Jager Bomb with a Hammer

This was a trick I decided to adapt for a small party I was throwing. These days, every cocktail enthusiast and their grandfather has a spherical ice mold. I saw a trend for hollowing them out and serving a cocktail inside the ice sphere. I just did my own variation.

You only need a little equipment for this. You'll need a freezer, naturally. You'll also need a heat source and a metal point to heat, though a soldering iron does the job brilliantly, provided it's clean. You'll also need a small funnel, though a syringe or meat injector works a bit faster, and when dealing with ice, speed is critical. Lastly, you'll need a spherical ice ball mold that you can flip upside down and remain stable. I prefer the style pictured. The only other things required are the liquids, Jagermeister, and Red Bull. 

The basic premise is that ice freezes from the outside in. The trick is just stopping it before it freezes too much. Fill your ice ball mold with water, add the top half, and put it in the freezer. After an hour and a half, flip the mold over. This allows the ball to freeze evenly as different parts of the freezers have different temperatures. Also, any air bubbles and impurities would float or sink, throwing off the thermal conductivity. Otherwise, slices of the ball would be fragile and others very thick. After another hour and a half, remove the partially frozen ice ball. Bear in mind that these times are relative to what I find to be the average home freezer. You may need to extend the time.

Rinse the outside of the mold with warm water, not hot, or you may crack the ice. Now, we need to hollow out the mold. Heat an ice pick or use a soldering iron to poke a hole in the top of the ice ball. Draining can be a tricky part. You can flip the ball over and drain it out, but it will take ages because of the lack of airflow. Using a meat injector seems to be the fastest way of sucking out most of the liquid. You can also use a straw and blow sharply into the ball to eject a good portion of the ball's water while it's upside down to drain it much faster. However, this technique isn't suited to a bar environment. 

Next, using a funnel or the meat injector, fill the ball with Jagermeister. Plug the hole with something that allows the ball to stay upright. A cherry with a pick through it works well, as could a coiled citrus twist. Add the ball to a large rocks glass and fill the glass with Red Bull. Serve with a small hammer to let the guest smash the ball open.

Loaded Dice

This was my entry for the Patron Perfectionists Tour. It is about consistency in the culinary and beverage world and how fresh ingredients are inconsistent. This cocktail was my attempt to help flatten the curve. 

1.5 oz. Patron Reposado

0.5 oz. Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro

0.75 oz. Acid Adjusted Pineapple juice

0.75 oz. Orange Blossom Honey Syrup

Add all the ingredients to a shaker tin. Add ice and shake thoroughly. Double strain into a large rocks glass with a large carved cube.

To make Acid Adjusted Pineapple Juice:

To every 100g of pineapple juice, add 4.5g citric acid and 0.7g malic acid. Stir vigorously to dissolve the powder. Shake the solution lightly before each use.

To make Honey Syrup:

Mix Dutch Gold Orange Blossom Honey with an equal weight of boiling water and stir until uniform.

This drink was inspired by every molecule's randomness or lack of predictability. The fermentation tanks of the Patron distillery are open and surrounded by countless varieties of plant life that produce different strains of wild yeast. Each strain will create a different character. Even every piece of fruit will be unique. Two pineapples from the same tree can have wildly different sugar contents and acidity. This just won't do for a competition called Perfectionist. I aim to erase chance and balance flavors as I see fit. Craft comes from taking what nature gives you and using it to create a consistent quality product.

The Dutch Gold Honey comes from a local apiary as well.

New Blood

This is a cocktail I made for the Make It Exotico Competition. It's a lovely balance of sweet, bitter, and sour. It's fairly low alcohol by volume compared to a lot of my other cocktails. Nothing too complicated or fancy. All the ingredients are readily available at any liquor or grocery store. cheers. 

1 1/2 oz. Exotico Blanco

1/2 oz. Cynar

1/2 oz. Grapefruit Juice

1/4 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

1/2 oz. Agave Nectar

3/4 oz. Blood Orange Soda

Add all the ingredients aside from the soda to a mixing tin with ice. Shake until well chilled. Double strain into a large rocks or collins glass with ice. Top with the blood orange soda. Garnish with a quarter slice of grapefruit.

Upon recent reflection, I'm starting to see why this kind of cocktail doesn't garner much attention. It's not incorporating some exotic juice or homemade syrup or liqueur. That said it's actually pretty tasty and very easy for a home bartender to whip up at home or even batch into a punch.

"They drew first blood!"
- Frank Reynolds

Natural Sage

My Third Award Winning Cocktail. I am properly proud of this drink. I took inspiration from my surroundings. I made a balanced drink which showcased the base. And I sold it like a champion. It's kind of a pain given the prep work required but the texture is so gorgeous. The inspiration was a nice brown butter sage sauce with truffle we'd use in the Italian restaurant I used to work in for our agnoletti. Old Forester Old Fashioned Face Off Philly Champion 2017. 

1 1/2 oz. Old Forester Classic 86 Proof

1/2 oz. Averna Amaro

1/4 oz. Brown Sugar Butter Syrup

2 dashes Dram Wild Mountain Sage Bitters

10 drops Bitter End Chesapeake Bay Bitters

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with a large cube. Garnish with a sage leaf and a fresh lemon twist.

To make Brown Sugar Butter Syrup:

Add 1 stick of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until melted and lightly browned. Add 1 cup water with 2 cups of brown sugar and stir until all is dissolved and uniform. Strain into a wide mouth container and place in the refrigerator. After a few hours take out the syrup. Poke a hole through the solid puck that will have formed. Fine strain the syrup into a bottle of your choice. Store in the fridge.

The culinary inspiration of this cocktail turned it into something I am genuinely proud of. I would argue it is the current high point of my creativity as a bartender. I hope I can come back to this variety of creative drive.

"There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature."
- Henry David Thoreau

The Unbridled

This was the cocktail I submitted for the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Experience as my original cocktail. It was good enough to make it to the regional finals. Unfortunately, it didn't make it past that stage but my co-worker, Damian, was crowned the winner and will be going on to the next round. The presentation to the judges wasn't ideal on my part, but I believe that the cocktail stands.

1 1/2 oz. Woodford Reserve Double Oaked

3/4 oz. Amaro Ramazzotti 

3/4 oz. Campari

3/4 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

7 drops Saline Solution

To make saline solution, simply mix 1 part salt to 8 parts water. Stir until dissolved.

Add all of your ingredients to a shaker tin. Add ice, cap, and shake. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an expressed lemon twist and orange twist.

My cocktail, The Unbridled, is a tribute to the thoroughbreds and other horses that make up so much of the iconography of Kentucky. The name is borrowed from a government motto reflecting both the Kentucky Derby and Bourbon, "Unbridled Spirit". This is reflected in the drink by the sheer power the drink has initially. Then, thanks to the saline solution, the more intense bitter flavors calm down, and the more elegant flavors shine a bit more. Even the fastest and strongest horse can be elegant when calm and unburdened.

Hidden Orchard

This was a cocktail I made for the Old Forester Old Fashioned competition. The only rule was that it had to use at least an ounce of an Old Forester product and it had to resemble an old fashioned. I actually had been experimenting with different bitters around this time and came up with a fun, earthy, fall old fashioned. 

1 1/2 oz. Old Forester 86 proof
1/2 oz. Averna Amaro
1/4 oz. Maple Syrup
2 dashes Apple Bitters

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice, ideally one big cube. Garnish with an expressed orange twist.

I recently had a seminar with one of the owners of Amor y Amargo, and we tried some lovely products. I decided to procure a bit of the Barkeep Apple Bitters. It matched with some of the apple notes of the bourbon and the citrus from the Averna played well. For sweetener, the maple syrup worked with the earthiness. 

I actually won the judges' choice for this cocktail, the competition's grand prize, though there was a people's choice round, too. This was the first competition I'd won without participating as part of a group. I did have a darling friend barbacking for me, helping me out. It was a great honor. I got to see some great friends and meet some new people. And I left with a fantastic prize. 

"It's an old fashioned kind of day."

Pope's Hangover

This was a cocktail I was playing with during the Pope's visit to Philadelphia. Every week at my restaurant we feature a different city in Italy. We do regional dishes and wines and even a cocktail designed to pair well with the menu or that uses some regional ingredients or flavors. I was told that for our week in the Roman ghetto I would need to use a cocktail with Cynar. Why Cynar, I'm not entirely sure, but it's good to have a guide. Here's what I came up with. 

1.5 oz. Brandy

.5 oz. Cynar

.75 oz. Earl Grey Tea Syrup

.75 oz. Orange Juice

.5 oz. Egg White

Peychauds bitters

Add all the ingredients except the bitters to a mixing tin without ice. Dry shake until the ingredients are well emulsified. Open the shaker, add ice, and shake until well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange wedge and a dash of Peychauds. 

Now, I don't personally like Cynar, but I find that amaro-style liqueurs work very well with tea. Perhaps it's the natural digestif qualities of both. I decided to continue this with brandy, a typical after dinner drink. I know lemon is more traditional with teas and toddies, but I was drinking during brunch time and found that the orange was more mellow and better maintained the balance of the drink. I called this drink the Pope's Hangover because everyone was beaten down by the Holy Pontiff coming to town. There was a crazy rush of tourists, but not enough money to keep people jazzed up. This drink was for that morning after.

"Men are like wine - some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age."
- Pope John XXIII