alphatinis

Good Evening, Mr. Underhill

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Mr Underhill's Best Cocktail

My main objective in this week’s Alphatini was a more-or-less savory cocktail; we’ve had a lot of sweet going on and it’s nice to mix things up a bit.

Pun unintended.

But we’re on the letter U and, well, I was at a bit of a loss since I’d already used my upside-down-cake inspiration.

As it so happens, though, I’ve been hard at work on What to Feed Your Raiding Party and this past weekend inspiration struck as I was inking the cover to a Lord of the Rings-style comics chapter I was reminded of the hobbits and Frodo Baggins in particular.

In the scene at the Prancing Pony he gives an alias, a Mr Underhill. And Bag End and all the rest of Hobbiton is so green and lively that is proved the perfect inspiration for a savory cocktail with a botanical base.

Mr Underhill’s Best

1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin
1/2 oz Galliano
1/2 oz Apple Juice
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
garnish: 3 olives

In a mixing glass half full of ice, combine the liquid ingredients and stir and time or two, plus a few more for good measure. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with some speared olives.

I’d planned to garnish it with a sprig of Rosemary from the little bush I’d bought just after Thanksgiving but, alas, my green thumb has proven non-existent once again and the poor thing didn’t make it a week past New Years. Last time I tried to keep one I over-watered it, this time I think it suffered the curse of my overcompensation (i.e. under-watering).

Now, as to the ingredients, originally I’d planned this to be an all-alcohol cocktail–hence the stirring. But on first taste the various spirits needed something than a little melt-water to make them nice and merry, so I looked to my mixer shelf to see what could work without being too sweet. Apple juice was the safest bet and I’m quite happy with the way it softens the harder edges of the individual liquors without being too bossy. You do tend to get a nice, light apple aftertaste, which is a nice finish–I think–to an otherwise bracing, savory cocktail.

It’s also a rather wee cocktail, coming in at under 3 ounces, so perfect for those trying to imbibe with moderation after, perhaps, excessive celebration the previous months.

And +10 imaginary points if you caught the Hugo Weaving crossover nod in the title of this post.

Dreaming of a Tropical New Year

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tangerine dream cocktail

Because you can always dream, right?

This week’s alphatini called for something fit to a tee–and I began thinking Tangerine.

Namely, the tangerine liqueur we picked up in Roatan on our last cruise (which has been far too far in the past). A Dreamsicle martini would be the easy route, but since I was thinking tropical, I figured the tangerine could use a few friends to make nice with in the glass.

Tangerine Dream

1.5 oz Heavy Cream
1 oz Vanilla Vodka
1 oz Tangerine Liqueur
1/2 oz Pineapple Rum
1/4 oz Banana Liqueur
garnish: citrus peel

Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice and make like your in a mini Conga-line for a moment or three. Strain into a chilled martini glass, garnish with a twist of whatever citrus you can get your mits on, and dream of your next vacation.

Yes, you can substitute a high-quality citrus liqueur like Cointreau if you don’t have any tangerine liqueur handy.

It may well be 2 years before my next cruise getaway (the honeymoon counter is ticking, folks), but until then I can sip this and remember the leisurely days from my last trip.

Cheers!

What a Way to End the Night!

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Conventional wisdom suggests that Santa Claus is a devotee of milk (with cookies), hot cocoa and a certain red-canned cola.

Santa's Nightcap Cocktail

But if you ask me, after circumnavigating the globe in one night I’d want something a little stronger to take the edge off.

Which is why we’re devoting the ‘S’ alphatini to the jolly dude in the red suit.

Santa’s Nightcap

2 oz Vanilla Vodka
2 oz Cranberry Juice
1/2 oz  Buttershots
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/4 oz Goldschlager
garnish of icing, coconut flakes and a mini-marshmallow

To prepare your cocktail glass: paint the outer lip of your cocktail glass with icing or a thick sugar syrup and press on coconut flakes (it helps if they’re chopped a little finer than they come in the package). Let rest upside down so the sugar can dry while you mix the drink.

Combine vodka, juice, liqueurs and grenadine in a shaker over ice and ho-ho-ho your way to an icy finish. Strain into a prepared cocktail glass and float a mini-marshmallow on top. Kick off your boots and let the night melt away.

This cocktail is like a spicy cranberry cookie in a glass, made the perfect shade of red by the grenadine, but most of the fun–I admit–is in the presentation. The drink is good on it’s own but with the garnish it looks like an inverted Santa hat and, well, it’s just more fun that way!

Cheers to the Holidays!

Slip Into Something More Raspberry

Sips

What, no one decided to take up the Quest cocktail challenge? That’s too bad!

Maybe this week’s cocktail will be better suited for you, then, and we’ll keep it short and sweet, to boot! It’s the holidays, after all, and everyone seems to be in a hurry.

Raspberry Slip cocktailChefs love to tell stories–I don’t know, must come with the job–and our chefs at school were no exception. One (who also happened to be an English major before he became a chef) loved to tell us all the odd things they’d come up with to round out the usual cocktail and buffet offerings.

Apparently chocolate-dipped strawberries just weren’t special enough for this one client, they demanded something truly decadent and over-the-top to wow their guests. To appease Miss Picky they dipped hundreds of fresh raspberries into dark chocolate–just the barest tip–and called them Aphrodite’s Nipples. A little risque, sure, but the client loved them. Go figure.

About a year or so I created a simple cocktail based on those little gems for a fundraiser, and today I’m taking it another step and creating a darker, creamier recipe as our ‘R’ martini.

Raspberry Slip

1 1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1 1/4 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk
3/4 oz Godiva Liqueur
3/4 oz Raspberry Liqueur

Combine all ingredients over ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and slip into a sweet, chocolate-berry languor.

If you’re a fan of those raspberry flavored chocolates that have flooded the market in the last couple years you’ll really like this cocktail.  And if you feel the need to take the even more to the dark side, drizzling some chocolate syrup down the sides of the glass or rimming it with chocolate curls certainly wouldn’t hurt. Or, hey, be decadent and do both! I won’t tell…

It’s Not About the Destination…

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It’s about the Quest.

alternate title #1: To Shake or Stir, That is the Question

alternate title #2: A Song of Fire-water and Dice

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Brainstorming for this week’s cocktail was, as I’m sure you can imagine with ‘q’ for the letter-spiration, quite interesting. Sure, I could have gone the easy route and done a jacked-up martini version of a gin and tonic but, like I said, that would have been the easy route.

Instead, we’re going to do things a little differently, this week. Quirky. Quizzical. Quixotic. I’m not going to make the cocktail: you are.


Your mission, should you choose to accept it (and I really hope you do), is to follow the directions below which will guide you down the path for, perhaps, the most questionable cocktail of all time.

No, wait, there are still things called Cement Mixers being served at some college bar, somewhere.

The second-most questionable cocktail of all time.

Ready?

The Quest Cocktail

Step 1: Assemble your materials.

You will need

  • a 6-sided die (or several if you’ve got ’em) so go ahead and raid the family Monopoly or Yahtzee boxes
  • Several types of alcohol: 1 vodka, 1 gin, and 6 flavored spirits (vermouth, liqueurs, cordials… you get the idea).
  • 3 non-alcoholic mixers.

My set-up would be Gin, Vodka, Italian vermouth, French vermouth, Goldschlager, Amaretto, peach schnapps, Kahlua, cranberry juice, pineapple juice and tomato juice. Just grabbed at random from my shelves. You could be a bit more calculating and go with safer ingredients but where’s the fun in that? What I would suggest is choosing the highest-quality items from your bar: the better ingredients, the better the cocktail (in general).

Step 2: Roll the dice.

If you have several dice this will go quicker, otherwise roll the same die each time and either make your selection after each roll or jot down your results before you start to pour. Either way works.

  • 1st Roll: Odd #s=Gin, Even #s=Vodka
  • 2nd Roll: Line up your flavored spirits and count from left to right, 1-6. Whatever number comes up, that’s ingredient number 2!
  • 3rd Roll: Line up your mixers and could from left to right, 1-3. The first mixer is used on a roll of 1 or 4, the second on a roll of 2 or 5, and the third on a roll of 3 or 6.

Using my line-up from above, my rolls come out to Vodka + Kahlua + Pineapple Juice. I’ve heard of stranger concoctions, frankly.

Step 3: Mix your drink.

Since we’re included non-alcoholic ingredients, the standard procedure is to shake your cocktail. If, however, you really prefer to stir it (or don’t have a shaker hand–really?), you can stir it up, just stir fast so some of the ice melts and mixes in, too, okay?

But, wait, what’s the ratio? That I’m going to be nice and leave up to your discretion (kinda like the challenges on Chopped: you don’t have to use a lot of each ingredient, but you do have to use some of each ingredient). You could, if you wanted to, go with a simple 3:2:1 ratio, assigning each portion to whichever ingredient you feel most comfortable with.

Also, I’m totally open to base-spirit substitutions. If you roll vodka, it has to stay vodka, but if you have a flavored vodka you want to substitute based on the other ingredients you’re stuck challenged with, I will allow it.

Step 4: Keep an open mind.

Not every drink is going to be a winner, naturally. As I said, above, starting with quality ingredients will up the odds a bit, but you might get a dud. Also, remember the 2-sip rule: you only get the true taste of a wine, spirit or cocktail on the second sip, don’t judge a drink by it’s first sip.

Now, why did I choose this method? Am I being passive-aggressive and making some sort of statement about how much skill goes into creating a cocktail (a la my Character Cocktail service)? Nope. (Though it’s true, creating a new cocktail each week isn’t always easy, but it’s fun, that’s why I do it.)

It actually has more to do with the gamers I’ve been hanging out with and rolling the dice to create our characters and determine the outcome of our games. That, and I’ve been working on a similar procedure for dinner problem-solving for What to Feed Your Raiding Party–let’s just say my head’s definitely in the game this week.

Seriously, if anyone is brave (or foolish, take your pick) enough to try this, please post your results in the comments. I’m dying to see what sorts of drinks you come up with.

Cheers!