Autumn Decade

I got the idea for this while sipping gold Rhum J.M one evening with some friends. Someone pointed out the apricot note in the rum, especially when it opened up a little with water. I’ve kept the apricot brandy in the background so you can still taste the rum. The color of J.M is apricot too.



Autumn Decade

• 1 1/2 oz Bacardi 8
  
• 3/4 oz gold Rhum J.M
• 2 tsp Grand Marnier
• 1 tsp apricot brandy
• 1/2 oz lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Smoky Michelada

Maybe I could wait until the weather’s warmer before posting a quencher like a Michelada, but suddenly I feel like playing with beer. The one in this recipe is Schlenkerla Oak Smoke, a great ingredient to cook with as well. A pint bottle will do two drinks—or one if you’re very thirsty.



Smoky Michelada

• 8 oz Schlenkerla Oak Smoke beer, or to taste
• 3 oz tomato juice
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 dashes hot sauce
• 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• salt, for rim

Rim chilled pint glass with salt. Shake remaining ingredients except beer with ice lightly 10 times. Pour into glass and add beer. Stir briefly. Lime shell garnish.
SOURCE: COMPOSITE, ADAPTED BY ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

The smoke’s in the background, contributing to the overall savoriness and amping up the pepper sauce. Light but very flavorful.

Gin-Tiki

I can’t let Tiki Month go by without posting a tall gin recipe. Gin’s one of my favorite tropical drink ingredients, whether it be with tonic and lots of fresh lime or one of the more elaborate mid-20th century classics like the Fog Cutter, the Suffering Bastard or any version of the Singapore Sling.

Here’s a seemingly smooth but potentially lethal one of my own, the Gin-Tiki. Beware the calm seas and don’t go down with the raft.



Gin-Tiki

• 2 oz dry gin
• 1 oz gold Puerto Rican rum
• 1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
• 1 oz white grapefruit juice
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz lime juice

Shake with ice cubes and strain into a 12-ounce collins glass. Fresh ice to fill. Mint garnish.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

NYC Pub Crawling: Amor y Amargo

Back in the old town again, I was meeting a friend after work in the East Village and we decided on Amor y Amargo, a nifty little bar that specializes in drinks featuring all that can be called bitters. So we sat down and turned our bitter selves over to Chris and Nick who were happy to explain and suggest. They pointed out that there were no items on the list that contained juice (bitter perhaps but never sour), and that they didn’t use sugar. (We probably didn’t look like Lemon Drop customers—must be part of the patter.)

I ordered the nicely focused tequila White Negroni. My buddy gave me a sip of his Alpine Afternoon, which we agreed was unusual and a pleasant surprise.



Amor y Amargo also sells gear and bitters, and hosts classes as well. Thanks to everyone there for a very fine time.

MxMo LXIV: TIKI!—Rongorongo

February is Tiki Month, and for those of you who’ve been marooned without the joys of civilization, Doug Winship of the Pegu Blog is serving up all things Tiki, including this month’s Mixology Monday. His theme, of course, is Tiki! so grab half the bottles in the bar and make extra ice—this is gonna be a MxMo to remember. ...Or at least to the extent that it’s possible to remember anything after sucking down all those big tropical drinks. Please join me in a monumental Fogged In mahalo to Doug for hosting.



Rongorongo

• 2 oz gold Puerto Rican rum (Ron del Barrilito)
• 1 oz Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
• 1 oz Grand Marnier
• 1/4 oz Velvet Falernum
• 1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz lime juice

Shake with ice cubes and strain into a Tiki mug filled with crushed ice.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

With notes of molasses, orange peel and spices twinkling softly like little colored lights, it’s sorta like Christmas all over again in an Easter Island mug. My mugs are 12 ounces, and I could fill them about 3/4 with crushed ice without being left with a dividend.

Bittercube Jamaican #1 Bitters

Feeling in the mood for a dry, spirit-forward rum cocktail to try my new Jamaican #1 bitters from Bittercube, a bright combination of allspice, ginger and black pepper—all flavors I crave. Of course this calls for a big Jamaica rum.



Jamaica & Spain

• 1 1/2 oz Smith & Cross
• 1 1/2 oz fino sherry
• 2 dashes (24 drops) Bittercube Jamaican #1

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Pistachio notes in the sherry get freaky with the woodsy funk of the Smith & Cross. A friend who likes whiskey cocktails was asking about rum analogs....

Need another rum fix? Doug is serving up the magic of Tiki Month in grand style.

B&E Manhattan

We drink a lot of Manhattans here at the Fogged In Lounge, so when a new whiskey arrives, I can’t help but try it with a little vermouth and bitters. Breaking & Entering is a bourbon blended by the folks at St. George Spirits. They call it that because they didn’t distill the booze themselves but carted a bunch of barrels back to Alameda from Kentucky. We like local stuff, and when I tasted it back in December, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I’d start playing with it.



B&E Manhattan

• 2 1/2 oz Breaking & Entering Bourbon
• 1 oz sweet vermouth (Carpano Antica)
• 2 dashes Jerry Thomas’ Decanter Bitters
• 1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Orange twist.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

My first pass at this was with the Fee Bros Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters I had been drinking all winter with my Buffalo Trace, but it turned the cereal notes a little too soft and round. No flab in the Manhattan, please. Orange bitters worked much better, bringing out some cherry and tasting almost like a Brooklyn Cocktail.