Mocktail: Chic a Cherry Cola

It's been years since I drank soda regularly. Club soda, tonic water, and ginger beer are the main exceptions, but usually only in cocktails - it's just since I got pregnant that I've been drinking them on their own with any frequency, and I've tried to stick to the lighter options. Once I realized how many calories and how much sugar I was sucking down, sodas kind of lost their appeal. And for some reason, cola lost its appeal most of all. Maybe because the flavor of cola is something I only associate with a fizzy, sugary soda? I don't know. There's no reason a bourbon & ginger ale is any more acceptable than a rum & Coke, but I'm much more likely to turn up my nose at the latter.

(Incidentally, what do you call sodas? I grew up saying "soft drinks," and it took moving away from Louisiana to realize that not everyone knew what I was talking about. It still feels strange to write anything else.)

So basically I'm not sure where the idea for this recipe came from. The idea of cherry vanilla cola basically popped into my head and wouldn't go away. Apparently this is something you could buy about ten years ago, which might be where I came up with it. It sounded pretty tasty to me. And then I got the idea of adding some coffee to the mix, and I knew it was the next drink I'd be making.

I generally just brew my own coffee at home, but I've been eyeing the growing selection of cold brews at my local grocery store, and decided to try some for this recipe. I picked Chameleon Cold Brew's Mexican Coffee, which actually has some additional flavors of cinnamon, almond, and vanilla that went very nicely in this cocktail. It's absolutely delicious on its own, and I could see nabbing a bottle regularly once I'm not watching my caffeine intake so carefully. For my cola, I reached for Maine Root's Mexicane Cola (there's a definite Mexican theme here, but that's entirely unintentional), which is a tasty cola made with organic cane juice that allows me to remain something of a soda snob.

I love the way the flavors of this drink came together. It's like the ingredients are made for each other, right down to the rosemary garnish. It's like a grown-up version of Cherry Coke. Well, I suppose a real grown-up version of Cherry Coke would have some booze in it - feel free to add some. Bourbon or rum, I'd say, something with some nice vanilla notes.

Speaking of vanilla, what about a scoop of ice cream? I think this drink would make a pretty mean float. Excuse me while I run back to the grocery store.

The name for this one comes, of course, from the 90's masterpiece "I Want You" by Savage Garden. Man, I was obsessed with that album in junior high.

Chic a Cherry Cola

6 cherries, pitted
3 oz. cold brew coffee (I used Chameleon Mexican Coffee)
3 oz. cola (I used Maine Root Mexicane Cola)
1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
Rosemary sprig

Place cherries in the bottom of a rocks glass and muddle well to release their juices. Add coffee, cola, and vanilla, stirring briefly to mix. If you don't want cherry pieces in your drink (I kind of like them), strain this mixture into a fresh glass. Add ice and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

Hotel Belvedere

I'm a little late, but I should mention that the roundup for November's Mixology Monday has been posted over at Doc Elliot's Mixology! Check it out for eight brunch-appropriate recipes that will meet all your day-drinking needs. My contribution to the list was the Bombay Sour, which was inspired by my bottle of Black Cloud Saffron Mango bitters. It was the third drink I made with my Black Cloud sampler pack, and today I've got a fourth. Only bottle to go! I found all the flavors in the pack very inspiring, but when I tasted the Charred Cedar bitters, I was really blown away. They've got an incredible woody, smoky flavor that is amazing with bourbon. They make a mean Old Fashioned, but I was looking forward to tailoring a cocktail specifically for these awesome bitters.

I definitely wanted to pair the bitters with bourbon, and I liked the idea of them with Benedictine. This put me in mind of a drink from The PDT Cocktail Book I made almost exactly a year ago called the Hotel D'Alsace, made with Irish whiskey, Benedictine, and Cointreau. I decided to work with the recipe to include the bitters and make it a bit more to my taste, as I found the Hotel D'Alsace a little too sweet. I replaced the Irish whiskey with bourbon and the Cointreau with orange bitters. The result is rich, sweet, herbaceous, and a bit smoky. I made the first one in a Glencairn glass because it was what I had clean and nearby, and I liked the way the shape of the glass brought the smell of the cedar to your nose and forced you to get a good whiff of the rosemary. I decided to keep it in a tulip-shaped glass.

Since this version of the Hotel D'Alsace has charred cedar and burnt rosemary, I started thinking about ruined hotels when it came time to name it. I was reminded of an incredible experience my husband and I had in Croatia when we were traveling after college. We were exploring the Old City of Dubrovnik (now popularized for its role as King's Landing in Game of Thrones). Looking out from the harbor, you can see how the coast curves around slightly to the southeast, forming a small peninsula. On its tip was a big, beautiful building, and we wondered what it might be. Later, we walked a ways up into the hills surrounding the city to get an aerial view of the town and decided to walk there and see what it was.

As we got closer, we realized that while the building had once been beautiful, it was now completely in ruins. We had stumbled upon the ruin of the Hotel Belvedere, a luxurious hotel that was destroyed by the Yugoslav People’s Army on October 3, 1991, during the Siege of Dubrovnik.

The Hotel Belvedere - you can see why we weren't aware it was in ruins at first. Photo from Untapped Cities.

We wandered around for a while, exploring the hollow buildings and taking photographs. The gutted buildings are covered in graffiti and stained with rust. It was such a sad embodiment of the region as a whole, a real and chilling reminder of the violence that had occurred there not so long ago.

To this day I'm surprised the ruin was so empty, and that we hadn't heard about it before stumbling upon it. It's such a prominent landmark when you look out from Dubrovnik. If you Google it, you can find a few blogs where other travelers describe exploring the ruins, and there are spectacular photos here, here, and here. Part of it was used for the battle between Prince Oberon and the Mountain in Game of Thrones. I was happy to find an article that says the ruin was recently purchased by a Russian billionaire who is going to turn it into a luxury hotel once again. As interesting as the ruins were, they were a monument to a terrible conflict, and I'm glad the region is healing and moving on.

The Hotel Belvedere's sign in the ruins. Photo from Untapped Cities by Thomas Löbig.

Finding the Hotel Belvedere was one of the more memorable parts of our time in Croatia, and I think it makes a fitting name for this cocktail. Whereas Paris' Hotel D'Alsace is bright and sweet, the Hotel Belvedere is charred and bitter - but still elegant and strong.

Hotel Belvedere

2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. Benedictine
1/2 dropper Black Cloud Charred Cedar Bitters
1 dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a tulip-shaped glass and garnish with a sprig of rosemary. Briefly burn the tip of the rosemary so that it is smoky and fragrant.

Charred Lemon Gin Sparkler

There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to naming cocktails. There are the descriptive sort of names that give some information on the ingredients (i.e. Cucumber Basil Gimlet, Warm Vanilla, Olive-Rosemary Martini), and then there are those that are a bit more cute and clever (say, Sherlock & Watson, Witty Comeback, 23 Skidoo). I'm definitely a fan of the latter sort. They're much more fun.

That said, the Charred Lemon Gin Sparkler really benefits from its very descriptive name, because it lets you know right off the bat that this cocktail involves charred lemons. This was definitely a new one for me, and I immediately saw the appeal. Burning something can bring out a lot of unique flavor. Browned butter, flamed lemon peels, the caramelized top of a creme brûlée... I could see charred lemon juice being a very good thing.

And it was. This is an excellent cocktail. I love rosemary in cocktails because it's so amazingly aromatic. Even a rosemary garnish has a huge impact on the smell and taste of a cocktail. Muddling a little in yields a really delicious herbal flavor. This recipe uses it well. It's just sweet enough, letting the herbal and citrus notes shine through. Charring the lemons really does do something for their flavor; it's richer and more mellow, as the recipe promised. The result tastes extremely sophisticated.

The original recipe for this cocktail makes 12 servings; it would be a great option for big-batch cocktail for a party.

Charred Lemon Gin Sparkler

1 1/4 oz. gin
1/2 oz. charred lemon juice*
1/4 oz. simple syrup
1 sprig rosemary
1 oz. sparkling wine

Combine rosemary and simple syrup in the bottom of a shaker and muddle. Add gin and charred lemon juice. Fill the shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Double-strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with sparkling wine and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

*For charred lemon juice, cut a lemon in half and place it cut-side down on a hot skillet for about two minutes. Then juice it as usual.


Recipe adapted from Serious Eats.

Italian 57

Has there ever been a cocktail as pretty as the Italian 57? I had so much fun taking pictures of it. I couldn't seem to get a bad shot. And it tastes just as bright and beautiful and eclectic as it looks.

It was the photo of the Italian 57 on Imbibe's website that first made me put it on my list, quite some time ago. I'm not sure I would have gone for a cocktail with amaretto as its main ingredient if I hadn't seen the beautiful pink hue and fun garnish. It looks like it has since been removed; I had to hunt it down on Pinterest so that I could properly replicate the look of the blood orange and rosemary.

Everything about the Italian 57 is lovely. It's very aromatic, with the beautiful scent of amaretto and rosemary filling your nose with every sip. First you taste sweet almond and blood orange, and then you're hit by the sharp tartness of the lemon and marmalade. It's a remarkably crafted cocktail with a very unique flavor. The one thing I don't understand is the gin. Is 1/4 oz. really adding much to the finished product? I suppose I'll have to make one without it, or maybe with more of it, to figure out how it fits in.

I did increase the amount of sparkling rosé in the recipe, from 1/4 oz. to 3/4 oz. Without it, the flavor was so incredibly sweet and tart that it was almost overwhelming. I found that a bit more rosé helped to space it all out on your tongue.

History: The Italian 57 was the winner of the 2011 Disaronno Mixing Star Competition. It was developed by Chicago bartender Debbi Peek.

Italian 57

1 oz. amaretto (Disaronno recommended)
1/4 oz. gin
1 oz. lemon juice
1/2 oz. blood orange juice
1 barspoon orange marmalade
10 fresh rosemary needles
3/4 oz. sparkling rosé (Martini & Rossi recommended)

In the bottom of a shaker, muddle orange juice, blood orange juice, marmalade, and rosemary. Add gin and amaretto. Fill with ice and shake until chilled. Double-strain into a cocktail or coupe glass and top with the sparkling rosé. Garnish with a blood orange wheel and a sprig of rosemary.

Recipe adapted from Imbibe.

Hotel D'Alsace

Christmas is less than a week away! In previous years, I've been so busy during December that I've felt like it snuck right up on me. But this year I feel like I've really had time to anticipate and look forward to it. I love Christmas, and I love all the culinary traditions that come along with it. All my favorite blogs are posting recipes for eggnog, hot buttered rum, and bright red drinks involving cranberries and champagne. But not every holiday cocktail needs to be so obviously Christmasy. I'd argue that anything you'd enjoy sipping on while chatting with friends or sitting by a fire is a perfectly good holiday cocktail. Even if it's one that wouldn't be all that out of place at another time of year.

With that in mind, I give you the Hotel D'Alsace. The only thing about it that could perhaps be called Christmasy is the rosemary garnish. I've seen springs of rosemary popping up in cocktails left and right the last couple of weeks, and I have to admit that I'm a big fan. Not only does the piney, herbal taste evoke the holidays, but it basically looks like a piece of Christmas tree in your glass. I love the scent of it every time I take a sip. It was an ingredient in The Last Cocktail, and I'll almost certainly be putting a sprig in something else before the holiday season is over.

The Hotel D'Alsace is a simple formula: whiskey, Cointreau, and Benedictine with a bit of that rosemary muddled in. The result is actually a fairly sweet cocktail, more so than I expected. Admittedly, I didn't have a bottle of Irish whiskey on hand, so I subbed in bourbon, which surely amped that up a bit. I found that I preferred the flavor if I reduced the amount of Benedictine by half. Even such, its sweet, herbal taste of it is the dominant flavor in the cocktail. If you like it, it's delicious. The citrus is far more subtle than I expected, and I might add an orange twist garnish next time as well.

History: The Hotel D'Alsace was created by David Slape at PDT in New York. He named it for the hotel in Paris where Oscar Wilde died, now called L'Hotel. Wilde had been living there for over a year, deeply in debt but still going through five bottles of Couvoisier a week (he famously remarked "I am dying beyond my means"). He contracted cerebral meningitis and spent the last month of his life confined to the hotel. The infinitely quotable Wilde was apparently not too fond of his room's decor, remarking, "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has got to go."

Hotel D'Alsace

2 oz. Irish whiskey
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/2 oz. Benedictine (I preferred 1/4 oz.)
1 rosemary sprig, halved

Combine Cointreau, Benedictine, and the bottom of the rosemary sprig in a mixing glass and muddle. Add whiskey. Fill with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with one large ice cube. Garnish with the top of the rosemary sprig.

Recipe from The PDT Cocktail Book.

The Last Cocktail

I bookmarked this recipe a while ago, and I decided to finally make it as part of my search for good holiday cocktails. Rosemary, pear, and cloves form an unconventional wintery trio in what would otherwise sound like a very summery cocktail: gin, lemon, sparkling wine. The result is a fantastic drink with notes of herbs, citrus, fruit, and spice blending together with just the right amount of fizz. It's well worth the extra prep time that the rosemary-pear puree requires.

I tried both of my gins with this one, St. George Terroir and GrandTen's Wire Works. I liked Wire Works better; it brought out the taste of the pear more. The St. George yielded a much more herbal cocktail which, while still really good, was less balanced.

Whip up a tray of these for your next holiday party - you won't be sorry!

History: This recipe originally comes from Alchemy in a Glass by Greg Seider. It was the most popular cocktail on the menu at Prima in New York. This version was adapted by Imbibe.

The Last Cocktail

1 oz. gin
1 oz. lemon juice
2 oz. rosemary-pear puree*
1 1/2 oz. sparkling wine
Cloves and a rosemary sprig, to garnish

Combine gin, lemon juice, and puree in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Double-strain into two rocks glasses (can be a bit tedious depending on the thickness of your pear puree). Add sparkling wine and stir briefly. Fill with ice. Garnish with a rosemary sprig and sprinkle with ground cloves.

*For rosemary-pear puree: Combine 5 oz. agave nectar with four sprigs of rosemary in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and then remove from heat. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Combine with 20 oz. of pear puree (I used fresh pears pureed in a food processor).

Recipe adapted from Imbibe.

Olive-Rosemary Martini

I am a big fan of gin. Or I suppose I should say that I'm a big fan of gin cocktails. Because unlike whiskey, which I will happily drink straight, I've never been the sort to order a gin martini that has been merely waved at a bottle of vermouth. Because I'm usually mixing gins with other things, I don't always really get a sense for their individual flavor profiles. I bought Tanqueray because it was affordable and I liked it well enough. But I'm making a point to branch out. I've already tried GrandTen's Wire Works gin and I really like it. So I decided to buy a bottle from another brand I've been eyeing, St. George.

As you may already know, I'm a sucker for nice bottles, and St. George has most other gins beat with its beautiful Victorian-style label. I found myself at the liquor store looking at the two bottles of their gin I had to choose between: the Botanivore and the Terroir. I knew that the Terroir had a much more distinctive, unusual flavor, so I took a risk and bought it without ever having tried it. I'm glad I did.

St. George Terroir is a very unique, strongly flavored gin. Heavily inspired by the forests of northern California, its main botanicals are Douglas fir, coastal laurel, and sage. It has a deeply piney, earthy taste, like walking through a forest of evergreens. Is it a good go-to, everyday gin? Absolutely not. But it is uniquely delicious.

The strong flavors of St. George Terroir mean that I'll have to think carefully before using it in any cocktail recipes that don't specifically call for it. But I saw this one and thought it might be perfect. I had bookmarked it a while back, impressed by its simplicity. It's just an ordinary gin martini that uses a sprig of fresh rosemary instead of a toothpick for olives. But I know how strong the scent and flavor of fresh rosemary can be. I smell it on my hands for hours after I water my rosemary in the morning. A simple sprig could have a big impact on a martini. And the flavors of St. George Terroir seemed like they would meld perfectly with a rosemary-scented garnish.

Sure enough, I feel like this is a beautiful cocktail to showcase the flavors of this unique gin. If you like gin and have the opportunity to taste St. George Terroir, I highly recommend it. I got to try the Botanivore this past week, and it's also great - a very smooth and tasty gin for other cocktails. I'd like to do a more formal taste-test of a handful of gins sometime, so I can try to get a better sense for the different flavors in each one. But I'd leave St. George Terroir out of that. It's distinctive enough on its own.

Olive-Rosemary Martini

2 oz. gin (I used St. George Terroir)
2 tsp. dry vermouth
1 sprig rosemary
3 black olives

Combine gin and vermouth in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well chilled. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with the olives speared on the rosemary sprig.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.

Bottle Buy: Pimm's No. 1

Pimm's No. 1 is a very British liqueur. I think I first learned of it from a friend who spent time in London, and everyone I've met since who has been there fondly considers Pimm's a cultural mainstay of the UK. By the time I visited myself, it wasn't all that surprising to see it on menus, because these days it's not hard to find a Pimm's Cup in American bars.

Pimm's is a gin-based liqueur infused with botanicals and spices, and it has a long history. Its inventor was James Tee Pimm, a theologist-turned-shellfish-monger who opened an oyster bar in London in 1823. He quickly became a successful restauranteur. He invented Pimm's as a health tonic and/or a cocktail to accompany his oysters - I've heard both. It was a huge success, and Pimm began bottling and selling it all over the British Empire. He expanded from there, creating the No. 2 Cup (a Scotch base), the No. 3 Cup (a brandy base), and so on up all the way to No. 6 (vodka). Only No. 1 survives, though Pimm's has released versions of the others as special seasonal bottles.

Pimm's will admittedly not be the most versatile thing on your bar, but it's a fun ingredient to experiment with. It does pop up in craft cocktail recipes every now and then. It's the main ingredient in one of my favorite cocktails, the Battle of Trafalgar, which I'll share the recipe for soon.

Pimm's No. 1

Price: $25

Alcohol content: 25%

Popular cocktails: Pimm's Cup

The Pimm's Cup is the quintissential Pimm's cocktail, and there are many variations.  In England, it's made with sparkling lemonade, which is not very common in the United States, so here it's often made with ginger ale or lemon-lime soda. Often those are the only two ingredients, and it may be garnished with just a single cucumber wheel. But the true British version includes cucumber and a variety of fresh fruits. The Pimm's website recommends mint, orange, strawberries, and cucumber. I usually like to follow the most original and authentic recipe, but when I saw this one on Bon Appetit I couldn't pass it up. If nothing else, it was an excuse to use not one, not two, but three of the herbs from my patio garden, and ginger beer seems like a fine alternative for sparkling lemonade. If you're lacking one or two ingredients, it's ok - it is an awful lot of stuff - but the scent of the herbs as you take each sip is what elevates the flavor of this cocktail. It's an amazingly refreshing summer drink, and a particularly good cocktail for guests before a barbecue or dinner outdoors.

History: So far, I can't really separate the origin of the Pimm's Cup cocktail from the origin of Pimm's itself. Did James Tee Pimm serve his liqueur with sparkling lemonade and fruit? Or did that come about later on? I'll keep trying to figure it out. But the liqueur itself is inextricably associated with this one cocktail. Even the names are difficult to tell apart.

The Pimm's Cup is the iconic drink for summer sporting events in England, including Wimbledon and the Henley Royal Regatta. It has also, somewhat surprisingly, become associated with New Orleans, and particularly the Napoleon House bar. Sometime in the 1940's, its proprietor decided that the Pimm's Cup would be an excellent cocktail to serve in the southern heat. And he was right.

Pimm's Cup

3 1/2 inch slices cucumber
3 oz. Pimm's No. 1
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. simple syrup
3-4 oz. ginger beer
1 sprig mint
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary
1 lemon slice
1 cucumber spear
2 strawberries, halved

Muddle cucumbers in a shaker. Add Pimm's, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Fill shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a Pilsner glass filled with ice. Fill glass with ginger beer and stir gently. Push lemon, strawberries, cucumber, and herbs into glass. Cheers.

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit.