Do you remember my pickle pear liqueur, which turned out to really be called sickle pear liqueur?  Making fruit liquor is pretty easy. In Japan, when green plums (unripened plum) are available in June, many people make their own umeshu (plum wine). I know Mitsuwa market in New Jersey has the whole kit (plum, liquor, rock sugar and a jar) for a very very limited time in June, and I asked my colleague to check and see if they have it. He forgot, and now it’s already July, the season is over. Damn.

So I was walking through the Greenmarket the other day, and found green plums. They are definitely different from what is used in Japan, but I liked the color, and decided to tackle another batch of fruit liqueur. This time, this will be a New York State green plum liqueur.

As you can see, they are green, and although they look unripe, they are actually ripe. I researched around to see if I can make plum liquor with ripened plums, and there was some mention of, “you can also use ripen plums, which will be sweeter than regular plum wine”. Sounds good enough for me.

So I washed them, try to pick the belly button (which results in bitter aftertaste, apparently), and dumped them into a big jar.

No local Japanese grocery store had rock sugar (koori-sato), so I rented a Zipcar and went to Mitsuwa. I don’t know if the FDA has changed some regulation, but even Mitsuwa didn’t have rock sugar. I was pissed, but then saw brown rock sugar. I remembered that “brown sugar plum wine” is getting very good reviews in Japan.

I had no idea about the validity of using brown rock sugar, but I was like, what the hell, I need sweetness of sugar, brown or white, it’s the same difference.

So I had two pounds of plum, 300gram (1 package) of brown rock sugar, and magnum bottle (1.75 liters) of cheap vodka in a jar.  It looks a bit poopy.

Two days later, the liquid is very dark.

I will be able to drink this in the fall, and will let you know how good or bad it turns out.

Last week I wrote a post on the CKTL Jam event that took place at the Astor Center in NY, and I promised that this week I would share the recipe for the second of the two improv cocktails I created, as soon as I figured out what to call it. 

I still haven’t figured out what to call this drink, so rather than delay the post I decided to leave it up to you to come up with the drink’s name.  So take a gander at the ingredients (which are in keeping with this month’s theme of HOT HOT HEAT!), mix one up for yourself, and if inspiration strikes, drop a comment with your suggestion.

(Your Suggestion Here)
2 oz reposado tequila (I used Milagro)
1 oz fresh pineapple juice (strained)
2 barspoons fresh lime juice (about 2 tsp)
1 barspoon agave nectar
dash Worcestershire sauce
dash Sriracha sauce
top with ginger beer (Fever Tree is the way to go)

Tools: shaker, strainer
Glass: highball

Fill a highball glass with ice.  Pour everything except ginger beer in a shaker that’s also filled with plenty of ice.  Shake good and hard for at least 10 seconds to fully incorporate the Worcestershire and Sriracha.  Strain into your highball glass and enjoy. Garnish not necessary, but a straw might be.

One thing I highly suggest–which I forgot to do with the drink pictured–was to strain the pineapple juice so that you don’t get that foamy top layer, so you’ll have a drink that’s not as cloudy as mine. 

Unfortunately I don’t get paid for this so there aren’t any official prizes involved if you suggest the best name.  But if I do pick your suggestion, in addition to receiving a truckload of my gratitude, I’ll buy you a drink if you’re ever in the NYC area–how’s that?

Before I leave you to your cocktail mixing and brainstorming, note that next week I will be in New Orleans for the world’s most celebrated annual mixology-fest called Tales of the Cocktail where I’ll be providing daily dispatches from the various seminars, tastings, and of course, parties.  So from July 21-25–if all goes well and I’m not drunk off my keester–look for short and sweet Happy Hour updates on all the goings on (or at least on what I’m doing). 

For those not familiar with Tales, let’s just say it’s what happens when the cocktail universe simultaneously orgasms. Cheers!

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below.

Campari Soda is the perfect summer drink, especially when you’re sweltering in the Middle East like I am right now! The bottle suggests you mix 2/3 Campari to 1/3 soda water, which I think is undrinkable. (I mean, I like bitter, but come on!)

A jigger of Campari, a bunch of ice and fill your glass with club soda. Enjoy!

*Erin Gleeson is a food photographer based in NYC, spending a month in Israel this summer. See her work at www.eringleeson.com

As I mentioned last week, the theme here all month long is HOT HOT HEAT! And judging by the mercury-topping temperatures this week here in New York, it appears Mother Nature keeps up with this blog, because she’s definitely doing her part to keep the theme as relevant as possible.

But unlike all the whiny crybabies out there complaining that summer’s too hot (the same folks that complain winter’s too cold) I’m all for it. The higher the temperature and humidity, the better. In fact, I only complain about the heat in three scenarios: 1) If I’m stuck indoors, 2) If I’m stuck in the subway station, and 3) If I’m stuck behind the exhaust pipe of a bus.

Otherwise I got no problem if the heat’s coming directly from nature, like say, the sun. But maybe that’s because I’m colored–or as my friends joke, because I’m from the desert. Besides, there’s no better reason to grab an refreshing ice-cold beverage than when it’s stank hot, so let’s get down to it–but first, the CKTL Jam which took place at Astor Center last week.

Recently Pipeline Brands began holding a series of semi-annual events called CKTL Jam, which is basically a night of improv mixology, where bartenders jump behind the stick and jam out with an array of fresh ingredients and mixers, along with individual spirits from the Pipeline portfolio that each bartender is assigned (you can see a video of the first CKTL Jam here).

This time around, the NY Chapter of the US Bartenders’ Guild provided the mixologists, and yours truly got a chance to get behind the bar and flex some freestyle mixology.

Hal Wolin of A Muddled Thought reppin’ hard for the USBG!

Maxwell Britten, who tends bar at Freemans, jams out…

Every hour three different bartenders got behind the bar and mixed up drinks for the thirsty crowd using the available ingredients.  I was assigned Scorpion Mezcal, and when it was my turn to get busy, I came up with two cocktails, one I call the Cherry Pepper Margarita, and the other that’s yet unnamed, which I’ll share next week when it’s properly Christened.

Cherry Pepper Margarita
2 oz tequila blanco
1 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz agave nectar
6 pitted cherries
6 slices bell pepper
kosher salt for rim

Tools: muddler, shaker, strainer
Glass: chilled cocktail coupe

First moisten the outside rim of your glass with a piece of lime and dip it in the salt.  Then add the cherries and bell pepper together in the shaker and muddle well to extract the juices of both.  Add the remaining ingredients along with plenty of ice and shake well and hard, for at least 10 seconds.  Strain into your glass and drink up.

I’ll be honest, I was pretty nervous about the drinks I created because I didn’t have an opportunity to test them before serving, so I had to trust how they tasted in my head. Combining ingredients as varied as cherries and bell peppers would be either absolutely disgusting or divine; still, I figured the greater the risk, the greater the reward, and luckily in the end it all worked out as folks seemed to enjoy both drinks.

Hopefully by next week I’ll have a name for the other creation and I’ll be able to share it with you. I’ll give you a little hint: it’s got Sriracha.

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below.

Admittedly, I’ve always had a much easier time coming up with cocktails than coming up with names for cocktails. But every now and then, after concocting something I consider worthy of sharing with you all (you should see the pile of cocktail recipes that didn’t make the cut), a fitting name reveals itself without too much undue fuss.

Today’s cocktail is called the Literary Agent.  It is a cross between a Whisky Sour and a Hemingway Daiquiri (not just one of my favorite summer cocktails, but one I like to tinker with quite often), with a Japanese twist and a bit of history which provide context for the drink’s name.

Writer, adventurer, ravenous drinker, hunter, early supporter-turned-critic of Fidel Castro, exuder of much machismo, and all around man’s man and true bon vivant–these are all the various adjectives and aspects of Ernest Hemingway’s life that most recall when describing the man.  But there’s one more aspect that’s lesser known, and has only come to light in the last few years, that during the early years of World War II Hemingway served as a U.S. spy in Asia, working for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services, pre-cursor of the CIA) at the request of President Roosevelt.  Under the guise of a honeymoon with his third wife, journalist Martha Gellhorn–a respected literary figure in her own right–the two were charged with the task of reporting back on the developing war between China and Japan.

Both Hemingway and Gellhorn were well known by that time, so they certainly wouldn’t have been able to do anything undercover, but therein may have lied the logic and genius of the idea.  Perhaps their high profile more easily enabled them to gain access to Asian dignitaries. And few could argue against Papa Hemingway’s charm, not to mention he was probably a really good drinking buddy, two very useful traits in the art of eliciting secrets.

Literary Agent
1 1/2 oz Yamazaki 12 yr whisky
3/4 oz yuzu juice (I used Yuzu Passion)
3/4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 oz rich muscovado syrup (2:1 ratio of muscovado sugar to water)
1/4 oz Maraschino liqueur
grapefruit twist

Tools: shaker, strainer
Glass: chilled cocktail glass or coupe

Place ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker and shake like the Kuomintang in the presence of the Red Army–or at least until the shaker is well-chilled and frosted.  Strain into your glass and twist the grapefruit peel over and into the drink.

For the uninitiated, yuzu is a variety of Asian citrus that’s thought to be a cross between the mandarin orange and the Ichang lemon, both native to East Asia.  For the sake of easy comparison, it’s most similar to a lemon, yet much more tart and sharp, with a very slight tinge of sweetness.

Although I normally eschew using pre-bottled juices in favor of freshly squeezing your own, an exception has to be made in the case of yuzu, as the fresh variety is rather difficult to come by.  Even a trip to NY’s Chinatown is hit or miss.  The one thing to keep in mind when purchasing bottled yuzu juice is that not all bottled yuzu juices are equal.  Even quality aside, many have added salt, which is not what you want, at least not in this cocktail.  Yuzu Passion is a good brand to look for, and is pure yuzu juice and nothing else.

Cheers, and see you next week, as the theme all month at Umamimart will be HOT HOT HEAT!  Think cocktails that both refresh you from the heat and tingle your tongue.

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below.

Summer is here! Not much goes better with the warm weather then a cold crisp refreshing beer. Each time this season comes around I get excited to brew some of the styles that help cut the heat. Lighter pale ales, Belgian whites, and blondes. To me, there has always been one style missing from this picture though– the nice clean pilsner.

But this presents a problem: a pilsner is a lager and thus, pretty difficult to pull off for the average homebrewer. Lagers need to be fermented at 45-55°F and since most do not keep their home that cool, it makes temperature control challenging. Without the extra space for a 3rd refrigerator in my apartment, I decided to take a different approach to achieve a similar flavor with a more manageable process.

Instead of going against the grain and fighting mother nature, I decided to try to make an ale (which ferments at 65-70°F) with the same flavors and body as a pilsner.  The first step was to visit the homebrew store and come up with a recipe. With some help from my friends at SF Brewcraft I was on my way.

I started with the same grains as a pilsner recipe would use (2.5 pounds Vienna, and 1/2 pound oats) for a partial mash. Then 5 pounds of light malt and an additional pound of dextrose to lighten the body. The recipe is smoothly hopped with Czech Saaz hops for bittering and finished with German Spalt hops at the end of the boil for a spicy pungent aroma.

I completed the boil this Sunday and its already fermenting away. In 6 weeks or so I will report back and let you know how the recipe went!

- C

For a long time I’ve been hounding my local wine merchant, T.B. Ackerson, to stock some vermouths in order to save me the constant pilgrimage to Manhattan’s Astor Wines, which is one of the few places that stocks a variety of quality vermouths–and I go through a fair amount of vermouth rather quickly.  My neighborhood is sort of up and coming (though it hasn’t completely up and came yet) so understandably they were hesitant to stock an item they didn’t consider popular among the residents in the neighborhood. I’ll just go ahead and say it, my neighborhood sucks when it comes to cocktail places.

So I was pleasantly surprised during a visit a few weeks ago to discover that my wine guy not only finally stocked vermouth, but decided to stock an obscure brand from Catalonia that  up until recently was unavailable in the U.S.  The brand is called Perucchi, and despite making vermouth in Spain since 1886, has been available in the states for less than a year.  Needless to say, I picked up both the offerings, a white and red, and trotted home eager to try my new find.

It’s not often that I do product reviews here, or dedicate an entire post to one product, as I like to leave that sort of thing to other bloggers–and there are plenty of them who do it well.  But an exception is merited here, first because the product is so good, and second because it’s so different from other vermouths.

My modus operandi for evaluating spirits (besides tasting it by itself) is to see how they perform in the cocktails that you’d quintessentially find them in.  So in the case of sweet vermouth, the Manhattan and the Negroni come to mind. For white vermouth, the Martini (gin, never vodka, though I shouldn’t have to mention this) is the standard bearer. But before I get into the cocktails, a few tasting notes are in order.

Normally white vermouth is referred to as dry vermouth, and red vermouth as sweet.  Well, normal is not how I would describe either the white or red Perucchi vermouths, and thus I won’t refer to them as dry and sweet vermouth, because neither fits neatly in either category.

Upon first blush, I was surprised to find that the white vermouth was not at all dry as I anticipated.  In fact, it was more like a cross between a dry vermouth and an aperitif wine like Lillet.  As a vermouth it more closely resembled a blanco style than the more common dry style of vermouth–a silky texture, golden-hue, more spicy and floral, less herbal.  Ginger and honey was immediately apparent on the palate, with slight traces of herb and orange blossom on the finish. I couldn’t wait for the Martini test.

The red vermouth was no less surprising–in fact, I won’t call the red vermouth a sweet vermouth either because the white was actually a bit sweeter.  The red tasted like a sweet vermouth-Campari hybrid–bittersweet, profoundly earthy, and slightly reminiscent of Dubonnet Rouge, with a tannic finish not unlike chewing on fresh tobacco leaves.  Manhattan here I come!

And now the cocktails which I consider essential to evaluating vermouths…

Martini Perucchi
3 oz gin (used Bluecoat)
1 oz Vermouth Perucchi white
2 dashes orange bitters (used Regan’s)
Lemon twist

In a mixing glass filled with ice, stir the ingredients until well-chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist (works better than an olive here).

Imagine a Martini lightly kissed by lush fruit and laced with an essence of ginger, and you have a close approximation of this cocktail.  It’s great for introducing vodka drinkers to a real Martini (a Kangaroo cocktail, by the way, is the name for a so-called Vodkatini).  The flavor profile of the vermouth so nicely complements the botanicals in gin that it essentially acts as a stepping stone to finer drinking, ie, leaving the vodka behind.

Negroni Perfecto
1 oz gin (again, Bluecoat)
3/4 oz Vermouth Perucchi red
3/4 oz Vermouth Perucchi white
1/4 oz Campari
Flamed orange for garnish

In a mixing glass filled with ice, stir the ingredients until well-chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Cut a piece of orange peel, warm it briefly with a match or lighter, then flame it by squeezing it over the drink while holding the lighter to it (may require a little practice). This should cause a brief flame burst which will caramelize the citrus oil as it falls into the drink.

In cocktail parlance, the term perfect refers to equal parts sweet and dry vermouths, or in this case, white and red vermouths. While a Negroni traditionally calls for 1 oz each of gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari, I’ve altered things a bit, to what I think is good effect.  The Perucchi red is already bitter, so I toned down the Campari and balanced it with a bit of the sweeter, honeyed notes of the Perucchi white.  Like the cocktail above it, it’s a good alternative to the standard Negroni, especially for those whose palates have not yet formed an embracing appreciation for Campari’s bitterness.  However, this is not a novice’s cocktail, as I believe it can really stand on its own as a veritable Negroni variant.

Manhattan Perfecto
2 oz rye whiskey (used Sazerac)
1/2 oz Vermouth Perucchi red
1/2 oz Vermouth Perucchi white
2 dashes orange bitters (used Bitter Truth)
Orange twist

In a mixing glass filled with ice, stir the ingredients until well-chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

This is basically a Perfect Manhattan using the Perucchi.  If you like your Manhattans a little lighter bodied and less austere but still silky, this is for you. The two vermouths combine with the rye to create flavors reminiscent of Fall’s first maple sap.  It’s floral on the finish, likely the work of the white vermouth,  while the red vermouth provides a woodsy kick that nicely complements the rye’s spice.  This is an excellent way to switch up your Manhattan routine.

These vermouths are so unique that there are at least a dozen or so variations on the above three cocktails that you could do, that I simply could not cover. 

If you can get these vermouths at your neighborhood wine or liquor store, I urge you to do so.  If they don’t carry it, urge them to do so, incessantly until they do.  If you live in Brooklyn, I urge you to go to T.B. Ackerson and buy from them, so they can continue to stock it.

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below.

This past Sunday I had rare the opportunity–via my cocktail consulting and event company, Life’s a Cocktail–to use the power of mixology to help the forces of good, serving up cocktails in the name of marriage equality as a vendor in the first ever Illegal Wedding Fair.  The event was held in an amazing West Village townhouse called 632 on Hudson (which notably housed MTV’s Real World 2001 cast), and featured a number of other wedding vendors willing to take a stand on this pressing issue. 

Umamimart’s own Erin Gleeson and Vanessa Bahmani also pitched in on the effort, both as co-organizers of the event and as vendors via their wedding photography company, E & V Weddings, where they set up their signature wedding photo booth featuring a vintage turn-of-the-century 8×10 camera.

The massive townhouse venue also has a basement ”speakeasy” space, which is where I was assigned to dish out my drinks.  Although the lack of air conditioning in the basement made it feel hotter than the Devil’s ass crack, which in turn wreaked havoc on my ice, I still managed to turn out a couple of crowd pleasers. 

I created two cocktails specially for the event.  I called one the Summer of Love (above right, pink), made with fresh strawberry-rhubarb puree, vodka, and seltzer.  The other I named the Gay Hemingway (above left, light golden color), which was a marriage equality-inspired variation on the Hemingway Daiquiri. It consists of vodka, fresh grapefruit juice, Lillet, apricot liqueur, and honey.  Initially my idea was to use a light rum in the Gay Hemingway, like the Hemingway Daiquiri itself, but Absolut was kind enough to sponsor with some bottles, so a switch was made at the last minute–and luckily, it worked fine.

Summer of Love
1 oz vodka
1  1/2 oz strawberry-rhubarb puree (recipe provided below)
1/2 barspoon fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 tsp)
seltzer to top

Combine the puree and vodka in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake hard and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with seltzer and stir. Serve with a straw if you have one on hand.

Strawberry-rhubarb puree
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, stemmed
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup boiling water
4 stalks rhubarb, sliced about 1/4-1/2 inch thick
1/4 tsp almond extract

Place strawberries, brown sugar, boiling water, and almond extract in a blender and puree until smooth and combined.  Pour into a square baking dish and add the rhubarb, stirring to assure even distribution.  Bake uncovered at 300˚ for about 40 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes to make sure the rhubarb cooks evenly.  Once the rhubarb has softened, remove from the oven and puree in a blender.  At this point you can allow the puree to cool and use as is (which is what I did) or strain it if you prefer a thinner consistency.

Gay Hemingway
2 oz vodka (can also be made with a light rum)
1 oz fresh grapefruit juice
3/4 oz Lillet Blanc
1/4 oz apricot liqueur (I used Rothman & Winters brand)
1/4 oz honey syrup (2 parts honey diluted in 1 part water)

Combine ingredients in an ice-filled shaker. Shake it like big Papa’s belly on a boat during a hurricane. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and enjoy. Then do as Hemingway would and have about 16 more.

Every now and then you’re fortunate enough to be a part of an event that matters beyond the dollars and cents, and this was one of those opportunities. And regardless of whether actual political change was made (it wasn’t), it was no less refreshing to see other like-minded businesses using their enterprise as a tool for progress.  Cheers!

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below.

**Photo credits: Erin Gleeson Photography and E&V Wedding Photography

After spending five months in Venice and frequenting countless wine bars and restaurants, Paradiso Perduto was the one I kept going back to. A neighborhood establishment that’s good for a drink, a snack, a meal, or an all day bender. A place where you felt like the bartenders would recognize you with a wink and a nod the next time you turned up (though often they didn’t).

The last Sunday I was in Venice, I decided to go for one final meal there. At sunset, a Venetian band covering American Blues music set up their stage up on a docked boat outside of the restaurant. The bassist wore a Reverend Horton Heat t-shirt, which was random and awesome, though that didn’t seem to influence on the song selection and people were dancing and singing along to familiar music.

Dinner is served at the tables inside or you can get a plate local of cicchetti (Venetian style tapas) along the bar.

The impressive spread here includes baccala montecato (whipped cod fish), roasted peppers, sardines with onions, anchovies, gamberini and polenta (small local shrimps), steamed mussels and garlic, roasted vegetables, and octopus and celery salad.

The octopus has a big presence at the bar.

Getting down to the brass tax: the drinks, the only one you need to order is the Spritz, which is a traditional Venetian cocktail of Aperol (orange liqueur and Prosecco). It’s served at Paradiso Perduto with an olive instead of the traditional slice of citrus.

It’s a perfect drink, light and refreshing, while still boozy. Campari or Aperol– bitter or sweet? I chose sweet, a small carafe of it, and enjoyed it with a few friends outside listening to the cover band while the lead singer forgot the chorus to Sam Cooke’s “Chemistry.” They also have cheap carafs of cask wine and a few beers on tap, but that’s all pretty much an afterthought once you have the spritz.

The chef/owner looks like a cross between a drunken Santa Claus  and the Swedish Chef from the Muppets.

He spent most of his night mingling with locals, watching the band and demanding drinks from his bartenders (all young, good looking ladies) disrupting the bar service, which is usually in a state of chaos. You forgive any of his flagrant behavior because he is such an awesome host, trying to keep the Venetian experience alive, before live music disappears from Venice altogether. (The majority of the population on Venice is elderly and conservative and noise violations are taken incredibly seriously, particularly if you have a liquor license).

The plan was to get dinner; on the menu that night was artichoke lasagna, whole grilled branzino, bigoli en salsa (an awesome dish with fresh pasta, anchovies and onions) and squid and polenta. But after we sat down, the police came to the restaurant due to some noise complaints and they shut the kitchen down. So we had to be content with the cicchetti and spritz, whether we liked it or not. And we were.

PARADISO PERDUTO
Fondamenta de la Misericordia, 2640
Venezia, Italia
+39 041 720581

Photographs by Thomas Young. THANKS!!!

*Sarah works in film production in sunny Los Angeles. After being away in Europe for five months, she is pretty much obsessed with burritos, sushi and Kogi at The Alibi Room in Culver City.

The New York City cocktail landscape is an everchanging one.  The proliferation of watering holes devoted to the craft of the cocktail doesn’t seem to be slowing down one bit, something I’m quite thankful for.  Just in the last month bars like Painkiller (tiki meets 70s NY punk), Cienfuegos (specializing in rum based punches), Casa Mezcal (the object of its devotion being obvious), and the Empire Room (art deco lounge at the foot of the Empire State Building) have sprouted to diversify the NY cocktail scene.

Last week I had the opportunity to check out the Empire Room and get behind the bar to lend a hand to fellow members of the US Bartenders’ Guild as they competed to see who could create the best gin-based aperitif cocktail.  The event was sponsored by Plymouth and Beefeater gins, and up for grabs for the top cocktail creator was the Meehan Bartender Bag, named after Jim Meehan, proprietor and bar man at PDT.  With a price tag over $600, you can bet the competition was fierce (don’t let those smiling faces fool you).

The three finalists (above from left to right) were Edward Henwood, Lindsay Nader of PDT, and Brian Matthys of Izakaya Ten (a place I’ve been neglecting to visit for far too long now).

The three top aperitif cocktails above, from left to right: Ship Rock (Henwood), Sakura Fest (Matthys), and the Noce Royale (Nader).

And now for your home mixing pleasure I’ve listed the recipes for each cocktail–with the exception of Mr. Henwood’s, whose recipe I’ve not been able to acquire, but will post if and when I get it.

Noce Royale (above right)
1 1/2 oz Beefeater Gin
1/2 oz Plymouth Sloe Gin
1/4 oz Nocino (walnut liqueur)
Moet Imperial Champagne to top

Pour everything except Champagne in a mixing glass with ice and stir until well chilled.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and top with a splash of Champagne.

Sakura Fest (above center)
1 oz Plymouth gin
1 oz Dolin dry vermouth
1 oz Dewazakura Oka ginjo sake (or similar aromatic ginjo sake)
1/4 Creme Yvette
1 barspoon (approx. tsp) Yuzu citrus juice (unsalted)
1 barspoon Agave nectar
Garnish: Luxardo maraschino cherry

Combine ingredients in shaker over ice (preferably large solid pieces) and shake ’til well chilled. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with cherry.

According to Brian, this apertif celebrates the coming of spring, which is respresented by the blooming of cherry blossoms (sakura) in Japan, and hence the name of the drink. It’s light and refreshing with a subtle complexity which is sure to engage the appetite.

And the winner was…

The Shiprock (above left)
2 ½ oz Plymouth Gin                      
2 or 3 leaves of sage (size dependent)
½ oz ginger syrup
½ oz of lemon juice             
1 drop Orange Blossom Water                                                                                                     

Bruise sage in shaker, then add the remaining ingredients along with ice; shake and strain into cocktail glass, and garnish with round twist of orange.

Yes, Mr. Henwood’s Ship Rock cocktail was the crowd’s favorite.  It was a tight vote but the Ship Rock edged out out the competition and helped its creator take home the coveted (and mad expensive but well worth it) Meehan Bar Bag.

I wonder if he’ll let me borrow it sometime…

Cheers!

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below.