Milk Punch : Indian Spice

This is a specialty punch recipe I made for my darling friend and regular of mine, Ragini. She gave me a lovely medley of Indian spices and peppers. We decided she wanted a scotch-based punch with lemon as the citrus and a good amount of spice. That last part is tricky as the clarification process strips away much of the heat from peppers. 

Ingredients:

1 cup Demerara Sugar, peel of 3 lemons, 1 tsp Ancho Chili Powder, 1 Poblano pepper (stemmed, w/ seeds, dried), 10 dried red chili peppers (whole), 1 stick cinnamon, 1 tsp Garam Masala, 8 oz. water, 6 oz scotch, 8 oz lemon Juice, 3 oz. Ancho Reyes, 2 oz. Campari. 10 oz. Milk

Tools:

Mixing bowl, muddler, measuring spoons, measuring cup, at least 2 large pots, a chinois, enough cheesecloth to line the chinois 3 times over (I used 28 x 24 thread count), and lastly, a means of bottling the final product

As with any good punch, we start with some Oleo Saccharum. Peel 3 large lemons and all your dry ingredients. Muddle until well mixed and the spices are broken down. The oils and the flavors from the herbs and peels will be pulled out by the sugars and other dried ingredients in the form of osmosis. For this batch, I let it infuse for about 36 hours.

To make sure we pull as much flavor off these solid components, we add 8 oz of boiling water to the bowl. Let this steep, covered, until it settles to about room temperature. Strain the whole contents of the bowl into a large pot. Rinse the bowl with the scotch to collect any flavors or undissolved sugars. Add the remainder of the ingredients aside from the milk.

Now, we start the clarification process. Start by heating the milk and bringing it to a near boil. If it starts to boil, take it off the heat immediately. Add the hot milk to the pot with all the other ingredients. The mixture will curdle. If it doesn't curdle well, add a little more citrus. Stir it around a little to let it all bind. Line the chinois's inside with several cheesecloth layers and clamp it to the rim. Pour the punch through the strainer over another pot or bowl.

The first part of the run will come out slightly cloudy. Once it starts running clear, cycle the liquid back into the strainer. The more you keep cycling it, the cleaner the product will be. I usually cycle through about 3 times. It takes ages to get those last few drops out. I leave it overnight; just ensure it's wrapped in saran wrap or something to keep bugs out. Next, I funneled the clear punch into a bottle and stuck it in the fridge to chill. Serve with ice and drink up. 

The final product is a transparent liquid with a red tint. It is a nice spicy cocktail. There isn't quite as much smoke as I was hoping.

It's a very herbaceous cocktail. The rosemary and black pepper pop as flavors, making the mouth dry. The alcohol is not too dominant. The dryness does not make it a drink you could drink for hours, like some of my other punch batches. But it is tasty. The infinite shelf life granted by this process is ideal for a fancy drink you'd have occasionally. Stick a bottle in the fridge and have some every now and then.

Photo Credit: Flickr

1990

This was my submission to the Bacardi Legacy contest in 2017. The flavors of the rum really got brought out by this classic sour cocktail. The mouthfeel is wonderful. The story is, of course, an absolute fabrication. I'm not a man with a lot of history or sentimentality. Maybe I'll learn to lie better in the future. 

1.5 Bacardi Gold Rum

0.75 Fresh Orange Juice

0.5 Brown Sugar Banana Syrup

0.5 Aquafaba

0.125 Roasted Walnut Oil

Benedictine

Add the Bacardi, orange juice, banana syrup, aquafaba, and walnut oil to a mixing tin. Dry shake until well emulsified. Add ice and shake again until well chilled and frothy. Rinse a coupe with Bénédictine. Double strain the cocktail into the coupe. Add a spritz of Benedictine on top of the cocktail for aroma and garnish with an orange twist.

Brown Sugar Banana Syrup:

Weigh a banana. Measure out equal weights of brown sugar and water. Bring the water to a simmer in a small pot and slowly add the brown sugar. Peel the banana and slice the insides and add them to the pot. Use a hand blender to puree any chunks of banana. Slice the skin of the banana and add them to the pot. Let the syrup simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a mesh strainer several times to eliminate any chucks. Keep chilled until ready to use.

This cocktail stems from a classic birthday treat my grandmother taught my mother to make. I suppose she didn't use rum though. For birthdays in my house growing up, I remember having a party with my friends, but we'd always have a family dinner as well where the birthday boy or girl could ask for whatever meal they wanted. I'd always ask for this lovely sweet banana nut bread as a dessert. It had orange zest, brown sugar, ripe bananas, and fresh nuts. It became a tradition. These days, my family is spread out all across the country. Every once in a while I like to make a batch as best I can. I was born in 1990, but I've had many more than 27 of this delicious treat. I hope you enjoy. 

Bhang! Cannabis Smoothies, a Diwali Tradition (NSFW)

Cannabis smoothies are becoming a bit popular in the states these days. People are adding weed to their breakfasts and just about anything else. Weed has been around for ages and is a part of more than one religion it turns out. Aside from the Rastafarians, the Hindu religion has a lot of affiliation with cannabis. Many of their gods smoke, which may explain some of their stories. During the Diwali holiday, which is a sort of Hindu New Years, they drink a milk based smoothie with cannabis leaves. Be aware, this is not a single serving, This should serve about 20 people. 

1/4 oz Cannabis (buds for this recipe)

1 cup Water

2 1/4 cup Whole Milk

1/2 cup Cream

10 Almonds

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 teaspoon Saffron

1 teaspoon Cardamom

1 teaspoon Fennel seeds

2-3 dashes Rose Water

You will also need some cheesecloth, a mortar and pestle, and your usual kitchenware like bowls, funnels, strainers, and a bottle to serve. 

To prepare you will need to soak the almonds overnight. Then remove the skins. Muddle the skinned almonds into a paste.

Start by removing any stems from the buds of cannabis. Discard these. If you are using dried buds, like most people do, you will need to hydrate the buds a bit. Boil a cup of water and add the weed and heat till it soaks up the water. Heat a 1/2 cup whole milk and heavy cream mixture (you could use half and half). Add the cannabis, milk mixture, and almond paste to a mortar and muddle until it becomes one consistent paste in the milk. More muddling doesn't really hurt, it just allows more time to infuse. You may need to do this in stages depending on the size of your mortar. The almonds and the fats in the milk with start to pull out the oil in the plant. Heat 2 cups whole milk mixed with 1/4 cup cream in a pot.

There are a few ways to go from here. You can steep this entire paste in the warm milk and let the flavors all mellow out, which does add some grassy flavor, or you can sort of wash the paste in cheesecloth with the warm milk which is much more labor intensive to get the cannabis effects but does greatly reduce the grassy taste. I personally don't mind a little grassiness so I'll just go with the method we used for this last batch.

Add the weed milk almond paste concentrate to the milk mixture over heat. add the spices and rose water and stir constantly for 30 minutes. Do not let it boil or allow scum to form on the surface. Set up a rig of three layers of cheesecloth over a mesh strainer over a funnel over a sealable bottle. Pour the mixture through the cloth slowly, allowing it to filter into the bottle. Allow this to cool and then squeeze the cloth to extract as much of the fluid as you can. you may want to repeat this filtering process. Chill the bhang. Shake before serving.

 Take note this is exceptionally potent and it takes a while to kick in. Start with no more than a shot glass worth and wait an hour to 90 minutes before taking anymore to gauge the effects. This is a fat based edible so it takes longer for the body to process than smoking.

"We didn't have rehab in the 70's. Back in the 70's, rehab meant you stopped doing coke, but you kept smoking pot and drinking for a couple more weeks."
- Denis Leary

Gin 201: The Different Botanicals

Juniper Berries

This is what gives gin that note of Christmas trees. All gins have to use juniper in order to be called gin. This goes way back to when gin was first invented and they started modifying the recipes from Dutch genever. Legally Juniper has to be the predominant flavor. That rich pine flavor actually comes from the fruit of the evergreen tree. Well, not really a fruit, but a seed or conifer cone. It also has slight notes of lavender and occasionally a touch of heather. Juniper is a very potent flavor and gins that are too juniper-forward tend to be very off-putting to the average drinker so a rounded, balanced gin is much more preferable for most distillers.

Cassia Bark

Cassia Bark is a close relative to cinnamon. Many people find that cassia has a slightly more delicate flavor though. It again comes from a breed of the evergreen tree this time originating in the south of China. Many gin makers source their cassia from other countries like Indonesia, Thailand. India, and Vietnam. Chinese Cassia does remain the most common. In gin, the freshly dried bark is typically ground to release as much of the flavorful oils as possible. Cassia bark supposedly is also good for blood pressure.

Angelica Root

Angelica root, sometimes known as wild celery, is grown widely in Northeast Europe. It does have its roots in the celery family, no pun intended but has a more woody vanilla smell. It blooms as a many-headed flower and is often harvested in the winter months. Angelica is rarely a dominant flavoring component; it is more being used as a balancing agent to bind the harmonies of various oils together. It does add a slight earthy tone but it more about providing a balance. Angelica is also used as medicine to fight viruses and bacteria.

Orris Root

Orris is really just a part of the Iris flower. This isn't used in the vast majority of gins but it is a fairly common component in more floral gins. Flavor wise it is very similar to violets. Tragically, due to its allergenic nature orris root was banned in many parts of Europe and the US, though this ban is mainly for cosmetics and scents. In gin production, the flower is harvested in late summer and made to dry a couple years before being ground. As with most gin ingredients Orris root has been used in medicine, in this case, it's helpful with sore throats and as an anti-inflammatory.

Coriander

Coriander is the seed of the cilantro plant, also known as Chinese parsley or dhania. The entire cilantro plant is edible, stem seeds and leaves, but the vast majority of gin producers only use the seed. The flavor of the leaves and seeds are similar in a few regards but really have completely different profiles. It's worth mentioning that coriander seeds if consumed in severely high doses, can act as a narcotic. This goes away during gin production though. Coriander is probably the second most botanical in gin actually. Its flavor is a blend of citrus and sage. Its aroma is very akin to rose actually. Coriander in olden times was used to fight flatulence and arthritis.

Grains of Paradise

Grains of paradise are native to West Africa and Ethiopia. This area became known as The Pepper Coast. Grains are actually the seeds of a member of the ginger family. It's also known as Melegueta pepper, alligator pepper or Guinea pepper. These are often used in medicine as stimulants. The flavor is of course quite spicy and peppery, but the aroma is a bit more floral than your standard black pepper. Several centuries ago it was actually more common to use grains of paradise in cooking than pepper. Its use in gin was actually briefly banned in England for tricking people into thinking that the spirit was stronger than it really was.

Cardamom Pods

Cardamom is actually a member of the ginger family. It's native to southern India and is very hard to grow and cultivate aside from very hot climates like Tanzania and Guatemala. It is thus also one of the most expensive spices. 5000 years ago it was used in tooth cleaners and perfumes. Cardamom is widely used in South Asian cuisine, namely curries. There is black cardamom and green cardamom. Black has an almost peaty, smokey flavor while green is more floral, like the eucalyptus. Cardamom is a very warm flavor, slightly sweet, but very pungent.

Citrus Peel

The oils from lemon and orange peels are used very regularly in gin production. Almost everyone knows the flavor of citrus and it's very easy to place a citrus heavy gin. A fun fact is that the aroma molecules of a lemon are the mirror opposite of those of an orange. Citrus oils are great for a number of healing factors. It's good for the skin and also acts as a mild sedative, anti-inflammatory, and diuretic. Citrus was also used to fight scurvy which made it almost a necessity among British naval sailors, who popularized the gin and tonic. Another useful aspect of citrus is that it's helpful as a cleaning agent. That's right, lemon Pledge actually has a reason to be lemon scented. This actually makes a distillers job easier as the tanks don't get as dirty when citric acid is in the gin.

Other botanicals may include lemongrass, black peppercorn, cucumber, rose, cubeb berries. anise, licorice, almonds, grapefruit, chamomile, sarsaparilla, nutmeg, saffron

"The intense perfumes of the wild herbs as we trod them underfoot made us feel almost drunk."
- Jacqueline du Pre

Photo Credit: Wikimedia, Pixabay

Advanced Syrups

Sugar is a crucial component in just about every cocktail available today. Sometimes it's the sugar in a piece of fruit. Sometimes it's honey or maple syrup. Bartenders have been taking these sugars and making them our own for some time now. 

Flavored Syrups

One of the easiest types of complex syrup you can make is a simple infusion. Take an Earl Grey Tea Syrup for instance. We all know how to make simple syrup, simply apply heat to sugar and water. Well, this is exactly how we make tea. Simply add our tea bag or tea leaves to warm water. let this sit for about an hour and then add to a saucepan and put on heat. Add equal parts sugar and stir until well mixed. Remove from heat and strain off any solids. This same technique can be applied to mint syrups and even things like berries and peppers. Simply make a syrup the way you normally would and steep the flavors you would like to infuse. Try not to boil the syrup as that takes away the water and makes the flavor significantly harder to replicate. One of my favorite creations was a strawberry and serrano pepper flavored agave nectar.

Fruit Syrups / Grenadine

Most fruit syrups are actually very easy to make. While the typical syrup uses water to mix with the sugar component, a perfectly legitimate substitute is to use a juice. This method only works well with fruits that leave a very watery type of juice such as pomegranate. Juice like lime and the like need to be cut down with water to ensure a consistent texture. To make homemade grenadine, simply pour equal parts of pomegranate juice (I use POM Wonderful) and sugar into a saucepan and apply heat while stirring. I like to add a tiny splash of fresh lemon juice and a few drops of orange flower water to really make it unique.

Oleo Saccharum

Oleo, in short, is oil. Saccharum is sugar. Lemon oil syrup was a crucial component in old-world punch recipes. The oil comes from the peel of citrus fruit, lemon being the most common. Oleo can also be made from other citruses, like orange and grapefruit. The easiest way of making this is by peeling several lemons into a bowl and adding about two ounces of sugar to the bowl per lemon. Muddle this vigorously for about 15 minutes to ensure that the sugar really gets into the peels and they start to sweat. Let the bowl sit for a few hours or overnight to allow all the oil to precipitate. collect this in a bottle and filter out any peel, some people will add a bit of hot water to stretch the oil and make it less potent in cocktails, but in punches that doesn't matter as much.

Orgeat

Orgeat is probably the most difficult syrup to make on your own and I don't recommend trying unless you are well versed in syrups. Orgeat is used in several tiki cocktails. It is a very potent blend of flavors and can be incredibly overpowering if prepared incorrectly. To make, one would muddle a blend of sweet and bitter almonds in a mortar and pestle with a little water until it becomes a smooth paste. Add more water without heat. Then incorporate some sugar and orange flower water or rose water. These are very potent flavors that if not used cautiously can seriously overpower any cocktail. Floral sweet almond syrup is very tempting to start playing with, but I urge you to start small and leave this one to the professionals. The fact that this doesn't use any heat also tends to mean the shelf life is not as great as many other syrups so I encourage you to use filtered water or water that had been boiled beforehand. Also, keep it stored in a well-sealed container. Also, don't trust any store brand orgeat that costs less than $10 a bottle. 

Gum Syrup

Gum syrup is actually one of the more basic and classic syrups. It is, at its core, a simple syrup that has been thickened to change the texture of certain cocktails. Gum, also called Gomme, syrup is a simple syrup made typically with gum arabic. Very few people, aside from some artists, have heard of this powder. It's a simple thickening agent used in some painting, and, in our case, cocktails. Gum syrup works best in stirred, spirit-forward cocktails so that the texture it brings can be appreciated. Typically it is used in old fashioned cocktails and some sazeracs. It can be used in shaken cocktails and with drinks built with crushed ice.

"I told my wife the truth. I told her I was seeing a psychiatrist. Then she told me the truth: that she was seeing a psychiatrist, two plumbers, and a bartender."

- Rodney Dangerfield

Photo Credit: pxhere, open food facts

Popped Belvedere Martini

This was a Cocktail I created for the Belvedere Vodka's The Challenge. The goal being to create a legendary vodka martini cocktail. This was the first video I ever did for a competition and I had fun editing. I have a lot more videos planned for the future, but it was good getting my feet wet. This was just filmed in my dining area. Future videos will probably be done at Aqua Vitae Institute. They will also probably feature my face.

1 1/2 oz. Belvedere Vodka
1/4 oz. Dry Vermouth
1/4 oz. Tuaca
1/2 oz. Oleo-Saccharum

Despite using a sugar and oil mixture, this is a stirred cocktail. Add the ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. It helps to add the Oleo last. Stir very vigorously so that the oil is still emulsified into the drink. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

To make Oleo-Saccharum:

Peel 4 lemons into a bowl (you can use the remainder for juice). Slowly add 8 oz. of sugar to the bowl of peels while muddling. Keep muddling around breaking down any lumps of sugar, working the sugar into the peels. This should take about 15 minutes. Let this sit overnight and a pool will collect of sugared lemon oil. Add eight ounces of hot nearly boiling water to the bowl. Strain out the liquid making sure to filter out all the pulp, pressing on the pulp to get all the Oleo out.

This was actually a quite difficult contest as the rules state you could only use a total of two ounces in total of any alcoholic ingredients. Even the smallest martini I would make would be two ounces of vodka and then about a third of an ounce of vermouth. I decided to make my recipe include that ration of 6:1 vodka to vermouth. But I had to make my martini unique, something that would make the vodka really pop. I opted to use Tuaca and a lemon oleo-saccharum. Tuaca brings a great vanilla note which brings out the smoothness of the vodka, as well as a citrus with compliments the vermouth and some of the subtler flavors of the vodka. The Oleo also helps add a sweetness to the drink, but the main component of it is the addition of the oily nature. Despite the vast majority of the drinking being fairly strong spirit, the oily nature makes it incredibly easy to drink down. 

P.S. The first video is up on YouTube. Check out the channel link on the right.

"I am prepared to believe that a dry martini slightly impairs the palate, but think what it does for the soul."
- Alec Waugh