Here’s a new, limited edition spiced rum from our friends at Captain Morgan. I love their signature spiced rum product, but this Sherry Oak Finish offers a very nice twist on a classic. You can tell the difference right away when you open the bottle, as you can definitely sense dark cherry scents along with a hint of vanilla. The taste is excellent, with a hint of sherry wine to go along with the dark cherry flavor. Frankly it’s delicious on the rocks and should work great with many rum cocktails. We tried the classic rum and cola combination and loved it.
This special edition was inspired by the real-life Captain Henry Morgan’s 1671 victory in Panama aboard his flagship, The Satisfaction. The bottle design is slick as you can see, with a highly-detailed metallic label. It will definitely look good on your home bar and your guests will be happy to try something new.
Rum is a great option when the weather is nice, so you can break this out for your picnics and cookouts as well. Enjoy!
First of all, my apologies that we kind of skipped over July 4th this year. It’s not that I lack love for los Estados Unidos, it’s just that I’ve been dealing with a Mexican-inspired morass. To be specific….
If anybody out there was paying attention, last week I wound up making a carefully constructed Margarita from the Hornitos people using the wrong type of tequila. Today, I am making amends with a drink where I actually used the right type of (very good) booze. What a shocker that this drink turned out to be more than okay, but actually very good.
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Muddle the watermelon, jalapeno, and cilantro into the melange of liquids with a fair amount of gusto. Next, add lots of ice and shake as vigorously as you can manage — you shaker will be good and full of stuff, especially if you make two at once like I did at one point.
Strain into a chilled rocks/old fashioned glass with ice cubes in it. If you don’t want your drink overly hot from the jalapeno, you probably want to double strain it — i.e., pour from your cocktail shaker’s strain into a regular food strainer. On the other hand, if you don’t mind a drink that’s a bit muy on the caliente side, than just one regular cocktail strainer should be enough. Add the lime slice garnish, and toast, if you like, Hussong’s Cantina in beautiful Ensenada, Mexico. That’s where legend tells us the first Margarita was born.
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As with last week’s drink, the Seize Your Margarita is actually intended to be made with the new (to me, anyway) John DeKuyper & Sons O3 Premium Orange Liqueur. I’m guessing it has some kind of corporate tie to Hornitos but, for all I know, it might actually be even better that way. Still, it worked just fine with the el-cheapo DeKuyper triple sec I happened to have here at el casa de DOTW and might work well with whatever premium or cheap orangey liqueurs you happen to have on hand. I almost hate to suggest it, but the seize your margarita might even be okay with non-Hornitos brands of blanco tequila.
The other major alteration I made is the possible use of a teaspoon full of sugar. I got the idea because my watermelon wasn’t as sweet as I’d have liked. Even so, I was more than happy with my first version but I correctly guessed that I could be made happier still with a bit more sweetness. In fact, I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to adding the sugar with somewhat sweeter watermelon chunks. What’s 16 calories among friends?
When you come right down to it, when you throw tequila, watermelon and jalapenos together, it’s kind of hard to go too terribly wrong. The balance of sweet and hot is one I’ve always found hard to resist. Indeed, I have yet to meet a jalapeno margarita I didn’t like, and that includes a beverage full of the usually hated sour mixes and what not that I actually enjoyed recently at the Mexican-style bar at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas.
Still, the Seize Your Margarita is definitely much, much better than that prefab jalapeno margarita — and good for you too, what with all scurvy-fighting fresh fruit and vegetable extractions mixing with the health-giving power of tequila. In fact, if you’re feeling a bit of a post-fireworks let down this cinco de Julio, give it a try.
The suspense is over. I’m 95% over my cold and back in the saddle and boozing again, this time with another cocktail provided by one of my mysterious liquor-supplying benefactors.
In this case, the liquor is Hornitos Plata tequila, which I’m really glad I got. I really think tequila might be my very favorite spirit to drink straight and this is some good stuff for a relatively reasonable price – I gather between $20 and $30. It’s got a kind of spicy, sweet underside to it for a blanco tequila, as well as the more expected pungency. It’s bracing, and that’s good.
I also appreciate that this drink brings me back in touch with Anjou pears. Even though I’ve always loved pears, I’d had so many bad experiences buying them in supermarkets I’ve mostly avoided them until called to do so by this week’s drink. It turns out the ones in my local discount food emporium are actually not half bad these days. Good to know.
But now we have a big problem. Just as I was writing those last words, I realized that I’d misread the recipe in one key respect. The drink I’ve been making all week is actually supposed to be made with Hornitos presumably more mellow Reposado Tequila, not the Plata, which is the only kind of Hornitos I have here! So, consider this week’s drink a bit of an off-the-cuff and entirely accidental collaboration between me and Hornitos’ in-house mixologist. Let’s see how things go.
The Hornitos Kickstarter Margarita (as muddled beyond all recognition by DOTW)
Combine all the ingredients, garnish excepted, in a cocktail shaker. Muddle the pear slices into the booze. Add ice cubes. Shake very vigorously and strain — Hornitos’ original recipe calls for you to run it through an additional strainer but I like the microscopic pear bits — into a chilled cocktail glass, with ice cubes. (It’s not usual to put ice in coupes or cocktail/martini glasses, but it works better this way, in this case)
Sip and toast either Belgium or France, one of the two nations thought to be responsible for the ever so tasty Anjou pear.
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Okay, so aside from my using the wrong expression of Hornitos for this drink, the original recipe calls for John DeKuyper & Sons O3 Premium Orange Liqueur. Since no one was sending me that, however, I used the plain old DeKuyper Triple Sec which I happened to have on hand. I would have tried it with Cointreau, too, but I ran out of that on a failed experiment with the Hornitos Plata.
The final adjustment is that I reduced the amount of lemon juice from 3/4 of an ounce to 1/2 ounce. It was simply too tart for me at the original strength, your taste buds may well differ.
As for this version of the drink, it’s not a stemwinder of a Kickstarter. However, considering how badly I screwed the pooch on matching the original recipe, it’s not half bad. Just don’t do what I did one or two times and forget the bitters; they’re absolutely crucial in terms of giving the thing some body. It’s also kind of cool to use bitters in a Margarita which, for a purist, makes it more of a “real” cocktail.
Okay, so it could have been worse, but I’ll be returning to the well next week for a somewhat less bastardized Hornitos margarita variation. Stay tuned!
By now, most wine lovers know Chile as a source for excellent Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. Those paying closer attention also realize that there is terrific Pinot Noir and Chardonnay reaching our shores from Chile. That, however, is just the entrée into the remarkable diversity and quality that Chile offers, often at outstanding price-points that will make you take note. Among the reasons that so many diverse grapes flourish in Chile is the regional diversity. Whether we’re talking about valley floors, mountain ranges or vineyards influenced by ocean breezes, Chile has them all — and more.
One of the things that particularly struck me when I was down in Chile was the number of aromatic white wines being produced by some wineries. Sometimes, they were small production items for larger wineries; in other cases, part of their main line of wines. The bottom line is that there are many wines in this general category worth both the time and money of interested wine lovers. With that in mind, I sat down and tasted some offerings that fit the grouping, and selected three standouts to look at.
First up is the Cono Sur 2012 Bicicleta Viognier. This wine was produced using hand-harvested fruit from the Colchagua region of Chile. It is a 100 percent varietal wine. Fermentation was accomplished in stainless steel tanks followed by eight months of aging. This wine most often sells for right around $10. Apricots, Lychee fruit and hints of white pepper all but explode from the nose of this Viognier. Peach and apricot star on the light palate that practically bounces on the tongue with enticing fruity goodness. Lemon zest, minerals and continues spice make up the finish, which has nice length. This is a crisp and refreshing wine that is vibrant and alive; if it could speak it would scream summer. I taste a lot of wine every week and there are those that — even though I like them a lot — I can put down easily. This Viognier from Cono Sur was not one of those. It is so mellifluous and engaging that I was compelled to keep drinking it
The Meli 2011 Riesling was produced entirely from fruit sourced in the Maule region. The fruit for this wine is 100 percent Riesling and was entirely hand-harvested. Fermentation took place over two weeks in stainless steel tanks. This offering most often sells for right around $12. White flower and stone fruit aromas abound on the nose of this Riesling. The palate is gentle and layered with continued stone fruit joined by spice and almond characteristics. The finish shows off tiny touches of mesquite honey and petrol. This is a perfectly dry, remarkably crisp wine that’s delicious on its own, and also paired with lighter foods.
Finally, we have the Anakena 2011 ONA White Blend. This offering combines Riesling (43 percent), Chardonnay (42 percent), and Viognier (15 percent). The fruit was sourced at the winery’s Las Brisas Vineyard in Leyda Valley. After fermentation, this wine was barrel-aged for approximately nine months. This wine most often sells for right around $15. Golden delicious apple, lemon and Lychee fruit aromas are present on the nose of this blend from Anakena. The palate is loaded with flavors that are simultaneously diverse and harmonious in their cohesion. Peach, apricot, bits of lemon zest and hints of orchard fruit are all present, along with spices galore. Bits of Granny Smith apple and green herb emerge on the finish, which is crisp, clean and pleasing. This wine grabs you and makes you reach back for sip after delicious sip.
With the warm weather months here I find myself reaching for white wine more often than not. In fact, I generally always have a few bottles chilled, whether it’s to pair with the lighter foods of summer or simply to sip on my deck. There is something about the warmth of the season that brings out my desire to drink whites far more often than at other times of the year. These three wines from Chile are perfectly suited for drinking all summer. They’re aromatic, refreshing and loaded with character. Each of them also represents an excellent value. I heartily recommend them and hope they’re a jumping off point for the exploration of the bounty that Chile offers in diverse, well-made, fantastically priced, aromatic white wines. There is no end to the diversity that Chile offers; even these wines are from three unique regions. The more of Chile you taste, the more impressed you’re bound to be.
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This will probably drive me out of the cocktail writers’ club, but my regular, recipe-centric, DOTW was preempted by a cold. I know this will make me sound a bit wussy to some of you, but I personally do not find that alcohol “kills the cold germs” It’s more like granting the virus superpowers. Moreover, when I’m sick, some generic Alka-Seltzer Plus more or less does me just fine. In short, liquor has not passed these lips in over a week.
On the other hand, being sick also allowed me to wipe my DVR clean of “Mad Men” episodes…including episode 12, “The Quality of Mercy,” which my device decided to turn off about 1/3 of the way through the episode. I tried recording it again last night, but the show my DVR thought was “Mad Men” turned out to be CSI or NCIS or SVU or something else with letters or what not. I’m sure I’ll catch up with it all by next Sunday. The point is that “Mad Men” is whipping up more controversy and hysteria than ever, and it’s lovable/hatable alcoholic antihero/hero, Don Draper, has done more than his share to revive interest in classic cocktails in general and one ultra-classic, in particular, the Old Fashioned.
If you want a recipe, as such, you can find not one but actually two if you read my last look at the Old Fashioned closely. That was just a little over two years ago, but the two approaches to the drink in it remain pretty close to the way I often make it now…except I’m slightly more open-minded about the use of soda water. Still, I say keep it minimal if you use it at all.
On the other hand, that’s not quite what Mr. Draper does in this memorable scene from a long-ago season when he makes a new and short-lived friend in Conrad Hilton by making him an Old Fashioned. Yes, we’re breaking the format this week and in lieu of a recipe, you’re getting this legendary moment in televisionary cocktailing.
Now, watching this again, it occurs to me I’ve never made an Old Fashioned precisely this way. Don uses a bit more soda water than I would prefer. And note how he doesn’t really stir it, but just sort of dashes the bar spoon on the ice cubes a couple of times. On the other hand, his wetting of one sugar cube per glass (they look like rather large brown sugar cubes to me) with Angostura bitters and then muddling them is absolutely classic. The fact that he includes a cheap, bright red, non-Luxardo maraschino cherry in his muddling would, on the other hand, horrify many in the crafty cocktail set, but I don’t think it’s a problem.
No, if I were drinking tonight, I’d probably make pretty much exactly that drink, though I’ve never been a big Old Overholt guy. This rye has become the craft bar standard recently — I can’t speak for its popularity in 1963 — but I prefer my bonded Rittenhouse Rye or Don Draper’s favorite not-quite-rye, Canadian Club. (CC, by the way, sponsors a brief tutorial with their version of an Old Fashioned as an extra on the Blu-Ray/DVD of “Mad Men” Season Five.) Right now, I’d be using Bulleit’s Rye, because that’s what I’ve got. I’m sure it would be decent.
And that’s actually the thing about an Old Fashioned — even more than a Martini or a Manhattan, it’s sturdy and flexible. Paradoxically, it’s also easy to foul up completely, as most non-craft bars do, if you use too much sweetener, water, or even whiskey. One teaspoon for two ounces of whiskey is pretty much the right proportion, and it’s definitely also the maximum if you’re muddling fruit. Also never, ever, use the syrup that comes with the sweet-supermarket maraschino cherries as your sweetener. Don’t.
Still, like I said, there’s that a lot of leeway with your Old Fashioned. You can make the very severe kind with only a teaspoon full of soda water, a sugar cube, bitters, and not very much ice — or, the fashionable craft bar favorite, one giant and slow to dilute cube — or you can make the lusher version I mostly lean towards, in which I muddle an orange slice and maybe a cherry, too, while throwing in a splash or two, or three, of plain water and enough ice to fill my rocks glass.
There’s an idea out there that there’s one way to make a perfect Martini or Old Fashioned, and I’m here to tell you that’s balderdash. I’ve mad dozens of these drinks in dozens of ways — I’ve even served an Old Fashioned up, shaken, as if it was a Martini or Manhattan — and it nearly always works, at least a little bit.
At bars, I’ve had two truly great Old Fashioneds. One was for probably $15.00 at a very high end joint in Century City on November 4th, 2008 and used Michter’s Rye (or maybe Bourbon). The other was a $3.00 happy hour beverage with the well bourbon (Evan Williams, I think) by a nameless bartender at the Hudson in West Hollywood several months back. I’m sure they were made in completely different ways.
So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that these recipes — all of them — are guidelines. I’ve veered between the various poles of making Old Fashioneds and I’ve yet to find a consistently great way to make the drink, but some of my tries have been very good. Some have also been disappointing. I still think the official recipe I wrote two years back is the most reliable, but my results always vary.
It’s pretty much the same way as it goes with a great television series like “Mad Men.” Maybe the season closer will be a real humdinger, or maybe it won’t. We should all just relax and let it be whatever it is.
Unless, of course, the nuttier online tea-leaf readers are right and the Manson Family or stand-ins really do end up killing Megan Draper. That, my friends, would be more stupid than sweetening your Old Fashioned with two tablespoons of the cheap maraschino cherry syrup.
Here’s a new, limited edition spiced rum from our friends at Captain Morgan. I love their signature spiced rum product, but this Sherry Oak Finish offers a very nice twist on a classic. You can tell the difference right away when you open the bottle, as you can definitely sense dark cherry scents along with a hint of vanilla. The taste is excellent, with a hint of sherry wine to go along with the dark cherry flavor. Frankly it’s delicious on the rocks and should work great with many rum cocktails. We tried the classic rum and cola combination and loved it.
First of all, my apologies that we kind of skipped over July 4th this year. It’s not that I lack love for los Estados Unidos, it’s just that I’ve been dealing with a Mexican-inspired morass. To be specific….
The suspense is over. I’m 95% over my cold and back in the saddle and boozing again, this time with another 
This will probably drive me out of the cocktail writers’ club, but my regular, recipe-centric, DOTW was preempted by a cold. I know this will make me sound a bit wussy to some of you, but I personally do not find that alcohol “kills the cold germs” It’s more like granting the virus superpowers. Moreover, when I’m sick, some generic Alka-Seltzer Plus more or less does me just fine. In short, liquor has not passed these lips in over a week.
