Cocktails with the FIOL Prosecco D.O.C. Extra Dry NV

Recently, we've been thinking of sparkling wine cocktails and gratuitously we received the FIOL Prosecco Extra Dry NV ($19) to get us started. The brand name "FIOL" means "son" in the Venetian dialect but can also refer to a friend or chap. The wine is made in the Prosecco heartland of Treviso where the Glera grape excels in the alluvial and clay-loam soils containing plenty of minerals and micronutrients. Uniquely, the grapes are selected from about 2,300 farmers, accounting for a combined 6,000 hectares (upward of 14,800 acres) of vineyards and multiple terroirs.  After gentle pressing and the initial fermentation, the wine then undergoes 40 days of secondary fermentation in large, pressurized stainless-steel tanks using the Charmat method.  Bottled and poured fresh into the flute, the sparkling wine offers subtle floral notes with green apple, pear, and citrus flavors. Let's look at some cocktails.

Negroni Sbagliato
Want a lighter Negroni, but not lose the gin botanicals. The floral and citrus notes from the FIOL help alleviate the lack of gin while providing a more afternoon friendly libation. 

Equal parts Campari, Sweet Vermouth (The Wine Collective Vermu), FIOL Prosecco

 

French 75
This popular and traditional cocktail is basically gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and sparkling wine. According to Food & Wine, the first known version of the cocktail was called the Soixante-Quinze. It is said to have been created during World War I around 1915 by a Parisian bartender. With some resemblance to what we know the French 75 to be today, the 1915 version of the Soixante-Quinze was made with gin, lemon, grenadine, applejack brandy, and a bit of water. Since then the cocktail has evolved with different variations on the recipe. It was in 1927, in a cocktail book called Here's How written by Judge Jr., that the French 75 got its contemporary name and a signature splash of Champagne -- although Prosecco works just as well.

• 1 oz. gin (Sipsong Spirits)
• 1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
• 4 oz. chilled FIOL Prosecco

Pomme and Perry Showcase: What is Pommeau?

On our travels and discussions with consumers we see how Pommeau has a sense of mystery and confusion in the marketplace. We have heard it referred to as fortified wine or a dessert wine. Sometimes as sweet apple brandy. So let's get started explaining What is Pommeau?

Pommeau originated in Calvados, a region in Normandie France that has Appellation d’Origin Contrôlée (AOC) status for the production of apple brandy. And these regulations are detailed. The brandy starts with fresh apple juice and possibly some pear juice pressed with the extracted juice called "must".

The must is nat­ur­ally fer­men­ted in tank. The spe­cific­a­tions do not authorize pasteurization or the addi­tion of gas, acid or sugar. The fer­ment­a­tion pro­cess trans­forms the sugars con­tained in the must into alcohol. The ciders are ready to be dis­tilled when the sugars have been com­pletely con­sumed and the alco­hol con­tent is at least 4.5% abv at 20°. There is a min­im­um of 21 days, in which time the fer­ment­a­tion takes place, between the juice extrac­tion and the dis­til­la­tion for Calvados and Calvados Pays d’Auge. This min­im­um increases to 30 days for Calvados Domfrontais.

Two types of still coex­ist within Calvados’ three appel­la­tions: the pot still and the column still (fixed or mobile). The Calvados appel­la­tion is the only appel­la­tion to allow the two meth­ods of distillation. For the Calvados Pays d’Auge, a double distillation is carried in a pot still, usually made of copper. The column still is mandatory for the distillation of Calvados Domfrontais and is widely used for Calvados. Five or six first distillations are required to obtain enough brouillis at 30% to be added back to the boiler for the second distillation.

Depend­ing on the appel­la­tion, Calvados can only be sold after a min­im­um ageing of two or three years. It is aged only in oak bar­rels, from sessile or ped­uncu­late oak. In cer­tain dis­til­ler­ies, the young Calvados is first aged in 250 to 600-litre new oak bar­rels, which con­tain a lot of tan­nins, to give it color and char­ac­ter before trans­fer­ring it to older bar­rels, some of which can be a 100 years old. To be legally released for sale, Calvados must be at least 40% abv. 

Classic Pommeau (Pommeau de Normandie) is a cordial that is a blend of unfermented apple cider and Calvados that is then aged a minimum of 14 months in oak barrels. Officially it is classified as a mistelle -- a blend of brandy and fruit juice. The blend itself various by distiller with some using a 3-1 apple cider to brandy contribution. The overall alcohol per volume ranges between 16-18% which may explain the fortified wine and dessert wine comparisons. Another popular French Pommeau is Pommeau de Bretagne which is produced in Brittany, using lambig apple brandy instead of Calvados.

On the other hand, distillers outside of Normandie are not bound by these regulations and can experiment with different styles.  In Virginia, Sage Bird Ciderworks blends eau de vie (un-aged brandy) with a light fermentation of Harrison and Dabinett apples to produce their 2022 Long Night Pommeau. The blend is aged in freshly-dumped bourbon barrels from A. Smith Bowman for a minimum of 12 months. 

Last week we tasted a sweeter Pommeau and stronger at Finnriver Farm & Cidery on the Olympic Peninsula. They start with 100 proof apple brandy distilled from their cider and aged for two months in American oak. This is blended with Fall apple harvest must from a combination of organically grown traditional bittersharp and bittersweet cider apples grown on their estate and on Orca Island. The 20% abv mixture continues to mature in the barrel for approximately two years before bottling. 

In Minnesota, Milk and Honey Ciders offers a Pommeau that blends the fresh-pressed juice of Newtown Pippins, Golden Russets, and Chestnut crab apples with apple brandy that was distilled in partnership with Tattersall Distilling that had been aged in used bourbon barrels for 18 months. The mixture was then aged for an additional two years before bottling.

Popular food pairings include melon, blue cheese, and apparently salmon. And then there's always a cocktail option. Here's the Orchard 75 by Jason Wilson.

• 1 ½ ounces pommeau
• 1 ounce gin
• 1 ounce lemon juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 ½ fluid ounces chilled dry hard cider
• Lemon twist for garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Add pommeau, gin, lemon juice and bitters. Shake well, then strain into a medium (12-oz.) wineglass. Top with hard cider and garnish with a lemon twist, if desired.

Cloudy Cocktails with Absente Absinthe Refined 55°

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) has been used for several millennia in traditional medicine to treat a range of ailments, including digestive issues, fever, and skin problems as the first recorded use of the herb dates back to 1552 B.C. in ancient Egypt.  Wormwood is the major ingredient in absinthe which originated in the 18th century in Switzerland when a "French doctor named Dr. Pierre Ordinaire created an all-purpose patent remedy in Couvet, Switzerland around 1792. This remedy was made with a combination of wormwood, anise, and other herbs.

Absinthe gained popularity in the 19th century, particularly in France, where it became known as "la fée verte" or the green fairy. It was often consumed in specialized absinthe bars, where it was served in a unique ritual involving a sugar cube, water, and a slotted spoon. The drink’s popularity became controversy as it was blamed for a range of social ills, including increased crime rates, poverty, and moral decay. In 1912, absinthe was banned in the United States, and it remained illegal until 2007.  Similar bans occurred in some Western European countries such as France. 

Technically speaking, the government never banned Absinthe but they banned thujone - the chemical compound in wormwood  - that sensationalized science at the time theorized caused seizures and hallucinations.  In October 2007 the TTB issued new guidelines that made Absinthe containing thujone legal as long as the bottle contained less than 10 parts per million of thujone. In there words, if it contained less than this amount it was considered “thujone free” and was therefore legal.

When France softened their Absinthe ban in 1988, Distilleries Domaines de Provence, was the first company to restart producing absinthe using a 160 year old recipe based on plants growing on the Lure mountain range.  This mountain lies between the Alps and the Mediterranean and thus benefits from a unique climate ideal for the development of  a diverse array of plants. According to the distillery, "The Alpes de Haute-Provence department is rich with some of the most abundant and varied flora in France, and is no doubt unique in the number of plant and botanical groups to be found there. ”  

Distilleries Domaines de Provence's Absente Absinthe was the first brand released in the U.S. after re-legalization and uses the original 160 year old French recipe which includes the noticeable wormwood but also star and green anise, lemon balm, mugwort, citrus, and peppermint. The traditional and historic method to serve Absente that was popular in the 1800s is to pour a couple of ounces of Absente in a glass, upon which a sugar-cube-topped absinthe spoon is placed. Then, and equal amount of cold water is dripped over the sugar. The water turns the absinthe cloudy -- called louche -- which allows the flavors of the spirit spring forth. 

That being said, cocktails are another satisfying use of absinthe and here are a trio that I tinkered with after receiving the Absente 55° case + Van Gogh spoon.  For the De La Louisiane I chose to make it a Cajun-Hungarian recipe honoring the Hungarian immigrants who became loggers around Albany, Louisiana and our friends at Wildcat Brothers Distilling. The distillery just released Cochon Sauvage -- a rhum agricole aged three years in 2nd use rye whiskey barrels (which replaces the rye whiskey) and good ol' Unicum Silva in place of the Bénédictine. And for the Green Cider, I used the Lonetree Cider  Authentic Dry Cider. The cider from British Columbia is a blend of old world cider apples, such as Belle de Boskoop and Bramley, fermented with crisp fresh table apples; MacIntosh, Spartan and Golden Delicious.  Santé.

De La Louisiane
Ingredients:
1 part Absente55
1 part Rye Whiskey
1 part Bénédictine
2 parts Chilled Water
Peychaud's Aromatic bitters

Absinthe by Jimmy
Ingredients:
1 part Absente55
2 parts Chilled Water
1 part Lime Juice
Aromatic bitters

Green Cider
Ingredients:
1 part Absente55
2 parts Hard Cider
1 part Tart Cherry Juice
Lime wheel

Herbal Liqueurs: Amaro Montenegro 1885

We are sticking with Amaro in our Herbal Liqueur series with the Amaro Montenegro 1885. As the name suggests, this liqueur was launched in 1885 by Stanislao Cobianchi in Bologne, Italy.  Cobianchi was born in Bologne in 1862 and soon traded in his clerical robes and traveled the world tasting dozens of botanicals. Upon returning home to Bologne he experimented for four years with various recipes and when satisfied established the Cobianchi Stanislao Steam Distillery in 1885 and produced the Elisir Lungavita. Eleven years later, the future King of Italy, Prince Vittorio Emanuele III, married Princess Elena of Montenegro and this event inspired Cobianchi to change the name to Amaro Montenegro. For all intents, King Victor Emmanuel III and Queen Elena were the last monarchs in Italy with the country voting to establish a Republic in 1946.

The Amaro Montenegro is produced using 40 botanicals, including spices, dried fruits, roots, seeds, bark, citrus peels, flowers, and species of wood sourced from around the world. Of these 40 botanicals, only 13 are publicly known and are categorized into 3 different aroma profiles: citrus, spice, and herbal.  After the botanicals are boiled, macerated, and distilled, 12 unique essences remain. These essences then undergo a delicate blending process performed by the Master Herbalist to create the six notes of Amaro Montenegro: bitter & herbaceous, spicy & floral, sweet & roasted, fresh & balsamic, fruity & vegetal, and warm & tropical. There is also a final step called the Premio. This involves the micro-distillation of 5 secret botanicals that is so potent that for every 15,000 liters of Amaro Montenegro, only one liter of Premio is used. Cobianchi wanted to create a unique bottle for this elixir and hand-drew the outline for this iconic bottle.

This is a very pleasant and easy sipping amaro. On the nose expect oranges and baking spices which continue into the core flavor. The lasting finish includes limes and interestingly, cucumbers, for a very pleasant and easy elixir. Amaro Montenegro suggests several cocktails so we mixed the following:

Monte Mulled (because it's the season)
Warm up equal parts Montenegro, brandy, unfiltered apple juice, and one teaspoon of honey in a heated saucepan. Heat until steaming, then ladle into a glass mug, and garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Monte & Mezcal (because I love Mezcal)
Fill a rocks glass with ice and pour equal parts Montenegro and mezcal into the glass. Very simple.

Herbal Liqueurs: Amaro Nonino Quintessentia®

Amaro translates to “bitter” in Italian, but the category of bittersweet herbaceous liqueurs is far from one-note. It spans a range of flavors and styles, from light and citrusy Aperol to bracing and minty Fernet-Branca, not to mention countless artisanal brands you may have never heard of. An amaro is a bittersweet herbal liqueur that is made by infusing an alcoholic base, such as a neutral spirit, grape brandy, or wine, with botanical ingredients that include herbs, citrus peels, roots, spices, and flowers; the exact recipes are often closely held secrets. The resulting liquid is sweetened and then aged. Amari (the plural of amaro) can be produced anywhere, but they’re a cornerstone of Italian culture. Monasteries started making bittersweet liqueurs as far back as the 13th century, touting their healing properties and digestive benefits, and in the 1800s Italian producers such as Averna and Ramazzotti took amari to the masses. Today, amari are most often sipped as pre-dinner aperitivi to whet the appetite or post-dinner digestive to aid in digestion. -- Audrey Morgan, Liquor.com

We are staying within the Herbal Liqueurs category and moving to the Italian specialty: Amaro. And the gold standard starts with the Amaro Nonino Quintessentia®.

The Grappa Nonino Distillery was founded in 1897 by Orazio Nonino in the Friuli region of Italy and has run through six generations as Benito and Giannola passed control over to their three daughters Cristina, Antonella, and Elisabetta (the 5th generation).  And the 6th generation has already made an impact with Cristina's daughter Francesca taking a role in the family operations.

In 1933, Antonio Nonino (the third generation) starts producing Nonino liqueurs like the Amaro Carnia, an infusion of herbs from the mountains of Friuli, using the grappa as the base. In 1940, "Silvia Nonino – Antonio’s wife and an excellent cook – left a widower and becomes the first woman to manage a distillery; her great knowledge of botanicals leads her to create the 'Aperitivo Bianco Nonino', a drink for the pleasure of the palate and the spirit. It is the first time that in the distillery they experience the female touch in the art of liqueurs and distillation. Silvia will be the first of a long series of Nonino woman distillers". During her tenure Silvia also enriches the recipe of the Amaro Carnia, with selected botanicals, to create a more complex amaro:  Amaro del Friuli.

In 1973, Benito (4th generation) and Giannola Nonino started a worldwide distilling trend by introducing the very first single variety grappa -- Nonino Monovitigno, made from Picolit - an indigenous grape from the Nonino distillery's home region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The concept was revolutionary because suppliers traditionally combined the pomace (the post-pressed pulpy matter of grape skins, flesh, seeds, and stems) for all grape varieties into the same bins. The combined pomace was usually then fermented and distilled into grappa. And most winemakers were reluctant to change this process until Giannola recruited the wives to separate the varieties in exchange for higher payments.

In 1992, the distillery replaced grappa in the recipe of the family amaro with ÙE® Grape distillate aged for a minimum of 12 months in barriques and small casks. This grape distillate was created by Giannola and Benito in 1984 using a discontinuous distillation* process in copper steam stills. This amaro was also rebranded as Amaro Nonino Quintessentia®. The ancient family recipe still uses herbs from the mountains of Friuli and the grape distillate is usually a blend of Ribolla Gialla, Moscato, and Malvasia grape pomace. The Quintessentia® is packaged in an old pharmacy bottle at 70 proof. 

This is a lighter-bodied and friendly liqueur showing citrus and forest herbs. Our bartender friends love its suitability in cocktails like the Paper Plane. Cheers.

The Paper Plane
3/4 ounce bourbon
3/4 ounce Aperol
3/4 ounce Amaro Nonino Quintessentia
3/4 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed

* Discontinuous distillation means that at the end of each "batch", or distillation cycle, the distilled grape pomace is unloaded from the cauldrons and replaced with other fresh grape pomace ready to be distilled. Therefore, between each cycle of distillation, it is necessary to stop the process to allow loading and unloading. The "discontinuous" method represents the historic and artisan system to produce Grappa and is not to be confused with the industrial "continuous" method.

RTD Cocktails Profile: Post Meridiem

We've learned from the highly successful Rendezvous: An In-depth Look at RTD Cocktails campaign that RTDs come in flavors, percent alcohol, and size. One brand that has stood out despite its diminutive size is Post Meridiem Spirits, a producer from Atlanta, Georgia. Their RTDs are intended to directly correlate to a craft cocktail so each can is 100ml in size and equates to a standard cocktail pour. In addition, these rugged - yet artistic cans - are encased in a steel wall, encouraging their portability for hikes, picnics, beach visits, and foreign travel. Post Meridiem also provides transparency regarding the ingredients - proudly displaying the cocktail recipe directly underneath the cocktail name. And finally, these are not low alcohol crushable RTDs, these are true cocktails with the alcohol content reflecting what would normally be expected in the targeted recipe.

Our influencers received a combination of four cocktails: The Modern Classic Cosmopolitan, The Double Old Fashioned, The Real Lime Juice Margarita, and The London Dry Southside. Their favorites varied but all appreciated the portability, transparency, and quality of each cocktail recipe. Here are some of the Instagram posts from the participants.

DenJenEats

Princess Nohelani

Jessica

Let Her Drink Wine

WineCompass

The Teremana Small Batch Tequila

I was searching for a Tequila for our George's Margarita Mix and purchased a bottle of the Teremana Tequila Reposado ($29.99) primarily because it was on sale and from the label, appeared to be from a small craft distiller. The Blue Weber agave was harvested from the Jalisco Highland mountains, then slow-roasted for three days in small traditional brick ovens, distilled in handmade copper pot stills, and finished in bourbon barrels. The brand name refers to "Spirit of the Earth" as the  'Tere' is derived from the Latin 'terra' and 'Mana' the Polynesian word for spirit. Then a quick internet search this to be a celebrity brand of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.  Impressions?

Why?  Agave - black pepper aroma on the nose. Some vanilla and more pepper in the body but disjointed with an overwhelming burnt rubber finish. Lacks depth and sweetness and character.  Prefer others. 

Thirsty for Small-Batch & Local Spirits with the Kozuba & Sons Distillery Quince Cordial

Throughout the American experience, there have been hundreds - perhaps thousands - of individuals immigrating to this country who then opened a brewery, distillery, or planted vines corresponding to the practices in their home countries. But how many have literally migrated the complete operation from their home country to the United States? That's what occurred with Florida's Kozuba & Sons Distillery where Zbigniew Kozuba and his sons Matthias and Jacob moved their Polish distillery from Jablonka to St. Petersburg. 

During the latter part of the 2000s, the Kozuba family opened the distillery in order to fulfill escalating requests for cordials that Zbigniew had starting infusing in retirement from a biochemist career. Soon they augmented their portfolio with vodka distilled from a  hybrid copper still and became the " first family-owned and operated micro-distillery in post-war Poland".   In 2012 they started distilling the first Polish single malt whiskey along with other experimental whiskeys but eventually discovered that "Poland’s highly monopolized industry did not have room for a small, family-operated craft operation". 

They then decided to move to a country "thirsty for small-batch, local spirits" and the most logical choice was the United States and St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District. In 2014, they migrated their operation to the Sunshine State including two hybrid copper stills, both hand-made by Arnold Holstein in Germany. One still is dedicated to vodka production, and the other to whiskey production. 

During our recent trip to the area for a brewery - baseball tour, I quickly ran into the distillery in order to purchase and bring home their Quince Cordial ($20, 32.5%  abv,  375ml). I have been a consumer of Serbian Quince brandies for a number of years and have noticed generally tropical aromas and pear flavors. Quince is a pome fruit, related to apples and pears, that when ripe is bright yellow and looks like a fuzzy, short-necked pear. As a raw fruit, it is too sour and astringent to eat so is most often used in jams, cakes, and rakija. The Kozuba & Sons Quince Cordial is made macerating whole quince fruits and then aging for several years.  No preservatives, artificial colors, or flavors are used in the production process. 

Drinking neat, the Quince Cordial shows excellent dense fruit, both quince and fig;  but the syrupy texture begs for a cocktail. I found The Quinclet online and it packs a wallop but my favorite use was a recommendation by Keli Rivers when discussing her book, Negroni: More than 30 Classic and Modern Recipes for Italy's Iconic Cocktail. She likes to order a cider, take a large swig and then top off with Campari. I replicated with the cordial and it works by augmenting the refreshing apple flavors with denser pomme fruit. Na Zdrowie!

The Quinclet

The quince gives the finished article a more rounded flavor than a straight gimlet, however, the lime juice and bitters lend a pleasing bite to the finish.

Ingredients & Equipment:

40ml Dry Gin
20ml Quince Cordial
20ml Lime juice
Liberal dash, Angostura Bitters
Lime zest, to garnish
Cocktail shaker
Ice
Martini glass, chilled

Procedure:
Pour a couple of drops of bitters into the martini glass.
Give the gin, cordial, and lemon juice a jolt in a shaker with a couple of ice cubes.
Strain into the martini glass and garnish with a strip of lime zest.
Sit down before drinking!

A Free State Collaboration: Dragon Dog's Frederick Rye Whiskey

Frederick Maryland is at the crossroads of many family road trips,  those leading north on Route 15 towards Thurmont and Pennsylvania or those leading west towards Cumberland, Seven Springs, and beyond.  It also explains the high frequency of Civil War battles fought in the city or surrounding land including the battles of Antietam and to some extent Gettysburg.  Today, Frederick city and county is a craft beverage destination with a plethora of wineries, cideries, breweries, and distilleries. 

Two of these are Maryland's largest brewery, Flying Dog Brewery, and Dragon Distillery. Flying Dog beers are widely distributed, of excellent quality, and are known for the Hunter S. Thompson inspired labels drawn by artist Ralph Steadman. Dragon Distillery is a small operation whose Frederick county roots dates to the mid-1700s.  Some of their products are inspired by the Founder's great-grandfather Bad Bill Tutt and long-held family recipes. 

A newer recipe is a collaboration between Flying Dog and Dragon called Dragon Dog's Frederick Rye Whiskey ($42, 48%) and is marketing as "Frederick's first Rye Whiskey". Flying Dog prepares a mash using a proprietary blend of nine specialty rye grains which is then fermented and aged at the distillery. Over ice, the spirit provides a spicy wet stone aroma, with the spice and rye packing cinnamon and other dry baking spices. The heat is noticeable upfront but quickly backs off during the tail. 

And as a BevFluence contributor, we are still beating the Negroni drum via recipes from Negroni, More than 30 classic and modern recipes for Italy's iconic cocktail ($12) by David T. Smith and  Keli Rivers available by Ryland, Peters, & Small.  An offshoot of the Boulevardier is the Old Pal which replaces the bourbon with rye whiskey and calls for equal parts rye, Campari, and Cochi Americano or red vermouth.  My version of the Old Pal uses the Mt. Defiance Distillery Sweet Vermouth ($19, 350ml) (pre-mixed with Campari) and with the Dragon Dog provides a very dry and chalky version of this cocktail where it feels like the glass has been rimmed with cinnamon powder.  

BevFluence Cocktail Book Program 2021 - Negroni: More than 30 Classic and Modern Recipes for Italy's Iconic Cocktail

This spring, BevFluence has partnered with Ryland Peters & Small and CICO Books to review several Cocktail books starting with Negroni, More than 30 classic and modern recipes for Italy's iconic cocktail ($12) by David T. Smith and  Keli Rivers. My bar setup was void of each of the three central ingredients (Campari, gin, and vermouth) so I decided to go local as much as possible - obviously excluding the Campari. This Italian liqueur was created by Gaspare Campari in 1860 as a bitter aperitif made from various herbs, fruits, and spices. 

For the gin, I went with the excellent Joseph A. Magnus & Co Vigilant District Dry Gin ($35) that I first sampled at their Washington, D.C. distillery. This is a London-style dry gin that should be a decent alternative to the English gins. For vermouth, I learned that Mt. Defiance Distillery in Loudoun County Virginia produces a Sweet Vermouth ($19, 350ml).  This fortified wine starts at the Mt. Defiance Apple Brandy that is flavored with herbs and spices and blended with barrel-aged brandy, Vidal Blanc wine, local honey, and caramel syrup. 

The perfect place to start is with The Classic, just equal parts of all three ingredients. In this scenario, the bitter orange of the Campari takes center stage with the vermouth providing a slight balance with sweet flavors.  The gin was a little lost with this palate. 

I favored another recipe called Run Free & Naked which puts The Classic ingredients into an ice-filled and salt-rimmed pint glass. Then fill the remaining glass with sparkling hard cider. I choose the Corcoran Vineyards and Cidery PoPo Peach. This was an eye-opener and will be a summer favorite. 

The next recipe came from the Experimental Negroni section and is the Oaxacan which replaces the gin with mezcal in the Classic recipe. I had the Mezcal El Silencio Espadín available and this substitution seemed to elevate the Campari even more while also providing a smokey trail. Good for a change of pace.

Check back as we will up updating this post with more cocktail experiences as we leaf through the book. Cheers. 

Another non-traditional Negroni we enjoyed was the Kingston Negroni which is the Classic above with the gin replaced with rum. We used the Pilar Key West Rum and this combination provides a little smoothness and toastiness.

The Stout & Steadfast piqued our interest - as well as a seminar discussion - so we created this cocktail using equal parts from the Classic recipe - using Aviation American Gin.  The recipe calls for filling the remaining half-pint class with Guiness, but I used the Center of the Universe Donny Coffee Brown Ale. The Campari bitters start off the race, but the coffee and dry malt catch up and lead to a smooth relaxing finish. Actually liked the cocktail more than the beer on its own. 

We were waiting for warmer weather to make the Negroni Float, but couldn't wait. The recipe calls for smaller amounts of the Classic added with ice to a large glass. Then add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and slowly fill with cola or as in our case, Kutztown Sarsaparilla. Top with whipped cream and let the cola and ice cream integrate into the cocktail, then sip with a straw. The Negroni takes a back seat and I love our choice of Sarsaparilla which blends in nicely with the Campari. A worthy dessert. 

How Its Made: the El Mayor Blanco Tequila

I generally prefer Reposado or Anejo tequila because the American oak imparts various flavors and nuances into the spirit. However, a Blanco tequila better expresses the actual growing conditions and distillation process for that brand, and for this reason, I recently purchased the El Mayor Blanco Tequila ($27).  This family-owned distillery is now in its 4th generation of distillers and is located in Tequila's heart: Jalisco.  Specifically, they cultivate the Weber Blue Agave plants at about 7,500 feet above sea level in Jalisco's rocky lowlands. 

The distillery also follows traditional methods for producing its tequila augmented by specific procedures acquired over years of experience. At least seven years after the agave plants were planted, the jimador individually selects each plant for harvest, prunes to the heart, and leaves the scraps as compost. These hearts are then slow-cooked for 24 hours in stainless steel ovens with the cooked agave gently pressed afterward. This agave juice is then fermented using a family-owned yeast strain which is then double distilled in copper-lined pots.  The distillery uses a combination of heat and pressure that they assert "extracts the richest part of the spirit". This is the El Mayor Blanco Tequila.

The spirit is very smooth, with some smoke on the nose, and the expected agave flavors speckled with black pepper and white pine. A very satisfying tequila that I would hate to waste mixing into a marguerita but their Antigua cocktail recipe retains the base tequila profile and balances with bitters.  

• 2 oz. El Mayor® Añejo Tequila
• 3 Dashes Angostura Bitters
• 1 Demerara Sugar Cube
•  Orange Peel and Cherry, for Garnish

The Mezcal Union Uno & Killer Bee Cocktail

Mezcal comes from Nahuatl - the language spoken by the Aztecs - and translates to "oven-cooked agave".

Whereas Mesoamerican priests and elites cooked and fermented the juices of agave plants for a fermented beverage and recent archaeology points to a possible pre-Spanish distillation for religious ceremonies, the widespread distillation of  "oven-cooked agave" didn't occur until the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in the 16th century.

Over the ensuing centuries, the distillation of agave was codified into the production of Mezcal and its subset Tequila.  There are nearly 200 types of agave plants and Mezcal can be made from more than 40 of these - with the most popular being Espadín -- representing 90% of these spirits. In contrast, Tequila can only be made from the Blue Agave plant. Mezcal can be produced in nine different areas of Mexico with Oaxaca accounting for 85-90% of production. In contrast, Tequila can be produced in only five areas with Jalisco at its core. Finally, to produce Mezcal, the agave plants are cooked inside earthen pits that are lined with lava rocks and filled with wood and charcoal before being distilled in clay pots. In contrast, Tequila is typically produced by steaming the agave above ground and distilling multiple times in copper pots. 

My 2021 New Years Resolution included making an effort to drink more Mezcal and thus am starting the year with the Mezcal Union Uno ($37). This is a cooperative of local artisan families in Oaxaca and courtesy of Mezcal Reviews:

Their story says that when starting the company, an old man told them that the future of mezcal would be based on a UNIÓN. That's how they named the company, and that's how they decided to make a mezcal that featured different producer families. Though Pedro Hernandez is their master mezcalero, each bottle is produced by a union of Oaxacan families. There may be slight variations of flavor from batch to batch, but not much, as they are now using a Solera process to ensure better consistency. In February of 2017, Mezcal Union signed a distribution agreement with Diageo. The agreement keeps the ownership of Union in the hands of its founders, while opening the doors to a wider distribution network.

I purchased a bottle labeled with Lot No. HKU124 that's produced from farm-grown Espadin and wild Cirial agave.  The spirit is an unaged mezcal or joven where a campfire smoke character is prevalent on the nose but partially gives way to pine, white pepper, and vanilla.  As for a cocktail, the Killer Bee is a good option where the honey and lemon dampen the smoke and allow a little floral character to arise.

Killer Bee

• 1 1⁄2 ounces honey
• 2 ounces mezcal, such as Del Maguey Vida brand
• 1 1⁄2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

Puerto Rico Distillery: Providing Maryland with Clandestine Pitorro Rum

Pitorro is Puerto Rican moonshine -- and not of the corn whiskey persuasion that we are familiar with within the United States. It is, in fact, an artisan rum produced by distilling sugar cane and traditionally cured with fruit and buried for several months.  This process helps to balance the high alcohol volume.  And Puerto Rico's unofficial national spirit is now available in the Old Line State courtesy of Frederick's Puerto Rico Distillery

The distillery is led by the father-daughter team of Angel and Crystal Rivera and focuses on an unflavored pitorro weighing in at 100 proof.  This spirit is distilled from sugarcane molasses and has a funky character that seems to transcend other Caribbean moonshines -- thinking particularly of Hammond from Nevis. They are also currently aging batches infused with coconut, pineapple,
almond, coffee, and passion fruit that should be available later this year.

For now, the best use of the pitorro rum is in cocktails and the funkiness livens any concoction. A mojito is the top choice, but also consider with any fruit juice or with equal parts grapefruit juice and ginger beer. It is addicting.

Lockdown Cocktails - A Recap

During the COVID lockdown, I replaced my normal routine of simply pouring a neat glass of my favorite spirit and instead became more creative by mixing various cocktails using ingredients that were already available. This process including replacing some ingredients with equivalents such as tonic water with seltzer or simple sugar with dissolved honey. The cocktail recipes were posted on Instagram but with the lockdowns slowly easing the series will most likely be discontinued and thus recaptured in this post.

Tonight's #lockdowncocktail is a salute to Route 15 from Frederick MD to Harrisburg PA. The #cocktail contains a base of equal parts grapefruit juice and Appalachian Ginger Beer then augmented with a large shot (or two) of Puerto Rico Distillery Clandestino Pitorro Diaspora Rum and a dash or two of Tenth Ward Smoked Corn Whiskey for added aroma.  I will discuss the Clandestino in the near future, but for now, it's a style of moonshine that dates to 1797 and still an integral part of Puerto Rican culture.

Tonight's #lockdowncocktails are dueling recipes based on a post the week from the Wizard of Whiskey we followed his recipe using grapefruit tonic, Left Foot Charley 2017 Dry Riesling, and for gin, the Barr Hill Gin from Vermont's Caledonia Spirits and made from honey. Completely refreshing and the Riesling creates a creamy body and tamps down the botanicals.  On the other hand, when replacing the Riesling with the 12 Corners Vineyards 2017 Traminette, the botanicals burst forward in conjunction with the wine's aromatics. Combining the two creates a happy medium.

Tonight's #LockdownCocktail is The Bishop, a rum - red wine cocktail that comes from the 1935 printing of "The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book" by A.S. Crockett. I used Cotton and Reed Sherried Cask Strength Rum and its honeyed nut character blended well with the 12 Corners Vineyards River Stone Red wine. The wine is a unique blend of five grape varieties leading with Chancellor and Chambourcin then rounding out with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Its quite pleasant, fruit-forward berry flavors with a velvety texture, and a chewy smooth finish. 

Ingredients

3 ounces Cotton & Reed Sherried Cask Strength Rum ($50)

1 ounce 12 Corners River Stone Red wine ($14)

1 teaspoon simple syrup

1/2 lime (juice of)

The Cotton & Reed Sherried Cask Strength Rum starts out as White Rum ($29) made from Lousiana grown raw cane syrup and blackstrap molasses (6,000 pounds per batch) and fermented with a Rhum Agricole yeast strain and a Chenin Blanc yeast strain. The rum is then aged in used bourbon barrels just like their Mellow Gold Rum ($29). Afterward, the aging rum is transferred to PX Sherry seasoned casks where PX refers to Pedro Ximénez grapes aged in a solera system where the grape brandy undergoes oxidative aging for an Oloroso.

Today's #lockdowncocktail is the Horsefeather, a Kansas City favorite that legend says originated in nearby Lawrence, Kansas. It's related to the Moscow Mule trading the bourbon for J. Rieger & Co. Kansas City Whiskey ($40), Appalachian Ginger Beer, squeeze of lemon, and using the equivalent of Angostura bitters - Peychaud's Aperitivo. The cocktail sizzles in the mouth with a long spicy tail. And that's the last drop of an amazing whiskey where the corn, malted, and rye mash was fermented then aged in part in 15 year Oloroso sherry casks.

Recipe:
1.5 oz J. Rieger Whiskey
4 oz ginger beer
4-5 dashes Angostura bitters
1 squeeze of lemon

Here's a refreshing cocktail suggested by Golden Moon Distillery using their single varietal Grappa (2 oz), lime juice (1 oz), and simple syrup (3/4 oz). The grappa is made using chardonnay pomace from Bookcliff Vineyards. The cocktail is truly refreshing, any grappa sharpness is mediated by the lime juice and syrup. Cheers.

Tonight's #lockdowncocktail is based on an Italian recipe using grappa, cocoa liqueur, and coffee served in a martini glass as a dessert cocktail. I used my mead glass and combined equal parts Springfield Manor grappa and Blacksnake Meadery Red Queen Coffee Mead with a dash of FloraLuna Apothecary Cayenne bitters. Perhaps my favorite so far.

Another lockdown cocktail using existing spirits. This unnamed drink is 2 parts River Hill Spirits bourbon, .5 parts Golden Moon Distillery  Kummel, .5 parts honey water, and a dash of bitters. The Kummel and honey tame the heat, and the bourbon blends in with the caraway liqueur.

Cocktails with miniatures. Last night I discovered that Grappa Nonino Amaro is a great partner with Bourbon or Tennessee Whiskey and FloraLuna Apothecary Orange bitters. 

The Caledonia Spirits Barr Hill Gin: Enjoy Neat or with Tio Pepe Sherry

Most gin brands differentiate their products by the amount of juniper or other botanicals used in the process.  In general, the grain bill has less impact on the spirits as the botanicals drive the flavor.  This differentiation is definitely the case with the Caledonia Spirits Barr Hill Gin ($35) as it consists of only two botanicals: juniper and honey. Like a distilled gin, the juniper is added to a neutral spirit before running through the distillery's custom designed 300-gallon extraction still. The spirit is cut with water to 45% ABV and then fortified with honey to provide a unique profile. Since this step is performed post-distillation the product is labeled correctly Gin as opposed to Distilled Gin (labeled if all the botanicals were added pre-distillation).

Caledonia Spirits is named after its Vermont county home and was founded by beekeeper Todd Hardie. In 2009 he acquired a 15-gallon fire heated pot still and experimented with distilling honey - deciding that Gin was the most likely option. He recruited a local homebrew store owner, Ryan Christiansen, who eventually sold his business and together the duo distilled 235 cases of Barr Hill Gin and Barr Hill Vodka the first year. In 2015, Hardie sold the operation to Christiansen and used the proceeds to purchase a farm which provides the distillery with barley, rye, and elderberry.

I prefer to consume the Barr Hill Gin neat or with an ice cube in order to enjoy the interplay of juniper and honey. The sweetness starts early, envelopes the mouth, then transitions to juniper, leading to a mildly hot burn. The gin packs plenty of flavor with just two botanicals.

I also wanted to experiment with a cocktail and chose a version of a Martini called the Tuxedo Cocktail which swaps vermouth with fino sherry. Fino is a dry, pale white sherry wine produced within the D.O. Jerez. This recipe replaces vermouth's herbal character with the sherry's inherent nuttiness and in this case, the sherry is the reliable Tio Pepe from Gonzalez Byass. Use 2oz gin, 1 oz sherry, and a dash of bitters. The honey and nuttiness from the sherry compliment each other with the juniper still dominating the finish. Not a bad alternative - but I still prefer this gin neat. Cheers.

Salute American Vodka - Your USA Certified™ Spirit

If you are looking for a patriotic and smooth vodka this Memorial Day weekend or for the upcoming 4th of July then start searching for Salute American Vodka. The native spirit is not only distilled and bottled in Rochester New York using Midwestern corn and wheat, but the "signature red, white, and blue 750ml bottles (modeled after World War II standard issue GI canteens) are manufactured in New Jersey". In fact the label contains the USA Certified™ seal where the parent company passed an audit and certification process that proved that all product assembly and American labor comply with all U.S. safety standards and labor laws.

In addition, one dollar from every bottle is donated to charities supporting active and retired military personnel. "Patrons have the opportunity to localize the dollar by nominating resident heroes to receive support in their communities through the company’s program Salute American Heroes. In 2017, the company aims to impact five different veterans through donations to charities that support those veterans’ pursuit of the American dream. Salute American Vodka has an award-winning taste with an honorable social mission".

But what about the vodka? The spirit is distilled four times then cut to 80 proof. It is clean with a sweeter profile that thickly coats the palate and finishes very smoothly. Easy drinking neat, but who drinks vodka straight? Instead, cocktails are your best bet and Salute offers a range of drink recipes such as an Apple Cider Cocktail or Salute Raspberry Lemonade.

Now, I received this bottle as a sample and currently Salute American Vodka is only available in the Northeast. But the company is quickly lining up distributors in other states and hopes to have the vodka available in the Mid-Atlantic very soon. Cheers and happy Memorial Day.