Drink Recipes

Vodka

Summer Punch
from Outstanding In the Field Dinner 2010


1 750ml bottle Death's Door Vodka
10 oz. peach syrup*
10 oz. fresh lemon juice
13 oz Double strength jasmine tea
small bunch fresh tarragon leaves
1/2 pint fresh berries

**Best when made in volume** In a punch bowl, mix first four ingredients together. Wrap tarragon in cheesecloth, rouse by slapping and place in punch. Stir and if possible, rest in refrigerator to chill. For serving: Add a large chunk of ice to punch bowl, remove tarragon sachet and ladle into ice filled punch glasses garnished with 2-3 blueberries.

*- peach syrup is made by juicing peaches and diluting with 50% water or using fresh peach puree. Combine equal parts by volume peach juice and ultra-refined sugar. Stir until dissolved. Store in the fridge.

The Charley Horse
From Jeffery Morganthaler at Clyde Common, Portland, OR

1 1/2 oz Death's Door Vodka
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz ginger syrup
1/4 oz Averna

Shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange zest.

*My ginger syrup recipe is equal parts diced raw ginger, hot water and sugar. Run it through a blender until ginger is liquefied and then strain through a fine-mesh strainer.

Vodka Cobbler
from Toby Maloney of The Violet Hour

2 oz. Death's Door Vodka
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
handful of fresh berries
3 dashes Lemon
Dry sparkling wine

Shake top four ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a 6-oz cocktail glass, top with sparkling wine and add dashes of bitters. Garnish with a lemon wheel and/or berries.

Rosemary Five
from marriedwithdinner.com

1 1/2 oz. Death's Door Vodka
1/2 oz. Pear Liqueur
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 oz. rosemary simple syrup
3 dashes Angostura bitters
Dry sparkling wine

Shake top five ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with ice. Add dashes of bitters, give one final shake and strain into a 6-oz cocktail glass with sparkling wine to fill. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

Door County Cherry Drop
from Jenn De Bolt of The Old Fashioned, Madison, WI

1 1/2 oz. Death's Door Vodka
1 oz. Door County cherry juice
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup (equal parts of sugar and water)

Shake, serve straight up and garnish with stemmed cherry or lemon zest.

Pumpkin Martini
from Kris Wachowiak of L'Etoile, Madison, WI

3 oz. Death's Door Vodka
1 1/2 oz. Pumpkin Syrup*
*Depending upon the potency of your syrup, more or less syrup will be needed. You may want to experiment with the ratios in order to insure that the final product is to your preference. Usually, I work with a ratio that is about 1 part syrup to 2 parts Death's Door Vodka.

Pumpkin Syrup
1 medium sized pumpkin
3 cups brown sugar
2 dashes of chili powder
3 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Cut pumpkin into small pieces (about 1 inch cubes), removing the skin.

Bring 2 quarts of water to boil in a large pot; add the sugar, chili powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the pumpkin and reduce heat to a simmer. Allow the mixture to reduce by 1/2 or 2/3 (depending upon how strong you want the flavors to be–When I did this, I allowed the mixture to simmer for about 4 hours).

Remove the mixture from heat. Using a large spoon, remove the pieces of pumpkin from the mixture and press them in a fine mesh strainer. (This will allow you to take the liquid out of the saturated pieces of pumpkin and return it to the end product). Once all of the large pieces have been removed and pressed, strain all of the syrup to remove any other small pieces. Refrigerate product until it will be used.


White Whiskey Manhattan
From Neyah White at Nopa, San Francisco, CA

2 oz Death's Door Whiskey
1 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1/4 oz Benedictine
3 dashes Fees Orange Bitters

Build drink in an ice filled bar glass. Stir with vigor. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.

Gin

Holiday Sparkler
From John Kinder, Death's Door Spirits, Madison, WI

1 1/2 oz Death's Door Gin
1/2 oz fresh orange juice
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz grenadine
Top Champagne or Cava

Shake and strain first four ingredients into ice-filled highball glass. Top with champagne or cava. Garnish with orange and lemon twists.

Martinez
From Michael Rubel, The Violet Hour Chicago, IL

1 oz Death's Door Gin
2 oz Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur
3 dashes bitters

Combine all ingredients in an ice filled bar glass and stir with vigor. Strain contents of glass into a coupe. Garnish with orange peel.

Aviation Cocktail

2 oz Death's Door Gin
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1/4 oz Creme de Violette

Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. No garnish.

Corpse Reviver
From Stephen Cole at The Violet Hour Chicago, IL

3/4 oz Death's Door Gin
3/4 oz Lillet Blonde
3/4 oz Cointreau (sub. Triple Sec)
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
Absinthe

Add all ingredients except absinthe to an ice filled shaker. Shake in frenzied but direct fashion. Strain into a chilled coupe glass rinsed with absinthe. Garnish with a lemon ribbon.

The Original Ramos Gin Fizz
Invented in the 1880s by Henry C. Ramos- one of New Orleans' most famous drinks. New Orleans, LA



2 oz Death's Door Gin
3 drops orange flower water*
1 egg white (you can get pasteurized egg whites)
1 teaspoon confectioners sugar
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz lime juice
2 oz light cream
Soda water

In a cocktail shaker half filled wth ice, mix all ingredients except the soda water. Get the mixture to be a frothy, foamy consistency. Strain into a tall thin glass, or a very large old fashioned glass, and top with a little soda water- but not too much! Stir.

*-Orange flower water can be difficult to find, but is available in better liquor stores or Middle-Eastern markets,. Found in Madison at the Willy Street Coop (Baking Section, $2.99).

Ampersand
From Anita Crotty- one half of "Married...with Dinner", San Francisco, CA



1 oz Death's Door Gin (see note)
1 oz brandy
1 oz Italian sweet vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters
orange curacao, to finish


In an ice-filled mixing glass, stir the gin, brandy, vermouth, and bitters until very cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, then add two drops of curacao.

Autumn Splendor
from Leah Caplan, of The Washington Hotel, Restaurant & Culinary School, Washington Island, WI

Makes 1 drink

1 oz. Death's Door Gin
3 oz. apple cider

In a cocktail shaker add gin and cider. Shake and pour into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish with an apple slice impaled with a juniper sprig or cocktail pick.

Bee's Knees
from Tami Lax of Harvest, Madison, WI

2 oz. Death's Door Gin
1 oz. honey syrup (equal parts of honey and water)
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice

Shake, serve straight upand garnish with honeycomb.

Fall Festival
from Kris Wachowiak of L'Etoile, Madison, WI

4 raspberries, muddled
1/3 oz. basalmic vinegar
2 2/3 oz. Death's Door Gin

Shake ingredients with ice. Pour and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a fresh raspberry and lemon twist.

The Gin Sling
from Dr. Rachael Maddow, of The Rachael Maddow Show, Air America Radio

1 1/2 oz. Death's Door Gin
1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 oz. simple syrup
1 dash Angostura

Shake & strain into rocks-filled Collins glass, top with seltzer.

The Urban Revitalizer/Death Grip
from Kris Wachowiak of L'Etoile, Madison, WI

2/3 oz. Creme De Casis
2/3 oz. Cointreau (or Blue Curacao if you want the drink to be purple)
1 1/2 oz. Death's Door Gin
Couple of drops of fresh lime juice

Shake ingredients with ice. Pour into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lime twist (lemon with the purple version, as it has a better color contrast).

Vesper
from Kevin Daum, of Zingerman's Roadhouse, Ann Arbor, MI

3 oz. Death's Door Gin
1 oz. Death's Door Vodka
1/2 oz. Lillet Blanc

Garnish with a large twist of lemon.

Wicked Wisconsin Wassail
A collaboration between Mike McKee of The Bar Next Door and Chef Leah Caplan of The Washington Hotel, Restaurant & Culinary School

3 firm cooking apples such as Cortland, Ida Red or Jonathan, cut into eighths, cores and seeds removed.
3 cups fresh (or frozen) cranberries, washed
1/2 cup Wisconsin maple syrup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 sticks cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
5 whole allspice berries
1 cup water

Combine the above ingredients in a stainless steel Dutch oven or soup pot. Cook over high heat for 10 minutes or until the liquid is thickened by the cooked cranberries, the kitchen is aromatic and the apples are tender.

Turn the heat down to medium and add:

4 cups fresh apple cider
3 cups cranberry juice
1 cup brandy
2 cups Death's Door Gin
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Gently stir and heat until warm (do not boil once juices and alcohol have been added).

Yield: 12 cups; 12-20 portions, depending on how wicked the wassailers are.