Out of the Jar by Gestalten is a new book about the best, and some of the most unusual spirits from small distillers around the world. These are spirits made by a new generation of distillers who are using combinations of rare fruits, herbs, grains and spices to reinvent and reinterpret high octane recipes for alcoholic drinks. The book features distillers that are crafting these by hand from the distllery to to bottling the final product. The video above introduces a hands-on whiskey maker from a prohibition-era distillery in Brooklyn, a passionate mezcalero who doesn’t chicken out from an unusual recipe, and a Berlin-based artisan whose rum is taking the world’s best cocktail bars by storm. It’s a nice little video short with quality production value, and it makes me want to go find some of the booze featured here.
Cocktail
For New Year’s, the Ritz Old Fashioned.
It’s New Year’s Eve, and that calls for cocktails. Tasty tasty cocktails made with fine spirits, and the delicate touch of a well trained mixologist. For this years New Year’s cocktail endeavor, I’ve decided to try a new take on an old standard. The Ritz Old Fashioned. This is really a basic Old Fashioned with a few extra ingredients to give it some extra snap. As always, the better the booze, the better the taste. You can substitute any of the brands here, but I’m sticking with the good stuff.
2 oz Woodford Reserve bourbon whiskey
2/3 oz Grand Marnier orange liqueur
1 tsp Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp egg white
1 large sugar cube
1 dash Fee Brothers Orange bitters
1 oz soda water
2 Griottenes Brandy Infused Cherries
1 Orange slice
1 Lemon Slice
Sugar in a saucer for the glass rim.
Rim an old-fashioned glass with lemon juice and sugar.
Place a teaspoon-sized sugar cube into the glass, and saturate with Fee Brother’s Orange bitters.
Fill the glass three-quarters of the way with chipped ice. (Medium sized cubes will work)
Shake other ingredients (except soda) and strain into the glass.
Top with a small amount of soda water if desired.
Add two Griottenes Brandy Infused Cherries on a cocktail skewer, with half slices of orange and lemon.
Drink.
Hudson Manhattan Rye. Hand Crafted Whiskey from New York.
Anyone that knows me, knows I like fine whiskey, and my drink of choice is a Manhattan. When I saw this I thought I need to let everyone that possibly reads my blog know about it. Why? Because it’s Friday, and I think we all deserve a tasty adult beverage.
Hudson Manhattan Rye, by Tuthitown Spirits is the first Rye whiskey to be produced in New York since the days of prohibition. Hudson’ Rye is made from whole grain rye, in single batches to ensure a true 92 proof rye whiskey. According to the distiller, it has a fruity, floral taste with the unmistakable edge that is the signature of a good rye whiskey.
Each bottle is hand filled, numbered, and capped with a hand dipped wax seal.
Ladies and Gentlemen, is it cocktail hour yet?
Manhattan Cocktail recipe
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
2 1/2 oz rye or bourbon whiskey
1 dash Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters
1 brandy infused cherry (maraschino will work if you can’t find the other)
1 twist orange peel
Combine the vermouth, bourbon whiskey, and bitters with 2 – 3 ice cubes in a mixing glass. Stir gently, don’t bruise the spirits and cloud the drink. Place the cherry in a chilled cocktail glass and strain the whiskey mixture over the cherry. Rub the cut edge of the orange peel over the rim of the glass and twist it over the drink to release the oils but don’t drop it in.
Modular 4 