Bitters of the Month: Chesapeake Bay

Okay, so I found space for one more.

A product of Bitter End Bitters, a Santa Fe, New Mexico-based enterprise, Chesapeake Bay Bitters is intended to be reminiscent of the Old Bay seasoning that plays a critical role in the glorious crab feasts of my native Maryland.  Having experimented with other "spicy" bitters, my usual gin and bitters test didn't seem the best plan.  On the company website, martini is listed as a recommendation for use.  So, I added it to my usual recipe...

I was still generous with the bitters because I wanted to taste it.  I erred on the high end of the 3-5 drop recommendation.  The result was pleasant, offering a noticeable though inoffensive peppery burn.  I'd do it again and might even add a little more.

The Bitter End line intrigues, offering several unconventional, international options.  I swear, I mean to slow down with this particular aspect of the cocktail hobby.  But if I make some room on the shelf - and justify mail order to myself - I might try others.  Thai or Moroccan Bitters would be my next choice.

Bitters of the Month: Hopped Grapefruit

Bittermens Hopped Grapefruit bitters presents me with an opportunity.  I've long wondered if I could create a cocktail that tastes like beer without actually using any beer.  In theory, it shouldn't be too complicated.  After all, whiskey and beer share a common base ingredient: barley.  One could even argue that whiskey is basically distilled beer.  But there's an essential difference: the hops.  For beer, the hops - the flowers of the Humulus lupulus plant - are everything, the flavoring element that sets the sudsy stuff apart from all other food products.  

For that matter, beer is everything for the hops, too.  Humulus lupus is not a feed crop.  It's only cultivated for beer.  During Prohibition, hops farmers received government subsidies when their raison-d'être disappeared.  Without such subsidies, the American beer industry would not have been able to recover so quickly once the law reverted.

Back to my project...

A bitters with hops intrigues.  Pairing with grapefruit is meaningful as several hops varieties offer grapefuity flavor hints, particularly citra.  Fortunately, Vermont breweries are outstanding so I was able to find a model for my cocktail quickly: The Alchemist's Focal Banger.  

I haven't started with such a specific vision for a bitters before this one.  As such, I felt I could reasonably skip my usual first step of gin (or occasionally vodka) and bitters and go straight for the whiskey.  I chose Irish whiskey (Bushmills) to start as it is the lightest in flavor of the options in my cabinet.  I wanted to give the bitters the best opportunity to shine.

The first difference I noticed: whiskey is sweeter than beer.  I wasn't expecting that but it makes sense. Higher alcohol content likely begins with higher sugar content.  So, I'll want to tamp down the sweet a bit.  Fortunately, the bitters helps a little, supplying a touch of bitterness, probably from the grapefruit peel.  Moving forward, adding dry vermouth rather than sweet probably makes sense.

But there's something else missing, that grainy flavor from the barley.  What can I do to bring that out?  Here is where my previous vermouth explorations can help.  Martini & Rossi's sweet vermouth has a weird, wheaty aftertaste.  One astute commenter described it as an oregano flavor.  What I previously thought of as a flaw could actually come in handy here.  But I don't want to use too much because of the sweetness factor.  So...

I think a Perfect Manhattan is the best template.  With both dry and sweet vermouth (specifically the M&R), I can capitalize on the advantages of both without too much of either.  I think I'll stick with the Irish whiskey as it is the least sweet of my current options.  I'll be generous with the bitters - in fact, a Perfect Manhattan typically doesn't include any.  I want enough to compete with everything else that's going on.

I wonder about bubbles.  Is flat beer really such a desirable goal?  Topping the concoction off with a splash of lager seems like cheating.  Would an extremely dry sparkling wine do the trick?  Or is that too much a waste of bubbly?  Maybe we try the combo above and go from there.

Stay tuned.

I have officially run out of room on my bitters shelf.  Fortunately, I've also just about maxed out the supply of varieties that are available locally.  So, this will likely be the last of my bitters-devoted posts, at least for now.

Squid Mixes: Doctor Cottom

My wife got the idea off of Twitter, courtesy of Professor Tressi McMillan Cottom: combine jam with bourbon.  Obviously, we have to try it.  Cottom's recommendation:

2 oz bourbon

1 heaping tsp jam/preserves

Stir to combine, then shake and serve.  I grabbed rye from the cabinet instead of bourbon - accident or subconscious preference? - and we used strawberry jam because it was open.  It's very nice.

Only one problem: she didn't name the drink!  So, professor, I name it after you, Doctor Cottom.

Bitters of the Month

We tried this month's bitters, Bittermens Boston Bittahs, in Manhattans in place of Angostura.  I couldn't really taste the bitters against the other ingredients but my wife said she could.  She is a supertaster and I am not so she's likely to pick up hints that I'm not.

Otherwise, we both thought it was fine, though certainly not superior to Angostura.

Bitters of the Month: Boston

Bittermens Boston Bittahs aims for citrus and chamomile flavors.  I'm not sure what's so "Boston" about it.  The chamomile, maybe?  Chamomile -> Tea -> Boston Tea Party?

The aroma is nice but with gin, I wouldn't say the taste held up especially well.  Maybe vodka would be better.  I could try it in a Kangaroo (aka Vodka Martini) rather than the orange bitters I used last time.

Bitters of the Month: Jamaican No. 1

Bittercube Slow Crafted Bitters hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The bottle for their Jamaican No. 1 formula boasts a "robust" flavor profile of allspice, ginger and black pepper.  Cloves (from the allspice) are the most forward for me, reminiscent of the occasional, inadvisable clove cigarettes of my youth.  The pepper is also prominent, though not as strong as in Arcana Botanica's Brimstone Bitters.  It's recommended for "tropical" drinks so we might be playing with Mai Tais soon.

Bitters of the Month: Mint

The first thing one notices about Fee Brothers Mint Bitters is the color - an intense green, perhaps even green enough to be of use in recreating Aldebaran whiskey.  The flavor itself is rather toothpastey.

This one could be a tough sell with my wife.  She loves mint, as in the real thing - artificial mint flavors decidedly less so.  I've long had a thought to create a cocktail based on Girl Scout Thin Mints and mint bitters may indeed have a meaningful role to play.  But again, my wife may take some convincing to try it.  Stay tuned.

I have wondered about the possibility of using bitters for something other than cocktails and mint might be a good candidate for adding a hint to something.  I did try adding it to some mint tea.  I'm not sure if it did much to enhance the flavor.  A blind test would be needed to tell, I think.  But it certainly didn't do any harm.

Bitters of the Month: Lime

Fee Brothers Lime Bitters smells like disinfectant.  Fortunately, it tastes better than that - plenty limey.  I was a little worried it might not be sweet enough for what I have in mind but I think it should be fine.

As to my plans, I have mentioned several times here on the blog that one of my most exciting discoveries in the mixological hobby has been the magical combination of lime and almond flavors - definitely a greater than the sum of its parts situation.  I'm eyeing an as yet unopened bottle of orgeat syrup on my cocktail flavorings shelf.  Stay tuned.

Bitters of the Month: Brimstone

via Etsy

Arcana Botanica is based in Burlington, Vermont.  They produce, among other things, herbal infusion kits for cocktail bitters.  We recently tried their Brimstone Bitters.  Making the bitters is easy: all of the herbs come in a muslin bag which you steep in vodka for 24 hours.  Far more challenging, actually, was finding a dropper bottle for dispensing.  I work in a school so my first attempt was "borrowing" a dropper from one of my science teacher colleagues, though the one I tried was cracked (the dropper, not the teacher).  Fortunately, one of our local grocery chains has an extensive apothecary section - bingo!

First, we tried the bitters in an Old Fashioned per the producer's suggestion.  We did a taste test between the Brimstone and our usual Regan's Orange.  No preference.  The Brimstone definitely brings some spice to the party which was interesting.  But the Regan's is cheaper so, advantage Orange.

Trying the bitters on its own (with gin) was a bit of an adventure.  Truthfully, I had to water it down quite a lot before it was even drinkable.  So spicy!  Big picture, that makes the Brimstone a good find.  I've had several bitters which were a little disappointing in terms of heat delivered - the Aztec Chocolate and the Spiced Cherry come to mind.  The Brimstone would combine nicely with those, I think.

Squid Mixes: Army & Navy

The Army & Navy combines gin, lemon juice, orgeat syrup and bitters.  I got my recipe from the Cocktail Party app, which offers a choice of aromatic, peach, lemon, chocolate or cherry bitters.  I went with lemon, my Bitters of the Month for January.  It is a gin sour variant dating back to at least 1948.  Connection with either service branch or even the football game is unclear.

It's a tasty little drink.  The bitters enhances the lemon flavor and the always pleasing combination of that flavor with almond (though I still prefer lime).  It might be interesting to try some day with other bitters.

And following up on last week's post, it is cold season, therefore a great opportunity to play around with hot toddies.  As with the Army & Navy, the bitters enhanced the lemon very nicely.

Bitters of the Month: Lemon

Fee Brothers Lemon Bitters is definitely lemony and sweeter than most bitters.  My wife suggested it might go well in a hot toddy.

Bitters of the Month: Celery

The celery seed flavor in Fee Brothers Celery Bitters is quite strong.  It's saltier than other bitters we've tried, too.  While I already had a drink in mind when I bought it (stay tuned), my immediate thought upon tasting it was that it's definitely going in my Bloody Mary and Tequila Maria recipes.  

Squid Mixes: Ingrid

November is Film Noir Month.  Therefore, I have named my latest invention Ingrid, after Ms. Bergman, of course.

via Amazon

In an effort to find a good use for my Bitters of the Month, Bittermens 'Elemakule Tiki (ET), I combined ideas from a couple suggested recipes from the company website.  Using my Manhattan proportions, 3:1 with 3 dashes, I combined bourbon, elderflower liqueur and the ET bitters.  The result was quite fruity.  Our still underage daughter took a sniff and sensed raisins, orange, rose and honey (future sommelier?).

My wife and I both liked the drink though she felt it needed a stronger bass note.  So, for round 2, I tried rye instead.  Winner!  So...

Ingrid

3 oz rye whiskey

1 oz elderflower liqueur

3 dashes 'Elemakule Tiki bitters

Maraschino cherry garnish

Bitters of the Month: 'Elemakule Tiki

Bittermens bitters are produced by the Sazerac Company, headquartered in Metairie, Louisiana.  Their 'Elemakule Tiki bitters, while clearly invoking Polynesia with its name, aims for a broader category of "island" drinks, claiming influence from the Caribbean as well.  The two primary flavorings are cinnamon (an Asian native) and allspice (West Indies).  The scent that hit me first was cola which, of course, also features cinnamon prominently.  I got anise in the taste as well.

This one will require some experimenting (aw, shucks!).  The cola idea sends me in one direction, the anise another, the geographical allusions another still.  The Bittermens site offers recipe suggestions, though they all include ingredients I don't have - often other Sazerac products, naturally.  

Stay tuned.

Bitters of the Month: Cardamom

I've had an eye out for cardamom bitters for a while, ever since my attempt to re-create the Lapis Manhattan.  Recently, my wife spotted this beauty from The Bitter Housewife, based in Portland, Oregon:

On its own (with gin), the bitters is strong, though not as strong as ground cardamom itself so I think there's hope for successful mixing.

Bitters of the Month: Maple Orange

This month, we're testing Runamok's Maple Orange bitters, the third in the Vermont-based company's recently introduced line.  For us, the best test for orange bitters is an Old-Fashioned...

Bitters Battle: Regan's Orange Bitters #6 vs. Runamok Orange Maple

Runamok has had a good run in our tests so far, knocking out two of our standing favorites.  This time, Regan's holds up once again.  It is simply more orangey - perhaps not surprising.  Generally speaking, adding sugar detracts from the tanginess of orange flavor.  If you want that tanginess - and it turns out we do - sweeter is not the way to go.  

Winner and Still Champion: Regan's Orange Bitters #6

State of the Blog 2021

Blogging Year 13, here we go!

It's going to be a big year for my family.  Our daughter begins her senior year of high school tomorrow.  Momentous occasions will abound.  Big decisions shall be made.  A year from now, we'll know the answers to many questions.  Big questions.  Suddenly, everything feels like a huge deal.

Obviously, I think a lot these days about things I want to be sure we do before she heads off to college.  I also project forward to the empty nest experience for my wife and me.  A few years ago, I told my wife that I don't want to be the sort of couple who waits for the kids to leave to get to know each other again.  I don't think we are that couple but I want to enjoy being that couple now.  So, as I think about how to spend my hobby time over the coming year, I think of new - and old - interests we should explore together. 

For instance, maybe it's time to give wine another try.  Mind you, it's still her default alcoholic beverage choice whereas I am a beer man.  Wine, particularly red, makes me sleepy.  That's not always a terrible thing but it's not what I want every night.  I also haven't been overly impressed by the classes we've taken.  Perhaps they at least taught us enough to do more informed exploring on our own.  Surely, there are compromises to be worked out here.  I don't know if I'll blog about wine again but you never know.

For now, I'm going to stick with the same blogging schedule...

Mondays: comic books

Wednesdays: family adventures

Fridays: Star Trek

As stated in yesterday's post, I am going to switch from Star Wars back to Marvel in comic books.  However, my Marvel Unlimited subscription runs out in January and I am not currently planning to renew.  So, I will probably move to a twice weekly, Tuesday/Friday schedule when that happens.

Family adventures posts will likely continue to focus on food, especially cocktails.  I will continue with Bitters of the Month as long as locally-available supply and shelf space allow.

As for Trek, I'm planning to continue as I have, beginning with TNG Season 5 right soon.  Deep Space Nine premiered during the middle of NextGen's sixth season so we should be able to explore that one together before long, too.  It will be my second time through DS9 as we binged it as a family this past year.  Without a doubt, it's my favorite of the NextGen era series.

As always, if you enjoy reading The Squid half as much as I enjoy writing it, we're all doing fine.  Keep in touch.

Bitters of the Month: Maple Aromatic

This month, we're testing Runamok's Maple Aromatic bitters.  Runamok is based in Fairfax, Vermont, not far from us at all.  On its own (with gin), it's sweeter than other aromatic bitters.  The maple comes through in the nose.

Obviously, with any aromatic bitters, we're going to try it in a Manhattan...

Bitters Battle: Hella Aromatic vs. Runamok Maple Aromatic

The Runamok is lighter in flavor, allowing more of the whiskey to come through.  We both preferred it.

Winner and New Champion: Runamok Maple Aromatic

For those keeping score at home, this is the second Runamok bitters to make it into our house cocktail recipes.  See here.  Tally another win for local Vermont products!

There are developments on the cherry front, too.  My wife recently informed me that her preferences has reverted back to Luxardo.  She feels it ages better than the Aramena.  It's interesting in that Aramena recommends refrigerating after opening whereas Luxardo specifically cautions against it.  Here's what happens with the Aramena: the sugar separates and settles to a sludge at the bottom.  I don't mean to denigrate - the sludge is quite yummy.  Luxardo, on the other hand, maintains a uniform consistency.  I'd be interested to know if the Aramena wouldn't separate if you didn't refrigerate - perhaps an experiment for some day.  But for now...

Cherry Battle, Winner and Champion Once Again: Luxardo

Bitters of the Month: Spiced Cherry

Woodford Reserve, based in Kentucky, produces a Spiced Cherry Bitters.  It's definitely spicy, similar to the Aztec Chocolate we tried a while back.  In fact, I wonder if the two might work well in combination.  

We tried the Spiced Cherry in a Manhattan.  I was disappointed.  Apart from a tingle on the lips, the spice didn't come through very well.  It was less orangey than Angostura - not necessarily a bad thing but a noticeable difference.

Bitters of the Month: Molasses

Molasses is a byproduct of the sugar refining process.  Rum, then, is produced from distilled molasses.  As such, it seems natural to me to pair Fee Brothers Molasses Bitters with rum for a test run rather than my usual gin.  My wife turned up her nose at the idea but I thought the result was quite nice, reminiscent of gingerbread cookies.  

This one definitely has some possibilities.

Bitters of the Month: Maple Floral

Runamok Maple is based in Fairfax, Vermont, a town I typically drive through every day.  Syrup is, of course, their primary product but they launched a line of cocktail bitters (and also cocktail mixes) just this past year.  Maple Floral is one of three bitters on offer, the others being Maple Orange and Maple Aromatic.  

On its own (with gin), the Maple Floral has a touch of spice with a perfumey aroma.  We haven't played much with floral bitters yet so this is new territory.  The company site suggests adding the Maple Floral bitters to gin or vodka drinks.  We'll definitely be trying that soon.