Tangelo Terrarium

We’re enjoying the last evening of Tiki Month here at the Lounge with another original tropical climate in a glass. This one’s tangy and a little spicy, sort of a snifter-sized tangerine in crushed ice.



Tangelo Terrarium

• 2 oz gold Barbados rum
• 1/2 oz Swedish punsch
• 1/4 oz allspice dram
• 1/2 oz Lemon Hart 151 (float)
• 2 1/2 pink grapefruit juice, fresh
• 1 oz tangelo juice
• 1/2 oz lime juice

Shake all except Lemon Hart with ice cubes and strain into a large snifter. Add crushed ice. Float the Lemon Hart. Tangelo twist, mint sprig.
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Sort of an aquatic terrarium—or a rum one. I like overproof floats on Tiki drinks for so many reasons, not least because they’re something to look forward to in all that crushed ice at the end.

MxMo LXX: Inverted—Reverse Chancellor

A big Fogged In thank-you to Stewart Putney of Putney Farm for hosting this month’s Mixology Monday, and for his challenging theme, “Inverted.” Stewart has tasked us to come up with a drink recipe that is some way turned upside down, whether that be a reversal of the ratio of a classic or any of the elements turned on their head in some way.

Well, the composition process is sort of twisted here at the Lounge to begin with so I had to decide how I’d make this demonstrably inverted and not merely warped. I ended up restacking the measures of a great recipe just to see if I could color inside the lines and still come up with something inspired. For this exercise, I went with a superb standard, the Chancellor. Regular visitors may recall that scotch is a favorite ingredient around here, and the Chancellor is the… the prime minister of scotch cocktails. Whisky, port, dry vermouth, orange bitters—what more could you want?

Except that to invert the ratios I’d need a stand-in for the orange cocktail bitters. This was going to be the base of the drink so two ounces of something meant to be an accent might be a lot. Maybe an amaro, a type of bitters constructed as a beverage, would make more sense. Of the ones I had on hand, Torani Amer seemed the best match: mellow and distinctly orange-scented.

And since I was making adjustments, I changed the blended scotch in the original recipe for a single malt that would work a little better in the accent role, the smoky, peaty Laphroaig. I had always been curious about using it in a Chancellor anyway.

Reverse Chancellor

• 2 oz Torani Amer
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz ruby port
• 2 dashes Laphroaig 10 year

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Rich and evocative of the original. I’d definitely make this again.

FM

We’re celebrating Tiki Month here at the Lounge, a time of fantasy and frivolity to buffer us from those slings and arrows that give even the best people a bad time. And so we bring you another luscious libation, an elixir for grooving to the radio all night long. As Fagan and Becker say, “No static at all.”



FM

• 2 1/2 oz gold Barbados rum
• 3/4 oz white crème de cacao
• 2 oz grapefruit juice
• 1 oz lime juice
• 2 – 3 dashes grapefruit bitters

Shake with ice cubes and strain into a double old fashioned. Fresh ice to fill. Grapefruit twist.
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Grapefruit and chocolate in a delicate state of winter suspension.

Up the Beach

Aloha, people. Tiki Month is here again, and we welcome you to another fine tiki moment here at the Fogged In Lounge. Here’s a little libation by yours truly that ought to help you while away a bit of time in the shoals of contentment with some Wray & Nephew Jamaica rum, green Chartreuse and homemade crème de banane.



Up the Beach

• 1 1/2 oz Wray & Nephew overproof white rum
• 1 oz crème de banane (Serious Eats recipe)
• 1/2 oz green Chartreuse
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1 1/2 oz soda

Shake all except soda with ice, and strain. Add fresh ice and top with soda.
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Booze and Sympathy: Fun with Russian Caravan Tea Syrup

Russian Caravan is grand stuff, a blend of smoky Chinese teas that’s a natural compliment to cocktails. There was about a third of a cup of tea left in the tin. I made a simple syrup of 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water, and added the tea the second I turned the heat off. (Strain after 5 minutes, cool, bottle, refrigerate.)



When We’re Alone

• 1 1/2 — 2 oz cognac
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 barspoon Russian Caravan tea syrup
• 1 tsp Cruzan Blackstrap rum

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
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Patience and Fortitude

• 2 oz bourbon
• 1 tsp Russian Caravan tea syrup
• 1 dash Jerry Thomas’ decanter bitters
• tangerine twist
• Small splash soda

In an Old Fashioned glass, muddle a broad, thin strip of tangerine peel with the bitters and syrup. Add ice and spirits and stir gently. Splash of soda.
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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.

Martini Time (and a Thyme Martini)

Greetings from the bleak shores of post-holiday confusion, where those of us in northern latitudes stumble around in the cold and dark, numbly bumping into things. (“Stupid parking meter!”) Martinis help a lot. It’s true that they increase the delirium but then you don’t mind it as much as you did before. They seem so astringent and boozy that you can’t help but think after a sip or two that they’re good for everything that ails you. (They’re not, but even so….)

And there’s something comforting in that trace of brine from an olive. Its savoriness is sort of bracing—like soup for people who drink. That’s why I like a garlic-stuffed olive. Big flavor. Substantial. Add a green herb and it’s practically a meal. I’ll just illustrate with a recipe here:

Thyme Martini

• 2 oz London dry gin
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• thyme sprig
• lemon peel
• scant pinch sea salt

Gently muddle a 2- or 3-inch sprig of thyme with a wide, thin piece of lemon peel and a pinch of sea salt. Add plenty of ice and the gin and vermouth. Stir and double strain. (Second one is mesh to catch the bits.) Garlic-stuffed olive.
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This is exactly what it sounds like, a Dry Martini with stronger herbal notes. Think about going easy on the muddler since the thyme can get pretty assertive if you mash it hard. (I guess you could add more booze to dilute it. Heh.)

What’s that salt doing there? Why not extra olive brine? I gotta say I’m not crazy about the Dirty Martini for some reason. I understand why other people like them but to me, they always taste, uh, dirty. But a small pinch of sea salt in a cocktail like this is very nice indeed.