907 Vodka and a DogWood Cocktail. Cheers!

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Here is cocktail tagged a “DogWood” (named after our place in the country – bought to toss the stick to my dog, hence – DogWood):

• Mash some orange slices with mint leaves and stems in the bottom of your pitcher until they’re “schmushed” – as my mother used to say
• Add strong, brewed, unsweetened, cold tea
• Goslings dark rum (I suppose you could substitute a different dark rum, but I’ve never found a suitable alternative to Goslings for a DogWood.)
• Blenheim’s very hot ginger ale. Others may tell you that their ginger ale or ginger beer is spicy or vivid. Nothing compares to Blenheims. It will bring tears to your eyes.
• Serve over ice
• Garnish with a slice of orange and a fresh (un-schmushed) leaf or two of mint

Another surprisingly easy thing to do is to make your own infused vodka. I’ve done this with a number of ‘flavors’ blending herbs with fruit. Learned in Sweden while on the Orrefors account, where they have a tradition of ‘spicing’ their grain alcohol to create their own personal blends of Aquavit.

While I’ve tried lemon and caraway, basil and lavender – this is our favorite. I use it to flavor a ‘martini’, mix into a “Broadway Mule” (907 Vodka, Hot Blenheims and lime – over ice or shaken and strained. yum) or we drink it straight, in little shot glasses.


907 Vodka

• Get some pretty bottles with cork stoppers.
• Using a funnel, fill ¾ of the way up the bottle with any reasonably good vodka. You are going to flavor this and let it steep – so don’t bother using the super premium vodkas – believe me, you won’t ever be able to appreciate the difference (if there even is a difference) in the final product.
• Cut a long spiral of orange peel with as little pith as possible. The longer and thinner you can make it the better. If you cannot manage to make it thin, cut it long from the orange and then divide the spiral lengthwise, to create two or three long spirals. Use one per bottle.
• Back to your funnel for a dollop of Cointreau, Grand Marier or Triple-Sec orange liqueur.
I sometimes add some strands of fresh ginger or a frond of Rosemary.

Wonderful on its own in little whiskey glasses or shot glasses. Great mixed with ginger ale or straight vodka over ice in an Old Fashion glass. It doesn’t need a thing – but a sprig of mint is pretty.

My hint: the rind of citrus (lemons, limes, oranges, tangerines, etc.) will hold up better than a soft fruit – especially if you don’t think you’ll drink it all down the very night you make it. Frank suggests that you don’t think of drinking the whole bottle that night – so there you have it!

As for your own cocktail, there are so many new flavored liquors on the market, you can easily experiment with a combination of fruits and herbs to find your own special blend. Cork it, tie a ribbon around its neck and label it as your own. It gets better with time. Unbelievably easy, no?