Monthly Archives: December 2010

— No. 67 —

Baltimore Egg Nogg

I did­n’t have to rack my nog­gin’ to select this years hol­i­day cock­tail. It was a no brain­er, Hon. I call Bal­ti­more home so nat­u­ral­ly I chose a clas­sic recipe for Bal­ti­more Egg Nogg. The Bal­ti­more Egg Nogg recipe was first pub­lished in a Bal­ti­more cook­book in the 1940’s and incor­po­rat­ed a unique ingre­di­ent in Madeira wine. I adapt­ed this recipe from Jer­ry Thomas’ Bar-Ten­ders Guide, pub­lished in 1887. Yeah, I’m going way back. Recipe 6 eggs 5 oz Madeira …

— No. 66 —

Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

Since 1821, peo­ple have iden­ti­fied Luxar­do Maraschi­no Liqueur by its straw-plait­ed bot­tles. Orig­i­nal­ly it was used to avoid break­age dur­ing sea trav­el. Now it is a sta­ple of the brand, visu­al­ly pulling it for­ward on liquor shelves across the globe. Still owned and oper­at­ed by the sixth gen­er­a­tion of the Luxar­do fam­i­ly, it is one of the old­est Euro­pean liqueurs (learn more about the his­to­ry of Luxar­do). Luxar­do Maraschi­no is a true clas­sic and is one of the most impor­tant …

— No. 64 —

Faretti Biscotti Famosi

Far­ret­ti Bis­cot­ti Famosi liqueur is made in the Trenti­no region of North­ern Italy where they still bake their bis­cot­ti cook­ies in rus­tic brick ovens. Sounds like a hid­den part of heav­en I’ve yet to find. Just like the tra­di­tion­al twice baked cook­ie, this liqueur’s recipe is based off of nuts, anise, cit­rus and caramel. The base is of vod­ka and it is sweet­ened with beet sug­ar. I’m not sure how this liqueur is craft­ed because there isn’t much on the …

— No. 62 —

Lillet Blanc

The orig­i­nal Lil­let Blanc recipe dates back to 1872 and was called Kina Lil­let made by Paul and Ray­mond Lil­let.  In 1986 it was refor­mu­lat­ed. The recipe cut back on the quinine/bitterness and added more fresh fruit notes. Kina in the orig­i­nal name comes from the Peru­vian tree called “kina kina”. They use the bark of this tree to make qui­nine, also called Chin­chona. Tast­ing notes: Sniff and you’ll notice the select blend of Bor­deaux grapes aged in oak casks, …