Good Luck Happiness

It’s one of my favorite times of year: the season when all the interesting citrus comes in. I never really know what to do with it all since I’m not the sort of cook that does a lot of sweet dishes, and end up defaulting to drink recipes. Blood orange is an especially nice ingredient to work with. It behaves a little more like red grapefruit than orange in cocktails.

This recipe calls for both fresh blood orange juice and Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur. It was really coincidence that I ended up buying a bottle of Solerno pretty much at the same time as the fruit. I went to the store for some Combier, but they were out. The Solerno vaguely appealed, so on impulse, I decided it was coming home with me. Tasty product, pretty package.

Good Luck Happiness

• 2 oz calvados
• 1/2 oz Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur
• 1 oz blood orange juice (half a fruit)
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 5-6 mint leaves

Break the mint leaves in half and drop them into the tin. Combine remaining ingredients and ice cubes, shake well. Strain into a double old fashioned; add fresh ice. Garnish with a blood orange half-wheel and mint sprig.
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

This one’s easy drinking but with plenty of character and snap from the calvados base—an inspired thought. I thought about going slightly more tart, but like the balance as it is. The mint is pretty subtle, a little twinkle here and there.

Let’s Eat Home

There’s something soothing about the tastes and aromas of fall and winter. I’m really getting into cooking with potatoes and roots, mushrooms, shallots and cipollini, apples, rosemary—often just cutting it all up to sauté or simmer a while, then throwing a little baked fish or smoked tofu on top. I want a cocktail that’s going to wake up my palate and harmonize with all the umami goodness in the pan. Dry sherry does this very well, as does calvados, the traditional apple brandy of Normandy. They’ve both been favorite subjects with me lately so it was only a matter of time before they got together in a cocktail.

 

Let’s Eat Home

• 2 oz amontillado
• 3/4 oz calvados
• 1 dash Bitter Cube Jamaican Bitters #2

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

A classic three-part structure but “inverted” in that the base is wine and the accent is spirit. Nice and light, good for before a meal of related flavors. The apple brandy is a natural compliment to the nutty acetaldehyde of the sherry. Hints of ginger, allspice and black pepper from the bitters round out the cider-like profile of this dry aperitif cocktail.

Second Honeymoon

There’s a classic cocktail called the Honeymoon Cocktail, a calvados-based number with Bénédictine and Cointreau, sort of like a Sidecar. The recipe below ain’t that one. No, folks—no honeymoon here.

Let’s celebrate with a bottle of bubbly!

Seriously, though, the basic ingredients for the Honeymoon make a dandy royale with the addition of brut sparkling wine. I left out the Cointreau.



Second Honeymoon

• 1 1/2 oz calvados
• 1/2 oz Bénédictine
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• sparkling wine to fill (about 4 oz)

Shake all except wine with ice and strain into a wine glass. Add sparkling wine, lemon twist.
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Lately I’ve been on the lookout for cocktails that can pair with food, and wanted a balance of sweet, tart and savory elements without being excessively strong. For the wine, I used L’Hereu by Raventós i Blanc from Spain, a great compliment to salty foods and crisp apples. Not surprisingly, it marries very well (heh—see what I did there?) with the fruit and herbs in the spirits. And if you don’t quite finish the wine when making the cocktails, it’ll be great with cheese at the end of dinner.

MxMo LXXVIII: Intercontinental—Time of the Saison

Howdy folks! It‘s another fine Mixology Monday. Today our host is my San Francisco Bay Area neighbor Stewart Putney of Putney Farm. I can always count on Stewart for inspiration and an adventure in the experience of taste, and his theme for this MxMo, Intercontinental, is certainly no exception.

Everywhere we travel these days we see cocktails on the menu. And not just here in the USA, but all around the world. And that’s not only the drinks, but the ingredients as well…. So let’s celebrate the global reach of cocktails with an “Intercontinental” Mixology Monday challenge. Create a cocktail with “ingredients” from at least 3, but preferably 4, 5 or 6 continents. And if you can include Antarctica, then you get a Gold Star.

OK, I missed Antarctica. And Oceania. (There was a well-intentioned Vegemite experiment. Not so good.) But as usual, I was thinking of my own current preoccupations and wondering how they related to the theme at hand. Lately, I’m most interested in fermented beverages, brandy cocktails and food pairing, and this MxMo offering could represent all of these things. It’s based on a saison (Belgian-style farmhouse ale) made here in the U.S. with the addition of grains of paradise, an African spice reminiscent of black pepper, ginger and citrus oils. I pumped up the alcohol with calvados, a Normandy apple brandy—not too much. There’s a ginger liqueur to represent Asia, and allspice liqueur and Peruvian bitters to represent the Americas.



Time of the Saison

• 1 oz calvados
• 1/2 oz Domaine de Canton
• 1/2 oz lemon
• 4 dashes Amaro Chuncho
• 1/4 tsp St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
• Ommegang Hennepin (about 4 oz)

Lightly shake with ice all except the Ommegang. (Just box it back and forth 2 – 3 times.) Strain into a stem glass. Top with beer.
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Delicate fruit, spice and little bubbles, this is bright and light enough to accompany a meal of seasonal related flavors. Here in North America, it happens to be autumn but don’t let that stop you from mixing one up if you’re somewhere entirely different.

Many thanks to Stewart for hosting and for his great theme.

Apple Brandy Cocktails for Autumn

Calvados, the great aged cider brandy from Lower Normandy, is sometimes served in the middle of a meal to re-awaken the appetite, and I can see why. Complex and refined yet still bright with apple, the aroma alone makes me hungry. It calls to mind all the tasty thing apples go well with, like salty cheese, honey, legumes, cabbage, herbs, root vegetables, caramel. I definitely see some pairings in my future, but for now, here’s a couple of drinks before dinner.



The Butterfly and the Bee

• 1 1/2 oz calvados
• 1/2 oz ginger liqueur (Domaine de Canton)
• 1/2 lemon juice
• 2 dashes lavender bitters

Shake with ice cubes and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Lemon twist.
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

The apple-lavender combination is intense and complex, amplified by brightness of the lemon and ginger. Orchard and field. Last breath of summer.



On a Lark

• 1 oz calvados
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz Averna
• 1 scant pinch fine sea salt

Stir salt in vermouth until dissolved, then add remaining ingredients and cracked ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

More autumnal than the previous one. White wine and herbs from the vermouth bring out crispness in the apple and add savory notes. Subtle caramel from the Averna. The salt heightens everything and helps bring it together.

Light, Bright Brandy Cocktails at Bar Agricole

More brunchtime cocktails, though if you really want to explore the kaleidoscopic variety of fine brandy drinks at this beautiful SoMa restaurant, go for dinner. (The bar opens at 5:00.) But on to the beauties I had Sunday morning.



SLEEPYHEAD
Brandy, ginger, mint, sparkling wine. A chalice of tiny golden stars. So soft and elegant, it was like I stayed in bed.



SUPREME
Apple brandy, lemon, orgeat, grenadine. Not merely a Jackrose with orgeat, this is made with a glorious, slightly higher-proof calvados they brought back from France, giving this both richness and snap. Pear and caramel notes in the spirit complement the big, earthy orgeat.

Many thanks to Colin for his charm and grace behind the bar and to everyone at Bar Agricole for making my visit a memorable one.

MxMo LXXVI: Fire!—Voice of Temptation

Sliding this one in under the wire for our superb host, Muse of Doom. It’s another Mixology Monday, and our theme is Fire! The Muse writes:

Tiki-philes have their flaming spent lime shells and scorpion bowls. Classic cocktailers have the magic of a flamed orange zest. Molecular mixologists have their Smoking Guns. (And yes, frat boys have their flaming shots.) Even brunchtime drinkers have spicy Bloody Marys.

You don’t have to go full Blue Blazer, not nearly—heck, you could go full Fireball Whiskey! (Or Fire Rock Pale Ale, etc.) You could riff on the Old Flame or come up with an inventive name of your own. You could even use a good firewater or burned wine. (And if you’re grilling fruit, save some for me, will ya?)

In essence, bring the heat! Bring the Fire! Bring your inspiration!

Well, I like a little barbecue as much as the next cocktail enthusiast—maybe more. I had limited time for this challenge but mezcal with a flamed fruit garnish would give me a little smoke and a little fire. So I pulled out my trusty Lemon Hart 151 and a steel bowl, and cut a slice from an apple.

Flaming anything should be done with caution, especially if in a hurry, so I put a bowl of water underneath my crucible, and a potholder under the whole setup. Three pinches of brown sugar on the apple slice gave it a little caramel, and there was just enough rum to wet the apple but burn itself out after a bit.

The cocktail to go under this burnt offering is a pairing of straight apple brandy and the Lemon Hart mellowed by molasses and lemon, rich and intense—almost an apple gastrique effect.




Voice of Temptation

• 1 oz straight apple brandy
• 1/2 oz Lemon Hart 151 rum
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/4 oz molasses
• 1/4 oz mezcal

Shake hard with ice and strain into an old fashioned. Ice cube. Flamed apple garnish. (See above.)
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Sherry Cocktails

Sherry—so delicious! Only a few years ago was I startled to learn that others might not consider sherry a morning beverage. Can you imagine? Anyway, when I saw that the incomparable Frederic of Cocktail Virgin Slut posted a Sherry Mai Tai, I made it as soon as possible, and then made another. A sherry cocktail is probably going to be an easy sell around here. Wanting more, I was inspired to think of a recipe of my own using another favorite ingredient, apple brandy. It’s a bit like Todd Maul’s Joe Bans You, also blogged by Frederic. I feel a wine cocktail series coming on.



Muy Linda

• 2 oz straight apple brandy
• 1 oz East India Solera sherry
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1 tsp orgeat
• 1 dash Fee Bros Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters

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

Fort Point (San Francisco)

John Gertsen created one of the same name at Drink, which is in Boston’s Fort Point, but I’m thinking of a different bay. If you’ve seen Kim Novak jump into the water in Vertigo, that’s the spot.



Fort Point (San Francisco)

• 3/4 oz Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy
• 3/4 oz London dry gin
• 3/4 oz Aperol
• 1/2 oz lemon

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

A morning cocktail I ad libbed while having bagels with a friend—on a recent visit to New York, oddly enough. Related to my Baker Beach, hence the name.

Baker Beach

I’m liking Aperol and apple brandy a lot at the moment. Apple seems to go with Ransom Old Tom too. This one seems classically San Franciscan somehow, and not just the Golden Gate orange. Maybe the combo of Italian beverage bitters and spicy gin feels sort of Beat—a friendly edge.

Baker Beach

• 2 oz Ransom Old Tom gin
• 3/4 oz Laird’s apple brandy
• 3/4 oz Aperol
• 3/4 oz lemon juice

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

Speak Low

I went to a big party in December, a potluck at a house I’d never been to before and didn’t know the crowd. But I figured nothing succeeds like liquor so I made up a batch of a room temp cocktail I’d spotted on Cocktail Virgin Slut, Creole Lady. It features Madeira, my favorite wine of that sort. As it happened, my hosts had invited someone else who felt the same way more than somewhat, and she was my best customer. What’s more, she started ordering Creole Lady all over town. Must’ve been the recipe and the Madeira I’d made it with, a Blandy’s 5-year Malmsey. I’ve used the same for this original cocktail as a foil for some apple brandy and a trace of smoky scotch—my favorite personal invention in a while. Sending this one out to the fellow party guest who likes Madeira.



Speak Low

• 2 oz Laird’s straight apple brandy
• 1 oz Madeira
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/8 oz or scant tsp Ardbeg Single Malt
• 1 dash Jerry Thomas’ Own Decanter Bitters
• tiny pinch sea salt

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

Williams’ Orchard

I be free to go abroad,
Or take again my homeward road
To where, for me, the apple tree
Do lean down low in Linden Lea.

—William Barnes, My Orcha’d in Linden Lea (Common English version)

Today is the anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. My celebratory offering is one I’ve been enjoying for a few days, an apple-pear brandy combo with a little ginger to brighten the winter evenings. The Poire Williams dominates, as the name suggests. For the apple brandy, I had some applejack, which worked fine, though I’d like to try it with Laird’s Bonded—my preference in such things.



Williams’ Orchard

• 2 oz apple brandy
• 3/4 oz Velvet Falernum
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/4 oz Poire Williams

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

Forest Murmurs: Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur

And now for some brown booze in something really boozy. A cocktail that’s really about that smack in the head. For inspiration I just bought a bottle of Zirbenz Stone Pine liquor, which I’ve had several times in rum and rye drinks to good effect. I’m trying to figure out what it goes in. I won’t kid you—it tastes like a tree. This seemed at first like a cool characteristic for a liqueur and still does. It’s just that I want to understand how to make it play nicely with other flavors so that my guests don’t think it’s weird.



Which it is, a bit. But I like it. I want to show it off in all its weirdness. So let’s see—a little rye, a little ginger beer... a little falernum and this would taste exactly like pine cleanser. And not that boozy really.

OK—how about this one?



Forest Murmurs

• 2 oz calvados
• 1/4 oz Zirbenz Stone Pine liqueur
• 1/4 oz pimento dram

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

Sassafras tea and horehound candy. Boozy, woodsy, mellow.

Calaveras

Two nights ago, I made up this drink, the Calaveras, a smoky calvados-mezcal variant on the Sidecar. The housemate and I liked it. So I made it again to photograph on the following night. At the same time, it just happened that for dinner I needed some broth, and substituted Schlenkerla, a smoked beer from Germany. It perfumed the whole house appetizingly, blending with the other cooking aromas, making us very hungry. But we could no longer taste the smoke from the mezcal. I dumped another half ounce in my glass. Still didn’t seem smoky. The drink was completely overpowered by the smoke flavor in the air from the food.



Calaveras

• 1 1/2 oz calvados
• 3/4 0z Cointreau
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/4 oz mezcal
• 1 dash Fee Bros Aromatic Bitters

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

Star Cocktail

Sometimes I get edgy and bored because I can’t think what to make, and leaf restlessly through page after page of recipes, hoping something will catch my eye. Luckily, the Star did. It was a nice surprise—big, round, mellow, fruity but subtly so. I found it in David Wondrich’s Imbibe! and the housemate and I agreed that it has the richness we associate with a 19th-century cocktail.



Star Cocktail

• 1 1/2 oz apple brandy (Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy)
  
• 1 1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes)
  
• 1 dash curacao
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
SOURCE: ADAPTED FROM DAVID WONDRICH, IMBIBE!, FROM GEORGE J. KAPPELER, MODERN AMERICAN DRINKS