Building on the spirit (npi) of the welcoming committee for the Arrivals Lounge and Lounge of yore, I thought I’d start a topic about cocktails, spirits, and all beverages fermented, distilled, and otherwise alcoholic.
I’ll start this thread by sharing a secret family recipe;
1/2 pound fresh ginger, peeled and cut to 1/4 inch slices
5 cups water
2 cups sugar
3-5 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean
Add ginger, cinnamon sticks, and sugar to water, bring to boil then reduce to a simmer and leave for 1 hour until liquid reduces 50% or so. Add scraping from vanilla bean (or extract, if you must) to the mixture and allow to simmer for 5 more minutes, then remove from heat. Allow to cool, then strain (squeezing ginger) through a filter (coffee filter, or paper towel). You should end up with about 2 cups of the most delicious ginger syrup you’ve ever tasted.
What to do with ginger syrup; the Waetherman’s Dark & Stormy
2oz good (but not too good) dark rum - I use El Dorado 12 year
2 oz ginger syrup (or more, to taste)
2oz seltzer water
slice of lime, squeezed
At the end, you have a fine cocktail and also some nice cooked sliced ginger that can be easily turned in to a pretty spicy candied ginger (dry and toss with granulated sugar).
Syrup can also be used for “virgin” drinks. But why?
I don’t usually make any sort of mixed drinks. partly because I don’t drink often enough to think of it. But what I do is try to change up what I enjoy my drink with. The oatmeal walnut saffron cookies I made yesterday turned out really good, so one of those with some armagnac might be in my immediate future.
OK, I will try to remember it now, but I am really tired and sore…
Softened one stick of unsalted butter with a large pinch (probably between 1/8-1/4 teaspoon) of saffron
Mixed 1.5 c flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground clove
Beat softened butter with 1.25 c brown sugar, gradually added two eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract
Gradually beat dry mix into sugar+butter, added 1c fine “minute” rolled oats, then 2c coarser rolled oats
Add raisins - I had only 1/2c on hand, and about 1 - 1.25c chopped walnuts
Rolled into balls about 1.5" and flattened onto cookie sheet
Baked at 325F for twelve minutes in a crappy convection oven
i use saffron in my vegetable soup, my spanish rice, and a few other recipes. i made a saffron flavored custard with dried cherries macerated in kirsch prior to cooking and garnished with a pinch of black sea salt. i like using saffron for sweet dishes but i’ve yet to convince anyone else in my family.
let me offer a recipe my dad perfected a few years before he died, it’s called a turlington twister. fill a tall glass with ice cubes, add 3-5 dashes angostura bitters, 2 shots of a profoundly herbaceous gin (we like tanqueray 10) and stir. fill glass with a sugar free lemon-lime soda while slowly stirring as you add the soda. it is a refreshing drink for a hot day.
Take 1 packet of Yorkshire Tea loose leaf tea
Mix thoroughly with 1 packet of either Fair Trade or Own Brand loose leaf tea (depending on availability)
Put 2 generous teaspoons of this in a large teapot and cover with boiling water.
Stir and steep for 2 minutes
Pour through a strainer into a large mug (the larger the better)
Add milk until you achieve the correct shade of brown
Enjoy!
Ooh, I like a nice cup of tea myself, but I also like cocktails. Depends on the weather and the time of day.
There’s a nerd lounge in Toronto called Lockhart’s. As the name implies, they mostly riff on Harry Potter, but they do other nerdoms as well. I loved their Captain Picard so much I took a stab at recreating it:
Take a half-litre bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin, pour into a half-litre mason jar, and add two bags of the most aromatic, herby Earl Grey tea you can find. Seal the jar and let sit at room temperature for at least two hours.
Pour the infused gin back into the bottle for ease of mixing.
Make a G&T with it. At Lockhart’s they add agave syrup, but I’m not a fan of sweet drinks and skip that part.
Make sure the AC is on and queue up some ST:TNG on Netflix.
