Nomad Velvet Sazerac

It’s no secret that I really love a dram of Nomad Outland Whisky. This Scottish blend of over 30 Speyside whisky’s, created by ‘The Nose’ Richard Paterson, is a great and tasty sip. The casks containing the blend are aged for 3 more years in Scotland, before they are shipped to Jerez in the south of Spain. In that Mediterranean climate, the whisky gets an additional aging for a minimum of 12 months in old Pedro Ximenes sherry casks. 

When Nomad shared a recipe for a cross-over between a Velvet Old Fashioned and a Sazerac on their Facebook page, I wanted to take it a step further. 

I decided to use the recipe with the Nomad Outland Reserve 10 years instead of the “normal” Nomad whisky. More flavour, more dept. What a drink!!!

Nomad Velvet Sazerac

Ingredients

60 ml Nomad Outland Reserve 10 years

1 bs Gonzalez Byass Nectar (PX sherry)

3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Absinthe

Method

Give your tumbler a rinse with the Absinthe and add some icecubes. Give it a good stir to cool the glass. Add the rest of the ingredients and give it another good stir. Garnish with lemon zest or a dehydrated blood orange wheel.

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.

Frontera

Can an Old Fashioned recipe inspire me to create a totally different sour-style drink? Apparently, it can. When I saw this recipe online with Japanese whisky mixed with rum agricole, I just needed to try this with some pineapple. The result was interesting. It’s a cocktail with complex flavours, which you don’t expect. 

If your palate is more “bartender-like”, try it without the sugar, to experience the true profile of this drink. Including the sugar, this drink is ready for an audience that wants something more than a simple Whisky Sour. 

For this drink, I used Mexican Sol Tarasco Charanda Rum, aged for 4 years. Charanda is a regional product from the state of Michoacàn. It’s distilled from sugar cane, and harvested 1300 metres above sea level, using traditional production methods and a slow distillation process. The Pacheco family has been making Charanda (also known as Guarapo) for more than 11 years. The distillery is located in Uruapan.

Frontera

Ingredients

25 ml Japanese blended whisky
(I used ‘The Tottori’)

25 ml Sol Tarasco Charanda Rum 4y

25 ml Gonzalez Byass Amontillado sherry

25 ml Pineapple juice

7 ml Simple Syrup

Method

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Give it a good shake and strain over fresh ice in a tumbler. Garnish with a cocktail sherry. 

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.

Tokyo Martini

With the “Golden Martini” still on my mind, I was wondering how to implement that subtle sweetness in other ways to this great classic drink. When a bottle of Japanese gin landed on our homebar, I knew this would be the opportunity to create an Asian-style Martini. Instead of vermouth, I decided to use a medium sherry, which has a slight sweetness from Pedro Ximenez grapes, mixed in with the Palomino Fino sherry. 

But then again, Tokyo Nights is also no ordinary gin. This gin is distilled from sugar cane molasses… just like rum. It’s made with a secret recipe that uses numerous local plants, such as yuzu bark and matcha powder. Mixed with juniper berries, coriander seeds and liquorice roots you end up with a pretty decent gin. It doesn’t surprise me at all that in this distillery they also produce rum and vodka. 

• Nose: Strong juniper berries.
• Palate: Full, fresh yuzu notes.
• Finish: Long and savoury.

Tokyo Martini

Ingredients
50ml Tokyo Nights Gin
20ml Gonzalez Byass Cristina (Medium Sherry)
1 dash of orange bitters

Method
Stir everything together in a mixing glass with lots of ice. Strain into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Discount code
I was playing around with my brand new Nakano Japanese Chef’s knife for cutting the garnish. You can find a reel on Instagram where you see me cutting three different orange garnishes. If you’re interested in these great knives, visit the Nakano website and enter DOUBLESTRAINGER on checkout as a 20% discount code.

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.

Tio Pepe Challenge Belgian Finals 2022

How much did we miss this? For over two years, due to the corona-pandemic, there were just a few online cocktail competitions, leaving not much excitement for the audience. Finally, this week we attended our first live competition, the Belgian Finals of the Tio Pepe Challenge. 

Bartenders could enter their cocktail recipe for a first selection. The finalists were invited to compete at the Belgian Finals, hosted by Cinoco Spirits Headquarters in Nivelles. 

The judges for this edition: Boris Ivan (Gonzalez Byass), Stephan De Bolle (Cinoco) and Matthias Soberon (Cocktail- and spiritsblogger, last year’s winner of the competition)

The Tio Pepe Challenge is not your ordinary cocktail competition, because it has three rounds of testing the finalists for different skills: 

Round 1 – Blind Tasting (20pts, 5 pts for each sherry which is correct)

The finalists need to identify 4 Gonzalez Byass sherry’s in a blind tasting. 

Round 2 – Venencia skills (10pts for flair,10 pts for the amount of liquid in the glass)

The finalists need to show their talent for handling the venencia, a traditional tool that is used to sample sherry from the casks. 

Round 3 – Create a sherry cocktail (60pts)

The finalist mixes a sherry cocktail and shares the story of this drink. 

All three rounds took place last Monday and these were the finalists that were selected to compete: 

1. Bjorn Dewulf (Rocktailz)
2. Alex De Backer (Belroy’s MAS, Antwerp)
3. Donald Simons (Black Smoke, Antwerp)
4. Lize Rombaut (Bar Ran, Bruges)
5. Jorijn Vandenweghe (Rocktailz)
6. Jules Verlinden (De Nieuwe Haan, Diest)
7. Clarisse Herbinaux (L’Antidote, Namur)
8. Mathias Schaffer (Bar Ran, Bruges)
9. Joeri Visser (Belroy’s Bijou, Antwerp)

We gathered around lunchtime at the brand new and very impressive bottle-shaped building of Cinoco Spirits in Nivelles. After a quick lunch, we went for a tour of the massive warehouse. Next, the finalists sat down in the meeting room for the first round of the competition. The four Gonzalez Byass sherry variations they had to (blind!) identify were: 

• Nectar (PX)
• Tio Pepe (Palomino fino)
• Cristina (Medium)
• Alfonso (Oloroso)

I think the fino and PX were pretty obvious as they are the far-left (most dry) and far-right (most sweet) of the Gonzalez Byass “standard” sherry range. The medium and oloroso are both in the middle of the range and have more or less the same colour. Sherry enthusiasts should however know that Cristina is a bit sweeter because it contains some PX. There was no amontillado, cream or Palo Cortado sherry in the blind line-up. 

While the judges were grading this first round, the finalists could have some practice with the venencia-tool. Next, under the burning sun on the patio, the finalists demonstrated their skills in round 2. For this round, two extra prices were up for a win. Clarisse Herbinaux won the “First Lady” bottle, Jules Verlinden won the “First Man” bottle. Both bottles were variations of Mom Gin.

Back to the “battle room” for the third and last round. Each finalist had the opportunity to present his or her sherry cocktail, spiced with a matching story, dazzling us with their bartending skills.

After tough deliberation, the judges returned with the ranking. I’ll share the ranking of the final podium, together with the recipe for their cocktails: 

Third: Donald Simons, head bartender at Black Smoke (Antwerp)

Cocktail: Pepelona

5 cl Tio Pepe Fino Muy Seco
3cl Pineapple cordial
12 cl clarified burned grapefruit soda
pinch of nutmeg

Second: Mathias Schaffer, bartender at Bar Ran (Bruges)

Cocktail: God Highball

35ml Noé Pedro Ximenez VORS
15ml Tio Pepe Palomino Fino
30ml Verjus
5ml Manzanilla Olive Brine
Top POMM. Appelchampagne

Winner: Joeri Visser, bartender at Belroy’s Cocktailbars (Antwerp)

Cocktail: Golden Cortès

50ml Amontillado González Byass
30ml gin infused with cacao
10ml Amaro Montenegro 
20ml basil cordial
15ml aquafaba

Joeri Visser is the winner of the Belgian Finals and will soon be representing our country at the Tio Pepe Challenge Global finals in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. He received a brand new suitcase to pack for the trip.

All finalists got Tio Pepe magnums and a goody bag, The podium finalists also received additional cases of top quality cava. 

Big “thank you” to all finalists, judges, supporters, Gonzalez Byass and the Cinoco team for hosting this competition. 

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.

Margarita Day 2021 - Velvet Margarita

Today is National Margarita Day !!!

For my dear friend Rhonda it’s probably the most important day of the year. For this years celebration I wanted to mix up a much softer and silkier Margarita. And for a while I was already thinking about doing a ‘Margarita on the rocks’. I combined both ideas in this new recipe. 

Velvet Margarita

Ingredients
30 ml Gonzalez Byass Viña AB (Amontillado sherry)
30 ml Tequila blanco
20 ml Triple Sec (Feel free to use Cointreau)
20 ml fresh lime juice
Barspoon Agave syrup

Method
Add everything to your shaker with lots of ice. Shake for 15 seconds and double-strain in a tumbler with a big rock of ice. Garnish with a cute little flower. (I was out of limes…) 

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.

Sherryweek 2020 : The special bottles

In my Gonzalez Byass delivery for this years edition of #sherryweek there were also three bottles outside of the normal range. I’m not going to use these for cocktails (which is of course perfectly possible). I want to enjoy them just as they are as a roundup of this fantastic week. 

We received two exceptional Fino sherry’s and an Amontillado VORS. 

Tio Pepe Fino
En Rama Edition 2019

The ‘En Rama’ is a special release which only comes to the market once a year. It’s an almost unfiltered edition (there is a very slight filtering to remove e.g. small chips from the cask), almost straight from the Solera casks.

In this edition 62 casks were handpicked for their exceptional bouquet. A nose of hay, dusty attics, wet grass, dough and yeasty apples. In the mouth lemon, salted almonds and roasted nuts. Very recognizable salty aftertaste. 

If your bar needs a fino sherry for a super-premium range of cocktails, look at this bottle. 

Fino Una Palma

The Palmas range of sherries is a very limited release of aged wines. They are bottled unfiltered and unclarified. There are 4 bottlings: Una, dos, tres or cuatro palmas. (Una palma is the youngest of these wines, it goes up in age)

The wine for this Una Palma edition was selected from rare casks which retained a delicate covering of flor despite spending 6 years of biological aging. Just three exceptional casks are selected from a total stock of over 20.000 casks of Fino sherry. Bottled unfiltered and unclarified this wine is dominated by the aroma of the yeasty flor, accompanied by the nutty character of the Palomino and notes of bread, honey and green apples. Powerful and extremely dry on the mouth. Pear and quinces with a salty and slightly bitter finish.

Exclusive sherry wine which can be served as an aperitif, but also enjoyed with fish, rice or pasta. It works extremely well with Asian cuisine. 

Del Duque Amontillado VORS

For old sherry wines there are two special age indications : VOS and VORS

VOS: certifies that the wine has an average age of more than 20 years. The word VOS comes from the Latin “Vinum Optimum Signatum” which means “Very old Sherry”.

VORS: certifies that the wine has a mean age over 30 years. The word VORS comes from “Very Old Rare Sherry” 

In 1835 Manuel Maria Gonzalez bought 16 barrels from the Duke of Medinaceli. These barrels are the base of the Del Duque Solera system, aging this very old amontillado. 

Del Duque is one of the VORS bottlings of Gonzalez Byass. This amontillado is produced exactly like the Viña AB amontillado from the normal range, minimum 4 years in the Tio Pepe Solera, followed by 6 years in a young Amontillado Solera. But after that it’s transferred again to the Del Duque Solera for another TWENTY years !!! This very long ageing results in a sherry with a dark golden colour. On the nose aromas of dried fruits and walnuts. On the palate very dry but also powerful. Very nice aftertaste. 

This delicate sherry should be enjoyed in a small white wine glass to really get the full bouquet of aromas. It can be paired with seafood, rice and small game. Or serve it as a high quality apero with some olives. 

Sherryweek 2020 was (again!) a great experience with these very flavorful sherry range of Gonzalez Byass, some great cocktail experiments and delicious foodpairings. This series was made possible with the help of Gonzalez Byass and distributor Cinoco. Thank you.

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.

Sherryweek 2020 : Gonzalez Byass Leonor

Next up for #Sherryweek : Gonzalez Byass Leonor, a Palo Cortado sherry.
The Palo Cortado is probably the weirdest type of sherry. The concept for this type of sherry was discovered ‘by accident’ when the flor had suddenly disappeared from a barrel. The aging process is a combination of both natural and ‘by oxidation’. In short, following fermentation to between 11% and 12%, the wine is fortified to 18% alcohol to enter the Leonor Solera. Adding this amount of alcohol will kill the flor. In the Leonor Solera the wine undergoes complete oxidation. The sherry remains in the American oak casks following the traditional Solera system for an average of 12 years. The name refers to the markings on the barrel. 

Due to its power and structure Palo Cortado is a perfect match for old cheese and strong meat such as venison. The power can also be used to make a serious slow-sipping cocktail 😉 

This drink is also my salute to the great Scottish actor, Sir Sean Connery, who passed away a couple of days ago.  

Easy Apero? Forget Whisky-cola. Try Palo Cortado & Cola !

P/C Martini

Ingredients
60 ml Belvedere Vodka
20 ml Gonzalez Byass Leonor (Palo Cortado)
10 ml Dry Vermouth

Method
Stir with lots of ice until the drink is really ice-cold. Strain into a prechilled Martiniglass. Garnish to your own personal taste with a twist of lemon, an olive or a pickled onion. 

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.

Sherryweek 2020 : Gonzalez Byass Nectar

The sweetest wine I ever tasted was Gonzalez Byass Pio X 1903, containing Moscatel Menundo wines from around the 1850s. The wine was never fortified, so it wasn’t sherry. It was so incredibly sweet, it almost hurt my teeth. On the second place for sweetest wines I’ve tasted you’ll definitely find a Pedro Ximénez sherry. Sherry varies from a bone-dry Fino to the very sweet Pedro Ximénez, also known as ‘PX’.

Pedro Ximénez grapes are sundried which reduces the amount of water in  the grape, but maximises the taste. This sherry is dark and syrupy, with notes of dried fruit and tobacco. Also chocolate aromas. In the mouth caramel, honey, nuts, syrup, figs, chocolate and sultanas.  

Mixology Tips 

• Using this sherry as a (partly) substitute for simple syrup in an old Fashioned will result in the softest, most silky Old Fashioned you have ever tasted. 
• This super-sweet sherry is also a great mix with cold brew coffee. 

In this edition of #sherryweek, I take the challenge to serve it straight in a wineglass, in a delicious pairing with some carefully selected cheeses. Since this sherry is very sweet, you need a strong cheese to pair. You want strong and salty cheeses. A slight sour note is also welcome.  

I went to my local cheese experts at ‘t Kaasplankske Beringen and asked for their advice. These were the three cheeses that made the selection :    

• Stilton Colston Basset : Blue cheese from a small Stilton cheese producer in Nottinghamshire, England. Always a winner in combination with sherry.
• Epoisses : French cheese from the village with the same name in dept. Côte-d’Or. 
• Grand Cru : A salty Alpine-style hard cheese.

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.

Sherryweek 2020 : Gonzalez Byass Cristina

A Medium sherry is a sweet oloroso sherry. A small addition of just 13% Pedro Ximénez adds a little sweetness. This means it’s less sweet than cream sherry, which has 25% of Pedro Ximénez. 

Gonzalez Byass Cristina is aged for 7 years in American oak, following the Solera system. It’s bright amber colored and has aromas of raisins, wood and figs. In the mouth hints of oak.

Serve slightly chilled as an aperitif with cheese or paté. Also works great in slightly sweeter or fruitier cocktails. 

Easy Apero? Medium sherry works very well in a mix with Ritchie Orange (orange lemonade) 

Shopaholic

Ingredients
30 ml Gonzalez Byass Cristina (Medium Sherry)
15 ml Cointreau
1 bs Campari 
Soda water

Method
Stir everything but the soda water together in a mixing glass with lots of ice. Serve in an Old Fashioned glass with a big block of ice. Top off with soda water. Garnish with a dehydrated slice of orange. 

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.

Sherryweek 2020 : Gonzalez Byass Viña AB

Our second bottle for #sherryweek is Gonzalez Byass Viña AB, which is an Amontillado sherry. Made from the same Palomino grapes as a Fino sherry, but aged 12 years in American oak, instead of 4 to 5 years for Fino sherry. This wine starts it’s life as Tio Pepe, but after 4 to 5 years in the Tio Pepe Solera, it’s transferred into the Viña AB Solera for another 8 years.

Viña AB is a young amontillado which has experienced both ageing under flor and oxidative ageing. On the nose typical Palomino aroma of hazelnuts and slight reminders of the yeast. On the palate subtle notes of oak. Aftertaste with slight saltiness and bitterness. 

Served in a small white wine glass and perfectly paired with clams, mussels, white meat, rice dishes, artichokes and asparagus. 

Easy apero : Viña AB & Tonic. 

Bamboo

Ingredients
45 ml Gonzalez Byass Viña AB (Amontillado sherry)
45 ml White vermouth
2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
2 dashes Angostura Orange bitters

Method
Stir together in a mixing glass with lots of ice. Strain into a cocktailglass.
Garnish with a lemon peel. 

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.

Sherryweek 2020 : Gonzalez Byass Alfonso

Oloroso is probably one of the best known types of sherry. The casks which contained oloroso are very popular for whisky aging. Today we are mixing up a tasty cocktail with Alfonso, the ‘standard’ oloroso in the Gonzalez Byass range. 

Alfonso is made from 100% Palomino grapes, aged 8 years in American oak casks, following the traditional Solera-system. Most of the wine used for Alfonso comes from the second pressing of the grapes, so it has slightly more structure and body. The juice from the first press is always used for Tio Pepe Fino sherry. Following fermentation to between 11 and 12% alcohol, the wine is fortified to 18% alcohol. An empty space of 100 liter is left for the wine to interact with the oxygen. Oloroso is never under a flor, it ages with oxidation. The nose gets more hazelnuts and walnuts. As a result of the long aging there are subtle aromas of oak and spiced notes such as truffle and leather. Very flavourful sherry. 

Alfonso should be served in a white wine glass and paired with red meat and traditional stews. It’s a dry wine which combines very well with gelatinous meats such as oxtail and pork cheeks. 

I’ve chosen a simplified recipe for a known cocktail, paired with homemade deep fried crispy balls filled with a delicious paste of slow cooked beef. The recipe of the crispy balls can be found on my wife’s foodblog Tineke’s Cucina. 

Easy Apero? Oloroso Sherry mixes very well with Ginger Beer or Ginger-Ale.

Escape from Alcatraz

Ingredients
50 ml Tequila Silver
22,5 ml Alfonso Sherry (Oloroso)
15 ml Suze (Bitter)
1 barspoon of Agave syrup
2 dashes of Angostura Cocoa Bitters

Method
Stir all ingredients together in a mixing glass with lots of ice. Stir for at least 20 seconds, the syrup needs some work to blend. Strain into a large cognac glass. No ice or garnish needed. Serve with a few of those crispy balls and a bit of sharp mustard. 

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.

Sherryweek 2020 : Tio Pepe

Two years ago I was invited at the González Byass bodega in Jerez to participate in #Sherrymaster2018, together with a group of wine-professionals. (Art1) (Art2)

During that week in the south of Spain we learned all the basics of sherry, while we could taste and experience it on the spot. We learned about the grapes in the middle of the vineyard, we learned about the casks in the dark warehouse. And we tasted lots of sherry, even straight from the Solera-casks.

This week is #sherryweek and since I was asked to share a few posts promoting this week, I’m trying to recollect some of the things I have learned during that unforgettable week in the sherry-region of Andalucía. This week I’ll be posting about delicious sherry wines, tasty cocktails made with a wide range of sherry wines, from the cork-dry Palomino Fino to the decadent and very sweet Pedro Ximénez. And last but not least I’ll also share a few great foodpairings. 

We will taste this beautiful range by González Byass : 

• Tio Pepe Fino Dry
• Cristina Medium Jerez-Xerez
• Vina AB Amontillado
• Alfonso Oloroso 
• Solera 1847 Cream
• Leonor Palo Cortado
• Nectar Pedro Ximénez

Next to this ‘normal’ range we will also take a sip from these more exclusive beauty’s : 

• Fino En Rama 2019
• Fino Una Palma
• Del Duque Amontillado VORS

We kick off #Sherryweek with a very easy aperitif, based on the flagship sherry of González Byass: Tio Pépe. This is the driest sherry in the normal range, made from 100% Palomino Fino grapes. Aged 4 to 5 years in American oak, following the traditional Solera system. For me this is the bottle that displays the most terroir. The grapes are grown on the typical Albarizo soil of Jerez, a white soil that contains 60% chalk, which is why it can hold moisture very well. I can still remember the white powder on our shoes after visiting the vineyards. Jerez has a warm micro climate and long hot summers with dry and hot winds blowing up from Africa. 

The grapes used for Tio Pepe are handpicked and transported to the production plant in small 15 Kg crates. Only the ‘first press’ of the grapes is used for Tio Pepe. Following fermentation to 11 to 12% alcohol, the wine is fortified to 15,5% alcohol. In the casks an empty space of 100 liters is always left for the yeast to grow it’s typical flor (a yeasty foam layer on top of the wine) and interact with the oxygen. This is what gives the sherry it’s unique nutty aroma and character. The wine remains “under the flor” for at least 4 years in a Solera system.  

There are two different production methods for sherry : Biological ageing and aging by oxidation. Biological aging means the flor will protect the sherry during maturation. “By oxidation” means we let the sherry interact with the oxygen, which normally would ruin the wine. In this controlled production method they let the wine age long enough so it develops into a new kind of balanced sherry. Oloroso is a good example of the oxidation method. But we start this series with Fino which is biologically aged sherry, protected by the flor layer during the entire process. It’s a taste you might need to get used to, because you really can’t compare it with anything else. Mixing it with tonic can lower the threshold.

All wines in this week’s series are produced by González Byass, one of the most important sherry producers in the world. Founded in 1835 and still in the hands of the González family. The head office is the bodega in Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia. 

Pepe Tonic 

Ingredients
70 ml Tio Pepe (Fino sherry)
200 ml San Pelegrino Tonic
2 drops of Angostura bitters

Method
Fill a longdrink with icecubes. Add the sherry and bitters. Top with tonic. Give it just one gentle stir. Garnish with lemon cuts. 

Tip:
Fino sherry is a perfect aperitif. I think I like the smell of fino even more than the taste. It‘s also an excellent companion for tapas. Works very well with nuts, olives and Jamon Iberico. Can also be served with seafood, fish, sushi or sashimi. I have tried adding a little bit of fino to a raw oyster… Absolutely 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.

The Wet & Dry Martini

When it comes to Martinis, I like them either dry or dirty. And when I like them dry, I really mean dry. Not like Winston Churchill who only glanced at the vermouth-bottle from across the room, but still pretty dry. 

Usually I make my Martinis with a dry vermouth, but for this one I really wanted to experiment with sherry, which is of course a very dry fortified wine. It took me a while to get it right and it was another blogger, Matthias, who gave me the ‘split wine’ tip that solved my problem. 

It doesn’t matter if you want your Martini wet or dry, adjust the measures between gin and wines as you please. But do try mixing sherry and vermouth. It works like a charm in this ‘Wet & Dry Martini’.

Wet because you can make it as wet as you want (=using more wines), dry because we are using dry vermouth and a pretty dry sherry. 

The Wet & Dry Martini

Ingredients
60 ml London Dry Gin
10 ml Dry vermouth
10 ml Amontillado sherry
1 dash orange bitters

Method
Stir in a mixing glass with lots of ice. Long enough, you really want this drink to be cold. 
Strain in a prechilled Martini glass. Add a single olive or lemon twist. 

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.

Scallywag - The Stray Dog goes to Italy

 

It’s hot, I would love to be in Italy right now and I really love this Douglas Laing Speyside malt blend. That’s three excuses to mix up one more cocktail based on Scallywag 😉

This whisky has a very recognizable flavour from the sherry casks and I just want to enhance this a little bit more. Some people add a tiny bit of tonic to Negroni-style drinks to take the sharp edge off the bitterness. I did the same with some dry fino sherry. The result is a Boulevardier with a nice sherry-touch.

The Stray Dog goes to Italy

Ingredients
30 ml Campari
45 ml Scallywag Blended Malt Whisky
30 ml Cinzano sweet vermouth
10 ml Tio Pepe Fino sherry

Method
Stir everything together in a large mixglass with lots of ice. Strain into a tumbler with a big block of ice. Add a piece of orange (fresh or dried). Salute !

Tip
I paired this tasty cocktail with a piece of ‘Doré de Lathuy’ Bio-cheese. This is cheese from the Ardennes, made from raw cow milk. This pairing was suggested by cheese master Peter Verbruggen. 

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.

Gin & Vylmer

 

If you want to enjoy a tasty cocktail at home, it’s always easy to have a few “even parts” recipes at hand. Almost impossible to make a mistake and mostly very flavourful drinks.

Today I’m making another unusual combination with fino sherry. We add the boozy layer of the gin, with a lot of citrus notes, and the herbal and fruity notes of the Vylmer Apéritif. You do need a little bit of tonic to blend it together and add that ‘zesty’ extra.

Gin & Vylmer

Ingredients
30 ml HTK Gin (or another gin with fresh lemon flavour)
30 ml Tio Pepe Fino sherry
30 ml Vylmer Apéritif
Tonic

Method
Stir together the gin and sherry in a mixglass with ice. Strain into a tumbler with a big block of ice. Top off with a little bit of tonic. Give it one more gentle stir. Garnish with a fresh strawberry.

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.

Scotch & Fino

 

Sherry is one of my favourite ingredients to lift a cocktail to the next level. It really adds this extra silky layer to your drink. I have used amontillado and PX sherry in several cocktails, but these days I’m experimenting with fino sherry.

Fino sherry is probably the most dry wine on this planet, but packed with flavour and it works very well in several combinations.

And of course, we’ll keep it very simple !

Scotch & Fino

Ingredients
60 ml The Balvenie DoubleWood
30 ml Tio Pepe fino sherry
7 ml Simple syrup
7 ml Maraschino liqueur

Method
Stir everything together in a mixglass with lots of ice. Strain in a tumbler with a big block of ice. Add a dehydrated lemon slice.

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.

Dessert Cobbler

 

Two years ago I spent a week at the bodega of Gonzalez Byass in Jerez. In those days I learned everything there is to know about sherry from the godfather of sherry himself, Antonio Flores.

Back home I started using sherry in cocktails more often. I absolutely love a Velvet old Fashioned with PX sherry, but also learned that whisky and Amontillado sherry are a pretty good mix. Some days I couldn’t be bothered and just poured myself a cool glass of fino. The only thing I had never done before was mix a real sherry cocktail. It was about time to do that.

The most classic sherry cocktail is probably the Sherry Cobbler. This is a pre-prohibition cocktail which has changed a lot through the years. In my oldest cocktailbooks they just take a glass with crushed ice, dust some sugar over it and add a few shots of sherry. Garnish with berries. That’s it. Today it’s a slightly more complex sherry-cocktail, still served with berries on top.

“Sherry, sugar and citrus, shaken, poured over crushed ice and slurped through a straw, the Cobbler is thought to have originated sometime in the 1820s or early 1830s” (Punch)

It’s also a cocktail for bartenders to alter and create their own version of it. I have tasted some really fantastic rum cobblers in Belgium’s best cocktailbars. For my home-version I also had to play with the recipe because normally the base is oloroso-sherry, which I didn’t have at home. So I searched my liqueur-cabinet for the next best thing. I was also out of crushed ice, so had to settle for ugly small cubes. The result was what I would call a “Dessert Cobbler”, slightly sweeter than the original, but nevertheless pretty good 😉

Dessert Cobbler

Ingredients
60 ml Gonzalez Byass Cristina (Medium Sherry)
15 ml Gonzalez Byass Nectar (PX Sherry)
5 ml Maraschino liqueur
5 ml Sugar syrup
7,5 ml pineapple juice
7,5 ml orange juice

Method
Shake with lots of ice. Strain in a glass with small icecubes or shaved ice. Garnish with mint, strawberries and blueberries. Use a metal straw, it will also get chilled by the 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.

Stijlvolle Geschenktips : London Nr.1 Sherry Cask Gin

 

Over het algemeen vind ik de gins die onder de paraplu zitten van Gonzalez Byass best wel lekker. Daarom was ik ook nieuwsgierig naar de nieuwe botteling van London Nr.1, gerijpt op sherryvaten. Gerijpte gins zien we wel vaker, maar meestal gebeurt het op nieuwe eik of op ex-bourbon vaten. Gonzalez Byass is één van de grootste sherryproducenten ter wereld, dus ze hebben uiteraard de kwalitatieve sherryvaten voor het uitkiezen. Vorig jaar was ik in Jerez voor mijn deelname aan Sherry Master 2018 en bezocht ik ook de opslagplaatsen, waar duizenden vaten liggen te rijpen.

London Nr.1 Sherry Cask wordt gedistilleerd in de UK en rijpt 3 maanden in het zuiden van Spanje, op sherryvaten waar voorheen Tio Pepe sherry in heeft gezeten. Het resultaat is heel aromatisch en vertoont lichte maar toch duidelijk aanwezige toetsen van hout en sherry. In vergelijking met de originele London Nr.1 lijkt het of de invloed van de botanicals een stuk zachter is door deze rijping.

Echte Gin-liefhebbers moeten deze botteling zeker eens puur proeven, eventueel in een tumbler met een ijsblok. Zelf kiezen we ervoor om in een zuiderse sfeer te blijven met een Basil Smash, een eenvoudig te bereiden cocktail, ideaal als aperitief voor een eindejaarsfeestje !

Basil Sherry Smash

Ingrediënten
5 cl London Nr.1 Sherry Cask
3 cl vers citroensap
1 cl suikersiroop
5 a 6 blaadjes verse basilicum

Bereiding
Alles samenvoegen in een shaker met veel ijs. Krachtig shaken en serveren doorheen een fijn zeefje in een voorgekoeld Martiniglas. Versier met een takje basilicum.

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.

Jente Gees wint de Tio Pepe Challenge 2019

 

Na een tweetal uur aanschuiven in de beruchte “file d’Anvers” kwam ik maandagmiddag zo’n 45 minuten te laat toe in de Antwerpse Tapabar van Adres Claeys. Hier ging de Belgische finale door van de Tio Pepe Challenge 2019. Andres won vorig jaar deze cocktailwedstrijd en hij serveerde bij aankomst dan ook heel trots zijn winnende cocktail ‘Bodas de Sangre’.

Volgende finalisten mochten aantreden in de strijdarena :

• Patrick Vercambre - Famouz (Knokke)
• Dieter Van Roy - Belroy's Bijou (Antwerpen)
• Tim Devriendt - The Cobbler (Gent)
• Jente Gees - The Pharmacy (Knokke en Antwerpen)
• Michael Yona-Costa - Cipiace (Brussel en Antwerpen)
• Fabrice Marin - L'apereau (Blankenberge)
• Xander Dedroog - Bar Nine (Leuven)
• Omayra Sonck - Ravazjol (Aalst)
• Hannes Desmedt - Wine Blend (Harelbeke)

Tijdens drie wedstrijdrondes verzamelden de deelnemers heel wat punten, maar desondanks bleek het toch nog een lastige en zeer lange deliberatie. Het was op zijn minst gezegd een spannende strijd. Tijdens de verschillende wedstrijdrondes werden publiek en deelnemers verwend met heerlijke Spaanse tapas en uiteraard mochten ook de sherry’s geproefd worden.

 
In een eerste “Blind Tasting” ronde kregen de finalisten vier glaasjes met verschillende sherry’s van Gonzalez Byass. Ze moesten deze trachten te herkennen, enkel en alleen op smaak en geur. Sommige kandidaten scoorden voortreffelijk, maar er waren er ook enkelen die de bal volledig mis sloegen.

 

Daarna volgde een behendigheidsproef met de venencia, die doorging buiten op straat. Vermoedelijk zijn ze het Atomium nog steeds aan het opdweilen na de finale van vorig jaar ;-)

 

De venecia is een vrij moeilijk te hanteren instrument waarmee samples uit een vat worden genomen om te proeven. De finalisten kregen max. drie pogingen, waarvan de laatste telde. Punten werden gegeven op de hoeveelheid sherry die terecht kwam in het glas, maar ook op de uitvoering. Het mag gezegd worden dat het “Angel’s Share” (de sherry die op de grond terecht kwam) toch nog best veel was.

 

 

Als laatste proef volgde uiteraard de echte cocktailwedstrijd, waarbij elke finalist een cocktail moest voorstellen net als basis een sherry van Gonzalez Byass. Punten werden gegeven op de samenstelling en smaak van de cocktail, maar ook op de voorstelling en op het glas zoals het uiteindelijk werd geserveerd.

 

Het ereschavot : 

1. Jente Gees – The Pharmacy (Knokke en Antwerpen)
2. Hannes Desmedt – Wine Blend (Harelbeke)
3. Michael Yona-Costa – Cipiace (Brussel en Antwerpen)

 

 

Jente Gees zal de Belgische kleuren verdedigen tijdens de Tio Pepe Challenge Global Finals volgende maand in Jerez de la Frontera (Spanje). Zijn winnende cocktail was “The Alfonso Dashuiri”.

 

Ter afsluiting van deze spannende middag in Antwerpen liet Andres nog een gigantische pan Paella aanrukken.

 

Misschien nog het grappigste van de hele middag was Fino, het onwaarschijnlijk schattige hondje van Andres, die op zijn dooie gemakje tussen het publiek liep en steeds op zoek was naar gevallen tapas... of Tio Pepe.  

Sherrylovers Martini

Dit is beslist niet de mooiste cocktail die ik al ooit heb gemaakt, maar ik wou ook eens iets heel puurs doen. Tenslotte ben ik ook een grote fan van de Dry Martini en de Vesper Martini.

Laat ik maar beginnen met de stelling dat niet iedereen deze cocktail lekker zal vinden. Hij heeft wat men kan noemen de behoefte aan een ‘acquired taste’, net zoals dat vb. ook geldt voor een Negroni. Ik ken bijna niemand die een Negroni van de eerste keer echt lekker vond. Probeer het een paar keer en je wil niks anders meer.

Deze Martini-variant zal absoluut in de smaak vallen bij iedereen die houdt van sherry. Je kan het vergelijken met een Dry Martini, maar de smaak wordt door de sherry nog veel ‘droger’. In deze ‘crisp & clear’ cocktail is het dan ook de sherry die de smaak echt domineert. De Angostura bitters zorgen voor een klein beetje extra ‘afkruiding’, zoals bij een Pink Martini.

Sherrylovers Martini

Ingrediënten
4 cl Broker’s London Dry Gin
4 cl Tio Pepe Sherry (Palomino Fino)
Enkele druppels Angostura bitters

Bereiding
De gin en sherry gaan we samen roeren in een mengbeker met ijs. Roer minstens 15 seconden. Strain in een voorgekoeld Martiniglas of kies zoals wij voor een leuk vintage portoglas. Voeg enkele druppels Angostura bitters toe.