Sweet Vermouth II

Sweet Vermouth

Simmer, for 15 minutes, 1 cup dry white wine (from one bottle) with:

1 1/2 teaspoon granulated orange peel

1 teaspoon dried chamomile

8 cardamom pods

1 star anise

1 teaspoon dried lavender

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 teaspoon wormwood leaf

1 teaspoon galangal

1/2 teaspoon angelica

5 cloves

1/2 teaspoon coriander seed

 

Strain and add:

remaining wine from bottle

1/2 cup brandy

1/2 cup sweet wine (or 3 TBSP ruby port, 1 TBSP brandy, and 4 TBSP water)

 

Set aside.  Meanwhile, caramelize 1/2 cup sugar until deep caramel brown.  When sugar has cooled slightly, at 1/4 cup boiling water and stir over low to medium heat to dissolve caramel.  Combine caramel with wine mixture.  Chill.

Earl Grey Cooler

Made a pot of earl grey to experiment with. 

Shake over ice briefly, and strain into an ice filled Collins glass:
5 oz. cold earl grey tea
1.5 oz. Plymouth gin
1.5 oz. St. Germain
.5 oz.lime juice

Habanero Bitters for Vino Poblano

I mentioned that the Vino Poblano needed some spice.  I tried mixing one with sriracha, but it didn't really work.  So, taking a clue from Cocktail Hacker's coronal bitters, I made a batch of habanero bitters.  They are still steeping, but I'm excited to give them a try.  Recipe below.

Combine in a jar and let sit for 10 days:
1 lime, cut into eighths
5 habaneros, cut into quarters
1 Tbsp molasses
9 allspice berries, crushed
1/4 tsp. cinchona
3/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp 100-proof vodka (I used Smirnoff)
2 Tbsp plata tequila (I used Milagro)

Columbus

My brother brought back a bottle of Cruzan 9 spiced rum from his recent trip to St. Croix.  Used it to make some solid Painkillers and pseudo-Dark and Stormies, but I've been looking to try something that doesn't mask it quite as much.  Let's give this a shot.

Columbus
1.5 oz. Cruzan 9
1/2 oz. Curacao
1/2 oz. Bitter Truth Allspice Dram
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup

Shake and strain all ingredients.

Update (June 8, 2012):  Might be worth trying this with unspiced rum to really let the allspice shine.

More with shrub

I've been struggling with the purpose (and use) of my apricot thyme shrub.  Like pickling and other methods of preserving, it seems like a great way to use fruit when you have home-grown abundance, but is questionably writer when using store-bought produce.  Here is one recipe that might make me think otherwise.  As a background element, shrub adds brightness without citrusy acidity.

Your mother was a hamster
2 oz gin (I used Botanist)
.25 oz st germain
.25 oz apricot thyme shrub

Stir all ingredients over ice and strain.

Pantry Old Fashioned

There's a scene in So I Married an Axe-Murderer where Rose, the axe-murderer, asks Charlie, "What would you say to silver dollar pancakes, fresh squeezed orange juice, bacon, and Kona coffee?"  After Charlie accepts, the camera cuts to him eating cold cereal and Rose says "Sorry, I didn't have those other things."  That's how I felt when I went to make a old fashioned and had no oranges or cherries.  Even the grapefruit I had was moldy when I cut into it.  Turns out Cointreau and Heering aren't the worst substitutes. 

Pantry Old Fashioned
2 oz. bourbon
1 tsp. Cointreau
1 tsp. Cherry Heering
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes Orange bitters

Stir all ingredients over ice in an old fashioned glass.

Damiana Sour

Something of a shame that I only made this with most of the bottle done.  Its pretty delicious.

Damiana Sour 1.5 oz. gin
1.5 oz. Damiana
3/4 oz. lemon-lime juice
3/4 oz. water
1 tsp. simple syrup

Shake all ingredients over ice and strain.