It’s Happy Hour—Thanksgiving edition! Temporarily back from our hiatus, we’re talking turkey, olive loaf charcuterie boards, and how to keep the kids away from the spiked punch. Oh, and Thanksgiving cocktails.

Ben is presenting a clarified milk punch called the White Picket Fence. It’s spiced bourbon and toasted milk (yes, toasted milk!) clarified without the tang. The recipe is heavily inspired by this cocktail from Kevin Kos: https://www.kevinkos.com/post/revolutionary-milk-washing-technique.

Matthewis presenting Autumn’s Kiss. It’s a “simple” brandy sour full of fall flavors with a hint of absinthe. It tastes like apple pie. The cocktail, not the kiss.

*No bald eagles were harmed during the recording of this podcast

• (00:00) Opening
• (05:34) Matthew’s perfect charcuterie
• (10:01) Ben’s secret appetizer recipe. It’s not good.
• (13:00) Thanksgiving foods we love and love to hate
• (18:00) Thanksgiving Cocktails: Spritz, Batch or Burn Baby, Burn
• (25:00) Cocktail: White Picket Fence
• (39:30) Cocktail: Autumn’s Kiss
• (46:31) Closing

• 3 oz Spiced Whiskey Milk Punch
• 2-4 oz Sparkling Cider
• 0-2 oz Club Soda
• Pour the milk punch into a highball glass over ice. Top with sparkling cider. For a less sweet cocktail, replace a portion of the cider with club soda.

Spiced Whiskey Milk Punch

• 8 oz Spiced Whiskey
• 3 oz Toasted Powered Milk
• 1 oz Maple Syrup
• pinch of salt

1. Combine the spiced whiskey, maple syrup, and salt. Stir to combine.
2. Toast powdered milk in a pan on the stove, in the oven, or in a toaster oven. Monitor closely as it can burn quickly. Some light browning on the edges and surface is expected, but do not scorch.
3. Boil enough water to rehydrate the milk, then use the hot water to make the milk according to the package instructions.
4. While the milk is still hot, measure 3 oz into a large container, then pourthe whiskey mixture into the milk. You should see curdling happen immediately. Stir gently to help it along.
5. Let the mixture sit for a minute or two, then filter through cheesecloth or a coffee filter. Once some curds have collected in the filter, move the filter to a new container and re-strain the first portion of the final product.

Spiced Whiskey

• 750 ml of Whiskey of you choice
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 star anise pod
• 4 cloves
• 1/4 cracked nutmeg
• Combine whiskey and spices in a sealed bottle or jar. Let sit for 24 hours to 3 days, tasting every 24 hours. Remove spices when desired.

• 2 oz Brandy or Cognac
• 3/4 oz Allspice Dram
• 1 oz Lemon Juice
• 3/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup
• 1 Dash Cardamom Bitters
• 1 Dash Orange Bitters
• Absinthe for rinse
• Start by preparing a coupe glass: coat the inside with absinthe and discard any excess. Add the remaining ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well-chilled. Double strain into the prepared coupe glass and garnish with a star anise.

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The links below that point to Amazon are affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase we may receive a small compensation at no extra cost to you. Links to any other destination are not affiliate links.

We own and recommend these books:

The 12 Bottle Bar: Make Hundreds of Cocktails with Just Twelve Bottles by David Solmonson, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson

It’s Happy Hour! We’re sharing balancing failures (ours and others) and successes. We’ve got volcanoes, torches, funky rum, giant thistles and enough nuts to feed a forest of squirrels*.

Ben presents his Typical Ben Rum Drink a wild tiki-inspired mix of Jamaican rum and orgeat with a snowy mountain of crushed ice. Which will you drown in first, the rum or the water from all that ice?

Matthew reworks a restaurant cocktail originally called the BronArmy Navy. It was a sugar bomb with a with star ingredient that wasn’t allowed to shine. Matthew lets the artichokes free! You’re welcome Castroville.

*Justice for Peanut

(00:00) Opening and Squirrel Nut Factories

(02:44) The end of our first “arc” and a look forward

(12:15) Salvaging failed cocktails and stubborn recipes

(14:17) Ben’s muddy mess

(16:20) Cocktail: Typical Ben Rum Drink

(19:59) Tiki is a vibe

(32:58) Cocktail: Matthew’s BronArmy Navy

(44:25) Episode close

• 1 oz Smith and Cross Jamaican rum
• 1 oz Planteray Stiggin’s Pineapple rum
• 1 oz Orgeat
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• 1/4 oz Falernum (to top)
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Instructions: Combine rums, orgeat, and lime juice in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a rocks glass packed with crushed ice. Top with Falernum and Angostura bitters. Garnish with pineapple fronds or other tiki-inspired decor.

• 2 oz bourbon
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 3/4 oz Cynar
• 3/4 oz Orgeat
• Pinch of salt
• Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake well. Double strain into a chilled glass and serve with or without a lemon twist garnish.

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The links below that point to Amazon are affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase we may receive a small compensation at no extra cost to you. Links to any other destination are not affiliate links.

We own and recommend these books:

The 12 Bottle Bar: Make Hundreds of Cocktails with Just Twelve Bottles by David Solmonson, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson

Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail by Dave Arnold

Imbibe! by David Wondrich

Cocktail Codex by Alex Day, Nick Fauchald, David Kaplan

Products we own, like and use:

• Measuring tools
• OXO Good Grips Mini Angled Measuring Cup, 2 Oz capacity
• OXO Metal Angled Measuring Cup
• OXO SteeL Double Jigger
• Shakers
• This shaking set is sold as two separate items on Amazon, you will need both
• Cocktail Kingdom Koriko Small Weighted Shaking Tin
• Cocktail Kingdom Koriko Large Weighted Shaking Tin
• Mixing Glasses/Tins
• Viski Crystal Mixing Glass, 17 oz
• Pint glass: you don’t need a link for this do you?
• Peelers
• OXO Good Grips...

Your training is almost complete. Today we’re cocktail tasting, cocktail balancing and cocktail perfecting. In this finale of our "Getting Started" series, we’re breaking down the steps to deconstructing a cocktail, balancing it and then improving it. et us introduce you to a sweet little friend of ours—the Cocktail of the Week. Who will also be our model this week. So get in here!

(00:00) How to Balance a Cocktail

(01:54) Cocktail of the Week: The Plain & Simple (Daiquiri)

(03:59) Why fresh lime juice matters

(05:21) A brief sojourn into rum

(08:31) How to taste cocktails like an expert (no, you're doing it wrong)

(15:32) The secret to balancing cocktails (hint: it involves homework)

(24:02) Simple tips to improve your cocktail

(30:00) Closing

• 2 parts white rum
• 1 part fresh lime juice
• 1 part simple syrup (1:1 white cane sugar to water)
• Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until fully chilled. Double strain into a chilled, stemmed cocktail glass. Serve without garnish.

• 2 parts Plantation Three Stars rum
• 3/4 part fresh lime juice
• 3/4 part simple syrup (1:1)
• 1 lime wheel for garnish
• Combine rum, lime juice, and simple syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake until fully chilled. Double strain into a chilled, stemmed cocktail glass. Float lime wheel on top of cocktail.

• 2 parts white rum
• 1 part fresh lime juice
• 3/4 part simple syrup
• Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until fully chilled. Double strain into a chilled, stemmed cocktail glass.

• 2 parts white rum
• 3/4 part fresh lime juice
• 1 part simple syrup
• Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until fully chilled. Double strain into a chilled, stemmed cocktail glass.

• 2 parts white rum
• 3/4 part fresh lime juice
• 3/4 part simple syrup
• Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake until fully chilled. Double strain into a chilled, stemmed cocktail glass.

---

The links below that point to Amazon are affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase we may receive a small compensation at no extra cost to you. Links to any other destination are not affiliate links.

We own and recommend these books:

The 12 Bottle Bar: Make Hundreds of Cocktails with Just Twelve Bottles by David Solmonson, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson

Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail by Dave Arnold

Imbibe! by David Wondrich

Cocktail Codex by Alex Day, Nick Fauchald, David Kaplan

Products we own, like and use:

• Measuring tools
• OXO Good Grips Mini Angled Measuring Cup, 2 Oz capacity
• OXO Metal Angled Measuring Cup
• OXO SteeL Double Jigger
• Shakers
• This shaking set is sold as two separate items on Amazon, you will need both