Bio-Fuel Cocktails: The Corn N’ Oil

This one is a hard one to sell at the bar. Ears of corn and bottles of Quaker State generally don’t invoke impressions of delicious cocktails. What’s worse is that when promoting this Bajan cocktail I inevitably face the question, “Well, why is it called a Corn N’ Oil?” Without a valid response, the perceived association with some type of crazy biofuel and the consequential risk of escalating oil prices being controlled by a Houston bartender can be just too much for some. That’s too bad because this cocktail is awesome.

Frequently, the greatest cocktails are the most simple. This cocktail has three basic ingredients: rum, falernum, and Angostura bitters. The rum option of choice among enthusiasts who have written about this cocktail previously is Cruzan’s Black Strap, a very dark and deep rum. Cruzan’s darkest rum is made from Blackstrap molasses, which is produced from the third stage of boiling syrup yielding the darkest form of molasses. The rum has great flavor, but it isn’t the most versatile of options out there. It can be difficult to find cocktails to use this rum in, but rest assured, once you make yourself a Corn N’ Oil with the Black Strap, you’ll go through the bottle quick enough.

Unless you want to make your own, the Falernum options are basically confined to two brands: John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum and Fee Brother’s West Indian Style Falernum. Falernum is a liqueur traditionally flavored with clove and lime and, depending on your perspective, almond and/or ginger. This inconsistency may seem unusual when various brands and homemade recipes are compared side by side, but I love that the different types of falernum create distinct options for different cocktails. Of the commercial brands, the Fee Brother’s falernum has a very different, tangier character when compared to the Taylor brand. Generally, I tend to take the advice of Ted Haigh here and use the Taylor falernum with more traditional island cocktails and reserve the Fee for American tiki drinks.

Be aware however of the recipe for the Corn N’ Oil on the back of the John D. Taylor bottle. It suggests a 3 ½ parts falernum to one part rum ratio, which seems too sweet to be true. It is; trust me. You can stomach it if you really like falernum, but at this point, you’re having candy, not a cocktail. This is frequently the case with company recipes for spirit brands. Rarely do I find a cocktail supplied by a producer that uses the ingredient in a balanced manner. Quantity matters most, despite the fact that introducing people to well-constructed cocktails would likely increase sales in the long term. Here’s the ratio you should use in my opinion:

Corn N’ Oil

2 oz Cruzan Black Strap Rum
½ oz John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters

Shake and strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a larger lime wedge, to be used, not just sit on the rim.

I find falernum difficult to work with for some reason. I really like it when I try it independently and always think it has endless potential, but for some reason, my attempts to use falernum in original cocktails always fall short. Perhaps, my inadequacies with falernum can be attributed to how much I like this drink. If the Corn N’ Oil is the standard for falernum cocktails, it is unlikely that anything else will measure up. No corn; no oil – just a tasty cocktail.

The State of Rum

The world of cocktails and spirits is caught in a persistent rotation of new hits. Actually, none of these spirits are “new”; instead, they are classic, but forgotten, spirits that have been resurrected for today’s renewed fascination with the antique cocktails. It started with the appearance of small-batch bourbons; then a few bottles of rye squeezed their way on to the shelves. The English no longer monopolize gin, and even absinthe has found its way to the party. These are exciting times for anybody who loves fine spirits. I am not sure what will be the next; all I know is the constant: rum.

Almost a year ago in an article littered with comments from rum aficionado Ed Hamilton, Time declared “rum is the new cognac.” While the article pointed out that sales of high-end rums have jumped dramatically, their use in cocktails seems to have not increased with the same tenacity that spirits such as rye have. Despite its crucial role as a classic spirits ingredient, social impressions of rum as a cocktail component still tend to be dominated predominantly by drinks like the Mojito. Sure, a correctly made Mojito is a fine thing indeed, but it is a poor representative for rum cocktails as a whole. One need only examine the Tiki era to find a slew of recipes that utilize far more complex rums in conjunction with various atypical juices, spices, bitters, and just about anything else that tastes right. Furthermore, many of these drinks utilize different types of rum to form complex, but balanced, combinations that blend everything from Gosling’s Black Seal to Flor de Cana Extra Dry. Where are the cocktails that blend different types of gin?

Not that blending gins together is a bad idea (sounds like an excuse for experimenting), but rum really is the spirit that has been used in cocktails more than any other. It was rum that first captured the hearts of the colonists. Following Prohibition, it was rum, not gin, not rye or bourbon, which renewed American interest in cocktails during the Tiki era. With such a diverse and extensive timeline of use, I would think that the most dedicated purists would give rum more attention. Unfortunately, I rarely see rum getting the respect it deserves on cocktail menus and store shelves. I am just as guilty as the next bartender, but the situation is somewhat baffling to me for a couple of reasons.

Initially, rum is cheap. In comparison to every other group of spirits, rum is definitely sitting under the blue light. In a market dominated by overpriced “ultra-premium” vodkas, it is clear that to some degree spirit consumers associate price levels with quality. Unfortunately, this mistake is far more likely to cause someone to miss out on a great brand than it is to help them find something they will enjoy. Many of these missed opportunities included great brands like Lemon Hart, Matusalem, and Lemon Hart, all of which provide spectacular bottles below the twenty dollar mark.

Classic and Tiki rum cocktails also generally require more effort and ingredients than other types of cocktails. Most bars like to keep produce inventory and cost down as much as possible and this means that often times, rum doesn’t make the cut. Sure, Tiki bars have been appearing throughout the country lately, but rarely do we see the bar that does both classics and Tiki drinks with equal advocacy. Sadly, many bars do stock significant rums selections, but they are under-utilized time and time again in preference for whiskey or gin.

Even if mixing up one of these drinks isn’t worth the time, in a cage match between the best rum you can get for fifty bucks and any other bottle in the world for the same price, rum is always going to win. I challenge you to find any bottle that gives you more bang for the buck than Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 year. I recently bought a bottle on sale for $36 – that’s like a $1.50 a year! That’s unheard of in any other spirits category. Not only that but, pricing aside, this rum can hold its own with any bottle, regardless of price. Hell, the rums little brother, the 15 year, can boast the same claim.

Above all, the rums that are available in today’s markets have been made by the same companies on the same islands or Latin American countries forever. Unlike the newer brands of classic spirits that have made by new micro-distilleries or worked into larger distilleries’ production lineups, most rums available today are produced with more experience than newer brands of other spirits.

That being said, some micro-distilled rums are beginning to appear on the market. In Texas alone, two rums have appeared over the last year, Treaty Oak and Railean. It will be interesting to see if these types of brands can find a place in a market where cheap, outstanding rums are already available and more widespread. Treaty Oak just hit Houston, and it has a lot to offer. Being one of the only micro-distilleries in the U.S. to actually start with the fermentation process, Treaty Oak truly is a small-batch local rum. I will be getting my hands on some very soon as well as meeting Treaty Oak’s owner, and I will be sure to report back.

A year ago, it seemed that rum might indeed have been the next new hit spirit, but looking back, the hype of countless new premium brands like Pyrat XO seems to have already fizzled somewhat. This development is unsettling because classic brands seemed to have never been given their due attention because of their lower prices and cocktails involving rum almost always went the light and fruity route. So do yourself a favor; mix with rum or buy the bottle of Lemon Hart with that unattractive label on it. If there is any time of the year for working with rum, this is it, but any season would be ideal for a good rum.

Mixology Monday: The Jet Pilot Crashes

Welcome to Drink Dogma’s first Mixology Monday. Ah, I remember the days when the old-site, Explore the Pour, was first giving into the peer pressure of drinking along blogging guidelines. But, I was a less-experienced blogger (and bartender for that matter) then, and thanks to my obsession…err…devotion to learning as much about spirits and cocktails as possible, my scope into the world of mixed drinks has increased tremendously. One genre of drinks which have garnered my focus recently have been tiki drinks, perfectly aligning my current mixology projects with this weeks “Limit One” MxMo theme.

Several tiki cocktails would definitely fit the one drink limit. Tiki concoctions are often considered to be enough for the evening by themselves; anything in addition and you might as well just call in sick for the next day. Tiki cocktails generally are one of the least utilized cocktails for the everyday bartender because of their lengthy recipes and intimidating garnishes and presentations. Sure, any admirable cocktail bar should have exotic ingredients and numerous fruits on hand, but tiki drinks, even more than the most complicated classics, require the bar to modify their inventory and practices to disproportionately accommodate a few types of drinks. That being said, this is not an excuse, but may help to explain why tiki drinks less frequently pave their way into even the most prideful cocktail bars, which is a shame.

 

Consequently, if you’re a bartender or at home mixologist, you’re probably going to have to put the tiki effort in yourself. Sure, some are fortunate enough to live near a great tiki bar like Forbidden Island, but the rest of have to seek out exotic ingredients, fruits, and crazy mugs without counsel. If you find yourself in this situation, the first resource you should look into is Beachbum Berry’s Sippin’ Safari. Of all his books, this the most complete and descriptive account of his quest to uncover tiki drinks and share them with the public. Several drinks in here would fit the Limit One description, but one of my favorites by far is The Jet Pilot, not to be confused with the Test Pilot:

The Jet Pilot

1 oz Dark Rum
3/4 oz Puerto Rican Rum
3/4 oz 151-Proof Lemon Hart Demerara Rum
1/2 oz Fee Brother’s Falernum
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Cinnamon Simple Syrup
6 Drops Pernod
1 Dash Angostura Bitters
4 oz (1/2 Cup) Crushed Ice

Put everything into a blender, adding crushed ice last, and blend at high speed for five seconds. Pour into an old-fashioned glass.

See why not every bar makes these things? One of the primary reasons obviously is the blender. Man, they make so much noise, and they don’t really go with a carefully stirred manhattan, but hey the jet pilot is also a great throw back to another era, and it definitely does the trick, if you can find everything to put in it. The 151-Proof Lemon Hart Demerara can be a tough find, but you can always go the online route and get some here.

This drinks is awesome because of the depth of flavor. Too often, people unfamiliar with tiki drinks assume that the seemingly simple mixtures of fruit juice and rum are simple formulas, but like this drink, the types of rum and accents of various dashes create a mixture that leaves you wanting more, though this is clearly a misguided choice. The Jet Pilot was the creation of the Laua Restaurant, a late 50’s tiki joint in Beverly Hills. It is an awesome drink that combines spiced flavors of cinnamon and dark rum flavors with the Angostura and Pernod and fruit juices. Man, it is one of the best tiki drinks I have had yet. You have to give this one a try. If you don’t believe me, just ask Rick at Kaiser Penguin. He thought the same thing about the Jet Pilot.

Rick is also our host for this week’s Mixology Monday: Limit One. However, in Rick’s post on the Jet Pilot he emphatically declares: “This has to be one of my favorite faux tropicals. Ok, I must go make another one now …”. Wow, Rick what counts as a “limit one” drink? I thought this drink would have definitely counted; heck, it would be illegal to serve in a bar in Texas. Sure, I know our state has some messed up laws, but man, I hope this qualifies for Mixology Monday at least. If you want to see others try and stack up to the Kaiser Penguins tolerance, head over to his site for the MxMo roundup. Just be sure to comeback to Drink Dogma in the future - change those rss feeds, bookmarks, and links.

By the way, what do you think of my new site?

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