Thursday, August 5, 2010

Dogwatch Punch & The Dogwatch Doubloon

What's in a name? Well, in naval/maritime lingo, the work shift from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM is called the Dog Watch. This also happens to be the perfect time to enjoy a nice summer beverage.

Or two. Here now, in our first DUAL posting, are Dogwatch Punch and The Dogwatch Doubloon.



Dogwatch Punch
The Recipe:

Into a cocktail glass add:


- a quarter of a large orange, squeezed,

- a 2 count of falernum

- Muddle, (and muddle like you mean it!)


- fill glass with ice and add a 4 count of The Lash Spiced Rum


- Stir


-garnish with a slice of fresh orange.

Absolutely Delish!

Dogwatch Doubloon
The Recipe:

Into a 16-ounce pint glass add:


- a quarter of a large orange, squeezed,

- a 2 count of falernum

- Muddle, (and put your back into it this time!)


- fill glass with ice and add a 4 count of The Lash Spiced Rum

- Top with Dr Pepper , (about 4 ounces)


- Stir


-garnish with a slice of fresh orange.

Yumminess!


Chris's Notes: We at Greatest Drink In The World... This Week love a good challenge, but this was an AWESOME one. It was also quite difficult, though.


Way back on June 17th, (Hey! Icelandic Independence Day!), Greatest Drink in the World...This Week presented the award-winning recipe for the Chai-tini , made with Voyant Chai Liqueur, to much applause. As a result of this, Mr. Robert Back, the creator of Voyant, asked us for some cocktail recipes for a new product, The Lash: an aged, spiced rum.


Of course, we jumped at the opportunity.


However, we ran into the strangest of hurdles. The rum tasted so good on its own, that we had a hard time developing a taste that came remotely close! Trial and error, and trial and error, (Work, work, work!) and eventually some flavors started to come together. More of a variety than an improvement, we came up with the above two recipes.


True, the similarities between the two drinks is obvious, but it should be noted, that they were developed simultaneously, and neither was was a spin-off of the other.


To clarify what I mean, let's say that The Lash Spiced Rum is the television show, "Happy Days." Dogwatch Punch and The Dogwatch Doubloon, although created from this original source, share similar elements but have completely different characteristics, like Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy, and will appeal to different people.

To continue with this metaphor, there was much trial and error in developing these two shows, er, cocktails, but we believe they each have the potential to be hits!


I guess that since Happy Days was itself a spin-off, that would make, in this metaphor, anyways, "Rum" represented by Love; American Style!


But I digress...


In any case, (and by no means do I wish to compare the quality of these television programs with that of The Lash or either of the submitted cocktail recipes,) but like those sitcoms, each drink appealed to different tastes. Of the eight members of our tasting panel the evening these cocktails were created, three preferred the Dogwatch Doubloon, calling it "more refreshing," and "so different." The other five, (myself included,) found the Dogwatch Punch to be less sweet, and an better all-around cocktail. Both, are some type of delicious, though.

Joe's Notes: One evening not long back, Chris arrived at the bar armed with a bottle of The Lash Spiced Rum. I filled a number of shot glasses along the bar for our panel of experts to sample. Every one was very enthusiastic. Billy, our guest "expert" for the evening, holding out his shot glass like Oliver Twist said it was probably one of the best rums he had ever drank!


I also was very impressed with the Lash. The Lash hails from the West Indies, where it spends four years in oak and is then aged with spices, some actually settle in the bottle, bourbon vanilla extract, and other flavors. The result is a rum with a strong cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla character. ( Ref: Drinkhacker.com)

As I have said, I was very impressed with the Lash. In fact, I even questioned Chris on why he wanted me to make a cocktail out of this.


My point being that the people who produce The Lash have obviously worked very hard in getting the flavor and quality just right and now I was going to come along and change it.


This reminded me of a time many, many years ago when I worked in 5-Star hotel in London. One evening the cocktail waitress came to the bar and ordered a 25-year-old, single malt scotch in a tall glass filled with ice and topped with ginger ale. Horrified that anybody would murder a good scotch that way, (yes, I'm a drink snob,) I picked up a bottle of bar blended whiskey and made the order. The waitress returned three more times that evening with the same order, each time I substituted the 25-year-old single malt with the bar scotch. When this butcher of scotch was leaving for the evening I stopped him and asked how his evening had been. He said that he had had a good night and that every thing was good, and promised to return soon. At this point I told him what I had done, and he was not happy. He said that as long as he was paying, he could order whatever he wanted.


What do you think? Just because you can do something does that give you the right to do it?


Let me know what you think,

Joe the Bartender.


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For you Miami Vice fans, this week's "Barely-Related Token Video" is None other than "Rico Tubbs" himself, Phillip Michael Thomas, doing "Just The Way I Planned It."


And no, it is not even remotely related, but funny.

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