Planned Happenstance

Watching the Super Bowl, drinking wine, but I want a drink. A cocktail. What's in the kitchen? Rye, Cardamaro, a lemon, Ramazzotti amaro. Run downstairs and grab the Dal Degroff's pimento bitters and voila--planned happenstance. Even the measurements were influenced by the jigger I had nearby--a 50 mL/25 mL measure.

Planned Happenstance

50 mL George Dickel rye

50 mL Cardamaro

25 mL Ramazzotti amaro

4 dashes Dale Degroff's pimento bitters

Stir over ice, strain up into cocktail glass, and garnish w/lemon peel. 

It's warm, rich, layered, sweet, a little spicy, and perfect for a snowy February evening while watching the big game. 

Cheers! ~Dr. Cocktation

Mommy Dearest

I love the campy film, Mommy Dearest. I understand it wasn't meant to be campy, and Faye Dunaway was disappointed that her performance wasn't taken more seriously. That said, the movie has its place, and last night I found myself watching it again. In honor of Joan Crawford's tendencies towards public drunkenness (check this video out of Joan in an airport in 1968), I give you...

Mommy Dearest

2.5 oz Lillet Rose

1 oz Rhuby

1 tsp Fee Bros Passion Fruit syrup

1 lemon swath garnish

Stir over ice, and strain into ice filled short glass. Garnish with lemon swath, expressing oils over glass and wiping over glass rim. Serve with 2 short straws and remember, 

"I'm not mad at you, Helga, I'm mad at the dirt! Now, Tina, bring me the axe!"

Cheers, ~Dr. Cocktation

 

A Kick in the Ass

No matter how you slice it, being told that you're no longer needed at the place you've worked for many years just plain sucks. I don't know this from personal experience, but I know because someone whom I'm very fond of working with had this happen to her just the other day. She's been a fixture at our company. She hired many of the best people on our staff. She knows everything. Even a week later I find myself asking, "How could they have let her go?!?" And yet, they did.

So I asked myself, "What can I do to help?" Of course, the answer is what it always is on this blog--make her a drink! And so, I present to you, my gentle readers...

A Kick in the Ass

2 oz Bacardi 8 year rum

2 oz pineapple juice

1/2 oz cooled espresso

1/2 oz orgeat syrup

dash of Underberg bitters

Shake over ice and strain into a glass of crushed ice. Garnish it with an umbrella, plastic giraffes, a orange and cherry "flag", or just your secret hopes and dreams of a new and better job.

As with any of my creations, each ingredient has meaning and purpose. I started with the rum because that's what she asked for as the base spirit. While I'm no fan of regular old Bacardi (I'm too much of a snob for that), the Bacardi 8 year actually has some honest to goodness decent flavor. It's got good rum funk and a touch of smokey spice--perfect for the "kick". The pineapple juice and orgeat balance the rum with fruity sweetness, which is needed even in bad times (unless you want a completely unpalatable drink, which anyone can make and no one wants). The espresso echos the "kick" and warms up the tropical fruit flavors, while the bitters serve to highlight the truth of the situation--bitter, while also being a nod to the honoree's German heritage. 

Cheers, Anita! ~Dr. Cocktation

 

Bastardizing Aaron

For my friend, Aaron, who requested a drink with the word "bastard" in the title and Chartreuse and Irish whiskey in the glass. 

2 oz Paddy's Irish Whiskey
3/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz egg white
1/4 oz simple syrup
2 dashes Fee Bros Whiskey Barrel Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Dahil Sa Iyo

Dahil Sa Iyo is a classic Filipino love song. The translation is, "Because of you." This cocktail is meant to incorporate a variety of ingredients that are popular in the Philippines--coconut, rum, lime, and calamansi. My intention was to create a drink that is tropical but with a distinctly Asian, and specifically Filipino, flair. Supplies obtained at my favorite local liquor store, The Wine Merchant, and also Global Foods, provided the ingredients and inspiration for this drink.

1 oz Rhum J.M Agricole Blanc
1 oz Rhum J.M Agricole Gold
1/2 oz Calamansi juice
1/2 oz Orgeat syrup
3 oz coconut juice
3 lime leaves

Muddle two lime leaves in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add liquid ingredients and ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a tall ice-filled glass and garnish with one lime leaf and a short straw.  

What Do I Call This?

A variation on a Negroni with...(insert drum roll here)...

1 oz Bak's Bison Grass vodka

3 dashes bison grass bitters (homemade)

1 oz Imbue

1 oz Aperol

Stir over ice, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with a swath of lemon peel. 

The Dusty Bowtie

This one goes out to someone with whom I work, who often wears bowties and requested his own signature drink using Sloe Gin. He's also not a heavy drinker so this cocktail is light on the booze.

1 oz Bitter Truth Sloe Gin
1/2 oz Bitter Truth Creme de Violette
1/2 oz Scrappy's Sirop de Gomme
3/4 oz Meyer lemon juice
2 dashes Fee Bros Whiskey Barrel Bitters
1 egg white
2 oz soda water

Dry shake to froth egg white. Add ice and shake it like you caught it stealing your lawn mower. Strain into glass with one or two large cubes of ice. Top with 2 oz soda water and two sippy straws.