The Easter Egg Cup (sponsored by Caorunn Gin)

Sunday past saw the inaugural Easter Egg Cup cocktail competition at The Corpse & Cocktail, featuring both a singles round and a team challenge.

In the singles, bartenders were challenged to come up with an innovative cocktail inspired by one of Caorunn's 5 Celtic botanicals (rowan berry, Coul Blush apple, bog myrtle, dandelion and heather).  From all the entrants, 4 'wildcards' were asked to join 4 'invited' bartenders.  The 8 were then asked to make a short video of themselves introducing and creating their drink, followed by a still photograph.  The photos were then uploaded to Facebook to be voted on.  Almost 600 votes later, the final proceeded to take place.

Each bartender made a superb effort with techniques and ingredients such as scented scrolls, Islay new make spirit, whey and infused teas/syrups.

For the team challenge, the 8 bartenders were split into East and West teams, based on the geography of their bars.  A speed round and bad product challenge ensued, resulting in Team West being victorious.

After the team challenge, it was time for the singles awards.  3rd place went to independent consultant Milo Smith for his drink Druids Cure featuring Caorunn, Port, white grapefruit, heather honey, whey and a dandelion/raspberry syrup.  2nd place was awarded to Bobby Patience of highly-rated bar Dusk for Symphony No. 11, his take on the classic martini featuring bog myrtle-infused Noilly Prat served with a dandelion-scented scroll and a rowan berry-sweetened tincture.

Overall winner was 99's Mike McGinty with his drink Haugh's of Cromdale, heavily influenced by the red apple in Caorunn.  The drink was created with Calvados, dessert wine, lemon juice, Pink Lady syrup, muddled red apple and of course Caorunn, all shaken together in a heather-smoked Boston shaker.

Judges were Ervin Trykowski (Caorunn Brand Ambassador), Adrian Gomes (10 Dollar Shake) and Chris Tonner (Executive Chef of La Stella / The Courtyard restaurants).

For photos of the event, please check out The Corpse & Cocktails Facebook page.

Velvet Falernum & The Swizzle

Velvet Falernum is a liqueur from Barbados used in the Swizzle-style of drinks (so-called because of the swizzle stick used to swizzle them).

Due to a lack of availability from Ninety-Nine's suppliers, we've decided to make our own. The liqueur has notes of ginger, lime, almond and cloves - all readily available ingredients - backed up by some Wray & Nephew Overproof rum (if you're making the alcoholic version which we are...obviously).

Keep an eye out on the backbar at the Corpse & Cocktail for the Falernum's arrival. We also have another homemade liqueur in the pipeline...

In the meantime, check out this recipe for one of the most well-known swizzle drinks, the Queen's Park Swizzle from the Queen's Park Hotel in Trinidad.

Queen's Park Swizzle

40ml Mount Gay Extra Old rum

15ml Velvet Falernum

25ml fresh lime juice

10ml demerara sugar syrup

10 mint leaves
Dash of Angostura Bitters

Add ingredients to a sling glass and top up with crushed ice to the 3/4 mark.  Swizzle the ingredients and finish off with more crushed ice and a mint sprig.  Leave the swizzle in and serve with a straw.

Guest Bartender: Andy Stewart.

Name: Andy Stewart

Year’s bartending: Coming on for 8 years now.

Favourite tool (behind a bar): A decent bar spoon where the spiral is just right and the spoon bowl fits beautifully. Having said that, I do love my PUG muddler.

Most useless tool (behind a bar): Those pointless little citrus presses, especially if they're shaped like a fish! I have opposable thumbs you know, even if I am from the NE of Scotland

Your secret ingredient: Bitters. I fricking love them. They can add so much more to a drink or they can blend disparate ingredients together seamlessly.

Mojito or NO-jito? That's a toughy. It's a much maligned drink, but at the end of the day it's pretty basic and no more time consuming than say a Bramble, yet we, as bar tenders, hate them. Guess it's because it's a fashion drink: "Aye min, gies 10 Modge-Eetos, like". I'm going say No-jito for this.

Preferred spirit/drink: Rum. That is all. :) Something like a Matusalem Gran Reserva is ideal - if you're offering? Cocktail-wise: I'll gladly live on Sazeracs.

Most disgusting find at the end of a shift: Christ, where to begin. Any night of the week regards the toilets in Cafe Drummonds? The humping couple down the backstairs where she had more facial hair than him? Funniest would be coming in one morning to (unnamed venue) to find one of the staff had left her bra and pants behind after an intimate tête-à-tête the night before after locking up.

Thanks Andy!  I've had the pleasure of working with Andy twice now (Snafu and Rumour), and aside from his weird greetings ("alright *sweetheart/sugarcup/sweet-cheeks" - *delete as appropriate), there isn't anyone more passionate about good drinks.  You guys are in for a treat!

Andy will be guest bartending and presenting his cocktail list this Sunday 9th Jan at the Corpse & Cocktail.  Expect the expected (Sazerac) and the unexpected (any cocktail other than a Sazerac).

Hogmanay 2010 @ 99.

Mulled Wine...The Swedish Way.

Surprisingly, the few shifts I have done at 99 recently have seen a higher-than-expected number of patrons asking for a warm festive drink.  As an experiment, a small batch of mulled wine was hand-crafted in the kitchen.  It proceeded to sell very well leading us to devise a warm festive menu for this Sunday’s Corpse & Cocktail.

All over the world, different cultures have some sort of variation of mulled wine.  The Germans have glühwein, the Croats kuhano vino  and the Swedish, Glögg.  It is Glögg that we will be serving on the menu this Sunday. Like many of these drinks, there is no set recipe and you really can experiment with a variety of fruits, spices and alcohol to obtain wonderful results. Use the following recipe as a guide rather than one to follow to the letter:

Glögg

(taken from “Swedish Recipes Old and New” by Lesley Jacobs Solmonson, 1955)

15 Blanched Almonds

0.5 Cup Raisins

4 Cups Red Wine (Australian Shiraz recommended)

4 Cardamom Pods

3 Whole Cloves

1.5 inch stick Cinnamon

0.25 Cup mix of Dried Apricots and Candied Orange Peel (see below)

0.75 Cup Brown Sugar (Demerara Sugar)

Peel of one-quarter Orange

1 Cup Martell VSOP

Add the almonds and raisins to the wine. Break open the cardamom pods.  Add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, raisins, candied orange peels, and dried apricots to a cheesecloth bag, tie closed, and add to the wine.

In a separate bowl, cover orange peel with the sugar.

Let all of the above stand overnight.

The next day: Heat wine mixture slowly to simmering.  Do not allow to boil. Stir in sugar and orange peels until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Stir in brandy.  Remove cheesecloth bag.

Ignite liquid, allowing it to burn for a 1 or 2 seconds, then extinguish (you do not want to burn off the alcohol completely) by covering the pot.

Remove orange peels if Glӧgg is going to sit for more than a few hours. Serve warm with a few raisins and almonds in the bottom of the glass.

Thanks to 12bottlebar.com for this.  God Jul (Merry Christmas).

A Short History Lesson.

In 1919, after a temperance movement built up over decades by various Christian and women's movements, the 18th Amendment to the US Federal Constitution was passed.  The National Prohibition Act (also known as the Volstead Act or The Noble Experiment) began a year later in 1920.  

And so the USA began thirteen years as a "dry" nation...well almost, if it weren't for the glorious dawn of the age of speakeasies (or blind pigs).  These mob-run underground drinking saloons were purveyors of the finest bootleg liquor around.  "Milk" companies were set up to truck booze from state to state (who's going to question The White Stuff?) and wineries would barrel grape juice with a warning label stating "contents will ferment if stored in a warm place".

Mobsters such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano made fortunes supplying speakeasies (Wiki makes a very good point when it states that mobsters were easily identifiable by their fashionable silk suits, expensive jewellery and...wait for it...their guns.  Really??!  Thanks Wikipedia.).

As many began to question the benefit (if any) of prohibition, repeal organisations gathered momentum.  On the 22nd March 1933, President Franklyn Roosevelt signed the Cullen-Harrison Act allowing the sale of wine and 3.2% beer.  Although 1933 is widely quoted as the year of the repeal, Mississippi became the final state to repeal in 1966.  During the ratification of the repeal legislation, Congress devolved a certain amount of authority to each state allowing the likes of the hard-line Southern states to maintain some form of prohibition.

So, there you have it.  A very short history lesson on US Prohibition.  The following cocktail is an example of a prohibition-era drink.  Only in real desperate times would someone mix gin and whisky...

Barbary Coast

20ml Plymouth gin

20ml Cutty Sark blended whisky

20ml Creme de Cacao

20ml double cream

Method: Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Enjoy...!


Come to 99 Bar & Kitchen this Sunday and celebrate the 77th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.

Corpse & Cocktail Graphics.

Thanks to Siobhan Ogg for these vaudeville-inspired graphics.  The Corpse & Cocktail launches this Sunday at 99 Bar & Kitchen, Aberdeen.  Keep an eye on the Facebook page for more imagery...