MY PROFILE FOR “ON THE ROCKS”

A day in my life…heh heh

This was a blast! I competed with top bartenders from around the country in Las Vegas!

Check it out!

I created these cocktails in my advanced mixology class here in Chicago at CHIC recently. We were asked to create some wine based cocktails to pair with desserts.

While I don’t usually think cocktails should be paired with entrees or meals in general, they can lend themselves to desserts very well given the plethora of desert wines and liqueurs to work with and the nature of dessert course.

I always stir wine based cocktails to give them a chill, but not over dilute them.

I don’t have names for these…not my forte!

1)
GOSLINGS Black Seal Rum
PIERRE FERRAND Ambre Cognac
Black Pepper Corns
Fresh Sweet Cherries
Muscat Wine

Muddle cherries, pepper corns and 1/3 of muscat. Add remainder of muscat, spirits and ice and stir. Strain into small chilled coupe.

2)
DOLCE Sweet Dessert Wine
PIERRE FERRAND Ambre Cognac
Fresh Plum
Grapefruit Peel

Muddle plum and peel from grapefruit and splash of DOLCE wine. Add wine, cognac, and ice and stir. Strain into chilled coupe. Grapefruit peel/disk garnish

3)
VEUVE CLIQUOT Demi-Sec champagne
Yellow Chartreuse
Green Grapes
Grapefruit Peel
Grapefruit Juice

Muddle green grapes with a 1/3 of demi-sec and splash of fresh grapefruit juice. Add Chartreuse, ice and stir. Strain into chilled coupe and top with remainder of champagne.

My entrance to the latest competition sponsored by BOMBAY SAPPHIRE GIN

1.5 oz BOMBAY SAPPHIRE GIN
.5 oz CARPANO ANTICA ITALIAN VERMOUTH
.5 oz FRESH LEMON JUICE
SPLASH SIMPLE SYRUP
5 FRESH PITTED SWEET CHERRIES for muddling
3 PITTED FRESH CHERRIES FOR GARNISH
CHILLED CLUB SODA
LEMON TWIST

In mixing glass muddle cherries and syrup. Add BOMBAY SAPPHIRE, lemon juice, and vermouth. Fill tall zombie glass 1/3 full of ice and add one pitted cherry…Continue to fill glass ice with cherries until glass is full. Shake and double strain into glass and top with chilled soda and fresh lemon twist.

Cherry pitters are available at most hardware stores and Sur le Table and are very handy.

If Carpano is not available, use any high quality Italian vermouth.

I entered this cocktail in the ST. GERMAIN cocktail campaign/comp in february 2009

Didnt win, but got 3rd place…

It is delicious and fresh.

1.5 oz Pisco
1 oz ST. GERMAIN ELDERFLOWER LIQUEUR
.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Small Egg White

Sophisticated variation of a Pisco Sour.

All ingredients into shaker filled with ice.

Shake extra vigorously to ensure foam on top of cocktail.

strain into chilled coupe glass

DELICIOUS!!

I made this cocktail for a cocktail dinner hosted by Anna Kimball and 10 Cane at Le Lan in Chicago spring 2009.

1.5 oz 10 Cane Rum
.5 oz oz Spiced Simple Syrup
.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz Fresh Pressed Pear Juice

Spiced candied pear slice for garnish. I used Comice pears for the juice and garnish.

Shake all ingredients and strain into chilled coupe. drop slice of pear into cocktail as edible garnish.

To make the spiced syrup:

2 cups sugar
1.5 cups water
1/4 cup allspice berries
1/4 cup clove
2 cinnamon sticks
3 nutmegs
1 tbsp black pepper berries

cook all together in sauce pan over low heat until boiling..make sure to watch so it doesn’t boil over..

turn off heat allow to steep until cooled. Strain off spices..add a splash of vanilla extract and voila!..spiced syrup.

Can be used in many other drinks, iced teas etc.. particularly yummy in hot toddies.

Spiced pears are a bit more tricky.

peel and slice 1 pear…add lemon juice immediately to slices to help stop browning.

make another small batch of spiced syrup…but this time do not cool…strain hot syrup over pears to steep and par cook…they will be tender but al dente and hold their shape.

cool and let steep in air tight bag. This should maintain the color and keep them from being brown….which is a bitch.

The juice will have a tan color and there is no natural way around that. It gives the cocktail a honey like appearance which is appealing.

I was very very happy with this cocktail. It was easy to drink.

I submitted this cocktail to the judging for the official cocktail of Tales of the Cocktail 2009.

They didn’t leave a lot of official room to differentiate the Juleps. Spirit, sweetener, Mint…and something else.

In the spirit of the Julep I wanted this cocktail to maintain the old tyme lineage for sweetening up your spirits and medicine.

This Julep uses cognac as the base spirit…the only spirit.

I used azucar moreno for a subtle lift in flavor in the sweetener.

I wanted to get some other southern flavors and thought about medicinal things surrounding root beer and “erva mate”.

I decided to use wintergreen extract…a main ingredient in root beer…and Matte Leao, Brasilian style mate. It is a robust smokey flavored tea. perfect for this drink.

I didn’t want it to be root beer julep..but I wanted the subtle tones of root beer and iced tea. Southern flavors.

I think it works

3 oz PIERRE FERRAND AMBRE COGNAC
2 oz SIMPLE SYRUP of AZUCAR MORENA (unrefined cane sugar) or LIGHT BROWN SUGAR
12 MINT LEAVES
1.5 oz ERVA MATE BRAZILIAN STYLE (MATTE LEAO) or LUZIANNE ICED TEA BREWED TRIPLE STRENGTH
3 DROPPERS OF WINTERGREEN EXTRACT

Directions: Muddle mint and syrup in mixing glass. Add all other ingredients and stir with bar spoon. Add cubed ice to shaker. Add all ingredients and stir briefly to chill.

Strain into 14 oz Zombie glass and add cracked ice to top of glass. Garnish with fresh mint sprig, lemon wheel and long straw.

Matte or tea must be made strong to get maximum flavor in a small quantity. Matte has very strong smoky flavors that are excellent in this drink. It is readily available at many Latino markets and all Brasilian stores.

Wintergreen extract or tincture is available at most apothecaries and many health food stores. It is also very simple to make in large quantities. 1 part by volume dry wintergreen to two parts Grain alcohol (Everclear).

The wintergreen and Matte give this a drink subtle tones and nuances of old time root beer. It also blends well with the vanillas of the cognac and the fresh mint and caramels of the syrup.

Here are my 4 entries for the 2009 Grand Marnier/Navan Summit in Vail Colorado.

NORTHWOODS CORDIAL

2oz GRAND MARNIER
1 oz FRESH ORANGE JUICE
1 oz SPICED CRANBERRY SYRUP
1 DASH ANGOSTURA BITTERS

Shake all ingredients and strain into coupe

SUPPER CLUB COCKTAIL

2 oz GRAND MARNIER
1.5 oz FRESH PRESSED APPLE JUICE
.5 oz PIMENTO DRAM
1 DASH ANGOSTURA BITTERS

Shake all ingredients and strain into chilled 5oz Coupe glass Is great as a hot drink…heat apple juice and spiced syrup…increase quantity to 2.5 oz apple juice. Add Grand Marnier to hot drink mug and add hot spiced cider…cinnamon stick stirrer for garnish

GRAMMA’S YULEWEIN

2 oz GRAND MARNIER
2 oz FRESH PRESSED APPLE JUICE
2 oz FULL BODIED RED WINE
1 oz PIMENTO DRAM

In a sauce pan, heat red wine and apple juice. Add Grand Marnier and Pimento dram to mug…pour hot wine and apple juice into mug.

Garnish with Cinnamon stick

SNOW VIOLET

1 oz NAVAN
.5 oz CREME DE VIOLETTE
.5 oz LEMON JUICE
3 oz DEMI SEC CHAMPAGNE

Garnish with edible flower..violet or lemon twist

Chill Navan, Creme de violette, and lemon juice over ice…Strain into Champagne flute or Coupe…top with champagne and garnish.

I just created this cocktail for the ABSOLUT MANGO launch event in Chicago at the HOTEL SAX on January 26th, 2009.

It is a sweet and savory cocktail…I wanted a cocktail to go with spicy Indian food.

Mango is a very common ingredient in Indian cuisine. It also is wonderful in sweet and savory dishes and salads. I thought the pungent aromas blended with sweetness of ginger syrup and orange juice would combine beautifully with the savory of garam-masala and a touch of salt.

Onion and lime would also be good choices with mango.

1.5 oz ABSOLUT MANGO vodka
1.5oz Fresh Orange Juice
.75 oz Garam-Masala Scented Ginger syrup
a few grains of salt

Shake all ingredients and strain into chilled coupe or other cocktail glass…garnish with candied orange peel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evbbh-ZtX8k

I created this cocktail in the fall of 2008 for Lindsey Reisinger of MAESTRO DOBEL in Chicago.

I wanted it to be a sweet cordial.

1 oz MAESTRO DOBEL DIAMOND TEQUILA
.75 oz PINEAPPLE SYRUP
.5 oz DUBONNET ROUGE

Shake all ingredients and strain into small coupe or cordial glass.

I make Pineapple syrup with a base of rice vinegar syrup. To it I add the juice of a pureed fresh pineapple. I cook that down to a syrup. Allow to cool and add the rest of the pureed pineapple. Add fresh grated ginger for an amazing sweet and sour dipping sauce for egg rolls or other fried delicacies.

I created this cocktail two years ago.

Chocolatey, tropically warm feelings on a -40 degree windchill day in Chicago!

THE VERACRUZ

2 oz Partida Añejo Tequila
1 oz Benedictine
1 ½ oz Chile Ancho-Chocolate Sauce*

Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Garnish with Cinnamon stick.

*Ancho-Chocolate Sauce

Puree of chile ancho, Mexican chocolate and cinnamon.

rehydrate chiles…puree…double strain…puree should be smooth as silk with no skins. Melt mexican style chocolate with splash of milk and ancho chile puree…2 parts chocolate to one part chile…pinch of cinnamon to taste…