Absinthe, Angostura Bitters, Cinnamon Syrup, Falernum, Grenadine, Jamaican Rum, Lime Juice, Overproof, Ron, Tiki No comments

Revisiting Don the Beachcomber’s Original Zombie

In earlier post I describe my attempt to create Don the Beachcomber’s Original Zombie, but could not source the Lemon Hart 151 Proof Demerara Rum. In the meantime, I have managed to obtain a bottle. And yes, it makes a big difference compared to the El Dorado Superior Overproof Demerara Rum 151. Firstly, it has a much more characteristic rum aroma and taste. Secondly, its dark colour adds to the drink experience. So it is a must for the Zombie and have adjusted my recipe accordingly.

1 ½ oz 45 ml** Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum, 40% ABV
1 ½ oz 45 ml** Ron Palma Mulata de Cuba Añejo Reserva 5, 38% ABV
1 oz 30 ml Lemon Hart 151 Proof Demerara Rum, 75.5% ABV
½ oz 15 ml John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum Liqueur, 11% ABV
¾ oz 22 ½ ml Fresh lime juice
1 tsp 5 ml Grenadine
6 drops / 1/8 tsp 0.5 ml Absinthe Libertine 55, 55% ABV
1 dash Angostura Bitters
2 tsp 10 ml Fresh grapefruit juice*
1 tsp 5 ml Cinnamon syrup*
6 oz /
¾ cup		 180 g Ice cubes

Place all but the overproof rum in a blender, adding the ice last, and blend at medium speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a tall glass. Add ice cubes to fill. Layer the overproof rum over the ice at the top of the drink. Garnish with a wedge of fresh pineapple sandwiched between 2 maraschino cherries. Serve.

* Don’s Mix.
** The amount of rum can be reduced to 30 ml (1 oz) without a serious loss of enjoyment, if you wish to minimize the impact of the Zombie.

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!

Cocktails, Italian Vermouth No comments

Milano – Torino / Americano

These recipes are based on those provided in Jamie Oliver’s Drinks Tube. In the video Martini Rosso (Torino) and Martini Bitter (Milano) are used. Currently, I am unable to find a source for Martini Bitter, so I initially used Campari Bitter, before switching to Cinzano Bitter. Campari is more ‘in your face’ than Cinzano Bitter. Although using Campari Bitter makes an excellent Milano – Torino or Americano, I find that Cinzano Bitter makes a more balanced cocktail. Will have to try other sweet vermouths and compare.

Milano – Torino

 1¼ oz 40 ml Cocchi Vermouth di Torino (Sweet vermouth)
 1¼ oz 40 ml Cinzano Bitter
Wedge Orange

Add the sweet vermouth (Torino) and bitter liqueur (Milano) to a rocks glass. Add 2 – 4 ice cubes and add an orange wedge giving it a half squeeze. Stir.

Americano

 1¼ oz 40 ml Cocchi Vermouth di Torino (Sweet vermouth)
 1¼ oz 40 ml Cinzano Bitter
Top up San Pelligrino sparkling water
Wedge Orange

Add sweet vermouth and bitter to the smaller half of a Boston Shaker. Half squeeze a wedge of a fresh orange into the glass. Half fill the second half of the shaker with ice. Pour the glass contents into the second half of the shaker and throw with strainer the contents back into the smaller half to create bubbles. Pour into a rocks glass with ice and top up with San Pelligrino mineral water.

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.

Absinthe, Cinnamon Syrup, Falernum, Grenadine, Jamaican Rum, Lime Juice, Overproof, Ron, Tiki No comments

Don the Beachcomber’s Original Zombie

I attempted to create my first Zombie based as near as possible on the original recipe of Don the Beachcomer (Donn Beach born Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt) from 1934 as figured out by Jeff Berry (Beachbum Berry). The recipe as quoted by the Beachbum:

1 ½ oz 45 ml Gold or dark Jamaican Rum
1 ½ oz 45 ml Gold Puerto Rican Rum
1 oz 30 ml 151-proof Lemon Hart Demerara Rum
½ oz 15 ml Falernum
¾ oz 22 ½ ml Fresh lime juice
1 tsp 5 ml Grenadine
6 drops / 1/8 tsp Pernod or absinthe
1 dash Angostura Bitters
½ oz 15 ml Don’s Mix
(2 parts grapefruit to 1 part cinnamon syrup)
6 oz /
¾ cup		 180 ml Crushed ice

Place in a blender, adding the ice last, and blend at high speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a tall glass. Add ice cubes to fill. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Cinnamon syrup:

16 oz 454 g Sugar
8 oz 226 g Water
3 3 Cinnamon sticks

Combine the sugar with water in a saucepan and then whisk over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cinnamon sticks (coarsely crushed). Simmer for 5 minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Let cool and strain into a bottle.

Unfortunately, I was not able to source Lemon Hart 151 Proof in Germany in February 2016 as it was out-of-stock at all the online suppliers that I frequent. Once it comes back in stock, I try a Zombie with it. Instead of the Lemon Hart, I used El Dorado Superior Overproof Demerara Rum 151. Not a dark rum like Lemon Hart, but at least a demerara rum. Would also be interesting to try using Wray & Nephews Overproof Jamaican Rum, which I have in my cabinet.

For the Jamaica rum I used Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum. Since I had no gold Puerto Rican rum, I used Ron Palma Mulata de Cuba Añejo Reserva 5, which I had in my drinks cabinet. For the Pernod or absinthe, I used Absinthe Libertine 55, which I also had to hand. The 6 drops were a bit difficult to measure, so after initially trying 1 ml absinthe, which made the Zombie taste too unbalanced in the favour of absinthe, I settled on 0.5 ml.

Since I have a Vitamix Professional Series 300 blender that simply turned the crushed ice to water at high speed after 5 seconds, I decided to change tactics and use ice cubs and settled on blending the drink at medium speed for 5 seconds. This resulted in a much more pleasing consistency of the drink.

So here is my take on the original Zombie. I must emphasize that it is really important is to use really fresh grapefruit juice. My initial attempts using a rather old grapefruit that was lying around the kitchen at the time were completely overshadowed when I bought and used a fresh pink grapefruit. Since many recipes call for white grapefruits, which I couldn’t source at short notice, I will have to see if using a white grapefruit will make a big difference in some future attempt.

1 ½ oz 45 ml Myer’s Original Dark Jamaican Rum, 40% ABV**
1 ½ oz 45 ml Ron Palma Mulata de Cuba Añejo Reserva 5, 38% ABV**
1 oz 30 ml El Dorado Superior Overproof Demerara Rum 151, 75.5% ABV
½ oz 15 ml John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum Liqueur, 11% ABV
¾ oz 22 ½ ml Fresh lime juice
1 tsp 5 ml Grenadine
6 drops / 1/8 tsp 0.5 ml Absinthe Libertine 55, 55% ABV
1 dash Angostura Bitters
2 tsp 10 ml Fresh grapefruit juice*
1 tsp 5 ml Cinnamon syrup*
6 oz /
¾ cup		 180 g Ice cubes

Place all but the overproof demerara rum in a blender, adding the ice last, and blend at medium speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour into a tall glass. Add ice cubes to fill. Garnish with a mint sprig and/or a wedge of fresh pineapple sandwiched between 2 maraschino cherries. Layer the overproof demerara rum over the ice at the top of the drink. Serve.

* Don’s Mix.
** The amount of rum can be reduced to 30 ml (1 oz) without a serious loss of enjoyment, if you wish to minimize the impact of the Zombie.

Cachaça, Cocktails, Lime Juice, Rhum Agricole No comments

The Caipirinha and variations thereof

The Caipirinha was one of the first cocktails that I ever got serious with. I was first introduced to the Caipirinha during a visit to Brazil in 2005 (where else?). I have tried different ratios of lime juice and sugar to the cachaça and have finally settled on the following recipe. I generally reduce the sugar by a third for those who like their Caipirinhas a little less sugary. I prefer to have some sugar left undissolved in the glass which I can suck up through the straw. In many cases when you order Caipirinhas in bars, I find they often use less lime juice. I think a full lime brings out the best of the Caipirinha.

2 oz 60 ml Cachaça
1
(~ 1 oz)		 1
(~30 ml)		 Medium lime
1 ½ tsp 7.5 ml Cane sugar
Crushed Ice

This cocktail is built in the glass, preferably a Caipirinha glass (or double old fashioned glass would also suffice). Cut the lime into quarters, then cut each quarter into 3 roughly equally sized pieces and toss into the glass. Cover the lime pieces with the sugar and muddle the sugar into the lime. Do not over do the muddling, otherwise the lime juice may become slightly bitter. Fill the glass with crushed ice and then add the cachaça over the ice. Insert a cocktail spool, which is a spoon with a built-in straw. Serve with a smile.
As an alternative to using cachaça, I have also tried using rhum agricole from the French Caribbean islands (Guadeloupe and Martinique) with great effect. Maybe because rhum agricole is made from sugar cane juice rather then from molasses as other rum types are. Since this version of the Caipirinha uses rhum agricole from the Caribbean, I initially called it the Caipirinha Caribe, but later corrupting it to the Caribinha.

2 oz 60 ml Damoiseau Rhum Agricole Blanc 50%
or
Clément Rhum Agricole Blanc 50%
1
(~ 1 oz)		 1
(~30 ml)		 Medium lime
1 ½ tsp 7.5 ml Cane sugar
Crushed Ice

Made exactly the same way as the traditional Caipirinha described above, replacing the cachaça with rhum agricole. I found using a rhum agricole with 50% ABV* produces the best results.
*ABV – Alcohol By Volume

Amargo Chuncho, Egg Whites, Gomme Syrup, Lime Juice, Rhum Agricole, Sours No comments

Karukera Sour

As I was experimenting with the Pisco Sour, see previous post, we were also working our way through a Rum Advent Calendar – maybe a separate post later – where one of the 24 rums included was the KARUKERA Rhum blanc agricole 50% from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, which particularly took my fancy. I thought it might work instead of Pisco, so I tried it. It certainly wasn’t bad. Here’s the recipe which is based on my Pisco Sour recipe:

2 oz 6 cl KARUKERA Rhum blanc agricole 50%
1 oz 3 cl Fresh lime juice (~1 lime)
2/3 oz 2 cl CHUNCHO Jarabe de Goma (Gomme Syrup)
2/3 oz 2 cl Egg White (optional)
2-3 drops 2-3 drops CHUNCHO Amargo Bitters
Alternative: Angostura Bitters

When using egg white always use fresh eggs and always ask first, whether your drinkers are okay with egg white in their drinks.

If using egg whites, first dry shake* the rhum agricole, lime juice, gomme syrup and egg white. Then add ice and shake again. Strain into a coupé glass and drop the bitters onto the froth.

*Shake without ice.

Amargo Chuncho, Egg Whites, Lime Juice, Pisco Selecto Acholado, Sours No comments

Pisco Sour: Which pisco?

Having initially started investigating whisk(e)y a few years back, then discovering real rum, followed closely by checking out tequila then mezcal, I arrived at pisco, a grape brandy produced in the winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. And since the Pisco Sour is the pisco cocktail, I had to try it out.

The first task was to source some good pisco and here in Germany, BARSOL Pisco is relatively easy to get hold of. Having checked several reviews around the Internet, BARSOL can be considered a serious pisco, so I set about checking out 3 varieties

  • BARSOL Primero Quebranta
  • BARSOL Selecto Acholado
  • BARSOL Supremo Mosto Verde Italia.

In my opinion, the basic BARSOL Primero Quebranta makes an excellent Pisco Sour. However, having tried BARSOL Primero Quebranta, BARSOL Selecto Acholado and BARSOL Supremo Mosto Verde Italia, I found that using BARSOL Selecto Acholado produced the most refreshing and satisfying Pisco Sour. The BARSOL Supremo Mosto Verde Italia produced a very fruity Pisco Sour, which was nevertheless excellent. Here’s the recipe which I settled on:

2 oz 6 cl BARSOL Selecto Acholado Pisco
1 oz 3 cl Fresh lime juice (~1 lime)
2/3 oz 2 cl CHUNCHO Jarabe de Goma (Gomme Syrup)
2/3 oz 2 cl Egg White (optional)
2-3 drops 2-3 drops CHUNCHO Amargo Bitters
Alternative: Angostura Bitters

When using egg white always use fresh eggs and always ask first, whether your drinkers are okay with egg white in their drinks.

If using egg whites, first dry shake* the pisco, lime juice, gomme syrup and egg white. Then add ice and shake again. Strain into a coupé glass and drop the bitters onto the froth.

*Shake without ice.

Uncategorized No comments

Yet another cocktail blog!

Welcome to The Mixelero blog!
Yes, this is yet another blog about mixology, cocktails and spirits. So why start it, when there are so many others out there? Well, firstly, I am not a professional barkeep and do not intend to become one. I have not been trained as a barkeep and am limited to what you can achieve under the confines of your own home.

So, I wanted to share and discuss the trials and tribulations of trying to learn how to make awesome cocktails, with all the limitations of doing this at home this brings with it, hoping it may be of help to other such like-minded folks.

I just want to be able to make really delicious cocktails in my home for myself, family and friends.

BTW: I collect my best cocktail recipes in the Mixopaedia.

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