Gin « Putney Farm

Weekly Cocktail #11: The Maiden’s Prayer

April 26, 2012

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The Maiden's Prayer Cocktail

Yes the name is….”interesting”, perhaps suggestive, but also a curse. We will get to that. Meanwhile our goal this week was to post a great, but perhaps lesser-known, drink made from very common ingredients. It’s fun to buy things like Maraschino, Chartreuse and Cocchi Americano and learn about obscure cocktails, but sometimes it is good to have a few recipes that you can make anytime, anywhere. We think the Maiden’s Prayer fits the bill.

And you can probably make the Maiden’s Prayer now, or after a quick trip to the market. The ingredients are dry gin, Cointreau, lemon juice and orange juice. That’s all. (You might want to add some orange or lemon bitters, if you have them…but there we go, getting all “cocktailian”). But the Maiden’s Prayer is a very, very tasty drink. Light, balanced and refreshing, with some depth from the gin. After trying it, Carolyn and I were both surprised the Maiden’s Prayer isn’t a more popular cocktail. The Maiden’s Prayer is certainly a cocktail you could serve to a group and leave everyone happy. And if you have a friend who says “I don’t like gin”, this cocktail might change their mind, the gin blends in quite smoothly. So why don’t we see this drink more?

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Gin Tags: Cocktail, cointreau, david wondrich, gin, maiden's prayer, maiden's prayer cocktail, maiden's prayer cocktail recipe, paul clarke, Savoy Cocktail Book
Weekly Cocktail #10: The Corpse Reviver No. 2

April 19, 2012

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Corpse Reviver No. 2

We are back from tiki-land! This week’s cocktail, the Corpse Reviver No. 2 is a very tasty drink, but also has some good cocktail history attached to it.

First, let’s get to the back-story. The Corpse Reviver No. 2 is first mentioned in the famous cocktail guide “The Savoy Cocktail Book“. The Savoy Cocktail Book is/was a 1930’s classic cocktail book from the Savoy London Hotel’s legendary bartender, Harry Craddock. It is worth buying as a cocktail recipe book and/or coffee table book. The book has hundreds of old-time cocktail recipes (some great, some happily lost in time), whimsical illustrations and the occasional witty remark from the author. And it is one of these witty remarks that make the Corpse Reviver No. 2 famous in cocktail circles.

After giving you the recipe for the Corpse Reviver No. 2 (equal parts gin, lemon juice, Lillet, Cointreau and a dash of absinthe), Craddock dryly notes “four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again”. A good line, and one that has been mentioned in just about every cocktail book since, including Gary Regan’s “Joy of Mixology” and one of our faves, Jim Meehan’s “PDT Cocktail Book“.

The problem is, that many readers may think the drink is only mentioned because of the (just slightly) silly name and witty comment, but in fact, the Corpse Reviver No.2 is a very, very good cocktail- and one worth making on a regular basis. You may also see this drink on the menu at many good cocktail bars, we suggest you give it a try. And if you happen to feel a bit bleary, this drink would certainly live up to its name, it is a bright, balanced and flavorful drink- with more depth than you might expect.

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Gin Tags: cocchi americano, cocktail recipe, corpse reviver cocktail, Corpse Reviver No. 2, Corpse Reviver No. 2 recipe, lillet, PDT Cocktail Book, Savoy Cocktail Book

Our Tiki Creation: The “Rickey-Tiki-Tavi”

April 15, 2012

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Our tiki creation: The Rickey-Tiki-Tavi

This will be our last tiki post for a little while, I think I need a Martini…;-)

It has been raining quite a bit on our tropical vacation, so our “kitchen and bar muscles” are getting a workout. We have been cooking very tasty fresh fish almost every night. This has been great, but searing Ahi and oven roasting Mahi-Mahi and Ono are pretty simple procedures, so not too many posts from this direction (Carolyn made a great coconut rice, that recipe soon). But we have worked on tiki drinks, and after some trial and error, we created our own: the Rickey-Tiki-Tavi.

The Rickey-Tiki-Tavi combines the basics of a Rickey (gin and lime) with the basics if a tiki drink (rum and pineapple). As we have mentioned in earlier posts, the point of a tiki drink is to add layers of flavors that add up to more than the sum of their parts. While different ages and varieties of rum usually fulfill this role, we decided to try a modern (read: not too much juniper) dry gin like Hendricks to add a new range of flavors. And after some experiments, we got a drink we really, really like.

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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Rum / Cachaca, Tiki Drinks Tags: gin and lime, new tiki drink, putney tiki drink, rickey-tiki-tavi, tiki drink, tiki gin drink
Weekly Cocktail #10: The Peachfrog

April 4, 2012

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And if you immediately thought “Peace Frog” by the Doors, you get a gold star! (And you just gave a likely indication of your age..;-). In any event, our cocktail karma continues to be good. This week’s cocktail is one of our own creations, or I should say, a slight adaptation of an existing cocktail. But I guess that is how the “creative process” works.

The Peachfrog cocktail is a simple riff on a cocktail called the Leapfrog from Jim Meehan’s PDT Cocktail Book. We have been working through the PDT book, trying cocktails that sound good, and the Leapfrog sounded great. Interestingly, the Leapfrog is an adaptation of an early 20^th century cocktail called the Leaping Frog that featured lime juice and apricot brandy. And so it goes, cocktails are a lot like jazz, everything is a new riff on something else.

As for the Leapfrog, it is a mixture of gin, apricot liqueur (Meehan suggests Rothman and Winter Orchard Apricot), lemon juice, mint and orange bitters. All good stuff, but as it happens, we did not have all of that stuff. Well, necessity is the mother of invention, and we really wanted to try this, or something like it. Thus a new drink is born. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Musings Tags: Jim Meehan, leapfrog cocktail, PDT Cocktail Book, peach liqueur, peachfrog, peachfrog cocktail

Weekly Cocktail #8: The Baroque

March 22, 2012

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The Baroque Cocktail

Let’s get right to the point. The Baroque is a cocktail with rum and gin. And it’s good. And if your first thought was “rum and gin together, that’s nasty”, I wouldn’t be surprised. But this combination works very, very well. I stumbled across this drink at the excellent cocktail blog A Dash of Bitters. If you like cocktails (and good writing) you should check it out.

In any event, I do not often think about combining rum with gin, it seems like wearing flip-flops when you are in a Tuxedo. But as I found with last week’s cocktail The Last Word, sometimes what sounds like a train wreck is quite good, you just need to try it. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Gin, Rum / Cachaca Tags: appleton's rum, baroque cocktail, gin and rum cocktail, rum cocktail
Weekly Cocktail #7: The Last Word

March 15, 2012

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This is a good green cocktail. Seriously, try it.

Well, St. Patrick’s Day is coming, and despite being contrived and hokey, I have been researching green cocktails. But I was looking (praying?) for a green drink that was not artificially green, minty or nasty. A search for St. Patrick’s day cocktails did not really solve the problem, in fact it was pretty depressing. So I figured that I would approach the problem backwards and look for a decent green ingredient and build from there.

That led me pretty quickly to Chartueuse, another of those strong, medicinal European liqueurs that pop up in many traditional cocktails. Chartreuse is made in France by Carthusian Monks (gotta love the French, even the monks). Made from a secret formula with the extracts from over 130 plants, Chartreuse is, not surprisingly, green. It is strong stuff (100 proof), sweet and features intense herbal flavors. I would not drink this stuff straight. And Chartreuse isn’t cheap either, at about 30 bucks for a small bottle. But I made the plunge and bought some, figuring it will last a while. And I am glad I did, because I got to make this week’s drink, the Last Word, and it is good, real good. Continue reading →
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Posted By: putneyfarm Category: All Recipes, Cocktail Recipes, Gin Tags: chartreuse, chartreuse liqueur, last ward, last word, last word cocktail

Putney Farm

Get some good food. Cook it. Share with friends. Have a cocktail.

Category Archives: Gin

Weekly Cocktail #11: The Maiden’s Prayer

Weekly Cocktail #10: The Corpse Reviver No. 2

Our Tiki Creation: The “Rickey-Tiki-Tavi”

Weekly Cocktail #10: The Peachfrog

Weekly Cocktail #8: The Baroque

Weekly Cocktail #7: The Last Word

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