Mixology Monday - Brandy!!
Another Monday, another cocktail . . . they almost make Monday's bearable. Almost. This months MxMo is hosted by Marleigh over at Sloshed. Thanks Marleigh!!!
I'm a lot like
runoknows, aka Sean, when it comes to Brandy. I've never really drank it, didn't know much about it and couldn't tell you the first thing about the rating system on the bottles . . . you know, VO, VOSP, XO, etc etc etc. After buying a bottle of Armangac and doing a little research, I still don't know squat about the rating system, but at least I know some tasty brandy cocktails and have a much deeper appreciation for the spirit.
For this MxMo, I headed out to Casa de Sean to work on what I wanted to post about. Plus I knew he had many more options for brandy than I.
Here is what we had to work with, E&J VSOP brandy, Captain Apple Jack, Laird's Applejack, Arrow Coffee Flavored Brandy, Hennessy XO, Macchu Pisco, Clear Creek Apple Brandy, Castarede XO armagnac, Busnel Calvados, Remy Martin VSOP cognac.
Granted, sitting there and trying a nip from every bottle would quickly lead to a post that said something to the effect of, "Yeah, I like brandy . . . " So I really felt like I had to do a little research for this.
Brandy, being one of the most venerable spirits, has quite a number to cocktails for its use. For example, CocktailDB alone has 1085 cocktail recipes using brandy. Most bar books contain pages and pages of brandy beverages. Luckily, at Sean's, I knew I also had a good library of books to consult. I also brought over two of my own books, The Bartender's Bible by Gary Regan, and Ultimate Bar Book by Mittie Hellmich. I plan on doing a review of Ms. Hellmich's book in the near future. I can tell you that it is a compendium of cocktail recipes supplemented with information on barwares, measurements, garnishes, etc. and is laid out very nicely. Once I get a chance to thumb through the entire book, I'll give ya'll a full rundown.
Here I am consulting a few books. That's Rizza who is trying to help me out. I think she likes the Clear Creek Distillery's Apple Brandy . . .
Even Rizza's brother Master Shake wanted to help. Actually, knowing Shake, he was trying to steal some brandy for his own nefarious purposes . . . Why else would he be sneaking around like that . . .
Rizza wanted to call in reinforcements (she was a little overwhelmed), but I told her that Sean and I had everything under control . . .
After looking through a lot of pages, I decided on two cocktails, not because I've had them before or because they had an interesting background story and some sort of historical undercurrent. Granted both might rightly contain a very fascinating history but none was included in the book from which they came. Instead I picked these two because they were very similar with slightly different proportions and in one case, a small additional ingredient.
The cocktails? An East India and a Bengal.
East India Cocktail
1.5 oz Brandy (armagnac)
1/4 oz Cointreau
1.5 oz pineapple juice
Dash of Agnostura
Lemon Twist
Shake all ingredients with cracked ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
As you can see, I decided to use the Armagnac for this cocktail. It seemed a little more "exotic" than flat-out brandy and I really like the Castarede XO. It has a very smooth, mellow flavor. If you aren't familiar with armagnac, read about it here.
Since I took a picture of Sean mixing, he had to get me back . . .
The East India was okay. It didn't blow me away. The first thing I noticed about this drink was that it seemed very "dry." I was under the impression that the pineapple juice and the Cointreau would make this a very sweet drink. In reality, it has a definite pineapple flavor but the armagnac mutes it quite a bit. The Cointreau actually seemed to get lost in the mix. I felt that this was just about a tiki drink with the pineapple and replacing rum with brandy. The bottom line for me is that it was a nice brandy-pineapple drink, but nothing I would make for my friends.
runoknows sez: A little too much pineapple for me. I felt like it dominated it.
Next up was the Bengal. The Bengal also contained brandy, pineapple juice and Cointreau. But it has slightly different ratios and throws a half ounce of maraschino in the mix.
Ummmm, yeah. This is where I would have put a picture of the ingredients, but I forgot to take one. Just imagine the picture above for the East India also contains a bottle of maraschino . . . there that's it.
Bengal Cocktail
1.5 oz Brandy (armagnac)
1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
1/2 oz Cointreau
1 oz pineapple juice
2 dashes bitters (I used Agnostura)
Shake all with ice and strain in a chilled cocktail glass.
Here I am giving it a good shake.
The finished product.
The Bengal was a much better cocktail. The addition of the maraschino gave it a slightly funky aroma but also served to sweeten up the drink. I also think using only an ounce of the pineapple (as opposed to the ounce and a half in the East India) helped to sweeten the drink as well. All of the parts really did add up to something very tasty. This is certainly a drink I would make my friends.
runoknows sez: Interesting, complex, "funky"-er but also more subtle than the East India.
Well, there are my two cocktails for this episode of Mixology Monday. However, since my compatriot gave ya'll three cocktails, and I certainly don't want to be one-upped. Here is a third. The drink is called a Virginia Autumn and it was my first attempt at concoctioneering. Subsequently, I've made this at parties for friends and strangers and have gotten some good feedback. Sean's father even loves them. Woot!!!
Well folks, have a nice Mixology Monday and we'll see you around the blogs. Don't forget to leave a comment if you like.
Cheers!
I'm a lot like
runoknows, aka Sean, when it comes to Brandy. I've never really drank it, didn't know much about it and couldn't tell you the first thing about the rating system on the bottles . . . you know, VO, VOSP, XO, etc etc etc. After buying a bottle of Armangac and doing a little research, I still don't know squat about the rating system, but at least I know some tasty brandy cocktails and have a much deeper appreciation for the spirit.
For this MxMo, I headed out to Casa de Sean to work on what I wanted to post about. Plus I knew he had many more options for brandy than I.
Here is what we had to work with, E&J VSOP brandy, Captain Apple Jack, Laird's Applejack, Arrow Coffee Flavored Brandy, Hennessy XO, Macchu Pisco, Clear Creek Apple Brandy, Castarede XO armagnac, Busnel Calvados, Remy Martin VSOP cognac.
Granted, sitting there and trying a nip from every bottle would quickly lead to a post that said something to the effect of, "Yeah, I like brandy . . . " So I really felt like I had to do a little research for this.
Brandy, being one of the most venerable spirits, has quite a number to cocktails for its use. For example, CocktailDB alone has 1085 cocktail recipes using brandy. Most bar books contain pages and pages of brandy beverages. Luckily, at Sean's, I knew I also had a good library of books to consult. I also brought over two of my own books, The Bartender's Bible by Gary Regan, and Ultimate Bar Book by Mittie Hellmich. I plan on doing a review of Ms. Hellmich's book in the near future. I can tell you that it is a compendium of cocktail recipes supplemented with information on barwares, measurements, garnishes, etc. and is laid out very nicely. Once I get a chance to thumb through the entire book, I'll give ya'll a full rundown.
Here I am consulting a few books. That's Rizza who is trying to help me out. I think she likes the Clear Creek Distillery's Apple Brandy . . .
Even Rizza's brother Master Shake wanted to help. Actually, knowing Shake, he was trying to steal some brandy for his own nefarious purposes . . . Why else would he be sneaking around like that . . .
Rizza wanted to call in reinforcements (she was a little overwhelmed), but I told her that Sean and I had everything under control . . .
After looking through a lot of pages, I decided on two cocktails, not because I've had them before or because they had an interesting background story and some sort of historical undercurrent. Granted both might rightly contain a very fascinating history but none was included in the book from which they came. Instead I picked these two because they were very similar with slightly different proportions and in one case, a small additional ingredient.
The cocktails? An East India and a Bengal.
East India Cocktail
1.5 oz Brandy (armagnac)
1/4 oz Cointreau
1.5 oz pineapple juice
Dash of Agnostura
Lemon Twist
Shake all ingredients with cracked ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
As you can see, I decided to use the Armagnac for this cocktail. It seemed a little more "exotic" than flat-out brandy and I really like the Castarede XO. It has a very smooth, mellow flavor. If you aren't familiar with armagnac, read about it here.
Since I took a picture of Sean mixing, he had to get me back . . .
The East India was okay. It didn't blow me away. The first thing I noticed about this drink was that it seemed very "dry." I was under the impression that the pineapple juice and the Cointreau would make this a very sweet drink. In reality, it has a definite pineapple flavor but the armagnac mutes it quite a bit. The Cointreau actually seemed to get lost in the mix. I felt that this was just about a tiki drink with the pineapple and replacing rum with brandy. The bottom line for me is that it was a nice brandy-pineapple drink, but nothing I would make for my friends.
runoknows sez: A little too much pineapple for me. I felt like it dominated it.
Next up was the Bengal. The Bengal also contained brandy, pineapple juice and Cointreau. But it has slightly different ratios and throws a half ounce of maraschino in the mix.
Ummmm, yeah. This is where I would have put a picture of the ingredients, but I forgot to take one. Just imagine the picture above for the East India also contains a bottle of maraschino . . . there that's it.
Bengal Cocktail
1.5 oz Brandy (armagnac)
1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
1/2 oz Cointreau
1 oz pineapple juice
2 dashes bitters (I used Agnostura)
Shake all with ice and strain in a chilled cocktail glass.
Here I am giving it a good shake.
The finished product.
The Bengal was a much better cocktail. The addition of the maraschino gave it a slightly funky aroma but also served to sweeten up the drink. I also think using only an ounce of the pineapple (as opposed to the ounce and a half in the East India) helped to sweeten the drink as well. All of the parts really did add up to something very tasty. This is certainly a drink I would make my friends.
runoknows sez: Interesting, complex, "funky"-er but also more subtle than the East India.
Well, there are my two cocktails for this episode of Mixology Monday. However, since my compatriot gave ya'll three cocktails, and I certainly don't want to be one-upped. Here is a third. The drink is called a Virginia Autumn and it was my first attempt at concoctioneering. Subsequently, I've made this at parties for friends and strangers and have gotten some good feedback. Sean's father even loves them. Woot!!!
Well folks, have a nice Mixology Monday and we'll see you around the blogs. Don't forget to leave a comment if you like.
Cheers!