One or two drinks wouldn't suffice, so I crafted a menu of 8 cocktail courses to prepare and serve over the course of a single evening. Invites went out, and I had 10 willing participants for the evening, wife and I included. Food was not on my agenda (no Aviary style bites) this was strictly about the cocktails.
If you don't know me, that probably all sounds good, but here's the thing: I'm not now, nor never was a bartender. Not only that, but I really don't have any experience making cocktails either. So starting out by trying to emulate the James Beard winner for Outstanding Bar Program led by Tales of the Cocktail's American Bartender of the Year (Congrats Aviary and Charles Joly!) is a pretty big first step. Go Big and Stay Home. That's what they say. If by they I mean I that is. Plus all those cocktails and no need to drive home. I'm already there. Sounds like a hell of a plan.
I put the menu together so that each drink would highlight some sort of advanced technique or presentation. Sometimes these would be obvious in the drink, sometimes they'd be more covert. I started the prep work a couple days ahead of time to create the juices, syrups, and other components I'd need to compose the drinks on the big night. Prep went well, so I was feeling good the day of.
I started off with a Negroni as a wake up call for the guests. Something to let them know these were going to be Drinks, capital D. The Negroni. A classic cocktail, it deserved a classic Aviary style presentation. So I served it 'In the Rocks".
Negroni In The Rocks
This is a presentation I tried before...and failed. Not this time. I started a couple days ahead of time. Since I haven't yet figured out how to get liquid Nitrogen at home, my method was to take dry ice and cheap vodka to make a chilling bath. Then, I dropped water balloons into the bath until they had a frozen shell. I popped the balloon, and drilled two small holes into the shell to drain the water out of the center, then placed the shells back into the freezer. Cocktail (1 part Hendrick's Gin, 1 part Rosso Vermouth, 1 part Campari) was premixed and placed in the freezer several hours ahead so it didn't melt the ice immediately upon filling. Finally, the drink was filled with a syringe through one of the holes and garnished with an orange twist. When served, the guest took a spoon to rap on the side of the ice shell so that it would shatter and release the drink into the glass.
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| Negroni "In The Rocks" |
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| Negroni "In The Rocks" no longer |
Foster
For the second cocktail, I wanted something a little sweeter to balance the Negroni. I had prepared a batch of Banana Juice, blending the bananas into a puree, adding a little bit of amylase to break the starchy banana into sugars, cooking sous vide, filtering, and then adding a little Pectinase at the end to help clarify. I also made a brown sugar simple syrup. I mixed Eagle Rare Bourbon, Banana Juice, and Brown Simple in a 1:1:0.5 ratio. Shook with ice and strained into glasses. Garnished with a frozen banana slice (I had planned to brulee these, but didn't get to it...) and a vanilla bean slit lengthwise and then cut in half. Like Bananas Foster in a glass.
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| Foster: Bourbon, Banana Juice, Brown Simple, garnished with frozen banana and vanilla bean |
Fuzzy Navel
The next cocktail was my wife's idea, and mostly her work. She wanted Fuzzy Navels, and asked if we could use the isi siphon to infuse schnapps into oranges. I took the opportunity to discuss what a great investment a chamber vacuum would be. Then, I suggested a ghetto chamber vac method I saw Dave Arnold demonstrate in a video once. We used Pectinase to supreme some tangerines. 24 hours in the fridge wasn't quite long enough to completely supreme the segments, but it was close enough that we could finish the job by hand. Then, a couple of segments were placed into a syringe through the backside. We drew some peach schnapps up into the syringe, evacuated any remaining air, then covered the tip. This creates a makeshift chamber. Then, pulling out the plunger will reduce the pressure enough that you can start to see the liquids bubbling. Just like a chamber vac only smaller, cheaper, and more difficult to use. I'm not sure if this is low enough pressure that they are boiling, or just entrapped air exiting the orange segment. I'd guess probably the later. Regardless, after a couple of pulls, the tangerine segment gets a pretty good infusion.
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| Fuzzy Navel: Ghetto Chamber Vacuum Infused Supremes |
Thai Cactus
Next up was a piece of classic Aviary serviceware that I employed into the evening. Crucial Detail's Porthole was designed for the aviary, and it is gorgeous. It almost doesn't matter what you put in it, it makes it look good. But you need it to taste good too. I was interested in infusing tequila with prickly pear and agave, then mixing with heavily carbonated seltzer to make a Cactus soda. But then I saw dragonfruit at the market, so I grabbed that, and a persimmon and guava and a jalapeno. Added a piece of lemongrass, a slice of lime, a sprig of mint and a sprig of Thai basil. I filled the porthole with about 250 g of Tequila and 50 g of agave syrup right before the guests showed up and let it infuse for roughly the next 2 hours until it was time to serve.
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| Thai Cactus Porthole to the Left |
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| Thai Cactus Porthole to the Right |
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| Thai Cactus Tequila Spritzer |
Churchill's Breakfast
Next up was supposed to be Mary Pickford, but she was still getting ready, so we went on without her. For the next cocktail, I had used the isi siphon earlier in the day to make a 2 hour cold brew coffee. This is a delicious way to make coffee, but also delicious for cocktails. I mixed Bulleit Rye Whiskey, Cold Brew Coffee, and Maple Syrup in a 4 : 1.6 : 1 ratio added a few shakes of Angostura bitters and shook over ice. Then, I torched a Cinnamon stick until it was smoking below an overturned glass to let it fill with smoke. I then righted the glass and quickly strained the cocktail into it. The still smoking Cinnamon stick was dropped in to garnish in a recipe from one of my favorite sites ChefSteps.
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| Torching a Cinnamon Stick |
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| Cinnamon Smoked Stemware |
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| Churchill's Breakfast: Rye, Coffee, Maple Syrup, Bitters, Cinnamon Smoke |
Hot Cider
That tease Mary was still running late. So next up was Hot Cider. I mixed 200 ml of Laird's Old Apple Brandy with 400 ml of Riesling add added to the bottom vessel of another Aviary inspired service piece, the coffee siphon. To the top vessel I added a sliced Granny Smith Apple, Raspberries, Cranberries, Hibiscus, Ginger, Sage, Lemon Thyme, Clove, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, and Honey. I think this set up worried some of my guests. They asked if I'd ever put alcohol in it before, and expressed concern that it might 'blow up'. That didn't happen and wasn't really a risk, though I nearly overflowed the upper chamber. Although it looks like there is plenty of room for all of the liquid in the bottom chamber in the top, they must be fairly similar in size. Minor disaster avoided, and another round of drinks was served.
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| Coffee Siphon Cocktails: Apple Brandy, Riesling, Many Aromatics |
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| Coffee Siphon Cocktail: Aromatics: Apple, Cranberry, Raspberry, Hibiscus, Ginger, Sage, Lemon Thyme, Clove, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice |
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| Coffee Siphon Cocktail: Post Infusion |
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| Coffee Siphon Cocktail Served: Hot Cider |
Mary Pickford
Finally Mary was ready for her debut. I used Pectinase to clarify fresh pineapple Juice. I made Grenadine from scratch - Juice pomegranates, add sugar, pomegranate molasses, orange flower water, vodka, luxardo. I was out of Luxardo, after making a big batch of Maraschino cherries this summer. On the bright side, I had jars filled with maraschino cherry juice which is roughly 2 parts Luxardo, 1 part simple, and whatever natural tart cherry extract has occurred in the last 5 months. I froze the grenadine into hemispheres. Unfortunately, the spheres never froze solid. I delayed this course to try to let them get a good freeze, but they were more of a slushee texture. Not able to wait any longer, I warmed up an alginate bath and set to spherifying the grenadine. I lost a few, but had enough back ups to be covered. Then, I combined the pineapple juice with Ron Zacapo rum, a dash of Luxardo-maraschino juice, and orange bitters. I carbonated the cocktail mix in the isi siphon and poured into glasses. I added a grenadine sphere to each, and an orange twist. Mary was worth the wait, and when that grenadine bomb goes off at the end of the drink it's freaking awesome. Thanks to Hans at ChefSteps for updating Mary for these modern times.
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| Modern Mary Pickford: Rum, Pineapple, Spherified Grenadine |
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| Grenadine Sphere in Mary Pickford |
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| Modern Mary, View from the Top |
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| The Grenadine Bomb - Reverse Spherification |
Chocolate Orange Martini
The final drink of the night was a chocolate - orange martini. I quick infused vodka with cocoa nibs in the whipping siphon, then mixed 2 parts infused vodka, 1 part Cointreau and 1 part cream. Strained and topped with dark chocolate shavings. Probably my least favorite of the evening, but not really my type of drink either.
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| Chocolate Orange Martini |
And that wraps it up. 8 cocktails, 10 people, myself included. With many drinks planned, I kept the pours on the small side. It was fun, mostly delicious, and I got to do some cool new techniques I hadn't tried before. I still want to get to the Aviary, but in the meantime, I'll have to settle for this. Here's the menu for the evening:
Magnificent
Lardon Presents:
The Aviary
Throwdown
November 9, 2013
Negroni In The Rocks
Hendrick's Gin,
Campari, Rosso Vermouth, Orange Twist
Foster
Eagle Rare Bourbon,
Banana Juice, Caramelized Banana, Vanilla Bean
Fuzzy Navel
Tangerine, Peach Schnapps
Thai Cactus
Espolón Tequila, Agave,
Tuna, Dragonfruit, Guava, Persimmon, Lime, Lemongrass, Jalapeno, Mint, Thai
Basil, Soda Water
Mary Pickford
Ron Zacapa Rum,
Pineapple Juice, Luxardo, Orange Bitters, Grenadine Sphere
Churchill's Breakfast
Bulleit Rye, Cold
Brew Coffee, Maple Syrup, Angostura, Cinnamon Smoke
Hot Cider
Laird's Old Apple
Brandy, Riesling, Simple Syrup, Granny Smith Apple, Cranberry, Raspberry,
Hibiscus, Ginger, Sage, Thyme, Clove, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice
Chocolate Orange
Cocoa Nib Infused Reyka Vodka, Cointreau, Chocolate
Shavings
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| The original plan / cheat sheet |
Did all your guests make it home ok, or did you have them sleep over?
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