Spirited Cocktails

This evening, my friend Laren (@sweetblogomine) and I joined Jonathan Pogash for his Cocktail Lab class at the Astor Center Lounge. I’ve mentioned Jonathan here before (he was the source for our post on the Maple Plum Sparkler), but to refresh your memory, Jonathan is a cocktail development consultant, and the beverage director for Hospitality Holdings (which manages a number of major bars here in New York, including the Campbell Apartment and Bookmarks Lounge).

I’ve taken a number of classes at Astor Center in the past, and they’ve all offered an opportunity to learn a great deal from some of the country’s most talented mixologists. Be sure to check out their full calendar; if you’re in the area, I highly encourage you to give one a try. Jonathan’s class is actually offered monthly, so you can definitely take that one. If you’re just starting out, I’d suggest the Home Bar Basics course.

In any case, Jonathan’s class tonight was really about developing new cocktails – how to come up with your own recipes using classic cocktails as a guide, but also taking advantage of fresh, seasonal, and often unique ingredients. As an exercise, we broke up into groups and were each given one ingredient that had to make an appearance in whatever cocktail we developed. As long as that ingredient was included, everything else was up to us (think Iron Chef meets… something with booze.) Laren and I paired up, along with another member of the class, and were asigned Averna as our key ingredient.

Averna is a classic Italian liquer, often served as a digestif. It’s very herbal – almost bitter – with hints of citrus and caramel. We figured this would make for a great addition to an autumn cocktail. The result: The Pumpkin Pie

Here’s what you’re going to need:

1 1/2oz Rye (we used ri1, which has a nice spice to it)
1 bar spoon Averna
1 bar spoon maple syrup
1 bar spoon pumpkin puree
1/4oz orange juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash of pumpkin spice (the supermarket kind; a blend of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, etc.)
1 egg white
1 orange peel (for garnish)

I know – that’s a lot of ingredients. But many of them are things you probably already have sitting around the house (if not, they’re certainly available at your local grocery store.) Once you have all the ingredients, simply combine everything in a mixing glass.

Because of the egg white in this, we did a double shake. That means that we combined all the ingredients in our shaker *without* ice, and shook well for about 10 seconds. Then we added ice, and shook well for another 15-20 seconds. The result, thanks in large part to the egg white, is a nice foamy cocktail, the consistency of which certainly brings pumpkin pie to mind!

We garnished the cocktail with a flamed orange peel. A regular orange peel will do, but flaming the peel helps to caramelize the citrus oils, giving a nice depth of character to the taste. If you’re unfamiliar with how to flame an orange peel, Jeffrey Morgenthaler has a great walkthrough on his site.

The result: a lovely autumn cocktail, with flavors of pumpkin, spice and maple. I hope you like it!

So thanks to Laren (@sweetblogomine) for a fun time; to Jonathan Pogash for the great instruction, and Astor Center, for hosting the class in such an awesome space!

While I have you – a public service announcement: Laren has actually organized a great event in the Astor Center space next Monday, November 2nd. The event is a fundraiser for the NYC chapter of LUPEC (Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails), and will be presented in conjunction with the folks from Chartreuse (including Chartreuse Brand Ambassador Todd Richman and Chartreuse Diffusion President Jean Marc Roger). I’ll be there for sure – I encourage you to join us as well. Tickets available from the Astor Center website.

Cheers!

Josh

I don’t know how I ever survived without my iPhone. It helps me manage my e-mail, contacts and calendar. But also gives me directions, plays my music (and my NPR podcasts), and keeps me entertained on the subway. It is my one essential piece of technology.

Today my favorite piece of technology is now married to my favorite activity (drinking, naturally), with the release of Happy Houred (available from iTunes or http://happyhoured.com).

Happy Houred lets you choose your location, the type of bar you’re looking for, etc. and it returns a list of the best deals in your area. Say it’s 4:00 – you’re in Brooklyn, and looking for a beer. Happy Houred shows you the way. 8pm and looking for a cocktail on the Upper East Side? Happy Houred has you covered.

Happy Houred is easily my new favorite iPhone application. And the best news? It’s free.

Go download it.

Now.

I’m long overdue for new cocktail posts; fortunately a friend has provided inspiration.

The other day I sent an e-mail to our friend Jonathan Pogash, renowned bartender, beverage director for Hospitality Holdings (World Bar, Campbell Apartment, et al), and head of the USBG chapter here in New York City. I was writing just to ask Jonathan a quick question, and as it turns out, he’s out of town this week. But Jonathan – never one to let a customer go thirsty – left cocktail recipes in his out of office message! Needless to say, this was one of the best out of office messages I’ve ever seen (and that’s after more than a decade working in the tech industry.)

So in a desire to share Jonathan’s wisdom with all of you, I give you the Maple Plum Sparkler (as served at Bookmarks Lounge).

Here’s what you’re going to need:

1 plum, chopped
1 heaping tsp. grade A dark amber maple syrup
A splash of fresh lemon juice
3 oz. Sparkling Wine or Champagne

In a mixing glass, combine the chopped plum with the lemon juice and maple syrup and muddle well. Add ice and the sparkling wine, and stir briefly. (The “briefly” part is important; you want to chill the cocktail, but because the booze here is wine, you don’t want to dilute it too much.) Strain the result into a champagne flute. Garnish with a slice of plum.

Plums are in season right now, and if sourced well, are absolutely delicious. The addition of maple syrup makes for a wonderful fall cocktail.

So many thanks to Mr. Pogash for helping me to get things back on track here at Spirited Cocktails. Be sure to visit him at World Bar or Bookmarks Lounge. I’ll be back later this week to tell you all about my recent trip to France.

Cheers!

Josh