When it comes to making drinks, my philosophy is to balance the sweet, the sour, and the bitter along with the complementing spirit so the end result is interesting but not too sweet. One way we accomplish this balance at Japp’s is by making our own ingredients. We make everything from simple syrups to house-made liqueurs to cordials to bitters to tinctures to vermouths to squeezing fresh juices every day. Because we make our own ingredients, the sky is the limit on the drinks we can come up with. I’m not big on infusing entire bottles of vodka. I think you have a lot more flexibility by making a drink to complement what the distillers have already done.
The recipes in this book will yield the best results if you handcraft your own ingredients by following the instructions in this chapter.
The recipes in each chapter are organized by the main spirit used in the cocktail. Inferior ingredients will produce an inferior cocktail. Whenever possible, choose a high-quality brand of liquor. It will make all the difference. If a particular brand of liquor is noted in a recipe, use that brand because the other ingredients were selected to work with that particular spirit. You won’t get the same balance of flavors if you use a different brand.
Here’s a quick description of the spirits used, along with some brand recommendations.
Whiskey: Whiskey is distilled from mash, but a wide variety of grains can be used, including barley, rye, wheat, and corn. It has a light, caramel, oaky flavor. Two brands I recommend are Powers Irish Whiskey and Old Grand-Dad Bonded.
Rye: By law, American rye whiskey is distilled from a mash made of at least 51 percent rye. It has a spicy flavor. Two brands I recommend are Old Overholt and Russell’s Reserve Rye.
Bourbon: Bourbon is an American whiskey distilled from a mash made of at least 51 percent corn. It has a heavenly flavor that includes vanilla and oak with sweet and spicy notes. I recommend Bulleit Bourbon and Old Forester Bourbon for mixing cocktails.
Scotch: Scotch is a whisky made in Scotland. It must be aged in oak barrels for at least three years. Two brands I recommend are Dewar’s and Wild Scotsman.
Rum: Rum is distilled from either molasses or sugarcane juice. It has a sweet, floral flavor. Two brands I recommend are 10 Cane and Bacardi.
Gin: Gin gets its distinct flavor from juniper berries. With gin especially, it’s important to select a good brand. The wrong one can turn a person off to gin for life. Two brands I recommend are Plymouth Gin and Watershed Distillery Gin.
Vodka: Although it can be made from potatoes, most vodkas today are grain based. I recommend Buckeye Vodka and OYO Vodka. Both brands are made in Ohio.
Tequila: Tequila is distilled from the blue agave plant. It has a sweet, cool, “green” flavor. Two brands I recommend are Cazadores and Ocho Tequila.
Brandy: Brandy is made by distilling wine. Two brands I recommend are Rémy Martin VSOP and Hennessy VSOP.
Sherry: Sherry is a fortified wine. We use Sandeman brand sherry at Japp’s.
Champagne: Champagne is a type of sparkling white wine that ranges in flavor from dry to sweet. For the cocktails in this book, I recommend a mumm cuvée champagne such as Moët.
Liqueurs and cordials are flavored spirits that are sweetened when bottled. Their history stretches back centuries, when they were commonly made by monks for medicinal use. At Japp’s, we use a lot of the very old classic liqueurs, such as Licor 43, Bénédictine, whose recipe dates back to the 1500s, and Chartreuse from the 1600s (yes, the liqueur’s distinct green color inspired the color of the same name). We also use some liqueurs developed in the 1800s, including Luxardo Maraschino and Grand Marnier, along with some quality newer ones from the twentieth century, St. Germain and Domaine de Canton.
But we do make some of our own. I like to make falernum (pronounced fah-learn-um), which has a spicy ginger, almond, and rum flavor. It originated in the Caribbean islands in the 1700s and was a popular mixer in many tiki drinks during the 1930s.
I also make my own lime cordial, similar to the Rose’s brand lime juice cordial, which was created in response to the Merchant Shipping Act of 1867. The act required British sailors to take a regular, specifically prescribed ration of lime juice to prevent scurvy. The cordial was a more enjoyable way to take the ration, and it soon caught on with the general public as well.
This is my version of falernum. It’s usually made with almond extract, but I use vanilla extract.
1 bottle white rum
1 cup sliced ginger
Zest from 8 limes
12 cloves
12 allspice berries
3 sticks of cinnamon
8 star anise
1⁄2 cup vanilla extract
2 cups simple syrup (give or take to taste)
Gallon glass jar with lid
In a gallon-sized glass jar add rum, ginger, lime zest, cloves, allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, and star anise. Let sit twenty-four hours. Strain and add vanilla and simple syrup. Bottle.
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Zest from 3 limes
Add all the ingredients to a pot over medium heat. Stir constantly as you bring the mixture to a rolling boil. As soon as the sugar is dissolved, remove the pan from the heat. Let the cordial sit for 30 minutes until it cools to room temperature. (Do not put in the refrigerator to cool.) Use a sieve to strain out the zest, and bottle the liquid. The cordial will keep for 2 to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Many pre-Prohibition cocktails I make at Japp’s include an aperitif or fortified wine, such as quinquina and vermouths (sweet and dry). In addition to carrying some of the quality classic vermouth brands, we also make our own vermouth at Japp’s. Vermouth is a wine that has been fortified, usually with an unaged brandy, and then aromatized with different herbs, botanicals, and spices. Vermouth has been around since Roman times and was commonly used for medicinal purposes. One of the primary herbs used in making vermouth is wormwood, which is known to help ease digestive problems. The word vermouth means wormwood in German. The first commercially produced vermouth was a sweet vermouth that was made in Italy in the 1700s. A dry vermouth was produced in France soon after. Vermouth is an important ingredient in any classic cocktail that calls for it, especially the martini. In my eyes, it’s not a martini unless it has vermouth in it. You’ll find vermouth stays fresh and palatable if you store it in the refrigerator rather than on the back of the shelf.
Simple syrup certainly lives up to its name. It is about the simplest thing to make. It’s basically equal parts sugar and water. You can easily flavor it with anything you like simply by adding the flavoring agent to the pot as the sugar is dissolving and then letting it infuse as the syrup cools down.
Bartenders have been using syrup in cocktails for a very long time, and for good reason. Straight sugar takes awhile to dissolve in a drink and mostly lands on the bottom of the glass—causing an unbalanced drink. Adding sugar in syrup form helps the flavor mix quickly and evenly with the other ingredients.
Simple syrup can be made with gum arabic (a natural food stabilizer) to make a silky syrup, and sometimes egg whites are added into simple syrups to help clarify them. But I just use sugar, water, and whatever fresh ingredient I’m flavoring with.
We tend to go through quite a bit of simple syrups at Japp’s. Staple flavors we always have on hand are orange, vanilla, ginger, grenadine, and lavender. I also make a cola syrup and a tonic syrup that will be available for purchase in retail stores. Use the following instructions to create a plain simple syrup. Use these instructions along with the following recipes to create flavored simple syrups.
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Zest from 1 orange
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 vanilla beans, split
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup sliced ginger (you can leave the skin on)
1 cup sugar
1 cup pomegranate juice
For this recipe, the pomegranate juice replaces the water.
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
11⁄2 cup dried lavender
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Zest from 2 oranges
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 cloves
5 whole allspice berries
Bitters are kind of like a spice that gives depth and complexity to a drink. They are an important part of the cocktails we make at Japp’s. Bitters are made by infusing herbs (mostly bitter ones) and spices and the dominant flavor ingredient in a high-proof spirit. The trick is to infuse all the flavors separately and then blend them together to achieve the taste you want.
Many wonderful brands of bitters are on the market today, but two have really stood the test of time: Angostura bitters and Peychaud’s Bitters. Bitters were once used as medicine, and both Angostura and Peychaud’s have apothecary roots. See the Old Fashion recipe in chapter 5 for the story of Angostura bitters. See the Sazerac recipe in chapter 5 for the story of Peychaud’s Bitters.
I say if you enter a bar looking for a cocktail, be sure the establishment uses either Angostura bitters or Peychaud’s Bitters. If it doesn’t, turn around and walk away, or just get a beer.
At Japp’s, we make many different flavors of bitters depending on the cocktail list for the night. I always have Sunshine Bitters in the summer and my homemade tobacco bitters in the colder months. Sunshine Bitters is a recipe I learned from my friend Neya White in San Francisco, and the tobacco bitters is the only secret I keep … a girl has to have some kind of mystery!
This recipe was given to me by my good friend Neya White.
1 cup neutral grain spirit (vodka works perfectly)
1⁄2 ounce crushed cardamom pods
1 tablespoon saffron threads
A mason jar with a lid
Pour the vodka into the mason jar, add the crushed cardamom, and seal the jar with the lid. Store in a room temperature, dark place for about 5 days to let the flavor infuse. Shake daily.
Use a sieve to strain out the cardamom. Add the saffron to the infused vodka. Let the saffron infuse for another day or so. Use a sieve to strain out the saffron, and bottle the liquid.
1 cup vodka, divided
Zest from 1 whole orange
Pith from 1 whole orange
2 mason jars with lids
In one mason jar, pour 1⁄2 cup of vodka and add the zest. In the other mason jar, add the other 1⁄2 cup of vodka and the orange pith. Seal both jars. Store at room temperature in a dark place.
Let the zest and vodka infuse for 1 week. Shake daily. Use a sieve to strain out the zest and return to the jar.
Let the pith and vodka infuse for 10 days. Shake daily. Use a sieve to strain out the pith. Combine both infusions in one bottle.
2 cups vodka, divided
1 vanilla bean, split
6 medium-sized cinnamon sticks
2 mason jars with lids
In one mason jar, add 1⁄2 cup of the vodka and the vanilla bean. In the other mason jar, add the remaining 11⁄2 cups of vodka and the cinnamon. Store at room temperature in a dark place.
Let the vanilla bean and vodka infuse for 1 day. Use a sieve to strain out the vanilla bean, and return the liquid to the jar.
Let the cinnamon and vodka infuse for 4 days. Shake daily. Use a sieve to strain out the cinnamon. Combine the two infusions in one bottle.
1 cup whiskey, divided
1 vanilla bean, split
12 allspice berries
1 tablespoon wormwood
2 mason jars with lids
In one jar, pour 1⁄2 cup of whiskey and the wormwood. In the other jar, add the other 1⁄2 cup of whiskey, vanilla bean, and allspice berries. Seal both jars. Store at room temperature in a dark place.
Let the vanilla, allspice, and whiskey infuse for 3 days, and the wormwood and whiskey infuse for 7 days. Shake daily. Use a sieve to strain out the solids and blend to taste in a single jar. Bottle.