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Recipes

MxMo: La Marina

April 20, 2014 by elana Leave a Comment

La Marina #Cocktail // stirandstrain.comMixology Monday Logo

This month’s Mixology Monday cocktail challenge is an interesting one because, well, there is NO alcohol in the drinks. Scott of Shake, Strain, & Sip has themed this month “Temperance”, and you guessed it, it’s a Teetotaler’s delight around these parts.

With the warmer months approaching, I’ve been craving light, fruit-based drinks lately. And maybe the occasional spritz or two. With the baskets of berries pouring into the farmer’s markets (pretty much my favorite time of year), I decided to make the base of this drink with juicy, local strawberries.La Marina #Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

Farmers markets here are pretty diverse. I’ve been introduced to multiple varieties of strawberries, and one of my favorites is the Seascape kind. Sweet, but not too much so; it’s my ideal strawberry flavor. That said, here you’ll need to taste for sweetness. There is some from the strawberries and tonic, and a sweet and savory note from the orgeat, but if you like your drinks even sweeter, then feel free to add a drop of simple syrup.

La Marina #Cocktail // stirandstrain.com3 medium sized strawberries, hulled and quartered
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice (or white grapefruit juice)
1/4 ounce orgeat
4 ounces Fever-Tree Indian Tonic Water

strawberry slice for garnish

In the bottom of a highball glass, muddle strawberries, juice and orgeat. Add ice 2/3 up the glass and top with tonic. Stir gently to combine and garnish glass with strawberry slice.

Uniquely both sweet and savory with lots of fruit forward bubbles. A straw in this case is optional as you might find the chunks of strawberries get caught up in it. The almond from the orgeat has a slight bitter edge that contrasts nicely with the sweet fruit flavors. It’s a needed element here to round out the drink.

Thanks to Scott for hosting this month and Fred for keeping this party going.

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Filed Under: Mixology Monday, Non-alcoholic, Recipes Tagged With: Grapefruit, knocktail, lime, mixology monday, non-alcoholic, orgeat, spring, strawberry, tonic water

Make It: Chocolate Smoked Porter Mousse

April 17, 2014 by elana 2 Comments

Chocolate Smoked Porter Beer Mousse // stirandstrain.comBeer doesn’t make too many appearances here, so when you see it in the title, expect it to be special.

Today I thought I’d try and get a recipe in before a holiday arrives, kinda a big deal around this site. For me, Easter has always been about the baskets of candy. Although I may have been raised Catholic, I jumped ship from that a long time ago and now Easter is another holiday associated with a big family meal. And chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

For this recipe I teamed up with a friend of mine who recently joined her Dad’s business… of MAKING CHOCOLATE at Kakao Berlin. How cool is that job? Kakao Berlin is a non-GMO chocolate company that sources beans from all over the globe and is crafted in Germany, the land of chocolate and beer. She gave me some chocolate to try out and I settled on a nice semi-sweet 64% (Stuttgart). If you want to go darker the 75% (Brandenburg Dark) is fab too. Oh? What are we making today? BEER MOUSSE!kakaoberlin_logo-sm

The unlikely suspects.

I was introduced to the many uses of beer by an old work colleague of mine several years ago. He was the type making cheese and beer in his apartment before you started hearing about everyone making their own cheese and beer. He introduced me to beer ice cream floats and beer mousse among other other recipes. The beer mousse here is made from scratch (unlike the first version I ever tried using a can of powder. It was gross; don’t do it.) and it’s super easy to whip up, although you’ll need 3 bowls. Sorry. Ask your significant other or roommate to be on dish duty with promises of fluffy chocolate mousse with hints of smoky beer. Watch how quickly they wash those bowls.

Also, a big thanks goes out to Jackie a.k.a. the Beeroness, who helped me with this beer and chocolate pairing. She has a chart; go check it out. The beer that worked the best here was Epic Brewing’s Smoked Porter. The smokiness is more aggressive than Stone’s Smoked Porter, so take that into consideration when making this. I tried a few chocolate stouts too, and found it a bit redundant to put into chocolate. The best part is that you don’t use too much beer in the dessert, so when it’s done you can “pair” the rest of the beer with the mousse. It works.

Couple of tips: don’t go too stiff on beating the egg whites or the cream. I did that on the first batch and sadly it did not incorporate well into the chocolate and looked weird. Tasted great so I ate it all, but, alas, not photogenic. You also don’t need a double boiler to melt chocolate. A sauce pan with about an inch of water simmering with a heat-proof bowl over it works great (and is my way). If that doesn’t work for you, very carefully try the microwave version. You just need to watch that and melt in small time increments since it will easily burn.Chocolate Smoked Porter Beer Mousse // stirandstrain.com

Adapted from Chow.com
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, callets, or chopped from a block, Kakao Berlin 64% Stuttgart used here
1/4 cup Epic Brewing Smoked Porter
3 egg whites at room temperature
3/4 cup cold heavy cream

  1. Fill a sauce pan about 2″ with water and place a heat-proof bowl over the top. When the water is simmering, add chocolate and beer. Start stirring to combine. You want the end result to look glossy. At that point remove from heat and set aside to slightly cool.
  2. In a separate bowl, beat the cold heavy cream until firm, but not stiff peaks form. A chilled bowl will help move this along. Fold the cream into the chocolate/beer mixture.
  3. Lastly, beat the egg whites until firm, but not stiff, peaks form. Fold in half of the eggs, and then stir in the rest gently.
  4. Chill mixture until ready to serve, at least 30 minutes.

*If you’d like some homemade whipped cream for this, beat together 1/2 cup of cold heavy cream, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of superfine sugar until you reach desired consistency.

Not too sweet and richly chocolate with hints of the smoked porter. The mousse firms up quite a bit in the refrigerator and gets a more ‘dense’ consistency to it the longer it sits. So, if you want a more delicate, light as air dessert, eat it out of the bowl.

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Filed Under: Make It, Recipes Tagged With: beer, chocolate, cream, egg white, Epic Brewing Smoked Porter, Kakao Berlin Chocolate, make it, The Beeroness

Jewel of Oaxaca

April 11, 2014 by elana 4 Comments

Jewel of Oaxaca #cocktail // stirandstrain.comWhoa. What a week it’s been. Towards Wednesday I started to feel like an NPR telethon with all the requests for Saveur mag votes. Except, the only fun swag I can offer you guys is more recipes, and you all know those are coming anyways. Like this one..

This recipe was originally going to have grilled pineapple, but that’s DONE (I’ll probably be eating those words in two months). So, instead, grilled mango was tested out to see if that would pair nicely with some mezcal in a cocktail. Results all pointed to yes. It may only be April, but that’s no reason not to think about grilling. Indoor grilling is doable as long as you have the right equipment, i.e. a Grill Pan. It’s a lot more efficient to oil up a pan and get it hot than turn on the propane (or light some charcoal). The sad fact is that we have a nice grill outside that ran out of propane I’d say… 2…3 years ago? I’ve lost track of how long at this point. And we’ve lazily resorted to just using a grill pan for the two of us. Now that I type this out I’m realizing that the amount of entertaining we’ve done at home has drastically decreased since the demise of the propane. Hrm.Jewel of Oaxaca #cocktail // stirandstrain.com

Ah, but the cocktail. A grill pan in this case is best if you are just going to grill up a single mango. Seem like a lot of work for one cocktail? Grill up two and save the rest for later; you’ll want a second one of these.

The savory component here gets some earthy smokiness from ancho chile peppers. Ancho chile peppers are the dried form of a poblano pepper if you weren’t aware (it’s ok, I was schooled on this point too). I put ancho chiles and mangoes in my salsas so I thought I’d try them out as a cocktail.Jewel of Oaxaca #cocktail // stirandstrain.com

Pro tip: use a Hawthorne strainer for this. Oh what a mess this made the first time around with first the shaker strainer, then the julep strainer; the holes were not big enough and there was a mango backup that resulted in half a drink lost. I took one for you guys so you won’t have this problem. The Hawthorne excels at separating the mango pulp from the juice. You will still get pieces of pulp, but you will also get all your booze out of the mixing glass too.

For the ancho chile pepper syrup:

2 ancho chile peppers (or 1 tsp ancho chile powder)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

  • Combine chile peppers (or powder), sugar and water in a medium sized sauce pan over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce the temperature to low. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for one hour. Strain into an airtight container.

For the cocktail:

1/2 mango
1 ounce Ancho Chile Pepper Syrup (see recipe above)
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice from 1/2 lime
1-1/2 ounce of mezcal, Del Maguey Vida used here

  • Take your mango half, with skin still on, and score the flesh lengthwise and widthwise, careful not to cut through the skin. Next, using a grill pan, or outdoor grill, oil the grates with a neutral oil (like vegetable oil). Over medium-high heat, place mangoes flesh side down for 5 minutes. If you would like criss-cross grill marks, use a spatula to turn the mangoes 45 degrees halfway through cook time. Remove from grill and let cool. Once cool, turn flesh inside out and using a paring knife, cut cubes away from the skin.
  • Next, in the bottom of a shaker, combine mangoes and syrup. Muddle until puree-like consistency. Add ice, lime, and mezcal. Shake for 20 seconds and using a Hawthorne strainer, strain into a chilled cocktail coupe.

Mezcal is a very assertive liquor that can sometimes overpower the other ingredients in a drink. But, here, mangoes, chile peppers and lime all work well in combination because they also have strong flavors. The mango’s rich sweetness, enhanced by the smoky undertone of the ancho syrup, makes for a great partner to the Mezcal, accentuating its vegetal aspects and softening its domineering palate.

I originally posted this recipe on the Serious Drinks site. 

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: ancho chile pepper, Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, lime, mango, mezcal, spring

Sex on the Beach Sailboat Popsicles

April 2, 2014 by elana 3 Comments

Sex on the Beach Sailboat Cocktails // stirandstrain.comI bought these sailboat popsicle molds last year with the sole intention of putting some sort of boozy frozen delicacy in them. And then a year went by, and I only just got around to taking them out of the box. And for a private dinner no less! I knew that if I put this post up on April 1st (yesterday) you all would have erroneously assumed it was some kind of practical joke. Sex on the Beach…popsicles?!?! So I thought it best to go up the next day to avoid any confusion with this recipe because it is, in fact, quite tasty.

The “cocktail” was developed after I was hired to make drinks for a private dinner party where the theme was “Seafood, Italian, 80’s Miami a la the Golden Girls”. The sailboats were the amuse course. The next four cocktails were all based on the four Golden Girls (you can check out some of those pics in my Instagram feed). My eyes popped wide open once I realized that I could use the sailboat molds – finally! At first I had thought I’d make a highbrow cherimoya-lime-spicy concoction. But then stopped myself. 80’s Miami? It HAS to be a cocktail riff based on one of those “classics” of the era; so a Sex on the Beach was made and enjoyed by all.Sex on the Beach Sailboat Cocktails // stirandstrain.com

I made a few adjustments to the recipe to start. Cranberry juice is almost never making an appearance in my fridge, so instead I subbed in my homemade grenadine. Same goes with Peach Schnapps. Instead, a fresh peach puree was used in place. A few minor changes took this recipe from meh to ahhh, resulting in a great start to the dinner.

So now I’m sharing the recipe with you all. It’s a taste of the summer to come.Sex on the Beach Sailboat Cocktails // stirandstrain.com

Note: you don’t need to have these sailboats on hand. Any popsicle mold will suffice, but just won’t be as fun.

1/2 ounce grenadine (homemade is always best)
1 ounce peach puree
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 ounce vodka, Aylesbury Duck from the 86 Co. used here
1/4 ounce G.E. Massenez Creme de Cassis

  1. In the bottom of your popsicle mold, pour grenadine in. Freeze to semi-frozen, about 45 minutes.
  2. Mix together peach puree, orange juice and vodka. Pour on top of grenadine. Freeze to semi-frozen, about an hour and a half.
  3. Drizzle creme de cassis on top of peach/O.J./vodka mixture. Add popsicle stick at this point and freeze until solid, at least 6 hours but overnight is best.
  4. To un-mold, squeeze mold to release sides of the popsicle. This should enable you to wiggle the popsicle out. If not, run under warm, NOT hot, water for 5 seconds to help un-mold.
  5. Eat immediately!

Why not WAY more alcohol? Because then they wouldn’t freeze well. I tried this with one ounce of vodka in the center and it never fully froze to a stable consistency. That said, you can still taste that these have some booze in them because clearly, that’s the point. They do have a nice fruity punch to them with the grenadine working well in contrast with the peach/orange combo. Depending on the creme de cassis you have, this can be left out (some flavors work better than others). Try one with and one without to see for yourself. I tried this with Chambord too but the flavor just didn’t work well here, somehow it became almost medicinal. Also, if you can get a giant seashell filled with ice to display your pops in, you win.

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: Aylesbury Duck Vodka, frozen drinks, G.E. Massenez Creme de Cassis, grenadine, orange, peach, spring, summer, vodka

Make It: Rosemary-Tangelo Shrub

March 28, 2014 by elana 3 Comments

Rosemary-Tangelo Shrub // stirandstrain.comThis post should have been up days ago. Alas, I was struck down by a nasty cold. The kind where getting up from bed is unheard of and the only thing you can muster the strength to do is hit ‘next’ to continue binge watching episodes of Midsomer Murders on Netflix which quite frankly are much too long to hold a sick person’s attention as you always fall asleep before they discover who the murderer is. But now that the fog is clearing from my brain I figured I’d grab a chance to get this up, a reposting from my article on the Serious Drinks site from last week.

In an effort to try more herb-forward shrub recipes, I turned to the most prolific herb in my garden. You guessed it: rosemary. I also have a tangelo tree that won’t quit; so that was going to be put to good use too.

The end result was a more savory shrub with an aggressive, woodsy nature to it. The tangelo sits in the background offering a lingering note to the flavor. Mainly though, you’ll want to taste test every few days while making this until you get the flavor YOU want. The vinegar,which as I said in the Blackberry shrub, will always be very present, but it does soften as it sits.Rosemary-Tangelo Shrub // stirandstrain.com

6 sprigs 5” long rosemary
1 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed tangelo juice from approximately 3 and a half medium sized tangelos
1 cup apple cider vinegar

  1. Combine rosemary sprigs and sugar in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit 8 hours or overnight.
  2. Add juice to the bowl and stir to help start to dissolve sugar. Let sit, covered, overnight, occasionally stirring sugar every few hours. Fine strain mixture into a bottle or airtight container. Add apple cider vinegar and shake well to combine. Seal and store in fridge. After 3 days, start tasting for desired flavor. After 6 days, shrub should be ready to use.
  3. Use within 1 year for optimal flavor.

The rosemary-tangelo shrub works well on its own with some sparkling water, or with an ounce of gin too over some ice. The strong flavors do more favorably with less ingredients added to them.

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Filed Under: Make It, Non-alcoholic, Recipes Tagged With: rosemary, sugar, tangelo, vinegar, winter

Mixology Monday: Classic Blackberry Shrub

March 19, 2014 by elana 5 Comments

Mixology Monday Blackberry Shrub // stirandstrain.com

Mixology Monday LogoOk, first off guys, I am well aware it’s not Monday despite the name of the post. However, I wanted to get this up before the Monday deadline. What deadline? What are you talking about? Mixology Monday for you newbies here is the once a month “cocktail party” where internet people like to show off with a drink they made based on a theme by whoever “hosts” this month. Please read up on it here and see past entries on the MxMo site. This month, Craig from “A World of Drinks” gave us the theme of “Preserves” (and yes, there’s a lot of quotation marks happening in this paragraph). It took me a second to realize that I was already planning on making a shrub this month, and since making shrubs was an old school way of preserving fruit, I was ready to publish a double duty post this month.

Mixology Monday Blackberry Shrub // stirandstrain.com

Blackberries. I love the taste of them, but, truth be told, I hate eating them. Those little seeds! They always get stuck in my teeth and half the time they seem like too much of a bother to eat. Anyone with me on this or am I crazy? Last week my husband was out getting some food and I had asked him to pick up some blueberries. Apparently the store was out and he figured I just wanted a berry that was close enough to blue to eat. So he picked up blackberries instead. After scrunching up my face at them and letting them sit there for a few days, the overwhelming urge not to waste food made me cave in. What to do with them?

Mixology Monday Blackberry Shrub // stirandstrain.comA shrub! If I made them into a shrub I was just going to extract their juices and all those annoying little seeds would stay in the strainer. I might have patted myself on the back there for thoughtfulness.

Shrubs are a bit well known now, more so than say, a year ago. I see them a lot more on cocktail menus and on the shelves of my local liquor suppliers. Shrubs are also pretty simple to make yourself; let me show you how.

Mixology Monday Blackberry Shrub // stirandstrain.com

Classic Blackberry Shrub

1 cup whole blackberries, rinsed
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

  1. Combine blackberries and sugar in a bowl. Lightly crush the blackberries to release their juices (I used a potato masher, but a fork would suffice). Cover and let sit 8 hours or overnight. Shake the bowl every once in awhile to make sure the sugar is incorporating into the juice. Half way through, stir the mixture and re-cover.
  2. Next, strain the mixture through a fine strainer into an airtight container. Add the vinegar and shake well (if any sugar has remained, shake hard to dissolve here). Store the container in the refrigerator for 6 days.
  3. After 6 days give it a taste. Usually, by day 6 the sharpness of the vinegar has started to pull back and let the sweetness from the sugar and fruit stand out more. Keep in mind, this is a vinegar base: it will ALWAYS taste like vinegar. The vinegar will mellow more as it sits but its zing is what is wanted in a shrub.

For this shrub, there is a nice sweet and sour balance from the ingredients. The blackberries produce a tartness that is heightened from the vinegar while the sugar cuts through to keep your mouth from puckering. Strong nose of vinegar with subtle berry.

Sparkling Blackberry Shrub (no booze)

1/2 ounce blackberry shrub (recipe above)
6 ounces sparkling water
1 lime wedge

Fill a rocks glass with the water and pour the shrub down the center. Stir to combine. Squeeze a wedge of lime and add spent lime to the glass.

And here’s Christopher’s cocktail recipe with the shrub he’s been making:

2 ounces 4 Roses Bourbon Yellow Label
1 ounce Blackberry Shrub (recipe above)
1/4 ounce maple syrup

Fill a mixing glass 2/3 with ice. Add all ingredients and stir to chill. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Thanks to Craig for hosting this month and Fred for keeping MxMo up and alive!

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Filed Under: Make It, Mixology Monday, Non-alcoholic, Recipes Tagged With: 4 Roses Bourbon Yellow Label, blackberries, lime, make it, maple syrup, mixology monday, sparkling water, spring, vinegar, whiskey

The Irish Derby Cocktail

March 13, 2014 by elana 1 Comment

Irish Derby Cocktail // stirandstrain.comI’m sure that this week every aspect of your social media accounts are being filled to the brim with green drinks and Irish whiskey recipes. Well, this cocktail isn’t green but it does use Irish whiskey.

Usually, Jameson or Redbreast is drunk by itself in this household. Very rarely does it make its way into a cocktail, although there have been a few off nights when I’ve desperately wanted a Manhattan and used it as the base when there was not a drop of Rye to be found. So this week’s challenge to me over on the Serious Drinks site was to make a cocktail that uses Irish whiskey as the base and go from there. Initially I was at a blank until I started sifting through my new copy of Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh. Although at times I find myself pouring over the vintage Ads more than the words, the recipes collected here are a good history lesson for those of us interested in the world of cocktails; you need to know your beginnings.

Looking through here one realizes that many recipes are ready made for substitutions. I just had to find one for Irish whiskey, and in particular, Redbreast. The Derby cocktail stood out as one that might work, and after adjusting for tastes (woo there was a bit too much lime juice in here), it did. The original cocktail was bourbon based but utilized sweet vermouth, dry orange curaçao and lime juice. I upped the whiskey, downed the lime and added Angostura to balance it all out. What resulted was a light, slightly zingy cocktail where the whiskey played more of a supporting actor role.

1-1/2 ounces Irish Whiskey, such as Redbreast
1/2 ounce Carpano Antica sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce dry orange curaçao (can sub with Cointreau)
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice from 1/2 lime
2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 long lime zest for garnish

First, peel the zest from the lime using a channel knife, or use a sharp paring knife to curl a long continuous piece of peel from the lime. Set aside. Next, fill a shaker 2/3 with ice and add all ingredients. Shake for 20 seconds and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime peel.

Strong essence of orange oil and sweet florals from the lime on the nose. The Redbreast is mellowed out by the sweetness from the angostura and curaçao, while the Angostura adds just a touch of bitterness that completes the drinks. Not your usual Irish drink.

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: angostura, carpano antica, Dry Orange Curaçao, lime, Redbreast Irish Whiskey, St. Patrick's Day, sweet vermouth, whiskey

Trinidad Spell (with a whole lot of bitters)

March 8, 2014 by elana 4 Comments

Trinidad Spell Cocktail // stirandstrain.comOne day trolling the internet I came across a drink called the Stormy Mai-Tai. This tropical sounding cocktail totally threw me for a loop–there was a whole lot of bitters in there. Like, a WHOLE lot. An ounce and a half.

Somewhere along the way through my cocktail education, I mistakenly thought bitters contained lethal amounts of alcohol that when taken in large doses would kill me. Clearly I was mistaken. Here was a drink that showed you could use bitters as a base and not just an accent. Also, I had overlooked the fact that Angostura only clocked in at 44.7% ABV, not lethal.Trinidad Spell Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

I had thought of recreating the Stormy Mai-Tai here for this site, but when I was asked to come up with a bitters-heavy drink for Serious Drinks, I thought I’d see where else I could get bitters to work in large doses; so I turned to Tiki drinks.

I adapted the Polynesian Spell (which you can find in the Grog Log) by replacing the grape juice (there’s a head scratcher), triple sec, and peach brandy with Angostura, apricot brandy, passion fruit and citrus; I kept the gin. I was going out on a limb trying to shove Angostura in there, but after a couple of tweaks…wow. It was a success.

1 ounce Angostura bitters
1 ounce gin, London Dry style
3/4 ounce Rothman & Winter Apricot Brandy
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice from 1/4 orange
1/2 ounce passion fruit syrup (see note)
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1/2 lemon

bamboo straws

Combine all ingredients in a shaker filled 2/3 with ice. Shake hard for 30 seconds to incorporate and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish according to your own inner-Tiki style.

Yes, the flavor is strongly bittered, but there’s also a cascade of cherry and clove, fruit and sweetness. The aroma is fiery from the Angostura with strong hints of passionfruit and orange. The slight numbing of your tongue may serve to remind you: you’re drinking a heck of a lot of bitters.

For this recipe, I used a Cobalt shaker*. I was sent this shaker to try out and I’ve used for several of my tiki drinks for a few reasons. One, the shaker gets things cold, really cold. And two, for the boozier drinks, I like the small ice chips that slowly melt as I drink the cocktail. It’s also roomy for large volume recipes like these too.

cobalt shaker // Trinidad Spell Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

*Items generously given gratis and appear here because I like them. All opinions are my own and no monetary compensation was given. For more info on sponsored products, affiliate links, and gifted booze, please visit the About page.

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: angostura, apricot liqueur, bitters, gin, lemon juice, orange, passion fruit, Rothman & WInter Apricot Brandy, tiki

Mary Pickford Cocktail (Tiki in disguise)

March 2, 2014 by elana 5 Comments

Mary Pickford Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

Let’s begin this post by acknowledging that this darling cocktail is not one of my originals (in case you didn’t know). However, in the buzz surrounding Oscar weekend, I thought I’d bring out a classic. Do we need to start with who Mary Pickford is? Mary Pickford won the first best actress Oscar for a “talkie” in 1930. Considered “America’s Sweetheart”, this cocktail, created by Eddie Woelke, borders on the fun and fruity side.

In fact, it’s really just a Tiki drink in disguise. Seriously guys.

A lot of rum, some pineapple, a touch of grenadine… so far all of this works. Maraschino liquor? Sure, that can work too. Give it a grand garnish and you’ve got yourself an afternoon sipper while you throw rubber darts at Ryan Seacrest on tv.Mary Pickford Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

2 oz. white rum, such as Caña Brava
1-1/2 oz. fresh pineapple juice
1/4 oz. grenadine, homemade preferred
barspoon maraschino liqueur, such as Maraska

pineapple wedge, lime wheel and cherry for garnish (and some edible gold stars if you got those hanging around too!)

In a shaker 2/3 filled with ice, add all ingredients and shake for 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

After one sip your mind goes straight to tropical. The grassy rum holds up next to the sweetness of the other ingredients while a tart pop rounds it out. Fresh pineapple juice is not as cloyingly sweet as out of the can, and here it’s just superior where you need that freshness to cut through the liqueurs. You only need just a small amount of maraschino, as a little goes a long way. Light and fruity, it’s a great starter drink for your afternoon.

Note: you may notice that this drink is not very pink like the other versions you might find. The reason being that maraschino syrup is not used, which is often dyed red. Maraska is clear in color, so your two coloring agents are the yellow from the pineapple juice and red from grenadine.

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: Caña Brava rum, classic cocktail, grenadine, maraschino syrup, maraska, pineapple juice, rum, tiki

And the winner of the barrel aged cocktail choice goes to…

February 28, 2014 by elana 2 Comments

Barrel Aged Hanky Panky (without a real barrel) // stirandstrain.comTwo weeks flew by around these parts and in that time a new cocktail was born. Well, the base you all will be familiar with, but the flavor profile? Totally new.

In the first post, I proposed the question to you all, What cocktail should get barrel aged (without a real barrel)? In this post I found that most of you would rather respond on every other form of social media except the post’s page. So I rounded up all of your responses, gave it a thought, and decided the cocktail would be…

A Hanky Panky!

First, thanks to you guys who gave up a lot more info on this process than I had in the instruction manual. All of your comments were super helpful in this process and tuned me in to the fact that I needed to taste daily. And you know what? After four days this baby was done aging with the stave. It did, however, require several more days of chilling out in the bottle before the taste was to my liking.

The jar holds 375ml, so count on about 3 full cocktails, or several small sipping shots.

6 oz. gin, Ford’s works well here
3 oz. sweet vermouth, Martini & Rossi used here
1 oz. Fernet Branca
6 dashes of orange bitters,Regan’s used here

  • Add the stave to the jar. Using a funnel, pour all ingredients into the barrel and seal.
  • Taste starting a day or two into aging. After 4 days I found that I was happy with the taste.
  • Strain mixture through cheesecloth, remove the stave from the jar, rinse the jar, and pour strained mixture back into the bottle. Cap and let sit for about 5 days in a cool, dark place.
  • After 5 days your Hanky Panky is ready to drink. Pour with ice into a strainer to chill, or sip straight out of the bottle too! Both work.

The flavor definitely has that “barrel aged” quality to it with a sweet, smokiness. On the nose there are hints of molasses, vanilla, raisins, pepper, honey, and smoke; not your typical Hanky Panky. The sweet vermouth is more pronounced while the Fernet Branca has softened considerably. In the barrel it’s been transformed into a richer, moodier version of a Hanky Panky.

Now on to thinking about what goes in there next…

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Filed Under: Make It, Recipes Tagged With: barrel aged, fernet branca, Fords Gin, gin, make it, orange bitters, sweet vermouth

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