Prince of Wales

Guess what? It's been exactly a year since I started this blog. The time really flew by. It's been a lot of fun making all these cocktails and sharing them with all of you. I've learned so much and discovered lots of new favorites. I hope you have, too!

What better to celebrate a year of blogging than a champagne cocktail? And not just any champagne cocktail - one fit for a prince. Or rather, invented by one. The Prince of Wales isn't as well-known as many of its sparkling counterparts, but it's a more than worthy addition to your celebratory repertoire. It's got an elegant, classic flavor. The rye tastes rich with the champagne, the hint of pineapple blending it all together perfectly and elevating the final product beyond the realm of the ordinary. As Paul Clarke of The Cocktail Chronicles writes, "It's a decadent recipe to read, and the drink is obviously the work of someone who takes their refreshment very seriously, and has plenty of time and resources to do so. A prince, in other words."

History: The Prince of Wales cocktail is so named because it was a favorite of King Edward VII when he was still just Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales. And, as his mother was Queen Victoria, until recently England's longest-reigning monarch, he was the Prince of Wales for quite a while - 60 years, longer than anyone else. (Interestingly, the current Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, has held the title of "heir apparent" longer than Edward did, for reasons I'm not going to get into here.) He reigned as King from 1901-1910. His son was George V, and his grandsons were Kings Edward VIII and George VI, whose story was recently depicted in The King's Speech (in case, like me, you get your British monarchs confused unless you have Hollywood movies to orient you).

King Edward VII

Edward had quite the reputation as a playboy and bon vivant. He had several mistresses and was known to frequent a brothel in Paris that had a custom bathtub that could be filled with champagne. We know from the 1901 book The Private Life of King Edward VII, an anonymously-written biography of the king, that he enjoyed drinking champagne as well as possibly bathing in it. The book contains a detailed section on the monarch's drinking habits, including tidbits like "the Prince is not in any sense a beer drinker" and the fact that he kept a small flask of brandy on the side table in his entrance hall at Marlborough House because once a friend of his fell ill there and "no brandy was at hand to restore the sufferer, and the illness proved fatal." Of the Prince of Wales cocktail, the biographer says:

He is also credited with having composed an excellent "cocktail." It consists of a little rye whisky, crushed ice, a small square of pineapple, a dash of Angostura bitters, a piece of lemon peel, a few drops of Maraschino, a little champagne, and powdered sugar to taste. This "short drink" is often asked for at the clubs he frequents.

The recipe was given modern proportions by David Wondrich in his book Imbibe!. Though the 1901 recipe post-dates Jerry Thomas' Bon Vivant's Companion, the Prince was probably drinking his concoction around the same time Thomas was tending bar, maybe even in Thomas' bar at one point - a popular story claims that Thomas served the Prince his first Mint Julep in New York during his 1860 visit.

Prince of Wales

1 1/2 oz. rye
1/4 tsp. maraschino liqueur
1 tsp. sugar or simple syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 chunk fresh pineapple
1 oz. sparkling wine

If using sugar, combine with bitters at the bottom of a shaker and add a dash of water. Stir to dissolve. Otherwise, just combine your simple syrup and bitters. Add rye, maraschino, and the chunk of pineapple. Fill the shaker with ice and shake nice and hard ("brutally," Wondrich says) to crush the pineapple. Strain into a goblet or coupe glass. Add sparkling wine and garnish with a lemon twist.

Recipe from Imbibe! by David Wondrich via The Cocktail Chronicles.

Grilled Pineapple Margarita

The Margarita is a cocktail that positively begs for experimentation. There are so many different things you can do with it. One of the easiest variations is just to add different fruits. I already made Peach Margaritas, which were really good.

But these Grilled Pineapple Margaritas are better.

This recipe, from Erin of Platings and Pairings, is amazing. It requires a fair bit of preparation, but it's completely worth it. This is a whole other level of margarita.

First of all, you're not just throwing in some pineapple - it's grilled pineapple. If you've never grilled pineapple, you should know that it's delicious. It gets sweet and caramelized and smoky. You're going to want to grill it well ahead of time so it has time to cool. Try not to eat it all while you wait.

On top of that, this margarita uses jalapeno-infused tequila. It's the first time I've made it, but I can already see myself experimenting with it in lots of cocktails. This also needs to be made ahead of time. Since I didn't want to make a lot, I poured about 4 ounces of tequila blanco into a mason jar and added half a jalapeno, sliced. Though Erin recommended letting the tequila infuse for 12 hours, I tasted it after only one hour and thought it was spicy enough for me. The longer you let it sit (and the more jalapeno you use), the spicier it will be. If you overdo it, just add some more tequila to dilute it.

Erin's recipe calls for 1 1/2 ounces of the jalapeno tequila, but I decided to cut this back to one ounce and add 1/2 ounce mezcal to play up the smokiness of the pineapple. The final special touch is a teaspoon of vanilla, which really brings all the flavors together. It is so good!

Grilled Pineapple Margarita

1 oz. jalapeno-infused tequila*
1/2 oz. mezcal
1/2 oz. triple sec
2 slices grilled pineapple** (I used a little less)
1 1/2 oz. lime juice
1 oz. agave nectar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

*For jalapeno-infused tequila: Slice jalapeno and combine with tequila blanco. Use roughly one jalapeno pepper per cup of tequila. Let the tequila infuse until it's spicy enough for your taste, 1-12 hours. Strain to remove jalapeno slices.

**For grilled pineapple: Slice fresh pineapple into 1-inch thick rings. Remove the rind, and the core if desired (I removed the core after they'd cooked). Preheat a grill to medium-high. Grill pineapple slices for 4-5 minutes each side, until pineapple is softened and has browned grill marks. Let cool and store in the refrigerator until you're ready to make your cocktail.

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve to remove pineapple pieces. Erin suggests adding as much as 3/4 cup water in the blender to reduce the thickness of the liquid; I omitted it water, but did find it difficult to strain the mixture. Pour the strained cocktail into a shaker and shake with ice until well chilled. Coat the rim of a rocks glass with salt and fill the glass with crushed ice. Strain the cocktail into the prepared glass. Garnish with a piece of grilled pineapple.

Recipe adapted from Platings & Pairings.

Mezcal Smash

There's an entire shelf in my apartment dedicated to old issues of Food & Wine and Bon Appetit that I've never looked at. I mean, I'm not just going to throw them away. They're filled with recipes! It turns out they're just about all on the internet, and you can even browse by individual issues, so the magazines are kind of redundant. But, much to the consternation of the poor movers who transferred at least two boxes of magazines to our new apartment, I insist upon looking through them before I throw them into the recycling bin. I did, at least, cancel my subscriptions once I accumulated a significant pile.

After my defense I finally found time to flip through a few issues. I went for all the summer ones to get some seasonally-appropriate recipes. The August 2012 issue of Bon Appetit had a whole double-page of smash recipes, including the Strawberry Balsamic Smash and this one, the Mezcal Smash. Since I love mezcal, I knew I had to try this one as well.

I was intrigued by the lack of any citrus juice in the recipe, and ultimately I felt like it was a major flaw. It was just too sweet without it. But just a bit of lime juice rounded it out perfectly to my taste. The cinnamon simple syrup is a really nice compliment to the mezcal, and the pineapple flavor ends up pretty subtle. The smoky taste of the mezcal is front and center, but it's definitely softened. This would be a good gateway cocktail for mezcal skeptics. If you're sure you don't like mezcal, you could substitute in tequila instead, but I'd go for an anejo or reposado to make up for the lost flavor.

History: This Mezcal Smash was invented by Damon Boelte of Prime Meats in Brooklyn, NY.

Mezcal Smash

2 oz. mezcal
3/4 oz. cinnamon simple syrup*
1/4 oz. lime juice
2 1-inch cubes fresh pineapple

Place pineapple, cinnamon simple syrup, and lime juice at the bottom of a shaker or mixing glass and muddle to release the juices. Add mezcal. Double-strain into a rocks glass. Fill halfway with crushed ice and stir. Top with more crushed ice and garnish with a cinnamon stick and a pineapple leaf.

*For cinnamon simple syrup: combine 1 cup sugar in 1 cup water in a saucepan and simmer until sugar is dissolved, stirring. Add 3 cinnamon sticks and let steep, uncovered, until cinnamon flavor has infused the syrup. (I only used 1/4 cup each of sugar and water and steeped one cinnamon stick in it for about 3 hours.)

Recipe from Bon Appetit.