The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess

I guess I’ll be buying a mini or two of Jäger. Never thought this day would come…

Love the new player on Cocktail Spirit!  I’ve already purchased some Jager and bar accessories through your site and can’t wait to get started!  Great show Robert, look forward to the next.

I just wanted to thank you that you mixed a drink with an ingredience (Jägermeister) from my hometown. Well ... about 5 miles away ...
It sounds really like a good drink and as I wanted to buy a bottle of Benedictine anyway to mix some Singapore Slings, I now have another reason to do so.
Thx also from Germany for your great show!!! Oh, and by the way, I’ve never heard an american pronoucing Jägermeister that well.

Great looking cocktail, I think i’ll use that cinamon tincture in some ideas of cocktails i have. You ‘re going to have a book? Were can we get that details?

Tinctures made from various ingredients can be quite handy. I sometimes combine different tinctures together in order to test the flavor profile of different bitters I might try making, but they can also be simply dashed into cocktails straight in order to add a particular flavor element.

My book is “The Essential Bartender’s Guide”, which you can find available for pre-order on Amazon, or you can order it directly from the publisher here:
http://cocktailkingdom.com/content/the-essential-bartenders-guide
...where you can also find a nice little collection of several long out-of-print classic cocktail books, including “The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks” by David Embury.

-Robert

A great cocktail.  A perfect combination of all its ingredients!

Both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  We agree with your comments about Jägermeister. 

I have tried (many times) to like Compari cocktails, but I just don’t like its taste at all.  For me it almost tolerable in a cocktail if I use half the specified amount. I will probably never acquire a taste for it.

Two things:
One, just made and drank the Mahogany without the cinnamon. Very tasty. I expanded the lemon zest, emulating your wide zest from the Old Fashioned. I wanted a little more tart wihout adding clouding juice.

Two, Mr. Wagner. My wife and I are Negroni (Camapri cocktail) addicts. It was, in fact, the cocktail that launched us into discovering and making new cocktails. Robert has been invaluable and particularly dangerous as our liquor cabinet expands beyone intended volume.... But I digress. The bitterness of the Negroni is not for everyone, but if are made one you like, you will be hooked forever. Here is our take on it.  1.5 ounces Beefeater, 1 ounce Campari, 1 ounce sweet vermouth “typically martini and rossi”, 1 dash orange bitters (Fee Brothers preferred though the new Angostora is quite nice). Add ice, stir and strain into chilled glass. Garnish with long orange peel twisted around spoon handle. Most Negroni lovers will tout the 1--1-1 ratio, but we have found the extra 1/2 ounce of gin works for us. The brand of gin will make tremendous diffence in your Negroni.

Cheers!

I think I’ve figured it out, but for the purposes of clarity, how do tinctures differ from flavored/infused vodkas, and how do each differ from bitters?

Thanks, Robert.  And congrats on conquering the Jägermeister.

A tincture is a highly concentrated “infusion”, and ideally it is made with something higher than 80proof. I think I’ve heard someplace that for most purposes 164 proof (82 percent) works the best.

Bitters are “essentially” a combination of different tinctures, but there is also often additional process steps used to make bitters, while a tincture is often made through simple maceration.

-Robert

Perry:  Fortunately, I had the exact ingredients for your drink which I made the other night. Though it was “nice”, the Campari bitterness was still too much for us.  I made it again using Tanqueray 10 and half the amount of Campari and it was better.

As you said, “The bitterness of the Negroni is not for everyone.”

But I will keep trying because once I can get beyond the bitterness, I do like the taste of Campari.

It’s getting better.  I tried it again using equal amounts of Campari, sweet vermouth, and Plymouth Gin and Regan’s Orange bitters.  Added these to a glass with lots and lots of ice, stirred it for a long time.  The result WAS perfection and something I really enjoyed.  Maybe the taste has finally got to me, but I think it was the gin and the bitters and extra water added from the ice.  I am now a new fan of the Negroni. Enjoy!

Roy,
First, I apologize to everyone for having somewhat “hijacked” this thread to discuss Negroni Cocktails.

I am so happy you found a version that works for you. I have just started purchasing Plymouth for my martinis, and though it is a bit pricier than the Beefeater I usually keep on hand, I am beginning to warm to it for mixing as well.

Glad to see your persistence paid off. An extraordinarily long orange peel, spiraled and hanging over the side makes it fancy for weekends if your feeling particularly artistic.