Posts tagged bitter
Up the Chimney

🎅🏻🎄 MERRY CHRISTMAS! I’ve been wanting to smoke a Holiday themed cocktail for a while now and I think I found the perfect vessel for it. I saw this at @target and immediately thought it was for smoking my cocktails… is that weird? Anyone know what this is really for? …either way it doesn’t matter because this drink ended up being delicious.

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Trois Jours À Cognac

Let’s do drinks…

This one goes out to one of my inspirations for @holycityhandcraft, my homie @apartment_bartender. Me and Elliott go back to the infancy of @instagram. Back when it was all about pretty, curated photos and baked in filters via the app.

Elliott was one of the first people on Instagram that made home bartending approachable and look cool as hell doing it. Back when there were only a handful of cocktail accounts, he was one of the firsts who picked up a real camera and truly took cocktail content on social media to the next level. I’m almost positive he came up with the term ‘#boozemail’ which is ubiquitous among creators these days. I feel like brands didn’t even know what to do with us back in the day because the term ‘influencer’ wasn’t coined yet.

Fast forward a couple years later, I get a phone call from Elliott while we’re both at our real office jobs, telling me he’s going to quit his sales job and do AB full time - I was completely blown away at even the thought of that. I don’t think I knew anyone at that point who quit their job to pursue a career in social media/content creation. But I remember him telling me, ‘you’re next!’ and at that point in my life, I just couldn’t even fathom that happening but always appreciated his hustle and his endless support. I loved following his growth and journey as he paved the way for other creators in the cocktail space.

I’m sitting here, writing this over 4 years since I quit my office job and pursued HCH full time. While I probably would have gotten to this point eventually, I don’t think I would have been here as fast without Elliott. I’m proud to call him a friend and can’t be more proud of him for releasing his first book ‘Let’s Do Drinks!’. So I figured what would be a more fitting way to celebrate then by making a recipe from the book.

Moral of the story is: everyone needs an Elliott in their life. Someone who supports you and you can draw inspiration from. Someone who inspires you to be your very best and do what you’re good and and just fucking hustle.

Cheers to you E, let’s do drinks soon.

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Lazy River

It’s the cantaloupe life raft garnish for me….

Up next on Charleston’s tour of #NegroniWeek with @campari_southcarolina is my buddy Megan Deschaine (@meganmakesdrinks) at @eatbarcopa with her take on a classic.

“A bright, tropical inspired Negroni featuring a briny, sea breeze like Martinique Agricole, playing with the bitter Campari and lightly sweet herbal notes of the infused vermouth. Best enjoyed with sunshine and friends”

Just a reminder that this week, I’ll be featuring five of Charleston’s finest bartenders to show us their take on a Negroni. The cool part about this if you’re local, they’ll actually be serving these up at their respective bars THIS WEEK ONLY, so make sure to go to @eatbarcopa to give this one a try and support the cause!

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A Rose By Any Other Negroni

Brb… gotta clean some peppercorn off my lens…

Up next on Charleston's tour of #NegroniWeek with @campari_southcarolina is Fabiana Pinillos (@fabiliciousssss) over at Dalila's (@dalilas_on_spring)

"Dalila's would not be the bar it is without the Negroni - it is one of the first cocktails we think about and play off of when designing menu changes. This takes all those traditional components that we love and amplifies them in a floral, but non-pastiche way, toasting the pink peppercorn to bring out some richness and citrus notes, matching that with Italicus, a rose and bergamot liqueur that's light on its feet, and putting an underrated classic gin like Gordon's at the helm to steer the beverage in the right direction. A bit of seasoning ties it up all nicely - a pinch salt, an expression of lime oil, and just a dash of a rich simple syrup add body to make this Negroni delicious."

Just a reminder that this week, I'll be featuring five of Charleston's finest bartenders to show us their take on a Negroni. The cool part about this if you're local, they'll actually be serving these up at their respective bars THIS WEEK ONLY, so make sure to go to @dalilasonspring to give this one a try and support the cause!

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Iranic

EXTREMELY 👏🏽 FLAVORFUL 👏🏽

Up next on Charleston’s tour of #NegroniWeek with @campari_southcarolina is Stephen Blackmon (@stephenblackmon) over at Doar Bros. (@doarbros) - make sure to stop by and give this one a try in person!

“I was inspired by one of my favorite Indian restaurants, Chai Pani in Asheville, NC owned by Chef Meherwan Irani. The backstory of his great grandfather running one of the only Irani Cafes in his hometown along with what it must have been like hanging out there on a regular basis painted a vivid picture for what I wanted to share with others. The combination of culturally driven flavors and lively but chill vibes are what incited me to produce this very special cocktail riff.

I knew I wanted to have three things come out of this cocktail’s production: tea, spices, and savoriness in homage to Meherwan and his family’s heritage. By using the specific barrel-aged gin with big notes of Indian spices, infused for further complexity with malty Assam Tea along with traditional Masala Chai, I was able to ground the base idea around those bold flavors. I then chose to infuse a commonly found Italian aperitif white wine with spiced orange tea to play off both the infused gin and also tie it to both the Campari and Grand Mariner rather than use the typical sweet vermouth. I chose to do a “fat washing” process using traditional brown ghee along with coconut oil to round out the entire cocktail with a lingering silky and savory finish.”

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Cucumber Negroni Sbagliato

As if the Negroni Sbagliato couldn’t get more refreshing 🥒

Together with my friends over at @empress1908gin, we made a refreshing Negroni Sbagliato riff inspired by the ingredients in their Cucumber Lemon Gin. The brightness of the lemon and refreshing/vegetal aspects of the cucumber play perfectly well with the ‘Bianco’ version of this classic cocktail.

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The Springteen

TIKI-inspired Boulevardier? Yep.

Together with coopercraft, my good buddy Jordan aka @highproofpreacher and myself have teamed up to create two takes on a Boulevardier. Both recipes will be using similar ingredients in pineapple and sherry but they will be vastly different in flavor and texture but very similar in that they’re both absolutely delicious.

This is my take on a tiki-inspired cross between a Boulevardier and a Jungle Bird. This recipe is both SHAKEN and STIRRED. The initial base is a Boulevardier-riff that combines Oloroso sherry and the 100-proof coopercraft Barrel Reserve to provide something familiar but not overly sweet to compliment the topping (think Garibaldi). This orgeat, salted-pineapple foam is literally the icing on the cake. This topping is shaken to showcase the pineapple’s natural ability to foam when aerated (shaken) providing for light and fluffy top and a strong, complementary base to match. You NEED to make this recipe this week and make sure to head on over to @highproofpreacher to check out his coffee/pineapple riff!

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Near & Dear (Batched Recipe)

Here’s your new favorite “Freezer Door” cocktail.

Just wanted a quick second to feature my dude Joey Goetz of lastsaintchs. He’s doing us a favor by showing us how to make a batch of SIX bottles of liquid gold - aka a chocolate + coconut-fat washed Negroni. My god, this was so good.

“Coconut and Chocolate visit a classic Negroni in an updated take on everyone’s favorite gin cocktail.

We build our standard house negroni, add Cacao Nibs and Coconut Oil to fat wash and infuse the entire cocktail. Freeze it and then strain everything off. It give you a classic negroni backbone but with wonderful notes of coconut and chocolate to compliment.”

Cheers y’all!

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La Lousiane

Meet the Vieux Carré’s American Cousin, La Lousiane.

Here’s another stirred cocktail with roots in Louisiana. This recipe first appeared in 1937 and was the house cocktail at the historic New Orleans restaurant of the same name. It’s a rye-forward cousin to the Vieux Carré and still maintains the delicate balance despite the addition of rye and absinthe.

This is one you’ve got to try, cheers y’all.

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Salted Chocolate Oaxacan Old Fashioned

Ever paired salted dark chocolate with an ańejo? 🤯

We’re here in Palm Desert and together with my friends at tresgeneracionestequila, I’ve created a take on a modern classic in the Oaxacan Old Fashioned by adding elements of dark chocolate
and sea salt. #TresGeneraciones Añejo stands well on its own but since we’re making an Old Fashioned here, I figured chocolate would pair well with the rich toasted oak notes in the ańejo as well. Adding just that pinch of salt also accentuates the flavors of chocolate + citrus and brings out more of the roasted agave with each sip. If you’re looking for an Old Fashioned recipe for the summer, this might just be your new go-to.

Cheers y’all.

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Basil Limoncello Spritz

The lemon-forward spritz you’ve been looking for 🍋

Together with my friends at luxardousa we’re making a Limoncello Spritz to soak up all the #AperitivoHour vibes this summer. This one uses #Luxardo Limoncello which is made the old-fashioned way in Italy, using the traditional method of infusing alcohol with lemon peels, pulp and juice with REAL lemons harvested in southern Italy. Their Limoncello isn’t just great in a spritz, it can be enjoyed straight up and chilled, or on the rocks with soda or tonic water as well.

As with any spritz, keep it easy and fun! I encourage you to add a fun garnish to add a fun garnish of your own. I used basil to keep with the Italian flavors but also because we know how well basil pairs with the brightness of lemon.

Anyways, I hope you give this one a try this summer!

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The Fig in a Blanket

I was inspired to make something that would highlight the bourbon while maintaining a fruity and spicy flavor profile that pairs beautifully with the 10 year old spirit. What better way than with this fresh fig/peppercorn syrup I made earlier this week. Check out the cocktail recipe (including the syrup) below, if you end up making it, let me know what you think

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Barrel - Aged Banana Boulevardier

slaps barrel* this baby has 30-40 cocktails in it and it gets better over time.

I’ve been meaning to do a barrel aged cocktail recipe for a while on here. There are so many benefits to barrel aging your cocktails instead of just batching (video coming soon!). But the true appeal is the mellowness that the oak brings to the [cocktail party]. Feel free to experiment with some of your favorite stirred cocktails but make sure not to use anything with citrus.

I kept this video pretty simple and didn’t use exact measurements, I figure using the actual bottles itself (full bottles + half bottles) would be more approachable and actually get y’all to do this at home. This recipe only fills up 3.6L of this 5L barrel so feel free to scale up to fill to the brim. Remember that smaller barrels have more surface area than the tradition 55 gallon barrels so this will age at a much faster rate (2-3 weeks should suffice), anything more than 2-3 months [if it lasts that long], should be transferred to a glass bottle.

If you’re looking for a barrel, check out the link on my bio site under ‘bar tools’.

Cheers and happy barrel aging!

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Scotman Sidecar

Did you hear? Its #WorldCocktailDay!
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I had an opportunity to receive a bottle of a unique California Brandy by @jeffreymbell (@pdthongkong)and @thomaspastuszak(@thenomadhotel) - two very well known names in the cocktail/wine/spirits industry. Bertoux Brandy (@bertouxbrandy) is meant to be as sippable as it is perfect for any cocktail - So I figured, why not try a riff on a classic Brandy cocktail - The Sidecar!

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