The Gall Bracer Cocktail...

...and the importance of using real pomegranate grenadine.

To say I’m a fan of the Old Fashioned cocktail is probably putting it a little mildly. A properly made Old Fashioned is a thing of beauty, and probably the closest to perfection that one can achieve in a libation. I drink enough of them that there’s no need to measure anything when I’m making one at home. I know my glass well enough to eyeball the ingredients and get an identical drink every time.

Since I appreciate this drink so much, I usually notice cocktails that are close relatives to the Old Fashioned. The Gall Bracer is one of these drinks – In fact, it’s only one ingredient away from being an Old Fashioned…

The Gall Bracer Cocktail

2 oz. bourbon or rye

1 barspoon simple syrup

dash Angostura bitters

2 dashes grenadine

Stir with ice & strain into an ice-filled old fashioned glass. Garnish with a cherry, if desired.

As you see from the recipe above, if the grenadine is replaced with an orange twist, you’ve got an Old Fashioned. What I find most interesting about this drink, though, is that it beautifully illustrates the difference that real pomegranate grenadine can make in a cocktail.

My first try at a Gall Bracer was pretty uninspiring. I used store-bought grenadine, and the drink basically tasted like an Old Fashioned with a funky, chemically sort of undertone in place of the sparkle that the orange zest brings to the game, and while I didn’t toss the cocktail into the sink, nor did I feel inclined to have another.

Fast forward a couple of months, and I’m paging through my little recipe notebook looking for something appealing that contains grenadine. I had just finished putting together a small batch of homemade grenadine, you see, and I was eager to try it out in a cocktail. I ran across the Gall Bracer, and decided to give it another shot.

Wow! What a difference this one change made… In place of the nasty chemistry set taste of my first attempt, I instead had a perfectly respectable alternative to my dear Old Fashioned, one that married the tang of fresh pomegranate to the bourbon in place of the citrus notes of my standard cocktail.

Make your own grenadine, and you’ll never buy a bottle of that nasty red stuff at your local supermarket again.

Grenadine

16 oz. POM Wonderful 100% pure pomegranate juice

8 oz. sugar

Splash of vodka or grain alcohol (as a preservative)

Heat pomegranate juice in a saucepan until boiling, add sugar and stir to dissolve. Lower to a simmer and let reduce by half, about 40 minutes. Let cool and add a splash of vodka or grain alcohol as a preservative. Should keep for months, but it’s so good that you probably won’t need to worry about shelf life…

Update - The above post is about a year old, and since writing it I've found a homemade grenadine recipe that I like even better. I take equal parts pomegranate juice and sugar and shake them together until the sugar dissolves, then add a healthy splash of pomegranate concentrate.

You can find pomegranate concentrate in some health food stores and ethnic markets, or click here to buy some from Amazon.

The Billionaire Cocktail

I found this one at Serious Eats, where the drink calls for the soon to be released Employees Only brand grenadine, Pernod absinthe and Baker’s 107-proof bourbon. Well, I make my own grenadine and Pernod’s modern absinthe is overpriced junk. Baker’s is good whiskey, but not one I usually keep on hand, so I subbed in Kubler for the absinthe and Wild Turkey 101 for the Baker’s. The Employees Only recipe calls for a half-ounce of simple syrup as well, which I skipped because I didn’t want the drink to be too sweet.

The Billionaire Cocktail
2 oz. 101+-proof bourbon
1 oz. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
½ oz. grenadine (homemade, or EO Grenadine)
¼ oz. absinthe

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

This one is a winner for me – I love whiskey, and this combination is a whiskey drink for the summer that doesn’t lose the base spirit altogether.

Sanbitter... Uses?

I picked up a couple bottles of this stuff months ago at my local Italian grocery (Marino’s Supermarket on 29^th avenue), just because it looked interesting and I thought it might make a good cocktail ingredient. Well, it turns out that San Pellegrino makes Sanbitter as a non-alcoholic alternative to Campari and soda. Personally, I find the idea of “non-alcoholic” alternatives to good honest booze a little nauseating, and since I love Campari and thus always have a bottle around, the little bottles of Sanbitter have been pretty much ignored since they found their way into my kitchen.

Now I need the fridge space back, so I’m once again trying to find something to do with the Sanbitter. So far I’ve had it with about two ounces of 101 proof gin, on the rocks in a highball glass, which was decent but not spectacular. I think adding a splash of Campari would help it out, but that just seems silly… Why not just have a Campari and soda?

So I’m opening this one up to the readers – Does anyone have any suggestions for this stuff?

Bumbo

Bumbo is an old drink, dating back to the 18th century at least. George Washington served bumbo to voters in Virginia in 1758, and prior to that the drink was a favorite of Caribbean pirates.

Originally, bumbo was a mixture of rum, water, sugar and nutmeg and/or cinnamon, served straight up. Ice was uncommon, so bumbo was likely drunk at cabin temperature.

The modern bumbo keeps the rum and spices, but replaces the sugar and water with grenadine and lemon juice. I made two versions, the current iteration and a variation on the original.

Bumbo (modern)
2 oz. rum (gold or dark; I used Brugal gold)
1 oz. lemon juice
½ oz. grenadine (homemade)
pinch nutmeg

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The modern bumbo is a nice drink, especially for the summer months. The only downside to it is that the nutmeg doesn’t dissolve in the liquid, and tends to collect at the bottom of the glass. I suppose you could fine-strain the drink, but that might also remove most of the flavor of the spices. The best solution would likely be a tincture – cinnamon and nutmeg soaked in alcohol to extract the flavor. A spritz of each on top of the drink would add the spice components without the grit.

For my variation on the original, I used 2 oz. rum and ½ oz. cinnamon syrup, stirred for a long while with ice and served over fresh ice in an old-fashioned glass. The melting ice provides the water, and the syrup gives a spicy note to the drink without the grit that results from using ground spices. This is a great drink, a simple variation on an old-fashioned that would be nice any time of year.

Blood Orange Experiment

I was in the local Asian supermarket yesterday, and along with the lemons and limes I was there for I picked up a few blood oranges, figuring that with the weather getting warmer I might play around with some summer-type drinks. Here’s what I came up with…

Blood Island
1 ½ oz. freshly-squeezed blood orange juice
½ oz. freshly-squeezed lime juice
1 ½ oz. white rum (Oronoco)
1 oz. triple sec (Patron Citronge)
1 oz. dark rum (Gosling Black Seal)

Shake all but the dark rum with ice and pour, ice and all, into a chilled goblet. Float dark rum on top and serve with sip straws.

It’s boozy and tart, sweet enough to be refreshing on a hot day but not cloying. It also has 3 ½ oz. of 80-proof liquor in it, and it can have even more alcohol if you choose an overproof rum for the float, so it packs a wallop… Plus, the color is great thanks to the blood oranges – with an appropriately over-the-top garnish it would look like most people’s idea of a tropical drink. I’m thinking a blood orange wheel and mint sprig, with a plastic monkey or two. The name is a nod to the Eddie Romero movies that I hold dear to my heart (Brides of Blood, Mad Doctor of Blood Island, Beast of Blood, etc.).

I don’t try to create new drinks all that often, and when I do they tend to be along the lines of this one – simple adjustments to classic recipes. The Blood Island is just a 3:2:1 sour with added juice and a dark rum float. I’d be interested to hear what you think in the comments.

The Weeski Cocktail

A quick one today – the unfortunately named

Weeski Cocktail
Created by Dave Wondrich
2 oz. Irish whiskey
1 oz. Lillet
1 tsp. Cointreau
2 dashes orange bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist, or do as I do and twist an orange peel over the drink and discard (see below).

I like to add a dash of Fee Brother’s peach bitters and twist a strip of orange peel over the surface of the drink to release the oils, then run the peel along the rim of the glass to deposit some more of those lovely oils before discarding it.

I used Paddy Irish whiskey and Regan’s orange bitters, and as such this is a fantastic cocktail. Bushmills is my regular sipping Irish, and the Weeski is a great drink with that too, but I think the Paddy really pushes it over the edge into classic territory. I still prefer Bushmills for sipping neat, however.

I’ve been mostly unimpressed with previous Irish whiskey cocktails I’ve tried – even the good ones leave me thinking that I’d prefer to just drink the whiskey neat. The Weeski is the first to change that position. I could happily drink this any time. I can even forgive it for being named "Weeski..."

Happy Birthday Campari

I recently found out that Campari is celebrating it’s 150th anniversary this year. The bitter, bright red liqueur is one of my favorites, and one of those indispensable products that every bar and home should stock.

Just about everyone remembers their first taste of Campari. For a lot of folks, the first taste also winds up being the last taste… The bitter flavor of Campari is too big of a hurdle for them to clear. These folks are making a mistake, and missing out on a great product which features in some delicious cocktails. Yes, Campari is, for most people, an acquired taste, but I think you’ll find it’s one worth acquiring.

The Negroni
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth
1 oz. gin

Build over ice in a rocks glass and garnish with an orange wheel or a twist. A dash or two of orange bitters makes for a pleasant variation.

The Negroni is arguably the most popular Campari cocktail out there (disregarding for the moment such simple preparations as Campari & Soda or Campari & Orange), and for good reason. It’s a perfect drink, balanced, adult and delicious, as well as being easily adjusted to suit one’s taste. For me, the classic equal proportions work best.

The Americano
1 ½ oz. Campari
1 ½ oz. sweet vermouth
3 oz. soda water

Build over ice and top with soda water. Garnish with an orange wheel.

This is the drink the Negroni was based on – Count Oliver Pascal Negroni preferred gin to soda in his Americano, and thus a cocktail was born.

The Boulevardier
1 oz. bourbon
1 oz. Campari
1 oz. sweet vermouth

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

The Boulevardier, interestingly enough, actually predates the Negroni by a couple of decades. The drink was first published in Barflies and Cocktails in 1927, and resurrected by Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh in his Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails.

The Jasmine
1 ½ oz. gin
1 oz. Cointreau
¾ oz. Campari
½ oz. freshly-squeezed lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The Jasmine is a great drink to introduce people to Campari. The sweetness of the Cointreau and the tartness of the lemon juice help to temper the Campari’s bitterness, and the botanicals in the gin combine with the other ingredients to produce a pretty good imitation of grapefruit juice.

The Bitter Elder
1 ½ oz. gin
½ oz. Campari
½ oz. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
¾ oz. St. Germain

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist, or with a cherry blossom or other edible flower.

This is a recent concoction pairing Campari with the ubiquitous St. Germain elderflower liqueur. It’s light and floral, which I like to accentuate by using a flower garnish.

Now go out and buy yourself a bottle of Campari, and raise a few glasses tonight in honor of 150 years of excellence.

The Gloom Raiser

It’s a dreary day in New York, grey and wet and gloomy… Here’s a cocktail to raise one’s spirits…

The Gloom Raiser
From Barflies and Cocktails
1.5 oz. gin
.75 oz. dry vermouth
2 dashes grenadine
2 dashes absinthe

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The Gloom Raiser is a simple variation on the martini, and as such it relies on quality ingredients. Boodles gin, Dolin vermouth, homemade grenadine and Kubler absinthe worked for me. This is one drink where a lighter absinthe is appropriate – an assertive verte would likely take over, so if your absinthe is a bold one, be very careful with your pour and scale the measure back to a couple of drops.

The Embassy Cocktail

I found this one over at Dr. Bamboo’s blog, and thought it was tasty enough to reproduce here. I like drinks that use equal amounts of each ingredient, especially later in the evening...

The Embassy

¾ oz. brandy
¾ oz. Cointreau
¾ oz. Jamaican rum
¾ oz. lime juice
dash of Angostura bitters

Shake and strain, garnish with a lime twist.

The Embassy follows the standard 2:1:1 sour template, only it uses two base spirits instead of one, and adds a dash of bitters. This is a good one – tart and refreshing, with a nice boozy kick and a pleasant spicy undertone courtesy of the bitters.

The Mint Julep

Rain was pummeling Churchill Downs this morning, turning the dirt track into a muddy, soggy mess for the Kentucky Derby. The weather is playing havoc for those who look forward to the racing, but those of us who just use the Derby as an excuse to drink Mint Juleps can carry on as usual.

The Mint Julep

½ oz. simple syrup
3 oz. bourbon
Fresh mint leaves

Gently muddle the mint and syrup in the bottom of a silver julep cup, fill with crushed ice and add bourbon, then stir until frost forms on the outside of the cup. Fill with more crushed ice and garnish with sprigs of mint. Use short straws so you’ll have to stick your nose into the mint garnish when sipping.

The Georgia Mint Julep
Adapted from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails by Ted Haigh


Fresh mint leaves
Dash simple syrup
2 oz. cognac
1 oz. peach brandy

Muddle the mint and simple syrup in your julep cup, add cognac, peach brandy, and crushed ice, then stir until the cup is frosty. Top up with more crushed ice, garnish with mint sprigs and serve with short straws.

In the same book, Haigh recounts a 1910 recipe that instructs one to harvest only the choicest sprigs of mint as the evening’s dew is about to form on them, to carefully prepare the simple syrup and to measure out half a tumbler of whiskey, then to pour the whiskey into an frosted silver cup, throw away the mint and syrup and drink the whiskey. This recipe is likely the one I’ll be using later today when I get together with my friends, minus all the mint-plucking, syrup-preparing and silver cups…

Enjoy the day, whatever you're drinking!