Drinking The World

With the temperature in the 90's I've been looking forward to cooler style cocktails in the evenings. Here's one I whipped up that reminds me of drinks I had in Cambodia. Kampuchea is another name for that country so I dub this the Kampuchea Cooler.

Kampuchea Cooler

2 oz Pusser's Rum
1 oz fresh Lemon juice
1 oz Ginger Syrup (Click here for recipe)
1 oz Bitter Lemon/Lime syrup (click here for recipe)
1.5 oz ripe, fresh Mango (I use the jarred Del Monte "SunFresh" Mango I get in the refrigerated section of the produce aisle)
3 dashes Angostura bitters

Muddle mango well. Add other ingredients and shake very well on ice. Strain into an ice filled Collins glass or other 12 oz glass. Top with 4-6 oz seltzer water and stir gently. Garnish with a slice of mango or lemon wheel.

On a really hot day like today you need something to cool you off that's refreshing and with a bit of spice. So in honor of a hot and steamy city in Vietnam, where the temperature and humidity can both hit 99, here's the Ca Mau Cooler.

Ca Mau Cooler

2 oz gin
1.25 oz ginger syrup (1 part ginger juice to 1 part sugar)
1 very small, seedless, slice of jalapeno pepper (This can be omitted if you don't want the added spice. But I feel that if you are going to sweat, it might as well be worth it.)
1/2 handful of cilantro
.75 oz lime juice

Muddle well. Shake very well and double strain into a 12 oz glass, add 4-6 oz seltzer, stir gently, and top with ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Drink. Repeat as needed.

The other day I was playing with a recipe for home made tonic syrup. Last night I was in the mood for a batch that was a bit more herbal and spicy. So I came up with the following recipe. It's almost the same as the first, but with just a bit more of almost everything.

Batch Two
32 oz H2O
7 whole, crushed, Key Limes weighing 120 grams, just over 4 oz, juice and rinds separated.
1/2 tsp / 2 gram powdered Star Anise
3 tsp / 6 grams ground Sumac Berries
1/2 tsp Vietnamese Cassia
1/2 tsp Ceylon Cinnamon
1/4 tsp clove
1/4 cup / 50 grams Citric Acid (sometimes called Sour salt)
1 tsp / 8 grams kosher Salt
1/4 cup / 22 grams chopped Cinchona Bark (Quinine bark)

2.5 cups cane sugar

I put all the ingredients except the Key Lime rinds and the sugar in a sauce pan and brought it to boil, then simmered 20 minutes. Then I added the limes rinds and simmered 20 more minutes. I filtered the liquid hot through double coffee filters, twice. This made apx 16 oz liquid. I then added cane sugar to the hot liquid in jar, which topped off to just under 32 oz. I shook it to melt the sugar.

Gin & Ginger Tonic Cooler created by JMForester

2 oz Premium Gin (I used my friend Sonja's North Shore Distillery #6)
3/4 oz Tonic Syrup (see recipe here)
1/2 oz Fever-Tree Ginger Ale

Shake very hard on ice.
Pour all into a Collins glass and top with 3 oz Fever-Tree Ginger Ale.
Add more crushed ice as needed to fill.
Stir gently to mix. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Super refreshing on a warm summers eve.

Every year during Tales of the Cocktail there are "Spirited Dinners." These are special events at dozens of restaurants around New Orleans, held on the Thursday night of Tales, from 8-11pm. Each restaurant prepares a special multi-course, pre-fix dinner and one or more guest mixologists create cocktails paired with each course. The menus are fantastic, and the cocktails even more so. Last year I had a wonderful time at the dinner. My friend Jonathan Pogash, The Cocktail Guru, created the drinks. He asked me to arrive early and I sat at the bar chatting while he finished the prep work. Brian Rea was also there and I had a chance to chat with him for a half hour as well. Then I was invited to join Jonathan's family at their table, which was very nice.

This year I am going to be going to Bayona Restaurant where my friend Junior Merino, The Liquid Chef, will be making some of his fantastic, Latin influenced, cocktail creations. Not only that, but he will be joined by David Suro-Pinera, restaurateur, tequila aficionado, and owner of Siembra Azul - a small batch, artisinally crafted super-premium tequila and Ron Cooper founder of Del Maguey, Single Village Mezcal. I am sure that means that mezcal and tequila will be featured in the cocktails. I can hardly wait!

This year the restaurants participating in the spirited dinners has grown to 25. Click to see all the restaurants involved.

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Last Winter I told you about bartender Lydia Reismueller, since the Spring she and her chef boyfriend have been managing the Four Season Farm in Cape Rosier, Maine. I visit them every now and then and am treated to some fantastic cocktail creations. Here is one of those tasty drinks.

Fancy Cowboy created by Lydia Reismueller

2 oz Old Potrero whiskey
1/4 oz agave syrup
3 drops orange flower water
2 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Candied flower

Stir all ingredients over ice, and strain into a chilled old fashioned glass with ice. Garnish with a candied flower.

Last Winter I told you about bartender Lydia Reismueller, since the Spring she and her chef boyfriend have been managing the Four Season Farm in Cape Rosier, Maine. I visit them every now and then and am treated to some fantastic cocktail creations. Here is one of those fine libations.

Sweetie Pie created by Lydia Reismueller

2 oz Clement Rhum VSOP
1-3/4 oz apple cider
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
Pinch of salt
Salt and sugar dipped apple slice

Stir all ingredients over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with apple slice on rim.

(One of many cocktails created by Lydia during her time at the fabulous cocktail bar PDT in NYC. When she left PDT in the summer of 2008 to help run an organic farm on the Blue Hill Peninsula in Down-East Maine, they changed the name to “Remember Maine” and had the drink on their cocktail menu, as well as an explanation of both names.)

Last Winter I told you about bartender Lydia Reismueller, since the Spring she and her chef boyfriend have been managing the Four Season Farm in Cape Rosier, Maine. I visit them every now and then and am treated to some fantastic cocktail creations. Here is one of those fantastic cocktails.

Perfect Punch created by Lydia Reismueller

1 bottle Winterport Winery Flying Dutchman fortified blackberry wine
3 oz amber rum
11 oz sweet vermouth
9 oz dry vermouth
11 oz lemon juice
Zest from the lemons
3 cinnamon sticks
3 cardamom pods
6 cloves
6 black peppercorns

Place all ingredients in a large pot and gently simmer for about 1 hour with the lid on, stirring occasionally. Strain and serve hot with a lemon twist. Makes about 12 servings.

Last Winter I told you about bartender Lydia Reismueller, since the Spring she and her chef boyfriend have been managing the Four Season Farm in Cape Rosier, Maine. I visit them every now and then and am treated to some fantastic cocktail creations. Here is one of those delicious cocktails.

Raspberry Flip created by Lydia Reismueller

2 oz Old Overholt rye
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz citrus syrup
Heaping barspoon raspberry preserves
Whole egg
Nutmeg

Add all ingredients to shaker, and pre-shake without ice, then shake hard over ice. Strain into a snifter and grate plenty of fresh nutmeg on top.

Last Winter I told you about bartender Lydia Reismueller, since the Spring she and her chef boyfriend have been managing the Four Season Farm in Cape Rosier, Maine. I visit them every now and then and am treated to some fantastic cocktail creations. Here is one of those fine libations.

Tea Tippler created by Lydia Reismueller

2 oz Plymouth Gin
1 1/2 oz Lapsang Souchang agave syrup
3 drops Orange Flower water
2 dashes Orange bitters
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Orange twist

Stir ingredients well over ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Lapsang Souchang Agave Syrup: Make a strong brew of Lapsang Souchang tea, about 1 oz of tea to 8 oz of hot water. Let stand 7 minutes, strain, and add 3 oz of agave syrup.