Cocktail Recipe: The Amazing Teflon Rhubarb Cooler

Some people are downright breezy when it comes to messing with recipes. Not me:  I fret when I start tweaking ingredients, convinced that I’ll ruin the drink.

But not this one. You can’t hurt this recipe — it’s like cocktail teflon.

This drink started life as “The Rhubarb Cooler.” But I’ve since realized that I might was well rename this versatile cocktail “The Whatever Seasonal Produce You Can Get Your Hands On Cooler,” since it’s easily adaptable… and the window for rhubarb is very, very short.

Sure, I’ve made it with rhubarb. The last of it is probably at the greenmarket right now. When rhubarb is in season, I’ll sometimes cut the rosy-red stalks into half-inch pieces and puree them in the food processor. After the stalks are pulverized into smithereens, the fibrous mess can be spooned into a piece of cheesecloth, and the juices squeezed out into a measuring cup. Only an ounce of the vibrant ruby juice is needed for one cocktail.

But the rhubarb season is short — mid-to-late spring– and I foolishly agreed to make this drink for Martha Stewart’s “Cooking Today” show on Sirius at the tail end of March. I went to the greenmarket, the supermarket, and what did I find? NO RHUBARB. I was too early!

So I substituted strawberry lemonade, to approximate the rosy hue and tart punch of fresh rhubarb. And it was delicious!

So I’ve been experimenting with the juices in this drink:  as long as there’s a tart element (lemonade or fresh lemon juice) to balance out the sweetness of the fruit juice and liqueur, it works great. Fresh strawberries, raspberries, fresh-pressed apple juice. It all works. No mint for the garnish? Try basil (probably would be amazing with a strawberry variation). Try coriander, or rosemary.

Another change that seems to make for a more forgiving cocktail:  I’ve switched the format from straight up to on the rocks. The gradual dilution seems to smooth any remaining rough edges.

Teflon, I tell you.

Rhubarb Cooler  Teflon Rhubarb Cooler

adapted from “Spice & Ice: 60 tongue-tingling cocktails,” by Kara Newman

1 ½ ounces Maker’s Mark bourbon

1 ounce Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

1 ounce rhubarb puree * (or other amount of seasonal fruit juice, plus a squeeze of lemon)

1 mint sprig, for garnish

Vigorously shake together the bourbon, ginger liqueur and rhubarb puree with ice, until frothy. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with mint sprig, and offer a straw.

*For rhubarb puree:

1 ½ cups 1-inch pieces rhubarb

Puree the rhubarb in a blender and strain out the sediment through cheesecloth. Makes enough for several drinks.

My essay is in the New York Times!

A personal essay I wrote about an ususual Scotch experience is running in the “Opinionator” section of The New York Times this week - read it here: Drink and Thrive.

After the piece came out yesterday, a few people on Twitter and Facebook tried to guess the magazine and the magazine editor around which the story revolves. “The New Yorker?” Nope. “Vanity Fair?” Strike two. “Esquire?” Thanks for playing, but no.

Funny enough, the original version of the essay named both the magazine and the editor. In fact, the original title of the piece was “A Drink with __{Magazine editor’s last name}.” But since the editor is alive and well and retired to Florida, the NYT column editor suggested that it might be kindest to remove the identifying details.

Want to know which magazine had the Scotch-loving editor that had interns fixing drinks for the editor-in-chief in best “Mad Men” style? (Go on. Take a guess.  Then you can scroll down to learn….)

 

 

 

 

…..that I was an intern at New York Magazine.  (Did you guess it right?)

Come to my seminar at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic!

Is there a book idea on your cocktail menu? If you’re a bartender or cocktail enthusiast considering writing a book, come hear an all-star panel of authors and publishers share their secrets about the book biz, and how they got their cocktail books written and published.

I’m really excited about this panel – as an author, this is a subject close to my heart. Hope to see you there!

Where: The Manhattan Cocktail Classic - Industry Invitational. At the Andaz Hotel (485 Fifth Ave., Second Floor, Liquor.com room – Studio 1BC).

When: Saturday, May 12, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm.

Who:  I’ll be moderating the panel, which includes Jim Meehan, managing partner of PDT and author of The PDT Cocktail Book; Lori Narlock,  publisher, Hang Time Press; Brad Thomas Parsons, author, Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All; and Maks Pazuniak & Kirk Estopinal, co-authors/publishers of Beta Cocktails.

What: The cocktail book landscape is changing – fast! Will this be YOUR year to publish a cocktail book and kick your career up to the next level?

Two of 2011’s strongest sellers were Bitters (which went into its second publishing run just one month after it came out) and PDT’s acclaimed new cocktail book. But in addition to conventional publishing, new paths are available for the bartender (or cocktail enthusiast) with something to say. Consider the cult success of Rogue Cocktails/Beta Cocktails, which was self-published, or the even newer e-publishing options for iPads, Kindles and other devices. One new publisher (Hang Time Press) is even publishing e-books containing 10 drinks apiece.

* Learn about the changing book publishing landscape for cocktail books.
* Get the details on self-publishing and e-publishing a cocktail book.
* Hear from the experts how they sold their book projects.
* Gather ideas for developing and selling your own cocktail book.

Cocktail recipe: The Highland Tequila Fling

If you’re looking for tequila shooters, move on. This is an elegant, spirit-forward sipper, which I made for the Martha Stewart radio show on Sirius last week (on the radio, no one can see you spill...). It’s a mash-up of a few different influences:

–First, this is a riff on the classic Highland cocktail (Scotch, sweet vermouth, orange bitters). But since this was a show about Spring cocktails, I wanted to showcase a lighter spirit. Since both Scotch and tequila have highlands and lowlands variations, a tequila-based Highland became my starting point.

–It didn’t hurt that I had on hand a really nice highlands tequila (Vida reposado). It has gentle vanilla and honeyed agave flavors that remind me a bit of a light Speyside whiskey. The stars were aligning for the drink.

–A couple of weeks earlier, I’d sampled a (Scotch-based) “Highland Fling” cocktail at an event hosted by Compass Box. That drink, made by fab LUPEC lady Eryn Reece, was my favorite of the evening. Her secret ingredient? Tea-infused Dolin Blanc. That became another source of inspiration.

The Highland Tequila Fling

A sophisticated approach to tequila, loosely based on the classic Highland cocktail.

1 ½ ounces tequila reposado

1 ½ ounce chamomile-infused dry vermouth*

½ tsp agave nectar

1 dash Fee Bros peach bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass, with ice. Stir well for 20 seconds and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with orange peel knot.

*To make infused vermouth: dunk 4 chamomile tea bags in hot water, then remove and place the tea bags in 1 cup vermouth. Allow to steep for at least 5 minutes, then squeeze out any excess liquid and discard the tea bags. Makes enough for several drinks.

How to make an orange peel knot garnish

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how make an orange peel knot garnish — a sophisticated addition for a stirred cocktail. Some things are easier to show than tell…

Use a vegetable peeler to cut a long, thick piece of orange peel. I find it helpful to gently wiggle the peeler back and forth to create long, unbroken peel.

Use a knife to trim the peel into long, narrow strips, about 1/3 inch wide and 5 inches long.

Gently tie the peel into a knot, and trim off the long ends.

Voila! Nestled in the bottom of a coupe glass, ready for the cocktail to be poured.

Three things I’ve learned about…Non-London Dry Gin

Ready for Gin & Tonic season?  The April 2012 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine will include (among other things) my review column on Non London Dry Style Gin!  You can pick up a copy at the newsstand, or view it in digital format on Zinio.  Here’s what I learned:

1. New gins are coming to market in leaps and bounds. Long after I’d filed my review copy, I still continued to hear about new and intriguing gins, and eventually persuaded WE’s editors to run a story on “New Generation Gins.” Now…will we find enough drinkers to consume all of these gins? I’m skeptical, since the gin market runs far behind vodka, whiskey, and many other spirits in terms of market share. But its devotees are passionate, including the mixology community, so I’m hopeful.

2. Those damn botanicals again. As with other gin categories, botanicals (those natural “flavorings” like herbs and spices) figured into the mix. My favorite finding: Edinburgh Gin includes milk thistle among its botanicals. This is the same botanical that Elana Effrat, aka @theboozemuse, advised me to take before Tales of the Cocktail last year. As a hangover preventative! Nothing like having a hangover cure in your booze, is there?

3. There’s a fine line between gins considered “London Dry” and not. When I covered London Dry style gin last year, the first order of business was to figure out what the heck ”London Dry style” meant. Essentially, it boiled down to juniper as the dominant botanical — and that was what differentiated it from the sweeter Old Tom style, the stronger-flavored Plymouth style, flavored/infused gins, aged “golden gins,” and Dutch genevers/jenevers.  

But really, where is the line of demarcation? A number of the Non London Dry gins still had a good dose of juniper, though overall they were more full-bodied, robust, and in some cases sweeter than traditional London Drys.

If you have a favorite gin (or gin cocktail!) I’d love to hear about it. Personally, I made a lot of Fitty-Fitty martinis (half gin, half dry vermouth…”50/50,” get it?) after the gin review sessions.

The Ultimate “Mad Men” Martini

Yes — I am one of those geeks counting the days until Mad Men returns (7 days left!). So I was happy to receive a copy of The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook, which is refreshing my memory about seasons past and teaching me a few new culinary history tidbits.

At first, I couldn’t decide which drink to make. The 21 Club’s version of the classic Bloody Mary? The campy Blue Hawaii? In the end, I decided simplicity was best, and opted for the sleek, streamlined Martini. (It didn’t hurt that I have a shiny new bottle of Imbue vermouth in my fridge.)

[A quick aside:  Ever try to photograph a Martini? They might taste crisp and refreshing, but they look like dullsville on film. My husband gets 99% of the credit for the photo above. Hey, I made the drink!]

Here’s the recipe from the book, by way of New York’s legendary Grand Central Oyster Bar. Although I have oversized glasses and thus made mine a double, the Oyster Bar likely wouldn’t approve. According to the book, the restaurant recommends using small martini glasses, because the martini gets too warm in a larger glass.

Martini

Courtesy of The Grand Central Oyster Bar, New York, NY

Note:  Serve in a small martini glass and put leftovers in a rocks glass.

1/8 ounce dry vermouth

2 1/2 ounces gin

1. Fill a martini glass with water and large ice cubes (enough to keep it cold while mixing drink).

2. Pour vermouth and gin into a mixing glass and stir.

3. Pour ice and water out of martini glass. Pour martini from mixing glass into martini glass.

Source: “The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook” by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin.