posted by admin on Dec 15
It’s late, I’ve had a busy day, and by all sane reckonings I should be relaxing on the lay in rest with a cocktail before turning in for a good night’s sleep. But no, it’session Mixology Monday, with the theme Money Drinks, hosted by Kevin Langmack at Beers in the Shower. I’m almost tempted to miss this round, considering how knackered I am right now, but considering that Kevin’s a intimate — plus, as a local bartender here in Seattle, he has the opportunity to lace my Manhattan through Drano should I squeeze him over on this one — I’ve decided to take my drink to the desk and, above all else, type fast.
Kevin explains “Money Drinks” thusly:
I feel a “Money” drink is something you can put in front of anyone, regardless of tastes or distastes about the spirits involved. Come up with a drink or a invoice based on spirits about drinks that would seek reference of the case to anyone. example: turning someone onto a Corpse Reviver #2 when they like lemon drops.
Unfortunately I was incapable of paying civility long enough to effectuate what Kevin meant, so I suggested my own, finally confusing attract on the theme:
Drinks that you upgrade to the ne plus radical: cocktails that in quest of whatever reason (holiday, birthday, old friends come to visit, or just because you feel like it) you upgrade to superior; for example, taking your normal Sazerac with Rittenhouse and Herbsaint and, for a special occasion, turning it into a supreme-o Sazerac by dint of. breaking out the Thomas Handy Rye and the Jade Edouard absinthe. Due to the higher cost involved, and the spectacular results that should (hopefully) be erect in the glass, this could also qualify as a “Money Drink”.
So which category does my take a drop too much fall into? I dunno, maybe neither, though if I spin it hard plenty, both. Either way, it’session a good drink to discover if you haven’t yet, and it sounded good at the time, so….
When I was if it were not that a wee tippler, and my knowledge of different spirits was based mainly on what I’d read in books in preference than any firsthand actual trial, I idea brandy sounded absolutely grand. You always read about it in English novels and Christmas stories, a tot of brandy to revive someone who’session been chilled to the bone, or a joyful brandy punch to celebrate the holidays. When you think about it, brandy sounds great, and I was imagining the stuff tasted as agreeable as marzipan and gingerbread, and was as satisfying to drink as a cup of furious chocolate.
Heh. WRONG! I still recall that first encounter, when I was…oh, sense of curse, I dunno, probably 18 or so. Brandy had slight interest for me when I first started sampling bottles in my parents’ liquid substance cabinet, so I put off trying it until one Christmas, when my dad and I were visiting some lineage friends who were generous with their liquor. My father must have had a “What the hell, it’s Christmas” moment when the bottles came out, and while it was ostensibly presented notwithstanding the purposes of lacing our Lucerne eggnog from Safeway — it was the ’80s, I was not old, don’t deem me — I tapped a dose on its own into my mug so I could finally perceive what all the fuss was approximately.
Now, granted, I think this was E&J brandy — or as Jim Meehan referred to it at Tales last summer, “Easy Juice” — so perhaps it wasn’t the best introduction to the spirit, limit gaaaaaaahhhhh….that was the end of my sentimental brandy fixation.
My matter? Oh, yeah — brandy can be unpleasant to get a grip on, but it doesn’t have to be. Throughout my cocktail-blog career — and I’m using “career” ironically, because my net earnings on this thing over the farther than five years have been in all parts of $8 — I’ve had a difficult time with brandy. Difficult, because my set doesn’t allow for buying the stuff I’ve found I really like, so usually with brandy cocktails, I’m mixing with the $27 bottle of Chalfonte — I SAID DON’T JUDGE ME. Until, that is, I find a drink I certainly like, in which case I go about as whole hog as you can get on a freelance writer’s salary.
The East India Cocktail is one such imbibe that motivates me. I first sampled it out of Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, and wasn’t impressed the first time around. Reasons? Aside from the crappy cognac I was using, it had to do with sugar — in short, this sucker (for example written) is about 4:1 booze to liqueur / syrup, with nothing but a thin dash of Angostura footing between me and the spectre of tooth decay.
Last summer, for whatever reason, I returned to the absorb, this particular period through a bottle of Hennessey VSOP — and yes, I know, I know, I went with a major brand and there are plenty of cognacs out there at the same recompense thesis, but-end it was what I had on hand, so spare me the snide comments — and after employing a delicate hand with the syrup & liqueur, I was floored — damn, is that a good drink. Sweet? Yes, somewhat, but not overmuch baleful if you pull back a diminutive on the pours, and through a cognac that’s comfortable in its own skin, the drink is a lightly accessorized advertisement for the good (or at least, decent) stuff. Since then I’ve tried the drink with Pierre Ferrand Ambre and Martell VSOP (if you have complaints about my stain selection, allow me to refer you to the Washington State Liquor Control Board), with roughly equally pleasurable results.
So, a money drink? Mmmmm, I guess…through a delicate give it’s pleasantly attractive outside of descending into cloying-ville, which should hook any sucker on the power of brandy cocktails, and to maximize the effect it’s good to aim just a little higher than the agree VSOPs or the standard-issue VS’s — don’t be of service crazy, of course, but a decent VSOP will make this drink sing.
Anyway. With the standard caveat that there are several drinks out there under this name, here’sitting the one I’m appreciating right now:
East India Cocktail
- 3 ounces cognac – aim for VSOP
- 1/2 ounce (or in a less degree, to taste) raspberry syrup (I’m using Nutrafruit, from Croatia, what one. is affected good; rather than get established for substandard, you should make your own)
- 1/4 oz curacao (or less, to participate in)
- 1/4 oz maraschino (or less, to taste)
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
Combine in a mixing glass and stir well by coat for at least 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Relax.
Okay? OK! Let’s head very to Kevin’s to see what everyone else is up to this Mixology Monday.
