The Taxi Driver Caipirinhia

It has been about a year, year and a half since Joe made his Caipirinha for me. I remember it distinctly; lime, cachaça, and a dash of sugar, all fizzied up with a splash o' soda. Mmmmm.

And so, Joe decided to resurrect this popular little number with a twist, (as is befitting Joe's idiom,) and presented me with this week's offering, The 'Taxi Driver Caipirinha."

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail shaker full of ice, add:

- 1 part Galliano, (Home-Made or otherwise!)

- 1 part Vana Talinn

- 2 parts Orange Juice

- 4 parts Cachaça

- Shake! Shake like the very wind!

- Strain into a large martini glass

- Garnish with a slice of orange or a maraschino cherry.

Oh, sure, I should've seen this coming. Joe has been threatening me for a while with revamping some of our earlier cocktail reviews. "Bring those great drinks from our early posts up to speed with all the bells and whistles, (i.e. pop-up illustrations, videos, tangental bar-chatter,) of our modern postings." And I have been stringing him along, ("Yeah, we should! That is a great idea! We should DEFINITELY get around to doing that!") with little or no time to spearhead this initiative.

But, more recently, Joe has been complaining about his computer being on the blink. And this week, after dropping this tasty little number in front of me, he emails me saying his home PC is dead and he can't send me any notes regarding the cocktail!

Being a tad bit on the suspicious and jaded side, I assumed duplicity: "DID YOU THINK I WOULDN'T SEE THROUGH YOUR LITTLE PLAN!?! HA!!!"

Anyways, this is what I thought had happened, until Joe emailed me a "Polaroid" of the repairman he found on AOL. ("It was difficult finding a guy who knows the Sinclair ZX-81," he explained as the problem, whatever that means!)

So, in any case, Joe was unable to provide any notes for this week's Greatest Drink. This week, I walk alone!

From my experience with the cocktail, I can say that this "Taxi Driver" Caipirinha differs greatly from the original with the addition of the vanilla. The traditional "Taxi Driver" calls for a healthy dash of vanilla extract. Joe opted for a new flavor on the ever-growing list of Passage liqueurs with the substitution of the Vana Tallinn.

This is a really nice liqueur with a rich, vanilla taste, giving our subject of the week a smooth velvety quality that mingles nicely with the citrus crowd of O.J. and Galliano, (and remember, you can very nicely use Home-Made Galliano here. I know where you can find a good recipe!) and really makes that Cachaça POP!

I also found out that Vana Tallinn is named after and made in the Estonian capital city of Tallinn, ("Reval," for you in the nonagenarian crowd.) And wouldn't you know it, Tallinn was recently named "The European Capital of Culture for 2011."

I am not sure if Joe knew this or not, but here we are, honoring Estonia for this achievement with a cocktail, and a cocktail that features another of their fine achievements!

That Joe.

I can't help wondering if he intentionally abandoned me this week, so that I could travel down this road of cultural enlightenment and learn these things for myself. So wise, he is, so inscrutable.

I swear, sometimes, I feel I work with Yoda.

This week's video, although only barely related, absolutely stinks with culture. Enjoy Bohemian Rhapsody!

Teie Terviseks!

C:

The Rum Swizzler

Originally called a Bermuda Rum Swizzler, (for the Gosling Bermuda Rum!) the name got truncated with the inclusion of the Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum, but the change was worth it!

When Joe mixed this little beauty up for me, I was diggin' it with a powerful love!

It is just the right combination of rum and juices that really scratches me right where I itch!

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail shaker full of ice add:

-A 3-count of Gosling Black Seal Bermuda Black Rum,

- a 2-count of Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum,

- a 1-count of falernum

- 1 whole lime, (squozen and juiced!)

- a 2 count orange juice,

- a 2-count pineapple juice

Shake until frrrothy, (if possible, roll your r's in reading this. Thank you.)

Strain into a nice hurricane glass and garnish with a wedge of lime and a cherry.

Joe's notes: As the temperatures in the North East soared over the freezing point this past weekend, my palate began to crave a more tropical flavor. The Rum Swizzler, with both falernum and rum, fitted the bill quite nicely, (for further falernum recipes, type "falernum" in the search box on side panel of blog).

Rum and the images it conjures up, desert islands, buried treasures and swashbuckling heroes has been a favorite of mine since childhood. Now before you tag me as some sort of pediatric dipsomaniac or demented Ahab, let me explain.

When I was just a mere lad, dodging my way through the streets of Old Blighty, I would often offer up a few coins to the counter assistant in exchange for a bar of "Old Jamaica." Under the wrapper, embossed with a pirate ship, lay the treasure, a delicious dark chocolate bar crammed with rum soaked raisins.

Another childhood favorite of mine was the "Rum Baba". This was a light pastry similar to a brioche, speckled with raisins and soaked in a thick rum laced sugar syrup. Sitting in class with the front of my school shirt and tie heavily stained with the syrup, I would receive the customary smack around the back of the head. Do you think I cared?

Bus fare spent and pockets stuffed with rum and butter candies, I would happily walk the three miles home.

With age, however, I have put these childhood delicacies behind me. I am now enjoying my rum in its liquid form.

In fact, I am sitting in my Halloween Pirates of the Caribbean costume and drinking a Rum Swizzler out of a pewter tankard.

I hope the wife is not going to make me walk the plank.... Oops! Speaking of treasure....here she comes now.

Ahoy, me mateys!

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This wasn't my first choice for The Video of the Week, but it is so related, and done really well, (and after Joe's notes, I had little choice otherwise!)

Why is the rum gone?

Guy Fawkes

So, Friday is November fifth.

Joe has a special treat in store for those familiar with the holiday associated with this date back in Great Britain. And a great cocktail it is, too!

Enjoy the "Guy Fawkes!"

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail shaker full of ice, pour:

- a 4 count of Bombay Sapphire Gin,

- a 2 count of Canton Ginger Liqueur,

- a 2 count of Orange Juice,

Shake viciously,

- Strain into a large martini glass,

- Drop in a single maraschino cherry

Original recipe by Joe the Bartender, The Passage Lounge, Salem, MA

Joe's notes: This week's cocktail is dedicated to the celebration in the U.K. of Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night.

Depending on which side of the Atlantic you are reading this on, you may be unaware of the great celebration of November the 5th.

To give a short history lesson: a little over four hundred years ago Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up King James, (the 1st,) during the opening ceremonies at the House of Parliament in London. His plot was foiled.

He was arrested, taken to the tower of London, tortured and stretched on the rack. He was then hung, drawn and quartered and his decapitated head was displayed for all of London to see on traitors gate.

Every year the children in the U.K. celebrate by making an effigy of Guy. Similar to a scarecrow, old clothes are stuffed using newspaper, straw and rags. The"Guy" is then paraded around the neighborhood, usually in an old baby carriage, his head lolling back while his arms and legs hang over the side, depicting his torture.

The children call out "Penny for the Guy". The money collected is used to buy fireworks for the evenings events. Huge bonfires are built. When the day has turned to darkness the bonfires are lit, the sky is filled with fireworks and Guy is thrown on the bonfire to burn. Quite often effigy's of modern day religious or political figures are also thrown on the fires.

It is all a bit of harmless fun, although to see your own effigy burned on the fire most be quite unsettling.

I have very found memories of being a child in the U.K. standing with my family, chanting Guy Fawkes rhymes and watching the fires burn.

"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November! the Gunpowder Treason and Plot.
I see no reason why The Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot..."

"Rumour, rumour, pump and derry! Prick his heart and burn his body,

And send his soul to Purgatory."

Enjoy your Guy Fawkes Cocktail.

Joe

Chris's notes: Yikes! This blog packs some educational value, anyways! (Even the teetotalers can benefit from reading here now and again!)

I gotta say, I really enjoyed this drink. I mean, sure, I know almost nothing about "Guy Fawkes" or the holiday that surrounds his story. In fact, I had never heard of it before Joe told me that he wanted to do a drink for it.

I did enjoy the creation process, though. Joe INSISTED on Gin, (for merry old England, of course,) with Bombay Sapphire being his Gin of choice.

He decided on Canton for a nice "Gin and Ginger" direction.

Orange Juice came about originally out of necessity: Joe wanted a drink that looked like fire, (the burning of the effigy, and all,) but worked so nicely together. And it was research regular, Michael B. who suggested dropping the cherry to the bottom for the final touch.

The outcome: Brilliant! The gin is the dominant flavor here, all tangy and sharp. The flavors of ginger and orange play such a pivotal role in cushioning the taste, though, that what you get is a collection of flavors in perfect balance.

Absolute yummers!

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This week's "Barely-Related Video" is almost entirely unrelated to this week's drink. Just another example of "foreign." Try to enjoy... "Elektronik/Supersonik" by Vlad!

Blood & Sand

From his Classics Cocktails line, Joe presented me with the Blood & Sand, an ominously named, and forbodingly-tinted glass of straight-up mystery! (But delish despite the mystique!)

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail of ice, add:

- a 2-count of scotch, (Joe chose Johnny Walker Black)

- a 2-count of cherry brandy

- a 2 count of Dubonnet

- a 2-count of orange juice

- shake well

- strain over fresh ice, garnish with a slice of orange and a maraschino cherry

Joe's Notes: The original Blood and Sand cocktail was named after the 1922 Rudolph Valentino movie of the same name. My Blood and Sand cocktail is a "remake" of the original drink.

In my updated version, I decided to substitute Dubonnet for the sweet vermouth. Dubonnet came about because of the French Foreign Legion soldiers stationed in North Africa in 1831. They suffered horribly with malaria, an infectious disease carried by mosquitoes. The easiest way to prevent the disease was to ensure that they consumed anti-malarials, like quinine. In the 1840s, the French government held a contest, looking for a new beverage that contained quinine, and this is what inspired Joseph Dubonnet. Dubonnet dulled the bitter bite of quinine by combining it with a fortified wine, herbs, and spices. He used a wine that had been mixed with a grape brandy, as well as green coffee beans, cinnamon, chamomile, and orange peel to create his distinctive beverage.

With this, as always, use fresh ingredients, that includes freshly squeezed O.J. You may choose to use blood oranges; I did not include them in my recipe as they are not so readily available.

Going back to remakes, the movie "Blood and Sand" was remade in 1941 starring Tyrone Power. Although the movie was a cinematic improvement, the actual movie itself was not as good.

The story in Blood and Sand has, as its main character, Juan, a Spanish bullfighter. It was once again remade in 1989. Top billing for this version was given to Sharon Stone. This may give you some insight to the quality of this remake.

Now, I am pointing out the decline in the quality of these remakes not to insinuate that my version is inferior to the original, but to show that with the proper care remakes can be an improvement on the original. Just look at Brian De Palma's 1983 remake of Scarface . This I believe is much improved on the original 1932 Howard Hanks Film.

The only way to find out for sure is to drink both cocktails, (the original Blood & Sand, and MY "Director's Cut,") and watch both Scareface movies. Let me know what you think.

Chris's Notes: Once again, I need to side with Joe on this one. Remakes have gotten a bad rap in movies, and not always necessarily so!

The same holds true in television. There have been many shows that have been retooled for newer audiences that, quite frankly, sucked it hard. A few examples include The Fugitive, The Bionic Woman, Land of the Lost, The Brady Bunch Hour, Knight Rider, Dragnet, Twilight Zone...

Oh, I could go on.

But every now and again, a remake comes along that appeals to more people, with all the right elements to make everything work just right together.

Perhaps, that is the secret to Joe's Blood & Sand. Joining me on my side of the bar that night were Senior Research Assistant, Kerry, and returning Guest Researcher, Sharon Mc.

Upon trying the drink, Kerry was not as appreciative of the combination of the flavors, saying it simply wasn't something she would order, (but, in her defense, she probably wouldn't have enjoyed an original Blood & Sand cocktail, either!)

Sharon, with her "less seasoned" palette, I fully expected her to outright dislike it, (Sharon's specialty on the research team is lighter, less-alcoholic cocktails.) To my surprise, it was Sharon who championed this drink. She apparently was digging all those subtle layers, and the fine balance of sweet and tart. She asked for a few samples, (all in the name of research!) and even claimed that she may order one of those herself!

So, you never can tell!

As far as television remakes, I am still awaiting a scary, suspenseful remake of that old sci-fi show where the alien monster crashes on Earth, and seeks shelter in a suburban house holding the family hostage! "Alien Life Form!" That'll be awesome!

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This week's Barely-Related Video IS related, but just barely.

Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora, (who starred in Dubonnet commercials in the 1970!) sing When the Rain Begins to Fall from the movie Voyage of The Rock Aliens!

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.