March 23, 2014

Spring has Sprung - MxMo


The theme for this month's Mixology Monday is a great one. Craig of A World of Drinks wants us to work with preserves. Or as he writes in his annoncement post:
The aim of the challenge is to go back to the days of the preserve, pick an ingredient, seasonal or not and treat it as if you won’t be seeing it again for quite some time. Syrups, sorbets, jam, shrubs and the like are all fair game, anything that will preserve the integral character of your favourite ingredient.
My absolutely only problem with it, is that there are very few fresh ingredients in this part of the world worth preserving at this time of year. However I did manage to lay my hands on three stalks of early and costly rhubarbs.

I've done quite a bit of mixing with rhubarb previously, like Rhubarb Rum Fizz, Balmy Rhubarb and Rhubarb Club but I realized I had never mixed it with aquavit.

So I started out by chopping the rhubarbs into pieces and adding them to a pan with some lemon juice, ground cardamom, whole black peppercorns, brown sugar, water and some vanilla.

The vanilla was what was available after turning a pod into a vanilla straw using this method from a video, I can't find anymore.

Once the rhubarb cordial was cooked, passed through a sieve and cooled off I was ready to mix:
  • 6 cl aquavit - I used Brøndum which is not that heavy on caraway but it's there
  • 1 cl Galliano 
  • 10 cl rhubarb cordial
Shake the ingredients over ice and then strain the cocktail into a double old fashioned glass over a huge ice cube. Serve with a natural vanilla straw.




12 comments:

  1. I love rhubarb! I have never had aquavit... I have to give this drink a try though, in the name of MiMo. :)

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    1. I hope you will. Aquavit is a bit of an aquired taste, especially the ones heavy on the taste of caraway. But I hope you like it.

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  2. Your cocktail looks great Andrea. Rhubarb and anise is a great combination.

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  3. Love the idea of the Vanilla Bean Straw, were you able to use it as a straw?

    Cheers
    Chris-abarabove

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    1. Absolutely - and the straw added vanilla taste to the drink as I used it. (I tried drinking through an ordinary straw for comparison). It's well worth the trouble for a drink lending itself to vanilla notes.

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  4. It sounds like a really fascinating drink and I am eager to try it. When making the cordial approximately what measurements should I use if I start with three stalks of rhubarb like you ?
    Sugar, water, black pepper, lemon juice, cardamom ?

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  5. Paul, I am so sorry you comment has been sitting unpublished for so long. If you haven't given up completely here is what I did:

    3 stalks chopped into bits, two cardamom pods, 5-7 whole black peppercorns, about 50 grams of sugar, juice of half a lemon and about 1 dl of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the rhubarb is mushy about 5-8 minutes. Strain and cook.

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  6. Thanks very much Andrea. I will try it this coming weekend. If you want to make two drinks you have to double the ingredients I suppose or does one batch yield enough ? I will try to have a go at the straws too- even if they will be quite costly,
    Will get back with comments later.
    Paul

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    1. It's actually a pretty good sized cocktail, so you could start by mixing one to see how you like it. I agree that the straws is a bit costly, however this it does add a little extra something to the drink. Especially if you are sharing with someone you want to impress ;)

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  7. I tried this this past Friday, and even though I omitted the vanilla pod straws I must say it was a very good cocktail, which I will probably make again soon. I used Linie Akvavit which had a pretty pronounced caraway taste, but I think it played along well with the other ingredients. It turned out a little frothy just like yours- I guess that's from the cordial. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe. I am sure to try more of the ones you have posted.

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    1. I am so happy you liked the cocktail and might mix it again. Also impressed with you choice of Aquavit. Cheers!

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