cocktails

Coffee Liqueur

Sips

Mmmmm, coffee goodness condensed into a rich liqueur, what could be better?

I’m a devotee of the coffee drinks (lattes and the like) but not so much an actual coffee drinker, so Kahlua and others of it’s ilk are right up my alley. One little hiccup: I’m not supposed to have any caffeine. Granted, it’s tough to avoid ALL caffeine and it’s not like I’m allergic, but I try to keep as much as possible out of my system. Which leads one (me) to ask, how much caffeine is in coffee liqueur?

Apparently I’m not the only one to wonder but the information is just not out there for public consumption. Thankfully, Ted Carnahan not only asked the question, but asked it of the source and got an answer:

Kahlua actually has very low levels of caffeine, (approximately 4.85 mg in each 1.5 oz drink).

Which, compared to a cup of coffee that has 100mg or more caffeine, means that there’s virtually none in a shot and therefore safe for us decaf drinkers and anyone who wants a nightcap in their nightcap without the potential insomnia.

Now, what to DO with the liqueur… that’s the real question. I was going to post the recipe for Mudslide (probably my favorite coffee liqueur drink) as compiled by AJ Rathbun in his book,Good Spirits, but then I read the note. The note suggested that maybe using a chocolate vodka would be a nice touch. Me? Add chocolate to a cocktail? How could I resist?

I didn’t have chocolate vodka but I did have Godiva liqueur on the shelf so I figured a 3:1 vodka to Godiva would probably yield the same results (if not better). Plus, I happened to pick up some vanilla vodka during my last supply run so I thought I’d give that a whirl while I was at it. The result? Mmmmmmm. It was like drinking a rich, mocha milkshake (I actually got out the blender for this one).

CHF Mocha Mudslide

1 cup ice
1 oz coffee liqueur
1 oz Irish cream liqueur
3/4 oz Vanilla vodka
1/4 oz chocolate liqueur

Blend all ingredients together until smooth.

Enjoy the holiday weekend, folks! Have fun and be safe!

Nice Ice!

Nibbles

As the weather heats up, it’s only natural to be thinking about ways of keeping cool. Maybe that’s why ice seems to be a very popular topic (because there’s no such thing as coincidence!).

I loved shaped ice cubes. They’re fun. I started with a set of flexible square cube molds just for something a little different and then, on my first trip to IKEA, found some great cube trays in the shape of wine bottles (though I’ve never actually used them yet). But the folks at Fred Flare are taking ice cube novelty to new heights! Amuse your guests, or just yourself, with frozen smiles, a fossiliced pair, ice invaders, or–my personal favorite–the gin & titonic ice cube trays.

Novelty aside, ice can be very serious business. Both the current Food Network Magazine and Imbibe have ice on the brain. The former has this to say about choosing the ice for cocktails:

No ice for: precisely mixed cocktails, like martinis and Manhattans.
Crushed ice for: concentrated drinks that need some watering down, like mint juleps or swizzles.
Small cubes for: light, refreshing drinks, like gin and tonics and mojitos.
Large cubes for: strong, boozy drinks, like Negronis and straight-up liquor.

–Food Network Magazine, June/July 2009, p.139

And speaking of the mint julep, Imbibe has a great article about Chirst McMillian of Bar UnCommon in New Orleans, Louisiana, and their website features a Q&A with the same about the classic Mint Julep.

Imbibe: What about the actual practicalities of your idea of the perfect Mint Julep? For instance: crushed ice or cracked ice?
CM: I hand-crush my ice. I have a Lewis bag and a large mallet. While I have access to a crushed-ice machine at work, if I had to leave the bar every time I needed to go get crushed ice, it would be a disruption to service, and if I kept crushed ice in the well, it would slush up and become wet. And the coldness and dryness of the ice at the inception of the drink is really one of the key elements of its success. Like people say with everything else, “fresh is better.” From the moment you crush it and take it out of its cold environment, ice is going to start to dilute and melt down. I don’t know if you’d call it cracked or crushed. I’d call it crushed. I pound the shit out of it with that mallet.

–Q & A WITH CHRIS MCMILLIAN, Imbibe Online

Butterscotch Schnapps

Sips

Another (brief) walk down memory lane…

At a Victory Weekend in Daytona Beach, November 1994, one of the girls from Miami spent the entire first evening downing a bottle of Buttershots.

Now, it doesn’t seem like butter-flavored (well, technically butterschotch) liqueur would taste very good or be a good idea in general but I have to say, the more I experiment with shots and cocktails that employ it, the more I’m convinced that it is an idea most excellent, indeed. (And, as one of my chef-instructors said: fat makes things taste good! There may not be any fat in butterscotch schnapps, I’m not sure, but the idea is the same.)

At a party a few years back we were making Buttery Nipples (Irish Cream and Butterscotch Schnapps) when someone (not me, I’m afraid, but the details of who, exactly, are a little hazy) decided to add some Godiva liqueur that I’d also brought. Thus was born the Candy Bar “Shot.” Since then I’ve attempted to streamline the ratios and this is what we’ve come up with:

CHF Candy Bar Shot

2 parts Chocolate Liqueur
1 part Butterscotch Schnapps
1 part Irish Cream Liqueur

Combine in the glass of your choice, depending on your thirst. Pouring the Irish Cream over the back of a spoon (layering) is a nice touch but totally impractical if you’re in a hurry for some yum.

Now, more recently Todd and I were out at a local tapas bar and, after each ordering a “safe” cocktail from their martini menu, became intrigued by one of the offerings: the Oatmeal Cookie Martini. Unable to restrain my curiosity the entire evening, I eventually asked our bar mistress if we could try it as a shot. Oh. My. God. I didn’t think it was possible that a mixed drink could taste like a cookie but this did. In fact, it was like eating an oatmeal cookie with an ice-cold milk chaser. So good.

Of course we had to experiment. What follows is our best efforts to date (though I’ve dropped the martini title as there’s no vodka or gin in the drink):

CHF Oatmeal Cookie

3 oz Irish Cream Liqueur
1.5 oz Butterscotch Schnapps
splash of Cinnamon Schnapps (we, and the bar, used Goldschlager)

Combine in a cocktail shaker over ice, preferably crushed, and shake til really cold. Strain into a chilled glass.

You want to be really light with the cinnamon because it can overpower the drink easily and ruin the illusion that you’re drinking a cookie.

Bottoms up!

The Amaretto Sour

Sips

When I was 18 I went to visit my Louisiana relations for Thanksgiving and, one night, some of us went out to a bar (named Robert E Lee’s, I kid you not). Now, this was back when Louisiana’s roads were worse than they are now and before they caved (for the umpteenth and final time, it would seem) to the Federal desires of setting the legal drinking age to 21. Hence, I was legal to drink there.

Now at this bar I was faced with a conundrum: what to order. My aunt (who, by the way, is 5 months younger than me–grandpa had 3 batches of kids, total) suggested that I order an Amaretto Sour, as it was fairly mild and what she would order those nights that she was driving. *head tilt*

But I did order it and since it wasn’t repulsive and didn’t make me sick, it would become my default drink for a while. Not that I drank when I got back home, Florida’s drinking age _was_ 21 and I was [am] a rules-follower. Nonetheless, it was an easy fall-back when I as trying to be grown up and not a cocktail rube.

Since Sips & Shots will be, for the time being at least, taking an alphabetical stroll through my personal bar catalog, starting with the Amaretto Sour seemed like a logical choice.

It’s a simple drink, really, so I was surprised to see so many variations in ratio and add-ons. The biggest debate, however, is whether to use a commercial Sour Mix or straight lemon juice. And if you use lemon juice do you sweeten it a bit, yourself? Do you use sugar, simple syrup or go for the exotic and try something like agave nectar? Well, question not, at least to our mind, we’ve determined that our ideal Amaretto Sour uses lemon juice over mix with just a touch of simple syrup to take the edge off without removing all of the tartness… after all, it is called a SOUR for a reason, right?

CHF* Amaretto Sour

2 oz Amaretto
1 oz Lemon Juice
Splash of 1:1 Simple Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass over ice (always serve the drink with fresh ice for the best drinking experience, the shaken ice is agitated, broken and will melt faster, watering down your drink). 

Traditionally, the garnish for an Amaretto Sour is an orange slice an a maraschino cherry (together called a flag) however Janelle from Talk of Tomatoes‘ idea of using frozen blueberries is rather inspired. If I’d had any in the house I think I would have even muddled them but that would be a different drink altogether… Dibs!

An honorable mention among the 7 varieties of Sours we tried before taking the best parts of each for our own (yes, I really mixed 7 drinks… what I do for y’all!) comes from DrinkStreet: top with lemon-lime soda. This makes sort of a spritzerish amaretto sour-patch-punch thing but it’d be great for a party: not only would it be different and not get your guests drunk (depending on how much soda you add), it could really stretch your beverage budget.

Come back next Friday for fun with Butter Schnapps!

*CHF = Cocktail Hour Favorite, our designation of a trusted and tried beverage concocted by the authors. There may be only so many ingredients in a drink, but there are hundreds of ways to mix them!

Random Appetites: Boat Drinks

Nibbles

And by boat I mean ship. And by ship I mean cruise-ship.

That’s right, folks, in case you missed the earlier note I’m on vacation this week, bobbing around the Gulf of Mexico on the Carnival Mircale. Today we were in Belize where I picked up both Ginger and Cashew wines which I’ll have to review in full once I’m back state-side, along with the Tamarind liqueur I picked up in Roatan.

But first, back to the boat. I think Boat Drinks are essentially the same as what some call “skirt drinks”: the  fruity concoctions that may or may not come with an umbrella or some other sort of decoration on the rim. The Jimmy Buffet song of the same name makes me wonder if boat drinks are purely a modern invention or if these cocktails reach far enough back to have been something like scurvy prevention and the like. (My reasoning is that cirtus and other fresh fruits would have spoiled on long journeys without some sort of preservation and fermentation would have been the method of choice for the juices. Mixing them with other liquids would let you stretch them farther.)

But enough of my meandering…

Almost the first thing you’re presented with on a Carnival cruise is the Drink of the Day (DoD). On embarkation it’s the Fun Ship, made up of Vodka, Light Rum, Apricot Brandy, Amaretto and fruit punch and garnished with an orange slice, cherry and an umbrella. Of course I had one with lunch and got my souvenir cup needs out of the way (if only I knew which day the drinks came in the coconut cups!).

One night at dinner I tried the Mojito of the Day. Apparently Mojitos are the new martini, with all sorts of varieties available. This one was a Melon Mojito and, I would presume, just took the addition of some Midori or other Melon liqueur along with the Rum, Simple Syrup, muddled mint leaves and club soda to make it what it was (tasty!). Other options I’ve seen (but not tried) were the Mojito Margarita and the Apple Mojito. I have to admit, I’m a bit of a purest with the Mojito. As much as I enjoyed the Melon one, I think the regular Mojito is enough of a stand-alone, definitive presence that the additions really aren’t necessary.

Today, being Innauguration Day, the ship’s bartenders have decieded to offer three themed cocktails: The White House (a frozen drink of melon liqueur, pina colada and blue curacao), the President (vodka, triple sec, amaretto, sloe gin and cranberry juice over ice) and the Oval Office (a non-alcoholic drink of mango mix and grenadine). Just like I’ve chosen not to watch the Innauguration in the lounge (I’m on vacation, folks!) I think I’ll pass on the politically-tinged beverages as well.

But that won’t necessarily stop me from finding out just what the Coco Loco Monkey is…