Alcademics

Category: recipes

  • Irish Coffee: It’s All in the Cream

    In Ireland a few weeks ago, I had Irish Coffee three times in as many days. Irish Coffee was invented in Ireland and is credited to a bar at the Shannon airport. Then it was recreated in San Francisco at the Buena Vista. Its popularity in the US helped it travel back to Ireland where became popular around the country. 

    At the Chapter One restaurant in Dublin, they have the most elaborate preparation of the Irish Coffee in town. They add Jameson Irish Whiskey and 2 tablespoons brown sugar to a pan and caramelize it for 10 minutes and grate fresh nutmeg on top. They add half the amount of coffee, then light the pan on fire for just a second and blow it out. They add the other half the coffee then pour it into the glass.

    Irish coffee chapter one7M
    Then they add the cream on top. Unlike the other Irish Coffees I've had, the cream was fairly warm as opposed to refrigerator-cold. Most of the fuss of an Irish Coffee seems to be about the cream. I address this in last week's post on FineCooking.com.

    It turns out different countries have conflicting definitions for cream, and even in the US you have to know the difference between "whipped" and "whipping" cream to get it right. 

    The good news is, once you buy the right cream you don't have to whip it very much yourself- just don't stir the coffee first, and pour it over the back of a spoon. More info is in the post here.

  • Flowers and Champagne

    June & Champagne with garnishM Here's something you already know: Sparkling wine + Floral liqueur = fun drink.

    I hadn't realized until I started writing my latest Fine Cooking blog entry just how many new floral liqueurs have hit the market.

    In recent years several new floral liqueurs have been brought to market, including St. Germain (elderflower), Esprit de June (grape vine flowers), Rothman and Winter Crème de Violette (violet), Crème Yvette (violet and berries), Fruit Lab Theia (jasmine), J. Witty Spirits Organic Chamomile, and Loft Liqueurs Organic Lavender.

    So, here is the rest of the story.

  • The Anti-Malarial Further Fortified Fortified Wine Cocktail

    DubonnetCocktailm_lg In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I touch on Dubonnet and the Dubonnet Cocktail. Dubonnet was invented as an anti-malarial wine. It's useful even if you don't have a mosquito problem.

    Read! Learn! Behold!

  • Back In My Day, It Was Called A New-Fashioned

    In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I cover the history of the cocktail- the original one. I'm sure you've heard of it: spirit, sugar, water, bitters.

    Spirit sugar water bitters7s

  • Spicy Mary

    Infusions1m_lg A bunch of years ago I tried to sell a book on infusions, because there weren't any at the time. In some ways I'm glad it didn't sell, because my cocktail knowledge and abilities are so much better now that I would have been embarrassed by many of the cocktail recipes you were supposed to use after the infusions were done. 

    But I did do enough recipe development that I learned the timing for a lot of infusions. In my latest post for FineCooking.com, I list the quantities of spicy things like pepperonchini, peppercorn, chili peppers, and horseradish to make a 1-day infusion. 

    Then you can add those to tomorrow's Bloody Mary. 

    When I was working on the book, I had all the different infusions sitting around and decided to dump them all into the drink at the same time. It was pretty amazing how you could clearly taste each infusion separately, rather than them being all muddled together into one new flavor. 

  • Cheers to Rudolph, Not the Reindeer

    Blood_and_sand_med

    (Image courtesy of Cherry Heering.)

    In my latest blog post at FineCooking.com, I introduce the Blood and Sand. The cocktail was almost certainly created in honor of the  1922 silent movie of the same name, staring Rudolph Valentino.

    I've also written a long story about all the different ways bartenders are changing this drink, but that's going in an upcoming issue of Mixology Magazine so unless you read German you're out of luck on that one.     

    I will say, though, that should you decide to watch the movie on which the drink is based, the 1941 version with Rita Hayworth and Tyrone Power is much more entertaining than the original. Unless you want to watch Rudolph on a silent night. 

    The blog post is here. 

     

  • Hot Buttered Fun

    Hot_buttered_anejo_med_lg Hot Buttered Fun would be a good party band name, right? 

    My latest post on FineCooking.com is up. It's a recipe for the Hot Buttered Anejo, which is a hot buttered tequila that I had one night when the brand Avion was pouring drinks at Elixir. 

    Check it out here. 

  • Chartreuse + Chocolate = Delicious

    The week before Paul Clarke wrote about the same topic to make it look like I ripped him off, I wrote my next blog entry for FineCooking.com, about the magical mystery combination of Chartreuse liqueur and chocolate. 

    While Paul was creative and found four drinks that combine the two ingredients, I went to Jamie Boudreau and asked if I could borrow a single recipe he blogged about in 2007. I'd like to think that this just makes me efficient.  

    Hot chocolate med res
    (Verte Chaud by Jamie Bodreau. Photo also by Jamie Boudreau.)

    Read the story on FineCooking.com here.

    And remember, your comments at Fine Cooking make me love you more. 

  • Turkey Cocktail

    OldFashionedMedRes_lg In my latest post on FineCooking.com, I tell the tale of a recent Thanksgiving tradition: drinking Wild Turkey. 

    I also link to my experiments with Wild Tofurkey and share a new-fangled Old Fashioned recipe from the brand.

    Check it out here.

     

  • On FineCooking.com: Homemade Grenadine and the Jack Rose Cocktail

    Please check out my latest blog entry on FineCooking.com. It's about making your own grenadine and the Jack Rose cocktail. 

    Jack rose closeup_tn

    Read it here, and feel free to comment (over there) on your own grenadine or Jack Rose recipe improvements.