#81: Apple Martini 2

1/2 oz Orange Liquer
1/2 oz Sour Apple Liquer
3 oz Vodka
Dash of Cognac or Brandy
Combine in a mixing glass filled with ice and shake
Strain into a chilled glass, and garnish with a lime

There is a note at the end of this recipe to see the Sour Apple Martini later in the book. Flipping to that page, I saw that this has the brandy, the orange liquer, and uses a lime as garnish. It will be interesting to see the difference in tastes, but that is a long way down the road.

Now this was a Martini! The apple flavor was perfectly balanced with the vodka, and there was more crispness to this version than the one yesterday. The regular vodka instead of the apple vodka provided more of a bite.

The orange liquer injects just a tiny touch of noticeable flavor, but the lime garnish really makes this drink stand out. Running it around the outer rim of the glass before sipping really enhanced all the other flavors, and in my opinion made this a top notch drink.

I wasn't sure what the brandy added to this, other than giving it the smallest bit of depth on the flavor profile. Otherwise without it I think the drink would fall a bit flat. It certainly doesn't take much to make a drink better, as long as it is just the right ingredient. The brandy also adds some obvious color. Again not much, but it is noticeable.

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When my wife and I take our dog for a walk, we almost always take her alone, otherwise she gets distracted from the task at hand and thinks it is play time. Getting her to do her business can then take half an evening.

When we come in, we have had to let each other know what she has done, so the other person knows what to expect, how long it might be until next walk, and about how long that walk will be.

One day the dog had accomplished both tasks in a relatively short amount of time, and I decided to give it a code name. We now call getting both done on one walk "pulling a Lawrence Welk", as in "a-one and a-two".* It just sounds so urbane. Well, maybe just better than shouting out the alternative every time you walk through the door. I sear we spend more time talking about her bowel movements than anything else. (the dog's not my wife's) My wife rolled her eyes and thought it was the stupidest thing ever when I first said it, but now she does it too, almost every time. Sometime humor just has to grow on you.

*If you don't get this, you are much younger than me, obviously. Find a grandparent, or at least someone over 40, to explain. Then get off my lawn.

#73: Antiquan Smile

1 1/2 oz Dark Rum
1/2 oz Banana Liquer
Pinch of Powdered Sugar
Combine ingredients in a tall glass with ice, fill with orange juice, shake, and garnish with lime

Compared to yesterday's drink, this seemed more like inetersting. The dark rum made this a darker color, and the flavor came through the orange juice nicely. Sadly, I really couldn't taste the banana.

Again, if I had used a tall glass, I feel that this would have been too much orange juice, and it would have overpowered the rest of the drink. So this time I actually remade the drink in a shorter glass, as you can see in the photo. I wanted to actually be able to taste the other flavors this time, and it worked.

This was definitely a better drink in a shorter glass. I could taste the rum, and just the tiniest hint of banana. The pinch of sugar cut the tiny amount of lime from the garnish, and everything went together very nicely, flavors complementing each other throughout. The entire drinking experience was much, much better.

As I read through other parts of the Bartender's Black Book, I came across the section on which glasses to use for different drinks. One of the things I really like about this drink guide is that the author doesn't promote specific brands of alcohol, so you are free to make swill or ambrosia, you and your wallet decide. The section on glassware also does not discriminate. He basically says to use whatever glass you feel is appropriate for the drink and the situation. So for those drinks that call for being made in a tall glass, I have been using a fairly tall Collins glass, which run about 10-14 oz, and are narrower than a highball glass. Mine is at the upper end of that scale, and I think that I have been making drinks that are a bit too diluted for my taste. When I remade this drink, I opted for what would actually be a double Old Fashioned glass (12-16 oz), so called because it is a little less than twice the size of an Old Fashioned glass (6-10 oz). They got the name from the cocktail called the Old Fashioned, which many mixology historians consider the first true cocktail. It seems to have made quite a difference.

Anyway, back to the drink. I am not normally a big fan of juiced based cocktails, but in the end this was pretty good. It did have an odd color to it though, which was a little off putting, but the flavors were nice and refreshing. Certainly a winner in the end.

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I wanted to start a little experiment in my non-drink writing today, and see where it takes me. I want to explore a bit of the Tetrapharmakos, or the Greek "four-part cure". The Greek philosopher Epicurus in the 3rd century BC originally created remedy of four drugs for leading the happiest possible life. They were wax, tallow, pitch, and resin. But the word Tetrapharmakos came to be used metaphorically by Epicurus and his disciples to refer to the four remedies for healing the soul. They are:


• Don't fear god
• Don't worry about death
• What is good is easy to get
• What is terrible is easy to endure

They all boil down to a quote from Epicurus:

"The fundamental obstacle to happiness is anxiety"

Over the next few days I want to explore each of the four remedies, and see if they can lead me to a happier life.

Check out today's featured item.

#55: American Graffiti

1/2 oz Light Rum
1/2 oz Dark Rum
1/2 oz Southern Comfort
1/2 oz Sloe Gin
Pour ingredients into a tall glass filled with ice, add a dash of sweetened lime juice, and fill with equal amounts sour mix and pineapple juice.
Shake, and garnish with lime.

Here's an interesting tidbit I dug up today. It looks like drinking can help you save weight!



Calories in Various Foods

Beer, 12 fl. oz.         145
Beer, light, 12 fl. oz.     100
Liquor, 100 proof, 1 fl. oz.     83
Liquor, 80 proof, 1 fl. oz.     65
Liquor, 86 proof, 1 fl. oz.     70
Liquor, 90 proof, 1 fl. oz.     74

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George Lucas and Harrison Ford need not apply here.

This is a nice looking drink, turning much more red than I imagined while looking at the ingredients. It smelled quite strongly of pineapple juice, which isn't so bad, but I was a bit wary as I have not had great luck with previous drinks containing it.

Flavor-wise, the sour mix and the pineapple juice blended perfectly though, and the different rums floated nicely in the background, while the Southern Comfort spiciness layered on top. Overall it was not too sweet, and surprisingly quite refreshing. Interestingly it did not have as much of an alcohol "bite" as I had imagined.

I would make this drink anytime, especially on hot summer evenings. I'm sure most of us would agree about this time of year that we could use some of those.

Check out today's featured item.