EMBURY COCKTAILS

KWLS 2013 Airstream Love: The Loud American and The Power & The Glory (a.k.a. Enzo Lim's "The Fort" in punch form.

In 2011 we'd served gimlets for guests of the Key West Literary Seminar from my brother Josh and sister-in-law Bonnie's Airstream--the beast was out of commission last year, getting a new engine and various upgrades by mad inventor bro, and this year she was back in full effect. We decided to serve from the Airstream at a party held on the lawn of Harry S. Truman's Little White House. But first she needed to get a good sprucing up. And: we had to come up with some cocktails for the evening. 

A huge fan Aperol, I had been struck by an ingenious cocktail of Enzo Lim's that he'd made for me at his bangin' Fhilipino restaurant in the East Village, Maharlika. "The Fort" is a beguiling fusion of Aperola,
guava juice, lemon juice and celery bitters. Front-loading a drink with Aperol is a ballsy move and this one really succeeds. When I found myself staring at the 6 bottles of Aperol I'd ordered the morning of the party I decided to attempt to recreate "The Fort" in punch form, following Enzo's proportions. Worked out quite well, particularly for the Aperol lovers in the crowd. In an attempt to retrofit this one to our Graham Greene theme I dubbed the punch "The Power and the Glory" after Greene's novel--the boldness of the drink just seemed right for that title. So, with huge thanks to Enzo:

THE POWER AND THE GLORY a.k.a. THE FORT 

1 1/2 oz Aperol

1 1/2 oz Guava juice

1/2 oz lemon juice

Dash of Bitter Truth Celery Bitters

Add ingredients in a shaker; add ice and shake.

Splash with soda.

Strain over fresh ice.

Garnish: lemon wedge.

 

Our transportation to the Airstream--the family ride, an admirably beat-up Honda truck, driven by little brother Ian. 

Our cocktail lounge on wheels.

 

Our home for the evening, with Hannah Scott along for the ride.

Sean was mixing up a vodka based punch, silky and smooth and friendly and as usual the hit of the evening. A more herbaceous variation on his "The Third Man" from our opening night party, "The Loud American" employed fresh thyme and lemon balm which I'd picked up (potted) at Key West's amazing nursery, The Marc House.

THE LOUD AMERICAN

22 Lemons

2 Oranges

2 Lbs. sugar

2 bunches fresh thyme

2 bunches fresh lemon balm

Muddle peels of citrus and herbs in sugar and let sit for at least an hour, muddling periodically. 

Brew 64 oz green tea (10 tea bags) 2 min.

Pour hot tea over muddled peels, stir until sugar is dissolved.

Add roughly 16 oz lime juice and roughly 16 oz lemon juice to stock mixture.  (to taste)

Add 3 litre bottles of Absolut vodka and 3-5 liters of soda water and serve over ice.

Garnish with lemon wheels, a few sprigs of fresh lemon balm & fresh thyme.

We served through the Airstream's windows, but many if not most of our guests stuck their head into the cab and it became quite the ad hoc VIP lounge.

Boom.

Friday Night Cocktails: Extra Fancy's "Baby You're Driving"

Some pals and I stopped by Williamsburg's new eastern seaboard cuisine and cocktail joint Extra Fancy (302 Metropolitan Avenue) from partners Mark Rancourt, David Brilliant &  Rob Krueger. Between my mates and I I'm prety sure we sampled the entire cocktail list, and we shared, and were impressed across the board, as well as rather merry, by the end of our visit. 

Krueger behind the wheel.

Wound up writing up a couple of the drinks from that evening for Men's Journal but only one, the delicate riff on a French 75 dubbed the "Fancy 75," made it into the story. My personal favorite, with one of the better cocktail names (with an equally good story behind the name) in recent memory, did not. Here's what I'd written about "Baby You're Driving", more or less:

When Krueger and his partners moved into their new space they discovered a backyard herb garden left over from the previous tenants, a Japanese restaurant. lemon balm, spearmint, peppermint, sage, rosemary, thyme, lemon thyme, chervil & parsley grew in abundance in what is now Extra Fancy's outdoor dining area, and they pull these heirloom herbs for both dishes and drinks. Sprigs of Lemon Balm garnish the “Baby You're Driving”, along with a star-shaped orange zest, painstaikingly made using cookie cutter forms. The basis of the drink is the bison-grass infused Zubrowka Vodka with its vanilla and sweet spice finish, anchored by Dubonnet Bland, and given a delicate citrus spin with Combier's Pamplemousse (grapefruit) Liqueur. A little lime juice make it a perfect easy summer sipper, but it's perhaps a bit decpetively soft on the palate. In fact, the name of the drink came about during the testing period for the bar menu, when managing partner Mark Rancourt's girlfriend Charlie turned to him after polishing one off and declared, “Baby, you're driving.” 

BABY YOU'RE DRIVING

1 oz Zubrowka Vodka

1 oz Dubonnet Blanc

1 oz Combier Pamplemousse (Grapefruit) Rosé Liqueur

1 oz Fresh lime juice

Shake, double strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with Lemon Balm Sprig & Orange Peel Star.

 The cookie cutter in question.

"The idea for the cookie cutters was pursued after  a suggestion by Mark that I get a "punch" to cut fancy spirals," Rob texted me later."Then I found the lobsters [for the Squibnocket] and stars at our restaurant supply store. [Ed. note: found some nice aspic cutters that would do the trick at Whisk." Then they went out and got  a 1 ton arbor press from Harbor Freight, as one does. Thus  was constructed a rig that enables cutting multiple zests at once, stacked atop one another.

I finished up shooting for the Men's Journal story and  Rob and I were chatting as barback Jimmy Palumbo pressed the stacks of zest. Rob regarded the elaborate production and said a bit ruefully, "As if it's not enough work squeezing fresh juice every day, and making these kinds of cocktails....". I'd already seen Jimmy power squeezing limes earlier, for what seemed like a very long time--one of those occasions when you realize just how labor intensive putting out any volume of craft cocktails in a bar actually is. Adding extra fancy garnishes only adds to that workload.But sometimes a good idea and a great presentation is too compelling to avoid, as in this case. The first night I tried it I took the impromptu photo below in extremely dim lighting--you can't take a bad photo of this one. 

Saturday Special: Saxon + Parole's Pimm's Cup

This all-day sipper comes from Naren Young of Saxon + Parole . The pleasures of enjoying this fresh, fruit-laden mellow concoction whilst sitting in the outside dining area as cabs crawl past down the Bowery can't be understated. And it's perfectly simple to make at home--and malleable, as it's construction is by nature eclectic and personal. Whatever fresh fruit is available and looks good belongs in a Pimm's Cup. Here's Naren's recipe, cued towards the personal serving. I recommend going for the pitcher.

SAXON + PAROLE'S PIMM'S CUP

1.5 oz. Pimm's

1/2 oz. Pierre Ferrand Orange Curaçao

1/2 oz. Hendrick's Gin

Dash lemon juice

Top with Fever Tree Bitter Lemon, garnish with reckless abandon.

Looks like Naren's garnishes for this one include cucumber, raspebrry, orange and a slender stalk of lavender, a nicely British touch.

SAXON + PAROLE, 316 Bowery at Bleecker, 212.254.0530

Friday Night Cocktails: Jonny Sweat

After making cocktails at a party at the Joseph Abboud showroom the other night I came home quite knackered. When my friend who'd worked the party with me demanded I make him a drink I went with what was simple and on hand. We had some Basil Hayden's bourbon left over from the event, and some Meyer Lemons. I poured a healthy 2 oz. of BH over ice in a large rocks glass, then topped with about 1 1/2 oz of soda (from my beloved Sodastream, which is great for making non-cloying or syrupy soda water).  The Meyer was a bit overripe--too far gone to go into our bitters--but its richness suited the occasion, and a substantial section was squeezed over the drink and then dropped in. Apparently Basil Hayden's and Meyer Lemons are a perfect complement, with the rich brioche-y, white flower notes of the bourbon dovetailing beautifully with the opulent creaminess of the Meyers. A perfect 2-ingredients-and-a-garnish drink, simple as hell and the perfect salve for a sweaty summer night in New York City. 

The next night I tried it again on another friend who was so enraptured he dubbed it "Jonny Sweat". Whence the name? He described the drink as being "what you wring out of Jon Hamm's t-shirt after he's mowed the lawn in the hot sun."  Quite an image! And quite a drink. Best one I've come up with in quite a while. J.R.