Revolutionary

It's been a while since I picked a recipe from the 'Peaky Blinders book to play around with.

Yesterday I started from the 'Revolution' recipe and tweaked it a bit. I also decided to serve the drink up, without ice. 

Revolutionary

Ingredients
30ml Leoncé Dry Vermouth
30ml Cointreau
40ml London Dry Gin
30ml Lemon juice
Absinthe

Method
Add everything but the Absinthe to a shaker with lots of ice. Give it a good shake for 10 to 12 seconds. Double strain in a bold tumbler. Add a mist (spray) of Absinthe. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Consulting unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are not paid promotions or recommendations.

Mister Campbell

The Manhattan is a classic recipe that really invited us to experiment. In the Peaky Blinders cocktail book, I discovered another delicious beauty. In this case flavours of absinthe and Benedictine are added to the core recipe. I decided to pick an American Rye whiskey for my drink, which has slightly more sweetness.

Mister Campbell

Ingredients
2 dashes of Angostura aromatic bitters
2 dashes of Peychaud’s bitters
20 ml Red Italian vermouth
30 ml Bénédictine
40 ml Knob Creek Rye whiskey
Absinthe for a rinse

Method
For this recipe, you need a Martini glass or coupe. Rinse the glass with a little bit of absinthe (or spray it, which often works better) and cool the glass with ice. 

Add all other ingredients to a mixing glass with lots of ice. Stir with a barspoon for 15 seconds. Remove the ice from your glass and strain your drink into the glass. If you have a spray bottle with absinthe, finish with another spray of absinthe over the glass. 

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito 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.

Angel

When we mix a longdrink with rum, the mixers that first come to mind are coke (Cuba Libre!!!), ginger-ale or ginger beer. In this Gatsby-style highball drink we use tonic. The combination of rum and tonic was a bit new and unusual for me, but your tastebuds adapt pretty fast. 

Without the intention to stereotype, I do feel this is a nice aperitif which will probably be liked by most ladies at your next “roaring 20s”-party. 

Angel

Ingredients

50 ml Havana Club 5y Rum 

10 ml House of Broughton Rose syrup

Tonic

Method

This hassle-free drink can be built directly into your longdrink glass. Fill the glass with ice cubes, add rum and syrup, top with tonic. Give it a few gentle stirs. Possible garnish: a dried rosebud.

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.

Birmingham Sour

If you visit cocktailbars once in a while, the New York Sour won’t be a complete stranger to you. It’s a perfectly crafted whisky sour with a float of bold red wine. It takes some skill and experience to serve this drink Instagrammable. You need a good layer of egg whites (or a substitute) and the red wine can’t mix too much with the rest of the drink. 

I can easily imagine that such a delicate serve wasn’t really possible in speakeasy bars, during the prohibition. It would be more likely something like this drink, the Birmingham Sour. 

This drink contains the same ingredients, but with a completely different cocktail as a result. 

Yes, you should read that again. 

While the New York Sour gives you a separate taste experience between the wine and the rest of the cocktail, the Birmingham Sour mixes the flavours from the start. This means the typical notes from the wine are strongly diluted but added directly to the flavour profile of the cocktail. Interesting at least.

Since my wife and I are both Italy fans, I picked a bottle of good quality Chianti Classico for the red wine. And of course, we enjoyed the rest of the bottle with a good meal. 

Birmingham Sour

Ingredients

60 ml Rittenhouse Rye whiskey

30 ml Freshly s6queezed lemon juice

20 ml Cane sugar syrup

10 ml Perano Chianti Classico 2019 (Red wine)

Method

Add all ingredients to a shaker with lots of ice. Shake hard and fine strain in an Old Fashioned glass with fresh ice. 

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.

Vendetta

When mixing a drink from a recipe in a book, always analyse the recipe first. The Vendetta seems a sweet(er) variation on The Godfather (=even parts mix of whisky and amaretto). Maraschino liqueur adds a sweet cherry flavour, but in my opinion this drink gets a bit too sweet and sticky. Let’s see how I would handle this. 

I guess spirits were different during the prohibition and the roaring 20s. Whisky was often no whisky at all, but unaged (or very young aged) moonshine with a high alcohol level. A higher alcohol level will balance much better with half a recipe of sweetness. Also, Rye whiskey would add much more flavour to this drink than any other type of whisky. I have searched through my bottles for a Rye whiskey with a higher alcohol level. I’m also comparing bottles of amaretto to pick the best one for this job, slightly less sweet and much more flavour. 

P.S. I have noticed that several recipes from this book limit the base spirit to 40ml? I think it’s a pretty good idea for bars to put a cap on the amount of alcohol in each drink. It also connects with the trend to have several “unit” drinks on the menu. 

Vendetta

Ingredients 
40 ml Rye Whiskey (I used Pikesville Straight Rye Whiskey, 110 Proof)
20 ml Amaretto
20 ml Maraschino liqueur

Method
Add everything to a mixing glass with lots of ice. Stir cold and strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a brandied 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. 

The Garrison

Happy New Year to all our readers and followers. 

As promised this year I’ll be focussing on speakeasy, prohibition, and roaring 20s Gatsby-style drinks. The Peaky Blinders Cocktail book will be my most important source of inspiration, but I’ll adapt the recipes to my personal taste and story. 

I think that in the prohibition period, drinks were mostly made with local products. You had to use what was available and what wouldn’t attract too much attention. 

The first drink I’ll try for this series is the flagship drink of the book: The Garrison, named after the famous bar of the Peaky Blinders.

In the book, this recipe is basically a Gin Sour upgraded with blackberry liqueur. Since I’m out of blackberries and blackberry liqueur (in summer we have these in our garden), but our city is known for its blueberries (Blueberry Fields is worth a visit in summer)… I swapped the liqueur. The result was satisfactory, but it wouldn't hurt to use slightly more gin. 

The Garrison

Ingredients

40 ml Gin (I used Arduenna Gin)

15 ml Cane sugar syrup

15 ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice

20 ml Blueberry liqueur

Method

Add all ingredients to a shaker with lots of ice. Give it a good shake and double strain in a coupe. 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.

My New Year's resolution

This blog started in January 2016, so starting a new year always feels special for this blog too. Next month I’ll be running this boozy online diary for 7 years already. Maybe it’s time to try a few new things... 

This Christmas, my better half gave me this cocktail book, themed on the popular “Peaky Blinders” Netflix series. In most cases, when cook- or cocktail books are linked to a popular TV series or film, they are absolute rubbish.
In the best cases, they contain a few classic drinks that you’ll find in a thousand other books, but I’ve seen more books that weren’t even worth the paper they were printed on. 

And then I got this book…  

Browsing through the pages, I was amazed. The book contains 40 recipes of semi-classic drinks, that are adapted to the Peaky Blinders timeframe. The book oozes the prohibition era and speakeasy bars, not in Al Capone’s Chicago like might be expected, but we zoom in on the roaring twenties in Birmingham, England. 

While looking at the 40 recipes, I couldn’t help thinking I will absolutely love all these drinks. The Birmingham Sour, Red Horse, Vendetta, Ulster Force, Derby, Easy Dizzy, … So, I had this idea…

In 2023, I will mix up most (or probably all) drinks in this book and be further inspired to make some new original recipes in the same Peaky and prohibition style. Some of the recipes in the book will of course be slightly adapted to my personal taste. 

Enjoy the end-of-year festivities. Make sure you’re ready for an engaging 2023. I’ll welcome all of you to lots of tasty recipes in the New Year. By order of the Peaky Blinders, have a healthy and prosperous New Year. 

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.

Xmas Gifts Parade 2020 : Douglas Laing Old Particular Blair Athol

This blog is about cocktails and spirits. Some days I really enjoy a good cocktail packed with flavours, other days I want to discover all those hidden tones in a dram of good quality spirit. During this edition of “Xmas Gifts Parade”, I’ll also present a few very special bottles. 

Today I’m enjoying a dram from one of those exclusive bottles. A Douglas Laing Old Particular bottling of a Blair Athol sherry butt. For this range Douglas Laing bottles at a high alcohol strength, without chill-filtering or added colouring. This is as close as most people get to sampling whisky straight from a cask in the distillery warehouse. 

This is a very exclusive Blair Athol bottling for a group of five Belgian dealers : Prima Vinum, Dram 242, Jurgen’s Whiskyhuis, Wine 4 You and De Straffe Hoek. The barrel was hand-selected by these dealers. You’ll have to visit one of their liqueur stores if you want to get your hands on one of the 636 bottles.  

This whisky is aged for 11 years, distilled March 2009 and bottled in august 2020 on natural cask strength, 62,1%. 

What to expect? A fresh and lively whisky with green fruits, buttery pastry and creamy honey. Oh yes, it's a pretty strong dram, so you might want to add some ice or a drop of water to really get a good taste of this whisky. When you enjoyed the flavours, maybe create a fantastic Old Fashioned with it. Yes, I have tried and it was really delicious !!!

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.