Category Archives: Orange Liqueur

Curaçao, French Vermouth, Ron No comments

Presidente Cocktail

Recently, I have been taking a look at the Presidente Cocktail and have been amazed by it and it has since become one of my new favourites. It appeared in the 1920s in Cuba and the following recipe was taken from page 14 of the “Manual de Cantinero, Habana 1924, Cuba”:

½ [part] Ron bacardi
Bacardi rum
½ [part] Chambery [vermouth]
Poquita granadina, o curacao mejor
A little grenadine or better curaçao

Sírvase en copa de cocktail, con cascara de naranja y una guinda.
Serve in a cocktail glass, with orange peel and a cherry.

As most people are aware the Barcardi rum from the 1920s has nothing to do with the rum of the same name today. Using a premium aged light Cuban style rum instead of Ron bacardi really makes this cocktail special. Being half rum to half dry vermouth, you could hint at calling it a Rum Martini and it does have similar qualities to that most famous cocktail. The vermouth plays off the a good premium light aged rum well and the curaçao plays off both the rum and vermouth extremely well.

Puerto Rican and U.S. Virgin Island rums, such as Cruzan® Single Barrel Rum, would be an alternative to Cuban rums, although the Mixelero has not yet tried the Presidente Cocktail with these rums (update to follow). Using such premium rums does make the cocktail quite pricey, but Mixelero believes that the results speak for themselves and you won’t regret it. To achieve a great cocktail use great ingredients.

The following recipe is Mixelero’s currently recommended expression of this classic cocktail. I have chosen to omit using grenadine, because the cocktail is simply perfect without it.

1 oz 30 ml Havana Club Seleccíon de Maestros, 45% ABV
1 oz 30 ml Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry Blanc, 16% ABV
¼ oz 7.5 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec, 40% ABV
Orange peel

Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice and twist orange peel and drop into glass. Stir for at least 30 seconds to chill. Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora or small cocktail glass. Optionally garnish with a Luxardo maraschino cherry.

 

 

Cocktails, Cointreau, Cranberry Juice, Rhum Agricole, Rum No comments

Cosmopolitan malgache

I have recently been reading Tristan Stephenson’s “The Curious Bartender: The Artistry and Alchemy of Creating the Perfect Cocktail” (ISBN 978-1-84975-437-8) and was intrigued by his discussion regarding the cosmopolitan. Unfortunately, I did not have any citrus vodka to actually try out the cocktail, but I had given my partner a bottle of Dzama Rhum Cuvèe Blanc, a rum from Madagascar, for her birthday in February and this rum certainly had a citrus note to it. So this gave me the idea to try a cosmopolitan by substituting the citrus vodka with the Dzama rhum. And yes, well, it was a revelation! Really, a  very delicious cocktail! Try it at your pleasure. The colour is also something to savour.

So here is my recipe. Try it if you can.

2 oz 6 cl Dzama Rhum Cuvée Blanche Prestige, 40% ABV
1 oz 3 cl Fresh lime juice
1 oz 3 cl Cointreau, 40% ABV
1 oz 3 cl Cranberry juice

Add the lime juice, rhum, and Cointreau to a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a Martini glass. Add a zest of orange as garnish. Enjoy.

Lime Juice, Orgeat, Rich Syrup, Rum, Tiki, Triple Sec No comments

Black Cask Mai Tai

For Christmas 2015, I treated myself to a bottle of Plantation Black Cask 1651 Rum. I have been very impressed with the rums produced by Plantation, such as Plantation 3 Stars Rum and Plantation Barbados XO Rum 20th Anniversary and the ‘black cask’ labeling intrigued me, so I had to try out the rum. In my opinion this rum is a very well balanced rum. Plantation have done a great job again, so I can certainly recommend it and Black Cask will have to become a permanent fixture in my drinks cabineton my back bar. My initial reaction was that it tasted like a Jamaican rum, but looking closely at the label, this black cask rum was a blend of rums from Barbados, Bélize and Trinidad. Mmm. Maybe, there is strong pot still rum in there that is reminding me of Jamaican rum. Then I thought that this blend may be ideal for a Mai Tai. So I had to try. And yes, it does work, making a very delicious variation on the Mai Tai.

BTW: Plantation rums are produced by Maison Ferrand which also produce the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec used in this Mai Tai.

2 oz 60 ml Plantation Black Cask 1651 Rum, 40% ABV
½ oz 15 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec
¼ oz 7.5 ml Monin Sirop d’Orgeat (almond syrup)
1 oz 30 ml Fresh lime juice
¼ oz 7.5 ml Bar syrup

Shake together with crushed ice and pour contents including ice into a Tiki mug, garnish and serve.

Postscript (2016-03-13): Having compared the original Mai Tai recipe to my Black Cask Mai Tai, I think that the original recipe still has the edge. The Black Cask Mai Tai nevertheless is still a very delicious alternative!

Dale DeGroff Pimento Bitters, Jamaican Rum, Lime Juice, Orgeat, Rhum Agricole, Rich Syrup, Tiki, Triple Sec No comments

Mai Tai

My exploration of Tiki drinks continues with the Mai Tai.

My first attempt used the following recipe, which is based on Trader Vic’s original 1944 recipe, replacing the 17-year-old J. Wray & Nephews Jamaican rum with equal parts dark Jamaican rum and Martinique aged rum (Rhum Vieux Agricole) as recommended by Jeff ‘Beachbum’ Berry:

1 oz 30 ml Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaica Rum
1 oz 30 ml Clément Rhum Vieux Agricole VSOP
½ oz 15 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec
½ oz 15 ml Monin Sirop d’Orgeat (almond syrup)
1 oz 30 ml Fresh lime juice
1 tsp 5 ml Bar syrup

The Smith & Cross and the orgeat over-dominated. IMHO the Jamaican rum and orgeat needed toning down a little.

Reducing the orgeat to ¼ oz and replacing the rum with Myer’s Rum Original Dark produced a more balanced cocktail, resulting in the following formula:

1 oz 30 ml Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz 30 ml Clément Rhum Vieux Agricole VSOP
½ oz 15 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec
¼ oz 7.5 ml Monin Sirop d’Orgeat (almond syrup)
1 oz 30 ml Fresh lime juice
¼ oz 7.5 ml Bar syrup

Shake together with crushed ice and pour contents including ice into a Tiki mug, garnish and serve.

Having been making this recipe for a while, I have been experimenting to see if I could add a little more flare and finally settled on a dash of Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters, which in my opinion, improves the recipe and drinking experience without distracting from what the Mai Tai is all about or its colour. So, here is Mixelero’s recommended formula:

1 oz 30 ml Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz 30 ml Clément Rhum Vieux Agricole VSOP
½ oz 15 ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Triple Sec
¼ oz 7.5 ml Monin Sirop d’Orgeat (almond syrup)
1 oz 30 ml Fresh lime juice
¼ oz 7.5 ml Bar syrup
1 dash 1 dash Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Aromatic Bitters

Shake together with crushed ice and pour contents including ice into a Tiki mug or double Old Fashioned glass and garnish with a slice of pineapple sandwiched between 2 Luxardo Maraschino cherries.