A Season Ends: Another Begins

Election night 2008: I was scared and exhilarated and glued to the television set. . . and sick.

No, I mean actually, literally sick.  Sore throat, sinus pressure, runny nose.

I wanted to have boatloads of high-end champagne at the ready, because my instincts told me there would be something to celebrate by the end of the night. But I was sick.  I wanted to be at a party somewhere, or at one of my favorite neighborhood haunts with a contingent of like-minded friends to share the tension and mark the momentousness of the night.  But I was sick.  At the very least, I wanted to be watching the results in a clean and tidy room, free of that nagging pile of laundry to be folded.  But I was sick and feeling pretty feeble.    So, when CNN called it, instead of banging pots and pans on the front porch or hitting the streets to celebrate, I shed a few sniffly tears of relief and gratitude and Husband and I toasted our new President-elect, with a couple of these.  

Hot Buttered Rum

• 1 – 2 oz. Puerto Rican Dark Rum (depending on mug size)
  
• 1 – 2 T Honey
  
• 4 whole cloves
  
• Boiling water
  
• 1 pat (about half an ounce) of unsalted butter
  

Pour rum into your favorite mug, the one that fits your hands most comfortably and gives you that cozy feeling whenever you use it. Drop in cloves. Fill mug with boiling water as you would for tea. Stir in honey. Check for taste. When you are satisfied the proportions are right. Float the pat of butter on top and watch it melt across the surface of the rum. Sip and enjoy!

Friday Happy Hour - Hurricane Chuck

Hurricanes.

The season has officially started and we've been hearing a lot about them. Some of us have unfortunately been experiencing them. Hello Louisiana, Galveston, Cuba, Haiti - my heart goes out to the victims in the paths of Gustav and Hanna and Ike. Being on the West Coast of the US and therefore completely jaded about earthquakes, hurricanes tend to scare the bejeezus out of me. I'm sure the opposite would be true were I a native of the Gulf Coast.

Now, I thought I hated Hurricane cocktails, too. But this recipe? This is truly tasty. I can't claim credit for this one, I'm afraid. This fantabulous recipe comes from Mr. Chuck Taggart, a California-transplanted New Orleanean who keeps the faith on his Gumbo Pages. So, since I have set aside Fridays for recommending cocktail recipes, allow me to present for your imbibing pleasure, the best dang Hurricane recipe ever.

Chuck Taggart's N'Awlins Hurricane Cocktail

• 1.5 ounces light rum*
• 1.5 ounces dark rum
• 1 ounce orange juice
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice (NOT Rose's or RealLime)
• 1/4 cup passion fruit juice, or 1 tablespoon passion fruit syrup
• 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
• 1 teaspoon grenadine
• Cherries with stems*, and orange slice to garnish
• Ice cubes

In a cocktail shaker, mix the rum, passion fruit juice or syrup, the other juices and the sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add the grenadine, and stir to combine, then add ice and shake. Half-fill a hurricane glass with ice, then strain drink into glass; add ice to fill. Garnish with orange slice and cherries.

Chuck? You're welcome to come sip Hurricanes on my front porch anytime.

* Maven modifications: My personal preference is to use all dark rum and eliminate the cherry garnish. Maraschinos just give me the heebie-jeebies. -- Cocktail Maven

Top Tequilas and Tequilas That Tanked

My politically adversarial but no less dear friend (and Tales of the Heliosphere blogger), "tdr" hosted a tequila-tasting-slash-Mexican-food-gorge-fest at his home last Friday night. I brought the Sangrita.

As I promised in last Friday's blog, here is a rundown of the tequilas we tasted (in the order we tasted them), my totally subjective rating and my notes and comments about the level to which my palate was impressed. With one exception, we limited ourselves to anjeos for the purposes of this tasting, that is, tequilas that were aged for one year.  Tasting was blind with the names revealed only after all 14 tequilas had been tasted.  The ones I have no intention of ever drinking again after this experience were given a flat-out zero.

Tequila	Comments	Score
Dos Lunas	tdr started with the favorite from a previous tasting I did not attend, and I'm glad he did.  This was terrific, and the one to beat for everything that followed.  Sssssmooth with a beautiful smoky color, a scent of honey and a tobacco aftertaste.	10
Patron	This was the pale color of ginger ale and was much more acrid.  Tasted like Novocain and smelled like petroleum products.  Nasty.	0
Jose Cuervo 1800 Reposado	Slightly pink, sweet and strong, this reminded me of an expensive French lipstick -- which is not necessarily a bad thing!  Pleased all senses respectably.	5
Corazon	Ginger ale color, sweet and slightly floral smelling. This had a unique buttery flavor and feel to it that I didn't get from any of the others.	7
El Tesoro	Wow.  I was excited about this one after the first whiff.  It smells really amazing, but Lordy, Lordy, once I tasted?  Blech.  It leaves your mouth tasting the way I imagine glue huffing would.	1
Gran Centenaro	Nice, nice nice!  Good color, great esthers, lingers on the palate like a fine cognac with a hint of orange peel in the aftertaste.  I literally had to taste the first one again after this, to make sure I still liked it better.  I did.  Hence the score of 9 here instead of 10.	9
Herradura	Very vanilla in the nose and on the palate, but a little too much burn to make it enjoyable.  I think this would be an exceptional mixer to complement sweeter tequila-based cocktails.	6
Los Azulejos	This one reminded me of a really horrid pear brandy I once tried.  All alcohol burn and no flavor.	0
Camilo	Slightly pinkish color, tasty.  Not too much burn. Very respectable overall.	6
Jose Cuervo	This was much too sweet and tasted cheap.  The moment I tried sniffing it, my nostrils literally rebelled and tried to close up at the scent.  Felt like I was drinking cheap perfume.	0
Abandonado	This one was very nice.  It was sweeter than my favorite, but equally nice in the mouth.  Loses points for an unimpressive nose.	7.5
Cabo Wabo	Utterly boring.  Good color but not much flavor.  Use this for mixing if you want a Margarita but really don’t like the taste of tequila.	4
Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia	Really good!  This one genuinely surprised me.  The color was nice, but the standout feature was an earthy flavor I didn’t taste in any of the other offerings.	8
Clase Azul	Terrific flavors of coffee and honey with a pleasing mellow burn.  The esters are a tad too strong, causing your eyes to water, ultimately too strong to beat out my fave.	9

Tequila Sippin'

There are a slew of amazing, high-quality tequilas out there these days that have completely transformed my view of agave-based liquor. Today's higher-end tequilas have legs that go on for miles, like the finest cognacs or old-vine Zinfandels. They feel buttery in your mouth, and in the esters you get hints of vanilla or honey. They are transcendent. In the past two years, I have gone from someone who completely reviled Tequila as one step below Thunderbolt and bathtub gin and one step above moonshine, to someone for whom Tequila-sipping is a new favorite pastime. The key is to find a tequila worth sipping. When you do, you'd be doing yourself a favor to sip it from a brandy snifter. More on tequilas worth sipping next week.

Today's weekend elixir is actually NOT a cocktail, but an accompaniment. I got this recipe off of he manager of an exceptional "Mexico City style Mexican" restaurant in downtown San Diego, Candelas. They have a terrific selection of tequilas, they make a mean mole, and their food is really fresh and scrumptious.

I recommend starting with your own very basic homemade Bloody Mary mixture of tomato Juice, Worcestershire sauce, celery seed, salt, fresh pepper and tabasco, all according to your taste. I do NOT recommend adding Old Bay or beef boullion for the purposes of this recipe. The goal is to end up with something a bit lighter, fresher and fruitier than bloody mary mix.

Sangrita (2 servings)

Approx 8 - 12 oz of bloody mary mix (homemade or store bought)
Juice of 1 1/2 limes
Splash of orange juice
Pinch of kosher salt
Pinch of fresh cracked black pepper

Tabasco (to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well. Divide pour between two double glasses and enjoy alongside your favorite tequila.

Sangrita is not only the perfect chaser for tequila but it is also great for cleansing the palate between tequilas when conducting your own at-home tequila tasting (as long as you don't make it too spicy!). Amounts are approximate, based on watching and asking questions as he made it. This makes two servings.

Now I'm off to whip up a pitcher-full for . . . you guessed it . . . a tequila tasting!

I'll report back next Friday with the results.

The Chip Shot

Last week, I drowned my bogus Bigfoot sorrows in Georgia Bigfoot Cocktails. Well, one, actually. They’re pretty strong. This week’s cocktail recipe highlights yet another of my small obsessions. Coffee. I simply adore a good cup of coffee. My favorite purveyor? Caffe Calabria. You can literally walk in there and have a cup of coffee made with beans that were just roasted that morning. They also supply a number of restaurants, but I won’t ask them which. It’s a little game I play; a test for my palate. I’ll have a cup of coffee somewhere and just KNOW if it’s Calabria coffee. I’m proud to say I haven’t been wrong yet.

I first discovered today’s drink at a hip-crazy-cool, billiards-themed nightclub, now long defunct. The place was huge. One half was taken up with at least half a dozen beautiful pool tables with purple or gold or red felt, no boring green. The walls were also painted a warm gold and displayed elaborately framed reproductions of paintings by Van Gogh and other expressionists.

The other end of the club was darker with a stage for live music, a dance floor and tall bar tables. Separating the two and kind of forming an island in the middle was a beautiful curved and immaculate bar. One night, while waiting for a friend, the smiling, friendly bartender made me one of these.

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce:

The Chip Shot

1 oz Tuaca
1 oz Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 oz (or so) Hot Coffee

Serve in a brandy snifter and float a whole coffee bean on top for garnish.

TIP: If you order this out, do not let them try to put it in a double glass or one of those glass Irish Coffee cups. INSIST on the brandy snifter. Catching those esters is half the joy of a Chip Shot.

Cheers!

Oh, and incidentally - the slick billiards club? It’s an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet now.

Yep.

You Saw It Here First: Georgia Bigfoot Cocktail

So, in honor of today’s inconclusive press conference around the suspected bogus Georgia Bigfoot story, I am inventing a cocktail to both mourn his demise and celebrate my hopes for future legitimate breakthroughs in Bigfoot cryptozoology. I think the occasion calls for something BIG and STRONG and, of course, involving peaches.

You know, Georgia? Peaches?

Onwards.

First, let us begin with a base that is distinctly southern and quintessentially American:

• 1 jigger Kentucky Bourbon (I like Maker’s Mark)

Next, of course, the peaches . . . Nothing too girly, because we want those rough and rugged Georgia mountain types to drink this too. Let’s try:

• 1 jigger Peach Brandy

There you go! I think we’re on the right track. Three solid ounces of alcohol sounds big and strong to me. What’s missing? Ah, yes! Bitters to represent the bitterness of my disappointment once the Georgia Bigfoot is debunked.

• 2 dashes of bitters

And finally, let’s throw in some Ginger Ale to make the cocktail nice and refreshing after a hard day of Bigfoot hunting. Putting it all together, we have:

The Georgia Bigfoot Cocktail
Fill a highball glass half way with crushed ice. Add:
1 jigger of Kentucky Bourbon
1 Jigger of Peach Brandy
2 Dashes of bitters
Top off with Ginger Ale, stir and enjoy!

VARIATIONS:

The Canadian Sasquatch
There are many reported sightings of such creatures in British Columbia as well. Substitute Canadian Whiskey for the Kentucky Bourbon and drink a toast to our northern neighbors.

The Hairy Bigfoot/Hairy Sasquatch
If the original is still not manly enough for you, you might like the burn on this version. Simply skip the Ginger Ale and serve it in a double glass. Works either neat or on the rocks according to your preference. Then go get your back waxed.

The French Pedicure
For the more genteel I've devised a this Champagne Cocktail version that is also quite tasty:
Drop a sugar cube in the bottom of a champagne flute and add
2 dashes of bitters
1 Jigger of Peach Brandy
Fill glass with chilled champagne

Cheers!