Montana Sours

Sours are an easy go to during quarantine. They are light, not too boozy, and more or less are a vitamin C delivery system after one's normal intake of vitamin C during the day has passed. I've been working on a recipe that is somewhat idiosyncratic, as we will see, but not hard to replicate, season to season or otherwise.

(For 2, I use a 1 1/4 inch jigger)

3 parts orange juice (fresh squeezed, usually two oranges, although three will make 6 parts for refills)

3 lemon ice cubes

2 parts amaretto

1 part Bulleit bourbon

mix all ingredients in a Boston shaker with no ice cubes. serve in a roly poly or old fashioned glass over ice. garnish with orange peel.

The lemon cubes are a staple for us because we have, it would seem, always had a lemon tree in the family, somewhere. It used to be my mom's, and now it is my wife's mom's, and once the lemons drop, there is nothing to do but juice them and freeze them. I'm not sure how much volume is in the cube, but no matter. The sour mix can be adjusted however one likes.

The oranges come from the Santa Monica farmers market. The valencias are in season in December, really juicy and sweet. 

To make this drink, I start by putting out the glasses and the shaker. Before juicing the oranges, I use a mandoline to separate a pith-less bit of peel from the orange. Do it over the cocktail glasses, and it mists them with a nice citrus perfume. Then juice the oranges.

I drop the lemon cube into the shaker, add the orange juice, and then add the amaretto and bourbon. If I need to do anything else, I do. It gives the lemon cube a moment to dissolve. Then I shake it down, until the lemon cube is all but gone. I wait until the last minute to put ice in the glasses, then I pour out the drink (sans strainer!), reserving the froth to garnish both glasses. Then I express the orange peel and drop it on the top. 

I prefer Bulleit Bourbon because it is less oaky and sweet than Woodford or Maker's Mark. Buffalo Trace would work well in this. Definitely steer clear of rye. I prefer Disaronno because the bottle looks pretty, and I haven't yet found a cheap Amaretto that didn't somehow taste cheap. Fresh orange juice is a must, but that goes without saying.

The drink takes its name from the street we live on, where we are spending a good amount of our time these days, or at least crossing, on our walks, during the great pandemic of 2020.

Spicy Tarts (Cardamom, Cinnamon Cognac Cherries)

So here's the recipe for the Spicy Tart

1 1/4 cup water
scant 1 cup sugar
(this sugar water hits the spot. A 1 to 1 ratio is too dense. This ratio produced a beautiful syrup, but my guess is that an even thinner syrup will do just as well)

Dissolve sugar in water. Add:

2 cinnamon sticks
5 green cardamom pods
3 cloves

bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Then, add

1/2 cup cognac (and a little more cognac...)

Stir in, turn off heat, let cool.

Prepare eight four ounce jars with dried tart cherries, leaving room for the cognac mixture. Then, pour into the jars.

UPDATE

New recipe features heavy use of spices.

  2 cinnamon sticks
12 green cardamom pods
  8 cloves

Will check back and see, but I think I nailed this one.

Cocktail cherries

Here's a new recipe for quick cherries for cocktails.

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
(bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer)
add 2 cinnamon sticks and a few cloves (six, about, depending on size and strength).
Simmer 5 minutes
Add
1/2 cup Cognac

Pour over dried cherries, cap, let cool, then refrigerate.

I filled one pint jar and two half-pint jars with cherries. Lots of cherries.

It is not overly spiced. I did not have cardamom pods, so I obviously couldn't include them. I did have star anise, but didn't want to go that heavy. Cinnamon and cloves seemed enough.

Cognac Cherries

Cherry season is upon us. Because the window is so limited, I almost always miss out on the ability to turn fresh cherries into cocktail components. But not this year.

I looked up a variety of recipes and found an unremarkable amount of consistency in proportions. In the end, I followed this formula:

for a quart of cherries

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup cognac
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
8 cardamom pods

Pitting the cherries was tedious, but not overly so. I found that a paperclip did the job well.

I heated the water and sugar, added the spices, and let it come to a simmer. Once the sugar was dissolved, I let the mixture simmer for about five minutes, turned off the heat, then added the cognac. Then I poured the mixture over the cherries. Then I put them in small jars, lidded them, and put them in the fridge. We'll see how they turn out!

A Sour Season

Our holiday cocktail will be the sour. Amaretto and bourbon are the starting points here, but I am hoping to introduce at least a couple of others this time around. Stay tuned.

Juicing for the Sour

Squeezed the rest of the oranges and lemons and made sours yet again. Convinced of the simple superiority of the freshly squeezed juice. While this must seem obvious, it was nonetheless refreshing to detect the difference in flavor.

Sunfire Tangerines make a tantalizing sour.

Must soon try Honey Tangerines and Blood Oranges.

Midweek Sours and Midnight Manhattans

It's been a hell of a January, but I suppose it always is. After three nights of teaching/board meetings until nine (or later), we were both ready for a break. Unfortunately, the only vacation we can take is in the living room.

They are not to be underestimated. The amaretto sour is winter's sweet treat, made possible by widely available citrus. Although I have yet to commit to the Meyer lemons (I'm waiting for this), I have made enough sours to come to the following observations.

basic formula:
1 part amaretto
1 part orange juice
1 part lemon juice

Important to adjust based on acidity of lemons. I have found on multiple occasions that fall lemons are more acidic and need a splash of extra amaretto, and orange juice.

Broke down last night and used the bottled orange juice. Primary problem is that pasteurized orange juice simply lacks the sweetness and brightness of freshly squeezed orange juice. The resulting sour tastes flat by comparison.

The Manhattan:

I am enjoying using Lillet to make Manhattans, but I suffer right now from not having a good reserve bourbon. I experimented with proportions, and found that little mattered--the drink is sweet enough with the Lillet, but lacks the real flavor imparted by truly refined whiskey.

Nonetheless, a nice cocktail hour.