Friday's Featured Cocktail: Navy Beach's Captain Jack

Navy_Beach_Logo

"The best sunset on Long Island."  Inevitably, if you hear these words spoken, the topic is Navy Beach, a spectacular restaurant-beach-playground on Fort Pond Bay in Montauk. Of course nothing is better than enjoying a sunset with your toes in the sand & a cocktail in hand.

Fortunately, Navy Beach serves up a delicious assortment of bespoke cocktails.  Our favorite, and new for 2012, is the Captain Jack, and it is today's Friday's Featured Cocktail.

Navy _Beach_Captain_Jack

What you need:

• 1.5 ounces of rye
• 0.5 ounces of St. Germain
• 0.5 ounces of lime juice
• Ginger beer

How you make it:

Combine the rye, St. Germain and lime juice.  Shake.  Pour the mix into a Tom Collins glass filled with ice.  Top with the Ginger beer and garnish with a slice of orange.

If you visit theHamptons this summer, be sure to spend a memorable evening at Navy Beach.  Don't forget to make reservations.  As you can imagine, Navy Beach is a popular place!

Navy Beach Sunset

Friday's Featured Cocktail: Éphémère Apple Beer

Ephemere_Label

From the Unibroue brewery in Québec comes Éphémère Apple, a delicious and unique beer (if you like the taste of green apples, that is). Éphémère is a white ale brewed with apple must.  The apple flavor is very prominent so, if you don't like granny smith apples, you probably won't like this beer.  But if you like green apples, you'll love it.

Éphémère Apple Beer can be tough to find.  It's usually available at stores that sell a large number of specialty beers.

Here in New York City, Flex Mussels sells it in bottles, and it's the perfect accompaniment to a lobster roll and fries.

In Las Vegas, we enjoy  Éphémère on tap at Todd English PUB in the huge CityCenter complex.

Friday's Featured Cocktail: De Loach Pinot Noir Rosé from the Russian River Valley

National_Wine_Day

De_Loach_Rose

Today, May 25, is National Wine Day. (Who knew?!?)  In honor of this special day, Friday's Featured Cocktail is a sophisticated  rosé, perfect for summer, the 2010 De Loach Private Collection Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir Rosé available from the Wall Street Journal Wine Club (we are satisfied members) From the Wall Street Journal:

"France's Burgundy region may be Pinot Noir's spiritual home, but today a handful of other regions rival it for class and fruit-richness and edge it out for value.  These days, the most innovative estates, like 10-time Wine & Spirits 'Winery of the Year' DeLoach, even craft it in a rare rosé style, using the free-run juice of the pressed red grapes (a traditional method the French call saignée).  Fruit-packed like a red and fresh like a white, this beauty is perfect for enjoying alone, and incredibly versatile with food too.  DeLoach star winemaker Brian Maloney recommends it with charcuterie and aged cheeses — it's also excellent with duck, pork, and chicken.  Look for ripe, round red fruit and rhubarb flavors."

As fine a summer wine as you'll ever find, the 2010 vintage is also certified biodynamic.

De LoachVineyards is in Sonoma County, just outside Santa Rosa.  The Boisset family purchased the vineyard in 2003 after moving to California from Burgundy, France.

City Swiggers: Beer Heaven on the UES

City_Swiggers

A new beer shop & tasting room has opened on Manhattan's Upper East Side, and it truly is a beer lover's paradise. Located on 320 East 86th Street between 2nd & 125 Avenues, City Swiggers sells over 500 craft beers in bottles (and a few cans) and has 14 rotating options on draft.

Growlers from City Swiggers

Owners Alan & Pamela Rice allow you tosample the draftbefore filling agrowleror mini-growler and heading on your way.

We stopped by last week before a barbeque and sampled a few amazing brews.  We left with a growler of  Greenport Harbor Supeh Freekeh and mini-growler of Magic Hat Elder Betty (pictured at right).

Both were major crowd-pleasers and we're certain City Swiggers will be a regular stop for us this summer,  particularly now that we own our own growlers!

Friday's Featured Cocktail: The John Daly

Firefly_Vodka

As Memorial Day and summer barbeques approach, we were seeking a delicious and refreshing summer cocktail that's easy to make for a group. And, thanks to our amazing neighbors, we found it:  The John Daly.

Named after the famous golfer known to have an affection for intoxicating spirits and odd wardrobe choices, the John Daly is the perfect complement to whatever's on the grill.

What you need:

• Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka
• Lemonade (store-bought's fine)

How you make it:

The recipe is simple:  Mix two parts lemonade to one part Firefly.  Fill a tumbler, mason jar, pitcher or your bathtub.  Add ice.

 Delicious!

Friday's Featured Cocktail: Fernet-Branca

Fernet_Branca

Allegedly it's a household name in Italy, but until a few days ago we had never heard of Fernet-Branca, an unusual liqueur we encountered at both Corsino, a fantastic Italian cantina on Hudson Street, and Vinatta Project, an excellent bar & restaurant on Gansevoort Street populated by friendly group of les français. Fernet-Branca is a dark, syrupy digestif that alternatively tastes like medicine, licorice and bittersweet spice.

Its taste is difficult to describe because Fernet-Branca is a difficult beverage to make.

The exact recipe is a guarded secret, but it contains at least 27 different herbs and spices and possibly as many as 40.  Among the known ingredients are saffron, aloe, gentian root, rhubarb, gum myrrh, red cinchona bark, galanga and zedoary.   (Fratelli Branca Distillerie is said to buy 75% of the world's annual saffron crop.)

The liqueur is produced by soaking the secret blend of ingredients in a neutral spirits base, very similar to vodka.  After distillation the concoction is aged for a year in oak vats and then filtered and bottled.  Fernet-Branca is 38%-45% alcohol, or 76-90 proof.  The bottle we sampled at Corsino was labeled 39% and tasted very much like a herbaceous cough syrup.

In addition to Italy, the mysterious Fernet-Branca is incredibly popular in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Argentina, where it has its own theme song.  Why?  We have no idea.

Fernet-Branca is an acquired taste, to say the least, but once you've acquired it, we think you'll be hooked.

CBS names NYC's Nine Best Wine Bars

Wine_Bottles

CBS has released its list of New York City's Nine Best Wine Bars and, with the exception of wondering why they stopped at only 9, we pretty much agree. Sweet Revenge is on the list, as it should be.   Back in March we extolled the virtues of owner Marlo Scott's amazing cupcakes & wine/beer pairings.

The Ten Bells is also featured in CBS's Top Nine.  Last month we discovered that The Ten Bells carries one of our favorite wines, Jean Foillard’s Côte du Py, an amazing red from the village of Morgon in Beaujolais.

Also on the list:  City Winery, a cavernous space with a huge wine cellar and frequent live music performances.  Over the years at City Winery we've seen a performance by Duncan Sheik, attended a VIP party with R.E.M., and enjoyed the music of David Bowie paired with an eclectic assortment of wines.  (Of courseBonny Doon 'Le Cigare Volant' 06 pairs perfectly with Space Oddity.   Duh!)

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL LIST

Friday's Featured Cocktail: Mint Julep

Kentucky_Derby

As a native of Derby City (Louisville, KY), Cocktail & Curiosities co-author Ted Scofield has been making mint juleps since he could reach the bar. And, since tomorrow is the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby, it only makes sense that Friday's Featured Cocktail is the classic mint julep, from Ted's grandmother's recipe.

What you need:

• Kentucky bourbon (Ted prefers Maker's Mark)
• Simple syrup
• Mint sprigs
• Crushed ice

How you make it:

The day before you'll need it, prepare the simple syrup.  When the syrup has cooled, add mint sprigs to the syrup.  (The more syrup you prepare, the more mint you'll need.)

Steep the mint in the syrup for several hours, but not too long!  If the mint remains in the syrup for too long, it'll break down and the syrup will be cloudy.   Refrigerate the syrup while the mint is infusing.  The right amount of time is more art than science, but in our experience it's about 5-6 hours.

Mint_Julep

When you remove the mint, the syrup will radiate its heavenly aroma.  (If you make a pitcher of syrup, as we do, go ahead and get your nose in there for a good whiff.)

Fill your julep cup with crushed ice, then add a tablespoon (or two) of the mint-infused simple syrup.  Add bourbon until the cup is full.  Garnish with a sprig of mint.  After cutting a few inches off of a straw, push it into the ice.  (We shorten the straw to get the nose closer to the mint sprig.)

Place your bets and enjoy "The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports!" 

CLICK HERE FOR A KENTUCKY DERBY VIEWING AND BETTING GUIDE

"The Asian Invasion" by Max Gross for the NY Post: Fun Cocktails with Far East Ingredients

Foreplay_Cocktail

Our good friend, author & journalist Max Gross, has penned another excellent article for the New York Post, about New York City's  "far-out cocktails with exotic Far East ingredients." As the creators of Sexy Slang and authors of a Sexy Slang book, it's no surprise we like the Foreplay Cocktail, "a mix of bitter Aperol, the tart Asian fruit known as yuzu, sparkling wine and grapefruit" as Max describes the Fatty 'Cue concoction.

Other far-out Far Eastcocktails include the Ponzu Scheme, Tiger's Milk, Grassy Kroll and the Bangkok Daquiri.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

Trappist Ales vs. Abbey Ales

Trappist_Ales

We see them on menus and beer lists:  Beers labeled Trappist Ales.  Others called Abbey Ales.  What's the difference? To be called a Trappist Ale, the beverage must be brewed by the Roman Catholic order of cloistered monks known as Trappists.  Of the 174 Trappist monasteries, currently only 7 of them brew beer:  Chimay, Achel, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Koningshoeven and Westvleteren.  All of the Trappist beers are Belgian, with the exception of the Dutch Koningshoeven.

Certified_Belgian_Abbey_Beer

Abbey Ales are created in a similar “monastic style” to the Trappists Ales but are not brewed by Trappist monks.  To be a Certified Belgian Abbey Beer, the beer it must be brewed under license to an existing or abandoned abbey.  The monastery is allowed to be involved in some aspect of the business and a portion of the profits must go to the abbey.  Some of the better-known abbey beers include Leffe (which is the abbey brand of Stella Artois), Grimbergen and Maredsous (the abbey brand of Duvel).

So now you know.  Feel free to impress your friends with this new-found beer knowledge!

"Mastering the Margarita" from the Wall Street Journal

IN SPANISH, margarita means "daisy." But in North America, I believe the translation is closer to "super fun time."

So begins an excellent, definitive article in today's Wall Street Journal entitled "Mastering the Margarita."

The article offers a recipe for a classic margarita and five fun derivatives, including a genius breakfast margarita.

We also appreciate Savannah Buffett'sCinco de Mayo playlist and "margarita experimentation guide."

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Margarita_WSJ

Friday's Featured Cocktail: Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

Kentucky_Bourbon_Ale2

Kentucky_Bourbon_Ale

When we last visited Louisville, Kentucky, we stopped by The Blind Pig, a fantastic gastropub in the Butchertown area just outside downtown.   Not only does The Blind Pig hand-stuff its own house-made sausages, it offers a well-chosen beer list, including Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. Served from a snifter, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale is aged for six weeks in old bourbon barrels.   Because the brewers don't know how much residual bourbon remains in the barrel and how much bourbon leeches into the beer, the strength of the the beer (ABV) is impossible to determine.

The result of the bourbon barrel aging is a unique sipping beer ideally suited to a snifter.  The nose is without a doubt Kentucky bourbon, with a hint of oak and vanilla thrown in for good measure.   The ale shines through in the taste, with a strong, warm finish.

Brewed in Lexington, about 70 miles east of Louisville, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale is available nation-wide.  If you like to try unique beers, and particularly if you're a bourbon fan, we encourage you to seek it out.

Friday's Featured Cocktail: Sky Juice

Atlantis_Resort

Cain at the Cove is the exclusive, adults-only area of the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas.  With private cabanas on the beach and amazing island daybeds in the huge pool, Cain at the Cove is truly paradise. Friday's Featured Cocktail,the Bahamian specialty Sky Juice, comes to us from Cain at the Cove bartender Leonardo, an expert mixologist who enjoys sharing his knowledge of tropical libations.

Sky Juice

Sky_Juice

What you need:

• 2 ounces of Gin (Leonardo prefers Bombay or Gilbey's)
• 1 ounce of Ricardo Coconut Rum
• 3 ounces of coconut water
• 1.5 ounces of sweet milk

How you make it:

Combine all of the ingredients in a shaker and shake.  Serve on the rocks in a tall glass.  Umbrella optional.

We sampled Sky Juice today at Cain at the Cove and loved it.  A refreshing mix of sweet and strong, it is the perfect summer cocktail!

Friday's Featured Cocktail: Oh là là!

Morgon_Wine

Friday's Featured Cocktail comes to us from Le Verre Volé, one of our favorite bistros in Paris featuring an incredible selection of natural wines. We particularly like Jean Foillard's Côte du Py, an amazing red wine from the village of Morgon in the Beaujolais sub-region.   The grape is Gamay, also known as Gamay Beaujolais, a clear indication that the grape and its terroir are inseparable.  According to one source, "a full 60% of the world’s Gamay is planted in Beaujolais, where it derives excellent expression from the nutrient-poor, acidic granite soils."

Jean Foillard's Morgon is very elegant and smooth, not overbearing or harsh.  Its soft texture but bold taste is a welcome combination and makes this wine one of our absolute favorites.

As a natural winemaker, Mssr. Foillard's vintages are unfiltered with no artificial yeast or sugar added.  More significantly, they have no added sulphur dioxide, the almost universal wine preservative.   (For more on natural wines, check out "On Natural Wines" by Eric Asimov in the NY Times.)

Le Verre Volé is found at 67 rue de Lancry, in Paris's 10th arrondissement, across the street from the Canal Saint-Martin.    Jean Foillard's wines are also available in limited supply in the USA.

ADDITION:  Our good friend Wendy Lyn at The Paris Kitchen pointed out that two Jean Foillard Morgon wines are available at The Ten Bells on Manhattan's Lower East Side.  Thanks for the info, Wendy!

Start Spreading the News: Kirin Frozen Beer Foam keeps it cool

Kirin_Frozen_Beer

The geniuses at Japanese Brewer Kirin have found a way to keep your beer colder for longer.  (We read about it first on Grub Street.) The idea behind Ichiban Shibori Frozen Draught Beer, being tested in Tokyo, is actually quite simple.   To keep the beer cold, it's capped with a head of frozen, foamy ... beer.  As the foam melts, it doesn't dilute the beer.  Genius.

Click here to watch a video, and note the tune Kirin chose as accompaniment.

Kirin claims its frozen beer foam cap will keep a beer chilled fora full half hour (and who needs that to drink a pint of beer?).

As the video shows, the foamy cap looks a lot like soft-serve ice cream, and it's created by blowing a steady stream of air into the beer as it freezes.

Based on the familiar tune Kirin chose for the video, we're guessing the frozen beer foam will be available in New York, New York soon.  We hope it's before the Summer heats up!

Friday's Featured Cocktail: Beer Trio

Schlenkerla

This week's Friday's Featured Cocktail is a delicious trio of German beers.   We know all three are available at Lederhosen, one of Our Top Five German Beer Bars in NYC. Schlenkerla Smoked Beer: If you’re feeling adventurous and willing to try something unique, Rauchbier is waiting.  Since 1405 this “beef jerky beer” has been made in Bamberg, Bavaria.  Its incredibly smoky smell and flavor is achieved by exposing the malt to the intense, aromatic smoke of burning Bavarian beech wood logs.  It is then fermented in underground cellars that are over 700 years old.  Over the years we’ve heard the flavor described as bacon, barbeque, spicy cured meat, burnt brisket and a variety of expletives we won’t repeat.  Finally, in case you’re wondering, to schlenker means to stumble or stagger around.  Drink a couple of 17 ounce bottles of Schlenkerla and you’ll understand why.   Go ahead, try it.

Wheat_Beer

Weihenstephaner Hefeweiss is perhaps the finest wheat beer on the planet, the yardstick against which other wheats are measured.  Unfiltered and cloudy, it has very little hops, rendering it a smooth, mellow beer that is easy to drink.  Beer aficionados say you’ll taste spicy bananas and cloves, with a rich toffee-butter nose. Snobs!  We say it’s delicious and refreshing, the perfect choice on hot days.

EKU_Pils

The EKU Pils is a classic German Pilsner brewed in Bavaria.  What’s a Pilsner, you wonder?  It’s a clear, golden lager first made in the Bohemian town of Pilsen in 1842, a perfect balance of malt and hops.  The new taste was an immediate sensation and today Pils is the most popular beer style in Germany.  Some Pilsner beers you may have heard of include Amstel Light and Stella Artois.  If neither smoke nor wheat appeal to you, pick the Pils.

The Slaughtered Lamb Pub

American_Werewolf

In the classic 1981 movie “An American Werewolf in London,” two backpacking NYU students stop in a spooky pub in a foggy & forlorn patch of the British moors populated with creepy locals.  The pub is the Slaughtered Lamb, and nothing good follows. Greenwich Village’s Slaughtered Lamb Pub is a kitschy tribute to the memorable movie locale, but with 80 bottled beers and many more on draught, this little lamb is anything but meek.  With above average pub grub and a fantastic location on the corner of West 4th Street & Jones Street, the Slaughtered Lamb is a featured stop on Cocktails & Curiosities Greenwich Village Tour #2.

Slaughtered_Lamb

The original Slaughtered Lamb Pub was in the cursed town of East Proctor, just north of the haunted Shadowlands in Wales.  To ward off the evil spirit of the werewolves, the people of East Proctor would slaughter a lamb and smear its blood over their doorways.  They would also display a large pentacle – a five-pointed star in a circle -- as a sign of respect so that a werewolf would pass them by.  The local pub owner practiced the same rituals, and his tavern became known as the Slaughtered Lamb.

New York City's Slaughtered Lamb isn’t quite as scary as the original, unless you have nightmares about Ms. Pac-Man (which you’ll find in an adjacent room … pass the end of the bar and turn right).

The beer menuis extensive with a focus on Old World beers.  We survived and enjoyed Switzerland's Samichlaus Bier, billed as the strongest beer in the world with 14% alcohol.   Another highlight is Scotland's Traquiar, a strong  but well-balanced brown ale.

If you visit the Slaughtered Lamb Pub, we’ll offer you the same advice the creepy locals gave the doomed movie backpackers …  "Beware the moon, lads … Keep clear of the moors … And stay on the road.”

Our Top Five German Beer Bars in New York

Hofbrauhaus_Logo

The Germans have been brewing great beers since the Bronze Age, and their Reinheitsgebot, or Purity Law of 1516, is the oldest food safety law in the world. We’re lucky in New York City to have an amazing selection of German bars, and here are our top five, in no particular order:

LEDERHOSEN, in Greenwich Village at 39 Grove Street, is a great German beer hall with an amazing selection of both beer and German food.  We like the cozy front room with a fireplace, but for groups there are biergarten-style tables in the back. Lederhosen is featured in Cocktails & Curiosities Greenwich Village Tour #1.

ZUM SCHNEIDER has been a go-to biergarten for us since it opened in 2000.  We love the Alphabet City location at the corner of Avenue C and 7th Street, and the atmosphere is always right out of Bavaria.

At Zum you can’t go wrong with the classic Hofbräuhaus München, the world famous beer from Munich.  The authentic Bavarian cuisineis also excellent.

For locals and tourists looking for a convenient midtown location, BIERHAUS NYC is a great option, a large space with live polka music on many days and an outdoor balcony overlooking Third Avenue.   Biehaus serves Hofbräu beer from all 24 of its taps.

Beer_Boot

Across the East River in Astoria, Queens, BOHEMIAN BEER HALL & GARDEN is an “urban oasis” in a crowded city.  The massive outdoor garden has dozens of tables and feels like a huge neighborhood picnic.  It is festive and fun.  The Garden has been open for over 100 years and the beer and food menus are both extensive.

On the Upper East Side in what was once German Yorkville, HEIDELBERG is a great place to check out, particularly if food is an equal priority to beer.  With your Wurstsalat and Leberkäse you can enjoy your brew out of a 2 liter glass boot!

Ah, the Black & Tan!

Black & Tan

Ah, the black & tan, the classic drink of Ireland!  Right?  Wrong.  Contrary to popular belief, the black & tan is not commonly ordered in Ireland.  Why?  Well, we’ll get to that in a minute.  First let’s figure out what exactly a black & tan is. A black & tan is simply a mix of pale ale, usually Bass, and a dark stout or porter, almost always a Guinness.  Because Guinness is less dense than the ale, when poured very carefully it forms a dark layer on top of the light.  Pouring a proper black & tan is an art, and there’s even a special spoon for getting it just right (available here).  The spoon rests on the edge of the pint glass so the “hump” of the spoon faces upward.  The Guinness is slowly poured over the spoon so that it does not disturb the Bass on the bottom and the result is, or should be, two distinct beer layers.

So why is this tasty and artistic beverage not often ordered in Ireland?  In the 1920’s, Great Britain sent a new paramilitary force of World War I veterans to Ireland to suppress revolution.  The soldiers were known as the “Black and Tans” and they were accused of brutality and atrocities, including the murder of a Catholic priest in 1921.  To this day, an insulting nickname for the British in Ireland is “black and tan,” or simply “tan.”

Needless to say, a black & tan is not the most popular drink to request in an Irish pub.  If you like the sound of tasty layered drink but don’t want to start off your day offending our Irish friends, why not ask for a Blacksmith, or “light and bitter,” a mixture of Smithwick’s (a red ale from Kilkenny) and Guinness.  A few other options we suggest are the Belgian Brunette (Guinness over Stella Artois) and a new one called a Banana Split, double Chocolate Stout poured over Banana Beer.  Magically delicious!

Friday's Featured Cocktail from Kingswood

Kingswood

You are in luck!  Today we share two “Friday’s Featured Cocktails” from Kingswood, a fantastic Greenwich Village restaurant with an impeccable list of bespoke specialty cocktails.  (It's also one of our personal favorites; the food is incredible!)  

42 Below Vodka

Friday's Featured Cocktail #1:  Ivy League

What you need:

• 2 oz Vodka (Kingswood prefers 42 Below)
• 1 oz lime juice
• ¾ oz simple syrup
• Fresh mint leaves
• Rose water

How you make it:

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker except the rose water.  Shake vigorously.  Strain into a cocktail glass.  Mist with rose water.  Serve up.

Friday's Featured Cocktail #2:  Kingswood No. 2 

What you need:

• 1 oz gin (Kingswood uses Tanqueray)
• 1 oz Pimms 
• Club soda
• ½ oz Grenadine
• 1 lime wedge
• 1 orange wedge
• 1 lemon wedge
• 2 cucumber slices
• 1 mint leaf

How you make it:

Build in a highball glass.  Quick muddle.   Add ice.  Top with club soda.  Garnish with a cucumber slice and serve up.

If you live in New York or are planning a visit, we hope you'll stop by Kingswoodfor dinner and a cocktail.   The award-winning menu is a contemporary interpretation of Australian pub fare by an English chef.  We love the Australian lamb shank and char-grilled barramundi.

Kingswood is on 121 West 10th Street near Greenwich Avenue.