Glühwein

So, this week, Joe decided to further blur the already-blurry line between mixology and cooking! With a massive crockpot, a wide assortment of fine ingredients, and the finesse of master chef, he brewed up a huge batch of Glühwein, (pronounced "glue-vine ,") right there on the bar!

This week's post is all about that!

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of red wine,

• 2 - Cinnamon sticks – Cinnamon is very traditional. Break the sticks into pieces 1 – 2 inches each,

• 16 Whole Cloves – again, a traditional ingredient,
• 1 Orange,
• 2 tablespoons "runny" honey,
• 1 heaping teaspoon of mixed, ground Christmas-cake spices, (or equivalent amount of ground allspice, nutmeg, and coriander, all mixed together,)

• I also add cardamom,

• Water – wineglass full

Recipe:
1. Put water in large pan and place over medium heat.

2. Add cinnamon, honey, and spices.

3. While honey is dissolving cut the orange into quarter lengthways, then cut them in half so you have eight pieces. Push two of the cloves into the skin of each piece and add to the pan.

4. Pour in all the wine!

5. Bring the heat up. It should not boil so as when bubbles start rising turn the heat off.

6. As soon as it is cool enough to taste, test it for sweetness. If it is not sweet enough add sugar to taste and stir to dissolve.

7. Let the pan stand for an hour or longer so the flavours develop.

8. Warm gently before serving and spoon out into a heatproof glass, leaving the oranges and cinnamon behind. Optionally garnish with slice of lemon or fresh stick of cinnamon.

Chris's notes: I am not a wine drinker by nature. Don't get me wrong, I wish I was! I have seen movies with Musketeers downing it with gusto and solidarity, Roman centurions raising flagons of the stuff with uproarious abandon, King Arthur and his knights in armor, both shining and otherwise, all draining mugs and chalices of vino and seemingly loving it. I envy them!

But it just never really got me going.

So, when Joe told me of his recipe for "Glühwein," I was dubious. I mean, "hot wine?" I never saw that in any of those "historical fiction" flicks!

Joe dismissed my worries and began making it, and insisting that I would like it. And even as I clung to my reservations, I began to realize that my palate, unseasoned in the ways and nuances of the grape, might be the best impartial judge of the stuff.

To start with, as the brew was in the pot, periodically checked on by Joe, (and occasionally, a curious Delip,) the entire bar was filled with the scents of all those wintery spices of clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the like, (and believe me, there are many smells and many spices competing for airspace in an Indian restaurant!)

The brew itself is a real "warmer-upper." Joe says that he has frequently seen it served as an "apres-ski" drink in the Swiss alps. (I realize he may well be full of... uh, stories, on this, but it is not hard to believe!)

Yes, it is wine-y, but so much more. All of those spices and ingredients make a real nice taste. Very much what one would associate with this time of year. Nothing overpowering or foreign, just a very familiar and delicious drink to warm one's winter bones!

Joe's Notes: To combat all the snow that we have had to endure recently, I decided to whip up an urn or two of my favorite Glühwein recipe. I believed that those brave enough to battle their way through the arctic landscape that Salem has become, certainly deserved something special for their efforts.

During the Christmas period in Germany, special markets spring up in all the towns and cities. Nestled amongst the hand-crafted decorations and sausage stands, you can easily spot the a plume of steam rising from the Glühwein stall. For a few euros you can purchase a cup of steaming Glühwein to warm your soul. Glühwein's literal translation is "Glow Wine" because of the glow you feel after consuming a cup or two. Remember, you only want to glow, not spontaneously combust, so be careful of the amount of Glühwein you consume.

During the hedonistic eighties in London, wine bars sprung up all over town like zits on a teenager. Business-suited city workers could be spotted after lunch emerging from their favorite wine bar. Many, furiously glowing and sporting the remnants of their Glühwein consumption as a stain around their mouths, like the painted-on smile of The Joker from Batman. They headed back to their office or cubicle to sleep it off until their release at five o'clock, when the wine bars once again would be filled to capacity with smiling Glühwein drinkers.

There are many different recipes for Glühwein, Vin Chaud and Mulled Wine. I like this recipe because of its simple list of ingredients.

Depending on your preference you can make it sweeter or more citrus. Some people like to add a shot of blueberry or other flavored schnapps to each cup. This of course will add to the alcohol content. Remember to pierce the orange skin with the cloves. This will prevent any stray cloves from ending up stuck in your guests teeth. Alternately you could strain your Glühwein before serving it.

Incidentally, I will be rustling up a fresh batch of my Glühwein recipe at the Passage Lounge this weekend if anybody wants to stop by.

Prost!

Joe the Bartender

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Completely Unrelated Video this week, but just the epitome of coolness. Shatner on Lopez.

Cheers!

Brandy Alexander

From his now-famous "Classics Collection," Joe presented me with the Brandy Alexander, a stark, ghost-white cocktail that looks as innocent as milk, and tastes like a chocolate Fribble.

The Recipe:

While chilling a large martini glass, into a cocktail mixing cup full of ice, add:

- a 3 count of brandy, (a "V.S." should suffice. No need for a V.S.O.P or an X.O., as the other ingredients will make the difference negligible.)

- a 2 count créme de cacao

- a generous sploosh of heavy cream

- Shake a lot!

- Strain into the now-chilled martini glass

- Grate some fresh nutmeg over the top, (not too much!)

Chris's Notes: The Brandy Alexander was a favorite drink of John Lennon's during his eighteen-month long "Lost Weekend," (seen here enjoying a table full of them with Peter Lawford, then-girlfriend May Pang, and Harry Nilsson.) The ex-Beatle jokingly referring to the drink as a "Milkshake."

This metaphor should come as no surprise, as the Brandy Alexander is deceptively smooth, sweet, and chocolaty! As mine arrived, the first thing I noticed was the stark white color. As seemingly pure as the driven snow! (Hardly!) And therein lies its deceptive nature!

But fortunately, the Brandy Alexander is so rich and so heavy, that like any desert, drinking too many would not be any easy task, as these babies would fill you right up!

Senior Research Partner, Kerry, (who appropriated the rest of my drink!) admits that although this may not be a warm-weather cocktail, it would have been perfect to pass the time during her recent "Flood Day" - being house-bound due to a recent flash flood here in the Northeast.

Might have at least picked up the spirits!

Joe's Notes: The Brandy Alexander is a fine example of a classic cocktail. It is a variation on The Alexander cocktail. The Brandy Alexander substitutes brandy for the original ingredient of gin. There are many theories on the name but my favorite is the following.

Rector’s (a famous New York eatery before Prohibition) was having a dinner celebrating “Phoebe Snow ,” the fictional advertising character who traveled the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, always in her white dress.

Rector’s bartender, Troy Alexander, came up with a new, white drink for the occasion—gin, crème de cacao and sweet cream, and the cocktail took the name of it's inventor. The earliest known citation of the Alexander was in 1915.

This, as you can see, forces me to comment on an issue that I have avoided like the black plague: "The great martini debate."

Okay, before we get our knickers in a twist, let us pour ourselves a stiff drink, (preferably one from T.G.D.I.T.W.T.W. )

Fact one: A martini is only made with gin. A vodka martini is made with vodka.

Fact two: An Alexander is made with gin. A brandy Alexander is made with Brandy.

Simple really.

Stir it, (my preference), shake it, or agitate it in some fashion that mingles its ingredients, I don't really care at this point. Let us leave that discussion of another day.

What I do care about is the snobbery associated with the Martini. I have heard too many bartenders dismiss drinks presented in a martini glass as not really a martini. Well, we know that, but as long as the word martini is prefixed with another as in vodka, apple, chocolate, cucumber, or Vesper, I believe it is acceptable.

The martini has transformed, it has changed from its original concept, into a style of drink.

Now I know a lot of you, at this point, probably want to take to the streets with flaming torches and pitchforks and banish me as a complete heretic. But before you rally the good people of the village, hear me out.

Let us take as our example, the car.

Although both Leonardo Di Vinci's and Robert Anderson's notion of what constitutes a "car" has since dramatically been changed and improved upon, (let us, at this juncture, ignore the whole Toyota thing,) the basic concept has stayed the same. That is to say it is a passenger-carrying automotive vehicle. Yet we do not call an airplane a flying car or call a boat a water car. So at what point do we change the name? They are still both passenger-carrying automotive vehicles. Does the word car imply that it travels on the ground and must have a minimum of three wheels?

Let us get back to the Martini. The Vodka (ingredient) Martini (style of drink) tells both the bartender and the customer what the drink is, (just like the word “car.”) Should our snobbery surrounding martinis force us to change these now hundreds of martini drinks names just to please a few?

Or are you with the group that believe that the whole naming drinks “Martinis” is just yet another example of our society's decline in both its moral standards and etiquette?

Either way I would be very interested to hear back from our readers, as I have said this is a discussion and not a lecture, (I am not some sort of crazed megalomaniac.) And who knows? You may be able to change my opinion.

Good luck with that!

Joe