EMBURY COCKTAILS

The Golden Cocktail Mile or: 12 Drinks Inspired by "The World's End" from Alastair Walker of The Everleigh

[Download full 11x17 GOLDENCOCKTAILMILE]When I met Alastair Walker at The Everleigh in the Fitzroy District of Melbourne this past November, I couldn't have predicted that a week later he'd have come up with 12 cocktails inspired by the 12 pubs in Edgar Wright's "The World's End". As I sat at the bar chatting with him the film came up--he recounted going with a friend who'd gotten tickets for "This Is The End"--somehow the two guys had been talking about the two different, similarly named films, something I'd speculated must have happened at some point. Apparently it wasn't the ideal set-up for enjoying Franco, Rogen & Baruchel when you were primed for Pegg, Frost & Freeman. That led us to talking about the Edgar Wrightini and the stunt shot "The World's End" we'd done with Jacob Briars. I sat at the bar, enjoying my first-ever Woolworth after the longest series of flights I'd ever endured,  I mentioned that  I thought there was still room to create homage drinks for "The World's End", 12 possibilities, in fact--the pubs, and the pub names, all totally sounded like drinks already. Alastair said he'd look over the list and after just a couple emails back and forth he'd come up with 12. All recipes are below and there's a rather nice 11x17 downloadable poster we've made: Download GOLDENCOCKTAILMILE. We were definitely inspired by Wright making available a downloadable poster of the Golden Mile map (2 sided!) for anyone who fancyed being Gary King for Halloween.

The pub names do indeed work remarkably well for cocktails. In some cases these are drinks Alastair was working on and  was kicking about for names already, some started with the pub name, and one or two are pre-existing cocktails that just work too well with the name not to be borrowed. A case in point is "The World's End" (A.K.A. Better Then A.K.A. Jayne Fonder) as its both fiery (to the palate) and blue which just fits the bill too perfectly. There are a number of cocktails utilizing ale, naturally. I think the thematic resonances of all the drinks are clear when you read through them. I'm sure Alastair would be more than happy to make any (or all) of them for you at The Everleigh, but if you're not lucky enough to be in Melbourne in the near future your friendly neighborhood bartender should be able to easily recreate them with these recipes. Properly outfittted of course, one could make them at home. And one hopes one is and one does.

We wanted throw a little spotlight on the artwork of the signs themselves in this project. One thing I hadn't known that came out of a little research was that Wright's brother Oscar was involved in their develoment and is a frequent collaborator. That was neat to discover both because brothers working together is obviously cool; then there's the fact that parents naming their kids "Edgar" and "Oscar" is quite rad.  There are meanings to both the pub names and the details in the artwork; forums on Wright's site go into some elaborate theorizing about the significance of the names and the signs. Like a chinese box the film just seems to have more and more layers as you revisit it and delve deeper. As far as who is responsible for the signs themselves, Marcus Rowland, the inspired production designer for the film explained, "Like all film making it's a collaborative venture, starting with Edgar then me, followed by ideas from Oscar and our graphics person Georgina Millett, & finally scenic painter Barnaby Gorton pulls it all together." 

Many thanks to Alastair Walker for the creativity, and Michael Madrusan of The Everleigh, for participating in this rather extravagant liquid homage. And a huge thank you to Greg Needham who put the poster together  with considerable inspiration and patience  And for anyone who may wonder why the tagline for the poster is " A Liquid Repast for The World's End", please refer to the clip below, which also serves as a neat summary of the 12 stops along the Golden Mile. Jason Rowan

THE FIRST POST

 1 1/2 oz. Gin 

1/2 oz. Suze

1 oz. Lime 

3/4 oz. Simple 

2 dashes of absinthe

Soda top 

Light shake, served tall over ice with a lime wedge garnish

THE OLD FAMILIAR

 1 1/2 oz. Aged Rum 

1/2 oz. Jamaican Rum

Brown sugar cube

Pinch of salt

2 dashes of angostura bitters

Served on the rocks, with a orange twist

(A.K.A The S.C.O.F. (Salted Caramel Old Fashioned))

 

THE FAMOUS COCK

1 oz. Gin 

1/2 oz. lemon

1/2 oz. simple 

Egg white 

Amber ale top 

 Dry shake, wet shake, served in a fizz glass with the beer top

(A.K.A. Andy Shandy)

THE CROSS HANDS

2 oz. Scotch 

1 oz. Cocchi Americano Rosa 

3 dashes of orange bitters

Stirred down and served in a coupe, lemon twist garnish

THE GOOD COMPANION

1 oz. Irish whiskey 

1 oz. Cognac 

Brown sugar cube

2 dashes of orange bitters

Served on the rocks, lemon twist

(A.K.A 4/3rds)

THE TRUSTY SERVANT

 2 oz. oz. Aged Rum 

1/2 oz. oz. Dry vermouth

1/2 oz. oz. Cynar 

Stirred down and served in a coupe, orange twist

(A.K.A The Right Hand Man)

THE TWO HEADED DOG

1 1/2 oz. Aged Rum

3/4 oz. White Cacao 

3/4 oz. Kola tonic 

3/4 oz. Cream 

Egg yolk

Dry shake, wet shake, served in a flip glass and garnished with nutmeg

 THE MERMAID 

 2 oz. Genever

3/4 oz. Lime

3/4 oz. Pomegranate molasses (cut with simple)

Cucumber 

Shaken, and served in a coupe, garnished with black pepper on top

(A.K.A The Intrepid Fox-We threw in this teaser poster to the mix because A. "Intrepid Fox" is just great and B. Can't ever hurt to have some Rosamund Pike in the mix.))

 

THE BEE HIVE

1 oz. Bourbon

3/4 oz. lemon

3/4 oz. Honey

Pale ale top

Light shake, served tall over ice, topped with the pale ale

(A.K.A The Beerhive)

 THE KING'S HEAD

 2 oz. Irish whiskey

3/4 oz. Lime

3/8 oz. Pomegranate molasses (cut with simple)

3/8 oz. Campari

Shaken, served in a coupe, garnished with a lime wedge 

(A.K.A Crazy Eyes)

THE HOLE IN THE WALL

2 oz. Scotch 

3/4 oz. Suze

1/4 oz. Grand Marnier 

Stirred down, served in a coupe, orange twist garnish. 

THE WORLD'S END

2 oz. Tequila 

1 oz. Lime 

3/8 oz. Curaçao

3/8 oz. Agave

3 Dashes of hot sauce (Cholula)

Light shake, served on the rocks, garnished with a lime wedge

(A.K.A Better than (Jayne Fonder))

THE WORLD'S END PUB SIGNS & THE GOLDEN COCKTAIL  MILE

Director: Edgar Wright Written by: Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg Production Designer: Marcus Rowland Concept Art: Oscar Wright Graphic Designer: Georgina Millett Scenic Painter: Barnaby Gorton    Cocktails: Alastair Walker, The Everleigh Golden Cocktail Mile Poster Design: Greg Needham Project Coordination: Embury Cocktails

 

Saxon + Parole's "Point Blank"; Cocktail Cabinet Program

Finally got to make good use of the photos I shot of the bottled cocktails at Saxon + Parole for my Men's Journal piece on the killer "Point Blank" cocktail at Saxon + Parole. Shot these back in May or June and they languished a bit until finding their rightful home. The rich visuas of these cocktails in the tall glass and wood cabinet behind the bar made it easy to photograph, and those photographs hard to edt.

POINT BLANK


1.5 oz. Chivas 12 Year



1 oz. Dolin Blanc Vermouth

1/4 oz. St. Germain



5 dashes Bitter Truth Lemon Bitters



 Stir to well chilled, strain into coupe, top with lemon twist.


Named after the ultra-stylish 1967 John Boorman gangster movie, I can personally attest to its wicked potency of this cocktail in addition to its irrestible flavor harmonics. Just don't have more than two, or it may trat you the way Lee Marvin treats Angie Dickinson in the film: brutally.

On the ligher side of the bottle cocktail news a S + P, the El Presidente was on offer when I was shooting. Below, the mini bottles that are sent to the recipient of a gift subscription to announce their prize. These little bottles are almost cooler than the big bottles with your name amblazoned on them.

You get the drink's backstory and recipe on your little mini bottle of happiness that arrives in the mail to tell you the good news. Brilliant stuff.

The cabinet is a rogues gallery of cocktail world figures.

..although all are welcome. This has got to be one of the sweetest holiday gifts you could give a New York City drinker this year. 

Heroic Drinkers: David Lane, Ancient Ice Master

For our innaugural (I think) Heroic Drinkers I'm electing a friend I made through the Key West Literary Seminar, David Lane, a delighful WASP whose wit verges on acid. Even with all the mania over ice in bars around the world now, I do think David sort of trumps even the biggest ice geeks with this whiskey on the millenia-old-rocks, as he explained in an email: 

Was actually in Patagonia not long ago and had 1000 year old glacial ice with Johnny Black rather frequently while cruising through the Darwin Channel.  See pic. The ice is filled with little air bubbles, from the compression I assume.  You might want to add that ingredient to your collection of exotica & difficult. Or start importing the ice via fed ex as a business.  There must be a few investment bankers still in the game.

Not coming to KW for the Seminar in 2013.  We'll be busy moving to Vancouver if Romney is elected.

Well done on all counts! And speaking for myself, now that it's Romney and the Ayn Rand lovin' Ryan, I'll be busy moving to Australia if the election goes that way.  J.R. 

A Civilized Alternative To Countless Pints On St. Patrick's Day: Jameson Black Barrel Select Reserve

(Note: This post was originally published on newnownext.com, the online side on the Logo network. When I first tasted the Black Barrel my instant reaction was: gateway Irish whiskey for the unitiated and the second thought was: I could see this bracing iteration of Jameson landing with the gays. Thus, the open shirt come-on of the photo (below) I shot for the piece. But rest assured: all are welcome to enjoy this fine spirit. J.R.)

Irish Whiskey has fallen off in popularity in the last couple generations in the U.S. but as drinkers' palates get more sophisticated and complex subtleties are starting to come back into the forefront of sprits (see: mezcal, pisco) the category is swiftly coming back into vogue. One bold new expression of a classic should further hasten that return. From the gold standard of Irish whiskies, Jameson, comes a subtle, restrained new iteration that falls well below the aged versions in terms of price, but holds up beautifully on flavor profile.  Jameson Black Barrel Select Reserve is made from a combination of rare grain whiskies and pot still malted and unmalted whiskies, and aged in sherry & bourbon casks for an average of 12 years (as opposed to standard Jameson's 7), Then a team of distillers blends them in a wickedly tasty ratio that has the sock in the jaw you expect from Irish whiskies, but without the more maltly, almost syrup-y quality of Jameson. Where Jameson has a green apple sweetness the Black Barrel goes more autumnal, with notes of vanilla, toasted oak and stone fruit, set off by a touch of welcome spice and heat that gives each sip a complex and evolving arc. Bracing and supple, this sipper may just be the gateway Irish whiskey that seduces you.

Jameson Black Barrel Select Reserve is only available in New York right now but will be rolling out to other markets in the months to come. It clocks in at about $44, and it can be ordered from Astor Wine & Spirits. J.R.

Further New Traditionalists Partying & The Meyer Lemon Whiskey Sour

Team Embury just catered another event at The New Traditionalists, this one extremely well-attended, very liquid and quite the bash. We batched up 3 great punches and I'll post those recipes shortly, but I wanted to get this recipe for the Meyer Lemon Whiskey Sour I was making to order up here now, as Meyers are very available right now, at least here in New York.  Initially I used Basil Hayden's which is always lovely and delicate, but switched to the durable and more affordable Jim Beam Rye when that ran out, with no significant loss of drink virtue--in fact, the more earthy rye may stand up to the sweet Meyer better. I used Agrimontana sour cherries (available here) to bring a rich, savory extra sweet/sour-ness that is far superior to poisonous red maraschino cherries. When I ran low on simple syrup I added some of the syrup from the cherries which yielded a darker cocktail with a certain fatty quality--also delicious.

MEYER LEMON WHISKEY SOUR

2 oz. Bourbon or rye
1/2 oz/ Simple syrup
Juice of 1 Meyer Lemon (about 1/2 to 3/4 oz, mix to taste)

Shake with ice, serve up or on the rocks. Garnish with an orange twist and a cherry or two.

World Cup Drinking: England Vs. Algeria, Louis 649 and Further Daytime Bourbon Cocktailing

 

Another maddening draw on the field, but the cocktails in New York are fine. Louis 649's suggestions for daylight World Cup imbibing includes the Brown Derby, further supporting my hunch that bourbon and citrus cocktails like Rye House's "Team USA World Cup Smash" and Embury's own "In Another Time" are the way to go over mimosas any day, particularly weekdays when you find yourself commencing cocktail hour around a 10 am kickoff.

BROWN DERBY

2oz Old Forester Bourbon
1oz Grapefruit Juice
.5oz honey syrup

Shaken & strained into a chilled coupe glass.

World Cup Drinking: USA V. Slovenia, Rye House & The Worst Call In Recent Memory

How this....

and this...

 

...went to this, after what the New York Times called a "stunning rally
 followed by a "shocking call" (Full NYT story here) will be discussed for decades to come.

The giddy euphoria that had followed the late game rally was replaced by quiet desperation for this crew that showed up at 10:00 a.m at Rye House to watch the high-pressure game. It was the kind of devastation where you don't even want to drink, but Lynnette Marrero nobly poured USA Goa Shots (a Tito's Vodka Lemon Drop) all around despite the goal being discounted.

 

It was a bit like the band playing on the deck of the Titanic as it sank. We all drank them, however, and mine gave me the inspiration, perhaps ill-advised, to drink through to England Vs. Algeria at Louis 649. This World Cup, if you're fortunate to live in a time zone where games come on in the mornings, is a great rallying cry to daytime drinking.

The "Team USA World Cup Smash" Lynette handed me upon arrival was a delightful little pre-breakfast eye opener, rivalling Embury's own "In Another Time" as an extremely persuasive bourbon cocktail alternative to the dreaded Mimosa.

TEAM USA WORLD CUP SMASH

Muddle 4 Lemon Wedges
3/4 oz simple syrup
2 oz Old Forrester 100
6 Mint leaves

Shake & strain over ice.

And in Lynette's own neat hand:

Friday Night Cocktail: Brandied Cherry Bourbon Sour

An unexpected surplus of bourbons was delivered to my friends' home in Lyme, New Hampshire, all  in service of a piece I'm working on for VMan Magazine. This led to an impromptu and extremely casual tasting session of four bourbons, which I'll be writing about Monday. It also compelled me to make some cocktails with the bounty--after a lengthy swim across Loch Lyme and back we were all a bit knackered and sunburnt and something sweet and revitalizing was called for. I'd intended to make some Meyer Lemon Whiskey Sours but, of course, Meyers have a way of being elusive when you're looking for them. I decided to adapt John Byrd's recipe for the Meyer Sour and simply use some lemons we had on hand, very simple, very classic. The stroke of unintentional genius came when I wondered aloud if there were maraschino cherries in the house or if we'd need to go the store and Sarah suggested using her brandied cherries that she'd made for desert to follow the southern-style meal she was preparing (buttermilk-soaked fried chicken, collard greens, beans and bacon). I tried a sour with a brandied cherry as a garnish and knew we'd hit on something.

 

The added booziness and sugar of the brandied cherries pushes the equation in a decadent direction--proper Italian luxardo cherries would be great in a sour, but the brandy adds a heady opulence and gives the drink a lovely pink cast. We were all immediately revived and in good cheer. J.R.

BRANDIED CHERRY BOURBON SOUR (Adapted from John Byrd's Meyer Lemon Whiskey Sour recipe)

2oz. Basil Hayden's Bourbon
A light .5oz. of simple syrup (the brandied cherries bring plenty of sugar so go easy on the simple.)
Juice of 1 Meyer Lemon
Shake and strain
Garnish with brandied cherry (don't be afraid to throw in some extra juice) & orange slice

BRANDIED CHERRIES:

1 lb. Bing Cherries, pitted
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 vanilla bean, split in half
1/2 cup brandy

Combine sugar and water in sauce pan.  Scrape seeds from vanilla pod into sugar mixture and add pod as well.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Add cherries and 1/4 cup brandy and simmer for ten minutes.  Remove cherries with a slotted spoon and reserve.  Simmer liquid in saucepan until syrupy and reduced to about 1/2 of a cup.  Pour syrup over reserved cherries and let cool.  When cherries are cooled, stir in remaining 1/4 cup brandy.

Brandied cherries can be kept covered and refrigerated for several weeks.  Flavors will improve with time. Sarah Hodge.

 

Results of the eratz bourbon tasting next week.

Vintage Reserve: J & B, Playboy May 72

We see and must obey...Browsing through vintage Playboys online, one finds some very cool vintage spirits ads. More after the jump, and past Vintage Reserves here.

Bourbon Fest Postcards Pt. 2

(Much of the  following is borrowed liberally from press materials from Jim Beam) At the Jim Beam plant, a table representing the components of the distillation process. Ground corn is mixed with pure limestone-filtered water and then cooked at a fairly high temperature. The temperature is then lowered and the ground rye is added. After the mixture has cooked, the temperature is lowered again for the addition of barley malt. This begins the mashing process. Barley is malted by moistening the grains until they sprout, which releases an enzyme that converts grain starch into sugars. When the conversion is complete, the mash is transferred to the fermenters.

Yeast is then added to the mash to begin the fermentation process. Each different strain of yeast imparts a distinctive flavor and aroma to the finished whiskey, and each distiller has a preferred strain. At Knob Creek, they use a proprietary jug yeast that has been the same since the end of Prohibition. The yeast converts the grain sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

When the fermentation is complete, the mash, now called “distiller’s beer,” is pumped to the still. Inside the tall column still, mash entering from the top meets steam entering from the bottom. The steam vaporizes the alcohol in the mash and carries it out the top of the still to be cooled and re-condensed. This product of the first distillation is called “low wine.” The low wine is delivered to a second still where it is heated and converted again to a vapor that is collected and condensed. The product of this second distillation step is called “high wine” or “white dog.”

New whiskey is as clear as water. All of the distinctive color, and some of the flavor, come from aging in new, charred oak barrels. The longer a Bourbon is aged, the more flavor and color it takes from the wood. The charring of the inside of the barrel produces a layer of caramelized sugars in the wood, which slowly dissolve into the resting Bourbon.