Thursday, August 2, 2018

Cocktail of the Month - August: Dark and Stormy

The Dark and Stormy, in contrast to most of our featured drinks, has a fairly easily obtained and unquestioned history.  The trademarked recipe is the property of Gosling’s, which is still owned by direct descendants of its founder- and they have maintained a fairly detailed historical record. James Gosling left England in 1803, looking to expand his family’s spirits business to Virginia. On his way, he became stuck on the reefs around Bermuda for several months, and decided to stay. The climate of Bermuda was perfect and he began distilling a spiced Rum that was barrel aged, and served directly from the barrels. Around the same time, in another area of the island, the Royal British Navy began brewing a ginger based beer - perhaps as a way to combat seasickness or to reduce the alcohol content in the sailors’ daily rations. By the mid-1800’s Gosling’s Rum had been combined with ginger beer in what was to become the unofficial drink of Bermuda.

In 1914 Gosling’s began selling their rum in old British Champagne bottles reclaimed from the officers’s club. The bottles were sealed with black wax, leading to its iconic Black Seal label. Shortly thereafter, legend has it, a British soldier described the drink as “the color of a cloud that only a fool or a dead man would sail under”, which lead to the moniker “Dark and Stormy”.

In contrast to the ease of discovering the recipe and history, making the Dark and Stormy proved a bit more difficult. Per the trademark, a Dark and Stormy can only be made with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum (and they WILL enforce it). We tasted the Black Seal rum on it's own, and it did have a distinctive spice profile, and a very smooth finish. It’s fairly easy to locate at your local spirits establishment. Ginger beer, on the other hand, is a whole different story.  Neither of us were able to find it easily available in our regular grocery stores, despite having seen it in the past. Ultimately we were able to locate a decent selection at both World Market and Total Wine- depending on your area and time of year you may have better luck with local shopping options. Once we located ginger beer, we realized that there were a wide range of options. We first tried a variety that contained alcohol - it made for a VERY strong drink! For this blog, we decided to use Gosling’s “Stormy” Ginger Beer- since it was designed specifically for making a Dark and Stormy. It is a non-alcoholic variety, and tastes a lot like an old fashioned brewed ginger ale, with the distinctive ginger bite you’d find in raw or candied ginger. We really enjoyed this combination, as when mixed, the drink still contained both the flavor profile of the rum and a definite ginger bite. It wasn’t quite as refreshing as some of our other summer drinks, but it is a nice option if you want to try something new.

RECIPE 
2 oz Goslings Black Seal Rum 
Ginger Beer - as needed for glass (less than 10oz)
Optional lime wedge

Fill a highball glass with ice 
Add ginger beer- leaving enough room for the Rum
Add optional squeeze of lime and rim the glass if desired
Pour Rum on top and swirl to see the Stormy effect

(You can add Rum first, but we liked the visual effect better this way)

Obviously we had a bit of fun with our pics for this one - especially that header pic!  We truly did try to make this as a storm was coming in, but it's a bit hard to see the storm clouds in some of the pictures - so we just went all out creating our header!  But the thought is there, and a Dark and Stormy would be lovely to sit and sip on the porch watching one of those summer thunderstorms roll in!  Cheers!

Christine & Stacy

If you try one, share a picture with us in the comments! 

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Cocktail of the Month- July: GIn Rickey

Gin Rickey- light, limey refreshing; the perfect drink for hot midsummer days. And as it turns out, the perfect drink for your Fourth of July festivities. In July of 2011 the Gin Rickey was proclaimed Washington DC’s “native drink”, so it’s the perfect addition to your July 4th festivities.

The Gin Rickey has its origins at Shoomaker’s - a favorite hangout for DC Lobbyists even in the 1880’s, and is named for Colonel Joe Rickey, one of the most prolific of his time. Rickey was a well known “political fixer” and a frequent drinker at Shoomaker’s. Legend has it that he requested a cocktail of bourbon, lime juice and club soda as a hang over cure- after a night of hard drinking and political wrangling.  Over time, other patrons started asking for “Rickey’s Drink”. As gin grew in popularity, the sophisticated drinkers in DC and New York made a substitution, and it took off from there. Though you can still order a bourbon based “Joe Rickey”, it is far over shadowed by its gin descendant. Rickey, a true Southerner (and former Confederate officer) at heart, was not pleased with this development. He was on record on more than one occasion expressing his displeasure with this turn of events, and undoubtedly would not have appreciated the prime billing the drink received in his obituary.

Regardless of its storied past, and our enjoyment of good bourbons, we found the gin and lime combination to be the perfect refresher on a hot southern night. Hope that you enjoy it as well!

RECIPE
2oz Gin
Juice of 1 lime
4oz Club Soda

Fill your highball glass with ice
Add the gin and lime juice
Top with the club soda
Garnish with a lime wedge, give it a little stir and enjoy!

Cheers!
Stacy and Christine

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Cocktail of the Month - June: Classic Daquiri

With June upon us, it finally feels like summer.... hopefully the erratic temperatures and crazy rains are behind us, children are finishing up their school years, and the beach is calling us. That makes it the perfect time of year for sipping something cool and refreshing on the back porch at the end of the long day. There are plenty of sugary, frozen, trendy drinks you can serve, of course, but we find the simpler flavors of this classic much more refreshing!

According to legend, the development of the daquiri occurred as the British Navy was fighting in the Caribbean, during the 1740’s.  Historically the navy had been given a hearty beer ration, that had been reduced to a pint of rum by that time period (due to accessibility and ease of transport). Naval leaders realized the men would fight more effectively if they were a bit more sober, and so their rum ration was cut with water and lime juice- well on its way to being a daiquiri.

The drink spread to the Cuban Natives, and sugar was added, from their plentiful plantations. The drink became a combination of water, rum, sugar and lime juice- and was ultimately named for a local beach by American miners that occupied Cuba following the Spanish American War. Over time, the recipe was refined and the water was eliminated - as it was discovered that the cracked ice provided enough balance to the rum.

You can learn more about the history of the Daquiri- and it’s cousin the sugar free Hemingway Daiquiri (thanks to his diabetes)- here....

We used the Bartender’s Bible for our classic recipe- and just pictured ourselves on Daquiri Beach while drinking it.

RECIPE 

2oz Rum
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 tsp simple syrup (or to taste) 

Mix all ingredients in a shaker with cracked ice, and strain into a chilled glass. 

Cheers!
Stacy & Christine

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Cocktail of the Month - May: Bourbon Smash

Last May we featured a somewhat complicated, delicate to make, spring classic- the Mint Julep. While we had a great time figuring out the science behind the perfect julep, and it’s a great occasion drink, it was something that we wouldn’t make as a daily cocktail - too much careful attention and planning. (You can read about our julep exploits here ... )

While we were looking for classic cocktails to feature this year, we found the perfect answer - the Bourbon Smash. Much easier to make, with the same fresh flavor profile as a julep. Dating back to at least 1862, the Smash is listed as a more casual variant of the Mint Julep. Historically it’s unclear which came first- whether the Smash is a dressed down Julep or whether the Julep was a more fancy follower of the Smash. Either way, both are fabulous in their own right, and in their own situation.  A Smash is literally "smashing" the ingredients/fruits and adding spirits and ice.  So, fun to note, all Julep's are Smashes, however, all Smashes are not Juleps.

Although there have been countless variations on the Smash, with some recipes being as vague as "a spirit base, seasonal fruit, sweetener and ice", we used the most original recipe that we could locate, and ended up with the perfect sipping drink for summer nights on the porch.





RECIPE

Half a lemon, cut into 4 wedges
6-8 mint leaves
1 oz simple syrup or 1T. sugar
2 oz of your favorite bourbon

In a shaker, muddle and smash the lemon, mint, and sugar
Add bourbon
shake
Strain into a rocks glass with crushed ice or one to two large cubes
Garnish with fruit and/or mint 

Enjoy!

We hope that you enjoy this classic as much as we have - it's sure to become a summer staple for both of us! 

Cheers!
Christine and Stacy