maandag 24 mei 2021

The One with the sidecar - Friends tribute


“How you doin’?”. Friends was without any doubt the most popular sitcom of the 90s (The series was originally broadcasted 1994-2004 with many reruns after that decade). It’s impossible to count the times I laughed out loud with Chandlers jokes or stupid things done by Joey, Rachel or Phoebe. A few months ago they announced a special ‘reunion’ show (The One Where They Get Back Together) with all the actors looking back on this great adventure. 

When I received a bunch of samples from the Lakes Distillery, I just had to make my own tribute drink with their blended whisky which is called ‘The One’. This is a blend of The Lakes Single Malt with malt whisky from Islay and Speyside and grain whisky from the Highlands. Stone fruit and spices in the nose, honey-roasted nuts, dried fruits and wood in the mouth. The Islay whisky adds a gentle smoky touch. Could that BE any better? 

About the cocktail… The Cosmopolitan was already taken by ‘Sex and the City’, so let’s release your inner Ross or Monica and go for another “Oh. My. God” (*) glorious coupe. 

The One with the sidecar

Ingredients
50 ml Lakes Distillery The One Signature Blend whisky
25 ml Clement Creole Shrubb (I you don’t have this, try a good quality Triple Sec or Curacao)
20 ml Lemon juice

Method
Add everything to a shaker with lots of ice. Give it a good shake and fine strain in a chilled coupe. Serve with copious apero bites. As much as possible because Joey doesn’t share food !!!

P.S. Delicious bites dish by De Schuur Holsbeek.

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

(*) Read with nasal Janice voice.

woensdag 19 mei 2021

Dandelion in the sky - Hendrick's Lunar Gin


If there is one gin-brand that you could label as ‘iconic’, it must be Hendrick’s. This is the brand that ignited the gin hype with a cucumber and rose petal flavored gin. 

A few weeks ago they officially launched Hendrick’s Lunar Gin in our country. A new bottling with a slightly altered profile. This Limited Edition created by Master Distiller Lesley Gracie is full bodied and floral with a refined and herbal tail. The citrus works as a carrier to bring you the right experience. This gin is created to be enjoyed with Indian tonic or even ginger-ale. The typical cucumber garnish still works, but also black peppercorns could be nice. 


The official online launch event with Olga Leyers wasn’t really my stylish cup of Hendrick’s tea… but the gin and the cocktail suggestions inspired me to try an out-of-the-box recipe. What if I started from a recipe which is initially meant for Bourbon… and play with that until it’s just right for this gin. 

There are two ways to make an Old Fashioned. The right way (spirit, sugar and bitters) and the wrong or messy way (first muddling a slice of orange and a cherry in the glass). Yes, that second way is also a real option that was used throughout history. Never seen an episode of ‘Mad Men’? 

Normally I wouldn’t dream of doing that messy stuff, but by dissolving a spoon of marmalade in your drink, you’ll get that same extra fruity note. 

The dandelion marmalade was homemade by my foodblogging wife. The flowers were handpicked by my daughter ‘in the wild’… at a place where people don’t walk their dogs πŸ˜‰. Of course I also made sure to have an ‘easy alternative’. 

Location, location, location… Just for once I didn’t mix this drink in my homebar. This shoot was done COVID-proof at ‘Paal 26’, a brasserie close to the highway where the bartenders really love Hendrick’s Gin. Manager Kristoff is a real cocktail-enthusiast, so this shoot could lead to more tasty projects together. Thanks for inviting me behind your bar !

“Dandelion in the sky”
Old Fashioned

Ingredients
50 ml Hendrick’s Lunar gin
7,5 ml Simple Syrup
1 dash of Angostura Aromatical Bitters
1 dash of Angostura Orange bitters
1 barspoon of Dandelion marmalade

Method
You might be tempted to shake this drink instead of stirring, because of the marmalade. But actually that really doesn’t seem to work. You can stir this one directly in your tumbler, or in a mixing glass. 

Add the marmalade, sugar and bitters. Add a tiny splash of water if needed. Muddle the marmalade to get it liquid again, so it will mix better with the gin. Add gin and ice cubes. Stir for 15 seconds. Garnish with orange peel or a dehydrated orange wheel. Don’t use a cocktail cherry, it works well with bourbon but it’s no winner with gin.  

Dandelion Marmalade Recipe

Ingredients
200 Dandelion flowers
1 pack of jam sugar (2 Kg fruit for 1 Kg sugar)
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 1 lemon
900 ml water

Method
We only need the small yellow petals from the flowers. Pick them by hand and add to a pan with the orange and lemon juice. Add water until everything is under the surface (For us it was +- 900 ml.). Bring to the boil for 5 minutes. Cover and let it rest for 24 hours. 

Strain through a cheese cloth and mix the liquid with the jam sugar. Bring to the boil again and stir for the time mentioned on the pack of sugar. Pour the jam in sterilized marmalade jars. Close and let them cool down. 

Easy alternative : “Orange Moon” Old Fashioned

If you can’t make or find dandelion marmalade I would suggest to use a good quality orange marmalade instead. You can buy a jar of orange marmalade in any supermarket. But to keep the cocktail clean, I would stir it in a mixing glass and fine strain into your tumbler to remove the pieces of zest. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations. 

donderdag 13 mei 2021

Happy World Cocktail Day !!! - Green Martini


I’ve always been very much into everything retro and vintage. These days, my 70s childhood is already considered vintage too… and I have to admit I love it. The furniture and drinks from the 60s and 70s were fabulous. Even until the early 80s each bar served these flashy drinks based on Blue Curacao, Safari, Malibu, Passoa… and the liquid rockstar of every bar : Pisang Ambon. Even back then you could buy much better Banana liqueurs (e.g. CrΓ¨me de Banane), but everyone wanted a flashy green drink. 

This week we also received a new bottle of gin. Drebbel Gin is a handcrafted London Dry gin from Holland. Distilled alcohol from French corn. Juniper from Macedonia, Orris Root from Italy, Coriander seeds from Morocco, Angelica root and fresh lemons from the south of Spain. Ginger and Liquorice from India and vanilla from Madagascar. Like any good London Dry gin you can enjoy this one neat, with a cube of ice or with a nice bitter tonic. I used it as the supporting spirit in this vintage Martini from my youth.  

For this years #WorldcocktailDay, let’s get nostalgic and hitchhike back to the 70s. Throw on some Abba or Beach Boys music on high volume and spin that disco-ball. I started from an old vodka cocktail recipe and adapted it for this boozy holiday. 

Green Martini

Ingredients
40 ml Drebbel Gin
40 ml Pisang Ambon
20 ml Lime juice
Vanilla aroma. 

Method
Add Pisang, gin and lime juice to a shaker with lots of ice. Shake for 10 seconds and fine strain in a Martini glass. Carefully add two drops of vanilla aroma on top. Garnish with a cocktail cherry. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

woensdag 12 mei 2021

Port of New York


My foodblogging better half loves to cook and bake. Some days she shouts from the kitchen to ask if I can use an eggwhite… That calls for a nice sour cocktail. 

A well-known variation of the Whisky Sour is the New York Sour. It’s more or less the same whisky sour, but with a red wine float carefully added on top. I mixed up another variation, switching the red wine for a nice and fruity red port. 

This absolutely is not the same drink as a New York Sour. Port is a bit heavier and richer than red wine, so it won’t stay on top as a nice float… it will turn your drink into something that almost reminded me of a psychedelic 70s lava lamp πŸ˜‰. 

So, this drink might not look like a million dollars, but the taste is excellent. At first I was in doubt to use it for the blog, but my wife actually loved the strange look of it. So here it is…  

Port of New York

Ingredients
50 ml Douglas Laing Timorous Beastie
30 ml Lemon juice
10 ml Honey syrup
Eggwhite
A splash of Graham’s Six Grapes Port

Method
Add everything but the port to a shaker without ice. Give it a good dryshake. Add some ice and shake again to cool the drink. Double Strain in a tumbler with fresh ice. Add a splash of port wine on top. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

vrijdag 7 mei 2021

Fruit Basket for Mother's Day - Mom Gin


Mom Gin is certainly a well-known brand on this blog. It was probably one of the very first bottles I ever received for my blog, to create a cocktail for Mother’s Day. This year, a Dutch press agency asked if I could do that again. They send us a bottle and asked to create a new cocktail for this year’s Mother’s Day. Yes, this Sunday is Mother’s Day, so hurry up if you forgot about it πŸ˜‰ – Posting this a few days earlier so you still have time to get the ingredients for this delicious drink !!!

Mom Gin is owned by Gonzalez Byass and is distilled in the UK. It’s a 4x distilled premium gin with red berries and exotic botanicals. I would not label it as a sweet gin, the result is a very aromatic and fruity spirit. In the nose lots of red berries, strawberries, raspberries, lemon and coriander. The same fruity notes come back in the mouth, together with some cherry and liquorice. I want to build further on those fruity notes and really go all the way with fruity flavors.

My mom passed away many years ago, but I’ll make this drink for my wife, who’s also a fantastic mother to our daughter. 

Fruit Basket

Ingredients
60 ml Mom Gin
40 ml Pineapple juice
20 ml Orange juice
20 ml Lime Juice 
5 ml Mango puree

Method
Add everything to a shaker with lots of ice. Shake hard for 15 seconds, strain in a coppa glass with fresh ice. Serve with strawberries and a kiss πŸ˜‰ #HappyMothersDay 

Tip
I’m always a fan of keeping things simple. In some supermarkets you can find a mixed juice with pineapple, orange and mango that’s pretty close to the right measures for this drink. If you buy a pack of those, you only have to add Gin and lime juice. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.

dinsdag 4 mei 2021

Experiment : Rum & Cola, but without the cola - Caracas Nectar


Sometimes it seems like things just happen to complete your story… By accident I didn’t receive the normal “sample kit” for the new Caracas Nectar Rum. I received a “distributors kit” which also included four aroma-samples that help you detect the most important aromas in this rum. The four main aromas that you can find in Caracas Nectar are : Banana, Cola, Cacao and fig

In non-Covid years on the first of May we always visit the “Radio 2 Garden Day”, a huge plants-fair where we buy a bunch of herb-plants directly from the producers. Because of COVID-measures, this event couldn’t take place this year, so we drove directly to the plantation of our favorite herbs-producer: Sanguisorba in Ranst. 

Bart Belmans has a true passion for herbs and grows lots of forgotten and medicinal herbs, next to your everyday mint and strawberry.

One of the special herbs I discovered in the greenhouses was the “Artimesia Abrotanum Maritima”, also known as the “Cola-herb”. This plant from the Absinthe-family smells exactly like cola and you can even use it to add subtle flavors to drinks. 

Let’s try a unique experiment. I’m going to make a ‘Rum & Cola’, which contains no cola at all. There is the cola-aroma in the rum itself and the intense cola-aroma of the herbal garnish. Tasting is actually 90% smell and 10% taste. In this drink you sip the rum, but your senses will experience the aroma of ‘Rum & Cola’. Your mind will be tricked into believing you’re tasting a ‘Rum & Cola’.

Does it really taste like a ‘Rum & Cola’? Of course not, but it really screws your mind because there is that hint of cola in the rum and the smell of cola in the garnish. It’s almost like a mental cocktail. What a great and fun experience. I think I will repeat this experiment in a few weeks when the plant has grown and I can cut off more garnish. You need a nice bush of this herb on top of your drink to get the right effect. 

Disclaimer : All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.