All the Colors Are Changing: Nocino Sour

It’s starting to feel like fall in San Francisco. The afternoon air seems clearer, sharper—the sky a more tender blue. In the spirit of autumn, I reached for the nocino, an elegant walnut liqueur, and then had to admit I couldn’t think of anything to put it in. Nut liqueurs are very tasty but seem like late-night knockout drops. Luckily, I remembered Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s Amaretto Sour, the perfect squirrel potation for any time of day, and substituted the main ingredient.



Nocino Sour

• 1 1/2 oz Nocino della Cristina (Monteverdi)
• 
3/4 oz cask-strength bourbon (Noah’s Mill)

• 1 oz lemon juice

• 1 tsp simple syrup, 2:1
• 1/2 oz egg white, beaten

Dry shake ingredients to combine, then shake well with cracked ice. Strain over fresh ice into an old fashioned. Cherry.
ADAPTED FROM JEFFREY MORGENTHALER’S AMARETTO SOUR

This is what I was looking for. The walnut and bourbon together suggest maple syrup and falling leaves. The lemon balances the sweetness, also kept understated by the bourbon. Interestingly, the Nocino Sour recipes you see around the web call for gin, and I’m game, but the bourbon is so delicious here.

Jitters and Bitters

Ever shake up pineapple juice? It’s kinda odd. There’s this foam that looks good on the top of the liquid in the tin, yet when you get to the bottom of the drink, the glass is coated with residual crud. Unappetizing. No wonder all those Tiki things come in ceramic idols full of crushed ice.

But I’ve learned that this can be avoided if you shake gently. Shake well, but shake very gently with plenty of ice. Pretend you’re about to begin the beguine with that someone you always wanted in high school. Smile like Burt Reynolds and shake to last you all night. You can double strain through mesh too for an additional step of refinement, though if there’s pulp in the mix, it’s kind of a pain in the behind.



Bourbon Beguine

• 2 oz bourbon
• 1/2 oz pineapple juice
• 1/2 lemon juice
• 2 dashes Jerry Thomas’ Decanter Bitters
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
• Ginger beer (Fever Tree)

Shake (gently) all but ginger beer with ice and strain into an old fashioned. Add a couple of ice cubes and top with ginger beer. Lemon twist.
ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

I sometimes try the bourbon sour special drinks in bars but never care for them. They’re too candy-like and seem to have no complexity. I find that the missing thing that brings it all together is bitters.

MxMo LXIX: Fortified Wines—Whispers of the Frost

Many thanks to Jordan Devereaux of Chemistry of the Cocktail for hosting this month’s Mixology Monday, and for his very fine and tasty theme, Fortified Wines. Here at the Lounge, we’re big fans of port, madeira, and the whole range of sherries. The rich flavors and little dose of extra alcohol make these wines perfect for wintertime drinking, alone or in cocktails.

Here’s a classic recipe I’ve liked for a long time which has two fortified wines, port and sherry. Most recipes I’ve seen don’t mention what sort of sherry, though a very sweet one seems too heavy for the port. Also, most recipes call for sugar, which is totally dispensable, even with a dry sherry.



Whispers of the Frost

• 3/4 oz bourbon
• 3/4 oz port
• 3/4 oz sherry (Amontillado)

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Lemon twist.
SOURCE: COMPOSITE

Elegant fruit and nuts brightened by the spray of lemon oil from the twist. Mellow and warming. Have two—they’re small.

Blackberry Manhattan

Greeting, folks. Time once again for the midwinter festivities. Grab that bourbon and follow along for yet another Manhattan cocktail variation. I find blackberry brandy so warming, don’t you? A lovely purple reassurance that I’m not a bad Santa after all—more of a slightly tired holiday ambassador, only too happy to share thoughts on the beautiful things in this life that make it worth living. But you’ll have to sit down here with me by the refrigerator so I don’t have to shout. Perfectly clean here on the floor. Make yourself at home. My blackberry liqueur is under guard in a temperature controlled environment—not unlike my brain. Both reveal Yuletide secrets to those willing to listen. Special secrets. (Where’s that glass? So far away.)

Honestly, I’m not sure where I first noticed the Blackberry Manhattan, though the version on the Leopold Bros site makes reference to a swell-sounding product I have yet to try, Blackberry Whiskey. Mine’s a bit closer to the Tim Knittle version, a noble creation. I present my version simply as a spontaneous riff on the very good idea of blackberry and bourbon together.

Blackberry Manhattan

• 2 oz bourbon (Buffalo Trace)
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Dolin)
• 1 barspoon blackberry brandy (Leopold Bros blackberry liqueur)
• 1 dash Fee Bros Old Fashion Aromatic Bitters
• Lemon twist

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

Sort of a fuller, rounder Manhattan on the front, the blackberry comes in subtly as the drink develops, reminiscent of those blackberry or currant fruit gums I loved as a kid. A fine way to kick off the season.

Calling All Manhattans: Nihil Utopia

This one from Dagreb of Nihil Utopia arrives a bit belatedly cuz I had to fetch the Knob Creek Single Barrel for it, but very well worth the wait. The overproof bourbon balances well with the big jolt of Martini & Rossi, making for something like an ultimate bar Manhattan. And as such, it cries out for a red cherry. (Fear not—it’s naturally dyed.)



Manhattan

• 2 oz Knob Creek Single Barrel
• 1 oz Martini & Rossi Rosso
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Stir well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Cherry.
SOURCE: DAGREB, NIHIL UTOPIA

Another superb Manhattan, rich yet graceful. I’m impressed as I make each of these varied recipes how essentially Manhattan-like they all are.

Oh yeah, and in case anyone’s still wondering, I’m on a Manhattan jag, spinning favorites from callers out there in the broadcast area. Anyone can play.

Manhattan Variations: Room Temperature Manhattan

Knowing that I’m particular about my drinks, a well-meaning bartender made my Manhattan with a vermouth that he knew was of better quality than the well: Cocchi Vermouth di Torino. This was fine except that it didn’t have the snap I expect in a Manhattan. Having bought a bottle, I tasted it against the others in the refrigerator and realized there was no detectable cinchona bite. The mellowness made me think of a room temperature cocktail.



Room Temperature Manhattan

• 1 dash Fee Bros Aromatic Bitters
• 3/4 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
• 2 oz bourbon (Buffalo Trace)
• 1/2 oz water, or to taste

Build in a snifter and stir gently.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

The water is there to stand in for the dilution that would come from ice, and it opens up the whiskey and botanicals.

Calling All Manhattans: Spirited Remix

I’m in a major Manhattan mood, and have invited anyone else who wants to play along to send in a favorite recipe. DJ HawaiianShirt of Spirited Remix offered his iteration, and of his recommended bourbons, I realized I hadn’t had a Knob Creek for months. He suggested 3 to 1, so I made the base spirit a 2 1/4 pour to simplify the measuring. And it sounds like he likes to sling the Angostura bottle like I do.



Manhattan

• 2 1/4 oz Knob Creek Bourbon
• 3/4 oz Dolin Rouge
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. The DJ says he likes this with an orange peel as often as a brandied cherry, and that happens to be my own preference for the bourbon option.
SOURCE: DJHAWAIIANSHIRT, SPIRITED REMIX

Light orange candy from the twist and cinnamon spice on the front give way to autumn leaves and vegetal notes in this classic interpretation of, um, a classic.

Manhattan: Dry, Off-Dry, Off-Off-Dry

We drink a lot of Manhattans here at the Lounge, probably more than anything else, though we don’t have the Dry much, if ever. Yeah, I know—it’s one of the established variations, popularized by Ol’ Blue Eyes and the Rat Pack. I guess the last time I had one until recently was about seven years ago. It wasn’t bad, exactly, but dull—probably the fault of indifferent dry vermouth.

The Dry seems a little better now. Orange bitters compliment the white vermouth and turn it floral and summery. I was experimenting and trying to decide which bitters I liked best with the Dry, and actually ran out of dry vermouth. (Somebody keeps making Martinis around here too.) Reaching for the Cocchi Americano instead, I found that an off-dry version was very tasty indeed and, well, more like a Manhattan. (Almost Perfect?) If made almost half Cocchi Americano, it’s sorta Gilded Age, though maybe richer than I’d prefer most of the time.

Dry Manhattan

• 2 oz bourbon
• 3/4 oz dry vermouth or Cocchi Americano
• 2 dashes Regans’ No. 6 Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Orange twist.
SOURCE: COMPOSITE

Paper design: Jazz, Jean Orlebeke, eieio.

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.

Shrapnel

Maybe it was the odd name, but something made me try this one even though it seemed like just another Perfect Manhattan with an addition. The addition is apricot brandy, which I like with whiskey, and it goes with corn and fruit notes in bourbon especially. I thought the vermouth would dry it down some and round it out, but the version in the CocktailDB is too light and sweet for me with only a mere one and a quarter ounces of spirits. As it often goes with so many of life’s minor difficulties, the solution was to add a bit more bourbon.



Shrapnel

• 2 oz bourbon
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• 1/2 oz dry vermouth
• 1/4 oz apricot brandy

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Orange twist.
SOURCE: ADAPTED FROM A RECIPE IN THE COCKTAILDB

There was an orange slice garnish but it wasn’t doing much except looking pretty, so it became a twist and contributed to the flavor profile. Upping the bourbon didn’t hurt the punch-like fruit notes and turned this into more of a grownup drink.

Basilisk

I’m on an herb kick lately. (Or do I mean a herb kick? I live with a Canadian. So confusing.) I woke up thinking about the ingredients of this cocktail, and headed straight for the farmers market.



Basilisk

• 2 oz bourbon (Knob Creek)
• 3/4 oz Aperol
• 2 large basil leaves (use 3 if small)
• 3 drops absinthe
  

In a shaker, muddle basil well with bourbon. Add Aperol, absinthe and ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. I garnished this one with a spring of basil flowers, though you could use a leaf too.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Dan McGrew

An Old-Fashioned of sorts, but tough and mean with a bite on the finish. I’m still trying to get a feeling for how over-the-top I can go with the stone pine liqueur, but the housemate was favorable, describing this one as bracing and boozy.



Dan McGrew

• 2 oz bourbon
• 1/2 oz Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur
• 1 dash Fee Bros Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters
• Ardbeg rinse

Stir bourbon, Zirbenz and bitters with ice. Coat the sides of a chilled glass with a small amount of Ardbeg or other very peaty malt. Strain the bourbon mixture into the prepared glass. Small lemon twist.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Croton Cocktail

Dry and elegant, the Croton is a great sleeper of a classic bourbon cocktail. But without bitters, it seems a little unfocused—not quite a cocktail. I first experimented with Regans’ No. 6 on the premise that the Croton is essentially a bourbon version of the Gordon, but the bitters and the sherry repelled each other. My next attempt was with Fee Bros Whiskey Barrel Aged, and everything came together.



Croton Cocktail

• 2 oz bourbon
• 3/4 oz sherry (Amontillado)
• 1-2 dashes Fee Bros Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Lemon Twist.
SOURCE: COCKTAILDB, ADAPTED BY ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Very sherry at first, but gradually opens up to vegetal notes from the bourbon pointed up by the lemon peel.

If you prefer a simpler beverage, try another drink of the same name.

Bourbon Special

Beachbum Berry describes the Bourbon Special as one of “three exotics for bourbon drinkers, all circa 1950s.” Opinions might vary as to how exotic it really seems, though it has classic tiki elements, and it certainly would’ve gone well enough with the atmosphere of fantasy and escape in one of Steve Crane’s Kon-Tiki restaurants for which it was created.



Bourbon Special

• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/4 oz simple syrup
• 1/4 oz falernum
• 3/4 oz ginger beer
• 1 1/2 oz bourbon
• dash Angostura bitters

Shake with ice cubes. Pour unstrained into an old-fashioned glass.
SOURCE: JEFF “BEACHBUM” BERRY, BEACHBUM BERRY REMIXED

The Black Manhattan

The famous San Francisco summer fog has me in the mood for amaro cocktails. I half-remembered reading somewhere about a Manhattan variation with Averna. While I never did find the article I was thinking of, Paul Clarke mentions having had this cocktail at Bourbon & Branch, where it was made with Eagle Rare bourbon and called the Black Manhattan. I had Eagle Rare around so that was easily settled on, and I used Angostura for the bitters. There’s a Washington Post article that suggests Regans’ orange bitters as well as aromatic bitters, which seemed a nice touch.



Black Manhattan

• 2 oz bourbon
• 1 oz Averna
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 dash Regans' orange bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
SOURCE: COMPOSITE, ADAPTED FROM BOURBON & BRANCH

The Averna made for an attractively dark drink. This was a little heavy for me, though the housemate and I enjoyed it. We tried it 2:1 first, but it was more to my taste with 2 ounces bourbon to about 2/3 of an ounce of Averna. And maybe the bitters got lost under the weight of the Averna and I should’ve found something with more contrast. The cherry garnish was unobjectionable, but my next try will be with a twist—maybe a even a flamed orange peel would be good for this one.

QUESTIONS FROM THE BEFOGGED: Anybody have a preference for bitters for the Black Manhattan? Do you have a favorite Averna cocktail?

Fanciulli Cocktail

STANLEY: Liquor goes fast in hot weather. Have a shot?
BLANCHE: No—I—rarely touch it.
STANLEY: Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often.

—Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

By 7 o’clock this morning, it was already unusually warm in San Francisco. A hot day here is something of an occasion, whether you like it or you don’t. Streets and sidewalk cafés fill with semi-clad people. For the thirsty who would prefer an unsweetened iced coffee to a soda in such weather, there is the Fanciulli. It’s a refreshingly bitter frappé of bourbon, sweet vermouth and Fernet-Branca, and a potent aid in reviving the wilted. This drink is named for an Italian-American band leader and composer of marches and operas. You can read more about him and the Fanciulli in the WSJ and from Kevin Patterson. The version of the drink here is from the CocktailDB.



Fanciulli
In a glass packed with crushed ice, build:

• 1 oz bourbon (Wild Turkey 101)
• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes)
• 1/4 oz Fernet-Branca

Serve in a cocktail glass. (Used a 4.5 oz old fashioned.)
SOURCE: COCKTAILDB