From Barley to Blarney

TERMINOLOGY AND TECHNIQUES

shaken: Assemble the drink in the order of the recipe, using the larger part of a cocktail shaker. Add ice to the top of the shaker, cover with the smaller part, and then really go for it. You want the ice to swirl around in there, not just go up and down. You’re trying to incorporate air here. If your drink comes out of the shaker with a nice frothy top, you’ve got what you were looking for. Tip: Pour the drink into your glass over fresh ice; don’t use the ice in the shaker.

stirred: Here you’ll assemble the drink—in the order of the recipe, of course—in a mixing glass or beaker, and ideally use a barspoon to stir. (It has a long, spiral handle that enables the spoon part to rotate freely in the drink like a propeller—doing all the work for you.) Ice is crucial to stirred drinks. The goal is to get the drink both cold and diluted down to a pleasant balance. Tip: Once you’ve stirred your drink, don’t do a long, showboat pour; it adds bubbles to the drink, which you’ve been trying to remove with all that stirring.

built: This is the simplest and fastest method of creating a cocktail. It involves adding one ingredient after another straight into the serving glass in the order directed by the recipe. There’s no shaking or stirring involved. Built drinks are often long, and are generally served in a highball or Collins glass. Speaking of which . . .

GLASSWARE

Of course, you don’t have to use the specific style of glass we recommend here. However, our recommendations aren’t random: The right glass does enhance the overall experience of the cocktail. And there are good reasons for that—for example, the shape can determine the aromatic hit you get from the drink as you raise it to your lips.

highball or collins: a tall, straight-sided glass, with a fairly narrow neck.

old-fashioned: a short, squat, heavy-bottomed tumbler with straight sides. Also known as a rocks glass.

cocktail glass: Sometimes called a martini glass, this is the classic V-shaped one everyone knows. Usually has a stem.

nick & nora: a bell-shaped glass with a stem—a bit like an elongated wineglass.

irish coffee glass: We recommend our own special Dead Rabbit glass for this, our signature drink, but in any case, do use a relatively thick glass with a good stem (remember: the drink is hot!). In terms of size we recommend no more than a six-ounce volume.

ICE

Again, it’s a detail, but one that matters. A single large rock will keep your drink cold and dilute it slower; more pieces means faster dilution. Which one you use depends on the style of the drink.

GARNISHES

Most of the garnishes used here are citrus twists cut from the skin of the fruit (without getting any of the white pith). The skin is where the aromatic oils are. We recommend holding a twist skin-side down and about five inches from the top of the glass. Pinch the twist and you’ll release a spritz of aromatic loveliness over the surface of the drink. Don’t rim the glass with the twist, just discard it. (And don’t put it in the drink either, as it will continue to release oils, changing the flavor of the cocktail.) If the drink calls for nutmeg, be sure to use a proper nutmeg grater because it will produce the fine dusting the recipe needs. Never use the ground stuff: It’s horrible in a cocktail.

A NOTE ABOUT INGREDIENTS

Some of the ingredients used in these cocktail recipes, such as the syrups, aren’t available off-the-shelf. You have to make them. But don’t worry, they’re easy to do, they taste fantastic, and they’ll keep in the refrigerator for two weeks. (Plus, you can also give yourself a little pat on the back afterward. Just don’t spill your lovingly prepared cocktail when you do.)

SYRUPS

cane

ingredients: 2 parts organic evaporated cane juice, 1 part water

method: Cook the cane juice and water in a pot over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil and then remove from the heat. Cool and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

coffee-chicory - makes half a liter

ingredients: 8.5 ounces of black coffee, 1.1 pounds of sugar, 1 tablespoon ground chicory root

method: Place the ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat, place in an airtight container, and let cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Pass through a fine-mesh strainer, then bottle and refrigerate.

demerara

ingredients: 2 parts organic Demerara sugar to one part water

method: Place the sugar and water in a pot and mix well. Heat at 175°F and continue to stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring to a rolling boil, then remove from the heat. Cool, bottle, and refrigerate.

simple syrup

ingredients: 1 part sugar, 1 part water

method: Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring slowly until the sugar is dissolved. Transfer to an airtight container and let cool at room temperature. Bottle and refrigerate.

rich honey

ingredients: 2 parts clover honey, 1 part water

method: Soften all the honey in its container by placing it in a water bath. Then whisk with half as much fresh hot water. Bottle and refrigerate.

maraschino liqueur

This is a house blend we use, which is half dry kirsch eau-de-vie, half sweet cherry liqueur.

juices

Always freshly squeezed.

cider

Here, we’re talking about dry or semidry alcoholic English apple cider. Nothing else will do.

TULLAMORE DISTILLERY

SHORT & SWEET

This is a twist on the classic Bajan Corn ’n’ Oil cocktail. In the original, the dark rum floats on top of the whiskey (the “corn”), like a glistening slick of oil. Our version showcases the distinctive aromatic quality of the rum-casked whiskey, as well as its heavier alcohol content.

ingredients:

3 dashes Angostura bitters

1 teaspoon Cane Syrup

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice

0.25 ounce Velvet Falernum

0.5 ounce Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao

2 ounces Tullamore D.E.W. Caribbean Rum Cask

method: Stirred

glassware: Old-Fashioned

ice: Large Rock

garnish: Orange Twist, discard

TULLAMORE DISTILLERY

GRINDSTONE

This is a lovely summery riff on the classic Stone Fence cocktail. The original dates back to the American Revolutionary War. The story goes that the night before the Green Mountain Boys attacked the British-held Fort Ticonderoga, they drank a mixture of rum and hard cider for courage. This version is altogether more peaceable, highlighting the whiskey’s unusual cider cask finish.

ingredients:

2 dashes Boston Bittah’s

0.75 ounce American Fruits Apple Liqueur

0.5 ounce Green Chartreuse

1.5 ounces Tullamore D.E.W. Cider Cask

4 ounces semidry cider

method: Built

glassware: Highball

ice: Big Chunks

garnish: Lemon Twist, discard

COOLEY DISTILLERY

WILD IRISH ROSE

Here, the smokiness of the Connemara Peated plays wonderfully off the sweet fruits and citrus notes of pomegranate and grapefruit.

ingredients:

1 egg white

2 dashes grapefruit bitters

0.75 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

0.75 ounce grenadine

0.5 ounce Aperol

1 ounce Laird’s Bonded Applejack

1 ounce Connemara Peated Irish Whiskey

TEELING DISTILLERY

AGAINST THE GRAIN

A riff on an old nineteenth-century cocktail called Red Cup, this version brings out the tannins and berry notes in the whiskey.

ingredients:

1.5 ounces Teeling Single Grain

0.5 ounce Graham’s LBV Port Wine

0.5 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

0.5 ounce lemon sherbet

1 teaspoon red currant preserves

1.5 ounces dry cider

method: Shaken and Built

glassware: Highball

garnish: Seasonal Berries in Simple Syrup (page 253)

TEELING DISTILLERY

THUNDERBOLT

An Old-Fashioned built around this intensely aromatic whiskey. The rum note works particularly well with the banana and ginger.

ingredients:

2 dashes Angostura bitters

2 dashes Xocolatl Mole Bitters

0.25 ounce St. Elizabeth Pimento Dram

0.5 ounce Giffard Ginger Liqueur

0.5 ounce Giffard Crème de Banane

1.5 ounces Teeling Small Batch

method: Stirred

glassware: Old-Fashioned

ice: Block

garnish: Orange Twist, discard

the DUBLIN LIBERTIES DISTILLERY

CIVIL SERVANT

The origins of the Chancellor cocktail are obscure: possibly Scottish, possibly not. No one’s really sure, although it is certainly one of the earliest successful whiskey-based cocktails, akin to a Manhattan in style. Our version is more of a sour, the whiskey providing intensity and backbone against the classic coffee, port, and amaro combination.

ingredients:

2 dashes Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters

½ teaspoon Demerara Syrup

0.75 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

0.75 ounce Coffee-Chicory Syrup

0.25 ounce Graham’s LBV Port Wine

0.25 ounce Amaro di Angostura

1.5 ounces Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey

method: Shaken

glassware: Cocktail Glass

garnish: Freshly Grated Nutmeg

MIDLETON DISTILLERY

CUSTOM MAID

The Maid is classically based on gin or vodka. Our version was created to let the grain and pot still elements of this special whiskey linger and shine. It is shaken with cucumber and then garnished with a slice to finish.

ingredients:

2 thin slices cucumber, unpeeled

0.75 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

0.75 ounce Simple Syrup

0.5 ounce St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur

2 ounces Jameson Black Barrel

method: Shaken

glassware: Old-Fashioned

ice: Cracked Ice