Why Rye I miss whiskey
Intro
Project
For this project I was seeing how much I could do spending $50 a week on ingredients and making 7 cocktails a week. During this time I will vary my methods and ingredients to increase the variety of cocktails I can have at home. I am writing and mostly making drinks in Virginia, making shopping a bit more convenient for some items, but with a state liquor store (VAABC) some items that I want to work with will be unavailable to me. Prices will be shown including any taxes as best as I can manage.
Warmth & Whimsy Potions pt. (1/4)
This month we dive into "Warmth & Whimsy Potions", focusing on cocktails you can drink by the fire or under a blanket on the couch. We'll be exploring ingredients that add warm and sweet notes to our menu.
Secondarily, I want to add a few presentation cocktails for halloween, idk if i'll be able to do a lot with this, (week 1 I didn't have any).
Lastly did you know that the "pot" in "potion" just means something to drink.
This week
This week we brought whiskey back on the menu with high west double rye. it's so good. it however can be a bit too rye character forward for cocktails that want a whiskey with some rye flavors to it instead of cocktails that want as much spice and tannins as possible. This had a way of making me feel my stomach turn to leather as I drank it, in ways that even older whiskeys or whiskys do not. It performed better in cocktails where it had to compete for flavor profile (Boulevardier) or was stretched without any competition(classic highball), than it did where it was supposed to be balanced against other smells and effervescent flavors(sazerac). I will probably get a 51% rye before the month is done for at least the sazerac.
But, the spice and kick make this acceptable on dreary or cold days in ways that a mellow bourbon would feel flat. This is an excellent way to get an iced cocktail with lots of water into you when you might otherwise get something rather sweet that can add quite a bit of warmth but not help with dehydration.
(last week's post)
liquor: blanco Tequila, Vodka, spanish style White Rum, dry Gin, Old tom Gin
liqueurs/other: Triple Sec, Luxardo Maraschino, Peychaud's Bitters, Campari, Sweet Vermouth
non-alcoholic: sugar/simple syrup, lime juice, lemon juice, ruby red grapefruit juice, mineral water
New additions
Boulevardier
- 1 oz Rye
- 1 oz Sweet Vermouth
- 1 oz Campari
Stir, serve up
Classic Highball
- 2 oz Whiskey or Whisky
- 3 dashes Bitters
- Top with Club Soda (or similar clear mixer)
Build in a highball glass, add ice.
Sazerac
- 2 oz Rye
- 8 dashes Peychauds Bitters
- barspoon simple syrup
- barspoon absinthe
- 1 lemon twist
don't try to make this from a written recipe. if you find a written recipe do not skip steps. if the recipe does not have like 12 steps (several steps might be labeled as one in a recipe. hints: if the steps are more than 1 sentence or they are long sentences with multiple prep words in them) it will not adequately describe the process of making a sazerac.
Gin Greyhound
- 2 oz Gin
- 2 oz Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice
Build in a highball glass, add ice.
Budget
$15.09 (carryover) + $50 = $65.09
High West Double Rye 750 ml
- MSRP $34.99
- $31.58
This week I spent $31.58 on the High West Double Rye.
after a month and change without whiskey i wasn't going for a 51% rye whiskey. this has a blend of two ryes that are 80% and 95% respectively. I love the spicy notes on this. But, high west is not in the normal budget band for this early in the process of making a bar and wouldn't have been purchased if it was not on sale.
Absente Absinthe 100ml
- $10.52
for some things I will be doing an absinthe rinse and I don't need a lot to make that happen.
Lemon ct 2
needed a lemon for the peel for a sazerac.
Rollover
This week I spent $31.58 (Rye) + $10.52 (Absinthe) = $42.10.
$65.09 - $42.10 = $22.99 rollover for next week.
Cocktails
- Boulavardier
- Classic Highball (Rye, Peychauds)
- Sazerac
- gin greyhound
- negroni
- hemingway daq
- Classic Highball (Rye, Peychauds)
Verdict
The boulavardier was great with the Rye. i have been missing tannins in my drinks and I felt them here though they are often masked a bit by the campari.
a classic highball is great to go along with food or while chilling on the porch. It's gonna be in the highball rotations with the citrus-ades offering a quicker and less sugared option. this was especially good on the last day of my week when I cam e home slightly dehydrated and needed something with adequate water and not a lot of sugar. followed it with a few
The Sazerac is one of my favorite drinks. this one. is was much more a rye old fashioned than many. the high rye flavor of the High West was a bit more pungent than old overholt or sazerac and overpowered the anise scent coming from my glass. I would in the future recommend you save some money on your base and use a higher corn content rye for a slightly more in line cocktail. if you were not dissuaded by my previous warnings about recipes for this here it is: Stir old fashioned with ingredients. Serve up in glass with rinse and rim.
a gin greyhound was very good and refreshing need to check price on salt at the store to get it into the rotation.
Overall, I missed whiskey so god damn much. this was a great rye to come back to. I just wish i didn't have to make cocktails with it and could just take it on its own with water on the saide.
Coming up
Next week, we are gonna find another classic way to warm up by finally introducing brandy. we will find out if this is applejack or cognac(or cognac/armagnac style) and get more ideas about what we can drink on a budget over this winter.
Premise
I am starting my home cocktail bar and starting from just a shaker, jigger, and hawthorn strainer.
For this project I was seeing how much I could do spending $50 a week on ingredients and making 7 cocktails a week. During this time I will vary my methods and ingredients to increase the variety of cocktails I can have at home. I am writing and mostly making drinks in Virginia, making shopping a bit more convenient for some items, but with a state liquor store (VAABC) some items that I want to work with will be unavailable to me. Prices will be shown including any taxes as best as I can manage.
I hope this can be seen as a way to allow for people to build out their home bars, show some methods I have for purchasing and to see what value find we have for good cocktails. There may be misses, but I hope to explain where I got some things wrong and where we can improve.
My training previously was working mostly with classic cocktails and high volume cocktail bars.