“Here, see if you can make me something with this”, the liquor rep taunted as he dropped a bottle of aquavit on the bar. If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I don’t really work that well under pressure. I try, but it literally takes me weeks to come up with a new drink that I’m happy with. Maybe I’m slow, maybe I’m a perfectionist, doesn’t matter: I hate it when I have to work under pressure.
So I was especially vexed when this particular wiseass handed me a bottle of aquavit. For those of you who don’t know, is a traditional Scandinavian liquor flavored with caraway and - typically - other herbs such as fennel and anise. It’s delicious, but it’s unique and isn’t known for its superb mixability.
However, I knew the liquor boob was insinuating that I might not be able to rise to the challenge, so I whipped this up (after about three false starts). A small handful of visitors to the bar at Clyde Common have suggested that it might be one of the best drinks I’ve come up with so far, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. I just think it tastes delicious.
1 oz aquavit
1 oz applejack
¾ oz sweet vermouth
¼ oz yellow Chartreuse
1 dash Angostura bitters
Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Garnish with a large twist of lemon peel and serve.
My problem with homemade tonic water has always been a flavor profile that was too esoteric for the general audience. This recipe takes some of the positive qualities people have come to understand from commercial tonic water and updated them with fresh ingredients.
One question I'm often asked is "Do you have any drink-related book recommendations?" Well, funny you should ask, I've compiled a list of the ten books every professional bartender or home mixologist should own. I keep every one of these close at hand and have read most of them several times. I suggest you do the same.
The problem with living in Oregon is the absence of little wooden shacks by the sea that sell cases of fresh ginger beer stacked on back porches. But with some readily-available ingredients, a recipe I've been revising for several years - and a few free minutes - I can easily transport myself to a little fishing boat on the ocean as I sip a Dark and Stormy made with fresh, house-made ginger beer.
It's always mojito season somewhere, so this advice is timely in your area about half the year. Wether you're making them or simply enjoying them, this advice will help you look like a pro in no time at all.
The flavors of the Richmond Gimlet are imbued with sunshine. Fresh mint mingling with the herbaceousness of gin and the tartness of lime have made this drink a Eugene classic for many years now.
You'll get a lot of snarky advice on this site about how to make a proper drink, but if you ever need to know what not to do, this is the video for you.
Not to be confused with the Spanish wine-and-fruit-based alcoholic beverage sangria, sangrita (meaning "little blood") is a traditional accompaniment to a tequila served completo; a non-alcoholic sipper that cleanses the palate between fiery doses of agave.
The world of booze can be mystifying to people that don't work in bars or around alcohol all the time. I hear a lot of assumptions about the industry I'm in that are - much like 90% of what you hear in bars - completely false. Here are a few you've probably heard yourself.
The debate rages on: Should we try to look cool and crack open the Boston shaker or be tidy professionals and use the Hawthorne strainer the way God intended? Be sure to leave your two cents in the comments section.
The traditional garnish for a Pisco Sour is a couple of drops of bitters in the foam, but I've never been particularly impressed with the way these few paltry drops of bitters sat in their little egg-white mattress and didn't play along with the rest of the drink. I envisioned a Pisco Sour with a uniformly-distributed bitters-scorched foam: slightly crisp as the fire burnt the sugars, and slightly warm as the foam insulated the rest of the frosty cocktail from the heat. A pisco creme brulée in a glass!
I get so many visitors looking for tips on how to write a bartending resume that I thought I should finally post a tutorial on how to write your own. Click the headline to read more.
I always love showing up to a party with a gallon jug of pre-mixed margaritas, so I've decided to share my recipe. This margarita recipe is the perfect blend of strong, sweet, and sour. But be warned: this recipe packs a serious punch.
There isn't much I can say about this video that hasn't been said already. If you've read anything I've written about cocktails, you'll understand why this video symbolizes everything wrong with the state of bartending in America today. Watch and learn, but be warned: this one isn't for the feint of heart.
About Me
My name is Jeff Morgenthaler and I'm the head bartender at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon.
I'm 37, I've been tending bar since 1996 and writing about it since 2004. Mixing drinks has become something of a passion for me in recent years, and I strive to elevate the experience of having a drink from something mundane to something more culinary.
The writing I do here is intended as a work in progress. My recipes are like my opinions: they are constantly being revised and refined as I work them through my mind and my fingers. Comments and participation are encouraged, so please don't feel the need to tread lightly here.
The origin of the Bee’s Knees cocktail is lost to history, but we do know that it popped up sometime during Prohibition. The recipe doesn’t appear anywhere in my copy of The Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book by Albert Stevens Crockett, but my Trader Vic’c Bartender’s Guide shows two recipes, one for a Bee’s Knees made with applejack, and one for a Bee’s Knee made with gin. Both recipes, however, call for honey and lemon.
If you accept that the Bee’s Knees was born during Prohibition (which is about the time that the phrase “the bee’s knees” popped up, then gin as a base sounds a reasonable assumption.
We started building this drink with light-bodied gins like Beefeater and Tanqeray No. 10, but switched the primary liquor to white rum soon after, as white rum and dry gin have similar flavor profiles. Really, try it sometime. You can slip white rum in for gin in just about any cocktail recipe and it will usually turn out pretty well. Anyway…
While the gin and white rum were perfectly acceptable, we found ourselves staring at our infrequently-used bottle of Pyrat XO rum. Pyrat is a wonderful sipping rum, and for this cocktail it had the added benefit of bringing its own orange and honey flavors to the party.
While figuring out the proper proportions, it was decided that a simple syrup made from honey would be easier to mix with, and would have the added benefit of perfectly balancing the lemon in a 1:1 ratio. Two parts of rum later, an orange wedge studded with a clove as garnish, and we were done. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this updated version of a long-forgotten cocktail as much as we do, it’s become an after-work staple at El Vaquero already.
2 oz Pyrat XO rum
1 oz honey syrup **
1 oz fresh lemon juice
Shake ingredients over ice and strain into a double-rocks glass full of fresh ice. Stud the peel of a quartered orange with clove and float on top of the ice peaks.
** Honey syrup is easily made by combining equal parts honey (we use an organic blackberry honey from the specialty foods store) and boiling water. Stir until completely mixed, bottle and refrigerate.
Why not try a Canchánchara? It is made with Rum (aguardiente de cana), lemon juice, and honey.
A fellow webtender reported that strawberry and peach versions of the Canchánchara were very popular in his Italian bar.
24 Apr 2007 at 10:28 pm 2. Dominik MJ
Actually your Pyrat’s b*knees sounds very good!
Yeah - Pyrat XO has a incredible orange tang (but I don’t taste honey in it - anyway, we add honey) and it works very well in several top shelf cocktails!
Damn it, George, you’re good. I had seen so many people making the Bee’s Knees with white rum that I figured it was another one of those cocktails with no formal recipe. And speaking of peach, I have another cocktail to post next week.
Dominik, once you try the rum this way, you’re guaranteed to never not taste the honey tones of Pyrat again, I promise!
I cannot wait to make this drink, your blog is great and is really helping me do better with my mixology.
Off topic, where is a good place to find good quality bar tools? I have been all over (typical places Williams and Sonoma, Pottery Barn, “then the bar cause those places drive me nuts”) and I cannot seem to find proper barware, i.e. bar knife, peeler, antique juicer, etc..
I assisted Dale DeGroff with a seminar at Bellagio several months ago. He had made a Bee’s Knees both with Gin and Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum side by side. What a wonderful experience. I got to thin out the honey for him! Whoo Hoo!
Thanks for the plugs! Keep a close lookout for ultimatebarchef.com mail in cocktail competition coming soon. Working out all of the details now. You will be one of the first to know
By the way, it looks like Lisa and I will both be attending Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans! I’m sure we’ll have a great time together and we are looking forward to it. But beware, Julio “El Diablo” Bermejo will be there. OUCH!
Cheers!
Sean
16 Oct 2007 at 10:49 pm 7. Anna Moore
Good grief, this is tasty! I’ve been following your blog for a little while, and just recently bought my first bottle of Pyrat XO because I’ve been dying to try this cocktail. Well done!
Thanks, Anna! The Pyrat is a wonderful product, I’m glad you’re enjoying the drink.
Jeff
27 May 2008 at 9:42 pm 9. Chase
Jeff,
I just came across this recipe and decided to play with it using my favorite liquor, the incredibly versatile and under utilized tequila! Higher quality anejo or resposado tequilas are particularly well suited for the honey and lemon combo. So far I have found that Don Julio anejo, which is naturally sweeter, is perfect for this cocktail. Thanks for the ideas!
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24 Apr 2007 at 5:10 pm 1. George Sinclair
Why not try a Canchánchara? It is made with Rum (aguardiente de cana), lemon juice, and honey.
A fellow webtender reported that strawberry and peach versions of the Canchánchara were very popular in his Italian bar.
24 Apr 2007 at 10:28 pm 2. Dominik MJ
Actually your Pyrat’s b*knees sounds very good!
Yeah - Pyrat XO has a incredible orange tang (but I don’t taste honey in it - anyway, we add honey) and it works very well in several top shelf cocktails!
Well done!
25 Apr 2007 at 10:18 am 3. Jeffrey
Damn it, George, you’re good. I had seen so many people making the Bee’s Knees with white rum that I figured it was another one of those cocktails with no formal recipe. And speaking of peach, I have another cocktail to post next week.
Dominik, once you try the rum this way, you’re guaranteed to never not taste the honey tones of Pyrat again, I promise!
26 Apr 2007 at 9:51 pm 4. Sean Boudreau
Jeffrey,
I cannot wait to make this drink, your blog is great and is really helping me do better with my mixology.
Off topic, where is a good place to find good quality bar tools? I have been all over (typical places Williams and Sonoma, Pottery Barn, “then the bar cause those places drive me nuts”) and I cannot seem to find proper barware, i.e. bar knife, peeler, antique juicer, etc..
Any thoughts?
Thanks
26 Apr 2007 at 10:02 pm 5. Jeffrey
Sean
Thanks for the kudos, I’m glad you’re enjoying the site!
As for barware, our good friend Sean Bigley’s site UltimateBarChef.com has a section with bar supplies for sale.
Start there!
Cheers.
28 Apr 2007 at 4:51 am 6. Sean Bigley
Hi Jeffrey,
I assisted Dale DeGroff with a seminar at Bellagio several months ago. He had made a Bee’s Knees both with Gin and Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum side by side. What a wonderful experience. I got to thin out the honey for him! Whoo Hoo!
Thanks for the plugs! Keep a close lookout for ultimatebarchef.com mail in cocktail competition coming soon. Working out all of the details now. You will be one of the first to know
By the way, it looks like Lisa and I will both be attending Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans! I’m sure we’ll have a great time together and we are looking forward to it. But beware, Julio “El Diablo” Bermejo will be there. OUCH!
Cheers!
Sean
16 Oct 2007 at 10:49 pm 7. Anna Moore
Good grief, this is tasty! I’ve been following your blog for a little while, and just recently bought my first bottle of Pyrat XO because I’ve been dying to try this cocktail. Well done!
17 Oct 2007 at 2:23 am 8. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Thanks, Anna! The Pyrat is a wonderful product, I’m glad you’re enjoying the drink.
Jeff
27 May 2008 at 9:42 pm 9. Chase
Jeff,
I just came across this recipe and decided to play with it using my favorite liquor, the incredibly versatile and under utilized tequila! Higher quality anejo or resposado tequilas are particularly well suited for the honey and lemon combo. So far I have found that Don Julio anejo, which is naturally sweeter, is perfect for this cocktail. Thanks for the ideas!
Chase
27 May 2008 at 10:04 pm 10. Jeffrey Morgenthaler
Chase, Don Julio añejo sounds like a great choice for this one. Good call!