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Friday, July 29, 2016
Thursday, July 28, 2016
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Wednesday, July 27, 2016
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Scotch Whisky — 5 Tips For Beginners
Scotch Whisky Day
Hoot mon! It’s time again for another spirits holiday because July 27th is National Scotch Day!
Scotch is a spirit with a long history. It was first written about in the 1400s, and was originally only distilled by monks until the 1500s. Today, Scotch is produced in five regions and is the top-selling spirit in a number of countries.
Despite the popular practice, scotch doesn’t need to be enjoyed straight up, so here’s a number helpful tips and cocktail’s to get you into the mood for the day.
5 Tips for the Novice Scotch Whisky drinker:
There’s to Scotch than the big mid-shelf brands – Explore!
To many, ‘Scotch’ means “Johnny Walker”, “Dewars”, and perhaps “Macallan“. Considering the sheer
numbers of Scotch brands out there, that’s a pretty narrow selection to judge a category by. While all are excellent brands filled with rich history, there’s a wealth of other choices out there, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t try go out there and educate yourself.
Scotch Cocktails: Make sure the ingredients are fresh!
If you order any Scotch cocktail and the bartender pulls out a soda gun, turn the other way! We’ve been on this rant before, but it never hurts to reiterate: pre-made sour mix is loaded with artificial sugar and flavoring, and if you’re out spending your hard-earned money on cocktail that contains a nice Scotch, don’t ruin it with the cheap mixers. Read the menu or even better, ask your bartender if they’ll be using fresh lemon juice and an egg white. If that’s the case, you can rest easy that your spirit is in good hands.
Single Malt Isn’t Everything — Don’t Shy away from blends!
For new Scotch drinkers, there’s a common misconception that says that single malts — Scotch produced with liquid from a single distillery — are somehow always better than blended malts –whiskies produced from a blend of different liquids from several distilleries. A simple way to look at it is this: single malts, on average, tend to offer a bolder flavor, and blended malts are often “smoother” as a result of the flavors melding harmoniously together. Because of this, blends tend to be more approachable to the newbie consumer.
Don’t let anyone tell you how to drink it.
When it comes to enjoying Scotch, everyone seems to have a steadfast opinion. Some insist that you must drink it neat, for others a wee drop of water needs to be added. Some add ice while some scream in horror, claiming that this “burns” the product. One of my friends prefers his single malts straight from the freezer.
The truth is, there’s no “right” way to drink Scotch. Consume it how you will so that you’ll have a pleasant and enjoyable experience.
Talk to your bartender!
What flavors do you like? Yes, some Scotches can be smoky, or “peaty” — which I personally love, — and may even possess that rubber band aid smell, but that’s not the case with all of them. Perhaps you like sweeter notes with just a hint of smoke, or maybe you prefer a hint of chocolate, almond, orange, or something else entirely! It can all be found in different Scotches.
For some suggestions:
Check out our recent reviews of Ardbeg Dark Cove and Syndicate 58/6.
Cocktails for Novice Scotch drinkers
If Scotch isn’t your usual drink, cocktails can be a great entry point into the category. Blended Scotches also play especially well when mixed in cocktails and Drambuie, the aged Scotch liqueur mixed with heather honey, herbs and spices, adds a sweeter taste to cocktails and can act as “training wheels” for a person who’s never had Scotch whisky before .
Summer Smuggler
Recipe and image courtesy of Usquebach Blended Scotch Whisky.
- 1 oz Usquebach Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky
- 1 oz Contrato Bianco (or Lillet Blanc)
- 1 oz La Quintinye Vermouth Royal Blanc
- Dash of orange bitters
- Lemon twist for garnish
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass and stir with ice. Strain into a cocktail coupe. Rim the coupe with the lemon twist, and drop into drink.
Swing & Swizzle
Recipe and image courtesy of Drambuie.
- 1 ¼ parts Drambuie
- 1 ¼ parts Vanilla Coffee
- ½ parts Campari
- ½ parts Lemon juice
- 2 parts Ginger beer
- Mint
- Angostura Bitters
In a tall glass place 6 mint leaves at the bottom and lightly muddle. Fill the glass with crushed ice and pour all ingredients in but ginger beer and bitters. Add ginger beer and top with more crushed ice. Give the cocktail 5 heavy dashes of bitters and garnish with a mint bunch.
Tartan Collins
The Tartan Collins cocktail is an easy-to-make libation that’s smoky and sweet – a perfect option to enjoy with some friends on a hot July day.
Created by mixologist Jordan Felix, Portland, OR. Recipe and image courtesy of Laphroaig® Scotch Whisky.
- 1 1/2 parts Laphroaig® Select Scotch Whisky
- 1/4 part Five-Spice Syrup (recipe below)*
- 2 dashes of Orange Bitters
- Ginger Beer
Pour the Laphroaig Select in a collins glass, followed by the five-spice syrup and bitters. Add ice, and top off with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel.
*Five-Spice Syrup
- 2 oz bottle of Five-Spice Blend
- 64 oz fine sugar
- 32 oz water
Combine all ingredients a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce until all ingredients are blended. Let cool for 2 hours and refrigerate before use.
The post Scotch Whisky — 5 Tips For Beginners appeared first on A History of Drinking.
by Gregory Priebe via A History of Drinking
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Tuesday, July 26, 2016
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Monday, July 25, 2016
7 Summer Cocktails for National Tequila Day
Tequila fans, rejoice! July 24th is National Tequila Day !
This year, instead of mixing up a batch of the same old margaritas, turn up the volume on your cocktails with these fun and fresh sips!
Cocktails for National Tequila Day
It’s So Easy
Are you a tequila novice? Try this variation on the traditional crowd-pleaser, the Paloma.
Created by Mixologist Ben Scorah. Recipe courtesy of Tequila Don Julio.
- 1 1/2 oz Tequila Don Julio Blanco
- 3 oz Ginger Beer
- 3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
- 1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
- 1/2 oz Simple Syrup
- 1 sprig Fresh Basil
- Basil Spring and Lime Wheel for Garnish
Lightly muddle fresh basil in a cocktail shaker. Add Tequila Don Julio Blanco, grapefruit juice, fresh lime juice, simple syrup and ice. Shake well. Strain contents into a Collins glass over fresh ice. Top with ginger beer and garnish with basil spring and lime wheel.
Mexican Mimosa
This unconventional riff on the classic Mimosa is sure to amplify any Sunday Brunch gathering!
Recipe and image courtesy of Casamigos Tequila.
- 1 PartCasamigosBlanco
- 1 Part Fresh blood orange juice OR blood orange puree
- 2 dashes firewater bitters
- Top off with Prosecco
Add all ingredients to tin shaker with only 2 ice cubes. Shake vigorously for 6 seconds. Add salt mixture if needed to glass by taking an orange wedge and wetting the edge of rim. Pour from tin shaker into champagne flute. Top off with Prosecco. Garnish with large orange peel expressed over cocktail and laid flat on top of flute / orange skin facing outward
Optional: Half rim of salt / sugar / chili mixture
Old Fashioned
Recipe and image courtesy of Hornitos® Tequila.
- 1 ½ parts Hornitos® Black Barrel® Tequila
- 1 part simple syrup
- ½ part amaro liqueur
- 2 dashes bitters
- 2 dashes orange bitters
Combine simple syrup, Hornitos® Black Barrel® Tequila, amaro and bitters. Add ice and stir. Strain over fresh ice and garnish with an orange peel.
Pineapple Smoke
Recipe and image courtesy of Casamigos Tequila.
- 2 oz. Casamigos Reposado
- 1 oz. Fresh lemon juice
- .5 oz. Simple syrup
- 1.5 oz. Fresh
- 6-8 Grilled pineapple cubes
- 8-10 Cilantro leaves
- 2 dashes angostura bitters
Muddle all herbs and fruit in tin shaker. Add all other ingredients and ice. Shake vigorously for 8-10 seconds. Fine strain cocktail into appropriate glass and add fresh ice. Garnish with pineapple cube and cilantro leaf
Optional: Half rim of salt / sugar / cinnamon mixture
Paloma
Recipe and image courtesy of Hornitos® Tequila.
- 1 part Hornitos® Plata Tequila
- 2 parts fresh ruby red grapefruit juice
- 1 part simple syrup
- 2 parts club soda
Build in order over ice in a tall glass, stirring once before adding soda and once after. Garnish with a lime wedge or grapefruit wedge. Rosemary sprig optional.
Snapped
Described as an “unexpected mix of sugar snap pea infused Tequila Don Julio Blanco and lime juice”, this drink is guaranteed to impress and have your guests coming back for more.
Created by Mixologist Ben Scorah. Recipe and photo courtesy of Tequila Don Julio .
- 1 1/2 oz Sugar Snap Pea Infused Tequila Don Julio Blanco*
- 2/3 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2/3 oz Fresh Mint and Sugar Snap Pea Syrup**
- Split Snap Pea for Garnish
Sugar Snap Pea Infused Tequila Don Julio Blanco
Ingredients:
1 750 ml bottle Tequila Don Julio Blanco
100 g Fresh Snap Peas
1/2 Lemon Zested
Preparation:
1. Combine split open fresh snap peas, Tequila Don Julio Blanco and lemon zest into a large glass bottle.
2. Let sit in a cool dark place for 2-4 days.
3. Place bottle into a large pot of water and heat to 135 degrees for 4 hours.
4. Strain contents through a fine strainer and let cool.
**Fresh Mint and Sugar Snap Pea Syrup
Ingredients:
75 g Fresh Mint (picked of stems)
75 g Fresh Snap Peas
1 cup Simple Syrup
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
Preparation:
1. Combine fresh mint, split open fresh snap peas and simple syrup into a large glass bottle.
2. Place bottle into a large pot of water and heat to 120 degrees for 4 hours.
3. Strain contents through a fine strainer.
4. Add sea salt and let cool.
Preparation:
1. Combine Sugar Snap Pea Infused Tequila Don Julio Blanco, fresh lemon juice and fresh mint and snap pea syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.
2. Strain contents into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
3. Garnish with split snap pea.
Tequila “Manhattan”
Recipe and image courtesy of Hornitos® Tequila.
- 1 ½ parts Hornitos® Añejo Tequila
- ½ part sweet vermouth
- 1 tsp maraschino cherry juice
Combine all ingredients over ice. Stir. Strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry. Served up, no ice.
Standard Disclosure: The “A History of Drinking” team received one or more of the products mentioned above for free. Regardless, we only recommend products or services that we either personally like or believe to be of interest to our readers. If a product sucks, we will tell you in no uncertain terms. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Related tequila articles across the web
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by Gregory Priebe via A History of Drinking
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A History of the Daiquiri Cocktail
July 19th is National Daiquiri Day! From frozen and fluorescent-colored, to sticky and sweet, the Daiquiri has morphed into on many forms — and not always for the better — since its introduction during the waning years of the 19th century. So grab your shaker and raise a glass to the History of the Daiquiri cocktail!
A History of the Daiquiri Cocktail
What is a Daiquiri?
The Daiquiri is a very simple but elegant cocktail made with rum, fresh lime juice, and sugar. That’s it –Phil Greene
The Daiquiri is a member of the sour family of cocktails which also includes the World War I favorite, the Sidecar. By definition a sour is composed ofL
- A base spirit
- a sweet ingredient
- a sour ingredient
In the case of the Daiquiri, those elements are rum (traditionally white rum), lime juice and sugar.
History of the Daiquiri
Like most classic cocktails, the precise origin of the Daiquiri is a little murky, but this cocktail is more well documented than most.
Theory #1:
This story revolves around Jennings Stockton Cox of Baltimore. Following the American Victory in the Spanish-American War, the U.S. moves in to capitalize on the rich Cuban iron mines and Cox, working for the Baltimore-based Bethlehem Steel leads one of the first expeditions into the Sierra Maestra mountains close to the town of Daiquiri (see where this going?) on the south-eastern shore. One night, while entertaining guests from the mainland, Cox runs out of Gin but thankfully, due to generous rations, he has built up quite a stash of the local Bacardi Carta Blanca rum. So as not to expose the delicate constitutions of his guests to straight rum, Cox mixes it with lime juice and sugar, thus creating the Daiquiri.
Theory #2:
The second theory also involves Jennings Cox, but in more of a supporting role. Basil Woon, in his 1928 book, “When it’s Cocktail Time in Cuba”, article relates a story of a group of American engineers tossing back lime-based concoctions at the Venus Bar every day at 8am. After repeating this routine for a while, Cox, the supervisor eventually decides that their drink of choice deserves a name. Choosing the name of the nearby town, the Daiquiri is born.
Theory #3:
This one, taken from Wayne Curtis’ “And a Bottle of Rum”, takes Jennings Cox out of the mix altogether and gives the credit to Spanish American War General William Schafter. According to the legend, Schafter was particularly fond of a Cuban rebel drink. Schafter added ice to it and created the Daiquiri.
Who do we believe?
Like all great cocktail stories, here’s where things start to go sideways:
Several sources state that Cox, if he was the creator, should share credit with either Harry E. Stout or another worker referred to as Pagliuchi, but the addition of lime to rum was nothing revolutionary and was well known since at least 1740 when British Vice Admiral Edward “Old Grogram” Vernon came up with “Grog” to fight off scurvy in British sailors. Rum, sugar and lime mixtures were also popular throughout the Caribbean at this time. Simon Difford points to the Canchanchara, 19th century blend of Cuban rum, lemon (maybe lime depending on translation), honey and water, as a possible ancestor of the Daiquiri.
What now we’re dealing with a variation on the Eddie Izzard “Do you have a flag?” theme: the native population has been doing something for ages, Westerners swoop in and “discover it”, assuming the inhabitants are too dim to know what the really have, give it a name and claim credit.
Why is the Daiquiri so popular?
“The Daiquiri, like the Old-Fashioned, deserves an even greater popularity than it now enjoys. For example, it is, in my opinion, vastly superior to the Manhattan, yet most bars sell many more Manhattans than Daiquiris.” – David Embury
Resuming our story, we now have the Daiquiri, known to be, whatever the true origin, established by the turn of the 20th century. So how did this drink go from being the day drink choice for ex-pat American engineers in Cuba to the ubiquitous drink that we know today?
Admiral Lucius Johnson
Here’s where I have to all NPR Radio Lab and discuss Rear-Admiral Lucius W. Johnson, our patient-zero for the world-wide spread of the Daiquiri. In 1909, the USS Minnesota was touring the now decade-old battlegrounds of the Spanish American War. Captain Charles H. Harlow went ashore at Guantanamo with then junior medical officer Lucius Johnson in tow. The duo soon met up with none other than Jennings Cox, who is more than happy to share his creation with them. Johnson is instantly smitten with the drink.
Returning to the United States with a stash of Cuban rum and Jenning’s recipe, Johnson soon instructed the bar staff at Washington D.C.’s Army and Navy Club on how to make his new favorite cocktail. The Daiquiri was such a hit that the bar (now named the Daiquiri Lounge) sports a plaque to honor of the moment.
Spending lunch at the Army and Navy Club in DC where the #Daiquiri made its US debut. http://pic.twitter.com/MjXkagpQ82
— District Cocktail (@DCcocktails) March 19, 2013
After the nation’s capital, Johnson introduced the drink to the University Club in Baltimore, Maryland. Gladly accepting the recipe, but not willing to leave well enough alone (we never do), the bartender insisted on adding bitters to the list of ingredients. His next posting was San Francisco, where the Daiquiri wasn’t a hit and failed to achieve any popularity. Following that bump in the road the Daiquiri’s tour continued into Honolulu and Guam.
Constante Ribalaigua
Flash forward a few years and we come to Constante Ribalaigua Vert, “El Rey de los Coteleros” (King of the Cocktails) in Cuba. In his 40 year reign as head bartender and co-owner of the La Floridita bar, it is said that he personally squeezed 80 million limes for 10 more than million Daiquiris. It was Ribalaigua who introduced Hemingway to the Daiquiri when the author began to frequent La Floridita in the 1930s. Hemingway and the Daiquiri become forever linked and in 1937, the bar publishes a Hemingway Daiquiri —printed as the E. Henmiway Special — in their cocktail book. In 1947, the proportions of the Hemingway Daquiri double and becomes known as the Papa Doble.
In addition to a number of variant Daiquiri recipes, Ribalaigua’s other claim to fame is the perfection of the frozen Daiquiri, which is not to be confused with the Slurpee-machine nonesense you encounter at T.J. McChucklenuts and on Bourbon Street.
Daiquiri recipes
Jennings Cox Daiquiri
- The Juice of six lemons
- Six Teaspoons full of sugar
- Six Bacardi cups – Carta Blanca
- Two small cups of mineral water
- Plenty of crushed ice
Embury’s 8:2:1 formula
U.K. bar legend Dick Bradsell was a huge fan of this recipe and his protege Simon Difford still swears by this ratio for creating aged rum Daiquiris. Embury swapped out the usual sugar for simple syrup, which creatds a less gritty mix.
- 2 shots Cuban Rum
- ½ shot lime juice
- ¼ shot simple syrup
Proposes that Cox’s original Daiquiri may have been served on the rocks, prefers it this way
1935 – Albert S. Crockett concurs in the “Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book”:
“Personal preference dictates serving the cocktail with finely shaved ice in a glass.”
Diplomático Daiquiri
- 1 oz Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into daiquiri or cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Sources:
- Curtis, Wayne. And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails. New York: Crown, 2006.
- DeGroff, Dale, and David Kressler. The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks: Classic Favorites, New Ingredients, Modern Techniques. New York: Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2008.
- Difford, Simon. Difford’s Encyclopedia of Cocktails: 2600 Recipes. Richmond Hill, Ont.: Firefly, 2009.
- “The District’s Claim to the Daiquiri.” Boundary Stones: WETA’s Washington DC History Blog.
- Embury, David A. The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1958.
- Greene, Philip. To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion.
- Hess, Robert. Essential Bartender’s Guide: How to Create Truly Great Cocktails. New York: Mud Puddle, 2008.
More Daiquiri articles across the web
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by Gregory Priebe via A History of Drinking
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