Minor Mixology

So, as many of you know, I was on vacation for two weeks over the holidays and I made a commitment to work on my cocktail mixing skills during that time.  It all started innocently enough – Middle West Spirits was launching their new vodka, Honey Vanilla Bean, and I wanted to try it in some different cocktail concoctions. Since MWS has the benefit of a fantastic master mixologist on their team, Cris Dehlavi, there are many great recipes for using both the original OYO and the new Honey Vanilla Bean vodka.  More about those in a few…

So, I picked up my bottle of Honey Vanilla Bean and, through some Twitter discussions, decided to give it a whirl with root beer.  I am a fan of Frostop so I went in search of it – I found it at Huffman’s Market but you can also find it at The Hills Market, if you are looking.  I enjoyed the combination very much – I later tried it with Boylan’s Birch Beer and with Gale’s Root Beer, both which added unique elements to the taste.  I think the Gale’s Root Beer was my favorite – with the ginger and vanilla notes of her root beer, it was a great complement to the flavors of the OYO.  I found Gale’s Root Beer at Weiland’s.

From the root beer experiment, it was onto the recipes from the MWS website, all crafted by Cris.  Now, I have said this before, and I am sure I will say it again, if you have not been to M to experience one of the cocktails that Cris has designed, and designed is the best word, you must go.  And, if you got a bottle of OYO for the holidays, go to the MWS site and check out all the great recipes for using it – you will not be sorry.  The first drink was the Vanilla Sidecar, which uses the Honey Vanilla Bean vodka, Cointreau and fresh lemon juice.  This was one of my favorites of the recipes I tried – bright, fresh flavors and the perfect blend of citrus flavors to highlight the vodka.  From there, I went in search of pink peppercorns for the Sugar and Spice.  Another helpful preparation note -the only two places that I found selling pink peppercorns by themselves are North Market Spices and Penzey’s.  I chose to pick mine up at North Market Spices, along with some fun holiday gifts, so I was ready for the next drink experiment.  This also calls for fresh ruby red grapefruit, which I was having trouble finding, so I tried it with two options – the Tropicana fresh, not from concentrate, ruby red grapefruit juice and, a few days later, squeezing some fresh grapefruit that I found at Market District.  I liked the fresh juice one better but the Tropicana works in a pinch.

The next drink on the list was the Young Grasshopper (I was not joking when I said I made a commitment!)  Now, I had a few alterations to the recipe on the site – one from my own purchasing mistake (I bought regular creme de menthe, not green) and I could not find Fee Bros Xocolatl Mole Bitters so I used Fee Bros Aztec Chocolate Bitters.  I loved this drink.  The mint and the chocolate were great partners with the vodka and I am learning that I *really* like bitters in my cocktails.  In fact, I dashed a few more in my drink after following the recipe!

If you peruse the MWS site, you will see that there are a few other cocktails using the Honey Vanilla Bean vodka – I have not tried them yet as I got distracted.  Distracted by the fact that I received an early Christmas gift of Speakeasy, a book of cocktail recipes. So, I started playing around with other spirits – mainly gin, and discovered I really enjoy gin.  Growing up, my family was gin and tonic drinkers.  Every year, my grandpa would get a bottle of Tanqueray gin from his kids and every year I remember wondering why they were all drinking Paramount or some equally cheap gin instead of the stuff in the green bottle.  As the years went on, they did start drinking the Tanqueray but the other gin still seems to make its way into the mix.  Anyway, I was never a fan.  So, I have always stayed away from gin until the book.  As all the cocktail lovers know, gin is one of the main spirits in many cocktail recipes so as I looked through the book, I knew I would have to tackle gin.  So, it was off to Huffman’s to select a gin to use in my mixing.  I found a small batch gin, called Smooth Ambler, from West Virginia.  Now, I just confessed my lack of gin knowledge so I cannot provide a discerning critique of this gin over others but it is smooth, citrus-y and I thought very true to the juniper base of gin. (Those with more-developed palates might differ!)  The current favorite is the French 75, made with gin. This is a simple and refreshing cocktail with gin, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup & champagne.  I have also made this cocktail with grapefruit juice, meyer lemon juice and blood orange juice.  All good in their own right – if you like a cocktail that is a little less sweet, scale back the simple syrup or shake a few citrus bitters in, or better yet, do both!

Unfortunately, vacation came to an end and so did the regular experimentation with cocktails but I did learn a few things that will stay with me as I continue to try new cocktails and enjoy a few of my favorites:

1. I really like cocktails.
2. Making cocktails is not that hard but there are some simple things to remember: first time, follow the recipe; measure, measure, measure – eyeballing is not a good strategy & have some fun glasses to drink out of (ok, this might just be my preference!)
3. Don’t rule out a spirit based on tasting just one – I know people who love a spirit but don’t love every brand – ask questions; places like Huffman’s Market, The Hills Market and Weiland’s have team members who are happy to tell you about the differences and help you pick one that fits your tastes and your budget.
4. Appreciate a really good mixologist – we have a few in this town and their understanding of flavors, preferences and combinations can open your eyes to a drink or two you had no idea you would love so much! (Big shout-out to Cris Dehlavi for teaching me to a thing or two while I was playing!)
5. Have fun with it! I enjoyed learning more about the world of cocktails and, while I just dipped my toe in it, it was interesting, fun and tasty!

I was thinking about tackling a few more recipes in the coming weeks but these two jars of cello (limon and blood orange) might keep me occupied for awhile!