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SMOKY OLD FASHIONED Makes 1 cocktail

OLD FASHIONED ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Cocktails are the American invention that America forgets to crow about. We took what the rest of the world had to offer — liquor, bitters, wine, fruit, sugar, eggs, milk, what have you — and tossed them together in various combinations. And, because this wasn’t England, because we were all proud individuals deserving of our own special serving, we didn’t deposit those mixtures in a punch bowl. We put them into separate small glasses. The potions went by various names: flips, slings, sours, juleps, cobblers, fixes, fizzes, bucks and cocktails. In a century’s time, we would come to refer to all mixed drinks as cocktails, but back in 1806, when the

You need a smoke infuser to make this drink. We used Breville’s Smoking Gun. Follow the instructions for use that come with the infuser.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1 sugar cube

Twist of orange peel Maraschino cherry 3 dashes Angostura bitters 1 teaspoon water 2 ounces Sazerac straight rye or bourbon HOW TO PREP: Place the sugar cube, orange peel and cherry in a rocks glass. Use the smoking gun to add smoke to the glass, then cover with a larger glass or glass pitcher. Re- peat to add extra smokiness to the gar- nishes. Muddle the sugar with the bitters and wa- ter. Fill the glass with large ice cubes, add the bourbon and lightly stir to combine. Drop in the smoked garnishes. Smoke the glass for a third time for 2 minutes to fully infuse the smoky flavor and make for a flashy presentation. SMOKY BOURBON ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Bourbon is typically sweet — that’s because of the caramelized sugars, but it’s also a bit smoky, thanks to the way it is aged. Bourbon, by law, must be aged in charred, new, American oak barrels, which add a smoky flavor to the spirit. Some bourbons are aged for many years — for example, Eagle Rare Bourbon Whiskey is aged for no less than ten years, while others are aged only a few months. Bourbon aged less than four years have to carry an age statement on its label. The longer a bourbon is aged, the smokier it will be. SMOKY SCOTCH ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Smoke is almost synonymous with Scottish whiskey, but the truth is, most scotch is not smoky. It’s mostly single malts from the Island of Islay, where distillers use peat as fuel that are prized for their intense, smoky flavor. Drying the barley over peat is what imparts that smoky flavor.

term was first defined in print, a cocktail meant a specific, and rather minor, category of alcoholic beverage, one composed of spirit, water, sugar and bitters. It was a simple composition, and thus a sturdy one — one built to last. And it has lasted until today. Not only lasted, but thrived. Not only thrived, but triumphed. You can get a close copy of that 225-year-old drink today in any bar or restaurant you care to enter. It’s called an Old-Fashioned.

- Robert Simonson, “Old Fashioned,” Rouses Magazine , November-December, 2019. Read more at www.rouses.com.

WHAT IS MEZCAL?

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Mezcal is made from the agave plant, which grows in abundance throughout much of Mexico. You’re probably already familiar with one popular type of mezcal. It’s called tequila. This a more highly regulated subset of mezcal — to be called tequila, it must be made with blue agave, adhere to certain labeling and production requirements, and be made only in specified regions of the country, which naturally includes the village of Tequila, home to several major producers. (By international trade agreement, tequila and mezcal may only be made and bottled in Mexico; similar products made in the United States are labeled “agave spirits.”)

Mezcal isn’t required to color inside the lines like tequila, although traditions do guide the flavor profile. It typically has a distinctive smoky streak — making it a sort of Mexican cousin to Scotch — which stems from cooking the agave heart in a stone pit over oak or mesquite, a technique that has persisted for generations. It’s more often than not made by small-scale producers in what amount to glorified backyards — sometimes just one- or two-person operations, with the bulk of production in the hills around Oaxaca, in southern Mexico.

- Wayne Curtis, “Where There’s Smoke,” Rouses Magazine , March-April, 2017. Read more at www.rouses.com.

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