The Fabulous Liquor Cabinet - Part One

How fabulous actually is your liquor cabinet? That is a question that I am often asked, most recently by a relative who is an avid reader of the Newfield Street Kitchen. Well, it is pretty fabulous. I don’t usually drink or cook with hard alcohol more than four or five times a month and most of the time I don’t have a cocktail hour with my dinner parties. (We just go straight to opening bottles of red wine.) So the bottles I buy tend to stick around.

On a super hot day while on vacation, I took advantage of the air-conditioned cottage to conduct a thought experiment: How many of the odd liquors that I had in the cabinet could I name? And related to that, could I find uses for them other than the one or two cocktails that I purchased them for?

Research on Eat Your Books

To satisfy my curiosity, I opened my Eat Your Books account to search for recipes in my cookbooks and the cooking blogs that I really like.

The oddest bottle that came to mind was my bottle of Polish bison grass vodka, which I bought in February while recipe testing elderflower liqueur cocktails. When I put “bison grass vodka” into the search bar, the Honey Ryder cocktail came up. It was supposed to be an “upgraded appletini” inspired by the Vesper martini. It was a combination of apple-infused gin and bison grass vodka, which looked really good. So I added that to the list of cocktail experiments, and went back to Eat Your Books to continue searching for more recipes. I searched “bison grass,” which came back with the same cocktail recipe, and “bison,” which returned seven new results that were all for bison meat. A search for “buffalo grass vodka” came back empty and a search for “zubrowka,” the Polish name for bison grass vodka, also came back with no results.

The next odd bottle that came to mind was my newly acquired bottle of crème de violette. I wasn’t quiet sure how standardized the ingredients list was in Eat Your Books, so I avoided the hassle of multiple searches by conducting just a simple search for “violet.” The search returned nine results: three were for cocktails; the remainder were for sweets that required mainly candied violets or violet food coloring. One of the three cocktail results, Eeyore’s Requiem from the Violet Hour, did not contain crème de violette. A second cocktail seemed really interesting, but it required both crème de violette and Aperol, which I currently did not stock in my liquor cabinet. Since the goal of this exercise was to use up – not plus up – my liquor cabinet, I had to take a pass on it. The Blue Moon Cocktail was a riff on the Aviation, which I will always seek out, so I added that to the list of experiments. A random simple search for “violette” came up with three new results: the Water Lily, the Atty cocktail, the Attention cocktail. The last two required absinthe – another bottle that I lacked – but the Water Lily could be an option once I could get home and check the recipe in my equinox cocktail book.

The third odd bottle that came to mind was my bottle of Maraschino liqueur, which I think I acquired to make real maraschino cherries with last summer. When I put “maraschino” into the Eat Your Books search engine, it came back with 76 results. Since I didn’t feel like manually sorting out the recipes requiring maraschino cherries, I filtered the list by “Cocktails/drinks (with alcohol),” which brought the list down to 49 results. The first four results were variations on The Last Word cocktail from the equinox cocktail book that I recipe tested gin cocktails and sour cocktails. I wasn’t really interested in testing anything from The Last Word family, because the combination of green Chartreuse and Maraschino did not seem appealing to me. Besides, I would have to acquire a bottle of green Chartreuse, which is not the object of this exercise. Of course, even the list of 49 recipes contained multiple recipes for Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, and other drinks with maraschino cherries. Subtracting “candied cherries” from the ingredients list removed 13 results from the list. Who would have thought that there would be over 30 cocktails using Maraschino liqueur? At first glance, the Martinez seemed like it might be successful and worth adding to the repertoire; however, on further investigation, the cocktail was just equal parts Old Tom gin and sweet vermouth, with a teaspoon of Maraschino and a few dashes of orange bitters for accent. The Basil Daiquiri, the El Floridita Daiquiri, and the Hemingway Daiquiri each had a bit of Maraschino in them. The most intriguing seemed to be the Mary Pickford, which was just a 2:1 ratio of light rum to pineapple juice with a bit of grenadine and a bit of Maraschino. So I had some thinking to do before I made my list of Maraschino cocktails to experiment with.

The fourth and final odd bottle that I could think of while on vacation was my bottle of Pernod, which I use for orange wine and for paella. A simple search for “Pernod” returned 36 results, but that reduced down to only three recipes when I limited them to “Cocktails\drinks (with alcohol).” Only one of the three didn’t require the acquisition of additional exotic liqueurs. I’d have to wait until I returned home to check the cookbook to understand exactly what “store-cupboard ingredients” meant.

Research on Bar None Drinks

Having such little success on Eat Your Books for three of the four liqueurs, I then decided to check out my favorite cocktail recipe website, Bar None Drinks. I like to use their alphabetical listing of ingredients in cases like this, although that can be hit or miss as well.

I started out checking under “B” for either bison grass vodka or buffalo grass vodka. There was one recipe listed for bison grass vodka and no listing for buffalo grass vodka (just Buffalo Trace Bourbon). Of course, their bison grass vodka recipe was nothing that I would drink, as it was a 4:1 mixture of Red Bull and bison grass vodka. I had better luck – 11 recipes – when I looked under “Z” for zubrowka. There were several cocktails that looked good, but required the acquisition of a bottle of honey vodka, which, again, was contrary to the objective of this exercise. Except for the pickled asparagus spear garnish, the Springtime Martini #1 seemed to be good enough to be added to the list of experiments. Especially since I should be finding uses for my odd bottle of Lillet. While it didn’t knock my socks off, the Wild Apple also seemed like a good way to use up some of my bison grass vodka.

I moved on to checking under “C” for crème de violette. There was one recipe listed: a 2:2:1 ratio of dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, and crème de violette. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that, but I noted it for further consideration. Under “V” for violet liqueur, there was nothing listed.

Looking up crème de violette only resulted in one recipe: Affinity Cocktail #2. This seemed intriguing, as it was a 2:2:1 ratio of dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, and crème de violette. Under “V,” there was no option for violet liqueur, so that one recipe was the only possibility from the site.

I was surprised to learn there were approximately 75 recipes for Pernod listed on Bar None Drinks. Probably because the website classified Pernod as an absinthe, so the liqueur was used in cocktails that would normally require absinthe. That list was just too overwhelming to sort through, so I decided to look under “A” for absinthe. That list was much more manageable. There were only 32 drink recipes listed, and it seemed like half of them were for shooters. Death in the Afternoon, which was a mixture of absinthe and champagne, seemed like something that I would drink. Maiden’s Blush #2, which was a mixture of absinthe, dry gin, and grenadine, also seemed like something that I would drink. Although it was a very low percentage of usable recipes, I was happy that I found two that I might enjoy.

Research on Epicurious

Since I wasn’t completely wowed by the options that I found on Eat Your Books and Bar None Drinks, I decided to do a quick tour of Epicurious. The two results for bison grass vodka actually had nothing to do with vodka. Initially, I had 92 results for crème de violette but, scanning through the results, I realized that the majority of the results were for desserts. When I changed the search to “violette,” there was one result that looked really good. I searched by “maraschino liqueur” in hopes of eliminating results with maraschino cherries, but at least half of the results were for desserts and other non-cocktails. Another three results were for the Aviation and The Last Word. In the Cucumber-Vermouth Sangria, the Maraschino liqueur was optional, but it still looked like a good recipe. The Frozen Maraschino Singapore Sling had me quite excited, until I checked the lit of ingredients. Lots of exotic stuff – cognac, Benedictine, kirsch – but no Maraschino liqueur! Again, I was shocked by the 74 results for Pernod, but much less overwhelmed when I limited the list to cocktails. There was an alternate recipe for Maiden’s Blush #2 and a more classic Sazerac recipe. Of the remaining recipes, I only looked at the ones that were rated “100% would try it again;” each of these required expansion of my liquor collection and only used a dash or so of Pernod.

And with those three sites under my belt, I stopped my research and started to make my plans for recipe testing when I returned home. Of course, before I settled down to the serious business, I did check the Water Lily recipe with crème de violette in the equinox cocktail book and the alternate recipe for Death in the Afternoon with Pernod in my Barbara Kafka Party Food book. The Water Lily looked to be right up my alley: a cocktail of equal parts of gin, orange liqueur, crème de violette, and lemon juice. So I added that to the list to try. Unfortunately, the Party Food recipe for Death in the Afternoon required an entire bottle of champagne and served eight to ten people. Needless to say, I opted to stick with the single-serving Bar None Drinks recipe for that cocktail.

Recipe Testing Round #1

Sorting back through my notes, my list of cocktails to recipe test looked like this:

• Honey Ryder with bison grass vodka
• Springtime Martini #1 with bison grass vodka
• Wild Apple with bison grass vodka
• Blue Moon Cocktail with crème de violette
• Affinity Cocktail #2 with crème de violette
• Midnight Sparkler with crème de violette
• Water Lily with crème de violettte
• Basil Daiquiri with Maraschino liqueur
• El Floridita Daiquiri with Maraschino liqueur
• Hemingway Daiquiri with Maraschino liqueur
• Mary Pickford with Maraschino liqueur
• Cucumber Vermouth Sangria with Maraschino liqueur
• Death in the Afternoon with Pernod
• Maiden’s Blush #2 with Pernod

That’s over a dozen different cocktails! With a four-drink per week maximum, it would take me almost a month to get through the entire list! Add traveling and other obligations to the mix, and it would more realistically take me a month and a half. So I decided to just take it one week at a time…

Springtime Martini #1

Within an hour of returning home from vacation, I had finished unpacking and had started my clothes in the wash. I had also run some errands en route to the house and had completed registering myself and a special guest for a cheesemaking class at the local cooking school. Then I unearthed the blog post that I had half-written during vacation and decided to test at least one new cocktail recipe while I attempted to make some headway on the rest of the chores that needed to be accomplished prior to going into the office the following morning.

I started with the Springtime Martini #1 because that was the first cocktail on the list for which I had all the ingredients on hand. The Honey Ryder requires infusing gin with fresh sliced apple; of course, after being gone for a week, there were no fresh apples in the house. The Springtime Martini #1 only required bison grass vodka and white Lillet; both of those were present in decent quantity in my liquor cabinet.

The Springtime Martini #1 is a simple ratio of three parts bison grass vodka to one part white Lillet. It is supposed to be shaken with ice but, since I didn’t have any ice, I opted to simply stir together the ingredients in a bar glass.

The resulting cocktail was very pleasant. It tasted strongly of Lillet, despite being predominantly bison grass vodka. But I like the taste of Lillet more than I like the taste of vodka, so that was fine by me. I wouldn’t necessarily rush out to buy a bottle of bison grass vodka to include this cocktail on your roster; however, I think it will be a repeat offender in my attempt to clear the bottle of bison grass vodka out of my inventory.

Blue Moon Cocktail

The Blue Moon Cocktail, composed of gin, crème de violette, and lemon juice, was the next cocktail in my testing circuit. While the write up on the drink waxed poetic about the merits of crème de violette, the drink really just tasted like gin and lemon juice. It could have been because when I purchased the bottle of crème de violette, I did opt for the middle of the road option – neither the premium Rothman & Winter’s nor the bargain basement variety. And I used bottled lemon juice from my refrigerator rather than attempt to squeeze the requisite scant amount from one of the lemons in my fruit bowl. Of course, it also could have been that the three ounce cocktail was a 4:1:1 ratio of gin to crème de violette to lemon juice, so there was barely enough crème de violette to tint the cocktail purple. Whatever the reason for the strong gin and lemon taste, this probably isn’t a cocktail that I will try again.

Maiden’s Blush #2

Both recipes for the Maiden’s Blush #2 involved either shaking or stirring a 2:1 ratio of gin to Pernod with one teaspoon of grenadine and ice, and then pouring off the ice into a clean glass. Since none of my colorful measuring beakers were marked in thirds, I had to use the more generous recipe that required half and quarter measures. I added an extra half teaspoon of grenadine because it didn’t seem right that a one ounce cocktail and a two and one quarter ounce cocktail used the same amount of grenadine. Had I done the math, I probably would have added more. Unfortunately, the top shelf of my refrigerator was too crowded for me to tell whether I still had some homemade grenadine left. So I used the bottle of Rose’s grenadine from the liquor cabinet.

The cocktail looked pretty, but it tasted like straight Pernod, despite the good gin and the extra grenadine. In all honesty, it was kind of tough to drink that much of a cocktail that tasted so strongly of Pernod, especially after dinner. I debated which food would best complement the Pernod: fresh mozzarella or fantasy fudge? Since both were buried on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, I finished the cocktail before making a decision. Of course, the one decision I did make was that I would not make this cocktail again!

Basil Daiquiri

Since I had acquired two amazing beefsteak tomatoes at the orchard store on the way back to my house, I had to buy mozzarella and fresh basil at the grocery store to complete my Caprese salad. Of course, I reserved about six leaves of basil for the Basil Daiquiri.

Knowing that this would be my plan, I made about three cups of simple syrup the night before to refill the empty bottle in my refrigerator. Making simple syrup is super easy: just boil together equal parts of water and sugar, and then let it cool to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator. I like to have a bottle of it in my refrigerator not only for mixing drinks but for all sorts of other recipes as well. (No, I won’t go off on a tangent about the myriad of uses for simple syrup!)

The recipe required Pyrat XO Rum Reserve, although the headnote suggested that if you didn’t have that you could substitute Ron Zacapa or another aged rum. Well, I already have three modestly full bottles of rum in my fabulous liquor cabinet – Don Q Silver, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Goslings Black Seal – so I was not about to add a fourth bottle to that collection. For better or for worse, I decided to use my Goslings in the drink.

Since I had recently acquired some beautiful etched glass tumblers thanks to the Wisconsin Family, I decided to mix a double and fill one of those glasses. I followed the directions and muddled the basil leaves in the cocktail shaker; however, because I don’t own a muddler, I used a wooden spoon. That worked just fine to express the oils from the leaves and the shaker spelled super fragrant before I added the rest of the ingredients. Except ice – I forgot to buy ice at the grocery store! Per the recipe instructions, I strained off the liquid into the glass, leaving the muddled basil leaves behind in the shaker.

This drink was very good, even though I used Goslings Black Seal instead of the fancy aged rum that was called for in the recipe. I couldn’t really taste the basil, but I could taste the lime juice and the touch of Maraschino. With a 3:1 ratio of rum to simple syrup, this recipe was definitely more spirit forward that the classic Daiquiri recipe of the equinox cocktail book – 2 parts rum, 1 part lime juice, 1 part simple syrup. But just coming back from the birthplace of Goslings, I really didn’t mind the extra rum!

The Verdict

I was pleased by how easy it was to research recipes with specific ingredients on Eat Your Books. Even though most of the good results were from the Serious Eats blog, I still felt like the data entry was worth the time. Of course, the variety of recipes on the Bar None Drinks site reaffirmed its status as my number one go to site for cocktail recipes. Despite my affinity for the Epicurious site, it definitely isn’t the right site for cocktail research. And with that in mind, I didn’t even attempt the Saveur site, which I imagined would be a similar experience.

Recipe testing resulted in two winners and two losers. I would definitely try the Springtime Martini #1 and the Basil Daiquiri again, although neither really knocked off my socks. The Blue Moon Cocktail tasted too much like straight gin and lemon juice to be worth trying again, and the Maiden’s Blush #2 tasted too much like straight Pernod to be worth trying again. Hopefully, I have better luck with my next round of recipe tests, whenever that may be.