The Big Apple

in
The Big Apple.JPG

It's Monday, which means it's Manhattan night (it's a rule.) However, I'm at home tonight so I thought I'd try something a little different. I broke out the bottle of Arkansas Black Applejack I got at the Craft Spirits a couple of months back to make what I'm calling the Big Apple. This is a Manhattan-variation which swaps out the whiskey for applejack, but otherwise keeps the 2-1-2 proportions of the Manhattan. I went with Carpano Antica for the sweet vermouth, because I thought the cinnamon would go well in it, and I used the Napa Valley Apple Spice bitters. The result is pretty good, but not outstanding. It's a bit too apple (the applejack is a little hot at 98 proof) and could maybe use a more robust vermouth. I think I might try Punt e Mes next time and a different bitters, just to see how it goes. I'm going to enjoy this one right now though.

Recipe

The Manhattan recipe is just about as simple as simple can be.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Put everything in a mixing glass and add ice
  2. Stir for about 20 seconds or until chilled (Never, never shake a Manhattan. Never!)
  3. Sstrain into a chilled cocktail glass.
  4. Sip and listen to the sound of thunder in the background and wonder how you've suddenly been transported back to the East Coast.

Man About Town

in

I love the way the logo comes out on the glass with this one.

It's September in San Francisco, which means we're finally moving into the "warm" summer weather around here. It must have hit a high of just over 80 degrees today so this called for a drink built around a large ice cube. Plus, I had a new ice sphere press to play with (more on that in some later post), so I wanted something I could serve over the rocks -- a big, round, clear rock. In this case, the loveliness that is the Man About Town.

Called the Rum Negroni by some, the Man is a great bitter-sweet drink featuring the sweetness of rum pitted against the bitterness of the Campari. In this contest, the winner is your tastebuds. Not a drink for those who aren't a fan of the bitter-bomb that is Campari, this one is well-balanced with the vermouth adding a more subtle note of sweetness to the mix. I normally drink my Negroni and Negroni variations up (and garnish them with a cherry) but when they're on the rocks, they work well with an orange twist.

All and all, a worthy cause for the last of my Campari. I shan't see its like again until I finish my bottle of Gran Classico Bitter. 

Recipe

Negroni variations are so easy to do. For this one, I pumped up the rum to 1.5 oz to feature it a bit more. There are a number of different variations on the Negroni called the Man About Town, but that's what I first hear this rum variation called, so I'm sticking with it.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 oz. Gold Rum (Your choice; the rum selection will, of course, influence the taste of the final cocktail)
  • 1 oz Campari
  • 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth

Directions

  1. Combine everything in a mixing glass, add ice, and stir to chill.
  2. Strain into a cocktail coupe or a rocks glass with ice (or one, clear ice sphere)
  3. Garnish with a cherry or an orange twist (or both, if you're feeling special.)

Banana Boulevardier

in

It'd been a while since I had made something without citrus in it, so I turned to my bar book to find something interesting that didn't use any citrus (or other fruit.) I settled on the Banana Boulevardier, because it looked like a lovely variation on the Boulevardier and it gave me an excuse to crack open the bottle of Banane de Brèsil I picked up yesterday when Brad and I went to Cask. 

I put my own twist on it by swapping the Campari for Gran Classico Bitter and the result was a nice success. Good bitter taste on the sip, followed by the bourbon, with a real nice banana finish. Very nice balance and I'll be revisiting this one soon. It reminds me of my Tiki Thursday party without being an actual Tiki drink. It's a nice change of pace; I've been on a real Tiki tear recently.

I think using the Gran Classico Bitter in place of Campari is generally a good move. While it doesn't bring that same vivid red color, it also doesn't bring any red food coloring with it. And the flavor is more complex than the Campari while being as nicely bitter.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 oz. Bourbon
  • 1 oz Sweet Vermouth
  • 1/2 oz Gran Classico Bitter (or Campari)
  • 1/2 oz Giffard Banane de Brèsil

Directions

  1. Combine ingredients in a mixing glass.
  2. Add ice and stir to chill
  3. Strain into a cocktail coupe
  4. Express an orange peel over it and use the peel as a garnish.
  5. Enjoy!

My source for this one (as for many of my drinks) is the excellent Cocktail Virgin blog.