MxMo: Niche Spirits

Well, it doesn't get more niche than this, I guess. Thanks to Filip for hosting. Pics forthcoming.

The Grasshopper Lies Heavy
1 oz Fernet Branca
1 oz Green Chartreuse
.5 oz simple syrup
1 egg white
cocao powder
soda water

Combine everything (3 healthy shakes of raw cocoa powder) sans soda in shaker over ice. Shake like a psychopath. Double strain into a short collins over ice. Finish with soda water and more cocoa powder. Drink.

MXMO: Absinthe

Alright everyone, here's our second foray into the MXMO madness. Yeah, I know we didn't do anything right last time...I think I get the rules now. Or maybe not...

Here is what our host Sonja has to say about absinthe:
"The topic for February is Absinthe. That much maligned, misunderstood, mistreated spirit, suddenly plentiful again in the US and other parts of the world. Absinthe played a role, whether large or small, in a variety of great cocktails from the 1800’s and early 1900’s – the Sazerac, Absinthe Suissesse, Corpse Reviver No. 2… I’m getting thirsty. So let’s celebrate absinthe’s history, and it’s future, with all manner of cocktails using absinthe."

Before I get too far into this, I want to say that a couple of us at 1022 love absinthe. So, there's was lots of fussing around with recipes (some good, some bad, all forgotten)before we came to, well, the deadline. I also want to say, thank you to all the space monkeys. Some of you burned up in the stratosphere, some of you have sailed off into the heavens; either way, I salute your courage. And, with no further ado, here's what we have to contribute:


HR 1022
2 oz bourbon
.5 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
.5 Dolin Italian vermouth
barspoon of lapsong souchong syrup*
barspoon of Pacifique absinthe

Shake, then strain into chilled coupe. While I have never had it, this drink was nevertheless inspired by Tavern Law's Gun Club.

I feel like this next one needs a bit of explanation. We like to do shots at the bar, so we gussy them up, self-deprecatingly call them amuse-booze (actually, we're being quite glib), or whatever. Still, at times we like a cold beer and a shot of hooch to go straight into our faces. With that in mind, inspired by the latest issue of Imbibe, here we go:

Devil's Handshake
1/3 Fernet Branca
1/3 Pacifique absinthe
1/3 raw ginger syrup

This was a fun one. I wish I had written down the recipe for sazerac with the honey/absinthe foam. I guess that's for another time...

*1 oz lapsong tea in 2 cups boiling water, 2 cups sugar. Stir and let rest until it is mas o menos room temp, then double strain.

1022 South

Our first foray into MXMO

Ok, so this is our virgin endeavor here, so bear with us. Here's the explanation from Cocktail Virgin(?):
"Tea has played a historical role in cocktails for centuries. Perhaps the best documented early example was its inclusion in punches as part of the spice role to round out the spirit, sugar, water, and citrus line up. Later, teas appear in many recipes such as Boston Grog, English Cobbler, and a variety of Hot Toddies. And present day mixologists are utilizing tea flavors with great success including Audrey Saunder's Earl Grey MarTEAni and LUPEC Boston's Flapper Jane. Now it's our turn to honor this glorious cocktail ingredient!"


First, we have a riff on a pretty common cocktail, the Blueberry Tea, which we'll call the Blue Monday.
.75 Earl Grey infusion*
.75 Lazzaroni amaretto
.75 Grand Marnier
.5 lemon juice
.5 honey syrup**
1 egg white
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass or something of the sort.

*1 cup of earl grey in NGA for 24 hours. Double strain.
**1:1 honey and boiling water.

And one more:
Hilltop Pearl
1 jasmine pearl infused viognier*
1 vodka (yeah, so what?)
.5 honey syrup
.5 lemon juice
Float with dry sparkling wine
Shake and strain into a brandy snifter. Float with dry sparkling wine.

*1 cup jasmine pearl tea in 750 ml viognier. Steep over night in cooler, then double strain and keep refrigerated.

Sorry for the bad pics...

1022 South

Beta testing, guinea pigs, and space monkeys

Before we place any new concoction, apothecary or otherwise, across the rail, we find a few brave souls who are willing to imbibe our concoctions. Most of the time the responsibility falls upon the shoulders of off-duty bartenders who are, and let us be honest, more than willing to be the monkey shot into space for the sake of a little research and development. Tonight, we experimented with the aphrodisiacs.

Before I continue, I must say that I was the monkey for the bulk of the soporifics and stress reducers/resistors that we will feature in the fall. That was fun...So, now we are a couple of stages later where we are experimenting with maca, yohimbe, and cacao. First the cocktail:
1.5 oz reposado tequila
1/2 tsp maca
1/2 tsp cacao
.5 yohimbe infusion
.5 kava infusion
a couple of healthy shakes of cayenne
.5 simple
Shake like hell and strain.

Initially the cocktail was earthy, dirty, and not quite there. I added .5 Licor 43 and that rounded it out. The drink was nice, but still not quite there. I think a different base spirit would work better...or maybe with the yerba mate infusion. That would certainly make for a long night...

So to the effects. My ever willing and always compliant test subject expressed feeling a bit funny initially. It very well could have been from the fact that it was a rather stiff cocktail, but we waited to see how it played out. After about half an hour, our little space monkey did indeed feel a bit randy. I'm not sure what to think about this as it could be the power of suggestion, a psychosomatic reaction, or simply the unremitting charm of the bartender. What we are left with are more questions. I suppose more exploration is necessary...

The Apothecary

It's been awhile since posting for which I definitely have been remiss. I've been incredibly busy working on the fall menu. Our focus has shifted more towards the apothecary aspect of bartending. It started somewhere between deciding to make tonic and cola from scratch and deciding to make 1022 absinthe (which has led me down the rabbit hole trying to figure out how to make Chartreuse). I've followed this path to where I'm now consulting herbalists, visiting Chinese apothecaries, and endeavoring to make medicinal cocktails that are very, very tasty. We are working with such ingredients as kava kava, yohimbe, valerian, and chamomile. Now, I definitely feel like these are easy. If you check out any "apothecary" bar worth their weight, they are doing drinks with these same ingredients (and the others we use: nettles, yerba mate, etc.) We can do more. We can make better drinks; we can make cocktails the way they should be made: with care, exacting precision, and conscientiousness.
We can make drinks that are transformative.
Is this ambitious? Yes.
Is it pretentious? Yes.
Is it good for our community? Yes.
There's so much I want to say, but I'm not sure where to start. I want to write about the pound of damiana leaves I ordered today for our aphrodisiac infusion (with cocoa, yohimbe, kava kava, etc.); our experiment in a flower bitters that turned into a beautiful liqueur; or the stress relief formula that highlights the amazing properties of chamomile and valerian in conjunction with gotu kola and siberian ginseng. This doesn't even scratch the surface, though. Our 1022 bloody mary features an infusion of horseradish root and fire cider; we play with tulsi; we make drinks with golden seal, raw ginger juice, and turmeric infusions. I write all of this and I have yet to work with maca, catnip, sassafras, or mugwort. These are all coming soon...

So, suffice it to say, I'm very excited about what we are doing. I do have a difficult time translating this to marketing...but that's another post for another place. What I can say is that we are about to do something very interesting in our neighborhood. If you want a flavor or a feeling, then come challenge us to find it for you.