The holidays are just around the corner and for me, that means it鈥檚 time to obsessively plan festive get-togethers.
It鈥檚 that time of year when you can never have enough homemade chicken stock and bourbon in the freezer. I consider myself a great cook, but when it comes to alcohol, a gin and tonic is about as creative as I get. I took 鈥檚 Culinary Mixology last week hoping to add a new trick to my repertoire of party ideas. Now, I鈥檒l be adding something new to my holiday soir茅es 鈥 culinary cocktails. So what exactly is culinary mixology? It鈥檚 the incorporation of herbs, spices, and vegetables into cocktails.
After we got a feel for cocktail making with classic culinary cocktails like Bloody Marys and Mint Juleps, we got a little more adventurous with a few goodies from the fridge. Red bell pepper added an amazing kick to a mojito. We charred thyme on a grill pan to add a hint of smokiness to a limoncello and gin cocktail. After hollowing-out a massive pumpkin, we filled it with an apple rum punch 鈥 the longer the autumn beverage sits in the pumpkin punch bowl, the more the pumpkin鈥檚 flavor infuses the punch.
Anthony even showed us how to infuse bourbon with smoky bacon, then added maple syrup and bitters to make PDT鈥檚 famous Bacon-Infused Old Fashioned. Not only was it a unique lesson in using herbs, spices, and vegetables, but I learned a lot about making drinks and mixology in general. Here are some of Anthony鈥檚 tips for perfect cocktails:
Whenever you muddle ingredients, there鈥檚 no need to mash it into a paste. Muddle just enough to get the flavor of the ingredient into the alcohol you鈥檒l use. *Ice is an ingredient. Cocktails are meant to be slightly watered down. *Don鈥檛 buy an expensive cocktail shaker. Have you ever seen one in a bar? They鈥檙e not necessary. Buy a 28-ounce stainless steel shaker and cap it with a 16-ounce glass. Get yourself a strainer, and that鈥檚 all you need.
When using your own cocktail shaker place a hand on the top and bottom and shake rigorously up and down until frost forms on the outside of the steel shaker. Anthony ended the class by encouraging the students, 鈥測ou now have more knowledge than 80% of the bartenders out there. Everyone is going to want to come to your home for drinks from now on.鈥 Bring on the holidays!
