Bar on hold: B.V.D. and the K.O.

New base, new possibilities. Our current bar has plenty ingredients to offer, so here’s some cocktails that are possible right away.

Since it’s hard for me to let go of the gin, we’ll kick off with some cocktails which use both gin and rum.

And vermouth.

Okay, so they both use gin, rum and dry vermouth and nothing else. So it’s actually the same drink, right?

Well… no.

B.V.D.

An abbreviation that stands for Bacardi, Vermouth and Dry gin. Using Bacardi rum is an option, but there are plenty of other rums out there of course.

Some sources note that the original B.V.D. was actually made with Brandy, Vermouth and Dubonnet. That might be, but both The Savoy Cocktail Book and the Café Royal Cocktail Book already have this supposedly ‘modern’ version. So this new-fangled version is classic enough for me.

1 part light rum

1 part gin

1 part dry vermouth

glass:  cocktail

Stir with ice and strain into the glass.

A martini with a rum touch.

This recipe just begs for some experimentation with bitters, although colour is an aspect to consider here. Tainting this extremely clear cocktail would be a waste, but subtle bitters such as orange bitters would work fine.

In this case I put these two bottles to good use that were both a gift: Dutch gin (Dutch Courage) and Dutch rum (Flying Dutchman), both of the Zuidam distillery. A very fine combination.

K.O.

Same basic idea, but by using Jamaican rum this cocktails gets some extra punch. Invented by Heini Schmidt and found in the Café Royal Cocktail Book.

2 parts gin

1 part dark Jamaican rum

1 part dry vermouth

glass:  cocktail

Stir with ice and strain into the glass.

Yes, this is certainly different. Switching gins is a subtle business, but switching rums can be enormously effective in changing the character.

To really hit home, I used Myers’s rum here. According to Ted Haigh it’s the strongest-flavoured Jamaican rum on the market.

Periodic bar check

So we got to second base, finally.

The bar now holds:

Bases

gin
rum

Aperitif Wines

dry vermouth
sweet vermouth

Liqueurs
maraschino
Cointreau
Bénédictine
cherry brandy

Bitters
Angostura bitters
orange bitters

Juices
lemon

General Ingredients

ice
soda water

Glasses

Old Fashioned glass

cocktail glass
tall glass

Barware

jigger

bar spoon
cocktail shaker
juicer
bar knife
channel knife
syphon bottle

Rum (XYZ)

The days are getting longer and the summer season is beckoning. With a bit of foresight this is an excellent time to deploy the most natural summer base spirit: rum.

Rum is a sugarcane distillate, which sets it apart from gin, vodka and whisky. These three must (or can) be made from a grain distillate. Since sugarcane needs a warm climate to grow well, rum stuck to the Caribbean region after being imported from South Asia. A tropical drink indeed.

As with gin, I’m not going to bother with all the technicalities of rum production: there are internet articles aplenty which do the job nicely. I’m not a rum connoisseur either, although I know a liquor store owner who has a personal preference for rum. Talking to him, I realized there’s a rich world of rum out there, for some as fascinating as wine or whisky. Climate, ingredients and methodical differences give each region a typical character.

Although the making of rum goes back a long time, it’s still part of the ‘young bunch’ of the base spirits. Vodka and whisky are by far the oldest, cognac is the youngest. Rum has been made since the beginning of the 17^th century, just like gin.

Rum evokes images of island nations, pirates and navy rations. It’s definitely a seaman’s liquor.

The British Navy started issuing daily rations of rum in 1655. Until that time, the daily drink ration was a gallon of beer. I’ve read all kinds of reasons why they switched to rum: beer went bad in warmer climates, rum didn’t take up as much space, there was a successful lobby of West Indian planters… However the case, it all added up to the introduction of the daily tot, which was half a pint (284 ml) of neat rum as a daily ration. This was before Admiral Edward Vernon thought it better for crew performance to dilute the rum with water in a 1 to 4 ratio, inventing grog.

When rum was still distributed neat, some sailors would test the alcohol level by mixing gunpowder with the rum and trying to light the mixture. If it ignited, that meant there was proof that the rum hadn’t been diluted too much: it can only catch fire at 57% ABV (alcohol by volume). That’s where the term alcohol proof comes from.

In the Imperial system, 100° proof spirit is 4/7 ABV (57%). That system is true to its origin. In the US system this connection has been lost: alcohol proof is simply double the ABV percentage. So 100 proof spirit is 50% ABV. Mind the difference: one uses degrees, the other doesn’t.

When a cocktail recipe calls for overproof rum, it has to well above 100° proof (114 proof in the US). Since US regulations usually prevent rums over 155 proof form entering the country, most overproof rums fall into the zone between 150 and 155 proof.

There are several ways to categorize rums: by country, by style and by colour.

Style is effectively defined by the language of the region, which gives us English, French and Spanish style rums. Cachaça could be considered as a Brazilian rum, adding a fourth language (Portuguese).

·        English rums are dark and full. Regions that produce them are Jamaica, the Demerara region of Guyana, Trinidad & Tobego, Bermuda and Barbados, to name a few.

·        French rhum is spelled differently. Most interesting are the agricultural rums (rhum agricole) that are produced in Haiti, Guadeloupe and Martinique.

·        Spanish rums tend to be smooth. There’s the añejo rums (aged rums) that have aged some years in casks, but also the light rums that combine gently in mixed drinks.  A lot of countries use this style: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands, amongst others.

If you arrange by colour, you get this grouping:

·        Light rum – also white rum or silver rum (aged in stainless steel tanks and possibly filtered)

·        Gold rum – also amber rum (colour is from aging on wooden barrels, but might be enhanced by adding caramel)

·        Dark rum – also black rum

·        Spiced rum – not really a colour, but a special category

Which one is appropriate for your cocktail recipe might be specified. Sometimes a cocktail recipe even prescribes a certain brand. But in some cases you’ll have to use your own judgment.

Things aren’t as clear-cut as they are with gin. Often it will mean you will need to compare what you happen to have in stock with what you think is the right kind of rum for a particular cocktail.

Rum tends to combine well with fruit juices, especially lime.

Although pirates and grog don’t sound very sophisticated, rum can be stylish as well. There are sipping rums that can easily compete with good cognacs and whiskies.

And when Prohibition had the US in its grip, well-to-do Americans were glad to visit Cuba and other Caribbean countries to enjoy alcohol at leisure. This led to an excellent cocktail tradition in Cuba, well versed in mixing rum.

The angels also seem to be fond of rum. Since temperature is high where rum is produced, maturation in a barrel goes a lot faster than with whisky and cognac. The angel’s share, the portion that evaporates each year, is normally about 2 percent per year. But with rum, this might be as high as 10 percent.

Apparently there are a lot of angels in the Caribbean… or Caribbean angels really like to booze up.

XYZ

So what if we take a White Lady and substitute rum for gin? Well, than you get the XYZ.

Gary Regan must have missed this cocktail when he came with the Missing Link in 2002, stating he had not found a simple New Orleans Sour with a rum base until then. But the XYZ was already in The Savoy Cocktail Book, so no missing link in my opinion.

So where does the name come from? In the game Bar Oasis, it is explained that it’s the last cocktail you drink before the party ends. Like XYZ ends the alphabet. I’m not really sure that’s the origin, but I like the story just the same.

In the game, where you play a struggling bartender, it is even used to usher annoying customers out of the bar. Placing an XYZ in front of a guest who knows a bit about cocktails will result in that person recognizing your subtle message: last round, time to close up.

2 parts gold rum

1 part Cointreau

1 part lemon juice

glass:  cocktail

Shake with ice and strain into the glass.

There doesn’t seem to be a consensus on the type of rum to use. Above recipe works fine for gold rum, but light rum can be trickier.

To give a white XYZ a more stable base, it’s possible to turn to dry vermouth. I got this idea when trying out a variation of the Culross. The Culross uses apricot brandy instead of Cointreau, but still has rum and lemon. To that is also added an aperitif wine: Lillet or dry vermouth. Since the XYZ is just an ingredient swap away, I tried the same pattern. And I liked the effect.

2 parts light rum

1 part dry vermouth

1 part Cointreau

1 part lemon juice

glass:  cocktail

Shake with ice and strain into the glass.

I haven’t tried a Lillet version yet, although that also sounds promising. That’s an ingredient that we’ll get to in time.

Wrapping it up: Cherry brandy and gin

I love gin. And the name of this blog legitimates a lot of gin coverage. But of course there other nice base spirits out there.

After almost a year of focusing on gin-based cocktails, it’s time for a little variation. So without further ado, this post wraps up the gin streak with some cherry brandy combinations.

Cologne Maiden

Basically a red lady: a White Lady with cherry brandy instead of Cointreau.

It can be found in the Café Royal Cocktail Book and is an invention of Charles J. Jaeger. Other cocktails he created are the Jaeger (yes, really…) and the Mady (incidentally this last cocktail is another twist on the gin/liqueur/lemon theme: this time with crème de cacao).

1 part gin

1 part cherry brandy

1 part lemon juice

glass:  cocktail

Shake with ice and strain into the glass.

Garnish with a cherry (if available).

A cherry garnish isn’t even very standard in the cherry brandy recipes I’ve flipped through. But this one does indeed specify a cherry.

Some cherry brandy cocktails contain lemon. Some cherry brandy cocktails contain vermouth. But the next two cocktails go for both. Remarkably similar… the devil is in the details.

Gilroy

Doesn’t have a very exciting name, but does have a solid concept. It can be found in The Savoy Cocktail Book.

Has exactly the same ingredients as the Elephants Sometimes Forget. But the differing ratios give each a specific character.

2 parts gin

2 parts cherry brandy

1 part lemon juice

1 part dry vermouth

1 dash orange bitters

glass:  cocktail

Shake with ice and strain into the glass.

Dry and sweet win in this cocktail. The lemon takes a back seat.

Elephants Sometimes Forget

There will probably be some people who disagree, but I think this cocktail has a brilliant name. Although the elephant will probably also have forgotten how this cocktail ever got this remarkable title.

4 parts gin

3 parts cherry brandy

3 parts lemon juice

1 part dry vermouth

1 dash orange bitters

glass:  cocktail

Shake with ice and strain into the glass.

Less dry, more like a cherry sour. Try it side by side with the Gilroy and see which you prefer.

Kiss in the Dark

An evocative name for a simple cocktail. Somehow this little known cocktail found its way into the game Bar Oasis, which is all about bartending and cocktails.

4 parts gin

3 parts dry vermouth

3 parts cherry brandy

glass:  cocktail

Stir with ice and strain into the glass.

You might want to adjust the ratios to the sweetness of your cherry liqueur. For example, if you’re using a rich variation like Cherry Heering, the version above will do fine. If you’re cherry brandy is not all that forward, try 4:3:2 to keep the vermouth from overpowering the drink.

When shooting this cocktail I happened to capture a hidden ‘kiss in the dark’ by accident.

The joy of stirring a cocktail: discovering which wonders the reflection holds.

Periodic bar check

A busy month with four new items on the list.
At the end of next month we'll finally get to a new base for our cocktails, just in time for summer.

The bar now holds:

Bases

gin

Aperitif Wines

dry vermouth
sweet vermouth

Liqueurs
maraschino
Cointreau
Bénédictine
cherry brandy

Bitters
Angostura bitters
orange bitters

Juices
lemon

General Ingredients

ice
soda water

Glasses

Old Fashioned glass

cocktail glass
tall glass

Barware

jigger

bar spoon
cocktail shaker
juicer
bar knife
channel knife
syphon bottle

Cherry brandy (Straits Sling)

I’m actually using the wrong term for our new ingredient here, but that’s on purpose. Cherry flavoured brandy is the correct name, but there are not many people who will go through the trouble of using that in every instance. Most people don’t even know that they are actually different kind of drinks, one being a liqueur and the other a liquor.

So I’ll just stick to cherry brandy for the new liqueur, because that’s more useful in casual conversation. All the more reason for this is that cherry brandy also has an alternative name: kirsch or kirschwasser. Kirsch is a cherry eau de vie, unsweetened and dry. It’s also being used for cocktails, but it’s not the stuff I’m aiming for now.

One cherry brandy of note is Cherry Heering. It’s a Danish product and the unchallenged top of the cherry brandies. It is aged in wooden barrels for 5 years before being bottled.

As it happens, right at this moment it’s possible to enter the ‘Peter F. Heering Sling Award’ that’s organized by Heering. It challenges you to come up with a recipe that’s inspired by the Singapore Sling. They will accept entries until May 25.

Which brings us to slings…

Straits Sling

But not the Singapore Sling. The Singapore Sling leans more towards a Tiki style drink and has a legendary status. It ranks in Imbibe’s 25 Most Influential Cocktails of the Past Century and is the signature drink of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore.

The Singapore Sling might have descended from the Straits Sling though, which is recorded as early as 1922 in Robert Vermeire’s Cocktails and How to Mix Them. It’s also found in The Savoy Cocktail Book, although not in the ´Cocktails´ section but in the ´Slings´ section.

The Straits Sling is truer to the concept of a sling than the Singapore Sling, although the definition of a sling has changed considerably over the years. It leans towards a fizz, although the sweetener might be a liqueur instead of sugar or syrup, lemon and ice cubes is optional and soda water might be normal water instead. In short, this means that every long drink that has a spirit, something sweet (aside from the mixer), (soda) water and that can’t be placed in another cocktail family might be categorized as a sling. Not much use as a definition, unless you actually plan to device your own kind of sling.

Ted Haigh makes a case for using kirsch instead of cherry brandy in the Straits Sling when he presents the recipe in his book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. I have to agree, based on his arguments, that this might be the original way that the Straits Sling was conceived. But still I choose to go with cherry brandy here. I don’t mind a bit of sweetness and kirsch, being colorless, doesn’t help the color much.

Still, feel free to try out both variants and decide which you prefer (or adjust the recipe to ‘the mood of the moment’).

4 parts gin

1 part cherry brandy

1 part Bénédictine

2 parts lemon juice

2 dashes orange bitters

2 dashes Angostura bitters

soda water

glass:  tall glass or a stemmed tall glass (like a sour glass or champagne flute)

Shake everything except the soda water with ice and strain into the glass.

Fill with soda.

Garnish as you please.

Adding a straw is entirely optional, but is quite handy when the garnish is a bit unstable on the rim.

Using a stemmed glass might work out like this:

Tall glass

With soda at the ready we can venture into new territory: the cocktail category known as the long drink. Although it will typically contain a comparable amount of alcohol to a ‘normal’ cocktail, adding a lot of mixer will reduce the alcohol percentage of the drink. So long drinks will go down a lot easier… with eventually the same result. Drinker beware.

Larger quantities will need a larger glass, so this is where the tall glass comes in. There are quite some types of tall glasses: but they all have in common that they are tumbler glasses with a chimney shape.

Each type of tall glass has a connection to a specific type of cocktail.

A Delmonico glass traditionally holds fizzes and Rickeys. It was named after a New York restaurant and is a small type of tall glass.

A fizz is made with lemon juice and soda water, and isn’t served on the rocks. A Rickey is made with lime juice and soda water, served on the rocks.

A highball glass is used for highballs (well, there’s a surprise). Its volume lies somewhere between the Delmonico and the Collins glass.

A highball is a spirit that’s served on the rocks with some kind of soda or water.

A Collins glass is typical for the several Collins variants, like the Tom Collins and the John Collins. It’s narrower than the highball glass.

Apart from the particular glass, serving the drink on the rocks seems to be the defining difference between Collinses and fizzes.

A Zombie glass is even larger than the Collins glass and was named after the archetypal Tiki drink. Ironically, this cocktail isn’t a typical long drink, since there’s no mixer that’s being added at the end.

So now that we’ve straightened out the particulars concerning the different tall glasses, I’m sure you’ll agree that’s its best to ignore these specifics completely. Just use any tall glass that seems to fit the amount you’re aiming for, or adjust the amounts you use to your glass.

Syphon bottle/Soda water (Yale)

There’s a way to add barware and an ingredient at the same time: that’s when you use the barware to actually make the new ingredient.

Soda water (also known as sparkling water or seltzer) is the ingredient we’re aiming for. It’s not hard to find this ingredient, chances are you already have some carbonated water lying around. But you can’t deny the charm of a syphon bottle. There’s something iconic about an old-fashioned syphon.

Since mixing cocktails is about the whole experience, the choice to advocate for a syphon bottle instead of ready to use soda is an easy one.

Sure, it’s the more fussy way: you’ll also need to stock chargers and you have to prepare the syphon by filling it and charging it. Afterwards you’ll have to clean and dry the syphon bottle. But adding sparkling water from a syphon feels a lot different than adding it from a simple commercial bottle. And even if you don’t use your syphon bottle, it should still be an esthetic improvement to your room. It isn’t even necessary to pick up an antique second hand syphon for that: there are modern syphons that are made with vintage elegance. I’m a sucker for the wire mesh versions, myself. (By the way: the wire mesh is to make sure the syphon doesn’t become a glass grenade when it might explode. After all: the bottle is under pressure and could break in a fall.)

If you try to buy a second hand syphon bottle, make sure it comes with a cartridge holder for the bulbs (chargers). It’s the most vulnerable part of the syphon and easy to misplace as well. So it happens a lot  that these syphons are sold without this critical element. It’s possible to get a spare bulb holder through some other channel if need be, but just be mindful of the issue.

When shopping for soda chargers, don’t accidentally pick up the chargers that are used for cream whippers. They look exactly the same outside of the package, but contain N₂O instead of CO₂.  I’m talking from reverse experience here: we once made some whipped cream with a soda bulb. Not a good idea. Using N₂O for your soda syphon won’t work either.

After charging the bottle, make sure you shake it for some ten seconds or so. You can remove the cartridge holder before you put the syphon to use. For some detailed description of syphon bottle usage, you can consult this page on the soda subsection of easyontheeye.net.

Having said all that, it’s all up to you of course. The point is to end up with soda water. Pouring it from a bottle of carbonated water will also work. Just keep in mind that the soda should be fresh: don’t use a bottle that has been opened longer ago. You want the soda for the fizz. If the fizz has died, there’s not much use for the soda.

This is advice that’s useful for all kinds of carbonated beverages that might be used in cocktails: use freshly opened bottles or cans. You can prepare for that by stocking small containers instead of liter bottles (or larger).

Finally a mixing note: CO₂ in water makes carbonic acid. Since it’s an acid, it will tilt your cocktail to the sour side. If you use a recipe, that’s not an issue. But if you start experimenting with soda water, it’s good to keep that effect in mind. Using soda water will have effect on the amount of sour ingredients to use (or the amount of sweet ingredients, as a counterbalance).

Yale

Although the soda and lemon touch give a small twist to this drink, the basis for the Yale is the same as Pink Gin: gin and bitters. They both seem quite hefty, and I guess they are. But don’t dismiss them right away. There are moments when a drink such as this is just the thing you need.

The gin is supposed to be dry gin according to the recipe, but there’s nothing wrong with experimenting. Since it’s all booze and bitters, a smoother variant like Plymouth or Old Tom might work even better.

gin (about 6 cl)

1 dash Angostura bitters

3 dashes orange bitters

soda water

glass:  cocktail (or other)

Stir the gin and bitters with ice and strain into the glass.

Add a bit of soda.

Garnish with a lemon peel.

In the recipe I followed (from The Savoy Cocktail Book) it is specified that you should squeeze the lemon peel on top. I haven’t added that instruction here, because I  think you should always squeeze the lemon peel garnish over the drink and rub the edge of the glass with the lemon. The only time it is acceptable not to squeeze the peel over the drink, is when you do these actions before you pour the drink, with the glass still empty.

Like Pink Gin, this cocktail calls for a glass that is fit for a smaller amount.

Periodic bar check

Slowly getting back into swing, the bar is expanding again.

The bar now holds:

Bases

gin

Aperitif Wines

dry vermouth
sweet vermouth

Liqueurs
maraschino
Cointreau
Bénédictine

Bitters
Angostura bitters
orange bitters

Juices
lemon

General Ingredients

ice

Glasses

Old Fashioned glass

cocktail glass

Barware

jigger

bar spoon
cocktail shaker
juicer
bar knife
channel knife

Bar on hold: Caprice and the Martinez

One hidden gem, one relatively unknown classic and two bonus cocktails to boot.

Caprice

The Dry Martini is a great cocktail. Bénédictine is a great liqueur. So what will happen when we combine those two? Yes, of course: we get another great cocktail.

Just a few little adjustments can really make difference. Compare the Caprice with the Cabaret and see what bitters and some tweaking with the ratios can do.

3 parts gin

1 part dry vermouth

1 part Bénédictine

1 dash orange bitters

glass:  cocktail

Stir with ice and strain into the glass.

It’s beautiful in its simplicity. And with a lovely, lively name to go with it.

Vancouver

If you substitute sweet vermouth for dry vermouth and switch to the golden ratio the Caprice will turn into the Vancouver. A very aromatic cocktail that lives in the same neighbourhood as the Rolls Royce.

Somehow, most of the (diverse) recipes of the Vancouver I find will specify Punt e Mes as the vermouth of choice. Since Punt e Mes is even more bitter than regular sweet vermouth, you’ll probably be gasping for the Bénédictine. Switching to the ratio of the Caprice could mend this.

Martinez

I touched upon the Martinez when I introduced the Dry Martini. The Martini seems to have evolved from this cocktail, which in turn can be considered a ‘gin Manhattan’. So the Martinez bridges the gap between the king and queen of cocktails: the Martini and the Manhattan. Ironically, unlike the latter two, the Martinez has never made quite a name for itself. This is slowly changing, with mixology gaining a new following, but the general public (and bartender) will probably look blank when you bring up the Martinez.

The history and exact recipe of the Martinez are quite hazy. I recommend reading through this article of tempered spirits for some background and variations.

1 part gin (preferably Old Tom gin)

1 part sweet vermouth

1 dash maraschino

2 dashes orange bitters

glass:  cocktail

Stir with ice and strain into the glass.

Garnish with a lemon twist.

Originally, the bitters that were used in the Martinez were Boker’s bitters. Those bitters were unavailable for a long time, though. Orange bitters have been the standard substitute and work great as well. If you really want to try out the original, you should try to get a hold of the new version of Boker’s bitters that has found its way on the market.

Silver Cocktail

If you substitute dry vermouth for sweet vermouth, stick to dry gin and add another dash of maraschino, you will get the Silver Cocktail.

Yes, that’s three tweaks, so that almost warrants a separate recipe entry. But in my opinion it’s easier to remember recipes when you can link them to other, similar recipes.