Happy FeBREWary!

So I had a freezer bag of huckleberries hiding in the back of my freezer. Knowing that frozen berries always turn mushy after thawing (due to the destruction of cellular tissue in the freeze-thaw process), I decided to try an experiment that now will definitely become a new constantly rotating side-project to my home brewery... fresh fruit liqueur! (Legal notice: The method I am illustrating here is for information only. To my knowledge "freeze-concentrating" is not the same as distilling as it requires no still, and is thus legal. If you decide to do it yourself, it should be strictly for personal use and not for sale or distribution.)

This method works with almost almost any fruit or berry as long as it is not extremely acidic (i.e. don't try this with lemons) as it will be harmful to your precious yeast.

Step 1: Freeze your fruit, for a while so you're convinced the cells have no chance of surviving the next step.
Step 2: Thaw your fruit (or berries).
Step 3: Mix approximately equal portions of your fruit (by volume, not mass) with water and corn sugar.
Step 4: Bring up to a boil to homogenize your solution and to kill any pesky lactobacteria.
Step 5: Allow to cool to room temperature, then pitch some champagne yeast into it.
Step 6: Wait a few weeks for the fermentation to stop bubbling. Then wait a few weeks longer.

Step 7: Strain out your fruit-wine. If you want to just stop here, that's your choice. Mmmm.... wine.

Step 8: Pour into a vessel & stick in the freezer for a few days.
Step 9: The freezing point of alcohol and of juice are both lower than that of just water, so when you take it out to thaw, the alcohol and juices should thaw first before the water. It'll take some time, but pour out all of the good stuff you can even if it means towards the end it's looking water because you can repeat step 8 again for more Oomph.
Step 10: Imbibe responsibly! What was once around a 10-13%ABV fruit wine is now over 30%ABV. I plan on enjoying this drink with the person who so graciously gave me her spare huckleberries!

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some new equipment to test out... all-grain batches of greater volumes of beer ahoy! Why is it that the only month whose name commands me to brew is also the shortest month?

Cheers,
Mr. Beerd

Primary: Shovel I.P.L.
Secondary: Witch's Brew Double Pumpkin Ale
Conditioning: Dunkeldude
On tap: Chilly guestroom lager; Slippery willy

The Irish Settler

This one is a straight cocktail recipe. I was after a boozy concoction that used Creme de Cassis a few nights ago and could only find a few recipes I had the materials for on hand. So I did what anybody in my situation would do - I adapted one of the ones I couldn't make to have my own invented cocktail.

The Settler (or Settler Highball)
2 oz Brandy
1 oz Creme de Cassis
Seltzer

Shake brandy and Creme de Cassis, then pour into a highball glass and add the seltzer

Not having any unflavored seltzer around, or any unflavored brandy, I opted instead for an Irish version. The result, the "Irish Settler," is delicious, aromatic, and definitely a keeper.

Irish Settler
2 oz Irish Whisky
1 oz Creme de Cassis
1/2 oz Orange Liqueur

Shake and pour into a small brandy snifter. The cocktail is purple, smooth, and has the botanical flavors of the elderberry and orange. Put another way, it tastes dandy, packs about 2 drinks worth of alcohol into a cup, and gets a nod of approval from my hardest-to-please taster.

Enjoy!

Di Saronno

With a heady and unexpected smell, my first drink of Disaronno a few weeks back was delicious. I had always thought of it as a little too flashy of a liqueur because of their commercials a few years back. The cocktail I was making was the penultimate on my goal to try all 10; The Godfather. I have no plans currently to try the Zombie, though I'm sure I will eventually. If it warrants, perhaps it will return on a post about the undead?

Found on Drink Studio

Much to my surprise, Disaronno is a delicious and unique drink. Dating back hundreds of years, Ameretto now appears to me to be a nice addition to the homebar. While not yet worthy of a 'core' liqueur status, I certainly don't regret adding a bottle of Disaronno like I do that bottle of Floe Gin from a while back. Update: DON'T expect a post about making my own Sloe Gin, that stuff is not good.

Git' Drunk

Additional Amaretto A-Links
Cocktail DB on Amaretto

Wikipedia on Amaretto

Actual Wikipedia on Disaronno

Absinthe Revival on the way

I remember the first time I had absinthe very clearly. Wait, let me correct that. The first time I remember having absinthe is very clear:

Sitting in a bar in South Africa a large bartender with dreadlocks responded to my query for a good strong cocktail with "I'll make you my personal invention, a flaming goblin." He then proceeded to pour a shot of absinthe and a few dashes of a dark but aromatic high proof liqueur into a shot glass, light it on fire and toss it back - just to show me how it worked. Four or five hours and twice as many Flaming Goblins later, I had a new favorite bar in Jo'Burg.

A few years ago, when the laws in the US changed to make absinthe legal again (see this comprehensive Salon article), I investigated getting a bottle. But with prices what they are, I have no desire to buy a 60$ bottle lacking thujone.

In the end though, I think good absinthe is on the way soon. This week France finally lifted the last part of the 100 year ban and allowed Absinthe to be called Absinthe again. A dash of absinthe figures prominently in many historical cocktails, and for good reason. While a cup (even properly prepared) of absinthe can be difficult to approach, the depth and finish it can add to a carefully crafted cocktail is invaluable.


Redface Tip:
Check your local liquor store - I've only ever found this in one particular store in NJ - but if you are lucky enough it might be locally available. I know I pay $22-$24 for it.

Also, check out FKR's article on the Return of the Green Fairy

Bubbly Cocktails

Picture Source

A glass of champagne gives you a feeling unlike any other beverage in your hand.  It is full of potential, full of airiness, and full of energy.  Whether you are enjoying a mimosa in the morning with friends, or celebrating an important event with a loved one, a glass of bubbly can liven things up in a way no other drink can.  Take a look at the Three Sheets episode on champagne.

I remember reading somewhere that it was too bad that champagne in America is only consumed on special occasions and for particular celebrations like New Year's Eve, and I agree with that.  A bottle of champagne is a perfect companion to many evenings, and can certainly be to good effect on almost any night when a few people gather.

I've never been a mimosa drinker - usually when it's mimosa time for others, I feel the orange juice is way too thick for my stomach.  Often for me, mimosas have been the staple for a morning after a long night of drinking, so I am in favor of a light drink that doesn't linger.  Suffice it to say I am no orangeman.


To circumvent the problem I have with orange juice in a cocktail in the morning, here's my take on a champagne cocktail with orange:



Orange Angelus
1/2 oz cognac
3/4 oz contreau
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz vodka
1 dash orange bitters
Champagne



Combine everything but champagne and stir.  Add champagne and sip, sip, sip.  The orange flavor comes out strongest from the bitters on the nose, but you can feel the warmth of the vodka for the finish fighting with the classic tickling of a sip of champagne.

Instead of the cognac and contreau, I use this French brand of orange liqueur and cognac that comes at 40% abv.  If you're doing that, find a comfortable ratio - for me it's 1oz "La Belle Orange" instead of the cognac and contreau.  Also, many champagne cocktails you will find will have some sweetener in them, I don't like sweet cocktails, so this is not sweet.  If you would like a sweeter cocktail, add 1/2-3/4 oz simple syrup.

Sloe Gin - Not The Gin I Expected

You'd think with a name that included "Gin" there would be some simularity between gin and sloe gin.  Well, if you did think that (if, in the unlikely case, you'd ever heard of sloe gin before), you'd be wrong.

Sloe comes from sloeberry, but even with the 'berry' added in, Sloe Gin still sounds kinda like a mix of the sugar from candy-wrappers and bathtub gin.  I figured it would be brutal like bai jiu.

Well, it's not at all the gin I expected.  It took only one whiff of the 5$ bottle to determine that it was a sweet liqueur and not a hoary liquor.

As a replacement to sugar in my bourbon cocktails, it is changing things up.  It also plays a starring role in the last few margaritas I've had in the last two weeks.


If you're interested, take a look at the CocktailDB note on it or the Wikipedia article, both are useful.  At some point in the future, expect a detailed post where I make some homemade sloe gin!