Help me find muddled drinks!

January 9, 2009 6:27 AM

Help me find muddled drinks!

For Christmas this year, I got a new muddler, perfect for making mojitos when summer rolls around; huzzah!

By coincidence, I'm also responsible for finding a new and (hopefully) innovative cocktail to bring to a party in a few weeks' time. This seems like the perfect convergence to me, so I've been looking for recipes for a muddled drink that isn't a mojito or caipirinha. I've found a handful, but they're usually varieties of the mojito (perfectly fine, but not as exciting as I'd hoped). It's also winter, so I don't know how fitting a drink as light as the mojito would be--at the same time, I'm not sure I've ever heard of a muddled drink that's appropriate for winter, so if your recipe is more summer-appropriate, that's fine too. So, cocktail enthusiasts of MetaFilter, if you've got a recipe that you've enjoyed, I'd love to hear it!

posted by Mayor West to food & drink (16 comments total)

Old Fashioned - orange slice and cherry at the bottom of a highball glass; cover with bitters, muddle, add ice and pour measure of bourbon.
posted by downing street memo at 6:41 AM on January 9 [2 favorites]

a Google search for muddled cocktails led me to Echo Restaurant where they have a pretty good list of (mostly) muddle drinks.

This one sounds pretty stellar to me:

ECHO PIMM’S CUP
classic british cocktail. muddled cucumber shaken with pimm’s cup no.1, seagram’s gin, lemon and lime juice, served over ice, and finished with ginger ale. 6.5

No idea why you would need to muddle in such a neutral taste as cucumber, but hey, why the hell not, you have a new muddler.
posted by clearly at 6:43 AM on January 9 [1 favorite]

(an old fashioned has an orange slice, cherry and a dash of sugar in bottom of glass - you need the sugar)
posted by bitdamaged at 6:44 AM on January 9

Would go with the Old Fashioned as well. Definitely need the sugar. You will also want some lemon zest along with the orange and I like to use scotch instead of bourbon. Great drink for winter or anytime actually.
posted by clark at 6:59 AM on January 9

I had this drink at Kittichai in NYC years ago and have been thinking about it since - thanks for asking the question because it forced me to look it up and I found the actual recipe from the restaurant. I'm not sure it would be great for a crowd since it's so meticulous - but you should certainly give it a whirl at some point now that you'll be muddling whenever you feel like it.

Ingredients
12 seedless red grapes, plus 3 grapes for garnish
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut water (see Note)
1/4 cup Champagne or sparkling wine

Directions
In a cocktail shaker, muddle the 12 red grapes with the brown sugar. Add the vodka and coconut water, stir and pour into a highball glass over crushed ice; don't strain. Top with the Champagne and garnish with the 3 grapes.

Notes
Unsweetened coconut water is available at many supermarkets and Latin American food stores.
posted by jasbet07 at 7:34 AM on January 9 [1 favorite]

Though not very far removed from the Caipirinha, a caipiroska is one of my favorite drinks. Basically the same beverage, but with vodka instead of cachaca. It's less sweet and has won lots of my friends over.
posted by slimepuppy at 7:35 AM on January 9

Yes on the Old Fashioned, and remember that you can do it sweet or, um, not-sweet (I only get it sweet). Instead of bourbon, I get the brandy version.
posted by Madamina at 7:38 AM on January 9

Yes, the Old Fashioned is the best cocktail ever.

You can also use your muddler with traditionally non-muddled drinks, muddling lemon in your Tom Collins instead of using that disgusting mix, for instance. Muddle some fruit in your sangria. Muddled ginger slices are nice in whiskey and vodka drinks, and probably rum, if you run out of the whiskey and vodka.

Isn't it fun to say muddle?
posted by fidelity at 7:41 AM on January 9

Also, the Delilah: Muddled lemon, with roughly two parts gin to one part Cointreau. You will want to vary the amount of Cointreau depending on how sweet you like your drinks.
posted by fidelity at 7:52 AM on January 9

Isn't it fun to say muddle?

This may or may not be 50% of the reason I would like to make muddled cocktails in a few weeks.

Thanks for the answers, the the link to the MeFi post on Old Fashioned from a few years back... now I have some light reading for the afternoon, too!

muddle!
posted by Mayor West at 7:52 AM on January 9

I always muddle my mint juleps, although I understand that some folks don't. Either way, you should drink them copiously on Derby Day and throughout the summer. And, well, it's bourbon, poured strong. I don't see how this wouldn't keep you warm in the winter, too.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:36 AM on January 9

Mint Julep!

Mint, Bourbon, Sugar, Water. Muddle, add ice. YUM!

This article has a few recipes, as does this.
posted by JonnyRotten at 8:39 AM on January 9 [2 favorites]

I had the best drink once, and I can't remember it's name, but I believe it was muddled blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, simple syrup, ice and bourbon.
posted by Evangeline at 8:50 AM on January 9

nth-ing the mint julep. The best ones are made with Woodford Reserve in silver julep cups. Don't forget to put mint on top and insert two straws for drinking. The key is to trim the straws just about 1" above the top of the cup -- that way you smell the mint leaves on top as you sip the bourbon up from the bottom (i.e., through the muddled sugar and mint leaves). Mmm.

For a Winter/fall muddle drink see The Normandy, a calvados-based cocktail, that was just featured on Jill Santopietro's NYTimes.com "Tiny Kitchen" video segment.
posted by jmstephan at 9:04 AM on January 9

A friend once got me a sidecar, a brandy-based drink with muddled citrus. My god, I liked it so much I drank till I threw up. This model of self-control gives sidecars a thumbs up.
posted by Foam Pants at 10:30 AM on January 9 [1 favorite]

Yes, you can use a muddler to make an Old Fashioned, but please don't sully that fine drink with muddled fruit.

Old Fashioned
from Esquire Drinks.

1. Place one sugar cub e in old fashioned glass.
   
2. Wet with 2 or three dashes of Angostura Bitters and a short splash of water or club soda.
   
3. Crush with muddler.
   
4. Rotate glass so sugar grains and bitters line glass.
   
5. Add a large ice cube or two
   
6. Add 2.5 oz of Rye or bourbon.
   
7. Optional, add a twist of orange or lemon.
   

Notes:

• If you don't have sugar cubes, use a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.
• A twist is made with something like this and is not simply the rind ripped off a half-round of lemon/orange.
• If you are careful in cutting the twist, you will be able to curl into a little screw and twist it over the drink, and you should be able to see a spray of oil shoot. You could also rub the rim with the twist to put the flavorful citrus oils into the drink.
• Unnaturally colored cocktail cherries belong in very very few drinks. There is no excuse to ever muddle one. When muddled thoroughly they break apart and make the drink ugly. When muddled gently (or thoroughly), they add no desirable flavors to the drink.

If you want to learn to make great cocktails, the Esquire book is should be your first stop. It is worth the hassle of finding a used copy (I would even say it is worth $50 used).
posted by fief at 12:15 PM on January 9