Lockdown recipe diary #12: Bramble Italiano

Messing with classic recipes can be fraught. I tend to think that one of the reasons why some drinks stick in people’s mind is the simplicity of their recipes - not only are they easy to remember, they provide a good basis for experimentation.

A couple of years back, I wanted to add a long gin cocktail to the menu at the Last Word Saloon and I thought that the Bramble would be a good starting point. Putting a straight-ahead classic recipe version on the menu wasn’t an option as we were doing that at the Last Word’s sister which is even named after the drink, so I spent a bit of time thinking about how I wanted to keep a similar vibe while making this new recipe distinct enough to be considered its own thing.

Bramble Italiano

45 ml / 1.5oz gin
20 ml / 0.66 oz Cocchi Aperitivo Americano
10 ml / 0.33 oz orgeat
20 ml / 0.66 oz lemon juice

2 bar spoons creme de mure
1 bar spoon Campari

Pour the first four ingredients into a highball glass, and fill with crushed ice.
Garnish with a lemon wheel and a blackberry.
Mix the creme de mure and Campari in a small jug (a milk jug is perfect) and float on the top of the drink immediately before serving.

I decided that I wanted to bring a bit of an Italian aperitif feel, so I added a bit of Cocchi Americano rather than just having gin as the base spirit. I swapped in some orgeat instead of a basic sugar syrup to add a bit of texture and a bit of shading to the sweet element of the drink. Finally, the one base taste that’s not really present in a classic Bramble recipe is bitterness, and I wanted to bring some of that so rather than crowning the drink traditionally with creme de mure, I mixed that with some Campari.

The point of this drink isn’t to be “better” than a Bramble. It’s definitely an homage but the overall idea is to use the template of a drink that’s popular and known to draw people in trying things they’re less familiar with.

Lockdown recipe diary #6: Clover Club & Knickerbocker

As we go into week *checks watch* a million of the lockdown, there are many articles on the web offering handy tips for the home bartender to raise their at-home cocktail game, and frankly, that’s too good of a bandwagon for me to let it roll down the hill without flailing after it.

Handily, I have one thing that’s going to change your life and all you need going to need are raspberries*.

* uh, and sugar and water. To be fair, a jar and a set of scales will def help.

Raspberry syrup is a pretty staple ingredient in many classic recipes but I think it’s often overlooked. It’s a shame because it’s a) delicious and b) so easy to make.

Raspberry syrup

150 g raspberries
150 g water
300 g granulated cane sugar

Put the raspberries, water and sugar in a large, airtight container.
Leave in a cool, dry place for at least six hours.
Shake vigorously until sugar is fully dissolved.
Strain out any solids, and transfer to a clean bottle.
Keep refrigerated between uses. Yields ~375 ml.

Homemade ingredients can be a little intimidating for the home bartender and it’s definitely true that getting a thing to taste right so it works as you need it to can sometimes be tricky but this recipe is pretty bombproof and it’s a handy thing to have around if you, for example, wanted to make two of my actual all-time favourite cocktails - the Clover Club and the Knickerbocker.

There are a great many Clover Club recipes out there that are just gin, lemon, raspberry syrup and egg white, and there are a few older recipes that include some vermouth - usually dry or a mix of dry and sweet vermouth.

I’m here to tell you not to skip the vermouth.

Clover Club

45 ml / 1.5 oz gin
15 ml / 0.5 oz dry vermouth
15 ml / 0.5 oz raspberry syrup
20 ml / 0.66 oz lemon juice
Half an egg white

Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
Shake briefly without ice, then fill the shaker with ice and shake for 10-15 seconds.
Fine-strain into a chilled cocktail glass (or the cheap-ass wine glass that was in your flat when you moved in seven years ago I guess).

As with many vintage recipes, there are heaps of versions of the Knickerbocker in books going back to Jerry Thomas in 1862.

Simon Difford has a nice overview of the variations - apparently, if we’re being technical, you’d need to serve it on ice to call it a Knickerbocker; the straight-up serve would be a Knickerbocker Special if anyone needs a specific hill to die on.

Knickerbocker

45 ml / 1.5 oz rum
15 ml / 0.5 oz curaçao
15 ml / 0.5 oz raspberry syrup
20 ml / 0.66 oz lemon juice

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker.
Fill the shaker with cubed ice and shake for 10-15 seconds.
Fine strain into that one nice glass you have, and garnish with a twist of lemon zest.

A quick note on rum - something aged but nothing too old is where you want to go. Anything between four and eight years old will be grand. It does feel like a recipe that tends towards more pungent, English style rums than the lighter, drier Spanish styles but the only aged rum I had on hand was small amount from a Bacardí blending workshop and y’know what? It worked fine.

Lockdown recipe diary #4: Picolino

This story starts, as so many do, with three people at an airport.

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bringing our a game #nosleeptilbrooklyn #whyis5amevenathing #airportvibes @bramble_bar

A post shared by J Hughes (@oldtownalchemy) on Jun 10, 2018 at 9:23pm PDT

In truth, the story starts a few months before that morning in June 2018. We’d agreed some budget with Hendrick’s gin to do at least one event outside of the UK and that ended up being a quick stop at Bar Convent Brooklyn followed by a head-to-head bar takeover against a team of German bartenders at Williams & Graham and Occidental in Denver to mark World Cucumber Day.

Obviously, if you’re putting together a menu with a bunch of gin drinks on it, you’ll want to do a martini of some description and, if that menu is for World Cucumber Day, it makes sense that you do some kind of a cucumber martini.

Reader, I shall not disappoint you.

(In this regard, anyway.)

Picolino

50 ml / 1.66 oz Hendrick’s gin
20 ml / 0.66 oz cucumber honey vermouth
10 ml / 0.33 oz yellow Chartreuse
1 dash Peychaud’s bitters

Pour everything into a mixing glass and fill it with cubed ice.
Stir for 15-20 seconds, and strain the contents into a chilled Nick & Nora glass.
Garnish with a cucumber ribbon on a cocktail stick.

Cucumber honey vermouth

1 litre Noilly Prat dry vermouth
1 cucumber
50 g honey
2.5 g powdered citric acid

Peel the cucumber. Cut the skin into strips and dice the flesh.
Place the cucumber skin and diced cucumber flesh in a large air tight container and add the vermouth.
Leave for infuse for two hours.
Strain out solids and add the honey and citric acid, and stir until both are fully dissolved.
Transfer into a clean bottle and keep refrigerated when not in use.

If you’ve ever spent any amount of time with bartenders, you’ll know that keeping them in line only marginally easier than herding actual cats so I’d like to record my thanks to our amazing hosts from Hendrick’s and William Grant & Sons - particularly Sasha Filimonov, Ally Martin, Sebastian Derbomez and Coco Prochorowski - and to the crew at Occidental and Williams & Graham who are total bosses.

One year and 10,000 miles later

Has it really been a year since the last World Gin Day?

No, seriously, don't -

Look, it's called a rhetorical question. Of course it's been a year since the last World Gin Day. This year, however, marks the first year that it's fallen - for me, at least - in winter.

This is because I'm currently in the Southern Hemisphere and things are weird here. I'm told it's winter, but seriously? It's 18° Celsius (64° Fahrenheit) and, as a native of Scotland, I'd call that positively toasty but I'm surrounded by people wearing scarves and more layers than the middle act of Inception.

People are drinking mulled wine. In June. This I cannot deal with.

I'm used to thinking about drinks for summer right about now, so it's been a fun challenge to think about something a little more seasonally appropriate for where I am. It helps that I work at a bar that is famed for its house-made ginger beer, because what could be more warming than the rich spiciness of ginger beer?

Besides actual hot drinks, yes.

The obvious choice is Audrey Saunders' Gin-Gin Mule, although the one we make at Grandma's could be called a version of it rather than a strictly authentic recreation - the original calls for a still ginger beer and the addition of soda water whereas our ginger beer is carbonated; we also like to thrown in a dash of Angostura Bitters because reasons. It's turned out to be one of the most popular drinks on our new menu - that shouldn't be surprising, given that it has been named as one of the 25 most influential drinks of the past century by Imbibe (US). Described by its creator as an "ambassador to gin," maybe - like its base spirit - that's worth celebrating all year round?

Yes, again with the rhetorical questions.

Gin-Gin Mule

45ml Tanqueray Gin
15ml lime juice
15ml sugar syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters
8 mint leaves
Top with ginger beer

Shake the first five ingredients with ice and fine-strain* into an ice-filled sling/catalina glass. Garnish with a mint sprig and a piece of crystallised ginger.

 * Your mileage may vary when it comes to fine-straining drinks served over ice; in this particular instance I'd do it to remove any teensy, annoying bits of mint from the finished drink.

One day in June

I've made this point before, but if January 25th can be designated No Name Calling Day and the last Wednesday in April marks Administrative Professionals' Day, then it is only right and proper that the second Saturday of June be set aside for World Gin Day. Instituted by Neil Houston (a.k.a. @yetanothergin) in 2009, today is an opportunity to celebrate a spirit that has had its ups and downs. While the popularity of gin today isn't at the level of the early-to-mid 19th Century - when its widespread availability led to what is now known as the Gin Craze and represents one of those rare occasions where the word 'craze' is a massive understatement - it has never been easier to find as wide a selection of really high quality products. Distillers across the world are finding new botanicals and techniques to bring to bear on production and bartenders and drinks enthusiasts are constantly breaking new ground in finding new ways to taste and explore those differing expressions.

My own contribution to this year's festivities works best, I think, with a juniper-forward, citrus heavy gin like Bombay Dry or Sipsmith, but your mileage, as ever, may vary. I also wanted to include a touch of Kamm & Sons Ginseng Spirit because I know the production and flavour of gin was a definite influence on how that particular spirit was conceived.

Chauffeur-driven Dream

45ml gin
15ml Kamm & Sons Ginseng Spirit
10ml orgeat
15ml lemon juice
2 dashes Regan's Orange Bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice and fine-strain into a chilled 7-8oz cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of grapefruit zest.

*** 

Though it may represent the opportunity to do so, days like World Gin Day aren't about drinking until you fall over. It's more about finding a fresh approach something that you might find very familiar so if you do one thing today, leave off the tonic water and try something new.