Domaine de Canton Stars in Holiday Cocktails

Once again, the upstairs bar at Bourbon Adams Morgan in Washington, D.C. served as the perfect setting for the Museum of the American Cocktail’s Second Annual Holiday Cocktail Seminar. And Domaine de Canton French Ginger Liqueur was well represented, featured in no less than three of the delicious Holiday cocktails presented. The event was emceed by Phil Greene, who did his best to stay out of the way and not impede the talents of renown D.C. bartenders Gina Chersevani (of PS7’s at Gallery Place) and Owen Thomson (bartender at Bourbon, and don’t call him a mixologist). Joining Gina and Owen was home bar and entertainment guru Jerry Lenoir, the creative force behind the popular Web site Mr-Booze.com (http://www.mr-booze.com/).

Arriving guests were greeted with an elegant cocktail, the Yes We Canton!, which was the star cocktail served at the Peace Ball on Inauguration Day last January. The Yes We Canton! was created by Gina Chersevani, and is made with pineapple juice, Domaine de Canton French Ginger Liqueur, and Jacob’s Creek Sparkling Wine. It’s a perfect Holiday drink (recipe below), especially for the busy host or hostess, and can even be served as a punch.

Gina then held court for the next two drinks, offering two amazing hot drinks, Apples and Ale and the Coquito, which she referred to as Puerto Rican Eggnog. The Apples and Ale featured fresh apples simmered in spices and pale ale, with a hearty dollop of Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky and Domaine de Canton, and was served in a coffee mug. The Coquito was a rich and warming mixture of condensed milk, evaporated milk, coconut milk, egg, spices, Flor de Cana dark rum, and Domaine de Canton.

At this point, the guests and presenters alike took a break, for conversation and a chance to admire some of Jerry Lenoir’s holiday music collection, as well as ornamental pieces from his amazing home bar, which is featured on http://www.mr-booze.com/.

Owen then took the stage to offer the classic Irish Coffee, a drink he accurately described as one of the most maligned and incorrectly made drinks of all time, in spite of its simplicity. Phil offered a bit of history on the origins of and folklore surrounding the drink, tracing it back to the old trans-atlantic flying boat service and the airport near Shannon, Ireland, where in the early 1940s Joe Sheridan took to greeting chilled passengers with a mug of coffee, whiskey and cream. “Is this Columbian coffee?,” one passenger asked, to which he replied, “No, it’s Irish Coffee,” and a tradition was born. The drink later migrated to the Buena Vista in San Francisco, where it became a fixture, just perfect on those cold winter days during a summer in San Francisco (apologies to Sam Clemens). While serving it, he told of a tour he took of the Jameson’s Irish Whiskey distillery in Dublin, and how it inspired him to make the Irish Coffee in the proper manner.

Owen also demonstrated another misunderstood and mismanaged drink, the Hot Buttered Rum. He explained how to make a batter, basically taking a hunk of butter and folding into it whatever seasonal spices you had on hand, then keeping the mixture on hand to use each time you wanted to serve one. Owen offered guests a perfect blend of butter, spices, and Mount Gay Extra Old Rum.

Jerry Lenoir then presented two amazing drinks, the Winter Mojito and the Northern Spy. The Winter Mojito calls for fresh cranberries and mint, muddled with maple syrup, then blended with fresh lime juice, Falernum, and Mount Gay Eclipse Silver Rum. The Northern Spy was next, giving Jerry and Phil the opportunity to extol the virtues of Laird’s Applejack, and recount its rich history, going back to the Founding Fathers.
Jerry then devoted a good amount of time in discussing Holiday music, mainly jazz and standards from the 40s, 50s and 60s, featuring classics from Herb Alpert, Frank Sinatra, Jack Jones, and Oscar Peterson. Jerry even offered a trivia contest, with winners receiving either a Mr. Booze T-shirt, or a compilation Holiday music CD from his collection. The trivia questions centered around the bar scenes from “It’s A Wonderful Night,” prompting guests and presenters alike to trot out their George Bailey, Nick the Bartender, and Clarence the Angel impressions. We had nearly 30 attendees on hand, and everyone had a great evening, and leaving with a goodly dose of Holiday cheer.

The Recipes:

Yes We Canton!

½ oz pineapple juice
½ oz Domaine de Canton
2-3 oz Jacob’s Creek Brut Sparkling Wine

Serve in flute. Can also be made as a punch.

Apples and Ale

8 apples
2 quarts of Dales Pale Ale
2 cups of Raw Honey
2 cinnamon sticks
5 cardamon pods
1 star anise
10-12 oz of Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky
10-12 oz of Domaine de Canton

Peel and quarter the apples. Take some cheese cloth (or a tea infuser works just as well) and place all the spices in there, tie up the cloth. Then in a pot, pour the beer, spice ball, sugar, apples. Let simmer for about 20 minutes just before it boils. Low and slow! Take the ale mixture off the heat.

In a glass mug pour 1/2 oz of Maker's Mark, 1/2 oz of Domaine de Canton and fill with the ale mixture. Enjoy! Serves about 10-12 (20-24 half sized drinks)

Coquito (Puerto Rican Eggnog)

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 (14-ounce) can condensed milk
2 egg yolks
2 cups fresh coconut milk or 1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk
Pinch fleur de sel
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup Flor de Cana Dark Rum
1/4 cup Domaine de Canton
Ground cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a blender and process for 3 minutes at high speed until frothy. Store in a glass container in the refrigerator and serve chilled, dusted with a little cinnamon.

Hot Buttered Rum

1.5 oz Mount Gay Extra Old Rum
2 heaping barspoons buttered rum batter

fill with hot water and stir until combined

Irish Coffee

1.5 oz Jameson’s Irish Whiskey
3/4 oz Brown Sugar Simple Syrup
Fill with black coffee and top with fresh whipped cream

Northern Spy

2 oz Laird’s Applejack
1 oz Apple Cider
½ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Apricot Brandy
Rim a cocktail glass with lemon juice then cinnamon sugar. Shake well, strain into glass, garnish with a few fresh cranberries.

Winter Mojito

8-10 mint leaves
6-8 cranberries
2 oz Mount Gay Eclipse Silver Rum
¾ oz Falernum
¾ oz lime juice
¼ oz simple or maple syrup
Splash of club soda
In a mixing glass, muddle mint & cranberries, add rest of ingredients. Shake and strain over ice in a glass and garnish with fresh mint.

For more information on Domaine de Canton, please see www.domainedecanton.com.

For more information on Museum of the American Cocktail events, please see www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org/events

Rico Wisner Uses Domaine de Canton to Win Cuca Fresca Grand Prize!

Domaine de Canton nearly steals the show! On December 1st, Rico Wisner was named the Grand Prize Winner in Cuca Fresca Cachaca’s “Shake Your Way to Brazil” Mixology Challenge. His winning cocktail, the Punch from Ipanema, represented an inventive new interpretation of a classic punch and incorporated Cuca Fresca Premium Cachaça, a homemade hibiscus and rooibos tea simple syrup, passion fruit juice, fresh lime juice, and Domaine de Canton French Ginger Liqueur (recipe below). Rico’s inspiration for the cocktail was the sunset over Ipamena, a place he has visited in the past with his Brazilian wife. The cocktail is featured at his restaurant, Poste Moderne Brasserie, in Washington, DC.

Domaine de Canton also played a prominent role in another cocktail that advanced to the Final Five of the Cuca Fresca Challenge. Francois Vera of Cole’s in Los Angeles made a delicious cocktail titled the Ginger Dream, again showing the beautiful way in which Domaine de Canton marries with cachaca. Indeed, at the Polished Palate International RumFest in Tampa in March, 2009, the star cocktail of the event was a delicious take on the Caipirinha, called the Gingerinha, simply made with Cuca Fresca, lime wedges and, of course, Domaine de Canton.

Paul Pacult, one of the five judges for the finals said “this cocktail competition was easily the most competitive contest I've judged. The level of skill provided by the finalists was extraordinary, as was borne out by their five cocktails, Choosing a winner was difficult, since they were all deserving. In the end, the delicious Punch from Ipanema won our hearts. "

The Grand Prize Winner, The Punch From Ipanema

Sean Ludford, another of the Shake Off’s judges who has judged over fifty cocktail competitions, also said “this was the most impressive line-up of cocktails that I have ever seen in a comparable competition.”
Cuca Fresca’s owner, Phoenix Kelly-Rappa, said, “we knew this competition would be tough based on the caliber of talent we had competing and the cocktails they were making but we had no idea it would be so very close.” Cuca Fresca plans on making this a yearly competition and Ms. Kelly-Rappa also said, “we hope this is only the beginning of our ever-increasing relationship with the mixology community.”
The finals were held at Chicago’s Encore Liquid Lounge because of their innovative cocktail program and unique layout. The lounge’s raised circular bar provided the perfect stage for the finalists to showcase their skills for the judges and crowd. The event was attended by some of Chicago’s top mixologists, including Todd Appel and Lynn House. It was also attended by the Brazilian Vice-Consulate, Leila Tavares. The Punch From Ipanema will be added as a permanent selection on Encore’s cocktail menu. As the grand prize winner, Rico Wisner will be flown to Brazil for a five-day trip that includes a private distillery tour courtesy of Cuca Fresca.

Okay, enough talk, here are the recipes:

PUNCH FROM IPANEMA

Rico Wisner, Post Moderne Brasserie, Hotel Monaco, Washington, D.C.

1.25 oz Cuca Fresca Premium Cachaça

.75 oz passion fruit juice

.5 oz lime juice

1 oz hibiscus Rooibos tea syrup

.25 oz Domaine de Canton French Ginger Liqueur

Combine all ingredients, shake well with ice and serve on the rocks. Garnish with a lime slice.

GINGER DREAM

Francois Vera

Cole’s, Los Angeles, CA

3 orange wedges

1 lime

5 mint leaves

.75 oz Domaine de Canton French Ginger Liqueur

2 oz Cuca Fresca Pura Gold

Muddle the orange wedges, lime and mint leaves together. Add ice, Domaine de Canton and the Cuca Fresca Pura Gold. Shake and pour, without straining, into a tall glass. Top with Bundaberg Ginger Beer. Garnish with an orange slice and mint.

D.C. Bracket, Domaine de Canton Bartender of the Year Competition

Domaine de Canton is currently staging its national Bartender of the Year Competition, where bartenders from across the U.S. are competing in regional finals, in D.C., Boston, New York, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. The “D.C. Bracket” was held at Bourbon in Adams Morgan on Sunday, November 1, and eight of D.C.’s finest bartenders were on hand to compete for the honor of advancing to the Finals, to be held in French St. Martin in March, 2010.

Shown here, Rico Wisner of Poste, and the winning cocktail, Jason Strich's Kentucky Spiced Pie

Shown here, Owen Thomson of Bourbon, Crystal Fanale, Director of Sales for Domaine de Canton, and Phil Greene, Canton's D.C. Brand Ambassador

Jason Strich of Rasika won the D.C. competition, with his amazing drink, the Kentucky Spiced Pie (all recipes shown below). A tie for second place was shared by Gina Chersevani of PS7’s, for her drink Thai’s the Limit, and Ricky Gomez, with the cocktail titled Le Coup de Jalisco. Ricky was visiting from the acclaimed New Orleans bar Cure NOLA, which opened earlier this year. The audience also voted for a Crowd Favorite Cocktail, won by Erik Holzherr, owner/bartender of Wisdom, for his creation, the Eminent Domaine.

The judging of the competition was ably handled by an impressive team of experts, Erin Hartigan of Daily Candy, Fritz Hahn of the Washington Post, and Derek Brown of The Gibson and Atlantic Monthly.

Shown above, Erik Holzherr and Owen Thomson

Here are the bartenders selected to compete in the D.C. Bracket, and their cocktails:

Eminent Domaine - Erik Holzherr, Wisdom

1.5 oz DDC
1.5 oz Bluecoat Gin
0.5 oz Luxardo Amaro
0.5 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
2.0 oz of pressed apple juice.

Shake 10-15 seconds on ice, serve in a martini glass with a lemon twist and a smile.

The Undertaker - Scott Palmer, Dino

In the glass half of a Boston Shaker pour:

3/4 oz Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur
3/4 oz 209 Gin
3/4 oz Lillet Blanc
3/4 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (strained of pulp)
1/4 oz Chartreuse (green)
A few dashes of Orange Bitters (Fee Bros. West Indian Orange)

Add large ice cubes to shaker and stir gently until cold but not overly diluted. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with flamed orange twist.

Jack ‘o Ginger - Owen Thomson, Bourbon Adams Morgan

1 oz Domaine de Canton
1 oz Applejack
½ oz Appleton’s XO rum
½ oz Averna

Stirred and served up with a lemon peel garnish

Spiced Kentucky Pie - Jason Strich, Rasika

1 oz Basil Haydens Bourbon
1 oz Domaine de Canton
2 oz spiced sweet potato water

Garnish with burnt cinnamon marshmallow topped with a small sprig of mint.

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker, shake and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a stemmed glass coffee glass. With an ISI charger make about a 1 inch marshmallow and burn the top with a brulee torch, and insert small mint sprig into the marshmallow.

Sweet Potato Water: Peel and juice 6 sweet potatoes, strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer, add ½ teaspoon citric acid to stop discoloration. In a good sized pot boil 4 cups of water with 2 cinnamon sticks, tablespoon black peppercorns, teaspoon cloves, 3 pods star anise, 5 cardamom pods, and I inch piece of raw ginger. After boiling for 10 minutes, reduce heat to simmer and add the sweet potato juice, making sure to avoid the extra starch that will have settled to the bottom of the container. Simmer 10 minutes, or until the starches in the sweet potato have converted to sugar. It will taste a little sweet and not so starchy. Strain liquid through a coffee filter and store in a cooler.

Cinnamon marshmallow: Start by blooming 2 sheets of gelatin in ice water, dissolve 1.5 cups white sugar in 2 cups hot water, then add the gelatin. Stir until dissolved, add .5 teaspoon cinnamon tincture and .5 teaspoon ground cinnamon, wait until it cools, put into ISI nitrous charger along with two egg whites, keep chilled until use.

Ginger & Ginger - Rico Wisner, Poste, Hotel Monaco

1 oz. Domaine de Canton
1 oz. Square One Botanical Vodka
3/4 oz. J Pear Liqueur
1/2 oz. lemon juice
1 tsp. honey cactus powder
3 slices seckle pear
1/2 oz. Brut champagne

Muddle seckle pear and honey cactus powder together with lemon juice. Add Domaine de Canton, Square One, J Pear, and ice. Shake ingredients together, double strain through and Hawthorne and fine mesh strainer into a chilled saucier. Top with champagne. Garnish with slice of poached (in 2:1:1 water:canton:honey cactus powder) seckle pear.

Thai’s The Limit - Gina Chersevani, PS7’s

1.5 oz Plymouth Gin
1.5 oz Domaine de Canton French Ginger Liqueur
2 oz coconut mix (see below)
1 oz fresh lime juice
Pinch of julienned cilantro leaves

Combine all ingredients in a shaker half-filled with ice, then strain over ice in a Collins glass. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Enjoy!

Coconut mix:

2 cans Chaokoh Coconut Milk (27 oz)
1 stalk lemongrass (pulverized)
1 oz fresh grated ginger
1 small Thai Bird Chili (I stress small), chopped
¾ cup sugar

Combine all ingredients in saucepan, over high heat bring to boil, reduce to low and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat, let steep for 20 minutes. Blend ingredients on high. Pass through fine mesh strainer. This makes about 16-20 drinks.

Le Coup de Jalisco, Ricky Gomez, Cure NOLA, 4905 Freret Street, New Orleans

1 oz Domaine de Canton
1 oz Casa Noble Reposado
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz honey syrup (1:1)
1/4 oz yellow Chartreuse
10 drops of Angostura Bitters
10 drops of Crystal Hot Sauce

The Domainatrix - Rachel Sergi, Againn

.75 oz Domaine de Canton
.5 Larresingle Armagnac
.25 Busnel Calvados
.25 Cherry Heering Scarred lemongrass - (slightly charred)

Build in a mixing glass with cracked ice. Stir lovingly to incorporate. Strain into Coupe glass. Add Scarred lemongrass garnish. Enjoy!


The following bartenders were invited to compete in the D.C. Bracket but could not attend:

The Ginger Sling - Todd Thrasher, Restaurant Eve

1oz Plymouth Gin
1 oz Domaine Canton
3oz lemon grass / lemon balm mixture
1 squeeze of lemon juice
liberal dash of lemon bitters

Stir all ingredients Strain over fresh ice and top with Pickeled Ginger foam

Pickeled Ginger Foam

1 lb of peeled ginger (roughly chopped)
2 qts water
1 qt of sugar
1 tbs pickeling spices (in a Sache)
1 cup champagne vinegar
3 sheets of gelatin

Bring water to a boil, add the sugar and vinegar after sugar is dissolved reduce to a simmer add ginger and spices and for 2 hours (until ginger is soft to the touch). Take sache out of the mixture and blend the ginger and pass through fine chinois, and let cool. Take 750 ml of the ginger liquid Lemon Balm / Lemon Grass Syrup 2 qts water 2 qts picked lemon balm llemon grass roughly chopped 1 qt sugar 1 tbs of citric acid Bring water to boil. Add sugar and wisk. Once dissolved, add lemon balm and lemon grass. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Strain out through chinois.

Ginger Foam 2 sheets of Gelatin. Soak the Gelatin in ice water until soft. Take the 750 ml of base put about 100ml and put into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil remove from heat and add the Gelatin whisking until all the gelatin is dissolved all the while, then add the reserve whisking until all is combined. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Put in an ISI Foamer.

White Tiger - Chris Kelly, Mie N Yu

1.5 oz. Premium Vodka
1.5 oz. Domaine De Canton
1.5 oz. white cranberry juice
juice of half a lime

Add ingredients to shaker with ice; shake well and strain into a chilled martini or cocktail glass, garnish with a slice of candied ginger