Apples and Honey Cocktail

Apples and honey are the traditional food of Rosh Hashanah. The idea of turning that into a cocktail has been kicking around my head for a while. This cocktail builds on the classic sour template. A sour includes a base spirit, lemon or lime juice, and a sweetener - the daiquiri is arguably the purest expression of the concept. Inspired by the holiday, I built the cocktail with apple brandy and honey. Angostura bitters add some spice and an egg white froths up nicely. The end result was pleasant and well balanced. If you like it a little more tart or a little sweeter, play with the amounts of lemon juice and honey.

I am by no means an expert on apple brandy, as the one I used here is the only one I've ever tasted. I used Laird's Straight Applejack 86. From what I've read, some cheaper apple brandies are cut with neutral spirits, so try to find one that is 100% apple. The apple flavor is quite subtle when sipped neat. I think it could be used in place of other brandies or aged spirits in general. Honey mix is a simple combination of honey and water in a 1 to 1 ratio. Without the water, honey is very difficult to incorporate into drinks. To make it, combine in a saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring until homogeneous.  Transfer to a bottle and keep in the refrigerator. It features in such classics as the Prohibition-Era Bee's Knees, the modern Gold Rush, and a variety of tiki concoctions. The last thing to mention here is the dry shake technique. This means to shake without ice for a few seconds, before adding ice and proceeding as usual. Dry shaking is used to build more froth when working with egg whites.

For the holiday meal, I made a brisket similar to what I've done before. This time, I pushed it in a slightly different direction, incorporating ketchup instead of mustard. Ariel made a noodle kugel and a challah. It was enjoyable as always - they're classics for a reason.

Rum Nectarine Smash

Summer truly arrived here in Vermillion, with temperatures in the high 90s yesterday. Armed with a big box of nectarines from Costco, it's a great time for a refreshing new cocktail. This recipe is a combination of Dale DeGroff's Whiskey Peach Smash (found in The New Craft of the Cocktail, a great compendium of drink recipes) and a daiquiri. The nectarine is very present in the drink, and rounds off the bracing tartness found in a regular daiquiri. I enjoyed mine at the grill while cooking a big batch of char siu.

My base spirit of choice here is El Dorado 5 Year, quite possibly my favorite rum for cocktails right now. I previously used this for my eggnog recipe and as before, Pusser's is a good substitute. Or, just use your favorite aged rum. I'm sure peaches would work just fine in place of the nectarine, as in DeGroff's original. Either way, it's a perfect drink to kick off summer on the porch.

Rum Eggnog

I didn't consider myself an eggnog fan for most of my life. My main issues with commercial eggnog is that they are too thick and too sweet. Last year, I started experimenting with mixing rum into store-bought eggnog, which I found to be a real improvement. The next step, of course, was to make my own from scratch. My first batch had a few issues, which I solved for this year's attempt. It came out well, and I made four jars to give as Christmas presents. This strong and spicy eggnog is very different from your average supermarket carton. It's also easy to make and adjust to your own tastes.

Eggnog is a very old drink (George Washington was reportedly a fan) and there are already a lot of recipes out there. As I typically do, I researched quite a few and created my own tailored to my own taste. I find the toasted brown sugar notes in Demerara rum work well in dessert-oriented cocktails. I like El Dorado, but Pusser's is similar and comes from the same distillery. A funky Jamaican rum and spicy allspice dram round it out. The end result has a similar alcohol content to a typical wine. Freshly grated nutmeg is a huge upgrade (for your painkillers as well), and I will never go back to ground nutmeg for cocktails. The sugar is easily adjustable. I originally started at 3 oz. but brought it up to 4 oz. for the final version.

As with anything else, there is some small risk in using raw eggs, which can be mitigated by letting the eggs sit with just the liquor before adding the dairy and sugar. According to some articles I found, the alcohol is sufficient to kill any bacteria within two weeks. That said, the risk is minor and I consume raw eggs in other things somewhat regularly. Don't be tempted to skip the blender here. As I learned in my first attempt, stringy egg white is not a pleasant texture to encounter in eggnog. 

Vermillion Summer (Campari, Rum, and Grapefruit Cocktail)

About a year after diving headfirst into mixing drinks, I'm excited to present my first original cocktail. This drink is all about the marriage of two distinctive spirits: Campari and Wray & Nephew rum. The first version didn't have the Campari. It was okay, but I immediately thought about how well Campari pairs with grapefruit and this cocktail was born. It's a perfectly refreshing drink for the oppressive heat we've had this summer. For the color the Campari brings and the location of its inception, I call it the "Vermillion Summer." If you like Campari, rum, or grapefruit, I think you'll enjoy this one. 

Wray & Nephew white overproof rum is Jamaica's most popular spirit. If the only white rum you've had is the Puerto Rican style, this is a completely different animal. Pot distilled and unaged, it's a standard bearer for funky Jamaican rum. Wray & Nephew has a strong aroma of ripe bananas and at 63% alcohol, it packs a punch. For its distinctive flavor and high proof, it's best used in smaller quantities mixed with other spirits. That's where the Campari comes in. The bitter notes play well with the fruit flavors and the lower proof brings the total alcohol in line with that of a Tom Collins. 

The exact proportions can be played around with to preference. I used a red grapefruit, but if you have another kind, the sugar can be adjusted to match. Either regular white or demerara simple syrup should work fine. The Wray & Nephew could be replaced by another funky, high-strength Jamaican rum, but it is affordable and relatively accessible. 

Jungle Bird

The Jungle Bird is a "modern" tiki drink, originating at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur in the 1970s, decades after the heyday of the tiki culture. It is unique in its use of Campari, an Italian apéritif with a striking red color. Campari's intense bitterness makes it a tricky ingredient which can overpower a cocktail if not used carefully. This is a perfect cocktail for Campari beginners, as the bitterness is present, but balanced out by the other ingredients. Today, it was a perfect way to celebrate the start of spring break on the porch. 

Although the original recipe apparently called for 4 ounces of pineapple juice (similar to a Painkiller), the typical recipe found many places online calls for just 1 1/2 ounces. My version is a modification of Martin Cate's recipe from Smuggler's Cove, which uses 2 ounces. Pineapple juice is an amazing ingredient in shaken cocktails, giving them a lovely froth on top without having to mess with an egg white. In contrast to citrus (fresh lime is required here), canned pineapple juice works just fine. Since Cate calls for a sweeter simple syrup than I typically use, I increased the amount a little. The bitterness of the Campari plays very well with the fruit juice and syrup in this cocktail. 

For the rum component, Cate and others call for a black rum. Gosling's Black Seal is probably the most commonly available. I decided to kick it up a notch by mixing in some fiery Smith & Cross for a little Jamaican funk. There's definitely a lot of latitude in rum choice. If you get 1 1/2 ounces of rum you like in the drink, you did it right. People tend to go nuts on the garnish on the Jungle Bird, but I kept it simple by dropping in a couple of amarena cherries. The red-orange color and froth make for a distinctive presentation all on their own.

Jamaican Rum Punch

Through my experimentation with cocktails over the last few months, I've settled into rum as my spirit of choice. There are so many different styles, which are closely tied to the history of the Caribbean. With so many countries of origin and production methods, rum firmly defies categorization, despite the many attempts to do so. It's kind of a perfect storm for a history buff and budding cocktail enthusiast. Rum cocktails are also extremely diverse, from straightforward classics like the daiquiri to the complex Tiki-style drinks that rose to prominence in the 1930s and 40s. This simple punch has become one of my favorite go-to drinks lately. 

This rum punch started out as a variation on a classic daiquiri, by way of Martin Cate's planter's punch recipe. Dashes of both Angostura and orange bitters (both can be found cheaply at Walmart) add a little extra without taking over the flavor profile. This drink is not as clean as a daiquiri, but does let the individual rum shine through in a way that more complicated drinks (see the Painkiller) do not. Demerara sugar appears for the first time since my iced coffee recipe. The fuller-flavored Jamaican rum stands up to it in a way that wouldn't work as well in a traditional daiquiri. If all you can get is regular white sugar, that's also fine. This post is not meant to be overly prescriptive. I usually leave this one ungarnished, but if I'll stick a mint sprig in there if I'm feeling fancy.

Our local municipal liquor does not have a great rum selection, so I typically use Appleton Signature Blend for this. Very much the starter Jamaican rum, it's one of the most accessible and best value bottles out there. If you can get something more interesting, definitely go for it. I've also done this drink with half Appleton and half Smith and Cross. Bottled at "navy strength" (supposedly strong enough to allow gunpowder to light if spilled), it brings a lot to the table in both alcohol and flavor. Ariel picked me up a bottle last time she was in Sioux Falls (where we rarely go since the pandemic started), and I'm looking forward to trying it out in more cocktails.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cocktail

We were first introduced to Skrewball peanut butter whiskey a few months ago, and Ariel became an instant fan. It's basically a sweet peanut liqueur with an intense aroma. Since then, I've been experimenting with it in cocktails. I quickly got the idea to make an homage to peanut butter and jelly, but struggled with what ingredient could emulate the jelly part. Most wine does not retain enough grape flavor to work, but then it occurred to me that there is one wine that does: Manischewitz. Despite the fact that no one seems to actually like it, every Jewish family seems to have a bottle lying around that makes a brief appearance at holidays. They typically sit open and unrefrigerated for years, quietly oxidizing. Do yourself a favor and a get a fresh bottle for this drink. 

I speculated about trying port instead of Manischewitz, which Ariel said would be a waste of port. I might try it with a younger ruby port. Other Concord grape wines, like Mogen David, could also be an option here. To build the rest of the cocktail, I added a lemon peel for a little aroma. This goes a long way to adding some complexity to this otherwise frivolous drink. Use a good cocktail cherry for the garnish and avoid the bright red kind. I used an amarena cherry from Trader Joe's. While this cocktail isn't something I would drink every day, it is quite pleasant. Sometimes two odd ingredients can come together in surprising ways.

The use America's classic kosher wine made this a fun post for Rosh Hashanah. I used the other half of the 9 pound brisket from Passover (it froze very well) to do a roughly doubled version of my recipe from 3 years ago. The leftovers went in the freezer for a future quick and easy meal. Ariel made a potato kugel for the first time, which is basically a huge potato cake. It was a completely new thing for me, and I enjoyed it. It was one of those things that makes you think "how is this going to work?" when it goes into the pan, but came out perfectly. For both the brisket and kugel, I made a big batch of schmaltz. It's been a real pleasure to delve into Ashkenazi traditions and cuisine over the last several years. There's something to be said about a family with three new years. Shana tova!

Painkiller

Yesterday, while making a batch of of chicken kebabs for dinner, I accidentally cut my finger open with a knife. Luckily, we live only a few blocks from the hospital, and they patched me up quickly. With my injury, I thought this would be the perfect time have a Painkiller cocktail. It's a tropical delight, combining rum with fruit juices for a sweet, satisfying drink. Shaking it up gives it a nice froth, which is then topped with aromatic nutmeg. The Painkiller is not a challenging drink, but it's undeniably delicious, and is perfect porch sipping on a hot day. Even Ariel, who's not much of a rum drinker, gave this one the seal of approval.

Unlike the other cocktails I've posted recently, the Painkiller is a drink with a well-known origin. It was first created at the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands. It has since become associated with Pusser's rum. According to their website, the founder of Pusser's was a fan of the drink, and developed his own recipe. The name "Painkiller" later became a registered trademark of the company. Pusser's has gotten some bad press for litigation surrounding the trademark, but it doesn't bother me too much. Pusser's is a great rum with a great story. After the Royal Navy discontinued its rum ration in 1970, Pusser's obtained permission to recreate the navy's rum as a commercial product. It's also the only Demerara (Guyanese) rum I've been able to find in South Dakota. 

Although it's delicious, the Painkiller isn't necessarily the best showcase for the rich flavor of this particular rum. The fruit flavors definitely dominate here, with the Pusser's slipping into the background. Ratios could certainly be played with to highlight the rum more. One interesting ingredient appears here that I haven't used before: Coco López cream of coconut. It is basically a sweetened coconut milk. Right out of the can, it's somewhat translucent, but thickens and becomes an opaque white in the refrigerator. I found it at Walmart. If unavailable, it's possible to make a facsimile with coconut milk and simple syrup. The orange juice is fresh squeezed, but I used canned pineapple juice. The official Pusser's recipe uses 4 oz. of pineapple juice, but I reduce it to 3 oz. to conveniently make 2 cocktails from a 6 oz. can. 

Mojito

With classes starting soon, summer in Vermillion is drawing to a symbolic close. It's an appropriate time to celebrate one of the most emblematic drinks of the season, the mojito. Like its cousin, the daiquiri, the mojito originates in Cuba. While everything that's in the daiquiri as also in the mojito, they are quite different in character. Where the daiquiri is an exercise in simplicity and balance, the mojito goes all in on the mint, with a hint of effervescence from the soda. This makes it a terrifically refreshing cocktail for the hot weather. It's a classic for good reason. I enjoyed mine while grilling brats for dinner.

In my opinion, a good mojito should be a showcase for the mint. Otherwise, you may as well have a Tom Collins. As such, I recommend going for a clean, Spanish-style rum. I used the same Flor de Caña Extra Seco from the daiquiri recipe. I've also liked it with Don Q Cristal, which is an even more unobtrusive Puerto Rican rum, similar to Bacardi, but a a little less harsh. Want to go with Jamaican? I'm sure that would be delicious, but it would be a different drink. There seems to be some debate on whether a mojito should be shaken (similar to a Collins) or built in the glass and swizzled. I shake and strain (based on the "Modern Mojito" from Cocktail Chemistry), as I don't care to have a lot of extra vegetation in the glass, which tends to get stuck in the straw. You can even double strain if you want it extra clean. However, I do add some lime rind to the shaker when muddling to get a little extra lime juice and oils in there. 

Daiquiri

It's been an enjoyable summer of learning to make classic cocktails, and the daiquiri has been my drink of the summer. Of everything I've made, it's the one I keep going back to. As cocktails go, it couldn't be simpler: rum, lime, and sugar. It's all about balancing these three ingredients into a tart, boozy, and refreshing drink. The recipe dates back to the Spanish-American War, but has roots much further back in history. It was a favorite of such figures as Ernest Hemingway and John F. Kennedy. Although the drink is traditionally served straight up in a cocktail glass, I prefer sipping it on the rocks, which is perfect for enjoying outdoors.

Rum is the central ingredient in the daiquiri. Of all base spirits, rum has the greatest variance in styles. I've recently enjoyed trying and learning about some of these styles, which vary according to distillation method (column or pot still, or a blend), aging, filtration, coloring, and place of origin. Being a Cuban drink, the classic rum for a daiquiri is a Spanish-style white rum. Since we can't get Cuban rum in the United States, a Puerto Rican or Central American rum is the closest. I used Flor de Caña Extra Seco from Nicaragua. 

That being said, any rum can make a delicious, if unorthodox, daiquiri. The idea of mixing rum with lime and sugar dates back to at least 1740, when "grog," a mixture of rum and water, was introduced in the Royal Navy. Admiral Vernon allowed sailors to purchase lime and sugar to mix into their grog ration. In the spirit of grog, a British-style rum from Jamaica or Guyana also makes for a great daiquiri. I like using a darker simple syrup made with demerara sugar to match the more robust flavors. Pusser's Royal Navy Rum (made in Guyana) is a nice choice, as it is supposedly made according to the Admiralty's recipe. 

Upgrade: Pimm's and Lemonade

Today, Ariel and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Perhaps not the way we had originally envisioned, but it was special nonetheless. We started off our evening with glasses of Pimm's and Lemonade on the porch. It's a special drink for us as it was the "signature drink" at our wedding, and was a big hit with the guests. My Pimm's recipe back in 2012 was one of my earliest posts. I make it a little differently now, so this is a great time to do an upgrade.

First and foremost, I make the drink stronger now than I used to. Since Pimm's is only 50 proof, it's still quite a low alcohol drink. For comparison, the Tom Collins has almost twice the alcohol in it. I think it's important to make sure the flavor of the Pimm's cuts through the soda. Part of the fun of Pimm's is really going nuts with the garnishes. For this, I cut the cucumber an angle to get a big, wide piece. The sprig of spearmint from the garden completes the summery picture. What I've done here is a traditional Pimm's, but any fruit you want will work just fine.

When I was setting up the wedding plans with our bartenders, it was decided that doing all five garnishes for every glass would be too time consuming. What they ended up doing is infusing the Pimm's ahead of time with all five, and serving it out of a large dispenser, which was a very nice presentation sitting on the bar. Each glass just got the cucumber and orange. We ended up with a few bottles of the infused Pimm's. We did a taste test today, with one glass made with the infused Pimm's, and the other made with an unaltered bottle from the cabinet. They were almost indistinguishable, but non-infused one tasted a little cleaner. So, if you're just making this for yourself, there's no need to get fancy.

This post is also, entirely by accident, a big milestone for No Free Lunch: my 200th blog post! My interest in the project has definitely waxed and waned over the years, and my output has been particularly lean over the last few years. However, I'm pleased to say I've really rediscovered the fun of writing about food lately. A quarter of the 200 posts have come in the last year alone. While my pace will no doubt slow once classes start, I hope to continue posting regularly. It's been a great creative outlet during the pandemic, and one day I will look back at these posts as a real time capsule. 

Tom Collins

As of a few months ago, I knew basically nothing about cocktails. Not only had I made very few, I hadn't even drank many either. I don't go to bars often (even before the pandemic), and usually order beer or wine. A few of the things I inherited from Grandpa were his cocktail shaker and his 1972 edition of the Old Mr. Boston bartender's guide. While this book is a little outdated, there are lots of great resources online. Looking for something to do at home, I started experimenting. The Tom Collins is one of the first I tried, and I've since made several of them while tinkering with the recipe.

The Tom Collins is very much a classic cocktail, which dates back to the 19th century. The name refers to the traditional ingredient of Old Tom gin. Old Tom is a precursor to the modern London Dry gin, described as being a bit sweeter. London Dry took over the market, and Old Tom is relatively difficult to find now, especially in my area. As such, I make the drink with London Dry, but if Old Tom is available, it might be a good idea to use less simple syrup. I made this one with Tanqueray, but I also like it with Beefeater. The flavor of the drink is basically a boozy lemonade, but the juniper from the gin is also very present. It's a tasty, uncomplicated cocktail best enjoyed sitting on the porch on a summer day. The proportions are worth playing around with. Going to a full ounce of lemon juice is also nice if you like it a little sharper. The Collins formula can be extended to include a variety of other spirits, as well.

Going forward, you can expect to see the occasional cocktail show up here. I'm going to follow a standard format, consistent with American bartending, which measures everything in fluid ounces. It's helpful to remember an ounce is 2 tablespoons. With drinks, it is especially important to measure citrus juices, since fruit varies so much in how much juice you get out of each one. I will also list necessary equipment, recommended glassware, and recommended garnishes. The Tom Collins lends its name to the tall glass in which it's typically served. The Collins glasses I use are the 14 oz. GODIS glasses from IKEA.

Irish Coffee

The inspiration for this post came a few weeks ago when I saw the last five minutes of an episode of Blue Bloods. Tom Selleck's character and his glorious moustache were showing his family how to pour the perfect Irish coffee. I had intended to get this one out for St. Patrick's Day, but as you can see, that did not happen. As it turns out, I didn't get it right until my fourth attempt. It seems that the key to this classic cocktail is to beat the cream and add lots of sugar to the coffee. My version is weaker than the International Bartenders' Association standard, using only one shot of whiskey, which to me is quite sufficient. This makes for a very smooth, tasty drink.

Ingredients

• About 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
• 1 shot Irish whiskey
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• Heavy cream

Instructions

Get the coffee started first. You can make this in any way you like. I prefer to use a one-cup French press for its ease of use. I grind up about 15 grams of beans, add those to the beaker, and pour hot water over them. Brew for 5 minutes.

Traditionally, Irish coffee is served in stemmed glass mugs. Since I don't have actual Irish coffee mugs, I used a wine glass instead. Fill the glass with hot tap water to warm it up. Pour cream into a bowl and whisk to thicken. Don't take it all the way to whipped cream. Transfer the cream to a container that's easy to pour from, such as a beaker or measuring cup. I find that the cream is more likely to float if you do this.

Once the coffee is ready, empty the water from the glass. Add the whiskey and coffee, filling up until there is about a half inch from the top of the coffee to the rim of the glass (more if you like extra cream). Add the brown sugar and stir it into the coffee. From what I've read, this is an important step for the floating of the cream, so do this even if you're a black coffee-guzzling Minnesotan.

The last step is the most important for the presentation of the drink. Lower a small spoon, backside-up, into the glass, with the end barely touching the coffee. Slowly pour the cream over the back of the spoon. If all the steps have been done correctly, the cream will float on top. Do not mix it in. The coffee should remain black below, and not clouded with cream. Serve immediately.

Pimm's and Lemonade

Pub Week, Day 2: Pimm's is a refreshing English cocktail perfect for cooling off on a hot summer day supporting your favorite team at the County Championship. So what are we doing in the middle of January? I drink Pimm's all year round as I pine for warmer days. You can use whatever fruits you like, but this is my go-to recipe. Also traditional is a sprig of mint. Readers from this side of the pond will notice that in the UK, "lemonade" refers to lemon-lime soda.

Ingredients

• 1 part Pimm's No. 1 Cup
• 3 parts lemon-lime soda (Sierra Mist is my preferred)
• 1 slice lemon
• 1 slice orange, halved
• 1 slice cucumber
• 1 strawberry
• ice cubes

Instructions

Cut off the top from the strawberry and slice the other fruits. Put ice cubes into a tall glass. Pour in Pimm's and lemon-lime soda. If you are really into measuring, 1 shot glass of Pimm's and 3 of soda works well. Stir well, add fruit, and enjoy!