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.

Mixology Monday: Dram Positive

It's Mixology Monday again! This month's challenge is hosted by Fred Yarm of Cocktail Virgin Slut and the theme is mashups. The idea is to take two cocktails and combine them into one. It was a bit challenging! I played around with a lot of different ideas. Since I just featured Drambuie on the blog last week, the Rusty Nail was still fresh in my mind. I thought it would be a good candidate for a mashup cocktail because its recipe is so simple - just Scotch and Drambuie.

I decided to combine the Rusty Nail with the Penicillin, another Scotch cocktail. I haven't featured the Penicillin on the blog yet, but I really should. It's a spectacular cocktail, one that could definitely be considered a "new classic." It was created by Sam Ross, formerly of Milk & Honey and now at Attaboy in the Lower East Side. It's a mixture of blended Scotch, lemon juice, honey-ginger syrup, and a float of peaty single malt. Since Drambuie has a Scotch base and strong honey flavors, I thought it would be perfect. I stuck to a ginger simple syrup and let the Drambuie bring the honey notes itself.

You'll have to forgive this cocktail's name, but I just couldn't resist. Sir Alexander Fleming (who was Scottish, by the way) discovered penicillin when a colony of Penicillium mold contaminated a plate of Staphylococcus in his lab, inhibiting its growth. Staph is a gram-positive bacteria. This cocktail is a Penicillin with Drambuie, so... Dram Positive!

I'll just see myself out.

Dram Positive

1 1/2 oz. blended Scotch (I used Famous Grouse)
1/2 oz. Drambuie
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. ginger syrup*
1/4 oz. Lagavulin or other peaty Scotch

Combine blended Scotch, Drambuie, lemon juice, and ginger syrup in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into an old fashioned glass over one large ice cube. Float the Lagavulin on top by gently pouring it over the back of a spoon. Garnish with candied ginger.

*For ginger syrup, peel and slice a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger. Bring equal parts sugar and water to a simmer in a saucepan and add the ginger. Let simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely and strain.

Witty Comeback

Getting back from vacation is rough, isn't it? We spent last week in California exploring Sonoma, Yosemite, and Highway 1. It's an amazing road trip. Especially if you stock up on great bottles of wine to drink while you're gazing at those beautiful views. Now that we're home, I guess the view from our balcony will have to do. Maybe with a cocktail.

Since I bought my bottle of Amaro Averna, I've been looking for recipes to use it in. I love ginger, so the Witty Comeback immediately caught my eye. A cocktail with just rye, lemon juice, and ginger simple syrup would probably still be really delicious, but the Averna makes this one particularly special. It adds a lovely spice and bitterness, perfectly rounding out the recipe. The flavor is sweet and tart, with a subtle bite.

So far it seems like the Averna works well with whiskey, but I'm looking forward to experimenting with some other spirits. If you've got any Averna recipes, let me know!

History: The Witty Comeback was created by New York Times editor Dan Saltzstein. He wrote a great piece about its conception and perfecting it with Jim Meehan at PDT.

Witty Comeback

2 oz. rye
1/2 oz. Amaro Averna
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. ginger syrup*

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until well chilled. Strain into a coupe glass.

*For ginger syrup, combine 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 water, and 1/4 cup chopped, peeled ginger in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer and stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let steep for 20 minutes. Strain and let cool completely before using.

Recipe from Bon Appetit.

Coal Miner's Daughter

Full disclosure: I chose this recipe for the lavender garnish. I'm not ashamed to admit it. It's just so pretty. Lately I've really been appreciating how much a fragrant herb garnish can do for a cocktail, and I was eager to find out what lavender would do for this one. And honestly? I think it's pretty transformative. The base of this cocktail - bourbon, honey, and lemon - is basically a Gold Rush. The ginger syrup adds a bit of spice and extra citrus, but it's that whiff of sweet, floral lavender that makes the Coal Miner's Daughter something special.

Incidentally, lavender is something I am not growing on my balcony, so I snatched some from a neighbor's front yard. I know, I know. But they have tons of it. Maybe I should go back over there and offer them a cocktail?

I made this recipe last week, while Food52 was having an Instagram contest for cold cocktails, so I snapped a photo and tagged it. It didn't get much attention at the time, but yesterday they included it in a roundup of 10 photos from the contest! Since I'm still pretty new to this whole cocktail photography thing, I was quite flattered.

History: The Coal Miner's Daughter was invented by Derrick Bass for Willie Jane in Los Angeles. This article talks about Bass' cocktail menu, and made me want to fly to Los Angeles just for a drink.

Coal Miner's Daughter

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. honey
1 tsp. ginger simple syrup*
1 sprig lavender

Combine all ingredients except lavender in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into an old fashioned glass with one large ice cube. Garnish with a sprig of lavender. Congratulations, you've struck gold.

*For ginger simple syrup, peel and slice a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger and simmer it in equal parts water and sugar for 10-15 minutes. Let cool and strain. It looks like the original recipe may have used macerated ginger, which is a little more complicated. This site has a recipe if you want to try it out.

Recipe from Liquor.com.