Silver Bullet 12

Booze, News, Reviews

Dec 13, 2021

∙ Paid

Hey,

Good to have you back for another Silver Bullet, and welcome to the new subscribers!

We are getting into the holiday spirit at home! The tree is up, there’s a fancy smelly candle, I ate a candy cane, and I unstuck the cap on my bottle of Benedictine. It’s practically almost here!

This will be the last Silver Bullet for the year, but have no fear, the doodles will continue on Instagram. I’ll hit the ground running in 2022 with Silver Bullet 13…er…scratch that, let’s call it Silver Bullet 14 and try not to jinx anything. I think we could all use a good year!

I would also love to hear what everyone is doing for the holidays. New Years is always a special day for us, and it usually includes copious amounts of seafood and champagne (and poodles).

How do you ring in the New Year?

At the Bar

Over the past few months, we have more or less given up beef at home. If I am making chili or meatballs, we use turkey. Fish and chicken are mainstays, and on the rare occasion that we cook red meat I go with lamb. That being said, I do occasionally sneak out for a steak lunch and a cocktail on Friday afternoons.

Right down the street from my office is a restaurant called Knight’s. They are known for their steaks, strong highballs, and a ridiculous Cobb salad that could feed the whole table. I sit in the same spot. I order the same thing. I bring a book or the paper and enjoy the break and snappy bar service. It’s great. The martini I usually order comes shaken or at least heavily jostled, but I don’t mind. This past Friday, however, I went off script and went with a Negroni—it was great!

My town has an issue with Negronis in that everyone tries to make it something more. The Italian place down the way has an orange infused pre batched abomination and as much as I want it to be good I often end up with a Peroni or a glass of wine. A couple of other spots use a bitter besides Campari or Dubonnet instead of sweet vermouth, and I always regret my decision to go Negroni.

The bartender at Knight’s knew exactly what was up. He made it heavy on the gin and lighter on the reds, all served over ice with a slice of orange. Easy. That may be my new Friday lunch appetizer! It’s good to know the places that do certain things well, and this place knows how to mix a Negroni and how to cook a steak.

At Home

Drinks at home have been a little off the beaten path. We usually start the evening with a clear dry something or other, and we seem to be eating earlier and earlier, so after dinner that leaves time for a nightcap and some Christmas music (more on that below).

The two notable cocktails I enjoyed at home his past week were the Ce Soir and Chrysanthemum.

I am constantly trying to drink more brandy, so the Ce Soir stuck out as one to try. I followed a recipe from Punch, and I will add my tinkered version down below for paid subscribers because I found theirs to be just a touch cloying. The drink includes Cynar and yellow Chartreuse, but with the main ingredient being Cognac you don’t really have the proof of a stronger whiskey to combat those other ingredients like you do with a Brooklyn or a Greenpoint (both delicious.)

The other drink is the Chrysanthemum (thanks again, spellcheck!) It simply is dry vermouth, Benedictine, and a few dashes of absinthe, but the recipe I used was also a touch on the sweet side. I would actually make this drink more like a Poet’s Dream with a much smaller amount of Benedictine because a half-and-half vermouth to Bene is far too much. A nice thing about this one is that it packs the flavor without the booze. It makes a great low ABV nightcap option.

I’d give them both a try! Have a look at the recipes down below.

Martinis and Mistletoe

Every year I like to put together a little 25 track Christmas playlist.

Martinis and Mistletoe 2021
Apple / Spotify

Also, feel free to check out the mix from last year, too. It’s one of my favorites!

Martinis and Mistletoe 2020
Apple / Spotify

More to Wash Down

Watch

Old Fashioned Variations:

保志綾（Bar Dealan-Dé）Hoshi Aya (上からのアングル)

静谷和典（BAR 新宿ウイスキーサロン）Kazunori Shizuya (上からのアングル)

鹿山博康（Bar Ben Fiddich）Hiroyasu Kayama (ボトル越しのアングル)

馬上千寛（Bar TRIAD）Moue Chihiro (ボトル越しのアングル)

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Enjoy the sneak peek doodle and the recipes!

Cocktail Doodle

Silver Bullet 12

Booze, News, Reviews

At the Bar

At Home

Martinis and Mistletoe

More to Wash Down

Articles

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Watch

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