Monky Gland

No, that's not a typo in the title, I do mean Monky Gland, not Monkey Gland, although the similarity is quite deliberate, as my Monky Gland creation is based on the old classic.  You see, this week's theme for TDN was "Monks!," as in:

Anything created or originally developed by monks is fair game: Benedictine, Champagne, Chartruese, Trappist Ales, or any other odds and ends your research turns up.

Now I've riffed off the Monkey Gland previously when I concocted the Surrender Monkey a while back for a MxMo,but that was more of a lark to amuse myself and the drink was only ok.  The Monky Gland, however, I really really like, here it is:

Monky Gland

• 1½ oz Bulldog London Dry Gin 
• ½ oz Green Chartreuse
• 1 oz Orange Juice
• tsp grenadine

Shake and strain into cocktail glass; squeeze orange twist spraying oils over surface of drink, garnish with orange spiral.

For reference, here's the classic recipe:

Monkey Gland

• 1½ oz Gin
• 1 oz Orange Juice
• splash absinthe
• ¼ oz grenadine

Splash absinthe into coupe glass, shake and strain rest into glass; garnish with orange spiral.

Dale DeGroff notes in his book The Essential Cocktail that there is an alternative Americanized version that subs Bénédictine for the Absinthe, so there's actually another tidbit that makes one version of the Monkey Gland a little monky itself.

Montgomery Burns

This was my other drink for the Allspice Dram TDN last week.  Obviously based on the classic Bobby Burns cocktail, here I cut back on the vermouth and benedictine a bit to make room for the Dram.  I mixed this up completely on a whim, and was VERY pleased with the results.  It was surprising how well the spice played with the smoke from the scotch and the herbal flavors from the vermouth and benedictine, and the other ingredients had plenty of heft to not be dominated by a full half ounce of the St. Elizabeth's, which is more strongly flavored than most homemade Drams (I'm told).  This might even be an actual improvement on the classic it was based on.  The name derives from the name of the base recipe and the well known character from The Simpsons, Mr. Burns would be old enough the be Bobby's brother, or maybe even father, right?

Montgomery Burns

• 2 oz blended scotch (Johnnie Black)
• ½ oz St. Elizabeth's allspice dram
• ½ oz carpano antica formula vermouth
• ¼ oz benedictine

stir and strain; garnish with shortbread or butter cookie

Southern Belle

Last week's TDN theme was Allspice Dram.  Allspice Dram, or Pimento Dram, is a Jamaican rum based liquor flavored with, you guessed it, allspice.  (Pimento is what the Caribbean islanders called the allspice berry until English explorers gave it the name we now use.)  St. Elizabeth's brand was the first to be imported into the US after a long absence, and is the easiest to find, if not still the only one available.  It can be a handful as it is quite flavorful stuff, but if poured with a gentle hand or matched with suitable ingredients it can add a nice spicy complexity to a cocktail.  This was one I came up with Thursday:

Southern Belle

• 2 oz bourbon
• ½ oz St. Elizabeth's allspice dram
• ¾ oz lemon
• ½ oz honey syrup
• 2 dashes grapefruit bitters
• tiny pinch salt

shake and strain

Bourbon is from the South, girls are sugar and spice and everything nice, ergo Southern Belle.  I didn't gussy it up and take a proper picture, as with no fancy garnish there was not much to see, but here's a shot of a partially finished one that Pleepleus got his hands on:

He enjoyed it.

Skulduggery

Last Thursday's TDN was sponsored by Crystal Head Vodka, a new offering from none other than the esteemed Dan Aykroyd.  In addition to having a really awesome bottle, it's quite a fine vodka.  I served up the first drink of the night, here it is:

Skulduggery

• ¾ oz Crystal Head Vodka
  
• ½ oz Pineau des Charentes
• ½ oz Grand Marnier
• ½ oz lemon
• 1/3 oz black pepper simple syrup (1:1)
• a couple extra grinds fresh pepper

shake, strain, garnish with head on a
pike (grape impaled on a Sword Martini Pick)

If you don't have black pepper syrup, just use more fresh pepper, it works nearly as well.  I like using both because I find the freshly ground stuff has an extra zing as opposed to the more mellowed flavor in the syrup.  Besides, they recently figured out that a chemical in black pepper helps the absorption of nutrients, so pour it on.
I think it's a pretty light drink with some florals and spice from the Pineau and pepper, with all the flavors tied nicely together by the Crystal Head.   Perhaps something to start with before a meal without worrying about bold flavors messing with your palate before you dine.
Dan Aykroyd himself actually joined us in the chatroom for a while to answer questions and observe some of the group's handiwork.  Of course, despite all the Ghostbusters references, I didn't put him together with his alias until I asked a stupid question, but in my defense, I did preface it with "Stupid question, but..."  By the way, he said they were writing Ghostbusters 3 now, awesome.

Odinsblood

This is the second libation I came up with for last Week's Thursday Drink Night with the theme: "Not Absinthe: Aquavit, Arak, Anisette, Becherovka, Pernod, Ricard, Sambuca - any anise spirit that isn't absinthe!"

Odinsblood

• 1¾ oz aged Aquavit (OP Anderson)
• 1 oz Cherry Heering
• ¾ oz Campari
• 1 dash Xocolatl Mole Bitters

stir, strain, serve up

I started as a base idea with the familiar Negroni, which is equal parts Gin, Sweet Vermouth, and Campari.  I thought swapping the gin for the Aquavit was natural enough, approximately like swapping caraway for juniper flavor.  The cherry heering has I think a similar richness and sweetness to the vermouth, so I thought it might be a nice thing to mix it up as well.  Using equal parts wasn't quite right. so I had to play with the ratios for balance.  The bitters were needed because the heering lacks the herbal complexity of the vermouth.  I first tried orange bitters, but they were not quite right; the mole however did the trick, and completes what I think is an interesting drink.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Another month, another Mixology Monday. This MxMo's theme is still Vermouth, hosted by Vidiot at Cocktalians. This is my second drink for this month's MxMo, using Italian vermouth this time as opposed to my first, the Green Lantern, which used Dolin Blanc. Both of these are doing double duty in another way, since I mixed them up for recent TDNs.

I came up with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for the rather wide open category of Thursday Drink Night: Clear Spirits several weeks ago. I was lucky to have procrastinated posting it, because now I get to use it for MxMo as well.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

• 1 oz gin (Bulldog London Dry Gin)
• 1 oz mezcal (Del Maguey Chichicapa)
• 1/3 oz Velvet Falernum
• 1/3 oz Fernet Branca
• 1/3 oz Carpano Antica Formula vermouth
• 2 dashes Xocolatl Mole bitters

Stir and and strain into cocktail glass.

When I initially presented this drink it was met with much skepticism due to the admittedly scary looking combination of several very boldly flavored ingredients, which do not at all obviously look like they would go well together. Thus the name. But once a couple guys got over their apprehension and tried it most quite enjoyed it, even extolling others to try it because despite its daunting recipe it is "actually good - honest. You should try it. Really." Although it did make one guy sneeze. Never found out if that was bad or a positive endorsement. Anyway, I enjoy it, and I liken it to a smoky manhattan.

Anyway, on to the discussion of the vermouth. Carpano Antica is still a sweet, or Italian vermouth, but it's made from a base of red wine as opposed to the more typical white. In addition, it is spicier and more robustly flavored than your typical Italian vermouth. And just plain better, it's great stuff. I mentioned at the most recent TDN that it was my default and the response was that it should be everyone's. I think the Carpano is key to making this drink work as the dude who ties all the other guy's big flavors together and keeps them all in line.

Another note about vermouth in general: unlike liquors, it goes bad, so take steps to preserve it. At the very least, reseal it and keep it in the fridge, but I go one step further and use Private Preserve to replace the oxygen laden air in the bottle with inert gasses, to great success. Highly recommended, and for leftover wine as well. (Also at amazon.)

And note, I am well aware that the movie is pretty bad but I quite enjoyed watching it, it's in my wheelhouse, like almost all vampire stories, except of course Twilight which I have not seen but I'm quite sure is utter garbage.

Speedy Gonzales Trap

For TDN a few weeks ago, the theme was tequila, here's my first one:

Speedy Gonzales Trap

• 1 oz blanco tequila
• ½ oz mezcal (Del Maguey Chichicapa)
• ½ oz Solerno blood orange liquor
• ½ oz Aperol
• ¾ oz lime juice
• 1 tsp luxardo maraschino
• 1 tsp pomegranate molasses
• 2 dashes grapefruit bitters

Shake and strain, garnish with lime wheel and a few pomegranate seeds. I thought the seeds would float, but they didn't, but it was kinda fun to crunch them at the end. Substitute cointreau for solerno if necessary, not sure how widely available it is currently.