Finishing the Falernum

After more than three days of infusing the prior ingredients, it was time to strain, press, and complete Falernum #4.

Falernum #4 ingredients, cont.
3 cups simple syrup
1½ cups fresh lime juice

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It’s time again to make another batch of falernum. This makes my fourth batch to date. I am still tinkering with my own recipe, based upon the wonderful Paul Clarke.

At Tiki Central I run into those who seem to be afraid to experiment in creating their own concoctions of tinctures, liqueurs and juices. There’s no need to dread or disdain working in the kitchen. If you can make an omelet, you can make falernum. There is not a time commitment needed: I spent a scant 25 minutes from start to finish below, and I was taking pictures.

Falernum #4
9 limes, zest from
¼ cup diced fresh ginger
45 cloves
2 cardamum pods
½ cup slivered almonds, dry-roasted
750ml Cruzan 120 Clipper Rum

A picture essay follows after the cut. I hope this inspires the previously kitchen-adverse to start tinkering.
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Here’s a sketch of something I’m working on - I’d love notes, opinions and ideas about it!

1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz coffee syrup
1 oz unsweetened pineapple juice
2 oz Coruba
1 oz 5-star Rhum Barbancourt
dash Herbsaint

Shake with crushed ice and pour into small goblet or large snifter glass. Garnish with lime and pineapple wedge.

It’s dark and mysterious with a hint of bright flavors. That’s the flavor profile I was going for, at least. I am intrigued with how the pineapple’s flavor is modified in the Penang Afrididi (Sippin’ Safari): All the middle round flavours are enhanced. I wanted to meld that middle aspect of the pineapple with the coffee notes of the Mai-Kai’s Dark Magic. Give ‘er a go, see what you think!

Is it Monday again so soon? With the upheaval and changes going on with this Monkey’s household and work schedules, I just barely squeaked out an entry for this Month’s MxMo. My workstation may still be unconnected and in a box, but the Liquor has been unpacked. Priorities, people.

Kaiser Penguin hosts this month and the topic is fantastic: Limit one per customer. The theme implies a drink so full of booze it warrants the management to limit the purchase. There is another aspect, however. Making a strong drink is easy. Making a balanced and tasty strong drink is more difficult. However, creating a concoction so delicious as to drive a drinker to order successive rounds (and being denied on the face of the menu)? Pure genius.

And for this month’s genius, I turn again to Jeff ‘Beachbum’ Berry. I’m a lover of the short hoist: a 4oz or less cocktail to be taken as a pick-me-up or before-meal refresher or in-between-meal constitutional. I’ve long been in love with the Von Tiki, The bum’s own original creation at the end of the Grog Log. I also continually sub- and consciously refer to it as the “Baron von Tiki.” I’m sure it’s because of the German honey liqueur Bärenjäger¹ . Austria helps out this aristocratic drink with Stroh 80, a 160-proof rum. This is widely used in Austrian and German baking. I like it daintily sipped with a Coke Chaser². The Barbados rum is there because at the heart, this is a modified Daiquiri. Rum, Gum, and Lime strikes again.

I change the recipe a bit for my own taste: I triple the Stroh and add Fee Brothers Lemon Bitters to balance. I’ve tried replacing the Lime for lemon, but it ends up tasting more like a cough-drop. Lime is perfect for the base, with a lemon hint to match the honey.

With great respect to the Bum, I present:

(baron) Von Tiki - limit one per customer, please

1 oz Bärenjäger
½ oz Stroh 80 160-proof Austrian Rum
1 oz Barbados Rum (I use Cockspur)
¾ oz fresh lime juice
3 dashes Fee Brothers lemon bitters

Shake with crushed ice and strain into 4-oz cocktail glass.

1. A linguistic aside: Bear comes from the Germanic Beor or Beorn. This translates to Bee-Wolf, a kenning that in Old English translates as Beowulf. The kenning here relates to the bear’s love of honey. He is a bee wolf. A lovely self referential name for a honey liquor: the Bee-Wolf-Hunter [↩]
2. Cane Sugar only, not High-Fructose Corn Syrup, please [↩]

Greetings cherished readers!

Due a a rash of sickness, Last night I was called in to the lone service at Thatch and rescue the place last night. Yep, That’s right - I finally got my rum slingers behind the bar and ran the place last night. We were slow, so the silver lining was that I had some breathing room to stop freaking out and show some confidence. It was exciting and terrifying. No major mistakes, and all my drinks were good (and some great - that Singapore Sling rocked). All that home practice paid off, I suppose. That and all the outstanding support and instruction from Zorn. He’s a gentleman’s gentleman.

To celebrate (when I got home) I poured myself a concoction I’ll call:

Fancy Rhum (*please* don’t call it a Maitini.)

1 oz Appleton Extra
1 oz Martinique
½ oz Cointreau
¼ oz Green Chartreuse
dash orange bitters (Regan’s)

Shake with crushed ice and strain into 4oz cocktail glass. Drink it while it is still laughing at you.

So with that behind me, I can now proclaim myself officially a (greenhorn, resident, newbie) professional bartender.

I don’t really need to sleep, right?

Cheers,

-=C