What will they think of next? (February edition)

[William M. Dowd photo]

• For this month's collection of cocktail recipes, I've chosen to start with one of my own devising, then jump to the West Coast and up to Canada for the others. Enjoy.

THE UPSTATE MANHATTAN

The borough of Manhattan, on Manhattan island, is the center of the universe for most people. So, they like to think of that area when they drink their Manhattans. However, after attending a recent trade-only seminar on New York State's emerging craft-distilling scene, it occurred to me to jump on the "Pride of New York" bandwagon that promotes state-produced food and drink to come up with my own cocktail using only Upstate ingredients.

3 parts McKenzie Rye Whiskey or Tuthilltown Baby Bourbon
1 part Warwick Valley Sour Cherry Cordial
2 dashes Fee Brothers Old Fashioned Aromatic Bitters
1 Montmorency cherry

Put whiskey, sour cherry cordial and fresh ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Stir several times, then add bitters. Stir vigorously to chill the mixture, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with Montmorency cherry. If not in season, you may use a traditional maraschino cherry. (For a tangier cocktail, substitute Fee Brothers Rhubarb Bitters.)

THE DiVINE

One of the nicest new spirits to come on the market in the past few years is G'Vine, the French grape gin distilled in the Cognac region. (See my Tasting Notes here.) Michael McDonagh, beverage director at Fisherman's Wharf-adjacent bar/club The Parlor in San Francisco has come up with a cocktail featuring it.

2 ounces G'Vine Gin
½ ounce Dimmi Italian liqueur
4 lemon slices
¼ ounce simple syrup
5 drops La tourment Vert Absinthe

Muddle lemon slices with simple syrup in a mixing glass. Add gin & Dimmi. Fill with ice. Shake and fine strain into cocktail glass. Drop absinthe over the cocktail. Garnish with lemon twist.

BACON RYE OLD FASHIONED

No, this is not a sandwich. It's a drink created at the Hoot Café in Toronto in response to the current craze for infusing spirits with bacon. It uses Canadian bacon, which Americans will argue isn't really bacon,, resembling ham instead. Your choice on what to use.


2 ounces bacon rye (recipe below)
5 milliliters Black Hoof bitters (or Angostura bitters diluted with 3 parts rye)
1 teaspoon cherry syrup
Generous length orange zest (cut with knife, not zester)
Preserved cherry for garnish

Add syrup from a jar of preserved cherries and a small piece of orange zest to a rocks glass and muddle. Add ice to fill the glass half way, then bacon rye. Stir with a bar spoon until very cold. Add ice to fill. Splash in bitters and give a final stir. Rub rest of orange zest around rim of glass and twist to extract oils. Drop zest in to drink. Garnish with skewered cherry.

Makin' Bacon Rye

Fry 2 slices high-quality smoked bacon. Let cool slightly. Put in jar along with 24 ounces high-quality rye. Let sit at room temperature for 3 days. Then put in refrigerator until completely chilled. Strain through a coffee filter. Discard bacon.

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LI Spirits spreading its wings

[William M. Dowd photo]

Rich Stabile (right) and his cohorts at Long Island Spirits are developing a reputation for never standing pat.

In addition to the LiV Vodka that has been getting strong reviews (like this one), the facillity has just started making Sono Rinata, a brandy made from Merlot grapes grown at the nearby Peconic Bay Winery.

On top of that, a line of Sorbetta Liqueurs -- lemon, orange and strawberry -- are just now coming on the market.

Stabile, who was on a Saratoga Springs panel during a seminar on New York craft-distilled products earlier this week, told me he has just put the line on sale at the Long Island Spirits distillery store in Baiting Hollow. Its major public debut, however, will be in Manhattan next week at a trade-only event called "Spirits In the City."

The liqueurs are no artificially-hyped product. Take the lemon, for example.

"It took 4,500 lemons to make 300 gallons of the lemon sorbetta," Stabile told me. "And, we peel every one of them by hand.

"We came up with a way to do that by using a hand-held electric drill. At first we tried it with just a peeler, but it was murder in the arms."

I had the opportunity to try both the orange and lemon expressions at the seminar, and enjoyed both. Go here to read my "Dowd's Tasting Notes" review of them and a batch of other NY-made spirits.

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To Dowd's Wine Notebook latest entry.
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Back to Dowd On Drinks home page.