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Archive for the ‘Cocktails & Recipes’ Category

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Cocktail Hour: The Hummingbird

Posted by Arctic Wolf on October 12, 2016

It is quite common when mixing tiki drinks to mix two disparate rums with different flavour profiles in order to bring the best of both to the final cocktail. I like to do the same when making cocktails with brandy and cognac. Specifically, I like to mix a young vibrant spirit with a well aged brandy or XO Cognac in sour cocktails. A ribbon of strong overt oak spice (from the well aged spirit) seems to take these cocktails to a whole new level.

hummingbird-sam_2779That is the theme for the following cocktail. (My wife insisted that I call the serving, The Hummingbird, as it is named for the avian visitor which has been dropping by the hanging flowers by our back window this fall.)

Hummingbird

1 oz H by Hine Fine Champagne VSOP (click here for review)
1/2 oz Hine Antique XO Premier Cru
3/4 oz Orange Juice
3/8 oz Lemon Juice
3/8 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Sugar Syrup
dash Angostura Bitters
Ice
Twist of Orange Peel

Add the first seven ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice
Shake until the outside of the shaker begins to frost
Strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with a Twist of Orange Peel

Please Enjoy Responsibly!

If  you are interested in more of my original cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more of my mixed drink recipes!

Note: My Review for Hine Antique XO Premier Cru Cognac will publish tomorrow, Chimo!

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Cocktail Hour: The Cane Mutiny

Posted by Arctic Wolf on October 9, 2016

The Captain Morgan Media Team sent me a recipe for their Jack-O’Blast Rum which mixed the pumpkin spiced spirit with Ginger Beer and Lime. It was basically a Moscow Mule made with their spiced rum instead of with Vodka, and paying homage to the cocktail which inspired the serving, they called their suggested libation a Mutiny Mule.

Mutiny Mule

1.5 oz. Captain Morgan Jack-O’Blast
3 oz. Ginger Beer
0.5 oz. Lime Juice

Combine all ingredients in a glass filled with ice, stir and garnish with a lime wedge.

the-cane-mutiny-sam_2842

The Cane Mutiny

I quite enjoyed the serving, but decided to make a few small changes which I felt more firmly highlighted the Pumpkin Spiced flavour of their new rum. The first change was to alter the proportions such that the Jack-O’Blast Rum was the dominant ingredient within the cocktail. Then I replaced the Ginger Beer with Ginger Ale which is not nearly so spicy and therefore allowed the Pumpkin Spiced Rum to be the star of the serving.

I decided to call my recipe, The Cane Mutiny.

The Cane Mutiny

2 oz Captain Morgan Jack-O’Blast Spiced Rum
3/8 oz fresh Lime Juice
dash Sugar Syrup (to taste)
1 1/2 oz Ginger-ale
Ice
Lime Slice for garnish

Add all of the ingredients into a Mixing glass
Stir Gently
Pour into a rocks glass filled with ice
Enjoy Responsibly!

Note: If  you are interested in more of my cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more mixed drink recipes!

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Note: My Review of the Captain Morgan Jack-O’Blast Spiced Rum will publish tomorrow, Chimo!

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Cocktail Hour: Bourbon and Ginger

Posted by Arctic Wolf on September 28, 2016

Although I like short cocktails (shaken or stirred), the truth is that when I am on my back deck with friends, I usually do not want to take the time to measure everything into my cocktail shaker or mixing glass let alone taking even more time to shake and double strain the final serving into a fancy glass. I just want a simple bar drink that I can sip on. I call these simple servings, deck drinks.

bourbon-and-ginger-sam_2760The best deck drinks have only three ingredients, a base spirit, a mixer (soda or juice) and ice. And in fact, it is not unusual for me to have a variety of juice and sodas with ice in my back yard cooler so everyone who has joined me can mix their own servings with whichever spirit they happen to have brought over that day.

Recently I had an opportunity to taste Buck 8 Year Old Bourbon on my friend’s back yard deck. I decided that the long winding grassy flavours within the spirit made it perfect base for a Bourbon and Ginger-ale deck drink.

Bourbon and Ginger

2 oz Buck 8 Year Old Bourbon
2 oz Ginger ale
Ice

In a rocks glass add ice
Pour Bourbon over ice
add splash of Ginger-ale
Stir

Enjoy Responsibly!

Note: If  you are interested in more of my cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more of my mixed drink recipes!

Note: My review for Buck 8 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon publishes tomorrow.

Chimo!

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Cocktail Hour: Fancy Pineapple & Lime Daiquiri

Posted by Arctic Wolf on September 23, 2016

Pineapple Rum was quite a popular delicacy in the 19th century. In fact, in Charles Dickens first serialized novel, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (published in 19 monthly magazine instalments, from March 1836 to October 1837), Pineapple Rum is the preferred tipple of the fictitious Reverend Stiggins, a man who staunchly preached of temperance while secretly enjoying his pineapple rum, usually mixed with hot tea.

In a research collaboration between Dave Wondrich (cocktail guru and author of Imbibe) and Alexander Gabriel (Alexandre Gabriel, President and Owner, of Cognac Ferrand), the spirit has been revived as Stiggins’ Fancy Plantation Pineapple Rum.

To make this new flavoured rum, Alexandre Gabriel began with flavourful Victorian Pineapples. These pineapples are peeled by hand, and the left over rinds are infused with Plantation 3 Stars Silver Rum (see review here) for one week. The resulting infused spirit is then distilled upon Cognac Ferrand’s copper alembic pot stills.

Fancy Autumn Pineapple SAM_2737The leftover pineapple fruit is infused with Plantation Original Dark Rum (see review here) for a full three months. Then the re-distilled Plantation 3 Star Rum (which had been infused with the pineapple rinds) is then combined with the pineapple fruit infused Plantation Original Dark Rum. The two spirits are allowed to marry, and then they are re-casked in oak barrels for three months.

I was sent a sample bottle a few months ago, and now that my Spiced Rum series of reviews is complete, I have had time to play with the new Plantation Pineapple Rum. Here is a nice fancy cocktail which pairs the infused pineapple flavour of Stiggins’ Fancy Plantation Pineapple Rum with fresh lime.

Fancy Pineapple & Lime Daiquiri

1 3/4 oz Stiggins’ Fancy Plantation Pineapple Rum
1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Orange Curacao
3/4 oz fresh Lime Juice
1/4 oz Sugar Syrup (1:1 ratio)
dash or two Angostura Bitters
Ice
Orange Coil

Add the first five ingredients into a metal cocktail shaker with ice
Shake until the outside of the shaker begins to frost
Strain into a cocktail glass
Add an orange peel coil with a lump of ice for garnish

Enjoy!

If  you are interested in more cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more mixed drink recipes!

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PS: My complete review of Stiggins’ Fancy Plantation Pineapple Rum will publish tomorrow, Chimo!

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Talk Like a Pirate: Nine Tasty Spiced Rum Cocktails Matey!

Posted by Arctic Wolf on September 19, 2016

Aarh, today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day so I thought that would be a good excuse to bring forward some of my favourite Spiced Rum Cocktails from this past summer’s Rum Howler 2016 Spiced Rum Taste-off. Spiced Rum doesn’t have a very good reputation when it comes to cocktails. Most of my friends (when they consume spiced rum) stick to the tried and true recipe of Spiced Rum and Cola mixing the serving with lots of ice. And if you followed my 2016 Spiced Rum Taste-off you have noticed that I certainly have no trouble recommending that simple libation for many of the spiced rums I review. Rum, with its obvious caramel and molasses flavours mixes very well with cola, and if that rum has been spiced, the result is a nice tall deck drink that is not only refreshing, it has a bit of welcome attitude as well.

However, if you did follow my 2016 Spiced Rum Taste-off this past summer you would also have noticed that I have attempted to elevate the spiced spirit with a few new cocktail suggestions to demonstrate that spiced rum doesn’t have to be just a base spirit for tall deck drinks. It can be a spirit of sophistication as well.

I thought I would augment my efforts on behalf of spiced rum with a listing of Nine Tasty Spiced Rum Cocktails that do not require the use of cola or soda. These are short, sipping cocktails which (in my opinion) could easily grace the menus of any fine cocktail bar.

And so, in no particular order, here are 9 Tasty Spiced Rum Cocktails:
(click on the name of the cocktail to view its recipe)

Trolley Car

The Trolley Car

  1.   Spiced Darwin  (A nice libation I made specifically for Captain Morgan’s White Spiced Rum. Charles Darwin helped us understand the concept of evolution; this serving serves to signal the new evolution of Spiced Rum Cocktails.
  2.   The Pedestrian (This tasty recipe pays homage to Ray Bradbury’s tale of a not too distant future where television and video entertainment has become so ubiquitous that a lone person who enjoys an evening stroll arouses the suspicions of the city robot police car.)
  3.  The Cable Car  (The Cable Car was created at the Starlight Room in San Fransisco by Tony Abou-Ganim. Based upon the modern Sidecar, Tony’s recipe is considered by many to be a modern classic.)
  4.  The Jerrycan (I designed this short cocktail specifically for Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum. The flavour profile of Sailor Jerry contains very strong impressions of Dr. Pepper soda which means similar spiced rums such as Blackheart Spiced Rum should also work very well in the new mixed drink.
  5.  The Fog Horn (Another Rum Howler creation inspired by a Ray Bradbury short story which this time features a lonely sea monster and the wail of a distant fog horn. Tony Abou’s Cable Car was most definitely a strong influence here as well.)
  6.  The Honey Badger (The media team for the spirits conglomerate Diageo sent me this great recipe which was designed for their Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum. If you are a fan of that other Black Spiced Rum, you will be pleased to know it works well for The Kraken as well. )
  7. The Merry Widow (I stumbled across a recipe called the Black Widow in the cocktail book, 1001 Cocktails (Alex Barker compiler) which combines Dark Rum with Southern Comfort and Lemon Juice. Swapping out the Dark Rum for Lemon Hart Navy Spiced Rum, I created a delightful new indulgence, the Merry Widow.)
  8. The Trolley Car (The Trolley Car was created from a combination of High-proof Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Triple Sec, Orange Juice, Lime Juice, and Bitters.  The result is simply delicious! (Yet another recipe of mine inspired by Tony Abou’s Cable Car.))
  9. Bitter Blood and Spice (This is one of my favourite creations. Based upon a Hennessey Cognac cocktail, Blood Orange Bitters, my serving mixes 100 Proof Spiced Rum with the juice from Navel and Blood Oranges and then accents the libation with Angostura Bitters.)

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Try these spiced rum cocktails and let me know your favourite.

Chimo!

 

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