Category Archives: The Nation Needs A Drink

The Nation Needs A Drink

Lounge Lizards

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We have this bottle of dark rum we got to try a recipe we didn't care for all that much and another one that we did. The rum is a Dominican brand called Ron Alegro (the affordable Anejo, not the spendy XO), I don't know much about rum but I sampled this at Total Wine and Liquor and it was pretty smooth and sweet so it went home with me. Anyway, we wanted to try some more rum cocktails so we started looking around for other recipes. We experimented with a couple that could make it into the rotation and finally settled on a favorite - the Lounge Lizard, a variation of the classic Cuba Libre combining rum, lime and Coca-Cola. The Lounge Lizards adds a twist of nutty sweetness with the addition of a little Amaretto to the mix. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 oz dark rum
1/2 oz Amaretto
4 oz Coke
Squeeze of lime

This one you can just mix in a highball glass with ice and serve. Excellent for sipping on the veranda.

The Nation Needs A Drink

The Rally Cocktail

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If you find yourself torn between coffee or an after dinner drink, or you find your energy flagging on a Saturday night but you want to rally, or when, as JJ Cale put it, your day is done and you want to ride on, coffee-based cocktails might be just the thing. The last couple of times I've partied with my work colleagues at a hotel bar the espresso martini was all the rage.

One of the more famous coffee drinks is the Dude's signature beverage, the white Russian. There are, of course, different approaches to making coffee cocktails and many variations to explore, I think some dark rum and coffee mixing may be in my near future.  Some of these cocktails use coffee liqueur like Kahlua, which has rum as its base spirit, in the mix and others use straight coffee, but the recipe we tried uses an espresso simple syrup that's just equal parts espresso and sugar. We had some Cafe Bustelo in the kitchen so that's what we used.

It was a bit later than usual last weekend when we got around to settling down in the ultra lounge to catch up on some TV. We had at least a couple of hours of programming to watch and we were already a little tired. That's when Mrs. Twayn, who was perusing her iPad, found a recipe for the espresso Old Fashioned. We had a few each, felt nice and relaxed and still managed to stay awake for Welcome to Wrexham, a new episode of Hacks, and (most of) a Saturday Night Live recording. Here's the recipe:

2 oz bourbon (I'm liking Old Forrester these days) or rye
1 oz espresso simple syrup
4-6 dashes orange bitters
Orange peel or slice

Plop ice into a mixing glass, add liquid ingredients and stir.
Strain into short glasses filled with ice, squeeze the orange peel or slice over the top and drop it in.
Enjoy in moderation, you are still old and need your sleep.

The Nation Needs A Drink

French Toast Flip

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This selection was inspired by recent talk among the Citizenry about adding maple syrup to coffee. I’d consider this a three-season cocktail, rather than something exclusively autumnal.

Flips are a class of cocktail dating back to the 1600s, though modern versions more closely resemble those of the late 1800s. A cocktail is considered a flip if it involves mixing spirits or fortified wine with a whole egg and a sweetener. Credit for this drink goes to Jeremy Allen, who devised it at Minibar in Los Angeles; I learned of it via Imbibe. My version omits the port, because most folks likely don’t have a bottle in their home bar.

Ingredients

  • 2 oz rye whiskey
  • 3/4 oz lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz Grade B maple syrup
  • 1 whole egg
  • 3 dashes Angostura bitters

Method

Combine the rye whiskey, lemon juice, maple syrup & egg in a shaker. Dry shake to aerate. Add ice, shake thoroughly to chill. Strain into a coupe. Top with the bitters.

Notes

Make sure you have a good seal on the shaker when mixing eggs. They can get rather frothy, and things could get messy. I did my dry shaking for 10-15 seconds; you can feel the mixture emulsify, which is your cue to move on to the ice. Use a few ice cubes rather than crushed ice to shake this drink. (I haven’t tried mixing this by omitting the dry shake in favor of the whip shake, but it seems like a good candidate.)

While I only had a couple sips last night, I found it to be a little dry and lacking just a bit of depth, perhaps in part because I only had Grade A maple syrup on hand. Still, I’d suggest sticking to the base recipe your first time unless you know you like your cocktails on the sweeter end, in which case, pour your maple syrup with a slightly heavier hand. (My palate may have been a bit off, as I’d just finished a 5k rowing session.)

I didn’t have any rye on hand, so I used bourbon. My disclaimer here is that whiskey and I agreed to see other people twenty years ago. There are a small number of whiskey cocktails I’m willing to drink on rare occasions.

You don’t have to garnish with ground cinnamon or nutmeg — the Angostura bitters should get you those notes — but you could if you’re partial to a little extra.

As for the egg, food retailers have been making significant inroads in poultry vaccination for salmonella thanks to requirements they place on their suppliers. If you are concerned, the FDA recommends eggs with in-shell pasteurization for preparations like Caesar salad dressing that call for raw eggs.

Miscellaneous, The Nation Has An Appetite, The Nation Needs A Drink, WGOM Cribbage Tournament, WGOM Games

World’s Greatest Caucus – 2022

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Sunday May 29, 2022
12:00 p.m.
Pike & Pint
Alexandria, MN

Here’s a post that everyone can respond to in order to keep all responses in one place and accessible.

zooomx.2’s offer:

I am going to close to the public on Sunday (29th) and Monday that weekend. The Twins play at 1pm on Sunday. I would be willing to open up at noon for the caucus. My thoughts would be to have one of my cooks put together a little lunch buffet for the group. I would have a bartender on staff. Food is on me, cocktails would be cash bar. Bring the kids. If its nice weather we will hang out on the patio. If it's inclement weather, me hang out in the bar with the 6 TV's. I can break out the cribbage boards and some cornhole boards.

The Nation Needs A Drink

Basic Bar: Spirits

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Introduction

Building up a personal bar can be a delicious voyage of self-discovery. It can also be pretty flipping expensive, particularly if you develop a taste for vintage spirits or specialized cocktails (Tiki, for example). The good news is that there's been a lot of thought put into various schemes for stocking a nascent bar or for dealing with limited space for your cocktail ephemera.

I'm going to tip my hat to the various discussions of 9–12 bottle bars that were in vogue a half-dozen years ago or so. Like building a starting lineup and bench in baseball, it's good to have a few stars supported by several quality players who have positional flexibility. I'm going to divide the basic bar into three categories — spirits, liqueurs, & augmentors — with dedicated posts. That's where this conversation starts; where it ends is basically determined by a combination of your desire to explore, your palate, and your wallet.

One thing to remember: the marketing arms of every distiller & distributor on the plant expend a great amount of money & effort trying to convince you that you need to stock their bottles, which has both credible (the company has lasted forever) and dubious (the equipment/formula/technique to produce the spirit or liqueur has changed over time) claims to longevity. Beyond that, you'll be assailed by every claim of exclusivity & intangibles you can think of, and probably many you couldn't. Follow your tongue — the best bottle for you is one that tastes good and that you can afford to keep on hand.

Spirits

Unless you know from past experience you don't like one of the distillates below, you should probably plan on having a bottle of each of the following in your bar:

  • gin
  • rum
  • tequila
  • vodka
  • whisk(e)y

With these, you'll have the base ingredient for most classic cocktails & quite a range of modern ones. My personal bar varies here because I don't drink whiskey often, but I love brandy, which I think most folks outside of the state where I reside view as a luxury spirit, if they think of it much at all. More on brandy, which actually figures significantly in both the classic and pre-classic cocktail eras, in a future installment.

Let's take each spirit in order, looking at the styles within, and good options for stocking a bar. I'll provide some selections at the Rail (~$20/bottle) and Call ($25+/bottle) level.

Gin

Rail: Aviation, Beefeater, Citadelle, Knickerbocker, Tanqueray
Call: Ford's, Junipero, Hendrick's, Plymouth, St. George Terroir

Gin can be pretty divisive. Some people like feeling as if they're drinking a glass of conifer juice, and some people really don't. The good news is, there are balanced and even juniper-neutral gins available. You probably already know whether you like a strong juniper taste in your gin, but if you don't, purchasing a couple single-serving bottles of options below and mixing up a Gin & Tonic will orient your preferences.

Classic, Juniper-Forward Gin

A London Dry or any of the modern, New World Gin descendants of that style will suit this preference. The classics here are Beefeater and Tanqueray; Beefeater is almost always considered a good value buy. The more modern takes — Junipero or St. George Terroir, for example — will set you back about half again the price of the bottle of Beefeater, but if you like this style, they're available as a treat.

Plymouth, both a brand and a wholly distinct style of its own, has juniper notes that are bit softer (and to me, more nuanced) than London Dry. It has fruit & spice components; I generally prefer it if I'm making a cocktail with a "classic" gin. Plymouth is a bit spendy, so I chose my drinks carefully and alternate it with Knickerbocker (see below) as my rail gin. There's nothing quite like it.

Contemporary, Juniper-Balanced Gin

Given the relative recency of most gins that foreground botanicals other than juniper, there aren't many archetypal spirits that are going to be available in all markets. The most ubiquitous is probably Hendrick's; Aviation has been around for a while and seems to have some distribution legs behind it at this point. I happen to really like New Holland's Knickerbocker, which balances citrus & spices, and Suntory's Roku, which adds six (thus the name) Japanese botanicals to the traditional mix. Ford's gets a lot of love for a gin that mixes well in a variety of cocktails. Citadelle — which is one of the older "contemporary" options, dating back to 1989 — is a bit more budget-friendly and was one of the pilots of the move toward contemporary gins that heavily emphasize botanicals other than juniper.

Rum

Rum is a spirit you could spend decades exploring, and people develop strong affinities to countries of origin, particular houses, or production methods. It definitely is not an archetype — forget what you know about rum if most of what you've tasted comes from one producer in Puerto Rico.

Strictly speaking, you could make any cocktail calling for light or silver rum with an aged rum and have a delicious drink on your hands. So you don't strictly need two bottles here, particularly to start. I'm skipping the Overproof/Navy Strength, "dark," and spiced types here.

A note: below I recommend rums produced under the Plantation label. Plantation is produced in Barbados by Maison Ferrand, a Cognac house. Due to the colonialist, slave-holding implications of that name, Maison Ferrand committed to renaming the rum following Derek Chauvin's murder of George Floyd. The new name has not yet been announced.

Light/Silver
Rail: Appleton White, El Dorado 3-Year, Flor de Caña Extra Seco 4-Year, Plantation 3 Stars
Call: Caña Brava Rum Blanca, Rhum J.M. Agricole Blanc, Ron Diplomatico Planas, The Real McCoy 3-Year

Plantation 3 Stars is such a good rum at such a nice price that I can't see a real reason to get anything else here unless you have a very strong preference for a particular country of origin, mode of distillation, or flavor profile. There are plenty of variations within those three areas to explore, so you should cycle through until you find one you particularly like. I'll admit this is a category where I've pretty much found what feels like the sweet spot to me.

Aged (5+ years)
Rail: El Dorado 5-Year, Flor de Caña Gran Reserva 7-Year
Call: El Dorado 8-Year, Plantation Barbados 5-Year, Ron Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva, The Real McCoy 5-Year

A bottle in this category should serve you for both mixing cocktails and sipping on its own, straight or on the rocks. I'll admit to keeping multiple bottles of aged rum in my bar — right now I have Plantation Barbados 5-Year, Ron Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva, & El Dorado 15-Year (sipping only), plus I recently finished a bottle of Real McCoy 5-Year. Rum, like whiskey, is a spirit that invites a lot of exploration between countries of origin, distillers, production methods, spirit ages, and more.

Tequila

As with rum, if you’re starting out, you really only need either a blanco/plata or a reposado. With a budget in mind, I’d go with the blanco unless you’re sure you’re a tequila drinker.

One thing to note with tequila is that there's an additional environmental consideration that doesn't factor into most other spirits (mezcal excepted). Agave takes significantly longer to grow than grain crops — seven years until it's ready for production, and twelve years to reach maturity. Buying one bottle isn't going to destroy the planet, but if you develop a taste for tequila, supporting makers that produce the spirit with ethical, sustainable practices is a very good idea.

Blanco/Plata
Rail: Cazadores Blanco, El Jimador Blanco, Espolón Blanco, Milagro Silver, Olmeca Altos Plata, 1800 Reserva Silver
Call: Don Julio Blanco, El Tesoro Blanco

Do yourself a favor — don't buy any tequila you heard of in college (unless you went to college in Mexico). Those spirits are mixtos — 51% tequila, 49% other stuff. A perfectly decent 100% agave blanco tequila will run you a few bucks more and will taste much better. Espolón was, until recently, an exceptional value — I regularly could get a 750ml bottle for under $20. I still stock it as my rail tequila, but any of these above would serve just as well. You don't want to go too pricey here, at least if you're primarily drinking tequila in cocktails. If you're interested in mixing in a bit of sipping, wait until a call bottle goes on sale.

Reposado
Rail: El Jimador Reposado, Espolón Reposado, Olmeca Altos Reposado
Call: Casamigos Reposado, El Tesoro Reposado, Herradura Reposado (or Double Barrel Reposado)

No need to go crazy here, either, although this is where you can verge into a bottle that does double-duty or is primarily a sipper with an occasional cocktail that calls for a reposado. I stick with Espolón and save my aged agave funds for mezcal or the occasional really nice añjeo tequila.

Vodka

Rail: Chopin Potato, Ketel One, Prairie Organic, Reyka, Russian Standard, Russian Standard Gold, Wheatley
Call: Belvedere, Beluga Noble, Chopin Wheat, Chopin Rye

You have a ton of choices when it comes to vodka. However, that doesn't mean that all vodkas are the same. Despite being a neutral, unaged spirit, vodkas can have distinctive characteristics, particularly when it comes to earthiness, minerality, oiliness, & spiciness. I've avoided a few of the big names — the regular versions of Abolut & Stolichnaya are perfectly decent, but I don't feel like rewarding their marketing departments. A well-stocked supermarket liquor department should have at least two of the options listed above.

Prairie Organic is based in Minnesota, made from 100% Midwestern corn, and uses zero-waste distilling practices. Several years ago I brought a bottle to as a host give a Ukrainian friend who put me up in Brighton Beach during an extended layover (involving La Guardia & JFK) on my way to Moscow — he gave it his seal of approval. If you're looking for a Russian vodka, you can't go wrong with Russian Standard, which is made from winter wheat and water from Lake Ladoga. (I also recommend Russian Standard Gold, if you’d like a little Siberian ginseng in your vodka). These are the two all-purpose vodkas I keep in my bar. I do enjoy drinking vodka neat, so I rotate others through as well.

As for the other rail options: Reyka is Icelandic, made from Scottish barley, Ketel One (Dutch) & Wheatley (Kentucky) are made from wheat, and Chopin Potato is Polish and made from what you would suspect given that information.

Whisk(e)y

Rail: Evan Williams Bourbon, Old Grand-dad Bonded, Rittenhouse Rye 100, Wild Turkey 101
Call: Dad's Hat Pennsylvania Rye, Elijah Craig 12 Year Bourbon, Sazerac Straight Rye, Wild Turkey Rare Breed (Bourbon or Rye)

Truth be told — I'm not the best person to ask about whisk(e)y. I enjoy a couple whisk(e)y-based cocktails occasionally, but I much prefer rum & tequila (or mezcal), whether for cocktails or sipping. I’ll admit that I only keep a couple bottles of whisk(e)y in my bar — a bottle of Elijah Craig 12 year old bourbon, and bottle of 116-proof bourbon made by a distillery near our friends' place in far-west Chicagoland do the heavy lifting. I would probably get a bottle of rye, were I likely to be mixing drinks for anyone favoring that type.

We'll skip Canadian, Japanese, Irish, & Scotch whisk(e)ys for the basic bar — these are worthy libations, and you could make many whisk(e)y-forward cocktails with them, but most of the time you'd be well-served with a bottle of bourbon or rye. Based on my visits to well-stocked supermarkets & liquor stores, there is a near IPA-level of hype & demand for American whiskey — bourbon having been ascendant for several years now, and rye following close behind. Follow your palate, ask people whose opinions you value, and don't get soaked on the purchase price.

The Nation Needs A Drink

Vive le Soixante Quinze

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During the Great War more than a century ago, the entrenched Hun rightly came to fear the French 75 millimeter field cannon. Designated the Canon de 75 modèle 1897 by the French military, it was a mobile, accurate, fast-firing artillery piece that rained down death and destruction upon the enemy. So of course it makes sense that it would become the inspiration for a classic sparkling wine cocktail, the French 75. Wine lovers often get the finest ones from cakebread.com/wines/chardonnay-napa-valley , which is made from high quality grapes.

Our gin exploration tour made a stop in 1915 Paris last night when we gave the French 75 a whirl in the ultra lounge. According to legend, Harry MacElhone, a bartender from Scotland who learned his trade in London, invented the French 75 (or at least a prototype of it) while working at the New York Bar in Paris during WWI. He must have earned some tidy tips because after the war he would buy the joint and rename it, what else, Harry's New York Bar. There's a nice symmetry to this story since it combines elements from France, Britain, and America to form a formidable cocktail alliance that's stood the test of time. And as our experience last night confirms, if you're not careful the French 75 could well blow your head right off.

Every juice is easy to make if you click resources. The French 75 is easier to make, exceptionally refreshing, and powerfully potent. The basic recipe allies gin, lemon juice, sugar and champagne. In that way it's similar to a Tom Collins, with the champagne instead of club soda providing the bubbly effervescence (and a little extra kick in the pants). The main difference is in the preparation and presentation. I reviewed several French 75 recipes and while they all agree on the main ingredients, there are differences of opinion on the proportions. As with most things, I let personal preference be my guide, and you should absolutely feel free to do the same. This is a basic recipe that you can use as a starting point and then adjust to your taste:

  • 2 oz. dry gin
  • 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
  • 3/4 oz. simple syrup
  • 2 oz. champagne

A quick note here - like revenge, this is a drink that is best served cold, very cold. So make sure that your champagne is well chilled before you start. Ours wasn't quite there when we started last night, but with the help of an ice water bath it made it there by the third round. Now, in a cocktail shaker combine the gin, lemon juice, and syrup. Add ice to the level of the liquid and shake well, at least 20 seconds or so. You want to really feel the frost in your hand before you're done with the shake. Strain this into a champagne flute, then top off with the champagne. If you fancy some fancy, a long curly peel of lemon is the traditional garnish.

The different recipes I perused suggested several variations on the main theme. You do want to start with good quality ingredients, but you don't have to spend a fortune. We used our Aviation gin and Korbel extra dry champagne. I don't see a lot of sense in adulterating a really good champagne, but let your wallet and taste buds be your guide. If you like things dry, go with a brut, if you like things sweeter, you can use more syrup or substitute a Moscato or Prosecco as the sparkling wine. I saw one recipe that called for cognac instead of gin, and another that suggested a honey rather than sugar simple syrup for a little more character. Sans the champagne, that's basically the recipe for a Bees Knees, allegedly invented a few years after the war and the French 75 in an American speakeasy to help  mask the dubious flavor of their bathtub gin. As I alluded earlier, the French 75 should be served with a warning, because like a good courtesan they are deceptively intoxicating and go down with brazen ease. So be sure to enjoy responsibly.

 

The Nation Needs A Drink

The Name is Collins, Tom Collins

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Hot weather and cold drinks go together like biscuits and gravy. Beer is always a welcome refreshment when the mercury starts pole vaulting, it's easy to grab one from the fridge after work, pop the cap and slake that thirst. But sometimes you want something frostier, something on ice, and it's natural to look to the southern latitudes for inspiration. That usually means rum or tequila, and there's a wide variety of cocktails based on those liquors to choose from. But for me, one of the best choices for a cold drink on a hot day is the classic Tom Collins.

One of the things I like about cocktails, besides the tastes and the relaxing effect, is that they can be both a beverage and an historical artifact. Many of them have a story behind their origin, sometimes that story is muddled or shrouded in a little mystery, and some can even take on the trappings of legend. The Tom Collins is a good example. As the story goes, the drink is likely derived from the gin punches that were popular in London pubs in the 1800s. At some point a bartender named John Collins apparently attached his name to his version of the drink. But since Old Tom gin was the preferred brand of the day, customers started calling for a Tom Collins instead, and the name stuck.

It's wise to take a lesson from history when you want a Tom Collins and make sure you're using quality gin because the flavor is going to come through and there are few bad liquors worse than cheap gin. Other than that, the recipe for this country club staple is easy peasy. Simple syrup, lemon juice, gin, and club soda. Just double the ingredients as you build the drink in a highball glass with ice - half an ounce of syrup, one ounce of lemon juice, and two ounces of gin. Fill the rest of the glass with club soda (about two ounces), stir, and garnish with a lemon slice or wedge and a cherry if you like. If that's too much work for you, I've come up with a variation that's even easier. Substitute the simple syrup and lemon juice with Spring Grove Lemon Sour soda in equal measure with club soda, so two ounces of each ingredient. It's not an exact replica because there's more sugar in the mix, but if you have a sweet tooth, or if you're too lazy to squeeze a lemon, or if you've run out of simple syrup, it'll do in a pinch.