Gin-Soaked Blog

Summer Cocktails: The Yellow Sapphire ala Morimoto

Morimoto restaurant in Philadelphia has garnered fame thanks to its Iron Chef Morimoto Masaharu who is best known for being the third to win Japan's flaying and splaying competition. The restaurant, in typical Stephen Starr fashion is ultra-high concept with its wavy walls and glowing tables which slowly change colors during your meal.  Eating at Morimoto is like dining inside a submarine cruise-ship that took a detour to Frogstar World B.

Fortunately the fish aren't happily offering themselves up to be eaten by patrons of Morimoto (because that would just be creepy), but they are ALMOST that fresh. We got ourselves the octopus carpaccio and edamame to start and the mid-level chef's sushi platter as the main dish.

The question of what to drink with sushi is usually answered with a heartfelt "SAKI!!!!" But there was something about the gently throbbing lights and the glowing dildo centerpieces that made me want a martini.

Maria had an appropriately neon-green colored midori mimosa with the sexy name "MC2" but I rocked it Prohibition-era style with a "Yellow Sapphire," a cucumber-infused, Smirnoff Citron-Twisted gin martini.

It was pretty tasty and definitely a good drink for a hot summer day.

Recipe

4 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin
1 oz Smirnoff Citron Twist
Cucumber slices and lemon to garnish

If I were sunning on my roofdeck with some great sci-fi and my pooch I would amp it up into the following full drink version:

2 oz Bombay Sapphire
1 oz Stoli Limon
1 oz Cointreau
Balance with Lemon Italian Soda
Pour over ice and garnish with cucumber and lemon

And if I wanted to reminisce about glowing dildos and fantasize that I'm at the end of the universe I'd go with the nuclear meltdown version:

2 oz Bombay Sapphire
1 oz Blue Curaceo
Balance with lemonade
Garnish with amputated frog-legs

The Sazarac at TIME

I spent the better part of last Monday evening in TIME, a whiskey bar and steakhouse where TK tends bar. The place used to be a dodgy German beer bar but has been remodeled into a destination spot for whiskey acolytes. When it was Ludwig’s, I never would have ordered the steak tartare, but I felt like my intestinal tract was in good hands at TIME.

TIME’s whiskey bar is a handsome, dark wood behemoth lined with bottles and bottles of whiskey—bourbon, rye, Scotch and Irish. It’s classy in a dude kind of way, which is probably why most of the patrons were guys. According to TK, that’s pretty par for course there.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I like drinking with guys who appreciate whiskey, particularly when they are famous for breaking world records that relate to the mixing of delicious cocktails.

Bobby G., master mixologist for Jim Beam, dropped in to pay a visit and get some Old Fashioneds while visiting the old city of bro-lo. The dude was cool, a gregarious, balding man who tends bar in Vegas. According to legend, his magic hands whipped together 253 cocktails in 60 minutes in a Vegas bartending competition. I’m professionally jealous!

Mr. G. was generous with knowledge and offered TK some tips for whisking whiskey and making a Sazerac—an old timey whiskey cocktail that was new to me. It seems like there are a variety of ways to make a Sazerac but the basic ingredients are bourbon, an anise-flavored liquor, bitters and a lemon rind.

Bobby G. suggested that TK use Basil Hayden, Herbsaint and orange bitters, which worked out really well.

For those who are unfamiliar with Herbsaint, it’s an anise-based liquor that hails from New Orleans. It was developed as an absinthe substitute by M. Legendre and Reginald Parker who had learned how to make the ill-reputed liquor in New Orleanse. It is very similar to the Green Fairy, but without the wormwood and staggering alcohol content. It gave the cocktail an anisey-herbaceous character with the lemon and bitters providing citrusy aromatics. I think this would be an excellent whiskey cocktail for the summer because it’s spritelier than a Manhattan and not as old-grampa as an Old Fashioned.

Sazerac Cocktail, ala Bobby G.

Ingredients
2 rocks glasses (old fashioned glasses)
Enough Herbsaint to coat the glass
1 ½ ounces of Basil Hayden
1 raw sugar cube
3 dashes of bitters (orange work well)
Lemon rind
Ice

Directions

1. In one glass, muddle sugar with a little water and bitters. Add bourbon and a few ice cubes. Stir.
2. Chill the other glass, then discard the ice and coat with Herbsaint
3. Strain the bourbon mixture to the Herbsaint-coated glass.
4. Twist and squeeze lemon peel over the glass, rubbing the rim. Discard the peel or use as garnish.