What are you drinking right now?

[b1os]



Here is Jeff's blog entry where it all started: http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/2010/barrel-aged-cocktails/ Reading more to see if it talks of sourcing that Madeira cask.

http://www.jeffreymorgenthaler.com/2010/barrel-aged-cocktails/

:tounge:

jeffrey, can you recommend a source for madeira barrels?

Brent
I’m not sourcing the madeira casks, I’m merely finishing whiskey casks for about six months with madeira and then using the barrel as a quasi madeira cask.

Some guy wrote that he lived in the Madeira region and got a barrel from a local producer. I'm sure they would send you some. The problem is the shipping.

 

[Piobaire]

Nice find! I guess I'm going to have to get a 1 litre and fill it with cheap wine.

 

[b1os]

See you in six months.

 

[cocostella]

Mojitos

Barbancourt White, lime juice, mint, San Pellegrino, demerara simple syrup.

 

[cptjeff]

^No point using nice ingredients in a mojito if you aren't gonna make it right. I evangelize about this recipe because after having one, I could never make it any other way.

Take half a large lime. Quarter that half. Put in the bottom of the glass. Add a bunch of mint leaves. Add granulated sugar, I use a teaspoon or so. Muddle that all together- the sugar really grinds up the mint quite nicely, and it then gets dissolved in the lime juice quite nicely. The husks of the lime add various oils that add a different, and good, complexity to the drink. Like garnishing with a twist, but better. Add crushed or cracked ice, until the glass is nearly full. Add a shot of rum. White is fine if you have a good one, I prefer the additional depth an aged rum gives. Add seltzer to top it off, you shouldn't need a whole lot. Stir, drink.

 

[b1os]

Really, you don't want to "grind up" your mint. Not even muddle it strongly.

 

[Rambo]



Really, you don't want to "grind up" your mint. Not even muddle it strongly.

What's wrong with muddling it?

 

[Piobaire]



Really, you don't want to "grind up" your mint. Not even muddle it strongly.

I had the same reaction.

 

[Thomas]



Really, you don't want to "grind up" your mint. Not even muddle it strongly.

Why is this?

...

on other fronts, last night I had my last (2) pina coladas for a long long time. I didn't really want them but decided to use up the mixers before they went stale.

 

[Piobaire]

Apparently if you really grind away at your mint you release chlorophyll from the cells in large enough quantity to add a bitter component. You want the mint oil, which is easy to get released, but not the bitter chlorophyll.

 

[b1os]

Well, first of all you'll have nasty mint fibers in your drink. But secondly, and most importantly, when you muddle mint too strongly, you release chlorophyll which tastes bitter. You really just want to press it very slightly to release the fragrant essential oils.

Or what Piob said.

Some related videos:

http://www.smallscreennetwork.com/video/748/morgenthaler_method_mint_julep/

and of course...

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[fritzl]



What's wrong with muddling it?

nothing, unless you're a p.ssy.

 

[Piobaire]

What's wrong with muddling it?

nothing, unless you're a p.ssy.

You're quite a he-man there.

 

[b1os]

ah, ok

 

[Huntsman]

It's not classic, but I usually make mint simple for my Mojitos and juleps.

Really looking forward to the results of your barrel-aged experiment, Piob. I have never had one, though I understand that they are one the menu at the Tango these days. Incidentally, due to the imminent departure of one of my favorite bartenders, I may just hop in the M and pound the pavement from here to there this weekend. It's during the semester, but since we have Labor Day, I should be able to squeak out a night.

- H