u/just_a_talking_head

Carlo’s Caiprinha 

• 2 oz Barrel Aged Cachaca (Novo Fogo)
• ½ oz Passionfruit Vanilla Syrup
• 1 lime

Cut lime into wedges and muddle in shaker tin, add syrup and cachaca, whip shake and open pour into glass

A traditional Caiprinha can’t really be beat, but this is a fun riff that plays with the traditional flavors of Brazil. I prefer a whip shake to mix all the ingredients well, try not to break up the ice.

The Barrel aged cachaca is really lovely in this, plays nice with the vanilla and keeps the passionfruit from becoming too overbearing. Also that passionfruit vanilla syrup is one of my favorite things to have on hand. Kinda takes any drink you throw it at into a pornstar martini direction.

I loved watching that game really great work from Norway the whole way through, and Haaland is a warrior, he just makes it happen. You can never completely count Brazil out, they’re always just one or two good runs away from turning any game around.

I think Carlo is gonna take a lot of blame when he gets back to Brazil, so I think this Caiprinha might help him through a trying couple weeks.

P.S. My lime was extremely yellow, it was from my neighbor's tree and it was delicious, but it is completely invisible in the drink. I apologize for any confusion or discomfort this may have caused.

Passionfruit Syrup

• Equal parts passion fruit puree and sugar

Blend ingredients until smooth, run through a fine sieve, bottle

Vanilla Syrup

• 1 Vanilla Bean
• 500 g Sugar
• 500 g Water

Bring sugar and water to a simmer in a pot, cut vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape seeds into mixture, cut bean into pieces and add to pot. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for at least an hour, or as long as a day. You could probably go longer without any issue, but to be safe, strain it after about a day.

Passionfruit Vanilla Syrup

• Equal parts both of the other syrups

Mix until well combined

Quatre

• ¾ oz Overproof Bourbon
• ¾ oz Madeira (Sercial)
• ¾ oz Zucca Rabarabaro
• ¾ oz Sweet Vermouth (Cinzano)

Stir, Serve Neat, Garnish Lemon Twist

Pardon my French, but this is a quatre cocktail based on the most ubiquitous french cocktail i could think of: The Boulevardier. I decided to split the base with Madeira cause its delicious and i thought it would play well with the overproof bourbon, and swap the Campari with Zucca, cause i’m out of Campari. It came out shockingly good, and accidentally a quad cocktail.

I wish I could be a fan of this French team, but they are too overpowered, they have the deepest bench and the strongest starters in the tournament. I’m not quite finished with the game at the time of writing, but its been a real surprise so far.

Also happy fourth of July I guess, I already did my USA cocktail a while ago though.

Vozinha's Chance

• 2 oz Rhum Agricole
• ¾ oz Lemon
• ½ oz Passionfruit Syrup
• ½ oz Tamarind Syrup
• Bsp Molasses

 

Combine all ingredients an stir molasses until dissolved, Shake, Garnish with Dehydrated Lemon

This is a play on the traditional flavors of Cabo Verde, using the closest approximation for Grogue (a fresh sugar cane distillate) Agricole Rhum. The only native fruit of Cabo verde that i could get my hands on is tamarind, and they are also known for their passionfruit, so i made a syrup from each of those and boosted the island flavors with a little molasses. Came out super nice, the grassiness of the agricole is still very present, not too sweet and with a really nice tartness from the passionfruit and tamarind.

This is obviously the Cinderella story of this years world cup, I’m watching the game right now, tied, and I still can’t imagine Cabo Verde making it. I hope against hope, that they can make it. Even though I’d be sad to see Messi go out like this.

Passionfruit syrup

Equal Parts By weight of passionfruit pulp and granulated sugar

Combine and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh.

Tamarind syrup

Exactly the same recipe

Keeping it short today, been busy, and this game is crazy

EDIT: Just finished the game, I'm absolutely stunned. It was better than I could have imagined. What a rollercoaster.

Dani Olmost a Martini

• oz Olive Oil Washed London Dry (Edinburgh Classic)
• oz Thyme and Lemon Infused Fino Sherry (Lustau)
• ½ oz Blanc Vermouth (Dolin Blanc)

Stir all ingredients, serve up in a Nick&Nora, garnish with Spanish olive (mine have anchovies in them, omit if you are vegetarian)

I’m a big fan of a sherry martini, this is my chance to make one for the world cup, that's pretty much it.

Fino sherry is a wonderful ingredient to work with in cocktails, very delicate and very bright, works really nice with savory food. I love it in this martini, you don’t need to do the whole infusion with lemon and thyme, it’ll still be delicious without that, just maybe not as delicious.

I know I’m the millionth person to olive oil wash gin, but it’s really really tasty. I used Edinburgh Classic, which is a nice cheap gin. Lots of citrus and juniper in it, and it stood up to the grassiness of the oil really well. Mahon Spanish gin would be my ideal one here, but I'm not going out and spending like 50 bucks on a new bottle of gin.

I used Dolin Blanc Vermouth (French I know, Don't hate me) its my go to vermouth for non-standard martinis that need a little extra body or a little sweetness. Goes well with just about everything. If I had to make a change I'd say use Bordiga Bianco instead, thats one hell of a good vermouth and it would play reallll nice here.

Olive Oil Washed Gin

• ml London Dry Gin
• ml EVOO

Combine ingredients in plastic container (a cambro if you have one) and whisk vigorously to combine, let sit for 2 hours whisking occasionally, place in freezer and let freeze over night.

The next day remove the fat cap from the top and save for something else, then strain through coffee filter. Bottle and refrigerate

Lemon and Thyme Fino Sherry

• bottle of fino sherry
• g fresh thyme
• lemon

Steep the thyme in fino sherry for about 30 minutes, peel 1 lemon trying to avoid getting any pith, add the lemon peel to the sherry and let steep for another 10 minutes. 

Strain through a fine mesh and bottle and refrigerate

EDIT: Croatia got robbed, I wanted to see the last 30 minutes of that game. Stolen by a strand of hair.

United States Mutant Ninja Turtles

• 1 oz Overproof Bourbon 60%
• ½ oz Apple Jack (unfortunately the 40% Lairds…)
• ½ oz Madeira (Sercial, Medium Dry)
• ¼ oz Banana Peel Oleo
• 2 Dashes Homemade Bitters
• 6 or so mint leaves

Combine all ingredients except mint in a mixing glass and stir to combine

Rub mint leaves around in glass, add pebble ice about ⅓ up, add cocktail, swizzle or agitate for about 5 seconds, top up with pebble ice, serve with a mint bouquet and straws (Red White and Blue optional)

I’m going to start by recommending that you do not use Banana Peel Oleo in this drink. It would be much better with a Rich Turbinado Syrup. The banana really fights with the mint on this one, it works really well with every other ingredient in this cocktail, but the mint is off. I’ll chock the inclusion of the oleo up to my quest to put bananas in everything, even places they shouldn’t be.

I was trying to think of an American cocktail, and i was having a surprisingly hard time of it. A lot of the classics started in the states, but they all felt like they had a very specific origin within the US, nothing that felt generically American. Maybe the old fashioned would have been the right call at the end of the day, but I decided on the Mint Julep.

And in honor of the diversity of our country as well as our team, i decided to put a bunch of disparate ingredients together in service of a singular goal. With the exception of the banana, it was a huge success. Madeira (a Portuguese fortified wine) has been a recent obsession of mine, giving me a little bit of the fun complexity of sherry but with a little more sweetness and body (and its shelf stable indefinitely? What's not to like) Applejack from the North East, Bourbon from Kentucky, and bitters and mint from my own home. Also Banana Oleo from my own home, but again i wouldn’t recommend that part.

I’m excited to be patriotic for the first time in a long time. I’m excited to have some great people to root for, and for us to be a part of one of the coolest global events. Go USMNT! Also Congrats to Mexico for destroying Ecuador on and off the pitch, truly maniacal sleep deprivation strats.

P.s. I know the name is a bit of a mouthful, but i can’t help what i think every time i hear USMNT.

Banana Oleo (again don’t use it in this drink, but its really good other places)

• 1 part banana skin chopped roughly
• 1 part superfine sugar

Place in a ziplock bag for about a day, shaking or massaging once or twice during. After most of the sugar is dissolved pour about an ounce of hot water into the bag and massage. Then strain through a fine sieve or cheese cloth. Bottle and it should last for at least two weeks.

Norwegian Would

• ¾ Linie Aquavit
• ¾ Zucca Rabarbaro
• ¾ Lemon
• ½ Orange Liquer
• ½ Pepita Tahini Orgeat

Whip shake, crushed ice, flowering dill fronds and dehydrated lemon or other fun shit on top

I’ve been a huge fan of the Artichoke Hold cocktail for a long time. I’ve made my fair share of variations on it. At the end of the day its a weird mai tai spec, nothing too crazy. What I wish i saw more of was aquavit in the tiki world, maybe i’m just late to the party but i dont see a whole lot of it around, even though i think that little touch of herby spiciness works really well.

This one felt like a nice use of aquavit, linie specifically, nice warm notes from the toasted pepita orgeat, and some nice fruity bitterness from the rabarbaro and orange. Also I had some leftover pepita tahini orgeat sitting in my freezer, so I wanted to get some more use out of that. Mostly I just wanted to throw a little tiki something together, its what i need on a cloudy june afternoon.

I think Norway takes this one, shouldn’t be too tough. But after germany yesterday, nothing is off the table. Norway 2 - 1

Pepita Tahini Orgeat 

Pepitas 500g

Tahini 750ml

Hot Filtered Water 3.5L

White Sugar 3 kg

1. Lay shelled Pepitas Seeds evenly on a parchment lined sheet pan. 
2. Toast pepitas at 400F, low fan, until golden brown
3. Place sunflower seeds in cambro 
4. Add hot water to pepitas;  blitz with immersion blender 
5. Wrap entire cambro with plastic wrap, let sit for 3 hours
6. Add Tahini and sugar, mix to combine
7. Pass through super bag or cheese cloth.

 

Sorry the yield is so huge, I made it for a high volume spot and I didn't feel like scaling it down.

Barley Tea High

• ½ oz Suntory Toki
• ½ oz Lemon Cordial
• oz Barley Tea
• dashes Bitters (home made)
• spray Oolong Tincture

Combine all ingredients except oolong tincture and bottle, force carbonate, then pour over ice and spray oolong tincture to your preference. You can also just carb the soda and then pour it over, like a normal high ball.

I made this cocktail for a dinner a while back, I prefer it with a slightly heavier blended scotch instead of the suntory toki, makes for a more interesting drink in my opinion. The Toki is really nice and light though, which might be a little more in line with the traditional high ball.

Lazy lemon cordial has become a staple of home bartending for me. I make a super juice from the lemons in my backyard and then combine that super juice equal parts by weight with white sugar. The result is good enough for me, plays real nice with barley tea hot, iced, and carbonated. For the carbonated barley tea I make barley tea as usual, and then combine it with my lazy lemon cordial in a ratio of 6:1 and then chill all of it down, then force carbonate in a reused soda bottle with a carb-cap. 

This drink also works really nicely as a (mostly) non-alcoholic cocktail, by just omitting the whisky. Thats why I made it in the first place, but the single malt scotch really sends it over the top. 

Also my pick for this game, Japan 2 - Brazil 2, Japan takes it on penalties.

Again if I insult your country with my drink choices please tell me, and I’ll feel bad about it for a while.

Edit: I was extremely wrong about how the game would play out.

1 - O Canada

In honor of the Canadians either getting knocked out of the cup, or knocking out South Africa. This one’s a classic, and not one I've been a huge fan of. I did some minor (I think) tweaks that made sense with the theme of the cocktail. Never liked fernet in my cocktails, always thought it took over and ruined things. I don’t know if my taste has changed or if it's something about the particular ingredients I used, but I love this one.

• 2 oz Lot 40 Canadian Rye Whisky
• ¼ oz Fernet Vittone
• ¼ oz Canadian Vermontian Maple Syrup
• 2 Dashes Homemade Bitters (slightly more citrusy and less clove-y than Ango)
• Lemon Twist

Stirred, Up, in a Nick&Nora

Never used Fernet Vittone before, but I really dig it. Especially in a cocktail. Not quite as minty and herbaceous but still nice and bitter. The mix of that and the maple syrup kinda gave the whole thing a nice Manhattan-y feel that I'm not sure I ever got from a Toronto. The Toronto always felt like its own thing, too bracing and minty to my taste, but not embracing the rye whisky the way this one did.

If you’ve been overlooking a Toronto for a long time, like I have, give it another shot. Maybe make your own bitters (it’s not that hard). Maybe swap in the maple syrup for a little more complexity, and definitely give the vittone a shot or two.

Also this will be the first of 32 cocktails that I will be making and drinking as quickly as possible, in honor of my current obsession, the beautiful game, Golf.

just kidding soccer (I won't be calling it football I'm sorry)

Any suggestions for cocktails, or complaints about my drink choices for your country are welcome.

He's a very silly boy, very playful, and it doesn't seem to upset him. He just hisses a lot.

Last September i blitzed up some habaneros and carrots from my garden and added 3% salt and threw it in a jar with a piece of parchment to cover the top. Then i had to move it to my garage because my house was getting fumigated. I checked on it regularly for the first week or so of fermentation and everything looked fine. Then forgot about it.

Now its about 8 months later, no mold, a slight pressure in the jar when i opened it. No off odor, just spicy smelling.

What does everyone here think? Is it safe or is this experiment not worth it?

Thanks in advance for the words of wisdom or derision.

P.S. i know i shouldn't have fermented it in a square jar, i usually never do that, but it looks like i lucked out and didn't have a pepper bomb.

I got these seeds from a library in the los angeles area that were just labeled "monkey flower" no other info. I've seen that there are several varieties that bush or creep, any way to identify which one i might have here? No blooms yet, so I'm sure that might make it more difficult to ID. They are kind of sticky along the stem and the underside of the leaves, if that narrows it somewhat.

Just hoping to know what I'm working with, before i put them in the ground.

Thank you in advance!