Drinks, Lockdown Libations

Lockdown Libations no. 23 – Classic Cocktails: Boulevardier

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Things are shifting in this pandemic world: restaurants are opening their doors again to indoor dining, libraries are welcoming readers back, gyms are back to letting people do gym things. Bubbles are about to be relaxed. And second-dose delivery is ramping up as the government moved up dates for those who got their first vaccinations in April.

My blog, my opinion: I, too, want things to be like they were before (in terms of freedom to go where I want and see people without endangering their health), but it feels too quick. Too much, too soon. Without careful thought and consideration.

I had thought about winding Lockdown Libations down. Truthfully, I didn’t think it would be in it’s 25th week. (I gave myself a couple weeks off here and there).

But instead I’m going to take a break from new things and share some of my favourite classic cocktail recipes.

Starting with a Boulevardier.

Boulevardier III

I’m often surprised when people say they haven’t heard of this, but it’s nowhere near as famous as its… parent? Cousin? The Negroni. Same idea in terms of equal parts campari, sweet vermouth and gin, but for a Boulevardier you swap the gin with bourbon or whiskey. It’s one of those cocktails that’s dangerous easy to memorize and anyone with a semi-stocked liquor cabinet has all that’s needed. (Except, perhaps, like me, an orange peel. But I wouldn’t let that stop me and I suggest it shouldn’t stop you either.)

While the traditional recipe is equal parts, I like to lean a little more on the bourbon, which I find to be more balanced — not mathematically, of course, but in terms of taste.

Boulevardier ingredients

I recommend experimenting. I’ve seen versions that use the traditional method. Others with 3/4 ounce each of Campari and vermouth to 1 1/2 ounces of bourbon and so on. There’s also no rule the Campari and vermouth need to be in equal volume. So, there’s room to play to make it truly your own.

The recipe I have here is my preferred version.

Boulevardier I

Boulevardier IV

I’ll be back next week with another classic.

Boulevardier

  • 1 1/2 ounces bourbon
  • 1 ounce Campari
  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth
  • orange twist for garnish, optional

Add liquors to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well chilled. Strain into glass with fresh ice — preferably one large cube. Add garnish.

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Drinks, Lockdown Libations

Lockdown Libations no. 19: Sbagliato

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Generally, TikTok is bad for me. I’ve lost far too many hours to that app over the course of the pandemic, watching mostly silly, sometimes funny, generally inane videos, often to the point where the app pops up with this whole “Whoa, you’ve been on here too long — go take a break!” message.

But, the algorithm is good. And that means I get a lot of great body positive content, fat women showing off amazing outfits and solid recipes. Like this one for a Sbagliato.

Sbagliato

The Italian word for ‘mistake’ or ‘mess up,’ the story goes this cocktail originated when a busy bartender accidentally swapped the gin in a Negroni for sparkling wine. Given how different those bottles tend to be, I’m not sure how that could happen. But, then again, I make one cocktail at a time. For just myself (Hello, COVID-19 safety measures). So…

Sbagliato I

I can honestly say, I quite like this cocktail. It’s all the bitter and hint of sweet from a Negroni or Boulevardier but without the boozy heaviness. This is the kind of cocktail I want on a sunny patio. With a plate of charcuterie and some olives. (Ignore the fact it is snowing as I type this.) I can see some lovely summer afternoons on my balcony sipping a double Sbagliato (three ounces is not much, especially given one-third is sparkling wine) as the weather warms.

Cin cin.

Sweet vermouth and Campari

Mixing a Sbagliato

Sbagliato II

Sbagliato III

Sbagliato

  • 1 ounce sweet vermouth
  • 1 ounce Campari
  • 1 ounce prosecco
  • orange wheel to garnish, optional (because, like, I never have these garnishes)

To a glass filled with ice, add sweet vermouth, Campari and prosecco. Stir gently to combine and garnish with orange wheel — if you have one.

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Drinks, Lockdown Libations

Lockdown Libations no. 13: Negronino

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Just like with the Averna Amaro, I have a bottle of Amaro Nonino for making a specific cocktail: my beloved Paper Plane.

And, while I could (and have) used an entire bottle for just making those, I wondered what else Nonino — a liqueur made from grappa and grain alcohol that is infused with herbs and spices and is aged in oak barrels — could work with.

Hello Negroni hybrid!

The Negronino (and bless, I love a good portmanteau) is essentially a Negroni (equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth), but with Amaro Nino replacing half portions of both the Campari and vermouth. (I did spot one recipe that started to get into even more fractured measures and… no. I’m good at math, but there is a line.)

Negronino ingredients

I like a Negroni for its boozy bitterness. It’s a slower sipper for me, which serves me well when I want to really savour a cocktail. I may prefer a Boulevardier, which is the same ingredients and proportions, but swaps bourbon for gin. But either way, this seemed an intriguing cocktail worth the experiment.

I’d probably have a more thorough discussion of the nuanced differences between the Negronino and a standard Negroni if I sipped back to back. Perhaps that’s an experiment I will shelve for a future date. Watch this space?

This is a smoother sip and, consequently, was consumed a little more quickly. Not a complaint, just a fact. There is a … roundness? to this cocktail that I quite like.

If you don’t have a bottle of Amaro Nonino and felt your collection could handle one more addition, I think it’s a good liqueur to have on hand — both for this cocktail, which will be folded into the regular rotation and for the Paper Plane. If you haven’t tried that, may I please recommend? Truly, one of my absolute favourites. And that’s saying a lot.

Negronino III

Negronino II

Negronino

  • 1 ounce gin (a London dry variety of your choice)
  • 1 ounce Amaro Nonino
  • 1/2 ounce Campari
  • 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
  • orange peel, to garnish

Add ice to an Old-Fashioned glass. Pour in gin, Nonino, Campari and vermouth. Stir well to chill. Garnish with orange peel.*

*Which I didn’t have, so didn’t.

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Drinks, Lockdown Libations

Lockdown Libations no. 8: Campari-Gin Old Fashioned

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If you know me, you know I like bourbon. If you know I like bourbon, you can guess I love an Old Fashioned. (I do.)

It’s one of the few cocktails I’ll make on the regular, partly because they’re so damn easy. And you get a lot of bang for a small-effort buck.

It never occurred to me to make one with something other than brown liquor. It certainly never would have crossed my mind to use gin.

Gin-Campari Old Fashioned I

Gin is mostly for fizzes and tonic and martinis, no? Apparently not.

I decided to focus on Campari this time around as I have two bottles (one mostly finished, in my defence) and one yet to be cracked. I keep them on hand for Boulevardiers and Negronis, but wanted to see what else this bittersweet, beautifully coloured liquor could do.

Gin-Campari Old Fashioned ingredients

I actually stumbled on this one for a Campari-Gin Old Fashioned last week but was missing an orange and didn’t want to make any substitutions since I had an inkling this needed all the right bits to make for a balanced cocktail. It was at the top of my grocery list this week.

orange peel

It’s a quick and straightforward cocktail but has lovely depth of flavour. I like how the sugar and orange lifts the bitter of the campari and plays up the flavours in the gin. I went with Eau Claire Distillery’s Flourish and it was a perfect match.

The result is a highly sippable, sweet, bitter, fruity drink that I think really exemplifies something being greater than the sum of it’s parts — Hi, Gestalt! Thank you, Grade 12 psychology.

And while I suspect it would be good at any time in the year, I feel this will be a dangerously delightful addition to drinking on my balcony this summer.

(Aside: the original recipe called for a splash of soda water, but I didn’t think that would benefit the drink at all — just water it down. So I skipped it. And I have zero regrets.)

pre-muddle

muddling

muddled

Gin-Campari Old Fashioned IV

Gin-Campari Old Fashioned II

Campari-Gin Old Fashioned

  • a sugar cube
  • 1 piece of orange peel
  • 1/2 ounce Campari
  • 2 ounces dry gin
  • ice

In a rocks glass, muddle together the sugar cube, orange peel and Campari until the sugar has mostly dissolved.

Add the gin and stir to combine. Add ice and stir until chilled.

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