Sunday, January 20, 2013

Mixology Monday LXIX

This month's Mixology Monday is being hosted by Jordan of Chemistry of the Cocktail.  His blog is one of my favorites currently, which has really gotten into a groove during this last year of 2012.  Do yourself a favor and put his site onto your RSS feed or your weekly rounds.


Jordan's theme for this month is fortified wines.  Why does he seem to exclude vermouth from this theme?  Probably because vermouth would be too easy.  Either way, I'm up for the challenge.

This is a drink that I created years ago and return to often.  It began, as things do, when I was trying to drain some almost-dead bottles in my playroom.

In creating the drink, I realized that brandy and Madeira go very well together but that it was missing something.  As with many cocktails, it was bitters that it needed to tie the other ingredients together.  Let that be a lesson, if you've not already learned it.


Original Remix



Later That Day

1.5 oz Cognac (or brandy)
1 oz Madeira (substitute Amontillado sherry if you must)
1 dash orange bitters
1 dash simple syrup

Build over ice in an Old Fashioned glass.  No garnish.




Saturday, January 12, 2013

Yardarm & Omniglot


It was almost a year ago for Mixology Monday that I posted about the Main Brace tiki drink. The loveliness of the drink aside, the post contained a bit of history on the nautical significance of the mainbrace and its importance in historic drinking terminology.

A gent named Simon Ager over at the Omniglot blog explains a bit more about the relationship between booze and sea vessel anatomy with the yardarm. Simon's websites Omniglot and Omniglot blog are rich online resources for anyone interested in language(s), and I highly recommend them. Check out his post here.