Drunk Monkeys - Episode 93 - Cocktail Time - Polar Vortex.

A Negroni is a classic cocktail that consists of equal parts gin, vermouth, and Campari. Jen and Erica take three of the spirits they tasted this season—Bols Genever, Amaro Meletti, and Letherbee Malort (now Bësk)—to create a variation of the Negroni that they’re calling a Polar Vortex, in honor of Chicago’s extra cold winter this year.

This is the last show of the season. We’re going to take a short hiatus while Jen and Erica work on some other projects, but we’ll be back before you know it.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 84 - Halsted Vodka Cocktail Time.

Jen and Erica are joined once again by Sally Schulze from Halsted Vodka who is making them a special cocktail: the Halsted Drunk Monkey!

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 32 - Cocktail Time! Sazerac.

It's come up a number of times on the show, so Erica shows Jen how to make a Sazerac.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 22 - Cocktail Time! Eldergin Fizz.

Erica shows Jen how to use the Eldergin from last week's episode to make a variation of a Sloe Gin Fizz.

When Erica references Girl, she's talking about Girl Liqueur from Episode 17. And the Sodastream really is a great addition to any kitchen.

At 3:27 you can see what happens when you let the camera operator have tastes of all the liquor in a Drunk Monkeys taping.

Eldergin Fizz
2 1/2 oz Eldergin
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 simple syrup

Shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Top with club soda.

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 7 - Lemon Arak

In a departure from the usual reviews on Drunk Monkeys, Jen shows Erica how to make Lemon Arak.

Jen's recipe:

• 1/4 cup Arak
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup simple syrup
• 15 large mint leaves
• ice

Fuzzy asked for the recipe for the Maker's Mark White Whisky Sours--this is the recipe from the label on the bottle:

1 1/2 parts Maker's Mark White Whisky (I used 2 1/2 to 3 oz)
Sour Mix: equal parts simple syrup and lemon juice--I used a mix of lemon and lime juice for mine. (I used 2 oz of each)
A pinch of sea salt

Then I put it in a shaker with some ice, gave it a good swirl, poured all it if into a large rocks glass, and topped with club soda (courtesy of our Soda Stream).

HOOBOY it is good!
Word of warning: You will think that you need more than one, but in fact, you don't. Or maybe you do...

"Well Portland, Oregon and a sloe gin fizz, if that ain't love than tell me what is."--Loretta Lynn and Jack White, Portland, Oregon

I'd been hearing a lot about Sloe Gin Fizzes recently. It was showing up in song lyrics left and right. I was getting curious. I knew that it was made with Sloe Gin, and that it was not a less-fast version of regular gin, but I'd never had one.

I mentioned to a friend about it, and he said he'd had one before. He also called it a "Lady Drink."

Hmm. Well, I'm a lady and I like scotch as well as pink champagne, so that could be anything.

So I mentioned to Fuzzy that I wanted to try one, and in typical amazing Fuzzy fashion, he showed up one night with a bottle of Plymouth Sloe Gin.

HOLY YUMMERS!

Each summer, I like to delineate one cocktail or drink to be my "official drink." In an earlier post, I mentioned "The Summer of Flights," and I've also have had 'The Summer of Weiss Beers," "The Summer of Whites" and I think last summer was all about beers. Undoubtedly, this summer is "The Summer of the Sloe Gin Fizz." We killed off that bottle pretty fast and are now onto another one.

A few weeks ago, I was out with a few friends and I was telling them about the SGF. My friend Jeff asked where you can get one, since it isn't a commonly consumed drink anymore. It just so happened that we were at a martini bar, so we decided that if they could make us one, we would all order one. They said they could, so we did. It was just good--way sweeter than what we make at home and a totally different color. Turns out, they used sour mix (which I love, but generally when mixed with a cheap whiskey or oooh, apple whiskey. Hey, while I am in this parenthetical moment, I just remembered that last summer was "The Summer of the Whiskey Sour" which I made with Leopold Brothers Apple Whiskey, which isn't as easy to find anymore.) but I must say, I much prefer the ones we've been making at home. Kinda fruity, a little sour, easy to drink and really refreshing.

I think I have to make myself one now!

Fuzzy adds:

Sloe Gin is, simply enough, Gin flavored with sloe berries. Binny's, our local well-stocked liquor store, has two varieties: the Plymouth at $30 a bottle and Dubouchett at $10 a bottle. The Plymouth has been so good I've been hesitant to try the Dubouchett, but I suppose if it's OK, it'd be a lot cheaper.

The recipe I'm using for a Sloe Gin Fizz comes from the Cocktails+ app on my iPhone and is:

2 1/2 oz sloe gin
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 simple syrup

Shake with ice. Strain into an ice-filled collins glass. Top with club soda.

Sadly, when people think of New Orleans and drinking these days the first image that pops into their mind is probably drunken frat guys at Mardi Gras. Which is true. But New Orleans has more than just drinking volume, it's got drinking history. I mean, this is the city where the modern cocktail was invented.

And the first cocktail that was invented was (arguably) the Sazerac. I was turned onto the Sazerac by a link from Making Light and started making them back in 2005. A Sazerac isn't too complicated to make, but it does involve three ingredients that you probably don't have in your standard home bar -- rye whiskey, Herbsaint liqueur, and Peychaud's bitters. If you've seen my home bar, you know that obscure liquors are my stock-in-trade, so finding all those pieces was no problem. And we've enjoyed the Sazeracs I've made, but never having had one that anyone else had made, there's always a lingering question of whether I'm doing it "right". So on a December 2006 trip to New Orleans, Erica and I decided to check in with some experts.

The place to get a Sazerac would be the Sazerac Bar at the then Fairmont, but the Fairmont was still closed from Katrina damage. (The hotel reopened in 2009 as the Roosevelt and the bar is open as well.) So we went to the Rib Room at the Omni Royal Orleans for Sazeracs and dessert.

So, yes, I was making them fine (the Rib Room uses Angostura bitters in addition to the Peychaud's bitters, but we'll let that slide).

Here's the recipe:
1/2 teaspoon Herbsaint (you could also use absinthe now that's it legal again in the US)
1 teaspoon of simple syrup
4 dashes Peychaud's bitters
You could use a tiny, tiny drop of Angostura bitters, but I think that's wrong
2 ounces rye whiskey (you'd think "Sazerac Rye" would be the best choice, but I prefer Old Overholt)
Strip of lemon peel

Chill a rocks glass. In another glass or Boston shaker combine ice, simple syrup, bitters, and rye. Stir gently to chill. Pour the Herbsaint into the chilled rocks glass and coat the inside of glass, pouring out the excess. Strain whiskey mixture into the rocks glass. Twist lemon peel over mixture to release lemon oil and then rub peel over the rim of the glass. Drink.

I got my recipe from Chuck Taggart's Gumbo Pages and he's got lots of more explicit directions and variations.

(Originally posted on FuzzyCo, December 8, 2006: Drinking our way across the South - the Sazerac)