Happy Independence Day!

Feeling Punchy after Burger Night

Fort Defiance kept the holiday weekend going this 4th with a special burger night punch.  We got a big ole watermelon, hollowed it out to make a punch bowl and filled it with watermelon gin punch.  It was good to the last drop!

The punch is from St John and was first published in Fine Cooking Magazine.

Watermelon Gin Punch

One-half small round seedless watermelon (about 3-1/2 lb.), peeled and cut into large chunks
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup simple syrup 
8 sprigs fresh mint; more for garnish
2 cups Hendrick's gin

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Working in batches if necessary, purée the watermelon in a blender or food processor and press the purée through a strainer. You’ll need about 4 cups of juice—it’s fine if there’s some pulp in the juice. Chill.
Put the lemon juice, simple syrup, and mint in a 3-quart serving pitcher or a punch bowl and mash the mint thoroughly with a muddler or the back of a wooden spoon. Add about 4 cups of ice, the gin, and the watermelon juice and stir.
Serve in rocks glasses over ice. Garnish with mint sprigs.

Pop Up Art

So if you have been watching Top Chef this season you know that Pop Up restaurants are all the rage. They are a temporary concept for a restaurant that is bare bones and a bit more fun since they are not tied to permanent idea. The boys form Fatty Crab and Fatty 'Cue decided to do just that with their former Cabrito space in the West Village and open Fatty Johnsons. They also have had the brilliant ideas to get the city's talented bartenders in on the fun. Guest bartending is a lot of hard work but it is also a neat opportunity to show off some of your own drinks and just play in someone else's sandbox.

Tonight Ivy Mix and I are popping up behind the stick at Fatty's. Here is a sneak preview of our menu. Hope to see you all in my old neighborhood!

La Dulce Vida
1.5 oz Chairman's Reserve Rum
3/4 oz Vida Mezcal
3/4 oz lime
3/4 oz Spiced Syrup (Abby's Mix)

Shake serve up in coup with grated cinnamon

Morton Street
1 oz Bourbon
1 oz Wild Turkey Rye
2 oz Fresh Grapefruit
3/4 oz rosemary infused Maple Syrup
Club Soda

Shake, serve on the rocks in a collins glass, top with soda and garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary

7 Steps to Hell
1.5 oz Compass Box Oak Cross
1/2 oz Maraschino liqueur
1/2 oz Cynar
Barspoon of Peat Monster
dash each of Jerry Thomas Own Decanter and Creole Bitters

Stir serve up in a glass spritzed with Peat Monster and lemon twist

Jezebel

1.5 hendricks
1 banks rum
.5 cocchi americano
.5 dolin dry
dash of angostura orange bitters
stir, coupe/martini/up, lemon twist

Collo Rosso

1 appleton VX
3/4 old forester 101
3/4 carpano antica
1/2 campari
stir, dbl rocks, rocks, orange twist

La Sonámula

1.5 jalapeño infused jimador blanco tequila
1 lemon juice
3/4 chamomile syrup
2 dash peychaud
shake, coupe/martini/up, thyme sprig garnish (optional)

Bramble On!

The Bramble is known as a popular drink in the UK where bartender Dick Bradcell created it (according to the folks at The Wikitender), but it is based on a much older Jerry Thomas recipe from the 1860's called the Gin Fix. Basically its a combination of lemon, sugar, gin, crushed ice, berry syrup (or liqueur in the Bramble) with seasonal berries. This is a perfect early summer drink and goes down so well in a variety of forms.

At Fort Defiance we make a version called the Warwick Bramble that uses local black current liqueur from the Warwick Valley. Last year Damon from Prime Meats had a Tequila Bramble on the menu using a tasty reposado.

Using the oaky quality of the Luna Sueno Anjeo, I make my Agave Bramble with fresh black berries and raspberries, lemon and agave nectar for sweetness. I guess it is technically closer to a Fix since I like to keep things simple and paired down to showcase the spirit. But if you have some good berry liqueur hanging around, a floater of it on top couldn't hurt!

If you would like to try my Bramble, I will be serving them tonight at a free tasting at Best Cellars on Broadway between 80th and 81st from 5-8pm.

Bramble on!

Agave Bramble
2 oz Luna Sueno Anejo
1 oz fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz Agave Nectar
2 raspberries
1 blackberry

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain and serve in a rocks glass over cracked ice. Garnish with some more fresh berries and lemon wheel.

What Would Jesus Drink?

I remember fondly one Easter spent with my Dad when we lived in the West Village. We were thinking after spending 3 days in a tomb, he might be a touch peckish. So what would Jesus eat? Well some hummus, or course! So we headed to a Middle Eastern restaurant on the corner of Carmine and Bedford and had ourselves a feast. That space later became the 2nd round of Shopins and is now Market Table. I could be a restaurant anthropologist. I love charting the resurrections

Tonight, waiting for a dear friend in another beautiful historic neighborhood, Brooklyn Heights, I strolled around and looked in on some new and old restaurants. Nice to see Noodle Pudding still packed on a Saturday night. I have some fond memories there.

As I peeked in at Jack the Horse (not as busy tonight) I was drawn into the warm glow of the roman Catholic Church having its Easter Mass. The Priest greeted me with a lovely smile and wished me a happy Easter. I went inside to admire the Romanesque style church and enjoy the swelling beautiful music of the organist.

I got to take home a bottle of Holy Water too. I wonder if it would be OK if I used a drop or two in a cocktail tonight? That can't be too bad. After all, Jesus was fond of the wine. All of his followers were too..."Look Jesus! A puddle! Look!"

While we prefer to more Pagan symbols of this very heathen holiday, (Fertility! Lets do it like Bunnies!) the glorious joy at the Resurrection in this church reminded me that the ideal Easter Cocktail is probably the Corpse Reviver.

The Corpse reviver is actually a whole category of drinks that were considered morning "eye-openers" after a rough night out. They usually involve a spirit, bitters and juice, perfect for the morning, no? I even crerated on myself back in 2007 called the Corpse Reviver No 33. Harry Craddock the master mixologist said Corpse Revivers are “to be taken before 11 a.m., or whenever steam and energy are needed." Jesus needed some steam, no doubt.

The most famous is most certainly the Corpse Reviver No. 2. But The Corpse Reviver No 1 is tasty too. Especially the version cooked up by Belfast-born Joe Gilmore, the legendary barman at the Savoy Hotel from 1955-1976. Something to try, you Fernet Junkies.

Savoy Corpse Reviver

1 oz Brandy
1 oz Fernet Branca
1 oz White Creme de menthe

Combine in a shaker with cracked ice; shake and strain.

Corpse Reviver No 2

3/4 ounce gin.
3/4 ounce Cointreau.
3/4 ounce Lillet blanc.
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice.
2 dashes Absinthe

Combine in a shaker with cracked ice; shake and strain.
Garnish with a stemless cherry.

The Corpse Reviver no 33
3/4 oz Irish whiskey
3/4 oz Irish Mist
3/4 oz Cointreau
Dash Orange bitters

Combine in a shaker with cracked ice; shake and strain.
Flamed orange peel garnish

The Empire Room

Right across the street from the Irish pub famous for being "The Bar That Banned Danny Boy" is the entrance to the latest throwback to the golden age of cocktails. The Empire Room in the Empire State Building may have been a former post office, but the cocktail palace has been outfitted in retro art deco splendor. The circle theme in the newly restored lobby are echoed in the decor; on the carpet, circular cozy bar stools and even mammic lighting fixtures. And the C shape of the bar would make Stephen Colbert proud.

Lux chandeliers with teardrop crystals and mirrored back bar help light up the room. As did the flashing lights from the Fire Marshall's tests of the alarm system. Yes, it is opening day and there are some kinks that still need to be worked out. But the staff, dapper barkeeps in white jackets, vests and ties and beautiful hostess gals in black dresses and pearls, were eager to serve up classic cocktails. But I have to say, hearing the New Yawk-ese of the Fire Marshall announcing that this was only a test, was a fun reminder of the real working class roots that created this historic building in the first place.

I have always been partial to the Deco masterpiece that is the Chrysler Building and have heard tales of the glorious state of decay that the fabled Cloud Room is in. But that room is still a myth to me. The mad men behind the Cambell Apartment have brought The Empire Room to reality. And in the cocktail wasteland that is mid-town, it is a welcome addition. In fact, last year during a Mad Men sponsored promotion, my Cocktail Daddy (and new Daddy, Ross) and I were sorely disappointed with the weak cocktail lists at supposed "New York Cocktail rooms".

So lets get to the drinks. I started with The Astor, a tasty mix of Bombay Sapphire Gin, lemon and orange juice, Batavia Arrack and sencha tea. The orange juice was fresh squeezed, but overpowered the rest of the ingredients in the drink. Still a tasty concoction, maybe with a different gin, or a lighter hand with the juice. My poor flamed orange peel got scorched and did not make a pretty presentation, but this seemed like another opening day kink that will work itself out.

Honoring the sacred Prohibition Gin, there are many gin cocktails on the menu and each uses a different gin. My second cocktail highlighted the particular gin better. The Empire, the signature drink of the room, is made with Bluecoat Gin, orange liqueur, raspberry-orange marmalade and topped with champagne. I overheard a bartender telling a customer it was sweet, and mine was. Especially was since he forgot to add the champagne. But while I contemplated asking him if he forgot it, he made another one and rushed over to my glass (I thoughtfully made room by taking a few sips) and filled it to the brim with tasty bubbles. To be fair, the proper glassware, a larger glass to warrant the $16 price tag, was MIA, but again it was the first day. The twirly whirly peel garnish was gorgeous on this drink. In fact all the garnish looked beautiful. I was disappointed that there was not nicer tools, however. The bar napkins were thin, the picks were branded with a vodka and there is no cold draft ice here. Perhaps I have become a snob about these things, but these are the little touches that make some other bars so special. And since the environment is a big factor in The Empire Room, I'd like to see that Deco lux across the board. Especially if I am paying $14 a cocktail.

Another thing missing opening day was the food. Truffled popcorn, sliders and other popular bars snacks will all be available soon. Oh hum..I guess I'll have to go back. Twist my arm.

The kinks are minor and I look forward to trying some other classics on the menu soon with my dashing Cocktail Daddy! I love me a nice Bramble and their berries look luscious. Its certainly a nice place for a midtown after work drink.

Wear something nice and shiny, sweetheart. Something that shows off yer figure!

"Off The Menu-The Empire Room"
[NY Times]

Gin, Sin and Men

I have to quote the great LeNell in my post title because, yes, I have been distracted by all of the above and neglecting my poor blog. Well, actually its more like work getting in the way and that is a sin 'cuz I got no time for men!

With the stretch of good weather we have been having I have been trying to take advantage and sell some rum and tequila for Mojito and Margarita season on the horizon! Also with this great weather I have been riding the bike around a lot (Bike butt!) and want to use it on some sales calls. Can you see me with saddlebags on my bike full of booze? Literally "pedaling" my wares...Har har har. But seriously, how else am I gonna get to Red Hook?

But if there is one thing true in my post title, it would be the Gin. Yesterday Beefeater and Plymouth hosted a Gin Symposium in the beautiful Great Room of the W Hotel in Union Square. I have so much to write about, and shall, once I get a free moment to translate my scribbly notes.

In the meantime, its raining now, my bike butt hurts and I have to go out sell and then have Bar Celona all to myself. So come visit! I will be your waitress/bar wench..and I have some nice new gin cocktails! Perfect for Tuesday night Sinnin'!

Three Centuries of Gin

Pineapple Julep

Last week during the Snowpocalypse 3.0, the Summit Bar hosted a Fish n' Chips n' Sips event honoring 300 years of Gin cocktails. Plymouth, Beefeater and Beefeater 24 each took on a century's worth of classic Gin cocktails. Dashing barmen Simon Ford, Chris Patino and Jamie Gordon were our tour guides through 300 years of classic Gin Cocktails.

I decided to go chronologically and start with Mr. Ford in the 19th Century. Plymouth Gin was used as it is the oldest gin in this pantheon. I like Plymouth because it has a nice light, clean flavor. When playing Bartender's Choice at a local watering hole in NYC, they will often ask what spirit and if your prefer it shaken (with citrus) or stirred (boozy as hell). Well you can imagine RyeGirl often goes for a boozy Gin cocktail, and she usually gets served the Bijou. Its one of those equal parts cocktails that can start to all taste the same after you have had a few...so take my word for it and do not have a few. Not only will everything taste the same, but your head will spin and you might end up in the gutter! Or at Gutter!

19th Century recipes

Bijou Cocktail
Source: Harry Johnson’s Bartenders Manual 1888
1 Part Plymouth™ Gin
1 Part Dry Vermouth
1 Part Green Chartreuse
1 Dash of Orange Bitters

Stir with shaved ice and strain into a cocktail glass (preferably a coup). Garnish with a cherry and a squeeze of lemon peel for the oils.

Twitter: #Bijou

The Next Drink Mr. Ford served up was from a gorgeous flowing punch bowl. It was called a Pineapple Julep. That the same and the sweet light taste immediately led me to thinking about The Kentucky Derby. To be honest, if a Mint Julep is not made proper-like, I can only stomach one of the Classic Derby drinks. But this Julep I could see myself drinking all day long while I saunter about in my Derby hat. This might be a great punch to have backstage for all up special VIP's at the Boyd's Kentucky Derby party this year.

Pineapple Julep
Source: Jerry Thomas 1862 (Served as a punch)
4 Parts Plymouth™ Gin

4 Parts Raspberry Syrup
4 Parts Maraschino Liqueur
4 Parts Fresh Orange Juice
1 Bottle of Sparkling Wine

Peel, slice and cut pineapple into a glass bowl, add the juice of two oranges, raspberry syrup, maraschino, Plymouth™ Gin, a bottle of sparkling wine and a pound of ice; mix and orname

nt with seasonal berries and serve in a flat glass.

Twitter: #PineappleJulep

Once we get into the 20th century, Cocktails begin to take on a familiar shape. They all become strange variations of the Manhattan and its accompanying Boroughs. The Income Tax below is a Sweet Vermouth version of The Bronx. And yes, Virginia, there was a Brooklyn, a Toronto, even a Red Hook during this time as well! I can totally see my Great Grandfather

sipping on this cocktail while waiting for my Great Grandmother. They met at the Waldorf-Astoria and worked there when Johnnie Solon did. Maybe that is why my Gramps was heavy in the sweet vermouth in his Manhattans.

20th Century recipes

The Income Tax Cocktail
Source: Johnnie Solon, Waldorf-Astoria early 1900’s

1 ½ Parts Beefeater® London Dry Gin
½ Part Sweet Vermouth
½ Part Dry Vermouth
1 Part Fresh Orange Juice
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice. Shake and strain. Garnish with an orange twist.

Twitter: #IncomeTax

The Last Word is another great equal parts classic cocktail and one of my favorites. A version with Rye is on the back on my business card. I have been told that that is the Final Ward since Phil Ward liked to make that drink. But create it? Mr. Patino shrugged. If we have learned anything from our extreme cocktail geekdom, it is that there are a million versions and variations on everything. Somebody may have slapped a name on it, or maybe they just called it a Last Word with Rye. Go to Mud Puddle books and find out for yourself!

The Last Word
Source: Frank Fogarty, Detroit Athletic Club 1920s
¾ Part Beefeater® London Dry
¾ Part Lime Juice
¾ Part Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
¾ Part Green Chartreuse

Combine all ingredients in mixing glass. Add ice. Shake and strain. Garnish with a maraschino

cherry.

Twitter: #LastWord

Jamie Gordon took us headfirst into the 21st century with some loves aromatic cocktails that played with the new foodie obsession that out society is going through now. Spices that compliment or enhance the Gin's botanical and fresh seasonal ingredients are clearly the way of the 21st century. The Beefeater 24 even has three additional botanicals added; two teas (Japanese sencha and Chinese green) and grapefruit peel.

London's Indeed Calling

21st Century Recipes

London’s Calling
Source: Jamie Gordon, 2010
2 Parts Beefeater 24™
2 Parts Paprika-Infused Fresh Pink Grapefruit Juice
1 Part Chardonnay Honey Syrup*
2 Dashes Lemon Bitters

*To make chardonnay honey syrup, use one part chardonnay, one part honey and one part water; then add in a few coriander seeds.

Shake and strain into a coup glass, and garnish with discarded zests of grapefruit and lemon.

Twitter: #LondonsCalling

Chamomileon Collins
Source: Jamie Gordon, 2010
1 ½ part Beefeater 24™
1 part Fresh Lemon juice
¾ part Chamomile Syrup*
Top Lavender Soda

*To make chamomile syrup, use one part strong chamomile tea and one part sugar.

Add Beefeater 24™, lemon juice, and chamomile syrup to a mixing glass and shake with ice. Pour over fresh ice into a highball glass, and top with lavender soda. Garnish with a lemon wedge and chamomile and lavender flower.

Twitter: #ChamCollins

Me and My Collins

We ended the night with cake and a birthday song for Mr. Jamie Gordon! And then headed into the blizzard, well fortified from the elements.

Here's to the 22nd century and all the pleasures Gin will bring us until then!