Froth Blower

The point of this drink is to look pretty. Blending egg white and gin together makes such for such a creamy foam with all that air beaten into it. Despite the crushed ice, it is light and fluffy and the small amount of grenadine helps to keep it balanced and a pretty shade of pink.

I used a bold gin in this recipe because there are so few ingredients and crushed ice can spread most gins pretty thin. I like that Icelandic Vor has a bold barley taste that is so prominent that it is listed on the bottle as one of the botanicals.

• 2 oz. gin (Icelandic Vor used)
• 1 tsp. grenadine
• egg white

Combine all ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. 

Biffy Cocktail

This cocktail was an epic journey for me. I had to acquire the ingredients to make Swedish Punsch, a cocktail in itself that used to be sold bottled and can now only be found in Scandinavia. 

I got the recipe from several I found online and made adjustments for the strength of the flavors I was working with. Central to this recipe is Batavia Arrack--a rice yeast cane sugar infusion from Indonesia that is itself difficult to find. The recipe for this is already posted earlier. Then I went about making this cocktail several times.

The first Biffy Cocktail I made was with Icelandc Vor, a heavily barley tasting gin from Iceland (shown above.) This might have been overkill, and I feel it covered over the flavor of the Swedish Punsch. On second go, I felt that Vitae Modern Gin (right) with its rum base and funky sugar smell did the drink the best justice. I also added a touch of sugar to balance the lemon juice, which also has a way of covering things, especially since it was a lot of work getting the lemon essence into the Swedish Punch without using juice.

Lastly, I don't know why such a good drink has such a bad name. Biffy is the old fashioned term for the outhouse. That's cute, but it doesn't speak well of what is really a complex cocktail. 

• 2 oz. gin
• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch (homemade used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar (recommended)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Damn The Weather

This is a potent and tongue lashing cocktail for heavy weather. I've been waiting to make it when the mood or the spirits were right. When I got Icelandic Vor gin, I knew the time had come. Iceland is known for its chilly weather and pure water. They make delightful gin too!

Icelandic Vor is made with barley and locally grown juniper. These two flavors dominate this spirit, especially the barley. I don't know if it is malted, but the base is very close to how Copper Fox Vir Gin tastes--like it's not a neutral spirit at all. There's a bit of whiskey funk in it, and the higher proof (47%) means that there's a lot of intensity too.

One last note, I made this with Punt E Mes vermouth and the cocktail was mouth-smashingly bitter and herbal. You could do the same to get the effect, which was nice. But a London dry gin and French sweet vermouth would make a much tamer drink. Then again, when the weather is bad, why would you want to do that?

• 2 oz. gin (Icelandic Vor used)
• 1 tbsp. sweet vermouth (Punt E Mes used)
• 2 tsp. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. orange juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.