A Dinner Party with Fonseca Siroco

Ever since the weather has gotten warmer, I've been looking forward to enjoying dinners on our porch and in our backyard. Usually it's just my husband and I taking advantage of these springtime evenings, but I've always thought an outdoor party with friends would be a lot of fun. So when I was invited to host a dinner party with cocktails made with the Fonseca Siroco White Port, I jumped at the chance to throw the backyard soiree I'd always wanted. I had big plans: white tablecloths, candles, cafe lights, flowers, the works.

Then it rained.

Looking on the bright side, at least this meant we didn't need to carry all our food and supplies down three flights of stairs. It did mean a bit of frantic apartment cleaning and shoving baby gear into closets. But that evening, our friends braved the weather and joined us for a beautiful dinner party with Portuguese food, cocktails, and plenty of Fonseca Siroco.



Let's quickly talk about Port, since it's not something I've used in any recipes on the blog yet. Port is a fortified wine made in the Douro Valley of Portugal. Fortified means that a distilled spirit has been added to the wine, which increases its alcohol content, extends its shelf life and affects its flavor. Other common fortified wines are vermouth, sherry and Madeira. Fonseca is one of the most widely available brands of Port, and their products are consistently very high quality.

When you think of Port, you probably picture a red Port like a tawny or ruby port, which are quite sweet and typically enjoyed after a meal. But white Port like the Fonseca Siroco is generally quite dry. Fonseca Siroco is crisp, fruity, and bright, perfect as an aperitif or with a meal. It's also fantastic in cocktails. The simplest option is just to mix it with tonic water and serve it with a slice of lemon, as it is commonly served in Portugal. Using it instead of vermouth is another easy way to work it into some of your favorite recipes.



For my Port 'n' Party, I made two cocktails with the Fonseca Siroco that I batched ahead of time so I wouldn't be mixing while my guests were here. The first was a simple spritz made with white Port, Aperol, club soda, and an orange slice. Bright, citrusy and just a bit bitter, it made a great pairing for appetizers. For the second cocktail, I wanted to make something more spirit-forward but still appropriate for spring, so I made a martini with gin, white Port, St. Germain, and chamomile citrus bitters. I absolutely love this one - it's just the kind of cocktail I enjoy sipping on. The St. Germain lends this drink a bit of floral sweetness, but it's still dry enough to have before dinner. We also made some white Port and tonics. The recipes for all three cocktails are below!



For dinner, we had Arroz de Tamboril, a rice stew made with monkfish and shrimp that reminded me a lot of the Shrimp Creole we make at home in Louisiana. It's easy to prepare and great for a crowd. Dessert was Serradura, a spectacularly simple combo of sweetened whipped cream and shortbread cookie crumbs. Both recipes came from The Girl Loves to Eat. Our friend Chris of Socktails also brought Pasteis de Nata, which are amazing Portuguese custard tarts. We had plenty of Fonseca Siroco with dinner, and it paired very nicely with the seafood. It had been a long time since we had hosted a party like this one, and we really enjoyed the excuse to get together with friends, even if it was indoors! Maybe a garden party will have to happen later on in the summer. There will definitely be Port cocktails involved.

White Port and Tonic

1 1/2 oz. Fonseca Siroco White Port

3 oz. tonic water

Build in a glass over ice, stir gently, and garnish with a lemon slice.

Porto Spritz

1 oz. Fonseca Siroco White Port
3/4 oz. Aperol
1 oz. club soda

Combine Port and Aperol in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube. Top with club soda and stir gently. Garnish with an orange slice.

Lisbon Martini

2 oz. gin (GrandTen Wire Works)
1 oz. Fonseca Siroco White Port
1/2 oz. St. Germain
1 dash Bittermen's Boston Bittahs

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a coupe. Twist a lemon peel over the cocktail, rub it along the sides of the glass, and discard. Garnish with chamomile flowers.

This post was made in partnership with Fonseca Port. All recipes and opinions are my own.

Ramos Gin Fizz + 3 Years of Garnish!

I'm celebrating! Today Garnish is three years old. I started the blog back in 2015, while I was still in graduate school. My first post was on building a basic home bar. And honestly, it holds up pretty well, except for the inclusion of Punt e Mes as the recommended sweet vermouth. (I love Punt e Mes, but it's more bitter than most vermouths; I'd recommend Carpano Antica Formula or Cocchi Vermouth di Torino now.) Live and learn!

Since that first post, so much has happened that I never expected. For one thing, there are actually people like you out there reading this blog, which in itself is pretty crazy and amazing. My home bar has grown beyond the few bottles in that first post to a ridiculous, sprawling collection that recently spilled over into the neighboring bookcase. I've gotten the opportunity to attend industry events, work with brands, and connect with other cocktail lovers. The biggest surprise has been Instagram - just this month, I hit 10,000 followers, with is insane. It has easily been the best platform for connecting with other home bartenders, and if you're not on there, I highly recommend you check it out.

Like any good celebration, this one calls for a drink! I chose the Ramos Gin Fizz to celebrate this milestone because I always thought of it as the Mt. Everest of cocktails. I tried to make one early on in my home bartending days and failed utterly; my foam was pitifully nonexistent and the flavor was just off. After that I assumed it was a drink that was just beyond my skill level. But no longer! I made a Ramos Gin Fizz. And guess what? You can, too.

The only ingredient in a Ramos Gin Fizz that you might not have on hand is orange flower water. This is a clear liquid distilled from orange blossoms that has a flowery flavor and fragrance. You can find this at many liquor stores or buy it online. You can also skip it if you must. Your Fizz will be lacking that hint of floral flavor that makes it extra special, but it will still be quite tasty.

The other big challenge when making a Ramos Gin Fizz is getting that foam just right. There are a lot of tricks you can employ. A reverse dry shake with a blender ball (see my notes in this recipe) is the best way I've found to get that really nice foam.

Actually, that's a lie. I'll come clean - the best way to get this great foam, and the way that I got the foam in the picture, is with an electric mixer. I know, I know. That must technically be cheating or something. And it creates some bubbles that are a bit too large for most egg white cocktails. But for the Ramos Gin Fizz, which benefits from a big, stiff topping of foam, an electric mixer with a whisk attachment can save your arms some serious work and basically guarantee that you'll get that beautiful drink you're striving for. And if anyone has a problem with that, then tough.

All that mixing and shaking will be worth it, I promise. The Ramos Gin Fizz is a heavenly drink. I've often seen it compared to a Piña Colada, which is sort of bizarre since they don't share a single ingredient in common. I think it's because they both have that perfect combination of creamy, sweet, and sour. The Ramos Gin Fizz just looks and tastes so special, from the magical cap of foam to the hint of orange flower water. It's a cocktail that shouldn't be missed.

History: The Ramos Gin Fizz is a New Orleans classic, so of course it was born there. It was invented by Henry C. Ramos in 1888 at the Imperial Cabinet saloon at the corner of Gravier and Carondelet. He called it a New Orleans Fizz. When he sold his bar and opened a new one right down the street called The Stag in 1907, he took the iconic recipe with him there. It was wildly popular. This was actually something of a problem, because Ramos' recipe required a staggering 12 minutes of shaking. To keep up with demand, he employed an assembly line of "shaker boys" who would each shake the drink for a minute or two so that they didn't become exhausted.

Ramos was actually a supporter of the temperance movement, quite surprising for someone who made a living slinging drinks. He discouraged any kind of drunkenness or misbehavior at his bar, and closed at the respectable hour of eight o'clock. When Prohibition began in 1919, he was quick to shutter The Stag and switch to mixing paint instead of cocktails. He died in 1928.

When Prohibition was lifted, Ramos' son sold the rights to the New Orleans Fizz to the Roosevelt Hotel, which trademarked the new name "Ramos Gin Fizz" in 1935. Their Sazerac Bar remains the most famous place to order one today. It was famously the favorite cocktail of Huey P. Long, who went so far as to fly one of the Roosevelt's bartenders to New York to teach the folks at the New Yorker Hotel how to make the drink properly for him when he was visiting. If you think that sounds a bit silly, you've never seen the bartenders at the Roosevelt make a Ramos Gin Fizz. It's a theatrical production, with white-suited bartenders energetically shaking the drink, performing an impressively high pour, and then doing that final top-up with club soda that causes the foam to almost miraculously rise above the rim of the glass. Ordering one there is a must if you visit New Orleans.

Thank you all so much for reading - here's to another three years! Cheers!

Ramos Gin Fizz

1 1/2 oz. gin (preferably Old Tom)
1 oz simple syrup
1 oz. heavy cream
1 oz. egg white
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
3-4 drops orange flower water
2 drops vanilla extract (optional*)
Club soda

Combine all ingredients except club soda in a shaker with ice and shake well to combine. Strain out the ice and return to the shaker, adding a blender ball or spring. Shake very well to froth up the egg whites, 30-60 seconds. Alternatively, transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment for 30 seconds.

Add a dash of club soda to the bottom of a tall Collins glass. Pour in the cocktail, raising the bowl or shaker as you pour to increase the distance between it and the glass - this helps the foam form. Top up the drink with club soda so that the foam rises above the rim of the glass.

*According to Stanley Clisby Arthur in his 1937 book Famous New Orleans Drinks and How To Mix 'Em, "Veteran barkeepers differ violently - practically come to blows - over the inclusion of the two innocent drops of extract of vanilla. Old-timers who worked for Henry Ramos in the past declare the original Ramos included no vanilla in its make-up. Others hold that the twin drops of extract wrung from the heart of the vanilla bean either make or break a real gin fizz - make it taste like heaven or the reverse." I will leave it up to you to decide where you stand on this divisive issue. Since I was having my fizz with a vanilla cupcake, I thought the two drops sounded like a lovely idea.

Recipe adapted from this video and from Famous New Orleans Drinks and How To Mix 'Em. (Note that the stated ounce and a half of orange flower water in the video is clearly a mistake!)

Historical information mostly came from Thrillist, Gin Foundry, Gambino's Bakery, and Famous New Orleans Drinks and How To Mix 'Em.

Mocktail: Volstead Act

I've got another lovely, vibrantly orange mocktail for you this week, courtesy of a secret ingredient - turmeric. I know I basically just posted a recipe made with turmeric, but throwing that little bit into my fennel syrup made me really want to experiment with putting this interesting ingredient front and center. I'm a little skeptical on all the supposed health benefits of turmeric, but I'm 100% in agreement that it tastes pretty fantastic in a cocktail. So while I was working on this tasty mix of pineapple, lime, ginger, and club soda, I went ahead and tossed in a whole quarter teaspoon. And it really makes an otherwise ordinary drink extraordinary.

I'm calling this non-alcoholic concoction the Volstead Act in honor of the bill that started Prohibition in the United States. It's an intensely tasty drink - tropical and refreshing, with spice and savoriness from the turmeric. Add a little rum and you'd have a positively dreamy cocktail.

This is the first recipe I've made with my fancy-schmancy new juicer from the folks at Simple Utensils, so I had to show it off a bit. I thought I was doing just fine squeezing citrus by hand or using my simple plastic reamer (not sure what you call the type, but it looks a bit like these), but now I'm not sure how I went so long without getting a proper hinged juicer. It's so much cleaner and easier! And I am all about that these days.

Volstead Act

2 oz. pineapple juice
3/4 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. ginger syrup*
1/4 tsp. turmeric
2 oz. club soda

Combine all ingredients except club soda in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with club soda and stir briefly. Garnish with pineapple leaves and dried pineapple slices.

*For ginger syrup, peel and slice a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger and add it to a saucepan with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Lower heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Then remove from heat and let the syrup steep as it cools. Once it's cool, fine-strain it to remove the ginger.

Mocktail: Golden Orchard

There's a great book a lot of cocktail enthusiasts have recommended to me called The Flavor Bible. This genius tome is a must-have reference for anyone who likes to develop their own recipes for food or cocktails. It goes through dozens of ingredients, from achiote seeds to zucchini blossoms, and lists other flavors that work well with them. Some combinations are obvious, while others can be quite surprising. Under pineapple, for example, you'll find banana, coconut, lime, rum, and vanilla, but also chile peppers, curry, fennel seeds, maple syrup, and star anise. There's a gold mine of cocktail ideas right there! I've found the book particularly helpful with mocktails, where I often need a little creativity boost and suggestions for ingredients I wouldn't normally think of.

I turned to The Flavor Bible for this recipe because I had a definite starting place in mind: I wanted to do something with fennel. It's a favorite of mine, and I've been meaning to work it into a cocktail for some time. The Flavor Bible pointed me in the direction of a number of ingredients that are all supposed to work well with fennel and with each other: honey, almond, turmeric, and apple. It was a bit challenging to decide how to incorporate all of them; most went into a flavored syrup I made by simmering honey, water, chopped fennel, and turmeric together with a bit of almond extract added at the end. Non-alcoholic sparkling cider was a perfect apple base, and lemon juice and a bit of club soda evened out the flavors. I used Martinelli's because it's what I could find, but a drier cider would be even better - the Martinelli's is pretty intensely flavored and did its best to try and overpower the other ingredients.

This mocktail is sweet and tart, laced with subtle flavors of almond and anise. It would be a great one to pull out instead of champagne for a celebration, or to dress up the usual sparkling cider.

I could not for the life of me come up with a good name for this drink! There are too many ingredients to keep it descriptive. The color is distinctive, but anything containing the word "orange" seemed misleading. A number of fennel puns came to mind (Fennel Word, The Fennel Countdown, That's My Fennel Offer) but I just have too much self-respect. So Golden Orchard will have to do.

Booze it up: Try an alcoholic sparkling cider!

Golden Orchard

2 oz. fennel syrup*
1 oz. lemon juice
4 oz. sparkling cider
1-2 oz. club soda, to taste

Combine fennel syrup and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and strain into a stemmed glass. (Alternatively, you can build the drink in the glass, especially if your syrup is good and cold.) Add the sparkling cider and the club soda. The amount of club soda will depend on your cider; the Martinelli's is very sweet and intensely flavored, and I felt like it needed to be toned down a bit. Garnish with a sprig of fennel.

Fennel Syrup:

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1 cup chopped fennel
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp almond extract

Combine honey, water, fennel, and turmeric in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and let simmer for about ten minutes. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Let cool slightly before pouring through a fine strainer. Let cool completely before using.

Mocktail: Strawberry Balsamic Lemonade

This week's big baby-related activity was stroller shopping. We went to a little boutique baby store in Brookline because we heard they had a good selection of the brands we were interested in. We'd walked about three steps into the store when we were pounced upon by an eager employee looking to help us. As an introvert and cheapskate, I generally prefer to shop by myself rather than having someone hover over me, but since this was a whole new world for us, we reluctantly told this smiling woman - Pattie - what we were looking for.

All I can say is, thank God for Pattie. Strollers and carseats are complicated. There is no way my husband and I would have been able to figure out which strollers were compatible with which carseats, which ones came with toddler seats, which ones needed adapters, etc. You would think that between the two of us, a PhD and an MD, we would be able to at least figure out how to fold a stroller frame, but we were still fumbling with most of them after the third time Pattie showed us how to do it. And let's not even get into carseat installation. There's never been a time in pregnancy when I was more in need of a drink.

Alas, the hard stuff is still eleven weeks away, but at least I can make a refreshing mocktail to banish a bit of the summer heat and unwind post-stroller shopping. I've been seeing far too many beautiful strawberries around not to have them end up in a glass somehow. This is a pretty simple recipe, but it's quite tasty and the color is stunning. Muddled strawberry and basil brighten up an average cup of lemonade, and a syrup made with balsamic vinegar gives it a beautiful depth and tang. It's a wonderful summer drink.

As for the stroller saga, it's not over yet... this weekend we're headed to Babies 'R' Us to look some more. Pray for me.

Strawberry Balsamic Lemonade

2 strawberries, sliced
6 basil leaves
1 oz. balsamic syrup*
1 1/2 oz. lemon juice
5 oz. club soda

Combine strawberries, basil, and balsamic syrup in the bottom of a shaker or mixing glass and muddle to bruise the basil and release the juices of the strawberries. Add the lemon juice and a few ice cubes and stir briefly to chill and dilute. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with club soda and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a fanned strawberry and some basil leaves.

*For balsamic syrup, combine equal parts water, sugar, and balsamic vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely before using. Also good on salads!

Mocktail: Spicy Sandia

It might be late May, but it doesn't feel like summer in Boston yet. We got a brief taste of seasonally-appropriate (or even seasonally extreme) weather when it hit ninety degrees for two days last week, and I ran out and bought herbs and vegetables for my garden thinking that the warm weather had finally arrived. But then it promptly returned to fifty degrees and raining. At least I don't need to water the plants. I'm not exactly in a hurry to get to sweltering heat, but a few days in the seventies certainly wouldn't be unwelcome.

While this mocktail is more ideal for sipping on the porch in the summer heat, its color and spice certainly brightened up my rainy day. One of the biggest challenges to mocktail recipes, I've found, is finding ingredients that make up for the liquid volume usually taken up by alcohol. There's a reason you see a ton of drinks made with club soda and ginger beer - they're easy add-ins. Things like tonic water, shrubs, fruit juices, and teas are other good options. When brainstorming ingredients for this purpose, it occurred to me that watermelon would be a fantastic addition to a mocktail - colorful, subtly sweet, and very juicy. And so this ode to a margarita was born. It's ridiculously tasty and extremely refreshing. I added some jalapeño for a kick and some smoked salt on the rim for a bit of extra flavor and aroma. Smoked salt isn't something I've used before, but it's an amazing rimmer for cocktails. Look for it at your grocery store with the organic spices.

Booze it up: One word: tequila.

Spicy Sandia

8 1-inch cubes watermelon
2-4 thin slices jalapeño pepper (depending on spiciness and how you like it)
1 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. agave nectar
1 oz. club soda
Smoked salt, for rim

To prepare the glass, rum the rim or exterior of a rocks glass with a wedge of lime and roll it in smoked salt. Fill the glass with ice. Combine watermelon and jalapeño in the bottom of a shaker and muddle well to extract the juices from the watermelon and incorporate the spice from the pepper. Add lime juice and agave nectar. Fill the shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Fine-strain into the prepared glass. Top with club soda and garnish with a slice of watermelon and a wedge of lime.

Mocktail: Consolation Prize

This is a mocktail recipe I've had bookmarked for a while, since long before I became pregnant. It comes from Smitten Kitchen, one of my absolute favorite food blogs. It's basically my go-to for looking up basic recipes, and browsing the archive by ingredient is an endless source of inspiration on nights when I have no idea what to cook. Every recipe I've tried from the blog has been delicious. So when I saw that Deb had posted a mocktail recipe during her pregnancy, I immediately bookmarked it, knowing the day would come when I too would be pregnant and desperate for something resembling a cocktail. The fact that it's basically a combination of a Pina Colada and a Mojito - arguably two of the most delicious summer drinks - only made me want one even more.

This drink is so delicious and refreshing. The smooth, creamy coconut milk smooths out the tart lime and pineapple into tasty perfection. The club soda lightens it up quite a bit, depending how much you use, and turns it from a thick and creamy treat to a refreshing summer sipper. There aren't many mocktails out there that make you feel even luckier than the folks who can drink, but this is one.

Also, can we just talk about the genius name for a minute? Possibly the best mocktail name ever.

Booze it up: I agree with Deb that rum would be the way to go. I'd reach for white rum myself, but as she points out, an aged rum similar to what you'd use in a Pina Colada would probably be lovely as well.

Consolation Prize

5 mint leaves
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 1/2 oz. coconut milk (well-shaken)
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. honey
Club soda, to taste

Place mint leaves at the bottom of a shaker and muddle lightly to release the flavor. Add the pineapple juice, coconut milk, lime juice, and honey. Fill the shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with lime wedges, mint leaves, and/or pineapple slices.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Mocktail: Green Monster

This is another drink loosely based on one I had at a restaurant, this time Tapestry in Fenway (thus the name). We went to dinner there with a couple of friends and were very excited to surprise them with news of our pregnancy. We were still chatting and catching up when the waiter came to take drink orders. I quietly asked for a drink from the menu made with green tea, black pepper, and sparkling lemonade. The waiter loudly replied, "Sure. You know that's a mocktail?"

Obviously, given my cocktail obsession, our friends weren't quite as surprised as they might have been when we told them the good news. :-)

I filed away the ingredients in my telltale beverage for future reference, and today I tried out my own version, with cucumber added as well. It proved to be quite as tasty as the one I had at Tapestry, and perfectly refreshing on a lovely spring day.

Booze it up: I'd definitely reach for gin to spike this one, although tequila blanco could be very interesting, and vodka would certainly work as well. And maybe a dash of Green Chartreuse!

Green Monster

2 oz. green tea
1 oz. lemon juice
1 oz. simple syrup*
1/2 oz. cucumber water**
1-2 grinds black pepper
2 oz. club soda

Combine all ingredients except club soda (including black pepper) in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice (and, if desired, garnished with a cucumber ribbon). Top with club soda and stir gently. Garnish with another grind of pepper.

*For simple syrup, combine equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan, heat gently, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool before using.

**For cucumber water, grate a cucumber over a strainer so that the liquid from the pulp is strained into a bowl or cup measure. Press on the pulp to expel all the water. Alternatively, you could muddle a few slices of cucumber in the shaker before adding your ingredients.

Bottle Buy: Cynar

I am way behind on my bottle buy posts. It used to be such a rare thing when I would buy a new ingredient for my bar, but lately I've been doing it pretty frequently - probably far more frequently than I should! There's just so much great stuff out there. And while some of the best of it is quite pricey - I'm looking at you, Green Chartreuse and Amaro Nonino! - there are a lot of great bottles that are very affordable. One of these is Cynar.

If you're on a tight budget and can only buy a couple of new things for your bar, I think Cynar should be on your list. Cynar (pronounced "chee-NAHR") is an amaro flavored with artichoke and 12 other herbs and plants. It's different from anything else you've got in your bar, it's extremely versatile, and it's very cheap - around $20 for a one liter bottle. That's my kind of booze.

Cynar was created in 1952 by a Venetian named Angelo Dalle Molle. He sounds like pretty interesting guy. He's described as a philanthropist and entrepreneur who believed that technology would lead to a utopian world. Later in life, he invested heavily in research on artificial intelligence, setting up four research institutes in Switzerland. He died in 2001, over 90 years old.

Cynar is named after the genus of the artichoke, Cynar scolymus. It gained rapid popularity after it was introduced through a marketing campaign featuring Italian actor Ernesto Calindri with the slogan "Contro il logorio della vita moderna" or "Against the stress of modern life." In one TV spot, he was pictured sipping Cynar in the middle of traffic in Milan:

If an artichoke-flavored liquor doesn't sound up your alley, I encourage you to try a Cynar cocktail before you write it off. It doesn't really taste like artichoke. If anything, it tastes a bit like Campari, though sweeter and more vegetal. Like most amari, it's quite nice on its own as a digestif. But I also find it particularly versatile in cocktails.

Cynar

Price: $20 for 1 liter
Alcohol Content: 16.5%
Popular Cocktails: Presbyterian Revenge, Cynar Sour, Cynar & Soda, Little Italy

It seems like everybody likes to drink Cynar differently: straight as a digestif, on the rocks with soda or tonic, up with aged rum or tequila, with orange juice, a dash in a martini or Manhattan, or swapped out for another amaro in a favorite cocktail recipe. It's a liquor that's really fun to play around with.

While there are a ton of recipes out there that call for Cynar, few seem to be as widely known as the Presbyterian Revenge. It's a riff on a classic Scotch cocktail called the Presbyterian (Scotch, ginger ale, and club soda, so named because Scotland is largely Presbyterian). It's a good intro to a very vegetal and bitter spirit, as it's extremely drinkable while still showcasing Cynar's unique flavor. Refreshing and bitter, it makes a great summer cocktail, especially for Scotch lovers. It makes me think of a boozier, more bitter, whiskey-fied Aperol Spritz.

When you're making yours, don't skip the grapefruit twist! It really contributes a lot of flavor to the cocktail. If you don't have fresh grapefruit, try adding a dash of grapefruit bitters instead.

History: The Presbyterian Revenge was created by John McCarthy of Highlands in New York City. Here's a video of him making the cocktail.

Presbyterian Revenge

1 1/2 oz. blended Scotch (Black Grouse recommended)
3/4 oz. Cynar
1/4 oz. lemon juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup
Splash of club soda

Combine Scotch, Cynar, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with club soda and garnish with a grapefruit twist (I used a "nest" of grapefruit peel). Stir gently before sipping. Full disclosure: the cocktail pictured is a recipe and a half.

Recipe from Serious Eats.

Paloma

Happy New Year, everybody! I hope you had a fun weekend ringing in 2017. I really like New Year's, because I love the idea that a new year can be a fresh start. Sure most of us will give up on our resolutions by late January, but that's no reason not to try.

The one downside about New Year's is how it falls right after Christmas and marks the end of the holiday season. For me that means leaving good times with friends and family in warm Louisiana and returning to work in cold, snowy Boston. It can be a bit of a bummer. So it's nice to have an evening to toast to hopes and dreams and a better you. It's very motivating (once the hangover subsides).

While I was back in Louisiana, I talked a lot about cocktails and the blog with my family. My parents are loyal readers (hi, Mom!) but they lamented the fact that they can't make a lot of the recipes I post here because they're missing ingredients. I believe their exact words were "We don't have any of those weird bitters or anything."

It is a little crazy to see how far the blog has come in this regard. When I started a little over a year and a half ago, St. Germain and Campari were the most exotic things in my bar, and all of my early recipes use very basic ingredients. But as my bar has grown, the cocktails I make have admittedly become a bit more elaborate, and perhaps less accessible. But a great cocktail definitely doesn't need to have exotic liqueurs or unusual bitters - the classics are often the best. And you can always add a dash of something special if you have it.

That was my philosophy with the Paloma. This classic cocktail has a very simple recipe: tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and club soda. You can definitely make a Paloma. And if I decided to spice mine up a little with some El Guapo Cucumber and Lavender Bitters, well... that's my prerogative. ;-) It's a nice touch but it's far from necessary.

I really like these bitters (and not just because they're made in New Orleans)! They taste light and fresh. They would work really well in a lot of classic citrusy cocktails: a Gimlet, a Gin & Tonic, even a Martini. El Guapo recommends using them in a Pimm's Cup, which I've definitely got to try. And they're great in this Paloma.

The Paloma might not seem like the most appropriate drink for early January, but I actually love reaching for something summery this time of year, just to remind myself that this cold, grey weather isn't permanent. And the Paloma fits the bill perfectly. It's incredibly refreshing - tart, a little bitter, and pleasantly fizzy. You'll wonder why you've never made one before.

Indeed, the Paloma doesn't show up on too many menus in the U.S. We like to drink our Margaritas and pretend we're sipping a little slice of Mexican culture, but in truth the Margarita is far more popular in the States than it is in Mexico. The Paloma, on the other hand, is apparently quite popular south of the border. It's traditionally made with tequila, lime, and grapefruit soda such as Jarritos or Squirt. Lacking that, grapefruit juice, simple syrup, and club soda will do the trick.

History: As with many of the real classics, the origins of the Paloma are shrouded in mystery. La Paloma means "the dove," and the cocktail may have been named for a popular folk song of the same name from the 1860's. It's about a man who leaves the woman he loves behind in Havana. The refrain goes:

Si a tu ventana llaga una paloma
Tratala con carino, que es mi persona
Cuentale tus amores bien de mi vida
Coronala de flores, que es cosa mia

Which translates to:

If a dove comes to your window
Treat it with loving care, for it is me.
Tell it your love affairs, my darling,
And crown it with flowers, for it is mine.

There's a tragic link between this song and another cocktail I've featured, the Maximillian Affair. Maximillian Ferdinand, an Austrian, was made Emperor of Mexico following France's invasion of the country in the 1860's. He ruled for only four years before the Mexican people won back their independence and deposed him. Maximillian asked to hear La Paloma before he was executed - possibly because it was a favorite of his beloved wife, Empress Carlota, whom he had sent back to Europe.

The cocktail itself came long after all of this, but no one knows precisely when or where it was invented. It's often speculated that it was created by legendary bartender Don Javier Delgado Corona at La Capilla in the town of Tequila. Don Javier is known for creating the Batanga, a mixture of tequila, lime, and Coca-Cola. Now 93 years old, he is still tending bar at La Capilla and stirring Batangas with the same trusty knife. But recent articles on him make no mention of the Paloma. Another oft-mentioned fact is that the recipe first appeared in print - and was brought to America - in a pamphlet by a bartender named Evan Harrison called "Popular Cocktails of the Rio Grande," but I can't really find much of a source for this, much less a copy of the pamphlet. If anyone has more information on the Paloma's foggy origins, I'd love to hear it!

Paloma

2 oz. tequila blanco
2 oz. pink grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/4-1/2 oz. simple syrup
1 dash Cucumber Lavender bitters (optional)
2 oz. club soda

Prepare a Collins glass or rocks glass by rubbing a wedge of lime or grapefruit on the outside and rolling the glass in salt. Fill the glass with ice. Combine tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and bitters in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into the prepared glass and top with club soda. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge and a sprig of lavender. Sip it while listening to this.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.

Mixology Monday: Cool as A...

I was so excited about making shrubs for this month's Mixology Monday hosted by Mr. Muddle that I couldn't stop with just one. My garden is producing gigantic cucumbers faster than I can find ways to use them, so there was no way one of them wasn't going to end up in a shrub.


If you missed yesterday's post, check out the You Say Tomato for a little info on shrubs. These mixtures of fruit, sugar, and vinegar are deliciously tangy and make great additions to cocktails and mocktails. They're perfect for this month's theme of vinegar.

I felt like my tomato shrub came out a little too sweet, so I knew to use a bit less sugar for this cucumber shrub. I opted for champagne vinegar, which I thought would work well with the lighter flavor of the cucumbers. White wine vinegar would be another good option, but I don't recommend using regular white vinegar - its flavor is pretty harsh, and apparently it's not the best choice for shrubs.

It's important to taste your shrub as you go along, especially when adding the vinegar, so you don't overdo it. I think I nailed proportions with this one. It's sweet and tangy and refreshing. Shrubs are definitely going to be a regular addition to my cocktails from now on!

Cucumber Shrub

1 lb. cucumber, diced
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup champagne vinegar

Stir cucumber and sugar together in a bowl. Cover with a dish towel and let it sit on the counter for 48 hours, stirring once a day. The cucumbers will release a lot of water. After two days, strain the mixture into a cup measure. Mine made about 1 2/3 cup of syrup. I poured off the extra 2/3 of a cup and set it aside to adjust the final mixture. To the remaining 1 cup of syrup, add 1/4 cup champagne vinegar one tablespoon at a time, tasting as you go. If the shrub becomes too vinegary, add some more syrup.

Recipe adapted from Food52.

As with the You Say Tomato, I wanted to keep this cocktail pretty simple and let the flavor of the shrub shine. I thought tequila and mint would work well with the tangy cucumber shrub. I was surprised by how much it blended with the other ingredients; whereas the tomato shrub in the You Say Tomato is front and center, in this recipe it more subtly enhances the cocktail with tart and savory notes. You can't go wrong with these flavors in the summertime. This is an utterly refreshing, completely delicious drink.

Cool as A...

1 1/2 oz. tequila blanco
1 oz. cucumber shrub
1/4 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. agave syrup
6 mint leaves
2 oz. club soda

Combine mint leaves and agave syrup in a shaker and muddle gently. Add tequila, cucumber shrub, and lime juice. Fill shaker with ice and shake the mixture until it's well chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with club soda and stir gently. Garnish with a cucumber ribbon and a sprig of mint.

Bar School: Carbonated Waters

In the summer time, light and fizzy cocktails really hit the spot. And the most common way to make a fizzy cocktail is with club soda or something similar. I didn't think there was much difference between the myriad of carbonated waters one has to choose from, but I figured I'd better find out. So: is there any difference?

The short answer: yes. But very little.

Little enough that my conclusion is that you can use all fizzy waters interchangeably in your cocktails. Are there purists out there who would disagree? Almost certainly. There are always purists out there. But of all the things to be picky about in your cocktails, I think this is pretty low on the list. Somewhere between toothpick diameter and ice clarity.

But since I really do want to figure out how to make clear ice one day, here you have it: a guide to fizzy water.

Sparkling or Carbonated Water: Both of these are blanket terms that can refer to any of the waters below. They don't mean anything specific about the production or content of that water, just that it's bubbly.

Seltzer: Seltzer is plain water that has been artificially carbonated by dissolving carbon dioxide in it. When carbon dioxide gas dissolves in water, it reacts to form carbonic acid. But it doesn't want to stay dissolved in the water, and will only do so under pressure. So as soon as you open your bottle of seltzer, the fizzing begins and the gas starts to escape. Seltzer confusingly gets its name from the German town of Selters, which had a naturally carbonated mineral spring. Selters bottled and sold their carbonated water, and the name became a generic trademark like kleenex or band-aid, but today it is generally used to describe water that is not naturally carbonated.

Club Soda: Club soda is very similar to seltzer, but it has additional potassium and/or sodium salts (sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium sulfate, etc.) added. As I mentioned above, artificially carbonating water using carbon dioxide forms acid. The salts added to club soda bring down the pH of the water, supposedly improving the flavor. But I dare you to do a blind test of seltzer and club soda and figure out which one is which. The salts do raise the sodium levels of the water - for example, 12 oz. of Canada Dry club soda contains 115 mg of sodium vs. 0 mg in their sparkling seltzer. So if you're watching your salt intake, pay attention to the amount or go with seltzer.

Soda Water: I assumed that soda water was another name for club soda, but it turns out it's an ambiguous term. It can refer either to club soda or seltzer. It's often specifically used to refer to the carbonated water that comes out of a soda gun in a bar, and that usually doesn't have the added salts.

Sparkling Mineral Water: This is the stuff you get offered at fancy restaurants before awkwardly telling the waiter that good ole tap water is just fine. Examples include San Pellegrino and Perrier. I was really surprised to learn that neither minerals nor carbonation are added to this water - it's naturally carbonated (except San Pellegrino, which adds some). It's also filled with sulphur and minerals from the natural springs it comes from, which can give it a bit of a taste. And finally, it's expensive. Not an obvious choice for a cocktail mixer, but it will certainly work.

One "water" that is most definitely not on this list is tonic water. Though it's called water and is carbonated, it's an entirely different thing. It contains quinine, which gives it a bitter flavor, and also heaps of sugar. It's essentially a soft drink, and is not interchangeable with the other waters mentioned above. (For more on tonic water, check out my post on the Gin & Tonic.)

So crack open a bottle of... whatever... and make yourself a Tom Collins, Mojito, or Campari & Soda. Some folks may be enthusiastically whipping out the pumpkin recipes, but I say it's summer until I need to put on a jacket.