Sangaree for Every Season

Most people aware of Gins place as our national spirit, how it has become intertwined in the history and tradition of merry old England, and what a damn fine thing tradition is. Like the consumption of Port wine, another great English drinking tradition, a tradition which grew out of one of our many fisticuffs with the French, terrible times when our supply of wine was rudely interrupted, times when our dear Portuguese allies were so willing to step in and fill this void.

So any way, point is tradition is lovely, what is ever more endearing though is when two traditions meet, creating something new, something unusual, and dare I say it when speaking of Port, but something cheeky... Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, the Sangaree

Sangaree is a corruption of the Spanish Sangria, the very same fruity beverage many of us have imbibed on the beach on the Costa del Sol or in a cheap latin themed restaurant, this drink however wasn't always made with cheap red wine, budget brandy and artificial orange juice, it was originally a simple mix of fortified wine such as sherry, port or madeira, diluted with a brisk shake, slightly sweetened and dusted with nutmeg. Jerry Thomas makes mention of several styles of Sangaree in The Bon Vivant's Companion, one with Brandy, the predecessor to what we drink today and a rather interesting one with gin.

The recipe calls to make the Gin Sangaree in the same way as a Gin Toddy with a float of Port Wine and a dust of nutmeg, a recipe which would look a little something like this;

Gin Sangaree

Gin - 50ml

Still Water - 25ml

Simple Sugar Syrup - 5ml

Port Wine - 15ml (float)

An interesting origin of the modern Sangria, not quite as fruity, shorter and considerably more fortified. I prefer a slightly different method, swizzling the gin and syrup over crushed ice to achieve the desired dilution whilst adding sufficient chill to the'. The beauty of this drink is it works with a wide variety of gin's although those on the heavy juniper side of things fair rather well.

As much as the simplicity of this drink works to it's advantage there are some additions which can add some rather interesting twists to this drink, tailoring it to your mood, your guest or even the weather...

Around Christmas I began experimenting with mulled wine inspired port, cooking up a mulled port concentrate by adding sugar and various herbs and spices, most notably cinnamon, nutmeg, bay leaves and citrus peel before lengthening this concentrate with more of the Port used to create it. When I discovered the Sangaree I was immediately tempted to put my mulled port to use.

Mulled Sangaree

Martin Millers Gin - 50ml

Simple Sugar Syrup - 5ml

Mulled Port Wine - 15ml (float)

Swizzle the gin and syrup in a wine glass with crushed ice, float the mulled port and garnish with a dusting of freshly grated Nutmeg.

An interesting twist on the Gin Sangaree with plenty of winter warming spice complementing the black pepper and orange notes of Martin Millers, as with the Gin Sangaree there is no need for citrus to balance this drink, the dilution works wonders. A lovely little winter beverage which also works particularly well served warm, combine the above ingredients with 25ml of water, warm in a saucepan but try not to heat over 78 degrees, we wouldn't want to burn off the alcohol, serve in a small glass tea cup with that aromatic dusting of nutmeg. 

So a winter warmer to see you through the rest of the cold months but summers just round the corner (hell who am I kidding this is England) but just in case, heres a twist on the Sangaree especially for those sunny days;

Summer Sangaree

Whitley Neill Gin - 50ml

White Port - 20ml

Velvet Falernum - 5ml

Swizzle all ingredients together with crushed ice in a wine glass, cap with crushed ice and perfume with a grapefruit zest. 

Velvet Falernum is an alcoholic syrup made from rum, lime and a variety of spices, most notably cloves and star anise, it is often used in Tiki style drinks but adds an interesting tropical spice to many libations. This style of Sangaree is rather different to the two above but still maintains the basic elements of the original drink. The soft orange notes of Physalis from the Whitley Neill work so well with the white fruit notes of the Port and the citrus and spice of the Velvet Falernum, the grapefruit zest adds a lovely aroma slightly better suited to a summer beverage than nutmeg.

Ingredient Notes

Mulled Port
Inspired by the English Christmas tradition of mulled wine whereby red wine is infused with various botanicals and served warm as a tasty winter treat.
To make mulled port start by concentrating the flavours and spice in a small  portion of the wine, this allows you to boil up a small portion of the wine to really infuse the flavours, although this sacrifices the alcohol content you are only using up a small volume of Port so not all is lost. For my mulled port I took 200ml of Ruby Port, heated it up in a saucepan with 100 grams of granulated sugar and the following botanicals;
- Orange Peel
- Lemon Peel
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Black Pepper
- Dried Bay Leaves
- Juniper Berries       
Bring the port mix to the boil then allow to simmer for about 4 minutes before straining out the botanicals. After you have your concentrate lengthen it with the remaining port until your happy with the flavour.


I hope you enjoy,

Umpleby

Vesper's are Forever

The Vesper Martini is one of the cocktail worlds most famous libations, the recipe first appeared in Ian Flemmings 1953 book Casino Royal and was given a new lease of life in the 2006 movie of the same name.


In Casino Royal (2006), Bonds whilst indulging in one of his glorious vices, this time gambling, switches his now famed Vodka Martini for a Vesper, the recipe for which he recites; 'Three measures of Gordon's; one of vodka; half a measure of Kina Lillet Shaken over ice' with a thin slice of lemon peel. 


True to his character Bond is 'Keeping the British end up' with his choice of gin although there has been a fair few very British brands released since the original 1953 recipe, i'm thinking for a reasonable juniper hit but a little more complexity Plymouth Gin, a softer style of gin is a delicious choice. Ian Flemming recommends a nice Polish vodka for the Vesper, one can assume either Rye or Potato which I find a 'trifle over powering', my preference is for something a little more subtle and given the British nature of the drink Tanqueray Sterling is a fine choice. 
Kina Lillet is a bitter aperitif which is no longer available and has been replaced by Lillet Blanc, I usually opt for a carefully controlled tear drop of Angostura Bitters in an attempt to recreate the classic recipe.


As for this 'Shaken, not Stirred' business, my preference for a stirred martini was made clear in my post about the Gin Martini although there is a rather interesting study in favour of the shaken martini I feel compelled to share with you. The Department of Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario in Canada suggests a shaken martini is more effective in deactivating hydrogen peroxide than the stirred variety, thereby helping prevent diseases associated with ageing. Any one interested in checking this study out please click here.


It would seem I am beginning to digress so without further interruption;


The Vesper Martini

Plymouth Gin 45ml
Tanqueray Sterling Vodka 15ml
Lillet Blanc 10ml
Angostura Bitters 1 tear drop


Stir or shake over ice (dependant on age and health) strain in to a chilled Martini glass and garnish with a thin slice of lemon peel.

The Vesper is a rather interesting twist in the classic gin martini, at first I was rather sceptical of vodka's use when mixed with gin, assuming it would simply dilute and weaken the flavour, turns out it plays it's part rather well. The vodka smoothes out the gin just enough to take the edge off, the lillet being slightly sweeter than the usual dry vermouth works wonderfully with the toned down gin with the hint of bitterness balancing out the sweetness.


A while back I treated myself to a bottle of Chase Marmalade Vodka,a lovely if not slightly sweet vodka flavoured with Seville Orange Marmalade and Seville Orange Peel. As nice as this is I was at a bit of a loss of how to mix it when it occurred to me that the sweet orange notes of the vodka would combine perfectly those of Whitley Neill and The Breakfast Vesper an amalganation of the Breakfast Martini, a delightful libation containing gin, cointreau, lemon juice and marmalade and the Vesper Martini was born.


The Breakfast Vesper

Whitley Neill - 45ml

Chase Marmalade Vodka - 15ml

Campari - 5ml

Stir all ingredients in a large mixing vessel, ensuring the drink is ice cold, strain in to a chilled Martini glass and garnish with a thin slice of pink grapefruit zest.

The Breakfast Vesper, Photographed by Sofia Miranda

As expected the Whitley Neill is a perfect pairing with the Marmalade Vodka, however with a reasonable sweetness already present I wanted to avoid using Lillet. Rather than going back down the vermouth route I popped in a little Campari for something to to balance the sweetness, it turns out Campari's bitterness was just the ticket. The Whitley Neill shines through followed by very subtle orange marmalade flavour with little sweetness, the campari is only just detectable plays its part of balancing the sweetness well. A rather cheeky twist on the Vesper but probably a little too hard core for breakfast... only just.

So thinking this post was over with I stumbled over a rather rare vodka, Chase Smoked, the first flavour released by the Herefordshire Distillery, a flavour I had the pleasure of tasting when I visited the distillery a year or so back. When I first tasted the vodka I immediately had the urge for a smoky martini, with gin of course. Usually made with scotch in addition to gin and vermouth I was looking forward to using this cleaner smoked spirit... wait a second, gin, vodka... oh here comes another Vesper Twist...


The Smoked Vesper

William Chase Gin 45ml

Chase Smoked Vodka 15ml

Noilly Prat Vermouth 15ml

Stir all ingredients over ice and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a lime twist.

The Smoked Vesper, Photographed by yours truly.

As much as this drink makes me look like a whore to Chase Distilleries, the William Chase gin and smoked vodka are a sensational pairing, something about smokey apples really seems to work, I went for a Noilly Prat as the spicy botanical mix works well with the complexity of William Chase Gin.The aroma of this drink is sensational, fresh lime lest with a hint of smoke, a type of smoke I would describe as cleaner than that of a scotch, some really floral elderflower notes shine through as well as some crisp green apple.

We Hope You Enjoy

Umpleby & Brown