Summer Nights

Following my recent adventures with Jack Daniels, I tried out their recipe for what is effectively a whiskey sour and decided it was worth sharing. I didn't have any of their Tennessee Honey flavored whiskey to hand (and never will) so upped the amount of Old No. 7, which worked just fine.

Summer Nights

1.5 oz Jack Daniels Old No. 7
0.5 oz orange liqueur
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

I took the further liberty of adding a few dashes of Fee Brothers Fee Foam for texture and aesthetics.

Jack Daniels

Forget all you know about Jack Daniels, whose basic Old No. 7 is the biggest selling American whiskey. In recent years, the Tennessee distillery has released a range of new expressions experimenting with different proofs, barrel selection, and ageing. At a Whiskey Squade meetup we tasted the No. 7 alongside five other offerings, and everyone left impressed. All the whiskies use the same mashbill: 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye, which highlighted the different impacts of the other variables.

In drinking order we tasted:

Old No. 7
Aged for at least 4 years. 40% ABV/80 proof.

Gentleman Jack
Aged for at least 4 years. 40% ABV/80 proof.
Undergoes a second charcoal mellowing - after whiskey is matured in barrel and before bottling.

Bonded
Aged for at least 4 years. 50% ABV/100 proof.
According to the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, Bonded whiskies must be distilled from a single distillery in a single distillation season, aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least 4 years and bottled at 100 proof.

Single Barrel Select
Aged for at least 4 years. 47% ABV/94 proof.
Specific barrels selected for darker color and bold oak character.

12 Year-Old (Batch 1, March 2023)
Aged for 12 years (duh). 53.5% ABV/107 proof.

Single Barrel, Barrel Proof
Aged for at least 4 years. 64.7% ABV/129.4 proof.
JD's first cask strength whiskey. Aged at top of warehouse. Minimal filtration. No water added.

The winners were the 12-year-old (rare, pricey, but really good), and the single barrel bottlings (both the select and barrel proof versions). I liked the Bonded too. Aside from the 12-year-old, all of these are pretty affordable and widely available, at least in Austin. Good work, Jack.

Fun JD facts:
-The distillery was established in 1866.
-It's located in a 'dry' county, which means the only alcohol you're permitted to buy in the area is a single commemorative bottling direct from the distillery.
-The sour mash method that's mentioned on the bottle is used by pretty much every whiskey producer in the US, and just means that some of the by-products of previous batches (wet solids) are mixed into the next mash to help achieve a more consistent fermentation (like a sourdough starter, perhaps).
-JD calls its spirit Tennessee whiskey rather than bourbon. What's the difference? JD is technically a bourbon as well, but to call itself a Tennessee whiskey the spirit needs to go through a charcoal filtering (a.k.a. Lincoln County) process, which according to JD makes things mellower.

Paloma

Given a bottle of tequila and a few minutes, I would normally gravitate towards making a Margarita or a Mexican Martini. Palomas, in my admittedly curbed experience, have always tasted to me like a classic spirit + mixer combo, a thin, weak long drink. Then I found a recipe that switches out the more commonly used grapefruit soda with fresh grapefruit juice. In Texas, the grapefruits are massive, abundant, and sweet, at least compared with the eye-wateringly astringent varieties you find in the UK. The resulting drink provides a fuller flavor and a thicker mouthfeel. It's a great balance between a short, boozy punch, and a longer, spritzier refresher. Consider it the utimate medium drink.

Paloma

2 oz blanco tequila
2 oz fresh grapefruit juice plus wedge for garnish
2 oz sparkling water
0.5 oz lime juice
0.25 oz agave nectar
Pinch of coarse sea salt*

Add the tequila, (strained) grapefruit juice, lime juice, agave nectar and salt to a shaker. Shake with ice. Add sparkling water. Strain into a tumber with fresh ice. Add grapefruit wedge for garnish.

*The recipe calls for a salted rim, but I prefer to throw a pinch of salt into the shaker to mainline the salinity.

See also: the Frozen Paloma, for those with access to a frozen margarita machine.

Beer Poking

 

Bierstacheln, which means beer spike or beer sting, is a German tradition that involves inserting a poker heated to about 600 degrees celsius (!) into a dark beer for a few seconds. This not only warms the beer but apparently creates a spontaneous maillard reaction that caramelizes unfermented sugar, changing the flavor and creating a frothy head. The process was invented by blacksmiths to keep their beer warm in winter when it was too cold to drink.

For their seventh birthday, Austin's Lazarus Brewing offered up a range of their St Pete's oak aged imperial stouts for poking. I tried the version called Mexican Hot Chocolate with Wartryx Hot Peppers (10% ABV) and it tasted amazing, gently warmed with a toasty marshmallow aroma and flavor. I sometimes struggle with beers that strong but the poking made it very drinkable.

Strawberry Margarita

 

I had some fresh strawberries that needed drinking and found this recipe on Reddit. I reduced the sweetness a little and added a couple of basil leaves, since everyone knows the combination of strawberry and basil is the quickest shortcut to instant sophistication.

Strawberry Margarita

2 oz blanco tequila
0.5 oz Aperol
1 oz lime juice
0.25 oz agave nectar
Pinch of kosher salt
3 dashes of Fee Brothers Fee Foam (optional)
3 strawberries - one for garnish
2 basil leaves

Muddle two of the strawberries (thoroughly) and basil in a shaker. Add the rest of the ingredients, and ice. Shake hard and strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube (or serve up in a martini or Nick and Nora glass). Garnish with a strawberry.

The additions of Aperol, salt and basil make this drink more interesting than a mere fruity marg.

Espresso Martini

 

I like this cocktail largely because of the amazing Guinness-like head you can achieve with a vigorous shaking. The following recipe is from Mr Black, the Australian coffee liqueur brand made from vodka and cold brew.

Espresso Martini

1 oz Mr Black coffee liqueur
1 oz vodka
1 oz freshly brewed espresso (or strong coffee, or cold brew concentrate)
1 teaspoon simple syrup

Add ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake hard, for longer than you really want to, to create the foamy head. Strain into a cocktail glass. Use coffee beans to garnish (not pictured, sadly).

Frozen Mexican Martini

 

I don't have the exact recipe, yet. But this Frozen Mexican Martini, from Austin cocktail bar Holiday, was epic. The ingredients are listed on their website as LALO blanco tequila, triple sec, lime, salt, and olive brine. I enjoyed the whack of salinity. If you're not immediately able to visit the bar yourself, try my recipe for the non-frozen version.