Mixology Monday

Mixology Monday: Bourbon

Matt Robold — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:31:08 GMT

My how the months do fly by. It seems like I can't go a week without it being a month later these days. It seems it was only yesterday that I was writing my rum entry for Mixology Monday...but maybe that's just because I write about rum all the time. Nah, that can't be it.

This month's topic, hosted by the Scofflaw's Den, pushes me a little further from my comfort-zone: bourbon. Yes, that United Statesian of United Statesian spirits, forged in Kentucky from the corn of the gods who sit upon Mount Sometallmountaininkentucky. Bourbon...it's what real men drink...when they're not drinking rum.

I scoured through my various recipe books for a decent recipe to try. I had a cold over the weekend, and on Sunday I really wanted to avoid leaving the house if possible, so any recipe candidate had to be something for which I already possessed all of the ingredients.

You'd think that, having a cold, I'd have a refrigerator full of fresh fruit juices to help fight off the dreaded rhinovirus. It's a fair assumption. It turned out to be wrong...I had finished off the last of my OJ early Sunday morning. No juice. This ruled out quite a few bourbon-based drinks that included rum, and let's be honest here, I can't write an entry that excludes rum. No Tropical Itch, no Mississippi Punch...and a lack of mint meant that there would be no Manilla Hotel Julep. I began to worry that I was in trouble (and yes, I'm picking up on a theme: my bar is never properly stocked with juices...ever. I need to work on that).

I turned to the Internet for more suggestions and finally found something for which I had every ingredient:

The Sherman Cocktail

1.5 oz Bourbon
.5 oz Port
.5 oz Jamaican Rum
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Orange Bitters

Add to mixing glass over ice and stir. Strain into cocktail glass and serve.

Seemed simple enough, and it met my 2 requirements of requiring rum and no ingredients not already in my possession. We had a winner, and I went to work at mixing and pouring and tippling.

The drink wasn't bad at all. All of the elements were there...the bourbon and rum played every nicely together, and the richness of the port (I used a Sandeman Tawny) came through at the end of the drink, smoothing out the edges of the bourbon (Maker's Mark in this case). While I sipped, I chatted away with a few friends about the drink and what I liked about it.

Then an idea gripped me. There was something that this drink could use...another ingredient that could take this drink from "pretty good" to "pretty friggin awesome" if it were done right. I've mentioned on this blog several times that I'm an insufferable tinkerer...you can't give me anything that is modifiable and actually hope that I won't then modify it.

I finished off my first Sherman, and then strolled into the kitchen and opened the liqueur cabinet (no, that's not a typo...I have a cabinet just for liqueurs, right next to the non-rum liquor cabinet). On the top shelf sat that which I sought: Clement Creole Shrub. Some of you may remember this liqueur as Jay's choice for "Best For Sipping Neat" in his exhaustive search for the best orange liqueurs. It's a personal favorite of mine...and the orange flavor seemed like it would be a terrific compliment to the rest of the drink.

I once again added ice and various spirits to my cocktail shaker, this time including a half-ounce of the Creole Shrub, and then poured myself a drink.

It was good...but it wasn't right. The shrub has such a strong flavor to it that the half-ounce turned out to be too much. I set the drink aside and mixed again, this time going with only a quarter-ounce of the shrub. This time, we hit paydirt. The drink was smooth and rich. Not a dry drink by any stretch of the imagination, but the stronger orange notes seemed to smooth out the edges of the bourbon and rum, while still blending cleanly with the rich port flavor. This is a drink that I can easily see becoming part of my regular imbibement rotation.

Now I just need a name...

Mixology Monday: Rum!!!

Matt Robold — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:42:53 GMT

It's that time again. Time to hunker down and join the rest of the cocktail blogosphere in celebrating our monthly libation worship. This month's MxMo (graciously hosted by Blair over at TraderTiki.com) is one I couldn't miss. No really, how bad would I look if I - the host of RUMDOOD.com - did not participate in the MxMo with RUM as the topic? Somewhere there is a giant computer crunching the numbers to make that determination, but it may take a few years before the sheer magnitude of badness will be calculated. Let's just settle on, "The Dood would look pretty bad if he skipped the rum MxMo."

Now, you would think that this being a rum blog, a Mixology Monday focussed on rum would be ideal. How much easier could it get?

In reality, there was a great deal of pressure pushing down on me to make this a good entry. My reputation is at stake...but what to write about? I'll be completely honest here...it was a little daunting when I went to pick a rum to write about and ended up staring at this:

That picture is actually a little old...it's missing about 6 bottles (I have an addiction and BevMo and Hi Time Wines are enablers). All told, there are 54 rums on my shelf as of Sunday night...and no, I did not decide to do a tasting of all of them.

As I've mentioned before, one of the benefits of writing reviews of rums is that - sometimes - makers of rum (or their marketing firms) will contact you and ask if you'd like some samples (with the idea being that you will then turn around and write a review of the sample). I recently received samples of Depaz Blue Cane Rhum Agricole (look for a review later this week) and their Pure Cane Syrup. While thumbing through the marketing materials included in the package, I stumbled across a recipe for a "Depaz Midnight Mojito". A mojito! There we go! It's getting in to the summer months, and I just so happened to have a package of fresh mint sitting in my refrigerator, begging to be used in a refreshing cocktail.

Most people make mojitos with white rums. Oronoco, Matusalem Platino, Flor de Cana White, Bacardi Silver (ew)...all make great mojitos. Personally, I don't drink a lot of white rums, and there's only so much room on my shelf, so I tend to dabble with the gold rums. Because of this, the idea of a "midnight" mojito made with a non-white rum didn't scare me one bit.

Per Depaz, a Midnight Mojito is thus:

Depaz Midnight Mojito

8-10 Fresh Mint Leaves
1 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz Depaz Cane Syrup
1.5 oz Depaz Blue Cane Amber Rhum

Squeeze fresh lime wedges into a cocktail shaker. Add ice and all remaining ingredients into the cocktail shaker.

Shake vigorously. Strain contents into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Pretty basic mojito recipe...I have all of the ingredients...and it gives me an excuse (like I need one) to use my mojito set! Of course, I didn't follow it to the letter. No mentioning of muddling the lime and mint? SACRILEGE!! Only 1.5 oz of rhum? No no no no no...none of that will do. Plus, no one really uses or even needs fresh lime juice anyway.

JUST KIDDING! Put away your bar knives! I'm talking to you, Jeffrey! Put it down and step away slowly...it was just a joke.

One of the key things with a mojito is the use of a muddler. I have a nice muddler that came with my mojito set, and so after tearing about 10-15 mint leaves and dropping them into my shaker along with my fresh lime juice, I went to work pounding and twisting and grinding the menthol out of the leaves and into the juice. I then added 2 oz. of rhum (that's French for "rum"), 1 oz of the cane syrup and some crushed ice (thanks to Stu & Alida for the used blender - it's already coming in handy).

I've had debates with people over the use of crushed ice for mojitos. I don't always do it, but I really think that I should for one very important reason: containment of mint bits. With crushed ice floating at the top of your glass, you very rarely end up with a mouth full of foliage as you suck down the refreshing Cuban goodness of a great mo'. When you use cubed ice, there's a higher degree of difficulty in getting a clean draw from the glass unless you cheat and use a straw.

The ingredients sufficiently shaken, I poured them into a tall glass, and then topped with soda and garnished with lime.

I have to say, the Depaz makes a really tasty mojito. I may have indulged in an additional 1 or 2 after the first one...and I may have tried adding muddled/blended banana in to one of them at some point...maybe.... If I did, it was probably excellent...

Mixology Monday: Limit One

Matt Robold — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:36:11 GMT

Well, I'm not sure I'll have this in on time, but them's the breaks, as they say. Rick, over at Kaiser Penguin is hosting this month's MXMO event, and has picked the theme of "Limit One".

Rick describes this theme as

"Consume and write about your favorite, strongest drink. You know, the one that that is delightful, complex, and will leave you wanting to stay home from work the next day. It should contain at least 3oz of 80-proof spirit or have less than 1/2oz of non-spiritness."

Sounds simple enough. I mean, we all have our favorite drink of which we should never have more than one - a limit we probably all blow right by on the way to Hangover Country, Population You.

Well, I had high hopes for this week, but the ladder turned out to be a bit too short for my goal, and my hopes are vertically challenged apparently. I find myself tonight in a bit of a bind as I'm in the middle of moving. My life is currently strewn about my new apartment in boxes and bags...except for my current 47 rums. Those are already on the new shelf. I mean, you have to have priorities, and getting a couch or microwave can wait.

My post kind of got away from me, and I figured I'd just have to miss...but my friend Ashley believed in me and insisted that I make myself a Zombie for the evening. GREAT! I love Zombies! Well, the kind you drink - not the kind that drinks your brains. I quickly ran to the shelf and kitchen to put together the necessary ingredients.

Zombie

1/2 oz Bacardi® 151 rum
1 oz pineapple juice
1 oz orange juice
1/2 oz apricot brandy
1 tsp sugar
2 oz light rum
1 oz dark rum
1 oz lime juice

Blend all ingredients with ice except Bacardi 151 proof rum. Pour into a collins glass. Float Bacardi 151 proof rum on top. Garnish with a fruit slice, sprig of mint and a cherry.

I was in the kitchen when suddenly, disaster struck. I realized that I was in an apartment with my life in boxes and no freezer...only a mini-fridge with my collection of bitters, beer, and some ginger beer. This means that I had no juice, and NO ICE. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Well, in the interest of living up to the expectations that my friends have for me, I had to do SOMETHING. So I implemented a little field medicine to brew up something with what I had. I don't know what to call it, so I consulted with Ashley once again, and based on the many lovely events currently filling my life, we came up with a name:

The Joe Cooper

2 oz dark rum (used Appleton Extra)
1 oz light rum (used Matusalem Platino)
1 oz overproof rum (used Wray & Nephew Overproof)
1/2 oz Cointreau
1 oz Blood Orange Bitters
1 tsp Demerera Sugar

Mix into a shaker, shake, pour into a glass.

I had originally intended to add some ginger beer if only because it was cold and - as previously mentioned - I lack ice. Expecting to want to throw myself from my porch upon tasting it before adding the ginger beer, I tasted my concoction...and LIKED IT. I don't know, maybe my palate isn't as sophisticated as I like to pretend to have...but this actually wasn't horrid. And if, like me in real life, or Joe Cooper in Baseketball, it seems like shit is raining upon you non-stop, just one of these babies will probably make you forget all about it...or at least not care for the next few hours.

Mixology Monday: Variations

Matt Robold — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:05:04 GMT

I had originally intended to a comparison of Mai Tai recipes - focusing on the Trader Vic's vs. Don The Beachcomber versions for this month's MXMO. That never happened. Instead I found myself with the house all to my lonesome on Saturday evening and the bottle of Mt. Gay XO called to me, begging me to write a review of it...and I yielded to its Siren Song. It's just as well, since I woke up the next morning to discover that Blair over at Trader Tiki's had done his own Mai Tai post that was probably a thousand times more impressive than anything I could have done - and he posted it at least a full day before I would have posted mine.

Do not lament however, as I do have an entry for this month's collection of imbibement-related-web-journalism, hosted by Jimmy's Cocktail Hour.

I recently finished reading How's Your Drink? by Eric Felten, which inspired me to branch out more from my rummy world of rummy goodness and get back to drinking all kinds of drinks - especially Old Fashioneds. Not being a big whiskey drinker, the Old Fashioned seemed like a great drink to get in to as pretty much anywhere you go will have decent whiskey, sugar, bitters, and fruit. I mean, it's simple, easy, and everyone's got that stuff (except, apparently, The District in Orange, CA). You can't usually say the same for rum, for which most bars leave me relegated to Captain and Coke. Over the past few weeks I've been ordering Old Fashioneds just about everywhere we go, each time with a different whiskey. And for those purists out there, sorry, but I like the garbage in my drink - and I prefer the Rye to the Bourbon. The recipe here isn't Mr. Felten's...I loaned out my copy of his book, so I don't have access to it at the moment.

Old Fashioned

2 oz Rye or Bourbon Whiskey
1 Sugar Cube
1 dash Bitters
1 slice Lemon
1 Cherry
1 slice Orange

Combine the sugar cube, bitters, and 1 tsp. water in an old-fashioned glass. Muddle well, add blended whiskey, and stir. Add a twist of lemon peel and ice cubes. Add slices of orange and lemon and top with the cherry

The concept of the Old Fashioned wasn't new to me...drinking it with the prescribed Whiskey was though. What I used to keep myself warm with was a variation of the old-timey cocktail made with - what else? - rum. I don't know if this is the "according to Hoyle" recipe for a Rum Old Fashioned, but this is the one I used Saturday night after completing my review.

Rum Old Fashioned

2 oz Rum
1 tsp sugar or simple syrup
1 dash Bitters
1 Cherry
1 slice Orange
1 slice Lime

Combine the sugar/syrup, bitters, and rum in an Old Fashioned glass and mix well. Add the cherry. Add ice. Add the orange, squeeze and add the lime. Top with a splash of soda. Clink, Drink, Repeat.

Since this cocktail is a variant of a whiskey cocktail, I recommend a whiskey-ish rum for the task. On Saturday I went with Mount Gay Extra Old (which is excellent in this drink), but I have been known to make it with Matusalem Gran Reserva or Flor de Cana 18 Year Old. Any of the 3 work really well (you could also use Appleton Estate V/X, Extra, or Reserve), although the Matusalem is probably my preferred base.

Cheers!

Mixology Monday: A Sidecar, But With Brandy

Matt Robold — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:34:43 GMT

This may go down in history as the worst MXMO entry ever. Here at RumDood.com I like to make sure that "swinging for the fences" is always the goal...so if I'm going to be bad, I want to be really bad.

This month's MXMO topic is brandy.

I'll confess, I'm not nearly the brandy aficionado that I pretend to be with rum. I don't drink it on a regular or even semi-regular basis, and I don't keep the liquor cabinet well-stocked with anything other than flavored brandies that I use primarily for cooking or as secondary ingredients in tiki drinks.

Upon finding out that the fine folks over at Sloshed had chosen brandy as our topic for this month, I started trying to devise a drink or drink list to work from. Mrs. Dood suggested that I "think outside of the box" and do a write-up about one of my brandy recipes for cooking. Perhaps I should have gone that route.

My plans for spending Sunday night mixing away were trounced by a new group event which saw me in the Sutra Lounge in Newport Beach. Frantic for something to write about, I figured I'd go in with a drink or two in mind and see what the bartenders could do for me. My Mixology Monday research returned with mixed results.

I was impressed with the bar's available rums. I mean, I'm a rum guy, so I notice when a bar has Matusalem Gran Reserva and Appleton Estate V/X. I figured I'd start the night by leaning on the bartender while it was early and not as busy, so I asked for her to make me something with rum and brandy. Normally I try not to ever do something like that because I know it just makes their job harder, but I figured it might be a good way to find something new, and it wasn't busy yet, so maybe I wouldn't frazzle my bartender too much.

She hustled off, and started pulling bottles from shelves and pouring into the shaker, and next thing I knew I had a salted glass in front of me with a drink inside containing orange and lime wedges. As I paid the tab, my bartender remarked, "I basically made a sidecar, but with brandy added."

The confused me. Sidecars are supposed to have brandy. I thought perhaps she had just misspoken and had meant to say she had made a sidecar, but with rum added. I took a sip, and was struck with fruity-sugary-saltiness. If there was brandy in that glass, it was hidden well, and enough salt had fallen from the rim of the glass and into the cocktail that it started overpowering the rest of the drink.

When my bartender passed by again, I inquired as to what was in the "sidecar" in my hands. The ingredients included Barcardi O, sour mix, triple-sec, and a splash of brandy - finished off with an orange wedge and a lime wedge...all in a salt-rimmed glass. It wasn't a horrible drink, but it wasn't a good one either. The Dood was disappointed.

Undaunted, I returned to the bar 1 Sutra Rum Sidecar (I can't call it a real sidecar now can I?) and a few glasses of water later to try for what I think my bartender was trying to make for me with her sidecar experiment: a sidecar with rum added, more commonly known as a "Between The Sheets". When I asked for a BTS, my bartender started off, and then returned to confirm what was in it. Luckily, I had the recipe saved on my cell phone for just such an occasion:

Between The Sheets

1 oz. Brandy
1 oz. Cointreau or Triple-Sec
1 oz. Light Rum
1 oz. Lemon Juice

Combine all into a shaker with ice, shake, and strain into cocktail glass.

For the rum, I requested 10 Cane so that I could avoid the ignominy of receiving more Barcardi. I didn't make any real request for the brandy due to my general ignorance on the topic. In retrospect, I should have done a little more research on that for this article. The drink wasn't bad. It was tart - as you would expect considering the ingredients - with a nice finish...although I would have been happier with just a tad more brandy or a little sugar to balance the tartness a bit.

At the rate of $10 per drink, my experimenting seemed like it might get a little expensive, and I was supposed to be the driver in a few hours, so I drank about half of my BTS and then stuck to water for the rest of the evening until I got home.

Once home, I decided to try one more drink.

Cuban Cocktail #2 (according to my little red bartending guide)

1.5 oz Brandy
.5 oz Apricot Brandy
1 tsp white rum
Juice of 1/2 lime

This looked promising...but only a teaspoon of rum? Tsk tsk, no tsp tsp.

Dood's Cuban Cocktail #2

1.5 oz Brandy
.5 oz Apricot Brandy
.5 oz White Rum (Oronoco in this case)
Juice of 1/2 lime

Combine all in shaker with ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass.

This was good. It was very good. The lime juice gave it a similar tartness to the other drinks of the evening, but this was better balanced with the vanilla of the Oronoco and the sweetness of the apricot brandy. It still could use a bit, so I added a splash of blood-orange bitters...which is becoming rather habitual for me. Pretty soon I'll be added bitters to my tea in the mornings. I thought this drink was the winner for the evening. The flavors were in much better harmony, and (with the exception of the apricot brandy) the ingredients were from a much higher shelf than what I had been getting in the bar (my own fault - if you don't ask for top shelf, you won't get it). This was actually the perfect cocktail to end my evening a scant 3 hours before I had to arise and come in to work today.

Mixology Monday: Repeal Day & The Rum Runners

Matt Robold — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 15:32:32 GMT

Well, I've decided to start taking part in the Mixology Monday (hosted by Jeffery Morgenthaler) bazaar of posts and articles, and this month's is a topic near and dear to my heart: Repeal Day.

That's right, December 5th is (in the USA) the anniversary of the day that the 18th Amendment was repealed, once again allowing alcohol to flow through the streets in people instead of from broken casks down the gutters and into the sewers where only the rats and cockroaches could enjoy a decent martini.

Drawing inspiration from the times and the fact that this blog is (mostly) concerned with rum, I thought I'd take the opportunity to review the drink known as the Rum Runner.

During Prohibition, people that illegally smuggled alcohol into the US were known either as bootleggers or rum runners. The most famous rum runner of them all was one William McCoy, who was well known for not watering down his liquor when he delivered it (a dastardly and evil practice that was all-too-common amongst the other runners of his day). The fact that his booze was never watered down actually led to the coining of the phrase "The Real McCoy".

Inspired by McCoy's profession, I decided to have a Repeal Day party and serve different Rum Runner recipes to friends. Unfortunately my friends don't seem to actually like me, and instead prefer to help their families move, recover from illness, or continue to sleep off hangovers from the previous evening.

Instead of a lot of people, I ended up having a quiet evening with my wife and brother. So instead of writing up about a lot of Rum Runners, I offer this comparison of 2 recipes and even a slight tweak I made to one of them to make it more palatable.

Recipe #1: Tom's Rum Runner

1 1/2 oz light rum
3/4 oz blackberry brandy
3/4 oz banana liqueur
1/4 oz grenadine syrup
1 1/2 oz orange juice
1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
fill with ice
1 oz Meyer's® dark rum

This recipe was pretty good. I don't keep Meyers in the house, so I substituted Appleton Estate Extra (12yo). For the white rum I used Oronoco (again, great cocktails require great ingredients). It was somewhat fruity, but not too bad. I didn't personally care for the amount of banana liqueur that I could taste, but that could have been the liqueur I used, which was a small local brand from Papeete, Tahiti that my wife acquired during our trip in April. My brother and I both agreed it "wasn't bad", and I finished it without too much trouble.

Recipe #2: Rum Runner Island Style (whatever that means)

1 oz Dark Rum (Meyer's)
1 oz Light Rum (Bacardi)
1/2 oz Blackberry Brandy
1/4 oz Banana Liqueur
1 Splash Grenadine
1 Splash Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice

Again, I substituted Appleton Extra for the Meyers, and Oronoco for the Bacardi. I don't use Rose's sweetened lime juice - if you can help it you should ALWAYS use real, fresh limes. If you're not cutting the lime and squeezing the juice yourself, you're making an inferior cocktail. Bottled lime juice is only for use after enough cocktails render the use of a knife too dangerous to be tolerated.

This recipe called for all the ingredients to be mixed in the blender with ice and then served like a blended daiquiri or margarita. I'm not the biggest fan of blended drinks. This concept made me unhappy. The drink was...well it was barely OK. It really relies on the ice to provide some balance to the combating flavors, and in my opinion the ice was not up to the challenge. This drink I couldn't finish. I'm sure that, had my wife not been busy experimenting with her own various drinks (she made a coffee-flavored rum drink that I should post here some time) to engage in my experiment.

There was potential here though. I took this latter recipe and doubled the ingredients to better fill a shaker. I then added ice and about 2 shots of pineapple juice (from a can, I'm big on getting fresh juice, but it's rather difficult to keep pineapples sitting around the kitchen for drinks), shook the ingredients until frothy, and then poured into a tiki mug. I took a sip and felt that I had a winner.

Brother's reaction: "Whoa, this is good. This is a LOT better than those other two." I heartily agreed. The flavors all seemed to blend nicely. While you could taste each of the flavors of the liqueurs and fruit juices and even still taste the rum, nothing seemed out of place. I finished my drink, confident that this would become part of my summer repertoire. Of course, after finishing the drink my confidence in my ability to successfully navigate our stairs was another matter.

Dood's Rum Runner:

2 oz Dark Rum (Appleton Extra)
2 oz Light Rum (Oronoco)
1 oz Blackberry Brandy
1/2 oz Banana Liqueur
1 Splash Grenadine
Juice of 1 lime
2 oz Pineapple Juice