The Cocktail Ponders of Miss Bella-Rouge
Pt8


Craft Beer Cocktails:

Recently I’ve been looking into the world of craft beers, with more and more people asking the right sort of questions over the bar, I’ve been taken a back slightly! Here are the days of the educated beer drinker…(well a few more than normal) so lets give them something to wet their whistle!  It lead me to thinking towards the future of Craft Beer after the craze is over (not that it’s fully begun yet…but I’m a forward thinker) and cocktails were the first thing that came to mind.
I am a massive beer lover myself, and anyone will tell you that on plentiful evenings you can find me at the bar quaffing an Affligem or an Erdinger from my own Stein, ladies half pint size of course…
Im going to show you some craft and lager recipes i have created and a few I’ve found online that have tantilised my bucksome beer tastebuds, yet satisfied my cocktail craving.

White Chocolate and Stout Rusk

Rich, warming and indulgent

Mozart White Chocolate Liqueur and Yamazaki 12 Japanese Single Malt whisky shaken with Milk and Cream. Topped with dry shaken Heavy Stout and White Chocolate Shavings
Mozart White Chocolate 25ml
Yamazaki 12 25ml
Milk and Double Cream 50ml combined
Stout 40ml dry shaken and served on top.
White chocolate shavings and a half Farleys Rusk.
An adapted recepie I found online that used American style liqor in place of the Mozart, I love the Mozart because it’s literally like drinking chocolate.
Such an indulgent and elegant drink that can be made with beers such as Bristol Beer Factory’s Milk Stout (Pictured), a classic dark beer made with milk Sugar (Lactose) which gives it it’s thick, creamy and smooth consistency. A gorgeous topper to this cocktail. You could even use a Guinness if your fresh out of Milk Stout.

Home Brew Shandy

Natural and refreshing

 Bulleit Bourbon, Lemon Juice, Soda and a touch of Sugar with light beer

Bulleit Bourbon 25ml
Lemon Juice 20ml
Soda 60ml
Gomme 20ml
Light Beer to top
All in a pint glass this drink is the ULTIMATE summer beer cooler, without being too boozy.
It’s a great profit sinker for us behind the bar, and a great gentle quaffer for those sat on the terrace. You could use a classic Becks Vier to top this, or anything light that you may have lying around. I love it with draught Asahi, the ‘Super Dry’ Japanese Beer balances the sweet of the sugar and highlights the citrus notes from the lemon. Cracking


Tom Terrific

Hop tastic- tropical notes
Jensen Old Tom Gin, Cherry Heering and Fresh Lemon Juice. Topped up with IPA
Jensen Old Tom Gin 25ml
Cherry Heering 10ml
10ml Lemon Juice
Top with IPA

What a gorgeously fruity concoction the Tom Terrific is… A MUST beer with this cocktail is Goose Island IPA. I first tried Goose at a craft beer fair in Bristol a few months back and it blew me away. Heavy hoppy tropical notes with mega Mango punches. It sits perfectly with the Old Tom’s natural sweetness and it’s all lifted with the citrus and the cherry. Wow!  You can even grab Goose in Sainsburys these days… but I prefer smaller interesting boozy shops like Independent Spirit in Bath. An array of craft beers and spirits beyond belief…they love stocking local brews too. Well worth a visit. (www.independentspiritofbath.co.uk)

The Passion of Ol’ Porter

Fruity and hoppy

A nectar like yet fresh concoction of Floris Passion fruit Beer and naturally fragrant Old Tom Gin.

Floris Passion fruit IPA 25ml
Hayman Old Tom 50ml
Passion Fruit Funkin 15ml
Gomme 15ml
Served in a Coupette with a passion fruit garnish
This sweet and hoppy concoction uses Floris Passion fruit (just one of many of their flavours), a beer that I have grown to love. I would class its taste as more of a cider if it didn’t have a hoppy afterkick…. It’s an unusually sweet beer that unlike their other flavours, doesn’t really sit well with me. So I decided to chuck it into a cocktail! The Passion Fruit shines through in this cute drink that the ladies will love…
Floris comes from the Huyghe Brewery. Founded in 1906 in Belgium by Leon Huyghe in city of Melle in East Flanders and  although the brewery’s most well-known beer is Delirium Tremens (a blonde, Belgian-style tripel) the Floris is now breaking into the market with its unique flavours.

Il Dottore
The Italian DR PEPPER
Amaretto and organic Cola topped up with Peroni Gran Riserva
Lazaronni Amaretto 25ml
Fentimens Organic Cola 100ml
Peroni Gran Riserva 330ml

Now, don’t judge me for this…but let’s be honest…we all love the taste of Dr Pepper…how could you not? This high school classic brings back the memories of parties when the parents are away, using a few ingredients that are basic ‘back of the spirit cupboard’ staples. I’ve upped the anti slightly with some Lazaronni Amaretto, bringing hints of macaroons and apricots, a classic Fentimans Organic cola, a gorgeous softie packed with bitter notes and just a hint of fizz; all brought together with some Italian Peroni Gran Riserva (giving a slightly heartier feel to drink). A slightly subtler (weaker) Peroni Natro Azzuro can be substituted as this Doctor packs a punch, but boy does it feel good!

My last cocktail is tropical flavour sensation!


Maggie Main’s Punch (Serves 3)

Timmermans Raspberry Beer 1 bottle
Timmermans  Peach Beer  1 bottle
Mandarin Napoleon 50ml
Chase Marmalade 25ml
Orange peel
Served over ice in a pitcher, top with Soda to taste.
          
Timmermans Beers are fantastic, and make this Punch…Punchy!
‘Timmermans is one of only a handful of traditional Lambic breweries from the outskirts of Brussels.
Lambic beer has to be the most unusual beer family in the world: small breweries near Brussels maintaining a tradition for spontaneously fermenting wheat beers  (no yeast is added), a process whereby micro-organisms  of the area enter the brew left in open vessels in dusty galleries overnight.
A lambic blend is given further fermentation by addition of fruit which after conditioning gives a pronounced flavour and aroma…’ big thanks to James Clay for that description…
Lambic beers, as stated, are slightly different. I love the idea that its all natural and what you are drinking has come from years of family brewing history. Needless to say, the Framboise (Raspberry) and Peche (Peach) Flavours of this Lambic Beer certainly invigorate this punch. The Chase Marmalade gives strength and bitterness, whilst the Mandarin Napoleon brings sweet fruitiness. I love to chuck in a measure of home steeped Mango Rum ( I literally place mango pieces in Brugal Blanco for 2 days, store in a dark place, then use cheesecloth to filter the solids from the liquids, re-bottle and enjoy!) and this goes extraordinarily with the flavoured beers.


No3 Gin and Tonic competition

I was invited to compete in the No3 Gin competition at the Rummer Hotel is Bristol this month. The spec was pretty broad in the form of ‘ a twist on a G&T’. It got me thinking lots about the classic nature of gin and tonic and I decided to take things really back to their roots. As No3 is steeped in 300 years of Berry Bros and Rudd distilling history I thought it only proper to delve into the history further. I went so far into things that I ended up making my own Tonic Syrup that worked really well. The drink was then made like an old fashioned using the syrup instead of sugar, with home-made Lavender and Pink Peppercorn bitters, all stirred together with a fresh lavender sprig. Topped up with home carbonated Elderlfower Cordial and Water. Keeping it Bristish themed…the drink represented the cultural diversity in London today.


To make the tonic syrup:
40g Cut Cinchona Bark
1.5 Cups of Water
220g Granulated Sugar
6.5g Citric Acid
2 small Cassia Bark twirls
1 lime zest grated
1 lime juiced


The best option is to Google how to make it, there are some fantastic recipes online that are potentially much better than mine! Be careful with the quantities, they can dramatically change the taste of the final product! My tonic was rather limey tasting and next time I will probably use half the amount of lime.

I found it rather hard to get hold of the Cinchona as its now a medically restricted item due to the amount of quinine it contains (Quinnine is a muscle relaxant!) But I managed to borrow some from a friend of a friend on twitter until mine arrived from Germany via Amazon. Cinchona is a native tree to the Tropical Andes and is said to have been discovered by a Jesuit Priest called Agostino Salombrino who studied the local Quecha Healers using it to treat the intense shakes and shivers people suffering with Malaria would show. He then took this to India where it was used to treat English and Indian Soldiers, Gin was added by the English ( Just after the gin boom in London) to balance the Tartness of the ‘Cinchona waters’….and hey presto…The G&T was born! Now a days we see incredible tonics from the likes of Fever Tree ( named from the shivers!) and Fentimans.

’12 at Big Ben’
50ml Elderflower Cordial
700ml Cold Water
Carbonate in an ISI Twist and Sparkle and leave to do its thing for 2 mins

In a jug:
10ml Cinchona and Cassia Bark Home Brewed Tonic Syrup
6 drops Lavender and Pink Peppercorn Bitters
50ml No3 London Dry Gin
12 ice cubes
Stir for twelve seconds to the right, and twelve seconds to the left with a large lavender sprig.

Strain over cubed ice into a coloured hurricane glass
Top with Sparking Elderflower from the ISI Twist and Sparkle
Garnish with a large fresh lavender sprig and a cassia bark twirl.
I had great fun at this comp and I actually came third! Rather pleased with myself I left with a goodie bag of Gin and a gorgeous Pen. I spent a long time preparing for the competition and my ingredients were fresh, natural and all home-made which I think gave me an edge.

Home Made Bitters

The Lavender and Pink Peppercorn Bitters are a real hit on the bar at the moment, I had 3 weeks to prepare my bitters (not long enough most may say) and they turned out really well.
In a large Kilner jar I added Juiper Berries, Lavender sprigs and Pink Pepper corns and left them for 5 days in a dark space to marry.
I then separated the vodka from the ingredients and blended them in a herb dicer till they were mascerated, They were then added back to the vodka.
This was then left for another 10 days where I removed the ingredients again, this time using a cheese cloth. These dry ingredients were cooked off till hot, continuously stirring. Then they were re-added to the vodka with 5 large tbsp. Granulated Sugar.
This was then left for a further 5 days then I strained the solids from the liquids with a cheese cloth, ensuring that it was as particle free as possible.
The outcome is a really sweet start with a deep bitterness and juniper freshness towards the end….great to liven up those spring and summer beverages that need an extra boost, especially the ones including gin! Im the biggest Lavender fan as we have tonnes growing in Olive tree laiden planters outside the bar, it give such tactility to the terrace when it blooms, it smells incredible, and we can make great drinks from it!

Here’s a lavender concoction:

The Charteruse and Lavender Mojito
4 lime wedges
3 sprigs of fresh lavender (or bitters as a substitute)
8 mint leaves
1 spoon Demerara sugar
37.5ml Green Charteruse (not too much now, it is 55%)
Muddle lavender, limes and sugar till juicy. Slap and tear Mint leaves into the glass, add crushed ice and Charteruse. Churn. Top with more crushed ice and a dash of soda. Large mint and lavender sprig as a garnish. Enjoy! Super herbal and light…a summer must!

Another great Lavender trick to tantalise any drinkers tongue…
Lavender Ice Cubes (See my first ever blog post in Spet 2012)
Stupidly simple to make and incredibly rewarding with a Gin and Tonic
This month has all been about Gin really…my favourite stuff! World Gin Day has just passed (15.6.13) and my day was spent hosting Gin tastings at Circo with some awesome hen parties.
Its always refreshing to get groups who ask questions and show a genuine interest in what your talking about. Gin is an infinite subject and there is so much to teach and tell people, and so much to be gained from what the people around you know too. One of my favourite parts is seeing the excitement when people realise that gins taste different! It’s a great way to break through the ‘Gordons and lime’  drinkers and let them try some small batch and unusal Gins that they may not have seen before… theres a whole world of flavour out there…so never be afraid to ask your bartenders opinion….remember that a lot of them work there because they LOVE alcohol…and all the gumf and history that comes with it. They are the people that can lead you towards a better quality drink that you’ll love!
Last week I was a ‘Gin Dolly’ at a Drinking Classes Gin High Tea tasting experience with Andy Dodd the owner of Pappaji’s Bar and Teasmith’s in Bristol. What that man doesn’t know about Gin aint worth knowing. Its refreshing to see people with the same interests as me doing what they do. Reading about booze is the best way to learn things…Andy says…and I have to agree. I have read some great boozy books recently and some of them are inspirational, nice to find literature that speaks to you on a level you can understand!
Home Made Tonic Syrup

 Toodles! BR

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