Category Archives: friday o’clock

Friday o’clock : Japan edition

Written on May 9, 2013 by alyson in friday o'clock, recipes, travel, Uncategorized

My alcohol tolerance has taken an absolute nosedive since I came to Asia. The prevalence of bland rice lagers coupled with the fact that we’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time in Muslim countries (which have crazy-high taxes on alcohol) has meant we haven’t really been doing much drinking. Cue the violins.

After our lager-tour of Vietnam, we had a bit of a reprieve in the booze department when we arrived in Japan. Was it expensive there? Yes. Was I sick with a cold most of the time? Yes. Did we still manage to make some cocktails? Yes, indeed.

We arrived in Tokyo in late March, just as the cherry blossoms (sakura) hit full bloom. The whole country goes a bit sakura crazy. There are special sakura wagashi (little sweets meant to be eaten in traditional matcha tea ceremonies),cherry blossom onigiri, sakura mochi, sakura rice crackers, special sakura sparkling sake, and even sakura doughnuts at Krispy Kreme (no, I did not sample them. They were super pink and I don’t like doughnuts. Sue me).

We also kept seeing these bags of pink cherry blossoms in department store basements and markets. After the fifth time I picked up and put down a package, Steve finally forced me to spend the $3 and buy a package in the Kyoto Nishiki Market.

A little googling told me that I’d need to soak these salt-preseved blossoms before using them any way I wanted. And I wanted a cocktail.

SAKURAMESHU

This cocktail is unashamedly pink, girly, and sweet. Way sweeter that I normally go for, but I’m a dry cocktail-lover, and hell, it was springtime in Japan. Had I had any access to bitters, I would have added them, and have suggested as such here. The cherry blossoms provide a surprising amount of cherry flavor and aroma to the drink, even using only a few of them.

+ three or four preserved cherry blossoms
+ water for soaking
+ umeshu (the cuter the bottle, the better. See below)
+ club soda
+ cherry bitters

Soak your cherry blossoms in ample water for maybe 5 minutes or so. They are crazy salty.

Pour two parts umeshu into a glass. Add a few dashes of bitters if you’ve got them.

Plop in your cherry blossoms, and top with chilled club soda to taste.

Ideally, eat with some sakura mochi.

Not in Japan in the springtime? The internet to the rescue. Get your preserved cherry blossoms here or on Amazon.

What else to do with the cherry blossoms? Like I said, they are crazy salty. I had a thought to maybe grind them with a mortar and pestle and make a pretty interesting salt rim for a margarita (maybe with a dash of sour cherry juice?) They can als be used in cooking and baking — see these posts for more ideas. The cherry blossoms can also be rinsed and then soaked in hot water for a cherry blossom tea.

They are also just fun to look at. Right, Steve?

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friday o’clock – turning over a new (maple) leaf

Written on January 11, 2013 by alyson in friday o'clock

2013, really? I spent the first week of 2013 ill in one form or another, kicking it off with a 40-hour migraine while in an mod beach house, followed by a cold and various stomach ailments. (really interesting stuff, right?) But that seems to be behind me now, and to say I’m really freaking excited for the upcoming year would be a vast understatement. There will be lots of travel, eating, cocktail art, and new projects.

Today I left for beautiful Cazaderos in Sonoma County for the first annual retreat for my business lady group (yeah, a new name is in the works). There will be much reflecting, planning, goal-setting, and wine-drinking in the redwoods soaking tub. In honor of the new year with this lovely group of kick ass business ladies, I’m making this as our signature cocktail for the weekend.

Turning Over a New (Maple) Leaf

This is a variation of the maple leaf cocktail, which I’ve enjoyed before but was recently reminded of it in this post by Heidi Swanson. I’ve been making them with both meyer lemon and regular old yellow lemons, and both are pretty awesome. I have a seville orange that I believe is cocktail bound as well. I tweaked the ratios a bit from Heidi’s, and added bitters. The salt addition, however, is here to stay. If you want an eye-opening discussion of sub-threshhold levels of salt, this episode of Cooking Issues is a must-listen.

2 oz bourbon (Bulleit and Buffalo Trace both work well)
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz maple syrup
few dashes bitters
smidgen of salt

Shake vigourously with ice. Serve up with lemon twist.

Makes one delicious cocktail.

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friday o’clock – balls

Written on June 15, 2012 by alyson in food, friday o'clock, recipes

Yeah, that’s right. Balls.

For the last few years, I’ve been part of a progressive dinner club, where each home hosts a different course, and we traipse around the city to each home. And because who doesn’t love a theme, we… have themes! We have one coming up this Sunday, and among a list of about 10 options, I jokingly suggested balls. Which all the ladies loved (the dudes were noticeably silent in this decision making process).

So Sunday will be a ball-filled extravaganza, and I’m in charge of drinks. Because I’m insane and self-employed, the last week has me down a rabbit-hole of molecular mixology, ice trays, gelatin, and nitrous. It has been awesome.

Because I’m a lady, I’m going to keep most of my balls under wraps until the weekend, but wanted to share a garnish with you all – carbonated cherries.

You could say that my parents bought Steve an ISI whipped cream canister for his birthday (the kind you charge with nitrous, aka whippets – for the party people out there.) But more accurately you could say I suggested that my parents buy one for him so I could play with it. Our friend in science and drinking, Dan, has one which I’ve played with and easily convinced me to get one. You can do all sorts of fun stuff with this bad boy, like quick infusing alcohol, making warm foams, and the obvious, having whipped cream on demand. And as I found out this week, carbonating fruit.

The ISI charger takes both nitrous and carbon dioxide chargers, so you can also use it as a soda siphon. Or you can follow these easy steps (adapted from Al Dente blog) to carbonate fruit. What’s it like? An intense tingling cherry soda inside a cherry. Awesome right?

As for what’s in this pink cocktail? You’ll have to wait until after the ball party.

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friday o’clock – a date with bourbon

Written on April 27, 2012 by alyson in food, friday o'clock, recipes

hello hello. The past month has been incredibly full of cocktail experiments and frantic illustrating (including another cookbook, a CD cover, and blog logos).

Over the last few weeks, my friend Dan and I have been geeking out over cocktails, particularly infusions made with his spiffy ISI charger. The method allows one to rapidly infuse liquor with your spice, fruit, or other flavoring of choice using whippits, uh, I mean nitrous chargers. We’ve made Chinese five spice, szechuan peppercorn, celery/celery seed, and urfa pepper, all with great success. (The five spice in a manhattan is a treat).

But I like old school infusions too — fill a jar with fruit, add booze, wait. My stock of japanese ume plum bourbon is perilously low, so another infusion was imminent. A trip to Palm Springs a few months ago inspired me to finally make date infused bourbon. The bar at TWO on Hawthorne Lane in SF (may it RIP; it’s now fancypants Benu) used to feature a Manhattan variation, made with date bourbon, and subbing in nocino (walnut liqueur) for sweet vermouth. The result was nutty, sweet and warm. Rest assured it will be the first drink I make once this infusion is ready (oh, about 2 weeks from now).

Date Bourbon

15 dates
bourbon to fill (likely a little less than 750ml)
jar

1. Wash and pit the dates. (I know some folks skip this step, but there are sometimes bug eggs and/or worms in dates. See??

2. Add to jar.

3. Pour in bourbon. ( I used Bulleit, because this is was TWO used)

4. Wait (2-4 weeks, tasting periodically until it tastes right to you)

5. Strain into clean jar.

6. Drink.

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friday o’clock : Rye Gin Manhattan

Written on March 23, 2012 by alyson in friday o'clock, recipes

Has it seriously been 5 MONTHS since I’ve done a cocktail post? Wow. Rest assured, I have not been abstaining from imbibing during the same period. Here’s one of my new favorites.

First of all, St. George Spirits is awesome. They are based in Alameda, and until the last few years, have focused pretty exclusively on creative infused vodkas (think Buddha’s Hand citrus and chipotle. yeah.). They have a great tasting room and tour and if you’re in the Bay Area, you need to get there now.

Despite the fact that their vodkas are delicious, vodka is pretty much my last choice when it comes to liquor. Thankfully, St. George Spirits has added absinthe, a single-malt whiskey, a bourbon, rhum agricole, and a series of gins to their line-up. (The fact that the St. George Spirits gals were super nice, bought a lot of my art, and kept Steve and I well-lubricated at the La Cocina gift fair in December doesn’t hurt my opinion of them either. )

Last week I picked up their Dry Rye Gin and decided to whip up a version of the classic Manhattan, swapping the traditional rye with the rye gin. The result? Absolutely nothing like a Manhattan. Much more spiced and peppery. The rye gin on it’s own is super complex, with 2x the juniper as in normal gin. The spiciness and bite of rye is present and welcome. Oh, and pretty freaking delicious.

Dry Rye Manhattan

1.5 oz St. George Spirits Dry Rye Gin
1 oz sweet vermouth (I used my trusty Caprano Antica, but I think a less complex vermouth would suit this better and not overpower the gin)
few shakes of bitters
amaro cherry (because they are delicious)

Combine all ingredients, except cherry in a glass with ice. Stir for about a minute until thoroughly chilled. Strain into a chilled low ball glass.* Pop the cherry in.

*Do you like my glass? Yeah you do. Mid 1960s. Picked a set up in a Palm Springs thrift shop last month.

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