Category Archives: whiskey

My winter refuge

Posted on March 1, 2010 by | 1 comment

This long, cold, brutal winter has put Ms. S&C on something of a whiskey kick.

It started with the Clementina Old Fashioned during the first snowstorm. Then I was introduced to the Cocktail à la Louisiane at The Passenger. Aftermath of the second blizzard had the mister and I seeking refuge at The Gibson, where we tried a Derby and a Vieux Carre.

All of these cocktails are made with bourbon or rye whiskey, and three out of four are made with my new favorite mysterious herbal liqueur, Bénédictine. They all pack quite a punch. Of course, instead of calling them “strong,” I can now refer to them as “body-warming.”

I first tasted the Vieux Carre at a cocktail seminar on Great Hotel Bar Cocktails. I didn’t think it was a standout there, but I also hadn’t spent my days digging out of three feet of snow. Sure, it’s boozy, but it also makes for a great sipping and soothing cocktail after long days of shoveling.

How has Ms. S&C survived the winter? With help from
whiskey cocktails like the Vieux Carre.

The drink was invented by the head bartender at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, and is named after the French term for what we all know as The French Quarter. Le Vieux Carré translates to “Old Square.” I found this recipe and history over at The Gumbo Pages, which covers all things Louisiana.

Vieux Carre

Ingredients (for one):

  • 1 ounce rye whiskey
  • 1 ounce Cognac
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 1 teaspoon Bénédictine D.O.M.
  • 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Fill a double Old Fashioned glass with ice. Combine all ingredients in glass and stir well. Garnish with lemon peel.

posted by Ms. S&C

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Posted in benedictine, cocktails, cognac, fall/winter cocktails, sweet vermouth, whiskey

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S&C alerts–red hot fashion and cocktails

Posted on February 27, 2009 by | 1 comment

Here are some of Ms. S&C’s favorite finds in the worlds of shoes and cocktails.

New York Fashion Week was last week. I’m always a bit overwhelmed and underwhelmed by fashion weeks. There’s always so much coverage, and I never know what to read. Plus, there’s the whole never-in-my-lifetime-will-I-ever-afford-this-so-why-bother aspect. Well, I’m happy to report two things:

  • Fashion Washington covered fashion week via their FW Runway Report blog. It is a great digestible collection of photos, runway reports, backstage stories and fashion commentary. Note to self: need to tone arms and shoulders — lots of one-shoulder looks and fur coming in the fall.oscar-de-la-renta
  • Footwear News also spotlighted designers shoes. Subscription access prevents us from seeing a lot of the styles, but it appears platforms, booties and exotic prints will be popular in the fall. I particularly like the pointy platform booties from Oscar de la Renta.

And speaking of digestible, in last week’s Washington Post Food Section, Gastronomer columnist Andreas Viestad, shared a very interesting dessert cocktail using chili peppers. The Hot and Cold Whisky cold-whisky-chili-granitaChili Granita is definitely a contender for the S&C test kitchen. You can change the flavor depending on the chili pepper and spirit used. For example–for a smokier flavor, use chipotle peppers and single malt scotch; for something sweeter, use bourbon. The Whisky Chili Granita is described as something that could “wake up” guests after a long dinner. Cheers to that.

posted by Ms. S&C

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Posted in alerts, bourbon, scotch, shoes, spirits, whiskey

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Sipping Sours

Posted on February 6, 2009 by | 7 comments

All this recession business has me in a bit of a sour mood. And you know what they say: when life gives you lemons, make a whiskey sour! Or a pisco, midori or rum sour, as the case may be.

Winter is the perfect time to delve into this citrus-friendly group of cocktails, with the abundant availability AND relative affordability of oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit in your grocery store. Let’s start with the classic.

The whiskey sour has become a tried and true winter favorite in Miss M’s household. Ina Garten provides a great basic recipe in her book, Barefoot Contessa at Home. This is apparently her favorite cocktail to offer guests (she likes to serve it along side a green herb dip, a recipe that I’ll be trying out on some friends to accompany my tonic tasting this weekend – more on that later!). I like this version because it relies on both lemon and lime juice. In a pinch, I’ve subbed some organic, bottled lime juice for the fresh when I was lacking limes and loving laziness.

Barefoot Contessa’s Fresh Whiskey Sourbarefootcontessa
Serves 4

• 3/4 cup whiskey (recommended: Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey)
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons)
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (4 limes)
• 2/3 cup sugar syrup
• Ice cubes
• Maraschino cherries

Combine the whiskey, lemon juice, lime juice, and syrup. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice and pour in the drink mix 2/3 full. Shake for 15 seconds and pour into glasses. Add a maraschino cherry and serve ice cold.

My proclivity for whiskey sours goes a long way back. In fact, we used to make big batches for tailgates in college, using cheap bourbon and frozen lemonade concentrate with delightful results. Still, I’m ready to branch out from this traditional choice. The Meyer Lemon Sour has me the most excited. According to my Food Lover’s Companion, the Meyer lemon could best be described as a cross between an orange and a lemon. Our food history lesson for the day tells us that the Meyer lemon is “named after F.N. Meyer who in 1908 imported it into the United States from China, where it’s been grown for centuries.” They’re characterized by a sweeter and less acidic juice than regular lemons. If I can’t put my hands on some Meyer lemons, I’m thinking a 50/50 mix of lemons and oranges might do the trick nicely. I found this recipe over on the Food Network, where it’s attributed to Mr. Bobby Flay.

Meyer Lemon Sour
Serves 6

• 12 ounces whiskey (recommended: Jim Beam)
• 9 ounces Meyer Lemon Sweet and Sour Mix, recipe follows
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 6 slices Meyer lemon
• 6 maraschino cherries

Shake the first 3 ingredients vigorously in a cocktail shaker or in a large container with a lid. Pour into glasses over ice. Garnish with slices of Meyer lemon and maraschino cherries.

Meyer Lemon Sweet and Sour Mix
4 cups Meyer lemon juice
1 cup simple syrup
2 egg whites
Pinch salt

Combine all the ingredients.

A brief bit of Internet research quickly expanded my limited sour knowledge. Apparently the sour category applies to any drink that combines liquor, lemon or lime juice and a sweetener. So it doesn’t have to actually have the word sour in its title—margaritas and sidecars also belong to this family. Why not add a sour to your winter cocktail family today?!

Posted by Miss Mojito

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Posted in cocktails, fall/winter cocktails, spirits, whiskey

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