Yep, that picture up above is exactly what it looks like… a big bag of dried blue violet, what else?  Sometimes I’ll go months and months without making any bitters and then bam, a whole month of nothing but bitters, infusions, and tinctures.  This is one those months!  I have three that I’d like to share with you today.
       

     1.  Sweet Blue Violet Tincture:
       a. 2 cups Tanqueray 10, 94.6 proof, 1 cup dried blue violet.
       b. Plan on adding a lot of sugar to this one then adding it to a bitter mixture to taste.
       c. Excited to try and make sweet violet bitters.
     2. Cinnamon Tincture:
       a. This is boring but very very useful, used 2 cups grain everclear and 6 cinnamon sticks.
       b. Plan on adding this to two different bitter mixtures.
     3. Three Apple Tincture:
       a. I used 2 green, 2 red, and 2 jazz apple skins for this tincture and 2 cups grain everclear.
       b. Plan on adding a bitter mixture to this as well.
   

   So it looks like all of these tinctures will become bitters in the future I’m sure.  I have a couple bitter recipes including my “Seattle Bitters Formula” but I need to make some new batches and take pictures before I post them.
   A note what a tincture [teen-ka-sure] is for those wondering, a tincture is usually alcohol based, but can be chemical or vinegar based.  Herbs or just about anything are added to the base, which extracts the qualities, flavor, and/or healing properties of that herb, spice, or plant.  In the cocktail world we view tinctures as a high potency liquid of a specific flavor profile.  Tinctures are different from bitters even though they are related, in the sense that bitters are multiple tinctures combined, or rather they are not one specific flavor profile.

Article and Tinctures By: Mark Sexauer

   I’ve never been a big fan of commercial infusions; I’m assuming I’m not along with that statement in the cocktail world?  I set out to make a citrus vodka that meet my standards and learn from the million times my infusions sucked or just weren’t really all that great.  I have a couple grips with infusing liquors, mostly in the arena that it doesn’t make economic sense for a lot of bars and it can take up to two months for a really good infusion!  If you have the ability (or a really cool bar manager,) do it by the case and you’ll thank yourself later when it’s done.  I make my over the top hot Hari Kari vodka by the case, but with the hot peppers it only takes about three days to infuse the flavor.
   Digging through my pile of cocktail material I came across a book ingeniously named “Infused” by Susan Elia MacNeal.  She sums up infusing by saying, “All infused liqueurs are created using the same basic principle.  A flavor is steeped in an alcohol base for a time.  The solids are filtered out, and sweetening is added, if desired.  The liqueur is aged, which allows the flavors to mellow, then it is bottled and ready to serve.”  Her recipe for orange vodka was what I expected, zest and vodka (or any liquor,) then some sugar to taste.
   A citrus vodka, or citrus anything really, has got to have lemon and lime (arguably grapefruit as well!)  I also wanted to add orange to mine so my plan was to make a batch of all three separately and then combine them together by taste to make a citrus vodka I am proud of.
   I started with the orange.  My grocery store down the street had two orange types, navel and tangelo (mandarin/grapefruit hybrid).  I bought four of each and went to work.  You don’t know who or what has touched these things so you have to at least rinse them off.  Then with a vegetable peeler I started peeling all the orange I could while leaving the pith (white part.)  Collecting all the zest and mixing them together I then separated them into mason jars and used two 750ml bottles of Smirnoff Red Label.  I will update when I start the lemon and lime then finish off with the final product some time from now.

Article By: Mark Sexauer

   Here is an interesting article on how world food prices going up are affecting the price of tequila.  Farmers in Mexico are growing more corn and beans, which are much more of a cash crop apparently, and turning away from agave.  The problem is that the agave cactus takes six years to mature.  In the early 2000’s there was an agave shortage, farmers planted like crazy and now there is too much, also some distilleries took to planting their own agave as well.  If you wonder why the hell you pay almost $40 for decent bottle of tequila, here’s why.

And another…

   A quick follow up on my Barrel Aged Cranberry Gin!  I removed my first 750ml of Tanqueray gin from the barrel and put it into a 3 liter sealed jar where I will add all my batches to ensure the same flavor for every bottle.  I still have yet to decide what to do with this yet but it turned out even better than I thought, and with a great deep red/ruby color.  It has an oakyness to it that is almost as upfront as the junipers.  I think I will add fresh cranberries to the jar to give it a little more cranberry flavor all around as it gets somwhat lost in the aftertaste.  The backend is an oaky taste first then the familiar juniper.  On the rocks it was good, different, when I can get a hold of FRESH cranberries I’ll start my cranberry bitters going.  I’m excited about the final result!  I put in another bottle of Tanqueray and another 1/4 cup of whole cranberries pureed.  The first bottle sat for about two months rotating every two weeks or so, I will do the same with this batch, maybe a little shorter so I can have at least three bottles by November!

By: Mark Sexauer

   I live in Seattle so a coffee cocktail for this months MixMo came to mind first but it’s too obvious and I’m not a big fan to begin with.  What else is really northwesty….  I know, apples, of which 60% sold in the United States are grown in Washington!  I wanted to do something different though, mostly because I have had very little trust for “apple” cocktails and want to rid the world of apple pucker.
   The problem with apples is that they are mostly water, about 80% depending on the variety and the rest is air (that’s why they float.)  Because of the high water content I find it tough to transfer the mild/slight flavor of the apple over to a cocktail.  Then I remembered the baked apples my mom would make every once in a while.  They made the house smell amazing and tasted even better, especially with vanilla ice cream.  I’ll save a spiced baked apple cocktail for the fall but here’s a summer version using all local flavors.

       Baked Northwest Apple Purée
       4 good baking apples
       12 red raspberries (Washington is also a major supplier of raspberries)
       Cane Sugar
       1 cup boiling water
       Preheat oven to 375 degrees
       Cut apple tops off and scoop out the core, (a melon baller works great) fill each apple with about 3 raspberries and a heaping tablespoon of sugar on top.  Place in a baking pan with high sides adding the boiling water.
       Bake for 30 minutes covered loosely with aluminum foil and 5 minutes uncovered, the apples are ready when the skin is soft
       Take out of the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes
       Put liquid and apples into a blender and purée for a couple minutes
       Strain mixture back into blender or container adding about 1/2 cup water and refrigerate
       You should have about 21/2 cups

       The Washington Orchard Cocktail
       11/2 oz dry fish gin (distilled in Eastern Washington)
       3 oz baked northwest apple purée (apples and raspberries from Washington)
       1 oz simple syrup
       2 dashes lemon bitters (this would be great with homemade apple bitters?)
       Combine all into boston shaker and shake long and hard, strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with an Aplet made right here in Washington State.

   The raspberries add a slight tart flavor to the apples and the sugar blends both together to make a great tasting sauce.  The drink is on the sweet end for sure but I bet a little lemon juice would balance the drink, I like it sweeter though.  I fine strained this into the glass but it took a minute for it all to filter.  It’s pretty much apple sauce so if you where to do this in volume I would fine strain in advance to a 750ml bottle…Prost!

Article and Drink by: Mark Sexauer

   Well summer is a bad time to be a blogger, lots going on and not a lot of time.  I have missed the last Mixmo but also figured I’d let the Tales of the Cocktail blow over before posting my late Mixmo non-entry.
   I saw a jar of mangos at a store here in Seattle and had to buy it.  It was just a matter of time before I broke into it dying to make a cocktail with the mango slices soaking in sugar water.  I don’t think you can beat any fresh fruit or vegetable in a cocktail but sometimes it is just not cost effective and these mango slices taste fine.  It is a huge jar with about 30 slices inside marinating in a sweet sugary water.  Another plus with the bottled mango is the fact that they are softer then fresh mango breaking up almost completely in my boston shaker.
   Starting with a brandy base I muddled a mango slice with cointreau.  The result was so-so, I wouldn’t order another one.  Brandy and mangos work really well together though, it didn’t take much experimenting.  Here is what I came up with at the end, give it a whirl, I think it’s a great drink.

       The Mango Quarter
       2 oz good brandy
       2 mango slices
       1/2 oz mango sugar syrup/water
       1/2 oz lemon juice
       1/2 oz cointreau
       Shake hard and long to break up the dense mango, double strain into a cocktail glass

Article and Drink By: Mark Sexauer

   I received a package in the mail a couple weeks ago and with it came an interesting product.  I did a blog search and found many posts and reviews for G-Vine gin and also a little controversy?  G-Vine is distilled from a grape spirit that is infused with green grape flowers.  I had green grapes in the refrigerator, assuming they would play well with the G-Vine, and went to work.
   The Caipirinha is ballooning each year in popularity outside of Brazil of which it is the national drink.  With an explosion of great cachaca hitting the market as well as a thirst for “exotic” drinks, this summer is a big one for the Caipirinha.  The basic recipe is easy:

       Caipirinha
       2 ounces cachaca 
       2 tablespoons sugar
       1/2 lime, quartered
       
   Why did I bring up the Caipirinha when talking about a new (2 years old) gin?  I wanted to do something similar but using the G-Vine and its unique distillation ingredient as well.  I started replacing ingredients from the Caipirinha to shape my cocktail.

       G-Pirinha
       2 oz G-Vine Gin
       1 tablespoon sugar
       3/4 oz lemon juice
       5 large seedless green grapes.
       Muddle sugar, lemon, and grapes together in a tumbler.  After the sugar has dissolved and the grapes are crushed add crushed ice to fill glass and then the G-Vine Gin.  Stir to chill and serve.
       
   My picture shows my G-Pirinha with big ice cubes but I got a much better result and look the second time using small ice cubes.  I do like this gin, although not so much in a Martini it does make for an interesting mixer.  Try it, mess around and let me know what other drinks you come up with, Prost.

Article and Drink By: Mark Sexauer

   Bottle labeling is something I wish I had more time to care about.  I think it is very professional and shows an amazing attention to detail when homemade syrups and such are contained in a clean well labeled bottle.  There are a number of options when looking to label a bottle permentely and one of the most common is etching the glass itself.  There are a few different ways to do this, all three are easily done at home, if you’re not married they are cheap, and can be as simple or complicated as you want to make it.
   Glass etching with chemicals is the easiest method of engraving glass as well as the cheapest.  I picked up a bottle of Armour Etch for ten dollars or so at a craft store.  The general idea is to cut a design in a vinyl stencil and then apply some of the chemical to the glass for a short period of time.  Wash the chemical off with water and then take the stencil off.  I wrote up and printed out something I thought was pretty simple.  I taped the paper to the vinyl and then used an exacto knife to cut the lettering out.  This sounds easier then is, on top of that, I have little artistic talent.  It turned out okay anyway but next time I will tape the vinyl to the bottle itself, I had a problem with the vinyl moving around a little bit, if it was stuck to the bottle I bet I could get a cleaner cut.  I would also use an easier to cut font as well as make the lettering a little bigger.  I bought the blank stencil sheet but you can use electrical tape or anything similar to vinyl.  One of the draw backs of using chemicals is that the etch is not as bright or strong as engraving and can also streak or blot, especially if you are doing anything bigger then a letter.
   Another way to etch on your bottles is an actual engraver.  It is similar to the dremal, but for about $30 you can buy an engraver and bits.  This is where I would end up spending way too much time.  You draw out what you want to cut down and then go at it with the engraver, freehand.  The perk with using this method is that you can make the engraving as deep or shallow as you want and of course get a lot more intricate then you ever could with the etching cream.  Of course one of the draw backs with this is you need some sort of artistic ability to freehand engrave. 
   Sand etching is very popular as well for engraving glass and there are a number of starter kits to get you going.  The basic idea here is you have a sand like propellant that attaches to a nozzle and is blasted at the glass you want to engrave.  You have to cover the entire project to avoid scratching any other part of the bottle.  Same as with the chemical etching, the project is only as good as your stencil cut!  If you take your time and make a nice stencil, both of these methods are great.  Sand etching can take you a little further though as you can layer and shade with practice.  Another plus to sand blasting is the way the finished product looks compared to the chemical etches as well as coloring options.  If you have the space to set up something like this, I would go down the route of sand etching.
   There are of course many other ways to label your bottles and I will follow up in the future, but for me this is a start and much better then taping paper labels to my bottles.  I would love to see any other custom labeled bottles out there if you have them, hope everyone had a Happy Independents Day, Cheers.

Article By: Mark Sexauer

   Watermelon is a tricky fruit to tackle when wanting to use it in a cocktail.  It’s mostly water, obviously, hence the name, about 92% and the rest sugar and not much else.  The thing with watermelon that has always frustrated me when using it is the taste doesn’t transfer very well.  Call me crazy but watermelon candy doesn’t taste a freaking thing like biting into a fresh cut watermelon.  Juicing the watermelon is easy but the flavor only last about a day.  So to make a watermelon concoction practical to serve behind the bar, somewhat cost effective, not that time consuming, and taste like watermelon is almost an impossible task… almost.
   I had an idea in my head for a watermelon drink after some buddies and I cut one up and ate the whole thing.  When you cut the melon in half what do you see?  It’s round (like looking into the top of a glass) and has the look of a rim as well with the almost whitish rind.  See where I’m going with this one… I set out to make a watermelon cocktail that looked like a watermelon in the glass.
   Any other bartenders looking to experiment with watermelon keep in mind that the ENTIRE melon is edible.  That might not mean much for experimenting with a drink but it does mean endless garnish ideas.  Just throwing it out there.
   The watermelon is in the same family as the cucumber.  When choosing your melons, make sure they are pretty symmetrical and with a minimum or bruises and cracks.  (Insert your boob joke here;-)  You should also notice a melon fragrance along with a heavier than it looks feeling.  What’s funny about this post is that we are creating a “seeded” looking watermelon but the best varieties (of the 50+) are the seedless ones?  They are juicy, taste great, and of course have the added convenience of almost no seeds (okay, it’s not that funny.)
   Like I said earlier the watermelon is a very hard ingredient to conquer.  I started with something I felt would make sense; watermelon juice, some liquor, probably gin… maybe sake, and simple syrup or something.  This got me closer than I expected for a first run and with a little tweaking, came up with something that was drinkable.  The “look of seeds in the cocktail” idea is where I got carried away.  I just got done messing around with some gelatin for a future post and figured I could make gelatin seeds?  As I was experimenting though I toned down the gelatin a little bit so it doesn’t solidify all the way, just sort of gels.  The basic idea is to get the gel into a squeeze bottle and then after the watermelon drink is made, squeeze in the black watermelon gel into the cocktail to get the look of seeds!  Here’s the recipe and technique I came up with. 

       Watermelon Slushy
       3 oz watermelon juice (puree, strain)
       2 oz gin (I used Bombay dry)
       3/4 oz simple syrup
       1/2 oz nigori sake (nigori is unfiltered, milky white, and a touch of sweetness)
       1/2 oz lemon juice
       2 dashes peychouds bitters
       11/2 cup very small ice
       Combine all into a blender and puree, then pour into daiquiri glass and squeeze the “watermelon seed” gel into the glass creating a watermelon looking effect.

       Black “watermelon seed” Gel
       1 cup (8 oz) water melon juice
       1 cup (8oz) sugar
       1/8 teaspoon black food coloring (about 10-12 drops)
       1 teaspoon powered gelatin
       Combine all together into a pot and stir on low hear, put into squeeze bottle and refrigerate

   Some tips on this, don’t over-heat the mixture.  I found that getting the watermelon juice to hot will give it a kind of “dirt” flavor?  I tried to reduce the mixture thinking I could get a more potent watermelon flavor… it didn’t work.  When you are juicing your watermelon, I don’t know about a juicer, (mine broke, and I’m broke so I can’t get a new one yet) but when I put these chunks in a food processor then strained it I found that letting the juice sit in a container for an hour or two will settle any fine pulp.  Another tip, the black food coloring is very messy and does not come out of clothes; a little goes a long way.  Again I also fine strained this into the squeeze bottle using a metal small screen strainer just to get any extra pulp out and have a nice clean black gel to use in the drink.
   I think watermelon could be the perfect medium for this if you messed around with the ingredients a little.  I stopped trying to make a good drink and ended up spending my time messing with the gel.  The gel has huge potential, if you had a lemon drink you could make the gel lime and on and on!  It makes for more visual appealing drinks but there are drawbacks.  The drink itself has to be slightly gelatin or blended, if you put the gel in a cocktail it just sinks to the bottom.  The drink has to be a thick enough consistency to support the gel.  Let me know what you come up with at your bar and I can assure you, I will be posting more in the future about using flavored gels behind the bar.

Article and Drink By: Mark Sexauer

   I had a post not too long ago about a 1 liter barrel I ordered online and now as promised I’ll tell you what I put in it the other day.
   The directions say to prime the barrel for about 5 days with warm water, I’ve let the water sit for a month or so now as life has a way of slapping you around and making sure you can’t do what you want all the time.  Thinking ahead to what I’m going to age I went aisle shopping at the grocery store.  For about a buck I bought (among other fun things) a can of whole cranberry sauce.  When I got home I opened it up to see what I was dealing with.  The ingredients say: cranberries, high fructose corn syrup, and water.  Most of the can is the high fructose corn syrupy gel that the whole cranberries are in.  I ran cold water into the can and separated most of the whole cranberries.  I can hear some of you now thinking “I would have waited and used real cranberries…” well I don’t want to wait and everyone likes the canned cranberry sauce better anyway.  I measured about 4-5 oz and threw them in a food processor to be shredded.  Grabbing a bottle of Tanquery gin I emptied the barrel of the priming water, stuffed the shredded cranberries into the barrel and filled it with the bottle of gin.  My thinking is that when fall comes here before we all know it I’ll have a barrel aged cranberry gin that I can either make into bitters or use in a cocktail, or both.  I’ll keep you up to date and like the article says this doesn’t really have to be in the barrel for more than a month, month and a half so I can do multiple batches before the end of September hits.  Enjoy the weather, Prost. 

Article By: Mark Sexauer