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When we first saw the ingredients for this cocktail at The Violet Hour in Chicago, we couldn't bring ourselves to order it. It seemed just too over-the-top with bitter ingredients. That was our first mistake. When the recipe appeared in Beta Cocktails, a book we recently mentioned in conjunction with the Art of Choke, we thought it might be time to check it out, but we never had the right combination of ingredients—most notably, we didn't have a Blanc vermouth. That was our second mistake. Today, we finally corrected both situations by picking up a bottle of Dolin Blanc and using it to construct one of the most interesting and surprising results we have tasted in a very long time.
Eeyore's Requiem is another recipe we have collected by Toby "Alchemist" Maloney, one of the
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It's a new year, and for many, it's also a time to take an oath, make resolutions, or to simply look forward to whatever the new year brings. A lot has happened over the past twelve months, so before we look back, let's take this opportunity to look ahead to new opportunities and personal growth.
If we are religious about anything at Summit Sips it's the tradition of sharing great technique, recipes and ingredients. However, we are deeply spiritual (especially when we are taking about whiskey, gin, rum--get it--spirits?) Anyway, the following cocktail comes to us by way of a dear friend. It would have perhaps been better to post as a holiday treat, but we think this is the perfect moment to share it.
My New Religion by Ann Ruud
1.5 oz reposado tequila .75 oz Campari 2/3 oz lemon .25 oz simple syrup (or agave nectar)
Shake and
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Last week we visited Hale Pele to kickoff a nice Tiki weekend. While the summer sun continues to shine, we thought we'd post the recipe for another cocktail we had there called the Jungle Bird. As tropical drinks go, this one's a bit unusual because it contains Campari. Because of that ingredient, it tends to lean toward the bitter end of the spectrum which is just perfect for us!
Even if you are not a fan of the bitter aperitivo or other bitter flavored cocktails, it's worth tasting the Jungle Bird. It's not as bitter as you would expect from three-quarters of an ounce of Campari. A healthy dose of pineapple and a little simple syrup and lime distracts attention away from the amaro. However, all of that pineapple doesn't overwhelm the drink either. It stays somewhat under the surface of an otherwise complex
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Some time ago when we featured the Negroni as our Drink of the Week, we included the Americano as a bonus recipe. Today, we'd like to give the Americano it's due. It's a simple and light cocktail that works great as a late summer refresher. But despite its simplicity, we have to say more than just recommend this drink to beat the heat or to enjoy at a backyard barbecue. If you aren't expecting the bitter nuance that comes from the Campari you could be in for a bit of a shock. That's because most Americans are not used to Campari's bitter flavors (an ironic twist, considering this cocktail's name). These days, most carbonated beverages familiar to Americans are packed with high-fuctose corn syrup. However, anyone who already enjoys the Negroni or one of its many variants should recognize that the Americano was the
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ChamPino Cocktail
We have said it before and it still holds true: It’s never a bad time to open a bottle of champagne. Although we like to keep a bottle of bubbly in the refrigerator ready for any event, sometimes all it takes is dinner at home. There’s no reason it should only come out on special occasions. Whether you open a bottle of cava, prosecco, or real champagne from France, sparkling wine is great all by itself or as an ingredient for cocktails. Flavors vary, and so does quality and price, but you can make decent drinks with just about anything. We aren’t saying you should drink the cheapest stuff you can find, but you don’t have to break the bank either.
Over the years we have featured some popular uses for sparkling wine—the Mimosa, the French 75,
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Some time ago I wrote about St-Germain, the wonderful elderflower liqueur with a unique, fruity and floral flavor. Armed with this exciting new liqueur that showed so much promise, I felt that there was simply no end to the many ways it could be used successfully in a cocktail. However, since that time, most of the drinks I see on bar menus are variations on the original sparkling wine and vodka theme. Don't get me wrong, that's a nice way to use the stuff, but every time I see someone doing something unusual or unique with St-Germain, I take note. I am not alone. Jamie Boudreau created a growing list of St-Germain cocktails that all sound pretty interesting. Another fellow blogger and respected writer, Paul Clarke even posted one of his own experiments, wondering if his combination had been "done yet". I tried
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We like vodka at Summit Sips. We really do. But over the years it hasn't shared as much of the lime light on these pages as other spirits. There are a few good reasons for that. One is that vodka was virtually non-exisitent in the US before the 1940s. As such, it's nearly impossible to find classic cocktails that use it because it doesn't appear in any of the old books. Of course, one can't ignore the the Moscow Mule, the Cosmopolitan, or even James Bond's Vodka Martini, but these are all relatively new ideas. Everything pre-prohibition would have contained gin, whiskey, brandy or rum; it may be hard to imagine, but vodka was unknown at that time.
Another reason vodka doesn't appear quite as often
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Sometimes I feature classics, sometimes a riff, and once in a while it's an exotic Tiki. There's not really a pattern to the Drinks Of The Week here at Summit Sips, but I do think it's important to understand classic recipes and techniques. Over the past year or so, some of the recipes (including a few that don't fall upon a Thursday) required a little more preparation to pull them together. Such cases usually involved preparing some homemade ingredient. That can mean making a better version of something you can find on shop shelves, or sometimes it's an opportunity to create your own version of an ingredient that's impossible to find anywhere. This week, I want to feature a recipe that relies upon a basic infusion for the base spirit. It's the Riviera cocktail by Toby Maloney, a popular favorite from The Violet Hour.
I
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This week, we feature another bitter-sour combination in the Jasmine cocktail. If you enjoyed the Campari Sour a few weeks ago, this drink is similar, although it is more complex and has no egg white. If you thought the Campari Sour was simply too bitter, you might really enjoy this drink instead. It's a lot more accessible because the bitterness is no longer taking center stage, giving a little room for the other ingredients to share the spotlight.
There are a few recipes floating around for the Jasmine cocktail. Most align on the ingredients with differences in proportions. I tried several of them and zeroed in on this one because it "evolves" in your mouth. Other cocktail recipes can be more forgiving of quarter-ounce adjustments, but here, tiny changes to the measurements (or inaccurate pouring) will transform the experience dramatically. For one thing, this is more than just a
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If any drink exemplifies the flavors that Campari has to offer, it's probably straight Campari, but besides that, our Drink Of The Week really shows off this wonderful bitter liqueur. It may be based on just a simple sour formula, but I am surprised how much I enjoy this drink. It's not very strong either which makes it a nice option before dinner.
I hope to feature other bitter cocktails as the year goes on, but I figure this one makes a nice conclusion to the previous post about potable bitters. The fact that this drink is also sweet and sour makes it a bit more accessible for someone starting to explore bitter flavors. If you aren't already a fan of Campari, this is a great way to discover what all the fuss is about.
Campari Sour 1.5 oz Campari .5 oz simple syrup (1:1) 1 oz lemon
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