Mix Or Not To Mix…
So mixed drinks have made a comeback and you are thinking “what am I to do with all my brandy, vodka, absinthe, etc. that I have been enjoying neat (without ice, by it’s onesies)? Well, sure you could buck the trend and keep on with being a neat-freak, or you could experiment with ingredients that you already have in your over-stocked liquor cabinet and have fun all the while.
There are numerous books out there on the subject… one nice reference by Sharon and Ron Herbst called “The Ultimate A-To-Z Bar Guide” (Broadway Books 1998), which doesn’t have pictures (I know y’all like ‘em in your food recipes), but it does have 1000 drink recipes and informs the reader on definitions, glassware, terminology and even some toasts.
Absinthe has been on people’s minds and tongues of late, so here is the skinny kitty on this… It is a bitter liqueur flavored with many herbs but it is mainly the wormwood which gives it its notoriety. It was once thought to cause madness (Van Gogh was thought to cut off his ear after drinking so much of it, but it was quantity and… he always put his lead paint brushes in his mouth while dabbing his canvas… that’ll do it!). When diluted with water, it becomes milky white (the liquor, not the paint) and causes the fairy green color to dance! Also, historically, a cube of sugar was held in a dedicated slotted spoon as the absinthe was passed through it.
I had that experience at the Distilleries & Domaines de Provence tasting room in 2004 with a very potent and bitter notch above absenthe. Such fanfare for this mystical quaff, but this is the best way to have it, although many fine mixologists are coming up with new ways to greet the green fairy! Some may even be in the channels of this blog site, so keep looking, keep chasing…
This from a British aristocrat named Hugh Drummond: “Absenthe makes the tart grow fonder”
Also in this bit on mixed drinks, I must include a favorite involving brandy (my favorite subject); here is an exemplary recipe for a Sidecar:
2 oz. Germain-Robin Fine brandy
1/2 oz Cointreau or Triple Sec
1/2 oz. fresh lemon (good Meyer lemon suggested)
Shake with cracked ice and strain in to a chilled glass. Lemon twist ok.
Well cheers for now and remember-drink to enjoy yourself….and one another!
