Booze Report!
Oct. 1st, 2009 03:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehefnerUsing this recipe, Henchgirl and I are gonna attempt to make falernum. Yeah, I'd never heard of it either, until I read the ingredients of the wonderful grog they serve at Piratz Tavern in Silver Spring.
My goal is to make my own grog come the epic party this Saturday (you remember the epic party I'm throwing this Saturday evening, right?) based on theirs. They listed it as being no more than "light rum, gold rum, dark rum, falernum, and triple sec," so essentially rum, rum, rum, rum-derived syrup, and orange liqueur. Problem is, I don't know what measurements to give for each liquor, and there are real recipes for grog online. At least, none that sound like the Piratz Tavern's version. Does anyone have insight into grog-making?
My rum options are Bacardi white, Bacardi 151 (the recipe for falernum recommends an overproof rum), Gosling's Gold, Gosling's Black Seal*, Captain Morgan, Pusser's, Tortuga, and a li'l bit of Captain Morgan Private Stock. What would work best? If I nail that part, I can upgrade the Triple Sec to Cointreau or Grand Marnier, as it should be.
Also, my cocktail mixer app on the iPhone tells me that there's a way to make absinthe at home from vodka soaked in herbs, including the essential grande wormwood (artemisia absenthium). We're strongly considering giving that one a try too, assuming we can even find wormwood. I wonder if this will lead to me attempting to pull a![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tompurdue and try to make my own wine.
I go through booze phases. First, it was girly drinks. Then it was mixed drinks in general. Then it was making mixed drinks of my own, at which point I was blowing tons of money stocking my liquor cabinet with stuff purely because one cocktail recipe called for, like, a splash of Jagermeister and butterscotch schnapps. Then I became a fan of drinking beer with liquor to play off the flavors: Corona may be pisswater, but drink it paired with a fine Añejo tequila (and ideally with a great Mexican meal like my brother's chiles rellenos and zucchini quesadilla) is divine. Then it was beer. Then it was whiskey. Then it was scotch. Then it was absinthe.
Man, I do still love a good absinthe, hard though it is to find, and expensive too. I have no doubts that anything I might actually make will be a magnificent disaster, but hey, when's that ever stopped me?
My next obsession is shaping up to be all about bitters. I've fallen in love with using orange bitters in Blue Moon instead of a slice of orange, and am increasingly fascinating by the possibility of using Angostura bitters in more than Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. And there are so many other kinds of bitters out there! Almond bitters! Mint bitters! Lemon bitters! Just imagine the applications for aromatic flavorfulness!
Well, I suppose I shall simply have to experiment, won't I? How lucky am I, then, that I'll have guinea pigs at the party this Saturday? In the words offiveseconddelay, "Here, drink this! It's terrible!"
*Ever had a proper Dark and Stormy? Ginger beer and Black Seal? YUM.
My goal is to make my own grog come the epic party this Saturday (you remember the epic party I'm throwing this Saturday evening, right?) based on theirs. They listed it as being no more than "light rum, gold rum, dark rum, falernum, and triple sec," so essentially rum, rum, rum, rum-derived syrup, and orange liqueur. Problem is, I don't know what measurements to give for each liquor, and there are real recipes for grog online. At least, none that sound like the Piratz Tavern's version. Does anyone have insight into grog-making?
My rum options are Bacardi white, Bacardi 151 (the recipe for falernum recommends an overproof rum), Gosling's Gold, Gosling's Black Seal*, Captain Morgan, Pusser's, Tortuga, and a li'l bit of Captain Morgan Private Stock. What would work best? If I nail that part, I can upgrade the Triple Sec to Cointreau or Grand Marnier, as it should be.
Also, my cocktail mixer app on the iPhone tells me that there's a way to make absinthe at home from vodka soaked in herbs, including the essential grande wormwood (artemisia absenthium). We're strongly considering giving that one a try too, assuming we can even find wormwood. I wonder if this will lead to me attempting to pull a
tompurdue and try to make my own wine. I go through booze phases. First, it was girly drinks. Then it was mixed drinks in general. Then it was making mixed drinks of my own, at which point I was blowing tons of money stocking my liquor cabinet with stuff purely because one cocktail recipe called for, like, a splash of Jagermeister and butterscotch schnapps. Then I became a fan of drinking beer with liquor to play off the flavors: Corona may be pisswater, but drink it paired with a fine Añejo tequila (and ideally with a great Mexican meal like my brother's chiles rellenos and zucchini quesadilla) is divine. Then it was beer. Then it was whiskey. Then it was scotch. Then it was absinthe.
Man, I do still love a good absinthe, hard though it is to find, and expensive too. I have no doubts that anything I might actually make will be a magnificent disaster, but hey, when's that ever stopped me?
My next obsession is shaping up to be all about bitters. I've fallen in love with using orange bitters in Blue Moon instead of a slice of orange, and am increasingly fascinating by the possibility of using Angostura bitters in more than Manhattans and Old Fashioneds. And there are so many other kinds of bitters out there! Almond bitters! Mint bitters! Lemon bitters! Just imagine the applications for aromatic flavorfulness!
Well, I suppose I shall simply have to experiment, won't I? How lucky am I, then, that I'll have guinea pigs at the party this Saturday? In the words of
fiveseconddelay, "Here, drink this! It's terrible!"*Ever had a proper Dark and Stormy? Ginger beer and Black Seal? YUM.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 04:45 pm (UTC)No one makes the six classic cocktails anymore (save the martini), it's kinda sad.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 09:17 pm (UTC)And that IS super sad! Let me tell you, there is NOTHING like a good Manhattan! Problem is it's so damn hard to make just right! I'm also gonna try to bring back the lost art of adding orange bitters to martinis.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-02 05:08 am (UTC)And Apple Jack is a liqueur made by super-freezing apple cider. Originally it was made by leaving apple cider outside in a barrel all winter, I believe.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-02 09:05 am (UTC)Mmmm! I wonder if I could use that to try and recreate this wonderful apple-and-vodka drink I had in Montreal that tasted like a classy version of a cinnamon apple pop tart!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-02 04:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-02 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-02 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 06:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 08:04 pm (UTC)http://cgi.ebay.com/Certified-Organic-Wormwood-Absinthe-Herb-Herbal-1-oz_W0QQitemZ260474900943QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca58391cf&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 09:08 pm (UTC)Since you got me thinking of making my own I looked up this on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ABSINTHE-Liquid-Essence-Extract-Kit-5-Minute-Kit_W0QQitemZ330345317490QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4cea1d8472&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14
I just purchased one of these kits a few minutes ago. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out when I get it in.
And watch out for that green fairy. She'll hit you hard and fast if you aren't careful. Oh and take a look at my facebook pictures. I obviously enjoy the old Absinthe posters a but to much as is obvious by my living room.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 09:30 pm (UTC)Oh yes, do let me know how the kit turns out for you!
And yes indeed, she does pack a loving wallop, does she not? Absinthe drunk is my very favorite kind of drunk.
no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-01 11:49 pm (UTC)