Pall Mall

Today, we're talking about Pall Mall, the cocktail, not the cigarette manufacturer.  I remember the cigarettes though.  In college, the smokers bought the cheapest packs available, and Pall Mall cigarettes fit the bill.  I also remember on the packaging, Pall Mall used the phrase "In Hoc Signo Vinces", meaning in this sign you will conquer.

I always found this a curious tagline for a cigarette manufacturer.  The phrase stems from Constantine, the Roman emprorer, and his conversion to Christianity upon allegedly seeing the sign of the cross.  I say allegedly because I think it's far more likely Constantine saw the benefits of mass rule under Christianity, as opposed to actually seeing a vision. 

In any event, what is Pall Mall, the cigarette manufacturer, trying to say by using this tagline?  And if the line is to be taken literally, what exactly will Pall Mall's smoking audience conquer when smoking under their brand?  Seems a bit grandiose to me.  I guess we should all set such high goals, eh?

Today though, we ditch the smokes, and turn to the drink of the same name - the Pall Mall!

American Bar, page 200
Pall Mall

1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
1 teaspoon white creme de menthe
Dash of Angostura bitters

Stir the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

For this cocktail, I'm using the last of the Bombay Sapphire (going to have to run to the store for a new bottle), Martini Rossi Dry Vermouth, Gallo Sweet Vermouth, DeKuyper Creme de Menthe, and Angostura Bitters.

This has a pretty weird range of flavors.  The mint is the first flavor, you can smell it before taking your first sip.  Soon, thereafter, you'll taste the sweet vermouth.  Sweet vermouth has a way of pronouncing itself in cocktails, little else seems to be as sweet in the same way.  The last distinct flavor is the gin, though, the gin is really taking a backseat to the mint and sweet vermouth, and it is abundantly clear that I could have used a far lesser gin than Bombay Sapphire. 

I don't love this drink.  I like mint too, so this is a bit disappointing.  I just don't think the sweet vermouth pairs well with the rest of the drinks contents.  And the bitters are heavily masked by the mint, which makes me question its addition to the ingredient list.  I'm sure it adds a spice element that would otherwise not exist if the bitters were not included, but even so, its not adding a noticeably agreeable flavor.

I think mint flavored cocktails, or at a minimum those cocktails featuring creme de menthe, are fickle beasts.  Mint doesn't pair well with everything.  In fact, it doesn't pair well with most things.  That's why eating food after brushing one's teeth is usually an awkward experience.  Pairing mint with sweet wine, which is essentially what sweet vermouth is, seems awful in theory.  Perhaps the reason this cocktail isn't a complete failure is that there are enough additional ingredients to mask what could otherwise have been a debacle of a pairing, the mint flavors with sweet vermouth.

I don't think the Pall Mall is something I would ever order at a bar or restaurant. There are far better gin based drinks, and though I don't pretend to be an authority on mint cocktails, there have to be better choices (ex. the Stinger).

Tom Collins

The Tom Collins is another cocktail classic.  Everyone has heard of it, not everyone has consumed one. 

I have had a Tom Collins before, and if my memory serves me well, it reminded me of a flat and off-tasting Sprite.  Mind you, this was when I was around 18 years old or so, and at the time, I had no palate for cocktails.  If it was sweet, I could drink it.  I was also using a Tom Collins mix, which, much like the sour drinks of old I talked about yesterday, the Tom Collins mix was made entirely of sugar. 

Today's recipe though, is free of such shenanigans, and will taste miles better. 

The Tom Collins is an old drink, its origins dating back to 1874.  Then, "Tom Collins" was the name of a fictitious hooligan, a rather innocuous hoax that was featured in multiple newspapers.  Papers printed reports of a troublemaker named Tom Collins, and the name began to stick on various drinks in 1876. 

Here is the recipe:

Tom Collins
American Bar, page 187

3/4-1 oz lemon juice
1/4-3/4 oz sugar syrup
2 oz gin
soda
stemmed cherry
lemon

Stir first three ingredients well over ice cubes in a Collins glass, fill with soda, add cherry and lemon slice.

For the Tom Collins, I'll be using Bombay Sapphire gin, Nellie and Joe's Famous Key West Lemon Juice, Schweppes club soda, and simple syrup from Fresh Market.

This is chuggable.  I had to catch myself from downing this drink at an extreme clip. 

Quick sidebar:  Those that know me, know that I have a tendency to chug everything I drink, especially water.  I don't know where this stems from; I've consumed absurd amounts of water ever since I was a kid.  I don't normally chug beer though, for whatever the reason.  I can, if need be (the old college case-races, 2 on 2...good times).  Anyway, as a result of this tendency, when something is as tasty as the Tom Collins, I have to force myself not to down it too quickly.  If only this were my lone quirk.

As I was saying - the Tom Collins is chuggable.  Like many of the drinks featured of late, this is a brilliant cocktail for warm weather, in part because of the large ice cubes that make the cocktail more akin to an ice tea than a martini.  You'll be reminded of a light lemonade, perfect to cool you off.

And it doesn't taste like a Sprite in the slightest.  You can easily taste the lemon juice, which pairs nicely with the gin.  Bombay Sapphire has really nice fruit notes as it is, and the lemon juice and gin go together like Lennon and McCartney. 

The Tom Collins receives an unequivocal recommendation.  But don't buy a mix.  I implore you, please.  Do. Not. Buy. A. Mix.

Do though, have an excellent weekend.  And let me know how the drinks are going - love hearing feedback from those who have made recipes and written in.  As always, I appreciate your readership!

Cheers!



For more content, updates, random musings, and my attempts to be witty, check us out @IMakeDrinks on Twitter.

Alexander

Today we're drinking the Alexander.  According to The Ultimate Bar Book, the recipe we're using - with gin - is the traditional form of the drink.  A newer twist on the old Alexander, with brandy (aptly named the Brandy Alexander, duh) has since become more popular. 

I'm all for the classics so we're starting with the gin-based version of the Alexander.  At some point we'll compare the two drinks to see which is better, but I have a feeling that the heavy cream may drown out much of the distinction between the gin and brandy tastes.

Recipe
The Ultimate Bar Book, page 174

Alexander

1 ounce gin
3/4 ounce white crème de cacao
3/4 ounce heavy cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Shake the liquid ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and sprinkle with nutmeg. 

For this receipe, I'm using Bombay Sapphire Gin, DeKuyper crème de cacao, heavy cream from the nearby Kroger, and ground nutmeg from Trader Joe's.  I looked for some nutmeg that I could freshly grate, but had trouble finding any.  I'll keep looking though, as this is the second drink that's called for the ingredient, and there's likely a vast difference between freshly grated, and already ground.

Immediately after throwing everything together in the mixing glass, the drink looks like any other cocktail with heavy cream.

I would describe this drink as a more refreshing version of a white russian.  You'll taste the chocolate from the white crème de cacao, and the cream adds the frothy milk component that makes it a really smooth combination. 

The above recipe is quite small though, and while at first thought, one might think that doubling the recipe is in order, I would caution you.  Drinking heavy cream is not enjoyable in large quantities.  It's like anything else that's incredibly rich (and not particularly good for you), consume it sparingly if you want to enjoy it.  In other words, don't run off drinking heavy cream en masse.

I finished the drink off quickly because it's quite tasty, and not particularly alcohol-heavy.  As posited above, the heavy cream masks much of the gin flavor, which, if you're like me and you like gin, is a shame.  Other recipes I've seen call for light cream, or sweet cream, and not heavy cream.  I don't pretend to know the distinctions between each of these versions of cream, but I would say that you're probably OK using half and half, or something similar, as opposed to the big boy, heavy cream.

One other note: I continually referred to the recipe appearing similar to the Toreador, because of the crème de cacao and the nutmeg.  No way.  Not even close.  I was dead wrong.  The heavy cream, and probably more importantly, the lack of tequila, make these two drinks entirely different from one another.

Tomorrow, we're drinking the Kamikaze Cocktail.  Barca, the Official Mascot of the Amateur Mixologist, has been on a keen look out for kamikaze pilots since I first mentioned the drink on Monday.  Here's a photo of her in action (notice the "keen look out death stare" - she's ruthless, this one!):

Until tomorrow my friends!

For more content, updates, random musings, and my attempts to be witty, check us out @IMakeDrinks on Twitter.

Gimlet

[Update:  I forgot to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day! Be safe out there, and enjoy the festivities.  If you need a drink, try an Irish Coffee!]

The Gimlet is a classic cocktail, though there appear to be a thousand different variations on the recipe. As you'll see below, American Bar calls for a combination of nearly equal parts gin and Rose's lime juice. Other recipes call for 4 parts gin to 1 part lime juice. These quantities appear to be the outer boundaries of the gin-to-lime-juice-combinations for this drink.

Even the lime juice to be used isn't uniform. Some recipes call for real lime juice with simple syrup (kind of a Rose's lime juice combination all its own), others call for fresh squeezed lime juice, and of course Rose's lime juice appears all the time in Gimlet recipes.

The Gimlet is another example of the multitude of ways of making old, traditional cocktails. Short of a basic dry martini, it seems as though every bartender has thrown a twist upon these classic drinks, yet these bartenders keep calling the cocktails by their original namesake. 

Bartender Johnny makes his Gimlet with equal parts gin and lime juice, and then throws in a dill pickle as a garnish.  Johnny may be an idiot with the pickle garnish, but who cares?  Shouldn't he be afforded some leeway - particularly if people are enjoying his variation?  I see nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, there are purists who believe there is only way to make a drink.

I'm all for tradition, don't get me wrong. Though if among the traditionalists, even they can't get their recipes to look the same, I think it's fair for a little variation here and there. Purists shouldn't have the last word, particularly when drinks are meant to be enjoyed - they are a form a pleasure after all (though the Jack Rose is evidence that cocktails can be an effective form of torture).

Here is the finished product - the Gimlet cocktail:

And here is how we get there:

Recipe
American Bar, page 105

2 oz gin
1 3/4 oz Rose's lime juice

Stire well over ice cubes in a mixing glass, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

For the Gimlet, I used Bombay Sapphire.  I'm a big fan of the ol' B.S. (err, wait, that doesn't sound as appealing...strike that)...the ol' Sapphire, having used it in the Classic Martini recipe.

I've had Gimlets before, but it's been a long time.  They're good.  The one I made was tasty, but, I must admit that I have an aversion to large quantities of Rose's lime juice, as I would argue this recipe contains a little too much of the lime juice.  Perhaps it's all the SoCo-and-lime shots I had in college, but Rose's is a little syrupy for my tastes.  If I were to make another Gimlet, off-recipe, I'd likely go with less Rose's, so as to make the gin flavors that much more prominant.  Gimlets are really easy to whip together, and when trying this at home, just use more or less lime juice to taste.

Gimlets, along with martinis, were likely at one time the equivalent of our simple 2-ingredient combinations of today.  Whereas now, we drink gin and tonics, Jack and cokes, vodka and Red Bulls - at one time, drinkers consumed gin and vermouth, or in the case of the Gimlet, gin and Rose's lime juice. 

Perhaps next time you're thinking of throwing back another G&T, go with the G'n'R instead - you'll feel like you're going old school, and it will taste just as good.  And yes, that's right folks, I somehow aligned the Gimlet cocktail with Guns N' Roses.  Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week.

Drink Two - The Classic Martini

I had a soccer game tonight, which made the idea of drinking sound equally good and bad.  That is, bad before hand, and good afterwards.

We lost.  Score: 8-3.

I'll be honest with you, I'm not adding a whole lot to the squad.  There was a time when I was good at soccer, but that was 18 years ago.  Now, I'm lucky if I dribble successfully for a pace or two.

My favorite part of the gameplay?  The intensity and the shit talking.  There is so much shit talking coming from aged men, it looks like each of them just finished watching a Chris Rock special, got inspired, and thought up some lines to use in the match.

Some of the trash talk is an epic failure. 

A lot of it is in the realm of what I'll call the Fading Trash Talker.  This is when a guy starts complaining, maybe even starts down a nice path of what will be a derogatory statement and then...and then...nothing.  Either the game distracts him, or he just lost a train of thought.  These guys aren't all that old either.  It's as though their brain is suffering from a lack of oxygen, and these half-thoughts are the end result.

It was fun, even in the loss. 

Tonight's drink: The Martini. 

This has to be the most famous drink in history, right?  It's everywhere.  It's in movies, TV shows, it's a popular draw at nightlife locations (half price Martini Thursdays, etc.).  Truly everywhere.

But, I don't drink martinis!  Not historically anyway.  I've probably ordered a martini a few times and never really loved them - not enough to order one again and again.  I like gin so maybe I should like it more than I do.

And I'm going to put this out there - a dirty martini is not good!  I'm sorry ladies, it's not.  It's salt water.  It's also guaranteed to give you the worst fucking hangover imaginable.  You know what gives you a hangover?  More than anything else, it's dehydration.  So what do you think happens when you consume a pound of salt from 2-3 dirty martini's?  It's bound to hurt you, hard, the next day.

Let's get down to brass tacks...the drink:

The Recipe

Classic Martini

The Ultimate Bar Book, page 192

2 ounces gin or vodka
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
Lemon twist or green cocktail olive

Stir the gin and vermouth in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Run the lemon peal around the rim, twist it over the drink and drop it in, or simply drop in the olive.

I used Bombay Sapphire gin, Martini & Rossi Extra Dry vermouth, and went the easy route with a simple green olive.  I like gin more than vodka, hence the reason I went with gin.

Alright, so how's this thing taste?  I love it.  Seriously, it's outstanding.

I'm surprised by this, though I'm not sure why.  I guess I just never had a memorable experience with the drink before.

It's like drinking really good cold gin.  I don't know how much flavor the vermouth is adding, because there is kind of a fruit forward taste to the drink - all of which I'm attributing to the gin. 

It's great though.  I might have to make this a regular order.  And, without having had the lemon twist, I can't imagine that it'd be a prudent addition.  The drink, with Bombay Sapphire anyway, probably doesn't need any more fruit or citrus flavor to it - it might too much of a good thing.  The olive doesn't add much, until I eat it I suppose, but even then, its a nice counterbalance to the rest of the drink.

Very solid, all around.