velvet falernum, where is it? - Tiki Drinks and Food

M martiki Official Mixologist http://www.smugglerscovesf.com Joined: Mar 29, 2002 Posts: 3059	M martiki Posted posted on Fri, Sep 19, 2003 9:50 AM Evidently, the elusive Velvet Falernum is getting closer. Below is an article from yesterday's SF Chronicle. It's the regular cocktail column, which is written in a pretentious & irritating style, but has a good recipe at the end. Try to ignore the ghastly suggestions made during the article: The Professor, our cocktailian bartender, is a very happy man today. He just signed off on a liquor delivery and three bottles of a new product called Velvet Falernum were in one of the cases. Falernum is a low-alcohol liqueur made with sugarcane and flavored with lime, almonds and cloves among other things. The Boss walks through the door to find The Professor tasting a little falernum from a shot glass. "Professor, we aren't even open yet, and you're doing shooters. What the heck are you playing at?" he explodes. "And good morning to you, too, Boss. It's rare to see you in such fine fettle at this hour." "Yeah, well, I'm having a problem with Regina, the waitress. I threatened to institute a dress code if she keeps wearing those outfits -- she showed up last night looking like a showgirl from Cabaret." The Boss wanders downstairs to his office, mumbling and grumbling as he goes, and The Professor turns to greet Jen, a bartender from a nearby joint. "Did the falernum get here?" she asks. "Sure did. Want a shot?" Jen takes a sip and the two cocktailians start to discuss how they are going to use it in mixed drinks. The Professor thinks it would work well as an additional ingredient in a Manhattan, and Jen wants to try mixing it with peaty single malts such as Ardbeg, Laphroig or Lagavullin. "Dale DeGroff sent me this recipe for a drink he calls Velvet Fog," says Jen, pulling her notepad from her bag. "Want to try it?" "Sure. I hear that he's been doing a great job training bartenders in London, but I sometimes wish he was still behind the stick at New York's Rainbow Room," says The Professor. The two are in awe of the Velvet Fog. Not only does it have a wonderfully complex palate, the freshly grated nutmeg floating on the cocktail makes it an aromatic masterpiece. The door opens and Regina strides up to the bar, wearing a pill-box hat and looking something like an airline stewardess from the movie "Catch Me If You Can." She asks if the Boss is in the office and disappears downstairs. Jen is just finishing her cocktail when Regina reappears from the office. "You still work here?" asks The Professor. "Sure do. Probably for as long as I like. Did I tell you that my dad used to hang out at the bar where the Boss worked back in the '70s?" "Don't tell me you have something on the Boss, Regina?" "Not really. Just this picture of him tending bar." Regina hands a photograph to The Professor who takes a glance, smiles and gives it back. "Is the Boss wearing some hideous hippy clothes in that picture?" asks Jen. "No," says Regina. "He isn't wearing a stitch." The Velvet Fog INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 ounces Stolichnaya Ohranj vodka 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice 1 ounce Velvet Falernum 1 ounce fresh orange juice 1 dash Angostura bitters Orange twist, for garnish Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish INSTRUCTIONS: Shake the vodka, lime juice, Velvet Falernum, orange juice and bitters with ice and strain into a chilled Martini glass. Hold a lighted match over the glass. Take the orange twist in your other hand and hold it by the sides using your thumb and first two fingers. Make sure the colored side of the twist points toward the drink. Hold the twist over the match and squeeze it to release its oils. The oils will ignite as they leap through the flame, caramelizing before resting atop the drink. Dust with nutmeg.

Evidently, the elusive Velvet Falernum is getting closer. Below is an article from yesterday's SF Chronicle. It's the regular cocktail column, which is written in a pretentious & irritating style, but has a good recipe at the end. Try to ignore the ghastly suggestions made during the article:

The Professor, our cocktailian bartender, is a very happy man today. He just signed off on a liquor delivery and three bottles of a new product called Velvet Falernum were in one of the cases. Falernum is a low-alcohol liqueur made with sugarcane and flavored with lime, almonds and cloves among other things. The Boss walks through the door to find The Professor tasting a little falernum from a shot glass.

"Professor, we aren't even open yet, and you're doing shooters. What the heck are you playing at?" he explodes.

"And good morning to you, too, Boss. It's rare to see you in such fine fettle at this hour."

"Yeah, well, I'm having a problem with Regina, the waitress. I threatened to institute a dress code if she keeps wearing those outfits -- she showed up last night looking like a showgirl from Cabaret."

The Boss wanders downstairs to his office, mumbling and grumbling as he goes, and The Professor turns to greet Jen, a bartender from a nearby joint.

"Did the falernum get here?" she asks.

"Sure did. Want a shot?"

Jen takes a sip and the two cocktailians start to discuss how they are going to use it in mixed drinks. The Professor thinks it would work well as an additional ingredient in a Manhattan, and Jen wants to try mixing it with peaty single malts such as Ardbeg, Laphroig or Lagavullin.

"Dale DeGroff sent me this recipe for a drink he calls Velvet Fog," says Jen, pulling her notepad from her bag. "Want to try it?"

"Sure. I hear that he's been doing a great job training bartenders in London, but I sometimes wish he was still behind the stick at New York's Rainbow Room," says The Professor.

The two are in awe of the Velvet Fog. Not only does it have a wonderfully complex palate, the freshly grated nutmeg floating on the cocktail makes it an aromatic masterpiece. The door opens and Regina strides up to the bar, wearing a pill-box hat and looking something like an airline stewardess from the movie "Catch Me If You Can." She asks if the Boss is in the office and disappears downstairs. Jen is just finishing her cocktail when Regina reappears from the office.

"You still work here?" asks The Professor.

"Sure do. Probably for as long as I like. Did I tell you that my dad used to hang out at the bar where the Boss worked back in the '70s?"

"Don't tell me you have something on the Boss, Regina?"

"Not really. Just this picture of him tending bar."

Regina hands a photograph to The Professor who takes a glance, smiles and gives it back.

"Is the Boss wearing some hideous hippy clothes in that picture?" asks Jen.

"No," says Regina. "He isn't wearing a stitch."

The Velvet Fog

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 ounces Stolichnaya Ohranj vodka

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

1 ounce Velvet Falernum

1 ounce fresh orange juice

1 dash Angostura bitters

Orange twist, for garnish

Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:
Shake the vodka, lime juice, Velvet Falernum, orange juice and bitters with ice and strain into a chilled Martini glass.

Hold a lighted match over the glass. Take the orange twist in your other hand and hold it by the sides using your thumb and first two fingers. Make sure the colored side of the twist points toward the drink. Hold the twist over the match and squeeze it to release its oils. The oils will ignite as they leap through the flame, caramelizing before resting atop the drink. Dust with nutmeg.

Post #51872 by martiki on Fri, Sep 19, 2003 9:50 AM