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Archive for the ‘Amer Picon’ Category

The Measure of Success

Posted in Amer Picon, Cointreau, Gin, maraschino liqueur, Measuring, Orange Bitters on June 18, 2008| 4 Comments »


I never thought I would become attached to a kitchen tool. That is, until I met the Oxo angled measuring cup. The 2 oz measuring cup, shown on the right, allows one to accurately measure amounts as small as one quarter ounce. In addition to ounces, their are interior markings for tablespoons and the more traditional exterior markings for milliliters and cups. Mr. Jigger you have served me well, but from now on this detail oriented cocktail lover will be angling for Oxo. Let’s put that quarter ounce line to use.

The HOSKINS COCKTAIL
2 oz Plymouth Gin
.75 oz Torani Amer (or Amer Picon)
.5 oz Maraschino Liqueur
.25 oz Cointreau
1 dash orange bitters

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a flamed orange peel.

Cheers!

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Dispatches from the May meeting

Posted in Amer Picon, angostura bitters, Cantina Bostonia, Harpoon Cider, Irish Coffee, lemon juice, Monday-Night Mug, Normandy, Orange Bitters, Pink Gin, St-Germain, Whiskey on May 23, 2008| 1 Comment »

by Pink Gin

The theme of the May LUPEC Boston meeting was Travel.

We live in an amazing time when women have status and choices and when travel is cheap and easy. The ladies of LUPEC Boston celebrated the convergence of these ‘movements’ with food, drink, conversation, and authentic costumes from around the world. Featured readings came from Stuff at Night (on the topic of LUPEC’s Little Black Book of Cocktails), the Complete Book for the Intelligent Woman Traveler by Frances Koltun, published in 1967 (on the lively topic of bidets), and Easy to Make Maidens and Cocktails: A Mixing, Swingers Bar Guide published by Enrol in 1965 (illustrated with a saucy dame for each base spirit).

Recipes were selected on the theme of travel, including the traveler’s imperative to seek out local specialties – in this case, JP!

Monday-night Mug

MONDAY NIGHT MUG
2 bottles of Cantina Bostonia White Table Wine
~12 oz. Picon
~6 oz. St. Germain
10-12 dashes orange bitters
1 lemon
Mix the refrigerated wine and other liquid ingredients into a punch bowl. Slice the lemon and float on top.

This recipe was inspired by the French classic of mixing local white wine and Picon. Cantina Bostonia is the only Boston-based wine maker. They make sulfite-free wines just a few blocks away in the brewery complex. The wines have plenty of character and will definitely remind you of homemade. In this case the recipe testing and decision to create a punch came late the night before the LUPEC meeting. Thanks to k. montuori for recipe development and for saying, “In JP you don’t get punched, you get mugged.”

PINK GIN
Recipe as given in the Little Black Book.

Inspired by thoughts of the high seas, of course!
NORMANDY
Recipe as given in the Little Black Book. Harpoon Cider is the featured Boston ingredient.

IRISH COFFEE WITH A SECRET
~1 tsp. sugar of any sort (I happened to have agave syrup last night and it was fine)
2 oz. Irish whiskey (Powers was the brand on hand)
8 oz. stovetop espresso brewed with a generous portion of red pepper flake (thanks to mcoffee for the brew)
Heavy cream (from a New England farm of course)
Assemble the sugar, whiskey, and coffee in a stemmed glass. Stir. Whip unsweetened cold cream to desired consistency (I like it just shy of soft peaks) and carefully spoon on top. One story has it that the original Irish Coffee was invented in the Shannon International Airport Lounge. Truth or fiction? Who cares! The secret is in the spice.

Cheers!

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The Biograph Blonde

Posted in Amer Picon, Broads, Cocktails, Gin on June 18, 2007| Leave a Comment »

Born in Chicago on June 18, 1895, Blanche Sweet was one of the great actresses of silent film. Although not as well known as her contemporaries, Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish, Sweet made over 120 films.

Born into a show business family, Sweet was first carried onto the stage when she was eighteen months. She spent her childhood dancing with the Gertrude Hoffman troupe and made her film debut at the age of 14. Sweet worked for several film houses during her long career, including American Biograph. At that time performers’ names were not listed in the credits, so she became known as the Biograph Blonde. She gained a place in history in 1913 when she starred in America’s first full length feature film, Judith of Bethulia. One of Sweet’s most famous roles was the lead in the first film version of “Anna Christie,” the first Eugene O’Neill play to reach the screen. Although she had a beautiful speaking and singing voice, Sweet’s career plunged with the advent of “talkies” as movie executives began promoting new performers to draw attention to the new style of film.

Now a toast to Blanche Sweet, the Biograph Blonde.

Soft and Sweet
1 oz Gin
1 oz Orange Juice
.5 oz Amer Picon
.5 oz Curacao
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Cheers!

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