The Olympic Cocktail

As I was considering a more classic rather than contemporary cocktail recipe for today, this heading in Imbibe Magazine really got my attention. "If you like a Sidecar, you'll love the Olympic."

Matter of fact, I do like a Sidecar - a lot! Could be because it's a tasty, really simple drink with only 3 ingredients - Cognac, lemon juice and Cointreau, and because it looks great in a stem glass.

Or it could be because it involves one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies - Auntie Mame. After a raging cocktail party the night before, Mame wakes up and instructs her nephew Patrick to "run along to Ito (the domestic worker) and tell him to bring me a light breakfast - black coffee and a Sidecar."

Oh the glamour of days gone by - Sidecars for breakfast. Seriously, what I like about this variation is the Clement Creole Shrubb - a vibrant orange rhum-based liqueur infused with Creole spices.

The Olympic Cocktail

2 oz. VSOP Cognac
1 oz. fresh orange juice
3⁄4 oz. Clement Creole Shrubb
2 dashes Fee Bros. orange bitters
Cracked ice
Tools: shaker, strainer  
Glass: cocktail  
Combine ingredients with cracked ice in a shaker and shake well; strain into a chilled glass.

Cheers darling! 

Coco Cherry Mist

I don't know what it is about infusing spirits that I like so much. Especially considering you can buy practically any flavor ready made.

There's lemon, cranberry, cucumber, raspberry, grapefruit, vanilla, pepper just to name a few and that's just vodka. You can also buy flavored rum and gin.

Maybe it's the sight of jars chock-full of fruit lined up on my kitchen counter, or how I can control exactly what goes in those jars - like the freshest, local ingredients combined with the highest quality booze, or perhaps it's the creative license the do-it-yourself method provides.

If you want to try infusing, here are a few basic guidelines and recipes that I find helpful.

For today's cocktail, I chose Bing cherries simply because they looked irresistible in the market not because I had a specific recipe in mind. But that's the fun part for me - researching, mixing and tasting, and tasting some more.

And then there's the question of what to call this drink? Of course, Cherry Bomb comes to mind - and speaking of happy hour starter, 20+ years later and this song STILL makes me very happy. 

As it turns out, there are already several drink recipes called Cherry Bomb. But that's okay, it implies a much heavier impact than what I had in mind anyway.

I used part coconut rum and some sparkling wine. So I think I'll call it Coco Cherry Mist - you know, more of a slow jam than a full-on jubilee.

Coco Cherry Mist

1 1/2 oz cherry-infused rum

1/2 oz coconut rum

1/2 oz Cointreau

1 T fresh lemon juice 

1 T thyme-infused simple syrup* 

dash of sparkling wine

*combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water and 6-8 springs of fresh thyme in sauce pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20  minutes. Cool completely before proceeding. 

Combine all ingredients, except sparkling wine, in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into champagne glass, top with dash of wine, garnish with lemon twist and enjoy!

Caipirinha Punch

Well, I've never been to Brazil but I want to go. And I totally get why the Caipirinha (pronounced cai-pe-reen-ya) is their famed national drink. I imagine it's the perfect accompaniment to the balmy weather, beaches, and all-night dancing - plus it's just a damn good cocktail.

I'm not sure if it's the raw sugar cane rum cachaça, because to me rum spells tropical getaway or if it's because I was actually on vacation the first time I tried one.

In June of 2008 I took the brilliant recommendation of a bartender at Sushi Samba in South Beach who insisted it was well-suited for their Latin-infused menu and the new "it" drink. Long after I left SOBE, I still wanted the "it" drink which meant I probably needed to learn to make one.

The basic recipe is simply 2 oz cachaça, 1 lime and 1 tsp of sugar muddled, shaken and then served over lots of crushed ice. But cachaça is a fun spirit to experiment with so that is what I did.

First I tried raw sugar instead of white, then brown - I recommend both of those. Then I tried some lemon juice in addition to the lime, then mint, then green apple and eventually cucumber. And one day I wanted to make a lot of them for a party, got crazy and used all of the above.

Saúde! The Caipirinha Punch was born - my idea of a quick getaway for sure!

Caipirinha Punch

1 bottle cachaça 

1/2 bottle Cointreau

1/2 bottle white cranberry juice

1 cup simple syrup made with raw sugar (1:1 water + sugar)

2 green apples sliced

1 cucumber sliced

4 limes sliced

2 lemons sliced

1 bunch of mint leaves

1 bottle soda water

Combine all ingredients except the soda water in a large pitcher or punch bowl and let stand at room temp for 2 hours. Fill glasses with lots of crushed ice and top with soda water just before serving.

Tamarind Margarita

I love it when Cinco de Mayo falls on a weekday - that just means we have the weekend to celebrate too!

In my opinion, a staple of this fiesta is a well-crafted margarita. Normally I like a very straight forward approach to this drink but the addition of the exotic tamarind is well worth a try.

Tamarind a tangy, chewy fruit indigenous to North Africa and Asia is a common ingredient in Indian, Thai and Mexican foods alike. It is also a key ingredient in Worcestershire sauce. Often referred to as Indian dates, the sweet varieties like those from Thailand make an excellent snack food albeit a bit tedious to peel and eat.

For this drink make sure you buy the pulp sold in specialty markets NOT the concentrate in a jar. There is a huge difference in taste, texture and color.

Tamarind Margarita for 4

1. 1 Tbsp tamarind pulp 
2. 3 Tbsp water
3. 1  cup silver or blanco tequila
4. 2  Tbsp superfine sugar
5. Crushed ice
6. 1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
7. 1/4 Cup Cointreau
8. 2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
9. 1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt mixed with 1 tsp ground Ancho chile powder & 1 tsp finely grated orange zest for spicy salted rim

1. In a saucepan, simmer the tamarind and water over low heat, stirring, until the pulp dissolves. Press the mixture into a shaker through a fine-mesh sieve. Add 1/2 cup of the tequila and the sugar; shake vigorously. Add ice to the shaker, then add 1/2 cup of lime juice, the Cointreau, the orange juice and the remaining 1/2 cup of tequila; shake well.
2. Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons of lime juice and the salt/chile/orange zest mixture into 2 bowls. Dip the rims of 4 glasses first in the lime juice and then in the salt mixture. Strain the ice cold drink into the glasses and enjoy!

If you're only willing to try this drink if it magically turns up in your hand - with no shopping for ingredients, mixing or shaking and you're in the SF Bay Area, I highly recommend this place.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Mint Julep

When I came across this opener in Imbibe Magazine - "Bourbon is as synonymous with the South as sweet tea..." - I had to smile. Not about the Bourbon, although that has been known to loosen up the frown lines, but about the sweet tea.

My California friends don't really know much about sweet tea and when they hear me say it - especially if I put on an accent, they wonder why I'm being so redundant. The look on their face says - why sweet + tea? It's just tea right?

Only if you've never gulped it down in a futile attempt to stay cool on a sweltering hot August afternoon. Then you would know why it's called sweet + tea.  With that said, today's drink is another example of a Southern obsession involving sweet elixirs.

World-renowned as the signature drink of the Kentucky Derby, the Mint Julep is as steeped in Southern tradition as Coca-Cola. Maybe more so considering a projected 100,000+ will be consumed next Saturday during the famed event.

There are only 4 ingredients in this drink. So you know what that means right? Yep, you gotta use the good stuff. A quality Bourbon is key and I'm using this one.

The next critical step is taking the time to make a proper mint-infused simple syrup. You will read dozens of recipes that call for simply muddling the mint and sugar. Trust me on this one y'all - make like you're below the Mason-Dixon line and take it SLOW. It takes time - overnight to be exact, to infuse the syrup with mint.

Mint Julep

1 oz mint syrup

1 oz water

2 oz Kentucky Bourbon

Crushed ice and mint for muddling and garnish

Gently muddle a handful of mint leaves in a cocktail glass - a silver cup if you really want to run with the Derby theme. I say gently because you don't want shredded mint in this drink - only the mint flavor. Fill the glass with crushed ice - yes, it MUST be crushed. This drink is strong and you want the ice to melt quickly to dilute it a bit. Add the Bourbon, mint syrup, water, and garnish.

Mint Syrup

1 cup sugar - (raw sugar enhances the caramel flavor of the Bourbon)

1 cup water

1 bunch mint

Bring water and sugar to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Add mint to a large jar with lid, gently muddle and pour sugar water mixture over it. Allow to cool, close jar and refrigerate overnight - remove the mint before proceeding.

Cheers Y'all! Don't forget to place your bets.