Rum & coca cola... (Secrets from a Cocktail Master)

Good Wednesday to you all.  As promised I have done some research and found out a bit more about "Made With Love" the winning drink and our proud Nova Scotian champion of the competition. 

It is a real pleasure for me to share this with you because Jeff Van Horne is incredibly passionate about his cocktail creation. It took time, research and true spirit to create and should very well be celebrated. 

Jeff "The made with love competition is meant to showcase cocktails and as bartenders our love for cocktails by creating something special and unique. I put much love into creating something to share with our guests, as you will see. My cocktail name comes from the fact that I used Sailor Jerry three different ways. The flavours in the cocktail are simple it was the methods used to  bring them together which were difficult.

First: I wanted to create a seasonal fall cocktail using a local Nova Scotia ingredient. Apple and Ginger. I chopped 25 cups of honeycrisp apples that I picked myself and mixed in 12 cups of sugar, I let this sit for 3 days in the fridge. The sugar sucked all the apple juice out of the apples. Then I boiled the sugar apple mixture with 6 cups of apple cider vinegar. I strained the remaining apple out and was left with what is called a shrub. A shrub is similar to a flavoured syrup but has vinegar in it to bring acidity. 

*Shrubs originated in the 1800's and were used to balance the sweetness in cocktails when citrus juice was hard to come by. Shrubs and Gastric cocktails are quickly become very popular trend in cocktails these days.*

Next: I made a ginger syrup from freshly juiced ginger and simple syrup. The ginger syrup brings a warmth to the finish of the cocktail and helps to highlight the spices used in the spiced rum. I then added fresh lime juice to balance the rum, shrub and ginger syrup.

There we have the cocktail. Great! but we need more so I decided to construct a foam to add a little more texture to the drink and also incorporate another flavour. I decided upon a caramel foam because caramel and apples, its a no brainer.  I learned to make caramel from scratch (brown sugar, butter and salt), pretty easy.  But used a lot of Sailor Jerry to add some more flavour and to thin it out.

To make the foam I used a iSi whipping canister. The foam consisted of the Sailor Jerry caramel, eggs whites, lime juice, water and of course more Sailor Jerry. Determining the best ratios to make the foam was difficult. But any foam can be made without cream if you have egg white, citrus and sugar. The citrus breaks the proteins in the eggs down while the sugar supports and stabilizes the egg whites and creates a foam.

The foam was stable enough that I could put it on the bottom of the glass and pour the cocktail over it and the foam floated to the top of the drink. Pouring the cocktail over the foam infused the flavour of the foam into the cocktail. Lastly: I needed a cool garnish that actually complimented the drink. The final drink was pretty heavy so I want to offer a crisp piece of apple to refresh the palate. I made around 300 small apple balls with a melon baller and before the drink was served I placed the apple balls is sailor jerry and flamed it to caramelize the sugars of the rum onto the apples. THis was the third and final way I used sailor jerry. and finally I grated fresh cinnamon on top to accent the cinnamon flavours in the rum."

There we have it, the makings of a champion cocktail!! Thank you Jeff... I think I may be headed out on an apple picking adventure. 

Rum anyone?

Eat, drink and enjoy!