FOUR MIND-ERASERS for a HEATWAVE

I don't advocate heavy drinking. I advocate STRONG drinks.  Make them strong, brutal in fact.  Just drink fewer of them!

But with that said, in a heat wave there is nothing I like doing more than chilling out with an icy drink.

We're having a short heat wave here in NJ.  It's not that I don't enjoy the heat, I do- it's just that with the right cocktail, all becomes very blurry.

The other day I found myself in New York City.  I attended a tasting at the venerable Lamb's Club on 44th street for Appleton Rum.  Appleton was celebrating their release of the 50 year old special cask rum.  In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Jamaica's independence, they bottled 800 bottles worldwide.  Seventy of these bottles came to the United States.  Several of these bottles graced the room. 

I tasted a small tot of the rum.  It was as if I was drinking liquid history.  An honor.

The Honor Cocktail (uses Appleton's Rum of course) Makes 2 perfectly ravishing cocktails...

2 Shots of Appleton's Rum

1 Shot Tenneyson Absinthe

2 Oz. Coconut and Guava water

Grilled orange round

Bitter End Thai Bitters

Preparation:

Grill orange then muddle in a cocktail shaker while still warm

Add Rum and the Absinthe  (Rum and Absinthe????) 

Add Coconut/Guava water

Add 3 drops of Bitter End Thai Bitters

Shake.. Shake... Shake.... Strain into a short rocks glass with a twist of orange zest

I love iced tea.  It's one of my favorite things to imbibe in the hot weather.  What would happen if I took iced tea and mixed a small amount of apple cider to it?  Then in a tip of my cap to moonshine, I'd add some of the softly, robust Hudson New York Corn Whiskey to the mix.

A cocktail is born!!!

Summer in the City

Ingredients:
2oz. Hudson New York Corn Whiskey
3oz. freshly made sweet black tea
3oz. Apple Cider 
1oz. Royal Rose Three Chilies Syrup ( a nice burn in this syrup, spicy simple syrup)

Danger Level 5 out of 5!!! DANGER!!!

Preparation:
Brew tea, let cool

Add Apple Cider to the tea.

Mix in Hudson New York Corn Whiskey

Add the syrup
Shake and stain into a tall cocktail glass with rock ice. Garnish with a slice of grilled apple.

American Spirit Whiskey sent me a bottle of their "Ultra Filtered Whiskey" the other day for sampling.  Upon opening the cap I noticed the sweet telltale aromatics of country and place.  This is sophisticated juice... Way beyond mere vodka or rock-gut mixing whiskey.  I was immediately impressed by the finish and the start.  Crisp, aromatic, citrus notes, leather (not sure how) and freshly cut herbs.

This is fantastic stuff.  Worthy of any mixed drink that calls for that distinctive CORN Whiskey flavor.  I couldn't imagine a lemonade on a hot summer's day without it.

I call this cocktail the William Adam Cocktail after the Adam period in architecture in Charleston, South Carolina.  A living museum of this style of architecture.  Lovely.

The William Adam Cocktail

2 Shots American Spirit Whiskey

1 Shot Tenneyson Absinthe

4 Shots of freshly made lemonade (sweetened to taste)

Preparation:

Chill a tall glass with ice and water

To a cocktail shaker add the Whiskey, the Absinthe and the Lemonade

Add a bit of ice and shake well until the shaker is frosted

Pour into your pre-chilled tall glass.  Garnish with fresh mint and a lemon slice

Danger level 5 out of 5.  This will erase your mind! 

Gin is a favored liquor for a heat wave.  Perhaps I like this so much because I first discovered Gin while on a trip to the Ivory Coast in Africa back in 1976.  My parents took me there to visit friends who lived there and worked for a large French company that was developing the area.  It's a gorgeous country of color, aroma and a passionate, handsome people.  Unfortunately they've gone through civil war and cultural upheaval.  Really too bad.  I liked it there.  Even if leaving the cities meant going back into time about a thousand years. 

The other downside to the Ivory Coast is the heat.  It's damned hot there.  Add 100% humidity and you have the recipe for GIN!

Gin and Tonic is the flavor of the land.  I'm sure that more G&T's were made and enjoyed in the Ivory Coast than I could count.

The Ivory Coast Punch includes Gin, but more importantly it includes a brand of Gin that I find quite beguiling. 

Aviation Gin from House Spirits in Portland, Oregon.  It's lip-smacking good!

The Ivory Coast Punch

Will drop your mind firmly into a place never gone before!  Only drink when it is blistering hot!

Ingredients:

Aviation Gin from House Spirits

Crushed grilled pineapple, orange, lime and grapefruit juices (grill chunks of the fruit over charcoal, then muddle)

Iced Tea (sweetened)

Bitter End Curry Bitters

Preparation:

Take 6 cups total of the freshly grilled fruits and juice them in a juicer to release their secrets and then add this grilled juice to your punchbowl

Add 8 Shots Aviation Gin

Add 4 cups of iced tea

Add about 10 drops of the Bitter End Curry Bitters

Mix together in a punch bowl and serve in tall glasses with plenty of ice and hunks of orange and limes cut into the bowl.