Swig & Swill: The Perfect Lu

Jed, the groomsman, helps wedding-goers Brandon and Alana at the bar. { photo by Sarah Hughes }

{ photo by Soraya Rowley }

Lynne & CC enjoy carefully crafted cocktails { photo by Sarah Hughes }

Layet, Scott & Soraya { photo by Grandma Jane }

Layet, Sarah & Brian { photo by Sarah Hughes }

So we had a pretty great time at our wedding and one of my favorite parts was how much our friends were willing to help out. A prime example was the bar. While Sarah and I procured all of the alcohol and came up with recipes that could be built in a single glass, we hadn’t made all of the garnishes and syrups, or totally thought through the best way to arrange everything. Luckily, our friends (especially Jed and Ben) stepped up in a big way, slicing oranges, juicing limes, and making grenadine. The result was amazing.

The Bar { photo by Soraya Rowley }

CC, Meredith & Jim, Sarah, Matt, and Alana { photo by Grandma Jane }

Here’s another one of the suggested cocktails we had–this one might be my favorite. It ends up looking like ice tea, but don’t be fooled.

The Perfect Lu

start with 1/2 glass of ice
add:
2 dashes angostura bitters
2 dashes celery bitters
1/2 oz. honey syrup
1 oz. dry vermouth
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1 oz. bourbon
stir
enjoy with a slice of lemon

Adjusted from the Perfect Louis

Swig & Swill: Chicago Sidecar & Allspice Dram pt. 2

After you’ve agitated the rum allspice concoction for 10 days, you’ll need to strain all of that allspice out. It’s probably easiest to run it all through a coffee filter. As with most homemade libations that you have to strain, make sure you press on the spent allspice to extract as much flavor as possible. Once you have your strained allspice rum, you’ll need to make a 1:1 simple syrup with brown sugar (simmer a 1:1 mixture of sugar to water in a small pan until it is clear and not cloudy). Let the syrup cool off, combine it with rum, and pour it into a bottle. It will probably taste pretty rough at first, so you’ll want to let it sit around for awhile. Paul Clarke recommends 30 days or so.

There you have it! Allspice dram. A pretty straightforward liqueur that is perfect for the season, and considering it’s use in tiki drinks, it’s probably pretty good in warmer months, too. All you really need to make it yourself is time. Of course you can always buy St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram at your better equipped liquor store. In any case, you may be wondering what kind of cocktail this could possibly be used in? Well, luckily for you, I’ve got just the thing.

Chicago Winter Sidecar

1.5oz Bourbon (preferably something higher than 80 proof)
.75 oz fresh lemon juice
.25 oz pimento dram
1tsp honey (adjust to taste)
egg white
2 dashes of coffee bitters

Add all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker, fill with ice. Shake and strain into a coupe glass (champagne saucer). Garnish with a lemon twist and maybe a few allspice berries. If you feel a bit squeamish about the raw egg white, the drink will work perfectly fine with out it–you’ll just loose a bit of texture. This recipe builds upon the Black River Sidecar.

The Chicago Winter Sidecar is really good. I think it’s one of two whiskey-based drinks that Sarah actually liked (the other being Paul McGee’s Gristmill at The Whistler), both of which have a dose of allspice dram. So if you don’t happen to be very fond of whiskey or find yourself hanging out with someone who ‘hates the stuff,’ you might suggest a cocktail with a little bit of dram: a miracle cure for the whiskey averse.

Swig & Swill: Dead Bastard

{ Tiki Gardens Postcard from Greg Tykal }

With the revival of vintage tiki drinks and the opening of bars like Smuggler’s Cove in SF, Rum seems to be set for a big decade. For our party a little while ago, I used Joe Scialom’s recipe for the

Dead Bastard (via TraderTiki):

• 1/2 oz Gin
• 1/2 oz Brandy
• 1/2 oz Bourbon
• 1/2 oz Rum
• 1/2 oz Rose’s lime juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 4 ounces of chilled ginger beer

Shake Gently with 1 cup Crushed Ice, pour into Goblet or other large vessel.  Garnish with whatever the hell, it’s dead and doesn’t care.  I used a whole lime.  It’s a big drink.

To really hammer home the deathly theme of the drink I used Bulleit Bourbon, and Death’s Door Gin. If anyone happens to know any death themed Rum or Cognac, please let me know.