Based on one of my favorite all time cocktails the Boulevardier, I concocted the Blackberry Bombardier as a riff on this famous classic.

• 1 1/2 oz Rye
• 3/4 oz Campari
• 3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
• 2 dashes Absinthe
• 1 Blackberry

Muddle the blackberry, add the other ingredients, shake and double strain into a coupe or over a big cube. Careful not to overdo the Absinthe, I keep mine in a dropper bottle and I do about 1.5 dropper fulls. I often make this up but decided to put it over a big cube for the photo. Garnish with a lemon peel.

The Vieux Carré

Tales of the Cocktail kicked off today in New Orleans and the buzz on twitter has me jealous that I’m not there. While no substitute for being at totc, enjoying a Vieux Carré seemed like the appropriate way to celebrate with my cocktail brethren. Vieux Carré is the french name for the french quarter (old square) of New Orleans and this cocktail was created there in 1938. Wonderfully complex and  fun to experiment with, the Vieux Carré has long been on my short list of favorite cocktails.

• 3/4 oz Rye whiskey
• 3/4 oz Cognac (or brandy)
• 3/4 oz Sweet vermouth
• 1/4 oz Benedictine
• 2 dashes Angostura
• 2 dashes Peychauds

Stir briskly and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon zest.

Del Rio cocktail from Josh Harris and Scott Baird

Photo courtesy of Liza Gershman

Today we are featuring a cocktail from Josh Harris and Scott Baird of The Bon Vivants. Through The Bon Vivants Josh and Scott are cocktail ambassadors that specialize in cocktail menu and program development, custom events, brand representation and their soon to be released line of unique bitters and bar tools. Josh and Scott are also partners in Trick Dog, with friend Jason Henton. Trick Dog is slated to open at the beginning of 2012 in the Mission District of San Francisco and will be a 30′s – 50′s inspired non-pretentious cocktail bar serving food until late in the evening.

Very excited to feature this cocktail from Josh and Scott. It has a lot of complexity with the tequila and sherry doing a great job of subduing the St. Germain into providing nice floral undertones and not taking over the flavor profile. Sante!

Del Rio

• 1 1/2 oz Tequila Plata (Josh and Scott recommend Tequila Ocho)
• 3/5 oz Fino Sherry
• 3/4 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 3 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing beaker. Add ice and stir until well chilled and diluted. Strain into a chilled coupe. Using a potato peeler, peel a small. piece of grapefruit peel, zest the top of the cocktail, rub around the top of the glass, and drop in. Enjoy.

The combination of the Tequila and Sherry is divine. I’ve been a big fan of Tequila Ocho, if you can spend the extra money it’s worth it.

My own Cazaubon Cocktail

Jacob Grier’s Scandinavian Spring

Paul Clarke’s Pisco Bell Ringer

Kim’s Pisco Sour

Dennis Schafer’s Evening in July

David’s Holland Old-Fashioned

Drink of the Week’s Deft Blue

Ed’s Sourvit and Pisco Shenzhen

Kennedy’s Jack Rose

Alex’s Transalpine Cocktail

Jordan’s Happy ‘Rack

Mackenzie’s Lapageria Rosea

Rowan’s Solar Radio

Keith P’s Batavia Arrack Daiquiri

Wang’s Ginger n’ Maryann

Dagreb’s Dolofónos

Adam Pollack’s The Hiding Quetzal

Eric Kruse’s Tofaha

Dan Chadwick’s Torres del Paine

Ereich Empey’s The Michigander

Mix n Sip’s Elephant Jam

Frederic’s Forty Virtues

Dave’s Jack Rose

Nancy’s Carmen Sandiego

Erik Ellestad’s Suffering Mixologist

Lucash Krech’s Applejack Cocktail

Lindsay’s Daddys Eggnog

Chris’s The Grasshopper Lies Heavy

Chris Elford & Tristan Willey of Amor Y Amargo NYC Rumble Seat Cocktail:

• 1.5 oz King’s County Moonshine
• 0.5 oz Lillet white
• 0.25 oz Cocchi Americano
• 6 dashes Luxardo Maraschino
• 8 drops Bittermen’s Mole Bitters

Stir, serve up. No garnish.

Jordan Gray’s The Grasshopper Lies Heavy:

Cazaubon Cocktail

I’m excited to host the June 2011 edition of Mixology Monday. I chose niche spirits for the theme. My personal favorite niche spirit is Armagnac, France’s oldest but lesser known brandy. While Cognac focuses more on creating the perfect signature blend, Armagnac celebrates the differences between different vintages. Even from the same producer, different bottlings of Armagnac can vary wildly in flavor which gives the spirit much more room for exploration.

I just got back from a trip to France where I visited the Bas-Armagnac region that is central to Armagnac production. I named my cocktail after the small town I stayed in called Cazaubon. To pair with the Armagnac, I chose Byrrh Grand Quinquina, a French fortified wine. Byrrh is a bit softer than vermouth with heavy wine flavors and just a mild quinine flavor to add bitterness.

Cazaubon

• 1 1/2 oz Armagnac (Tariquet 100% Folle Blanche 12 year)
• 3/4 oz Byrrh Grand Quinquina
• 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
• 1/4 oz Apricot Liquor (Marie Brizzard)

Shake, strain and garnish with a lemon zest.

The first place we visited was Candelaria which you enter via a non-descript door in the back of a taco shop. Candelaria has been open only a couple of months but the cocktails were top notch. Of particular note was La Guêpe Verte, a mix of pepper infused tequila, cucumber, coriander, agave, lavender and lime juice. The atmosphere was intimate and their spirit selection was top notch. Definitely worth visiting if you’re in Paris.

I was really looking forward to Prescription Cocktail Club as that was the one bar I had already heard of. It had a prohibition-era vibe, the street front had no sign and once inside it had the familiar speakeasy look that is popular in the U.S. We arrived at an unusually busy time, so we didn’t stay long but I had a Boulevardier that was well made.

The last bar we visited was Curio Parlor which was really nice inside with vintage touches and a giant stuffed peacock. Maybe it was the fact we had primo seating but I enjoyed the vibe better here than Prescription, both bars along with Experimental Cocktail Club have the same owner. Cocktails were well executed as expected and there was plenty of cocktail geekery talk at the bar.

Tequila seems to be the hot spirit in Paris. Most of the menus were somewhat Tequila heavy. Fair bit of rum, not much whiskey and surprisingly not much featuring French brandies.

Location:Rue du Sommerard,Paris,France

The staff was friendly and knowledgable and their selection was very impressive. Many American whiskies and products from Mexico have little to no distribution in Europe but LMDW is changing that. They even had Rittenhouse rye in stock which I can’t say any place in San Francisco.

Our host Stanislas let us sample some fine Armagnacs and Calvados that we were interested in, while I recognized some familiar brands they definitely carried many products from producers that are not available in the U.S. We also sampled the very last of their Rittenhouse private barrel that was exquisite. I had never seen a red label Rittenhouse before. The highlight must have been the 1956 Armagnacnwe sampled that was out of this world!

The other reason I came here was to pick up some French aperitifs that are not sold in the U.S. One I’ve already posted about but for the rest you’ll have to stay tuned to this blog.

Location:Rue du Sommerard,Paris,France

First taste is impressive, looking forward to trying it in a cocktail.

P.s. You’ll hopefully see a number of these short trip reports as I make my way through France and Spain over the next three weeks.

Location:Rue de Cluny,Paris,France

Junes theme will be “favorite niche spirit”, so any cocktail where the base ingredient is not bourbon, gin, rum, rye, tequila, vodka etc would qualify.  So whether you choose Mezcal or Armagnac get creative and showcase your favorite niche spirit.

To participate:
Have your post up on your blog by midnight on Monday June 20th. If you don’t have a blog email me at filip {at} adventuresincocktails {dot} com by Saturday June 18th with your submission and I will include it in my round-up post.

You will also need to link to this blog and link the Mixology Monday logo to their web site. Last but not least reply to this post with a link to your submission. I will post a round-up post on Tues/Weds that will have all the entries.

For more info on participating visit the mixology monday.

Piwonia

This month’s Mixology Monday is hosted by Dave from the The Bar Man Cometh blog. Dave choose Flores de Mayo – Floral Cocktails as the theme.

My mother was visiting for Mother’s Day and a floral cocktail was in order; this month’s theme was serendipitous indeed. In honor of my Polish mother the cocktail was named Piwonia, (pronounced “pivonia”), the Polish name for the peony flower. We had just bought her peonies for Mother’s Day and the hue of this cocktail matched them perfectly.

Piwonia

• 1 1/2 oz Gin
• 1/2 oz St. Germain
• 1/2 oz Lemon juice
• 2 dashes Orange bitters
• 1 dash TBT Aromatic bitters
• 1 strawberry

In a mixing glass muddle the strawberry then add the ingredients. Shake well and double strain (with a sieve) into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a rose petal for contrast (as opposed to a peony petal).