Well here we go, time to start blogging again. This time I am going to be trying to keep track of all my projects, not just SCA based ones. I will try and put a list of works at the top so you can decide if you want to or not.
Today I am working on:
Starting Allspice dram
Starting Cherry Bitters
I have been working on building a cocktail bar in my dining room that specializes in traditional cocktails. To this end, I occasionally will make custom cordials, spirits and bitters. These tend to be very slow moving ventures. Sometimes taking months to complete. I am going to Start 2 projects today. the first is an Allspice Dram. This is a cordial that is used in several Tiki drinks. I love the spicy flavor it adds to drinks. Sometime soon I will publish the history of the liquor, but for now, here is how it starts:
Allspice Dram:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Pussers Rum
3/4 cup Bacardi Golden Rum
1/4 cup Allspice Berries
! large Cinnimon stick
2/3 cup dark Brown Sugar
`1 1/2 cups Water
Started 8/11/24
The first steps are as follows:
Ground the 1/4 cup allspice berries in a mortar and pestle.
Put this in a jar with both rums.
Leave alone except for a daily shake to stir the mixture.
The next step will be in 5 days.
That’s it for today. Most recipes call for light rum, but I added the Pussers to give it a bit more kick. And now we wait. This is the fun part of the job. This needs to seep for 5 days before adding the cinnamon and then it will need to seep longer with it.
Cherry Bitters
This creation came about because I was planning on making the Allspice Dram and my daughter came to visit for the weekend. She went out and purchased a bag of cherries to munch on over the weekend. Now I love me some cherries, but am on a diet right now so I could not partake. When she headed home, she left the cherries behind. Not wanting to tempt myself I looked for an outlet for these calorie loaded delicacies. If I were setting out to make a cherry bitters, I would probably choose tart cherries and not sweet, but you work with what you have.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cherries
1 cup Everclear 151
1 whole star anise
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon lemongrass
1 vanilla bean
2 cardamom pods
1 teaspoon gentian root
1 teaspoon quassia chips
1 cup rye whiskey
The steps so far:
I had to gather 3 vessels for the various concoctions that would go into this mix.
The first one contained the pitted cherries and a 1/2 cup of the Everclear. This was shaken and set aside to mature for the next 10 days.
The next step was to take the 2nd jar and add the anise (after crushing), the vanilla(after cutting and scraping), and the cardamom (crushed) and the other 1/2 cup of Everclear. The lemongrass will be added to this mix as well, but I diid not have any on hand, so it will be added in a few days. this was shaken and set aside and will be shaken every day for the next 10 days.
The final jar contains the gentian root and quassia chips in Rittenhouse Bottled in bond 100 proof rye. this was shaken and added to the other jars to wait out its time.
This is all that will be happening with this for the next 10 days. I will post an update when I do the next steps.
Well, that is all I have for this one. I hope to be working on more Rope making adventures soon as well as getting together with Lorelei for a “Flax Processing Day” that will be a hands on demo. More on that as it comes to fruition.
Thanks for reading,
Grimm
