www.facebook.com/bodacious.dudeOn Cocktails
My Mom once told me that when those who drink mature, they either become Gin people or Whiskey people.
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After some initial experimentation with Tequila, Rum, Natural Ice, and even Brass Monkeys, it turns out I’m a Whiskey person. I went to Bourbon & Branch last night. It was the first time I’ve been, having only lived in San Francisco for five years. If I’m somehow not the last person to go, (that is, if you haven’t gone), go. It’s cool, I really liked it. You have to obtain a password to get in, it’s dark inside, low music, no cell-phones, and the waitstaff is super knowledgeable about their cocktails. We gave our waitress, Lisa, some general likes and dislikes and had her pick our cocktails based on her expertise. I told her I liked whiskey, and yes I would prefer something “spirit-based,” which I took to mean I would get an Ecto-cooler (it meant a liquor-centric, versus a mixer-centric cocktail). My usual Whiskey cocktail is Jack and Coke.
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She brought me my New Favorite Cocktail (maybe drink, even. Sorry coffee). It’s called the Vieux Carre (pronounced voh cehhhhhrrr-ehh).
Recipe:
1 oz rye whiskey
1 oz Cognac
1 oz sweet vermouth
dash Peychaud’s bitters
dash Angostura aromatic bitters
1/2 oz Benedictine (I don’t know what this is)
lemon twist for garnish (pssh, whatever on garnishes)
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Preparation:
Pour the whiskey, Cognac and vermouth into an old-fashioned glass half-filled with ice.
Add the bitters.
Add the Benedictine then stir four times with silver spoon. (NOT steel! Obviously!)
Here’s a full description.
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It tastes like an amazing ice tea from an alternate universe, where whiskey is a bush, and the tea is made from whiskey leaves. That is the best I can describe it. That is NOT the best Lisa can describe it. She told me we (her and I) have similar palletes. I was inordinately flattered by that, until I realized that it didn’t really mean anything. Lisa says the Vieux Carre has hints of walnuts. OK.
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I wish professional palletes would use “evocative” and “evokes” rather than “hints.” I’d like my wines and cocktails to be erotic thrillers rather than a game of Clue. The Vieux Carre is evocative of a grove of walnut trees in a whiskey-soaked Tuscany. I don’t know if walnuts can grow in Tuscany. Don’t look it up. It doesn’t matter anyway, the drink doesn’t taste much like walnuts, it tastes like a delicious whiskey iced tea, which I already said.
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The Vieux Carre was so good, I had two of them (with a snifter of bourbon, also good, between them). The Vieux Carre was so good, I almost forgot I was out drinking. I definitely remembered I had been out drinking when I woke up this morning with a headache. This morning, at least, I was a Gatorade person.
