A Stiff Apertif: The Wild Pear

As a general matter, I don't drink a lot of aperitifs.  Maybe it's just a cultural thing where some people like Italians, who historically have consumed drinks like vermouth prior to meals, like a little warm up to meals with sweet alcohol but for the most part (the occasional port excepted) it's not my thing.  That said, I've been playing around with a couple recipes, wanting to make a proper cocktail that was refreshing and didn't seem too heavy as a pre-meal drink but with sufficient weight to stand on its own.  This led to the following drink, which is one of my favorite original cocktails.

The Wild Pear

Ingredients
1 ounce of pisco (Diablada)
0.5 ounce of pear brandy (Koening)
0.25 ounce of simple syrup
1 healthy dash of angostura bitters
a slice of pear

Directions
Stir ingredients and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a slice of skinned pear (preferably ripe). 

Taste (flavor, balance, and clarity):  9
The pisco and pear brandy work really well together.  The pisco gives a rough herbal element that gives way to the pear taste during the swallow.  The simple syrup keeps the drink from being too boozy, while the bitters prevents the syrup and pear brandy from making the drink to sweat and adding a bit of depth.  I though that his was a very easy to drink, though strong cocktail.  Also, I used a very ripe pear for the garnish, which sponged up the alcohol for a nice treat at the end.

Versatility (when and for whom the drink works):  8
This drink works in most occasions.  It can be an aperitif though the cocktail also stands on its own. I will note that though she didn't dislike it, my wife found the drink a bit strong for her preference.  Thus, for those who aren't real big into strong cocktails or brandy flavor this might not be the best choice.

Hassle (Cost and Time):  6
The ingredients are not especially expensive, though I used some nice pisco.  However, it's a fair amount of trouble to make.  First, I strongly recommend using homemade simple syrup.  Additionally, you have to skin and slice a pear.

Overall:  8
I really enjoyed this drink and will break it out with company in the future.  It has a very coherent and crisp taste that transitions nicely between the different elements.  It also makes for a nice presentation with the pear.

Potential Improvements
No real improvements.  I might up the simple syrup to 0.5 ounces for those who like their drinks a little less boozy though.

The Peruvian Sidecar: The Painted Forest Cocktail

As I discussed earlier in the month, I was pretty disappointed with my Pisco Sour experience.  Nonetheless, I have a nice bottle of pisco and wanted to use it to good effect.  Seeing as how pisco is in the brandy family, and the Sidecar is probably my favorite brandy drink, I decided to make a variant using pisco.  Pisco has a spicier flavor than Cognac and a tropical heritage so I decided to play on that.

I've always felt that the point of the Sidecar was the interaction of strong bitter (lemon) and sweet (Cointreau and sugar) flavors, with the brandy or Cognac serving as background.  I think that pisco has a slightly more aggressive flavor profile than most Cognac or brandy so I wanted to feature that more.  To do so, and to avoid too much of a cacophony in the drink, I substituted lime for lemon, lessening the sour notes, and  blue agave nectar for the sugar on the rim, diminishing the sweetness.

As for the name, we are painting the living room, occupying all of last weekend (sanding and priming) and a good chunk of the coming week, so paint is on my mind and the tropical tones of the drink lead to the forest part of the name.

Ingredients
1.5 ounces of pisco
3/4 ounce of Cointreau
3/4 ounce of lime juice

Directions
Shake well with ice and poor into a chilled cocktail glass with agave nectar on the rim and garnish with a twisted lime peal.

Taste (flavor, balance, and clarity): 9
I think this drink works really well on a lot of levels.  Much like The Last Word, I would characterize the Sidecar as showing a "bouncy" taste, where different parts of your palate are absorbing very sweet and very tart flavors, with the brandy holding it together.  The sweet and tart flavors have been muted a bit and the spicier pisco replaces the Cognac, resulting in an equally balanced, but more subtle drink.  Because the sweet notes are not as strong with the agave than with the sugar rim, I think the drink has a more savory feel.  I also like the aftertaste of lime better than that of lemon. 

Versatility (when and for who the drinks works):  9
This drink is neither too sweet nor bitter, as a lot of classic cocktails are.  It also features an amenable middle ground between very strong cocktails that scare off the likes of my wife and sweeter ones that hide the booze.  My wife liked (though didn't love) the Painted Forest.  Additionally, I could see drinking this in a lot of settings, though warm weather like this evening with the windows open is probably ideal.

Hassle (cost and time): 7
The drink is moderate in both time and money.  The drink requires juicing about 1.5 limes and pealing one as well.  I got the pricier of the piscos that I could find, though Cognac still usually runs far more and Cointreau is moderately expensive as well. 

Overall:  8.5
I really enjoyed this drink. I think it's an excellent cousin for one of my favorite classic cocktails, the Sidecar.  I think it would work for a lot of people in numerous settings with a moderate amount of hassle.  Additionally, it features a primary ingredient that lacks a lot of recipes.  I also like the use of agave for several reasons.  One, it is less intense than sugar.  Two, it adds more complexity to the cocktail than sugar.  And three, I enjoyed dipping the rim the glass in a ring of agave. That said, as you can see from the picture, agave, which is a bit runnier than honey, drips, which makes the drink look sort of sticky and sickly.  Oh well...

Potential Improvements
I might tinker with the proportions, perhaps taking down the lime and Cointreau to 1/2 ounce each to further feature the pisco.  No major changes though because the flavor is complex enough that any additional ingredients would likely muddle things.

Are you ready for some raw egg? Pisco Sour time!

My new booze of the month for April is La Diablada pisco, an alcholado.  It adds to my list of brandy variants, which includes two VSOP brandies, Laird's apple brandy, a pear brandy, and Gran Marnier.  The principle drink one makes with pisco is the pisco sour.  I tried this drink at a Peruvian restaurant a long time ago, though I'm not sure if I knew at the time that it had egg in it.  Anyway, I went forth with the pisco sour, though my wife was not up for it.

Ingredients
1.5 ounces of pisco
0.75 ounces of simple syrup
0.75 ounces of lime juice
1 dash of angostura bitters

Directions
In shaker mix pisco, lime, and egg.  Then add ice and shake and strain into a whiskey (or pisco) glass.  Add sever drops of bitters to the top.

Taste (flavor, balance, and clarity): 7
I'm not sure what to say here.  The taste was good but slightly underwhelming, and not quite as good as I remember.  The cocktail was balanced and generally tasty but left me a bit disappointed.  I think that part of the problem was that I started thinking a bit too much about the raw egg, particularly when I got to the foam at the end of the drink.
 
Versatility (when and for who the drinks works): 4
This is primarily a warm-weather drink (which is the case most of the time in Peru and parts of Chile.  I'm not sure if this is something that you sip inside on a cold night.  I think it's best use if on the deck while grilling or some such nonsense.  As for who would drink works for, I think you can rule out most folks based on the egg alone.

Hassle (cost and time): 3
Perhaps I need practice, but it took me a couple of tries to separate the egg white without getting any shell.  Then you have to shake it twice.  I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this, but when I shook it to mix the egg, the shaker got some pressure and basically pushed itself apart when I was done, letting out a bit of egg goop.  The drink also involves juicing a lime and making simple syrup.  I will not be offering this drink at parties, based on the amount of time and work.  The cost was neither cheap nor expensive, as pisco isn't too much, thought the egg (I used farmers market organic to try to avoid getting sick) and the lime added at bit.

Overall: 5
Not a bad drink, but not the exotic treat I was hoping for. The flavor was nice and the texture was unique based on the egg. Nonetheless, I think that there are tastier drinks and the limited appeal and the amount of prep work makes this drink a bit limited.  I'll give it another try, perhaps tweaking the ingredient ratio, but this will not make the regular rotation.