Paint the Town Red-1 oz. vodka, 3 oz blood orange juice, .5 oz Campari, egg white, dash Peychaud’s

Paint the Town Red:

1 oz. Vodka (Shaker’s Rye Vodka)
3 oz. orange juice (blood orange)
1/2 oz. Campari
1 egg white
Dash Peychaud’s bitters

Dry shake all ingredients. Add ice and shake all ingredients. Double-strain into chille cocktail glass. Garnish with bitters.

This cocktail is a slight variant of Gary Regan’s, On-the-Town cocktail, swapping traditional orange juice for blood orange juice. The cocktail nose is citrus and faintly anise , the sip smooth and light, yet rich with a bitter grapefruit, coriander-seed finish that’s slightly spicy on account of the rye in the vodka. Shaker’s Rye Vodka is a flavorful vodka with a great finish. The vodka nose is isopropyl alcohol, which is unfortunate considering the flavorful finish of cocoa, toasted almonds, and grains. Both Shaker’s products are great choices for those who like their vodkas to taste like something. We found Shaker’s Rye to be good for mixing, but we would probably not use in a vodka martini cocktail (Shaker’s other offering of a Wheat Vodka is a different matter and will be covered in future posts). The cocktail is only sweetened by the natural sugars present in the blood orange juice and the bittersweetness of the Campari. It is a good cocktail for citrus lovers, who like their drinks drier than sweet.

Wave Goodbye- 2 oz @VermontSpirits, 1 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth, Dash @UrbanMoonshine Maple Bitters, Tangerine zest

2 oz. Vodka (Vermont Spirits Gold)
1 oz. Dolin Blanc Vermouth
Dash maple bitters (Urban Moonshine)
Tangerine zest

In a recent article from the LA Times Magazine, Camper English declared that the martini does not exist. More accurately, that the perception and creation of the drink has morphed with time and trends until utterly unrecognizable. This morphology is disconcerting to those averse to change, but we welcome variations so long as the values of quality ingredients, form, and technique remain true to what originally placed their predecessors in the annals of mixology. The tangerine zest adds a really bright citrus nose. The drink has a smooth botanical forward and is mildly sweet.

The Vermont Spirits Gold vodka has an earthen vanilla forward and a cocoa, mildly spicy rye-like finish on account of the maple saps spicy attributes. The vodka is distilled from the sugars of maple sap, and not a flavored vodka. This is not to say that there are not hints of maple flavor in the vodka, as Vermont Spirits only lightly filters the Gold after a triple distillation, but it is not obviously maple (the addition of Urban Moonshine Maple Bitters, a fellow Vermont producer of bitters and tinctures, serves to amplify its flavor). Amazingly, it takes all of the sap from one tree to create one bottle of Vermont Gold, which only flows for less than six weeks a year truly making this vodka a small-batch craft-product by necessity. At around $40 a 750ml, its standard to high priced for a luxury vodka, which may prevent non-vodka drinkers from purchasing, but there is also a 350ml available for around $20, and an excellent option for the curious and adventurous. F. Paul Pacult of The Spirit Journal, writes that it’s “worth every bloody cent”. Current availability is limited to New England States and Metro New York City but we hope to see it served in more bars and cocktails in the near future. What’s your idea of the perfect martini?

Like coconut milk? One cold and one warm holiday cocktail recipes! @tallerjen @PopeHouseLounge @DonQRum

With the slew of holiday cocktail options currently offered on various sites all over the web we thought we would contribute one overlooked holiday treat that is a great alternative for those who don’t enjoy classic eggnog (as well as those who do), and one cocktail created by a local Portland Bartender, both utilizing the creamy, exotic attributes of coconut milk.

Coquito, is essentially Puerto Rican eggnog, and much like eggnog, there are many variations. Similar to punches, part of the joy of creation is tailoring the recipe to your taste, so use this as a general guideline and feel free to experiment to create your favorite Coquito version. Use coconut cream if you can find it, though we used high quality coconut milk from our favorite Thai grocery store, which contains a thick layer of cream on top of the more watery milk, and it worked very well. We also used a combination of Ceylon and Mexican cinnamon, as the Mexican adds a spiciness absent in the Ceylon. The recipe below yields quite a bit, and it is generally sipped out of shot glasses or small cups, so the recipe can be equally divided down without compromised results. Don Q Cristal is a great rum for this recipe as it is remarkable smooth and very light in flavor so that it doesn’t overpower the other spice ingredients.

DonQ Coquito

2 cans (30 oz.) coconut cream

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 or 2 cups DonQ Cristal

1/4 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tbsp. ground nutmeg

Mix all ingredients in a blender on high. Refrigerate. Serve cold, sip and enjoy. Yields about 3L of coquito.

The second cocktail is from  Jenn Hegstrom of Pope House Lounge and received top marks at the recent cocktail competition Belvedere Unfiltered Vodka Portland release event at Teardrop Lounge.

Choco-nut Cozy

1.5 oz. Belvedere Unfiltered
.5 oz. Di Saronno Ameretto
Heater Whole Milk/ Coconut Milk 3:1 ratio
Hot Chocolate Mix

Served hot in clear coffee mug. In separate container mix heated milk, add hot chocolate mix, still until well combined. Add Belvedere Unfiltered and Amaretto. Top with Coco-Orgeat whipped cream. Garnish with fresh shaved chocolate and toasted coconut.

We regrettably do not have a photograph of this delicious libation, as we were too busy slurping it down to remember to take a picture, but Geoff of Drink Spirits did, as well as other cocktails and recipes from the Belvedere event that can be found at DrinkSpirits.com. Simply put, you need to make this drink.
Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

The Lantern- 1.25 oz vodka, 1 oz @DomainedeCanton, .75 oz satsuma and .5 oz lime juice, dash @Bittercube Jamaican #1, absinthe rinse

1.25 oz vodka (Organic Nation)
1 oz. ginger liqueur (Domaine de Canton)
.75 oz Satsuma juice
.5 oz lime juice
Absinthe rinse (Pernod)
Dash Jamaican #1 Bittercube bitters

Shake over ice. Pour into chilled cocktail glass after first rinsing chilled glass with absinthe.

We haven’t created many vodka cocktails on the blog, but intend to change that going forth. Part of this inspiration came from the recent attendance and the high quality cocktails of the Belvedere Unfiltered release at Teardrop Lounge covered in depth at DrinkSpirits.com, and part came from the shift taking place within the vodka realm where flavor (not artificially added) is now a desired attribute (Belvedere included) after years of clean, though most often flavorless premium vodka brands. We aim to highlight more of these craft vodkas in upcoming posts.

Organic Nation is a family run small craft distillery located in Ashland Oregon that is a great example of a company creating a delicate, yet flavorful vodka, and take things one step further by ensuring that every ingredient that goes into the spirit is certified organic by the Oregon Tilth, an organization with some of the strictest standards for organic certification. The vodka is a blend of rye (65%), wheat , and corn (% not listed), and evokes notes of cocoa, hay, and grain. It is great on its own, as well as a joy to mix with.

The cocktail is a fantastic amalgamation of flavors. Satsumas are a fun citrus fruit to work with, though sweet, and therefore trade high amounts of citric acid for sugars. The lime is included to make up for the lacking acid, and creates a nice blend of citrus flavors. Ginger plays very nicely with citrus of all kinds, and we have found it makes a particurly good partner with Satsumas. The bitters add a bounty of spice notes, with the flavor profile for Bittercube Jamaican #1 listed as Jamaican spice overtones, ginger, and black pepper. The bitters help transcend the cocktail from good to great, a difficult chasm to cross. The absinthe rinse also adds it own herbal richness on the nose, and lingers faintly on the swallow.

Glacia- 1.5 oz @ReykaVodka, 1 oz @DomainedeCanton, 1 oz satsuma juice, dash citrus bitters, dash lemon juice

Shake all ingredients over ice. Double-strain into chilled cocktail glass.

1.5 oz. vodka (Reyka)
1 oz. Ginger liquer (Domaine de Canton)
1 oz. Satsuma juice (sub tangerine or orange)
Dash Citrus bitters (Urban Moonshine)
Dash lemon juice

In an effort to expand our vodka cocktails, as well as take advantage of the excellent citrus now available, we bring the Glacia, a simple, replicable cocktail that will please most palates. Gin could readily be swapped out for the vodka, for those who eschew the spirit, though we encourage you to give Reyka a try. It is distilled in small batches with a Carter-Head still (also used by Hendrick’s Gin), one of only six in the world, and the only one used for vodka. The water added to the heart distillate is naturally filtered through a 4000 year old lava bed (similar to charcoal filtering), the result pure enough to drink straight from the source. The result is a very smooth, clean, neutral spirit appropriate for those who like their vodka to taste like vodka. It also leaves ample headroom for other flavors, like the nuanced satsuma, and forward ginger flavors. The dash of citrus bitters adds requisite complexity and helps to tie the drink together.

Ad Lib- @Mint820

The bit of sun that poked through the cloudy skies inspired us to venture out to Mint/820 for a lamb burger with mint pesto, sweet potato fries, and in A’s case, a cocktail on their arbor laden patio.

Ad Lib

1.5 oz vodka
3/4 oz simple syrup
1 oz lemon/lime juice
cilantro
sugar

Shake with ice. Single strain into sugar rimmed glass.

Lucy Brennan, owner of Mint and 820, and author of Hip Sips is the creator of this cocktail. I personally would prefer a double strain, gin instead of vodka, and no sugar rim but I had a new bottle of Zubrowka waiting at home (more on that soon) so she drank alone. A simple, well mixed, refreshing, and seasonal cocktail.