MxMo - Local Colors: The Vermouth Cooler with Sloop Betty

For Alcohol Alchemy's Mixology Monday theme, "Local Colors," I chose a Maryland-based distillery which produces Sloop Betty vodka. This theme made for great timing because Sloop Betty will be visiting my bar, Last Exit, for a tasting on Thursday, October 13th. And I am currently thinking of ways to utilize this local spirit.

When I drink Sloop Betty I get a ethanol nose but the taste and texture is very smooth. I even get a very slight creaminess.

According to the website:

"Sloop Betty was an historic ship that sailed the Chesapeake Bay. The name appealed to us because of our love of Maryland's history, as well as her amazing location right on the ocean and Bay."

The cocktail I chose to mix is called the Vermouth Cooler. I concocted this little ditty based on the recipe I found on CocktailDB. I couldn't find anything bad to say about this tasty sipper and so I submit it to my favorite monthly cocktail party, MxMo.

The Vermouth Cooler

- 2 oz Dolin Rouge vermouth

- 1 oz Sloop Betty vodka

- 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

- tspn simple syrup

- splash of soda water

Glassware: Collins glass

Add vermouth, vodka, lemon juice and simple syrup into shaker with ice. Shake. Strain into a Collins glass with fresh ice. Top with a splash of soda water. Garnish with a lemon twist. Enjoy.

BTW - If you are in the Mount Pleasant area on Thursday, October 13 and would like to taste the Vermouth Cooler for yourself (or another drink with Sloop Betty), pay a visit Last Exit. And if I'm there, make sure you let me know you read about it here.

Note: This post has been revised since its original publication

MxMo: The White Trash Mimosa

For July's MxMo, Cocktail Virgin Slut is graciously hosting this month's theme: beer cocktails. And while I'm sure everyone else is fashioning a well-crafted cocktail that involves some ingenious method of incorporating beer, I'm going shamelessly low-brow.

Despite this cocktail's empty calories, obvious lack of nutritional value and convenience-food quality, the general response from imbibers is that its delicious. The recipe is simple and the ingredients are available in most major supermarkets.

As a result, many customers who became fans of the drink have returned to my bar to boast that they now make them at home. Who am I to second guess the satisfaction of a customer?

The Background

Sometime between December 2007 and January 2008, a new bar in Foggy Bottom, Washington D.C. called Tonic at Quigley’s Pharmacy won approval to serve alcohol by the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC).

But the approval was initially only for beer and wine. Spirits would not come to the bar until approximately four months later.

At the time, Tonic's management decided to create a set of beer and wine cocktails (or “mocktails”). One drink, which apparently sprung from one of the twisted minds working there, soon became an unlikely outlier. Its name seemed to come from a familiar scenario; a snarky comment that sticks and becomes the best possible cocktail name.

The White Trash Mimosa

- Miller High Life "The Champagne of Beer" (get it!)

- concentrated Tang

- ice

Glassware: pint glass

First, I'd advise mixing a little water into some Tang powder to make a concentrated syrup. Add ice to the pint glass. Add either a spoonful or a couple ounces of concentrated Tang to the glass depending on your desired level of sweetness. Fill with the champagne of beer. Lightly stir (the glass can get very sudsy). I added an orange peel for garnish. Enjoy.

Note: This post has been revised since its original publication.

Mixology Monday: Absinthe Drinks, Cont.

Check out the Mixology Monday roundup at Rock & Rye.

Mixology Monday: Absinthe Drinks

I must preface this post with a declaration that I took a risk and it is actually a bit of a failure.

For whatever reason, I imagined writing posts for Mixology Monday to go much smoother.  What a chance, I thought, to make delicious cocktails that I otherwise would never have been inclined to attempt.  It soon became clear to me that a simple prompt and deadline can suddenly eradicate my modest attempts at creativity or imagination.  But I suppose that's just part of the challenge.

This month's mission is to breath new life into a forgotten cocktail.  I took a slight obtuse angle on that proposal and focused on absinthe as an ingredient.  There is no shortage of new-found absinthe enthusiasm in the United States since the lifting of its ban.  However, from my perspective, its flavor has not yet penetrated a mainstream application beyond cocktail enthusiasts and fellow intoxicologists.

I spotted an delicious combination of absinthe and St. Germaine for a special cocktail at The Passenger earlier this summer and I thoroughly enjoy a little of the spirit in a well-made Sazerac.  But it's a much different story having absinthe in a much more aggressive format, at least for me.  With no ideas springing instantly to mind, I turned to Dale Degroff's The Craft of the Cocktail.  I chose two absinthe drinks from the book: the standard Absinthe Drip and Absinthe No. 2.  In Dale I trust...

Absinthe Drip

- 2 oz of absinthe
- 1 lump of sugar

Glassware: small rocks glass and an absinthe spoon.

Place absinthe and ice cube into a small rocks glass.  Place absinthe spoon across the top of the glass with a lump of sugar resting on it.  Slowly drip droplets of water onto the sugar cube allowing it to melt into the absinthe.

This little monster is hardly the soothing sipper that its pale green color seems to suggest, I assure you.  Occasionally, in a fit of denial, I attempt to understand and appreciate this spirit in its plainest form.  I suppose I'm just not there yet. 

However, as aforementioned, I have been pleasantly surprised by the introduction of absinthe as a recessive ingredient.  So I moved forward with the absinthe cocktail.

Absinthe No. 2

- 2 oz gin
- 1 oz absinthe
- 2 dashes of orange bitters

Glassware: chilled cocktail/martini glass

Pour gin, absinthe, and bitters into a glass with ice.  Stir until cold and strain into the cocktail glass. 

I found this particular sipper much more tolerable and, thus, applicable to a mainstream drinker's sensibilities.  All things considered, I can't say I enthusiastically enjoyed either attempt and reluctantly deem it a little bit of a failure overall, as I mentioned before.  I suspect the other MxMo participants produced more persuasive candidates for the proverbial comeback tour. 

On a more positive note, I would be very interested in tweaking the ingredients and proportions of the Absinthe No. 2 for an alternative approach sometime in the future.  In that sense, I feel pleased with maintaining the essence of Mixology Monday.

Until next month...  Cheers!

Mixology Monday: Lime in the Coconut, Cont.

Check out the MxMo round-up at The Pegu Blog. 

Delicious. Lime. Drinks.

Mixology Monday: Lime in the Coconut

As summer recedes, the last of the tiki drinks and boat drinks are being confected.  Dainty swimming trunks will turn into furry fleece jackets while mojitos will make way for hot toddies. 

When I saw that The Pegu Blog had picked limes as its theme for Mixology Monday I could only think of one drink for my maiden MxMo post.  I opted for simplicity.  However, I risked redundancy of this drink amongst my fellow contributors.  How contemptuous that would be... similar in the way two coworkers mistakenly show up to the office wearing the exact same ensemble. 

But I digress.

The great Gina Chersevani (of PS7s) was my source for this particular recipe - which is delicious.  I ventured the extra mile, heinously chopped open a young coconut and used it as the goblet. 

Lime in the Coconut

- 1 1/2 oz of Bacardi Rum

- 1 oz of fresh squeezed lime juice

- 1 oz of coconut water

- 1/2 oz of ginger syrup

- pinch of cinnamon

- 10 mint leaves

Pour rum, lime juice, coconut water, ginger syrup, cinnamon and 10 whole mint leaves into a glass with ice.  Shake vigorously and strain into a glass (or a coconut) with crushed ice.  Garnish with a lime wheel and a few sprigs of mint.  For extra aromatics, give the mint a slap or two in your hand to release a little bit of the juices in the leaves. 

Refreshing and tropical, its a delightful concoction that invokes that quaint island lifestyle - even if the everyday reality of that life is hardly so picturesque. 

And now, covering the famed "Lime in the Coconut" tune by Harry Nilsson, dear reader... Kermit the Frog.