More Pisco Recipes

The problem with Pisco and Cachaca is that people haven't been very good at promoting recipes other than the pisco sour and caipirinha. Anyway, I found a few more pisco recipes in July's Food and Wine Magazine here.

All about Pisco

There was another wonderful Wall Street Journal booze article by Eric Felten on Pisco Sours this weekend. It's about the difference between the Chilean and Peruvian versions of the drink.

Chileans, you see, also claim the Pisco Sour as their national drink, though they construct it rather differently from their neighbors. In Peru, a Sour is made with pisco, lime juice, sugar, egg white and a few drops of Angostura bitters. In Chile, they use lemon juice instead of lime, often omit the egg white, and almost always abjure the bitters --though some top the drink with a dash of whiskey.

PERUVIAN PISCO SOUR

2 oz pisco
1 oz fresh lime juice
¾ oz simple (i.e., sugar) syrup (to taste)
1 fresh egg white (or 2 tbsp pasteurized egg whites)
1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake all but the Angostura vigorously with ice. Don't stop shaking -- the egg whites need to get nice and frothy. Strain into a short glass and garnish the foamy top with a few drops of Angostura.

CHILEAN PISCO SOUR

2 oz pisco
1 oz fresh lemon juice
¾ oz simple syrup (to taste)

Shake with ice and strain into a short glass.

My Cachaca Drink

My article on new brunch cocktails in the July issue of Out Magazine just came out. Pick it up! (And if you like it, feel free to write a letter to the editor as they kicked me to the curb.)

In the article I mention that the average Bloody Mary usually disappoints- not because it's a bad drink, but because it's hard to get right. Then I suggest a few alternatives. The Michelada is one, the Spanish Coffee, which is huge in Portland, Oregon, is another, and the third is a cocktail called the Mellow A.M..

They neglected to include that I invented the drink (at least I think I did- it's so hard to know if someone else invented the same drink independently), but that's okay because I get to share it with you all.

The Mellow AM
1 ounce Cachaca such as Boca Loca or Pirrasununga 51 (I tried other brands and these two were my favorites)
1 ounce Cranberry Juice
1 ounce Papaya Nectar
1 1/2 ounce Ginger Ale

Build in a tall glass over ice and serve with a straw.

The thing is, I've made the drink at home a zillion times and think it's fan-freeking-tastic, but I don't know of anyone else who has tried it. So if you happen to come across the ingredients, why don't you give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Nectarini

I decided to make myself an early afternoon cocktail, just because I can. And it turns out I made one that was actually good. Naturally, the photo turned out bad, but here it is anyway.

I had a nectarine that I was going to eat, but then I figured, why not drink it instead? I muddled it up as best I could (it was juicy but didn't produce a whole lot of juice so much as mush), added the juice of half a lime, an ounce and a half or so of gin, and a splash of simple syrup.

The drink is fantastic. Not cloying and sweet, but not too juice+boozy either. Do try this at home.

Unfortunately now I'm out of nectarines and I'm not in the mood for a leftover-Indian-foodtini so I guess I'll get back to work.

Open Source Soda

Color me clueless- I didn't know about OpenCola, a copyright-free recipe for Coke or Pepsi-like soda. Here's the recipe.

I'm not a fan of traditional sodas, but maybe you crafty barfolk can add this to your DIY selection of bar ingredients along with grenadine, bitters, tonic water, and limoncello.

Also on WikiHow, they have recipes for cherry soda, ginger ale, and root beer.

Angel of the Morning

A couple of years ago, I wrote that the Michelada was going to be the hot new beverage of the summer. In reality, not so much. But increased chatter about the drink lately by the likes of Jordan Mackay and The Spirit World and others makes me think its got a chance.

I make it like this:

Michelada
Salt the rim of a pint glass. Fill with ice, add the juice of half a lime, a few dashes of Tabasco sauce, one dash of Worcestershire sauce, and fill with Mexican beer such as Tecate.

I wrote about the drink again recently as something that should be served at brunch. Beer and juice over ice means that it's extremely low in alcohol so you can drink them early and often, and when I have a six-pack laying around I tend to go through about half of it making Micheladas instead of just one.

The reason I post this is to encourage people to try the drink at home and to request it at bars. It's a light and simple drink that deserves to be popular.

Recipe by Request

By Cior's request in the Bacardi post comments, here is a recipe that I think allows the flavors in the rum to shine through.

Generally, the lime juice + sugar+ booze recipe should do this also, whether that's in a gimlet (gin) or daiquiri (rum) or margarita (tequila), but I don't actually like gimlets or daiquiris. These recipes all add a touch of sweetness, fruit, and volume to dilute the spirit but shouldn't overwhelm it. Basically, they're filler. So is the Rucopi, a drink which must exist somewhere under another name but here's what I came up with:

Rucopi (RUm COconut PIneapple)
1 1/2 ounces rum (especially dark rum)
1 ounce coconut water (not coconut milk; available in Latino groceries and health food stores)
1/2 ounce pineapple juice
Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

In defense of Bacardi

Much like Smirnoff, the well vodka so maligned that even after the NY Times blind tasted it as superior to expensive brands it still doesn't get much respect socially, Bacardi rum gets no props.

I was at a barbecue yesterday at which I served my Summer Strawberry Wave cocktail of strawberry-infused rum, lemon iced tea, and ginger ale. It was well-received all around, as usual. (Honestly, it's a fricking fantastic daytime drink). Someone new came in as I was offering up another round and I described the drink.

"What kind of rum is in it?" asked the person pondering it.

Bacardi, I said, though this should have been obvious due to the Bacardi bottle I was holding.

"Oh, well, then no thanks. Bacardi is gross."

I resisted the urge to smack her. Clearly she wasn't a rum expert dissing Bacardi in comparison to better brands; she was dissing it because she had gotten too drunk on Bacardi and Whatevers in college and thinks of it as overly sweet, syrupy rum when that's the mixer she's actually remembering.

"Take a sip of it then tell me it sucks," I said, but she wouldn't. Typical.

A few weeks ago, a couple of friends were over for a mojito-making training session (by the way, I'm available to do mojito-making training sessions for groups and business networking events- email me). After we went through the basics of preparation, I suggested we then try different rums and make mojitos with them.

My friends were hesitant when it came to sampling the Bacardi we had already been mixing with, but then they tried it. "Wow! Who knew?" they said. ("It's probably best to suggest trying it after a few drinks," one added, acknowledging her prejudices.)

I think more than commonly consumed average-quality whiskies or vodkas or certainly tequilas, Bacardi is the most underrated yet popular spirit brand out there. For something that so many people buy and consume, most people think of it as a crap product.

If that's you, I want you to take a sip from the bottle in your cabinet right now. It won't taste how you think it does- unless you think it tastes like more like chocolate and coffee than syrup and candy. These flavors aren't overwhelmingly intense- that's why you've never noticed them before in a soup of pineapple juice and Coke- but they're there and worth knowing about.

Though I primarily use Bacardi as a mixing rum at home, like Julia Child with the cooking sherry, I'll have a little sip before I add it to the mixing glass, because it's fine and tasty on its own.

Don't let this happen to you

I was just hankering for a glass of water, so I poured myself one. Or rather, I:

Recipe for a glass of sparkling water

• Grab a pint glass
• In the freezer, do the daily ice rotation (throwing out the older ice, moving the new cubes to a fresh bag, and filling the trays with Britta-filtered water).
• Cut an organic lemon in half and squeeze a small amount of juice into the glass
• Outdoors, pick a few leaves of fresh mint from planter. Wash and add to glass.
• Add ice to glass, pressing on it to gently release the mint flavor while not pulverizing it.
  
• Add filtered water to 1-litre vessel, then carbonate using home soda making device
• Fill glass with sparkling water
  
• Add a straw and garnish with a lemon wedge

When making a glass of water takes ten minutes, you know you've crossed some kind of line.

Hip Sips

The book Hip Sips, by Lucy Brennan of Portland, Oregon's Mint and 820, is finally released. I've talked about the delicious beet-infused vodka martini I had there.

I got a review copy of the book a while ago and made the beet-infused vodka. I think I let mine infuse about one day too long, but it was still pretty tasty. (Though not as tasty as it was at her bar.) You can actually find the recipe for the Ruby and the beet infusion in the April issue of Wine&Spirits Magazine, where I did a tiny write-up of the venue as well.

Other drinks in the book include and Avocado Daiquiri and a Rhubarb Cooler- really unusual creations. Many of the drinks are labor-intensive (unless you already have fig puree around the house) but really unique. It's a nice alternative to books endlessly repeating classic recipes (Hip Sips lists 20 classic cocktails out of over 60 recipes) with impressive ingredients.

Drinking for Two

(In Today's San Francisco Chronicle)

Love Potions For Two

Dipping straws into a shared cocktail isn't the most romantic way to celebrate Valentine's Day, especially given the kitschy reputation of extra-large drinks. Yet some bartenders are trying to show that extra-big doesn't have to mean extra-bad.

The best known cocktail for two or (for the polyamorous) more is the scorpion bowl. The tropical drink, simply a fruit and rum punch in an oversized bowl with straws, is a popular leftover from the tiki food and drink fad that first swept America beginning in the 1930s. It's sometimes presented in a ceramic scorpion bowl with a volcano in the middle that's filled with a high-proof spirit and ignited -- a volatile combination that no doubt contributes to its enduring appeal.

The story goes on to discuss to origin of the scorpion bowl (Trader Vic's), what different people do with it, and why Forbidden Island does them right. We include the recipe for the popular Fugu for Two, shown in the picture.

Read the rest of the story here.

I wrote the story with Valentines Day in mind, and we made sure to include where else you can get shared cocktails. That way, you can skip the whole dinner aspect of the holiday, get drunk on jumbo cocktails, and go screw.

Double the pleasure

A few bars offering drinks for two or more:

Betelnut. Scorpion bowl. 2030 Union St. (at Buchanan), S.F.; (415) 929-8855.

Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge. Multiple tropical drinks. 1304 Lincoln Ave. (at Sherman), Alameda; (510) 749-0332.

Lingba Lounge. Bowl of Monkeys. 1469 18th St. (at Connecticut), S.F.; (415) 355-0001.

Luna Park, Volcanic scorpion bowl, Make Your Own Passion (Valentine's Day only). 694 Valencia St. (near 18th Street), S.F; (415) 553-8584.

Poleng Lounge. Emperor's Cup. 751 Fulton St. (at Masonic), S.F.; (415) 441-1710.

Ponzu. Godzilla. 401 Taylor St. (at O'Farrell), S.F.; (415) 775-7979.

Tonga Room. Multiple tropical drinks. 950 Mason St. (inside the Fairmont Hotel), S.F. (415) 772-5278.

Trad'r Sam's. Multiple tropical drinks. 6150 Geary Blvd. (at 26th Avenue), S.F.; (415) 221-0773.

Trader Vic's. Multiple tropical drinks. 9 Anchor Drive (at Powell), Emeryville; (510) 653-3400. 555 Golden Gate Ave. (near Van Ness), S.F.; (415) 775- 6300. 4269 El Camino Real (at Dinah's Garden Court), Palo Alto; (650) 849-9800.

Drinks to have and not have

Lately I've been having a lot of drinks out on the town with grapefruit in them. I think it's because grapefruit is a bitter flavor, and bitter drinks are all the rage these days. Bring on the Campari, amaros, and homemade bitters. I actually have three articles in different publications coming up that focus on cocktail bitters.

I've been playing with some grapefruit drinks lately with mixed success. Here is one that's just gross (found on DrinksMixer.com):

Petite Fleur
1 part grapefruit juice
1 part white rum
1 part Cointreau

Don't try this at home, kids! It's the essence of wrongness.

But then I tried this one:

Nevada Cocktail
1 1/2 ounce light rum
1 1/2 ounce grapefruit juice
1 dash bitters
1 ounce lime juice
2 tsp superfine sugar

I like the drink because it tastes simple and still. The bitters are so necessary and subtle they make a huge difference. The drink tastes to me well-balanced (surprisingly not too sweet) and also not too acidic.

My experimentation will continue, but tonight, I'll just have another.

*update* I had another and it wasn't anywhere near as good. I am the worst bartender in the world.