Melange A Trois by Merlin Griffiths

It's often the simple drinks that can impress the most. The Melange A Trois was made by Merlin Griffiths of The Priory Tavern on my last visit. Merlin has an incredible palate and as soon as he tasted Jade Liqueurs V.S. 1898 he knew exactly what he wanted to make with it. 

30ml Jade Liqueurs V.S. 1898 Absinthe

30ml White Cacao (Giffard)

30ml Lime Juice

Shake hard over ice, strain into a martini glass and garnish with orange penny zest and sprig of borage if available.

Inspired by the Daiquiri of course but this combination of flavours offers something quite unique. I've since tried this combo with other absinthes and have to admit that Merlin got it exactly right with the V.S. 1898! The herbaceous flavour profile and slight astringency of the V.S. really shines through and gives this drink an incredible complexity and depth of flavour.

For more information on the V.S. 1898 please visit the Jade Liqueurs website:

Jade Liqueurs

If you would like to taste Jade Liqueurs V.S. 1898 or any of the products in the Jade portfolio please email:

hello@sipormix.com

Sip Or Mix

Something Hot to Drink for Valentines?

 Chocolat Chaud Chaud
(Hot Hot Chocolate)

20ml La Maison Fontaine Absinthe

15ml Creme de Chataigne  (Chestnut Liqueur)

Milky Hot Chocolate

Whipped Cream

Tiny Marshmallows and Cocoa Powder

The combination of these ingredients will surely melt anyone's heart! 

Add milky hot chocolate to the La Maison Fontaine and chestnut liqueur (or any nut liqueur) top with squirty whipped cream, marshmallows and dust with cocoa powder.

 The above Hot Hot Chocolate was the genius of Merlin of The Priory Tavern in Kilburn. 

The Priory Tavern

The Priory is a wonderful local pub and it was lovely to bump into so many familiar faces when I visited, even though I don't live local! The cocktail selection is not only comprehensive but they will also mix something up for you on the spot, which is surprising for a pub - but not when we realise it's Merlin Griffiths' bar - and talk about reasonable! only £4.50 Mon - Fri, 4 - 7 pm! Tuesday is Stewsday with homemade stew and chunky bread for a mere £6.50 and I cannot wait to try out their Bloody Mary and Sunday Roast!

The other stroke of genius made by Merlin was this pretty in pink drink that would also look the part for Valentines Day.

Blanche et Noire
(White and Black)

50ml La Maison Fontaine Absinthe
25ml Schweppes Blackcurrant Cordial
100ml Water
Squeeze Fresh Lime

Pile all the ingredients over chunky ice and make sure that it is a healthy squeeze of lime.  We discussed the relative merits of Schweppes Blackcurrant Cordial and agreed that it was probably the best cordial to use because it has just the right sugar content and is usually found in every pub/bar. There is of course nothing new about this wonderfully retro style of drink, it had just never occurred to me to try it with La Maison Fontaine! What a revelation.

Happy Valentines Day!

Absinthe Infusion by Gavin McGowan Madoo of Bar Boulud, London

There's no doubt in my mind of the impact La Maison Fontaine has had on developing interest in the Absinthe category since its launch in the Summer of 2010. The starting point was to create a great brand - La Maison Fontaine is a small batch, artisanal and authentic French Absinthe dressed in a very chic and contemporary package (an inspired fusion of old and new) which also tastes amazing. Next was to educate, educate and educate some more, but this essential education was not just directed at the Drinks Industry but also to the General Public at large. This involved Art Exhibitions, Film Shows, High Profile Parties, Fashion Shows and many retail tastings, all great opportunities to dispel the usual myths about Absinthe. Even with all the right boxes ticked La Maison Fontaine goes the extra mile by furnishing bars with the tools to give their customers a truly authentic Absinthe experience - a traditional Absinthe fountain.

Above is Gavin from Bar Boulud, London about to make his Absinthe Infusion with his four arm LMF fountain, in the background is his two arm LMF fountain he keeps for a perfect serve....

La Maison Fontaine was at the forefront of making infusions in fountains, the 'Fontaine of Youth' is testament to that - check the Art of Imagination on the website: wwwfontaineabsinthe.com

Gavin took the infusion idea and ran with it, he did something that we had never seen before (or would recommend), rather than infusing the iced water in the fountain he replaced the water with alcohol (vodka) and La Maison Fontaine. He placed the zest of two lemons and two limes into the fountain and added a ratio of 1 part vodka to 1.5 part La Maison Fontaine. He lets it macerate for 4-7 days, depending on the quality of the fruit, after which time he removes the fruit so it doesn't over extract. He serves on the rocks with a lemon/lime garnish.

The resulting Absinthe Infusion is an intensly fruity number with big citrus, anise, herb and floral notes. So the next time you are in Knightsbridge do pop in to Bar Boulud (http://danielnyc.com/barboulud_hub.html)
and try Gavin's Absinthe Infusion - we'd love to hear what you think...

"Hurricane Bawbag" Cocktail by Adam Smithson of Graphic Bar

On December 8th 2011 Scotland was battered by the worst gale force winds in over 10 years. As winds got up to 180 miles per hour and electric pylons fell to the ground - Twitter started trending with Hurricane Bawbag. Having lived in Scotland I instantly got the reference and spent the next few hours constantly chuckling at some of the hilarious #bawbag tweets. This particular favourite was retweeted well over 100 times:

#Scotstorm Hurricane Bawbag Update: A plant pot has fallen over in Airdrie. An eye witness retold the horror "it pure went sideways"

Even Wikipedia - the information resource for the 21st Century - has an entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Bawbag

On December 8th I happened to be out and about in London and popped into Graphic Bar in Golden Square in search of a cocktail...
It was Adam from Graphic who first introduced me to the "Monkey Gland" a cocktail using Gin, Absinthe, orange juice and grenadine which was so named after the rather gross and quite bizarre practice of grafting monkey testicle tissue onto human male testicles. Bizarre indeed, although the cocktail, admittedly, is rather tasty.... It became clear that Hurricane Bawbag deserved a cocktail of its' own and of course a 'twisted' Monkey Gland would fit the bill perfectly!

Hurricane Bawbag
by Adam Smithson
8th December 2011

50ml SW4 London Dry Gin
20ml Grenadine
20ml Blue Curacao
Several dashes La Maison Fontaine Absinthe

Shake all the ingredients hard over ice and pour into a coupette. Garnish with a small tuft of hair stuck to the side of the glass. (NB non-edible)

The Hurricane Bawbag understandably has a pinky, bluey hue, but is essentially purple in colour. The overall flavour profile is well rounded with a soft mouthfeel and good length. I would suggest however if you were going to make the Hurricane Bawbag at home or in your bar to use an edible garnish.. perhaps candy floss....

Periquation Cocktail by Ales Olasz of Montgomery Place

This is not the first time Ales has featured on these pages and I'm pretty certain it won't be the last! While we always talk endlessly about Absinthe, on this occasion (back in the summer) Ales came up with a real gem of a twisted Aviation with SW4 London Dry Gin and Jade Perique Tobacco Liqueur - I'd always thought of 'brown' spirits going well with Perique but here was something rather deliciously different...

Periquation by Ales Olasz of Montgomery Place (www.montgomeryplace.co.uk)

50ml SW4 London Dry Gin
15ml Jade Perique Tobacco Liqueur
10ml Maraschino
20ml Lemon Juice

Shake all the ingredients over ice and serve in a coupette. Garnish with a cherry dropped into the bottom of the glass.

So simple yet extremely effective. SW4 (Gin of Champions) is a very smooth, complex and well rounded Gin which means it is a great base for any cocktail! (www.sw4gin.com)

Jade Perique Tobacco Liqueur has proved to be a great hit with bar tenders, it tastes great and helps preserve an age old tradition of growing the very rare Perique tobacco. Jade's Perique also offers a safe alternative to homemade tobacco infusions and macerations which can be highly toxic. (ingesting nicotine is potentially as poisonous as arsenic and cyanide) I recently did a Perique tasting in Gerry's and on two separate occasions people refused to taste on the grounds they were made ill by 'tobacco cocktails'. All rather worrying but hopefully this trend is on the way out....

Ales has always been a big fan of Jade (www.vintageabsinthe.com) and I remember first introducing him to Ted Breaux way back in September 2010. Who would have thought then that over a year later we would be messing about with Ales's favourite Absinthe, now in the Sip Or Mix portfolio, Jade Esprit Edouard! (www.sipormix.com)

Green Tea and Rhubarb Sour by Ales Olasz of Montgomery Place

6-8 pieces Fresh Rhubarb
20ml Fresh Lemon Juice
15ml Simple Syrup
50ml Jade Esprit Edouard Absinthe
1/2 tsp powdered Green Tea
Egg White

Break down the rhubarb to release the juice and flavours. Add all the other ingredients and shake vigorously over ice and strain into the glass. Garnish with shreds of rhubarb and lemon.

The initial hit is naturally sour but with real complexity and reminiscent of a summer garden. The Absinthe adds a marked herbacious note and the mouthfeel is almost numbing. The combination of Egg White and Green Tea made it so creamy I wondered if Ales had perhaps slipped in some double cream while I wasn't looking! Admittedly we will have to wait for spring and the next rhubarb season before we can make this sour again but it just goes to show how versatile Absinthe can be in cocktails, even as the base spirit. Time to get messing about with some more Absinthe Sours me thinks...

La Maison Fontaine Wins Gold at the 11th Absinthiades

La Maison Fontaine Absinthe Wins Gold

11^th Annual Absinthiades in Pontarlier, France

The multi-award-winning Absinthe, La Maison Fontaine®, has added to its burgeoning trophy cabinet, winning the much coveted ‘Golden Spoon’ for the 2^nd year in succession in the Blanche category, at the annual Absinthe festival in France.

Taking place in Pontarlier, the birthplace of French Absinthe, the festival, known as the “Absinthiades”, brings together the Worlds leading Absinthes to be tasted and is attended by visitors worldwide. The Absinthes are then judged by leading international spirits experts, VIP’s, and the public, across the 3 day Festival, to select the winner of the prestigious award recognizing the world’s finest.

Launched in 2010 La Maison Fontaine has now won 7 Medal’s including, ISC Gold, Gold in the Absinthe Masters, IWSC Gold and Best in Class, and is helping this much loved, revered and misunderstood “enfant terrible” take-off again.

Mark Stringer, La Maison Fontaine®, co-founder commented;

“We’re exceptionally proud to have won gold, in such a hotly contested category for the 2nd year in a row. We believe that there’s a gap in the market between the evocative, traditional Absinthe and the contemporary, a gap which we’re happy to bridge. One that Traditional absinthe drinkers, bar tenders and customers seem to be excited about”.

La Maison Fontaine® provides a refreshing and modern take on a 200-year-old classic. With its natural ingredients it provides an exciting alternative to the more recognised bar spirits. Distilled in the oldest absinthe stills in the world, using locally grown natural herbs including world renowned Pontarlier Grande absinthe, La Maison Fontaine® gives a refined and unique taste.

Working alongside leading mixologists, Founders Sven Olsen and Mark Stringer have created a range of stunning cocktails to shake up the London bar scene. From the Louche Bloom – a mixture of fresh lime, aged rum and homemade vanilla syrup – to the Fontaine Flower with champagne and Elderflower liqueur, the range provides a selection of surprising taste infusions to rival the existing modern classics such as The Pontarlier Mule.

Absinthe is doing more than simply adding to the existing drinks market, it’s a spirit that is helping introduce a new category for contemporary cocktail lists, with leading London bars, such as Zetter Townhouse, Paramount, Mandarin Oriental, Nobu, Purl, China Tang Dorchester, The London Cocktail Club, to name but a few, now stocking absinthe and La Maison Fontaine®. It's also doing the rounds at celebrity events with La Maison Fontaine most recently making its appearance with an exclusive bar at Bob Geldof's star-studded 60th Birthday Party which included guests Bono, Jerry Hall, Anna Friel and Rolling Stones rocker Bill Wyman to name but a few.

After nearly a century of myth surrounding Absinthe, La Maison Fontaine® is carefully crafted to challenge perceptions, and if its reception so far is anything to go by The White Fairy is certainly sprinkling its gold dust around London.

The Don Draper #2 @ Paramount with Perique Tobacco Liqueur

There has been a bit of a discussion recently about tobacco in drinks. I would suggest taking a look at Darcy S. O'Neil's Art Of Drink on the matter:

http://www.artofdrink.com/blog/nicotini-tobacco-infusions/

From this article we can conclude that certain libations are best left to the professionals to be confident they are safe for public consumption. Fortunately that's just what Ted Breaux of Jade Liqueurs has done with his Perique Tobacco Liqueur. A safe alternative to home made tobacco infusions and syrups.
Not only is Perique safe, the specific tobacco used also has a very interesting back story. I particularly like Suzonne Stirling's piece:

http://urbancomfort.typepad.com/urban_nest/2011/05/perique.html

I note that the Tobacco Road cocktail in Suzonne's piece is made like an Old Fashioned, which is exactly how to make a Don Draper #2... but with a slight difference....

Don Draper, the chain smoking, heavy drinking, main protagonist of Mad Men is obviously the inspiration for this drink. Here's Amanda and Marco of Paramount taking me through the making of a Don Draper #2. First is to smoke fill the glass to impart a really full, smoky flavour and before you ask, their smoking gun is pretty compact and they use cherry wood chips...

Don Draper #2

40ml Woodford Reserve Bourbon
20ml Perique Tobacco Liqueur
2 dash The Bitter Truth Xocolatl Mole Chocolate Bitters
2 dash Regan's Orange Bitters
2 barspoon brown sugar

Slowly build all the ingredients, apart from the Perique, as you would an Old Fashioned. When done add the Perique at the end and stir in just a couple of times. Amanda prefers to keep the flavour of the Perique in tact rather than equal dilution with the Bourbon. Top the glass up again with smoke, transfer the drink into it and cover the top with a napkin. Then, when ready, serve the drink by removing the napkin.

Here's one of the early prototypes with the view from Paramount in the background, awesome! Not so long ago Paramount launched their new cocktail list and the Don Draper #2 was featured, we were lucky enough to have Bar Magazine along....

Perique Tobacco Liqueur is now available from www.sipormix.com/

Jade Liqueurs - www.bestabsinthe.com