On 2004-12-07 10:54, Ku Ku Ahu wrote:
Two things come to mind right away:
One is WTF is Apfelkorn? Heh heh heh! I'll admit I had to look that one up. Figured it had to be a schnaps, and sure enough...
Secondly, it seems to me that the cinnamon flavor you will get with most commercial american schnaps is going to be that chewing gum kind of artificial cinnamon and not a true natural pie cinnamon flavor.
The best solution I can dream up would take a little bit of work, but I think would be worth it, and that would be to spice (infuse) a rum with cinnamon specially for this drink.
You could drop both the Sailor Jerry and the cinnamon schnaps in favor of the following:
Heat one half cup of light rum (Cruzan is nice for infusions and liqueurs like this) in a small pot on the stove to a light simmer.
Throw some fresh cinnamon sticks in a food processor (I have a dedicated processor for this since it is tough on the machine and will piss off your wife) or smash 'em up a bit inside a plastic bag with a hammer maybe. Just get 'em small enough to fit through the largest funnel you can find that still fits the neck of the bottle you plan to use for the finished product.
You'll want a rough 1/4 cup or so of smashed up sticks. It isn't a science really, so don't fret the details of measure until your second batch when ya get some idea of how it turns out and what ya wanna change. Just write down what ya do, how much for how long, etc. so that you have a record for the next time.
Toss the sticks into the rum and let it steep. Keep the flame low enough to keep the rum nice and hot, but don't burn it all off. Add a splash of rum if it looks to become dry.
Let this brew for maybe five minutes or so and then let it cool a bit.
Dump the whole mess into the bottle via the funnel along with 2 additional cups of rum.
Let sit for a week or so shaking occasionally. You can taste it daily when it settles out if you want to check for flavor permeation. When it hits the level ya want, strain it, pass it through a coffee filter and bottle it.
Add sugar syrup if ya want a true liqueur as opposed to a cinnamon rum at roughly 1 part to 3 of sugar syrup to rum. I might leave it alone so as to not have it be a sweet ingredient in the drink, but you can try it either way and see what works best.
Great idea with the cinnamon infused rum and I may wind up going that way but I was hoping for something that anybody could purchase to make the recipe. That cinnamon infused rum does sound mighty good though. Even just to make it just for the hell of it. Mmmmm.
Back to the drink:
Now, I'd have to taste the whole thing to see where the mango rum, orgeat, and black strap rum fit in flavor-wise, but I like the vanilla rum in there for sure. The others I might let go. Bitters are a must here, I agree with you there.
Agreed. The Vanilla and bitters a must. The mango, orgeat, black strap were to contribute a fruity sweet syrupness that may be rendered unnecessary by changes in other parts of the recipe.
I'd use a cider as opposed to the apple juice though, and I might even be inclined (here comes more weird lab work and cookery) to make a cider reduction instead(cook apple cider down to a thicker nectar to concentrate the flavor).
Also, frozen apple juice concentrate can be employed when mixed with only one can of water to make a syrupy version. I'd still prefer both the color and flavor of a cider though.
Damn, are you a chef? Cider it is!
Also, I suppose I'd want to use Applejack. Though your Apfelkorn might be great, I like the fact that Lairds is an American ingredient in what is arguably a very American cocktail (Apple pie, Mom, and Chevrolet).
Apfelkorn tastes like (slightly) hard cider. I've never had Applejack. It's not sour is it?
Lastly, apple pie is buttery in the crust with a touch of salt. I could see you using a scant amount (1/8 oz or less) of butterscotch schnaps and a tiny pinch of salt in the shaker.
Hmmmm...interesting. Will try. Thanks Ahu.
