Margarita « The Noble Experiment

June 18, 2010

A Variety of Honey Syrups

I’ve been playing around a lot this week with honey. Honey is such a brilliant and versatile sweetener. There are so many variations of honey and they all have such subtle sweetness and intrigue. I have a love affair with honey. But that’s my issue, not yours, so let’s get moving. Here are two honey syrups that will add spice, depth and deliciousness to your cocktails.

Syrup #1 is made from an orange blossom honey syrup. Orange blossom honey is freaking wonderful. It is made from the blossoms of citrus trees and is typically a light and slightly fruity honey. This version from Honey Gardens is divine.

When you open up raw honey, it kind of looks like lip balm, but don’t let that deter you. Take one half of a cup of honey and one half of a cup of water, put it on the stove and bring it to a simmer to combine. I don’t find that a honey syrup benefits a lot from an extended simmer on the stove. I just like to incorporate the ingredients and then get it off the heat. It’s that simple. After its incorporated, switch it to a different container and put it in the refrigerator. It probably doesn’t need to be refrigerated but I like it that way. You can do what you like with it. After your syrup is ready, check out the recipe below for the best damn margarita you’ll ever taste.

Syrup #2 is made with pure wildflower honey (Sorry for the poor picture, I’ve never been much of a photographer).

Wildflower honey is a fragrant honey that is typically a bit thicker and richer (in my opinion) than your regular grocery store honey. It has a dark amber color and a real concentrated sweetness and flavor. It comes, not surprisingly, from wildflowers which means it can vary from producer to producer and from season to season. For this syrup I was looking for spice, so before I took one cup of wildflower honey and tossed in 1/4 cup of cracked black peppercorns. After they were incorporated, I put the mixture on the stove, added 1 cup of water and brought it up to a simmer. After it was all combined I removed it from the heat and let it sit for a few days so that the honey could soak in the spice.

At the end of the day, I had two great syrups, one raw orange blossom honey syrup and one peppered wildflower honey syrup. And they looked like this:

You can see the difference in color which is due primarily to the difference between orange blossom and wildflower honey. The wildflower is in the front in the picture above. These syrups have tons of uses but here are my two favorites:

The Peppered Bourbon – I’ve used variations of this drink on many occasions, but I like the way the peppered honey mingles with the oak and citrus. It’s lightly spiced, with a nice peppery finish.

1.5 oz Bulleit Bourbon

0.75 oz. Peppered Honey Syrup

0.50 Lemon Juice

Orange Blossom Margarita This makes a seriously delicious margarita. I know what you’re thinking, it’s just a margarita, but you need to trust me here. The orange blossom honey syrup replaces the need for any triple sec and lends the cocktail a very subtle sweetness and an understated orange accent.

1.5 oz Tequila Blanco

1.25 oz Lime Juice

1 oz Orange Blossom Honey Syrup

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June 9, 2010

Dehydrating Citrus Zest for Cocktails

I’ve never been one for molecular gastronomy. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the people who pull it off are brilliant and I have nothing but respect for what they do. I just never really got it. Science was never my thing.

So this is the closest I’ve ever come. It’s really not the same, but hey, I can put the hard sell on myself and convince me of just about anything. And if we’re changing part of a citrus fruit into a powder, I think it counts.

Let’s get on with it.

This is a cool trick, one that can add flavor, color and texture to a drink. It’s subtle and impressive, in my humble opinion. And it will make you a cocktail creator that draws the envy of your friends and neighbors. The basic approach here is to zest some citrus (in this case oranges), suck all the moisture out, crush it into a powder, then mix it with some other spices/salt to make a concoction.

The first thing you need to do is zest some oranges. I took three oranges and zested them right onto a silpat baking sheet.

Once you’ve zested the oranges, they should look like this.

And the silpat should look like this.

Put this silpat with orange zest into the oven at the lowest temperature you can. My oven only goes down to 150 degrees, so that’s where I set it. Leave your zest in the oven anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour. In my experience, lime zest tends to be ready in 30 minutes, orange zest takes closer to an hour. I don’t know why. As I mentioned earlier, I’m no scientist. Your zest should be dry, but not burnt. You’ll want to pull it right before it starts to brown. The goal here is to keep the citrus flavor in the final product, no burnt messes.

Next, take all of your dried zest and put it in a container to be muddled.

And then start muddling. If you have a mortar and pestle, that’s your best bet. Or a spice grinder. I have none of those things, so I use a stainless steel shaker and a muddler. But a grinder or mortar would be far superior.

When you’re done, you should have a finely ground powder. It should still be a bright, vibrant orange and have some serious orange aroma.

So, you’re probably wondering how to use it, right? Here’s something to get you started.

Zested Citrus Margarita

1.5 oz silver tequila

1 oz lime juice

0.75 oz Cointreau

0.50 oz simple syrup (optional)

This is a classic margarita recipe, although I tend to use more lime than Cointreau as I like a tart-y zip, not a sugary sweetness. So mix up your margarita and put it aside. On a plate, mix in a teaspoon of the crushed orange zest with a tablespoon of salt. Mix them up until they’re well mingled.

Rim your glass with a lime slice and salt your rim. Put your cocktail in this glass over ice, and voila! You have a nice margarita with a lovely and subtle orange/salt rim. It will add a nice light citrus finish to the drink and is certain to wow with presentation.

June 2, 2010

Things To Do: Cocktail Class at Punk’s Backyard Grill

This is a new feature here at The Noble Experiment. I’ll be perusing around for any and all cocktail and beverage related events in Annapolis and featuring them on the blog.

To start us off we have a Margarita cocktail class at Punk’s Backyard Grill. Punk’s has great cocktails, as noted in this month’s Washingtonian Cheap Eats issue which compliments their rum punch and sangria. And to boot, they’ll teach you how to make them!

This is a monthly event at Punk’s and as you’ll see on their blog, the cost for the cocktail class is $20 per person. That includes a couple of drinks, some grub and a good time. Come hungry and parched, leave full and happy (and probably a bit tipsy). The class takes place on Wednesday, June 23rd at 7pm. Check out their blog for details on how to sign up.

http://punksbackyardgrill.wordpress.com

If you know of any other cocktail or beverage related events, drop me a line here or on twitter – twitter.com/noblecocktail

The Noble Experiment

Tag: Margarita