May 24, 2012

Strawberry Daiquiri


Pretty soon I will have to rename my blog Gin and Rum Hound. But the weather in Denmark at the moment is just perfect for iced rum drinks.

The Strawberry Daiquiri holds a special place in my heart. 35 years ago when I was an exchange student in the suburbs of Seattle the elder sister in the family I lived with came home for a weekend and for some reason she, her three sisters and I had a whole evening to ourselves.

As the cool college student she was, she and one of the sisters somehow in spite of being underaged sourced the stuff for Strawberry Daiquiris.

We felt very grown up, as we sipped them and made spaghetti with garlic bread and swore the youngest to secrecy.

I don't have any blood sisters but over Strawberry Daiquiri they became exactly that and this summer I'm meeting two of them in New York where I'm in charge of finding the good bars ;)

So to work - and just out of curiosity I checked in my cocktail books, not a single one of them lists this marvel:
  • 6 cl white rum
  • 2 cl lime juice
  • 4 strawberries 
  • 1 cl orange Curacao
Start by smashing the strawberries in the lime juice and the Curacao at the bottom of a nice glass. Fill it with crushed ice and the rum and stir to cool and mix. Garnish with a strawberry.

May 16, 2012

Mai Tai

I can feel my hands slightly shaking as I start to write this.

One reason is probably that I just tasted my Mai Tai with a Wray and Nephew over proof float.

The other reason is awe and fear: The history of this legendary Tiki-cocktail is fraught with intrigue and feuding.

In other words it's easy to write something somebody will take in the wrong way, and then I fear a new generation of Tiki-lovers and -connaisseur are ready to cast spells that blows the top of my shaker the next time I fiddle with egg white or replace all the bottles in my liquor cabinet with no name brands.

For Mai Tai lore read this rant.

Putting on a brave face I type what I mixed:
  • 6 cl golden rum
  • 3 cl lime juice
  • 0.75 cl Orgeat
  • 0.75 cl Amaretto
  • 0.75 cl Orange Curacao
Pour everything in a shaker full of crushed ice including one half of the juiced limes. Shake well and pour into a low wide glass.

Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and add a small float of either black rum or over proof rum so the first impression is rum and the almond and lime will materialize later.

May 12, 2012

Nettle Shoots

This year I somehow forgot to plant my garden, so right now rhubarb is the only thing I can harvest - strawberries, raspberries and currants will come later along with things I've probably forgotten about.

And as I cut the available rhubarbs the other day - there really wasn't any bounty to be had, at least not any I had planted, but I have plenty of stinging nettles and thought I would utilize those.

Sticking my hand in a plastic bag I picked a good handful of the young, top shoots from not very big nettles.

I poured about 2 dl of gin - Bombay was at hand - over them and let it stand for 45 minutes during which time the gin turned a lovely orange, almost Aperol color (as seen in the picture below).

When the cocktail hour rolled along I was ready to taste my stinging nettle gin in a creation I call Nettle Shoots:

  • 4,5 cl stinging nettle gin
  • 1,5 cl white creme de cacao
  • 1,5 cl yellow Chartreuse
  • 1,5 cl lemon juice
  • Dash of Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters
Using my new Lewis bag - thank you for saving med the $30-40 getting one shipped to Denmark would have cost me - I stirred my cocktail with lot's of ice and strained it into a cocktail coupe and garnished with a maraschino cherry.

If I may say so - that is one tasty cocktail.

May 5, 2012

Margarita

In honor of Cinco de Mayo I chose the Margarita as this weeks cocktail.

First time I had one was 25 years ago at a Mexican restaurant in Seattle. I was overwhelmed both by the size of the thing and the taste.

When I got back to Denmark I had packets of sour mix with me and dazzled my friends with this exotic drink using the cheapest tequila I could find and topping the whole thing of with Seven Up.

Haven't had one since. Read a bit about the history of this cocktail - enjoyed David Wondrich's explanation the most and took my inspiration from the recipe in the PDT book.
  • 3 cl mezcal
  • 3 cl tequila
  • 2 cl orange curacao
  • 2 cl lime juice
  • 0,75 cl agave sirup
Shake everything with ice and serve in glass with a salt rim and a piece of citrus for a garnish.