[Smashy the Hammer] [An Aspiring Luddite]
I carry no phone
An aspiring Luddite
In a wired world.
 Mastodon Verification Link 		[Jeff Berry]
Jeff Berry is an early adopter of the Internet and the Web, a late adopter of Twitter, and declines to adopt Facebook. With the death of Google+, he migrated to the Fediverse. He admins a medievalist Mastodon instance. He hates cell-phones.

Cocktails Chez Moi
16 June 2011

Chez moi, or rather chez nous, where cocktails are concerned, there are a few wells (heh) to which we return regularly. And, every now and then, I experiment with something new just for the heck of it. This week, I'll be sharing three of the old stand-bys and one newcomer with which I am rather pleased.

When it comes to cocktails, I'm a ratio man: rather than absolute amounts, I prefer ratios. Math is good.

Tea for One
[Tea cocktail] Let it never be said that I will not steal a good idea when I see it. When I read about the "Hayman's Tea Cocktail" served at 67 Orange Street in NYC, I thought to myself, "doesn't that sound nice. I'll bet I can make it for a lot less than $13 a pop." Here's my variation ... First, you must prepare the gin ahead of time. Put a few tablespoons of tea in a jar and add a cup or so of gin. Let it steep for twenty-four hours. I let it go overnight on the counter, then moved it the freezer. Strain. It was a lovely tan colour at this point. Both the gin and the tea are matters of personal preference. 67 Orange Street, I'm told, uses Old Tom gin and Earl Grey tea. I used Bombay gin and a more straightforward blend from my tea-monger.

Mix the liquids in your shaker with plenty of ice. Shake well. I usually shake 128 times, because I'm a computer geek (Aspiring, remember) and 64 isn't enough, but 256 seems excessive. Pour and garnish with mint.

The lemon, juniper and tea notes are up-front but not aggressively so. The honey liqueur mutes the impact a bit, and the overall result is, if I say so myself, damn good. Be warned, it might also sneak up on you, since the tea and honey tend to disguise the alcohol taste.

Whiskey Sour
[WhiskeySour] A simple and classic cocktail. The important thing, in my opinion, is to use Rye. If you don't have Rye, you could use other whiskey if you have to, but the flavor and slight sweetness of the Rye elevate the result. Once again, put it all in a shaker with ice and shake well. Although you can pour this out ice and all, I find that if you've given it 128 shakes, the ice is pretty well pulverized and whatever small bits are left will pour out whether you want them to or not. Garnish with sour cherries. Maraschino cherries are acceptable.

For Rye, I favor the Rittenhouse 100 for this cocktail. It's cheap, strong, and perfectly suited for the task at hand.

Rob Roy
Another classic. Don't neglect the bitters! [Rob Roy] The exact ratio is a matter of taste. I like mine closer to three parts whiskey than to two. In a shaker with ice, give a less aggressive shake than the first two cocktails, perhaps a mere 64 times. Strain, garnish with sour or maraschino cherries.

The bitters and vermouth give this cocktail a lovely, slightly unctuous mouthfeel. Any fairly cheap blended Scotch will do - Single Malt would be a waste. I tend to favor the White Horse, since it's based off one of favorite Single Malts.

Negroni
Simple, elegant, potent ... [Negroni] Into the shaker with ice. A fairly modest shaking of 48 or 64 times, then strained into a glass. Garnish with a twist of orange peel, if you've got it.

Heavier than the other cocktails, except perhaps the Rob Roy, this is still a fine way to relax after a long day. It packs even more of a kick than the Tea-for-One, so be wary ...

[Sausage] Sausage update from two weeks ago: The garlic and whey sausage is pretty much ready to go. I tasted a bit this morning, from one of the thinner portions. I am declaring it a success. The flavor has a nice sharpness to it, as I had hoped. I'll have to make more ...
© 2011 Jeff Berry
The Aspiring Luddite