Jasmine Cocktail

I come to you, at the tail-end of May, with a cocktail that is certainly - and I hope you agree - well worth the wait. What has kept me, you may ask? Moving from an apartment of 12 years into a new house, after a year of scouring the market. A promotion at work which brought with it, unsurprisingly, more work. And, with the karma of this year's premature spring catching up with Boston in May, a patch of cool rainy days that did nothing to inspire explorations beyond the considerable comforts of the Manhattan. This weekend, however, has been lovely, and the warmth put me in a mood for gin and citrus.

So, I concocted a drink I had seen on the menu at the Hawthorne Bar in Kenmore Square (ironically, my last post came from a drink I had there too). It is called the Jasmine Cocktail and it was just the ticket after a long day working the commencement event at the college that employs me. It was not difficult to find a recipe online, thanks to the Imbibe site. I found that this particular version was adapted from Paul Harrington’s original recipe by Robert Hess; I will include both versions of the drink here - adaptation and original. Personally, I think the Hess version has a little more depth to it, but it is also a touch sweeter (and a tad bigger).

In the spirit of this site, which is not to invent new cocktails but to present those which I think are superlative, I offer the Jasmine Cocktail. A perfect list of ingredients for a warm evening: gin, Campari, Cointreau, lemon juice, all combining to refreshing effect: the bitter Campari is assuaged by the sweet Cointreau; both, in turn, are tarted up by the lemon, and it all works wonderfully with the gin, which pairs to delightful effect with Campari.

Make one for yourself today! Two versions follow; note the difference in ratios:

Jasmine Cocktail

As adapted by Robert Hess (my preferred):

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1 oz Cointreau
• 3/4 oz Campari
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• Lemon twist

As originated by Paul Harrington (drier and more tart):

• 1 1/2 oz gin
• 1/4 oz Cointreau
• 1/4 oz Campari
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• Lemon twist

Combine all ingredients and shake with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish.

Bottoms up!

Bonal & Rye Cocktail

An interesting twist on the Manhattan Cocktail, the Bonal & Rye may not have a fancy sobriquet, but it is a very nice, well-balanced cocktail that plays up rye's notes of orange and grain to excellent effect.

Until recently, it was very difficult to find the French apéritif Bonal Gentiane-Quina. Thanks to a resurgence in classic cocktails, and an attendant quest for original ingredients, this is no longer the case. I found this at Dave's Fresh Pasta in Somerville, Massachusetts, which stocks an amazing variety of hard-to-find wines, vermouths, amari, digestifs, and apéritifs. If you're in the Boston area, you can also find Bonal at Cambridge Wine & Spirits (as of this post), a truly awesome liquor store for sheer breadth of choice.

Bonal, as described on the Haus Alpenz site:

Since 1865, this delicious aperitif wine has stood apart for its exceptional complexity, delightful flavors and stimulating palate. Serious to its role as aperitif, it was known as "ouvre l'appétit" - the key to the appetite. Found popular with sportsmen, Bonal became an early sponsor of the Tour de France. It is made by an infusion of gentian, cinchona (quinine) and renown herbs of the Grand Chartreuse mountains in a Mistelle base. Traditionally enjoyed neat or with a twist; also may enhance classic drinks in place of sweet red vermouth.

I tried this in a Manhattan in place of sweet vermouth, and it made a fine drink. It is more herbal than most vermouths, and has a bitter aftertaste; it changes the expression of the Manhattan in intriguing ways. I used two parts Old Overholt to one part Bonal, with a dash of Angostura Bitters and a dash of Regan's Orange Bitters. Bonal allowed the rye to shine through, and complemented its spiciness with a nice, mildly bitter finish.

After a cursory search online, I found the Bonal & Rye - credited to a bartender by the name of Todd Smith. If you're interested, you can read an article on the use of apéritifs such as Bonal, which mentions Mr Smith, in the San Francisco Chronicle. My version is the same as his, except I increase the rye by one ounce. Call me drunk or greedy, but I think the drink is a bit too sweet otherwise.

Along with Bonal Gentiane-Quina, you'll need a good rye. Now, I am a bourbon lover. But I really, really enjoy a good rye, and I have sampled a great many over the years. I highly recommend Rittenhouse 100-proof rye. Rittenhouse - named "North American Whiskey of the Year" at the 2006 San Francisco World Spirits Competition - is not only a delight, but a bargain at about $20. Other fine ryes (fairly easy to find these days) are Wild Turkey 101 Rye, Russell's Reserve Rye, Bulleit Rye, (rī)¹, Redemption Rye, and Old Overholt Rye. All of them are worth checking out - and spending a little quality time with.

You'll also need Cointreau (or triple sec liqueur), orange bitters, and Angostura bitters. I advise that you don't overdo it on the Cointreau, as it is quite sweet; on the other hand, you can be a little more generous with the Bonal. But first, try it like this:

The Bonal & Rye Cocktail

• 3 oz rye whiskey
• 1 oz Bonal Gentiane-Quina 
• 1/2 oz Cointreau
• 2 dashes Regan's Orange Bitters
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist; or, if you'd like to be more dashing, I dare you to flame an orange peel over the drink. Be careful playing with fire.

Bottoms up!

Pegu Club Cocktail, 2 p.m. Easter Sunday

Pegu Club Cocktail

This morning I warned my wife that we would be trying a Pegu Club Cocktail in the afternoon, followed by a Leatherneck Cocktail in the evening. The first would be to celebrate the first real day of spring... I mean the first day without rain or rawness, the first day of spring in Boston to reach the 70s in temperature. The second would be our inaugural attempt at the concoction of whiskey, lime, and blue curacao that is called the "Leatherneck," and which is the most unreal blue color. But more on that drink here.

So, this morning we arose early and opened all the windows in our flat, before heading out for a walk in Arnold Arboretum, where the spring blossoms were exploding in clouds of white and pink, and the air was redolent with that hint of citrus and perfume that those first blooms possess... A scent one can only fall short of explaining, for how can words, in their relative permanence, capture the weightlessness of that exotic fragrance? It was warm outside, for the first time of the year, and residents of the neighborhood were out en masse, as were the more adventurous tourists.

We walked for a few hours through the Arboretum and absorbed the warm, pine- and blossom-scented air. I took in some sun, trying vainly to restore the fading color earned during a recent vacation in Hawaii (more on that later, when relating the magic of a true Mai Tai). And then we returned home, and I made my second-ever Pegu Club Cocktail.

The Pegu Club of Rangoon was located in the far reaches of Burma (Myanmar today) during the era of British colonialism. I am not sure if it still exists. Sequestered in their sweltering outpost, the British colonists took refuge in their club, and enjoyed their gins and tonic or "Pink Gins" (gin and Angostura bitters). Luckily for them, the Pegu Club devised the cocktail which ended up taking its name.

It is refreshing and lovely to look at, with the herbal nature of gin, the tart note of citrus, and the sweet hint of orange. The beauty of the Pegu Club is that you can change the nuance of the flavor with variations in the amount of bitters you use. I haven't really broken from the recipe (which is taken from Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology), but I have adjusted the use of bitters, and in doing so, have had a few distinctly unique experiences with the Pegu Club.

I used Rogue Spirit's Spruce Gin (from Oregon), but it is probably made more frequently with Bombay or Tanqueray (or any of the London dry gins); you could try it with Hendrick's, or your favorite dry gin, for various nuances. Perhaps somebody has tried it with genever or other styled gins. It would be an interesting experiment.

Pegu Club Cocktail

2 oz gin
1/2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice
1 oz Cointreau
2 generous dashes of Angostura bitters
2 modest dashes of Regan's orange bitters*

Shake it hard with ice. Strain it into a chilled cocktail glass. Gaze at the beautiful color. Clink glasses. Savor the flavor. I don't use a garnish but you could use a lime wheel or lime peel. "They" say grapefruit peel might be nice with this too. I'd say it is fine without any of those.

Bottoms up...

*Ah, the bitters. This is the element of any cocktail which truly makes all the difference. How many dashes? Which brand? I enjoy using Regan's orange bitters in this, two small dashes. It is a more bitter orange flavor than Fee Brothers orange bitters, in my humble opinion. I'd like to try it with Angostura orange bitters too. By the way, the Angostura bitters in this drink provide it's marvelous hue. A sunset color, sort of. Vary your Angostura and see what happens. I use two generous dashes in my version.