The Harvest Moon

So, those of you who know me know that I have a real thing for Crème de Violette--it's so sweet and floral and reminiscent of violet pastilles. The only Crème de Violette currently on the market in the U.S. is by Rothman and Winter. They also make a wide variety of other "Orchard Liqueurs," although they're a challenge to find (at least in our parts). However, this weekend we found the Orchard Apricot Liqueur at Surdyk's in Minneapolis. 

Orchard Apricot Liqueur, according to the Haus Alpenz website, "combines juice from the seasonal harvest of Austria’s famed Klosterneuberger apricots (known locally as "Marillen") with an eau-de-vie produced from this same fruit." The flavor is sweetly apricot with a boozy punch. 

On our drive home from Minneapolis (two and a half hours in blinding snow) I came up with the idea to make a variation on the Blue Moon--I even came up with a name for this drink, "Harvest Moon," for what I imagined would be the glow of a combination of Plymouth Gin, Orchard Apricot Liqueur, and lemon juice. Tonight, the Harvest Moon was born!

Okay, so it wasn't as orange in color as I imagined it would be, but it was completely delicious. Peyton added a few dashes of Peychaud's, which was a smart decision since the apricot is very sweet and the bitters cut the sweetness and added a bit more depth to the cocktail. After the Harvest Moon, I'm going to try this liqueur in champagne for an Apricot Royal. 

Ingredients:
2 oz. Plymouth Gin
1/2 oz. Orchard Apricot Liqueur
1/2 oz. lemon juice
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Add the first three ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a glass and add bitters.

The Seelbach

I'm from Kentucky, and around here, everyone starts talking mint juleps in May, at Derby time. I have never liked mint juleps, and frankly, I don't know many people who do like them, but we all drink them on Derby Day. A couple of times, I got by with putting bourbon and ginger ale in my julep cup, but then I discovered the Seelbach cocktail. This cocktail is named for the Seelbach Hotel, where it was introduced in 1917 at its famous bar.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was once kicked out of the Seelbach for having a bit too much bourbon, and Al Capone was a regular there, as well. Movie stars and presidents have stayed there, and it's on the National Register of Historic Places. I decided that the Seelbach cocktail is an even better tribute to the beautiful city of Louisville, where the Derby takes place, and considerably more delicious than a mint julep, so now that's what I drink on the first Saturday in May.

1.5 oz bourbon
1/2 oz Cointreau
7 dashes Angostura bitters
7 dashes Peychauds bitters

Stir with ice in a mixing glass, strain into a cocktail glass or a flute glass, and top with champagne. Garnish with an orange peel.

Yes, that's 14 dashes of bitters.

The Seelbach is probably my favorite bourbon cocktail, and one of my favorite of all cocktails.

The Sazerac

I have a real fascination with the history of New Orleans and in particular, the cocktails of the area. Our last post was the Stormy Morning, created in New Orleans. I'm going to continue the NOLA thread with the Sazerac.

At its core, the Sazerac is a variety of an Old Fashioned--it has a spirit, bitters, and sugar--but this goes a bit farther with the addition of absinthe. Traditionally, the drink is mixed using two glasses. The glass the drink is served in has an absinthe rinse (that means you pour a little in the glass, swish it around, and dump out whatever doesn't stick to the glass) and the second glass is where you actually mix the ingredients together. The drink is then poured into the rinsed glass and served.

Originally, the Sazerac was made with cognac, specifically, Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils. Around 1850, Sewell Taylor sold his tavern and began importing this cognac. The fellow (Aaron Bird) who bought Taylor's bar renamed it the Sazerac House and started serving, you guessed it, the Sazerac Cocktail. The cognac was joined by Peychaud's Bitters, which were created right down the street by Antoine Amadie Peychaud, a local druggist. The cognac switched to rye around 1870, during a Phylloxera epidemic in France that devastated their grape crops. Supposedly, the Sazerac is America's oldest cocktail, whether that's true or not is probably up for debate, like most cocktail history. Regardless of that, though, the Sazerac is the official cocktail of New Orleans, and that's pretty cool.

Currently, the Sazerac Company owns Sazerac Rye, Peychaud's Bitters, and about twenty different bourbon distilleries. Their website is pretty amazing, in an Internet circa 2001 sort of way, so you should really check it out.

I pulled this recipe from the Savoy Cocktail book, but there are obviously a ton of variations out there, including one from the Sazerac page. As a note, if you're using the Savoy, you'll notice that the measurements are, well, a bit odd. There are units of measurement like wine-glass, dessert-spoon, and hooker (!). I did a quick search and found this very useful page: Traditional Units of Measure Pertaining to Mixology. I bookmarked it; you should, too. Anyway, the ingredients:

• 1 Lump of sugar
• 1 Dash Angostura or Peychaud's Bitters (I used Peychaud's)
• 1 Glass rye or Canadian Club Whiskey (I used Sazerac Rye)
• 1 Dash of absinthe (I used Absente)

Mix all ingredients except absinthe in a glass, strain into a chilled glass, and top with one dash of absinthe. Garnish with a lemon peel. 

This is definitely a very aromatic drink. I would say the absinthe is mainly an olfactory addition; the rye covers the taste of it fairly well, although the tiniest amount of absinthe has the ability to cut through basically any other liquid. The bitters are also an aromatic addition, but you can taste both the absinthe and the bitters ever so slightly. I love this drink, but the first time I made one, I was completely overwhelmed by the absinthe. After that first shock, though, it grew on me, and now I have them on a regular-ish basis. So, if you make one and you think, WHOA, don't give up! Think on it for a few days and make another because you might be surprised.