Gone Glamping

This past weekend I went camping at one of my favorite spots - Devil's Lake State Park. As always, the hiking was the perfect amount of challenge, the lake was beautifully clear for swimming, and the weather turned out better than any of us could have expected. Of course, we enjoyed S'mores for dessert both nights and had a laugh over everyone's various preparation strategies. I prefer removing the outer skin of a totally flamed marshmallow while my husband surprised me with pre-warming the graham cracker and chocolate on the grill for an extra gooey (and messy) treat. 

To me, S'mores are one of the quintessential enjoyments of summer but I do wish the ingredients could be more natural and less processed. I took the inspiration of the chocolate, charred marshmallow and cinnamon-coated graham cracker components and re-imagined them in purer cocktail form. 

Starting out, I knew I wanted to use a smoky spirit and chocolate balsamic with a homemade cinnamon syrup and an egg white foam. I chose Gran Centenario Añejo Tequila for the base because I love that it has a very approachable amount of smoke. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy scotch in the right situation but I generally prefer less smoke in my cocktails because it can quickly steal the show. I can be apprehensive around tequila but this one has the smoothness of a good whiskey and a flavor that's balanced enough for easy mixing.

You're probably a bit confused about the chocolate balsamic component. Vinegar opens up a whole other world of possibilities for mixology, and most varieties can be incorporated in a drink if mixed correctly - shrubs, champagne, balsamic (the list goes on). It's a great alternative to citrus for adding acidity and can also help build complexity in non-alcoholic drinks. Balsamic vinegar is especially wonderful because its sweet taste and creamy texture makes it more of a crowd pleaser. Both my and my husband's parents gave us bottles of chocolate balsamic and it blew my mind how well those flavors worked together. I've used it to make brownies in the past but thought it could be perfect in this cocktail for helping the egg white foam, balancing the sweetness, and adding chocolaty depth. 

I did some research before creating the cinnamon syrup because I had heard of different cinnamon varieties and was pretty confused about what all of them entailed. Surprisingly, I found that cassia cinnamon, the variety most common in the U.S., can be toxic to your liver and kidneys if consumed on a daily basis. Ceylon cinnamon, the variety native to Sri Lanka, doesn't have the same negative impacts while benefiting metabolism and containing similar antioxidants to green tea. I grabbed it in bulk off of Amazon to get a more reasonable price and was impressed with its softer texture and sweeter flavor profile. It paired wonderfully with the less processed demerara sugar to make a delicious and versatile syrup. The whole sticks are perfect for steeping in syrups and teas and using for garnish but you can also grind them into powder using a regular coffee grinder.

To finish the drink off, I experimented with a brûléed egg white foam. I had never tried a cocktail like this but understood the general theory - after creating an egg white cocktail with a well-formed foam you could sprinkle sugar over the top and then torch that sugar to caramelize it. I found that the key was to keep the torch moving over the surface of the cocktail to prevent the sugar getting burnt. Don't get discouraged when you try this at home - it takes a bit for the sugar to start caramelizing but the process is pretty fast from that point on. 

The resulting drink was booze-forward and decadent without being heavy. It had just the right amount of sweetness and the egg white created an excellent texture to bring all the other ingredients together. It may be more of an involved creation but it's certainly worth the effort!

Gone Glamping

  • 2 oz añejo tequila
  • 0.25 oz chocolate balsamic vinegar
  • 0.75 Ceylon cinnamon syrup*
  • 1 egg white
  • 0.5 tsp white sugar

Dry shake all ingredients other than sugar (without ice) for 10-15 seconds, popping the cap occasionally to release the pressure from the egg white. Add ice and shake until chilled. Double strain into a coupe glass, sprinkle the top evenly with sugar and torch the surface until the sugar has caramelized (turned golden brown). Enjoy as an extremely sophisticated adult substitute for S'mores.

* To make Ceylon cinnamon syrup, heat 1 cup water,  1/4 cup demerara sugar and 3 cinnamon sticks in a small saucepan for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Excess can be stored in the fridge for several weeks but should be shaken before use as some settling may occur. Try adding the leftover syrup to coffee for another delicious treat!

 

 

Thanks to Belen Aquino for the stunning cocktail photography and to Gather Vintage Tablescapes for the beautiful vintage glasses.

Campfire Tale

Lovers of bitter flavors rejoice - this cocktail is the first (and most potent) in a three part series covering my exploration of bitter spirits! Not a fan of bitter cocktails? You're probably best off avoiding this one - but I have some more manageable options coming your way. My goal was to find a spectrum of bitterness that everyone could enjoy so the two recipes to follow this one will be less booze/bitter forward and lighter in flavor profile. 

I was inspired to create this cocktail after a trip to Fonda Frontera in Wicker Park. They offered a modern take on the classic Vieux Carré cocktail with Añejo tequila replacing the cognac. I loved the smoky, bitter feeling of the drink and wanted to give it a try with the ingredients I had on hand in my home bar. 

I'm not much of a tequila drinker but I tend to love all forms of aged spirits for the richer, woodier taste they take on through barrel aging. Añejo tequila is aged in small oak barrels from 1 to 3 years and features an amber color and pleasantly smoky flavor and aroma. I recently received a bottle from Grand Centenario, and it's hands down the best tequila I've ever tried in terms of flavor and mouthfeel. 

I used Koval Distillery Rye but Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond Rye could be an alternative if you're looking to limit your costs. For the bitter element, I chose St. George Bruto Americano. I first discovered this delightful spirit when looking for a natural alternative to Campari (which uses red food coloring). I had a lot of faith in the St. George brand for their diverse line of gins and Spiced Pear Liqueur. Their take on an aperitivo liqueur certainly left an impression. The Bruto really packs a punch and can be used sparingly to add citrusy, woody and bitter complexity. 

I finished the drink off with a few dashes of orange bitters and an orange-peel wrapped Amarena cherry garnish to emphasize the citrus in the Bruto. The resulting cocktail is wonderfully deep in wood and smoke flavors yet surprisingly smooth given that it's 100% alcohol!

Campfire Tale

  • 1 oz Añejo tequila
  • .75 oz Rye whiskey
  • 0.5 oz St. George Bruto Americano
  • 3 drops orange bitters

Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice to chill, then strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with an orange twist, cocktail cherry, or both and enjoy while sharing gripping tales around a campfire. 

Thanks to Belen Aquino for the stunning cocktail photography and to Gather Vintage Tablescapes for the tray and hollow stemmed coupes. 

Strawberry Season

I have a confession.

I don't like tequila. While it has grown on me tremendously since college, you won't find me sipping any on the rocks or volunteering to consume it in shot form. Maybe being Eastern European gives me a poor tequila tolerance to offset my excellent vodka tolerance?

That being said, a lot of other people find tequila enjoyable so I can't leave it out of my cocktail repertoire. It's good to stick with the ingredients you know you love but challenging yourself to move beyond your comfort zone can have surprisingly good consequences. This cocktail is one of those good consequences.

In the past, I've started with a traditional margarita recipe and tried adding egg whites. Why? I thought the foam created by egg whites could smooth out some of the bite of the tequila flavor and bring it down to a level I could find agreeable. The egg whites accomplished exactly what I was hoping for and so much more. 

I particularly enjoy this margarita variation when paired with another fruit flavor. Since strawberries are currently wonderfully ripe and abundant, they served as my fruit of choice. As an extra step, I spent a few hours infusing my tequila with a few bags of wild strawberry tea (steps: put tea bags into tequila -> taste until desired flavor is achieved -> take tea bags out of tequila). The bottle I had on hand was a cheap one but excellent for mixing, especially when given some extra flavor with an infusion. You can snag it for under $10 at Trader Joe's!

One final word of advice - having tested multiple ways of preparing strawberry cocktails, I highly recommend either boiling them to create a syrup or blending them if you prefer to have the fresh fruit. You simply can't get as much goodness out of them if you muddle and then strain. 

Strawberry Season

  • 1.5 oz strawberry tea infused tequila
  • 2-3 blended strawberries
  • 0.5 oz orange liqueur (I swear by this one)
  • 1 small lime
  • 1 egg white

Cut a slice out of the center of the lime and set aside for garnish. Juice the rest of the lime into a shaker and add all other ingredients. Shake without ice for 10-15 seconds, making sure to periodically release the pressure from the top of the shaker (pressure will build as the egg white starts to foam). Add ice and shake until chilled, then strain into a stemmed glass and garnish with a lime wheel. Enjoy outdoors with good company.

Photography by Belen Aquino, glassware by Gather Vintage Tablescapes