The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

I really loved all the Jerry Thomas drinks I made this time, they were all quite light and delicious! I gave directions for one drink or for bulk – as is often the case that one wants a drink without throwing a party.

Imperial Punch

(for one person)

3 oz of claret (any dark red blend will do)
3 oz of soda water
1 sugar cube
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of Maraschino
1 piece of muddled cucumber

Allow the sugar cube to dissolve in the soda water. Muddle the cucumber. Add all the ingredients together including the soda water. Strain.

Imperial Punch

(according to Jerry Thomas)

28 oz of claret (any dark red blend will do)
28 oz of soda water
4 tablespoons of powdered white sugar
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 liqueur-glass of Maraschino (how much is a liquor glass)
3 or 4 slices of cucumber rind

Allow the sugar to dissolve in the sugar water. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Thirty-Second Regiment Punch aka Victoria Punch

(for one person)

1 piece of lemon peel
1.5 oz brandy
1.5 oz Jamaica rum
2 sugar cubes
2.5 oz water
¾ oz of steamed milk

Muddle the lemon peel with the brandy and rum. Strain. Add sugar cubes, water, and steamed milk. The drink WILL curdle. Strain through a cheese cloth (which was brilliant and opened my eyes to a lot of other possibilities that I have steered away from because of curdling). Stir and enjoy!

Thirty-Second Regiment Punch aka Victoria Punch

(according to Jerry Thomas)

(Recipe taken from the late Wiliam H. Herbert, Esq.)

Six lemons
32 ounces of brandy
32 ounces of Jamaica rum (I used Myers)
1 pound of white sugar
56 quart of water
16 oz of boiling milk

Cut the lemons into slices and allow them to steep in the brandy and rum overnight. Then add sugar, water, and milk. Once it is well-mixed strain through a jelly bag (don’t have a jelly bag, you can just use cheese cloth and honestly most people who make jelly prefer an old pillow case to a jelly bag anyhow).

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What is a jelly bag? It is a bag made out of muslin or another thin material where one puts ripe fruit in a manner so that the bag hangs and the fruit juice drips out from the bag into a collection bowl.

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This punch may be bottled, and can be drank hot or cold.

Light Guard Punch

(for one person)

2 oz of champagne
½ ounce sherry
½ ounce cognac
½ ounce of white wine
1 piece of pineapple
1 piece of lemon

Light Guard Punch

(for a party according to Jerry Thomas)

84 oz of champagne (3 bottles)
28 oz of pale sherry
28 oz of cognac
28 oz of Sauterne
1 pineapple
4 lemons

Cut the pineapple into small pieces. Slice the lemons. Mix all the ingredients together in a very large container (you will need a three-gallon container to make this punch recipe). Add the sliced fruit. Add sugar if desired. As for the punch bowl, place it inside another punch bowl packed with ice and rock salt so that the top bowl is nestled within the larger bowl.

Philadelphia Fish House Punch

(From a recipe in the possession of Charles G. Leland, Esq.)

(Jerry Thomas says this recipe should be “generally sufficient for one person”) I personally think this recipe is sufficient for three or four people.

The Fish House Punch is one of the oldest cocktails in American history, and was first concocted in 1732 at the Schuylkill Fishing Company (a men’s only club where George Washington liked to chill). The punch was created to celebrate the first time women were allowed in the club (but only for a day) at the annual Christmas Party. It was supposed to be just “something to please the ladies palate but get them livelier than is their usual wont.”

5 ounces lemon juice
5 ounces of simple syrup
8 ounces of cognac
4 ounces of peach brandy
4 ounces of Jamaican rum
20 ounces of cold water

Mix ingredients and serve in a punch bowl.  Should be served with ice.

Philadelphia Fish House Punch

(For one person)

Here is a bit different recipe for one person and I do believe a bit more accurate, as Fish House Punch typically has black tea in it.

1 ounce of lemon juice
1 ounce of simple syrup
2 ounces of cognac
¼ ounce of peach brandy
¼ ounce of dark rum
3 ounces of chilled black tea

Stir ingredients, add ice, and enjoy!

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Link to more info on Fish House Punch.

Link to other Jerry Thomas Recipes.

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I had the treat of going to Portland this week and making the Hood River Distilleries fall and winter portfolio of cocktails for all of their regional sales reps. (The recipes follow.) I was also able to meet Ken Wyatt, who is one of the owners of 44 North Vodka – made right next-door in Idaho.

What was really embarrassing after spending the entire evening with everyone (and let’s just say these guys don’t go to bed until there is really no other option) is how little I knew about the Pacific Northwest’s oldest distillery, Hood River Distilleries. Hood River Distilleries opened in the small town of Hood River, which sits at the base of Mount Hood on the Columbia River. If you have never been to Hood River, Oregon – you are missing out on one of the most enchanting locales in the entire nation. It has a charming downtown, rich in Victorian buildings and cute urban shops that house boutique bakeries and outdoor stores. The Columbia River is visible from many places in town and on a warm and windy day you can see kite boarders’ pink, green, and yellow sails glide by on a river so big it has white caps and small waves breaking.

Hood River Distilleries began in 1934. (To give you an idea of what was happening during this time – The U.S. was in the midst of The Great Depression with unemployment at 22% – it’s currently around 9%. Adolf Hitler declared himself the fuehrer of Germany – now google and facebook just knows everything you do and when you do it. And, the U.S. Midwest was experiencing the dustbowls, where 35 million acres of farmland were destroyed – now half of the nation doesn’t even eat food grown in fields, so this might matter less to us today.)

Hood River Distilleries began as a way to use the fruit waste that was being disposed of in the river, as the valleys around Hood River are quilted in apple and pear orchards. In 1968, Hood River Distilleries moved to its current location (you can actually see it as you breeze by on the interstate). They no longer distill old fruit waste, but rather bottle Pendleton Canadian Whisky, Yazi Ginger Vodka, Knickers Irish Cream, Broker’s London Dry Gin, and ULLR (which is a cinnamon peppermint schnapps). I also learned how much Pendleton they sell compared to anything else and how popular Pendleton is on the rodeo circuit – which was fascinating. Pendleton is the official spirit of ProRodeo and does all the big cash prizes for bareback buck riding, saddle bronc riding, and bull riding. Hood River Distilleries has also invested a lot of money to keep the facilities for the Pendleton Round-up in prime condition. If you are like myself and don’t travel much in the rodeo circuit, The Pendleton Round-up is Oregon’s biggest rodeo which started in 1910 and every September attracts the world’s greatest cowboys to ride on the world’s meanest bulls.

Pendleton is an aged and blended Canadian whisky that took many years of trial and error to create what many believe is the best Canadian whisky in the world. (I am not a Canadian whisky fan, but the Pendleton has a rich vanilla undertone that differentiates it from most of the swag available at the same price point.) They don’t do the blending on premise, but rather it is blended in Canada to their specifications and then brought to proof with Mt. Hood glacial water. Before Hood River Distilleries bottles Pendleton Whisky (which is about every six weeks) a sample is sent and a panel of tasters including the owner of the company, Ronald Dodge, and the vice president, Lynda Webber, taste it to ensure that it tastes like every ounce of Pendleton that’s ever been sold. The spirit is shipped by train across the country – which can take many weeks and can affect the product if the train car gets too hot or too cold – which means that the whisky will have to re-blended. So it’s a delicate process, but it ensures quality and consistency.

I also got to meet the original Pendleton Posse Member Mindy Davis, who is absolutely gorgeous, ridiculously charming, and a sicklingly good dancer. I you are not familiar with the Pendleton Posse, it is a group of talented young women who grew up in the rodeo community and travel to help promote Pendleton Whisky and the spirit of the American West. Seems like a pretty good gig, made me wish that I knew how to actually ride a horse and I owned some bigger belt buckles.

Hood River Distilleries also just picked up 44 North Vodka, which is made in Rigby Idaho. They have two types – their flavored vodkas (huckleberry and rainier cherry) that are distilled from potatoes, in honor of Idaho being the home of famous potatoes and a winter wheat vodka (the winter wheat is also grown in Idaho but without the hoopla). I’ve had the huckleberry vodka numerous times over the years and I’ve always loved the flavor – plus too, there just are no other huckleberry vodkas. Unfortunately, I believe that cough syrup has destroyed the cherry flavor for me as cherry lollipops, cherry Popsicles, and cherry vodka tend to remind me of sick days as a child. Not to say that’s not to say there isn’t a positive, as my many of my favorite memories from childhood are sucking on Luden’s cherry cough drops while watching Wheel of Fortune and enjoying the luxury of sleeping on the couch – it’s just not necessarily the feeling I want while I’m in the bar. Nonetheless, I hate to say it but it makes a damn good cherry coke. The winter wheat drinks sweet as most winter wheat vodkas do.

Anyhow, it is always fun to learn something new – especially about a brand that I see all the time.

As for Hood River Distilleries Fall and Winter Cocktails, please help yourself.

The drinks are tiered as the first drink of each group is the easiest to make.

The second drink might have harder ingredients to find, but you should be able to get everything you need at a regular grocery and liquor store.

The third drink might involve a special grocery or a nicer liquor store.

Cheers!

Brokers Gin Cocktails

Gin and Juice
2 oz Broker’s Gin
3 oz Juice Love

Mix in glass, add ice, and stir.

Juice Love Recipe

Juice Love (this is built to 28 ounces – the size of a storm pourer or a recycled/re-used liquor or wine bottle) I recommend that if being used at a commercial level that the bar premix the juice, as they will find it will add to speed and efficiency.

7 ounces pineapple juice
7 ounces cranberry juice
6 ounces oj
2 ounces grapefruit juice
3 ounces lime juice
3 ounces simple syrup

Gin Gin
2 oz Broker’s Gin
1.5 oz mint syrup
1.5 oz lime juice

Mix in glass, add ice, and stir.

Mint Syrup
4 cups mint (you can use the entire sprig, no need to tear the leaves off)
6 cups water
6 cups sugar
Bring to a boil, take off the heat and let sit overnight. Strain and serve.

Postmodern Pimms Cup
1 oz Broker’s Gin
.5 oz St. Germain
.5 oz Pimms
1/2 oz cucumber puree or 4 slices of muddles cucumber
2 oz of lime sour
.5 oz of soda
2 shakes of Angostura bitters

Mix in glass, stir or shake, add ice, and serve.

Lime Sour
2 cups warm water
1 cup sugar
14 ounces fresh-squeezed lime
2 ounces of oj

Cucumber purée is simply cucumbers that have been ran through a blender

Yazi Cocktails

Hard Bitters and Soda
2 oz Yazi
3 oz of soda
3 shakes of Angostura Bitters (or any flavor bitters you have)

Mix in glass, add ice, and stir.

Yazi Toddy
1.5 oz Yazi
.5 oz brandy
1.5 oz honey syrup
1 squeeze of half of a lemon
splash oj
2 oz hot water

Build this drink in a coffee cup stirring until all the ingredients are mixed.  You most likely will need to steam or microwave this drink to warm it up before serving.

Honey syrup is just 2 parts honey to 1 part warm water – it makes the honey much easier to use for cocktails. I would recommend making a squeezie bottle of honey syrup for speed’s sake.

Ninja Ginja
2 oz Yazi
1 oz Monarch triple sec
1 oz Gimple
1 oz lemon juice

Gimple (Ginger Syrup)
4 cups water
4 cups sugar
Your choice of 2 cups peeled and cut ginger or 8 bags of ginger lemon tea

Bring to a boil and take off the heat. Strain the ginger or tea bags out and let cool. (DO NOT allow the ginger to sit overnight – the syrup will take on a lot of spiciness)

Pendleton Cocktails

Pendleton Smash
(this is a very old pre-prohibition cocktail made with Pendleton)

2 oz Pendleton (that’s been steeped in mint)
2.5 oz water
teaspoon of fine white sugar (Baker’s sugar)

The easiest way to steep the Pendleton with mint is to add two mint teabags to a bottle of Pendleton (especially if this drink is on the cocktail list and you are pouring through a lot of Pendleton). Otherwise, allow 2 oz of Pendleton to steep with fresh mint sprigs for 10 minutes up to overnight (but don’t leave it any longer or it will turn a nasty color).

Pendleton Sidecar
2 oz Pendleton
1 oz Monarch Triple
2 oz Lime Sour

Build drink in a shaker, add ice, shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

Lime Sour
2 cups warm water
1 cup sugar
14 ounces fresh-squeezed lime
2 ounces of oj

Tim Buck 2 (Let’er Buck)
2 oz Pendleton
1 oz Vanilla Syrup
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Soda

Vanilla Syrup
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1/8 cup vanilla extract

Bring the sugar and water to a boil, take off the heat. Let cool and add the vanilla extract (if you add the extract when it’s hot the vanilla extract will evaporate)

Knickers Cocktails

The Wired
1.5 oz Knickers
.5 oz Coffee Liqueur
2 oz Espresso
.5 oz Chambord
.5 oz half and half or heavy whipping cream

Build drink in a shaker, add ice, shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

Coco Fizz
1.5 oz Knickers
1 oz Amaretto
1 oz coconut cream or coconut milk
2 oz cola

Build drink in a collins glass adding all ingredients except for the cola.  Stir, add ice, and top with cola.

The Ultimate Chocolate Martini
1 oz Knickers
.5 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz creme de cocoa
1.5 oz Ghirardelli Chocolate Syrup
1 oz half and half or heavy whipping cream

Chocolate Martinis are a great place to play around with some fun rimmers – go down the candy aisle and blend up M&M’s, Heath Bar, or Butterfinger. Use chocolate syrup to make the rim sticky and dip it in your crumbled candy choice.

ULLR Cocktails

Viking Bomb
2 oz of ULLR dropped in a pint glass filled with half Red Bull (or another energy drink) and half lemonade

Caribbean Bulldog
1 oz ULLR
1 oz coconut milk or coconut cream
1 oz vanilla vodka
2 oz soda
grate a bit of fresh nutmeg on top (if you have some lying around)

Mix in glass, add ice, and stir. (Some people are not so keen on the soda in this drink, so if that is you – please enjoy soda free.)

Silky Sin
1 oz ULLR
1 oz Yazi
1 oz half and half or heavy whipping cream
1 oz simple syrup
2 shakes Angostura Bitters
1 squeeze of lemon

Build drink in a shaker, add ice, shake and strain into a cocktail glass.

Last week was Repeal Day and it was my hope to be done with The Jerry Thomas Project by then, and I’m not; so I just decided that I’d forget about any time constraint and just work on it until I was done. Nonetheless, it made me wonder if Jerry Thomas would have gotten it done in a year. Which I decided that he probably would have but he would have done it sort of half-assed and sloppily (kind of like his book).

It’s a funny relationship you have with someone when you recreate all of their works – you really get to know them in a way. And I’ve found that Thomas is a little lazy and inattentive in his recipes. And then I started to think about him and his contemporary Harry Johnson, who wrote Harry Johnson’s New and Improved Illustrated Bartender’s Manual and a Guide for Hotels and Restaurants. Harry Johnson has an eye for detail that Thomas is certainly lacking. And quite honestly, I’m more a Harry Johnson (I’ll keep that a secret from the boys) than a Jerry Thomas. Johnson’s book is edited to a tee with half of it being a primer on how to run a restaurant or bar (down to what your linen costs should be), and I have to say that I pretty much wholeheartedly agree with Johnson’s take on the business. Perhaps, there’s a little reincarnated Harry Johnson inside of me (take that any way you want to).

Anyhow, I did get back on the bandwagon and make some Jerry Thomas drinks today (which fortunately I did earlier in the day, as my dear husband tried to be a plumber today by installing a new faucet in the kitchen to little avail – as now we don’t have any water at all until the plumber comes tomorrow:)

I’m still in the midst of making punches (If you haven’t heard, David Wondrich has a new book out called Punch. So far very informative and sassy, I totally recommend it.)

The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

Arrack Punch

2 ounces of Batavia Arrack
2 ounces of Jamaica Rum
1 ounce of fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce of simple syrup
1 piece of pineapple

Shake the rums with ice and the fruit. Garnish with fresh berries (if in season). Serve with a straw.

Batavia Arrack
I honestly didn’t know what Batavia Arrack was until I tried to make this drink and found that the Arak I had is something completely different. I had previously only been privy to Arak, which is anise liqueur from the Middle East – drank very much like absinthe as they typically add water to it until it louches. Batavia Arrack however is despicable rum made from sugarcane and red rice in Java, Indonesia. It costs around $30 a bottle and I can honestly say it is the worst alcohol purchase I have ever made – it truly tastes like gasoline. Save yourself the time and money and just use a decent rum in this drink and I think you’ll find it to be much more savvy.

Claret Punch

5 ounces of claret
1 teaspoon of baker’s sugar
1 slice of lemon
3 pieces of orange

Shake the wine with the sugar, lemon, and orange pieces with ice. (Jerry Thomas uses shaved ice, although for your ease, any ice will suffice.)
Garnish with fresh berries (if in season). Serve with a straw.

Claret was originally a very dark rose produced in the Bordeaux region of France. Currently it is reference to a red Bordeaux wine and American wine in the style of Bordeaux (the six grapes of Bordeaux are cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec, petit verdot, and carménère (which very little is produced of today). As for this punch, I used the 2006 Chateau Frontenac as it’s very nice and affordable.

Sauterne Punch

5 ounces of sauterne
1 teaspoon of baker’s sugar
1 slice of lemon
3 pieces of orange

Shake the wine with the sugar, lemon, and orange pieces with ice. (Jerry Thomas uses shaved ice, although for your ease, any ice will suffice.)
Garnish with fresh berries (if in season). Serve with a straw.

Sauternes is a French dessert wine also from Bordeaux. It is made from sémillon, sauvignon blanc, and muscadelle grapes that have been affected by noble rot, which is a grey fungus that affects grapes and can either destroy them or turn them into a grape that creates a fine sweet wine that is considered a delicacy. For this drink I used the 2005 Chateau Guiraud, mostly because I had some lying around. I’ve never had a bad Sauterne – so whatever you have will most likely be delicious.

Vanilla Punch

2 ounces of brandy
1 tablespoon of baker’s sugar
1/2 ounce of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
3 drops of vanilla extract

Shake the brandy with ice, the sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
Garnish with fresh berries (if in season). Serve with a straw.

Sherry Punch

4 ounces of sherry
1 teaspoon of baker’s sugar
1 slice of orange
1 slice of lemon

Shake the sherry with ice and the fruit. Garnish with fresh berries (if in season). Serve with a straw.

To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.

I received an interesting question today, and thought it to be a good blog post.

This came from a woman who belongs to a cookbook reading club and this month they were planning on talking about sugar, in particularly techniques for its use in cooking and mixed drinks. She was also interested in knowing if I ever use anything other than sugar, such as agave nectar or stevia.

Most cocktails these days are composed of a base spirit, some sort of citrus, and some sort of sweetener. Obviously, the cheapest and easiest sweetener to make is simple syrup.

Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Bring to a boil and immediately move off the heat

The next easiest sweetener to use is flavored simple syrup. There are numerous ways to add flavor, but some of the easiest are by adding an extract (i.e. vanilla or almond) or by steeping tea bags in the syrup. Using either of these techniques will open up a thousand doors as to what flavors of simple syrup you can make. You can also use brown sugar when making the syrup, which has more of a caramel flavor to it and is darker in color (you have to be a little more careful what you mix it with so you don’t make something a really terrible color).

Flavored Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 teabags
Bring to a boil and immediately move off the heat

I’ve also used spun sugar (or cotton candy) to flavor drinks and although I own a cotton candy machine just for that purpose – I’ve also bought it, which is obviously a lot easier. There is maple cotton candy, which is one of the most delicious sweeteners I’ve ever had.

Where to buy Maple Cotton Candy – click here.

Speaking of maple, maple syrup mixes great in a cocktail – although it tends not to be as sweet as simple syrup.

As for agave nectar, I used to use it a lot. Now, not so much – mostly just because we used to use a lot of it for other things where I worked. Agave nectar isn’t as sweet as simple syrup either but it has a really beautiful silky mouth feel. I’ve always been keen on its flavor.

I have never used stevia for anything – but I know it is a lot sweeter than sugar. I would think you would have to play around with the ratios at first as it sounds like you would need very little stevia in order to make a stevia simple syrup.

Sugar is a really amazing food to work with because it can take on a hard form, which makes it a lot more interesting than other sweeteners. Making a hard candy is rather simple and can be an amazing cocktail garnish. It is also simple to flavor the candy with flavored extracts and to color with bright vibrant food dyes.

Hard candy recipe
(make sure you have a good thermometer)

3 3/4 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1 cup water
1 tablespoon orange, or other flavored extract
1/2 teaspoon food coloring (optional)
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Method:

In a medium saucepan, stir together the white sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Without stirring, heat to 300 to 310 degrees F (149 to 154 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms hard, brittle threads.

Remove from heat and stir in flavored extract and food coloring, if desired. Pour onto a greased cookie sheet, mold, or wax paper, and dust the top with confectioners’ sugar. Let cool, and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container.

As for quantities for mixing a balanced cocktail
- a good rule of thumb is one ounce of simple syrup to one ounce of fresh squeezed lemon or lime. Pasteurized citrus juice tends to be a tad sourer – so you might need a bit more simple if you are using store bought citrus juice. When using maple, I like to add just a tad of ginger flavored simple syrup to sweeten it up as it flatters the maple and sweetens it enough that it is easier to work with. Whenever I use cotton candy, I always mix the drink a tad too sour and place the cotton candy on the rim, as it is super water-soluble and the second it touches the drink it will melt. People also get a kick out of seeing it on the rim. Hard candy is a beautiful touch to any drink as you can shape it into almost any shape – either by using a candy mold or pouring it by hand.

I hope that answered your question about sugar.

It’s been a chaotic week with the climax being the one of the other bartender’s departure, who is the bartender I work the weekends with. We met many years ago when she was a sassy line cook with the mouth of an ex-con. I spent half the time trying to decipher a charming accent that is part drawl, part bam, and part her own language mixed in with an occasional loud expletive to really drive the point home. Nonetheless, she has a heart of gold, works like a mule, never says no, and will always go the extra mile – so when I was hiring a new bar assistant and she called me last year – it was an easy yes.

I feel lucky that I’ve been able to teach some truly awesome people how to bartend. Not only has it opened up a floodgate of one dollar bills in their lives, but in some cases it’s been the opportunity to learn who one is, hone one’s people skills, and learn to combat uber-levels of stress with a ridiculous smile on one’s face. And quite honestly, isn’t that the gift that keeps on giving.

Anyhow, I’m back from a mini four-day bender that started with the host’s birthday, moved on to the other bartender’s last night, proceeded with a bitch-ass going away party, and ended with a Monday afternoon champagne lunch and dinner bbq. Fortunately, it is not hard to go back to work when the job is to make a cocktails. I decided to make the juleps and smashes since my neighbors gave me a heap of mint from their garden to work with.

The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

So what is the difference between and julep and a smash?
In the julep, the mint is stirred and treated very carefully. In a smash, the mint is smashed (and typically steeped for longer). Otherwise, they are very similar. Thomas also calls for a tiny bit of water in the smash, but otherwise all the smashes and juleps consist of a base spirit, mint, and sugar.

A newspaper article from 1901 perhaps says it best, “Steep your mint leaves in whiskey over night; don’t crush them with a spoon. If you do you are making a mint smash, not a julep.”

The Real Georgia Mint Julep

1.5 ounces of Cognac
1.5 ounces of peach brandy
1 teaspoon of fine white sugar
3-4 mint sprigs

In a tumbler add the sugar to the water until it is dissolved, then add the mint, and then the brandy. Then stir the drink with a spoon (at this point I would let it steep for five – ten minutes) and then add shaved ice.

This drink is delicious and take time this week and make yourself one, especially since Thomas worried about the future of this drink, “The mint julep still lives, but it is by no means fashionable. Poor juleps have ruined the reputation of the South’s most famous drink.”

O.K. this isn’t peach, but this is a nice spin on The Real Georgia Mint Julep and I would be proud to name it The Real Oregon Mint Julep

The Real Oregon Mint Julep

1.5 ounces of brandy
1.5 ounces of pear brandy*
1 teaspoon of fine white sugar
*(Might I recommend Clear Creek Distillery’s Williams Pear Brandy. It takes 30 pounds of pears to make one bottle and they also make a bottle with an actual pear in it – the pear has to grow inside the bottle meaning that they have an orchard with bottles hanging off of the trees).

Mint Julep

3 ounces of brandy
2.5 teaspoons of water
1 tablespoon of sugar
2-3 sprigs of fresh mint

Mix the sugar and water together, carefully press the mint into the mixture (at this point I would let it steep for five – ten minutes). Remove the mint, add the brandy and fill with shaved ice. Take the mint and use it as a garnish, allowing the leaves to make a bouquet. Add berries, a slice of orange, and a dash of dark rum and serve with a straw.

What a hit!  I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve never made a mint julep correctly. Usually I muddle the mint (for time’s sake), make it with whiskey and I’ve never added berries, oranges, or a dash of rum. This is absolutely delicious!

Gin Julep

3 ounces of gin (I totally recommend the Ransom’s Old Tom Pre-Prohibition style gin)
2.5 teaspoons of water
1 tablespoon of sugar
2-3 sprigs of fresh mint

Mix the sugar and water together, carefully press the mint into the mixture (at this point I would let it steep for five – ten minutes). Remove the mint, add the brandy and fill with shaved ice. Take the mint and use it as a garnish, allowing the leaves to make a bouquet.

Whiskey Julep

3 ounces of whiskey
2.5 teaspoons of water
1 tablespoon of sugar
2-3 sprigs of fresh mint

Mix the sugar and water together; carefully press the mint into the mixture (at this point I would let it steep for five – ten minutes). Remove the mint, add the brandy and fill with shaved ice. Take the mint and use it as a garnish, allowing the leaves to make a bouquet.

Pineapple Julep

(Not quite sure why this is called a julep as it doesn’t call for any mint.)

Recipe for one drink
1 ounces of raspberry syrup
1 ounces of Maraschino Liqueur
1 ounces of Old Tom Gin
2 ounces of sparkling wine
2 pieces of pineapple
Stir and add ice

Recipe for a punch bowl
4 ounces of raspberry syrup
4 ounces of Maraschino Liqueur
4 ounces of Old Tom Gin
1 quart of sparkling wine
1 ripe pineapple

Mix everything together in a punch bowl and add ice. Garnish with seasonal berries.

Raspberry syrup recipe
1/2 cup puréed raspberries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Bring the sugar and water to heat until it begins to bubble. Pull it off the burner, let it cool and add ½ cup raspberry purée.

Now for the smashes, which tend to be a lot mintier.

How long should I let the mint steep for?
I would say no less than 15 minutes, I’ve done ten minute steeps before and that is really the minimum to get any sort of mintiness out of the leaf. I would recommend overnight if possible and if you are making these drinks for a bar – I would steep by the fifth or half-gallon so people don’t have to wait 15 minutes for a cocktail. I’ve also had good luck using mint tea bags if you don’t have any good mint (two mint teabags to one fifth whiskey has worked well).

Brandy Smash

2 ounces of brandy
3 to 4 sprigs of mint
2 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon of white sugar

Thomas tells his readers to press the mint in the sugar water, but I think you are going to get a much better smash allowing the mint to steep in the spirit first and then adding the other ingredients.

Add the water and sugar and garnish with a slice of orange and a fresh sprig of mint.

Gin Smash

2 ounces of gin
3 to 4 sprigs of mint
2 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon of white sugar

Thomas tells his readers to press the mint in the sugar water, but I think you are going to get a much better smash allowing the mint to steep in the spirit first and then adding the other ingredients.

Add the water and sugar and garnish with a slice of orange and a fresh sprig of mint.

Whiskey Smash

(delicious!)
2 ounces of whiskey
3 to 4 sprigs of mint
2 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon of white sugar

Thomas tells his readers to press the mint in the sugar water, but I think you are going to get a much better smash allowing the mint to steep in the spirit first and then adding the other ingredients.

Add the water and sugar and garnish with a slice of orange and a fresh sprig of mint.

To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.

I have two types of company, those who open the doors to our bulging full cabinets and smile as they to find that there is no food lurking in these dark abscesses, but rather – bottles upon bottles of distilled spirits.   These are the ones who get giddy with anticipation of a flaming cocktails and a raging house party. But there are also those who catch a peak and cannot understand why any one human being would ever need even a tenth as much liquor as I own. From absinthe, to aquavit, to just plain ol’ vodka – there is a bottle for everyone in there. I cannot help myself if I see a bottle somewhere that I’ve never had before, I must buy it. And before I know it – it is befriending tens of other bottles that only have a sip taken from them. The problem lie when I have company that opens up the cabinets and deems that their son married an alcoholic, which is only exacerbated by the fact that I keep vampire hours and work in a bar.

Thus, I found myself trying to clean out the cabinets today – not quite sure where to stash everything and I finally decided on creating a bar shelf in my office – which now looks like I really can’t stay away for more than a couple of minutes. (But the wholesomeness it brought to the kitchen cabinet cannot be rivaled as the Corn Pops no longer reside wedged between three bottles of tequila and a bottle of Dekuyper triple sec – don’t ask. ) The crazy irony being that now that all the alcohol is right next to me, the bottle of Obsello Absinthe is a lot more tantalizing now that it sits in my peripheral vision.  Surely it is not the wind whispering over to me, “You look soooooo thirsty.”

Anyhow, the exciting news is that I am going to take all of these crazy bottles and do a sort of “open mic” night on Repeal Day with all the local mixologists. It will just be us, a lot of alcohol, and some creativity, which I do believe, equals a good time. If you happen to be in Bend, drop by The Blacksmith and join in on the fun (December 5 is Repeal Day! Mark it on your calendars.)

The Jerry Thomas Project is the re-creation of all of Jerry Thomas’ cocktails from Jerry Thomas’ Bar-Tenders Guide: Receipts for Mixing in their purest form. Jerry Thomas is considered America’s father of mixology publishing the first cocktail book in 1862.

For the meantime, I’ve been plugging away on the Jerry Thomas Project. I made a bunch of the cobblers – but I’m going to make some again after tomorrow’s farmers market (as they call for fresh berries and I’d like to get a nice photo). So I will wait to write about them. For the meantime, I made the Daisy drinks. I made the Whiskey Daisy a long time ago and it is actually on the Happy Hour menu at The Blacksmith. To make any the Daisy drinks you first need to make orgeat syrup, which is an almost syrup, or gum syrup (which is a pain in the ass and I recommend just using simple syrup). But here’s the link if you want to make gum (gomme)  syrup (you will have to purchase gum arabic on-line first – which is hard to find, so here’s the link).

As for orgeat syrup:

How do you say orgeat? OR Szhaaht

The simplest orgeat syrup (although the flavor will not be as complex) is to make a simple syrup and add a dash or two of almond extract.

Easy Peasy Japanesy Orgeat Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 dashes almond extract

Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Take off the heat. Let cool and ad the almond extract.

To make a much tastier Orgeat Syrup, please follow this recipe.

Q’s Orgeat Syrup
2 cups blanched almonds
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 orange
1 teaspoon almond extract

Bring the almonds, water, sugar and one cut orange to a boil – take off the heat and let sit overnight.
Squeeze the orange of any fruit juice it might still have and add one teaspoon almond extract after the syrup has cooled. Strain the almonds and orange remnants out of the syrup.

* TO MAKE YOUR OWN ALMOND EXTRACT

If you are really ambitious, I recommend making your own almond extract – which is pretty simple. Take 2 cups 151 proof rum and allow 1 cup blanched almonds (you can toast the almonds for a nuttier flavor) to steep for two weeks. Strain the almonds off and you will have a fantastic almond extract. You’ll find this almond extract doesn’t have the perfumy, amaretto flavor you find in store bought almond extract.

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Brandy Daisy

2 ounces of brandy
2 dashes of Jamaican Rum
1 ounce of lemon
1/4 ounce of orange curaçao
1/3 ounce of gum syrup (if you are using regular simple syrup – please substitute 1 ounce as it is not as sweet as gum syrup)

Shake, strain, add ice and top with seltzer water.

Whiskey Daisy

2 ounces of bourbon or rye whiskey (I prefer bourbon, although my father is a rye man)
1 ounce of lemon
1 ounce of orgeat syrup

Shake, strain, add ice and top with seltzer water.

Santa Cruz Rum Daisy

2 dashes of Santa Cruz Rum (Santa Cruz refers to Virgin Islands rum, but any rum will do)
1 ounce of lemon
3 dashes of orange curacao or Maraschino
1/3 ounce of gum syrup (if you are using regular simple syrup – please substitute 1 ounce as it is not as sweet as gum syrup)

Shake, strain, add ice and top with seltzer water.

Gin Daisy

2 ounces of genever gin (but you can use any gin if that’s what you have lying around – I would like to think that Jerry Thomas wasn’t so uptight that he wouldn’t just use what was in his cabinet)
1 ounce of lemon
3 dashes of Maraschino
1/3 ounce of gum syrup or 1 ounce of orgeat syrup (your choice – I like it better with the orgeat syrup)

Shake, strain, add ice and top with seltzer water.

I do love the Whiskey Daisy – it’s still my fave of the daisy drinks. I have to say that I always find when you mix rum with lemon juice and sugar; it tends to taste like cider – which the Santa Cruz Daisy definitely hints at.

To check out other Jerry Thomas Project recipes – click here.

Black Raspberry Caiparihna

Muddle one entire lime with 3 teaspoons of sugar and 8 black raspberries (or any berries that are in season)
Add 2.5 ounces of cachaça

Stir until the sugar is dissolved and add ice. It’s so easy?
Why not make it a double?

The Caipirinha is the national drink of Brazil and is a simple concoction of lime, sugar, and cachaça – which is a type of rum typically made in Brazil and typically made from sugarcane juice (rather than molasses). There is not a lot of cachaça to be found in the U.S. and I’m sorry to say that I’ve only tasted the silver varieties. I’m going to make an effort to get my hands on some of these aged cachaças, as there is many an aged rum I’ve taken a liking to (i.e. Pyrat and Goslings Family Reserve to name my favorites) and I’m sure that I could just as easily fall in love with a properly aged cachaça.   I used Boca Loca in this recipe, as it is accessible and drinks cleaner than some of the less expensive cachaças which is great in this drink as it will not overwhelm the berries. The most popular cachaça in the States, Cachaça 51, is fairly smoky and although I prefer it in a regular Caipirinha, it will distort the berry flavor in this drink.

Most recently I was asked by the Library to be a part of A Novel Idea which is one of the coolest literary programs I’ve ever been privy to (saying a lot since my mother and father are both writers, my mother is also a librarian, and my sister has spent her entire career in either a bookstore or a library).  Every year Deschutes Public Library chooses one book and then spends a month bringing that book to life in every dimension imaginable.  They will hold discussion groups about the book, show movies and documentaries that pertain to the genre or era of the book, encourage reading of similar books, have storytellers tell their tales related to themes in the book, invite the author to speak about his/her book, and lastly have a food and cocktail demonstration pertaining to the book’s genre.

This year’s book is The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which I highly recommend reading.  The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi and is the tale of the affection shared between black nannies and the white children they raise.  The intrigue of this story is that the love they share is a dirty secret that no one will own up to as they all are afraid of what it means to cross these strict racial lines that are commonplace in 1960′s Mississippi.  The story is smartly written through three different characters, which brings about a dynamic that couldn’t be achieved with one narrator.

So this is my challenge: to create two cocktails that bring together the issues of the book – racism and love; are typical to the South and the 60s, and can be made easily by the modern day home mixologist.  I am also trying to only use gin and vodka as Bendistillery has been kind enough to donate the spirits for the presentation.

The first drink will be a gin julep.  It’s a spin off the mint julep which is a staple to Southern cuisine and is traditionally made with bourbon, sugar, and mint.  I am going to steal the smash idea from my favorite cocktail guru Jerry Thomas which involves steeping the mint in the spirit rather than muddling.  This way I can do the cocktail in bulk without much effort.  A little sugar, some fresh lime, and a dash of soda water will finish this drink off gorgeously.

Gin Julep

2 ounces of Cascade Mountain Gin

8 mint leaves

2 tablespoons sugar

1.5 ounces of fresh lime

1-ounce soda water

Tear the mint leaves in half and place them in the gin along with the sugar.  Allow to steep for at least 15 minutes.  After steeping, stir the sugar into the gin.  Add fresh lime.  Stir and add ice.  Top with soda water.

As for the next drink – I am excited to use vodka because the 50′s and 60′s is when vodka came to popularity in the States.  We can thank James Bond for his vapid expression, “Shaken not stirred,” which helped bring the martini to popularity and thus send vodka on its trajectory of becoming America’s favorite spirit.

When I think of Mississippi, I think of cotton and pecans.  The pecans are easy – I make a lot of orgeat (almond) syrup for the bar which is a traditional cocktail staple.  So instead of using almonds, I’m going to use pecans.  As for cotton – I am going to use a maple cotton candy, which I love this idea of as there is a lot of discussion in the book about North vs. South and I think that the maple brings that dichotomy into the drink.  Furthermore, pecan and maple taste delicious together.  To add some depth and complexity to the drink, I’m going to steep ginger tea bags in the vodka to create ginger vodka and then to balance the cocktail I’ll be using fresh lemon juice.  The cotton candy will be a used as a garnish meant to dip into the cocktail so the drink will be mixed a bit tart with the cotton candy bringing perfect attunement to the drink.

As this cocktail is created exclusively for the book – so should be its name.

The Help

2 ounces of ginger vodka

1 ounces of fresh lemon juice

1.5 ounces of maple pecan syrup

small ball of maple cotton candy

Put the ginger vodka, fresh lemon juice, and maple pecan syrup in a shaker with ice.  Shake vigorously until ice chips form.  Strain and place a small ball of cotton candy of the rim of the glass.

To make ginger vodka take a fifth of Crater Lake vodka and let six ginger or lemon ginger herbal tea bags soak in it overnight.

To make maple pecan syrup – one-cup maple syrup, one quarter cup white sugar, one-cup water, and one-cup pecans.  Bring to a boil and immediately take off the heat.  Allow to cool and sit overnight.  Strain the pecans the following day.  If you have pecan extract – you can add a couple of drops to enhance the flavor of the syrup even more.

To buy maple cotton candy – please use this link.

Orgeat is a simple syrup made from sugar and almonds.  It can also contain almond extract, rose water, or orange-flower water.  It is the basis of a Mai Tai and once you’ve had a Mai Tai with orgeat syrup you will never go to TGIF’s again for theirs.

Originally orgeat syrup was made with barley but today the barley is typically left out.

Q’s Orgeat Syrup

2 cups blanched almonds
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 orange
1 teaspoon almond extract

Bring the almonds, water, sugar and one cut orange to a boil – take off the heat and let sit overnight.
Squeeze the orange of any fruit juice it might still have and add one teaspoon almond extract after the syrup has cooled. Strain the almonds and orange remnants out of the syrup.
How do you say orgeat?   OR Szhaaht

Learn the simple way to make one of the trendiest cocktails out there, the pomegranate martini.