Dale DeGroff presents new Pimento Bitters for cocktail lovers

Sazeracs are served without ice in a well-chilled glass.

Arriving at home after a week in Oxford, England, what better surprise than to find my long anticipated bottle of Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Aromatic Bitters.  Dale “King Cocktail” DeGroff is the man usually credited with kicking-off the modern cocktail revival.  His books, The Craft of the Cocktail and The Essential Cocktail, are classic cocktail books that belong in the library of every cocktailian.  One thing you will learn in Dale’s books is that cocktails need bitters.  Cocktail lovers are aware that there are many more bitters available for your cocktails today than the “old stand-by” Angostura that we grew up with.  One of them, Peychaud’s Bitters, is a requirement for the classic Sazerac. Peychaud’s has been around for a long time, but used to be hard to find in many parts of the country.

Now Dale DeGroff, along with Ted Breaux, has developed and is marketing his own aromatic cocktail bitters.  Perhaps the most important thing to know about these bitters is that they are not based on the familiar pimentos used to stuff olives; those pimentos are a variety of chili pepper.  Rather, the bitters are based on another, tastier pepper, native to Jamaica, known as allspice or pimenta (often labeled as pimento). In addition to the headline ingredient, cloves deliver the next most prominent flavor.  There also seems to be a more subtle anise flavor, giving a hint of licorice, evocative of Peychaud’s Bitters.  Perhaps it was this echo of Peychaud’s that inspired DeGroff to develop his own recipe for the venerable Sazerac cocktail (one of my favorites), and his new variation really hits a home run.  The original Sazerac was made with Cognac, but most modern recipes call for Rye.  Dale splits the difference and uses an ounce of each in his new cocktail.  You can find Dale’s recipe on his website, or use the simplified recipe below.

Dale DeGroff’s Sazerac

• 2 dashes Dale DeGroff Pimento Bitters
• 1 ounce Rye Whiskey
• 1ounce Cognac
• Splash of absinthe
• 1 small sugar cube

Chill a rocks glass.  Place the sugar cube in the bottom of a second glass (or a mixing glass) with the bitters and a teaspoon of water.  Muddle until the sugar cube is completely dissolved.  Add the Cognac, the Rye, and some large ice cubes, and stir well to chill. Pour the Absinthe into the chilled glass, and roll the glass to coat it, pouring out the excess.  (I like to use a food-grade atomizer and mist the glass.)  Strain into the chilled glass. Twist a lemon zest over the top of the drink and drop it in or discard it, according to your preference.

A bitter lesson from Peychaud's

Last month Salt Lake City readers got an update about how Harmon’s groceries had begun selling Peychaud’s® Bitters ($5.99 in the beverage aisle) in place of Angostura® Bitters during the great Angostura shortage of 2010.  Last weekend the Utah Mixologist was discussing mixing cocktails with his friend Fred from the wilds of New Mexico when Fred mentioned that his local grocery store had stopped selling Angostura and started selling some other, terrible tasting bitters that didn’t go well in cocktails.  At first the mixologist was aghast that such a transgression had been perpetrated, then he though a minute and said “you don’t mean Peychaud’s, do you?”  Yes, sad to say it turned out that Peychaud’s was exactly what Fred meant, and the root cause of his problem was that he didn’t have any good recipes to use them.  A speedy email delivered links to the much needed recipes and solved Fred’s problem, and this article will help any Salt Lake City readers who find themselves in the same situation.  There are many really good cocktails that contain Peychaud's, and you should give some of them a try.

Peychaud’s is a key ingredient in one of the most famous New Orleans cocktails: the Sazerac (along with Rye whiskey and a hint of Absinthe), and those Utah cocktailians who have never had a Sazerac owe it to themselves to give one a try.  Let the good times roll!

The Vieux Carré is another classic cocktail that utilizes Peychaud’s.  It was invented in the French Quarter of New Orleans at the Hotel Monteleone.  The Vieux Carré is a cocktail with six ingredients, so it might seem like a lot of work, but two of the ingredients are bitters, so there’s not that much measurement.  The Vieux Carré calls for equal amounts of Rye, Cognac, and sweet Vermouth, with some Benedictine and a dash each of Peychaud’s® and Angostura® bitters added.  Try one and you will agree it’s well worth the extra effort.

The Rimshot, while not a classic (it’s only about a year old and was developed by the Utah Mixologist), is a close relative of a true classic: the Manhattan.  The Rimshot has everything a good comedy routine needs: wry humor, bitterness, pratfalls, a little sweet and a little sour, and some of those contribute to a good cocktail.  So if you like Rye whiskey or the Manhattan cocktail, give the Rimshot a try.

The venerable Bourbon Old Fashioned is usually made with Angostura® Bitters, but as my article on the Old Fashioned tells you, you can make an Old Fashioned with just about any good liquor you have.  Rye whiskey and Brandy present great opportunities to use Peychaud’s in an Old Fashioned.  Some eschew the cherry and orange wheel, but this mixologist likes to chew them at the end for dessert (caution: don’t over muddle, you want just a hint of orange peel oils).

So if you’ve been a little disappointed in that bottle of Peychaud’s you bought, you probably haven’t been using it right.  Try one or two of these suggestions and I'm sure you will soon be putting that bottle of Peychaud's to excellent use.  For a better look at these cocktails, check out my Examiner slide show.

Manhattan Cocktail

My wife called from Williams Sonoma to ask if I had any Stirrings® Blood Orange Bitters.  I had to admit that I did not have any, and had never had any as far as I knew, so she brought home a bottle.  I was surprised to see that the Blood Orange bitters said “refrigerate after opening” while Angostura® bitters do not.  I discovered the difference, interestingly enough, is that the Angostura contain 40% alcohol while the Stirrings Blood Orange don’t contain any.  Next, I decided to check out the recipes they had on the bottle.  The Mighty Manhattan caught my eye, so I decided to give it a try later in the evening.  There is also a recipe for a Champagne Cocktail that I will have to experiment with the next time I’m doing champagne.  I tasted a few drops (this helps you to understand what an ingredient is contributing to the cocktail) and discovered a complex flavor with the requisite bitter finish, sweeter than other bitters, but with the blood orange flavor coming across well.  A bottle of Angostura bitters has a small spout on top, so that a “dash” is a drop or two.  Interestingly, the Blood Orange bitters don’t have one, so a dash of Blood Orange will be much larger than a dash of Angostura.

After dinner I was getting ready to watch Apocalypse Now Redux on cable and thinking about a cocktail, so I decided it was time to give The Mighty Manhattan a try.  I popped a cocktail glass into the freezer, and started digging around in my bar for the other ingredients, only to discover I was out of Rye.  (I need to improve my inventory process, but Rye is now on the shopping list.)  Fortunately, you can make a Manhattan with Bourbon (Rye is the traditional whiskey to use for the classic Manhattan) and Stirrings’ recipe even says “Rye or Bourbon,” so I decided to substitute Jim Beam® Black Label.  Their recipe also says “shake gently,” but I decide to draw the line at that.  Manhattans are traditionally stirred to avoid clouding the drink.  This does, however, make it more important to use a chilled glass.  I enjoyed sipping the Mighty Manhattan, the major drawback being that one doesn’t last long enough for a three hour plus movie. 

Recipes for the Mighty Manhattan and a classic Manhattan follow.  As usual, feel free to fiddle with the recipe to arrive at your own, perfect Manhattan, and be sure to write down your version for later use.  There are many more Manhattan recipes to use as starting points available on the web if these don’t work for you.

 

The Mighty Manhattan

2 oz Rye or Bourbon whiskey

½ oz sweet vermouth

dash Stirrings® Blood Orange bitters

Add the ingredients to a mixing glass half full of ice cubes.  Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

 

Manhattan

2 oz Rye or Bourbon whiskey

½ oz sweet vermouth

2 dashes Angostura® bitters

Add the ingredients to a mixing glass half full of ice cubes and stir.  Rub the cut edge of an orange peel around the lip of the chilled cocktail glass.  Strain the drink into the glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry.  If you would like to try a Dry Manhattan, substitute a dash of dry vermouth, leave out the bitters, and garnish with a lemon twist.