Silver Monk

   2 cucumber slices
   8 mint leaves
   pinch salt
  .5 oz simple syrup
   2 oz blanco tequila
.75 oz yellow chartreuse
   1 oz lime juice

Muddle the cucumber, mint leaves, salt, and simple syrup together.  Add tequila, chartreuse and lime juice.  Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with mint and cucumber.

Wanting something light and summery I went for this recipe from Food & Wine Cocktails 2011 that I remember making a few months ago.  I also went to goodwill again, and bought some new glasses and I figured this light colored drink would make for a good photo.

I don't really know what the difference is between this version and other times I made this drink.  It seemed a lot harsher and less blended than other times.  Maybe it was due to using some leaves off my chocolate mint plant instead of the usual spearmint, or maybe I needed a larger pinch of salt.  Either way, I'll have to give it another go soon and see.

The drink gives off a pleasant aroma of cucumber, yellow chartreuse and mint.  The taste starts sweet with sugar, cucumber and chartreuse herbals.  After this initial sweetness the drink changes to a harsher tequila and lime burn with a bit of mint.

La Vida Del Diablo

1.5 oz Mezcal
  .5 oz Creme de Cassis
   3 oz Ginger Beer
  .5 oz Lime Juice

   2 dash Angostura Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a chilled collins glass filled with ice.  Stir well

Going through Food and Wine Cocktails 2012 I saw this recipe for a twist on an El Diablo, and realized I never made the original drink.  Taking this as a sign I decided to try both the classic El Diablo and the twist on the El Diablo at the same time and compare.

El Diablo

1.5 oz Tequila
  .5 oz Creme de Cassis
   3 oz Ginger Beer

  .5 oz Lime Juice

Lime wheel garnish.

The composition of the two recipes were pretty similar.  The biggest difference was the use of mezcal instead of tequila.

  

El Diablo is on the left and the La Vida Del Diablo on the right. 

El Diablo:

The classic starts off with tequila and citrus on the nose.  The taste is ginger and lime tartness with some tequila.  At the end the flavor gives way to lush berry notes from the creme de cassis

La Vida Del Diablo:
The La Vida starts with tar and smoke on the nose.  The taste starts with a slight lime taste followed by a oppressive punch of mescal that almost convers the berries in smoke.  Ginger is light throughout.

Comparison:
With the mezcal change the two versions end up being quite different and I'd have them in different situations.  The classic El Diablo is very light, reminiscent of a flavored margarita and refreshing.  It reminds me of something that could be used with food as a pallet cleanser.  The mezcal version feels heavy and aggressive and leaves you with smoke on the tongue for minutes afterwards.  It is more of a nighttime sipper compared to the El Diablo's daytime fair.  Both are good though.

Naked and Famous

.75 Mezcal
.75 Yellow Chartreuse
.75 Aperol
.75 Lime Juice

Shake all ingredients and strain into a chilled coupe glass.

I recently picked up this year's Food and Wine Cocktails 2012.  I've been buying these books for a few years now because they have some interesting recipes ideas in them (although some are misses).  This year's version is set up a bit different than past years.  In previous years there were sections for drinks by spirit (brand, gin, vodka, etc) or theme (pitcher, mocktail, classic, etc).  This year it is organized by classic cocktail(blood and sand, margarita, etc), and then takes on it (classic, twist, reinvention, mocktail).  Seems to be a pretty interesting idea for people who want to get into making their own variations on a drink. 

The Naked and Famous was listed as the reinvention in the Last Word section.  I made this Last Word variation as one of my first drinks out of this book because Last Words are one of my favorite drinks (although they can come off as a little sweet), and the mescal / aperol / yellow charteruse version sounded cool.

The drink starts off with a muted mezcal smoke on the nose.  Taste begins with mezcal and smoke reminiscent of a mezcal based margarita or el diablo.  This transitions into faint grapefruit and herbal notes with a subtle sugar sweetness.  The drink ends with some chartreuse herbals and leaves a smokey flavor on the tongue.  As time goes on the initial hit of mezcal starts to dissipate and the aperol comes through with hints of grapefruit and lime.

ghost in the graveyard

1 oz Cocchi Americano
1 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1 oz Amaro Montenegro
1 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice.  Strain into an old fashioned glass filled with ice.  Garnish with a mint sprig.

Taking another drink off of the cocktailvirgin blog I chose the Ghost in the Graveyard which is from Gary Regan's Annual Manual for Bartenders 2011.  As much as I wanted to make this drink (Cocchi, Chartreuse, Amaro, fresh mint) I was a bit sad because I knew it was going to kill the last of my bottle of Yellow Chartreuse, and I don't really feel like buying a new one (I will though).  Luckily the drink turned out to be a good use of it.

The scent on the drink was mint with a slight bit of lime.  The taste starts out with Yellow Chartreuse before transitioning to lime.  The drink finishes with sugar and some Cocchi style bitterness.  The drink tastes surprisingly like Green Chartreuse for it using Yellow Chartreuse.  Because of this it kind of reminds me of a last word.  Since it is sweet, limey and herbal.  The ingredients work very well together.  Tasting the Amaro Montenegro alone before making the drink I was surprised by how much it reminded me of Cocchi.

Angostura Sour

1.5 oz Angostura Bitters
.75 oz Lime Juice
   1 oz Simple Syrup
   1 Egg White

Add all of the ingredients into a shaker and shake without ice.  Add ice and shake.  Strain into a coupe glass.

Today I tried another drink out of the beta cocktail book.  The Angostura Sour caught my eye because the only liquor involved in this recipe is Angostura Bitters, which are usually used in real small portions.  I've tried a few other drinks that use heavy amounts of Angostura with mixed results (mentirita and veracruz sling), but since it's an interesting concept and I had some eggs lying around.  I figured I'd try it out.

It turned out to be pretty cool.  I think I was more open to this drink because I had just tried a Ramos Gin Fizz.  The Angostura sour reminded me of a Ramos Gin Fizz because they both have a lot of citrus and a general 'sunday morning cocktail' feel.

I ended up making this drink twice.  Once as written with the egg white, and again trying to remove the egg white from the scenario (cause I don't keep eggs in the house much / raw eggs sketch people out).  I first tried it without the egg and it just wasn't the same, so I replaced it with a little soy milk (to try and replicate the creamy mouthfeel and touch of vanilla you get from egg whites) and it worked out pretty good.  I figure in a pinch a spash of soymilk could replace the egg white in this drink, but I'll have to try it a few more times to really see.

This drink starts with a heavily Angostura focused nose.  Allspice and herbs dominate with a hint of citris.  The taste is where the surprise is.  The drink is smooth and mellow and creamy.  It starts with citrus and sugar is followed by spicy nutmeg and allspice notes.  The sip ends with lime zest.  This drink really shows off what Angostura can do and allows people to understand how you could make whipped cream with Angostura or put it on vanilla ice cream and have it work.

Strawberry Lychee Punch

   3 Strawberries
   1 Lychee
.25 oz Simple Syrup (Agave)
.25 oz Lychee Syrup
   2 oz Light Rum (Jamaican Rum)
  .5 oz Lime Juice

Muddle the strawberries and lychee with the syrups.  Add the Rum and Lime Juice and shake.  Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a strawberry and lychee.

Dispite the fact that the weather isn't accommodating (snow flurries? what the heck). I want it to be nice out.  I also wanted to do up a drink that wouldn't require a trip to the liquor store.  Fulfilling this role is the Strawberry Lychee Punch from Food & Wine's Cocktails 2006.  I made a couple changes to the base recipe when I created mine.  I used agave nectar for a more nuianced sweetness and threw in a pinch of salt and some rosewater to intensify the fruit flavors a bit.  It seemed to help, but it isn't necessary.

This ended up being a nice and simple summer cocktail.  The nose was delicate with ripe fruit, floral and rum notes.  The taste started with a slight acidity from the fresh strawberries and went into a jammy fruit taste.  The rum breaks up the fruit flavor with a bit of heat + spice.  After more fruit the drink ends on a slight lime note.  The most noticible factor of this drink though was the mouthfeel.  The muddled fruit gave this drink a thick almost smoothie like consistancy that worked well in the drink.

In the end if you had a can of lychees around and feel like making something a bit more interesting than a strawberry daiquiri, I'd recommend giving the strawberry lychee punch a try.

Honey & Spice

1.5 oz Grapefruit Juice
   1 oz Lime Juice
   1 tbs Honey mixed with 1 tbs water
  .5 oz Allspice Syrup (Allspice Dram)

Shake with ice, Garnish with a grapefruit twist

Taking a break from alcoholic cocktails I pulled the Honey & Spice out of the mocktail section of Food & Wine's Cocktails 2011.

Smelling the drink I was hit with almost a tangerine citrus smell, wax, and allspice.  The flavor started off with sharp citrus flavors starting with grapefruit and moving into lime.  The drink reaches a flavor peak with a rounded honey sweetness which momentarily cuts through the tartness.  At the end of the sit the allspice flavors come in evoking a holiday feeling.  The final aftertaste is pure sweetarts but in a good way.  Definitely a keeper, and I may think up a way to create an alcoholic version.