Monday, November 9, 2015

One for the Road... the Old Diplomat

In "One for the Road", one of the guys takes a quick run at a topic for your reading pleasure. Themes will vary, from classic drinks to hand-crafted ingredients and creations of their own, or whatever suits them at the moment. This go around, John presents an original: the Old Diplomat.

Background 
Back in June our friends over at Cait+Tiff presented me with a small but thoughtful gift: a bottle of Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters. Never having worked with chocolate bitters before, I immediately started researching and testing recipes, including a variation of the Sparrow, a distant cousin of the Boulevardier. The great thing about new ingredients, of course, is that it sparks the imagination.

A few weeks later in July, I did a shoot with Tiff at Samai, a local rum distillery here in Phnom Penh. In between takes, our host Daniel let me try some of the high end rums Samai keeps on hand for inspiration. Being something of a rum novice, it was an eye opening experience. There was one bottle in particular, Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva, that I just could not get out of my head.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

A week for classics, and a celebration of New Orleanian resilience ten years after Katrina: the Sazerac

In "One for the Road", one of the guys takes a quick run at a topic for your reading pleasure. Themes will vary, from classic drinks to hand-crafted ingredients and creations of their own, or whatever suits them at the moment. This go around, David presents the Sazerac.
 
Every city has a personality. Like people, some are stronger than others, more complex, more forthright or mysterious, urbane or rustic. Infinite variations given history, and climate, and population... but some cities have a more powerful energy to them. A soul, something beyond and encompassing the combinations of people, buildings and sights that we usually think to describe.

Friday, June 26, 2015

Two Guys and Drink: Corpse Reviver #2

In "Two Guys and a Drink", Dave and John focus on a single drink and experiment with multiple recipes and ingredients as they search for their own "perfect" recipe. Of course, the "perfect" recipe is purely subjective; as with life, the cocktail is a journey, not a destination, and you should find your own. For this post, they are taking on a pre-Prohibition classic: The Corpse Reviver #2.

A LITTLE HISTORY
"Four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again." So wrote Harry Craddock in his seminal The Savoy Cocktail Book. Craddock's written contribution to the cocktail arts is filled with a multitude of similarly witty quips, but this particular one is at least partly responsible for #2's revived popularity. How can you read that and not want a taste? To be fair, four of most cocktails will likely send you to bed (or worse), but it was thoughtful of Craddock to issue the warning because this tasty concoction is one that will leave you asking for more.

Friday, April 3, 2015

One for the Road... The Boulevardier

In "One for the Road", one of the guys takes a quick run at a topic for your reading pleasure. Themes will vary, from classic drinks to hand-crafted ingredients and creations of their own, or whatever suits them at the moment. This go around, John presents the Boulevardier.

Background 
Sometimes at the end of a long day you just want a drink to help take the edge off, one that doesn't require too much fuss or thought. It's easy to turn to a glass of wine, a bottle of beer, or perhaps two fingers of your favorite scotch in such a time. But maybe, just maybe, you can rouse enough effort to pull together a cocktail.

The Boulevardier is such a drink to add to your repertoire. The basic recipe is a snap, the ingredients are standards of any well stocked home bar, and the end result is supremely satisfying. 

Monday, March 9, 2015

One for the Road... The White Russian

In "One for the Road", one of the guys takes a quick run at a topic for your reading pleasure. Themes will vary, from classic drinks to hand-crafted ingredients and creations of their own, or whatever suits them at the moment. This go around, David channels the Dude--a bit belatedly, of course--and serves up a White Russian.

Background
On March 6, 1998, the world first got introduced to The Big Lebowski, and the immortal Dude (or His Dudeness, or El Duderino, if you're not into the whole 'brevity' thing). Lo these many years later, I sit here typing this blog on a laptop with a parody of a Shepard Fairey print stuck to the front of it--a silhouette of the Dude where Andre the Giant's face used to be, with the word "ABIDE" beneath it.

I love that sticker. It really ties the computer together.

Monday, January 12, 2015

One for the Road... The Cinzano Sparkling Cocktail

In "One for the Road", one of the guys takes a quick run at a topic for your reading pleasure. Themes will vary, from classic drinks to hand-crafted ingredients and creations of their own, or whatever suits them at the moment. This go around, John presents the Cinzano Sparkling Cocktail

Background 
First off, happy 2015! We had a few bottles of Brut laying around after our New Year's celebration (apparently the only thing not emptied out that night), so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to experiment with a variation of the Champagne or sparkling cocktail.

The Cinzano Sparkling Cocktail comes to us from the Savoy Cocktail Book. Mr. Henry Craddock first published this gorgeously designed book in 1925, and I think it is fair to describe it as a bridge between the pre- and post-Prohibition cocktail eras. Mr. Craddock fled the US in 1925 for wetter environs in London, where he became the head barman of the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel. Pre-Prohibition cocktail culture found a welcoming home away from home at the American Bar, and Mr. Craddock's collection of more than 700 recipes immortalized the drinks he offered up to his thirsty patrons.