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muckefuckIt was muggy and rainy. Several friends were out of town. And I was going up against Game Night. But all it took to make the evening a thumping success was Graysong saying, "This is the best time I've had at one of your cocktail nights."
It was important to me that he felt that way because in many ways he's been the animating spirit of the event over the past year. Scruffy may be more faithful in his attendance (he's in Cincy for the weekend) but he's not a serious drinker. He's gamely tried a range of concoctions I've put in his hand, but his response is simply, "Liked it" or "Hated it". As Graysong put it, yesterday evening was about "trying different things and talking about them". It was about how it's not the number of guests that matters but how in synch they are.
The focus of the evening was on that queer local specialty, Malört, whose finish has been described as "a pickle dipped in cigar ash drizzled with pain". And that was certainly my memory of what it was like trying it for the first time back in the spring. Graysong had it on his to-do list for his last month in Chicago and we made quite a ritual of it. Seriously: I put a ceramic skull on the table and lit a black candle. We opened a new pack of cards and drew to determine who would go first. And naturally we filmed it.
After all that buildup, it's hardly a surprise what a letdown the actual experience was. I actually accused him of bringing counterfeit Malört, my reaction was so different from the first time. None of us particularly liked it, but it was far from horrible. "It tastes like grapefruit," said Big Tim. ("Like grapefruit rind," he later clarified.) Graysong pointed out that--unlike most drinkers--we all enjoyed bitter spirits, so this was no big deal. He also proposed using it as his new litmus test when getting to know people. "If you don't make a face, then it means you're an adult."
With that out of the way, we were able to move on to drinking stuff we enjoyed. I revelled in having Tim there. It's not often I run into someone who likes Chartreuse. And it's rare indeed to find someone my age who likes it but has never tried it before. Before we got to that, however, there was another Malört, this one made by local distiller Letherbee.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monshu loves their gin, and this bottle had an unexpectedly strong juniper nose. Also unexpected with the strong anise flavour. Graysong characterised it as really sort of an absinthe with ramped-up wormwood.
All-in-all, it was such a contrast to Jeppson's, with it's single-note bitterness, that we agreed with the reviewers who said they are hardly the same liqueur. I thought the complexity of the Letherbee's would lend itself well to mixing, so I tried substituting it for the absinthe in a Yellow Parrot (equal parts absinthe, Chartreuse, and apricot brandy over crushed ice) and was pleased with the results. Other bottles that came off the shelves included the Zwack, the Unicum, the Nux Alpina, and the St Germain. Graysong asked me to attempt a reconstruction of the cocktail he'd had the night before and I gave it my best:
I wasn't even going to hit Bear Night afterwards--I figured it could only be anticlimactic--but it was better than expected. A couple old Game Night hosts were there and were quite friendly to me, but I only ended up being hit on by a couple of guys I'm content simply to remain friends with. There was some absurd Oktoberfest promotion going on, complete with a stein-holding contest that only ended up being entertaining because I knew at least half the contestants.
It was important to me that he felt that way because in many ways he's been the animating spirit of the event over the past year. Scruffy may be more faithful in his attendance (he's in Cincy for the weekend) but he's not a serious drinker. He's gamely tried a range of concoctions I've put in his hand, but his response is simply, "Liked it" or "Hated it". As Graysong put it, yesterday evening was about "trying different things and talking about them". It was about how it's not the number of guests that matters but how in synch they are.
The focus of the evening was on that queer local specialty, Malört, whose finish has been described as "a pickle dipped in cigar ash drizzled with pain". And that was certainly my memory of what it was like trying it for the first time back in the spring. Graysong had it on his to-do list for his last month in Chicago and we made quite a ritual of it. Seriously: I put a ceramic skull on the table and lit a black candle. We opened a new pack of cards and drew to determine who would go first. And naturally we filmed it.
After all that buildup, it's hardly a surprise what a letdown the actual experience was. I actually accused him of bringing counterfeit Malört, my reaction was so different from the first time. None of us particularly liked it, but it was far from horrible. "It tastes like grapefruit," said Big Tim. ("Like grapefruit rind," he later clarified.) Graysong pointed out that--unlike most drinkers--we all enjoyed bitter spirits, so this was no big deal. He also proposed using it as his new litmus test when getting to know people. "If you don't make a face, then it means you're an adult."
With that out of the way, we were able to move on to drinking stuff we enjoyed. I revelled in having Tim there. It's not often I run into someone who likes Chartreuse. And it's rare indeed to find someone my age who likes it but has never tried it before. Before we got to that, however, there was another Malört, this one made by local distiller Letherbee.
monshu loves their gin, and this bottle had an unexpectedly strong juniper nose. Also unexpected with the strong anise flavour. Graysong characterised it as really sort of an absinthe with ramped-up wormwood.All-in-all, it was such a contrast to Jeppson's, with it's single-note bitterness, that we agreed with the reviewers who said they are hardly the same liqueur. I thought the complexity of the Letherbee's would lend itself well to mixing, so I tried substituting it for the absinthe in a Yellow Parrot (equal parts absinthe, Chartreuse, and apricot brandy over crushed ice) and was pleased with the results. Other bottles that came off the shelves included the Zwack, the Unicum, the Nux Alpina, and the St Germain. Graysong asked me to attempt a reconstruction of the cocktail he'd had the night before and I gave it my best:
Doux RêveThe one ingredient we were missing was the cucumber, and it made a difference. I was taken aback at the amount of St Germain--as I told Graysong, I've never seen a recipe call for more a teaspoon before--but we tried it with a smaller proportion and it didn't mask the gin enough. It's certainly not going to make me forget the Ephemeral any time soon, but it was pleasant to sip (and not as deadly as the Parrot, which practically had me stumbling).
Two shots gin (Bombay)
One shot St Germain
½ shot absinthe (Sirène)
Juice of one lime
Slice of cucumber
Shake and strain.
I wasn't even going to hit Bear Night afterwards--I figured it could only be anticlimactic--but it was better than expected. A couple old Game Night hosts were there and were quite friendly to me, but I only ended up being hit on by a couple of guys I'm content simply to remain friends with. There was some absurd Oktoberfest promotion going on, complete with a stein-holding contest that only ended up being entertaining because I knew at least half the contestants.