I owe you all
an apology for my unexpected, prolonged absence. I wish that I could tell you
that I have been traveling the world or that I watched the Singapore Grand
Prix from a VIP box. While I did win the Woodford Reserve Home Mixologist
Manhattan Contest (with a recipe featured in an earlier post), the truth is
that I simply have been derelict in my duties of writing about the great
cocktails I have been discovering. But during this respite, I have come to
admire the simple fact that sometimes, doing something “old school” not only is
more fun, but also makes life (and cocktails) better.
For example,
shaving like your grandpa did—with a double
edged safety razor—not only saves you a lot of money, but also results in a
closer, more even shave (and is better for your skin). First, shaving with a
safety razor can save you more than $300 a year, just on cartridges alone. The
price of Fusion blades, for instance, is around $30+ for a pack of 8, or around
$4.00 per blade. In comparison, a package of high quality double-edge blades is
around $1.50 for a pack of 10, or 15¢ a blade (which will last you about a week
per blade). And, once you invest in a quality razor—a Merkur or Edwin Jagger are
both great choices for around $40—you will have it for life. Plus, you feel
like a badass every morning taking part in a ritual that
great men like your grandfather, John Wayne, and John F. Kennedy all took part
in.
As the Art of Manliness put it, switching from a disposable razor to a double-edged
safety razor “is like upgrading from a Pinto to a Mercedes.” A safety razor is
a machine. Which means
that you need to let the machine do the work for you.
The most common mistake in using a safety razor is
applying too much pressure. A quality, well-made razor will have sufficient
weight on its own to exert the proper amount of pressure. Thus, bearing down on
the razor will not result in a closer shave, but it may remove the top layer of
skin, at best, if it doesn’t gouge you first (remember, you are holding a very
sharp blade directly on your skin). Therefore, to make sure that you don’t use
too much pressure, grasp the razor at the bottom of the handle, which will
force you to use less pressure on the blade.
Strive to maintain a 30° blade angle relative to the skin as much as possible. You
can achieve this angle by raising or lowering the razor handle. This is
particularly important when following contours such as around the chin or jaw
line. Since most
nicks or cuts happen when the blade first makes contact with the skin, make
sure that the safety bar contacts the skin first, and then lift the razor
handle until you achieve the desired angle before beginning your stroke. And
use short, slow, strokes with a safety razor. Precision, not speed, is the name
of the game when holding a sharp, metal object against your face.
The razor glides more easily over taut skin. You can
often tighten the skin simply by flexing your facial muscles or using your free
hand to pull the skin in the opposite direction of razor travel. Stretching
your skin opens the hair follicle and exposes more of the hair, which allows it
to be cut shorter.
Finally, as I discussed in an earlier post, a proper
pre-shave ritual is key, especially with this machine. So if you want to avoid skin irritation, use pre-shave oil, and lather on a good shaving cream or soap with a badger brush. Your face will thank you!
Old school also
translates better with cocktails. Unless you have a Scottsman Nugget Ice Maker
or a Snoopy Snow Cone Machine from the 80’s, the best crushed ice for highball
and swizzle cocktails is made by hand in a Lewis Bag. A Lewis Bag is basically
a canvas sack (even an old bank bag would work) in which you put ice cubes to
crush them. After filling the bag with ice, fold over the open end and lay the
bag flat on a hard surface. Use a wooden mallet (or other hard, flat object) to
pound the ice, starting from the rolled side down toward the end of the bag and
then back in the opposite direction. Continue until you achieve the desired
consistency of crushed ice. (Hint: using a higher-volume of strikes of lower
force gives a much finer consistency of ice.) When you are done, scoop out the crushed
ice, and make some extremely potent drinks, including these five (I’m making up
for my absence):
Queen’s Park Swizzle
Ingredients
2 oz. Zacappa
23 Rum (or if you are feeling adventurous, Smith & Cross Navy Strength)
1 oz. Lime
juice
¾ oz. Simple
Syrup (demerarra syrup made with a 2:1 ratio is my choice)
2 dashes
Angostura bitters
2 dashes
Peychauds bitters
Fresh Mint
***Muddle a few
mint leaves with the simple syrup. Fill glass 2/3 with crushed ice and pour in
remainder of ingredients, except bitters. Swizzle. Add bitters on top and fill remainder
of glass to top with crushed iced. Garnish with mint.
Navy Grog
Ingredients
1 oz. Gosling’s
Black Seal Rum
1 oz. Appleton
Reserve Rum
1 oz. El Dorado
15-year rum
.75 oz. Lime
Juice
.75 oz
Grapefruit Juice
.5 oz Honey
Syrup
***Swizzle all
ingredients over crushed ice. Fill glass with more crushed ice and garnish with
a lime wedge and mint. Sip slowly!
St. Regis Julep
Ingredients
2 oz. Rittenhouse
Rye
½ oz.
Jamaican-style rum
1 barspoon
Grenadine (anything but Rose’s)
1 sugar cube
Mint
***Muddle mint
and sugar cube in a julep cup. Fill cup 2/3 with crushed ice and add remainder
of ingredients. Swizzle and fill cup to the top with ice. Garnish with mint.
Death in the Gulf Stream
Ingredients
2 oz. Bols
Genever
1 oz. Lime
juice
½ oz. Simple
Syrup
3 dashes
Angostura bitters
***To make this
favorite of Hemingway, add all ingredients to glass. Fill 2/3 with crushed ice
and swizzle. Fill remainder of glass with ice and garnish with mint and a lime
twist.
Rye Swizzle
Ingredients
2 oz. Sazerac
Rye
¾ oz. Lemon
Juice
¾ oz. Curaçao
3 oz. of fresh
berries (black, blue, or raspberries)
2 dashes
Angostura
***Muddle the
berries at the bottom of a glass and then remove leaving the juice). Add
remainder of ingredients and fill 2/3 with crushed ice. Swizzle and fill to top
with crushed ice. Garnish with some berries.
I hope that
after you have sampled each of these drinks you can forgive my furlough and
will keep reading. After all, my New Year’s resolution is to make up for lost
time….
