Keeping a retired educator busy
Lifelong learner, passionate about public education, and finding new ways to stay green and growing.
Saturday is Coctail Hour for us, the one day we find something new and different to try.
I scoured the web for the perfect concoction to make with my bottle of Mad River Revolution Rye, and found just the thing on Mad River’s website: a Vermont Carre.
Mad River’s recipe can be found here.
We always look forward to Friday night’s YouTube posting from Anders Erickson. If you haven’t seen the videos he posts, highly recommend it. A little cocktail history and some great tips and ideas (or as Anders says: “Sips, Tips, and Recipes) for making homebar concoctions excellent can be found on the site.
This week, however, after a long (and dry) period forced upon us by our recent engagement with the Omicron variant, we decided to celebrate on Tuesday, which just happened to be Mardi Gras. The Creole cocktail from Anders was just the ticket to celebrate, not only getting out of COVID jail, but laissez le bon temps rouler.
You can find the version of the Creole Cocktail that Anders shared here. The ingredients are found below (my tweaks necessitated by what’s currently in our bar in parenthesis)
1.5 oz Old Overholt Rye Whiskey (I used Rittenhouse)
1 oz. Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
1/4 oz. Bénédictine DOM
1/4 oz Ramazzotti Amaro (I used Amaro Averna b/c that’s what we have)
2 dashes Fee Bros Orange Bitters
Expressed lemon oil
Lemon peel for garnish
Our weekly cocktail night - usually a Saturday - caps off the week with a little creativity in the adult beverage department. We like to try new ideas for cocktails and for once, this one did not require that I make a run to the packie for any ingredients - we had them right in our bar.
This idea, along with a drink called a Ford came courtesy of Anders Erickson. Check out his youtube channel for some great cocktail ideas.
Maybe it was the sweet (Red) vermouth, but this cocktail reminded me of a Manhattan, but made with Gin. Definitely keeping this in the rotation.
Ingredients
2 oz. (60 ml) Gin (used a local - Dry Line)
1/2 oz. (15 ml) dry Vermouth (used Dolin de Chambéry Dry
1/2 oz. (15 ml) sweet Vermouth (used Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry Rouge)
Bar spoon (5 ml) Bénédictine DOM
Expressed lemon oil
Place first 4 ingredients in a mixing glass, add ice, and stir to chill. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon.