Brown Derby

BROWN DERBY

"The classic bourbon Brown Derby cocktail is named for the eponymous hat-shaped Los Angeles diner. " 

- Liquor.com

So I decided to give this one a go. The recipe looked interesting enough and it's always fun to play around with different syrups. The cocktail Brown Derby itself is an old classic so I reckon there are numerous ways to twist this baby up!

• 6 cl bourbon

• 4.5 cl pink grapefruit juice

• 1.5 cl honey syrup (1:1 ratio)

Shake everything with ice, strain and garnish. I loved how balanced this cocktail was and also its incredible freshness! Especially with the grapefruit aromas. I like!

Cheerhattan

CHEERHATTAN

My input for the international competition!

Hey! Here's a cocktail and actually my input for the international Heering classics, which made it to the 2nd round! Since I love proper Manhattans, I wanted to make (as the rules were) a delicious twist to it (a classic). I call it the Cheerhattan. My train of thought went like this:

- Cheer (cocktails are a cheerful thing)

- heer as per "Heering"

- hattan as per the end of Manhattan

Funny and well-thought, eh? I thought the same :D Anyhow, I've made this drink a few times now and everytime it surprises me with deliciousness! Here's how it's done:

• 3.5 cl quality bourbon (I used Old Virginia 6yo)
• 2 cl Heering cherry liqueur
• 1.5 cl sweet red vermouth
• 1 bs chocolate-syrup (coffee-syrup)
• 1-2 ds bitters
• (1 ds cocoa bitters)
• orange twist

Excluding the garnish, stir everything with ice and strain into a well-chilled coupe/cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

BOOM!

If you think of it, what could go wrong? We have good bourbon, cherries, chocolate, spices...it's all there! If all else fails and I won't make it further down the competition, at least I've had a good run with this cocktail.

Boulevardier

BOULEVARDIER

Finally. FI-NAL-LY! So here's truly a classic from the 1920-30's (citation needed :D), which IMHO lives up to its name. The Boulevardier (IBA) cocktail. Story goes, I wanted to make this drink for a long time now, but I was lacking quality sweet vermouth! After a long search, the Finnish retail store had three 375ml bottles in their web shop. I snatched them all! SCORE!

So the Boulevardier. Basically a Negroni with bourbon replacing gin. More to the sweet(er) side, spices, texture, aroma, the whole nine yards. Easy to make as well! One equal part of each ingredient!

• 1 part bourbon
• 1 part sweet vermouth
• 1 part campari
• 1 orange twist to garnish

Style 1: Stir with ice, strain into a chilled OF - glass, garnish and serve

Style 2: Build into a OF - glass filled with rocks, garnish and serve

I like the first style since it cuts the biggest edge and balanced the drink out perfectly. Moreover, this drink can easily be twisted by changing the ratios if one pleases. Taste-wise, oooh boy, this is the s¤%t! Delicious! My bourbon of choice was the Old Virginia 6yo, which fitted well since the bourbon itself isn't too sweet.

Highly recommended!

Vanilla Daisy

VANILLA DAISY

Heeeyoo! Roughly a week back I made a bourbon based cocktail called Vanilla Daisy. The recipe was found from the "Classic Cocktail Bible" I own. In all fairness, when looking at the ingredients list, I can't help but think it's a twist to a "Whisky Sour". Nonetheless, it's a twist well worth making! Or is it...? Let's give it a look.

• 5 cl bourbon
• 2.5 cl lemon juice
• 2.5 cl vanilla syrup
• 1 tsp grenadine
• 2-3 maraschino cherries as garnish

Shake the first three ingredients with ice, strain into a tumbler, "drizzle" the grenadine over the drink and finally garnish the cocktail with the maraschino cherries. 

How was the drink then? My initial fear was that it would turn out waaaay to sweet (coffee flavoring syrups tend to be overly sweet in themselves), but luckily the lemon juice cut the sugariness just enough. As I used Buffalo Trace bourbon for this, overall the drink was decent-ok but didn't quite manage to stand out at any point. I would even go as far and claim that the choice of bourbon makes this drink in the end. With a good mouthfeel to it (double strain for the win!), I rate this cocktail 3½+ out of five (the + for visual).

Grant's granting Grant's!

GRANT'S GRANTING GRANT'S!

(oh the puns)

Hello everyone! It is time for another grand tasting! Today's tasting include a set of three blended whiskies from the same manufacturer! I present you the Grant's tasting evening! (applause)

A brief summary first. As the shipment from Germany arrived bringing all kinds of liquid goods, my good friend (who is a big fan of Grant's blend) wanted to know whether their two special blends are worth their money. That is, if they're good. "Well let's give it a go then!" I said (not really but for the story's sake just play along) and within short notice managed to ask a colleague from work to join us as well. Alas, one friend (couple) couldn't make it after all so it was up to us three to objectively assess and evaluate the goods.

If you didn't know, Grant's is one of the biggest owner's in the whisky business, owning e.g. Glenfiddich. This evening's samples included:

1. Grant's Family reserve blended Scotch whisky
2. Grant's Ale Cask reserve (a blend finished in ale casks)
3. Grant's Sherry Cask reserve (a blend finished in oak casks that previously held Oloroso sherry)

As far as I know, the "regular" blend is widely available in pretty much anywhere but the special blends might be harder to come by. Then again I didn't know Grant's had a set of 12, 18 and 25yo as well so...who am I to decide?

Before we really get down to business, I must I just must stop you right there. I will interrupt the Grant's session with an outsider I just had to try before the official set!

This bourbon is the shit!

To the nose, an explosion of bourbon-vanilla and in the mouth starts strong and followed by a sweet toastiness. The following video explains the quality of this bourbon:

Okay! Let's get back to business.

Courtesy of Minttu Virolainen

We had a 4 cl measure of each and (if wanted) water to the side (to add). The "regular" Grant's smells like it (any household whisky) should; a bit stingy. In the mouth it has a very light peatiness and adding a drop of water verifies this. The Ale Cask had a softer nose to it and tasted softer as well. But the finish wasn't as pleasant as with the regular one, even slightly bitter! The true surprise was with the Sherry Cask blend! Smooth as fudge, light smokiness, peat and sherry notes (duh) really gave this blend an edge!

Out of the three the Sherry cask was a clear winner. The regular blend came in second and the Ale cask came in third. Price-wise the special blends cost pretty much the same as the regular one albeit having 0.3L less in volume.

Whisky tasting, serious business!

The event ended up being a great success! If not after the three full measures of whisky (my colleague had a G&T before), another bourbon glass and the last Glenfiddich 12yo, I enjoyed my time sampling these products! I can't wait for the next time a similar event is being organized!

Whiskey tastings and life

WHISKEY TASTINGS AND LIFE

Hello again dear readers! The last two days have been quite extraordinary indeed as I had two tastings with completely different styles of whiskies! The true beauty of these is doing it with friends and eventually, the whole process of a tasting turns out into a long get-together. I really like that. 

This "two-part" tasting started on Tuesday at the bar I work at, where I met two of my good friends and a friend of my friend, an Italian exchange student...

:D

Jokes aside, he was a really cool guy. He drank beer with us and wasn't afraid of anything.

So what was the first tasting all about? The peat bomb Ardbeg - series hailing from Islay! As far as I was concerned, I've never been a true fan of heavily smoked/peaty whiskies. But with maturity comes great respon...taste bud development and lately I can appreciate a good smoked whisky. I would still prefer a sherry-like malt over any Islay whisky, though. But as I want to finish my project (New Year's Resolution 2014), I knew this day would eventually come.

The tasting included:

• Ardbeg 10yo
• Ardbeg Uigeadail (matured in a mix of bourbon and sherry casks)
• Ardbog (matured in ex-manzanilla sherry casks for at least 10 years)
• Ardbeg Corryveckan (previously a Committee-only bottling, it is intended as a replacement for Airigh Nam Beist in the core range)

For me these were difficult to evaluate properly. Yes, they were really peaty and all of them had an incredibly long finish. I kid you not when I say the flavors lingered in the mouth for a long, long time after tasting them. Corryveckan had peppery notes and out of these four I enjoyed the Uigeadail the best. Overall these whiskies were genuinely soft.

The evening continued with beers and alike with a soft touch of schnapps. But this was just the beginning...

The following day (one of my friends stayed over for the night) I conducted a Bourbon tasting with three products! I held this tasting twice today; once at noon and a second time when one friend got here from school.

For this tasting I initially had in mind to order the whole range of Jim Beam (they have over a dozen of different styles of bottling) and truly evaluate the differences (age and effect of wood respectively). But while writing a letter to a friend of mine a few weeks back and explaining this, I had a doubt. "Would I really want this? Can I really afford this?" I ended up ordering only two different ones along with the "basic" one I already had:

• Jim Beam White (4yo)
• Jim Beam Black (6yo)
• Jim Beam Signature Craft (12yo)

One really distinctive difference with these products was the effect of age and thus color; the 12yo has a copper-ish color whereas the youngest (white/4yo) possesses a light golden (slightly shifting to green) color. Woody notes were present , perfume and wax. With age the flavor becomes apparent smoother. I did enjoy the Signature Craft's smoothness but taste-wise the Black was a tad better.

As we sampled these bourbons as their own, I then had the same amount of said whiskies in glasses with a fixed amount of soft drink (pepsi) added to it. A big thanks to a friend of mine, who gave me whisky stones the weekend before; these became extremely handy! So what I did was put about 2 cl (~½ fl oz) of bourbon, add two whisky stones and 5 cl of pepsi (1½ fl oz) to "reanimate" a bourbon&coke and perhaps taste how they differ. Had I used regular ice the drink would've eventually watered down altering the results of this "scientific" experiment.

As a joker I then introduced a fourth bourbon i.e. Maker's Mark, which we sipped but didn't really evaluate. This was kind of a "hey now that you've tasted these Jim Beams have a sip of this!"

Tasting in progress

Before the other friend got here we popped open the Highland Park 12yo (or HP when feeling rad). I have to admit, this whisky was a purchase truly based on comments/reviews. I must concur with the rest; this is a good whisky! The remarkable aspect of this is how I couldn't nose the subtle smokiness but in the mouth it is present. It also has a long finish, which I appreciate.

The evening ended with a game of hearts. 

It was a really nice two days with good drink and better company!

Mint Julep

MINT JULEP

The official cocktail of the Kentucky Derby

Greetings everyone! Today I'll present you an old-time classic from the ancient times when Romans ruled the world. Well not quite, but nonetheless, this is one of the greatest cocktail I've had and I can easily recommend this drink for anyone. It's a stiff drink I admit but after the first sip I fell in love with it. I present you the Mint Julep.

To make a long story short, this is the cocktail served in the annual Kentucky Derby. It's a bourbon based cocktail and here's how you make one:

• 4-5 mint leaves or ~10 if they're smaller in size
• ~2 tea spoons of sugar
• 6 cl bourbon
• crushed ice
• a mint sprig for garnish

First, take the mint leaves, slam them against your palm and drop them in the glass. For perfectionists traditionalists out there, there's a Julep Cup that is traditionally used in this cocktail. Made out of pewter or if feeling rich and fancy, silver. But since I don't have one (yet), I shall use one of my fancier tumblers.

So the mint is in the glass, add your (granulated) sugar and gently press the sugar and the mint to release more of the essential oils/aromas of the mint. Don't shred the mint, press it.

Add your favorite bourbon, stir a couple of times and then keep scooping that crushed ice. What you want is to get the cocktail freezingly cold after which you add more ice. When the glass gives your frostbites, it's cold enough. Then add another scoop of crushed ice on top and garnish with a mint sprig and preferably at least one straw. Sip and enjoy slowly, since this drink only has alcohol in it. 

I have to tell you, this drink earned its place in my all time favorite top3 cocktails! It is super refreshing and has a great taste of bourbon/mint in it. I can't believe I haven't drunk one before!

Love at first sight (not to mention how visually beautiful the cocktail is), no doubt about it!

Horse's Neck

HORSE'S NECK

Hello again! Today I'm introducing you to a cocktail which (after a little bit of research) apparently has two major variations. The classic cocktail Horse's Neck. On one thing we can both agree; you need ginger ale and a long lemon twist. But are you "supposed" to use brandy or whiskey in it? In my dearest opinion, it doesn't quite matter since both work in their favor and both are recognized as a key ingredient. Of course you get a completely different taste profile from those mentioned above so if serving one of these it won't hurt asking "brandy or bourbon?"

• 5 cl brandy or whiskey (bourbon)
• ginger ale
• a long lemon twist
• (angostura bitters)

Using a high ball glass, fill it half-way with ice. Then cut a long strip of lemon twist so part of it will hang from outside the glass. Add your choice of liquor and top it off with ginger ale. Some put a few dashes of angostura bitters on top of the drink; this is purely a matter of opinion/taste. You can also add a straw or two if you please.

In my version I used bourbon. The result was quite delightful indeed! I got a massive amount of citrus - notes and the bourbon totally works with ginger ale. At this point I must say I would have used a better quality mixer instead of Schweppes but in Finland it's hard to get anything else than that. If you do happen to bump into anything more rare, the price for one bottle is beyond outrageous. 

Nonetheless, this is a good cocktail and if you prefer a more of a sweeter version, use brandy instead.

The Old Fashioned

THE OLD FASHIONED

"That's like Don Draper in a glass."

Tonight we're doing the most classic cocktail of them all, the Old Fashioned. You might remember me doing a somewhat similar drink earlier this year (The bacon-infused bourbon Benton's Old Fashioned), but here is the cocktail that 

1. is a true classic
2. is my favorite cocktail of all times and
3. is friggin' good!

First things first. There are numerous "different" recipes out there. Moreover, even more different ways to make it (controversy ensured). I will explain to you how I make this cocktail and then let you decide. Just remember that the base for an Old Fashioned goes like this:

• sugar (1 cube or ~1.5cl simple syrup)
• angostura bitters (a few dashes)
• ice cubes
• bourbon at least 4 cl (1½ fl oz), preferably 5 cl (1 3/4 fl oz)
• (garnish)

As mentioned, some use simple syrup (1:1 ratio) and some use a sugar cube. I usually do the latter. It takes a little bit more time to do, since you have to "manually" dissolve the sugar but it doesn't bother me.

So what you want to do is to pour a few dashes on the sugar. You can either do this OR put a small napkin on top of your tumbler, put the sugar cube in the middle and then pour the dashes on top. This way you won't get angostura bitters all over the sides of the glass, because you don't have to be 100% precise with your aiming. Let is soak for a while, then drop it in the glass.

Using the end-part of your bar spoon (or a muddler for that matter), muddle the sugar into small bits. Take your bourbon and pour in a small quantity (not all of it, say a quarter of what you have) into the glass, stir it for the sugar to dissolve, drop 1-2 ice cubes in and continue stirring. More bourbon, more ice.

You should now have used all of your bourbon and the drink looks somewhat the same as in the picture above.

Now here's the part that many of us do differently. There are no true right's per se, but one wrong; just one rule of thumb; as long as you don't muddle any of the garnish in the drink, you're doing fine! I've seen one youtube clip where the guy muddles the cocktail cherry and orange wedge and every fruit imaginable in the glass before proceeding in the bourbon part! Oh why?!

Whatever you like, a slice of lemon, a wedge of orange, a cocktail cherry, any combination (I've rarely seen limes used, and to be honest I would skip that fruit altogether), that is very acceptable and if anyone tells you different, tell them to go F - themselves. What I recommend is using a peel of lemon and flame it.

Cut a peel of lemon, light a fire and press the peel close to the source of flame. The essential oils will burst on top of the glass. Rub the peel around the rim and drop it in. Of course the flaming part is very optional (remember fire safety!) and if you don't have a flame close by, powerfully pressing the peel only will release those oils as well. Give your drink a refreshing touch!

There it is, the classic, the one and only, the Old Fashioned. Enjoy.

American Belle

AMERICAN BELLE

2013

2018, using Heering as the cherry liqueur instead of DK

Let's continue with some shooters! When it comes to shooters, layered ones are always the most fun ones. Not only do you get a visually astonishing "drink", the true beauty is that when gulping down one, you actually get to taste every flavor in it (at least usually)! The American Belle is a minor exception to this:

• 1.25 cl (or 1.5 cl if your shot glass is large enough) cherry liqueur
• 1.25 (1.5) cl amaretto
• 1.25 (1.5) cl bourbon whiskey

Layer in the given order in a shot glass or alternative build over some ice in a small-ish tumbler. I made a shooter out of this one (very obvious, isn't it?).

Sweet cherry, hardly any almondy flavor and finally the bourbon. The combination is the whiskey (I used Jim Beam) and cherry is actually a very interesting one, sadly the flavors of amaretto were completely hidden.

Not a classic drink, not a five-star shooter either, but visually a good one and tastewise...well, was okay, I guess...

!EDIT 2018!

So I made this one again, now using Heering Cherry liqueur instead of a pink bright (cheaper) cherry version and the results were completely different. Much more balanced and distinctively better tasting as it was five years ago!

Amaretto Sour

Amaretto Sour

In a perfect world, cocktails are perfect too. While I'm not a perfect cocktail mixologist, I strive to create cocktails that taste excellent, look amazing and leave a good impression to both the maker and the drinker. This is one of them...

The Amaretto Sour.

Inspired by Jeffrey Morgenthaler, I picked up the challenge and created an Amaretto Sour he perfected.

• 4.5 cl Amaretto
• 2.25 cl bourbon
• 3 cl fresh lemon juice
• 0.5 cl simple syrup
• 1.5 cl egg white (a tad less than one egg white whole, unless a small egg)

Combine everything in a cocktail shaker and dry shake first roughly for a little while. After this add plenty of ice and shake again. Double strain into a tumbler filled with ice. Decoration-wise, there are a few options proper for this cocktail; lemon/orange zest/wedge or a maraschino cherry.¨

As a big fan of Amaretto and a big fan of sours, this cocktail is almost as good as the Boston Sour, but still manages to plunge into my top cocktail list.

Benton's Old Fashioned

BENTON'S OLD FASHIONED

(Molecular Mixology!)

This cocktail has been inspired by Jamie Boudreau and the PDT Cocktail Book (2011). What I did:

I fried a lot of bacon on the pan, collected the fat from it (picture 1) (I had to use clarified butter, I explain this later) and mixed it with a cup of Jim Beam bourbon. I let it sit in room temperature for an hour while mixing the concoction a few times (picture 2). After this I put the jar in the freezer for an hour freezing the fat part solid (picture 3). I removed the fat and used coffee filters to strain the now bacon fat - infused bourbon into a clean, sterile bottle (picture 4 and 5)

This bourbon I then used to make a Benton's Old Fashioned!

• 5 cl fat-infused bourbon
• 1 cl maple syrup
• dash angostura bitters
• orange zest/twist for garnish

Stir the ingredients well in the mixing glass. Strain into a tumbler filled with ice and garnish with a (flamed) orange zest.

I really liked this cocktail! I'm a big fan of Old Fashioneds and this cocktail really convinced me. I could clearly taste the bacon from the bourbon and the maple syrup's sweetness combined with the essential oils from the orange...nice.

Summa summarum, I had fun making a rather different kind of cocktail. If I ever were to do this again, I would use different kind of bacon and most likely an oven instead of a frying pan.

Manhattan

MANHATTAN

Another classic cocktail originating from the 19th century! The Manhattan! Similar to the Rob Roy, a Manhattan is a mix of whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters. I used Jim Beam bourbon in this one.

• 5 cl bourbon (Jim Beam)
• 2 cl sweet vermouth
• dash angostura bitters
• a cocktail cherry for garnish

In a glass, stir all of the ingredients with plenty of ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cocktail cherry. 

A perfect mix. I really enjoyed this cocktail. The vermouth really compliments the bourbon! I personally think the Manhattan is a wonderful pre-dinner cocktail. In addition, like its Scottish cousin the Rob Roy, this cocktail can easily modified with dry vermouth or using both dry and sweet vermouth making it a Perfect Manhattan.

Boston Sour

BOSTON SOUR

Boston Sour, volume I

Boston Sour, volume II

Well met! I've had a rough day at work today so after I got home I thought of whipping myself a nice cocktail. Which I did. Hence, the Boston Sour. I've always thought that this was the Whiskey Sour but in fact the Whiskey Sour does not have egg white in it and this does. Otherwise the Sour is a very simple cocktail (yet extremely elegant) which can be made different with almost any spirit.

• 5 cl Whiskey (bourbon) (I used Jim Beam, I find it an extremely good whiskey for cocktails)
• 2,5 cl lemon juice (½ a lemon)
• 2,5 cl sugar syrup OR 2 tsp caster sugar
• 4 drops of Angostura bitters
• 1 egg white

First things first, separate the egg yolk from the white. In a cocktail glass, combine the egg white plus all of the other ingredients, add a lot of ice and remember to shake like you've never shaked before! (because of the egg white).

Take a old fashioned - glass (tumbler), fill it with ice cubes and strain the cocktail mixture in the glass. Now take a strip of lemon peel and twist the essential oils into the drink and use the peel as a decoration. The egg white creates a nice foam as shown in the picture. Also different from the non-egg version, this drink has much more build.

A perfect Boston Sour.

Post Edit:

I have been informed with crucial information regarding this cocktail. Remember boys and girls to dry shake all of the ingredients first, this is to ensure that the egg white incorporates with the other ingredientsand that it gets a nice frothy texture. Then add ice and shake again.