Chicken Angel » Booze

Nocino

Kelsey — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:45:21 +0000

Emily made a batch of Nocino with this recipe this year to celebrate her birthday and we just finished bottling it tonight. The walnuts were a little ahead of us this year and may have been a little too mature. It is also a little citrusy and doesn’t have the depth that we hoped for but it is supposed to improve with time. Most recipes call for letting it age at least 6 months. I think that next time we’ll add few coffee beans to the infusion – this may be one of the flavors that leaves ours wanting when compared to Nocino Bella Cristina.

Then we found these traditional nocino (or translated by google) recipes.

Milk Maid

Kelsey — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:01:42 +0000

3/4oz Nocino della Cristina
1/2 oz Galliano
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz citrus infused vodka
1 oz cream
1 egg white

Shake, with ice, serve in a cocktail class. Maybe with a preserved cherry or lemon twist spritzed around the rim.

We’ve been searching for a cocktail to features Nocino della Cristina but haven’t had a lot of success until now. That amazing walnutiness comes through clearly neither fighting with or overpowering the other spirits. The Cointreau and infused vodka lend just a hint of citrus that peaks through the otherwise dark, herbally flavor.

We’ll try it with Grand Marnier and cognac next but I suspect the Cointreau and vodka keep it from becoming too heavy.

We’re looking forward to celebrating St. John the Baptist this year in addition to Emily’s birthday to the heady smell of black-end fingers and chattering of the squirrels by making our own Nocino.

Mustapha Cocktail

Kelsey — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 02:19:41 +0000

1 1/2 oz. gin
1/2 oz creme de casis
1/4 oz fresh lime juice (not syrup, please – it’s sweet enough already!)
1 egg white
a generous dash or two of Tabasco Sauce

Shake with plenty of ice and strain, serve up.

This is a surprisingly tasty cocktail and has been featured frequently since its discovery while trying to find something to mix with the bottle of Gabriel Boudier Dijon Creme de Cassis that we picked up. We like it on the hot side. The Tabasco balances out the sweetness of the creme de cassis which would otherwise be overpowering.

Kelsey’s not going to comment on this one

Kelsey — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 04:21:49 +0000

I wanted to make something with the Cherry Heering (mostly because I just really like saying “Cherry Heering” because of the way it makes me want to say “Cherry Herring” which makes me think of swedish fish, which, really, taste-wise, is not far off) and I found recipes for Singapore Slings and variations of, from which I concocted my own devious cocktail.

And when I say “devious”, I obviously mean “grossly sweet and girly”. I didn’t mean for it to be so. But I guess you can’t have Cherry Heering, Benedictine and St. Germain together without getting something, you know, sweet.

So here it is. A drink we may never try again. It’s not bad, really, just wussy.

1 1/2 oz Junipero gin

1/2 oz Cherry Heering

1/4 oz Benedictine

1/4 oz St. Germain

1/4 oz lime juice

dash(es) Angostura bitters

Shake gently with ice, strain into glass and top with soda water.

Saint Revivers

Kelsey — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 06:30:25 +0000

When I first tasted St. Germain I wasn’t confident that we’d be able to mix it well. Too floral. Too tropical. Too different. But, very, very delicious; Emily’s been sneaking it neat. However, I read that it should work well in place of Cointreau. In comes the Corpse Reviver Variation #2, a fabulous drink featuring my many of my favorite spirits: Gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, and Pastis… Especially the Pastis.

Saint Reviver #1

3/4 oz Junipero Gin
3/4 oz Saint Germain
3/4 oz Lillet Blanc
3/4 oz lemon juice
splash of Herbsaint

The first attempt was promising and exotic, the blend of flavors and smells coming together as something familiar but unnamed, lychee or star fruit, but not well balanced. The St. Germain featured prominently but the lemon juice was overpowering and muted every thing else. My second pass with the St. Geramin was a Leo Special Cocktail with the cointreau swapped out for our feature again. Even better but I had to come back to the Saint Reviver.

Saint Reviver #2

1 oz Junipero Gin
1 oz Saint Germain
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz Herbsaint
1/2 oz lime juice

I’m at a loss for words. It’s wonderful. Hard to believe that only a few months ago that if you said Gin, I’d think Tonic. Cheers!

hoop-la

Kelsey — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:32:59 +0000

1 shot Kelt Tour du Monde
1 shot Lillet Blanc
1 shot Grand Marnier
1 shot lemon juice

Shake with ice and serve up with a lemon twist. This is a slight variation on Oh Gosh!’s hoop-la. It’s a delicious cocktail although it wasn’t until I hit it with a dash of Angostura bitters that it came together for my taste. Next time, I’ll hold back on the lemon so to keep it in balance.

Edith Day

Kelsey — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:31:21 +0000

1 part Junipero gin
1 part grapefruit juice
1 t simple simple syrup, to taste
1 egg white

Shake vigorously in a shaker with a few ice cubes until the pain is too much to take. Serve in a cocktail glass or champagne flute. This is a plain, simple drink; I guess there is nothing wrong with that. We only tried it since we’d run out of lemon and limes but wanted a citrusy cocktail.

The Bijou

Kelsey — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 17:10:30 +0000

1 oz gin
2/3 oz dry vermouth
1/3 oz green Chartreuse
Splash of Campari
lemon twist

Stir with ice and serve up. We tried this the other night since on a whim and were frankly disappointed; the Junipero Gin just didn’t blend well with the other ingredients. Perhaps a mellower, milder gin would have been a better choice? We got this off of South Gin’s site. Anyone know if it is imported into the US?