Tools of the Trade, Part Two: the Graduated Beaker

Of all of my measuring tools I love my graduated beakers the most. Aesthetically it's the shape and look of them.  I have a hand blown and etched glass one similar to these as well as a few others I've collected along the way.  

In actuality they're very useful and all come with a pouring spout (or beak) that makes life far simpler. After so many years of admiring the aesthetic it's truly gratifying for me that I actually have to use them for my business. I am, after all, an apothecary.

These are my own tools - graduated beakers and a brass mortar and pestle.

I've always thought laboratory glassware made fantastic barware.

In fact, here I am serving cocktails with one here.

I've been making floral arrangements in them since the 80's.

Homemade Tonic Water and Mick Jagger

Cocktail Lab met again this past Friday, the gang of four women that concoct the heavenly cocktail recipes reported in this blog.  For this occasion I attempted to make homemade tonic water.  I had most of the ingredients for a recipe I'd read about over the winter and was able to cobble together the remaining ingredients.

The natural source of quinine is cinchona bark, a plant native to the tropical Andes and western South America, which I bought in it's powdered form from Dandelion Botanical Company.  According to Wikpedia, "The medicinal properties of the cinchona tree were originally discovered by the Quecua peoples of Peru and Bolivia, and long cultivated by them as a muscle relaxant to halt shivering due to low temperatures. The Jesuit Brother Agostino Salumbrino (1561–1642), an apothecary by training and who lived in Lima, observed the Quechua using the quinine-containing bark of the cinchona tree for that purpose. While its effect in treating malaria (and hence malaria-induced shivering) was entirely unrelated to its effect in controlling shivering from cold, it was nevertheless the correct medicine for malaria. The use of the “fever tree” bark was introduced into European medicine by Jesuit missionaries (Jesuit's bark). Jesuit Barnabé de Cobo (1582–1657), who explored Mexico and Peru, is credited with taking cinchona bark to Europe. He brought the bark from Lima to Spain, and afterwards to Rome and other parts of Italy, in 1632. After Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Jesuit missionaries were the first to bring the Jesuit's bark cinchona compound to Europe in 1632."

The recipe called for a stalk of lemongrass which I was unable to find.  In it's stead I dipped a toothpick in lemongrass oil and swirled it around in the pot.  A drop would have been too much so in this way I was better able to control the amount used.  Another option would have been to dilute the oil in alcohol and use that by the drop.

The recipe also called for citric acid which I didn't have but after looking around the internet I learned that lemon juice is often substituted for it.

Homemade Tonic Water

1 lemon

1 lime

2 cups of water

2 teaspoons of cinchona bark

1 1/4 teaspoons citric acid (or the juice of one lemon)

1 stalk lemongrass (or a toothpick dipped in lemongrass oil)

1 1/2 cups sugar

Zest the lemon and lime and place in a saucepan, making sure not to include the bitter pith.  Juice lemon and lime and add juice to saucepan, along with water, cinchona bark, citric acid powder, lemongrass, and sugar. Bring to a boil on high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let mixture steep for 20 minutes.  Allow the mixture to cool and strain through paper coffee filters.  If I'd known better I would have bought the bark in it's raw rather than powdered form to make it easier to filter.  Prepare to wait about eight hours for it to completely filter.  Put in a clean glass jar or bottle and refrigerate.  It makes about a cup and a half of syrup.  The ratio for creating the tonic water is one part tonic syrup to four parts carbonated water.

The day we met was the occasion of the 70th birthday of the premier frontman of rock and roll, Mick Jagger.  I heard on the news that day that Mick keeps in shape with yoga and pilates, runs sprints, dances as much as he can and goes to bed early - 2am.  I think Mick owes much of his success (besides paring with Keith) to the fact that he never really overdid it.  He never became a drunk or a drug addict, never over-indulged.  I read in Pattie Boyd's lovely memoir, "Wonderful Tonight", that after a particularly wild party at Friar Park (the estate she shared with George Harrison) she woke up the next morning, hungover and bleary, to find Mick up washing the dishes before he headed out for a run.

In this spirit we've created a drink deserving of Sir Mick - something not too potent and particularly refreshing on a hot summer eve.

The Mick Jagger

3 ounces tonic syrup

2 ounces grapefruit flavored vodka

12 ounces seltzer

Grapefruit vodka is pretty easy to make.  Simply zest the rind of a pink grapefruit and add to two cups of plain vodka, let sit one month and strain.

By the way, the very next night I made up a batch to bring to the Prospect Park bandshell to see another premier frontman of classic rock, Robert Plant.  Mr. Plant is another that maintained his composure during the turbulant 60's and 70's and has the pipes to prove it.  Bravo!

The Bitters Experiment

After macerating for over six weeks I finally decanted my bitters and have been enjoying them in seltzer and cocktails.  I recently had a delicious Manhattan using Woodland Bitters, the brew adding a woodsy complexity to the libation.  I think the Cherry Hazelnut are my favorite and I look forward to another Manhattan using it.

Cherry Hazelnut Bitters

1/2 cup lightly toasted and skinned hazelnuts
1/2 cup dried tart or sour cherries
2 tablespoons devil's club root
1/2 teaspoon schizandra berries
1/2 teaspoon wild cherry bark
1/2 teaspoon cinchona bark
1/2 teaspoon cassia chips
1/4 teaspoon chopped dried orange peel
3 star anise
2 cups 101-proof bourbon, or more as needed

Macerate six weeks and decant.   The original recipe (taken from Brad Thomas Parsons wonderful book, "Bitters") suggests decanting after two weeks and retaining the solids to be boiled in one cup of water over high heat and returning the filtered water into the original brew.  He also suggests adding 2 tablespoons of rich syrup.  I found these extra steps tedious so just left it to macerate longer and I'm quite happy with the results.

Making Bitters

Edible Brooklyn, in their recent alcohol issue, said that everyone in Brooklyn has to make bitters, it's one of the rules.  It's true that I know an inordinate amount of people who make bitters (and beer, mead, hot sauce, play the ukelele, the accordion, etc.).  Bitters are a Very Big Thing in these parts and they're taken very seriously.

Traditionally they're considered medicine and used as a digestive tonic for the occasional upset of overeating.  In the Victorian era they found their way into cocktails.  Once the Manhattan was invented they were assured their place in every bartender's arsenal.

After doing a bit of research online I found a few recipes I wanted to try.  I was recommended to try the Dandelion Botanical Company for my bittering herbs and flavoring agents (I would also recommend Mountain Rose Herbs).  My intention was to follow a few recipes and then continue to experiment on my own.  The primary bittering herb is gentian root, the stuff that made Angostura so famous.  I also purchased chinchona bark, the principal ingredient in creating tonic water (another experiment for later), sarasparilla, devil's club root, black walnut leaf and wild cherry bark.  (The catalog had other things I just couldn't resist ordering including sandalwood powder, patchouli leaf and osmanthus flowers - yet another project).

The recipe I settled on, amongst others, was Woodland Bitters.  I loved the idea of the earthy devil's club root with wild cherry bark and toasted nuts.  I also made a classic Angostura style bitters as well as Cherry Hazelnut Bitters.  If I didn't think I'd be inundated with bitters for the rest of my life I'd be experimenting with many variations (figs, citrus, cranberry, wormwood, etc.), and it's nowhere near Christmas where I could at least hand them out as presents.

              Woodland Bitters

1. 2 cups overproof bourbon (such as Wild Turkey 101)
2. 1 cup pecans, toasted
3. 1 cup walnuts, toasted
4. 4 cloves
5. Two 3-inch cinnamon sticks
6. 1 whole nutmeg, cracked
7. 1 vanilla bean, split
8. 2 tablespoons devil's club root
9. 1 tablespoon cinchona bark
10. 1 tablespoon chopped black walnut leaf
11. 1 tablespoon wild cherry bark
12. 1/2 teaspoon cassia chips
13. 1/2 teaspoon gentian root
14. 1/2 teaspoon sarsaparilla root
15. 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1. In a 1-quart glass jar, combine all of the ingredients except the syrup. Cover and shake well. Let stand in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks, shaking the jar daily.
2. Strain the infused alcohol into a clean 1-quart glass jar through a cheesecloth-lined funnel. Squeeze any infused alcohol from the cheesecloth into the jar; reserve the solids. Strain the infused alcohol again through new cheesecloth into another clean jar to remove any remaining sediment. Cover the jar and set aside for 1 week.
3. Meanwhile, transfer the solids to a small saucepan. Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes; let cool completely. Pour the liquid and solids into a clean 1-quart glass jar. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 week, shaking the jar once daily.
4. Strain the water mixture through a cheesecloth-lined funnel set over a clean 1-quart glass jar; discard the solids. If necessary, strain again to remove any remaining sediment. Add the infused alcohol and the syrup. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 3 days. Pour the bitters through a cheesecloth-lined funnel or strainer and transfer to glass dasher bottles. Cover and keep in a cool, dark place.

So far my bitters have been aging for a little over four weeks.  I think I'll skip parts 3 and 4 and just let them macerate for four weeks and strain thoroughly before adding a bit of water and maple syrup.

Elderflower Liqueur

I posted during the summer about my forays into making elderflower liqueur.  Since then the macerated vodka has been sitting on a shelf waiting for me to pay some attention to it and turn it into a liqueur.  I had nearly a wine bottle full of elderflower vodka and a small bottle of St.-Germain to compare and contrast with my creation.

At the onset the macerated elderflower vodka that I made has a dankness to it, a very green note, one that would lock with clary sage, or lavender absolute.  At first I thought it was a honeyed note that was missing so I sweetened a small batch with Lancaster County, PA, honey.  The dankness in the honey locked with that of the elderflower so that experiment was set aside.

The second experiment I sweetened with white sugar.  In the past I've used raw cane crystals instead of sugar but they add a slight mollasses flavor to the brew, as well as an unpleasant dark colored slimy layer that floats to the top of the bottle as it clarifies.  I'm hoping for a better result with white sugar.

After doing a bit more research in elderflower liqueur I noticed that most of the recipes call for lemons or lemon rinds during maceration, often recommending meyer lemons.  Last winter I made meyer lemon vodka so I did a little tweaking with it.  I also took a look at my collection of perfume oils and decided on four notes to be added;  yuzu, wild sweet orange, neroli and peru balsam.  I made 10% solutions of each oil and added them one or two drops at a time.

Also in my research I learned that most people make an elderflower syrup and then add alcohol to produce a liqueur.  I confirmed this yesterday with a Swiss friend who explained to me how this was done in her country.  Some of the recipes I read also called for fresh lemon balm.

Many trials later I've come up with something I think is truly worth sipping.  I even "fixed" the first and second versions and bottled them separately.  The recipe is a little rough but I think I have a much firmer idea of how to proceed next season.  In the meantime I think a cocktail of elderflower liqueur and champagne would be perfect for the holidays.

Elderflower Liqueur

2 3/4 cups elderflower vodka

1/8 cup meyer lemon vodka

scant 3/4 cup sugar

5/8 cups water

13 drops yuzu dilution, 10%

15 drops peru balsam dilution, 10%

4 drops neroli bigarade dilution, 10%

6 drops wild sweet orange dilution, !0%

Making Elderflower Liqueur

Elderflowers macerating in vodka

A few years ago elderflower became the new darling of the artisanal cocktail explosion.  It was hard following up something as popular as yuzu but those people at St-Germain know what's good.  Elderflower liqueur has been on every mixologist's short list in recent past, specifically St-Germain.  I was astonished to discover that this strange, subtlety flavored libation is a new invention and not the ancient tradition their advertising campaign would have you believe.

Elderflowers grow all over Prospect Park and another artisanal cocktail enthusiast told me that he'd made his own liqueur from the flowers in the park.  I made a point of getting together with another friend, a local forager and farmer, to hunt for the blossoms.  Armed with wildflower guides we set out and identified plenty of look a likes but came home empty handed.  A second foray found what we were looking for.

I've read that the flowers must be picked in the morning when they're at their most fragrant, and that they should be used within two hours of picking.  The stems are toxic and undesirable so the flowers were cut from the stem and placed in a wide mouth jar.  When the jar was full I covered the flowers in vodka and capped it.  I'd also read that the flowers will float to the top, and that the flowers that come in contact with air would turn brown.  The flavor is not altered, it's just not very appetizing, so I placed a clean lid from a slightly smaller jar upside down on top of the flowers to weigh them down under the vodka.  Every day I removed the second jar lid and shook the jar, then replaced the lid.

I macerated the blossoms for a little over a month.  Each day when I shook it I would compare the aroma with the small bottle of St-Germain that I have.  It was only in the last week or so that I began to notice a similarity, prior to that I was wondering if I had the wrong genus.  I find a honey note in St-Germain so now that it's been strained, like many of my other herbal liqueurs, it's waiting for that special local honey to be ready before it's bottled and labeled and ready to use.  Results to follow.

My First Class Coming Up at the New York Horticultural Society

Cocktail Lab, Summer 2012

Lychee vodka being filtered

When Lucy Raubertas, the writer behind Indieperfumes and the inspiration for the Clarimonde Project, asked me if I'd be interested in conjuring up some cocktails for a book release party for a perfume writer I had to say yes.  The connection between fragrance and cocktail crafting has become somewhat seamless lately.  My liquor cabinet is overflowing with fragrant tinctured vodkas, some of which have wound up in a few of my cologne experiments this summer.

After some seriously delicious cocktails at NoMad with Lucy, the author Alyssa Harad, and Maria McElroy of Aroma M Perfumes it was decided that Maria and I would come up with two cocktails based on two of her perfumes.  She decided on Geisha Blanche and Geisha Green, Blanche being a fresh, summery fragrance of white flowers and lychee, while Green is a creative take on absinthe, although mellowed with black currant, mandarin and violet.

Lychees macerating in vodka for First Blush

After our first meeting we had a general idea of how the two drinks would be and had a list of possible ingredients to have on hand for Cocktail Lab.  I brought in veteran Lab assistant Lori Firpo to sit in with Maria, Lucy and I.

For Geisha Blanche we settled on lychee vodka to start.  After struggling to find a good mixer that would still fit the fragrance profile we settled on champagne with a little lychee juice.  We decided on tuberose and jasmine to mimic the white flowers in the perfume which are added to the drink as well as misted over the top before serving.  We call it First Blush

Black currant vodka was the basis for our rendition of Geisha Green.  Boylan's Creme Soda was the perfect compliment and picked up the tonka note in the perfume beautifully.  Wormwood and the natural isolate alpha ionone (with the characteristic scent of violet) were added to tone down the sweetness of the drink and pick up the absinthe notes of the perfume.  Meet Jaded!

First Blush

one jigger lychee vodka

one generous jigger lychee juice (Ceres brand)

one jigger champagne

two drops jasmine dilution, 5%

two drops tuberose dilution, 5%

spray of tuberose and jasmine

Combine the vodka, juice and dilutions in a shaker, mix well and add champagne.  Pour into a martini glass and spray with tuberose and jasmine.

Jaded

one jigger black currant vodka

two ounces Boyland Creme Soda

one drop alpha ionone dilution, 10%

one drop wormwood dilution, 5%

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake well and serve strained in a martini glass. 

Black currant vodka is made by finely chopping 1/3 cup dried black currants and pouring one cup of vodka over them in a jar with a tight fitting lid.  Shake daily and macerate for up to one month.  Strain and store in an airtight bottle.

Lychee vodka is made by peeling and chopping 1/3 cup fresh lychees (including any juice) and placing them in a jar with a tight fitting lid.  Pour one cup vodka over and shake daily for up to two weeks.  Strain and store.

Spring Foraging Inspires (What Else?) New Cocktails

I took a long walk in Prospect Park last week with fellow naturalist and forager Josh Kalin in search of elderflowers in hopes of making elderflower liqueur.  With a little internet research I learned a few ways of creating it and how to identify the plant.  Unfortunately our search wound up empty, at least as far as elderflower was concerned.  We determined that the flowers weren't open yet and made arrangements to hunt again another day.

Not to be deterred we walked on and started hunting for other bounty.  The park is loaded with garlic mustard, a non-native "weed" that the park would rather eradicate.  It's one of the plants I don't feel any hesitation about harvesting knowing that it does more good than harm.  We also harvested violet leaves and flowers, curly dock and gout weed, and stopped to sample a few other things along the way as well.

Still, I had cocktails in mind, or at least the macerated elixirs that plants and spirits engender.  I remember long ago chomping on sassafras along the Long Meadow.  Josh remembered another sassafras tree in a wooded area and took us to the spot where he'd harvested before to make a sassafras root liqueur.  We climbed over a lot (I mean a lot) of downed trees from last year's tornado, as well as some of the other violent storms we've had the past year, looking for the small saplings that sprout but die soon after since there's not enough light to sustain them, all the while tripping over tree branches.

I picked both leaves and pulled up sapling roots.  The leaves I left to dry overnight since they seemed very watery.  The roots I gently scrubbed clean and left to dry overnight.  Then they were carefully cut up with my garden clippers as a knife didn't seem to do it.  They've been sitting in vodka for over a week now and I think I'll leave it a bit longer.  So far it smells earthy, licorice-y and definitely has notes of root beer.  The leaf I filtered the next day.  It's incredibly dark and viscous, I can't even see through the bottle.  I filtered it six days ago and there's no sediment and it hasn't clarified at all.  It tastes really nice, tho, and very different from the root.  I'm thinking sassafras and soda's in the garden this summer.

The best recent discovery was the sweet woodruff in the herb garden, but that's another story for later.

New Flavors for Vodka

Every so often I get inspired to make some new cocktail fixings.  I thought that before the winter's bounty of citrus fruits were over and done I should try infusing some zest and see what I could come up with.  Meyer lemon was the first venture.  It's a lighter and fresher version of a regular old lemon, much more perfumed.  It probably won't hold up to stronger mixers but I think it would be lovely with tonic or club soda.  From there I made pink grapefruit and minneola tangerine.  I'm imagining paring some of these with vanilla for some interesting creamsicle variations.

horseradish root

Also had the good fortune of being present when the horseradish roots were being dug up in my community garden.  I've always thought horseradish vodka was a natural, being halfway to a Bloody Mary already.  My specimen was long and thin and fairly easy to clean so I opted out of peeling and just chopped it up.  I used about two and a half tablespoons of chopped fresh horseradish to one cup of vodka and let it sit for just a day before straining.  I also made a batch with a teaspoon of crushed black peppercorns.  I'm so intrigued by the possibilities that I ended up buying another horseradish root and making more.  I have fresh tomato season in mind, so this second batch is being put away for safe keeping.

Cocktail Lab, Summer 2011

Every season has inspired me to make new vodka flavors.  Summertime has it's bonus of fresh herbs straight from my garden.  As I weed, water and muse over my plot I start to imagine the frothy cocktails being shaken up from these freshly macerated liquors.  Once I have a few flavors to play with I gather up some possible mixers to go along.  Lemons, limes, tonic and club soda are a must as well as a long lingering look at the juice selection at my food coop and local grocery store.

Once I have everything assembled I invite my fellow cocktail lovers over for another round of Cocktail Lab.  On hand were Lori Firpo, Diane Fargo and Rebecca Winzenried.   Food is required lest we lose our senses in drink.  This round had lots of fresh vegetables and dip plus some delicious shrimp dumplings from Chinatown.

After feeling like I'd used all of the best ideas for flavors in last summers extravaganza I stumbled upon some overlooked plants in my community garden.  Red shiso was one such plant.  I'd only ever had it in sushi before but sampled some while weeding one day and was pleasantly surprised.  It's in the mint family but has a dinstinctively anise like flavor.  I used the leaves of an approximately ten inch stem chopped up in once cup of vodka and let it sit for about a day.  The resulting liquid is a gorgeous pink color.

Another overlooked herb I infused was Sweet Annie.  This plant has been popping up all over the garden since I joined eleven years ago.  Up until last summer no one was able to identify it until one member made it her mission.  It's an artemesia, a relative of wormwood, and sometimes referred to as Sweet Wormwood.  It's aroma is described as camphorous and there is definitely that note but there is so much more going on.  It's sweet and lightly floral quality makes it an intoxicating beverage.

My recent foray into tincturing and creating extracts has me sampling the many types of tea available.  I'd heard about tea infused vodka before but it never appealed to me until I inhaled the sweet aroma of some organic peach flavored black tea extract that I recently made.  Now I'm busy reading up on tea and collecting a few varieties.  I steeped some organic Assam for our little soire.

The last vodka I conjured up is made of basmati rice.  I love the sweet perfumed fragrance of basmati rice and after the success of the honey oat vodka from last winter I had a feeling it would be a hit.

Thus assembled and fed we began to conjure up some ideas.  I'd been thinking about shiso vodka and that fresh garden cucumber in the fridge all day.  It took several rounds for us to hit on a recipe for something we're calling The Shihito, a delightfully refreshing libation with muddled cucumber and yuzu.

We started a recipe for a tea and lemonade cocktail with a muddled mint leaf and honey absolute.  I want to work on the tea vodka to perfect that one.  Ideas are brewing for the basmati rice vodka (saffron?) and a few other things, one inspired by spumoni.  Stay tuned.

The Shihito

I jigger shiso vodka

4 thin cucumber slices

1 mint leaf

1/2 teaspoon sugar

pinch of salt

2 drops of yuzu essence

splash of club soda

In the bottom of a glass muddle the cucumber and mint with the sugar and salt.  Add the shiso vodka and yuzu essence.  Fill the glass with ice and top with a splash of seltzer.  Relax and enjoy the flavors of summer.

Tinctures, Extracts and Infusions

Linden tincture filtering.

This season has me wanting to capture as much of it's flavors and fragrances as I possibly can.  After my recent trip to California to learn more about natural perfumery I've been hungry to gather new fragrant ingredients.  I thought I might tincture a few things to add to my perfume organ.

Linden blossoms drying.

I started with trying to capture the incredible, brief and elusive fragrance of linden.  Where I live in Brooklyn there are many linden trees and there is a two week period at the end of June that is phenominaly fragrant.  I recently bought a bottle of linden CO2 from Aftelier and have been playing around with it.  It's a beautiful note, very honeyed and sweet but a bit difficult to work with since it's so easy to lose the quintessential quality of it.  I wondered how a tincture would be so I picked some blossoms and left them to dry for a day or two before I submerged them in 190 proof vodka.  After a few days I strained it out and replaced the blossoms.  It's now on it's third infusion.  I shake it daily and dab a bit on my wrist.  At first it's grassy and more like hay but dries down more like the scented June air.

Chocolate mint extract filtering.

In my community garden plot I have a patch of chocolate mint that's out of this world.  I've used it in the past to make tea and was pleased but not as fanatical about it is as I've been since last summer when I made some chocolate mint vodka out of it.  The chocolate really comes through when it's macerated.  I've been conjuring cocktails (along with the rest of the civilized world) the past couple of years but I don't even mix this with anything else.  It's so good just on it's own.  I wondered if I could make an extract of it to flavor other things, like seltzer or ice cream.  I chopped up a bunch very fine and put it in a jar and covered it with 190 proof alcohol.  It very quickly turned bright green.  I shook it daily and yesterday strained off the emerald green liquid and used it to make chocolate mint seltzer.  It's delicious but I'm not satisfied so I picked more mint last night and have added it to the extract - a double maceration.

Jasmine blossoms macerating.

Now my interest is piqued and I've been exploring some other materials to tincture.  Dried jasmine blossoms have yielded a surprising result, more like cigarette burning than the indolic and intoxicating fragrance I expected.  I've also been playing around with tea.  I had some peach flavored black tea in the house and started with that.  It's made the most exquisite elixir, I want to slather myself in it.  A recent trip to the tea store and I now have Lapsang Souchong, Jasmine and Russian Caravan soaking.

              Basically all you do is make sure you have clean jars and good strong vodka (190 proof is best).  Fresh plant material is best dried a day or two so that there is less water involved in your creation.  Chop herbs finely and put in the jar and pour in just enough alcohol to cover.  Make sure that everything is submerged in alcohol or you run the risk of spoilage and ruining your experiment.  Shake the jars daily.  You can double the maceration if you're so inclined.  As always keep good notes so if you create something heavenly you can create it again. Good luck!

Cocktail Alchemy - A Workshop

"Alchemy is the art of transmutation, of taking the rough and raw and rendering it more precious" writes Pam Grossman, curator of the group art show, Alchemically Yours.  To celebrate the closing of the show at the Observatory Room in Brooklyn I'll be hosting a Cocktail Workshop featuring some alchemically transmuted elixirs.  Simple vodka will be transformed by a little herbal magic and then successfully rendered into delicious (and possibly even nutritious) cocktails.  Chocolate mint, angelica and lemon verbena vodka (among others) will be available to sample as well as the cocktails they inspire.  The Sprite, The Kashmere and The Black Dog are a few of the libations that will be passed around to tickle your palette.

Cocktail Dilutions

I'll be using essential oils and absolutes from my natural perfumer's collection to add a unique accent to the drinks.  The oils have been diluted so that only one drop is necessary to give the cocktails an original and uncommon flavor. Some of the flavors include jasmine, yuzu, blood orange, black pepper and petitgrain.  Floral Waters such as Chamomile Water also make an an unexpected appearance.

The show is running until June 12th at the Observatory Room, 543 Union (at Nevins).

The Latest Batch of Cocktails

Better late than never!  I've been remiss in posting the recipes for the last batch of cocktails, so without further ado:

The Arrow

one jigger cinnamon infused vodka
one jigger creme de cacao
one drop jasmine absolute, 5%
splash of club soda

Give the combined ingredients a
good shake and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Breakfast of Champions

1 jigger honey oat infused vodka
one jigger milk
1 drop sandalwood oil, 10%
1/8 teaspoon chamomile water

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into a
chilled martini glass.

The Barry White

1 jigger star anise infused vodka
1 jigger creme de cacoa
1/2 ounce POM
4 drops blood orange dilution, 10%

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain

into a chilled martini glass.

All of the essential oil dilutions and chamomile water can be found at www.herbalalchemy.net.

Winter Cocktail Tasting

Saturday, February 12th

4 - 6pm

Prospect Wine Shop

322 Seventh Ave. (btwn 8th and 9th)

Park Slope, Brooklyn

www.prospectwine.com

Cinnamon, star anise and oat/honey vodka are featured in this winter's cocktail selection.  Stop on by and sample The Arrow, an aphrodisiac blend of cinnamon vodka, homemade creme de cacao and jasmine essence.  Along those lines is also The Barry White which is made of star anise vodka, creme de cacao, pomegranate juice and blood orange essential oil.  Finally and quite by surprise is The Breakfast of Champions, a luscious concoction of oat and honey infused vodka with milk, chamomile water and sandalwood oil.  It's cold out, come have a drink!

Cocktail Lab, Winter 2011

Last summer I started out the Year in Vodka with some herb infused spirits with fresh floral notes.  In the autumn I experimented with dried fruit and nut infusions.  This winter I tried my hand at some spices and grain flavored vodka.  Cinnamon vodka turned out to be a huge success and it pared nicely with homemade creme de cacao as well as, surprisingly, orange juice.  Star anise vodka pared nicely with pomegranite juice creating something that tastes a lot like an old fashioned Good n' Plenty candy.  Ginger turned out to be a big disappointment and came out rather dull indeed.  A friend picked up some dried persimmon which made a delicious subtly sweet brew, better served alone so as not to mask its subtleness.  The surprise concoction was the sweet and satisfying honey and oat vodka.  Don't turn your nose up just yet.  I found the recipe on Chowhound and it was something they picked up from Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

Star anise floating in vodka

Every season I experiment with a different batch of flavored vodkas.  When I'm done I gather some mixers I think might be appropriate, make lots of ice and make sure I have plenty of clean glasses.  Then I host an evening with a few women friends which we've come to call Cocktail Lab.  All three invited guests - Diane Fargo, Lori Firpo and Rebecca Winzenried - are all well-traveled, been wined and dined and do their fair share of cooking.  They are Foodies with sophisticated palettes, a pretty tough crowd.  Together we compose a drink which I then shake up for us and split into four short glasses.  Then we all taste and discuss.  Alterations are made and the next cocktail is attempted and so on and so forth until the recipe has been perfected.

Come and sample the finished creations at the next tasting on Saturday, February 12 from 4 - 6pm at Prospect Wine Shop, 322 Seventh Ave. in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Autumn Cocktails: The Recipes

Here are the recipes from the latest cocktail tasting.  It's hard to say which one was the favorite, everyone had their own.  I know the first to run out was the Black Dog but I suspect that's because of the homemade Creme de Cacao.  Enjoy!

The Bindi

one jigger pistachio infused vodka
one ounce milk
quarter teaspoon rosewater
one teaspoon agave nectar
one drop clove oil, 20%

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into chilled martini glasses. Finish with grated nutmeg. 

Black Dog

2 ounces pear infused vodka
one ounce creme de cacoa
one drop labdanum absolute dilution, 10%
splash of soda

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. 

The Kashmere

one jigger fig infused vodka
one jigger pear nectar
two drops coriander oil, 10%
splash of seltzer

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into a chilled martini glass.  

 All of the essential oil dilutions can be found at www.herbalalchemy.net

Autumn Cocktail Tasting

Saturday, November 13th

4 - 6pm

Prospect Wine Shop

322 Seventh Ave. (btwn 8th and 9th)

Park Slope, Brooklyn

www.prospectwine.com

This seasons offerings include vodkas that have been macerated with dried fruits and toasted nuts.  Come and sample the The Bindi with pistachio vodka, rosewater and clove oil, or the Kashmere with fig vodka, pear nectar and coriander oil.  The Black Dog is pear vodka with homemade creme de cacao and the unexpected addition of a dilution of labdanum absolute, a sticky substance with dark amber tones.  It adds a mysterious perfumed note to the cacao.

Infusing Vodka with Dried Fruits and Nuts

An Infusionary Tale

I've spent the better part of the last month brainstorming, shopping, experimenting and finally beginning to imbibe some fruit and nut infused vodkas.  After my summer cocktail tasting at Prospect Wine Shop working with herbs and summer fruits, my attention turned to the flavors of autumn and what I'd like to be drinking come October and November.  Here it is mid-October and my labors are starting to come to fruition, so to speak.

I began with nut vodkas, knowing that they had to steep longer that fruits or herbs.  My favorite nut is a toasted hazelnut so that kicked off the project.  I toasted them myself in a dry cast iron skillet on a carefully watched flame.  You have to pay attention it never smokes and that the nuts are turned regularly so they don't burn.  After a while you can hear the skins crackle and they start to release their aroma and get a bit golden colored.  When they get to the desired color transfer them to a bowl to cool thoroughly.  Once you can handle them rub the skins off one by one.  Now they're ready to be chopped.  As you can see these are a labor of love.  The end result is worth it.  Use about a quarter of a cup of chopped hazelnuts to one cup of vodka.  Shake them daily and let sit for about a month before filtering.

Toasting hazelnuts

I also made toasted walnut, almond and pistachio.  The walnut was good, nutty but wasn't distinctively walnut.  The almond was similar, maybe should be tried without the skins, but was much improved with a splash of pear nectar.  The pistachio, however, is divine, although I noticed that it can't age for too long or it can take on a soapy note.

Then I moved on to dried fruits.  Pears were a certainty and it turned out beautifully.  I had three kinds of figs to test:  organic Turkish,  pajerero and black mission.  The black mission fig vodka is a winner and is a beautiful purple color.  The fruit releases it's sweetness without being cloying so they're nice to sip alone or can mix with juice without getting too syrupy.  I used roughly about one third cup dried fruit to one cup vodka for about five days.

Black mission fig vodka

 After filtering them I got a better idea of what works and what doesn't and made more of the tastier things and drank the rest with friends.  Now it was time to play mixologist.  I took a good look at my essential oil collection and made up some new dilutions to play with.   I've added cardamom, clove, honey absolute, labdanum and sandalwood to the dilutions collection.

I have a lot of experimenting to do but the drinks are starting to take shape for the next tasting on Saturday, November the 13th, between 4pm and 6pm, Prospect Wine Shop, 322 Seventh Avenue between 8th and 9th Streets in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  Check out their website at www.prospectwine.com for information on other tastings or stop by to peruse their extensive selection of fine wines and cocktail fixings.

Cocktails

I've developed a real passion for mixing cocktails lately.  It all started with a phone call from my local watering hole.  They were trying to conjure up a new summer cocktail with cucumbers and asked me to come down and help out.  I had such fun collaborating on that drink and it got me thinking about the ingredients from my apothecary. 

Infused Vodka

First I started experimenting with infusing vodka with herbs from my local community garden.  I began with angelica which is in the celery family but with a twist.  It's one of the main ingredients in Chartreuse.  It's been a big hit at garden parties this summer. After spending quite a bit of time on the internet reading about infusing vodka I was surprised by how quickly the vodka took on the flavor.  Although I had read that it took weeks to infuse, some were ready in less that 12 hours.  I tried to filter them before the herbs released their bitterness.  Simply chop up the herbs (I used about six or seven six inch stems of plant material per cup of vodka, discard any brown or damaged parts) and place in a clean glass jar with a tight fitting lid and cover with vodka, shake and test in about eight hours.  I tried my hand at lemon verbena, lavender, chocolate mint, lemon thyme, tomato leaf and basil. Angelica was done quicker than most but I hardly left any of them in longer than 24 hours.  The exception was the vanilla.  Vanilla pods can be sliced and scraped, chopped and added to vodka (I found one pod per cup worked) and leave for at least a month.

Take good notes while you're working. That way you can repeat your efforts when you finds something you really like.

 
I realize that all of the herbs I worked with might not be available to everyone. Look over the herb selection around you and see what's reasonable. Other herbs would be lemon balm, rose geranium, fennel, shiso, citrus, berries, etc. I made one with cucumber and mint that was interesting, but it might be better in white rum. I also tried a couple of chocolate vodkas.

I took a good hard look at my essential oil collection and came up with a few that might lend themselves to a good cocktail, yet not so ordinary that you couldn't just get the original material (such as orange or peppermint). I've made up dilutions that can readily be mixed into cocktails. A bottle holds about 90 drops and in general you use one drop per drink.   You can purchase the dilutions from my website:  www.herbalalchemy.net

Then it was a visit to the food coop and local bodega to contemplate juices. What I've come up with are three cocktails that my good friends were happy enough to help me hone.  

Summer Crush

 

1.5 oz. lemon verbena infused vodka
1.5 oz. passion fruit nectar
one drop petitgrain essential oil, 10% dilution

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. 

The Silk Route

1.5 oz. apricot nectar
one drop jasmine absolute, 5% dilution
one drop coriander co2, 10% dilution

Give the combined ingredients a good shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. 

The Sprite

1.5 oz. basil infused vodka
one drop yuzu essential oil dilution, 10%
one drop black pepper essential oil dilution, 20%
1.5 - 2 oz. tonic water

Shake with ice and pour into a short glass. Garnish with a fresh basil sprig. 

More Drink Ideas

At another garden gathering I brought an assortment of infused vodkas for everyone to sample. I also bought four bottles of seltzer and put a tablespoon of rosewater in one, orange blossom water in another, rosemary and chamomile waters in the last two. Guests mixed and matched concoctions and I got a chance to sample quite a few. It would be hard to pick one combination! The flavored seltzers on their own were lovely and refreshing.     

And one more cocktail!

After my initial experience with the "Cujito" at Barbes I stopped back in to mix up some more magic. In a collaboration with bartendress Hannah Cheek came the Bloody Hell.
 

The Bloody Hell 

Muddle a few sprigs of mint in about a tablespoon of creme de cacao. Add two ounces of white rum and two drops of blood orange essential oil dilution, 10%. Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Outrageous.

  

Disclaimer:  I must unfortunately dampen the mood of this cocktail page by a standard discalimer. These recipes and instructions are purely a tale of how I spent my summer.  I don't recommend any of this.   Please use caution and discretion.  Make sure to know the effects of any herb or essential oil before you begin.  Essential oils are intense concentrations so use carefully.  None of this is FDA approved.  Use only the amounts specified, never use synthetic oils, do not drink essences directly from the bottle, keep away from small children, be cautious of allergies, do not ingest if you are pregnant or nursing.  And of course never get behind the wheel of a car after imbibing alcohol. 

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