Remember the Maine

November 11, 2011/ Craft Cocktails

Remember the Maine:

2 oz. Rye Whiskey (High West Double Rye)
.75 oz sweet vermouth (Vya)
2 barspoons Cheery Heering
.5 barspoon absinthe (Amerique 1912)
orange zest

This is a cocktail that everyone should try at least once in their life. It's a bit like a dolled up Manhattan, with absinthe filling in as the bitters and the cherry heering adding a touch of sweetness for a perfect balance and additional depth. Amerique 1912 Absinthe Verte is one of two absinthes offered by Great Lakes Distillery and is an excellent, highly aromatic chioce. We will have cocktails featuring their other abinsthe (as well as a Kirschwasser) in future posts. The High West Double Rye whiskey is proving to be one of our favorite rye's, makes exceptional Manhattan's, and it performs equally well in this drink. We first read about the cocktail on Oh Gosh, but it's invention is attributed to Charles H. Baker and it's history can be read in further detail at the Oh Gosh web page here.

The Algonquin Cocktail

February 01, 2011/ Craft Cocktails

The Algonquin Cocktail:

1.5 oz rye (Michter's)
.75 oz dry vermouth (Vya)
.75 oz pineapple juice
opt. dash pineapple gum syrup (Small Hand Foods)

Shake over ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

This is an excellent classic cocktail from Ted Haigh named for the New York hotel the Algonquin Round Table. Rye and pineapple go particularly well together, the sweet pineapple mediating the spiciness of the rye, and the Vya lends additional botanical notes. The pineapple we were using was unfortunately a little on the bland side, and lacking some necessary sweetness. Luckily, we had Small Hand Foods amazing pineapple gum syrup to save the day and a dash gave the cocktail the sweetness and pleasant mouthfeel (the pineapple syrup is a historically accurate gomme syrup) for a true prohibition style cocktail.

Negroni

January 13, 2011/ Craft Cocktails

Negroni:

1 part Gin (Organic Nation)
1 part Sweet Vermouth (Vya)
1 part Campari

A classic cocktail with numerous options for variation with the number of gins on the market as well as interesting sweet vermouths. Vya is particularly rich and herbal forward which plays very well with the clean botanical forward Organic Nation. What's your favorite Negroni trio?