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.

The herbal-liqueur blind tasting

THE BLIND TASTING

And now for something completely different.

I decided to make a herbal-liqueur blind tasting and have five of my friends attend to it. To see whether they make similar notes of a tasted liqueurs...and for fun, most of all. Unfortunately I had to recuse myself from this event for reasons explained later on so I worked out the paper work. Nonetheless, I had three different herbal liqueurs at my disposal:

1. Unicum Zwack, from Hungary
2. Jägermeister, from Germany
3. Killepitsch, also from Germany (a local product from Düsseldorf)

I later realized that this tasting could've-should've had Underberg and Fernet Branca as well. Excluding the Killepitsch, the rest are well-known across the globe. But this sufficed well. 

I figured out how to maximize the most "realistic" results:

1. The subjects tasted these liqueurs by themselves (to minimize the influence of others' opinions) whereas I wrote down whatever they said
2. The subjects never saw any of the bottles used (to minimize the influence and associations of the bottle/label)
3. Only 1-2 cl (roughly ½ fl. oz.) / liqueur
4. The order for each subject was random (this probably had less/no meaning after all)
5. The subjects were to review smell and taste
6. The subjects gave points to each liqueur from 0-100

Before each tasting, I told my friend(s), that this was no competition, they didn't need to guess which was what and that they try to be as open as possible. I would write down everything and later compile a spreadsheet of the results. There are no right or wrongs nor any winners here. This blind tasting is for purely entertaining purposes and heck, maybe we discover something extraordinary from these samples!

Oh and I mentioned earlier I couldn't take part in this. The reason: Because I should have done this experiment first. I only realized after my first friend did the tasting that his opinions subconsciously (would) affect mine as well. Next time I do something like this I have to remember to first do it myself before letting my friends taste anything, this way the results are not affected by others.

So after I had my five sheets of results, I started compiling them together...and here are the results! 

(sorry about the picture stretching so far right, but otherwise you can't read sh*t! :) )

Killepitsch won and one thing that was actually pretty astonishing is that Jägermeister was reviewed the worst! To think of it, in the end were we really that surprised? Jägermeister to herbal-liqueurs is like Smirnoff to vodkas, Jack Daniels to whiskeys, Bacardi to rums or J.P. Chenet to wines; they're well branded and better known but when it comes down to "quality", they just might not cut it in the big boys' league. Don't get me wrong, I, for instance like Jäger but Killepitsch is better. Bacardi rum is great for mixing and Jack Daniels does work good with cola, but yeah, there are many better bourbons or wines than JD or Chenet. Personal preference, people...personal preference. If you enjoy your JD on the rocks, who am I to judge?

The psychology behind this experiment (or blind tasting in general) is very interesting. Although I only had three products and five tasters, reading the sheet gives us valuable information. But one point I have to highlight to you. Two of my friends noticed cardamom from Unicum Zwack. I found this extremely satisfying. Also, Killepitsch was clearly the sweetest of them all (4 out of 5 tasters) and Jägermeister was considered very alcoholic-like.

All in all, this blind tasting experiment was a great success and I would like to do it again, with different products of course.

The power of feedback

THE POWER OF FEEDBACK

(sipping a cocktail at the Lounge24 bar @ RadissonBLU Hotel, Tallinn)

Brace yourselves, because now I want to take a moment and discuss the power of feedback. People give feedback about restaurants, bars, places, whatever. Sometimes they tell it straight away when able and/or sometimes they send it via email after the given event. Be it good or poor service, food, drink or anything for that matter, I've noticed it's hard to speak up (at least for us Finns) when we really should. Only after the restaurant trip we complain to our friends "how poor the food was." When the waiter comes and asks if everything is/was fine, it's common to just say "yeah it was good." without really meaning it.

It's probably (most likely) a Finnish thing. There's a saying "You tell a few friends about a good (restaurant) and 50 about a poor one." That's hard facts right there for you.

But let's go back a few weeks time. The picture above was taken at Lounge 24 Bar at the RadissonBLU hotel in Tallinn, Estonia. It was one of the three cocktail bars I visited during my three day stay in Estonia. When I find a new cocktail bar there's one specific drink that I usually order to estimate the quality of the said bar. This drink needs enough technique and know-how to make good + I like the cocktail. It's the Manhattan. Like a good friend of mine told me how he can estimate the whole restaurant's quality by the eye fillet they prepare (if it's a good steak, it is likely that they know how to make good food in general), I can estimate a cocktail bar depending on how they make a Manhattan.

That said, the first place (wasn't a "pure" cocktail bar per se) I visited made me cry from the inside. I mean, if you take a tumbler with ice, drown that sum'bitch with angostura, then pour 4 cl (1½ fl. oz) of Jack Daniels and the same amount of sweet vermouth, give it a little stir and serve...wait, what? It was a horrible, utterly horrible Manhattan.

The other place was really meant to be a cocktail lounge, but they also served food. Having to wait 10 minutes for a Negroni ? Also, the said they haven't had angostura bitters for two months now (I first ordered an Old Fashioned). Two months? Really now? Hell, send a man on the first boat to Finland and get some!! A cocktail bar without angostura is like a McDonalds without BigMacs! Shameful what it is! The Negroni was as expected, good, but the atmosphere was bumming me out.

The last place...The best one I visited. It had its flaws (explained later), but clearly a cocktail bar I can easily recommend for my friends, the Lounge24 bar at the RadissonBLU hotel, not close from the Old City. Firstly, location. A rooftop cocktail bar? Rad.

Secondly, our waitress was very proficient; I asked something out of the list (twice) and although the Japanese Slipper wasn't as good as I expected, she went through with my order with pride. I had a long chat with her later on.

But there was one flaw, pretty much their only flaw they had. Their choice of vodka I mean liquor. As many might know, Estonia's national "vodka" is Viru Valge. Let's be honest. It is not vodka by any standard. It is booze. And the cocktails that had Viru in them (such as the White Russian I ordered) weren't as good as...anyone would've expected. Booze has a sharp taste to it where proper vodka is smooth as a baby's bottom. The waitress told me that the hotel has a contract with Viru Valge so they have to use it. Fair enough no that's not cool this has to change! A place like this must be saved!

Despite all of this, I had my best experiences regarding cocktail bars at Lounge 24. When we got back home I took the time and effort and wrote a lengthy feedback at 4 am. It had to be done. I explained them pretty much everything I am telling you now. But mostly I stressed the fact that if you use quality ingredients, you make quality products. And this can be applied to everything!

Being super full of myself, I even quote a part I wrote them:

"I don't expect things to change overnight or that you even agree with me, but I sincerely hope you see my point. About the larger picture I give you feedback about."

I meant that to the fullest. Even I have underlined the fact of quality ingredients when creating cocktails in this blog (right, right??)! Always use fresh ingredients and don't settle for crappy shit!

I received an answer some days later. You know, it felt so good to read that email. Without going too much into the details, just a quick quote:

"You gave us a very serious thing to think about and we will consider if and how we can change anything about this."

 I can't tell now whether anything has happened or even will. But be assured, the next time I will visit Tallinn, you bet your ass I will visit Lounge 24 again. And if I were to see and taste a quality brand of vodka in my cocktails...

...the power of feedback can be powerful indeed.

Thanks for reading this "rant", if you may.

Celestino

PS. Any thoughts? Is giving feedback really that hard, whether positive or negative? Has anything really changed afterwards? Or is everything just in vain? I'd like to read/hear your thoughts/comments.

Coco Jambo

COCO JAMBO

Now with sexy-wow effects! It's totally rad!

Welcome back to the summer drinks! First of all, here's the drink's title as an epic 90's song! But let's get started with this cocktail. So basically the Coco Jambo goes down as a (surprise, surprise), coconutty drink. But it's also a frothy, creamy cocktail, which in my opinion will be regarded as AWESOME! I got this recipe from a fellow cocktail-lover and the name I just made up. I mean, it has Coco in its name, so it must be great, don't you think?

• 5 cl fresh cream
• 1 egg white
• 1 tea spoon sugar
• 4 cl Malibu coconut rum
• 2 cl Irish cream
• (a cherry)

First things first, put the cream, egg white and sugar in a shaker and dry shake vigorously for a lengthy amount of time. After this pour in the alcohols, add plenty of ice and shake again for about 20 seconds or even more. Take your high ball glass and without straining pour in everything you have into the glass. Garnish with a cherry and add a few straws!

I was amazed how well Malibu worked with Irish cream! It's a "heavy" drink but easily enjoyed during any summer day.

The Godfather

THE GODFATHER

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse"

- Michael Corleone

That's right boys and girls. Here's a sweet-ish short cocktail that in its essence has no actual reference with the Godfather film/novels, except that the liquer used in this drink has Disaronno in it, which is Italian made:

• 2.5 cl Scotch
• 2.5 cl Amaretto Disaronno 

Pour both ingredients in a tumbler with ice and enjoy. The ratio with these two may and can be varied as the drinker sees fit. I liked the 1:1 ratio, it was both strong and sweet and when the ice melts it smoothens the sweetness of amaretto, I approve of that. I could understand the use of more scotch but having more amaretto probably won't cut it in the big boys' league.

The Godfather drink has a close relative, the Godmother, which will be introduced to you later!

Springbok

SPRINGBOK

"The springbok is a medium-sized brown and white antelope-gazelle from southwestern Africa."

But in the cocktail world, the Springbok (or Springbokkie, meaning "little springbok") it is a gold and green layered shooter originating from South Africa:

• ½ shot of Amarula
• ½ shot of cremè de menthé

First pour the cremè de menthé in a shot glass and carefully layer the amarula on top. Consume. This cocktail tastes like strong mint chocolate! 

If you want to impress yourself (or your guests) even more, use ice-cold products and keep the shot glass in a freezer for a while for maximum effect. Be warned, though...you'll fall in love with these ones!

The Heart Eater

THE HEART EATER

This is a story about a young man that ventured in the Great Plains of North America on a cold December night, 1841, in hopes of great adventure and fortune. It is purely fictional.

"To travel is to live."

- Hans Christian Andersen, 1805-1875

The winter breeze was strong tonight. Like any other night, Jedediah was walking in the woods with his companion, Jasper, in the middle of practically nowhere, finding shelter from the incoming storm. They had traveled for some time already and with the help of the North Star he was hoping to find Cheyenne, their next stop.

Hours after hours but still no sign of civilization. Jedediah was calm in mind. Their rations were close on ending but he was strong of will, and ammo. And no matter what they said, tonight he would hunt his very first bison.

Finally a glimpse of light in the horizon. A glimpse of hope for both of the travelers. They climbed the foothill and it felt like the highest mountain they've ever climbed so far. Jasper was getting weary. Jedediah on the other hand felt like a victor. 

They opened the front door, that made a heavy cracking sound. They were welcomed with a warmth that radiated from the interior. But not a single soul could be seen. They both quickly closed the door shut and gasped silently; here they could rest for a while, albeit Jedediah knew he would soon go out again.

                                                    

A man shows up from a room close to the counter. He smiles at Jedediah and Jasper and greets them; "Welcome, kinsmen. What brings you two here? Rest? Food? I can provide you with both. Then again, the storm is closing in on us, please, have a seat." The men sat down and dropped their gear on the ground. "You're hunters, aren't you?" He continued.

"Yes. And the night is not over yet." Jedediah replied with great confidence.

"Oh really? I know the wilds is flourishing with small game, I'm just not sure whether you should go out now when the breeze is getting stronger by the minute." The man said.

"Yes, really. I'm going to hunt us a bison." Jedediah said and looked the man straight in the eyes.

The man went silent. He then turned and walked towards the counter, grabbed two mugs and poured a honey-smelling liquid from a small-ish barrel on the wall. He sighed: "I don't think that's a good idea. Be assured though, if you ever do kill a bison, make sure to bring me its heart and I will make you a dish you shall never forget. Bring me its soul and I will make you a champion." The man said, brought the mugs to Jedediah and Jasper and lowered his hand on Jedediah's shoulder.

"I promise you that." He continued.

Jasper gulped down the drink and told Jedediah that he would get some rest. Jedediah nodded back with respect and started to clean his rifle. The man watched him closely throughout the operation. After a small while, Jedediah grabbed his gear again, thanked the man for the drink, grabbed his rifle and said:

"Don't you worry. I will be back in a little while."

Jedediah was not to be seen until the following morning.

The morning was perfectly clear. The storm never reached the lodge that was hidden among the trees. Jasper was worried that his companion would not return. The owner of the lodge told him that he saw a fiery passion for hunting in Jedediah's eyes when he said he would go after that bison.

"Don't you worry. He will be back in a little while." The man said.

And Jedediah did. The door opened and inside walked a man with blood on his hands. He laid his rifle on the wall and walked straight to the owner. He then opened his knapsack and inside some linen wraps he presented him the heart of a bison.

"Here, as requested. I complied your deed, now fill our need." Jedediah said following a big smile. The man took the heart and went in the kitchen. The preparation took him a decent amount of time. But what he presented Jedediah with was to be the most extraordinary experience he ever encountered:

Jedediah drank the concoction and immediately felt stronger inside. This is what he needed. This was it. In the afternoon, Jedediah and Jasper left. But before they reached the door, Jedediah turned to the man and said:

"By the way, what is your name?"

"They call me Hendrick's". The man replied with a smile.

The Heart Eater

• 3 cl Hendrick's Gin (1 fl. oz)
• 1.5 cl Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka (0.5 fl. oz)
• 4.5 cl grapefruit juice (1.5 fl. oz)
• 1.5 cl simple syrup (0.5 fl. oz)
• 1 cl Blue Curacao (1/3 fl. oz)
• a cocktail cherry

Shake the first four ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice, doublestrain into a ice-cold cocktail glass (put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes or so), then gently pour the blue curacao in the middle of the drink and finally drop a cherry in the middle.