a lovely shore breeze....: Alcoholic beverages

Showing posts with label Alcoholic beverages. Show all posts

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Weekend Cooking...The Pimm's Cup

Perhaps we need just one more toast to the future King George!
So today we are going to make a Pimm's Cup, the most English of all summer drinks. Since he is a summer baby, it seems only fitting.
We are going to take a look at the Pimm's Cup.
It is made with Pimm's No.1...
So what is Pimm's?
From their web site..

"London's dandiest city gents loved to partake in oysters and gin. But with its bitter tang, gin was knocked back, not savoured. Enter shellfish-monger James Pimm and his famous central London 'Oyster Bar' in 1823. Patrons soon swallowed oysters with the PIMM'S 'house cup'. Flavoured with liqueurs and fruit extract, this more palatable long drink 'gin-sling' kick-started the great British PIMM'S story."

If you are lounging by the side of the Thames with a picnic, watching the rowers go by, or looking for some refreshment between matches at Wimbledon, you may very well be drinking a Pimm's Cup.

Let us gather our ingredients...

Since it is a gin based drink, you can drink it as is, mixing it with lemonade, lemon-lime soda or ginger ale. But for a little stronger drink, you can add a shot of gin as well.
And then there is the matter of garnishes, a very important aspect it seems. According to an article in the New York Times...

"The proper garnish has long been a point of contention in Pimm’s mythology. In 1949, Jim Moran, a wily New York marketing man prone to stunts, was enlisted to raise the liqueur’s profile. He hired two actresses to stage a fight at a Manhattan nightclub over the correct garnish for a Pimm’s Cup: cucumber or mint. It made the papers.

That dispute continues in earnest today. Cucumber is commonly in the mix, though some bartenders muddle it and others don’t. Mint is often seen. But any ingredient in your average fruit salad may turn up."

So first, the basic...

My favorite version, made with the very gingery zip of Ginger Beer

PIMM'S CUP

Ingredients:

1 shot Pimm's No. 1
Fill with 7-Up
1 slice Cucumber
Twist of Lemon peel
mint

In a highball glass add Pimm's No. 1 and twist of lemon. Fill with 7-up. Garnish with cucumber slice and mint.

Just to let you know, I muddled my mint!

But now that you bought that bottle of Pimm's, are there other drinks you can make with it? Of course!!
Replace the 7 Up with Champagne and you have a Royal Pimm's Cup. Replace it with ginger ale, or even better, spicy ginger beer, and you have a Pimm's Ragoon.
But there are bartenders out there coming up with all sort of other ideas. For fans of tequila, there is the...

EL DIABLO

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces blanco tequila
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice from 1 lime
1/2 ounce high quality triple sec
1/2 ounce Pimm's No. 1
Ginger ale

Combine tequila, lime juice, triple sec, and Pimm’s in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled, about 20 seconds. Strain contents into a Collins glass filled with ice and top with ginger ale.

And for a drink that can extend the Pimm season past the summer, how about a cocktail with whiskey?

PIMM DADDY

"This rye-based Pimm's cocktail was created by Taylor Bense of The Post Office in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We added a touch more lemon to our taste. Muddled cucumber adds a lovely freshness to the drink."

Ingredients:

2 half-inch slices peeled fresh cucumber
1/2 ounce simple syrup
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1 lemon
3/4 ounce Pimm's No. 1
2 ounces Rye whiskey
cucumber ribbon

In a cocktail shaker, muddle cucumber rounds in simple syrup until mixture is an even paste. Add lemon, Pimm's, and rye, and fill shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled, about 20 seconds. Strain into ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with cucumber ribbon if desired.

Or for something quite tropical...

The Kameleon

Ingredients:

1 oz 151 proof rum
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
3 oz Pineapple juice
2 oz Orange juice
1/3 oz Pimm's No. 1

Mixing instructions: Firstly, build ingredients in the order given in a collins glass over ice. Layer the Pimms on top. It will look sort of like a traffic light. When served, stir in front of customer and it turns lime green.

I need to get some Blue Curacao.
Whichever version you try, Pimm's is a tasty liqueur and makes a light, refreshing summer drink!!

My, that goods good!

This is my contribution this to this week's Weekend Cooking.
"Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend."
Be sure to check out the other entries this week. As always, hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Weekend Cooking...Let's Try a Shandy

Today, in honor of the new wee Prince George, we are going to have a toast to his good heath and exciting future.
But what to drink for the toast?
What we need is a nice summer drink that might be consumed in the UK.

And once again, I remember a beverage from one of Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks mysteries. No less than Adam Banks himself was stopping at a pub for some afternoon refreshment, as he frequently does, and he ordered a Shandy.

"What in the world is a shady?" I said.

Well, according to Wikipedia..."A shandy, or shandygaff, is beer mixed with a soft drink, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or apple juice. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste, usually half-and-half."

I must say, as a person who likes beer, this sounded vile. But I needed to do my research! As always, just for you my dear readers.

So off I went to the liquor store to get some supplies for my test.
There are a large number of bottled shandys, so I bought a couple of them and then some regular beer..many sites suggest a white wheat beer to mix with lemonade to make a 'homemade' version. Then I threw a ringer in, with a beverage from the Evil Bud Beer Company, the Bud Light Lime-a-Rita, sort of a mixture of beer and margarita. Hmmm..

So, how did the taste test go? First, the bottled shandys.

The first one I tried was the Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy.
Their site describes it like this..."Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy is crisp wheat beer brewed with natural lemonade flavor which makes it a perfect summertime refresher for those sun-splashed summer days."
It does seem very popular by the amount the store had on hand, in bottle and cans. It did certainly taste like lemon, I will say that.
It smelled like beer and tasted like fake lemon. Odd.

Next I tried Tenacious Travelers Shandy which says it is "a ginger shandy—the perfect combination of spice and sweetness!"
OK, I think I missed the ginger part.
Tasted OK, but nothing to write home about.

So, lets try a homemade shandy! 1/2 lemonade...half beer. And by far the best. Lemony in a nice way and yet still a flavor of beer. So IMHO, if you want to explore the shandy world, make your own as the first try.
Quick, easy, cheap.

And finally, what of this Lime-a-Rita?
I will say, I expected to hate it.
And I did not.
It is tasty. Sweet. Not quite a margarita, not at all a beer, it's a malt beverage flavored to taste like a margarita.
If you like Mike's Hard lemonade you may like this. It is similar with a bit more fizz.

BUT...do not be fooled but the "Light" on the label. This is a sugar packed drink, contains 8% alcohol by volume with 220 calories and 29.1 grams of carbohydrates per 8oz serving.
So that 24oz can they sell would have 600 calories! And at 8% ABV, that is a lot of booze.

So, what did I finally decided about this whole shandy issue?
Personally, I doubt I will drink any of them again.

When I want a beer, a want a beer.
When I want Lemonade, I want lemonade.
And when I want a delicious, icy cold Margarita..well, you get the idea!

Still, I do have three more cans of that Lime-a-Rita in the fridge..and I hate to waste...

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Weekend Cooking...A Tonic for the Blazing Heat of Summer

They say that 2013 is the Year of the Gin and Tonic.
The they in this case is the New York Times, so it must be true, right? Well, about this, maybe.
So if this is the year of the G&T, I must be part of it.
This is important enough to do a little gin and tonic study, followed by the required taste test.
Of course, I do this only for you, my dear readers, so I can share the results of my study.
I do it only as a scientific experiment, of course. ;-)
No thanks are required.
But still appreciated!

So, where does this drink, the G&T, come from, the mixing of quinine tonic water and gin?
Funny you should ask...and of course...our friends at Wikipedia have an answer...

"Quinine is an effective muscle relaxant, long used by the Quechua, who are indigenous to Peru, to halt shivering due to low temperatures. The Peruvians would mix the ground bark of cinchona trees with sweetened water to offset the bark's bitter taste, thus producing tonic water...

Quinine has been used in unextracted form by Europeans since at least the early 17th century. It was first used to treat malaria in Rome in 1631. In the years that followed, cinchona bark, known as Jesuit's bark or Peruvian bark, became one of the most valuable commodities shipped from Peru to Europe. When King Charles II was cured of malaria at the end of the 17th Century with quinine, it became popular in London. It remained the antimalarial drug of choice until the 1940s, when other drugs took over...

Quinine is a flavour component of tonic water and bitter lemon. On the soda gun behind many bars, tonic water is designated by the letter "Q" representing quinine. According to tradition, the bitter taste of antimalarial quinine tonic led British colonials in India to mix it with gin, thus creating the gin and tonic cocktail, which is still popular today in many parts of the world, especially the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand."

It is certainly a popular summer drink, refreshing on a hot summer day. And usually it is a simple affair. Grab a glass, filled with ice. Pour in some gin, some tonic water, perhaps a slice of lime. Stir and drink. Which is fine, but could it be better?

First, there is the gin. I will admit I had no gin, so a short trip to the liquor store was in order, where I faced a large selection of gins. Not as many as the vodka selection, which was HUGE, but still a lot. So I went with one I had never heard of but had a rating of 95 from some wine magazine. We will skip why wine magazines are rating gins..But feel free to use your favorite gin if you have one. If not, I would not buy the cheapest, or the most expensive, just one in the middle and go from there.

Iris flavored..really

Saffron Infused Gin...I think not.

But then there is the tonic water, which some folks think could be replaced with something better. In this case, a small batch quinine syrup. Cane sugar to replace the high fructose corn syrup, all the spices and color of the cinchona bark and the ability to add as much or as little as you like, topped off with bubbly water. So I had to get my hands (yes, Amazon carries it) on a bottle of Tomr's Tonic.

"I worked on this recipe for quite a while until I hit on the perfect batch," says Tomr's creator Tom Richter. His blend of cinchona, sugar and organic herbs, spices and citrus is vibrant and bright. Mixed with gin and sparkling water, it's sublime. The light orange-amber color may come as a surprise initially, but one sip and you'll likely be converted. "A lot of first-time customers say, 'I don't really like gin and tonics, but I really like this drink," says Richter. In addition, he says cinchona grown in different parts of the world impart distinctly different flavor profiles, opening up the possibility of terroir-influenced G&Ts."

I had to look up terrior, a term, it seems, usually related to wine. "Terroir is the set of special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place, interacting with the plant's genetics, express in agricultural products such as wine, coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, heritage wheat, cannabis, and tea. The concept has also crossed to other products such as cheeses." And tonic syrup!

That quote is from an article about the Gin and Tonic at AskMen and they also give what they think is the perfect G&T recipe.

A cute little cocktail book recently reviewed by BethFish

The Perfect Gin and Tonic

2 oz. London Dry or Plymouth Gin
1 oz. Tomr's Tonic (or your own tonic syrup)
Perrier or Pellegrino (lime-flavored works nicely)
2 dashes bitters (lemon, Angostura or Hella Bitter Citrus)
Fresh lime wedge

The Tomr's G&T

1 oz. Tomr's Tonic
2 oz. Gin
3 oz. Club soda

Fill a highball glass with ice.
Add tonic, gin and club soda.
Stir...Drink...Repeat.

Like that New Amsterdam bottle!

So, how did that taste test go.?
I had no bitters...and forgot them at the liquor store...so I could not make the 'perfect' one. I really should have done this at the Bro's. He has a very well stocked assortment of alcohol related materials. But I did make a traditional Tonic water and gin one and the Tomr's/gin/bubbly water version, both with some lime.

Of course, they look different. I must say, I like the clear one but it really makes no difference.
As to taste...well, they are both good, but different. If I had to pick, I would definately go with the Tomr's. It is quite tasty, much, much more interesting than the tonic water, but it is still the gin that stands out. I do like that juniper berry taste.
If you are a fan of the G&T, I really think you have to give this a try!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Weekend Cooking....The Classic Jack Rose...With Homemade Grenadine

“At five o’clock I was in the Hotel Crillon, waiting for Brett. She was not there, so I sat down and wrote some letters. They were not very good letters but I hoped their being on Crillon stationery would help them. Brett did not turn up, so about quarter to six I went down to the bar and had a Jack Rose with George the barman.” ..from The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

For some, that might be their first exposure to the classic cocktail, the Jack Rose.
Mine was when I was a little too young to be reading Hemingway.
As I have mentioned, my family owned a bar when I was a wee Caite..and a teenage Caite..and a college graduate Caite. By that time it was more of a shot and beer place, but when I was young there were actual cocktails being served sometimes.

On a Saturday night, my mother would go there in the evening, a wee Caite in hand, Lawrence "Champagne Music" Welk on the TV, while my father, in a crispy white shirt and tie, was one of the bartenders.

My mother's drink was the Jack Rose and Caite had a Shirley Temple. "An extra cherry please!"

I think there is something so nice about a cocktail, a calm and sophisticated way to start the dining experience. And according to The Fine Art Of Mixing Drinks by David A. Embury, first published in 1948, that is the classic purpose of the cocktail a pre-dinner drink.

"Embury first outlines some basic principles for fashioning a quality cocktail:

It should be made from good-quality, high-proof liquors.

It should whet rather than dull the appetite. Thus, it should never be sweet or syrupy, or contain too much fruit juice, egg or cream.

It should be dry, with sufficient alcoholic flavor, yet smooth and pleasing to the palate.

It should be pleasing to the eye.

It should be well-iced.

Embury stresses frequently that the drink will never be any better than the quality of the cheapest ingredient in it, and hence he stresses constantly the need for the highest quality spirits, liqueurs, cordials, and modifiers (fresh squeezed lemons, etc.) He also repeatedly stresses that a cocktail, in the classic sense (a before-dinner drink) should have no more than the slightest touch of sweetness to it, and deplores the use of drinks like the Brandy Alexander as pre-prandial cocktails, as they dull rather than sharpen the appetite. He does not denigrate sweet drinks per se, pointing out that they are excellent after dinner or mid-afternoon drinks "in place of a half-pound of chocolate cookies", but they are anathema as a "cocktail" before a large meal.

Embury's six basic drinks are the Martini, the Manhattan, the Old Fashioned, the Daiquiri, the Sidecar, and the Jack Rose." ..from Wikipedia

There are a few theories as to where the Jack Rose got it's name. Some say it was named for the pink "Jacquemot" rose, others say for a Newark, NJ restaurateur. Or maybe just because it is made with Applejack and is rose colored.
I am pulling for the Newark connection.
Regardless, it was a hugely poplar drink in the 20's and 30's..and I am trying to stage a comeback.
Everywhere you go, order "a Jack Rose, bartender!"

Now, on to the ingredients.
They are simple.
Applejack. The liquor, not the kid's cereal.
Lemon or/Lime juice
Grenadine

Once again, here we have a New Jersey connection.
Applejack is made by Laird and Co., which was established in 1780 by Robert Laird in the tiny community of Scobeyville, NJ. It was America’s first commercial distillery, and still going strong. Applejack is traditionally made by distilling apple cider and as well as Applejack, Laird's also make several aged apple brandies. In the spirit of the finest ingredients, I would have used the better Apple brandy...they make a 100 proof, a 7 1/2 year and 12 year old aged Apple brandy...if I could have found a bottle locally.
But I could not.

So let's use the best quality with the other two ingredients.
Fresh fruit folks. Not stuff from a bottle or a plastic squeeze 'fruit'. Real fruit.
Some recipes use lime. Some recipes use lemon. What to do? Pick your favorite. Not the Laird website uses lemon, and they should know, right?
But the grenadine, that is another matter.

Many of you may have a bottle of grenadine in the frig. No doubt Rose's, by far the most common brand.
Throw it out! Go ahead!!
It is colored sugar water, nothing more. Corn sugar, water, red dye. No!! No, I say.
So we will make our own. Don't worry, it is simple.

Grenadine
One Part Pomegranate juice
One part super fine sugar.

Mix.
Now, some recipes boil the juice to reduce it my half, take it off the heat and add the sugar, stirring to melt. Or, just use superfine sugar, which will dissolve easily in liquid, and shake.
You can keep it in the freezer, or in the frig for a month. Or..as I did...add about an ounce of vodka and it will keep longer. And a little vodka never hurt.

If using for the kid's Shirley Temples, you might not want the vodka. Or maybe you do. Who am I to judge?
Use it over ice cream..or in whipped cream...or in tea.

So, what about that promised Jack Rose?
Again, easy.

Jack Rose
2 ounces Applejack (or apple brandy)
1/2 oz. Lemon juice
1/4-1/2 oz. Grenadine

Shake well with ice and strain into a cocktail glass or serve over ice.

And one more drink, from the Laird's website, since you now have that bottle of Applejack on hand. It is the fittingly named the Jersey Girl. Sort of the love child of a Jack Rose and a Cosmo...

Jersey Girl
1 1/2 oz. Laird’s Applejack
1 oz. Cointreau
1/2 oz. Fresh lime juice
2 dashes of cranberry juice

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

The classic Jack Rose

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Weekend Cooking- In Honor of the Sputnik

When considering what to write about this weekend, I was moved by current events in making my decision.

First of all, if you listened to the recent State of the Union speech, you may have notice several references to the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth some 50 years ago. Then, there is the fact that most of the USA has been dealing with some very severe winter weather these past weeks. Record snows, blizzard conditions, dangerous ice storms...what to do?

Well, I am here to offer a suggestion.
Oh, you could take the traditional route and make some warming soup or a nice stew. Maybe some hot chocolate. But let us look to a culture that is famed, throughout history, for dealing with some very, very severe winter weather...the Russians! Hey, remember that scene from Dr. Zhivago, with the house with everything coated in ice?
But, you may be asking yourself, didn't we talk about borscht last week? Yes, we did, so it will not be a borscht recipe. Besides, I haven't found those beets yet, so lets go in a slightly different direction.

We don't have any true, authentic Russian restaurants, at least none I know of, here in south Jersey. But there is a restaurant at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, just a short drive away from CaiteLand, that serves some excellent Russian inspired dishes, like beef stroganoff, and Chicken Kiev and caviar and blinis, a restaurant named the Red Square. And the Red Square...named after a Russian place...has a lovely drink made with that oh so Russian beverage... vodka...and named after that first Russian satellite...The Sputnik!

You will need just a few ingredients.

Smirnoff Raspberry Vodka
Triple Sec
Lime Juice
A single raspberry
Ice
A shaker

Put some ice in the shaker.
Add 3 parts Raspberry Vodka. Now the Bro and Sil have done a study, trying several different brands and say to get the correct flavor, you must use Smirnoff brand.
Add 2 parts Triple Sec
Add 1 part lime juice. Again, after some testing, the Bro uses Rose's Lime Juice, a common drink ingredient. And you may not always have a fresh lime on hand!
Put on the shaker top, give a few good shakes, and pour into a chilled martini glass. Add one raspberry (hint...the bro keeps them in the freezer, so you always have them on hand too)...
The floating raspberry, of course, represents the Sputnik!

If you enjoy a cocktail from time to time, this a really delicious one.
Now how much alcohol is in this drink depends on how large that "part" is, what you use to measure with. All I know is, after drinking one, I just want to grab a pillow and my blankie and lay on the couch for a short nap.

There are worse ways to spend a cold snowy Sunday afternoon....

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Weekend Cooking...A Nice [Not Too] Cold Beer

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal had an interesting article related to a subject near and dear to my heart...beer. Specifically, the article explores the idea that women, while not the largest consumers of beer, may have a distinct advantage as beer testers.

"...the British company SABMiller PLC decided several years ago to reach deeper into its employee pool to find adept tasters, inviting marketers, secretaries and others to try their hand. The company concluded that women were drinking men under the table.

"We have found that females often are more sensitive about the levels of flavor in beer," says Barry Axcell, SABMiller's chief brewer. Women trained as tasters outshine their male counterparts, he says...

Today, 30% of SABMiller's 1,000 advanced-level tasters are female, Mr. Axcell says. The number of women tasters has roughly quadrupled in 10 years."

One point that I did notice in this article is that it appears many of these companies employing women tasters are brewing what I might call American style beers..and I afraid I do not mean that as a compliment. Of course, most of the major sellers in the US market of these sort of beers and you usually have to go the micro-brewery route to find something more interesting. Miller, Coors, Bud are light lagers, to my taste, rather watery and flavorless. I totally refuse to even taste Budweiser after I toured one of their breweries and found out, as they proudly tell you, that they use rice in making their beer. Don't get me wrong. I love rice, but not in my beer! A sin...These sorts of beer tend to be light on the hops, which if you watch the video, the one woman claims is the flavor women typically dislike in beer.

Well, speak for yourself dear.

While I actually do not drink much beer {or anything for that matter} when I do, I want a good beer. My history with beer goes way back, or so I was told. When I was just a wee Caite, maybe 3 or 4, my father came home from work on day, poured himself a beer and sat down to read the newspaper. He reached for his full glass, only to find it almost empty. And wee Caite sitting on the floor, next to the empty glass. What can I say. Some kids like peanut butter, some kids like beer.
I like my beer dark and hoppy and full flavored. Maybe a fuller bodied ale, or even a stout or porter, made with roasted malt or barley. Tap or draft beer is almost always to be preferred over bottle or {{shutter}} cans, the exception being a place that just does not sell enough for the beer to be fresh. Beer is alive and it doesn't live forever once tapped.

And then there is the whole issue of temperature. In the US, it is usually the colder the better for most beer drinkers. Might I suggest that the typical, best selling beers in the US are made for people that do not really like the taste of beer. They want something that they can drink very cold..which kills any remaining flavor..and which is 'lite' enough that they can drink a great deal of it. Beer become, as I read somewhere, simply an alcohol delivery system. Quantity over quality. The fast food of beer.
For a more full flavored, aroma filled beer, you really want to go a bit warmer to really appreciate it. That would be above 50 degrees, all the way up to 60 for really dark, strong beers. No storing on ice, no chilled, icy glasses. You want icy cold, may I suggest a nice glass of water. Very refreshing. :-)

I am rather curious exactly where one goes to apply for these beer tasting jobs. Maybe I need a career change!

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