Angkor Wat in Cambodia is tremendously impressive (and this photo is unedited)

If you've never had the lychee fruit, you're missing one of the edible joys of life.  I've had the good fortune to travel to various countries in Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  I had a great time, as well as some amazing cocktails and liquors. None of those countries is a major producer of lychee (China is the big one), but you can find it on many menus. 

There are some lychee liquors on the market, so if you can get one, making this cocktail is easy.

2 ounces vodka (I'm a big fan of Zyr)
1 ounce Soho lychee liqueur
.25 ounces super simple syrup

Combine in shaker, stir with the dynamic energy on the streets in Bangkok and Saigon, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

This is my summer home ....  not really.  It actually belongs to the King of Thailand.

Soho makes a very good liqueur that has a solid lychee taste and is vaguely sweet.  I've made this cocktail with Chinese lychee liqueurs that I found in San Francisco, but they were pretty bitter and so were the resulting cocktails.  If this recipe is too sweet for you, forget the simple syrup or add vodka.  If the lychee taste is too strong, then add a little more vodka, simple syrup, or both.

This cocktail brings back memories such as haggling in Thai with  vendors in Bangkok, walking through the almost unreal beauty of the National Botanical Garden in Singapore, watching a gorgeous sunrise on the beach in Nha Trang, and riding an elephant near the majestic ruins of Angkor Wat.  I hope you will associate this cocktail with your own great experiences.

Varenna on Lake Como

Like cocktails, travel is one of my other passions.  I've had the good fortune to be able to travel around the United States and around the world.  I also have the good fortune to be a married to a lady who occasionally travels for business.  This means I can play the role of freeloading husband.  If there was an Oscar for such a role, I would have won the award many times.

A few years ago she had a business trip to Milan.  We explored the city and nearby Lake Como.  Milan is Italy's commercial capital and is not as tourist friendly as other places in Italy (I actually respect that).  The Lake Como area is simply stunning. After I went to one part of Lake Como with my wife and her co-workers, I liked it so much I went back to a different part while she was stuck in a meeting that was straight out of Dante's Inferno.

The Duomo in Milan (taken from the roof of the Duomo) at sunset

I did not see an Italian sunrise in Lake Como or Milan (I did in Venice on a different trip), but the namesake cocktail is perfect for warm weather, or if you're just dreaming of warm weather.

1.5 ounces vodka (I recommend Zyr)
.75 ounces Lupo limoncello
.5 ounces Campari
Juice from 1/8 lemon or orange

Combine into a shaker with ice, shake like you're on a boat in choppy water outside of Bellagio (the lovely picturesque town, not the casino in Las Vegas), and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

If the cocktail is too sweet, I suggest adding a dash or two of orange bitters.  Conversely, if the cocktail is too tart, I suggest adding half an ounce of super simple syrup.

My cellos -- calce (lime), aran (orange), and limon (lemon)

I’m not referring to the musical instrument (although a group of drunken Yo-Yo Ma protégés could make some very interesting music), but types of Italian fruit liqueurs.  After my successful  experiment in making Lupo limoncello (click here to see how), I decided to branch out and combine Everclear with other citrus.  So far I’ve used mandarin oranges (arancello) and limes (calcecello) in the same process.

You can drink any of the cellos on their own (I recommend serving them chilled) and they’re quite good in cocktails.  Here’s an easy and tasty recipe:

1.5 ounces vodka (I’m a big fan of Zyr)
.75 ounces limon, aran, or calce cello

Combine in shaker with ice, stir like you’re the maestro at La Scala, then strain into chilled cocktail glass.

If the end result is too tart for you, just add simple syrup.  If you use mandarin oranges for arancello, you probably won’t need simple syrup because mandarin oranges are sweeter than navel oranges. That may be why Lupo arancello is extremely popular.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I love ginger flavored anything.  Last month I attended my first Tales Of The Cocktail conference.  During the conference my wife and I sampled Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur, and the next night we met the founder of Barrow’s Intense, his wife, and his assistant at a great bar in New Orleans.  They are all good people.

Ever since the sampling and fortunate encounter in New Orleans, I’ve wanted to get my hands on Barrow's Intense.  This week it happened.   Even though it is not yet on the shelves of liquor stores where I live, I was able to procure it from Park Avenue Liquor, which despite its name is actually on Madison Avenue in New York City.  The place has a great selection and the staff is quite knowledgeable.

Does it enhance my ginger lime martini?  To quote the Mr. Big character from Sex and the City (yes, I watched the show, albeit for a completely different reason than my wife), absofuckinglutely.

Here is my new and more intense ginger lime martini:

2 ounces vodka (I like Zyr and Belvedere)
1 ounce Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur
Juice from ½ lime

Combine in shaker with ice, shake intensely, and strain into chilled martini glass.  Lime garnish optional. 

Even though this ginger lime martini isn’t technically a martini or quite as powerful as my original version (Barrow’s has a slightly lower proof than Domaine de Canton), the taste is stronger.  It brings back fond memories various places in Asia (Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, and Vietnam) to which I have traveled and that use ginger in their cooking and cocktails.

I first saw this combination at a local bar.  Unfortunately the bar, which shall remain nameless in order to keep me from becoming a defendant in a defamation lawsuit, delivered a product which, at best, aspired to mediocrity.  How could a bar FUBAR such a wonderfully simple cocktail concept? If you’re not familiar with the acronym FUBAR, I suggest you pray to Saint Google.  I could have tried to figure out the answer, but I preferred to focus on making a better cocktail.  I know this is not technically a martini (see my “rules” from an earlier post).  Here is my version:

2 parts vodka
1 part ginger liqueur (right now I’m using Domaine de Canton but that probably will change, see below)
Fresh lime juice

Combine in shaker with ice, shake, then strain into chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with lime.

I’m a big fan of ginger.  If you happen to go to Singapore, I definitely recommend Halia, which has a ginger themed menu.

You’ll see that I use Domaine de Canton in this recipe. Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur is pretty smooth and is fairly common across the U.S.

I’m looking forward to preparing this cocktail with Barrow’s Intense ginger liqueur.  My wife and I had the privilege of tasting it at Tales Of The Cocktail last month.  The liqueur is true to its name and excellent. In an experience that I can best describe as serendipitous, the day after we tasted the liqueur we met the founder of Barrow’s Intense at the The Bombay Club, a very good old school bar and restaurant in New Orleans (my compliments go to Bree and Rachel, both of whom are excellent bartenders).  Barrow’s Intense comes out of Brooklyn, and it definitely has the potential to be a major player on the cocktail scene.  If you do not love the strong ginger flavor as much as I do, you may want to adjust the proportions if you use it as part of a ginger lime martini.

Vodka is a Slavic word that means “little water.”  My ancestors hail from what is now Lithuania and Russia, so I think I’m genetically hardwired to like it.  Whether on the rocks, in a cocktail, or neat (with one particular brand), vodka is my go to clear liquor.

Some people don’t like vodka.  That is their prerogative.  For an excellent defense of vodka and a discussion about those who have a near pathological hatred of it, I recommend the following column from Carrie Allan -- Vodka, The Disraeli of Spirits

Two of my favorite "little waters"

My current favorite to use in cocktails is Zyr. Its sharp but not too sharp taste augments and enhances the other ingredients.  It is also quite good on the rocks. 

Thanks to Bo, my favorite bartender at the Russian Vodka Room, a great watering hole to which I go every time I’m in New York City, I learned about Faberge Imperial Collection.  It  is so smooth you can drink it at room temperature.  Seriously.  I didn’t believe Bo when she made that claim, but she was right.  Faberge Imperial Collection can be tough to find. Keep in mind there are two versions – a normal bottle that retails for around $60, and a jeweled bottle that retails for far more than $1,000. I went for the first one.

If you like flavor infused vodkas, I highly recommend the selection at the Russian Vodka Room in New York City (the horseradish puts hair on your chest, and the apple pomegranate is delightful) Mari Vanna in Washington, D.C. (the honey oat was a particular favorite for me and my wife), Russia House in Herndon, Virginia (try the butterscotch, which isn't as sweet as you would think), and Russian House (over 70 different flavors) in Austin, Texas.

Mooch was a cat my wife and I had for many years. Shortly after he died I spent an afternoon at my home bar experimenting with various liquors in order to create a cocktail in his honor.

1.5 ounces vodka
.5 ounces Benedictine DOM
.5 ounces Fernet Branca
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Combine in shaker with ice, stir with the intensity of Mooch eating almost anything, and strain into a chilled glass.

Mooch was a tuxedo cat, so initially I looked at cocktails that contained the word tuxedo in the name. The combination of Benedictine and Fernet Branca seems odd, but in my opinion they complement each other well. Like its namesake, this cocktail has a fairly sharp bite at first, then has some sweetness, and always leaves you hungry for more.