Atlantic City, NJ

I just noticed that the last three cities in our Around America series was Dallas, Dubuque, and Durango. It would be a good idea not to do another city that starts with ‘D,’ otherwise this list will start to get stale or downright challenging (especially since I totally missed bartime at Williams & Graham by minutes last time I was in Denver!). So let’s take you back out East. We are going to make you hungry too, because, just before we hit the beach, we stopped for lunch at the Vagabond in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Red Hook

Even though we never think it necessary for a reason to mix drinks, we have a gaggle of reasons to post tonight. One, we have a new sophisticated look to the Lounge that we think that the Lizards will like. We think it’s classy and easy-on-the-eyes, not to mention a more modern feel. Two, it’s New York primary night, so we were thinking that you might want a cocktail that will usher in the ‘new.’ Remember, four of the five boroughs of New York have their own time-honored cocktail based on the venerable Manhattan. In 2004, one of the Big Apple’s most popular but currently defunct cocktail bars, Milk and Honey, birthed the Red Hook cocktail which is christened after the Brooklyn neighborhood of the same name. The Red Hook instantly grabbed the title of modern classic.

A mixture of rye, punt e mes, and maraschino, the Red Hook is as distinguished as his grandfather the Manhattan, yet speaks to the 21st century palate in a challenging way that can bring a new cocktail drinker into an emerging amaro age. To belabor the point, usually if you had a drink that was 1/6th maraschino, we would ask you to check the recipe; maraschino is like peach schnapps, usually less is more. Not for the Red Hook though, if you use a good rye, the punt e mes balances the maraschino. They play so well together, the original Red Hook goes garnish-less. If, perhaps the maraschino is a bit sweet for you (I’m looking at you, Stoefflers), do NOT change the recipe. Instead, add just a swath of lemon peel and enjoy. You’ll thank us later.

Red Hook
Classic Pour

2 ounces rye (we used Michters)

½ ounce Punt e Mes

½ ounce Maraschino

Place all ingredients in an iced mixing glass. Stir for 30 revolutions. Strain into a coupe or cocktail glass.

Boston, Part 3

After spending the better part of the day wandering Boston’s Freedom Trail in the hot sun, we ventured back to Quincy Market for some late night chow.  Lucky for us, most of the market’s restaurants were open, which still granted us a wide variety of fare. Sated, we went back to the hotel to freshen up a bit and contemplate whether we should hit the town once more before going back to Wisconsin. Obviously (since I’m writing Part III), that contemplation ended in a willing but measured affirmative.

Boston, Part 1

When Cindy was called away to Andover, Massachusetts for work purposes, it became a great excuse to secure the adjoining weekend for cocktail cruise through Boston. With the trip half paid for, I hitched a seat next to her on the plane with visions of Beantown liquid goodies dancing in my head. After Cindy spent two days in meetings, we finally got the ability to drive south, drop off the rental car at the airport and take the subway into downtown Boston. We quickly unpacked at our hotel and traveled two blocks to our first destination: the Black Rose.

Carpano Manhattan

One of the toughest common cocktail ingredients for the typical red-blooded beer-drinking Wisconsinite to get through is vermouth. Vermouth is just fortified wine (wine with a distilled spirit like brandy added) to bring the proof up to around 30-34 in most cases and also aromatized. Aromatization is the flavoring of wine with various botanicals like roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices.

Oklahoma City, Part 3

There is no doubt that we could have easily spent the rest of our night in Oklahoma City at Whiskey Chicks, but with more of the Bricktown neighborhood to explore, we made our farewells and walked back out into the summer heat.

Part of the construction of Bricktown included an artificial riverwalk called Bricktown Canal and a large amount of the Thursday night music drew us to that area. Unfortunately, since we were out on a weekday, many of the places were closing, though people were still having a good time canalside at last call at Jazmo’z Bourbon Street Cafe and Captain Norm’s Dockside Bar. Loudspeakers were blasting rounds of Billy Joel and Journey songs from the nearby Michael Murphy’s Dueling Pianos; we tried to get in, but they were going to charge us a late cover so we moved on.

A local blues band was just finishing up on a patio on the west end of the canal, so we headed over to see what they had left. The patio was attached to a nondescript dive bar, a bit tattered but clean, everything screamed that a shot-and-a-beer was what you’d get here. The bar used to be called The Biting Sow in its heyday (if it had one), but now it was called Mojo’s Blues Club for his nightly live blues. We took a seat at the bar and both ordered 7 and 7s. Our bartender, Jay, obliged.

As we cooled off with our second-to-last drinks of the night, a bar patron on my right struck up a conversation with bartender Jay, reminiscing about the last time he visited Mojo’s; the bored female half of a couple that had already been sitting at the bar prior to our arrival, decided to light an entire book of matches up for her own amusement. She dropped the flaming cardboard into an ashtray, which Jay promptly smothered with a second ashtray. She smiled craftily and said something to Jay who looked more and more like he wanted to go home for the night.

Instead, I extended his night. The rule for drinking creatively at a dive bar is to scan their top-shelf liquor for something you rarely have (or never have had) and think of a common mixer that can go one-to-one with it. So for my nightcap, I saw a dusty bottle of Old Overholt rye. I called Jay to mix me up and Old Overholt and 7. After procuring a second bottle of rye (since the dusty bottle was down to dregs), Jay poured up a sweet, spicy treat to end the night.

Drink: Old Overholt and 7

Establishment: Mojo’s Blues Club     

Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

First Connoisseur: Holly

1 part Old Overholt rye

1 part 7up
Fill a large mason jar with ice. Fill ½ of the jar with Overholt. Stir. Top with cold 7up. Give the drink a couple of gentle stirs. If you really need to, you can garnish with a cocktail cherry.

Barrel Aged Deshler

On Facebook, we hinted at a project that we would unveil for Winterfest XXI.

If you made the party, you know about (and drank) that project. If not, we thought that a month was long enough to wait. Just after last Christmas, I met with Grant Hurless, bar manager at Heritage in Madison, about barrel-aging pre-mixed cocktails. That discussion led to a barrel and a search for a classic recipe to put in it. I finally settled on a classic cousin of the traditional Manhattan called the Deshler. A potent mix of Cointreau, Dubonnet, and rye, the Deshler would stand up to the wood well and provide a smooth product in the end.

At this point if you are wondering how to barrel-age, here's how.

Court Martial

In 2011, we decided to create some drink recipes that included macadamia nut liqueur for a Christmas gift exchange. Sweet as sugar cookies with just a hint of earthiness, macadamia nut liqueur makes for a great substitute for simple syrup in many drinks (if you are looking for a syrup substitute without the nuttiness, grab a bottle of Licor 43. Note, though, 43 will have just a bit of herbal citrus in the background). The obvious pairing with macadamia is coffee, so we stayed away from those recipes. I wanted to go classic and emphasize this liqueur's non-sweet properties. The best way to do this is to put a bitter amaro in the mix. Nut liqueurs and amaro are like peanut butter and jelly to Italians. Consider the wonderful combinations of nocino (walnut liqueur), gin, and Compari in a nut-driven negroni. For this recipe, we thought that using a classic American rye would be fun.

MacFuddy Smash

We have extolled the virtues of not pulverizing your mint in a muddle or shaking it on ice until it shreds it to bits, however there is a style of drinks that actually calls for it- the smash. Famous barman Jerry Thomas called the smash “a julep on the small plan” because the smash and julep often has the very same ingredients. However, the smash’s mixing procedure does not call for as much time or delicate hand as the julep does. Essentially, the smash needs the bitter green in a plant to suck out sugar in a drink and add dimension.

The 100th Post!

Many milestones to contemplate in this important post tonight. First of all this is our 100^th post. Crazy to think about, but I guess we built something here. Something worth doing. For this post, (and inspired by the friend posts) we thought we’d kick off a new series. One that we’d love to share and have friends of ours share: all of our favorite top ten cocktails. Since I do the pouring and the writing, I’m going to take control of the first countdown.

For my 10^th fave, I am going to have to tell you a little horrific tale (surprised?); one that is likely unfamiliar to you. It is the story of the Axeman of New Orleans, a true tale of murder, gore, and jazz. You see, the Axeman murdered at least eight people between the years 1911-1919 in the city of New Orleans and was never caught. His modus operandi was to randomly chop unsuspecting city folk with their own axes or straight razors in their own homes. Gleefully doing Satan’s work, the Axeman, in Jack-the-Ripper-like fashion, taunted the people of NOLA by writing the New Orleans Times-Picayune the following note:

Hell, March 13, 1919 

Esteemed Mortal: 

They have never caught me and they never will. They have never seen me, for I am invisible, even as the ether that surrounds your earth. I am not a human being, but a spirit and a demon from the hottest hell. I am what you Orleanians and your foolish police call the Axeman. 

When I see fit, I shall come and claim other victims. I alone know whom they shall be. I shall leave no clue except my bloody axe, besmeared with blood and brains of he whom I have sent below to keep me company. 

If you wish you may tell the police to be careful not to rile me. Of course, I am a reasonable spirit. I take no offense at the way they have conducted their investigations in the past. In fact, they have been so utterly stupid as to not only amuse me, but His Satanic Majesty, Francis Josef, etc. But tell them to beware. Let them not try to discover what I am, for it were better that they were never born than to incur the wrath of the Axeman. I don‘t think there is any need of such a warning, for I feel sure the police will always dodge me, as they have in the past. They are wise and know how to keep away from all harm. 

Undoubtedly, you Orleanians think of me as a most horrible murderer, which I am, but I could be much worse if I wanted to. If I wished, I could pay a visit to your city every night. At will I could slay thousands of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death. 

Now, to be exact, at 12:15 (earthly time) on next Tuesday night, I am going to pass over New Orleans. In my infinite mercy, I am going to make a little proposition to you people. Here it is:
I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people. One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it on Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe. 

Well, as I am cold and crave the warmth of my native Tartarus, and it is about time I leave your earthly home, I will cease my discourse. Hoping that thou wilt publish this, that it may go well with thee, I have been, am and will be the worst spirit that ever existed either in fact or realm of fancy. 

The Axeman

This letter referred to an attack on Tuesday evening (or Wednesday morning if you like) exactly 94 years tonight at 12:15 am. That means you have only a couple of hours to get your jazz on before the Axeman comes calling. So you might as well have a New Orleans classic while you’re at it. My 10^th favorite is the Sazerac, a smooth and complex libation that lulls you in with sophistication and then, like the Axeman, smacks you into oblivion. What a way to go.

Sazerac

Top Ten: Holly's #10

1 teaspoon Herbsaint (or Absinthe)

1 teaspoon of simple syrup

3 heavy dashes Peychaud's bitters

3 ounces rye whiskey (try Sazerac brand 6 year; for the photo I used Queen Jennie and skipped the simple syrup due to Jennie's sorghum goodness)

Chill an old fashioned glass. Add ice to a separate mixing glass. Pour the syrup, whiskey, and bitters over the ice and stir just enough to cool the drink. Go back to the old fashioned glass and discard the ice. Coat the inside of the OF glass with the Herbsaint, leaving a puddle at the bottom. Strain the contents of the mixing glass into the OF glass. Twist a swath of lemon peel over the surface of the drink. Rub the peel around the lip of the glass and place the twisted peel into the drink (a must in my opinion- adds to the beauty and complexity of this wonder). Enjoy to jazz. Stay alive. Good luck.

San Gimignano

Our next nod to our FWL regular is the whole reason for this blog to start with. Almost four years ago, Stiff asked us to put up our 30 Essentials Series, so we did. We had so much fun, we never stopped mixing, photographing, writing, and drinking. We poured out his tasty concoction, the San Gimignano, a few weeks back and thought it should go up in time for Winterfest this year.

George Stark, Needful Thing

The second of our Stephen King cocktails feature characters from back-to-back novels written from 1989 to 1991. The first we named after The Dark Half villain, the hard-drinking George Stark. The George Stark is a riff off the very-manly Sazerac. The difference is the homemade peppermint-horehound syrup. While you don’t have to be a diabolical killer to enjoy these two cocktails, it helps.

Captain Trips

The Firewater Lounge threw their annual summer shindig in July; this year’s theme was Stephen King characters. To complement the eerie proceedings, we created an interesting menu that was a decent hit with the crowd. Many of the drinks are spin-offs of classic cocktails, which were a lot of fun to make. We’ll post six of the best from the sixteen-drink menu and point out their original classic as well.

The Boroughs (pt. 1)

I promised a cocktail for the NFL draft this weekend and I am going in a different direction than football with this drink. The Draft is a raucous event at Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall, so I focused on the place rather than the spectacle.

Fort Point

Drink: Fort Point
Establishment: Bryant's (made famous at Drink in Boston)
Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin / Boston, Massachusetts
First Connoisseur: Holly

Turmoil

Another entry for the Around America Series:

Drink: Turmoil

Establishment: Sanctuaria

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

First Connoisseur: Holly (maybe in September!)

1 1/2 ounce rye

1/2 ounce Benedictine

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

1/2 ounce crème de caçao

5 fresh lemon balm leaves on a sprig

Muddle the lemon balm with proper technique in a shaker (see the Interlude). Add all the ingredients and swirl. Remove the lemon balm. Add ice, shake, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a spanked lemon balm sprig.