The Whiskey-A-Go-Go Cocktail via The Modern Rogue

Well, hi there.

Early last week, I was in bed watching some YouTube as I waited to fall asleep when I saw a video about a cocktail that sounded very interesting to me. Mostly it was interesting because I had every ingredient but one. Now normally, my bedtime video habits wouldn’t be brought up here. Even when they are relevant. I mean, it’s a little weird right?

But here’s the thing. I watched that video and decided I was going to make that cocktail. So I looked up how I could get the one ingredient I was missing. It turns out Total Wine carries it, just not in the stores that are nearest to me. I needed to make an hour trip to go get it. Which isn’t a huge deal, except that was a particularly unlucky night. For some reason, I couldn’t get on the road until almost eight o’clock in the evening.

Now if you know me, you know that I am no longer a night owl. I’m usually in bed between 9:00 and 9:30pm. At eight, I’m starting to wind down. Have a drink. Get myself ready for sleepy time. So for me to leave the house at eight on a Tuesday night? You know I wanted this cocktail. Long story short, I drove, got the ingredient, got home and got ready for bed. It was too late to actually make the cocktail, but hey, I knew what I was going to have the next day.

Except for one small thing. I had a very timid, very large lab staying with me at that moment and he really wanted the comfort of sleeping on top of me. After a while, I tried to get him off of me so I could sleep. I was gently pushing him off my legs, he was stubbornly pushing back, my hands slipped, and his head hit my temple at a very high rate of speed.

Doctor confirmed it was a concussion. Which meant, no alcohol. Which meant no tastings. Not only couldn’t I write Thursday’s post as I wasn't supposed to think, but damn it, I couldn’t even have my cocktail that I went out of the way to try. So tonight, I’m giving you the cocktail recipe and sharing the video that sparked this entire misadventure. I was able to have the cocktail tonight, and it is quite tasty, if you like spirit-forward cocktails that are on the slightly bitter side. It’s called the Whiskey-A-Go-Go and I got it from an episode of The Modern Rogue, one of my favorite YouTube channels.

The Whiskey-A-Go-Go Cocktail as seen on The Modern Rogue

1.5-ounces Rittenhouse Rye
0.75-ounce Amaro Montenegro
0.75-ounce Bonal Gentiane-Quina
One dash Scrappy’s Cardamom Bitters

Build this in the glass, use big ice, stir a bit to dilute, and serve with the ice and a zested lemon peel

And now to the video, think of this like I’m a substitute teacher who doesn’t really care. Instead of math today, we’re watching a video instead.

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Lyre's American Malt and Ritual Zero Proof Whiskey Alternative

Have you ever thought to yourself “Man, I could really enjoy a whiskey cocktail right now, but I don’t feel like drinking?”

I haven’t either, when I don’t feel like drinking but don’t want something sweet, I shake some bitters into soda water and call it good. When I feel like a cocktail, I have a cocktail. But I am apparently out of touch with trends these days because I’m hearing more and more people talk about mocktails (a name I seriously hate) and even alcohol-free bars. I’ve even started seeing bottles of “Whiskey Alternative” on the shelf of my local liquor store.

Now, I like to think I have an open mind. And when I don’t exactly understand something, I like to learn more about it. And being the curious fellow that I am, I took it upon myself to find out a little more about why I might want a “Zero-Proof Whiskey Alternative” and if there is any room for them in my life. So I bought the bottle at my local liquor store which happened to be from Ritual Zero-Proof. They make a whiskey alternative and a gin alternative. And because I like to be thorough, I ordered a bottle of Lyre’s American Malt as well. I’d been seeing mentions of Lyre’s since the end of last year and I was genuinely curious about them.

I tasted each of these neat (not how they were intended to be served) so that I could get a handle on their flavors. I also used each of these in a variety of cocktails. I made each into a Manhattan (using actual vermouth and bitters), a sour, and a highball with Q ginger ale and a squeeze of lime.

Lyre's American Malt

Purchase Info: $35.99 plus shipping for a 700 mL bottle from the company website.

Nose: Molasses, caramel, ginger

Mouth: Very thin, no body to the mouthfeel. Weak iced tea notes.

Finish: Ginger, cinnamon, molasses, weak iced tea.

Thoughts: This smells and tastes way more like a rum than a whiskey. Those molasses notes are very prominent. Obviously this wasn't meant to be a sipping drink and it isn't. It doesn't taste bad for what it is.

Ritual Zero Proof Whiskey Alternative

Purchase Info: $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Nose: Smoke, bubblegum, apple

Mouth: Smoke, hot pepper, and weak green tea.

Finish: Hot pepper spice and smoke.

Thoughts: Ever been sick after eating a spicy meal? This tastes like that with a healthy dose of smoke thrown in.

Manhattan:

Lyre's kinda gets lost among the other ingredients. Orange and vermouth with a hint of molasses.

Ritual does not get lost, but that’s a problem since it tastes so bad that I was hoping the vermouth and orange would help hide it.

Sour:

Lyre's kinda tastes like a lemonade. Not too bad, might be good sparkling.

Ritual tastes more like a cocktail but the hot pepper flavor comes through too much for me.

Ginger Ale Highball:

Lyre's actually isn't bad at all. the molasses notes pair very nicely with the ginger ale. This would be my favorite of the six cocktails we made today.

Ritual once again suffers from the notes of raw hot peppers. Of the cocktail I've tried Ritual in today, the ginger ale highball is the best, but I'd still rather just have the ginger ale.

Thoughts:

I was genuinely curious about these. The Lyre's especially since they make an entire line of spirit alternatives. And truthfully, the Lyre’s American Malt wasn't bad. I could wish for a bit more spice to it, but bitters will help with that. If you are in the market for a "whiskey" with no alcohol you could do worse.

Speaking of worse, there is the Ritual Zero Proof Whiskey Alternative. This tastes like no whiskey I've ever had except maybe the Dickel/Tabasco thing. I think they were trying to hit the burn of a whiskey by using the hot peppers but it didn't land. At all. I'll probably just dump this one. I do not even remotely like it.

So do I have a place in my life for these? Probably not. Like I said earlier, I get more enjoyment and variety out of a couple of dashes of bitters in my soda water than I did from either of these. It’s easier too. Honestly, I think that the non-aged spirit alternatives from these brands might work better. Anything that is based on an infusion in spirit form, like gin or some of the liqueurs, might actually be ok since you could follow the same process to make these. Trying to hit the flavor profile of an oak barrel with spices seems to be a dicey proposition at best.

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Book Review: Camp Cocktails by Emily Vikre

I have enjoyed camping my entire life. But, as I got older, the way I camped and the things I enjoyed about it changed.

When I was a little boy, my father took my brother and me on a twice-yearly fishing trip to Northern Minnesota. We’d pack all of our gear into a boat, drive to an island campsite and pitch a tent for the week. There was no running water, no toilets that you didn’t dig for yourself, and best of all no one else around. My dad and the other adults would be out fishing no matter what. Rain or shine. Once the rest of us stayed in the tent for the week due to heavy downpours. Another time there was a tornado that went over the island. But no matter what, we always had fun. For a kid like me, it was complete freedom. I’d swim in the lake, gather the wood and tend the fire all day, I’d read ten books while I was there and listen to the music that I wanted to listen to. Those trips are some of my best memories as a kid.

As I got older, I took trips with the Boy Scouts. Once we went on a canoe trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, also in Northern Minnesota. I had fun on this one, but the Boy Scouts didn’t allow nearly the freedom that I enjoyed on my other trips to the area. The hiking and canoeing and hanging out with friends was fun, but I bristled under the structure that they put in place.

After I got married, my wife and I started tent camping again with our daughter. I mostly went with other family members, so I still bristled a bit at the forced structure that the family’s planners saddled us with. But that was made up for by the family gathering around the bonfire at night. My family likes their drinks and we can get a bit rowdy. We were asked not to come back to campgrounds on more than one occasion.

After a while, I realized that waking up sore because of the cold damp ground and sticks that somehow appeared under the tent (even though you were positive that you cleaned the area) was no longer for me. I’ve had a couple of different camping trailers. Sold one, should probably sell the other. But these days, when I camp, I’m almost always in a cabin. I love campgrounds, I love the campfire and the camp drinks. But I don’t love dragging a trailer across the country when I can get just as good of an experience in a cabin that is already at my destination. And if I decide to splurge on a hotel for one night of my trip, I don’t need to find a place to park the trailer overnight.

Luckily for me, a recent book I bought can help no matter what type of camping I am doing. If I have access to ice, there are recipes for that. If I have a cabin with all the amenities, there are recipes for that. And if for some reason I were to try camping as I did as a kid (not likely) then there are recipes for that as well. The book is called Camp Cocktails and it is by Emily Vikre. Ms. Vikre is the owner of Vikre Distillery in Duluth, Minnesota. I’ve reviewed one of their gins in my gin line-up a while back. I didn’t make the connection when I ordered the book, I just thought it sounded interesting.

And it was!. The writing is fun. The foraging tips are super cool. And best of all, the cocktails are great. At least those that I’ve tried. The next time I go camping, even if I’m just pretending on the deck for the evening, I’m going to make sure I plan ahead and get the ingredients for some of these cocktails.

I really liked this book. It is available on Amazon for about $20 and I highly recommend it.

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Making Bitters Using a Sous Vide Cooker

A long time ago I found a set of instructions online that detailed how you could make infused vodka in an afternoon instead of in weeks. It was written by a bartender at what seemed to be a high-end bar. Now you might wonder why anyone, much less a skilled bartender, would want to make an infused vodka. Today, that might be a good question, but flavored vodka was a big thing at the time. And, hopefully, there will be always a certain kind of establishment who will take pride in offering a house-made product to discerning patrons.

But back to those instructions. I found these long enough ago that they no longer exist online. But they were so stupidly simple that I never had to go back to look for them again. Now I didn’t know this at the time, but the instructions were describing a large industrial-grade Sous Vide cooker. I didn’t know what Sous Vide was, but I could understand the concept behind it. Keep a water bath at a precise temperature for a determined length of time. Easy peasy. Using a very large stockpot, a thermometer, and a quick hand on the stove controls, I used those instructions to make a lot of infusions. I was mostly just playing around, but the lemon peel infusions were the first step in some mighty tasty limoncello.

Now being the kind of guy who likes to make things for myself, I’ve been making orange bitters at home for years. I even wrote about it way back in 2014. Originally I used the Orange bitters recipe in Brad Thomas Parson’s book Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All. But these days, I’ve modified the recipe some.

A couple of years ago I bought my first Sous Vide cooker. I love to cook, I’m a gadget guy and heck, Sous Vide cookers were finally available for less than $100. I’ve made the best steaks I’ve ever tasted using that thing.

This year, I finally realized that I could put these two things together. Instead of waiting for three weeks for my bitters to be done, I could use the Sous Vide cooker to easily make warm infused bitters. Now the warm infusion method doesn’t work for everything. Just like a cold brew tea and coffee taste different than a warm brew, using the warm infusion method will change the flavor. If you are infusing fruits, the result will taste more like cooked fruit than it will fresh fruit. But in some cases, this is actually beneficial so just keep that in mind.

And since this experiment worked so nicely, I thought I’d share my recipe with you.

Spicy Blood Orange & Tangerine Bitters

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Old Grand-Dad 114

• 2 oranges

• 2 tangerines

• 2 Blood oranges

• 4 Whole cloves

• 1/2 star anise

• 8 green cardamom pods, cracked

• 1/2 tsp cassia chunks (or broken cinnamon stick)

• 1/2 tsp gentian root

• 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns

• 1/4 tsp coriander seeds

• 1/4 tsp whole allspice

• 1 cup of water

• 1 ounce rich (2 to 1) simple syrup

Equipment 

• Sous Vide Cooker 

• Food Dehydrator (optional)

• Y-shaped fruit peeler

• 2 mason jars

• Measuring spoons

Instructions

1. Read all the directions and gather your equipment. 

2. With a Y-peeler, zest 1 orange, 1 blood orange, and 1 tangerine. Make them a nice, thick zest and don't be afraid to get some pith on them. Give the zest a rough chop with a large knife. Keep the pieces kinda big as they will shrink.

3. Dry your chopped zest. I use a food dehydrator, but you can also use a baking sheet in a 200° oven.

4. After your dried zest is finished, zest your other three citrus fruits. I avoid the pith on this step, but it won't hurt if some comes along for the ride, you are making “bitters” after all. A little extra bitterness isn’t the end of the world.

5. Place your fresh zest, 1/4 cup of dried zest, and all your spices in a quart-sized Mason jar. Add 2 cups of Old Grand-Dad 114. Close the jar and give it a shake. Make sure all the ingredients are covered, if not add more bourbon and close tightly.

6. Fill your stockpot (or whatever you use for sous vide cooking) with water, set your cooker to 160° F and float your mason jar in the stockpot. There should have been enough headspace in the jar to allow it to float upright. Once the water comes to temperature let it cook for an hour and a half, shaking occasionally. After the cook is complete, do not empty your water bath unless you are finished for the day. You will need it again. 

7. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Set the infused bourbon aside. 

8. Place the solids and one cup of water in a second Mason jar and float in your water bath. Set temp to 160° F and let infuse for 45 minutes. 

9. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Give the solids a squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.

10. Combine the infused bourbon and infused water together. Add rich simple syrup. Let run through a coffee filter to remove any sediment. Let cool.

11. Decant into small bottles. It is natural for more sediment to settle out, just give it a shake before using. If something starts to grow in the bottle, please discard it. For best flavor, use bitters within a year or so. 

So, right after I finished this, I realized that I didn’t have any bottles. I’d been reusing the same old Angostura bottles for years and had finally tossed them thinking that I’d easily have emptied more when the time came to need them. Well, I did. But then I tossed them too not remembering that I need to save them. After some searching online, I found out that they were called Woozy Bottles and are the same bottles used in hot sauce. The smallest amount that I could get from Amazon was a case of twelve. Needing only four, I wondered to my wife what I would do with the other eight. It was then that she said the most mind-blowing thing: “You know, you could always make other kinds.”

I’m going to be honest with you, that thought had never crossed my mind. So I set out to think of what other kinds of bitters I might want to make. Well, my wife likes cherry bitters in her Old-Fashioneds so that was a no brainer. And I knew just the thing to base it on: my Orange-Spiced Cocktail Cherries. These have been a big hit with everyone who has tried them ever since I developed the recipe. And, since I already had many jars of these cherries in storage, I could even use them to make the bitters. Once again I got out my trusty food dehydrator and got to work sucking the moisture out of them.

Spiced Cherry Bitters

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Old Grand-Dad 114

• 1/2 Cup Dried Orange-Spiced Cherries

• 1/4 cup Orange-Spiced Cherries

• 1 TBSP Dried Orange Peel

• 1 TBSP Gentian Root

• 1 TBSP Cassia Chunks (or broken cinnamon stick)

• 1 TBSP Whole Allspice Berries

• 1 TBSP Juniper Berries

• 1 Star Anise (broken up slightly)

• 1 cup of water

• 1 ounce rich (2 to 1) simple syrup

Equipment 

• Sous Vide Cooker 

• Food Dehydrator

• Small knife

• 2 mason jars

• Measuring spoons

Instructions

1. Read all the directions and gather your equipment. 

2. With a small knife, cut about a cup of Orange-Spiced Cherries in half. Dry your cherries in a food dehydrator (I got impatient and pulled mine out when they were about three-quarters dry, they still worked great).

3. Place your dried cherries, 1/4 cup of non-dried cherries, and all your spices in a quart-sized Mason jar. Add 2 cups of Old Grand-Dad 114. Close the jar and give it a shake. Make sure all the ingredients are covered, if not add more bourbon and close tightly.

4. Fill your stockpot (or whatever you use for sous vide cooking) with water, set your cooker to 160° F and float your mason jar in the stockpot. There should have been enough headspace in the jar to allow it to float upright. Once the water comes to temperature let it cook for an hour and a half, shaking occasionally. After the cook is complete, do not empty your water bath unless you are finished for the day. You will need it again. 

5. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Set the infused bourbon aside. 

6. Place the solids and one cup of water in a second Mason jar and float in your water bath. Set temp to 160° F and let infuse for 45 minutes. 

7. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Give the solids a squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.

8. Combine the infused bourbon and infused water together. Add rich simple syrup. Let run through a coffee filter to remove any sediment. Let cool.

9. Decant into small bottles. It is natural for more sediment to settle out, just give it a shake before using. If something starts to grow in the bottle, please discard it. For best flavor, use bitters within a year or so. 

Of course since I’d gone this far, it’d be silly to not do an Aromatic Bitters as well, right?

Arok’s Aromatic Bitters

Ingredients

• 2 Cups Old Grand-Dad 114

• 1 TBSP Molasses

• 1 TBSP Gentian Root

• 1 TBSP Cassia Chunks (or broken cinnamon stick)

• 1 TBSP Blade Mace

• 1 TBSP Whole Allspice Berries

• 1 TBSP Dried Orange Peel

• 1 tsp Green Cardamom Pods (cracked)

• 1 tsp Whole cloves

• 1 Star Anise (broken up slightly)

• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns

• 4 pieces Dried, Sliced Ginger Root

• 4 Orange-Spiced Cherries

• 1 cup of water

• 1 ounce rich (2 to 1) simple syrup

Equipment 

• Sous Vide Cooker 

• 2 mason jars

• Measuring spoons

Instructions

1. Read all the directions and gather your equipment. 

2. Place your molasses, cherries, and all your spices in a quart-sized Mason jar. Add 2 cups of Old Grand-Dad 114. Close the jar and give it a shake. Make sure the molasses is dissolved and all the ingredients are covered, if not add more bourbon and close tightly.

3. Fill your stockpot (or whatever you use for sous vide cooking) with water, set your cooker to 160° F and float your mason jar in the stockpot. There should have been enough headspace in the jar to allow it to float upright. Once the water comes to temperature let it cook for an hour and a half, shaking occasionally. After the cook is complete, do not empty your water bath unless you are finished for the day. You will need it again. 

4. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Set the infused bourbon aside. 

5. Place the solids and one cup of water in a second Mason jar and float in your water bath. Set temp to 160° F and let infuse for 45 minutes. 

6. Strain the solids out through a piece of cheesecloth. Give the solids a squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Discard solids.

7. Combine the infused bourbon and infused water together. Add rich simple syrup. Let run through a coffee filter to remove any sediment. Let cool.

8. Decant into small bottles. It is natural for more sediment to settle out, just give it a shake before using. If something starts to grow in the bottle, please discard it. For best flavor, use bitters within a year or so. 

So there you have it. Four bottles each of three different kinds of bitters all in one afternoon. Not too shabby. If you are curious, I got all my spices from my local Penzey’s Spices location except the Gentian Root which I ordered from Mountain Rose Herbs. Neither of them are sponsors, I don’t take sponsors, I just like these stores. Oh and the labels above are original Eric Burke designs cut out using my Cricut. I told you like making things myself.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.

Empress 1908 Gin and a DIY Version

Empress 1908 gin is a Canadian Gin that has been infused with Butterfly Pea Flower to give it a blue hue. The cool thing about Butterfly Pea Flower infusions is that their color is sensitive to pH. In other words, if you increase the acidity of the liquid it will turn from dark blue to a lovely purple. And if you reduce the acidity of the liquid it will turn back to blue. It makes a lovely cup of tea. And I do mean lovely, the colors are beautiful.

And so when Empress 1908 gin, a gin infused with Butterfly Pea Flower, was brought to my attention I was very interested. A few years back, I spent an entire spring playing with infusing herbs, spices, fruit, flowers, and tea in alcohol. But I never ran across Butterfly Pea Flower in my experimentation. So, of course, the first thing I did was to look at their website. And since it is gin, I looked at the cocktail section. I found the following cocktail recipe for the Bees Knees.

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Isn’t that pretty? So of course, after I did the tasting notes, I decided to make that cocktail. I’m a sucker for pretty. Probably has something to do with my artistic streak. But speaking of tasting notes.

Empress 1908 Gin

Purchase info: $4.99 for a 50 mL bottle at the Party Source, Bellevue, KY

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.99

Details: Botanicals on Website are: tea, juniper, rose, coriander seed, grapefruit peel, ginger root, cinnamon bark, and butterfly pea blossom. 42.5% ABV.

Nose: Juniper, ginger

Month: Delicately flavored. Think floral vodka. Not much juniper. Ginger is the dominant note.

Finish: Not much of one to speak of.

Thoughts: Kinda meh. It's a pretty mediocre gin with a great idea behind it. You don't buy this one to sip, this is purchased to make pretty drinks. So let's make that pretty drink above.

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Ummmm…I’m thinking that there might have been something going on with their website photography. the drink I made has the slightest purple tint. But it isn’t vibrant or really even purple if I’m being honest.

Ok, so the one reason you might want to buy this gin has fallen flat. I guess I won’t be spending the money on it in the future when I want to wow people with a cool science trick. But I did promise my wife pretty cocktails tonight so let's make our own, shall we?

As I mentioned above, I’ve known about Butterfly Pea Flower Tea for a while now. In fact, I’ve had some in the house for a little over a year. It’s a cool thing to bring out and wow the nieces and nephews with. And it tastes pretty good too. The one I buy is blue-tee from Wild Hibiscus. I buy it because they are individually sealed and I don’t use it very often.

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After that it is time to infuse the gin. Personally, one of my favorites is Beefeater…well, it’s my favorite that I would want to use in an experiment like this. I need about a cup and a half or so and I don’t want to use a more expensive and harder to replace craft-gin, like Castle & Key, for it. I pour the gin in a mason jar and then drop in the teabag. I’m not really worried about the flavor of the tea coming though. Gin already has a lot of botanicals and the butterfly pea flower tea is pretty delicately flavored. After about 5-10 minutes, I get the level of color I’m looking for.

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And so, for science, I went ahead and made the same cocktail as above. I think my version turned out a little better. A pretty cocktail for my pretty lady.

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Did you enjoy this post? If so, maybe you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee in return. Go to ko-fi.com/bourbonguy to support. And thank you, BourbonGuy.com is solely supported via your generosity.

Of course, if you want to support BourbonGuy.com and get a little something back in return, you can always head over to BourbonGuyGifts.com and purchase some merch. I’ve made tasting journals, stickers, pins, and more.

Underberg Natural Herb Bitters

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! If you are like most Americans, today you overate. You had turkey and stuffing and cranberries and potatoes and gravy and pie and mac and cheese and maybe a little wine. Or maybe you are like me and the only turkey you had was the WIld Turkey that you picked up at the liquor store last night that you sipped while you made a nice lasagna instead of any of the traditional fixings. In any case, there is a high probability that you had more food than was comfortable for you. And it is in the spirit of that overindulgence that I present to you a magical remedy for such a feeling.

Underberg Natural Herb Bitters.

This is a truly magical digestif that really does settle ease the stomach after a good meal. I first learned about it in the book Bitters by Brad Thomas Parsons. The book itself is fascinating and I reference it every time I make a new batch of bitters for myself. Anyway, Mr. Parsons lends an entire two page spread to the topic of Underberg. And it was with descriptions like the following, I was immediately intrigued.

The inky elixir within the distinctive straw-paper-shrouded 20-milliliter single-serving bottle isn’t meant to be sipped or added to a cocktail, but instead is designed to be tipped back in one quick shot, either straight from the bottle or poured into an ornate drinking vessel designed specifically for this purpose. (Parsons, B. T. (2011). Bitters: a spirited history of a classic cure-all, with cocktails, recipes, and formulas. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. p 98-99.)

It wasn’t until I stopped at Binny’s Beverage Depot in Bloomington, IL on my way back from Kentucky that I finally found the stuff in the wild. One taste and I was hooked. The flavor was unlike anything I’d had before. And true to its promise, having one after a meal became my favorite way to help settle a too-full belly.

But it wasn’t long before I thought to myself: “I know this isn’t marketed as a cocktail ingredient, but it could be used that way, right?” And so I set upon the googles to see if I could find myself a recipe that satisfied my curiosity. A site called the Humble Garnish posted the following article: Underberg – The Unusual German Bitters and 7 Cocktails to Use It In which featured the following cocktail recipe:

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As a fan of Underberg, I thought the cocktail was great. It really showcased the Underberg. IT was very bitter and had a ton of baking spices. The drink was a bit mouth-numbing. I have to say though that this is the type of drink that I would find fascinating in a craft cocktail bar, but it left a little to be desired at home. I guess it just needs a bit of ambiance.

After I tried that, I decided to just swap it for the Angustora in an old fashioned. There, it worked great. I’d recommend going a bit heavier than usual on the simple syrup and I liked bourbon more than rye. But with that in mind, I thought it was great. I really liked it.

That said, the best use is probably the original. Throw it back as a shot after a good meal and welcome the peace it brings to both the mind and the belly.

Wondering what it tastes like?

Underberg Natural Herb Bitters

Purchase Info: $5.99 for a 3-pack of 20ml bottles at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN or $24.50 for a 15-pack on Amazon.

Details: 44% ABV

Nose: Menthol, anise, clove

Mouth: Licorice, cinnamon, menthol

Finish: Cinnamon, cloves, mint, lingering warm

Thoughts. I really like this. I usually buy it as a 15-pack from Amazon. Minty and warm. Lots of spices. It works great after a big meal. And being as it is Thanksgiving, we can all probably use that.

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A BourbonGuy Look at Random Gins

Two of the gins featured in this article were sent along by the producers as part of a previously disclosed review sample. They are Filibuster Dual Cask Gin and Tommyrotter Cask Strength Bourbon Barrel Gin. I would like to thank both companies for providing these samples with no strings attached.

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So. Gin?

Gin?

Yeah. Gin.

Do I know anything about gin? Not really. I know that last summer I read an old article by David Wondrich on the origin of the Gin Rickey. I know that gin is neutral spirit (essentially vodka, don’t @ me) flavored with juniper and other botanicals. I know that gin cannot legally be “aged” or have an age statement, though it can be “rested” or “finished” in a barrel for an undisclosed amount of time. I know that a lot of my non-whiskey drinking friends tend to favor gin. And I know that last statement is why I had a few different bottles in my house last year when I read that previously mentioned David Wondrich article and decided that a Gin Rickey sounded like a fantastically refreshing summer drink.

So I made one using the gins I keep on hand for friends. I loved it. Of course, I’d already made the occasional gin and tonic so I wasn’t a stranger to the combination of citrus and gin. But something about the dry quality of of the Rickey struck me as exactly what I would want on a warm summer afternoon. It is actually now my go to drink when I’m sitting on the deck in the warm summer weather.

Ok so here I am with a gin drink that I really like. As you do, I decided to expand my uses for gin. First I moved over to a Tom Collins. Super tasty, but I liked the Rickey better. Then I tried a Negroni, I’d made one before and found it kinda meh, but fell in love with a riff where I swap the vermouth with Averna. (I’m thinking that maybe I just don’t like vermouth.)

Of course, being the obsessive geek that I am, I needed to find out which gins I liked best. I mean how could I live with myself if I was enjoying a decent gin in my rickey when an amazing one was out there for the drinking? And just for the hell of it, I decided to bring you along for the ride.

A BourbonGuy Look at Random Gins

The ones I ended up with were a mixture of gins I had on hand because of friends, those I ran across at craft distillers and a couple that had been sent to me by craft distillers who had provided them to me along with whiskies that they wanted me to review. The lineup is as follows.

Beefeater

Details: Owned by Pernod Ricard. Flavored with: juniper, lemon peel, coriander seed, almond, seville orange peel, orris root, licorice root, angelica root, and angelica seed according to the Beefeater website. 47% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $15.49 for a liter bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Juniper, Lemon zest, mint, faint baking spice.
Mouth: Lemon Zest, mint and spice, juniper.
Finish: almost sweet, after a bit a hint of lemon.
Thoughts: Not nearly as juniper forward as I would expect from the nose.

Beefeater 24

Details: Owned by Pernod Ricard. Flavored with: Japanese sencha, Chinese green tea, grapefruit peels, juniper, lemon peel, almond, seville orange peel, coriander seed, orris root, licorice root, angelica root, and angelica seed according to the Beefeater website. 45% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $24.99 for a liter bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Juniper, mint, lemon zest. (softer than Beefeater)
Mouth: Mixed citrus, mint, there is an herbal note.
Finish: Minty with a little juniper.
Thoughts: Considering how similar the nose on the 2 Beefeaters are, I'm actually surprised how different they are. I like how spicy this one is.

Hendrick’s

Details: Owned by William Grand & Sons. Flavored with: orris root, yarrow, angelica root, orange peel, juniper, caraway seeds, cubeb berries, lemon peel, chamomile, elderflower, coriander seeds, rose petal, cucumber according to the Hendrick’s website. 44% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Juniper, mint
Mouth: Spicy with a lot of juniper
Finish: long juniper finish
Thoughts: This is my least favorite so far. It is very juniper forward and I don't care for the spices I'm getting. I don’t get any cucumber.

Bombay Sapphire

Details: Owned by Bacardi. Flavored with: juniper, lemon peel, coriander, angelica root, orris, grains of paradise, cubeb berries, cassia bark, almond and licorice according to the Bombay Sapphire website. 47% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $23.99 for a liter bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Savory, Coriander, old dry wood, hints of juniper.
Mouth: lemon, cinnamon, Coriander
Finish: mint, hints of juniper. after a while-distinct lemon
Thoughts: This is a tasty gin. Not the "pine trees" stereotype of non-gin drinkers at all. I could almost drink this one straight... almost.

Vikre Boreal Juniper Gin

Details: Craft distillery in Duluth Minnesota. Flavored with a combination of foraged wild botanicals and traditional gin botanicals according to their website. 45% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $32.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Black pepper.
Mouth: Flat and muted in the mouth.
Finish: Mint, juniper, lemon.
Thoughts: This is pretty flavorless until the finish. It isn't unpleasant, there is just little to draw me in when tasted neat.

Filibuster Dual Cask

Details: Craft distillery in Maurertown, Virginia. Finished in both American and French oak casks. 45% ABV. Cannot be purchased locally. This was a review sample.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Savory, Rosemary and a touch of juniper
Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Savory Basil.
Finish: Long-lasting lemon, oak, hints of juniper.
Thoughts: This isn't bad at all. The basil notes are interesting (in a good way).

New Riff Kentucky Wild Bourbon Barreled Gin

Details: Craft distillery in Newport, Kentucky. Flavored with: angelica, orris and licorice root, and three kinds of citrus, wild juniper berry, American Spicebush, goldenrod, Rye Whiskey New Make. Finished in used bourbon barrels for 5-7 months. 47% ABV. Cannot be purchased locally. Can be purchased in Kentucky for $31.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Juniper, orange peel , just a hint of smoke
Mouth: Sweet, juniper, orange
Finish: lemon pledge
Thoughts: I want to like this a lot more than I do. That lemon pledge finish kills it.

Tommyrotter Cask Strength Bourbon-Barrel Gin

Details: Craft distillery in Buffalo, New York. Finished in new, charred American White Oak barrels. 61% ABV. Cannot be purchased locally, this is was a review sample.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Mint, caramel, ginger.
Mouth: Cinnamon, lemon, ginger,
Finish: ginger, molasses, touch of juniper
Thoughts: This is really good. As a bourbonguy, this is the only one I would drink neat.

Cocktails

So, now that we have the tasting notes out of the way, let’s get down to the reason why I actually had them in the house to begin with: cocktails. My wife and I tried each of these in three cocktails. A standard Negroni, a Tom Collins, and of course my beloved Gin Rickey. It really shouldn’t be, but I found it a bit interesting to see the differences in each of these. Especially when comparing tasting notes (neat) to the flavors I got in each cocktail. But instead of going over all the tasting notes again, I’m just going to give you our “rankings” for how much we liked each spirit in each cocktail.

Negroni (equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari)

Eric’s: Tommyrotter, New Riff, Beefeater, Vikre, Bombay Sapphire, Beefeater 24, Fillibuster, Hendrick’s

My wife’s: Bombay Sapphire, Beefeater 24/Beefeater (tied), Vikre, Tommyrotter, New Riff, Filibuster, Hendrick’s

Thoughts: Not at all surprising that I preferred the aged spirits in this cocktail, the barrel aging makes it taste like a cross between a typical Negroni and a Boulevardier. A bit surprising that my wife preferred the London Dry style since she was very resistant to participating in this tasting at all based entirely on previous experience with that style when she was younger.

Tom Collins (gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and soda water)

Eric’s: Beefeater, Beefeater 24, Bombay Sapphire, Vikre, Hendrick’s, New Riff, Filibuster

My wife’s: Beefeater, Beefeater 24, Bombay Sapphire, Hendrick’s, Vikre, New Riff, Filibuster.

Thoughts: we basically agreed here. The London Dry style was our favorite.

Gin Rickey (gin, lime juice and soda water)

Eric’s: Beefeater 24, Beefeater, Bombay Sapphire, Hendrick’s, Vikre, New Riff, Filibuster

My wife’s: Bombay Sapphire, Beefeater 24, Beefeater, Vikre, Hendrick’s, New Riff, Filibuster.

Thoughts: The two Beefeaters were my winners. Which is awesome since Beefeater is the cheapest one in the lineup. My wife has more expensive tastes and preferred the Bombay Sapphire. Neither of us were high on the barrel aged versions.

Conclusions

So based on these “oh so scientific” tests, it seems that in the summer I need to keep only a Beefeater or two and a bottle of Bombay Sapphire on hand. I’m going to pass on the Hendrick’s from now on. I was not a fan. It also seems that for these summer drinks there is little to be gained from venturing into Craft territory as any differences they are playing with are lost in my favorite cocktail. On the other hand, when the weather starts to cool and I am looking for a more spirit-forward cocktail, I should certainly venture over to the Craft gins and look for a barrel aged version to use in the occasional Negroni.

There you have it: A BourbonGuy Look at Random Gins. Will gin fans agree on my conclusions? Maybe, maybe not. I admit, I am a total gin novice. But honestly, I found it too interesting not to share. Especially with other bourbon lovers who may be looking to expand their range into a refreshing long drink for summer.

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products and bourbon-related craft supplies I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And hey, if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

Just a Couple of Cocktails

In light of recent allegations made by the daughter of Tom Bulleit of his homophobia and mental and physical abuse toward her, I have made the decision that BourbonGuy.com can no longer endorse products bearing the Bulleit name. The article below has been revised from the original version to reflect this new policy.

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I have spent most of the past five days on my hands and knees. After scraping off the glue from 30 year old linoleum and removing two rooms worth of carpet, even with a respirator, my nasal cavities were in no shape to be doing any tastings. But after a hard day of scraping, what I was in shape to do was drink the cocktails that my wife made for me. And they were delicious.

When I was in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago, I drank at a bar called Bound in the Cromwell Hotel. They did craft cocktails and they did them well. One of my favorites was an original that they called The Frontiersman. It had an MGP 95% Rye Whiskey, Drambuie, an amaro and Angostura bitters. I didn’t ask for the recipe but did try to recreate it when I got home. I think I got pretty close.

The Frontiersman

Adapted from Bound Bar Las Vegas

1.5 oz MGP 95% Rye Whiskey
0.5 oz Amaro Montenegro
0.5 oz Drambuie
3 dash Angostura Bitters
Orange Peal and Mint for garnish

Stir with ice and serve in a rocks glass with a large piece of ice. Express the orange peal and garnish with orange peal and mint. Do not skip the mint, the scent of the mint really helps this one.

Of course, Drambuie is sweet and I’m really more fond of bitter flavors. So I took this the other way. I really liked how the MGP 95% Rye Whiskey and the Amaro Montenegro played together so I kept them and did a riff on a Black Manhattan. I like things pretty bitter though so I also added Campari to the mix.

Arok’s Black Manhattan Riff

2 oz MGP 95% Rye Whiskey
0.5 oz Amaro Montenegro
0.5 oz Campari
3 dashes Orange bitters
Orange Peal for Garnish

Stir with ice and serve in a rocks glass with a large piece of ice. Express the orange peal and drop it in.

I think this last one is my favorite cocktail right now. I’ve started keeping An MGP 95% rye whiskey on my cocktail station just because it is really the only cocktail I make for myself anymore. Enjoy!

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!