Category Archives: Cocktails

Drink of the Week: In Memoir

Posted on June 20, 2014 | 1 comment

My memories of visiting Angers in France revolve around sipping Cointreau over ice inside Chateau des Briottieres, an 18th-century chateau-turned-B&B, before sampling more Cointreau cocktails after touring the nearby Cointreau distillery the following day. Both the chateau and Cointreau are family-run enterprises, so it’s fitting that the winning cocktail from last week’s Mademoiselle Cointreau competition was a tasty drink named to commemorate family and the memories and ties that bind us together: In Memoir.

This twist on a Cointreau fizz is like a Cointreau-Ramos gin fizz hybrid. Do try this at home.

This twist on a Cointreau fizz is like a Cointreau-Ramos gin fizz hybrid.

Eight female bartenders representing various Calgary restaurants and lounges gathered at Belgo last Thursday to compete for the title of Mademoiselle Cointreau-Calgary by creating an original drink that’s a twist on a classic Cointreau fizz (1-1/2 Cointreau/1/2 lime/top soda water). Every cocktail had to include Cointreau and half a lime, as well as a fizz element such as the traditional soda water.

There were some inventive and delicious drinks mixed up, including a gorgeous ginger creation and a Raspberry Pie Sky made with raspberry sorbet, but the stand-out drink was In Memoir. Model Milk bartender Madeleine MacDonald looked to the classic Ramos Gin Fizz and then took out the cream and added in Cointreau when creating her drink. Cointreau really is a natural addition to this drink given the ingredients. It works well with gin and lime, and I have yet to meet a drink that an egg white did not enhance — it somehow just smooths out any rough edges and blends the flavours together. I doubt I’ll ever actually make gewürtz syrup, but I imagine a honey syrup would be a tasty substitution. Enjoy!

In Memoir

  • 1 oz The Botanist gin
  • 1 oz Cointreau
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 oz fresh lime juice
  • 3/4 oz gewürztraminer syrup*
  • Dash orange flower water
  • Top soda water
  • Nasturtium garnish

Method: Dry shake all ingredients, except soda water, to emulsify egg white. Add ice and shake again. Double strain into an old fashioned glass and top with soda water. Garnish with a nasturtium.

*Gewürztraminer syrup: Heat one bottle of gewürztraminer white wine with two cups sugar until sugar has dissolved. Cool, portion and refrigerate.

— Recipe by Madeleine MacDonald, Model Milk

 

 

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Drink of the Week: Sophia Loren Shim

Posted on June 13, 2014 | Leave a comment

The most popular cocktail post I’ve written is one from September 2012 that features an Aperol Spritz. I didn’t know it at the time, but Aperol and other lower-proof spirits and fortified wines, such as sloe gin, Campari, sherry and vermouth, are at the forefront of a new trend: low-alcohol cocktails. I’ve written all about it for this month’s Calgary Herald column, running Saturday.

The obvious question becomes: are they any good? Or does mixing drinks with liqueurs and spirits that clock in at lower than 40 percent alcohol by volume render them the near-beer equivalents of the cocktail world? Hardly. I sampled some while doing “research” for my story and they are just as tasty as their boozier brethren. Bonus: you can drink more of them before your evening goes sideways.

This gorgeous and delicious drink only contains the amount of alcohol in one 12-oz beer.

This gorgeous drink, called a Sophia Loren Shim, only contains the amount of alcohol in one 12-oz beer.

Here’s a tart and delicious one worth trying from Art of the Shim: Low-Alcohol Cocktails to keep you level, by Dinah Sanders.

Sophia Loren Shim

  • 2 oz Aperol
  • 1 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz bourbon (to qualify as low-alcohol a drink cannot contain more than 1/2 oz of an 80-proof or higher spirit)
  • 4 dashes rhubarb bitters

Method: Chill an old fashioned glass. Shake ingredients with ice, then pour without straining into glass. Garnish with two lemon peels rolled together to create a flower.

— Recipe created by Kim Roselle at Flora and Fauna, Oakland, Calif., 2012

 

 

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Drink of Negroni Week: Count Negroni

Posted on June 6, 2014 | 1 comment

It’s true the Negroni is an acquired taste. At first sip many react with bitter beer face; that is to say, they scrunch up their noses and pucker their lips and wonder what exactly they’re supposed to love about a drink with equal parts gin, vermouth and Campari (an orange-flavoured, bitter Italian aperitif). Let the ice melt a bit and have another sip. You may not be won over immediately, but the longer you entertain its bittersweet taste, the more you will like it. Trust me on this.

Try one of Cilantros six twists on the Classic Negroni during Negroni Week, on through June 8. Image courtesy Cilantro, a Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts restaurant.

Try one of Cilantro’s six twists on the Negroni during Negroni Week, on through June 8. Image courtesy Cilantro, a Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts restaurant.

Whether or not you like them, you’re kind of obligated to try one this weekend because it’s Negroni Week through June 8. If traditional Negronis aren’t your thing, head over to Cilantro and check our their Negroni menu. Bartender Dominik Aschauer has created six twists on the classic drink. There’s his award-winning Cynar Flip, with Cynar Bitter, cardamom tonic and a rich egg custard, or sip on the Di Dieri, a champagne cocktail with hints of Campari and vermouth. Even the almost-classic Count Negroni (see recipe) strays from the traditional concoction with the addition of a single juniper berry and a dash of orange bitters. In the words of the menu, “Classic cocktails are so 2009.”

As part of Negroni Week, Cilantro is donating $1 to the Mustard Seed for every Negroni sold. If you still can’t get your head around the Negroni and its bitter brethren, suck it up and swallow it down. It’s for a good cause!

Count Negroni

  • 1 oz New Deal Gin
  • 1 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
  • 1 oz Campari Bitter
  • 1 Juniper Berry
  • Bitter Truth Orange Bitters

Method: Crack juniper berry into a mixing glass. Add other ingredients with ice into mixing glass and  stir until chilled (approximately 30 seconds). Strain into rocks glass with large ice cube. Garnish with a flamed orange peel over the cocktail, rim glass and toss in orange peel.

— Recipe courtesy Cilantro

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