Jammartini
For years, I and many other far better booze snobs have exhorted the general population to learn the classic drinks before trying to branch out into creative mixology ventures involving peanut infusions and muddled kumquats.
The rules are much like those of language: Learn them well before you attempt breaking them or stretching them, so your fractures and frayings are more likely to work. The rules of a balanced cocktail — the order of building, the proportions of spirit to sour to sweet to bitter, the appropriate amount of dilution, the proper glassware, etc. — are often the hidden bones of the most elaborate and esoteric-sounding cocktail.
I hope you’ve been paying attention. Because many of us are still staying at home, rarely venturing out to the grocery store. Most of us have time on our hands, but many of us took to our lockdowns without fully stocking our booze shelves, and it’s difficult to make an ethical argument that running out for an oddball bottle of liqueur is essential right now.
If there ever was a time to throw caution to the wind, at least as it relates to cocktail-making, it may be now. Frankly, I’ve been all too happy to escape into the Narnia-wardrobe that is our pantry and the back of our fridge in search of ingredients to make quarantine cocktails more interesting. Maintaining the all-important principle of balance in mind, drink experiments have provided a great distraction, as well as some tasty cocktails.
Here’s a rundown of tips for drinks to take the edge off your stir-crazy fidgeting time:
Have no shame
Does it taste good? Does it provide a moment of pleasure or amusement? Then enjoy it. At least temporarily, the days of drink-shaming are over.
A prime example: For decades, cocktail lovers have pooh-poohed sour mix, and rightly so; the commercial stuff is mostly powdered citric acid, high-fructose corn syrup and green and yellow dye. But as we’re supposed to be staying home and may not be able to easily access fresh citrus regularly, it’s not a bad idea to make homemade sour mix when you do have the citrus on hand.
A basic drink formula you can use to mix with the version here is four parts spirit to three parts sour mix, shaken over ice, but from there, you can toy with citrus proportions and types, add other flavors and get funky with it.
Look for hidden fruits
While liquor stores have largely been categorized as “essential” (that rattling sound you just heard was Andrew “Father of Prohibition” Volstead rolling over in his grave), you may not want to risk a crème de cassis run just for the sake of a Kir Royale. And while fresh fruit is almost always the best option for drinks, you may have all sorts of fruits hidden away in your pantry and fridge that can lend a hand.
That random jar of berry jam a colleague gave you for the holidays? A dollop thrown into a classic martini template can be wonderful (and this is one martini variation you should shake, to break up the solids in the drink).
Fresh and dried fruits can be left in a bottle of spirits to infuse it with lovely new flavors.
And all those bags of freezedried fruits I usually bypass at the store can do terrific stuff in a drink. While they lack the juice and texture of the fresh ones, they retain much of the flavor and often the color, as well. Mash ’em into simple syrup for flavor.
If you run out of simple syrup, get sweet on other sources, such as honey, maple syrup or other sugars you usually use for baking. Sodas can be used as is or reduced over heat into more intense syrups.
Honey and sugars can be turned into drink-friendly syrups easily; it’s critical to do so with honey, because if you use it in a drink straight out of the bear, it’ll turn into a gloppy mess. You want to thin it down much the same way you make simple syrup: 1-to-1 honey and water, heat it to dissolve, and store it in the fridge.
Maple syrup can be used as is and goes great with brown spirits; a maple Old Fashioned is about as easy as it gets.
Find a new use for oats
If you’re as tired of oatmeal as I am, you may be happy to find a new way to use it.
The Scots have a traditional drink called Atholl Brose that combines the liquid from oats soaked in water (or whisky) and honey.
In the Castaway, the oat liquid takes on a nutty creaminess that balances well with whisky, honey and Angostura bitters. (If you have unsweetened oat milk around, you can use that instead.)
This gin-based drink can easily be made with other white spirits, and you can vary the jam as well — try strawberry, orange marmalade, apricot or whatever’s hiding in your fridge. If you want to add a dash of bitters for complexity, go for it, but the vermouth already adds a nice herbal note. Use the larger amount of jam if you like a sweeter drink. The main thing to remember is to shake it thoroughly to break up the pectins in the jam or preserves, and double-strain the drink at the end. Makes 1 serving
Ice 11⁄2 ounces gin 1 ounce dry vermouth 1⁄4 ounce (1 bar spoon) raspberry jam
Dash of bitters (optional)
Chill a cocktail glass. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then add the gin, vermouth, jam and bitters (if using). Shake hard to chill, dilute and break up the solids in the jam, then double-strain the drink into the cocktail glass.
Per serving: 160 calories, 0 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 5 g carbohydrates, 0 g fiber, 5 g sugar, 0 g protein.
Allan writes about spirits and cocktails for The Washington Post.