DP Daiquiri, Duke’s Liquor Box and some Funky Rums

2015-02-27 / Dani DeLuna / 2 Comments

Tears. Tears of happiness.

This magnificent wall of Booze is at Duke’s Liquor Box. I hate to say the phrase “well curated” cause it makes me sound like the next Trondy Hipstar but good god y’all, this shop is SO WELL CURATED! Just gaze into the photo and note that there are almost zero major labels in there. And what do you get when you aren’t selling Fireball and Jose Cuervo? You get really phenomenal bottles. This shop is where I’ve acquired things like: Cocchi Americano Rosa, Bonal, Dolin Blanc, El Buho Mezcal and Delaware Phoenix Bourbon.

Well, yesterday I was after Rum. I was after El Dorado 12, but when I arrived they only had the El Dorado 8. This was actually super fortunate because then I was able to go in a totally different direction, Funky Jamaican Rum.

Smith & Cross Navy Strength Jamaican Rum, Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black Rum

WOAH. So funky, funky, funky! I did a side by side taste test and Imma tell you about it.

Ministry of Rum Collection Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black Rum:

Nose: Molasses, banana, pineapple, tobacco, grasses, super wide nose
Tongue: Dry, citrus, caramel, molasses, allspice and other spices, chocolate, FUNKY, super long finish, super wide finish, 46.1% ABV
Impression: Honestly, there was so much happening that I was overwhelmed (in a good way). This Rum will stand up to anything. If i were to make a Tiki drink with 10 ingredients in it, what would stand out? Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black Rum. So serious, so impressive, so bold, so challenging! I love it!

Smith & Cross Navy Strength Traditional Jamaican Rum:

Nose: Caramel, pineapple, banana, strawberry, tropical fruit (guava?), grasses
Tongue: Honey, spices, brown sugar, tropical fruit, FUNKY, direct finish, smooth short finish, to the point, 57% ABV
Impression: This is a really approachable, versatile and user friendly Jamaican Rum. Smith & Cross Rum’s combination of high proof, tropical fruits and short finish make it perfect for mixing with. I shall be using it in loads of Tiki/Tropical drinks.

Hello new Funky Friend of mine.

What do we do when we get a new Rum? We make a Daiquiri. Since this is a Funky Rum, I decided to make a Funky Daiquiri. Enjoy!

DP Daiquiri

1 1/2 oz Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1/4 oz DD Mix
1 oz Lime Juice
1 dropper Bittermen’s Elemakule Tiki Bitters
Garnish: hollowed out Lime half*

In tin combine ingredients over ice and short shake. Pour entire contents of shaker into mason jar (this is called a Dirty Pour**). Garnish with one of the Lime halves you used when you juiced the Lime.

*If you’re going to serve this garnish, be sure to serve the drink with a straw so no one gets whacked in the face.

**I always like to use mason jars when I make Dirty Pour drinks.

Tropicaaaaaaal, tropical breezes. Tropical sneezes.

Diplomatico World Tournament + Booze Cruise

2015-01-192015-01-18 / Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Y’all, I had the fabulous opportunity attend the Diplomatico World Tournament US Final on 12 Jan. This round of the competition pitted six excellent bartenders from around the country against one another to make the greatest Rum cocktail ever and go to Venezuela to represent the USA in the World Final. Awesome cocktails. Awesome Rum.

We’re talking REALLY awesome Rum. I will be getting some Diplomatico soon and will give y’all a thorough review and some recipes soon. As a member of the press, I was treated to a Rum tasting while viewing the competition. Here’s my quick run down of the Rums from Top Left to Bottom Right:

Añejo: a blend of 2-4 year Rums. Fruity, grapey, wheaty, caramel, vibrant, playful, light. Would totes use in shaken cocktails.
Blanco: aged for 6 years and then charcoal filtered, made from molasses and sugarcane honey. Straightforward and smooth. Would also totes use in shaken cocktails.
Reserva: aged for 8 years, made from molasses and sugarcane honey. Orange, cola, spice, banana, caramel, nutty, darker fruits. I’d lean toward a stirred drink but would still use shaken.
Reserva Exclusiva: aged 12 years. low, dark, cinnamon, dried apricots, prunes, banana. Velvety wonderfulness. Wow, just WOW. I took a sip and had to just sit there for a minute. It’s sweet on it’s own so be careful using it with sweet modifiers.
2000 Vintage: made from sugarcane honey, aged in bourbon casks and then sherry casks. currants, salinity, orange. Love it. Would sip neat or perhaps use in a stirred drink.
Ambassador: Aged in bourbon casks for 12 years and then finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. Fabulousness in every sip. really reminded me of cognac, dark fruits, caramel, anise, coffee, tobacco, dark chocolate. Sip neat or maybe with a little dilution.

Back to the competition: the judging panel included Dale DeGroff, aka King Cocktail, Leo Robitschek, the NoMad Bar man (y’all know how I feel about NoMad), as well as Nick Nistico, the US representative in the 2013 World Tournament. The cocktail was judged across several categories including Presentation, Taste, Originality and Technique.

This is Nick Meyer, a bartender at Brilliantshine in Santa Monica, CA. This is the man who won. Now, as I was born in Santa Monica, I was immediately biased. Then when his cocktail was all Bananarama, I was like so much more biased! Win Bananaman from Santa Monica, WINNNNNN the World Tournament! Y’all, he made his own Banana Phosphate (like Banana soda) and the judges kept sipping it the whole time. Tasty business.TIKI! Here’s the fabulous recipe:

“Chimpin’ Aint Easy”

.75 oz Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva
.75 oz fresh lime juice
.75 oz Housemade Macadamia Piloncillo Syrup
.75 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
.5 oz Diplomático Anejo
1.5 oz Housemade Banana Phosphate
Method: Served on crushed ice with a metal straw

Garnishes:
Edible marigolds candied with banana dust
Kona coffee grounds mixed with bitter chocolate shavings dusted on top
Banana chips

Killer right? Such a great drink. You could totally drink this all night. Maybe I will move back home to Santa Monica….

After the competition, there was a Booze Cruize! And on this Booze Cruize, we got to taste each of the drinks in the competition. Here’s Bananarama, or as it’s officially known, “Chimpin’ Ain’t Easy”:

Now, my fave drink of the night was actually by Ryan Gannon from Cure in New Orleans, LA. Though Bananarama was sensational, I felt this one showcased the Rum a little bit better and the Amaro was awesome in it. Again, TIKI!

“Little Boots”

1 oz Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva
1 oz Amaro Montenegro
.75 oz Lemon Juice
.5 oz Orgeat
35 drops Bittermens Tiki Bitters
Method: Combine all ingredients in the mixing tin and whip shake with one cracked
cube. Pour unstrained into Collins glass filled with cracked ice.

Garnish: 7 drops of angostura bitters and one lemon peel

And here are the contestants + the Master of Ceremonies, Mr Tad Carducci of Tippling Brothers:

Totally fun event, totally tasty cocktails, totally delicious rum! Thanks to Diplomatico and the Baddish Group for having me!

Oh and P.S. I’m totally counting this post as #TikiTheSnowAway cause almost all of the drinks at the competition were Tiki Style.

Home Bar Boomerang: FoodieTails

2015-01-092015-01-09 / Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

A “Boomerang” is when one bar hand delivers a drink to another bar. Well, here in BlogLand, we can’t exactly send a drink from one friend to the next. Cross-posting is the Blog Boomerang! I’m extremely excited to announce that my first Home Bar Boomerang is from the greatest Home Bar Gurl in the South East, the brilliantly talented FoodieTails! I’ve also posted at her blog today, so head on over to see my recipe.

Bonus: this drink is totally part of the January Total Tiki Takeover! Use the hashtag #TikiTheSnowAway on Instagram to add your own Tiki drinks!

Hello Home Bar Girl readers!! Welcome to a little piece of FoodieTails and the first guest blog post. I’m Morgan and I love cocktails. That’s why we’re all here, right? The #1 Home Bar Girl, Dani, has been killing the cocktail game with her inventive and complex potations. Especially with Rum. Have you seen those Brugal punches?! Amazing. For this first guest post, I thought I’d add my 2 cents in on the rum scene. One can never go wrong with a good swizzle.

Though we’re facing a huge cold front (no snow in the Carolinas yet), I’m still finding a tall glass filled with crushed ice and garnished with mint really refreshing in these cold temperatures. Think tropical thoughts. This swizzle is somewhat of a split base. Combining Brandy and an aged Light Rum. The two balance each other well in this cocktail.

Brooklyn Swizzle:

2oz. Light Rum [Such as Cruzan]
1 1/2oz. Apricot Brandy
3/4oz. Brandy
1oz. Pineapple Juice
3/4oz. Lime Juice
3-6 Mint Leaves
2-3 Dashes Orange Bitters

*Add all ingredients to shaker and fill about half way with ice. Because this cocktail is served over crushed ice, it will be further diluted. Shake until chilled and double strain over crushed ice into a “Hurricane” or highball glass. Garnish with a bouquet of mint.

This has been Home Bar Boomerang. Thanks so much to FoodieTails for this excellent recipe!

You’re So Kind: Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee

2014-12-082014-12-08 / Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

Last weekend at the Brooklyn Winter Flea, I went to the Cocktail Crate booth to say hello to Alex Abbott Boyd and thank him for the very tasty Spiced Old Fashioned Mixer. In return, he gave me this bottle of Ginger Bee. Isn’t he kind? SUPREMELY KIND!

I love Ginger Bee! It tastes very much like my Honey Ginger Juice but also has a touch of Clove. Yummmm, perfect for the Holidaze. As you can see from the above photo, I’ve already used more than half of the bottle cause it’s just so versatile!

HINT: THIS WOULD BE A GREAT GIFT

And now, the cocktails:

Since it’s Hot Toddy weather, we’ll start with a Ginger Bee Toddy.

Ginger Bee Toddy

1 1/2 oz Flor de Caña 7 Aged Rum, Bourbon, Rye or Añjeo Tequila (but Aged Rum is SOOO good)
1 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/8 oz or 1 Barspoon Cinnamon Bark Syrup
3-4 oz Hot Water (depends on yer mug size)
Clove studded Lemon Wheel

In mug, combine ingredients, top with Hot Water and stir. Garnish with Clove studded Lemon Wheel. Sexy Lemon Wheel.

This is another variation on my variation of the Police & Thieves from Gin Palace. RIP Gin Palace, I hope you didn’t sink too far into the ground. 😦

Bobbies & Blockheads

2 oz Pineapple Plymouth Gin
1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee
1/2 oz Cinnamon Bark Syrup
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
2 dashes of Regans’ No 6 Orange Bitters
Pernod Pastis Rinse or Absinthe
Grapefruit Peel

Rinse Coupe with Pernod and chill. In tin, combine remaining ingredients over ice and shake. Express Grapefruit peel and garnish.

This is a very tasty Gold Rush variation. Perfect for winter!

Gold Hunter

2 oz Elijah Craig 12 Year Bourbon
1 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
Star Anise

In tin, combine Bourbon, Ginger Bee, Lemon Juice and shake over ice. Strain into double rocks glass with ice. Star Anise garnish.

I mentioned this Punch recipe in my Punch for Two: Brugal Rum post. It’s too good not to mention here in this Ginger Bee review! Perfect way to showcase such a tasty mixer in a Punch format.

St Marks Punch

1 1/2 oz Brugal Extra Dry Rum
1 1/2 oz Flor de Caña 7 Aged Rum
1/4 oz Santa Maria al Monte Amaro
1 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee (may need to add more Honey Syrup to taste)
3/4 oz Fresh Mandarin Orange Juice
1/2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 dash Hella Bitter Citrus bitters
1 dash Scrappy’s Cardamom bitters
Club Soda
Lemon slice

In tin, combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into Punch cups, top with Soda, Lemon slice garnish.

Well, that’s it for now! Thanks again to Alex and be sure to get this mixer into your Home Bar. Totally worth it! This has been You’re So Kind, the post where someone nice gives me a bottle and I review it!

Punch for Two: Brugal Rum

2014-12-042014-12-07 / Dani DeLuna / 5 Comments

It’s Punch for Two! As previously stated, the very nice people from MBooth Marketing gave me a bottle of Brugal Especial Extra Dry, so we’ll be making the Punch with this Rum. This is a totally tasty dry Rum and such a bang for your buck! Toasted marshmellow, vanilla, coconut and citrus flavours abound.

Holiday times make me think of Punch more than any other time of the year. This may have to do with the fact that last winter I had the greatest Whiskey Punch ever at Dead Rabbit NYC. Woah, damn, I think about that Whiskey Punch all year round. Come to think of it, I may have to head over to Dead Rabbit this week.

Here at my Home Bar, I’m not batching Punch for 20 people, just myself and my girlfriend, aka Punch for Two! As these recipes are created with just two people in mind, some of the rules have changed. But first, before we can talk about the rules, let’s talk about what goes into *Punch.

According to the Death & Co book, Wikipedia and David Wondrich’s Book Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl, Punch contains: Spirits, sugar, citrus, water and spice. The spice is really what differentiates punch from say, a Gin Sour, Margarita or Daquiri. The other important component of Punch is that Punch is stirred and ice, soda/champagne are added after the ingredients have been properly mixed. This last rule is the one we’ll be breaking when serving Punch for Two. We aren’t going to be leaving the Punch in a bowl with ice, we’re going to shake it, serve it and top it with soda!

And now, the cocktails:

DKO Punch: I loosely based this one on a Planter’s Punch and the Mandarin Orange slices are so very nice.

DKO Punch

1 3/4 oz Brugal Extra Dry Rum
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1/2 oz Grenadine
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
1 oz Fresh Orange Juice
1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Carbonated Lemon-aid or Lemon Soda
Mandarin Orange Slice

In tin, combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into punch cups and top with Carbonated Lemon-aid/Lemon Soda. Mandarin Orange Slice garnish.

St Marks Punch: The super nice Cocktail Crate man, Mr. Alex Abbott Boyd, gave me the Ginger Bee Craft Mixer at last weekend’s Brooklyn Flea. Isn’t he kind? He’s so kind. It’s similar to my Honey Ginger juice but also has hints of clove. So nice, so perfect for punch!

St Marks Punch

1 1/2 oz Brugal Extra Dry Rum
1 1/2 oz Flor de Caña 7 Aged Rum
1/4 oz Santa Maria al Monte Amaro
1 1/2 oz Cocktail Crate Ginger Bee or Honey Ginger Juice (may need to add more Honey Syrup to taste)
3/4 oz Fresh Mandarin Orange Juice
1/2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 dash Hella Bitter Citrus bitters
1 dash Scrappy’s Cardamom bitters
Club Soda
Lemon slice

In tin, combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into Punch cups, top with Soda, Lemon slice garnish.

DeLuna Punch: Yep, you knew it, you knew there would be Tequila and you knew I would name the punch after myself cause I’m so into Tequila! Narcissism!

DeLuna Punch

2 oz Brugal Extra Dry Rum
1/2 oz Espolón Blanco Tequila
1/2 oz Cointreau Triple Sec
1 oz Agave
1 oz Fresh Grapefruit juice
1/2 oz Fresh Lime juice
2 dashes Elemakule Tiki Bitters (Orange bitters work but the Tiki ones have that Spice!)
Club Soda
Lime slice

In tin, combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into Punch cups, top with Soda, Lime slice garnish.

*You know what really goes into Punch? A million ingredients and that’s why I love it so much! You can finally make a cocktail with at least eight ingredients and no one will call you silly!

Cheers

Flor de Caña 7 Year is AMAZING

2014-11-202014-11-20 / Dani DeLuna / 2 Comments

WOOOOOOOOOOOO! I FINALLY DID IT! I BOUGHT AGED RUM!

So, lately I’ve been meaning to get into the whole Rum Craze that’s hit the eastern USA but kept putting it off and putting it off and now I’ve given in! I was told by my cocktail mentor Angel Negrín to try and get El Dorado 12 Year or Havana Club 3 Year but I couldn’t find either of those in Prospect Heights. What I did find was a Nicaraguan Aged Rum, Flor de Caña 7 Year.

It’s delicious! I love it! I can’t believe I waited this long! Flor de Caña 7 Year has Caramel smoothness for days. FOR DAYS! Great rum to mix with and that’s precisely what I did with it!

This is the best damn Daiquiri I’ve ever had. Ever.

Daiquiri

2 oz Rum
1 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Turbinado Simple Syrup
Lime Wheel

In tin, combine ingredients over ice and shake. Strain into coupe and garnish with Lime Wheel.

An original cocktail here. As I had already started with a Daiquiri, I wanted to keep going with the Rum + Lime juice idea and decided to make a “fake” spicy margarita.

Chiquitita Margarita

2 oz Flor de Caña Rum
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Agave Nectar
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 dropper Brooklyn Hemispherical Sriracha Bitters (or any bitters with heat and chili peppers)

In tin, combine Rum, Lime Juice, Cointreau, Agave Nectar, Angostura and Sriracha Bitters and shake over ice. Double strain into coupe and garnish with Lime Wheel.

Again, delicious. I feel like this Flor de Caña 7 Year will just destroy any citrus cocktail! Now to try and make some stirred drinks with it.

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