not so simple

americandrink:

Pour sugar into pot.

Add water.

Turn heat on low.

Stir.

Think to myself, “I don’t need to set a timer. This will be done before I can get distracted.”

Walk away.

…

Smell something burning.

Sprint to kitchen.

Turn off heat.

Dump cold water into pot.

…

Throw burnt pot into trash.

…

Every.

Time.

Find full water bottle.

Empty half of it.

Pour an equal amount of sugar in via funnel.

Put cap back on.

Shake.

Use.

I still don’t get why people feel like they need to heat up simple syrup. It makes the process so-

Complicated.

Why didn't they do this a year ago? →

Using science to find the difference between shaken and stirred →

Gizmodo once again proves that, for the same result, you have to stir longer.

FIVE PAIRING PRINCIPLES

The Return of the Amaretto Sour

I love Amaretto, and Amaretto Sours. I feel both get unfairly ragged on though. Happy to see some respect given.

Here’s Jeffery Morganthaler’s recipe, which tones down the sweetness in the drink, which can admittedly be a problem.

Amaretto Sour

1½ oz amaretto (I love the Lazzaroni amaretto, but DiSaronno works well here, too)
¾ oz cask-proof bourbon (I use Booker’s, from the Jim Beam distillery)
1 oz lemon juice
1 tsp. 2:1 simple syrup
½ oz egg white, beaten

Dry shake ingredients to combine, then shake well with cracked ice. Strain over fresh ice in an old fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon peel and brandied cherries, if desired. Serve and grin like an idiot as your friends freak out.

(Source: jeffreymorgenthaler.com)

Recipes for Fall Cocktails from Bourbon & Branch →

Cocktails by Consensus: Pegu Club Cocktail →

(Source: cocktailgarnish)

The Scaffa

Scaffas are an old style of drink made by mixing spirits with liqueurs without ice. I’d venture to guess that as ice became easier to get, these drinks became less common. The B&B is the only real modern example of this style that I can think of.

It’s really mind-bending to drink a gin drink at room temperature, but halfway through the drink you start to warm up to it. Rich flavors like the fire of a good brandy and textures like Benedictine’s syrupy smoothness aren’t washed away in process of dilution, so you really get a unique drink.

Here’s two basic, basic Scaffas to get you started. (both via Cocktail DB)

Brandy Scaffa

1 1/2 oz Brandy
1/2 oz Maraschino
1 dash Angostura

Gin Scaffa

1 1/2 oz Gin
3/4 oz Benedictine
2 Dashes Angostura

Coctail Virgin Slut has a reasonable collection of Scaffas also worth checking out.

Beertails that could be good, but dont quote me on that. →

The Mizuwari

1 to 1.5 fl. oz. whisky (if not Japanese whisky, then scotch)

Two to three times as much sparkling water as whisky

• Add ice to a highball glass. Stir with a barspoon to chill the glass, then discard any melted water from the glass. 
• Add whisky to the glass. Stir thirteen and one-half times clockwise. 
• Add the sparkling water and stir three and one-half times clockwise. 
• Enjoy. 

I love Japanese cocktails.

(Source: finecooking.com)

"But the allure of producing brown liquor is a strong one, so for the last few years entrepreneurial types have been looking for ways around the time conundrum. Some have used “tea bags” of wood chips to increase the surface area of wood in contact with the liquid. Others use barrels with honeycomb patterns cut along their insides, to increase the surface area."

Wow. One of the best articles I’ve read on aging spirits. In no way dry and hardly any talk of tasting notes…

(Source: The Atlantic)

Beta Cocktails

Real talk, this is the one cocktail book you should buy this year.

Formally known as Rouge Cocktails, this book first showed up a couple years ago with a very limited run. The philosophy behind the original was that there is a large minority of people that know that you stir a Manhattan, and there’s no point in endlessly re-hashing the fundamentals. 

“Our idea,” said Pazuniak, “was to write a book for a bartender that works at a well-stocked bar.” The recipes challenge bartenders to reconsider spirits and ingredients they already have on hand.

This was mildly influential and you began to see drinks from Rouge like the Angostura Sour or the Gun-shop Fizz show up on cocktail menus and RSS feeds.

Sadly, Rogue disappeared soon after it was first published/before I found out about it, and there’s been a long gestation period for the new version.

This is a very long way of saying this book is worth it. Get it now.

Also check out their site, Beta Cocktails.