New Cocktail List Alert

I've been busy experimenting with spirits, creating bitters, & designing drinks for a friend's restaurant. I love that she is such a avid supporter of local farms & distilleries. Needless to say it's been fun making drinks for her & getting feedback. Why am I being so vague? Well the list isn't finalized yet so I'd hate to let the cat out of the bag. I'll let her do that. I'm a big fan of gin & whiskey so it's always interesting trying to set my own tastes aside so that the list can be what it needs to be. It needs to appeal to drink lovers but also those that maybe don't understand or seek out the most exotic of cocktails or spirits. There is a sweet spot in which the cocktails as a whole need to be in. There should be something for every type of drinker. While I may be a big gin fan perhaps there are others who aren't. However, the drinks could also be a conversation starter about different spirits. It should be fun & interesting. I am lucky that I get to play with spirits.

Iron Shaker at Hog & Hominy

I am not going to apologize for allowing life & profession get in the way of my posting...ok ok I'm sorry. I am sure all 3 of you who read this had better things to do anyway. Yesterday was the Iron Shaker cocktail competition pitting some of the mid south's best professional cocktail enthusiasts against each other in a secret ingredient matchup a la Iron Chef or Chopped. Nick Talarico from Hog & Hominy/AMIK, Jayce McConnell from SnackBar in Oxford, Anna Katherine Metzger from 12Bar & yours truly along with Shawn Mitchell of Sweetgrass threw down in a most spirited way. You can view some great pictures here.

Our Welcome cocktail was our spin on a Blood & Sand

Bearded Bittermen's Blood & Sand

Corsair Triple Smoke Whiskey

Rothman & Winter Cherry Liqueur

Byrrh QuinQuina

Fresh squeezed Blood orange juice

Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

Fee Brother's Orange bitters

garnished with Triple Smoke laced candied blood orange peel & a Luxardo cherry

Nick's welcome cocktail definitely had Apple Cider vinegar in it & it was delicious. I can't recall what else was in it. I wish I would have had a chance to taste the other competitors drinks but I did not.

Our secret ingredients were fresh duck eggs, meyer lemons, rosewater, Blis Bourbon barrel aged fish sauce, Pig Sweat (sherry vinegar, salt & sugar) & Corsair Quinoa whiskey. Wow. That was some crazy stuff! Between Shawn & I we both were thinking that we needed to use as much of the secret ingredients as possible. After a quick brain storm & even quicker drink creation we had it nailed.

War Pig

Corsair Quinoa Whiskey

Meyer lemon juice

St Elizabeth's Allspice Dram

Blis Bourbon Barrel aged fish sauce

Homemade Benton Bacon Bitters

Fee Brother's Aztec Chocolate Bitters

Duck egg white

Meyer lemon zest

Rosewater

Segura Viudas Cava

As you can see it is a play off a traditional fizz. We garnished the drink with meyer lemon zest & a few drops of rosewater. It had umami, it was savory, sweet, earthy, tart & just so cool! I was super proud of the drinks we put out. Congrats to all the competitors especially Hog & Hominy who took home top honors & SnackBar for coming up from Oxford to participate.

On to the next Iron Shaker!