Ice + Clink + Drink

‘Tis the season for gifts and travel and I am benefiting from both. My friend Lizzie over at Corkscrews & Curls travels for work and oh so kindly brings me back bottled treasures.  Most recently it was a bottle of Bénédictine, another lovely liqueur originally created by monks (the monasteries must be party central; I’m convinced monks take a vow of silence because they would otherwise be slurring), and previously it was a small bottle of Becherovka from the Czech Republic.

Where Bénédictine is light and soft, Becherovka is a bitter liquor and has been more challenging to use in cocktails. But as luck would have it, the latest issue of Imbibe Magazine features a great seasonal drink using both, AND takes its name from A Christmas Story, my favorite holiday movie.  I’ll bet it was created for me but the mixologist is too shy to say so.

Careful, it's fra-jee-lay!

You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out*

2 oz aged rum

1/2 oz Becherovka

1/2 oz Bénédictine

1/4 oz cinnamon syrup

3 dashes orange bitters

Orange twist garnish (optional)

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Cinnamon Syrup

1 c sugar

1 c water

4-5 broken cinnamon sticks

Bring sugar and water to boil to make simple syrup. Reduce heat, add cinnamon and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain well once cooled. Bottle and refrigerate for a few weeks

This cocktail is flavorful and the not-in-your-face cinnamon accents are seasonally festive. The recipe suggests serving it up or in a rocks glass with a single large ice cube (I used my ice ball molds), and I prefer the latter.  Unlike some drinks that fall apart as the ice melts, this one changes in a pleasing way.  I’d even theorize that this would make an elegant small punch if displayed with a large ice block to slow melting. Both Bénédictine and Becherovka are also available at some local liquor stores.

Cheers, ICE 

*created by Mathias Simonis at Distil in Milwaukee, and included on page 42 of the Nov/Dec 2011 issue of Imbibe Magazine.

As always, check out my Glossary of Spirits page for alcohol and mixer definitions and details.

 

Other than color (blood red, orange, gruesome green), Halloween cocktails are often chosen by garnish and presentation – we have to dress up our drinks like we do ourselves for this holiday. This year I’m choosing to cloak my cocktails in flames:  Eerie blue flames that spark with a sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon, or turn orange with a bit of salt. I was not aware that I could channel Beavis & Butthead, but there they were, snickering “fire, fire, fire, heheh.”

My first flaming cocktail attempt was the The Goblet of Fire*, created for the Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows movie and appropriate for Halloween. I followed the instructions very carefully and found it quite simple, particularly since I learned how to layer drink ingredients (super duper easy) for last year’s Black + Orange drink. 

 The Goblet of Fire

 2 oz Ty Ku Liqueur

1 oz Kahlua liqueur

Barspoon of cream

1 oz Bacardi 151 rum

grated cinnamon

 

Directions:

• Shake Ty Ku and Kahlua in a shaker filled with ice.
• Strain into a cocktail glass.
• Float cream on top using a bar spoon.
• Float Bacardi 151 on top of cream.
• Light the rum with a match.
• As flame burns, sprinkle some cinnamon onto the flame.
• Clap hands over flame or blow to put it out.
• Give a stir and serve.

So much fun to make!  But not a favorite taste for me since I’m not keen on coffee (unlike everyone else in the Seattle area).  So I decided to try another recipe, using green chartreuse as the accelerant. This one was more to my taste.

Cradle of Life 

3/4 oz white rum

3/4 oz spiced rum

1/2 oz orgeat

1/3 oz (= 1T) fresh lemon juice

1/3 oz (= 1T) fresh lime juice

1/3 oz (= 1T) fresh orange juice

2 dashes of Angostura bitters

crushed ice

1 hollowed-out lime half, for garnish

1/2 ounce green chartreuse

 In a cocktail shaker, combine the rums, orgeat, citrus juices and bitters; shake well. Pour into a chilled double rocks glass. Add crushed ice and garnish with the lime cup (the site photo shows the lime cup inside out). Pour the chartreuse into the cup and ignite the chartreuse. Blow out the flame, then tip the chartreuse into the drink.

Really, though, any drink recipe can be made into the flaming variety, provided the accelerant liquor is compatible with the rest of the ingredients and the drink is served up (without ice). Floating a bit of Barcardi 151 on the top of a rum drink will little impact the taste (hmmm, this could be the perfect presentation for my Bloody Sunday drink!).  I did a lot of experimenting and here is what I learned:

1. Depending on the mouth opening of the glass, as little as a quarter ounce of high-proof liquor floated on top can produce nice flames; if the glass mouth is wide, you’ll need more for dispersal
2. I didn’t have any luck producing visible flames with less than 110 proof. Liquor can produce invisible flames and perhaps that was the case with the 100-proof vodka, but what’s the spectacle in that?
3. While ice in a drink does not prevent floating a liquor on top, but it does prevent flaming (I had to see if fire could burn around the ice cubes; wouldn’t that be cool?)
4. Better to keep the flames going just long enough to serve the drink, ooh and ahh quickly, maybe spark it with some cinnamon or nutmeg, and then blow it out. Otherwise the glassware gets too hot to drink.
5. Because I was sober and safe, my eyebrows and house remain intact. DrinkNation serves up some safety tips for working with flaming drinks. 

Drinks that appear to arise from the inferno – that’s Halloween!

Cheers, ICE

* The Goblet of Fire is courtesy of Cocktails.About.com and Cradle of Life is from FoodandWine.com and featured in their Food & Wine Cocktails 2011 book.

As always, check out my Glossary of Spirits page for alcohol and mixer definitions and details.

 

My cat is stressed. Or not. Or he is depressed. Or not. All I know is that I’m now giving Nacho Libre a low-dose antidepressant that the vet says should calm the “fight or flight” response making him pee around the garage and wake us up at night. Actually, I’m not really sure what the vet said because I was very busy thinking, “what the bleeeep?!” and executing some massive eye rolling. But even better was when the pharmacist, explaining that the med gel should be applied to Nacho’s ear, presented me with wee little “condoms” for my finger and started to show me how to put them on. No, they do not feature a reservoir tip.

I got Nacho neutered specifically to avoid this awkward conversation.

 I think what Nacho really needs is a kitty kocktail. Something to take the edge off after romping through the yard and arguing with sassy squirrels. But I don’t have any catnip or, frankly, much motivation to pamper the beast right now.  So, I made a new cocktail for myself by repurposing the yummy ginger-habañero syrup from last summer’s post. And I shall name it…P.O.’d. Because I am every time Nacho wakes me up.

 P.O.’d

Muddle basil in glass, add ice and mix remaining ingredients together. Do not share with your cat. 

The basil lends a nice cooling touch to the spicy syrup and makes me think of chilly evenings cooling down warm days as summer wanes.  Mmmm, much better than catnip!

Hey, paws off -- that’s Nacho liquor!

 Cheers, ICE

 

There are pros and cons to cocktails. One of the pros is how the alcohols and mixing agents combine to create new, fabulous tastes. But the con is that strong drink equals drunk. Now that my friends and I are getting just a wee bit older, getting sloshed isn’t usually a goal at a party.  Not that it can’t still be fun (get that girl a microphone!). 

 So, sometimes a pitcher drink with a wider ratio of non-intoxicating ingredients to alcohol can be the right prescription. Sip this DRY soda Rhubarb Mojito at your 4th of July BBQ and you’ll still be conscious for the fireworks (notice I said sip and not guzzle!).

Rhubarb Mojito* Pitcher (8 servings)

Muddle mint in a pitcher, add rum, simple syrup and lime juice. Refrigerate to chill. Just prior to serving add chilled Rhubarb DRY Soda and stir gently. Serve in ice-filled glasses.

DRY Sodas come in a variety of interesting flavors and are found at many grocery stores, including Amazon Fresh. While using the DRY soda is a convenient option for easy entertaining, a mojito would also be fabulous using the rhubarb syrup I posted last year.  Try this: 

Rhubarb Mojito, Take Two

 Cheers, ICE

 *Created by Matthew Walker & Devlin McGill for Bellevue, Washington’s 0/8 Seafood Grill. Original recipe can be found on the DRY Soda site.