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

Parting Glass

This was my entry for the Copper and Kings Mixt&pe competition. Make a drink to pair with a song. I've been getting into a lot of Classic Irish Folk music. It's a wonderful blend of comedy and tragedy. I chose The Parting Glass as my song, as performed by The High Kings. It rings of a final song, a goodbye, and the joys and lamentations of one's life. My cocktail reflects this balance. Fire's being extinguished, sweetness, bitterness, and intensity

1 oz. Copper & Kings Butchertown Brandy
1/2 oz. C&K Floodwall Apple Brandy

1/2 oz. Rooibos Tea infused Honey Syrup

6 -8 drops Bitter End Moroccan Bitters

Copper & Kings Absinthe Blanche

Add the brandies, honey, and bitters to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir for 12 seconds. Rinse a small cocktail glass with the absinthe and discard. Strain the cocktail into the rinsed coupe. Light a candle and raise your glass.

To make rooibos infused heather honey syrup:

Add 12 oz. of water and 12 oz of heather honey to a saucepan. Apply light heat and stir until well mixed. Measure out 2 tablespoons of loose leaf rooibos red tea and add it to the syrup. Let the tea infuse for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and strain through a mesh filter. Store in the refrigerator.

I can't say this cocktail is one of my favorites. I think I'm going to revisit this idea soon. 

Walking in Little Shoes

This was my entry for the Gentleman Jack Whiskey Sour Classic competition. I've been playing a lot with acid solutions, but they tend to fall a bit flat compared to fresh juice. They tend to lack some body and texture, and there are all kinds of flavors in juice besides just acids. We talk about balance in cocktails as a ratio of sugar to acid, and while that is crucial, it is also boring. 

2 oz. Gentleman Jack

1 oz. Acid-Adjusted Apple Juice

1 oz. Honey Syrup

2 dashes Bar Keep Apple Bitters

Add the fluid ingredients in a mixing tin, add ice and shake well for 6 seconds. Rinse the rim of a rocks glass with honey and rim with spicy cinnamon sugar. Add a large ice rock and strain the cocktail into the glass.

Spicy cinnamon sugar: 

Mix 16 parts sugar, 2 parts ground cinnamon, and 1 part cayenne pepper.

Acid-adjusted apple juice: 

To every 100 grams of apple juice, add 1 gram of citric acid and 4 grams of malic acid.

I loved my time down at the Jack Distillery. Kevin the Barrel Man was a hoot. The story of walking through the caves with a chicken on a string was absolutely hilarious. Bluffing his way into massive concerts is something that charmer could do without even trying. Amazing stories all around. Miss Mary Bobo's was a very eclectic, warm experience. The legacy of Jasper "Jack" Daniels lives on all the loyal workers of that entire town. 

"Basically, I'm for anything that gets you through the night - be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniels."

- Frank Sinatra

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. 

BOLS of Pears

This cocktail was a collaboration between myself and my dear friend Micah. For the first round of the Bols Around The World competition, we were required to make a cocktail that was a variant of a classic cocktail that would be drunk in the year 2025. It was a very humorous notion but one that did inspire thoughts of new techniques and the trends of today. 

2.25 oz. Pear, lime leaf Genever

3/4 oz. Dolin Blanc Vermouth

1 dash Angostura Orange Bitters

Lemon Twist

Stir all of the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain the cocktail into a coupe. Garnish with an expressed lemon twist.

Instructions for infused Bols Genever:

Preheat a water bath to 130°F/54°C. Place 8 oz. of Bols Genever, 2 Asian pears (diced), and 5 fresh kaffir lime leaves in a sealed plastic bag. Let the Bols Genever infusion cook for 3 hours. Remove the bag from the water bath and let it come back to room temperature. Strain the infusion.

Bols of Pears is an homage to the Turf Cocktail no. 2, a classic relative of the martini. Normal infusion of Bols Genever, Asian pear, and kaffir lime leaf can take up to 2 months. Using the modern cooking technique of sous vide you can infuse much faster due to heating up the infusion and having it sealed so none of the alcohol steam escapes. By the year 2025, this technique will be used more and more to create faster infusions for unique cocktails.

The unashamed sweet flavors of this cocktail while still maintaining impeccable balance is why Bols Genever has been a favorite since I discovered it. We decided on mixing it up with kaffir lime leaf and Asian pears because so many modern technologies are being created and perfected in Eastern Asia. I love how much parts of Eastern Asia continue to strive to create new ideas while maintaining customs and cultures of the past. This is exactly what Bols of Pears represents: striving for exciting cutting edge ideas while still maintaining respect for tradition.

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
- Ernest Hemingway

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.

Hot Blooded

This was a cocktail I made for the Old Forester Old Fashioned competition. The only rule for this round was that it had to use at least an ounce of an Old Forester product. This was at WhiskeyFest Philadelphia. I figured the people judging this drink would appreciate a slightly lighter style cocktail. It was rainy weather that day. I wanted something warm. 

1 oz. Old Forester 90 proof

1/2 oz. Aperol

1/2 oz. Mulling Spice Syrup*

2 oz. Hot Rooibos Red Tea

Start by brewing 8 oz of hot rooibos tea. Add that to a tempered mixing beaker. Add 4 oz of whiskey, 2 oz Aperol, and 2 oz. Mulling spice syrup. Stir lightly to mix. Serve in 4 stemmed or handled glasses. Garnish with an orange peel with cloves. Feel free to make larger batches.

Mulling Spice Syrup:

2 tbsp Mulling Spice (mix of cinnamon chips, orange rind, allspice, and cloves), 1 tsp Fresh Ginger, 1/2 Orange (Sliced), 1/2 Lemon (Sliced), 8 oz. Water, 4 oz. Wildflower Honey, 4 oz. Demerara Sugar. Steep over medium heat for a half hour. Strain into a bottle and keep chilled. 

Like I said, I wanted to go with a nice and light cocktail that would warm the spirits of the people who had already been drinking for 5 hours at WhiskeyFest. A hot toddy was I found that my favorite tea for use with citrus flavors is red tea. In a hot toddy, you need to have a bit of spice. Cinnamon and cloves are pretty classic. I added a bit of depth to the citrus components with the Aperol, and it helped the color, too. It's a nice winter warmer style cocktail. Good to drink under the blanket on the couch. 

"Come, let us drink some tea and talk about happy things."