I promise. At some point, I’ll post something here that isn’t MxMo related. Just not now.

For this month’s Mixology Monday prompt, we turn to Fred from his CocktailVirgin blog. Briefly, Fred states:

“For this theme, find a classic or modern Swizzle recipe, whether hot or cold. If the creative mood hits you, take the style in your own direction whether in a Tiki avenue, by reformulating a classic cocktail, or via something more Caribbean in feel. Don’t have a traditional Swizzle stick? Do not fret — I have found that a bar spoon works great in a pinch to do all of the mixing and chilling. Want to bring the Green Swizzle back to life or perhaps turn the Between the Sheets into a Barbados crushed ice delight? Awesome!”

One of the things I love about participating in Mixology Monday is it forces me to expand my cocktail horizons. I’ve never had a swizzled beverage before, much less made one. As a citizen of Wisconsin, the swizzling process immediately reminded me of our unofficial state cocktail: the Brandy Old Fashioned.

In Wisconsin, a brandy old fashioned is an eccentric cousin to the old standby of bitters, sugar, and spirit that we know and love. Jeffrey Morgenthaler describes the difference in detail here. In short, while it may seem blasphemous to some, the sweet fruit salad concoction made popular in supper clubs across the Badger State is a refreshing and fun regionalism that’s worth a try.

Since the Wisconsin brandy old fashioned calls for copious amounts of crushed ice, it’s a perfect cocktail for swizzling. I prefer mine without the traditional topper of sweet, sour, or club soda, and swizzling helps lengthen the drink without too much unnecessary dilution. W/r/t the cherries, try to stay away from the common neon-red maraschino cherries you’d top a sundae with. While they may be tradition at many establishments, I find their artificial flavor unpleasant, especially when muddled.

Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioned

• 2oz Brandy*
• 2 orange peels
• 2 brandied or maraschino cherries
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 barspoon cherry syrup (preferrably from your brandied cherries)
• Crushed ice
• Angostura bitters

Add your orange peels, cherries, sugar, and cherry syrup to your glass. Muddle furiously. You want to avoid muddling any pith from the orange peels into the drink, but you really want a sweet paste. Add your brandy, then fill the glass with crushed ice. I don’t own a traditional swizzle stick, but I had no issue swizzling with my trusty bar spoon. Spin the stick/spoon between your hands, moving up and down to mix and chill the drink. Once the outside of your glass has frosted, top with more crushed ice and a dash or two of Angostura bitters. Add a straw, and serve.

This drink is sweet and refreshing. The extra sugar from the second cherry and the cherry syrup helps the drink hold up to the large amount of dilution swizzling provides. The orange and the cherry play up the fruity notes in the brandy as well. But this isn’t necessarily meant to be a nuanced beverage. Drink this frequently, preferably paired with beer-battered walleye and coleslaw. You’ll thank me.

*: Usually this is made with Korbel, as Mr. Morgenthaler states. And while that’s sufficient, I really like Paul Masson. Make this with whatever brandy you like

Greetings folks, it’s been awhile again. I’ve been pretty busy with a bunch of stuff, and I’ve been able to make a few cocktails again. These two were for a winter cocktail contest hosted by Heavy Table and sponsored by the fine folks at Du Nord Craft Spirits, Gamle Ode, and Bittercube. I did not make the semifinals (congrats to all those who did), but I still enjoyed making these, and boy are they tasty. Let me know what you think in the comments, on twitter @larix_laricina, or via email at alex@stagandotter.com. Thanks!

Hello folks, it’s been a while. How’ve you been?

This year got away from me quite fast. Life got in the way of my more trivial pursuits, which includes experimenting with cocktails. But, now that it’s winter again, I have plenty of time to tinker with spirits and flavors.

It also helps that around this festive time of year, there are plenty of get-togethers and reasons to celebrate with a well-crafted cocktail or spirit.

Since we last spoke (wow, six months?), I’ve still been able to do a little cocktail crafting. I designed a yet-to-be-named cocktail for my friend’s wedding in July, I’ve made my own Irish cream, and I’ve got a batch of krupnik in the fridge. And, since my wife and I are hosting a New Year’s Eve party, I’m taking the opportunity to throw a little cocktail menu together.

Since I’ve got a bunch of stuff to report back on, I’ll do my best to post once a week starting this weekend on these different projects. And if you’ve got any questions or ideas you’d like addressed, let me know!

Cheers!

BlurryCat is interested in the applejack.

Ingredients

– 1 oz Applejack Apple Brandy (preferably Bottled in Bond, if you can find it)

– 1 oz Dark rum

– 1 oz Rhubarb Shrub*

– 0.5 oz Brown Sugar Syrup**

– 1/2 egg white

Directions: combine all ingredients in a shaker. First, vigorously dry shake (without ice) to work up a nice foam. Then add ice and shake to chill. Strain into a glass and enjoy.

I find the drink to be decently balanced between sweet and tart, with the apple and rhubarb flavors coming through quite nicely. The egg white really smooths everything out and gives the drink a silky mouthfeel. You can taste the sweetness of the dark rum (the molasses flavor accentuated by the brown sugar syrup), and the effervescence of the apple brandy dances on the tongue with the nice thick foam.

One of the possible modifications I’ve tried already is adding a couple drops of Angostura bitters on the foam after straining, then using your barspoon (or a chopstick, or a knife, or your finger, or whatever) to make little stars for decoration.

*: Rhubarb Shrub

Ingredients:

– Rhubarb, 4-5 stalks

– 1 cup unpasteurized apple cider vinegar

– 1 cup sugar

Following the recipe found here: chop the rhubarb into 1/2 inch cubes or so.  Place the chopped rhubarb, sugar, and apple cider vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then turn down the head and let cook for about 10 minutes.

Once cooked, strain through a fine mesh strainer and/or cheesecloth, put in a sealed jar and let it mature in the fridge. As it ages, the vinegar flavor will mellow, and it will be perfect after about a week. After that, it’ll last for several months.

**: Brown Sugar Syrup

Place equal parts brown sugar syrup and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cook until all the sugar is dissolved.

For those of you who test this out, thank you, and be sure to check back for more recipes to come! My goal is to submit two polished recipes to the contest. Thanks for reading, and cheers!

Hey folks, it’s been a while.  It’s been… a month since I’ve updated?  I suppose there are a few reasons for that. Primarily, I’ve been trying to focus on one spirit per month, and this month was to be rum. But I can’t say I enjoyed the drinks I was making, and none of them felt worthy enough to share here. Combine that with money becoming very tight, it’s been rougher than I like. Luckily I was able to sneak ingredients like citrus into the grocery budget.

But enjoy about that, let’s get to the drinks that I tried to make.

This drink was all right, but as you can see from my expression below, I wasn’t thrilled with it. It had a good bit of spice, and the balance was there. The applejack paired well with the rum, but the rum seemed to cut through the other flavors, unpleasantly so.

“How would you describe it?” *stares at camera*

I also tried a very classic Bumbo recipe (rum, water, sugar, and nutmeg) and a basic daiquiri (rum, lime juice, simple syrup), and neither particularly tickled my fancy. So, my conclusion from these experiments? I haven’t developed my taste for rum yet. This is an aspect of self-improvement that I think I’ll enjoy working on.

In the interim, I’ve been making other things.  I made a Lion’s Tail for a Guess that Classic Cocktail segment on Reddit, I modified the Lion’s Tail replacing the bourbon and lime with rye and lemon, and that was a hit at a party I went to. For both of these drinks, I made my own Allspice Dram, which is white rum infused with allspice and cinnamon, and mixed with an equal part brown sugar syrup.

I also started making some shrubs. What’s a shrub? I’ll explain that in a future post.  But here’s a teaser picture. Spoiler: they’re tasty and easy to make!

Mmm, properly stirred.

One final bit of news: the rum I won arrived! I’ll talk about my tasting notes for it in a future post, but my initial impression is that it’s a very mellow rum with a strong inherent sweetness. Stay tuned for more!

Mmm, pretty picture.

Mmm, prettiest picture.

Even though it’s technically May, I still needed one more rye cocktail to round out April. And since my other concoctions have turned out so well, I thought I’d step out on a limb and try out something that’s been in the works for a few weeks: a witch’s broom puerh tincture.

Kinda looks like swamp water, huh?

This infusion is my first foray into the realm of homemade bitters. The tea was picked out by my wife and was allowed to infuse in vodka for about two weeks. Now, if you wanted this to taste like a properly-brewed cup of tea, you wouldn’t infuse the tea for the entire two weeks; in fact, two or three days may be enough for that flavor profile. But that’s not was I was looking for here. This herbal, bitter, warm liquid tastes like overbrewed tea, in the best way possible. While it’s not necessarily potable on it’s own, a dash or two added to a drink adds a slew of flavors and tea’s characteristic aroma.

While this tincture may eventually become the base for a complex homemade bitter, I wanted to try it on its own first, to see how it held up against some some stronger flavors. This drink may take a little bit of extra preparation, but it’s well worth it. I present to you: the Savannah Trading Co.

Cocktail!

Unfortunately my wife and photographer was indisposed, so these pictures are decidedly worse than usual. Sorry!

• 1.5oz rye
• 3/4oz peach syrup
• 1/4oz lemon juice
• 2 dashes Witch’s Broom Puerh tincture
• Garnish with a lemon twist

First, the peach simple syrup. It’s actually quite simple. Heat one cup of water and one cup of sugar until fully combined, then turn down the heat and add three chopped peaches and a couple dime-sized pieces of lemon zest to your simple syrup. Let this mixture steep for 35 minutes, then strain into a vessel and cool.

This picture’s pretty, though. I like this picture. Makes me thirsty.

With a nice shot of our neighbor’s yard.

Ingredients:

• 2 parts rye
• 0.75 part simple syrup
• 3-4 blackberries
• 4-5 inches lemongrass, chopped

Add the rye, then shake over ice and double strain to make sure you keep those little blackberry seeds of your glass. Garnish with a lemongrass spear and a nice, juicy blackberry.

Sam takes a tentative sniff of the concoction I handed him.

Cheers!

Sam and Griffin, sharing a moment.

Since I showcased a classic last week, I feel a little experimentation is due this week. So, without further ado, here’s my creation this week: the St. Croix Buccaneer!

Cocktail!

First off, the name. The St. Croix is a gorgeous river between Wisconsin and Minnesota, both colloquially and literally, and is located fairly near the 45th Parallel Distillery. And then, of course, Buccaneer is a reference to the rum and to the citrus. Simple, but effective, and I would love to sip one of these at a canoe-in campsite along the river.

The combination of whiskey and rum is nothing new. The Suburban (whiskey, rum, port, orange and Angostura bitters) has been around since the late 1800s. I was particularly intrigued by the combination of spices in the rye and the spiced rum. Instead of sticking with the port, which I felt may overpower the rye, I used simple orange juice for a little sweetness, acidity, and tart.

Ingredients:

• 2 parts New Richmond Rye
• 1 part spiced rum
• 3/4 part orange juice
• Heavy dash of Angostura bitters
• Garnish with orange and lemon

Combine in a shaker with lots of ice. Shake and strain into a glass, then garnish with a long peel of lemon and orange to strengthen the citrus bouquet of the drink.