One of your other subscribers and I are sipping this now but we were lazy and used canned jelly. It required more vigor to incorporate and tasted like a very nice Manhattan, but not much of a cranberry flavor. So: no shortcuts on this one, team. Do it right.
Can't speak to other ingredients, but I will say that the cranberry sauce/jelly here should flavor the cocktail in a way that's both quite obvious and not overwhelming -- a lot like the Benedictine in a Vieux Carre, actually. It's not WOWOWOW CRANBERRY. It's ... oh yeaaaaah, cranberry!
Ok, because we trust you, we gave it another try with the leftovers from my wife's cranberry sauce (which I am willing to put up against MM's, fightin' words as those may be). Only the most subtle cranberry flavor, though still an excellent cocktail.
Not related to this post, but a general question: what do you do for an audience that might find normal cocktails "too strong"? I made drinks for my family on Thanksgiving, but a few found them too spirit forward (even the sweet, more refreshing drinks). I've never experimented with using less of a spirit, so I just ended up mixing them a drink with vodka or gin-- something neutral that mostly gets lost in a drink. It's possible I just didn't mix the drinks well, too.
Anyway, just wanted to pick your brain on what to do for people who may not want to taste as much of the spirit in a drink. Alter ratios? Stick to vodka?
Good question. I would take two basic approaches here: first, make them long fizzy drinks like the Collins and related drinks I wrote about this summer. (You can also get into more complex force carbonation schemes, basically making boozy sodas. I might write about that a bit more next summer.) Expanding cocktails with carbonated water (or something else bubbly) adds dilution and can make drinks more accessible.
Second make punches, like Philly Fish House Punch, that are built on rum and cognac and other big spirits, but which read mellow and approachable in part because they have a lot of water.
Once they are a bit more used to spirits mixed with stuff you can maybe over time move them toward drinks with a bit more kick -- a Margarita or a Mai Tai, for example, both of which are “strong” but are quite friendly even to folks who find a Manhattan to be too much.
this looks delicious and I look forward to trying it.
Here's an idea for a feature - you often recommend specific brands, many of which are hard for those of us in small towns to locate easily. If there is an easy way to do it, it would be great to have a chart in which readers could add the alternatives they have substituted, with a note on whether they felt the substitution was successful.
And I am still hoping you will turn these into a cocktail book (with large dogs). I've got several people for whom it would be a perfect Christmas 2024 gift.....
One of your other subscribers and I are sipping this now but we were lazy and used canned jelly. It required more vigor to incorporate and tasted like a very nice Manhattan, but not much of a cranberry flavor. So: no shortcuts on this one, team. Do it right.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Can't speak to other ingredients, but I will say that the cranberry sauce/jelly here should flavor the cocktail in a way that's both quite obvious and not overwhelming -- a lot like the Benedictine in a Vieux Carre, actually. It's not WOWOWOW CRANBERRY. It's ... oh yeaaaaah, cranberry!
Ok, because we trust you, we gave it another try with the leftovers from my wife's cranberry sauce (which I am willing to put up against MM's, fightin' words as those may be). Only the most subtle cranberry flavor, though still an excellent cocktail.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Not related to this post, but a general question: what do you do for an audience that might find normal cocktails "too strong"? I made drinks for my family on Thanksgiving, but a few found them too spirit forward (even the sweet, more refreshing drinks). I've never experimented with using less of a spirit, so I just ended up mixing them a drink with vodka or gin-- something neutral that mostly gets lost in a drink. It's possible I just didn't mix the drinks well, too.
Anyway, just wanted to pick your brain on what to do for people who may not want to taste as much of the spirit in a drink. Alter ratios? Stick to vodka?
Good question. I would take two basic approaches here: first, make them long fizzy drinks like the Collins and related drinks I wrote about this summer. (You can also get into more complex force carbonation schemes, basically making boozy sodas. I might write about that a bit more next summer.) Expanding cocktails with carbonated water (or something else bubbly) adds dilution and can make drinks more accessible.
Second make punches, like Philly Fish House Punch, that are built on rum and cognac and other big spirits, but which read mellow and approachable in part because they have a lot of water.
Once they are a bit more used to spirits mixed with stuff you can maybe over time move them toward drinks with a bit more kick -- a Margarita or a Mai Tai, for example, both of which are “strong” but are quite friendly even to folks who find a Manhattan to be too much.
Delicious. It has a viscous mouthfeel for me. Thank you for what you do here.
this looks delicious and I look forward to trying it.
Here's an idea for a feature - you often recommend specific brands, many of which are hard for those of us in small towns to locate easily. If there is an easy way to do it, it would be great to have a chart in which readers could add the alternatives they have substituted, with a note on whether they felt the substitution was successful.
And I am still hoping you will turn these into a cocktail book (with large dogs). I've got several people for whom it would be a perfect Christmas 2024 gift.....
I live to serve. Glad you liked it!