Double Tea(m)

     Mixing up a batch of orgeat to play around with, we decided to concoct a cocktail with complexity and depth similar in form to the Cameron's Kick, or the Supreme . As I favor both of those cocktails I accepted the challenge unabridged. The proportions would be similar and the spirits would be the only variable. We decided upon cognac and pear liqueur, a great combination.
     The resulting cocktail was a bit gritty,(from the orgeat) had a strong cognac nose, and a bright pear and citrus pop. This could work for the adventurous, as it did look like murky water but had a good flavor.
     Finally a bottle of St. Germain shows up. The first though that came to mind was," Hey, this will work amazingly with my tea syrup." But as I began to play around with cocktails I found that even though the syrup had a great nose, it was a wee bit to subtle to hold its own in a drink.
     So an infused liquor we shall need. A spare bottle of vodka? I think we found what I'm looking for. But let's add a little depth to this drink, shall we? Earl Grey anyone?

Double Tea(m)
(cocktail on the right)
2 oz. "Tea Liqueur"
- (equal parts Earl Grey infused vodka, and homemade oolong syrup)
0.75 oz. lemon juice
0.5 oz. St. Germain
dash Regan's Orange bitters
- shake and strain, lemon garnish(not shown)

Death From Above vs. Daffy's Nightmare

     A recent trip to Saint Louis, Missouri produced a world I was not accustomed to. Outside the winding dead-end roads and changing street names even a veteran could have issues getting around. Aside from that I hear St. Louis is a hub for the midwest gastropub and craft cocktail.... You have my attention.
     After an evening with "the family" we decided to end the night at a local casino, which had an upscale bar near the top floor overlooking the East/West St. Louis divide. Four Season St. Louis showed me a bit of St. Louis I didn't know existed. Aside from all the "ghetto" areas I was surprised to find an upscale bar in the heart of the city; no wonder its attached to a hotel. This swank hotel bar, Cielo, offered much to the seasoned as well as the novice drinker. A variety of spirits not available in my area aroused my senses. Even more did the cocktail menu arouse my girlfriend's, a duck fat infused scotch cocktail, what are they thinking? Never saw that coming, even though in hindsight why wouldn't we progress from bacon- infused to duck fat infused liquor? Infused scotch mixed with pistachio liqueur, dry vermouth, Cointreau, and a house-made allspice dram, The Daffy's Nightmare sounds quiet intriguing. The initial sip led from scotch to a cloying artificial flavor to citrus and then finished with a rather intense allspice flavor. Lisa claimed the allspice was overpowering, but I interjected with the feeling of artificial flavoring and cloying duck-fat. Maybe my senses are off, but all in all the drink was okay, very interesting with a mystique of curiosity that reels me to come back.
     Previous to the end we had had a tapas dinner at a place called Mosaic. The meal was an amazing presentation that had the taste buds flourishing. A definitive avant-garde restaurant, I was ready the moment I walked in the door. A  plethora of flavor and sensation among each small plate drug me "through the garden," loving the journey. A debate among flavor profiles ensued and of course no one won that battle. Inviting newbies to the gastro experience was a delight that I relished to enlighten those less experienced than I or my girlfriend to indulge.  Is that capsicum-infused melon? The quail egg salad was the most peculiar. Leading my girlfriend and I to debate among its character ingredients. Definitely a must try.
     Drink wise I went with a "safe" Dark and Stormy as I didn't want to bother the waitstaff to retrieve the cocktail menu from the bar. Lisa loving the intricate flavors decided upon the Death From Above; a mixture of spiced rum, lime juice, cinnamon honey syrup, smoked scotch and tobacco bitters. Wow!, is all I can say. I am not a fan of spiced rum as any person who knows will tell you, but this drink is well rounded in all aspects. The lime juice, rum and spiced honey all bleed out at the appropriate times with a smoothing smoky scotch note and tobacco spiciness round this cocktail out. Looking at it on paper I would have never thought that I would like it so much .
     All in all St. Louis threw me a curve ball I would have never swung for, but I am glad that I did. Inning for inning this town has alot to offer and I can't wait until I go back for more.

Tobago Shipwreck

     Following the  idea of the month,"herb garden," I came up with the Tobago Shipwreck . An herbaceous tea mixture combined with rum, lime and a sweetened soda. The rum on this was definitive with a nice backing of sweetness rounding out to a descent herbaceous bitterness. Try it and tell me what you think.

Tobago Shipwreck 
2 oz. Pyrat XO rum
1 oz. "tea syrup" (lime basil, pineapple sage, toasted coconut, and lime peel steeped for five minutes and sweetened with Truvia)
0.5 oz. lime juice
2 basil leaves
- muddle, add 2 dashes Jamaican bitters, and top with "7Up" (Sierra Mist)

Triple Berry Sidecar

     Ever since I picked up a copy of cocktails, shaken and stirred by Douglas Ankrah in 2005, I've always wanted to mix many of the them highlighted throughout this book. It's a great cocktail book with an emphasis on quality products and fresh ingredients. Being the rum nut that I am, one of the first cocktails I made this year was the Madagascar Sour; a mix of aged rum vanilla sugar, lime juice and vanilla liqueur. Working with the ingredients I had available I concocted a homemade vanilla simple syrup in which to use in place of the liqueur and infused sugar. I also traded out the rum for, of course my all time favorite, Pyrat XO. Who's up for a vanilla daiquiri? Sign me up, that's for sure.
     The drink was bright, acidic and finishing with a suprising vanilla richness I was not expecting. I knew the syrup was there but wow was that interesting.

     Next for Mother's Day we at Dante macerated some berries in cognac, to use to improved the complementary glass of prosecco we were offering. A last minute adjustment changed the whole ballgame and now I was sitting on three quarts of infusing fruit. The Triple Berry Daiquiri from the same book came to mind. A play on that cocktail was designed, around a mix of that recipe and the traditional Sidecar. Cognac infused blueberries and raspberries mixed with Gran Gala infused strawberries, how could this ever go wrong?

Triple Berry Sidecar
2.25 oz. Berry infused Cognac/Gran Gala mix(puree)
0.75 oz. lemon juice
splash simple syrup
- shake hard and strain into chilled cocktail glass

     This drink was delicious. Perfect for the warm weather that is to come, and a great way to utilize some seasonal fruits. We has sample this cocktail two different ways; once as a screwdriver and finally as the sidecar it became. We found the screwdriver version a bit to sweet. The Triple Berry Sidecar is here to stay.

Omaha Sling

     Searching around the wonderful plethora of cocktail websites (I love the endless inter-webs , I stumbled upon a semi-simplistic version of a Singapore Sling (Fenway Sling) that utilized a shrub. I recently had made a batch of shrub following a recipe I tried last year.
      Now the first cocktail I had tried with it was a play on the Arbusto Oaxaca, as we didn't have any mezcal I chose to mimic it the best I could and used a mix of mid-grade tequila cut with a smoky "Scotch-like" whisky, McCarthy's Whisky from Clear Creek Distillery. I followed the recipe's suggested measurements only substituting Patron XO Cafe for the Tia Maria. I figured that added tequila punch couldn't hurt.

     The drink came out a deep rich crimson to purple color,(the one on the right)to the point that the recipient stated was," a drink with character that only the adventurous would appreciate." As many other sampled the offering I soon began to understand what he had meant. West Omaha palates still aren't ready for roller coaster ride of flavor that craft bartenders are accustomed to.
     So as I had stumbled upon the Fenway Sling I took the challenge to attempt to create a similar drink that would be appealing to the masses. I have lately been working with a lot of tea-infused liquors and decided to whip up a batch of tea infused rum. We had a good amount of Bacardi Gold lying about(as it's not my preferred rum of choice I hoped it would make a good vessel to incorporate). Two and a half hours later I had an intriguing strawberry pu-erh tea infused rum to play with.
     I immediately imagined the ingredients I would use; infused-rum, falernum and shrub. Now let's build something around it. Hoping a simple 2:1:1 ratio would suffice, I threw together my cocktail, added some lemon juice for added zip(my shrub tends to be sweet in a cocktail), shook it all up strained it into a lowball glass and topped it with gingerale. what have we here?

Omaha Sling
2 oz. Strawberry Pu-erh infused rum (Bacardi Gold)
0.75 oz. Velvet Falernum
0.75 oz. homemade blackberry shrub
0.25-0.33 oz. fresh lemon juice
- shake and strain into lowball galss with ice
top with gingerale
lemon twist garnish

     The resulting drink took the imbiber on a fantastical ride of flavors with a great underlying amount of sugar that was heavy, but not cloying (almost but not quite, i did cut the falernum back a bit to aid this). The cocktail was so good we literally got the "Wow!," from nearly all who tried it. Some said it reminded them of something from their childhood, What could that be I wonder? Anyway the resulting effect treats you, this cocktail is EPIC!