Tag: angostura (Page 1 of 4)

100 Year Old Cigar

March 6, 2023 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

Growing up in Miami I had a real love for Cuban food and culture that made me look longingly toward our nearest neighbor to the south. I always wanted to go to Havana and see those beautiful old hotels and bars with my own eyes. Of course, I am a child of the 70’s and the embargo guaranteed that all I could do was look. So, when we finally got the opportunity to visit legally, we jumped at it. I loved our time there, exploring the city, enjoying the food, culture and the cocktails. One of the things I looked most forward to was visiting the Hotel Nacional to sip on their signature cocktail while enjoying a hand-rolled Cuban cigar. That worked out, mostly, until about 30 seconds in when I remembered that even when it is one of the finest cigars on earth, I really just don’t enjoy actually smoking one. My day was much improved, when I gave up the fine stogie and focused on the cocktails and company. It turns out that some things are better in imagination than reality and that is why we experiment, to find what works for us. So with a nod toward that perpetual voyage of self-discovery, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the 100 Year Old Cigar.

Noble Beast

January 6, 2023 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

And with that, the calendar turns another page as we enter a new and unsuspecting year. What will this one hold? Who can tell? Who would tell if they knew? Pretty sure Shakespeare had something to say about that, the mystery of the womb of time and what not. I am a little apprehensive about this one, if I am honest, considering where the last couple have led us. I don’t have a clue about what is to come but, I am counting on some highs, balanced with some lows and a fair number of seemingly inconsequential lulls that will turn out to be more important than I realize until I get to the hindsight portion. “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”, Cinderella sang from the shoe store as we all went about our day worrying over mundane possibilities. That’s the human condition, right? What a piece of work is man, indeed. It’s safe to say that one of the few things that separates us from the animals is our ability to fear the mistakes we have not yet made, so with that in mind won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Noble Beast.

Johann Goes to Mexico

April 6, 2022 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

Cocktails are all about balance. That is what they always say. What does that really mean though? On the one hand it is obvious, you picture some scales and line them up right in the middle, that is balance. In a drink, it means that no one flavor overpowers the others, that each has a counterpoint. The harsh edge of alcohol is softened by sweetness. That sugar wrestles with bitterness, salt partners with citrus to counteract them both. All these disparate elements coming together to work in harmony, seeking that balance we aim for. Sometimes, we throw that formula out the window and lean into the extremes, but mostly, we just want a peaceful existence. Sometimes it is a struggle to find that glorious utopia in a glass, but that quest for balance is always key. With that in mind, won’t you join me now as we stand and make Johann Goes to Mexico.

Trinidad Especial

August 17, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

Evolution is a funny thing. The idea is that things grow and adapt in order to become better suited to their environment, but that is not always the case. Speaking objectively, some things get better and some things get worse, that’s just the way that it is, the way that it goes. Evolution is defined as “the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form.” Of course, that’s just a broad standard that won’t get folks all twisted up. Not to worry, we aren’t going to talk about those great apes gradually developing into our questionably superior form as homo sapiens, nope we are just talking about drinks and how they change. So, in the spirit of getting better, gradually, won’t you join me now as we make the Trinidad Especial.

The Patriot

August 4, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

We are always in transition. It’s the nature of the game, but we don’t always realize it. Sure, we get the graduations and marriages and all of those big days, but lots of life changing moments pass us by without fanfare, only recognizable in hindsight. For most folks, you don’t know when it happen and that’s, mostly, a good thing. As a kid, how long would you hold on if you knew it was the last time your mom was going to pick you up? How tight would you hold your own child if you realized how soon they were going to grow too large for you to carry them in from the car. We wouldn’t be able to function. How would you ever be able to say goodbye and walk away if you knew that this was the last cup of coffee you were ever going to share with a friend? Sometimes, we are blessed by ignorance. We know that all of those things are going to happen, eventually, but that’s off in the future and nothing to worry about today. So, with a nod toward those little moments, the firsts and the lasts that sweep us by, won’t you please join me now as we stand and make The Patriot.

Flor de PB Jerez Swizzle

July 8, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

Some days, you’ve got to phone it in. With an opening like that, you may have surmised that it is one of those days. I’m not going to disagree with you. It’s been a long day already and I have miles to go before I sleep. Besides, I should probably save my strength as there may be debauchery. You just never can tell. So, with your kind permission, I would like to beg your indulgence, a bit of sympathy and some taste as we stand and make the Flor de PB Jerez Swizzle.

Menthattan

July 2, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

Restraint. There is a lot to be said for it. It’s not necessarily one of my strong suits, but I am trying. This is one of the very few areas where I am getting better with age. The older you get that easier it is to let things slide. To be fair, I am way more likely to pull hard on the reins now, when I take them in hand. Of course, that’s just the other side of the same coin, someone has to hold them after all. So, grab some leather and hold on as we stand and make the Menthattan.

Flor de Jerez

July 1, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 1 Comment

In an unlikely move, I am getting ahead of the game. Laying the groundwork for things to come. I don’t always do that. You see, I never really had a plan here. I just started making drinks and writing words. If this were some great endeavor, carefully organized from the beginning, we would not have this trouble. I would have begun with the early cocktails and worked my way down through time, showing how one cocktail builds upon another in a great evolutionary tree of drink. That is what I would have done, if I had a plan. So, in recognition of our collective nearly perfect hindsight, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Flor de Jerez.

Eloté Cocktail

June 28, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

I am all about side quests. Seriously, I always have several low level goals running in the background. Whether it’s getting the chance to drive a train, seeking out a vintage Corgi Jr. Batmobile or playing pool with a person of note, I have this whole list of stuff that is on my radar, just not a priority. Well, not a priority unless good fortune suddenly opens a door and moves something to the top of the list. One of those perpetual side quests is the never ending search for new ingredients. Whether for our home kitchen, the test kitchen at work or our cocktail bar, I have a whole list of stuff that I am quietly searching for and I recently received a bottle I have been chasing for quite some time. So, in the spirit of those goals that keep us chasing the horizon, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Eloté Cocktail.

Yardbird

June 15, 2021 / Monkeybrad / 0 Comments

There are moments that touch your heart. You never know when they are going to come, when something is going to slip through our carefully constructed armor to find home. I am often struck by poetry. The way you can read a few lines and be forever changed by their message. I remember having to memorize Longfellow’s “The Tide Rises and the Tide Falls” in school. How those few simple words on a page encapsulated the permanence of nature and our short journey through it. How wonderful to be so fleeting. A moment in time, never to exist again. I kind of love that. How our true beauty as individuals and a species lies in the fact that we are both ephemeral and eternal. Not only that, but we are acutely aware of how small our place in the grand scheme of things may be, how we strut and fret our poor hour upon the stage, knowing that we are only a moment in the larger story of humankind. Yet we strive to make things better, to take the music further, if just for a little while. So, with that in mind, won’t you please join me as we stand and make, the Yardbird.