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I’ve really been enjoying the moonshine my mother-in-law gave me, and this is a cocktail I found and played around with a week or two ago and have been itching to share because it’s quickly become a favorite of mine — which is unexpected in the sense that this baby is HOT, just super spicy on the finish, which isn’t what I’d normally go for.
Folks, how cool is my mother in law? So cool, she got me this for Christmas:
Moonshine! White dog! Rotgut! White lightning! Hooch! Fire water! Mountain dew!
Academically speaking, corn whiskey, made from a mashbill of a government-mandated-minimum 81 percent corn (with rye and malted barley making up the difference) that usually sees the inside of a charred oak barrel exactly never. In other words, it’s a sort of bastardized, unaged bourbon (which requires at least 51 percent corn in its mashbill and some time sittin’ in charred oak).
Because they’re most perfect for winter (hello, 27 degrees this morning!), because they’re freaking delicious and because I had a Groupon for some Ciao Bella burning a hole in my pocket — it’s Alexander Week over here at the Five O’Clock Cocktail Blog!
Guest post by Sean Lorre, the Blogtender’s Husband
I love liquor. I do. I love the bite and the burn of a good, strong drink. Hell, I would down straight, over-proof bourbon with a dash of bitters regularly if it didn’t lead me to lose my car keys while playing disc golf* at 3 a.m. or puke in a dive bar sink on a second date. (Rose, should I not say “puke” on a blog about delicious cocktails?) [You should not tell the world that you puked on our second date, is what you really should not do. -- Ed.]
I suppose the more refined way to refer to my cocktail proclivities is “spirit-forward,” but since the watchword for 2011 around here is honesty I’ll stick with how I really feel; I love booze. I’ve always loved a good Manhattan, but the first Martinez I ever had (Flatiron Lounge, May 2005) introduced me to the world of historical mixology and I never looked back. When a friend introduced me to this all-liquor variation on a classic Sidecar (Italian translation: Carrozzino) I was both intrigued and a bit wary. It turned out to be pretty damn good and so I share it with you today.
Contrary to 100% of this blog’s content heretofore, there are plenty of things I’m up for discussing besides weddings. For example, Calvados, which I was lucky enough to try for the first time on its home turf about 13 years ago at an inn in Normandy. I remember a dining room resplendent with golden amber tones, although that may have just been the view down my nose into the bottom of my snifter. In fact, considering I can’t remember much else about that night, let’s go with that.
So anyway, back to weddings. One of my most favorite things to do, as perhaps you’ve already gleaned, is write a cocktail recipe. I love it so much that I’ll even craft a cocktail I have little interest in drinking. Last fall, my friend Harley asked me to write an appletini recipe for her brother’s nuptials. (Google docs is suggesting I correct “appletini.” First choice: Appleton. I hear ya, Google docs.) Read the rest of this entry »
