CREATING A COCKTAIL

Every Friday at the pub we feature a $5 cocktail. The weekly challenge is coming up with something original, cost-effective, and not overly-complicated---we are a busy Irish pub, after all, and our customers are generally fairly thirsty on a Friday afternoon. I try to switch up the spirits and flavor profiles to keep it interesting, but at the same time not get so obscure that the drink becomes intimidating. Here I am going to walk you through creating your own cocktail, starting with making your own simple syrup.

SIMPLE SYRUP 

One way to set a cocktail apart is making a unique simple syrup. Simple syrup is a mixture of equal parts sugar and water, heated just enough to dissolve the sugar, then cooled and strained if necessary depending on what ingredients you've added. Those could be herbs, fruit, spices---whatever you want!

For example, take this "herb basket" simple syrup I made a few weeks ago. You may recall from my first post that I went shopping at Hong Kong Market, and on that trip I stocked up on a bunch of fresh herbs and produce. I used lemongrass, mint, Thai basil and cilantro to create one master syrup that showcases the variety of flavors you taste in Vietnamese and Thai cuisine.

HERB BASKET SIMPLE SYRUP

• Handful each of Thai basil, mint and cilantro

• Two stalks lemongrass, ends cut off and tougher outer layer removed

• 2 cups sugar

• 2 cups water

Put everything in a pot and turn the heat to medium. You don't need to boil it, just keep it on the heat long enough for the herbs to wilt and the sugar to dissolve, stirring to help along the process.

Remove from heat and let cool. Once syrup is cool, strain into bottle or jar and store in refrigerator. Syrups made with spices or herbs can last up to three months, and those made with fruits 2-3 weeks, but use your nose. 

Now that I've taught you how to make the syrup (how simple was that?) I'm going to show you how you can use it in two very different cocktails.

HERB BASKET GIMLET

The first cocktail is light and bright, and super easy to make. It's ideal for spring and summer, but I'd drink it all year round.

• 2 oz gin (I used Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin)

• 3/4 oz fresh lime juice

• 3/4 oz herb basket simple syrup

Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker packed with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into coupe or over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with sprig of mint or Thai basil.

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

This one is only slightly more complex. It will incorporate the sweet vermouth I made recently. If you read my post, you'll know that the vermouth turned out slightly more bitter than expected. So I skipped the bitters*, added ginger liqueur and the herb basket simple syrup for additional sweetness, and just a little lemon juice for tartness. I tried a few combinations with my coworker before we settled on the recipe, and that's what creating a well-balanced cocktail is all about. This one will be great to sip on through the fall and winter months.

• 1 1/2 oz Rye whiskey

• 1 oz sweet vermouth

• 1/2 oz ginger liqueur

• 1/2 oz herb basket simple syrup

• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice

• *if using a store-bought vermouth, add 3 dashes angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain into coupe. Garnish with Luxardo cherry.

I hope this has been a good introduction to cocktail-creating for those of you who are beginners. And for both beginners and my more experienced readers, I hope you'll give these cocktails a try and let me know what you think!

HOMEMADE VERMOUTH/A PERFECT MARTINI

There's two things I've been meaning to check off my to-do list for some time: take advantage of my local apothecary and make my own vermouth. Over the weekend, I checked off both. Vermouth is often a minor component to cocktails and not the star of the show. But good vermouth can be enjoyed by itself on the rocks with an olive or citrus twist, or both. I was in San Sebastián last fall, and I learned that drinking vermouth in the daytime is a Sunday tradition. One Saturday I made some new friends that kept talking about meeting the next morning for "martinis." I was imagining the stiff gin cocktail and thought that it sounded like an aggressive choice for a Sunday morning but kept an open mind. However, what they were referring to was what I know as sweet vermouth. Sweet vermouth is served in a large wine glass with chunky ice cubes, an olive or two and an orange slice. A Marianito or "vermut preparado" includes gin and Campari as well, but unlike a Negroni the vermouth is far higher to the other two spirits in the mixing ratio.

Rosalie Apothecary, 3201 Toulouse St. 

I found this recipe for homemade vermouth from Wine Enthusiast Magazine. The recipe starts with a base of white wine and herbs and then turns sweet or dry depending on the type of sherry used to fortify it the next day. Some of the herbs and roots called for in the recipe can be hard to find, and the linked article includes their suggestion for where to order online. Fortunately for me, there is a lovely apothecary shop called Rosalie in my neighborhood that happened to have everything I needed. 

Once I got my hands on the good stuff, I picked up two bottles of Pinot Grigio and was ready to begin. Finding the ingredients will likely be the hard part---the process itself is quite simple.

Measure out all your ingredients and place in a stockpot. Cover with the wine and bring to a boil, then take the pot off the heat and let it cool.  

Once you let the mixture cool, funnel it back into the two empty wine bottles and store in the refrigerator overnight.

You'll need one bottle of dry sherry and one bottle of sweet or cream sherry. I used Osborne Manzanilla sherry for the dry and Taylor cream sherry for the sweet. I picked these up from my local grocery store, and you may decide to use a more premium brand for the cream--Taylor was cheap--although I found it worked just fine. Strain the vermouth into new bottles or a pitcher with a mesh strainer or coffee filter over a funnel and discard the herbs. Then add your sherries. The recipe I used called for two cups of each sherry to fortify the wine and finish the vermouth.

And you're done! Your vermouth will stay good stored in the fridge for up to one month. 

Now, it's time for a cocktail.

PERFECT MARTINI 

A "perfect" martini is one that includes equal parts of sweet and dry vermouth, so I thought this would be an ideal way to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I used Broker's London Dry Gin, because it's what we had on our bar at the house (Thanks Emily!) 

• 2 oz gin

• 1/2 oz dry vermouth

• 1/2 oz sweet vermouth

• Olive and/or citrus twist  

Fill an empty cocktail glass with ice to chill. Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker or mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously until lightly diluted. Discard ice from cocktail glass and strain martini into chilled glass. Garnish with olive and/or lemon twist (I went for both.)

There are many more vermouth cocktails I look forward to trying, but I'm also excited to enjoy them on their own. Now that I've learned how easy the process is, I'm ready to experiment with different variations in the future. For example, I might try adding more citrus peel next time and a little less cinnamon--because my cinnamon sticks were so large, that's one of the more predominant flavors. As this was my first endeavor in fortifying wine, I'd call the project a great success. Perfection will take time and require me to become more familiar with these uncommon herbs and roots, but nobody said perfection was easy. Until then, you can find me sipping on a perfect martini and thinking about my next Spanish-style Sunday.

Salud!