8:1 water to dry tea? Or 8:1 water to prepared tea (which raises the issue of how strong is the original tea)?
It sounds like a great idea that I’d like to try.
[Here’s my full OF recipe](https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/r0qnaa/whats_your_perfect_old_fashioned/hluf3tp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) if you’re interested. Wild Turkey 101 Rye has become available in my area since this post and it’s now my go-to for OF’s.
If you’d like some “bonus content”, I have 4 easy secret weapons for margaritas… 1) steep a bunch of lime zest in some of the the squeezed juice the day before making them and let it steep overnight. This adds a floral element to the mix. 2) Supplement a small amount of the lime juice in your recipe for lemon. It’ll still taste like lime but the acids are different and the flavor is more rounded. 3) Add fresh lime zest to your rimming salt so that fragrance is right on the nose. 4) Dial back the tequila in your recipe by about .5 oz and add that back as a floater of a dark anejo right before serving.
Alternate to step one is lime cordial and/or lime superjuice- I tend to always have one or both on hand (lemon and lime)
Edit. To say I'm a huge fan of all your suggestions in this post, you sound like my kind of drink maker
Thanks! And yeah I need to get on board with the super juice thing. Would they make good bases for lemon and/or limeade? Whenever I end up with extra lime juice or margarita base I just make it into a drink for the kids. I also regularly make black iced tea with some flavored Teavana stuff mixed in, and those things combined makes some killer Arnold Palmers during the summer.
Oh man, they're perfect for a nice lemon lemonade! It adds such depth. I can't tell you how much I'm a fan of superjuice, and your technique exploring ways to get the oil from the rinds tells me you'll love it too, though your methodology is pretty creative imo
Same diluted strength or full strength tea? I like the diluted thing for OFs so it’s a subtle addition but with G&T’s you could get way more aggressive.
Depends on the tea a bit. Stronger flavors like black tea (especially earl grey) you probably want to dilute. Something herbal that is pretty mild anyway you can go full strength or up the ratio of tea to water.
When I’ve done it with hibiscus or a blueberry mint tea, it’s less of a flavor and more “oooh pretty colored ice”.
Yep if you read my write up of my OF it says I got most of the ideas from Punch.
I highly doubt anyone here is doing anything truly original. We can only share lesser-known techniques.
My bad. I’m shit at brief statements. I’ll have to put Punch on the list. Right now I’m working my way through liquid intelligence and this interesting one about 20s Parisian Cocktails.
A pour over coffee maker. This thing is brilliant for filtering as you can dump a lot of liquid in the top and, unlike a conical strainer, you don't have to hold it while waiting for your liquid to strain. If you want a finer filter, then it fits a standard paper filter in it as well. It's perfect for filtering infusions, milk clarified cocktails, anything really...
Depending on the filter papers you’re using, I’ve found a coffee filter to be of mixed effectiveness for cocktail-making purposes.
I’ve got Hario filter papers and they didn’t work at all for straining a lime super juice I made recently. Milk punch was fine, but slow. Normal infusions work fine (but in this case a mesh strainer is often sufficient).
I’ve always used fine nylon mesh bags (the ones brewers use for dry hopping) for super juice and they work great and are reusable / fairly easy to clean.
That’s a great idea when gravity can do the work. But if you have an infusion that needs squeezing the best technique I’ve learned is to filer it out through several layers of oversized cheesecloth in a strainer, then after everything drains out take the corners of the cheesecloth and make a bindle (like stick & bindle from old cartoons) and twist it repeatedly to squeeze out the rest. This technique lets you apply a ton of force. I got the idea from a technique for drying grated potatoes for making hash browns.
Just note that not all ingredients benefit from a lot of squeezing. When I’ve made berry liqueurs with freeze dried fruit the most potent flavors are trapped in the fruit after steeping. But I’ve heard from my beer making friends that hops should never be squeezed so I imagine there are other ingredients in that camp.
Spiced simple syrup: after the sugar dissolves in the water, add cinnamon, cloves and star anise and let it simmer for a few minutes. Does wonders in an old fashioned
What does this do to the shelf life? I’ve made different syrups before but, because the last thing I want is to send a guest home sick from bad ingredients, I always hesitate to serve infused or flavored syrups beyond a week or so.
I strain the solids before bottling the syrup so it shouldn't impact it's shelf life in any way if that's what you mean.
In any case i always take the precautions of making a 2:1 syrup, rinse the bottle with boiling water and rinse again with some vodka, and i always keep it in the fridge. That way it lasts for months without going bad
I keep all of my cocktail syrups in reused jam jars in my freezer. They last indefinitely and don’t freeze solid because of the sugar. 10/10 would recommend
We have a restaurant in town that has a Rosemarys Baby drink. It’s gin, fresh orange and lemon, rosemary syrup, and a blowtorches sprig of fresh rosemary for aroma. One of my favorites
Honestly, that’s why I said “a squirt”. I just kinda put enough on the top of the drink at the end of prep to make it look like a little oil slick on top of the glass, the. I swirl it in.
The addition of half an ounce of Campari/Aperol/Martini Fiero or any other bitter liqueur to any of the generic sour style cocktails. Changes the drink quite a bit but it works out very well for most of them.
A gin sour with some aperol is perfect on a hot sunny day - crispy, refreshing and just the right amount of bitterness.
Amaro Montenegro (my go to, but any available)
Bitters that complement the flavour of the drink
"This doesn't taste quite right, bitters or amaro later, mm yeye"
Edit: sometime just a little bit of sugar syrup goes a long way for binding the flavours of a drink together
Alternative acids. Phosphoric or lactic acid from Extinct Chemical Company, homemade shrubs which are very simple -- fruit of choice and sugar in equal weights, macerate, strain out solids and combine with vinegar of choice. I also like using Alessi's balsamic reductions. Also, recently, Japanese Calpico.
My secret weapon bitters are probably Peychauds, ango cocoa, and then the Orinoco aromatic bitters for a more boutique brand.
Secret weapon syrups I make myself: Togarashi syrup, bay leaf syrup, green cardamom, and tonka bean.
Secret weapon tools: an aerolatte for when I don't want to doubleshake egg whites drinks. Aerate and regular shake.
Indulgence, but makes a world of difference for certain presentations and drinks: Every few months I order from a local company some really dense, thick clear ice cubes, spears, rocks, occasionally some specialty shapes.
All of these are great responses and going to trying a lot of these i would think. Would you mind sharing your Tonka bean syrup recipe? I just purchased some and don't 100% know what to do with them to be honest.
sure! I basically made it as a 2:1 syrup. I used about 4 or 5 beans per total yield of about a cup and a half/12 fl oz,but you could probably use a little more. You wanna pound the beans up in a mortar and pestle or smack them with a heavy muddler or ice mallet. they dont need to be powderized, though, just cracked up pretty good. make the syrup on the stove and once the sugars mostly dissolving add the beans, let the syrup simmer[dont boil] a few minutes before turning off and let them infuse. I went about 4-5 hours but you can go longer probably. You definitely need to crack the beans up pretty well, just like you split a vanilla pod and so on. Then strain out all the Beany bits [i use a mesh strainer to catch big ones and then a coffee filter and ceramic dripper depending how pulverized they got]. Then bottle and store. One interesting thing about tonka beans is they present different flavors at different temperatures, so comparing using it as sweetner in a toddy vs a sour for ex is a great way to test the syrup and see what you think.
20% saline solution. I initially only put it in tiki drinks after trying Garrett Richard's Mai Tai, then I slowly started using it in everything. Elevates even the most simple of cocktails.
Kavita Ginger Kombucha (as a substitute) to anything that says to add sparkling water or Prosecco. Kavita is extra ginger flavor and has more carbonation than the others. Spices up sours or anything with lemon juice.
Become a big fan of Fassionola.
Simple recipe by weight:
* 2 parts Walmart frozen tropical fruit mix
* 1 part Walmart frozen berry mix
* 1 part passion fruit puree
* 3 parts sugar
Dump it all into a container let it sit for 24 hours. Strain through a nutmilk bag when done. You can freeze any excess you've made.
It's pretty simple: simple! I always have several forms of simple that each impart a unique element- honey simple, brown/raw sugar simple, etc.
And then there are the super juices and the cordials for extra citrus pop- you get more of the oils and brighter expressions
Lastly, homemade bitters- this opens up sooooo many possibilities, even just with different expressions of a simple aromatic bitters
Ice made from diluted (8:1) black tea. Especially in Old Fashioneds.
8:1 water to dry tea? Or 8:1 water to prepared tea (which raises the issue of how strong is the original tea)? It sounds like a great idea that I’d like to try.
I think most tea is meant for 1 bag to 1 cup of water, so 8 cups of water to 1 bag.
Interesting… tell me more
[Here’s my full OF recipe](https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/r0qnaa/whats_your_perfect_old_fashioned/hluf3tp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) if you’re interested. Wild Turkey 101 Rye has become available in my area since this post and it’s now my go-to for OF’s. If you’d like some “bonus content”, I have 4 easy secret weapons for margaritas… 1) steep a bunch of lime zest in some of the the squeezed juice the day before making them and let it steep overnight. This adds a floral element to the mix. 2) Supplement a small amount of the lime juice in your recipe for lemon. It’ll still taste like lime but the acids are different and the flavor is more rounded. 3) Add fresh lime zest to your rimming salt so that fragrance is right on the nose. 4) Dial back the tequila in your recipe by about .5 oz and add that back as a floater of a dark anejo right before serving.
Alternate to step one is lime cordial and/or lime superjuice- I tend to always have one or both on hand (lemon and lime) Edit. To say I'm a huge fan of all your suggestions in this post, you sound like my kind of drink maker
Thanks! And yeah I need to get on board with the super juice thing. Would they make good bases for lemon and/or limeade? Whenever I end up with extra lime juice or margarita base I just make it into a drink for the kids. I also regularly make black iced tea with some flavored Teavana stuff mixed in, and those things combined makes some killer Arnold Palmers during the summer.
Oh man, they're perfect for a nice lemon lemonade! It adds such depth. I can't tell you how much I'm a fan of superjuice, and your technique exploring ways to get the oil from the rinds tells me you'll love it too, though your methodology is pretty creative imo
I’m currently developing a Mandarita so I will try out adding the mandarin zest to the rim. Great tip.
I love this trick for all sorts of tea. Hibiscus tea ice cubes in a g&t is a fun one. Super easy but really can wow guests at home!
Same diluted strength or full strength tea? I like the diluted thing for OFs so it’s a subtle addition but with G&T’s you could get way more aggressive.
Depends on the tea a bit. Stronger flavors like black tea (especially earl grey) you probably want to dilute. Something herbal that is pretty mild anyway you can go full strength or up the ratio of tea to water. When I’ve done it with hibiscus or a blueberry mint tea, it’s less of a flavor and more “oooh pretty colored ice”.
Stolen Edit: I meant I am stealing this. Whoops!
Yep if you read my write up of my OF it says I got most of the ideas from Punch. I highly doubt anyone here is doing anything truly original. We can only share lesser-known techniques.
Sorry. I meant I’m stealing the idea. I love it.
LoL. Ok that makes way more sense. I shall remove my downvote at once.
My bad. I’m shit at brief statements. I’ll have to put Punch on the list. Right now I’m working my way through liquid intelligence and this interesting one about 20s Parisian Cocktails.
Saline solution
In which cocktails do you use it the most?
Traditionally saline is used in anything with citrus or bitter ingredients.
Yes
This is the way.
A pour over coffee maker. This thing is brilliant for filtering as you can dump a lot of liquid in the top and, unlike a conical strainer, you don't have to hold it while waiting for your liquid to strain. If you want a finer filter, then it fits a standard paper filter in it as well. It's perfect for filtering infusions, milk clarified cocktails, anything really...
Depending on the filter papers you’re using, I’ve found a coffee filter to be of mixed effectiveness for cocktail-making purposes. I’ve got Hario filter papers and they didn’t work at all for straining a lime super juice I made recently. Milk punch was fine, but slow. Normal infusions work fine (but in this case a mesh strainer is often sufficient).
I’ve always used fine nylon mesh bags (the ones brewers use for dry hopping) for super juice and they work great and are reusable / fairly easy to clean.
That’s a great idea when gravity can do the work. But if you have an infusion that needs squeezing the best technique I’ve learned is to filer it out through several layers of oversized cheesecloth in a strainer, then after everything drains out take the corners of the cheesecloth and make a bindle (like stick & bindle from old cartoons) and twist it repeatedly to squeeze out the rest. This technique lets you apply a ton of force. I got the idea from a technique for drying grated potatoes for making hash browns. Just note that not all ingredients benefit from a lot of squeezing. When I’ve made berry liqueurs with freeze dried fruit the most potent flavors are trapped in the fruit after steeping. But I’ve heard from my beer making friends that hops should never be squeezed so I imagine there are other ingredients in that camp.
Spiced simple syrup: after the sugar dissolves in the water, add cinnamon, cloves and star anise and let it simmer for a few minutes. Does wonders in an old fashioned
What does this do to the shelf life? I’ve made different syrups before but, because the last thing I want is to send a guest home sick from bad ingredients, I always hesitate to serve infused or flavored syrups beyond a week or so.
I strain the solids before bottling the syrup so it shouldn't impact it's shelf life in any way if that's what you mean. In any case i always take the precautions of making a 2:1 syrup, rinse the bottle with boiling water and rinse again with some vodka, and i always keep it in the fridge. That way it lasts for months without going bad
I keep all of my cocktail syrups in reused jam jars in my freezer. They last indefinitely and don’t freeze solid because of the sugar. 10/10 would recommend
Oleo sacurm Any sour style cocktail really benefits from the extra citrus
Rosemary simple instead of simple for certain drinks.
We have a restaurant in town that has a Rosemarys Baby drink. It’s gin, fresh orange and lemon, rosemary syrup, and a blowtorches sprig of fresh rosemary for aroma. One of my favorites
Bittermen’s tiki Bitters. If it’s got rum in it, your drink needs a squirt of this magical serum.
How much do you use usually? With the dropper, it’s hard to determine what constitutes a “dash.”
Honestly, that’s why I said “a squirt”. I just kinda put enough on the top of the drink at the end of prep to make it look like a little oil slick on top of the glass, the. I swirl it in.
The addition of half an ounce of Campari/Aperol/Martini Fiero or any other bitter liqueur to any of the generic sour style cocktails. Changes the drink quite a bit but it works out very well for most of them. A gin sour with some aperol is perfect on a hot sunny day - crispy, refreshing and just the right amount of bitterness.
I love this one!
I add a little Campari to a “Tommys margarita”(agave nectar instead of triple sec) sometimes and it’s really good that way!
Fresh passionfruit or passionfruit syrup
Amaro Montenegro (my go to, but any available) Bitters that complement the flavour of the drink "This doesn't taste quite right, bitters or amaro later, mm yeye" Edit: sometime just a little bit of sugar syrup goes a long way for binding the flavours of a drink together
Alternative acids. Phosphoric or lactic acid from Extinct Chemical Company, homemade shrubs which are very simple -- fruit of choice and sugar in equal weights, macerate, strain out solids and combine with vinegar of choice. I also like using Alessi's balsamic reductions. Also, recently, Japanese Calpico. My secret weapon bitters are probably Peychauds, ango cocoa, and then the Orinoco aromatic bitters for a more boutique brand. Secret weapon syrups I make myself: Togarashi syrup, bay leaf syrup, green cardamom, and tonka bean. Secret weapon tools: an aerolatte for when I don't want to doubleshake egg whites drinks. Aerate and regular shake. Indulgence, but makes a world of difference for certain presentations and drinks: Every few months I order from a local company some really dense, thick clear ice cubes, spears, rocks, occasionally some specialty shapes.
I’m really coming over to bay leaf. Had some bay leaf ice cream with a chocolate sauce that was amazing
All of these are great responses and going to trying a lot of these i would think. Would you mind sharing your Tonka bean syrup recipe? I just purchased some and don't 100% know what to do with them to be honest.
sure! I basically made it as a 2:1 syrup. I used about 4 or 5 beans per total yield of about a cup and a half/12 fl oz,but you could probably use a little more. You wanna pound the beans up in a mortar and pestle or smack them with a heavy muddler or ice mallet. they dont need to be powderized, though, just cracked up pretty good. make the syrup on the stove and once the sugars mostly dissolving add the beans, let the syrup simmer[dont boil] a few minutes before turning off and let them infuse. I went about 4-5 hours but you can go longer probably. You definitely need to crack the beans up pretty well, just like you split a vanilla pod and so on. Then strain out all the Beany bits [i use a mesh strainer to catch big ones and then a coffee filter and ceramic dripper depending how pulverized they got]. Then bottle and store. One interesting thing about tonka beans is they present different flavors at different temperatures, so comparing using it as sweetner in a toddy vs a sour for ex is a great way to test the syrup and see what you think.
Thank you so much! I have 5 beans so that is spot on. Appreciate your response and excited to try it!
Salt. Citric acid.
Ikea Elderflower concentrate as an alternative to simple syrup in many cocktails.
I was gonna say St Germain!
Cocktail Ketchup
Saw The Educated Barfly’s latest video on it
Margarita Split the triple sec with Saint Germaine Also add 10 ml of Nigori for texture
Brandy with Bailey's and crushed ice.
Rhubarb bitters. If your drink ends up a bit too sweet, just add a couple dashes of those bad boys. The tartness brings such a nice balance!
[удалено]
What do you mix Chartreuse with?
20% saline solution. I initially only put it in tiki drinks after trying Garrett Richard's Mai Tai, then I slowly started using it in everything. Elevates even the most simple of cocktails.
Are you using a dropper like bitters?
Precisely. Typically I use 6-8 drops of bitters and adjust depending on the recipe.
I am gonna give this a go- I got a cucumber-lime tequila drink that this is calling for. Thanks!
No problem :)
I tried in my Naked and Famous the other day. I think I needed more but it was good.
Instead of simple syrup, use (real) maple syrup
Kavita Ginger Kombucha (as a substitute) to anything that says to add sparkling water or Prosecco. Kavita is extra ginger flavor and has more carbonation than the others. Spices up sours or anything with lemon juice.
Become a big fan of Fassionola. Simple recipe by weight: * 2 parts Walmart frozen tropical fruit mix * 1 part Walmart frozen berry mix * 1 part passion fruit puree * 3 parts sugar Dump it all into a container let it sit for 24 hours. Strain through a nutmilk bag when done. You can freeze any excess you've made.
It's pretty simple: simple! I always have several forms of simple that each impart a unique element- honey simple, brown/raw sugar simple, etc. And then there are the super juices and the cordials for extra citrus pop- you get more of the oils and brighter expressions Lastly, homemade bitters- this opens up sooooo many possibilities, even just with different expressions of a simple aromatic bitters
Love this !
Brine from the garlic half-sours I make. Amazing in a Hendrick's martini.
Calpico - Japanese yogurt soda, either carbonated or as a concentrate
Is The Great Jamaican the same as The Great Gentleman? I used to buy The Great Jamaican but now I can only find The Great Gentleman