Creme Yvette

Crème Yvette is the one that intrigues me - a liqueur made of candied violets and flavored with vanilla & other unknown spices. The manufacturer discontinued it sometime in the 60's. France that still produces Crème de Violette, which is similar, but close to impossible to find.

I haven't done the Mixology Monday party in awhile, but was on the site & saw that there is a conference on lost cocktail ingredients this weekend in New Orleans. Attendees will learn how to make falernum (got it!), pimento dram (got it!), bitters (sounds complicated), crème yvette, and crème de rose.

There's a rumor that Dr. Cocktail (of the Internet Cocktail Database fame) knows the recipe and makes it for his friends ... but so far no one has leaked the recipe online yet. I looked. Hopefully some nice fellow will blog about it after the conference!

And while looking, I found this strange liqueur on the Household Cyclopedia. It's a website that reprints articles from the an 1881 series of how-to manuals. It covers everything from mettalurgy to whisky making. Just reading the site conjures up a lost world of back-yard stills and American self-sufficiency, of the age before everything became commodified and standardized. Recipes call for ambergris and cochineal, herbs that we don't grow anymore & fruit varietals that I have never heard of (bigarades and cedrat, anyone?).

Most of the recipes are beyond me - I don't have a still. This one - a Crème d'Orange flavored with saffron - intrigues me. I haven't been able to make a decent orange liqueur yet. It might be worth another try ... assuming I can figure out what all the terms mean and how to do all this in a modern kitchen.

Creme d'Orange of Superior Flavor

Take 3 doz. middling sized oranges; orange-flower water, 2 qts.; loaf sugar, 18 lbs.; spirit of wine, 2 galls.; tincture of saffron, 1 1/2 oz.; water, 4 1/2 galls. This will produce 7 1/2 galls.

Cut the oranges in slices, put them into a cask, add the spirit and orange-flower water, let it stand a fortnight, then boil the sugar in the water for 1/2 an hour, pour it out, and let it stand till cold, then add it to the mixture in the cask, and put in the tincture of Saffron. Let it remain a fortnight longer, then strain, and proceed as directed in the receipt for Cremes de Barbades, and a very fine cordial will be produced.

To make Real Creme des Barbades

Take 2 doz. middling-sized lemons, 6 large citrons; loaf sugar, 28 lbs,; fresh balm leaves, 3 lb.; spirit of wine, 2 1/2 galls.; water, 3 1/2 galls. This will produce about 7 galls., full measure. Cut the lemons and citrons in thin slices, and put them into a cask; pour upon them the spirit of wine, bung down close, and let it stand 10 days or a fortnight then break the sugar, and boil it for 1/2 an hour in the 33 galls. of water, skimming it frequently; then chop the balm-leaves, put them into a large pan, and pour upon them the boiling liquor, and let it stand till quite cold; then strain it through a lawn sieve, and put it to the spirits etc., in the cask; bung down close, and in a fortnight draw it off; strain it through a jelly bag, and let it remain to fine; then bottle it.

The best I found for flowers was to take 4 cups of vodka and 1-2 cups lavender leaves (or 1/3 the amount dried), let steep for two days, and 1 cup sugar, shake to dissolve, let steep for two weeks, and strain. I'm assuming this could work for violets also. It looks too simple to be the right recipe, and it doesn't look like a creme. It might be a start, though.

Weekend Wrap up - Races, Parties, and Tequila

Our crew, pre-race:

I survived. I can think of only a few times in my life where I've had to push myself that hard. The race at Pokai turned out to be eight miles, not ten. It was still longer than I've ever paddled in my life. I haven't even raced in any form since Michigan Crew - back around 1984.

Luckily there were a few other guys out there busting their cherry too - Eli was in the Open Boat, and Kapena was with me in the Master's.

If I were solo I would've quit after the first or second mile. You can't really do that when you're out in the ocean with a crew, so I kept on pushing. We finished in 1 hour 25 minutes. Not great, but it was enough to earn us a first place medal for our division (men over 40). We even signed a plaque that will go into the Yacht Club trophy case. I'm still tickled over that - I've never signed a frikkin' trophy before. In high school & college that was something for other guys to do. It's kind of funny to be doing it at 41.

So the race was hard as hell, and I've got a ways to go to get in peak shape, but I'm hooked. It's all I thought about all weekend.

Afterward we got back to town I tried to fix my phone, but the Sprint people at the store pissed me off & I left. Went to Borders and picked up a biography of Michael Collins and the Oxford Short Introduction to Anarchism. I'm ready for the revolution.

That night I caved and went to the un-Volcano Party with David. I felt strange going in, given that I had resigned from the Board of the agency behind it, and was kind of bitchy about it when I did. The night turned out to be better than I thought. There was a good crowd for maybe ninety minutes on the dancefloor, Mario and Michael Fong spun a good set, and the LA visitors were friendly. A lot of the regular Honolulu crowd was absent. Hula's was doing a for-profit alternate party, and a lot of guys didn't even know anything was happening.

We did a bit too much cheap tequila, so I had to counteract that Sunday by buying a better bottle for my shelf. I experimented a bit more with sangrita (a better chaser for the good stuff than lime and salt), and finally found a mix I liked.

Sunday night I made a big pan of Colcannon for the week. And John, you'll be happy to know I used Kale this round. It's pretty damn good.

Just got my Ireland tickets this morning. I was trying to find a trip on American - even though I don't like them, I thought I had enough miles to actually redeem them for an upgrade on this trip or Egypt in the winter. I was wrong. There was so much fine print on the damn website - x members can upgrade a b, y, s, q, or t level ticket for c, h, or t class flights unless they fly Aer Lingus after March 1 and even though British Airways is a partner you can't earn miles on British out of LAX and so on.

In other words, American's Mileage program doesn't get you shit.

Back to the Sangrita. As usual, the amounts are guesses. This is excellent with a nice tequila, on the side or as part of a cocktail.

Sangrita

1/4 c each orange, tomato, and lime juice
4 T grenadine (homemade, not the Rose's petrochemical mix)
1-2 T Hawaiian chile water
dash onion juice
Hawaiian salt

Mixology Monday: Tequila Christmas Cake

Shoots - I missed this months's Mixology Monday (Brenda at The Spirit World hosted Drinks for a Festive Occasion). Still, let me at least offer this up in the spirit of the day. It's not mine, it just floated into my inbox one morning ...


Tequila Christmas Cake:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of water
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/8 cu. lemon juice
• 4 large eggs
• 4 oz. mixed cashews and Brazilian
• 1 bottle of top grade tequila
• 2 cups of dried fruit

Sample the tequila to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the tequila again to be sure it is of the highest quality. Pour one level cup and drink. Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar.

Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the tequila is still OK. Try another cup…just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 1 eggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit up off floor. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Time to sample the tequila to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt. Or something. Check the tequila. Now sift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window.

Finish the tequila and wipe the counter with the cat.

Cherry Mistamas!!

Mixology Monday: Bitters

A Dash of Bitters is hosting this month's Mixology Monday, and the theme is - of course - bitters.

I've done a lot of drinking tonight - and all for your edification, my friends. This was a fun topic. I decided to play around with two classic drinks: the Manhattan, and the Old-Fashioned. I wanted to see if using different kinds of bitters affected the taste. I always turn to Drink Boy on how to mix the classics, so let's start with his mana`o:

The Manhattan:

• 2 ounces rye or bourbon whiskey
• 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
• 1 dash of Angostura bitters
• Stir with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass

The Old-Fashioned:

• 1/2 orange slice
• 1 cube sugar
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 2 ounces rye or bourbon whiskey
• Muddle orange, sugar, bitters together until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Fill glass with ice, then add the whiskey. Garnish with a marachino cherry, and perhaps an additional orange slice.

And now here's what I had to work with: Jim Beam rye, Cinzano sweet vermouth, Angostura bitters, three kinds of Fee Brothers' bitters [orange, peach, and mint], gomme syrup*, a Ka`u orange, and black cherries in brandy.

*If anyone is serious about their mixing, read up on gomme syrup on the Cocktail Chronicles. It's close to a sugar syrup, but has a bit more viscosity to it & can make a drink taste a bit more full. I found food-grade gum arabic on Amazon, and now I'm a convert.

I've been enjoying my Fee's bitters, thinking that they added a fun exotic touch to my drinks - unlike the plain Jane Angostura bitters. But I had never really sat down and compared the drinks side by side.

I started with a Old-Fashioned [or rather, two mini-Old Fashioneds]. I made one drink with Angostura Bitters, and one with Fee Brothers orange bitters. I also added a splash of gomme. I was tending bar at a house party and the [retired] Admiral of the Pacific Fleet taught me to always add a touch of sugar to bourbon and rye. I said yessir and took it to heart.

I thought the Fee bitters would complement the orange in the drink ... but it didn't at all. An old-fashioned with orange bitters was fine, and better than anything I can get at any bar I can afford ... but it was just a drink. Nada mas. The Angostura bitters, however, added a depth to the whiskey that the other bitters lacked. Winner, hands down: Angostura.

I moved on to the Manhattan, making one [or one half] with Angostura, and one with peach bitters. I also added a splash of gomme syrup, And ... see above ... I got the same results. The Fees' bitters were fine, no complaints, but it was the Angostura that really made this a man's drink. Winner of round two: Angostura.

What a surprise. Sometimes the classics are classics for a reason.

Bonus Round: Fees' Mint Bitters versus the last of my Jim Beam.

Google them and you'll come across plenty of posts telling you to just back off from the mint bitters. But honestly ... I kind of like them. A shot of Jim Beam, a couple dashes of mint bitters, and a teaspoon of sugar and babes, I am back in Atlanta. It works for me.

Next Up: On December 11 Brenda at The Spirit World hosts Drinks for a Festive Occasion.

Second Post for Mixology Monday - Pics

First, the bad stuff - unless you like the taste of corn syrup and petrochemicals. All of these are going down the drain:



And now the good stuff. This is what makes a happy bar: orange flower water, pineapple syrup, grenadine, mac nut, falernum, lilikoi, orgeat, pimento dram, and brandied cherries.

Mixology Monday

I was all excited this weekend to take part in my my first Mixology Monday. It's an online party started by Paul at The Cocktail Chronicles. Once a month a blogger will host the party by setting a theme, and then everyone else will go out and blog on it.

This month Meeta in Germany of What's for Lunch Honey? is hosting. The theme is Exotica. And I was all ready for it. I'm on the third round of using homemade Tiki syrups & I've got it down. Saturday evening I mixed up variations on authentic Mai Tais and less than authentic Sangrias. I took lots of pretty pictures. I got a bit buzzed.

Then the earthquake hit, and it was big. So much for my Sunday.

We just got our power back on an hour ago. Here's my last-minute contribution to the party ...

EXOTICA - TIKI STYLE

It all started so innocently. I was online looking for a Mai Tai recipe, and didn't even recognize orgeat - one of the main ingredients. Wikipedia told me that it was an liqueur flavored with almonds and orange flower water, which ... yum! I wandered from there to amazon.com to google, and eventually stumbled into a wonderful new world of cocktail bloggers. These were men and women after my own heart, drinkers who drank for pleasure rather than for getting smashed. Folks who understood the vodka was a marketing scam, that vermouth is a respectable drink, and that a bar without bitters ain't a real bar at all.

They were folks who treated cocktails the way foodies treat food. I wanted to join the game.

But these guys were using all kinds of new words ... orgeat. falernum. pimento dram. orange bitters. And even better, I found online recipes for a lot of the new flavorigs - most at the Cocktail Chronicles, above.

I ordered some online, but they all sucked. So I got to cooking and experimenting. Not everything worked out [the pastis is drinkable but ouzo is better, and I've failed three times at making homemade orange liqueur], but some of the home recipes are downright amazing - as follows [and pics to come!]:

Orgeat - I used French Brandy and Orange Flower water. Orgeat is one of those wow! ingredients that I am absolutely in love with. The recipe says that orange flower water is optional, but don't believe it. The almonds and brandy alone have a great flavor, but the orange flower water plays the same role that bitters do in cocktails - it helps blend and bind the flavors & creates a drink that is much more than the sum of its parts. It tastes like it would be great to cook with, too.

Mac Nut - I tried to be a good Hawaiian boy and make an orgeat using macadamia nuts. It's good, but lacks the subtlety of the almond based orgeat.

Falernum - I used white rum and let the ingredients soak for a week; otherwise I followed the recipe. It's heavy on the lime, with a nice background of ginger and cloves. It doesn't work alone, but is wonderful with bourbon and rum drinks. I've been using it in place of sour mix.

Grenadine - Just lovely. I use 1 cup sugar, 1 cup of pomegranate juice, and 1 cup of white rum. If you've never had homemade grenadine then you haven't had grenadine before. I can't imagine a tiki drink without this ... and it takes less than five minutes to make.

Lilikoi - I made it the same way as the Grenadine, only using passion fruit pulp. I let it sit a week. It's great - powerful, bold, and citrusy. I tried to do some orange liqueurs, but nothing really worked out. This one did.

Pineapple- I also made it the same way as the above, but only let it sit a week. It's ok, but super sweet and not very complex or interesting.

Brandied Cherries - Cherries, brandy, and sugar ... c'est tout.

Pimento Dram - Scroll down to Feb 17 for the recipe. And just ... damn. I made this months ago and it is still over-powering. I can't think of a day to day use - but this plus Kentucky Spike [bourbon, rum, brandy, and spices - including cocoa nibs] will, I think, make the best eggnog ever. If you're in the islands for the holidays come on by and I'll show you.

So. On to the drinks. These are my current five favorites with my new found ingredients:

Mai Tai 1 - 1 part each white rum and gold rum, 1/2 part each orgeat and falernum, 1/4 part each passion fruit and grenadine. Add sugar if needed. I made this at my sister's wedding, and it was a hit. It's fruity, smooth, and complex, and bears almost no relation to any mai tai I've ever had at a bar. It's also quite dangerous - it's pure alcohol, but tastes light and refreshing.

Mai Tai 2 - 1 part each white rum and gold rum, and I forgot to measure how many parts of grenadine, pineapple, passion fruit, mac nut, and falernum. This was very sweet, and much closer to what most people think of as a mai tai - only a bit higher end. It was way too sweet for me, but if you like your drinks foo-foo then it might work for you.

Rosé Sangria - 1 part French rose wine, 1/4 part grenadine, 1/4 part passion fruit, one brandied cherry, splash of cherry liqueur, sugar syrup to taste. This is sweeter and lighter than my normal sangria, and much faster to make. I bought a bunch of rosés after reading so much about them in the New York Times, but none really worked for me solo. They were a bit too yeasty for me - but they were perfect for sangria! I served it with paella last week & it was a great match. A rose sangria is also damn pretty. This is a drink for a hot and lazy afternoon, though I'm sure the wine snobs will hate it. The rum from the grenadine and passion fruit means that this sangria packs a nice punch.

MC's Drink - I'm still playing with the proportions. Tonight [version MC.03] it's 1 part rye, 1/2 part orgeat, 1/4 part each falernum and passionfruit, splash orange bitters, and one brandied cherry. This is somewhat close to an old fashioned. I absolutely love the way that rye and bourbon bring out the orgeat flavors & vice versa. As far as I know there is no name for this, and there ought to be. Until I hear otherwise I'm naming it after me. The fruits add another interesting layer.

Rum Sour - Yeah, I suck with the names. It's basic: 1 part gold rum, 1/2 part falernum, and a dash of bitters. It would probably taste completely non-descript with store bought falernum, but is rather pleasant with home-made. Think of a pisco sour but with spicer undertones of clove and ginger.

None of these would work with store bought syrups. In fact, I think they'd be downright nasty.

Tiki Update

Having major nicotine fits tonight - I'm almost bouncing off the walls. I drove to 7-11 to pick up a pack, then turned around in the parking lot.

The orgeat, grenadine, and falernum are finished. The orgeat and grenadine are awesome, although I'm having trouble mixing the orgeat with rum [like all the tiki recipes call for]. The almond in it is a great counterpart to rye and bourbon, though. A splash of orgeat instead of an orange gives a nice depth to an old fashioned, and the one drink that truly works for me is - to my knowledge - unnamed. So I'll be calling it an MC-1 until I learn otherwise.

The MC-1
2 parts rye
1 part orgeat
1/2 part falernum

- Pour over a chilled glass filled with ice. Strain, and serve.

I'll post a pretty picture tomorrow.

A pounch with orgeat, rum, fruit juice, & grenadine is also pretty damned good.

The falernum needs work. I only added a fraction of the lime juice, and yet the lime overpowers all the ginger and clove aromas. The falernum is nice as an additive, but doesn't work yet as a major flavoring. I'm going to try a second batch, this time with the zest of only one lime, I'll let it macerate for ten days, and not add lime juice at the end.

I did an experiment using rum, orgeat, grenadine, falernum, and a splash of ouzo [basically: all the new flavors on my shelf]. The layers of flavor were incredible - almond followed by pomegranate followed by anise. I don't have the right proportions down yet, but there is serious potential here.

I thought I had stumbled upon something new under the sun - until I discovered that I had almost replicated the original Mai Tai; the only difference was that I used a splash of ouzo instead of half a shot of Cointreau. Now I'll never order a Mai Tai in a bar because they tend to be sickeningly sweet, but I figured the original Mai Tai, Roe Ai! might have potential. But as other bloggers have noted, all you can taste is the lime. The other exotic ingredients are wasted here.

My jello-cat Grasshopper is begging for attention, the local schools are prosecuting a 14-year old kid for sexual assault for touching a girl's privates, and an American in Thailand has just confessed to JonBenet Ramsey's murder. And as for the last: holy shit. Like everyone else in the USA I assumed it was the parents who did it. And if we were wrong, and the parents were innocent, then ... fuck. We - and I mean WE, dammit - were complicit in compounding their pain, which must have already been unimaginable.

I need to move to the couch, play with my kitty, and catch up on the breaking news. Besides, the MC-1 is hitting me kind of hard.

11 pm update

The Tiki Bar is in full effect. Picked up all my spices at Kōkua and Down to Earth, where I ran into the owner of the new Lebanese Cafe downtown. He was picking up farina for some dessert on Thursday. Last time he made it his family ate it all before he could sell any, so tonight he's making double. I can't wait to see what it is. I'll be in line Thursday.

The Middle Eastern vibe is in full effect in my kitchen - it's full of the smells of almond, orange water, lime and pomegranate. Funny how many "Tiki" flavorings come from that part of the world. Even the cloves and allspice have an exotic air.

And I've already got early ideas for Christmas. No more cookies. If these syrups work then everyone is getting a Tiki Kit: homemade orgeat, falernum, grenadine, and pimento dram. 'Cause so far it's all looking good. The grenadine is done, the orgeat will be done soon, the falernum will take 24 hours, and the pimento dram another 4 weeks.

The only disaster was an experiment with guar gum for gomme syrup. I couldn't find gum arabica [a.k.a. gum acacia: sap from Acacia senegal], a sacchiride and glycoprotein cold water thickening agent. I did find guar gum [from India: an extract from the guar bean Cyamopsis tetragonoloba], which is a polysaccharide and cold water thickening agent. It worked, but all too well - it turned everything it touched into a super gooey gel. When I was washing the dishes some of the residue turned the wash basin into instant jello. There is some molecular mixology potential here, but for now I'm sticking with tradition.

The lady working the counter at Fukioka's told me she just hired a Samoan guy to build her a Tiki Bar in her house. I offered to bring the drinks if she hosted the party. She laughed. I'm not down yet. We'll see.

The Organic Tiki Bar

La Mariana is it, the last surviving Tiki Bar in the Pacific. You can get faux-Hawaiiana in the West Coast suburbs, and there more Trader Vic's in the Middle East than anywhere else. But here in the islands the art of the tropical cocktail is close to dead. Martinis are made with litchee and vodka, mai tais are so sweet they'll give you diabetes faster than tobacco will give you cancer, if you order a Manhattan you need to tell the bartender what goes in it, and Margaritas contain spent nuclear waste disguised as sour mix - it's a sad state of affairs, my friends.

I'm not sure when the Enlightenment ended. At the Del Rio we used to confiscate the ID's of anyone who ordered anything crass like Sex on the Beach, they refused to hire a bartender who admitted to liking Midori in his interview [and that after I had warned him not to mention green drinks], and asking for anything blended could get a customer stabbed right there at the bar.

Good times. Ain't we lucky we had 'em. Now I'm gonna do my part to fight the darkness, and I'll be starting in my own kitchen. Now that X has moved out I can actually stock a bar again. It's been years. I went to Fujioka's and Tamura's & splurged on good liquor - Cruzan Rum from the Virgin Islands, Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon, Jim Beam Rye, Brokers London Gin, and Sauza Añejo Tequila. And it's all so pretty on the shelf that I don't even want to drink it [although I'm sure I'll get over that quick enough].

But when I started picking up mixers I ran into problems. Angostura bitters are fine and easy to find. Other classic bitters were trickier, and I ended up ordering orange, peach, and mint bitters online. I could only find corn-syrup based syrups of other classic mixers [grenadine, orgeat, falernum]. Trader Vic's orgeat tasted ok in old-fashioneds and rum drinks, but I couldn't help but wonder how it compares to the original. Rose's Grenadine tasted like cough syrup, and I threw the bottle out. The Fee Brother's Falernum hasn't arrived yet, but I've heard mixed things about it.

And then the mad cook in me started coming out, and I knew what I had to do. I needed to channel the spirits of my ancestors and make my own [because while the drinks might be from Havana and New Orleans and Waikiki, I'm sure that the Irish were behind it all somehow].

So here's what's on deck for the weekend [and I'll let all five of you who read this know how it turns out] [most of the recipes come from the invaluable DrinkBoy and Cocktail Chronicles]:

BRANDIED CHERRIES
This one is easy - mix together black cherries, a pint of cheap brandy, and a lot of sugar. Boil, then let cool. It makes a much better condiment than the rubber-injected maraschino cherries.


GRENADINE
Another easy one. Option 1: Mix equal parts pomegranite juice and sugar. Shake until sugar is dissolved. Add vodka as preservative. Option 2: Boil juice, reduce by half, add sugar, cook until dissolved. Add vodka as preservative. Version 1 is supposed to be more 'sparkly,' while Version 2 [which I did] gives a nice thick rich syrup.

ORGEAT
This one looks more involved.

• 500 grams blanched almonds
• 800 ml water
• 700 grams table sugar
• 100 ml Vodka or Brandy
• 2 Tbls Orange or Rose Flower Water

Soak almonds in cold water for 30". Discard water.
Grind or crush almonds. Mix with water, and let stand for 1-2 hours
Strain mixture, squeezing all the water out of the almonds. Put almonds back in almond water.
Repeat one or two more times
Toss almond pulp. Put liquid in a pan, add sugar, and cook over low heat until sugar is dissolved.
When cool add brandy and orange or flower water.

FALERNUM
I had never even heard of falernum, a spiced almond, ginger, and lime mix from Barbados, until last week. Now, of course, I must have it.

• 6 oz White Rum
• zest of 9 medium limes, with no traces of white pith
• 40 whole cloves
• 1½ oz peeled, julienned fresh ginger
  

Combine these ingredients in a jar and let soak for 24 hours.

Strain through moistened cheesecloth, squeezing the solids to extract the liquid.

Add:

• ¼ t almond extract
• Toasted almonds [not sure how many]
• 14 oz cold process 2:1 simple syrup
• 4½ oz fresh, strained lime juice

I think I'll make the first part, and only add lime juice when I serve it.


GOMME SYRUP
Just how far down the rabbit-hole do I want to go? This is sugar syrup with gum arabic, and hasn't been seen in these parts since Somerset Maugham trailed a Miss Sadie Thompson to Pago Pago. Is it worth it? The Cocktail Chronicler's verdict: Good God. OK, granted, a trained ape could make an incredible Sazerac just by introducing the Van Winkle rye into the mix, but the gomme lent it just the right texture, so it slipped down my throat as easy as you please.

Ohter reviewers say it smooths out the classic whiskey drinks, and adds a silkiness you won't find from a simple syrup. And so down the rabbit hole I go.

• 2 oz powdered gum arabic, food-grade
  
• 2 oz water

Let the gluey mess rest for a day

Boil a 2:1 syrup [8 oz water and 4 oz sugar]. Add dissolved gum powder.

Remove from heat. Skim off the scum. Cool, strain and bottle.


JAMAICAN PIMENTO DRAM
This is the last one. For now. I'll be reducing this recipe quite a bit.

• 2¼ cups 151 proof rum.
• ½ cup whole dried allspice berries, crushed.
• 3 cups water.
• 1½ pounds light brown sugar

Crush the allspice berries in a mortar and place in a 1-liter jar with a rubber seal. Cover with the rum and allow to steep for at least 10 days, agitating the maceration daily.

Pour through a fine strainer, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquor as you can, then pour the strained liquor through another strainer lined with a coffee filter.

Make a simple syrup with the water and sugar. When cool, combine with the rum maceration and allow to age for at least one month. Decant and enjoy.

In Defense of Vermouth

I tried to order an Old Fashioned in one of the new Chinatown hotspots awhile back, and the bartender couldn't do it. "I refuse to stock vermouth in my bar," he told me, adding a little snear to the word vermouth.

The bartenders at a friend's bar - a very cool neighborhood hangout - didn't even know what vermouth was.

Last week I was at a party. The food was devine, the liquor premium, and the crowd hella cool. The hosts were mixing martinis in the kitchen. I offered to help, but couldn't find the vermouth. And sure enough ... they didn't have any.

This past weekend Roy and I went to Cirque Hawai`i [it was completely amateurish - don't go unless your tickets are free]. We stopped at a bar in International Marketplace en route, figuring we'd have a final drink before the whole place is torn down and replaced by Armani Exchange clones. I ordered a Manhattan, and hell if the guy wasn't sure how to make it. "There's ... vermouth in that, right?"

I don't understand this contempt for vermouth one bit. With the looks I was getting you'd have thought I was asking for Mad Dog or Boone's Farm. This is getting ridiculous.

Ready for the rant?

1. Vermouth is a fine drink. It is an essential ingredient to the classic American cocktails. Sweet Vermouth is an excellent digestif. If your bar doesn't stock it, your bar isn't stocked ... and I don't care how expensive your other grain spirits are.

2. Cheap vermouth tastes cheap. There's no reason to stock it.

3. A martini has vermouth in it. The dry in dry martini does not mean no vermouth. It means the martini is made with dry vermouth [as opposed to the classic martini, made with both sweet and dry vermouth]. Waving the vermouth bottle over the top of the glass is stupid and doesn't count. Some wanker did it once, other wankers copied him, and soon the sheep figured that that was the cool thing to do. Don't be a sheep. Pour the vermouth into the frikkin' gin.

4. Oh. It's a dry vodka martini. My bad. Grow some cajones and call it what it is, then - a shot of vodka.

off topic: Vodka is basically neutral grain spirits with water added. Unlike almost every other liquor, vodka makers don't actually brew their product. They buy the grain spirit from a distributor, and add water. The only difference between Grey Goose, Finlandia, and Russian Rotgut is the source of the water. It's the biggest scam since ... oh. Bottled water.

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I'm liking the new state job. I'm part bureaucrat [boring] and part eco-police [cool]. Hopefully I'll find a way to work some environmental planning into the mix.

The problem is, I can't really write about things except in the vaguest sense - it would be a quick path to a lawsuit. It's too bad; you meet some characters on the job [the starlet who wants to build her dream home, the politician illegally poisoning trees in his neighborhood, and the mainlanders sending us rocks they took, hoping to alleviate Pele's curse].