An Affordable Cocktail

I can remember when the "vodka boom" happened in the liquor industry. Being in the business myself and having a preference mostly for brown spirits, I found there to be something disingenuous about convincing people to pay premium prices for an un-aged product made from any ingredients. It was a marketing fiasco, with all attention being paid to packaging rather than the liquid inside the bottle. Kind of like brand name logos on the outside of clothes.

Thankfully, that bubble burst, and an interest in whiskey took its place. I will admit to being a little put off by the hipster popularity of rye and Bourbon, but with that popularity came a slew of great new options at all price points. In the affordable category, Medley Brothers is a new favorite.

Medley Brothers was a product sold originally in the 1940s and 50s, recently relaunched by Charles Medley Distillers. It's the kid brother to Old Medley 12 Year Old. Younger barrels are selected and blended, then bottled at an old style 102 proof. Medley Brothers wear its strength well. It's a rich, chewy bourbon, with plenty of tobacco bitter cocoa flavor to temper its inherent sweetness. You can sip on it straight, but I find I like best as a classic whiskey sour, shaken with the juice of half a lemon and half a teaspoon of sugar. When the mint starts growing I'll throw a few torn leaves in for garnish.

Medley Bros. isn't getting the hype of Pappy Van Winkle, Black Maple Hill, or even Buffalo Trace, and that's a good thing. Hiding out on a lower shelf at your local store in a frumpy looking bottle with a plastic twist off cap, at $24.99 its worth every penny. Here's hoping they'll make enough of it that supply doesn't dry up as soon as people discover it. (I'm looking at you, Old Weller Antique).

Lifestyle: Autumn Cocktails

Many of you know that my "day job" (which actually occurs from 3-11pm most days) is working in a fine wine shop. I generally take care of the gourmet food department and offer wine advice. But in my capacity as the teams "utility infielder" I occasionally conduct a cocktail tasting.  The most recent was last Saturday, and we've had a few requests to share the recipes online. I thought this was as good a forum as any.

This recent tasting featured three cocktails perfect for Autumn. Two were our own takes on old classics, one just a direct old classic. Apple, cinnamon, and maple featured heavily, but in a more understated way than the all-too-prevalent-pumpkin-spice-everything fiasco that has gripped the United States this year. The recipes that follow require few ingredients and are relatively simple to prepare, not unlike the best cooking. And, not unlike the best cooking, will leave your guests with the impression that you are some sort of culinary superhero, even a "mixologist" ( read: good bartender), if you will.

The Normandy Cocktail

3 Parts Le Compte Originel Calvados

1 Part B&B, dash of maple bitters

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker full of ice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail (martini) glass. Garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino cherry. Think of it as something of an "Apple Manhattan".

Autumn Old Fashioned

3 Parts Old Weller Antique Bourbon

Dash of cinnamon simple syrup, dash of apple bitters

Combine ingredients in a glass off ice and stir until chilled. Strain and serve over fresh ice in a tumbler, garnish with half a candied walnut. (note: cinnamon simple syrup is easy to prepare. In a saucepan, combine equal measure sugar and water with two or three cinnamon sticks. Boil until the sugar is dissolved. Discard cinnamon sticks. Keeps ins the refrigerator up to one week)

Hot Mulled Cider

Fresh apple cider, mulling spices (cinnamon, clove, allspice, star anise)

Sapling Maple Bourbon Liqueur, Privateer Amber Rum

Combine cider, spices, and a healthy drop of  maple liqueur in a sauce pot or kettle and heat to a steaming simmer, being careful not to boil as this will result in a bitter drink. Serve in a mug or coffee cup with a good helping of Privateer Amber Rum (or other suitable rum/bourbon/brandy of choice) Bonus points: your house will smell fantastic as guests arrive. Best served from a punch bowl or crock pot.

You see, there is a bright side to the falling temperatures aside from being able to wear tweed and flannel. You get to have a cocktail party just so you can serve drinks like these.

Cheers!

Whiffs of Spring (and a giveaway)

Celery soda is weird and even kind of gross. It smells like celery, but it's sweet. Almost like ginger ale, except it's celery. While I'm sure there are those out there who like this stuff on its own, or at least claim to, I'm not one of them. However, I have recently discovered that combined in a tall glass of ice with an old fashioned light gin, such as Bombay or Beefeater, a big squeeze of lemon, and maybe a dash of ginger liqueur, it makes a damn good Spring/Summer cocktail, the kind of thing you drink poolside in Lily Pulitzer pants or a pink sports coat. Only thing I can't settle on is a name.

I'll give you guys until Midnight Easter Sunday to come up with a name for it. Leave your suggestions in the comments. Best answer will receive this vintage India madras "Victorian Bow" tie by J. Press from my own private collection.

1 April 2012 : The contest is now closed to new entries. Thanks to all who contributed. I'll review the entries along with the two fellows who originally sampled the drink with me, and a winner will be announced by mid-week. 

5 April 2012: We have a winner! Honorable mentions go to Jon for "Gin Ray" and Unknown for "Garden Party", but in the end the prize goes to AEV for "Cellmate", though I'm going to amend the spelling to "Cel-Mate". Congratulations, AEV. Email me and we'll send you the tie right away.

An Affordable Cocktail

More ways to drink brown liquor on a hot night. Meet Rob Roy:

The Rob Roy is a cocktail that could stand to enjoy a revival, so I'm doing my part. Basically, it's the same as a Manhattan, but with Scotch, rather than rye, as its liquor base. Rye whiskey is enjoying a giant surge in popularity these days, which is all well and good. I suppose we have Don Draper to thank for that. And while it's true people still drink plenty of good Scotch, its use as a base ingredient for cocktails, as it was in the High Holy 1930s, remains largely ignored.

Recently, I've discovered Lombard Old Blend Scotch Whisky. $14.99 in the Boston area, if you can find it. It tastes a lot like Johnny Walker Red Label, albeit a bit thinner in texture, but for a full ten dollars less. It's unquestionably better than Dewar's. And it makes a great cocktail.

There are plenty of schmancy vermouth out there these days, chief among them Dolin, Punt e Mes, and Carpano Antico, but for this drink, I think good ole Martini & Rossi will do just fine. Bitters have gotten trendy and gone off the charts too, but I find good ole Angustora does me just fine.

Here's how its done:

Fill a small cocktail shaker with ice. Add 3 parts Scotch and 1 part red 9sweet) vermouth and a few drops of bitters. Stir until chilled. DO NOT SHAKE. This will only make the drink frothy. Strain into a cocktail glass. I like a Champagne saucer, or "cocktail coupe". Martini glasses are acceptable too. Just keep it small. I've told you why before.

Garnish with a real Maraschino cherry. This is the one place where it simply will not to to be cheap.

If you live in or near a major city, do your utmost to seek out Luxardo maraschino cherries. These are actual candied marasca cherries (hence the name) from Italy. Once you've had them you will never accept those awful bright red things again. If you can't find these, garnish with a lemon twist instead.

Named for Scottish folk hero Robert Roy Mac Gregor, the Rob Roy proves that Scotch ain't just for warming you up on a cold damp day. It also proves that despite the recent years of single malt only snobbery we've endured, blended Scotch has it's place in the cabinet too. Great before a big meal of steak and red wine, especially if that steak was cooked outside on a grill.

Book Review : The Gentry Man

A few weeks ago, Harper/Collins was kind enough to enough to send me an advance copy of their new book, The Gentry Man, released to the general public today. A compendium of Gentry magazine from 1951-1957, it provides an interesting look back at a period in menswear history that can frequently be romanticized beyond recognition.

For those of you not familiar with Gentry magazine, I can only say that it reminds of what GQ was like a long time ago, when it was good. It offers a broad slice of all the things that make up what they call "the civilized man". In it you'll find not only cocktail recipes, but also great articles about the act of drinking itself with titles like "In Praise of Booze". You'll find tips on winning chess in seven moves, food articles about James Beard and Brillat Savarin alongside classic and time tested recipes. You'll find a few pages about cars and resort hotels, furniture, modern art, and of course, plenty about clothing. Interestingly, you won't find much talk of professional sports.

As you might expect, it contains a lot of nostalgia about "the good old days" when men regularly wore suits in the day and formal wear at night. What's better than that, though, is all the unusual stuff that's included. Crazy sailor suits for poolside at the resort come to mind at the wild extreme, a tweed weekend jacket with raglan sleeves comes to mind in the "why doesn't someone make that anymore" end. The good stuff is really good, but it's the inclusion and sheer amount or weird stuff that's even better. For one thing, it makes the good stuff look better, and for another, its good to be reminded that even in what we like to think of as the glory days, it wasn't all a bed of roses. People were just as prone to go for something crazy in the interest of newness back the as they are now, the only difference being that then the labels were attached to the inside of the clothes. Its a useful thing to remember both good and bad when we see the past and use it as a tool to assess good and bad today. Gentry provides both.

Each chapter is introduced with some brief text by editor Hal Rubinstein, and his writing is well informed and to the point, making this book as good to read as the pictures are fun to look at. Best of all, the whole thing is relatively short, and very well chosen. No filler, only the good stuff. The book is laid out in a very easy to thumb trough way, which is always a bonus with these kind of things.

For the older reader, this book can offer both a warm look back and a chance to chuckle at some minor foibles. For the younger reader, it provides an extra degree of true perspective on the past in a more multi-dimensional way that is often offered. In either case, it would be a fun addition to any mans collection of sartorial books.

Just Some Old Thing To Wear Around The House....

In the past, I've made my position of precious house clothes quite clear. I've never been one for luxury pyjamas or precious embroidered velvet slippers, as I find that the time I spend at home in my house clothes involves as much cleaning and house work as it does sleeping. And then this falls into my lap...

...an honest to God dressing gown. Not a robe, a dressing gown, made of some of the softest light weight tweed I've ever touched. Found at a favorite thrift haunt for $6.99, among a rack of ladies coats of all things. Rules of thrifting: 1) look where you don't think things should be, because sometimes that's where the are. 2) Learn to spot good fabric. I saw the sleeve sticking out of a heap of junk and the fabric is what caught my eye.

The beautifully cut shawl collar had me thinking black tie immediately. Do I dare be so obnoxious as to invite people to my house for cocktails and host them in this get-up? Does such a garment even belong in a modest two bedroom with toys all over the place?

Finding a belt with something like this in a thrift shop is like a gift from above, truly rare. Its got a few tiny moth holes, but only a few, so who cares? Guess I have to do a complete 180 degree turn and order some custom made broadcloth pyjamas and a half dozen pair of those damn velvet slippers. The full rig will be just the thing for cooking pancakes, washing dishes and picking up after the kids.

p.s. new stuff in the Shop, including Brooks Brothers sweaters, Alden shoes, and some serious vintage Harris Tweed.