Friend of NickDrinks.com (and my wife), Lish Dorset, made some amazing handmade bar towels. Check out her blog for the full write-up.

Years ago I used to sell appliqued towels at the Detroit Urban Craft Fair. The towels were always a hit because it was a practical gift to give to someone or to keep for yourself. While I made all the appliques, I used vintage-looking towels that were ready made by ACS Home & Work (a Michigan company) as I could never find toweling fabric that I liked to make the actual towels myself. That was then.

Post Link

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Welcome to the first official D Tales 2015 post. This series of posts is in the spirit of Tales of the Cocktail happening now in New Orleans.

Here we will cover garnishes and specifically citrus ones which tend to be the most popular in bars. There are 6 types of this category of garnishes of those one will be covered at a later date.

The three main types of citrus are lemon, lime and orange. Occasionally bars will use grapefruit or even more exotic citrus like blood orange, pomelo, yuzu, etc.

There are rules of thumb for when to use of each type of citrus.

– Lemons are used for drinks with lemon juice and some drinks that are vodka-based such as bloody Mary, vodka tonic,  and long island iced tea. Rarely a lemon will pop-up on a beer.
– Limes are used in drinks that use lime juice and drinks that have rum, gin, tequila and some whiskey drinks. You’ll sometimes see a lime on Mexican beers.
– Oranges are used in drinks that contain orange juice and some drinks with whiskey as well as some beers.
– Tropical drinks can be a mix of all or some of these based on preference and visual appearance.

Wedges and Slices are common garnishes and these are found in all types of bars from neighborhood pubs up to your high end craft bars. Wedges are dual purpose as they are also used to tailor your drink to your liking. If it is too sweet, hit it with the wedge for more acid.

Wedges (on the left) are made by cutting about 1/8″-1/4″ of each “pointy” end of the citrus (the stem and opposite it). The goal is to just expose the fruit inside and past the pith (white part). For limes, cut them in half long ways then split into 3 wedges (again long ways) for each half. For lemons, split into 4 wedges per half and oranges 4-6 depending on size. You don’t want too big of a garnish so use your judgment. Keep it the size of a small lighter. Cut a slit half way down the middle of the inner fruit so it can sit on the rim of a drink.

Slices (on the right) are just half of a wheel which we will explain below.

Wheels are not as common as they used to be as they are quite big. There are two different thicknesses based on their application. 1/4″ in thickness with a slit half way up is great to add to a rim of a glass. While 1/8″ or thinner, is perfect to place inside a glass between the ice which holds it in place. This creates an attractive pattern insider your glass (use 3-6 depending on how big it is).

Start like you are cutting wedges by cutting off each end. Then slice full rounds of the fruit to your desired thickness. Remember to add a slit if you are using it for a rim garnish.

Swaths are extremely common in craft bars and add a burst of citrus right to the top of a finished drink. This leads to a powerful aroma on the first few sips of a cocktail.

My favorite way to make these is with a vegetable peeler. Start near an end of the fruit and peel down to the other end stopping about half way. Don’t peel too deep. The goal is to get as little of the pith as possible. Pinch the swath, skin down, over the drink and a spray of oils should express. The fresher the fruit, the more oil. If the fruit is old, you will struggle to get any peel off.

Alternatively, you can use a sharp knife to carve a round of swath. This works the same way but is harder to avoid pith, if you are unskilled with a knife.

Once you get good expressing the oils, try doing it with one hand. After you get good at that, practice spraying the oils over a lighter or match for a nice burst of flame over the drink. This leaves a rich caramelized/smokey flavor to the top of the drink.

An old fashioned is way better with just a swath and none of that muddled cherry and orange mumbo jumbo. Orange is awesome, lemon is good too.

Twists and Spirals are tricky to do with a pairing knife but easy to do with a channel knife. The trick is to not cut too deep and expose a lot of pith. My examples above are too pithy. For a twist cut about 3 inches with the channel knife starting at one end of the fruit and working down in a circle. For a spiral do this for 6-8 inches (or the whole thing). Most times this type of garnish will loose it’s shape. Twist it around a skewer and hold it for 30 – 60 seconds. This will help firm up the shape.

Zest is sometimes used in cocktails but one must be careful it is used sparingly. The strands of peel are not pleasant in the mouth and are hard to avoid when they are so small. You can sprinkle a few on top of a foam or whip but resist to drop a heap on there. I recommend a zesting tool. They do make combo zesting/channel knives but they are often made for right handed people only.

Boats & Flags are the final type of citrus garnish and very from the complex to the simple. I’ll cover these more in-depth in a future post.

Budmo!

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With Halloween over, the humble Jack-O-Lantern is out of work until next year. This simple drink is a great take on an old fashioned.

Unemployed Jack-O-Lantern

– 2 Ounces Bourbon. (I used Two James Grass Widow)
– 1/2 Ounce Pumpkin Syrup*
– 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
– Spritz of Orange Peel

– Stir the bitters, bourbon and syrup with ice and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Top with a spritz of orange oil from a piece of peel.

*Pumpkin Syrup – Make your simple syrup as usual; 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar then boil and stir until clear. However, add 3 tablespoons of pumpkin puree just as the sugar melts. Stir everything until dissolved. I’m a fan of Libby’s for the pumpkin puree since you can find it everywhere. The bonus with them is it’s literally just pumpkin. I was eating it out of the can.

There are so many great pumpkin beers why not extend their life past Halloween with this refreshing cocktail.

Harvest Bubbles

– 1.5 ounces Cinnamon Liqueur (I used Fireball Whisky)
– 1/2 ounce Fresh Orange Juice
– 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
– Top with Pumpkin Beer (I used Griffin Claw’s Screamin’ Pumpkin)
– Garnish with Cinnamon Stick and Orange Peel

– Shake the juice, bitters and liqueur with ice and strain into a tall glass. Top with beer and garnish.

Egg Nog is heavy stuff but you can make it a bit lighter if you opt out of the yolks. While not technically a nog, it still is a tasty drink for a party.

Autumn Nog

– 1.5 Cups Pumpkin/Dairy Base*
– 2 Ounces Bourbon (again, I used Two James)
– 2 egg whites, whipped to soft peaks
– Top with fresh ground nutmeg

– Mix the bourbon  and base in a large bowl. Then gently fold in the egg whites. Dish this into a small bowl and you have enough for 4 servings. Scale as necessary.

* Pumpkin/Dairy Base – I wanted to experiment with Evaporated Milk (which happened to be Nestle). I warmed one can of it in a pot and added 3 tablespoons of pumpkin puree and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Warm this for about 10 minutes then chill for at least 2 hours. Evaporated Milk has a crazy long shelf life so this is good for days if not weeks.

Nick Drinks wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope a one of these drinks makes it to your celebrations.

Budmo!

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Vermouths of the world are just a wine infused with spices and fortified with high-proof booze. I’ve was interested in trying my own ever since I came across this post by Serious Eats Drinks blog. There are some out there spices you need (like Wormwood Leaf) which I get online. Try Dandelion Botanical Co for online herb and spice purchases.

Here is the recipe from Serious Eats Drinks, you will need the following:

• – The peel of one orange
• – a bottle of neutral white wine such as Ship of Fools by Chateau Grand Traverse
• – 1/4 cup raw sugar
• – boiling water
• – 1/2 cup VS or VSOP Cognac
• – 1/2 cup sweet sherry
• – 1 cinnamon stick
• – 1 teaspoon of dried chamomile flowers
• – 8 cardamon pods
• – 1 star anise
• – 1 teaspoon dried lavender
• – 1/4 teaspoon wormwood leaf

The bummer of this recipe is there are lots of spices/herbs that the average person might not use often. However, you are that weirdo that is making your own sweet vermouth so I wouldn’t worry about that.

Take 1 cup of wine add all the herbs/spices and orange zest. Take it up to a boil then let it simmer for 5 minutes.

While you are simmering the wine, pour the sugar (and only sugar) into another pot (medium heat) and melt it. Once it is all melted take it off the heat. Let it cool for a bit then slowly add 1/4 cup of boiling water to it to make a caramel paste. If it seizes up, just slowly scrape at it with a wooden spoon. It will eventually come up.

Strain the spices/herbs out of the wine infusion then add back to a pot with the remaining wine and bring to a boil. The Serious Eats recipe calls for only 3.25 cups of wine overall which leaves about 1/2 cup in the bottle. Personally, it seems like a waste. Unless you want to drink it while you cook. Your call.

Add the boiling wine to the caramel syrup along with the sherry and cognac. Let that cool and you are ready to serve.

Vermouth is best cold and will eventually go bad. The rule of thumb is a month but my undeveloped palette isn’t as picky. I could see it going a bit longer but use your judgment. If it tastes off alone, it will likely taste bad in a cocktail.

Let me know if you try this recipe yourself. If you are in the Metro Detroit area, I’m happy to share my spice haul too.

Budmo!

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I’m off to my first blogger conference with my wife. It’s called SNAP Conference and is in Salt Lake City. I have a sneaking suspicion I will be one of the few boys there. I’m also near panicked at the level of preparation I did not do for this event. Not only did I not a door decoration for my room but I don’t have a duct tape suit for the Duck Tape prom. The one thing I could bang out is a cool business card. You should see what these crazy DIY bloggers are doing. Search #snapconf to see.

I visited my friendly neighborhood TechShop and enlisted the help of Ashley to use the laser cutter. We spent the next two hours tweaking the design and optimizing the placement of text, folds and cuts. I’ve used the cutter for plexiglass and wood but never paper. Glad I didn’t catch the place on fire.

Since all the visiting DIYers have cool cards to share, I thought mine would reflect my love of booze and DIY. You get the folded card and one one half there is a dinosaur with a martini (hence #dinotini). You color him in to your choosing then punch it out and fit it together.

The social media mavens are blowing me away with their savviness. If people would like to post pictures of their finished coloring projects and tag them #dinotini, that would be awesome.

See everyone at the event.

Budmo!

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The Sochi Olympics are in full swing. That means we can find creative ways to drink and call it “research” as long as it’s related to the event. I thought it would be fun to explore infusions with vodka to align with the games. I’m using both Russian inspired flavors and the dominate spirit (historically) in Russia, vodka.  Infusions are a common and easy way to get flavors into your cocktails without a ton of effort. You can use water, oil or alcohol and each have different results. Alcohol is a great medium because it picks up flavors that water or oil won’t. Vodka or neutral grain spirits have little other flavors to content with the infusion so they are ideal but any alcohol will work. Special thanks to the DIY Olympic medals on loan from LishDorset.com.

I have a special fondness for Russian Standard. My friend Thom is a fluent speaker and has taken a number of trips to Russia. 11 or so years ago, I asked if he would bring a bottle back of what the locals drank. Russian Standard is what I received. He took this glass bottle on a number of trains, planes and automobiles to bring it back. This made it that much more special. It was like I had a personal importer. We enjoyed that bottle only to find a few years later it was being imported to the US. Not a bad thing (since I was all out) but it lost a little mystery. I grabbed a bottle from Holiday Market along with the supplies for the infusion.

I did my best to align with the Olympic ring colors. My selections were as follows:

• Blue Ring: Blueberries – Russians love berries.
• Yellow Ring: Lemon – This makes it into a number of recipes both sweet and savory which is like most cuisines.
• Black Ring: Darjeeling Tea – If you have been to either Russian Tea Time or Russian Tea Room, you know how much they like tea and especially Darjeeling
• Green Ring: Dill – It’s on everything. Ask Buzzfeed.
• Red Ring: Beets – How can you forget beets? Love me some good borscht.

I infused each flavor for 24 hours. When doing an infusion, timing is critical. This time period was ideal for some flavors but not for others. Each infusion had 1 cup of vodka to about 1/6th to 1/4th pint mason jar of flavoring.

If I had to judge my results on 1 to 10, I would get it a 7 or “meh plus”. Let’s explore each one.

• Blueberries: For this infusion I used whole blueberries and crushed them slightly. The resulting infusion was a wonderful berry smell and reminds me of summer. While I can’t discern it’s blueberries by smell alone, it is very pleasant.  That being said the color is in fact not blue but instead magenta. I had that fear and know that blue is a tricky color to keep. I debated blue potatoes but know those lose their color too. The taste did not disappoint. It has a stunning fruit flavor with slight taste of blueberry. I would drink this alone as well as  in a cocktail. The length of infusion was good but I could have gone longer easily.
• Lemon: Lemon peels with no pith was the base of this test. We are basically doing a limoncello base.  The smell gets you as soon as you open the jar. It is powerful and pleasing to the nose. The smell is bright but not in a medicinal way. The color is a vibrant transparent yellow and grabbed a lot of color from the peels. Upon tasting, the vodka flavor is present with a mellow lemon undertone that is clean and fresh. This was my favorite infusion. Longer infusions wouldn’t hurt here and likely would have produced an even stronger hue of yellow.
• Tea: Black is not often a tasty flavor. Charred meat looks good but char alone tastes like charcoal. I thought tea would work and settled upon 2 tablespoons of loose Darjeeling. By far and away the best smell of the infusions, it picked up all the floral notes of tea and them some. I would have imagined I was sitting on the porch drinking in the summer from smell alone. The color, while not black, was a dark coffee brown. This is where the train stopped, crashed and exploded. The taste was extra gross and bitter. If sadness had a taste, it would be this. By altering the length of the infusion, I’m sure I can fix this. I would try increments of 10 minutes until I find the flavor it like.
• Dill: One big sprig of dill was enough to make a powerful bouquet of herby delight in this infusion. I love dill (my Ukrainian blood) and this brought me back to grandma’s cooking. It wasn’t as strong the lemon but still a success. The color was weak. You could tell it was green but it was light. This goes same with the taste too. It was just a hint of dill and might work in a bloody marry but I fear it would get overshadowed. It might be fun with a mellow Ginger-ale and lemon for a variation of a Moscow mule. I think longer infusion time would be helpful here. Maybe a week.
• Beets: Half a fresh chopped beet is all you need for the darkest infusion you will ever see. This viscous and earthy concoction would be a vampire’s delight. It turned out to be the darkest and most opaque of all the experiments. On top of that the color was blood red. I’ve done this infusion before for events and I love the result. The flavor is intense, sweet and full of beetiness. Try mixing with carrot juice and a bit of simple syrup then ice in a Collin’s glass for a tall tasty cooler drink. You could have done a shorter infusion here. Probably 3-6 hours.

Now you are ready for some Olympic action. Even if your college days taught you the only way to drink vodka is shots, these infusions would change your mind. I had no problem sipping any of them (except the tea) and found them refreshing. Pair these with some Sprinkles Olympic Cupcakes and you have a great prime-time snack.

Let me know if you experiment with infusions. Friends have had great luck with coffee, cherries and herbs. You can really infuse anything. Results might not be great but that is how you learn.

Budmo!

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We’ve all had a beer flights and wine flights but have you ever had a cocktail flight? A few exist out there but rarely will you see a set of cocktails made “a la minute” for a patron. Why? It’s a lot of work and makes a bunch of tins dirty. I wanted to make that happened and have been experimenting with the process.

Here is my second prototype, the Quadshaker. Side Note: If you’ve been to Sugar House in Detroit, you might have seen Yani shake with 3 tins (he claims he can do four). The code name of this project was Yani Plus One that is until we have proof.

The device contains four 6 oz tins I bought from BarProducts.com. I strapped them all together with stainless steel bars. You will need to seek out a specialty store to get the steel but you could certainly use aluminum which most hardware stores carry. It will also be easier to work with but won’t match the finish of the stainless steel tins.

Here are the steps to make your own. We are testing out a Boston Style version next so stay tuned on that. This one does leak a tiny bit.

This isn’t that tricky of a project. Some big power tools help but you can do it with hand tools too. I did both ways (I made two) and documented the power tools process. It does take more time, especially drilling the holes but the results are similar. You will need the above items:

1. Scrap of wood at least 12″ long by 4″ wide by 3/4″ deep.
2. Four 6 oz shakers – (Bar Products)
3. Hammer
4. Polyurethane (spray or brush)
5. Countersink for metal
6. 2″ Forstner Bit
7. #25 Drill bit for metal (more than one, if you use a hand drill. Much easier on a drill press)
8. Food Grade Silicone
9. Philips Screwdriver
10. 5/16″ Wrench
11. Stainless Washers (#6)
12. Stainless Bolts  (6-32, 1/2″)
13. Stainless Nuts (Locking 6-32)
14. Chip Brush (old paint brush)
15. Stainless (or aluminum) bar stock 1/8″ x 3/4″ x 30″

Additional Tools

1. Hacksaw or Bandsaw
2. Drill or Drill Press
3. Center Punch
4. Center Drill – Smaller than drill bit
5. Deburing Tool
6. Buffing Wheel
7. Buffing Compound
8. Rags
9. Cutting Fluid
10. Vice
11. Sharpie
12. Sand paper

Step One) Cut your bar stock to size (9 3/8″). This can be done with a hacksaw or band saw. You will need three pieces the same size.

Step Two) Layout your holes & center punch them. Repeat these steps on all three metal bars. Mark 1/4″ & 3 1/8″ on each side so there are four holes total.

Step Three) Using a center drill, start all the holes (12). Don’t drill two far or you will add the shoulder. Switch to your drill bit and finish the hole.

Step Four) Counter sink all the holes. Test the depth with a bolt.

Step Five) There is a small depression on the inside of the shaker tin lids. Drill a hole on each of those.

Step Six) Using one of your bars, attach each of the shaker tin lids with a dab of silicone, a nut and a washer. Tighten with the wrench & screw driver.

Step Seven) Attach all three pieces together so the top bar holds everything together. Use one of the bars to mark the holes on the tins on both sides.

Step Eight) Take off the top bar and place the tins & strainer into a vice. Center punch and drill the holes. Be careful not to drill too larger. Starting with a smaller bit would be a better idea.

Step Nine) Assemble everything using silicone, nuts and washers.

Step Ten) Optionally, you can shine the stainless steel with some buffing compound and a buffing wheel. This one fits right in a drill press.

Step Eleven) Remove the bottom assembly so it is just the strainer and top connected with a bar. Trace an outline on your wood piece. Add a center to each circle.

Step Twelve) Using your Forstner bit, drill shallow holes within each circle. Sand the piece and coat in one or more applications of Polyurethane.

Here are some pictures of the final project. I’m not a great machinist so it’s not super precise but it’s good enough.

The wood piece is used to hold your cocktail glasses in place for pouring. It also makes a great platform to serve the cocktail flight. Obviously this isn’t a perfect tutorial but it will give you a rough idea of what went into it. If you try the project yourself, let me know.

Budmo!

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About 2 months ago, I was introduced by a friend to the local Bell’s Field Sales Rep, Monica. She asked if I could help her build a ball drop for the release of Oberon – 3/25/13 at midnight. Getting the chance to mix my passion for making and drinking was an offer I couldn’t pass up.

I enlisted the help of Russ Wolfe to assist with electronics and prototyping.  We went through a number of different designs to drop the ball from escapement-style (think clock pendulum) to motor controlled via iPhone app. In the end, we decided we were over-thinking it and kept it to a hand crank.

The lights on the other hand, we knew, would add so much. So we combined a custom set of Christmas lights (hand assembled within each of the beer bottles in the sphere and strip based LEDs. The LEDs were cool because they were tricolor and could therefore make any color. This was great because it kept up with the Bell’s color scheme.

The base is wood with laser cut sides. We used some ceiling diffuses to help spread the LED light across the panel.

Overall, I am really happy with the way it turned out. It is way over engineered (1,500 lb aircraft cable) but it got the job done.  I even got to do a little machining for the custom hand crank arbor.

More Pics on Flickr

Stay tuned for the next project. I’m sure that will be fun too.  Budmo!

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Lime Cordial is a sweet tart key ingredient for Gimlets. This will replace the corn syrup filled Roses Sweetened Lime that you can find at any liquor store.

Lime Cordial Recipe (Employee’s Only) 

• 4 cups fresh lime juice
• 2.5 cups agave nectar
• 40 kaffir lime leaves

Add all ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. I also added the lime zest for an added…zest.

After you bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and keep there for 35 minutes or it has turned into a syrup.

Separate the solids

Allow the mixture to cool and bottle. I made some great custom labels to add a unique feel. These make great gifts. They should keep for a few weeks.

Gimlet

• 2 oz gin
• 3/4 oz lime cordial
• lime wheel
• Build in a iced rocks glass and garnish with lime

Budmo!

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I found a great bottle at Target and wanted to tweak it to a booze bottle. It’s a fairly mindless project but check out the steps below.

This is the bottle I started with. It had the paint on it and the metal wrap that I didn’t want. So we are going to take that all off.

I took off the paint with a little solvent. In this case, Acetone or nail polish.

Next I took some wire cutters to remove the twisted copper from the neck.

Done. Add a cork and you are ready to fill with some booze. I picked up a cork from my favorite hardware store, Frentz and Sons.

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