) Betty Crocker Cookbook tonight for this one and adapted three recipes: One for deviled eggs (duh), one for egg nog (duh) and one for panna cotta (huh?)
Panna cotta is most easily described as an eggless creme brulee. It’s a cream and gelatin mixture sweetened and flavored with vanilla (or whatever flavor extract you care to use - get creative). If you can make Jell-O, you can make panna cotta. And I’m not kidding. Heck, I’ll post a quick recipe here right now:
Panna Cotta
2 cups cream
1 packet unflavored gelatin (or 1 1/2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup sugar
Vanilla extract
Salt
Mix gelatin into cream in saucepan. Let stand 10 minutes. Add sugar, vanilla extract to taste and a pinch of salt. Heat to light simmer, do not boil. Divide into four serving cups and chill 4 hours / until set.
See what I mean? If you can make Jell-O, you can make this stuff. Now go forth, impress your lady friends and multiply.
Your traditional egg nog recipes call for whipping the egg whites to peaks (google it) and then folding that into your mixture of yolk, cream, sugar, vanilla and (most importantly!) booze.
For the “deviled egg” part of this recipe, I pretty just hard boiled the eggs, shelled them, cut them in half and spooned the cooked yolks into a bowl. Simple. I’ve separated the “peaked egg whites” permanently, but the element is still there in a new form.
I bloomed my packet of gelatin in a cup of half & half for ten minutes. I also added the seeds from a mexican vanilla bean, about half a cup of powdered sugar and a touch of vanilla extract. Using a fork, I mashed the yolks into small particles and folded them into the mixture. I then heated this mixture to activate the gelatin.
Wait! Where’s the booze?
Since I was heating this “panna cotta” mixture (now an egged eggless custard…I didn’t say this “cocktail” wouldn’t confuse you) to just before boil, I didn’t want to heat the alcohol as well. Alcohol boils off at 73 degrees Celsius, water at 100 degrees. I’m not sure of the boiling point of half & half. I just knew that I didn’t want the liquids to pass 70 degrees with the booze in it. So I let the liquid cool a bit before adding a half cup of Michter’s Single Barrel Rye whiskey.
Rye? What about rum? Or brandy? Or bourbon?
This rye is very smooth… To my palette it’s like a more-focused bourbon than it is a spicy rye. So far as brandy, it would have been an equally good choice. Rum… Well, I have opinions about rum that we’ll cover later.
After pitching the whiskey into the mixture, I put it in the fridge for about four hours to set. Once that was done, I stirred it up with a spoon and filled each half egg-white, then topped with nutmeg.
How’d it taste?
For a first attempt: pretty good! It’s a solid start but needs some tweaking. What didn’t I like?
A half cup of booze was too much for this, and it needs to be a touch sweeter (and this is coming from someone who tries not to oversweeten his drinks and loves his big boozy flavors.) I’ll probably use cane sugar instead of confectioner’s next time. I ended up with about 5 times more filling than the egg whites could hold (not terribly surprising, but more excess than I’d planned). So I need to reduce the proportion of booze to half & half, increase the proportion of sugar, and then shrink it all down to reduce waste. Finally, the filling mixture was a bit more “wet” than I’d prefer. I didn’t quite heat the half & half mixture as well as I should, but I think I might need a higher proportion of gelatin as well to really make that component a bit more solid once chilled.
Note: The flavor of egg is now present due to the egg whites. I don’t mind this, but permanently separating the whites from the rest of the mixture made this inevitable. If you don’t like so much “eggy” flavor in your egg nog… well… heck, if you wanted REAL egg nog you wouldn’t be considering making this for yourself anyway.
I’m looking forward to playing with this in the weeks leading up to the holidays. I’m fairly close as it is, so I’m excited about getting this one dialed in. I’m pretty experienced in the kitchen and this was my first time making deviled eggs… everything here took me about 45 minutes to prepare, so this is something that shouldn’t be *too* difficult for the culinary-impaired aspiring molecular mixologist. When I get everything right, I’ll post a proper recipe.
Cheers! (Chews?)
Ken
