Interlude

Its late and I'm beat. Rather than wax rhapsodic about party theory this time, here's something strictly practical. We were contemplating Southern menus -- and, naturally, what one drinks with them -- and I started thumbing through the recipes attached to the neck of a Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine bottle. Its tasty enough, though one should be aware that unlike white lightning in general, Catdaddy is spiced and sweetened -- effectively a 'shine liqueur -- and needs to be handled accordingly.

The recipe I tried was their Catdaddy Manhattan, which was ... well, way too sweet. Their recipe looks like this:

Daddy's Manhattan
2 oz Catdaddy
1 1/2 oz rye whiskey
1/4 oz sweet vermouth
2 dashes rhubarb bitters
1 dash orange liqueur
 Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass, cherry garnish.

Not only too sweet, the rhubarb was sort of lost in it, and it seemed a flavor that played better with spices in the Catdaddy was in order.

My reformulation ... errr, call it the Cathattan for the moment.

2 oz rye whiskey
1 oz Catdaddy
1/4 oz sweet vermouth
3 dashes Fee Brothers Peach Bitters
1 dash triple sec
Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass, cherry garnish.

Give them a go, see what you think. Fee Brothers - I've added a link under Party Supplies ... maybe I need a subsection just for geeky booze links.


P.S: Speaking of things Southern. David Wondrich, for whom I have the greatest respect, has noted that Laird's is pretty much the only game in town when it comes to applejack, or American apple brandy. 'Taint so - North Carolina has an outfit called Carriage House that produces a fine apple brandy -- different, but to my taste just about as good as Laird's Bottled in Bond product. Just the thing for making Pan American Clippers after a beastly day at the office!

Goodnight now -