It’s a scene that has played out countless times, in many a cocktail enthusiast’s house. You, as the host, try to find the ideal drink for each guest but somebody is being difficult:

Gracious Host: So, can I mix you something?

Guest: Well, I don’t know. Can you make me something nice?

GH: How about a Margarita? They’re fairly popular.

Guest: Oh no, that’s much too strong for me. Can you make something milder?

GH: Hmm, a Mojito? They’re all the rage you know.

Guest: I tried that once, but I didn’t like the taste of the rum in it. What else have you got?

GH: (without much hope) A Cosmopolitan? That has vodka in it, so the taste shouldn’t bother you.

Guest: Vodka? I tried that once and it was horrible! I don’t know, if you can’t fix anything nice, I’ll just have a Coke.

GH: (pride hurt) Well, do you like any alcoholic drinks at all?

Guest: Actually I never drink, only some Bailey’s now and again.

GH: (Eyes light up) Ah, in that case I have just the thing!

Gracious Host exits toward BAR.

Recipe:

1 oz. Brandy
1 oz. Créme de Cacao
1 oz. Heavy Cream

Shake very well with plenty of ice and serve in a cocktail glass. Sprinkle freshly-grated nutmeg on top and serve.

Notes:

Kind of like one of these pre-made cream liqueurs brought to life, using real fresh cream and good brandy, and not a preservative in sight. Whenever someone says they like Bailey’s, I mix one of these up instead. I haven’t had any complaints yet.

Rating:

- Rich, creamy goodness.

It’s been a crazy week weather-wise here in Madrid. The end of the summer has brought a great unpredictability in the weather, and conditions are changing drastically from one day to the next. I’m tempted to say it’s all because of global warming, which would allow me to indulge in the popular hobby of blaming politicians, but Madrid has always been like this at the beginning of autumn (or fall, for those of the American persuasion), so I’ll just enjoy the good days in preparation for the winter.

On one of the warmer days we’ve had this week I found myself looking for something refreshing and new, and while browsing books I found just the thing in David Wondrich’s Killer Cocktails. While conjuring up images of people in comedy moustaches wearing suits and ties at the height of a New York summer, Wondrich introduces us to the Roof Garden Cooler, a drink invented at the Waldorf Hotel in the early twentieth century and designed to keep you cool despite the feeling of being wrapped in a carpet and thrown into an oven.

It’s a very nice tipple on its own merits, and is even more admirable when you consider it’s nothing more than a glorified wine cooler. It’s not too strong, using only vermouth as the alcoholic component, so you can engage in the activity of cooling yourself down without worrying too much about nasty side-effects. Hell, even my wife liked it, so I really can’t fault it.

Recipe:

2 oz. dry Vermouth
1 oz. Lime juice
1/4 -1/2 oz. Simple Syrup (original recipe states 1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar)
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Ginger Ale

Combine all ingredients in a glass, stirring until the sugar is dissolved if you haven’t used simple syrup. Add a few ice cubes and top with ginger ale.

Notes:

There really isn’t much to say, this drink is not too complex, apart from what the vermouth brings to the table.

I was surprised at how refreshing it was without any shaking or crushed ice in sight. Usually a built drink warms up relatively quickly, since it was never as cold to begin with. This one didn’t last long enough for that, though…

Rating:

- Don’t bother being traditional, you can have one while enjoying the air-conditioning.

July’s Mixology Monday brought us a whole host of cool drinks, from many great blogs. Interestingly, the bramble was the only drink mentioned by two different people, and this attracted my attention.

Originally mentioned over at Bartender Thinking, the Bramble is the child of Dick Bradsell, a respected London bartender. As the Thinking Bartender points out, it can be adapted to many different fruit liqueurs, such as creme de cassis, etc. I haven’t gone that far in my experimentation yet, but the idea of using a gin/lemon juice combination as the base for a fruity drink doesn’t seem too bad to me. I will try other variations.

The recipe calls for Plymouth gin, something I haven’t been able to find here. I have no idea what it adds to the drink, but I can tell you that with both Bombay Gin (regular, not Sapphire) and Seagram’s, the result is quite good. Also, I tried both variations mentioned in the post and ended up using the original recipe. The variation was just too sweet for me.

Recipe:

1 1/2 oz. Plymouth Gin
3/4 oz. Lemon juice
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
3/4 oz. Creme de Mure

Build everything except the Creme de Mure over crushed ice and stir. Add a straw and slowly pour in the Creme de Mure to create a cascading effect.

Notes:

The final drink is just a delivery mechanism for Creme de Mure. Not that this is a bad thing, of course. It takes a very sweet liqueur and turns it into an enjoyable and refreshing drink, without masking the original flavour or adding too much extra. It just goes to show that originality can be tied to simplicity.

Rating:

- A great little drink.

There was some talk recently on the Drinkboy Forums about the Jasmine cocktail. Supposedly a good introduction to both gin and Campari, it’s also an attractive pink colour that fool those friends you have that don’t appreciate good drinking. These might also be swayed by the drink’s uncanny resemblance to grapefruit juice, and might be convinced to use the Jasmine as a gateway drink to further gin and Campari debauchery.

At about the same time, I noticed that Drinkboy himself, Robert Hess, had done a video on the Jasmine also extolling the similarities to grapefruit juice. Well, I can’t lay off if something seems difficult to believe, so I set out to construct one of these mythical creatures.

The result isn’t too bad. The gin is fairly subdued, as you would expect in a drink directed at people who don’t like gin. It is fruity and interesting, though, and pretty nice.

Still, I was left wondering where it is that Mr. Hess buys his Campari-flavoured grapefruit.

Recipe:

1.5 oz. Gin
1 oz. Cointreau
3/4 oz. Campari
1/2 oz. Lemon juice

Shake everything up and serve in a cocktail glass.

Notes:

It still tastes of Campari. I’ll be trying some different versions reducing the Campari in the search for that elusive grapefruit juice taste. Even if I don’t find it, it’s still not bad.

Rating:

- Not bad, but not incredible either.

Recently, there was some discussion about the Bellini on a spanish-language mailing list I read. I realized that although I know the recipe, I had never actually tried one, and proceeded to correct this shameful situation.

The Bellini is one of these rare classic drinks where the origin is well-known and undisputed. It dates back to 1948, when Giuseppe Cipriani of the world-famous Harry’s Bar in Venice decided to combine the puree of white peaches with the italian sparkling wine Prosecco. The new drink was named after Giovanni Bellini, a 15th-century venetian artist whose paintings were being exhibited somewhere nearby at the time. Incidentally, Harry’s Bar also invented Carpaccio. Not many establishments can claim to have both a world-famous drink and a world-famous dish to their name.

So since peaches are in season from June to September, now’s the time to start mixing them up. The reason I had never bothered with this drink was a combination of not having any champagne around the house, and not having any peach purée either, but by coincidence I had some champagne at home when I read the discussion mentioned above. The peach purée was now the only missing ingredient.

I decided to see how difficult it is to make peach purée before trying to buy some, and I found that Darcy over at The Art of Drink had talked about this very thing back in 2005. The method just involves peaches and a couple of spoonfuls of sugar per peach in a blender at high speed. It’s as easy as it sounds, and a few minutes later I had the purée.

I should point out a couple of details for the purists out there.

First, although I’ve been talking about champagne, the actual wine used should be prosecco, a sparkling wine from Italy made with a different method to the champagne method. Now, I’ve never even bought a bottle of prosecco, so there’s no chance of having that around. What I actually used was Cava, the spanish sparkling wine.

Second, the recipe specifies white peach purée. The original recipe mentions that the variety of peach used should be the italian pesca bianca, a whiteish peach that reddens near the stalk and has a white flesh. I can’t find anything similar in Spain, so I used regular peaches.

Recipe:

2 oz. White peach purée
4 oz. Prosecco (substitute Champagne if unavailable)

Pour the purée into a champagne flute and slowly add the bubbly, stirring carefully so as not to spill anything.

Notes:

Like I mention above, I didn’t actually use the original ingredients, substituting normal peaches for the white peaches, and using cava instead of prosecco. The result was not bad, although of similar-styled drinks I prefer the Mimosa, for example. Next time I’m in Venice, I’ll try it properly made…

Rating:

- Ok, but not really worth the trouble unless its a special occasion.

Hey Dave, where have you been?

On holiday, like I said in my previous post. Here, if you must know.

Did you get much cocktailing done?

Nope, my folks don’t have the same urge to store fifty different bottles at home that I do. Hell, they don’t even have a shaker.

Sounds like an excuse to present a crappy MxMonday drink…

Actually, I’ve been thinking about it for a two or three weeks. That doesn’t mean it’s any good, of course, it just means that this entry isn’t entirely improvised.

So what did you come up with?

Well, I considered being “original” and maybe doing something like the Brandy Alexander.

That’s the kind of “original” that everyone else thinks of too.

Exactly. So then I thought about maybe dusting off the Hummingbird or something similar.

Risky business, covering a cocktail you only published a few weeks ago…

Yup. Finally, I remembered that Barceló has a new rum cream and that I conveniently had a bottle purchased at my wife’s behest, so I decided to come up with something that uses it. I don’t know if it’s great, but at least it’s mine. And I even came up with a cool name.
What’s this rum cream like?

It’s made using Dominican aged rum, in a recipe I suspect is similar to most other cream liqueurs. This rum is apparently aged in Bourbon casks for a length of time before being used to make this cream. Barceló’s aged rum is actually quite nice on it’s own, and the rum cream is also decent. It’s not something that comes at you, though. It’s basically just Bailey’s with rum.

What can you possibly mix that with?

Remember we’re talking rum here, so I wanted something traditionally tropical but also creamy. Coconut cream fits the bill perfectly.

Interesting, I can’t find any recipe on Google that combines those two ingredients.

Neither could I, possibly with good reason… Anyway, I finally needed a hint of sweetness and flavour to contrast with the existing profile, so I added a little Amaretto. Maybe it’s the easy way out, but it works fairly well.

And since it’s a tropical drink, we’re talking blender here.

Great. By the way, what’s with the name you’ve given it?

Coco Blanco is the name of a bird native to Santo Domingo, which is where Barceló rum hails from. You may know it, it’s called the White Ibis in English. Also, the drink uses coconut and comes out white, so it’s a kind of play on words.

Well, are you going to make us a couple or what?

Coming right up…

Recipe:

1 1/2 oz. Rum Cream
2 oz. Coconut Cream
1/4 oz. Amaretto

In a blender, mix the rum cream and coconut cream with about half-a-cup of ice. Blend until smooth, serve into a wide glass and pour a splash of amaretto into the glass using a spoon to spread it out over the surface. The idea is to get it to streak slightly when stirred using the straw.

Notes:

You have to be careful with two things here.

Both the rum cream and coconut cream have relatively delicate flavours, so if you overdo the ice it’s going to get watery and tasteless. However, if you don’t add enough ice, the drink is going to be too sweet. A hint: It’s called a Coco Blanco, so the drink should be white before adding the amaretto. If it’s rum cream colour, then you need more ice.

Also, be very careful not to overdo the amaretto. If you get it just right, it should add to the drink without taking over. It’s way too easy to pour in too much, so start with a little and work up from there. You shouldn’t need more than half a tablespoon.

Rating:

I can’t rate my own drink, although my wife seems to like it and has already tasked me with making it next time we have friends around. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Visit Morsels & Musings for the rest of the Mixology Monday entries.

To finish this short run of brazilian drinks, I’m going to cover another batida. Whereas the Batida de Coco I presented yesterday is very light and refreshing, the Batida de Manga is a creamier, sweeter drink. From what I’ve seen, together they represent the two most common styles of batidas in Brazil.

Manga is portuguese for mango, so this is still very much a tropical drink. Instead of sugar, this drink uses condensed milk as the sweetener, which is key to getting the creamy factor. Of course, this makes the blender mandatory.

Also, it’s important to use a rich mango nectar in order to make the drink denser. Even better, use a slice of mango.

Finally, you can substitute any fruit, really, instead of the mango. Passion fruit, strawberries or bananas come to mind.

Recipe:

2 oz. Cachaça
3 oz. Mango nectar, or a slice of mango
2 oz. Condensed Milk

Throw everything in a blender with plenty of ice and blend until creamy and frothy. Serve in a tall glass with a small slice of mango, a straw, cocktail umbrella, the works.

Notes:

Not much to say, a nice poolside drink. You can tone down the alcohol if you’re planning to guzzle a whole lot of them.

Rating:

- Pretty nice.

Following on from yesterday’s Caipirinha, here’s another popular brazilian drink.

A Batida is actually a generic term for a sweet drink made with cachaça and some type of fruit, and then blended with ice. From my research it looks like each person makes it their own way, using different sweeteners and even spirits other than cachaça. Of course, each fruit will require its own level of sweetness, so really the only thing that is constant about these recipes is the use of ice (even the blender is sometimes optional, you can just shake with crushed ice).

I’m going to present a simple coconut batida, both because I have the ingredients and because its the only version I had heard of before. I’ve settled on the following recipe:

Recipe:

1 1/2 oz. Cachaça
3 oz. Coconut Cream
2 tsp Sugar

Place everything into a blender with plenty of ice and go nuts. Alternatively, you an crush about a cupful of ice and shake everything up in a shaker. You can strain the result or not, depending on your taste.

Notes:

With so many options, it was difficult to decide which ones to try. I tried a couple of ratios and the one above was the one I liked best. It’s better to make a weaker drink because you’ll be drinking it really quickly and making another one.

I ended up crushing some ice and shaking because I couldn’t be bothered to set up the blender. It worked pretty well, but I’d recommend adding the sugar first with a splash of water to dissolve it a little first. Alternatively, just use some simple syrup.

Rating:

-A very refreshing summer drink.

More popularly known as a White Russian, this drink was made popular for many people by its inclusion in the film The Big Lebowski. The main character, known as the Dude and masterfully played by Jeff Bridges, is seen drinking these constantly and to the exclusion of all else. In fact, we even see him mixing one up for breakfast. Now I don’t recommend going that far, but every time I watch that movie I mix one or two up just to get into the right mood.

The reason the I’ve chosen to post as Caucasian instead of White Russian is that at one point the Dude clearly requests “another caucasian” from the bartender at the bowling alley he and his friends patronize. Anyway, on with the recipe.

Recipe:

2 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Kahlúa
3 oz. Milk

Pour in order over ice and stir. Don’t bother too much about being precise with the measurements, it’s meant to be a quick fix.

Notes:

Tastes kind of like a coffee milkshake. I’ve taken the measurements from the breakfast scene, which I’m recalling from memory. Alter it to your taste, or you can find a recipe on the back label of a Kahlúa bottle.

Rating:

- I like it.

Recipe:

1 oz. Tequila
1 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Gin
1 oz. Light Rum
1 1/2 oz. Coconut Cream
1 oz. Grenadine

Mix everything in a blender with crushed ice.

Via: Coco Lopez

Notes:

Ouch. (again.) I found this drink quite by accident, looking for something else. Still, it looked so over-the-top I couldn’t help myself. Actually, it’s not as bad as it looks. The (cheap) tequila gives it a slightly unpleasant edge, but it’s otherwise just another girl-drink (it is intensely pink). Keep this in mind for bachelor-parties and other such events.

The original recipe called for 151 rum, I changed that to regular rum because I figured that might be overkill. Shouldn’t have bothered. Also, I adapted the recipe to one serving.

Rating:

- Has its uses, but I’m too old for them (unfortunately).