EMBURY COCKTAILS

Cross Training Monday: Dinah '62

Whether you're in need of some rousing getting-ready music, the soundtrack for a party or a balm for an aching head and heart, you can't do much better than the melancholy elegance and serious swing of 'Dinah '62.  Dinah Washington sang sad songs angry and and sang rocking songs sweetly, expressing the tension between action and regret that drinkers know only too well. "Drinking Again" is an established anthem for all who take refuge in smoky bars, but "Me and My Gin" might be an even more essential theme to a post-mortem after a night of cocktail-fueled missteps. The 14 tracks on the album radiate between the sad and the swinging with a sauntering ease, embracing both extremes, unrepentant and always ready for a drink.  World weary and battle-bruised but still in the game, the soulfulness of Washington's voice anchors the strings and horns in some serious grit. This is complex elegance that is never simply pretty.

Pour a stiff one drink and listen to the album in its entirety on lala.com here; listen to "Me And My Gin" and "Little Coquette" below.

Me And My Gin - Dinah Washingt...

Coquette - Dinah Washington, C...

Friday Night Cocktails: Meyer Lemon Whisky Sour

As we continue to celebrate all things Kentucky pre-Derby, this Friday Night Cocktail is a twist on the classic Whiskey Sour, substituting the distinctive Meyer Lemon for the traditional standard lemon. John Byrd, a great resource for Embury, bartender at Dressler and one of the Brooklyn Barmen team, came up with this one after we were discussing the drinks in the 1952 film The Mating Season.  Thelma Ritter whips up a giant batch of whiskey sours that kicks a house party Gene Tierny is hosting into high gear. I wondered if there were something to make a sour a bit more approachable for the novice whiskey drinker, particularly in a party context,  and John proposed this persuasive update with the seasonal Meyer. In the film Ritter raisese the subtle distinction between making a whiskey sour sweet or sour, and the Meyer, allegedly a cross between a mandarin and a lemon, mananges to split the difference between the extremes-in fact, in deference to the film, you might say it mates them--and as luck would have it, it's Meyer season.

MEYER LEMON WHISKEY SOUR

2oz. of Rye or Bourbon (John favors Jim Beam Rye)
.5oz. of simple syrup
Juice of 1 Meyer Lemon
Shake and strain
Garnish with cherry & orange

I wasn't certain if John had intended for this to be served up or on the rocks or up and while waiting for a response to an e-mailed query I consulted the film, where they drink their sours up (although possibly blended, it's a bit unclear). Then I heard back from John: "I always like body in my drink so I never strain the juice, and on the rocks is nice or in tall glass with some soda." I'd already shot (and drank) the cocktail above when I got that and I can confirm that it works up. J.R.

John also does a version with tangerine: "This one  is almost the same but I backed off on the simple syrup because the tangerines I had were pretty sweet. Taper it off with a touch of Meyer or lemon."

Dressler
Brooklyn Barmen
The party scenes from 'The Mating Season' are on YouTube, first part here, second part here.

Key West Postcards: The French Poodle

After brunch with a couple rounds of mimosas, and Bottle Number One of decent commercial Chateau St. Michele champagne back home between four of us, Bottle Number Two of the same was looking only moderately exciting. We were all gathered on the front porch of Chris and Erin of Bad Boy Burrito, the late afternoon sun was low and hot and we were all a little dopey. Erin walked inside and returned with a large slice of organic pink grapefruit which she squeezed directly into her almost-full flute. We tried and asked for the same treatment: The French Poodle wipes away the thick coat that decent mimosas and just-okay champagne can leave in your mouth and in your head, and it clears the palette with grapefruit's astringent pop. The complex sweet-and-sourness of the tangy fresh fruit compensates for the merely acceptable sugar of the champagne, and makes drinking it a pleasure again, as well almost feeling like it's good for you. The name's a riff on The Salty Dog, and it's perfect for helping extend a lazy Sunday afternoon in the sub-tropic heat and light. J.R.

THE FRENCH POODLE

Champagne, most any quality
Fresh organic Grapefruit.

Squeeze grapefruit into flute glass of very chilled champagne. Chunks of fruit are good..

J.R.

Friday Night Cocktail: The Perfect Louis

Mark Buettler from Dressler again, this time with a brilliant cocktail that he created. A riff on the Perfect Manhattan, this one using bourbon (hence the Louis-ville), organic honey syrup and the elusive celery bitters. Quite possibly the best new cocktail I've tasted in the past year. Mark makes his own celery bitters from scratch, but Bitter Truth does them, which makes preparation considerably simpler-although it does help if you read German for ordering them online. The fellas at Brooklyn Barmen have 'em, and no German required.

PERFECT LOUIS (By Mark Buettler)

1 oz Bourbon (Mark prefers Old Forresters)
1 oz Dry Vermouth
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz White Honey syrup (equal parts white honey and hot water)
2 dashes Angustora bitters
2 dashes Celery bitters
Stir 30-35 times, Strain up, No garnish

Dressler

Brooklyn Barmen

Wednesday's Cocktail: The Seelbach

As we approach the Kentucky Derby on May 2nd, we'll be talking about bourbon here at Embury. One of my favorite drinks for daytime, and a wonderful one to turn someone onto is The Seelbach. If you've never heard of it it could sound sketchy--a dining companion at Union Square Cafe on a recent Saturday afternoon was extremely dubious at the thought of bourbon and champagne together, but he smiled when he tasted it.

THE SEELBACH (from Gary and Mardee Regan’s New Classic Cocktails)

1 oz bourbon
1/2 oz Cointreau
7 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
7 dashes Angostura bitters
5 oz Champagne
Pour the liquor and bitters into a Champagne flute and stir. Add Champagne and stir again. Garnish with an orange twist.

Lauren Clark of Drink Boston offers this slight, very sensible variation on the Regans' recipe: I prefer to stir the liquor and bitters lightly over ice and then strain them into the Champagne flute before adding the Champagne. It makes a pleasantly chilled drink that is not so cold or watered down that it dulls the spirits’ character.

One's choice of bourbon is always key, of course, but The Seelbach is quite versatile and can be adapted to what's on hand. I'm always a fan of the delicate Basil Hayden but the malty honey of Makers Mark more than compensates for a less than glorious champagne, and knocks a Seelbach out of the park every time. Peychaude's bitters are great to mix with Angostura, but either will do. On a recent Saturday afternoon at Union Square Cafe the bartender doubled up the Angostura due to lack of Peychaudes-to no ill effect.  fact, I'd consider the Seelbach to be marvellously flexible-just stick to bourbon, bitters and something bubbly on top and a litle something sweet and you'll acheive the same response. The one in this photograph was sourced over a long day in Key West, pulling Pechaudes from friends at the Island House, Angostura from Bad Boy Burrito, Martini & Rossi Proseco from Fausto's and Evan Williams Bourbon from my dad's liquor cabinet. An Exacto knife in the toolshed (same toolshed I'd made so many other drinks in) proved to work fine to cut twists, in this case lemon twists-heresy to some as orange is called for, but the lemon added a nice kick. When my dad looked a little wary even after he'd taken a sip, I remembered this was missing something sweet. With no Cointreau or simple syrup around Ijust spooned in some raw sugar, stirred it up and handed it back to him. That got the smile.

Drink Boston

Gary and Mardee Regan

New Classic Cocktails 

Friday Night Cocktail: The Brooklyn

Embury Cocktails Presents: The Brooklyn from Embury Cocktails on Vimeo.
Mark Buettler from Brooklyn's Dressler mixes us up, appropriately, The Brooklyn, as Embury kicks off a month of celebrating bourbon on the approach to the Kentucky Derby.
 
THE BROOKLYN (DRESSLER STYLE)

1/2 oz Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1/2 oz Amer picon
1oz Antica sweet vermouth
2 oz Wild Turkey 101 rye

Stir, strain up, flamed orange peel garnish

Coming Friday: Buettler's sublime Perfect Louis.

Dressler Restaurant

Pisco Classic, Pisco New

My piece on pisco is online now at Out.com (read it here).  Artemio Vasquez from Yerba Buena, a great South American restaurant in the East Village, shared his Pisco Guava recipe which I posted earlier here, and his classic Peruvian style Pisco Sour follows. (Artenio recommends using Macchu Pisco, a really fine Peruvian pisco that's made by two sisters, quite unusual in the male-dominated world of spirits making.)

PISCO SOUR

2 ounce Macchu Pisco
One organic brown egg white
3/4 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
3/4 ounce simple syrup
Shake the egg white on its own, add the rest of the ingredients and shake again. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Aretemio Vasquez, Yerba Buena

A sort of neo-classic from Damon Dyer of Flatiron Lounge, the Este Gabacho is a clear, stirred cocktail that employs--sparingly-Martini Bianco and an ingenious combination of grapefruit and orange bitters to create liquid gold.

ESTE GABACHO

2 oz Barsol Pisco acholado
A heavy 1/2 oounce of St. Germain elderflower liqueur
1/2 oz Martini & Rossi Bianco vermouth
2 dashes Flatiron citrus bitters blend*
Stir over cracked ice in chilled mixing glass, strain into coupe glass, garnish with grapefruit twist.

*Flatiron citrus bitters blend is simply a blend of Fee Brothers Grapefruit bitters and Regan's Orange bitters #6.  The former provides rounded grapefruit flavor notes, while the latter provides cardamom spice and orange flavor notes.

Damon Dyer
Flatiron Lounge

Make no mistake, the Gabacho is a muscle cocktail. For a softer, more approachable version try its little sister the Gabacha. Simply add 1/2 oz freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Here are Damon's notes to me about his inspirations in creating these cocktails.

These drinks are the result of playing around with St. Germain, which was stilll fairly new on the market, and seeing how its floral, grapefruity, lychee flavors would marry with the sweet vanilla spice of (the criminally underused) bianco vermouth.  Such delicate flavors require a base spirit that doesn't overpower the whole mix, prompting attempts with light rum, gin, tequila, and vodka.   Many failed experiments in the Flatiron Lounge Research and Development Laboratory later, I had the "Eureka" moment to use pisco.  Pisco is a beautifully flexible spirit, adaptable to many styles of drinks, and the subtle orange spice of the acholado was the perfect foil to the St. G and Bianco.  I heartily recommend this cocktail to those that want a drink with a strong backbone, but with a lighter and complex flavor

Wednesday's Cocktail: William Grant & Sons Quartet

The other night I was a guest at a William Grant & Sons cocktail tasting at the Bouley Test Kitchen on lower, lower, lower West Broadway. Leisurely, intimate, and painlessly informative-the drinks' creators were right there to discuss their inspirations as they made them for you-it was one of those surreal, highly cinematic and unusually gracious evenings you sometimes experience when you write about cocktails.

William Grant's small portfolio boasts a hardy, eclectic array of spirits, so the cocktails employing their brands were all over the map, but unified by a certain elegance and certainly a high grade of craftmanship. Bartenders and brand ambassadors. ringed the room serving Grant-based drinks, four of which were real standouts for me.  William Grant's noted doyenne, Charlotte Voisey, manned the first cocktail station as you entered the kitchen, and we found ourselves migrating back their throughout the evening for another taste of her Blood and Sanguinello, a pink and amber cloud of single-malt scotch, Lillet Rouge, and exotic citrus punched up by Solerno, their new blood orange liqueur.

BLOOD AND SANGUINELLO - Charlotte Voisey

Solerno 0.75 oz
Glenfiddich 0.75 oz
Lillet Rouge 0.75 oz
Fresh pink grapefruit 0.50 oz
Fresh lemon juice 0.25 oz
4 luxardo maraschino cherries
Orange bitters 2.00 dashes
Egg whites

Combine ingredients and shake very well
Serve up in a coupe (or small wine glass)
Garnish with a thin slice of blood orange.

People kept migrating back to Charlotte's table for to further sample the Blood and Sanguinello.

Rob Krueger  of Employees Only and Macao served up his Kobayashi Cocktail, with homemade candied kumquats. He told me he'd wanted to strike a balance between the style of his two establishments.

Friday Night Cocktails: Pisco Guava

The April Out magazine with my piece on pisco is on newsstands now. Starting Friday, April 3rd the full story should be online at Out.com, along with some key recipes from the Pisco Latin Lounge in San Francisco, Damon Dyer of Flatiron Lounge in Chelsea and Artemio Vasquez of Yerba Buena in the East Village. In the meantime, here's a preview of Artemio's delightful Pisco Guava, a not-too-sweet drink that balances the earthy Peruvian Macchu Pichu Pisco with the intense fruit of guava. Perfect for summer, or a proper spring day-like today. J.R.

PISCO GUAVA
2 ounce Macchu Pichu Pisco
3/4 ounce guava puree (if storebought, Artemio recommends Pefect Puree.)
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup (to taste)
Shake hard, serve in a cocktail glass.

The April Out magazine with my piece on pisco is on newsstands now. Starting Friday, April 3rd the full story should be online at Out.com, along with some key recipes from the Pisco Latin Lounge in San Francisco, Damon Dyer of Flatiron Lounge in Chelsea and Artemio Vasquez of Yerba Buena in the East Village. In the meantime, here's a preview of Artemio's delightful Pisco Guava, a not-too-sweet drink that balances the earthy Peruvian Macchu Pichu Pisco with the intense fruit of guava. Perfect for summer, or a proper spring day-like today. J.R.

PISCO GUAVA
2 ounce Macchu Pichu Pisco
3/4 ounce guava puree (if storebought, Artemio recommends Pefect Puree.)
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup (to taste)
Shake hard, serve in a cocktail glass.

A Cocktail for the Beer Drinker

 

Tabasco not pictured.

This will probably hit anyone above, say, 34 degrees latitude pretty hard, but for me it's time for summer drinks.

I've relocated to Los Angeles - in November, actually - and while the locals still treat the "winter" here as if it requires scarves and hats, the fact remains today was fully sunny and 69 degrees F. Meaning: I want a warm-weather drink.

Now, this is Embury. We've shown you how to muddle cherries into honey with chamomile tea and fresh-squeezed lemon juice; we've shown you how to blend cilantro, mint, jalapeno, and pineapple juice for a shot to follow good anejo tequila - I get that we're all about the effort that goes into a superlative drink.

But sometimes, it's much, much simpler.

As in the case with a Chelada.

Simply put, a Chelada is a Mexican beer with some local spices and citrus. I'm all for exploring the provenance of this drink, except that I want to make one now, and I want it to taste good - regardless of authenticity.

So, going on the above definition, a Chelada is like a Mexican Bloody Mary that isn't a Bloody Maria. No tequila. I've researched many an article that says a chelada should consist of a regional beer mixed with local peppers, tomatoes, salt, and, weirdly, Worcetershire sauce.

Here's my take: Do you have light beer left over from your party last weekend, as I do? Is some of it Corona, or Pacifico? Can you squeeze the juice of two limes into a large glass, add a shot or two of Tabasco, add ice, then beer, and stir it all together?

If the answer to all of these questions was "yes," you're drinking a very basic form of Chelada. A basic, tasty form that transforms cheap or flavorless beer into something divine - in short, you're drinking a beer cocktail.

Enjoy.  J.C.