Post by goofyballer on Dec 21, 2022 5:41:11 GMT
Using this primarily as a note-taking thread during our intermission here, but also welcoming any other enthusiasts to discuss great drinks, whatever form they come in.
We're hosting Christmas dinner (for the first time!) this year and I'm working on a holiday cocktail to serve. I was inspired by the amaretto sour, thinking that the amaretto already gives it a nice holiday-esque character, and with a little more backbone to balance its sweetness it could potentially be an elite holiday drink. I've been experimenting over the last 4-5 days to get it there.
I started with a recipe from a book I got recently, which is (it uses ml for all its measurements so I've started doing the same, 30ml is about 1oz)
25ml bourbon
45ml amaretto
30ml lemon juice
5ml simple syrup (optional)
This is a good drink, certainly, but for our holiday purposes I think it's a little on the sweet side. Some quick changes I liked were...
- change bourbon -> rye, add 5ml
- 5ml less lemon juice to make it less obviously citrusy
- no simple syrup
- add bitters
That's a solid start, but I mentioned the idea to my wife of integrating spices like cinnamon or something and she pulled out some spices to smell and ponder. Nutmeg I wasn't so into, but allspice and clove smelled intriguing and like they could be good additions. Further research showed that you can actually buy an allspice liqueur: St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram.
I just picked up a bottle tonight. It's only 45 proof and a little on the sweet side on its own (not crazy overpowering like bitters), and looking up drink recipes that use it it seems like they mostly use 0.25-0.5 oz. So I gave this recipe a shot, trying to account for the additional sweetness of the allspice liqueur:
35ml rye
40ml amaretto
30ml lemon juice
15ml allspice dram
dash of bitters
Results: I think I really like this? I feel like it hits exactly the notes I'm going for - adding some holiday spice to the really pleasant sweet almond, the lemon juice feels really nicely balanced. I'll try tweaking various quantities over the next few days (maybe a little less allspice just to see if it's more pleasant when less strong) but for my first creative cocktail endeavor, this feels like a solid W.
Anyone else got holiday drinks they like?
We're hosting Christmas dinner (for the first time!) this year and I'm working on a holiday cocktail to serve. I was inspired by the amaretto sour, thinking that the amaretto already gives it a nice holiday-esque character, and with a little more backbone to balance its sweetness it could potentially be an elite holiday drink. I've been experimenting over the last 4-5 days to get it there.
I started with a recipe from a book I got recently, which is (it uses ml for all its measurements so I've started doing the same, 30ml is about 1oz)
25ml bourbon
45ml amaretto
30ml lemon juice
5ml simple syrup (optional)
This is a good drink, certainly, but for our holiday purposes I think it's a little on the sweet side. Some quick changes I liked were...
- change bourbon -> rye, add 5ml
- 5ml less lemon juice to make it less obviously citrusy
- no simple syrup
- add bitters
That's a solid start, but I mentioned the idea to my wife of integrating spices like cinnamon or something and she pulled out some spices to smell and ponder. Nutmeg I wasn't so into, but allspice and clove smelled intriguing and like they could be good additions. Further research showed that you can actually buy an allspice liqueur: St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram.
I just picked up a bottle tonight. It's only 45 proof and a little on the sweet side on its own (not crazy overpowering like bitters), and looking up drink recipes that use it it seems like they mostly use 0.25-0.5 oz. So I gave this recipe a shot, trying to account for the additional sweetness of the allspice liqueur:
35ml rye
40ml amaretto
30ml lemon juice
15ml allspice dram
dash of bitters
Results: I think I really like this? I feel like it hits exactly the notes I'm going for - adding some holiday spice to the really pleasant sweet almond, the lemon juice feels really nicely balanced. I'll try tweaking various quantities over the next few days (maybe a little less allspice just to see if it's more pleasant when less strong) but for my first creative cocktail endeavor, this feels like a solid W.
Anyone else got holiday drinks they like?