Nick, Author at First Pour Cocktails

The Classics: Algonquin

Posted on November 29, 2021February 6, 2022 by Nick

The Algonquin is named for the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan, and steeped in history. The hotel had been serving as meeting place for a roast for drama critic Alexander Woollcott. It soon became an ongoing meeting place for people such as Harpo Marx, Dorothy Parker, and Peggy Wood. The drink ended up being named in their honor, and is still served today.

Algonquin

1 ½ oz

Rye

¾ oz

Pineapple Juice

¾ oz

Dry Vermouth

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.

The Algonquin is an interesting and unusual cocktail. The flavor of rye gives a distinctly spicy note, but one that doesn’t quite match up against the fruitiness of pineapple or the herbal nature of dry vermouth. This cocktail, despite the ingredients, is dry. Going into it with that in mind will temper your expectations.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

To be honest, I’ve made I don’t know how many Algonquins and I assume someone likes them, but I just can’t fathom why. If you like a relatively dry, sort of spicy cocktail, with a strong herbal note – here are the best things I can tell you.

Rye – We originally used our go to standard of Rittenhouse Rye. It provided the description in the paragraph following the recipe. I thought it might be an issue with the rye, and used Elijah Craig Rye. This emphasized some of the marshmallow and herbal notes. My best recommendation here is to use your favorite rye – that’s not expensive – and hope it works for you.
Pineapple Juice – Our default standard is Dole’s small cans. They’re cheaper so you can use them without throwing out a lot of pineapple juice.
Dry Vermouth – We used our standard Dolin Dry Vermouth here. I don’t think there’s a lot of benefit that you’ll see from switching here, however there’s a part of me that thinks Bianco Vermouth might work better.

That’s about the best advice I can offer. I’d love to say there’s some reason to make this, but some classics are forgotten for a reason. Got a reason you love this drink or a tweak you think makes it perfect? Let us know in the comments!

Heaven Hill Quality House Old Style Bourbon

Posted on November 26, 2021November 11, 2021 by Nick

Not every bourbon involves needing to line up at 11pm the day prior to wait for the opening of the shop to get. In fact, the vast majority of bourbons sit on the shelf and are completely serviceable. Perhaps the best example of this Wild Turkey 101, which offers amazing value for money. Among other bourbons we recommend is Elijah Craig Small Batch, which is made by Heaven Hill. Elijah Craig isn’t their intro brand, an honor that instead belongs to Heaven Hill Quality House Old Style Bourbon. At around $10, can this bourbon save your time and wallet?

Heaven Hill Quality House Old Style Bourbon

A.B.V. – 40% (80 proof)
Age – 3 Years

Sight: A deep gold.

Smell: Slight spices and a good dose of ethanol float up to start. Touches of fresh cherries and oak come in. The nose distinctly smells like oak, fruit, and hints of oak.

Sip: The body is light to moderate, but ultimately smooth. There’s a good amount of oak and light spicing here, with some fruitiness. There’s a bit of nuttiness that lingers throughout.

Savor: The ending is slightly oaky with just a touch of nuts and fruit.

Heaven Hill Quality House Old Style Bourbon is surprisingly smooth and not overly complex. For lack of a better way to put it, it smells like you’d expect bourbon to smell. Slightly oaky, with a little bit of fruitiness, and some spices and other flavors. Does it do anything particularly amazing? Not really. Would you be able to sip on it for a while? Sure. It’s easy going and not particularly offensive or hard to drink. If anything, the biggest criticism might be that’s just kind of simple.

In Cocktails

Quality House Old Style Bourbon in a Manhattan leads to more of the same. The drink is clearly based in bourbon, but the flavors are more of oak and spice. The vermouth gets a strong leg up here as there aren’t a lot of other flavors to stand in the way. The body is solid, if not noticeable. The net result is an uninspired but serviceable Manhattan. It somehow manages to pull the exact same trick in an Old Fashioned – which is amazing given it’s most of the drink.

In Review – Heaven Hill Quality House Old Style Bourbon

Heaven Hill Quality House Old Style Bourbon offers a nice value for a very unobtrusive bourbon. At about $12 a liter, this is impressive value, but not necessarily something to go out of the way for trying to make amazing drinks. If you want to offer a bourbon for the end of the evening or for a large group of guests, this is a nice option. For these reasons it’s a situational bourbon, but nothing that you’d have to be ashamed to serve.

The Classics: Cosmopolitan

Posted on November 22, 2021November 22, 2021 by Nick

Starting life as a trendy drink in the Castro district of San Francisco, the proto-cocktail that lead to the modern Cosmopolitan was a mix of Rose’s Lime Cordial, grenadine, and well vodka. When Toby Cecchini set out to make a version in the late 80s, he never thought it would be the type of drink that drinkers would be obsessed with for well over a decade. Building off a simple sour structure, the Cosmopolitan ended up incorporating even parts lime, Cointreau, and cranberry cocktail with two parts of citrus vodka. The result is a much pinker and more tart version of the heavily cranberry laden ones that are frequently seen.

If your leading perception of the Cosmopolitan is the drink of the girls on Sex And The City, then you owe the Cosmopolitan another look.

Cosmopolitan

2 oz

Citrus Vodka

1 oz

Cointreau

1 oz

Lime Juice

1 oz

Cranberry Juice

Garnish

Lemon Twist

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake. Double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The Cosmopolitan has experienced a number of misrepresentations, but a true Cosmo is nothing short of brilliant. The drink is taught and balanced like a Daiquiri, but with a citrus finesse that gives the drink an electric character. The sweetness of cranberry adds a subtle fruitiness that ties the entire experience together. Be aware, unlike some interpretations the original Cosmo is bright (read acidic), it’s supposed to be, but also balanced against the sweetness.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

Making a Cosmopolitan is very straightforward, and basically involves putting all the ingredients in the shaker with ice. Most of the issues Cosmopolitans have come from variations in ratios (too much / too little cranberry, lime, or Cointreau) or ingredient variation themselves (like unsweetened cranberry juice).

Citrus Vodka – This seems like it wouldn’t make a big difference, but if you side by side two Cosmopolitans, you’ll see there’s an entire layer of flavor missing. Can you make one without it, sure. Will it taste as electrifying? Not even close. In our testing we used Stolichnaya Citrus.
Cointreau – We always recommend using Cointreau, but you can substitute Triple Sec here.
Lime Juice – For best results, use fresh squeezed.
Cranberry Juice – The original recipe calls for Cranberry Juice (and is focused on the old school cranberry cocktail). This gave the recipe sweetness and color, as well as a pleasing berry note. Modern times have introduced 100% Cranberry juices and unsweetened variants. These can make delicious Cosmopolitans, but not at an ounce. These bring not only a more intense cranberry flavor, but also tannins and additional tartness. As a result, you may find that you need to turn down the lime juice and add simple syrup to counteract the change. When making with unsweetened cranberry juice, aim for a ½ ounce.

Tanqueray London Dry Gin

Posted on November 19, 2021November 11, 2021 by Nick

Owned by Diageo, Tanqueray is a brand positioned as premium but that isn’t the highest in the Tanqueray portfolio. Tanqueray London Dry Gin is positioned as their entry level brand, while they market Tanqueray No 10 Gin as their premium offering. Most people won’t ever get to realizing this though, as Tanqueray frequently is seen as a premium brand in bars and restaurants. Distilled for nearly 200 years, it’s one of the most recognizable gin brands in the world. Despite this, it’s affordable. So should it have a home in your home bar?

Tanqueray London Dry Gin

Sight: Clear

Smell: Soft to start with touches of vanilla. Juniper leads off heavily, pulls in touches of cinnamon and spicing. Touches of lemon and other citrus comes in, and hints of exotic spicing joins in. There’s a hint of heat.

Sip: The start is similarly soft and smooth, but the heat turns up relatively quickly. A bit of sweetness is responsible for this start, which lasts throughout. Juniper is the dominate note, but it’s complimented by a spicy character. There’s notes of angelica and cinnamon that are prevalent. Other sorts of herbal notes are really not as obvious at the spice touches.

Savor: On the ending, the finish has a kick up of heat and more of a powdered cinnamon and touch of red hot style spice. Juniper eventually overwhelms the other notes.

Tanqueray London Dry Gin is a little hot, slightly sweet, and more spicy than a typical London dry gin. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, it has the underlying Juniper flavor that you’d expect from gin. The spice is also not nearly as pronounced as a contemporary style of gin. Overall, it creates a very good opportunity layering flavors on top.

In Cocktails

In a Martini the underlying spice plays a strong foil to the herbal notes in the vermouth. The brightness compliments the sweetness well, and it lends a clean, refreshing character to the drink. The ending lingers with more spice and subtle. The juniper is there, but due to the spice, it holds itself in check. Tanqueray may be a little wild on it’s own, but it also plays well with others.

In Review – Tanqueray London Dry Gin

Tanqueray London Dry Gin works well in cocktails, even if it doesn’t necessarily break new ground. Individuals that aren’t a big fan of juniper might struggle with Tanqueray and look toward Beefeater or Bombay Sapphire. That said, if you like juniper and spice, then Tanqueray plays well with others. The price being close to equal with Beefeater and Bombay puts Tanqueray into the recommended bottles for a home bar.

Maple Cinnamon Old Fashioned

Posted on November 15, 2021November 15, 2021 by Nick

Cocktails can be unnecessarily complicated. They feature hard to find, hard to pronounce, or hard to make ingredients. Sometimes cocktails that have a lot of steps are just the thing to spark your imagination, but heading into the holidays we all need something a little simpler to make. Enter the Maple Cinnamon Old Fashioned, a drink founded on the spices of rye forward bourbon, maple syrup, cinnamon (brooms), and walnuts. Make the cinnamon simple, buy the bitters, batch it up, make some big ice cubes, and impress your guests with a great fall cocktail.

Maple Cinnamon Old Fashioned

2 oz

Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon

¼ oz

Maple Syrup

¼ oz

Cinnamon Simple Syrup

1 Dash

Fee Brothers Black Walnut Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Double strain into a rocks glass over a large fresh ice cube. No garnish.

The Maple Cinnamon Old Fashioned combines the beauty of Wild Turkey 101’s spice profile and the sweetness of fall flavors into an Old Fashioned template. The maple and cinnamon play off each other, with the maple doing the lead in, and the cinnamon delivering the mid-palate and finish. The ending is sweet with just the right note of spice and nuttiness. The ice cube keeps the drink perfect at the house warms up with turkey, ham, guests, and the cheerfully crackling fire place.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

There’s not a lot here that can go wrong here, and the template is riffable from a base spirit and syrup standpoint. The result is that this drink is super simple to make for parties or even to batch. Please note, the picture shown is for a double preparation.

Wild Turkey 101 – We used Wild Turkey 101 here for both body from the proof and spice from the rye profile. We recommend you stick to a similar template when swapping the base spirit, looking at bonded or 100 to 110 proof bourbon or rye for this recipe. Other great potential choices include Rittenhouse Rye and Maker’s Mark Cask Strength.
Fee Bros Black Walnut Bitters – These bitters have a nutty, distinctly sweet character that fringes into maple. The result is a double down on the maple notes that help to make the drink sing. You can find them at your local liquor store or through this Amazon affiliate link that would give us like $0.15 and doesn’t even start to cover our webhosting costs (but helps us keep making you awesome new cocktails).
Maple Syrup – We recommend using a grade A maple syrup for this cocktail to enrich the maple flavor. We used Trader Joe’s in ours, so don’t feel the need to break the bank.
Cinnamon Simple Syrup -Method 1: Combine 250g of sugar with 250g of water in a sous vide bag or small mason jar. Add 10g of cinnamon broken into 1″ pieces. Shake to combine. Sous vide for 2 hours at 145°F. Remove from water bath and allow to cool. Once cool, strain cinnamon pieces from syrup using a chinois and coffee filter. Add .5 oz of Everclear / overproof vodka and shake gentle for 1 -2 seconds to combine. Store in fridge. Discard if no longer transparent / any hazy develops.
- Method 2: Combine 250g of sugar, 250g of water, and 10 grams of cinnamon broken into 1″ pieces in a pan. Add heat until sugar is dissolved and syrup reaches a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, strain cinnamon pieces from syrup using a chinios and coffee filter. Add .5 oz of Everclear / overproof vodka and shake gentle for 1 -2 seconds to combine. Store in fridge. Discard if no longer transparent / any hazy develops.
- Note: Everclear / Overproof Vodka are optional – these act as preservatives to extend shelf life. If you add them, please do not serve to children, pregnant women, or those avoiding alcohol.
- Note: Method 1 is preferred if you’re able / have the equipment to do so

Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Year Bourbon

Posted on November 12, 2021November 2, 2021 by Nick

Made by Jim Beam, Knob Creek represents part of their Small Batch collection (including Basil Hayden, Bookers, and Baker’s). The Knob Creek series has been in existence since 1992, and carried a 9 Year age statement for most of its history. The 9 year age statement returned in 2020, making it one of the few bottles in this price point still carrying an age statement. So is Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Year Bourbon worth the price?

Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Year Bourbon

Color: Tawny

Smell: Beautiful caramel and cigar box notes comes off the top with a light whiff of heady alcohol. A nutty note of roast peanuts comes in, with touches of brown sugar and toasted cinnamon. The nose opens up with more touches of oak and cloves, as well as hints of preserved blackberries and bing cherries.

Sip: The palate opens smooth and soft with plenty of cinnamon, cloves, and other baking spices. A nuttiness roles in with plenty of toasted oak and luxurious caramel. The light fruity character comes back and rounds out a little bit of dark fruit notes. A bit of tobacco brings the sip bottle home.

Savor: The ending continues leveraging spice and oak notes, but a complimentary vanilla and tobacco backbone supports throughout. The finish is long, lingering, and pleasant.

Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Year is spicy with lots of sweet notes a healthy dose of complex oak. The amount of flavor is surprisingly robust, but doesn’t get overly hot despite the proof. While a small amount of the peanut funk is still there, the caramel and spice notes really lead things off. A subtle sweetness pervade through out. The overall word here is balance.

In Cocktails

In a Manhattan Knob Creek provides a solid and well oaked backbone with hints of caramel. The vermouth is allowed to play a more forward role, and the spices are pronounced, but not overwhelming. Some of the complexity and sweetness diminishes, but the overall Manhattan is well balanced. Overall, the weight of the bourbon helps here, giving a solid mouthfeel.

In Review – Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Year

Knob Creek Small Batch 9 Year offers a healthy amount of value in the mid $30 price point. If you happen to live in area where it’s under $30, this is a no brainer option to try or add to your collection. Between the proof, the versatility, and the complexity, Knob Creek Small Batch offers a compelling set of reasons to add it to your shelf. For these reasons, we’ve added it to our Recommended Bottles for Beginning Your Home Bar.

The Classics: Toronto

Posted on November 8, 2021November 4, 2021 by Nick

The Toronto is one of the few classics that calls for Fernet. While Fernet Branca is the most well known of these, there are numerous other Fernet on the market. The dark, pungent liqueurs are known for the strong flavor profiles and high levels of complexity. To partner with them, Rye and Angostura Bitters lend their powerful structures, and just a little sweetness comes in from the sugar. This makes for a deep, brooding cocktail packed with complexity that’s perfect for the change in temperature. Lovers of Old Fashioned and Sazeracs should find a lot to love here.

Toronto

2 oz

Rye Whiskey

¼ oz

Fernet Branca

¼ oz

Simple Syrup

1 Dash

Angostura Bitters

Garnish

Orange Twist

Combine all ingredients in mixing vessel except garnish. Add ice and stir. Strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Express an orange twist over the drink and garnish with an orange twist.

In the Toronto, the spicy nature of the rye lays down the skeleton, the fernet and angostura provide the muscle, and the simple beautifies the whole package. The rye here gives off great spice and herbal notes with an Old Fashioned feel, but never feels aggressive or overpowering. The Fernet seems like it would be overpowering if you’ve had Fernet on its own, but here it accentuates the earthy and herbal notes in the rye. Where it comes together is in the ending, bringing the full menthol and caramelized sugar notes to the forefront with just the tiniest hint of bitterness.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

The Toronto is built in the mould of an Old Fashioned and that shows in the construction. Rather than serving over ice, the Toronto eschews dilution in favor of a coupe or Nick & Nora glass.

Rye – We used Eljiah Craig Rye here, which worked well at accentuating the herbal notes, but minimized the spice slightly. While it works, we still recommend Rittenhouse Rye.
Fernet Branca – While there are other Fernet, the original is made with Fernet Branca. This uniquely licorice and menthol noted liqueur is less bitter than Campari, but has a significantly more aggressive flavor profile. Swapping with another Fernet will alter this, and you should adjust your usage accordingly.
Simple Syrup – Many prohibition recipes are quite sweet as the simple tended to be rich (2:1 ratio of sugar to water). Our standard simple is not rich, so you may find that it needs additional sweetness to balance the Fernet. There are two options here:
- Add an additional 1/4 oz of Simple Syrup (1:1)
- Make Rich Simple Syrup
Angostura – As this is an Old Fashioned relative, you can swap the bitters to play with the flavor profile. Angostura works well here as it also has a similar strength of presence (compared with Fernet Branca).
Garnish – Orange is the default, however some recipes call for lemon. Either can work.

For other variations, consider swapping out the Simple Syrup for Rich Demerara Syrup for a more caramelized notes.

Elijah Craig Straight Rye

Posted on November 5, 2021October 1, 2021 by Nick

We’ve been a big fan of Elijah Craig’s Small Batch bourbon for a number of years. While it keeps tettering back and forth on our recommended bourbons list, we keep it there because the produce is incredibly well made for the price (even if the price creep is what keeps threatening to throw it off the list). Earlier this year, Heaven Hill committed to bringing a rye to the market under the Elijah Craig brand. Similar to Rittenhouse, Elijah Craig Straight Rye is a barely legal rye. This is surprising given Heaven Hill owns both brands, and only a small amount of supporting corn and malt separates the two. We previously also noted that Rittenhouse offers a great value, so should you give Elijah Craig the additional dollars?

Elijah Craig Straight Rye

Mashbill: 51% Rye – 35% Corn – 14% Barley
A.B.V.(%): 47% (94 Proof)
Age: No Age Statement (N.A.S.)

Sight: Tawny bordering on auburn.

Smell: There’s a heavy amount of herbal and minty elements that run parallel to a nice vanilla and spice mix. There’s a nice dried apricot and fresh plum note going on as well.

Sip: The herbal notes are definitely there giving it a black pepper and mint heavy character. Spice and black tea come out with an almost smoked character, similar to peat. Despite all the heavy elements going on, it’s not a very heavy mouthfeel.

Savor: The finish is leaned into campfire smoke and charred wood. Herbal notes run though the background over time with a bit a traditional bourbon sweetness.

Elijah Craig Straight Rye on its own is a smokey, herbal, and kind of bourbon like rye. Its nature is probably not for everyone, and not that inviting as a sipper. The result is also somewhat bitter, and oddly like licorice candies at the end of a meal. Both palate cleansing and somewhat off putting.

In Cocktails

In a Manhattan the spice of the rye is clearly forward. Notes of black pepper, banana, green apple, unripe black cherries, and cardamom all are present. An oversteeped black tea element and the tannic nature that goes with are around at the end. This flavor profile isn’t inherently smooth, but rather aggressive and bombastic.

In Review – Elijah Craig Straight Rye

Elijah Craig Straight Rye is uneven, aggressive, and a more savory set of flavors. Some of these flavors aren’t that weird in rye, such as herbal notes, but they get away from Elijah Craig here. In tasting side by side with Rittenhouse, the Rittenhouse displays more fruit, more caramelized sugars, and fewer burnt notes. The body is also more even. When you consider the Rittenhouse is $7 less per bottle, and comes in at a higher proof, then you end up with a hard sell on Elijah Craig Rye. For all these reasons, we don’t recommend you select Elijah Craig Rye over the cheaper, better Rittenhouse.

Apple Spice Harvest

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Nick

Transitioning away from Halloween, we enter into the realm of autumnal cocktails that don’t quite reach into Christmas and Holiday spices. There’s still a chill in the air, but it’s time to celebrate the harvest. Squash, apple, pear, and other fall flavors take priority as we head into Thanksgiving. To lead off, we want to create a cocktail that focus on the most fall like of fruits, the apple. Enter the Apple Spice Harvest.

Apple Spice Harvest

2 oz

Glenlivet 12

¾ oz

Lemon Juice

¾ oz

Pumpkin Spice

3 oz

Fresh Apple Cider

Dusting

Cinnamon Dust

Combine all ingredients in a shaker except for cinnamon. Add ice and shake hard. Strain into a collins glass filled with fresh cubed ice. Garnish a dusting of cinnamon dust.

Apple Spice Harvest a well balanced mixture of soft and floral scotch contrasted against vibrant fresh apple. The spicing from the pumpkin spice gives a beautiful pie like note, and warms the entire cocktail. The lemon gives a pop, and the entire experience is seamless and quaffable. The perfect sort of drink for watching the leaves change and passing afternoons with friends.

Drink Recommendations and Notes

Apple Spice Harvest is a fairly straightforward drink designed to be served over ice in a Collins glass. The most complex element is the scotch, where we recommend you steer toward lighter scotches with less peat influence.

Glenlivet 12 – We chose to utilize Glenlivet 12 here thanks to it’s fruit forward and gentle oak influence. The tropical notes also work well with the fruitiness of the apple. If you’re looking to substitute, choose something that’s lower on smoke, such as Dewars White Label or Great King Street.
Lemon Juice – Use fresh squeezed for best results.
Apple Cider – Use fresh pressed cider for the best results. Non-pasteurized will lead to the best results.
Pumpkin Spice Syrup – See below for our full recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Ingredients:

20g Cinnamon (crushed into approx 1 in sections)
10g Nutmeg – broken into 10-20 pieces / nutmeg using the back of a knife or mortar and pestle
5g Cloves
7g Fresh Ginger cut into thin slices – 1/16″ – 1/8″
500g Water
500g Sugar
30g Neutral Grain Spirit (optional)

Bring all ingredients except neutral grain spirit to a boil in a sauce pot stirring regularly. Boil for 5 minutes while continuing to stir regularly. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Strain through a coffee filter into a clean glass bottle and add neutral grain spirits if using. Refrigerate. Dispose of if any clouding or mold develop.

Chopin Potato Vodka

Posted on October 29, 2021October 5, 2021 by Nick

Chopin is a premium producer of vodka from Poland. They make three distinct vodkas:

Chopin Potato Vodka
Chopin Rye Vodka
Chopin Wheat Vodka

Given the overwhelmingly positive response from r/vodka to Chopin, I felt it should be one of my next selections to explore. For filling a hole in our line up, it made sense – having never covered a potato vodka.

Chopin Potato Vodka

Sight: Clear.

Smell: There’s something particularly earthy about the nose, and it leaves an almost freshly dug planters or mushroom like smell. There’s a bit of heat as well, and it fringes into burning rubber.

Sip: There’s a more lanolin texture at the start that gradually loosens up into a more half and half like texture. The flavor is again heavy into the earthy, raw potato side of the spectrum. The ethanol creeps up slightly, and there’s a subtle bitterness and growing heat.

Savor: The ending is slightly toward bitter, again, pulling a large amount of earthy notes.

Chopin Potato Vodka is extraordinarily earthy, fringing into some rather unpleasant flavors. Those who are used to drinking corn and wheat based vodkas, will find the bitterness and raw alcohol notes somewhat off putting. That said, it is distinctive, but perhaps not in a way that will appeal to casual drinkers.

In Cocktails

In a Kangaroo Chopin Potato Vodka maintains it’s earthy poise with a thick rich body. The lead off is on the starchy side of the spectrum with some potato and mineral flavors. Things transition into the herbal and it lingers throughout, and a subtle amount of sweetness and wine character comes through. The flavors are clean and the texture is lanolin. The net result is a nice sip that goes well with an olive.

In Review – Chopin Potato Vodka

My fiancée and I have polar opposite opinions when it comes to Chopin Potato Vodka. She finds it smooth, minimally flavored, and slightly vanillan, while I find it heavily earthy. Where we have alignment is in the texture. Chopin is undeniably smooth, and in cocktails, provide more texture than flavor. From a cocktail perspective, it is enjoyable, if not something that’s a must have.

At $24 dollars a bottle it’s inline with Grey Goose and other premium brands, while not quite reaching Absolut Elyx costs. That said, the texture makes it worth a try to see if it has a place on your home’s shelf.

Halloween 2021 Cocktail – “I Got A Rock”

Posted on October 25, 2021October 29, 2021 by Nick

Growing up there were all sorts of Halloween specials that networks would air ranging from one time specials to blocks of spooky shows (like Scooby Doo or the Most Haunted Places on Earth). Some became classics, like the Simpson’s Tree House of Horror V, while others, like the Halloween Tree hang out at the edge of peoples memories. Among the most popular and oldest of these specials is It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It aired annually on broadcast networks from 1966 to 2019, before Apple+ became it’s home in 2020 – ending the streak. It will return this year on PBS, to introduce another group of children to the idea of the great pumpkin and Charlie Brown’s rotten luck, that resulted in the phrase ‘I Got A Rock”.

It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

In It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown the kids go trick-or-treating. After each house, the kids discuss their haul. The exchange occurs 3 times, per Wikiquote:

Kids: Trick or treat! Money or eats!

Lucy: [after getting her bag filled] Can I have an extra piece of candy for my stupid brother? He couldn’t come with us ’cause he’s sitting in a pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin. [gets her extra candy, then the other kids get their bags filled] It’s so embarrassing to have to ask for something extra for that blockhead Linus?

[everyone announces what they got in their trick-or-treat bag]

Lucy: I got 5 pieces of candy!

Violet: I got a chocolate bar!

Patty: I got a quarter!

Charlie Brown: I got a rock.

In subsequent exchanges, the items each person gets changes, ranging from gum to popcorn balls to more chocolate. This continued exchange became our inspiration for the cocktail. As they’re Peanuts, we utilize a small amount of Peanut Butter Whiskey. For the popcorn ball, we add in popcorn simple syrup. Finally, we serve the entire creation over a rock.

I Got A Rock

1 ½ oz

Jim Beam White Label

¾ oz

Popcorn Simple Syrup

Barspoon

Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey

Combine all ingredients in a mixing vessel. Add ice and stir. Serve with a side of popcorn or cracker jacks.

The first sip of “I Got A Rock” is sweet and nutty with a good dose of spice. As it evolves, light notes of popcorn build. On the finish, the popcorn comes through the strongest with a continuation of the caramel and peanut flavor. It’s a simple, sessionable cocktail that pairs exceptionally good with buttered popcorn.

Drink Notes & Recommendations

Building this cocktail is pretty straightforward, but there are a few tips and tricks that are worth knowing. First, dilution is important in this drink. We originally tried making this cocktail with Jim Beam Bonded, and found that it overpowered the other flavors – until the ice had a chance to melt. The solution to this is using lower proof, such a Jim Beam White Label, and making sure that you’re thoroughly stirred the drink. You should aim for 12-20 seconds.

Secondly, since popcorn is made with fat (to make it pop), you’ll need to chill your syrup, and strain off the top layer before you make the drink. If you don’t, you’ll notice a layer of fat floating at the top of the container you use to store the syrup. This won’t necessarily effect the syrup, but it’s not ideal from a presentation standpoint.

Jim Beam White Label – Jim Beam is often described as having a ‘peanut funk’ to it, and we’ve found that to be true. This helps to double down on the Peanuts theme, and adds other spice notes. The lower proof is also critical, and we’ve found white label works the best, but feel free to experiment with other Jim Beam offerings.
Popcorn Simple Syrup – The full recipe is below, we use ours chilled from the fridge.
Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey – Skrewball is powerful in terms of its peanut butter flavor. Resist the urge to go heavy as it will overpower the other ingredients.

Popcorn Simple Syrup

When making the popcorn for this recipe, we used Orville Redenbacher popcorn from the jar, instead of microwave or already popped popcorn. The intention is to control the fat that you’ll later have to remove from the syrup once chilled.

35g of fresh popped popcorn – (we used coconut oil to pop ours)
500g sugar
500g water
30g Neutral Grain Spirit (Optional)

Bring water & sugar to boil in a sauce pan. Add popcorn. Steep while stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Allow to cool at least 1 half hour. Place into a clean glass container. If desired, add neutral grain spirit. Shake. Refrigerate

Looking for more Halloween Cocktails? Check out our full list here:

Halloween Inspired Cocktails 2019 - I Am Dracula ... I Bid You Welcome — Dracula

Halloween Inspired Cocktails 2019 - Slimer — Slimer

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

Posted on October 22, 2021November 21, 2021 by Nick

While juniper is the most well known botanical used to flavor gin, there are often a host of other supporting flavors. These can range from cassia to lemon rind to grains of paradise to almost any spice the mind can conceive of. For these reasons, gins are highly variable as their influence is driven by more than factors like grain or fruit used and aging vessels. Among the most famous gins is Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin, which includes over 10 different botanicals, include cubeb, grains of paradise, and almonds.

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

While Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin is from a 1761 recipe, its worth noting that the brand is from the 1980’s. Following a run of success, it was sold to Bacardi, who has crafted other versions (including original Bombay Dry and Bombay East). The version in the US is the 94 proof, while international versions are 80 proof.

Sight: Clear.

Smell: The nose leads off with a bit of spice before jumping into juniper. The smell is bright and perfume like with a touch of almond, a variety of citrus (predominately grapefruit), and a hint of coriander. The spice creeps back in and is almost pepper like – most likely from the grains of paradise or cubeb berries.

Sip: The start has a hint of sweetness that slowly fades as the mouthfeel gets slightly warm. The heat persist throughout, but notes of juniper and citrus rind dominate the top notes. Hints of spice and earth notes grow in the background, with a persistent touch of pepper.

Savor: The ending is dominated by spicy pepper and juniper wrapped in lemon peel. The ending lingers provocatively.

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin is an aggressive gin that doesn’t end up tasting like a pine tree. This dominance is driven by the citrus and spice notes that help balance the juniper notes throughout. The result is a bold gin that toes the line between herbal and spice in an elegant and strong way. While the palate feel is slightly harsh, the flavors are strongly indicative of a London Dry Gin.

In Cocktails

Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin really opens up in Martini. Floral notes and juniper jump out to lead, with plenty of citrus coming in to play background. Combined with the acidity and herbal notes of the wine, it blends smoothly and effortlessly, leading to a clean and inviting drink. Bombay helps to keep the strength of the gin in the forefront, but allows the vermouth to play its support role admirably.

In Review – Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin

We recommend Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin, both thanks to it’s dominate characteristics and complex flavor profile. The added bonus of playing nicely with other ingredients while still showing the full strength of botanicals present in gin. The price and availability are another reason for our recommendation. In the low to mid $20 price point, there’s a lot of value offered for the price.

Bombay Sapphire’s Website